"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105
Back to basics
posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 :: 8:17 PM
I am in a Bible study that meets every week, with my sister, my two grown daughters, and some friends from church. We don't do a prepared Bible study together; we basically ask the Lord to teach us what He wants us to learn. He always leads us in the way that we need to go. We have all been Christians for some time, so the direction the Lord took our study this week surprised us.
It was the study of daily time spent in the Word of God and seeking the face of the Lord, how that practice, expression of love, and discipline acts as guardrails in our lives to keep us in the way of the Lord. Of course, we all know how important this is. The first time of the day devoted to the Lord is our daily service of worship expressed by obedience to the command to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and might, and to meditate on His word day and night. But it is so easy to let the busy-ness of our lives to take over and erode into that time. This week the Lord said to us, Guard that time as your most precious treasure. This week, the Lord said to us, I love you, and I miss you. Come meet with Me again.
An article in today's paper caught my eye: Neopaganism growing quickly, about the resurgence and growth of such pagan nature religions as druidism and witchcraft. The newspaper article claims paganism is the fastest growing religion in America, Canada, and Europe today, with the numbers of adherents doubling every 18 months.
The comments, though, on this article is what is really interesting. The pagans themselves discuss why the traditional American religion of Christianity is on the decline (many of the pagans identify themselves as former Christians or raised in the Christian church), some giving reasons that the "patriarchy" of Yahweh is less free than the "matriarchy" of their goddess ... the ancient Canaanites agreed with them. Some say that paganism is a more ancient religion than Christianity, as Christianity is based on sun worship. We have discussed the connection in detail here.
I have been hearing about a healing revival going on in Florida. I don't know anything about this particular church, but I do believe God heals people miraculously today. This is because we have experienced His healing on numerous occasions throughout our lives. For example, I was born 3 months prematurely nearly 50 years ago, when preemie survival rates, especially at that gestational age, were very low. I weighed 2 lbs 13 ounces, and the doctor told my parents not to even give me a name, because I was going to die. But the hospital where I was born had just received an experimental new invention for testing the week before: an incubator. I think I was the first baby in that incubator at that hospital. My parents prayed over me, asked the Lord to heal me, and named me "Christine" in defiance of the doctor's advice. And I lived, and thrived.
When I was in college the Lord healed me of debilitating scoliosis in my back. A friend prayed over me, and I felt my spine going "clink" "clink" "clink" in place, all the way down my back from the top of my spine to the bottom. And I have been pain and scoliosis- free since that day.
When my son was 8 months old, he experienced a fall of about 10 feet and landed on his head. His skull was fractured, swollen about twice its normal size. If he survived (which was in doubt), he would be brain damaged the rest of his life. So my husband and I prayed over him and asked the Lord to heal all his injuries and restore his brain the way it was supposed to me. I sure didn't feel full of faith at the time; I have rarely been so scared. But after about 5 hours after the prayer, the swelling in his head was gone, he was active and playing, and a second set of x-rays showed no skull fracture, or any damage at all, whatsoever.
When this same son was about 5, we were up camping in the mountains, and he accidentally stumbled into a mountain bee hive in an old rotten log. He had hundreds of bee stings all over his body. I had a little baking soda to make pancakes the next morning, but not nearly enough to treat every bee sting. And we were hours away from the closest hospital. So we prayed over him, and all the bee stings were gone in about 5 minutes, and he was fine.
When my oldest daughter was pregnant with her daughter, she was diagnosed with gallstones, and they wanted to remove her gall bladder when she was in the hospital to deliver her baby. She didn't want to live the rest of her life without a gall bladder, however, believing God gave it to us for some good reason, so we prayed over her, and her gall stones dissolved. She still has her gall bladder, btw.
So why would God do all that for us if He doesn't heal people miraculously anymore?
