KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

 

On Fornication and Adultery

 

In general, we have been taught that fornication is illicit sexual activity — coitus — between a man and a woman who are not married, and that adultery is a coupling between those of whom one or the other is married. That does pertain to many people but not to all, perhaps some require no mate at all!

So where should we look? Scripture uses those terms in the English, so to better understand the English version of those two sins, we should look at scripture.

First off, most people know what sin is since the conscience tells most  people what sin is. The body reveals sin by guilt.

The conscience is a faculty of the body. Whether people are born with a conscious, or not, is ambiguous. Perhaps the conscious is a faculty of the soul that cannot be seen as well. Just as the will is a faculty of the mind within the brain, the conscious is the protector of the soul just as the human will is the protector of the body.

Psychology — the subjective “study of the soul” — has tested the function of the brain. As it turns out, they believe that the left side of the brain is the decision-making, or judgment, half of the brain; and that the right side is the performance side of the brain.

(I believe that the human nervous system is a type of “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” and that Adam and Eve, knowing only goodness, had never had to judge their thoughts and actions before the “first decision” — to eat or not, or to obey God or not.)

Whatever “fruit” they ate, made their minds lose its sobriety as Peter pointed out, “Be sober; be vigilant, because your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8). That was the devil’s plan for Job and the plan he had for Adam and Eve. The latter too died, so in a sense, the Devil (the “Image”) would have devoured Adam and Eve if God had not intervened and put onto them a “Comforter” to withstand the wiles and “fiery darts” of the “Serpent.”

With the first wrong decision, mankind became “drunken,” in a sense. They were overwhelmed by new knowledge and sought to use it!

Eve demonstrated it first: she said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord…” (Gen 4:1), not the LORD GOD, but just “lord.” She had become the “god” because God Himself had got the first man, Adam, but somehow, she had gotten the second man, Cain.

Perhaps sin caused the left brain to acquire judgment so that God could be fair to mankind, and right then free will and persuasion was the way to salvation, and it provided by the grace of God. Judgment, as everything else, is of God, and free will is a free gift for their protection.

Although everyone is “shapen in inquity” (Psalm 51:5), according to King David, everyone is also shaped with a free will. Paul wrote about the exercise of free will, “And he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath and persuaded the Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4) to become Christians.

What must a man do to be saved? Trust God for salvation! That’s it. It is not physical work, but absence of work; trusting God rather than yourselves so that you are not the “Savior” (God).

Eve began to trust herself before God, and as such, became the “god.” She was no longer “sober” in the sense that she was deceived and had wrong thoughts. Most people today are “drunk,” thinking that their own minds are supreme to God, and as such, have no vigilance against impending danger.

Now back to the difference between fornication and adultery. The Old Testament uses “fornication” (zana) as a relationship gone sour between man, or peoples, and God. Zana is best described as “to follow a paramour” in a more general sense. When Eve got for Adam a man, her “lord” was no longer God but her lord, Lucifer. (Plan “A” of Lucifer’s conspiracy was in place; Isa 14:12-14).

Thus, a “paramour” is another god or another person. Eve, ignoring even Lucifer, had herself become the god. It was her own flesh that provided Cain and even Lucifer was not “god,” but just her new lord, or master.

Her flesh had become the image rather than the image of Lucifer, not a snake by any means, but a cunning alien “beast” from another realm who appeared to her as real in a worldly sense.

In other words, the “Serpent” was an inner personality who I believe was Lilith, the “screech owl” within (Isa 34:14). The cunning beast called the “Serpent” was inside of her and since that time, mankind, since she is the “mother of all living,” may have had their left brain impeded. Their judgment became as faulty as Eve and that cunningness is perhaps transmitted in the mitochondrial DNA that only women can pass down.

Sin, therefore is “coming short of the glory of god,” and failing to perform to the image of God in which mankind was created. Sin, therefore is genetic and the consequence is that people have the animal nature within. Foremost, the call to breed is eminent in beasts, also the desire to exist given the threat of extinction. Thus, pride is the nature of not only self-preservation, but self-estimation; that we deserve to live for pleasure. Some say, “Learn to love myself.” That is our problem!

Therefore, the nature of the beast is within mankind. Lucifer had Eve, now because we all are of Eve, we must have flesh as well. Because of that first sin (original sin) our natures are to follow our paramours.

So, what are paramours? It is our flesh; it is that which must be cut-off (Gen 17:11). It was circumcision of the foreskin in pre-Christian times, but now all the flesh must be cut-off; those “who walk not after the flesh” Rom 8:4).

Before Christ, who was the “god” of sinners? Themselves; their gods are their fleshes, and Eve’s new “lord” was her own flesh — the image of Lucifer. She, by fornication had made for Adam another “man” but Cain came short of the glorious image in which Adam was made.

His nature was that of the old creature, Lucifer, whose cunning image was inside. Eve apparently conned Adam that Cain was his, even though he knew that Eve had consummated an affair with the “Beast” that was alien to the “Garden of Goodness.”

Our flesh is the god, and it must be appeased! The world appeases the flesh, all that is in the world is “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). That is the nature within everyone that was inherited from Eve’s close encounter with that alien being!

So, fornication is both of the spirit and the flesh. Even for “the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41), according to Jesus.

People think of their flesh as strong. Some women even wear tee-shirts that expresses the power of women. Not so; the flesh is weak but out of pride, women think they are strong!

Eve thought that when she believed that she had made a man. She had developed pride and no longer was Adam and Eve one flesh but two. Lucifer had divided man and woman from one gen of man to two gens, and thereafter man and woman would be the creators and have the instinctual drive to pro-create… not really to reproduce but to pleasure. Hence, following the paramour is defection from God, even for those who once, like Adam and Eve, had affection for God.

Hence, fornication is apostasy (apostasia; Heb 6:6) — falling away from God — into the arms of another. The closest arms are yourselves and “he (or she) that commits fornication sins against his (or her) own body” (1 Cor 6:18).

That says so much; it means that our body is our own god and by following the paramour it is even defection from yourself; that you abandon your spirit-filled soul for the love of yourself.

The word, “fornication” of which Paul wrote is “porneia” in the Greek. “Pornography” is basically images of prostitutes, or literally to “indulge unlawful lust” (Strong’s Dictionary). So, fornication is not so much coupling, but to lust after the flesh, even of images as it turns out.

