Poor Spiritual Nutrition!

Poor Spiritual Nutrition!

Americans have an obsession with weight-loss, health and fitness, and yet thirty to forty percent of Americans still remain overweight and “unfit.” Even in the denominations and non-denominations of Christianity, the clergy preach diet, weight loss and exercise. Obesity has become the new communism, the new pedophilia in America. Americans always seem to need something to fear, hate and overreact to, it’s as American as baseball, Chevrolet and apple pie, but I digress.

If American Christians were as concerned with their Spiritual health as their temporal bodies, then they might come to actually know and experience the Lord; and thus become less of the religious-hypocritical joke they are to the rest of this ungodly world.

As I’ve written before, the first people the Lord made had the opportunity to eat from the Tree of Life and have eternal life, but instead, they chose to eat from the only tree in the garden the Lord had prohibited them from and paid the price we are all (believers and unregenerate) still paying today.

Without writing a great deal, here is what I’m getting at: I see the Christian religion as nothing more than the tree of knowledge of good and evil (“Do this, Don’t do that.” “this is evil and this is good.” etc.), and those who eat from this tree will never comprehend nor experience the truth of Christ and thus have His life in this world. These religious practitioners have become, with no discernment whatsoever, what the Apostle Paul described here:

“[they will] hold to a form of godliness (religiosity), although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these… 7…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.“ (2 Timothy 3)

These religionists hold to a form of godliness in that they go to “church” and “worship” every Sunday morning and are always learning about the Lord, but they are never capable of coming to His Truth, and simply because they refuse to come to Him in a singular-personal way. They eat continually from the very tree the Lord doesn’t want them to eat from, the religious tree of good and evil, and refuse to eat from the Tree of Life, the Lord. The Lord made it clear to His followers and the pharisees that if they wanted Him they would have to come and partake of Him (the Tree of Life):

41Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” 42They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” 43Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him (literally drags him); and I will raise him up on the last day. 45“It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46“Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48“I am the bread of life. 49“Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50“This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

52Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58“This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6)

Many of the Lord’s followers left Him after this statement, saying His teaching was too hard. Most of the two-plus-billion Christians in this world remain in the same state as those who rejected the Lord then. They are willing to practice a false religion about the Lord, but they are unwilling to come and partake of His flesh and blood; and simply because in doing so they would have to give up some of their rights and privileges in this world.

Like the first men and women the Lord made, modern day Christians have the opportunity to eat from the Tree of Life but are refusing to do so. These folks prefer a false religion about the Lord, which exhorts them to live, in reality, the life of an unregenerate. They attend “church” and thump their bibles, but they are in almost every way no different from those who openly and honestly reject the Lord and His Truth. These religious folk are Spiritually dead and don’t know it, they are unknowing hypocrites who hardly ever practice what they love to preach.

Like many overweight and unhealthy Americans, most American Christians are in a severe state of Spiritual malnutrition and thus have no idea of how Spiritually ill they truly are.

The Christian Religion = Spiritual Ignorance & Confusion

Schizophrenia

Over the past quarter century, and the last twelve years, in particular, I have wondered why the Christian clergy seem to spend a great deal of their time “preaching” about the old testament. In particular, most televangelists never quote from the gospels or the rest of the new testament. Why is this?

Wouldn’t one think Christian ministers, for the most part, would be preaching the gospel, since they claim, so boldly, this is the purpose for which they were “ordained?” As opposed to “preaching” on the old testament books of the bible, which, by the way, were, beyond the verses referring to our Lord and Savior, written solely about, and for, the Hebrews.

So why aren’t the Christian clergy concentrating more on the wisdom and direction of the Lord? After all, the Hebrew religion began to die when the pharisees blasphemed the Spirit of God (Matthew 12: 31), and then died completely when our Lord had cried out, “It is finished,” on the cross: “It is finished,” of course, and most importantly, also eliminated the penalties for man’s sins, which, for two-thousand years now, has paved the way for man and creation to be reconciled to God the Father. So why, then, is the clergy of the Christian religion so wrapped up in another dead religion, when they should be concentrating on the one they perpetrate?

{Before I get referred to as a Jew hater, which I am not and never have been, it has only been in the last twelve years that I have come to the conclusion, right or wrong, that God the Father would not have continued with a religion that, almost two-thousand years ago, had rejected His Son, and then had Him tortured and murdered by Roman pagans. Will there be a “remnant” of the Hebrews (Jews), perhaps, in each generation, that is saved? Absolutely, just as there will be Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and even Christians, saved. I believe Judaism, like Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, etc, is a dead religion. So go ahead and label me, just like the liberals label Christians, and others who see homosexuality as an illness of mind, flesh and spirit, as being “homophobic” or even perpetrators of “hate-speech”}

What I don’t understand is this, if Christians are going to concentrate on the old testament primarily, then why don’t they just go ahead and convert to Judaism? The Jews spend no time reading what Jesus had to say, since their religion denies He was the Messiah. So, the Christians might as well follow suit, since they seem to also be stuck in the old testament. At least the Jews remain faithful to their dead religion, which is more than I can say for those who practice the Christian religion!