So we Christians (who were Gentiles, some of whom were originally Ephraimites) have received a heritage of holidays and traditions which originated in Babylon, and now that we are at the end of this age of history, the Lord is saying to us, "Come out of Babylon, My people!" He is opening our eyes to the fact that we not only are His people, but we were His people Israel, which we had forgotten. The holidays and traditions which the Lord originally gave us were Israelite: the biblical feast days, the patriarchs, the covenants, the promises, and the Commandments, all belong to us. They have been mistakenly called "Jewish" holidays; but the Jews are 2/12 of Israel; the holidays and covenants were given to all of Israel, all the twelve tribes.
We saw that those who belong to the Lord are marked on the hand with His name, because they celebrate the holidays He commanded them to celebrate (outlined in Lev 23), and because they keep the Commandments and practices He commanded them to keep. They are marked on their forehead with His name, because they remember why they celebrate and do what they do; they meditate on the Word of the Lord (all of His Word, including the Torah) all their days.
We learned that those who belong to the beast, the kingdoms of this world (of which Babylon is the head of gold), are marked on the hand with his name, ROMAN, because they celebrate the Roman holidays he instituted which commemorate his rebellion against God. We learned one of these is December 25, the birthday of the sun god, who is Nimrod deified - the instigator of the rebellion at Babel. We learned one of these is Easter (Saxon for Ishtar) at the spring equinox, the fertility festival of Ishtar, Nimrod's wife deified. Thus the bunnies and eggs. Interestingly enough, it is the Roman authority in the form of Constantine and the Roman church who commanded Christians to leave off celebrating Passover and the Lord's feast days, and which fixed the day to celebrate the Resurrection in coincidence with Ishtar's day. We learned that those who belong to the beast are marked on the forehead with his name because they are indoctrinated with Roman - ultimately Babylonian - traditions, thoughts, and practices.
God acknowledges that His people are dwelling in Babylon. In fact, it was likely His plan that they do so. Look at it this way: Satan corrupted people from following God's way by introducing paganism; it worked like yeast in dough, which spread until the whole lump was leavened with rebellion. In an elegant counter strike, God introduced His people with the seed of His Word in them among the pagans; they worked like yeast in dough; they spread until the whole lump was leavened with the knowledge of God. But now, God is calling us out of Babylon, like He called Lot out of Sodom, because judgment is soon to commence on the beast, and He does not want His children to partake of her plagues.
Phariseeism, to me, is the tendency among us, to look down our noses on others who are doing their best to walk with Jesus, and judge them negatively because they do not do everything that we are doing. It is the tendency and temptation to tell others where they fall short, what they are doing wrong, and to tell them what they should be doing instead. I consider Phariseeism itself a falling short of God's perfect ways.
All of us have maybe experienced being on both ends of the Pharisee spectrum: the giving end, or receiving end. I know I have. The giving end is where we act as a Pharisee for someone else; we are maybe a little offended that someone else is not where we are in our knowledge or practice, and we take it upon ourselves to be judge and jury for them.
This is what I think Jesus meant when He said, "Judge not, lest you be judged." He is warning us about judging the state of another person's heart, where they are in their walk with God. Look at it this way: someone who is a new Christian, who does not yet know all the definition of sin, continues in a practice that they have always done, not knowing any better. A "Pharisee" comes along and condemns them, because he knows that particular practice is something God considers "sin." (Let's use gossiping as an example.) Is that new Christian to be condemned, however? God is working with them on first things first, and has perhaps not opened their eyes yet to the fact that gossiping is a sin. If a person is doing something innocently, does God condemn them? However God will answer that question, what is clear is that it is way above our pay grade to be deciding those things. But our responsibility toward our brother, is not to be a Pharisee toward him, but to restore him in a spirit of gentleness. We need to teach him from the Scripture, speaking the truth in love, and simply give him the information he has lacked. No outrage, nor any detrimental emotion at all, need accompany our speech, and if it does, then we are not one who is "spiritual," and we have no business instructing others.
