Oxymorons and Redundancies

There are phrases used each day whose words are in contradiction with each other. These phrases are called "oxymorons".  "Oxy" indicates those things 'astute" whereas "moron" are those destitute of astuteness. It's the "sharp" vs. "dull" polarization of ideas. The world is full of oxymorons and the media makes meaningless contradictions take on meaning.

Likewise there are phrases which use synonyms to transmit one idea. Saying something one time is discreet. Saying it again is repetition. The phrase becomes "redundant".

Here are examples of each (you decide which are which):

• almost a catastrophe
• patriotic rebel.
• faithless Christian.
• Pretty ugly.
• Two twins
• Pair of swim trunks
• Awesome (means both admiration and fear)
• Happy hooker.
• Democratic Party.
• Stench of skunks.
• Gravity is weight.
• Success is trying.
• Trying is the mere admission of failure.
• Failing is succeeding.
• Death is when life ceases.
• Many yesterdays.
• A gambler who is pragmatic.
• Doublethink is an oxymoron.
• An oriental who's cowardly and yellow.
• Feminism (the one word which is at odds with itself)
• My new fan really sucks.
• I like people! My wife and I enjoy conjugal visits.
• Androgyny makes us all look different.
• Kissing is so osculating!
• To get along people must coagulate.
• My goal was to try to quit smoking.
• Completed most of what my goal was to finish.
• Safe abortion.
• Busy slacker.
• Clumsy oaf. 
• Nitpicker who is fair.
• Hateful sinner.
• That's literally what's close to what I said.
• Chinese cowards are yellow.
• You say opposite things,  but you're both right.
• He's certainly a tall dwarf.
• Happy Holiday. (That may not be obvious, but commercialism makes holidays far from happy!)
• Motivated by antipathy.
• That's an equine looking horse.
• That's seriously gravitas of her.
• He's ambidextrous and can use either hand.
• He got his head decapitated, or worse yet: his foot was decapitated.
• I tasted it with my tongue.
• Kissing sucks!
• I've told you a million times not to exaggerate.
• Seriously kidding!
• You're forgiven, but you're no longer my friend.
• Although I trust you I'm still jealous.
• Non-religious yoga.
• Secular Islam.
• Government transparency.
• Government integrity.
• Breaking gridlock through consensus.
• I've never gone here before.
• Sweet sugar.
• Nice and sassy.
• Pretty ugly.
• Islam is a peaceful religion. (Islam teaches violent death to others and terror as a means of evangelism and Sharia Law).
• It's almost exactly high noon. (almost and exactly are at odds with each other).
• Hateful Christian.
• Unfriendly friend.
• Cautious carelessness.
• Covert spying. (Anyone know of overt spies? They need to be fired!)
• Stupid idiot. (Any smart idiots out there? Yes, I know "savant idiots", but they have only limited intelligence).
• Limited freedom.
• Liberal Democrat. (The conservatives have been driven out or indoctrinated).
• Yesterdays past.

Grudges

James 5:9 "Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door."

"Grudge" is failing to forget or forgive a perceived wrong someone has done against another.

Some people say "I'll forgive, but I will never forget!" That's oxymoronic because by self-admission, the person who says things like that are holding a grudge.

Let's take a look at where we should look for advice; the Bible.

Luke 7:48 "And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven."

A weeping woman washed Jesus' feet with her own tears. She, as has everyone else, had sinned against God and she was remorseful. Jesus, with his grace, forgave all her sins without regard to number nor amplitude!  When he forgave the woman nothing more was said nor thought about it. Jesus made a complete pardon. What had been, passed entirely from his mind!

 Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."

Jesus forgives because he loves us (John 3:16).  Jesus doesn't wait for us to clean up our lives and turn to him before he loves. He loves us just as we are! Because he loves us he is our bff (best friend forever). It is not contingent on what we do, our personalities nor anything else!

When we express sorrow for sinning against God, God wipes the slate clean and doesn't remember the sins anymore ever! Even when we stand before him in judgment, those forgiven sins will not be used as evidence! Jesus does not hold grudges! Because we are to be as Jesus, we are to mimic him:

Luke 17:3 "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him."

If one person wrongs another and repents, the wronged person is commanded to forgive. And forgiveness means to forget. It means to quit holding a grudge! If a person says he "forgives", but yet holds a grudge, the grudgeful person will be condemned for he is more wrong than the person who sinned first!  (James 5:9 above).

We're not finished yet! Before I was fully discerning, I tried to make wrongs against others right again. I asked for forgiveness and tried to make restitution. That's attempting to restore situations to where they were before by giving back what was taken away. There are always ways to make restitution. For instance an anger episode can be corrected by some physical act of love.

But we must go one step further!

Matthew 5:23 "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Most often the gift which I am leaving at the altar is ME.  I go there to pledge something of me to the Lord. Normally I turn something in my life over to him. However, God doesn't want me (the Christian) unless my heart is right with the command "love others as I love myself" (Matthew 19:19b).

Oh, what am I to do? Reconcile with my brother" before I leave my things at the altar. To reconcile is not only to forgive, but to seek for another to forgive me for my wrongs and perceived wrongs: "that my brother has something against me"! I may have not wronged another, but if that person holds a grudge, I must attempt reconciliation. That's a command, not an option. Grudges stand in the way of communing with God! "Reconciliation" is defined as "to cause people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). In short we are to forgive others out of love, we are to seek their friendship and we are to restore broken friendships!