Jesus stated that He had established a new and everlasting covenant that made void the previous one He had made with the Hebrews. Why did the Lord establish a new covenant? One reason was that the Hebrews had, time and time again, beyond comprehension, broken the old covenant they had made with their Creator, Lord and Messiah. They had given up their inheritance as “the chosen people.” Even now, and in complete ignorance of the fact that their religion is dead to God the Father, they continue to break the terms of that old and dead covenant, since they continue to deny the One Whom their ancestors, in truth and reality, made that covenant with: Jesus the Lord and Savior. It was the Lord Who created them, the Lord Who made covenant with them, the Lord Who delivered them from Egypt, the Lord Who gave them the law, the Lord Who delivered them, after forty well-deserved years in the desert, to the “promised land,” the Lord Who came and died for their sins, the Lord Whom they rejected and had crucified on a tree.

Like the Hebrews, most practitioners of the Christian religion break the new covenant the Lord made with them: these Christians refuse to seek the Lord on their own, they refuse to die to self and this world by picking up their crosses and following Him. Christians, whether they be aware or not, practice pagan ritualism and commit idolatry with other gods, whether they be of the Catholic, Baptist or any other of the three-thousand factions their religion has been divided into: in America, these gods are their particular brand of religion (denomination/non-denomination), their particular brand of politics and love of this country (patriotism), its flag, its democracy and capitalism, and its treachery against the poor, disenfranchised peoples of this sad, decaying world. The idolatrous American flag stands on almost every Christian (pagan) alter in this country, and Christians pledge their allegiance to that flag, when the Lord, in scripture, told them to make no oath with heaven or on earth. They yoke themselves (work side by side), politically, with unbelievers, which scripture tells them not to do: “Do not be bound with the unbeliever…” (2 Corinthians 6: 14). American Christians love this country, they love their families, themselves and their worldly desires more than they love the Lord. American Christians want to rule the world, not for the sake of others, but for their own personal, sordid gain.

“To live is Christ” means nothing to these spiritually ignorant and hypocritical religionists, since most of them have never heard this scripture. Most American Christians only hear the bible on Sunday mornings, while they’re fighting to stay awake. Most of them have no idea of Who the Lord is or what they believe, as was the case with most Hebrews when the Lord walked on the earth as a man. But the Hebrews had an excuse, they were kept ignorant of the truth in the scrolls, so they followed the oral tradition of the pharisees, which kept them in bondage to their man-made religion. The pharisees and scribes kept the Hebrew people ignorant so they could control them. As with the religious leaders of Israel, the religious leaders of Christendom keep their captive laity in a constant state of Spiritual ignorance also, so they may control them as they themselves are controlled by the hierarchy of their own particular brand of Christianity: church boards, the pope, etc. But Christians sitting in the pews are without the Hebrew’s excuse, when it comes to spiritual ignorance, since, if they are saved, they have the Spirit of God to lead them. And Christians have, as distorted by man as it may be, the bible to secure some information and truth about the Lord and themselves; if only, for once, they would seek the truth of our Lord for themselves, as opposed to getting it second hand from the clergy.

Pagan pharisees and nothing more!

In my estimation, the Christian religion is nothing more than a cheap imitation of the Hebrew religion, which, as I stated above, has been dead since its practitioners had the true Messiah tortured and crucified by the pagan Romans. The Hebrews desired a messiah that would come and conquer their enemies and raise them up as kings and queens of the earth, which, of course, was completely the opposite of what the scriptures had stated about the Messiah. The leaders of Israel, at that time, knew who Jesus was (the Son of God), but, in essence, they were sending Him back to God and saying, “We reject this kind of messiah! We want You to send us the messiah we desire and demand!” And since they knew who Jesus was, and rejected Him, they were without excuse in the eyes of God the Father, and they paid the price for their blasphemy and murderous treachery. The Christian religion was born out of this same self-serving and arrogant religious desire, only it began, in earnest, with a pagan Roman emperor who established it merely for the sake of his own power and the empire he ruled over. And the bible we read came from this ungodly beginning! Perhaps, being led by the Spirit of God is the only way, today, to know the real truth?