Now a lot of people throw around the "Judge not" verse to escape censure, to continue in a sin they know perfectly well is wrong. Well, now they are in God's hands, and out of ours. If we have been a witness, and have shown forth what the Word of God says, then all that is left for us is to interceed for them on their behalf. It is NOT our responsibility to "make them mind," unless we are in some position of God- ordained authority over them. The concept of exactly where our responsibility begins, and where it ends, is truly hard for some people who have a tendency to Phariseeism to grasp.
The receiving end of Phariseeism, is someone else being a Pharisee in our lives, and condemning us as sinners, when we are in fact innocent. Maybe someone has a theological disagreement with someone else on which day to observe a Sabbath day of rest. One person thinks it is Saturday, the other thinks it is Sunday. They both have their reasons, convictions, for believing so. The one who is convinced it is Saturday rests on Saturday; the one who is convinced it is Sunday rests on Sunday. But they are both resting, according to the commandment. Now if the Saturday rester condemns the Sunday rester as a sinner, then I believe he is being a Pharisee toward the other. God probably does have a definite opinion on who is right. But it is the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin and righteousness, and dear brothers and sisters, we are not the Holy Spirit! We need to leave some things up to the Lord; and for whatever reason, the Holy Spirit has not convicted whoever is wrong in the dispute of the truth. That is up to Him!
Jesus censured the Pharisees for paying such close attention to whether they tithed dill and cumin, that they forgot to show mercy towards others and act justly. Jesus corrected the Pharisees all the time of their imbalance that they had brought to obeying God, to Torah observance. God never intended that keeping His Torah would be a burden; Jesus even said that His yoke was easy and His "burden" was light. It is Phariseeism that makes obeying God a burden; accepting a flawed human as our conscience instead of learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit which is within us. The Pharisees were horrified with Jesus' Sabbath behavior at times, and each time He had to show them where they were wrong. Yes, Pharisees can be wrong, LOL. Remember that the next time you horrify one of them by your conviction.
Is Patrick a Roman Catholic Saint? While the Roman Church claims him, and today is his day according to their calendar, there is ample evidence that he was in no way connected to the Roman Catholic Church, and instead established what became known as the Celtic Christian Church in Ireland long before Rome took notice of it. By Rome's own record, the first Roman missionary to what is today known as the "United Kingdom" was Augustine, a Benedictine, sent by Gregory the Great in 596, while Patrick arrived in Ireland in about 432. In any case, the Christian church was already flourishing there by Augustine's time, not only in Ireland, but missionaries had been sent from it to Scotland and elsewhere in Europe to evangelize the pagan Germans which had overrun the former Roman Empire.
Augustine's job, concerning the Christian church he found already established there, was to subject it to the authority of the Pope:
"'Acknowledge the authority of the Bishop of Rome.' These are the first words of the Papacy to the ancient Christians of Britain. They meekly replied: 'The only submission we can render him is that which we owe to every Christian.'"
- Merle D' Aubigne, History of the Reformation, Book XVII, chap. 2.
"'But as for further obedience, we know of none that he, whom you term the Pope, or Bishop of Bishops, can claim or demand."
- G. H. Whalley, Esq., M. P., Early British History, p.17, London: 1860; see also Variation of Popery, Rev. Samuel Edger, D. D., pp. 180-183. New York: 1849.
Read the above fascinating essay for a discussion of the differences of the Christian church founded by Patrick with the Roman church; but two interesting differences that I have to bring out, are:
1) Patrick and the early Celtic Christians were Sabbath keepers!
"The monks sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great soon came to see that the Celtic Church differed from theirs in many aspects … Augustine himself held several conferences with the Christian Celts in order to accomplish the difficult task of their subjugation to Roman authority. The Celts permitted their priests to marry, the Romans forbade it. The Celts used a different mode of baptism from that of the Romans. The Celts held their own councils and enacted their own laws, independent of Rome. The Celts used a Latin Bible unlike the Vulgate, and kept Saturday as a day of rest.”