Those who say that they have forgiven, most often have certainly not forgotten andstill hold grudges: that person who says "I will never be your friend again". James tells us that grudges condemn those who begrudge!

Then what should a grudge bearer do? Reconcile regardless of who did what to whom! You will never be able to commune fully with God until that's done.

What if Jesus forgives you, but is never your friend again? He would be holding a grudge and would be in sin. Jesus doesn't hold grudges, then why do you? Because your god is more precious than Jesus. Think about it and change gods and simply do this:

Ephesians 4:26 "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:"

Designer God

There are designer jeans. People go crazy about them.

There are designer drugs. People kill for them.

There are designer homes. People with taste live in them!

Then, there has been fabricated a "Designer God"!

A Designer God is "God as you understand him!". He's a fabric of your imagination; a fantasy God.

Step 3 of Alcoholic Anonymous' (AA) Twelve-Step Program is: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Get a load of that! "God as a drunk understands him!" I'm not sure a drunk even understands himself, but I'm sure he (or she) can create a quite interesting God because sober people come up with doozy Gods themselves! I really don't want to make fun of alcoholics, but at the notion which AA imposes on a Holy God! These are the same people who teach that sin is literally a "disease".

It seems to me that people can quit sinning and do, but diseases are hard to quit cold turkey. In fact this disease is incurable. What's the disease model of alcoholism have to do with God? Because God as they understand him, is misunderstood!

1 Thessalonians 5:6 "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."

Actually, I thought this was meant to be "aware", but the literal translation is right on!  "Sober" (Greek nepho) means to "abstain from wine".  It appears that Christians have a responsibility to not drink alcohol, let alone get drunk. If it was a disease God wouldn't command "Don't get sick!" That would be silly! The warning is so that people can control their BEHAVIOR! They can quit SINNING!

The "God as they understand him" is misunderstood. Their God doesn't know the difference between behaviors and diseases! Their God is a silly confused God!

Now lets get to the core of the matter. This is not about alcoholics. It's about people who choose sin as a lifestyle. The True God would rather men say this as Paul did:

Matthew 26:41b "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

This is a reasonable thing to say!  For those who struggle with inner demons, it's the truth. However, rather than that, people say silly things such as this:

"I believe everyone is going to heaven!"

That would be nice, but that's not how a just God judges!

Acts 10:42b "It is he (Jesus) which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick (living) and dead."

Judges make either one of two decisions: guilty as charged or innocent. Elsewhere scripture says that "all men have sinned" (Romans 5:12).  Therefore, we all our guilty, but for those who sincerely believe in the Judge and repent of his or her sins, the Judge will issue a reprieve. It's signed by the blood of Christ and if anyone doesn't accept that mercy, they stand without remorse. The Judge sentences them to an eternity in hell!

Matthew 25:41 "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:"

Most people will go to hell. It's a "strait gate with a narrow way and few will find it." (Matthew 7:14). Most people WILL go to hell because they fail to submit to God!

This Judge-God and one the who allows you the freedom to chose your own destiny is not "God as most understand him!"

It's wishful thinking that everybody is going to heaven! In that case Hitler and Stalin will be there. You get to bunk between the two with Ghengis Khan at your feet and Charles Manson at your headboard! Are you beginning to see the fallacy of your thinking? The God which you "design" just doesn't make sense!

How is it that most people design God?

• He is a lesser God than you (the other god) is.
• He lies when it's convenient to scare you into submission.
• He calls himself Creator. Your God can't create anything!
• Even if he did create it all. It took billions of years. Your God has little power.
• In the Old Testament your God did cruel things. Your God is evil.
• Your God lets you do whatever you want; even destructive things. Your God is a tolerant God who is blind to sin!
• Your God thinks it's fine to shack up and not bother with marriage. Your God is hedonistic!
• Your God allows men to be lovers of men. Your God is a pervert!
• Your God entitles you to fine things. Your God is a genie God.
• Your God allows everybody into heaven. Your God condones evil people.
• Your God denies hell. Your God doesn't understand what the bottomless pit is for!
• Your God "saves" you, but since he has no use for hell, your God has no idea what he saves you from.
• Your God isn't loving enough to keep you from destroying yourself. Your God doesn't care about you!
• Your God thinks it's fine that you think only of yourself. Your God wants you to worship yourself. Your God is yourself!
• And I can go on and on because your God is a complex God who changes as it's convenient for you!

My God is different than yours. I don't understand most things about him! It's not meant to be. However, I do know a few things: He's a merciful God full of grace who is the only way to salvation because he loves me so. He's a just God who rewards and punishes. Like a loving Father he gives us thousands of chances to turn to him although he doesn't force us to! I do know that he loves me so much that he died on the cross for my sins. Although I chose pleasure over obedience, he still loves me that as long as I breath I get another chance. There is one condition that God has: It's by faith in the shed blood of Jesus for my own redemption. I understand that most people think too highly of themselves to submit to God and deserve the consequences of their own self worship. That's  my God. He's the scriptural God! Your God is a myth just like Hercules and Venus are.

You see, the "God as I understand him" is the one whose Word is in Holy Scripture. He's not a "Designer God" who serves my every whim. God as you understand him is the idol which you have made in your own likeness! He's the one who will accompany you to hell because, guess what?  Everybody is not going to heaven. In fact most people who have designed their own God are going to hell!

Give Hitler a Seig Heil for me. Tell him that I said "Hell-Oh!"