Beyond its weak-at-best profession of faith in Christ as the Creator and Savior of all creation, everything the Christian religion believes and stands for merely equates to a self-serving desire for the kingdom of man to reign on earth (and in heaven) in the future, just as their Hebrew predecessors (and practicing Jews today) desired two-thousand years ago.

The churches (buildings) of Christendom resemble the old temple in Jerusalem. The Christian clergy wear pagan garb and practice pagan-like rituals. The Christian clergy teach their Hebrew-like congregations a false version of the Christ; they, through their corrupt, ungodly teachings, turn our Lord and Savior into a type of magic genie who will give them whatever they want as long as they work hard and do this spiritual work and that spiritual work and never sin. And they do this with total disregard for the scripture that states, “Salvation is by faith alone, and not works, so that no man may boast before God.”(Ephesians 2: 8-10) The Christian’s false doctrines and rituals are almost an exact replica of Hebrew doctrine and ritualism, except, of course, where the Christ is present in them.

Everything in Israel, when our Lord came to earth, revolved around a religion that created, in its practitioners, a works mentality (legalism). The pharisees made up over two-thousand laws (“oral tradition”), not ordained by the Lord, to keep the people chasing after a religious facade, chasing after a false version of their Creator and Deliverer.

A similar type of ungodly facade has continued on, since that time, in the form of Christianity. In America today, Jesus, without the clergy stating it too loudly, has been perpetrated on the practitioners of the Christian religion as being nothing more than a steadfast patriot of democracy and capitalism, a lover of this country. Thus most American Christians are filled with idolatry and are, therefore, apostate in their beliefs, they have fallen away from the truth; that is, of course, if they had ever truly believed in the Truth of Christ. American Christians, as well as most Christians throughout the rest of the world, are filled with spiritual ignorance and confusion. Many American Christians, as well as many British Christians, actually hold to a false doctrine that proposes they are the lost tribes of Israel: this belief is so totally contrary to the very scriptures they worship that it boggles the mind of those of us who have fled from the lie referred to as Christianity.

I question, quite often, why the Lord allows this hypocritical apostasy to continue, but that, evidently, is not for me to know now. I do know this, I will never return to this system of religiosity, nor any other form of religiosity perpetrated by man on himself!

“…And You Have No Need For Anyone To Teach You…” (1 John 2: 27) [Follow-Up]

This is a follow-up post to “…And You Have No Need For Anyone To Teach You…”

Have any of us, while reading the first three chapters of The Book of Acts (if we have ever bothered to read the Word for ourselves), considered why the Lord had allowed His initial true Church, His Body, to be persecuted by the heathens, to be broken up and scattered throughout the known world at that time? And going even further, have any of us considered why the major city churches mentioned throughout the new testament (Antioch, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Smurna, etc) had all disintegrated by the end of the 1st century? If the Lord had wanted His Church, His Body, to remain as large city churches, then why did he allow them to be broken up and scattered? Is our Lord weaker than his enemy, Satan? Of course not! The Lord allowed His Church, His Body, to be scattered throughout the known world so the Gospel might be spread to all nations of the world.

But I also believe that the true Church, the true Body of Christ, was never intended to become a worldly organization that resembles fallen man’s corrupt way of doing business! The “church,” today, amounts to nothing more than 3000 + small businesses and corporations that don’t pay taxes (come to think of it, the “church” is truly like American corporations, since American corporations pay no taxes also!) The false “church” the world knows today began almost two-hundred years after the true Church of Christ (the ecclesias: the gatherings), which Paul had established, deserted the Lord, and Paul, and fell apart:

15You are aware of the fact that ALL WHO ARE IN ASIA turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; 17but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— 18the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. (2 Timothy 1)

Note that many of the city churches, beyond the Greek, were in Asia!

The “church” the world knows today began in Rome and was founded by a pagan, Roman emperor, Constantine. This “church” was the work of Satan, and it was accomplished through the fallen nature of man, which drives his need for political/social control and power. This “church” had and still has nothing whatsoever to do with the first-century ecclesias the Lord had established through the Apostle Paul. Read the first three chapters of The Book of Acts, and see how the true Church, the true Body of Christ, is described, and then tell me I’m wrong:

42They were (believers) continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

43Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

44And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;

45and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.

46Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2)

How often do you, or anyone else in your “church,” devote yourself to the Word of God, fellowship, in its true sense, and prayer, not just for you and family but for others also? Do you even know the person sitting next to you in that pagan pew? Would you sell all you own so that none of the people in your “church” would be homeless, without food and clothing, or without proper medical care? You know the answer! The combined wealth of this dead religion you call “Christianity,” and its ungodly denominations and non-denominations (FACTIONS), the things you refer to as “church,” could, but never will, make sure that no person in this country, and probably the entire world, would ever be homeless, without food and clothing, or without proper health care again. But, instead of this happening, most of you are “far-right-conservatives” who cry out, when confronted with the financial crisis the peoples of this world are experiencing, “Let them die!” or “Get a job, ya lazy bum!”

Woe to you, HYPOCRITES, liars and frauds! Woe to you who seek after man’s religion about God on Sunday morning, for 45 minutes, and walk around the rest of the week as though you are pious and righteous men and women. Hypocrites! Fools!

If this offends you, then I am beside myself with joy! You need to be offended, and you need to repent, to turn away, from your religious/political stupor and seek the forgiveness and counsel of the Lord and His Spirit! Come out of the deadness of this false religion about God and begin to live His Way, His Truth, His Life! But I digress.

Satan counterfeits everything the Lord brings into existence. But Satan’s greatest counterfeit of all is the religion referred to as Christianity, the religion born out of Roman paganism. A religion that is now divided into 3000 + denominations and non-denominations throughout the world, none of which truly represent the Father and His Christ!

So, if you go to a building on Sunday mornings where there is a steeple, an alter, an American flag (idolatry), candles and candle sticks (idolatry), a crucifix (more idolatry), and a man or woman wearing robes and “teaching and/or preaching the word of God,” then you are taking part in nothing more than pagan ritualism and idolatry, the pagan traditions of Christianity that make void the Word of God. What you are taking part in is anything but the Way, Truth and Life of our Lord. As was the case with the temple in Jerusalem, after the Hebrew leaders had blasphemed the Spirit of God, the Lord nor His Spirit is in this pagan, ritualistic building (“church”) you have been indoctrinated into believing is the true Church, the true Body of Christ!

Here's the real fruit of the Christian Religion!

1Then God spoke all these words, saying,

2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3“YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.

4“You shall not make for yourself AN IDOL, or ANY LIKENESS (crucifixes, crosses, statues of “saints” = idolatry) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth (flags, patriotic oaths, etc). 5“YOU SHALL NOT WORSHIP THEM OR SERVE THEM; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exodus 20)

22Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

25And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26“If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27“If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29“Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

30“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

31“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12)

1Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4“For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ 5“But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” 6he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ AND BY THIS INVALIDATED THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR TRADITION. 7“You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

9‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’” (Matthew 15)

For the sake of your denominational or non-denominational TRADITIONS, you have invalidated the Word of God. In vain, you worship God, since you teach and preach the precepts (the doctrines, theology and dogma) of your particular brand of the Christian religion: your “church,” your denomination or non-denomination, your social and business club!

Wake up, sleeper! Come out of this religious deadness and into the Life the Lord has prepared for you! Don’t be like the Hebrews of Jesus’ day, who stood by while listening to their apostate, evil religious leaders, and not be ready for the second return of Christ in great power and glory. This time, neither man’s religion nor government will overcome the judgment and wrath that this evil world rightly has coming to it! This is still the age of grace, the age of God’s favor, but I believe His patience is wearing thin, and this will be the last time that His wrath will be poured out. If you doubt this, then look around you and consider the natural disasters that have plagued humanity for the last 5 or 6 years: the tsunami in Asia (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), the tsunami in Japan and the earthquakes, floods, and fires that have ravaged the US of A this year.

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (Romans 1)

14“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. (Deuteronomy 10)

Wake up out of your democratic-capitalist/religious and idolatrous stupor and recognize that the Lord is warning us of impending disaster. Wake up or be unprepared for what is coming!

“…And You Have No Need For Anyone To Teach You…” (1 John 2: 27)

Is this Guy the Spirit of God? Then why be led by him?

Many true seekers of the Lord and His life, those few chosen out of the many called, are, unfortunately, still sitting quietly by on Sunday mornings while listening to a man or woman (minister, priest, reverend, pastor, etc.) tell them about a religious version, a (non) denominational doctrine, about the Lord. And, in many cases, this religious version is a misleading or even completely false picture of our Lord, His sacrifice, and the life He came to give us:

7So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8“All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY. (John 10)

These chosen-out-of-the-many people evidently have not, as of yet, experienced the Spirit saying to them, “Come out from among them. Come out from the deadness of religion and into the life and purpose you have been called to. There is no need, nor has there been, for almost two-thousand years now, for a mere man or woman to teach any other mere man or woman about the Father, Son and Me:”

“As many as are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

It is the Spirit that will lead us, not a mere man or woman with a degree in knowing about God (theology) or “religious studies”!