In general, therefore, pornography in general is fornication. “Whosover looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart,” meaning his nature, having a willingness to follow the paramour. Hence, fornication would be the lust for the flesh of another, but adultery would be to perform that lustful thought.

Theologians make fornication as things men do and adultery as what a partner does against his or her mate, but pornography in general applies more to fornication and the performance of coitus (sexual intercourse), or even the self-pleasuring of any sort, as adultery because adultery seems to be the satisfying of the flesh whereas fornication is the satisfaction of the mind.

With that said, adultery includes lascivious thoughts because the person thinks what he or she would like to do; they have virtual sexual intercourse within their minds… that is virtual adultery and fornication is the cause. Hence, fornication is the cause and adultery the affect.

Jimmy Carter was made a fool by the public because he said that he had committed adultery in his heart. What he meant by that is that he was tempted and had virtual sexual intercourse with women other than his wife.

James wrote, “¹⁴ Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (Jas 1:14-15). Therefore, fornication is the pursuit of pleasure — to follow the paramour — and adultery the desire conceived; the performance of the act of the flesh in the heart, or the will of the person.

The “warning” is vigilance — to refrain from temptation because temptation leads to conception, or the actual act.

Why drugs or alcohol? They inebriate and remove inhibitions. The left brain does not perform its duties, and insobriety is the judgment free zone much like Planet Fitness where you can be anything you want to be without repercussions or even judgment. Others may not judge you but God will soon judge everybody!

Now, admit it… everyone has fornicated because everyone has followed the desires of the flesh. Likewise, everyone, according to James and others, have committed adultery, vicariously, and that is coming short of the glory of God who made us. Who made us not by coitus but by Thought from His Supreme Mind.

Dad, at eighty years of age, told me that, that nature does not go away on its own. He had the urge until he died, and knowing so, he was a righteous man. However, dad would not even hug a woman to refrain from temptation. As such, he may have fornicated but never conceived, or consummated, the fornication. We still come short of the glory of God and Christians still sin, but by grace, God credits us for avoiding trespassing into territory that should be avoided.

What was the first sin in reality? Was it eating the fruit or was it entering the space where the image of Lucifer appeared? If Eve had not gone there, neither she nor Adam would have sinned. She sinned by fornication and Adam sinned because he listened to the delusion of Eve. Eve did not even need to touch the Tree (with Lucifer within it) because sin was conceived when she went there, and that may have been the first occasion of sexual knowledge because God had theretofore multiplied only in Spirit, and so had Adam when the Spirit in him was breathed unto Eve. They exchanged flesh by a sort of spiritual “cloning” rather than by pleasuring.

Remembering that fornication is the pursuit of pornography, therefore, when viewing habits of even first-run movies include sexual scenes, then we go where we should not go, just as Eve. Watching performances laced with sex or much exposed skin is fornication, as God might define it. Watching any of the shades of gray may be the trespass that conceives the sin of adultery in our minds. They are not gray but darkness!

We might all deny it, but we all fornicate sometime during the day. You too were shaped in iniquity just like David who fornicated with Bathsheba as he watched the “porno show” and the sin of adultery was conceived in his heart.

David was not immune from natural desires, and neither are you and me. David had no business on the roof watching and Bathsheba for showing. David desired her beauty and she revealed it to David. Oftentimes, we focus on the sin of David but miss the sin of Bathsheba — knowing the possibility that others, even David, might get a glimpse of her beautiful flesh.

So, the prayer to forgive us our trespasses means to forgive our going where we should not goal Rather than sin, Eve should have asked God to forgive her trespassing and there would have been no sin. Going, even virtually (pornography) is trespassing where we should not go. Pornography is not just in the media but in the flesh everywhere in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANCE OF CORNERSTONE

 

 

THE CORNERSTONE

Larry R. Herrin

 

Jesus is the stone that the builders rejected, according to scripture, “The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner…” (Mark 12:10).

The Jews rejected Jesus, and as such rejected the “Cornerstone” to the Christian Church. That New Testament saying came from King David, and both the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste’” (Isa 28:16).

The cornerstone was laid in Zion. We think of Jesus as the “Cornerstone” for making a new creature, but “Zion” has much significance. Zion was the stronghold of David in his city (2 Sam 5:7).

The Herodian Tower in the City of David was long before that the Tower of David where the Citadel was located since ancient times. The Tower of David may have been the structure that was built from the cornerstone of Psalm 118:22.

The Jews rebuilt the Citadel there long after Jesus but not with Jesus as the “Cornerstone” but perhaps Herod who fulfills the prophecies. That is for the building, but Jesus, as the Messiah, was the intended “Cornerstone” that the Jews rejected.

Now for some information on cornerstones in general. Often public buildings have cornerstones such as the one in the picture below (figure #2) that is part of the structure of the South Dakota Courthouse. A Cornerstone makes a structure true to design intent. Even homes have a type of “cornerstone” which is the first corner laid for the foundation. All overall measurements are taken from the truest, and usually the first corner laid on a building.

 

 Figure 1: The Foundation Stone; Wikipedia

 

 

Why would a technician — carpenter, mason, or roofer — do that? When using any type of instrumentation, there is “measurement error” either due to the instrument, the process, or the technician.

Let’s say that a home in process is to be three rooms wide. If measuring from the corner to room one, then from room two to room three; that introduces up to three times the measurement error compared to one error if the technician always measures back to the corner. So, to get a true structure requires a corner reference.

In buildings, the reference is the corner stone whether it is wood, brick, composites, or stone. Cornerstones are used to make the structure as perfect as can be.

Cornerstones are used, not just for one dimension but three dimensions. Cornerstones are “datums” from which data is used.  The data are the measurements in all directions back to the one datum.

 

Figure 2: State House Cornerstone

 Not only do builders use datums but so does the designer who dimensions to locations referenced to the datum.

Datums are now used in making tools, machines, parts, and other products because the consumers do not want to buy sloppily built junk! Datums prevent low-quality produce because datums prevent error accumulation.

A common and simple datum block is shown in figure #3.

Figure 3: Datum Block; Enventive

The simplest of datum blocks are just a flat block with a top flat surface and two orthogonal edges that are exactly at right angles to each other. A datum such as that allows true measurements from three surfaces A, B, and C in the figure.