Hope!

Last night I experienced it again! It's happened only a few times in my life. The first time was when I was a young child. It can happen only when a person's mind is still. When the thoughts of the world are put on hold and eternity is put in perspective. "Forever", usually only a fleeting thought, becomes ingrained in reality. What's more, secular "forever" even in the best case scenario is without you!

Some people have no hope in an afterlife. For them this is it! That viewpoint is deterministic. That's the philosophy that each person's destiny is predetermined and nothing can change it. Predestination and election is a deterministic doctrine. For no particular reason before a person is ever born they are elected for heaven. Those who aren't elected are predestined for hell! The people elected can't resist it, and those who fail to be selected are doomed. That sense of doom is "fatalism".

With fatalism people cannot change their destiny. It's preordained and final. No act, behavior, belief, emotion nor condition can change the destiny of the person. The major problem with fatalism is that there is no hope and those without hope are doomed; not only to die once, but to be dead forever!

That brings me back to my dreadful thoughts! Last night I imagined an eternity without me. It's as if when I die I just "cease to exist" as if I never was. Sure, those I leave behind would think of me; some with fond memories, but some with scorn. The former are the few who love me and the latter are those who begrudge even a dead man!  However, without hope, and if what hopeless people believe is true, this life is it; eternity is forever and forever exists without me! It's such a lonesome feeling even to think that it's about over for me,,,, FOREVER!  It's this profound thinking, even when I was a child, which pulled me toward belief is something else!

Those who read my commentary regularly understand that I'm convinced that "the other god besides me" from the First Commandment is ME. As such, my god, the one to which I'm always true, is in jeopardy. He will cease to exist! My idol, my own flesh, if fatalists are right, are destined to die very shortly and my god will be no more. He will just wander off in darkness and be as cosmic dust in the expanse. A dust with no thoughts nor feelings, with no love and not loved, and isolation from existence. I don't truly believe this, but it crosses my mind! I don't know if those thoughts are from God because they pulled me toward him; or from Satan who tries to pull my hope away. Either way, thoughts as these are profound. I'm not "scared to death" as the expression is, but "scared of death". There is a grain of doubt which is troubling, to say the least!

Thoughts like these are how atheists think. It's a wonder they can live, if hopelessness is actually living. For them their doctrine is that in a few cosmic moments it will be all over... FOREVER! I'm not an atheist, but those rare doubts really depress me! What if my faith is in vain?

When I was young, this thinking is what drew me to my faith. Life is not worth the living if not fed by hope. While even thoughts of "nothingness" is what drew me to God, the thoughts of hell were even more fatalistic. "What if DEATH lasts FOREVER?" I thought! What if after my breath ceases, my heart stops, but my mind goes on, that I will be alone FOREVER. Not only in total isolation, but in torment all the while! What if the hottest fire with nothing to ever quench my thirst is my eternal destiny? That thought brought me to my knees seeking to save ME! It wasn't because I loved Jesus that I sought him, but because I loved my own god that I wanted ME to live forever.

Truthfully, salvation was all about ME. However, because Jesus died for my sins in my place and it was painful, both physically and spiritually, I owe him a debt! I can repay him! The only thing in return that he wants is my god. He wants me to freely sacrifice ME! Because he offered me hope is why I am to love him! How can I do that? By doing his will and obeying his commands! It's an obligation to quit sinning, not that perfection is possible, but the willingness to try is a show of love!

Let's look at what Jesus did for ME! He didn't bow to my god nor even cater to it. He demanded that I give him my god. He didn't have to offer himself as a sacrifice, but because I was made in his image, he wanted to give me a chance. He was tempted, was persecuted, cried, ate, drank and loved; just as I, but unlike me, he never hated his creation nor did he ever sin! He was the perfect sacrifice for my imperfect god. My god had no power to save, but God is the Way to salvation!

Last night I had this vision. It is a vision of hope! In my mind's eye I saw and empty cross. Blood still dripped from it's branches. The blood flowed in a narrow stream and went off into the yonder beyond what I can see. It was a straight stream and flowed abundantly. I assumed that way out there over the horizon was the end of a rainbow. It arched over a bright kingdom. Light glowed at the end of that path and life was there. I could tell by the joy of what  I was thinking that it was a glorious place!

Between that rainbow and me stood that empty tree. No one hung from it because it's use was seerved. The blood had been shed there, but the Man who the mob lynched was long ago buried. Now he, as The Tree of Life stands beyond that rainbow. He is the Tree who bestows life!

That tree being empty has significance. It's not the "old rugged cross". It's what remains of a terrible day. It was a weak cross which merely stood there while a rugged man died for nothing he did, but what I did. It was my god who wronged him, but he sacrificed for my god! That tree represents an event which happened one time long ago and will never happen again! God died there one time for all my sins and everybody's. He died for the sins of all! That will never happen again! Jesus can only be crucified once no matter how many times other gods try!

The cross stood upright. It was a door to that path of blood along which is a trail of tears shed for ME and YOU! It's not us who taps on the tree, but the Ghost of Jesus stands there and knocks on that wood. We figurative answer that knock by bowing to whom we no longer see. It's not the cross we bow to; it's the emptiness there! We still see the blood and have a desire to follow that path to eternal life.

We look at the tree. It is empty, but one time God died there for ME! It stands straight. That towering piece of wood is the Way! No, the wood is just symbolic, but what happened there is real. It's what it symbolizes which is the Way!

