Self-love

Every pop-psychology program on the market seems to think that mankind has a problem with not loving himself! All people need to do is love themselves and the world will be a better place, according to this scenario. The love of self is manifested in self-esteem. Self-esteem is simply self-worth. Effectually, it is believing positive things about oneself. The question arises: "Do human beings have worth?" We each think that we do because God made this command:

Matthew 22:39 "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

God knows that each person loves himself. Therefore, the standard of loving others is to love them in the same manner and degree. Some would argue that the person with low self-esteem doesn't love himself. This proposal is at odds with truth:

 Ephesians 5:29 "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:"

Unless God is naïve, then, why do some commit suicide? God is always right! That is a basic trait of Holy Scripture. He is not right sometimes, and wrong sometimes. It says "No man ever hated his own flesh". That means in all time every person who ever was always loved himself. In fact, scripture points toward mankind's basic problem: everyone loves themselves too much. Some love the self and not God, and others love themselves and God, but in all cases people always love themselves!

Those who commit suicide do so, not because they hate themselves, but because they love themselves so much that they can't stand hurting. The easiest way out of desperation is to end one's life. Desperation is when one can't stand pain or suffering anymore. They seek escape. Suicide saves the one they love from feeling pain. I believe it is the ultimate act of self-love. It even puts the love of self over the love of family and friends since those living are the ones who suffer the most. Consequently, those who murder the self show more self-love than love of others.

When people love themselves, their desire is to do what's right in their own eyes. This is found time after time in Holy Scripture. In essence, man so loves himself that he does what he wants rather than God's will. God says: Do not murder, but man says, I will if I hurt badly enough. God did not allow that escape clause because his desire is that none should perish (John 3:16). Of course, this applies to eternal life but those who murder may not get that eternal life - only God knows His own bounds of love. The bizarre John 3:16 seems to be:  I so loved me, I don't want to perish, that although God gave his only begotten son, whosoever loves himself should not perish but have eternal life. If you think that is bizarre, why is it that you sought salvation? To save your own wretched skin from eternal death because you love yourself so much! God, however, overlooked that because you said that you are willing to put yourself aside and turn to Jesus.

Original sin is a case of self-love without regard to God's will. Adam and Eve were given a command, and the pair loved themselves over God; they did their own will, and not God's. Original sin is paramount self-love, and each time we sin, we do so to the satisfaction of the self.

God knows how much people love their own self. He knew that on that day in paradise when two people jeopardized immortality by loving themselves. Since, that is God's reference point as a jealous God: man must love God more than self, or he becomes his own god. Likewise, the same applies to loving others. People must never Lord it over others.

1 Peter 5:3 (NIV) "...not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."

Christians are to appraise their value fairly. No one is better than the other, and as such, we are to not Lord it over others. Because we love ourselves so much, most people have a tendency to put themselves first. That is not to be!

Perhaps one fails often. The person usually responds with, "I feel like I failed." No! It is not a feeling... people do fail!  Failing is good for people. It creates meekness because only God is perfect. Meekness is sort of the opposite of self-esteem. Scripture never even implies that we should think highly of ourselves.

Romans 12:3 (NIV) "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

 Most people do think too highly of themselves. Scripture says to judge oneself with sobriety. That is being realistic of the value of oneself. I propose, as I often do, that without God our value is in the range of a bag of fertilizer - about $10.00. With God we are priceless! Not that we have more self-worth but that we are valuable enough in God's eyes to obtain unmerited favor. The meek are those who do merit favor! Indeed, those who appraise their value using God's metric shall inherit the earth (Psalm 2:8). The focus in this passage is on God at the expense of the self.

Indeed, obtaining salvation is submitting the god of self to God for his mercy.

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

That sacrifice of the self is change. The old creature loves himself, the new creature loves God. We put ourselves on the cross and crucify the old self with Jesus.

 Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Paul said that about himself as Saul died, and Paul arose from the self. Paul was the new creature. Saul was crucified with Christ. He traded the love of Saul for the love of Christ, and the new creation was Paul who had Christ inside, where love of Saul once was!

What I still see, even in church, are a group of people who are in love with themselves. Many have not traded self-love for love of Christ. With some it's obvious; they dress fit to kill, not the old self, but fend off the new! I see others who think church is all about them. I fight that, and so do you. People seem to demand that everything be done their way, just as Burger King caters to their whims. I see people who sin greatly but fail to look at their own self with Light. They have nothing to fear but their own self - the one there loving their George more than others - another loving their Harriett more than others. The others loving their me before their they, let alone before their Jesus!