However, datums can have one flat surface with one hole that will suffice for two directional measurements. Vertical dimensions in such a scheme can be measured from the true flat surface of the block (surface “A”). Rather than using edges B and C, the hole could be the corner datum for measuring width and length.

Surely, the Tower of David (Zion) used a plain block as was the custom. However, that doesn’t work so well for circular structures. A hole works much better for spherical coordinates, so to the corner stone is added a hole for complex structures.

God — Jesus Himself (John 1-14) — was the “Technician” that built the cosmos (Greek; kosmos). Jesus was not only a “carpenter” but a mason, an astrophysicist,  astronomer, and such; scripture uses the Greek word, “Tekton” rather than a mere “carpenter.” Jesus knows all things and is a skilled craftsman in all the professions. He made all things, by Him all things were made! Said John.

How did Jesus do that? Knowledgeably and professionally. The photo in figure #1 is the “Foundation Stone” which lies beneath the present-day Dome of the Rock. Compare the Foundation Stone in figure #1 to the datum block in figure #3. Neglecting the chipped off edges that many generations of builders removed, essentially, the Foundation Stone is the datum of not only the world, but the cosmic universe, and even Adam himself.

Jewish philosophers and theologians believe that the Foundation Stone is the “celestial axis” of the universe, as well as the “navel of the world.” They also believe that that stone is the very one on which Adam was created, so it may represent the datum of Adam’s kind (us) as well!

Because it is the celestial axis, it is the datum — the corner stone — from which all things in the perfect universe were measured by the “Technician” Jesus!

Because it is the navel of the world, and Adam means “ground,” then it is both Adam’s navel and the navel of the world.

Because the cosmos was measured from that stone, if that is true, would mean the universe is true to God’s measurement and that all those bodies in space were placed exactly where God wanted them to be for mankind.

The Foundation Stone has a hole just like the datum block. Archeologists have no idea how it was drilled or for what reason. It makes sense that the Foundation Stone is the cornerstone of Zion and by now, Zion includes all of Jerusalem which is in the “midst of the Garden” of Eden (Gen 2:9). That hole was cut in rock by God, most certainly, to be the cornerstone from which He measured the universe.

Isaiah comes to the rescue of archeologists again, Speaking of God he asked,  “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?” (Isa 40:12).

Who? God! Who was his Tekton that did that? Jesus. The Father was the Intelligent Designer and Jesus the Builder whose corner building stone the builders reject.

Jesus constructed the universe and life from that “cornerstone.” If Jesus can generate all things from that stone, He can regenerate all things, again without error, and with true measurements!

If Jesus can make all things, according to John, what would hinder him from making a new you, a new Jerusalem, a new heaven, and a new Earth? He did it once and He can do it again!

The invisible Church is a true structure, to wit: 

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 2:5) 

¹⁹ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; ²⁰ And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; ²¹ In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: ²² In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephes 2:19-22)

 The second Temple of God never got finished as the grandeur of Solomon’s Temple was never achieved.

Then Herod, to placate the Jews, built a grand temple atop the foundation of the first. Josephus said that Herod’s workers used the original foundation to build a Temple for the Jews.

Herod may have thought that his temple was tried and true but it was not built on a solid and true foundation. Herod’s Temple was essentially for Moses because he left out the chief Stone” — Jesus the “Cornerstone” and in 70 A.D. the sicarii, the seditious, and the thieves banded together and destroyed Herod’s Temple. (The Roman general, Titus, tried to stop the destruction).

As Jesus was glorified in death, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent…” (Mat 27:51), and then the Church was released from the rubble (Mat 27:52).

Jesus initiated the destruction of the Temple. His Holy Ghost tore the curtain from the Holy of Holies, and quaked the foundation so that the Temple would fall down. Then the Jews just followed suit in 69 and 70 A.D.

Jesus forewarned of impending doom for Israel and their Temple:

¹ And as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples saith unto Him, “Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” ² And Jesus answering said unto him, “Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1-2)

 Jesus was the Cornerstone of the Temple. When He died the Cornerstone gave way and the earth quaked. The material Temple began to fall, and in 70 A.D., Titus finished it off, leaving only the Citadel that was on the foundation that David built.

But a new temple was in the making. Immediately the Gentiles took the “Stone” that the builders rejected and built an invisible Church that will never perish because it is made up of Christians as the lively stones in the pillars that hold the Church up.

Jesus said to Peter about Himself, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat 16:18).

Ironically, the Stone for the Church is Jesus, but Peter may be buried beneath the Roman Church in St. Peter’s Basilica. That place is not the true Church; Peter may be its “cornerstone” but not the Cornerstone of the living Church.

The building is not the Church. The Church has structure, and its foundation was the prophets and apostles, both set to the Cornerstone, Jesus. Christians are the spiritual substances of the pillars, and the “roof” is the heavens whereto the Cross points.

So, “Cornerstone” is more than a building or an assembly; it is the tried and true “Foundation” and built in Jesus.

 

 

THE TREE OF DEATH - Part 3 of 3

 Part 3 

In review of the body in figure #1, the nervous system resembles a tree. At the crown of the tree, therein lies the brain, and within the brain is the faculty of the mind.

Minds are the capacity of the brain to process information that is received from the nervous system, which in turn, processes information from all the sensory nerves throughout the body.

The nervous system collects knowledge of all kinds from the environment. The information can be categorized as pleasurable, precautionary, hurtful, or responsive. The senses, of course, are touch, smell, taste, vision, and hearing. Some add many other senses, savory as an example, and perhaps up to twenty-nine in total.

The information from all those “sensors” is conducted to the brain via neurons that transmit electrical signals to target cells — the synapses — which are located throughout the nervous system and especially the brain. To pass information along requires the synapses to fire to pass along the information. They are like electrical switches triggered much like a diode would be in an electrical system, or even triggered by chemical signals.

The nervous system, therefore, is a sort of “tree of life,” but at the same time, “a tree of impending doom.” It passes all types of information to the high-capacity processer of the mind inside the brain. The brain is the vessel of the mind, and the mind is its contents, the former is material, and the latter is merely thoughts made up of electrical and chemical transactions.

To add evidence to that, synapses contain mitochondria which are the vessels for DNA that are passed along from the mother only. Hence, Eve as the “mother of all living” and the genesis of sin passed along her synapses to everyone, even subsequent “Adams” (men). Is it coincidence that mitochondria are the vessels for genetic sin and synapses pass along that information? You be the judge.