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

This cross represents the gate to the kingdom of the Father. It's where God IS and this is a NEVERENDING Kingdom because the king IS, has always BEEN and always will BE there. That's who he IS! Because he suffered death for us and yet lives forever means that because of his mercy (because he understands us), we too can always BE. That's why I'm not fatalistic! It's because Jesus died for me, that I have hope!  Even eternity is all about ME, but it's by HIS mercy that it's more about Him!

This straightness of this upright tree represents the Way and it's being strait:

Matthew 7:14 "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

"Life" to which the way leads is eternal life. It's never having to die a second death. Just as God already does, we will live forever too, IF... IF we enter the strait gate! "Strait" is an archaic word meaning "a narrow passage". That passage is to believe in Jesus: who he is, why he is, what he did, who he did it for, why he did what he did, that he is the only one to provide hope, and that he still lives. It's not enough to believe that Jesus lived at one time; it is a profound belief that he is Truth! Jesus is the narrow passage. He is the strait gate and the straight cross is a reminder of what one must truly believe!

From there we look again at that trail of blood disappearing out of sight. That is the "way" which leads to eternal life. It's a narrow path, one of blood, but it's the only path which leads to that kingdom just over the hill and out of sight!  To get to the kingdom, which is what we hope to do, we must follow that narrow path. We can fall off if we're not careful because principalities battle us on our pilgrim journey to that kingdom. There are guardrails which hold us firm. They are firmly plqntd along the path in the cement of love.

Those guardrails are obedience. We follow the path, but are ever aware of what those ten posts mean. They are the method of demonstrating our love as we walk along the path. Jesus made the path we walk, but he's still there as well. To assist us on our journey, his Ghost walks with us. His job is to keep us on that path. His method are the guard rails each having warning signs. If we heed the warnings posted thereon, we maintain the path. Sometimes we ignore the warning and swerve some, but we do get credit for trying! We hit that rail hard, but the Ghost of Jesus takes our hand and pull us back onto the narrow path. He will never push us off the precipice, but we can fall if we aren't beware of invisible obstacles.

The only thing which matters to this pilgrim, walking that narrow path, is to get there. Trivial things aren't going to knock me off. Getting there is my hope. It's what keeps me joyful! It's what sheds light on the gloom.

I'm just not going to jeopardize my hope by hating, lying stealing, jealousy, irreverence or any of those Laws put there to keep me safe. In fact because I choose to follow the path with it's sign posts, is how I let God know that I love him! God's Laws are not chains which bind me, but  silver cords of love binding me to him!

As I sit here and write my thoughts in the early morning hours, it's hope that fuels my day! The fatal thinking of the night before is brightened now by the Light of hope. I can exist through the day because of Jesus. He is my hope. His Spirit still guides me along that trail of blood to eternal life where by his grace, I will never die! What I leave behind is a dead god. It's "the flesh" of me which died on the cross and my god died that day WHEN I sacrificed him to the one who was on the cross.

That god won't be with me in Paradise. He's not welcome! However, I will be glorified as I walk under that rainbow. Just as Noah got a new world promised by that symbol, I will get a new chance and new indestructible flesh. Just as the world would never die again by water, by water I will never die, because the old creation is destroyed in favor of a new creation which will never  taste death!

Always Another Reason

Acts 14:8 "And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways...

18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them."

In the city of Lystra Paul and Barnabas had conflicting welcomes. Neither was what they were after! To summarize, a deformed man had faith great enough to be healed, Paul commanded him to stand, but the man did even more! He leaped and walked! Perhaps that is where the expression "leap of faith" originates!

Paul was there to spread the gospel of Jesus.  As such, it was faith in Jesus which was the power to heal. In this case, as always, those with that great faith, are made whole. Not only did this man walk, but he became a new person because of faith in Jesus! Imagine if you will, this pitiful person whose legs were likely quite deformed and atrophied. He would seem to have little happiness in life. Because people are mean-spirited, it's likely that this man was ridiculed throughout life. He was likely a well-known beggar totally dependent on the generosity of others!

When this poor man leaped up and walked, the Gentiles around were astounded! Gentiles are people of reason, but Jews of miracles. Two races of people responded two totally different ways!

1 Corinthians 1:22 "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom..."

But here we have the Gentiles who believed in "a sign" (miracle), but in later verses,  (read the rest of the chapter), it was the Jews who, even with this great sign, still failed to believe!

The Gentiles, although recognizing the miracle, failed to recognize the source of the miracle. They looked for somebody of "flesh and blood" who could get the credit. Their gods were those of the Romans. They were merely powerful, but imaginary humans.

Mercury was the god of commerce whose function was to guide souls to the underworld, a place beneath the surface of the earth where the dead reside. And Barnabas was thought to be Jupiter, the god of the skies and the symbol of power. He was the chief Roman god. Those are gods of mythology. However, for the Gentiles, they were real, but false gods. People always look to the sky or to the earth for a reason for everything. They fail to consider God of everything and look to a pantheon of gods, each having their own purpose.

Most people today deny the gods of myth. However, at one time, they were worshiped instead of God. The Gentiles had "other gods before" God; or "in his face" if you prefer. Theirs were gods of flesh who they believed had great power. In this case, the power of regeneration. The Gentiles saw that the body was regenerated, but apparently missed the point of the miracle:

Just as the woman whose faith was great and touched Jesus robe, he said " thy faith hath made thee whole", this deformed man was re-formed, but his soul was regenerated. Wholeness is regeneration and that is salvation! The old creature depended on the earth on which he sat, but the new person, in a leap of faith saw regeneration in the sky!