What is the cure for self-love. To die in Christ just as Paul did. We must each spiritually murder our own flesh to save the soul. It's a dirty task but we must do it. Not alone, but with Jesus there on the cross, taking away the sting of spiritual death! Here's how to murder the self:

James 4:7  ^"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

With that mindset, your name changes. It is no longer Me but Him!  Self-esteem is put on the cross alongside Jesus, and the malefactor who was you looks at Jesus a different way - with Christ-esteem!

Social Justice

Social justice is how well individuals are treated by society. The measurement of social justice is equality of incomes, and is to be remedied by redistribution of the wealth. It's when all individuals get what is proposed as their due from society. Social justice implies that there is a right to prosperity without regard to a person's contribution. Although social justice is a pact between society and individuals, those who propagate the notion believe in the good of society. Hence, social justice is not truly for the individual but for societal good. Social justice is a smoke and mirrors initiative to propagate Marxism, and the end result is the serfdom of the individual to the leaders of the masses.

Pope Francis has fallen under the spell of Karl Marx. Although some would deny it, the Pope espouses liberation theology - using the church to liberate the economically oppressed from their oppression. It has much in common with atheist Marxism, but uses the church to do what the government does. As such, liberation theology depends on the government to do what Christians should do as charitable. It takes God out of goodness and makes the government the author of good. Liberation theology binds the church closely to the state. Marx smiles!

Positive Christianity doesn't like the notion but God is the author of poverty. Because his creatures failed to obey, He introduced consequences to disobedience.

Genesis 3:16 "Unto the woman he 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. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Therein is a cause and effect: Adam caused poverty by disobedience, and the effect was God introduced poverty into what had been His perfect world. Mankind went from being nourished by God to self-nourishment. Adam, the individual, was assigned hard work. He wasn't due anything but had to do his part if he wanted sustenance. Adam would say, "I have a right to good things," as he probably did looking at the forbidden tree, but God thought, you have a right to nothing; it is by grace that I provide.

Throughout scripture hard work is expected and honored:

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (ESV) "For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living."

The command in the early church was this: No work - No eat. The individual was to supply his own needs by hard work. Others were not commanded to work for the sluggard. God's will is social independence, not social justice! Nowhere in scripture does God or his emissaries depend on the Kings or Caesars to provide for the people.

Social eruption to drive change is evil. Those riots in the streets and wars for social justice are the will of Satan, and are not of God:

1 Thessalonians 4:11 (ESV) "And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one."

God supports capitalism. That is divine justice -  you deserve only what you work for! People are not due anything. We are not gods. Only God deserves things, and that is love and obedience. When mankind has anything, it is by grace that we have it. Even our ability to work and sweat was because God had grace with Adam. We are able to work by the same grace!

The Church does not exist to wipe out poverty. God didn't come to save men from the penalty of work, but from eternal death. You see, there were two punishments for Adam - he lost eternal life and he even had to work hard for temporal life. He regained eternal life by grace, and by grace he was allowed to live and work for his keep.

Poverty is of God and He could end it anytime without our feeble help. Poverty enables us to show love by charity - giving freely of our own volition out of love. Government can never command charity, but God supports that notion as a way to demonstrate love. Jesus delivered mankind from the commands of obedience, not to enslave us again to the government. Caesar never dictated charity; he was too smart for that. He was the instrument of taxation, and it wasn't for the good of society; it was for the good of Caesar. Little has changed since then!

Poverty is the existence which allows charity. Rather than charity, taxation steals from the charitable pot. Rather than please God, Christians steal from charity to pay Caesar. That's legalized theft, and because Robin Hood used his theft for "good", doesn't make him good. He disobeyed God to do what was right in his own eyes just as people always have. (Deut. 12:8). Likewise, the Pope does what is right in his own eyes, and so did Marx. Ironically, both wanted us to do what was right in their eyes!

Jesus was charitable and good. Is there any question about that? Jesus could have ended poverty with a wave of  His hand. He didn't do that because he came to save people from their sins, not to save them from his penalty - poverty!

Matthew 26:11 "For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me."