A. C. Flick, The Rise of the Medieval Church, p. 236-327.
"It seems to have been customary in the Celtic churches of early times, in Ireland as well as Scotland, to keep Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from labor. They obeyed the fourth commandment literally upon the seventh day of the week."
James C. Moffatt, D. D., The Church in Scotland, p. 140, Philadelphia: 1882.
"In this latter instance they seemed to have followed a custom of which we find traces in the early monastic church of Ireland by which they held Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they rested from all their labours."
W. T. Skene, Life of St. Columba, p. 96, 1874.
2) Patrick and the early Celtic Church kept Crucifixion Day on Passover!
The Celtic church also kept to the tradition learned from Patrick, which was ultimately from the Apostle John and the Asia Minor churches, that the crucifixion of Jesus was always commemorated on the 14th, or full moon, of the 1st biblical month of the Jews, which is Passover. In fact, this difference, which resulted in a different date for celebrating the Resurrection, was the cause of much dissension between the Celtic and Roman churches, and when you read in history books about disputes over the date of Easter, this is what it is referring to.
Today we might think, "What a silly thing to have a dispute over!" But when it is understood that the question really was, in the minds of these Christians, whether they would keep the gospel as handed to them by the apostles, or submit to a man- made authority proclaiming a different gospel, then we can understand why the question was so dear to them.
Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman died yesterday (24 Feb 2008) after years of ill health. He was 60.
News of Norman's death was announced at his official Web site by his brother, Charles, who said that Norman's "heart finally slowed to a stop." Norman had been semi-invalided following a severe heart attack in 1992.
Dubbed by the media as "the father of Christian rock," Norman recorded three albums for Capitol Records in the 1960s, including the seminal Upon This Rock. He later signed with MGM Records for Only Visiting This Planet and So Long Ago the Garden.
He founded his own label, Solid Rock Records, in 1975 and went on to release more than 50 other recordings, though his output was affected for more than a decade by partial brain damage suffered in a 1978 airplane accident.
Norman was also instrumental in nurturing the early careers of musicians Steve Camp, Keith Green, Mark Heard and Randy Stonehill. Norman was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2001 for his music that was recognized as "an unlikely mix of love songs, the Gospel message, and wry commentary on American culture" that "exemplified the goals, ideals and standards of everything the original architects of contemporary Christian music intended for it to be."
In a personal message dictated to his brother for his Web site shortly before he died, Norman said that he felt like "a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up... I am ready to fly home."
He thanked people for their prayers and support, ending with, "Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again/Somewhere beyond the sky/I Pray that you will stay with God/Goodbye, my friends, goodbye."
My husband and I loved Larry's music. We will miss him.
All year long this year Oprah, on her radio show Oprah and Friends, is teaching the 365 lessons in A Course in Miracles, one lesson per day. I first heard about A Course in Miracles as a young wife. I once worked as a receptionist in a psychiatry practice, where the head doctor's "bible" of healing with his patients was A Course in Miracles. Ironically enough, while I was there, none of his patients ever got better and left the practice.
Now I did not know then what the Course taught, only that it was new age.
I have learned it is a false gospel taught by a false Christ. The Course as written is dictation, or automatic handwriting, of a Columbia University professor who received it from a spirit identifying itself as "Jesus." It claims to be a "correction" of Christianity, to return the teaching of Jesus as He originally intended it to be. A former Course devotee turned Christian has written a book on its doctrinal conflicts with historic Christianity and its occult origins.
In the Saudi visit to the Vatican article, the Saudi king met with the pope for the first time ever in history. The Vatican wants freedom of worship, freedom to hold masses, and security of Catholics within the Kingdom, since private Christian worship is often punished there, even though it is supposed to be legal.