Look at the difference. The Gentiles saw Mercury and looked toward the earth, and saw Jupiter and looked toward the sky, but the truth was in heaven, the kingdom of God! It was Mercury from whom the man leaped, but not to Jupiter as he leaped. It was to his Father in heaven!

Mythological gods were gods of the flesh. They're not unlike the gods most still worship today. The government is the economic God. Weak people depend on it to satisfy themselves! Mercury is the military god.  Again, it's the government on whose military might we depend to keep us safe. The armed forces are our Jupiter. These two government gods provide for us and protect us. We believe in the myth just as the Romans did! It's God who provides and protects! It's our own flesh that we beg for these things!

Romans 8:11 "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

By faith the crippled man looked to the spirit for healing. As such he was "raised up" not only from the ground, but from death as well, in congruence with Jesus' resurrection. The man's virtually dead body was restored and at the same time he became a new creation! This is symbolic of Jesus Christ when he was resurrected and glorified!   The Gentiles looked to the flesh (gods) for an explanation and there they stood: Barnabas and Paul, but the healed man looked well beyond that; he looked to the One True God. His faith was in Jesus!

You see it was "wisdom" the Gentiles used even when looking at the sign. They saw the miracle, but looked for an explanation that they understood. They turned to Barnabas and Paul who stood there. That made sense, but to heal, they must be gods!  It was the flesh toward which the Gentiles looked. Only that made sense to them in their wisdom. They still failed to understand what Jesus is all about. It's not the things of the flesh, but of the Spirit.

People still turn to the flesh for regeneration. Some believe that their self can save them, science will someday prevent death, or that somehow those in power can save. In the meantime, people turn to the government for answers and to provide: Mercury and Jupiter. They look to the flesh, but the meek turn to God! It is vanity to have faith in the flesh. It has no power to save us from anything! The truly wise will humble themselves by laying flat on their face in the presence of even the powerful and let God lift them up just as the crippled man did!

James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

The crippled man was born that way. We are born that way too! He was born a cripple and a sinner. That's who he was. We are born crippled as well. We are all born in sin! It was meekness through faith which restored him and made him a new person. If we humble our "self" we can be restored just as he was!

What was the deformed man? Humble! Who lifted him up? The Lord! So simple yet the wise entirely missed the point. When people are healed, they thank the doctor, but in actuality, it's the power is in the Lord! You see, we still look for healing from the world and hope from the sky, but Jesus is our only hope! To understand that is wisdom because the flesh has not the power to save!

Social Values

It's election time. That's important! While no government is ideal, some are better than others. What distinguishes the difference is our ability to worship or not to worship. Yes, even the freedom "not to worship" is imperative because tyrannical governments require worship. A noted example is the end-of-time one world government, wherein the leader proclaims himself "God" and demands worship. Therefore, there is a distinct link between government and religion, and it's the government which infringes!

Is democracy the best? To be honest, it works well where the government is based on Natural Law, but fails to work at all under some religions. In America it has worked fairly well because of Judeo-Christian values. Liberals, in years past, founded a government based upon those values, but now they are the ones who frown upon what they created. In other words, liberalism itself has changed! When this nation was founded liberalism was in opposition to the strict adherence to repressive religious institutions wherein the citizens were not only required to worship, but were told in which church to worship. What I'm referring to is the church of the Holy Roman Empire, and in America, the state sponsored established churches in nearly all the colonies.

Islam and democracy is a recipe for failure, for instance, because Islam has its own Sharia Law, in opposition to democracy. It reverts back to what most people had in repressive times under dictatorial monarchies. As such Islam does work in kingdoms. Monarchs can maintain order through the power of coerced religious practices and the inherent abuses. In those societies where people are forced to obey through threats of death, Islam fits into that scheme. Strangely, the very ideology that freed western society from the abuses of established religion, the liberals, are the very ones who have connected with those of the Islam faith. It's assisted by the Roman Catholic Church doctrine of "liberation theology" which has been copied in the mainstream progressive "protestant" churches which at one time were liberal in their freedom to worship.

Liberalism has imposed upon civil institutions political thoughts, one called "economic" issues and the other "social issues". Strangely enough liberation theology is propagated under the economic because it is tied to "income redistribution". It rightfully belongs under "social issues" because it's concepts are how humans treat other humans.

"Liberation Theology" is based on the tenet of "social justice". It's focus is on lifting the poor out of poverty as a manifestation of love taught in the New Testament. Of c ourse charity is a Christian concept, but the word itself implies love and sacrifice. The problem with liberation theology is that rather than a personal choice it becomes a government mandate. Hence, religion is in league with godless Marxism.

Liberation theology was developed in poor Latin American countries where dictatorial regimes were unfair in their treatment of mankind; one more reason to have this under "social issues" rather than economic. Liberation theology is not a good fit for democracies. Poverty is a "social issue" and democracies should have an umbrella to cover those who have legitimate causes of failure. The aged, infirmed, widows and orphans fit well into those who deserve economic assistance.

With that background, let me say one thing: Americans are being deceived. Those non-economic issues are not "social issues" they are "moral issues"! Morality implies that there are standards for right and wrong and in the west, those standards are from Natural Law. That's the laws of civilized nations originating throughout the ages by civilized people. Although, Greek philosophy, Roman republicanism and the Magna Charta had a large input into Natural Law, so did Judeo-Christian religions, and to be honest, even Zoroastrianism, which was at least, "a fair religion"!