The nervous system is the entire body of nerves along with the brain.

Now, consider the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Speaking to Adam, God said, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:17). The Hebrew translated “eat” and “eatest” is specifically used for partaking of things by mouth, but in general it is to consume anything, even tasting or sensing the things of the world.

With that said, perhaps Adam and Eve never ate from the tree, but consumed something, perhaps knowledge that they had not known before. It was a “Tree of Knowledge” for certain, but not an apple tree (which was a mistranslation) nor even a fig tree per se, but a tree of knowledge.

Perhaps it was not that they ate, whether it was a physical tree or not, but that they bought into and consumed false information from the cunning Beast who presented its version of the truth.

Even if it was a fig tree, as sacred literature indicates, that tree may have also been symbolic of an invisible tree from an invisible creature — Lucifer. As related before, both the fleshes and minds of Adam and Eve were altered; their fleshes and minds degenerated, both from only good to an admixture of good and evil.

First off, they were never totally depraved, and sinners still are not. However, they were iniquitous, meaning that they had depravity within their fleshes and minds.

The “flesh” is paramount in scripture. Righteousness is fulfilled by those who “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”  (Rom 8:4), and also regarding the two substances of humans, Jesus said, “The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak” so we are not to enter into temptation (Mark 14:38).

Eve entered into temptation; she trespassed wherein Adam was told not to go. Where she went, there was new information beyond what she had before.

Lucifer, cleverly disguised as a friendly beast, provided to her both truth and lies and blended them to fabricate a new doctrine. The new doctrine: Because you are a creature of God, you can do anything and not die. Lucifer uses that same doctrine to deceive Christians to this day! You are secure and can do whatever you will do. The Satanist, Anton LeVey uses that same law for the same behavior, “Do what thou wilt; that is the whole law.”

Perhaps rather than eating fruit from the tree, they consumed the lie. The lie was for them to do what they wilt and not die. The Law was that they were not to consume anything from that tree. It was the whole Law of God. Lucifer abridged that law and made the one new law — do what thou wilt.

Their minds were changed as well as their genomes. Sin became genetic and all are born in sin, and are said to be “in the flesh” compared to “in the Spirit.”

It may be that they ate when they were not designed to eat. That makes sense because their image was as God. The Book of Adam and Eve indicates that they had no digestive tracks until after they had sinned, so consuming manna from heaven makes sense, rather than herbs.

It should be obvious that the fleshes of the two changed as well; they were no longer glorious, but gullible and ugly inside. The nervous system is the ugliness inside people, but perhaps the cunning one convinced Eve that flesh was all pleasure. As such, Eve may have thought, If I change, then I can enjoy the things of God more so, and have more pleasure! Perhaps Eve consumed the lie that the nervous system would provide only good things that were pleasurable because the cunning one failed to mention that it would sense all things, both good and bad!

“Unto the woman He (God) said, ‘I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee’” (Gen 3:16). Eve would feel pleasure in conception, but pleasure would turn to agony at delivery. That was the good and bad of the nervous system and points to that as the “Tree of Knowledge.”

For Adam, it was a little different; “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Gen 3:19). Don’t count on pleasure Adam, for you it will be toil. The nervous system senses toil; itself perhaps a sixth sense.

Because the nervous system is within all the flesh, and even the bones and brain, then the flesh is the weakest link in what was once a glorious creature. The flesh is the “missing link” between the glorious soul and the inglorious person. Evolution missed that, but God did not!

The nervous system conducts whatever the sensory system consumes. The destination of all that input, or knowledge, is the brain for it to process all the knowledge. The left brain does that!

Some people have had, for various reasons, one side or the other of the brain, destroyed. They can still function somewhat normally even though half their minds have perished, but they function differently.

The left brain is the “judge” of sorts. It gets all the knowledge that is received via the nervous system and decides (cognition) whether it is good or bad information. If it is bad for survival, it is not passed along to the right brain to use to function, but stored away in long-term memory, perhaps even in the sub-conscience. As Seinfeld would say, “I put it in the vault.”

Pain is allowed through because it protects both the flesh and mind from harm. It can judge based on safety, and that is good!

On the other hand, the left brain can allow temptation to trespass its convolutions and allow it to enter the right brain to perform. So, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40) because, like Eve, temptation leads to sin if the left side of the brain judges wrongly. Eve looked at the “fruit” and decided to her chagrin that consuming it would be admissible, and that God had lied to her.

“Praying” in that passage is asking God to forbid the trespass of information never to enter.

The problem with the left brain is that it can be conned. The “Image” of Lucifer conned Eve.

She rationalized that she was not trespassing on God’s property but it was hers just for the taking; then Eve stole God’s fruit and ate it. Upon ingesting whatever “fruit” or “seeds” that they were, Eve changed genetically, and her flesh became her master as she did what she willed to do.

She, herself, soon willed Cain into being. Adam had nothing to do with it. Either Satan was her new lord or herself (Gen 4:1). (I believe that she lied to Adam and the “Wicked One,” Satan, conceived Cain within her and she thought that she had done so herself. She had become the “god.”)

The flesh became the enemy but the world still provides ways to allow misjudgment of the left brain, to wit: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8).

What happens with insobriety? Vigilance is gone. People drink to excess to reduce inhibitions, and with God’s prohibitions disallowed, then judgment is impeded.

Take for instance alcohol and drug usage. They change who you are!  Without prohibitions inhibiting, then those who consume mind-altering drugs do whatever they want to do. The faculty of the will is deluded, and the left brain allows about anything into the right brain for it to transmit performance to the nervous system for the flesh to do.

The flesh is the enemy because it is essentially the other “unknown god” that must be appeased. The nervous system transmits pleasurable impulses to the left brain and when the left brain is unvigilant for whatever reason, then the right brain signals the body to perform unrightly according to God’s standards.

Vigilance is not only destroyed by things put into the mouth and the body in general, but the things put into the mind. If the mind is off God, then all things are allowed through the left brain, and then the right side of the brain enjoys pleasure.

If the sensor passes along thoughts of pleasure and forbids thoughts of God to enter in, then the left brain passes pleasurable things to the right brain, and the body with its flesh gets confused and does things that feel good while not receiving the information that it might be hurtful.