In the Cardinals article, there are two topics of interest. The first is that a Vatican- Orthodox theological commission, which has been working to heal the 1000- year rift between the Eastern and Western Church, has just approved a document wherein both parties agree that the pope has primacy over all bishops. This means that the Orthodox theologians agreed that the pope has primacy over Orthodox bishops as well as Roman ones - another historic first.
The second topic is the Vatican's response to the rapid growth of evangelical Protestantism in formerly Catholic majority countries, such as South America, where record numbers of Catholics are leaving Catholicism. Brazil, for example, used to be a 90% majority Catholic country, and is today only 67% majority - the decline reflects the numbers who have left the Roman church for an evangelical or Pentecostal (read: Protestant) church.
In the Willow Creek article, it is mentioned that in a recent survey among church members, 60% of the church's most mature members were dissatisfied with the lack of Biblical teaching at the church and were considering leaving the church because of it.
In the Lesbian and Gay Study Bible articles, the issue is acceptance of homo[s-x]uality within the Church. The fact is, there is a huge battle going on about this particular issue; it is the next defining issue for the Church - much as creation / evolution was in the 90s - which tests whether churches and church members love God enough to adhere to His word (for throughout the Scriptures, Old and New Testament, God describes the test of an individual's love for Him as obedience to His word).
The connecting thread among these articles is a new line of demarcation being drawn within the Church. It is no longer a Catholic - Protestant line, a Catholic - Orthodox line, or even a Christian - other line, as it has been in the past. We are seeing a realigning of churches, both Protestant and Catholic, with the world. The Protestants are aligning with the world on issues of morality and [s-x]uality, and are beginning to abandon their defining creed, sola scriptura. The Vatican views other Christian denominations which are not Catholic as a "threat." At the same time it is drawing the Orthodox under its umbrella, and we see the beginning of a possible alliance with Islam.
And we also see believers of every denomination leaving their compromising churches to worship God in Spirit and in truth where they can find Him. The day is coming when it will not be the Church on the one side of the divide and the world on the other. The Church is embracing the world. When the Church embraces the world, they become the Counterfeit Church - an organization that has the appearance (to the world) of Jesus but which speaks the word of the devil.
On the other side of the divide, are those who will adhere to the unchanging Word of God at all costs. Who not only say they believe God's Word by mental assent, but who prove they believe it by living their lives by its instruction. On one side of the divide are the hearers of the Word, and on the other side are the doers of the Word. Don't be surprised if a vast quantity of Jews end up on the doer side of the divide, either. The Lord is calling all who are His, and a revolution is occurring in Israel, as growing numbers of Jews are discovering that Yeshua - Jesus - is really their Messiah. That snowball has started down the hill.
A new Barna research survey reports that many Christian parents give in to pressure from society and their children, and purchase media for Christmas gifts - DVDs, music CDs, video games, and magazines - with content they feel convicted over. Take a stand this Christmas! Go non- commercial! Refuse to spend money at retailers this Friday! If Christians are going to celebrate a recycled pagan holiday on December 25th, then at least make it about what we can give to others. Research overseas missions to find the ones making the most impact for the Gospel, and give them your Christmas gift- money. Drill a Jesus well for a village without water in India. Sponsor a child. Buy an hour (or a day) of Christian programming to reach the satellite dishes prominent in every Muslim land closed to the Gospel. Give toward Bible translation. Help pay for the radical heart surgeries needed by impoverished Muslim children in Israeli hospitals. Give to widows and orphans in your local community. Support a crisis pregnancy center. Ask the Lord to lead you to the areas of greatest need. He will! Each child can choose which ministry they would like their Christmas gift- money donated to, and why.