Jesus chose to keep the penalty of poverty because that wasn't his concern. He died for our sins, not for the consequences of Adam's sin.  He threw Adam and Eve out of Utopia for a reason, and that wasn't for Marx or the Pope to create a Utopia of their own. All God had to do was to allow his children back in the Garden to tend God and escape poverty, but he put them in the garden, fields, and factories to tend for themselves. They lost their charity from God which they were never ever due, and now they call prosperity a right!

Out of grace, God made a deal with His people. It's called the Abrahamic Covenant. Essentially, it says this: obey me and prosper. disobey me and you won't! Some say that this covenant is unconditional but it is far from it! The Jews were expected to love God, and when they loved other gods, they were destroyed! (The part about Jesus coming was unconditional and undeserved!)

How can we prosper? The Abrahamic Covenant was forever! We can prosper if we love, honor, and obey God. We can't depend on the government, but we can depend on God! Divine justice is the way to prosperity. It levels the playing field. Social justice just adds mud holes which impede people from doing God's will.

Grudges and Mercy

Matthew 6:14 "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Actually, I am astounded! Christians can hold grudges for years and go on their merry ways. Grudges are feelings of resentment because a person has perceived that they have been wronged. Grudges are pettiness in action but with dire consequences: the trespasses mentioned in the passages above are the wrongs perceived of the begrudging one.

Loving one another is paramount in the life is a Christian. Indeed, loving others is the work required to demonstrate to God that one takes the death of Jesus seriously. Why grudges are so wrong, is that they are the very demonstration of hatred. Let's look at a grudge scenario:

Linda perceives that John has wronged her. He may have, or have not. The actual wrong is of no consequence if John seeks reconciliation. Let's say that John apologizes, and  Linda says that she accepts the apology but will never forget. That is not forgiveness; it's clinging to hatred. What if Jesus forgave but then withdrew his love. He doesn't do that but if He did, that behavior would lack compassion! Linda forgives begrudgingly, and hangs onto the grudge for years. In effect, she never even truly forgave!

That grudge, a hateful affect, is failing to forgive another their trespass. You see, Linda is effectually her own little god, and John offended her god. John tries to appease Linda's god, but her god is selfish and angry. No one offends Linda's god and gets away with it! Linda ensures that.

The longer the grudge lasts the more the hatred. Of course, Linda never does wrong in her own eyes, and she bows to her own goddess. She fails to understand that her own trespasses need forgiving too, and that other Christians are required to forgive hers. Jesus even expects her to be merciful to others because He is merciful to her.

Short and to the point:

Luke 6:36 "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful."

Jesus as well had said, "Quit being so self-serving, and truly forgive. Show it by loving. That's how I do it!" That would certainly put Linda on her knees if Linda was close to the Lord.  You see, obedience is what those who serve God are to do. We become servants to God and others. In the case of Linda, she doesn't even serve, and is resentful that she is expected to serve!

There is another problem with Linda -  her goddess doesn't sin t least in her own eyes. She never has a beam in her own eye but looks at the mote in the eyes of others as she judges harshly by a different standard than she wants to be judged (Matt. 7:1-5).  Linda fails to judge herself, but readily judges John over-harshly. While she smiles without guilt, John is condemned to the realm of former friends. That's where so-called friends go who fail to bow to Linda's goddess.

Christians cannot hold grudges. The very idea of a begrudging Christian is an oxymoron. They are without mercy, and neither will their Father in heaven be merciful with them! It's a simple idea: if Linda fails to show repentance for her own grudge, God won't accept that faked forgiveness on Linda's part. Linda can't fool God. All her smiles as she praises Him, are smiles to herself.

Of course, this is not a gender issue. There are many begrudging John's out there as well. Even family members begrudge other members, even for years. What if Jesus distanced Himself from you for years while he relished in your isolation? Jesus doesn't do that, and neither should Linda or John!

Lilith: First Lady?

Lilith was the first feminist but most Christians don't know who Lilith was! Of course, my view is that feminism is of the occult, and socialistic at the same time. Socialism foments division among different peoples to upset the institutionals of society, but ironically feminists are a tool of old white men who want power for themselves. In essence, feminists are tools of fools. How is it of the occult?

Christianity, to be truthful, does give men dominion over women. It can be argued that it is more of a partnership, but in truth men are given more power. Sure, there were a few powerful women in the Bible, but in general, power was given to the male. (Please don't be offended and stop here. Read on because all is not bad for the woman).

Of course, Adam was given dominion over everything, which is presumably woman as well (Gen. 1:26), and God created for Adam a helper (Gen. 2:18).