Many who have engaged in one night stands may be in agony or worry the next morning because of the thoughts of venereal disease, or even guilt.

My conclusion, therefore, is that even if there was a fruit tree of some sorts… that the nervous system is the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” and is inside each person. My hope is that you see it the same way; the reason being, that you must have the Word to control your flesh, and that there are painful consequences of faulty thinking and bad behaviors; and that Adam and Eve exhibited those consequences in their nervous systems until God put coats on them to cover their fleshes.

The fiery darts of the wicked one would thence never enter their fleshes, but be shielded by the flesh that God provided. That “flesh” is now the Holy Ghost of Jesus that Comforts the Christian from the wiles of the Devil.

Why else would a sinner require persuasion to become a Christian; it is in the mind in the left side of the brain. Why else would Calvary — “The Cranium” — be imperative as the “shield”?

(Photo credit Quiz Expo)

THE TREE OF DEATH - Part 2

 Part 2

 

Figure #2 :Is istock) "Neuron")

Next, we shall consider the parts of the “tree” within the flesh and how it performs, but before the flesh is considered, perhaps a better idea of “glorification” should be understood.

Adam and Eve were created in the Image of God (Gen 1:27) and in “our image; after our likeness” (Gen 1:26). They were created both in the Image of God and the angels as some believe from the Hebrew elohim. Neither God and angels are not of material substance as we know it; they were of an alien substance of which little is known.

Adam and Eve were neither carnivores nor were they herbivores. Where scripture indicates “every herb-bearing seed… for meat” (Gen 1:29), the literal translation is “glossy’ (Strong’s Dictionary).

I believe their food (“meat”) was manna for heaven which was like dewy “hoar frost” on the ground (Exod 16:14). It seems that food would not be agreeable to their bodies, so God provided manna that would disappear from their glorious bodies rather than to be digested and released as excrement in their perfect Garden Paradise.

Ancient literature — the Books of Adam and Eve — verify that conclusion — that they had no digestive systems and feared even eating figs because they could not process food, herbal or not.

The two were created “very good” the English translation indicates (Gen 1:39). They were literally created “forcefully excellent” (ibid), or most certainly perfect, or “glorious” because dying and death would not be their ending.

Perhaps they had a mind but no brain was required to process knowledge. They knew no evil, only goodness. They needed not the ability to judge anything but accepted everything as correct because in the Garden there existed only truth.

Before proceeding, let’s first examine forcefully excellent. “Forcefully” would be dynamic, or virtuous, from the Greek “dynamis” (ibid). “Excellent” would be without flaw. It is later indicated in scripture that “glorious” means splendor and without decay, decadence, or corruption.

In the end, when the dead in Christ are raised and God breathes life unto them “in the twinkling of the eye… the dead shall be raised incorruptible (aphthartos), and we shall be changed” (1 Cor 15:52). “Aphthartos” is “without corruption or decay” (ibid). As such, Christians will be changed back to the glorious, virtuously dynamic state in which Adam and Eve were created.

Jesus was manifested in ordinary flesh like any man that could have become corrupted with decay but did not. Death became Him! “Out of His belly shall flow living waters…  this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38-39).

Upon death and resurrection, Jesus was changed. The Holy Spirit of God became the “Holy Ghost” of the dead man, Jesus. The Body of Jesus had perished but his Ghost, or Soul, had not! Jesus was different after He arose from the dead… Jesus said to Mary after He was resurrected, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” (John 20:17).

Mary, nor anyone else, even Thomas, did not touch Jesus because His Body was made glorious again by the resurrection. Like Adam and Eve long before, Jesus had had His “Last Supper” and would no longer require food; He would exist on manna from Heaven. “Manna” is not substance but spiritual “food” from above.

Glorious creatures do not couple in carnal methods. Eve was generated from the Spirit of God that flowed from the belly of Adam (not “rib” as is wrongfully translated.) From Adam’s belly flowed living waters, or the Holy Spirit, to generate Eve. The two were born of the Spirit of God, and like the rest of us sinners, required rebirth of the Spirit, or literally “engendering from above” (ibid).

Manna, it seems, is spiritual food that must not be digested that unleavened bread symbolizes.

The point in all those words, is that man was created glorious and to the dust his body shall return (Gen 3:19) because the new creature will have a flesh of a different, heavenly substance that is alien to this world.

That glorious body is a shoot off the Tree of Life. It shall have the same substance as Jesus after He was glorified. It will no longer be corrupt, knowing only good things, and there will be no knowledge of evil. The mind of the glorious creature will exist, but as silly as it may seem, the brain of the Christian will have decayed long before in the grave, and return to the dust from which it came.

The brain is a faculty of the body, but the mind is a faculty of the soul. Jesus did things while His brain was inactive in the grave; things like deliver the repentant thief to Paradise that day, and escort sin and Satan to Hell that day as well.

The flesh of the Christian, upon dying and resurrection, should be identical to God’s original design. Again, there will be no need for sexual intercourse because multiplication will be spiritual — the addition of souls to the existence. Indeed, like the angels, “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Mat 22:30).

“Marriage” is a coupling in sexual intercourse. The glorious being will be without reproductive organs, which we can assume, neither Adam nor Eve had, since they both covered their newly acquired pudenda with fig leaves immediately after they sinned. They had been remade with flesh of which they were ashamed, especially their sexual organs, and the next thing Eve did was to experiment (without Adam) and made a man herself (Gen 4:1). She had become the “god” just as the Serpent warned! It was she with her new “lord” the Wicked One who shared that newly acquired knowledge.

All the evidence points to the original creature as a being alien to this world, and when God cast them out, they were different creatures that required protection, so God pout onto them coats of skins from dead animals (Gen 3:21) which sacred literature says were from lambs that God had provided.

Perhaps, those skins were like the skins of lambs. Perhaps before the flesh that they acquired was more like Lucifer’s — their new “father, the Devil” (John 8:44). Look at the body with its flesh in figure #1. Perhaps that flesh is the “coat of skins” that mankind acquired upon sinning. Perhaps that skin is from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Look closely, just as Jesus is the Tree of Life, that tree is the “Tree of Death” and death became Adam and Eve.

The inglorious flesh that they acquired when God coated them may have been what we know as human flesh, no longer like God’s but in the image of the Beast. But that may not be the case as you shall see, so read on!