And then, if the giving spirit, which is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit (instead of the getting spirit, which is the spirit of covetousness) infects the family, and you want to still give the family members something, stipulate that it must be a gift given without recourse to money or stores. Refinish a cherished heirloom piece of furniture. Have a work day at Grandma and Grandpa's. Sew a quilt. Paint a picture. Paint someone's room their favorite color. Write and illustrate a story, telling all the ways Uncle ___ has been a blessing this year. Fix something broken. Wash someone's baseboards or windows. Organize someone's garage or basement. Practice a beautiful piece of music to perfection, and play it. Cook meals for a busy someone's freezer. Bake. Make a family favorite recipe cookbook. Organize someone's pictures in an album. Decorate a keepsake box, and fill it with notes of edification, encouragement, and appreciation collected from the extended family. If someone is struggling with loneliness, find all the Scriptures that tell us that God is our friend who will never leave us, and write them out beautifully in a little book. Take the younger cousins, who adore and look up to your kids, for a play day. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
A while back I had done a series called The Babylon connection, which examined what happened at the Tower of Babel and how that event is connected to the paganism which permeated the ancient world. The thing is, paganism has never gone away, it has just been walking around in different clothes. Naturalism and its twin darwinism is just paganism dressed up in a lab coat. Naturalists and pagans both worship nature as their god and creator instead of YHVH the Creator of heaven and earth. Only pagans will admit it and naturalists won't.
So what does that have to do with us? In Revelation 17, John sees a woman named with the name of Babylon (which is "Babel" in Hebrew):
"And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement." Revelation 17:3-6
Babylon is called the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. I believe "harlots" is used here in the same sense it is used in Jeremiah: that those who forsake the Lord and His worship have committed harlotries, or adulteries, disloyalties, to the Creator of heaven and earth. Babylon is the root which spawned every philosophy and rebellion which exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Then Lord then pleads with His ekklesia:
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities." Revelation 18:1-5
God's own people are portrayed as dwelling in Babylon! God calling the righteous to depart from Babylon before it gets judgment dumped on it sounds eerily familiar. Remember the two angels visiting Lot and leading him away from the city while fire rained down on it from heaven? Remember Lot's wife, who Jesus told us looked back on the city with longing, and was turned into a pillar of salt? We were warned not to be like Lot's wife. So what does it mean to dwell in Babylon, and what does it mean to come out of her?
A transgendered Methodist minister has been allowed to keep his job upon review of his status. Five years ago, this same Methodist minister was a "she," but has since undergone gender treatment? surgery? and is back ministering as a "he."
Phoenix said he has sometimes been discouraged by negative reaction to his status but thinks that staying on the job is a way to change minds.
"I've always been hopeful that the church will open its doors more and be more inclusive of the community, and I believe that happens when those of us that are in that community just keep showing up," he said.
The problem is, this is not just a member of church we are talking about. There isn't a single Christian church I know of which refuses any human being, no matter their "status," from attending its services, so to say that "I've always been hopeful that the church will open its doors and be more inclusive of the community" is misleading, in my opinion.
But this person is not only a leader in the church, but the church's pastor. Of course there are stringent standards for leaders and pastors; they are in positions of authority, they wield authority delegated to them by God, so of course great care must be practiced in placing people in these positions of leadership. They have great potential to damage those under their authority should they prove less than worthy.
It seems reasonable to me that at the bare minimum, anyone wanting to be a leader in the Christian church, should demonstrate devotion to its founding document, which is the word of God. Devotion to the teachings of the word of God shows to others that you acknowledge the God of the Bible as your God; that you acknowledge that His wisdom in prohibiting certain practices is greater than your own. That if He created you a woman, you remain a woman out of respect for your Creator. You humble yourself to live within the boundaries which the Creator has placed on your life, when He chose to make you a woman or a man.
Originally posted 10/05/07: I am tempted to comment on this article: Scandal brewing at Oral Roberts' U. But I won't, other than to say, this is why Christians who are saved by grace need obedience to the Ten Commandments. If not for our own welfare, then at least so as not to profane the name of the Lord among the unbelievers.
This article highlights, I think, two of the erroneous theories concerning the Jews, Israel, and the Old Covenant, while failing to mention the third, to which I, and I thought, most Christians, hold.