Genesis 3:16 "Unto the woman he 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."

Eve, representing womankind, was to be ruled by her husband. Note that God didn't set up Eve's secondary role as a burdensome task, but that her desire shall be for her husband. She had disobeyed by assuming the role of the man when she essentially became priest as she was deceived by the serpent. Because Adam was to have dominion over all creatures, including the serpent, it was Adam's role to rebuke the false teachings of that wily animal. However, Eve did that. It wasn't her role and she usurped God's assignment: she was to multiply and nourish, and be a helper for Adam. Instead she, although naked, put on Adam's pants while Adam stood idly by and watched her being deceived. Hence, Eve sinned but Adam was held accountable because of it. As I've said before, Eve was the first feminist and Adam the first wus.

Any rule that God made is desired to be broken by those He created. That is human nature and is original sin. Because of Eve's deception, and Adam's submission, it is our nature to be against God's will. It takes work to fight this nature. That work is called obedience. That we must do to show God our love although sin tugs at our heartstrings.

I mentioned that feminism is a tool of old men to manipulate women. Dark age Jewish scholars  created feminism with what is called a Midrash. There are two accounts of the creation (Gen. Chapters 1 and 2).  Most Christians accept these two chapters, the first the creation, and the second a recapitulation of it with more detail. There was only one creation. There was no story of a first creation, its destruction, then a later creation. In the beginning happened only once, but Jewish old men ages ago created a fiction of two creations.

They also found mention of Lilith in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 34:14 "The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest."

"Screech owl" is a transliteration of the Hebrew word liyliyth because the translators didn't know what to make of that word. In English liyliyth is "Lilith".  The direct translation is "night spectre" from Strongs's number 3915. The definitions of specter is: a visible disembodied spirit :  ghost; or something that haunts or perturbs the mind : phantasm. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Midrash is a method of creating stories to fill in the perceived gaps in scripture. It seemed that liyliyth needed explanation, and old Jewish men conceived the two creations story to fill the gap!

That identifies Lilith, not as an owl, but as an evil spirit. She was never a person but a spirit masquerading as one. Time has placed on her certain duties: she is the woman who has dominion over men at night and cause nocturnal eruptions. In mythology Lilith is represented as a serpent. Perhaps it was her spirit who was in the serpent in the garden because snakes weren't evil It wasn't the voice of the serpent; it was a fallen angel or perhaps Satan himself!

Lilith became the great whore which perplexed men. Nearly all men have the thorn of Lilith in their side. Paul understood that, perhaps when he encouraged marriage to burning (Lilith or lusting). Certainly Lilith is a real existence, but certainly not womankind, let alone the first woman!

Because of her dominance, sexual promiscuity, and her prowess in destroying babies in the womb and afterward, feminists have adopted Lilith as their prototypical woman (HuffPost the Blog; "On International Women’s Day, A History of Lilith. Was She a Demon or the First Feminist We Know?"; 3/12/2015; Dora Levy Mossanen). Hence, we have an evil spirit who is used to represent the cult of feminism.

Many women are feminists without ever knowing, not only of its Marxism, but also it's occult nature!  Lilith is the succubus in Aleister Crowley's De Arte Magica - his book of the occult.  True, Lilith was the first succubus -  the phantasm which, according to Wikipedia is: "a  Lilin-demon in female form, or supernatural entity... that appears in dreams and takes the form of a woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual activity". Seducing is a way of dominance, and thus Lilith becomes a feminist!

Eve was deceived by the serpent, perhaps Lilith, and thus performed the sin of feminism. It may be possible, as many theologians believe, that eating of the fruit, was sexual in nature because Adam and Eve immediately covered their genitals out of shame. My own belief is that rather than procreation, they used sex as recreation. In other words, God didn't create a woman whose nature was Lilith; it was the fallen angel who assumed the role of Lilith and entered the serpent, and made Eve a feminist. This makes sense since feminism seeks, to the extreme, sexual independence. Their desire is to sin just like the men do - and openly so.

The product of sexual independence is the effect -  babies. Abortion is a by-product of sexual liberation, and fits the character of the demon Lilith.

Essentially, Lilith did exist in the Garden of Eden and now in the character of dominance-seeking women. We're not talking about equal pay because that is secondary. It's sexual liberation which feminists seek first, and abortion is the ticket to that sexual freedom! Lilith still lives, not only in the spirit world, but also in the hearts of women who hate their role that God assigned to them.