Liberals who once were proponents of Natural Law, are now the prime opponents of it because of the degree to which Judeo-Christian values are entwined with Natural Law, specifically, the Ten Commandments. Much of what regulates our society is based on the influence of who are founders referred to as "Providence", or God. Liberals don't like that link between government and religion, and as such, they have developed a new state religion! I know what you're thinking: "Tell me! I'm not aware of any state religion." That's part of the deception!

"Atheism" is a religion. The difference is that it has no supreme deity. Each person is their own god. These gods aren't bad in  their belief because it's good that they help one another. They just help because of their responsibility because their human. God has no part in their charity. Most belief that government should be the benefactor. Hence, the established religion in the United States, and indeed western society, is "secular humanism". It's the concept of being"good" without recognizing the "goodness" of God. As such liberation theology practices are atheistic in the guise of Christianity!

Poverty is a bad thing! It's a result of man's disobedience to God. It's not of God, but is of Satan. (Genesis 3:17-19). Although Jesus taught charity as an activity of love, he didn't come to save mankind from poverty! His miracles were few which addressed poverty, but most made men "whole". He healed those who were physically sick and spiritually ill. His purpose was not to remove hunger from the stomach, but destitution from the soul! His own words were "For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always." (Matthew 26:11). Jesus could have wiped out poverty with one more miracle, but poverty is divine justice due to disobedience. It's not a "good" thing,  but it is just!

Therefore, "social justice" is not to be the primary tenet of the church. The church's role is to have souls redeemed. The focus is on the spirit, not the flesh. As such it's not "social values" which are preeminent, but "moral issues". For Christians and Jews, moral issues are "rights and wrongs" which are part of Natural Law handed down to Americans through divine Providence. God's role in American values are a problem for liberals. To remove the focus from the divine dictated "moral values"; so they call them "social values".

It didn't start with Bill Clinton, but he campaigned on "It's the economy, stupid!" The implication is that nothing else matters, but the wealth of the nation; the reduction of poverty. Americans were acclimated to this notion by previous progressives such as Franklin Roosevelt. However, the very notion of economy over morality is a concept as old as mankind! I'm not going to elaborate, but what Adam and Eve did back in the Garden (Genesis 3), which caused poverty, was placing economy over morality. You need to think about this yourself, but God gave one commandment: it was the establishment of right and wrong (morality), but Adam and Eve chose economy. Rather than going with God, they sought to meet their own needs (and wants).

Much later God made a deal with Abraham. This deal was this: "Honor me by doing my will and I will make you prosper!" (Genesis 15). (Because Abraham was righteous, God made him prosperous). The righteousness came before prosperity. Prosperity before obedience leads to neglect of God. What I'm saying is "It's not the economy, stupid! It's placing God first and foremost!"

Liberals have taken poverty from the "social issues" column and placed it under "economic issues". Of course it doesn't belong there, but making "equality of outcomes" a "constitutional right", that's where liberals have misplaced it. In that manner people can vote for candidates who have conservative economic values and not worry about social issues. (However, we all know that there is a liberal cost to liberal socials issues!) Now, let's call a "spade" a "spade". There are "moral issues" which have the misnomer "social issues" and I have established that these "moral issues" are based on God's values! What are some of them?

• The sanctity of all human life.
• The sanctity of holy matrimony between one man and one woman.
• The freedom to worship anywhere however one wants.
• Allegiance to God over government.
• To do the dictates of the heart.
• The freedom to speak anywhere about spiritual values.
• The freedom to privacy in worship.
• For the government to not establish a religion (secular humanism for instance).
• The expectation of a civil society without hedonism, drug abuse and lasciviousness (pornography for instance).
• The right to honor God in all aspects of life including furthering Judeo-Christian morality as a means to a civilized society.

These ideals are being "righteous". Citizens have a reasonable expectation that our society be civilized. Natural Law is a long-established good model and it does include Judeo-Christian principles. Where society is now belongs to the ideology of "socialism". That's the doctrine of liberals, now referred to as "progressives', but in reality are "socialists", even Marxists. Saying "Christian Socialism" or "Democratic Socialism" are both oxymorons because that cannot be! Any Christianity that ever was in socialism was long ago minimized, as indicated by Karl Marx himself!

Christianity is all about "freedom". That's why there is a great, but imperfect match, with this democratic republic! God never "forces" faith. It's always a choice. One of our rights is that same freedom. It's constitutionally protected. Liberalism has eroded our religious freedoms and it's all done by deception. Part of that deception is demagoguery. Lemons are called lemonade. "Moral Issues" are called "Social Issues",  and as such "It's the economy, stupid!" and any morality is beside the point!

Has that happened before? Who promised a chicken in every pot and delivered on his promise. Who was it that had horrible "moral issues", but great "economic issues"? Who was the first to espouse "It's the economy, stupid!" and the people fell for it? Roosevelt? No, it was Adolph Hitler under socialism, which liberals deny he was! Well, how about their "for sure liberal", Joseph Stalin, who was a Soviet Socialist. You can't clean up evil enough for it to cease being evil. It's only that evil becomes acceptable as the new norm!

The end-of-times is near when people accept evil as the norm. Liberalism fosters that notion. Not on purpose, but because they are deceived. They are "good" people in a humanistic sense with good motives, but without Christ in whom only "good" resides, they are mere pawns of evil!