The “Serpent” in scripture was not a viper at all but the evil image of Lucifer who was cunning (Gen 3:1). Adam and Eve not only received the flesh of the Beast but the mind of the Beast as well. Isaiah described the “Serpent” as a seraph; a seraph whose alien flesh was different and became the image of mankind.

Again, look closely at the form in figure #1. Of course, you can see the image of a man very clearly. Look closer now; can you see a “tree” inside the image?

Where is the Tree of Knowledge? It was the Serpent’s Tree but because Cain was of the Wicked One (1 John 3:12), the tree of knowledge is in each of us, imbued into the human creature at birth, or as King David said, “I was shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5), or depravity.

Adam and Eve had died right then because they were no longer immortal beings. The flesh will die because it is from the genetic tree of death. We must be regenned by Christ above because the flesh shall perish unless the genes are corrected that Lucifer made depraved when he degenerated mankind to his kind.

The flesh is only material but within the flesh is a dynamic network. By a process called “’action potential,’ a neuron's function involves sending electrical impulses and chemical signals to and from the brain” (verywell-health.com).

People are wired just like the animal kingdom whose pursuit is for pleasure and dominance.

The neurological network was in the disfigured flesh of man after sin. Perhaps Adam and Eve acquired that flesh with sin and the coats of skin was to prevent the world from dominating mankind in a reversal of God’s original intent, with man having dominion over all things (Gen 1:26), but only in his own glorious image.

The conclusion is that with sin the image of mankind changed. Whether by the degeneration of the Wicked One or by the coats of skin is ambiguous but mankind became like the creature of old (Lucifer, who is called “Satan”).

Therefore, since men as born are “old creatures’ the evidence is that with sin the flesh of the Beast overcame Adam and Eve and that the coats of skins were by God’s grace to protect the two old creatures who were so much like their father, the Devil.

With sin, mankind became controlled by pleasure from the Tree of Knowledge. Before, the desire was for God and only an appreciation of His Goodness.

The fleshes of both man and woman were changed to be more like the Devil’s.

In heaven, Lucifer would not be able to couple with sexual intercourse, but in the world, that was not stated.

Satan as Lucifer was cast out into the world and things would be different for him here. I submit that Adam and Eve had no sexual knowledge at all, and that their multiplication, was by reproduction of the Spirit of God in them. Satan endowed them with the reproduction of his manner of “flesh” with all the sensory perception that he had.

Returning to the man in the figure, his flesh is more than skin and dermal layers. Within the flesh is the DNA of Lucifer and his network of neural fibers. That network is dynamic and sends impulses from the world to the brain. Is it only coincidental that you are all “children of disobedience” who have “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” (Ephes 2:2).

In other words, Satan is not in you! He cannot be because he is limited to one place at any given time. However, his flesh is in your flesh and the neural network within the flesh is how he controls us all, unless we hand over control to Jesus.

That beautiful lady at the beach that you glance at so often… that is the DNA and “tree” in you that was inherited from the “Image” so long ago. You cannot help yourselves from looking because you are of the Wicked One. It is in your DNA, in your neurological system, and in your mind. You are remotely controlled by the Prince of the Power of the Air, and you still think that you are in control!

For you reference: figure #1 from the previous installment:

More on this later.

THE TREE OF DEATH - Part 1

 The thread throughout the Bible is organic. Scripture goes from the “first Adam” to the “last Adam” —  “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor 15:45), so said Paul. The soul that was made alive was a body and the Spirit made it alive — “quickening.”

A soul, according to both scripture and sacred writings, is an invisible substance of a being in the shape of a body (Luke 3:22). The living soul of Jesus looked just like the person, Jesus, but of another substance that is spiritual.

Creation, or generation — the Genesis of Adam’s kind — was about the invisible soul of the first man becoming alive in a biological sense. The soul of Adam took on some sort of flesh that was glorious as it was in the image of God. 

The re-creation — regeneration — is the same process wherein Adam’s kind, because of faith, have the Spirit in mankind “quickened,” or made alive again. Quickened in the sense that it was once alive but was made dead with the original sin.

The regeneration of Adam’s kind was made possible by the blood of Jesus which had the capacity to regenerate the soul in the “dead” — all mankind. Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote, “God hath set (Him) forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past…” (Rom 3:25). “Sins that are past” are genetic, or original sins, not just behavioral and recent sins, but the animalistic instinct that resides in everyone, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

That coming short is “iniquity” in which everyone, including King David, was endowed. Iniquity is depravity; made glorious in the Image of God, the first sin introduced depravity, and the nature of mankind has been depraved since then.

Coming short of that glory is depravity, or degeneration which is remedied by the possibility of regeneration. The blood of Jesus, already sacrificed is available to all who would “drink” of the “Living Water,” as Jesus called it (John 4:10).

Of course, the blood of Jesus was sufficient as the perfect sacrifice one time for all. Those who trust His Blood, in the end, will be regenned, hence, Jesus said, “Marvel not; ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

So, just as generation was a lengthy process, so is regeneration. It begins with a “babe in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1) and includes those who have retained a carnal nature, and ends with the dead in Christ, as well as the living souls, wearing incorruptible flesh. It is not instantaneous but enduring faith that saves, which either resurrection or regenning concludes.

The human soul was the original creation, not just before the foundation of the world, but the cosmos, or before visible things (Ephes 1:4).

Then, God finished the creation by placing glorious flesh on the man Adam from whose belly flowed living water to Eve. Her flesh was from Adam but her soul was filled with the Spirit of God from the belly of the man just as Jesus told the woman at the well, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

As stated in the first paragraph, one thread in the Bible is about organic mankind and God’s grace to make man spiritual again.

Another thread throughout scripture is the Tree of Life, first mentioned in Genesis 2:9 and lastly in Revelation 22:14. The Angel of the Church of Ephesus said, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life” (Rev 2:7). That concludes the prohibition of God who said:

And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever…” So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Gen 3:22,24)

Man had the right to the Tree of Life in the beginning because both “Adams” were glorious as they were the very image of God. With that understood, the reader should understand that Jesus is the de facto Image of God. The first Adam was the image of the Last Adam and the two were as glorious as God just as Jesus IS the Glory of God as the Image of Him.

There were two trees in the middle of the Garden — the Tree of Life that could be freely eaten and the Tree of Knowledge of both good and evil whose fruits were forbidden.