One note: God didn't create dictator and serf. He created man and woman to work in unity. Man's dominance cannot be used as a way to control but to mediate. There can only be one with whom the buck stops, and like it or not, God picked Adam-kind.

Murder and the Heart

There are greater and lesser sins. For unrepentant sin, the penalty is the same, but that doesn't make the sins the same. (See my previous commentary at http://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2013/12/all-sins-not-equal-just-penalty-or-is.html).

Blasphemy is the unpardonable sin. That is denying that Jesus' death on the cross paid for each our own sins. That implies that the Father allowed his Son to die a painful death on the cross for nothing. It's the paramount disrespect, and those who blaspheme are reprobate - damned for eternity. Of course, the threat of eternal punishment deters few, but if a person believes in God, that belief is imperative because He not only created us, and heaven, but also our place of eternal isolation.

On my heart today is the sin of murder: Though shalt not kill. (Exod. 20:13). Wars and capital punishment have ruined that command. The word "kill" in the Hebrew is GVX pronounced raw-tsakh'.  It's explicit definition means "to dash into pieces a human life". To do that is called in the English language is murder: "the crime of unlawfully killing a person".(Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Hence, there are three conditions: (1) unlawful, (2) killing, and (3) a person - all three define the crime.

Let's examine unlawful first. There are levels of law. There are civil laws which men write. Even evil men can make murder lawful. Stalin and Hitler did that. Czar Nicholas and his family in Russia were killed in cold blood by the Bolsehviks because they changed the law to allow it. Then Ukrianians by the millions were murdered by starvation. The laws made by evil socialists allowed it. The same holds true for the extermination of the Jews in Nazi concentration camps. Even the civilized people allowed it and most even cheered it on! Civil laws are made by men, and unjust laws can be made by unjust men. Even when negative laws are made by the government, they are called positive law because it is legitimate but not necessarily right.

On the other hand natural law is doing what is right even when no civil law is present. Natural laws are recognized humane things to do. What the Nazi's did were crimes against humanity (i.e., crimes against natural law).  What the Russian Communists did were as well, but the difference is that the former was tried for it, and the latter got away with mass murder. Either way, socialism destroyed millions of people, yet people still love socialism. Those that do are accomplices to murder according to natural law. They are inhumane in their thinking, or most likely humane but deceived.

Another type of law is divine law. Scripture calls it "the law of God". That law is two-fold: (1) love God and (2) love others (even as much as oneself). Obedience to the law of God has a reward -  eternal life. Disobedience without justification results in eternal death. One cannot self-justify, and blood must be shed to pay for the crimes. So that we don't have to, because all have sinned, Jesus shed His own blood and paid the price for us. That part is for free, but not part of the argument. Civil law violations are punished by the government of the people, natural law is punished by either ones colleagues or by a higher court of justice, and divine law violations are punished by God.

In the order of priority are divine law, natural law, and then civil law. Usually when a corrupt government is punished it is by natural law that they are. What is the source of natural law? With civilized people it has come from religion. In the Western world, natural law comes from Judeo-Christian values, or "the laws of God". Although summarized by love, those laws are the Ten Commandments so that violators are without excuse. If one violates one law it's as if they violate them all. (Jam. 2:10).

If one murders, it's as if the murderer blasphemed against God because it shows hatred for God's law. It also shows hatred for others:

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

Hate and murder are equivalent and the penalty for hate or murder is eternal death. Murder is no laughing matter! The most profound law is God' law and taking a life is a crime against humanity in natural law and hate in God's Law, even when civil law says it's okay.

Killing is the second criteria for murder. Killing is depriving of life. It is of no matter whether plant, animal, or human; it's just when things which live quit living. In order of what is most precious humane people would say human life, animal life, and then plant life. Some have the priority of these out of order and lose their sense of humanity. Never is an animal more precious than a man although both are precious. I suppose that another category exists, and that are fungai; parasites in the world. That is what the Germans labeled Jewish people as did the Russians as well, In fact, throughout history Jews have been deemed parasites in about all societies, and those with civil laws as such tried to exterminate them.

Because a group of people are deemed non-human doesn't make them less so. The Jews are God's chosen people.