The gist of the article is that Ann Coulter said on a news show that Christians were "perfected Jews," which offended the host (maybe he was Jewish?). Anyway, that Christians are perfected Jews sounds to me like replacement theology, i.e., that the New Testament replaces the Old, that Christians replace Jews in God's plan, and that the Church replaces Israel as God's chosen people.
"Coulter, along with most Christians, believes that Jews like any other person need to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior in order to gain salvation."
Although I disagree with replacement theology, I certainly agree that Jews and all human beings need the atonement Jesus provided for us on the cross, received by grace through faith, in order to be saved.
The article goes on to highlight another view to which John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, holds, they assert. That is that Jews have their own covenant with God and don't need Jesus Christ for salvation. Boy, that is the first time I have ever heard that theory, and I vehemently disagree with it. When Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me," I believe He meant it.
Paul also disagrees with Hagee, if it is true that he believes what they say he does (you never know). Paul teaches in Romans 11 that the Jews will come to salvation in Jesus Christ too -- after all the Gentiles have come into the kingdom. In this third theory, the Gentiles (Christians) don't replace the Jews, and the Jews aren't saved outside of Christ, but the Gentiles and Jews become united in the one faith in Jesus Christ. Just because the Jews are not there yet does not mean it will not happen. God is not limited by time. We, as believers, have been called since the moment of conception, but there was a time before we accepted Christ when we were separated from the covenant of promise. Was our calling annulled because at that point in time we weren't walking in it? No, of course not. Besides, many Jews are coming to faith in Jesus Christ, which is why the rabbinate in Israel is so panicked about "Christian evangelism." Well, the religious leaders of Jesus' day opposed Him, too.
*** Update:Here is the video clip. She says that Jews have to obey laws, but Christians are on the fast track. Doesn't she believe that Jesus and the apostles also told Christians to obey? Didn't God say that obedience is better than sacrifice? She makes it sound as if Jesus dying on the cross for our sins (our sin sacrifice) gives us a license to sin! I cannot believe that she believes that, she must not have thought through her comments and expressed her full meaning completely. I hope she clarifies herself in an upcoming column.
Atlanta's oldest Lutheran church celebrated their pastor this weekend, who is at the center of a battle over the treatment of "gay" clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
"Schmeling became a focus of the ELCA's debate over gay clergy when he was removed from the church's clergy roster last year after he told his bishop that he was in a relationship with a man.
"A disciplinary committee decided it had no choice but to defrock Schmeling and order him out of the pulpit due to a policy that excludes gay, bisexual and transgendered persons in relationships from the ordained ministry.
"However, the committee also suggested that the church consider reinstating gay clergy forced to step down because of their relationships. And it concluded that, aside from his relationship, Schmeling had proved he is worthy of his title."
Wouldn't the man whose heart was set in love on the Lord his God, read these passages of Scripture, which reveal the Lord's heart, mind, and will concerning this particular type of immorality, and be rent with remorse at the revelation of his own sin, and repent, turning from it by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? If someone were unaware of these passages, then he is not well- versed in Scripture, or if he has read them, and continues in sin, then he has (temporarily) closed his heart and mind to the admonition of Scripture. In either case, I would not call such a candidate worthy of the title of pastor. But that is just me.
Perhaps there is a reason the elders of yesterday instituted the defrocking policy in the ELCA, and if today's leaders do not know or understand that reason, then the ELCA is headed for the same dance of death with the world that the Episcopalians have fallen for.
I seem to recall Israel was not content to serve the Lord either, and went after the gods of the nations around them. If we say of them, "How could they have done such a thing," are we not doing the same thing? Are not tolerance of sin and the desire to appear wise in the eyes of man gods of this world? Paul's instruction, that what happened to Israel serves as an example to us, is still so pertinent after all this time.
It is not that I don't have compassion for someone trapped in a horrible deception. May the Lord have mercy and deliver them. But Church, WAKE UP! Do not leave your First Love, and do not leave the Word of the Living God, which is the only plumb line we have to tell us whether we are on course or not!