The Tree of Life still stands in heavenly Paradise to this day, but where is the Tree of Knowledge? Does it still stand anywhere?

…God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom 8:3-6)

Given: Jesus Christ is the “Tree of Life” for He is the Author of Life (John 1). Out of His belly flowed the Living Water for both Adam and Eve.

Who then is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and where does it stand? Lucifer, as Satan, is that “Tree.” In scripture, trees often represent both human beings and apparently other beings.

Satan no longer stands anywhere. He too is mobile, in the manner of Jesus, but whereas the Ghost of Jesus is omnipresent, the “Ghost” of Satan is not; it travels to and fro in the earth, or physical realm (Job 1:7). So where is Satan right now? Perhaps resident in Hell, or perhaps in the soul of some man, just as Satan entered Judas for one day… and perhaps as Satan entered Eve for one day.

Original sin was passed down, not from the man, but the woman as the “mother of all living” (Gen 3:20).

So where is Satan right now in the world? He is in us all. Only Eve and all subsequent women have mitochondrial DNA and only the women can pass it down genetically. With that said, just as the leaves of the Tree of Life is for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:22), the Tree of Knowledge is for the death of the nations. Everyone is as dead even as they are born and need Living Waters to revive them… to be “born again.”

The Tree of Life was Spiritual but became Flesh to be as mankind. Hence, the flesh is vessel for carnality and as such, the “Tree of Death” resides in each of us.

How so?

 

 Figure 1 Nervous System by Alex Grey (alexgrey.com)

Look closely at the figure; therein, in the flesh of all of us, man and woman, is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Like Jesus, it is the “tree” with mobility that takes special bright eyes to see. Not only can the nervous system be measured by its signals but has been dissected by physicians many times and laid out for the eyes of man to see (Specktor, Brandon; Live Science; Feb 1, 2018).

The Tree of Lucifer, because of sin, resides in the flesh of mankind. That we are carnal and of the flesh is a reminder of just whose we are, and by that, I mean children of the Devil, Lucifer (John 8:44).

Next, we shall consider the parts of the “tree” within the flesh and how it performs.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHURCH

 The "Church" is not the building nor even the people within the organization. The Church is the brotherhood of believers in the world who share "Jesus" as the figurative Image of God and trust Him in all things. Why provide the Scripture for that when most minds have their own fiction of the Church?

Neither is Church doing things. Ezra had Church strictly by reading the Word of God without commentary nor even preaching. Church is understanding that God is God and that no other person nor idol IS; and that people are just another assembly of idols that must be appeased. As such, rather than the Church being about God; it is about the people within it. The "worldy" Church is not the "spiritual" Church and they must not be confused. 

The Church that so many attend in modern times is a distant "Cousin Eddie" to the original Church in the Holy Land! It claims to be related but not by blood... the blood of Jesus, anyway. Most Churches are not even cousins, let alone a brotherhood of believers!

Jesus said to Peter, speaking of Himself, "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mat 16:18).  Furthermore, the Church is explained:

Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:25-26)

 Church, Matthew wrote, is "ekklēsia" in the Greek; "to call out from" or "to call from." (Strong's). That should pertain to some person or assembly of persons who are called out from the visible world into the invisible anti-world. As such, the world is not the Church but those who prescribe to the truth. 

That again brings up the question, What is truth? That Jesus is God in the flesh, and God is with us in Spirit as well; that the Holy Ghost - the Spirit of that one dead man - is the leader and teacher of the Church. The disciples were called "Christians" first at Antioch, and their assembly (synago) was at Antioch. 

Hence, the "Church" is the synagogue of disciples. (mathetes), or "learners" who would follow the teachings of Christ. The "Church is thence a place of learning and is a school not so much for preaching as it is for teaching. No wonder Jesus was called "Rabbi" - "teacher"!

The Church, rightly called "synagogue" is to "together bring" (ibid). Bring what together? Themselves to learn about Jesus. Compare that to the "synagogue of Satan" wherein learning were falsehoods and entertainment. 

Now ask, What is a Christian? Those who are persuaded to follow Jesus. Paul "reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks" (Acts 18:4) He used an assembly in the synagogue to persuade the assembly to become Christians. Synagogues are not temples but assemblies wherever the Way of Jesus is taught; even assemblies outdoors.

So, what is wrong with modern churches?