That brings to light the third criteria for murder: it applies only to persons: those having the personality of human beings (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Since only mankind are humankind, killing them is murder! There should be no argument there, but some claim that a fetus is devoid of personality, and is a mere parasite. The rationalization is even more extreme than Jews being parasites. "Fetus" is a stage of human development, and fetuses have personalities which grown with other human systems. (Examine Gesell's Growth Gradients). Babies are born with personalities. They are developed during gestation. Some psychologists encourage speaking to unborn babies in the fetal stage, and also measure their psychological development. Indeed, anyone but a fool or one being duped, must admit that fetuses are persons. Hence the destruction of a fetus, is murder.

Yesterday their was a nice group of people standing on the street corner with placards which read: "Abortion is Murder". Every rational person knows that but needs to be reminded. Murder is no laughing matter, and even being apathetic to murder is being an accomplice. Indeed, with the Jewish problem, Christians should have intervened but didn't. With the unborn baby "problem" Christians are obligated to intervene but fail to. They become silent accomplices to murder because they stand for the killing of innocent persons!

It bothered me that fellow Christians would joke about this holocaust. I'm sure it was an attempt to be funny, but murder is never funny. As Christians, we must all be more serious about abortion, and condemn it, even on the public square. Those are the brave ones! Those who have apathy to divine law must explain that before God someday. They are as guilty as the ones who actually dash to pieces a human life.

In Holy Scripture we find that the Jews who did no killing were more guilty than the ones who actually did the killing. Scripture says that their sin is greater. (John 19:11). In other words those who don't value life are worse than those who take the life. Pilate had remorse for what civil law required him to do, but the Jews had no regret for breaking divine law. The same holds true for those who propagate abortion. They are worse than the doctors who do it as a job.

Secret Weapon: Old People Die!

In 2015 75% of people in the United States were reported to be Christians (Pew Research Center).

In 2015 80% of the people of the United States believed in abortion in some or all cases ((Gallup Poll).

In 2015 55% of the people in the United States favored same-sex marriage (Pew Research Center).

In 2015 55% of Christians in the United States favored same sex marriage. Mainline protestant Christians favored it by 66% and Catholics by 70% (Pew Research Center).

At the present 60% of the people in the United States believe in the evolution theory of existence. What's more 73% under 30 support that theory (slate.com). That article quotes Evan Wolfson, the president and main architect behind Freedom to Marry. “That was our secret weapon: Old people die.”

Therein lies the problem: old people die! With that evil counts on the young people.

The secret weapon of all evil is that old people die. However, it's not  secret but people just refuse to believe it! Marxism, the epitome of evil, quantified this concept when Friedrich Engles said: youth has never before flocked to our colours in such numbers. The hope of  socialism is the youth of today. Old people are the problem, but old people die!

Youth are the Petrie dish of change. Mature people have learned by experience, and temper rebellion with that. Old people know what we have is not best, but it beats fear of something worse. Young people, only as vulnerable as they believe they are, are willing to take the chance on something new, but as Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun."

As a practical example, how many old people rappel or kayak class fives? How many old people jump narrow ledges on tall buildings or even parasail? They don't do such things because they are wise. Wise people don't flirt with death! Change, for our youth, is merely adventure without regard to the destination. Couple with that the lack of wisdom, and tyranny is inevitable. Marxists use adventuresome youth to further dangerous causes.

Youthful people age. Time is the enemy of evil because with time most people obtain more wisdom. Evil shortchanges time by indoctrination. A Marxist principle is to remove the family from the education of the young and have the government do the educating - a socialist government in particular. All these pre-school education programs for our children are a means of indoctrinating children before the parents can mold values into them. Children can be convinced that wrong is right, but most older people cannot be.

As younger people are remolded - brainwashed most say, it is only a matter of time before old people die! The increase in the statistics above are because of two reasons: (1) liberal education, and (2) old people die. Evil counts on those two things to increase evil. In Marxism, that is called creeping socialism. They patiently wait while children are indoctrinated as old people die. Evil does the same thing! It's not a conspiracy but a principle of evil. It is the method of Satan himself!

Notice that 75% of our citizens purport to be Christians, but a large majority of them support unchristian ideas: abortion and same sex marriage. Add to that 60% of the women who support feminism (Washington Post and Kaiser Family Survey-1996), and America has a real problem with their Christianity. (Yes, feminism is sinful because of it's support of homosexuality and abortion; as well as sexual freedom for women).

Well, if 75% of the people in the United States are Christians, where are they? They say they believe in Jesus, but don't trust Him! God says certain things are wrong, but Christians reveal that their belief is that God is wrong.  In other words, America's Christians are false Christians. They have the false perception that they are true to Jesus, but at the same time crucify Him again on a daily basis.