So we have previously seen that obedience is key to safeguarding our investment in our children. Our obedience to the Lord, that is. The church is so steeped in grace -- and grace is a good thing, do not get me wrong -- but it is so steeped in grace that obedience has kind of fallen by the wayside as optional, something to do if it is convenient. If 50% of Christian men are currently involved in [p-rn]ography, then those 50% have treated obedience as an option, haven't they? "I can quit tomorrow and get forgiveness."
Well, yes. The problem is, however, that if any of us are sinning today because we think we can get forgiveness tomorrow, as an excuse to be weak and indulge in sin today, we are treading on very dangerous ground.
"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:1-4
This explains one of Jesus' prophecies concerning His second coming:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" Matthew 7:21-23
John said we can be sure that we know Jesus by a simple test: do we keep His commandments? Jesus said that the one who loved Him would keep His commandments. For the one who does not keep His commandments, but who says, "I know Jesus!" is a liar, according to John. And not only do they not know Jesus whom they are deceived into thinking they know, but Jesus said that He does not know them, either -- those who practice (make a daily habit of) lawlessness.
What law, I ask myself, is He concerned that we are ignoring? Man's law, or God's law? Surely not man's law, for He said that he who did the will of His Father in heaven will enter the kingdom. So it is surely God's will and His law, which is the expression of His will, with which Jesus is concerned.
The Christian who lives by grace, and for whom obedience is an option, who cherishes secret sins thinking he can always repent tomorrow and be forgiven, is making a daily habit of lawlessness. Isn't he? He is busy building his household on the sand, even if he believes the right doctrine, goes to the right church, and homeschools his children. His children will go into captivity, the Lord says -- and 90% of them are leaving the church for the bondage of the world. And one day Jesus will return, at a day and time of which we are unaware, and repentance tomorrow will no longer be an option.
I have been on a treasure hunt through the word of God concerning the problem of Christians raising their children in a Christian home, in church, and sometimes even in homeschooling, and then losing those children to the world when they are grown.
I know families where this has happened; and I assume you do, too. We aren't really talking about it. A homeschool support group leader I know -- she talks privately with many homeschooling moms -- says the problem is prevalent among homeschoolers, and not every homeschooling family is experiencing the happy outcome, not in the academic life, but in the spiritual life, of their children which is envisioned and promoted at the homeschooling conventions and magazines.
Barna reports that while 86% of teens identify themselves as Christian, only 4%, upon closer examination, actually believe the fundamental doctrines of historic Christianity (such as salvation by grace through faith, not works). In the same study, the researcher found that only one out of three teens maintains church attendance once they have graduated high school and left home. That is not from the general population; that is out of every three teens who were raised in Christian homes, for whom church attendance was a normal and important part of the family life while growing up.
So the question I have is, "Why?" Why in some families, do the children turn out like the homeschooling poster children, and in other families, they experience the same rebellion and angst and heartache that the public schooled children often do?
And is this all a giant roulette wheel spin, or are there principles within the word of God which will guarantee that we will raise wise sons in which their parents delight, rather than foolish sons which are a grief to their parents?
Visit with Christine Miller awhile and let's share our thoughts on homeschooling, education, and life.
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"The Story of the Romans provides an introductory context for the culture and ideas so foundational to the development of Western thought.”
Anne Weiland :: The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
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"For new and veteran homeschool families alike, this extensive new release from the editors of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine serves as a homeschool convention in a book. It details today's most viable education models, helping parents formulate an educational game plan and choose teaching methodologies. There are more than twenty contributors." Including Christine Miller, who wrote a chapter on Classical Education.
christine's reading
I am researching the holy days which were instituted by God as a celebration of the Messiah, instead of celebrating the holy days which were instituted by man to honor nature in place of nature's God.
:: Israel's Feast - Wooten
:: Annals - Ussher