A Dying Church

Note: For the video version see link The Dying Church

I've have a real burden: churches are dying because Christians can't get along! It's because a war is being waged. Rather than being Christlike, Christians are being just like their former selves!

It's not the fault of sinners. It's our fault! We set the example for the unsaved in church, but why in the world would a sinner want to be like us? We can't even get along and love each other with the love of Jesus. How could sinners expect that we could even love them?

I had a Christian friend who had at one time been in the mafia. He was a former drug pusher and user. This new Christian told me the sad truth: his mafia family treated him better than his church family! That's despicable, but that's why the church is dying!

Sinners SHOULD ask "What can Jesus do for me?' and be on solid ground. However, Christians who ask that are selfish!  Ask yourself "What can I do for Jesus?' What is the answer? You can try serving him. You can trying respecting him. You can try being obedient to him and you can even try loving him! While you're at it you can just maybe try out that new suit you have been given! Try loving others!

The church is dying because Christians are not in one accord! We are in discord! Sound out those two words: DIIIIIIISSSSSSCOOOOOORD. It even sounds mean! Then try ACCOOOOOOOOORD. See the difference? Accord is positive sounding and being cordial is positive. Watch out though; there is more to love than being cordial.

Europe was at one time the hotbed for Christianity. Now it's about 20% in England who even claim to be Christians and it's possible many of those are mistaken. Are we mistaken too? Would sinners in the world buy into our claim that we are Christians? Do you hurt for them as Jesus hurt for you?

You're killing the church. The grounds around the church building are killing fields. Why? The Holy Spirit is dead! Not dead himself, but he's not saying much. It's happened before... it can happen again!

Let me explain. The Holy Ghost got tired of messing around with unloving people. (The Jews). This is how it happened:

Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6a And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers..."

Things will change when Elijah comes. In other words, the Holy Spirit will be silent until the right time comes!

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. This was the last inspired word which God gave to the Jews. It was 400 years before God spoke again! The "Elijah" of whom Malachi spoke was John the Baptist. Now let's look at John the Baptist:

Luke 1:13 "But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb."

You can see here that the Holy Ghost awoke from his silence. He was with John the Baptist in the womb of his mother.

John wasn't Elijah (John 1:19-21), but he was a type of Elijah, having the same spirit as Elijah:

Matthew 11:13 “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come."

Prophecy was the word of God delivered by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. All prophecy was inspired. After Malachi there was no inspiration for prophecy until John came.

Between Malachi and Matthew's writings the Holy Spirit remained silent. When John came in the same Spirit as Elijah, the Holy Spirit began to work again; and when Jesus was born, he came with fire!

The Holy Spirit is alive today in some churches. They are few! The Holy Spirit remains silent in most churches for two reasons: 1) Either the church is a false church, or 2) the people are not in one accord!

First let's look at false churches. They don't even know that they're false!

There are many which don't really believe in Jesus because their faith is NOT in him! They are mere socials clubs. I once wrote this in Facebook about churches:

The church is a place of love; not a meeting place for lunch, not a runway for modeling, not a consortium for gossipers, not a trestle to harbor ill feelings, not a pedestal to snub, not a concert to rock, and not a bench to judge! It's a sanctuary from all those things. It's where fellowship should be. It's where love blossoms for God and others! It's where God is magnified and we do that by loving. Thank you Lord for at least some peace in your house! (Larry Herrin, Facebook; Sep 21, 2015).

True churches are a house for love! It's where disciples come to love Jesus! I only know of one way to do that! Since we can't seem to get our arms around Jesus, although he IS here in Spirit, we can, so to speak, get our arms around others! The true church loves Jesus! It never undermines what Jesus says or distort his word. Some modern churches don't believe Jesus lives, they don't believe the Bible is the word of God and they don't even believe in hell!  What then is it that Jesus saves us from? Without hell, Jesus' death served no purpose because he didn't save us from anything!

In many churches God's will is a menu where we select behaviors. Christians can "order" their belief just like in a fast food restaurant! You don't want to get married? Well then just live together; God is a tolerant God. Anger is okay! God will turn his head from anger; he'll forgive you! Guess what? You can't be serious when you pray this way: "God forgive me for what I'm about to do!" It's silly to ask God to forgive you for being unwilling to give up what you love to do!

There's a mantra which is popular today: "I will never change for anybody!" That's a snub to God. What is it that God wants you to do most? CHANGE for him! But you... you hang on to you! You are "true to self" as they say. You DO what YOU WANT TO DO! Christians have that attitude too! That new creation they're supposed to be is sometimes there on Sunday, but disappears when the fun starts!

God "as you understand him" is half blind and stupid. Your God is one who fails to see what you do when you're away from others. Silly sinners keep sin secrets from God! How silly!

Luke 8:17 "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad."

What you do in secret is displayed on a wide screen TV screen right in front of God. Our Daddy up above sees everything in high definition and his reception is good!   We all know what secrets we have, but somehow delude ourselves that it's manifested. Even our thoughts are displayed on wide screen. Face it: what goes through our minds would make people SCREAM, but God sees it!

What is it that we do which is such a horror show? We hate! At times we all hate people for some reason! Not all people, but some!