Hebrews 6:6 "If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

By not trusting Jesus for truth, they put their so-called Savior to shame. When Christians support sinful activities, they spit in the face of Jesus, symbolically, who died in their place. Supporting evil is serious business for of we're not for God, we are against him! (Matt 12:30)

The rules God plays by are called the "straight gate" and the path to the finish is the "narrow path". Few enter the straight gate and fewer stay on the narrow way. Hence, according to scripture, 75% is a wishful number. Sure, people believe in God - even the demons do, but He is not the God of Holy Scripture in whom they believe. That path will get even more narrow as old people die. Hang on to your head, because, young people, your head is your fate! In the end, faithful Christians will be beheaded for their belief.

Satan's only positive attributes are that he is patient and persistent. He need only to deceive the youth and wait until old people die. You know that, but you still allow that to happen!

Jealousy and Envy

Human beings were created in the image of God. One of God's characteristics  is jealousy.

Exodus 20:5 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (other gods), nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God..."

Hence, jealousy is a human trait, and all that God does is good. Therefore, some jealousy is natural for the right reasons. In this case God is jealous of other gods with whom his bride fornicates; His people being His bride.

It would seem reasonable, then, that humans can be spiritually healthy, and be jealous of their mate. Indeed, without jealousy there remains apathy. Jealousy is hostility toward a rival or being vigilant toward ones possessions.  (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Marriage partners are in unity, and hence belong to each other. They are each others possessions for the duration of life. If there is to much attention given to the mate, or the mate to another, jealousy is a natural emotion. Some jealousy is expected as a demonstration of love. (Of course, sometimes one mate wishes the other didn't love them quite too much because excessive jealousy can make a relationship more of a prison).

God is jealous of us but we're not imprisoned by Him. He could have created mankind such that there was no need for jealousy, but when he gave mankind a will, then choice was included. Because humans are free to make decisions, just as God can, He allows us to be jealous. Hence, our jealousy is not a prison unless we construct one. Of course, nobody wills to be imprisoned, but the human nature with which all humans are born, seek slavery over freedom. That's because sin is slavery:

Galatians 5:1 (ESV) "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Since undue jealousy is sinful, then the jealous person enslaves themselves by their own uncontrolled emotion. We are all called to self-control because our self gets, well, selfish!

Titus 1:8 (ESV) "But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined."

Sin is essentially lack of love of God because sinners don't care enough for God to care what His will is. Hate is the absence of love. Therefore, jealousy is the emotion that vacates love, which yields hatred. In fact, extreme jealousy creates insecurity, stress, anxiety in oneself and hatred for another. Hate is that prison in which the anxious person is imprisoned.

Jealousy is not only a result of loving someone selfishly, but includes envy: a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Envy is the emotion of jealousy because another has an advantage you want. The sin is called coveting:

Exodus 20:17 "Thou shalt not covet... any thing that is thy neighbour's."

Coveting is wanting strongly whatever advantage another has.  You see, there is a continuum between excessive jealousy and coveting -  the sin.

When I was young many of my friends were older and more established. They had nice things that I didn't. I barely made ends meet, and my family and I actually went hungry while my church friends were affluent. I never was jealous of what they had because it was theirs. They worked for it. Why should I have automatically, what they worked hard to get? Of course, I didn't deserve what was theirs. With that attitude, God blessed me. With hard work, over the years, I became affluent. I believe that if I had coveted what was theirs, I would not have been blessed.

In life there is competition. We all are rivals for things. It may be for love, wealth, recognition, status, or about anything. I like to see my competition for these things be successful. Their success has no bearing on my own status. Some, it seems, want others to be minimized or fail, to effectually build their own esteem.

I write because I love to. I have even written a few books. However, I am not a writer; I'm merely a man with ideas that I want to share. Most of those ideas are religious or political. As long as I can get my ideas out there, I have met my objective. If others get more of their ideas out there, that's no reason for jealousy; I am glad for them. I will not put myself in a prison of envy as they succeed!

We are all human. Envy and petty jealousy are just other ways to hate our neighbors. We must love one another, and that means being happy when they are successful in spite of our own lack of success. God tells us that if his people love and honor, he'll take care of the prosperity. That doesn't mean richness but happiness. I will rely on God for my contentment, not the failures of others!