• Rather than persuading unbelievers to become Christians, the church caters to believers.
• Paul also, "persuaded them to continue in the grace of God" (Acts 13:43). Church was not a place of entertainment but a forum for advancing Jesus as the Savior. The "students," in that same passage, were the congregants.
• Thusly, the Church must have great teachers. It does not have! The Church most often do not use students of the Bible, but immature "learners" who think that they are teachers. As such, rather than advance Jesus, the Church advances learners into teachers. 
• Learners repeat what they have learned. That is good if their teachers have been qualified. However, if a poor teacher teaches the congregation, the entire congregation fails to learn. Jesus did not call the unlearned to teach but the most qualified. He called Paul to preach because he was as learned, or more so, than the philosophers in Athens. Unlearned teachers are much like the telephone game wherein the true message is lost by repetition of a weak message.
• Paul reasoned. He convinced the intelligent philosophers that their unknown God is not god at all, but he himself declared the One True God. So many modern "teachers" are limited to reading commentary; commentary that even they fail to understand. As such, unlearned "teachers" pass along untested doctrine. Paul wrote, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thes 5:21). Teachers must be scientific; they must persuade the listeners with logic, and the pupils should test whether it is good or wrong. Teachers must teach students how to learn before they learn! They fail at that because so many fail to understand just who Jesus IS!
• If Jesus had called on a Priest to teach, what would said priest have taught? Mosaic Law. He would not have taught the truth but another doctrine. Jesus went to Paul who knew the Law but convinced Paul that He understood it wrongly. Jesus revealed the truth to Paul and Paul was fully persuaded and understood just who Jesus IS!
• Paul was well-educated. Jesus did not look for a disciple to teach but a leader. Paul led the mob and they followed. He did not sing, baptize, deacon, or anything else. H only preached the gospel and that alone! He was not the center of attention, but a servant to Jesus who was gone. Perhaps Paul was the man for the time because he was a natural born teacher whose students followed him wherever he went. Jesus selected Paul to teach the Greeks because he was a philosopher who understood just what truth IS. Jesus revealed the truth to him by showing Paul that He - the Holy Ghost - is the same Jesus that Paul had diminished. Jesus sought an educated man who had the gift of persuasion, not some synagogue pupil from the time of His youth.
• So, the Church is more a school than a place of worship. Hence, the teachers must be pre-eminent. They should be the best of the best. We fail because the Church has become respecters of persons (Acts 10:34) that Paul wrote that he perceived Jesus it might be. Paul often taught the less learned or ensured that they were learned before he sent them out into the world. Each teacher was taught right doctrine before they were sent out (synagogue). The young ones such as Timothy were taught right doctrine before he was trusted. Neither Jesus nor Paul sought sub-par people as teachers but the best of the best. 
• Teaching requires that the teacher teach beyond the knowledge of the congregation. A teacher for the pupils to learn must teach what is called, "over the heads" of the assembly. Persuasion is hard work, so logic and reason are a must. Telling students what they already know is selling the congregation short. That can be heard in the lack of knowledge of the members of the Church. So many members of the congregation in the Church fail to understand what Pilate, the thief, and the centurion believe; that Jesus and Jehovah are One and the same Divine Being. When I have taught, it is obvious that the congregation remained unschooled in the nature of God! Teachers are to advance Jesus as God, not retard that doctrine.
• Furthermore, the teacher must know right doctrine (orthodoxy). For instance, a denomination, Armenian in belief has a certain doctrine. (If yours differs, I am not the final authority.) As such, the teachers must teach generalized grace and not election, and also conditional security rather than eternal security. So many, even Armenians, ask, "Do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are saved?" to the new member. No, they do not! It is conditional based on whether they maintain faith during their lifetime... "endure to the end" (Mat 10:22), or as Paul said, "persuade them to continue in the faith." Whether you believe that is up to you and your understanding of scripture. However, those who say that is their doctrine should know better than teach a false doctrine! 
       Paul wrote, "now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Rom 13:11). Whether you believe that or not is between you and God, but an Armenian denomination should teach that doctrine. To say something irrational - "beyond the shadow of a doubt" - in respect to salvation is not only illogical but Calvinistic. That you are already "saved" is as well. "Conversion" is the right doctrine for general baptists and the consequence, or reward, is "salvation" - "shall be saved" (John 3:16) as a future event. 
       Do not get hung up on differing doctrine but agree to agree that the teachers of the church must teach their doctrine as they understand it, not the doctrine of some other faith.
• Many churches present videos of preachers and teachers of different faiths. That is okay in a non-sectarian setting, but wrong to do so in whatever your church's doctrine might be. I have taught for many years in other denominations but have avoided teaching contrary to their doctrine because that would be unethical. Your church should take care to propagate the doctrine of Jesus as you understand it, and my church should expect the same. When a teacher of another doctrine is brought into the assembly, it can confuse the congregation. In so many churches, that is so prevalent that many hold different believes at the same time - what Orwell called "doublethink." You cannot believe that apostasy is right doctrine and at the same time know without a doubt that you are already saved! 
       Apostasy is defection from God (Heb 6:6). That implies apostasy is to "fall away" from once having affection for God; that the "saved" can somehow become "unsaved." Explain to me the act of "unsaving;" it is irrational! it is not even a word. 
• Church is an assembly of those who have come out of the world into the invisible realm of God. Therein, Jesus is "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Where is Jesus in your church? The modern church has become nothing more than "a den of thieves" so to speak. Within its core are the few who do all things. Those the busiest in life are called upon to be the busiest in the church. Have you not noticed that just a few of the congregants lead all the activities? Rather than the church calling on those with time and experience; it calls on those with the least time to do all things.    Have you noticed that the same people are in view at all times, but the best teachers may be the silent ones who take a backseat to "players" in playing church" as if church is a performance rather than a "classroom" for learning to be better Christians, hard as that may seem. 
• Many churches have forty-minutes of praise compared to twenty-minutes of instruction. Sure, it may be worship, or it could be entertainment. Jesus did not come to entertain but teach; thusly He is called "Rabbi." So many worship with little idea the majesty and grandeur of the Divine Being who they are worshipping. Some worship praise itself. If there is not enough praise, then they hunger for more rather than hungering for more truth about Jesus and His Plans for them. Not that praise is wrong but that the disciples should know more about who they are praising. Face it, bands and music were not part of Paul's ministry but presenting truth and instruction. Persuasion is indeed hard work! Someone that responds emotionally to music but not to the Word should test whether their emotion is to the music or to the Word. 
• The Church has become more like an ecclesiastical organization with a hierarchy. At the first level are the commoners who sit there in awe of the featured ones. They are the masses who should be appeased and who are expected to adore their leaders. Then there are the performers who are expected to entertain the apathetic. They are graded on the applause that they receive. Above them are the active ones - the doers who work so hard that you need not! They are to be admired but at the same time, church is to learn and admire Jesus and often the entertainers overshadow the Purpose. Among them are the teachers. The thought is if they can entertain, they can teach! Many of us have suffered through that fantasy. There is a ladder to success as well. The minister may groom those most allegiant to him to be the leaders of the church. Rather than the deacons and trustees as the leaders, in laxity, they designate their responsibilities to the preacher who ministers rather than teach. He gets so busy ministering that lesser qualified must teach. Soon, the preacher can rely on them as he does his own "day job" that is more important.
• To show that they are worthy, the ecclesia demonstrate that their acumen is in various fields; they can teach as well as entertain; can rule as well as teach, and so forth. Rather than Jesus as "Tekton" they are the most notable "technicians," and it is assumed that if they are so good in one expertise that they must be experts in everything.
• The worst is when those with little knowledge endeavor to teach the teachers. I have been asked to do that myself long before I accrued the knowledge that I have today. I was called on to be the teacher of the Professor of the New Testament. How illicit was that? Yet, many today, are called on to teach what they are not sure of themselves. When teachers are outside their expertise, then they make fools of the congregants. That is why we are to test all things and retain what is good among the poor teachings. 

With all that said, it is sad, but the Church is not what it was meant to be. The most obvious is the "circus-like" atmosphere that some have, and staged plays like the big churches. Less noticeable is the congregation playing church and the minister watching as if he is king to be entertained and paid. The modern church is structured like a governing assembly rather than a school for learning about Jesus. It has become an experiment in motivation and leadership rather than humility. Just my thoughts after 70 years of observation.