Now look at what I see in churches! It's a house of SELF worship. Let me comment from my Facebook post:

• Church becomes a social club where we meet to chat and meet for lunch. Rather than the sermon about Jesus, we plan where we're going to eat to satisfy ourselves! Not only that, but we decide who we're going to eat with! It's people we like, and people who we want to like us! 
• Some folks dress for church like their going to a fancy Broadway play. When overly concerned about apparel, it takes the focus off Jesus and puts it on YOU. Church becomes all about YOU. It's YOU that you're worshiping! What's more your flesh is YOUR idol. You paint it, hang gold from it, tattoo and pierce it, and make it smell good. You can't have a plain old idol. Yours must be beautiful and have a good smell so people will affirm it! Dressing fit to kill is immodesty. Being extravagant is being vain. It's SELF-centered and God wants us to be Jesus centered!
• We gossip about others! So you don't think so? I hear you and God does too. What you say and think about your fellow Christians, is good soap opera stuff. It also appears on God's TV! We gossip because we're jealous of other people. Their god gets more recognition than ours! We must belittle it!
• Church is a place whereGRUDGES are held. You remember every snub and comment about those from years back. Those folks you are to LOVE? Well, you resent some of them and you know it! Even though Jesus FORGETS what you do, heaven forbid if you FORGET what others do!
• Grudges are caused by something. True, some Christians have wronged you as you have wronged others. You condemn them for the very things you have DONE yourself, but your god, yourself, can't smell it's own foul smell. You expected Jesus to forgive you, but then you won't forgive others! I know... you say you do, but your attitude reveals that you lie! If you forgive, then you are to love them. If you still hold a grudge, you haven't really forgiven! In fact you don't love someone, what is it you have? Is it HATE? What does God say about hate?

1 John 3:15 "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

You hate me? Yes, some of you do! I can tell by your attitude. If not me, there are people you hate. If you do, then you are a murderer! It's as bad as killing, yet you are a killer and don't even feel bad about it! Someday, you will be judged! There will be no reward! Don't try hiding behind eternal security. That's a gamble! We are to love others because God commands it! If we don't want to follow Jesus, who is it we're following? Your own SELF! You're doing what YOU want to do!

Now onto the second point as to why your church is dead. Your church is dead because of YOU! It's dead because of others! You all make it a dying church. Why? Because you are not of one accord!!!!

 Acts 2:1 "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,"

Those folks were having church! Unlike our fashion shows and social clubs, they were there for a reason. It was to get a little Jesus!  They weren't gossiping, holding grudges, hating and feeling hate and resentment. They were focused! They loved each other! They put differences aside because things we don't like about other people are silly diversions to keep our eyes off Jesus. The devil laughs at us when we hold grudges or even think that we're better or smarter than other people. Heaven forbid if we had a meal with a lower social class person, let alone an ugly person!

You see your standard of comparison is the standards of your own god.  Who's your god? YOU! If others aren't just like you, then something is wrong with them. Critical Christians look at the outside and at possessions. Those other gods aren't attractive as ME and aren't dressed as well either. In fact those rival gods are just people... ugly people, but well... I'm ME! James made the playing field level! God is not a respecter of persons yet we are!

James 2:1 "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?"

You're NOT special. The popular people areNOT special. The beautiful people are NOT special! Yet I watch some who strut the aisles at church as if they are royalty! They worship their own SELF and they want you to do that too!

The key to being of one accord is LOVE. Without love the Holy Spirit remains silent in your church! When people are at odds in God's house I can literally sense the discord! Guess what" The Holy Ghost stays silent that day! I know when there is discord. I don't listen to rumors or gossip; I just look at the empty pews and empty altars. No one wants to attend church where hate exists!

Church is a sanctuary where we should be safe from hate! Yes, hate kills! Sometimes when I'm with a brother who hates me, I'm spiritually dead. There is no joy! The Holy Ghost remains silent and we all go home feeling that something is amiss. He was! The Spirit if Jesus stayed away. If he was inside anyone, he was napping. Likely other little gods were blocking his view or maybe he didn't want to be where people were resentful, unforgiving and unloving. If I was Jesus I'd stay away from that chaos. Sometimes even I want to hide out away from all the discord!

Anywhere in Acts before the Holy Ghost came, there was always unity. It is said "They were all of one accord!" If one of you is out of harmony with others, you're out of God's will. The Holy Ghost sees fit to just stay silent and it's because if YOU! You are SELF-centered and Jesus is jealous of your god. Those out of accord are just a bunch of egomaniacs each worshiping their own little god!

What is it we must do? I need to change! YOU need to change! If we're a new creation, why don't we do NEW things? The old creature did whatever it was that he wanted to do. The new creation does what God wants him to do. It's not "God as we understand him." It's "God as we stand under him!"

Loving each other is NOT optional. We're commanded to love one another. We do that because we SAY that we love Jesus. When I hear the gossip, it's not love I feel. When people bear grudges, it's not love I feel. When people don't truly forgive, it's not love I feel! It's DISCORD! We are too busy being our own gods to love people. It's all about US! It's all about YOU! It's all about ME! New persons are all about God! If you're a new person, why can't others sense it?

The church numbers dwindle, but you don't care! It's easier to be of one accord when enemies are gone! It's easier to love those you don't hate. How disgusting we must be to God! We can't even get along for an hour with those we expect to spend ETERNITY with. Jesus weeps! His creation is pitiful. He showed his love by dying for WORMS like us, but then we act as if we are the ones who DESERVE everything! We can't offend our little god, can we?

What do we need to do? One word will suffice: CHANGE! We topple the god of SELF!