But if these folks are the chosen, then they will, sooner or later, follow the leading of the Spirit in them and come out from the deadness of the religion referred to as Christianity. They will come out and be led and taught by the Spirit, since, as Jeremiah and 1 John point out, there is no need for true seekers (the chosen) of the Lord and His life to be led and taught by a mere man or woman:

31“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34“They will NOT TEACH AGAIN, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ FOR THEY WILL ALL KNOW ME, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” DECLARES THE LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31)

This is an old testament prophecy. The following is from the Apostle John in the new testament:

15Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

18Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. 20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

25This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

26These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, AND YOU HAVE NO NEED FOR ANYONE TO TEACH YOU; but as HIS ANOINTING TEACHES YOU ABOUT ALL THINGS, and is true and is not a lie, AND JUST AS IT HAS TAUGHT YOU, you abide in Him.

28Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. (1 John 2)

Jesus Himself foretold of this truth:

25“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26“But the Helper, THE HOLY SPIRIT, whom the Father will send in My name, HE WILL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. (John 14)

So why do we, if we believe the scriptures to be the inspired Word of God, go to “church” every Sunday morning and listen to the priests, popes, ministers, pastors, reverends, etc? And, based on the Word of God, why would we even take part in these denominations and non-denominations that spawn these contrary-to-the-Word-of-God religious careers? If we thump the bible, then why can’t we read it, believe it, and then act on what it is telling us to do, through the Spirit that indwells us; that is, if we have the Spirit of our Lord?

Christianity is a religion that is divided into over 3000 FACTIONS, which are all at odds with each other. How does this divided religion of man resemble in any way the Body, the Church, the Bride, of Christ described in scripture?

16But I say, walk [BE LED] by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, FACTIONS, 21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5)

Factions: 1) A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group

Does this definition of factions, in any way, shape or form, portray the unity of the Spirit spoken of in other scriptures?

1Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3BEING DILIGENT TO PRESERVE THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE. 4There is ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT, just as also you were called in ONE HOPE of your calling; 5ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, 6ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4)

The Word of God states there is ONE SPIRIT, ONE LORD, ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, not 3000 + factions that, over the past 6 or 700 years, have been at odds with each other over man-made and manipulated theology and doctrines. Christianity is a man-made, inspired and manipulated religious farce that smacks our Lord and Savior in the face every day of the week! Where is the unity of the Spirit, the ONENESS IN CHRIST, in the 3000 + denominations and non-denominations that make up the Christian religion. The Christian religion is just like every other religion invented by man: it is for man and his desires, his need for control and power and nothing more.

So why be led by any human being who serves this Godless, dead religious system? When the Word of God tells us there is no longer any need for a man to teach another man about the Lord, why do most of us still refuse to listen and thus continue to be misled Spiritually every Sunday morning and the rest of the week?

10Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be NO DIVISIONS AMONG YOU (FACTIONS), but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13HAS CHRIST BEEN DIVIDED? (1 Corinthians)

The practice of religion is not a Spirit led life in Christ! We must make the decision on whom we will listen to, follow and serve, either man or the Lord. It is our responsibility!

P.S.

Satan will use scripture in order to confuse the chosen, just like he attempted to do with Jesus in the desert. “Do not forsake the gathering together” has nothing at all to do with what most of you call “church.” The gathering, the ecclesia, can be two or more coming together to live the life the Lord came and died to give them. The gathering has nothing at all to do with religion, it has to do with the abundant life that we have been offered, here and now!

19“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matthew 18: 19-20)

THE CONSISTENT & OVERBEARING RELIGIONISTS’ RESPONSE!

The False Church, The Apostate "Church:" The One-Time-a Week Home of Hypocrites and Religionists!

I am always amazed when I have the opportunity to experience, once again, the consistent and overbearing ways of the religious, bible-thumping pew-sitters (religionists), in communicating with those who won’t swear allegiance (and pay tithes) to their one-of-three-thousand-plus man-conceived versions of our Father and His Son: “churches,” denominations, non-denominations, televangelism, etc (factions/divisions).

The following comment is just another example of this way of the religionists.

“You need some serious help my brother!! You are at a place of spiritual confusion that will allow passivity to overtake you and bring you to a place of utter hopelessness. Repent of your double-mindedness and allow the Spirit of the Living God to raise you up in to a newness of life that you have only been scratching the surface of. God is with you, but are you with God??“

First, note the love of God in his opening statement: “You need some serious help my BROTHER!!” He hears, I’m sure, “You need help and I am concerned for you,” while what he writes is nothing more than an accusation that is inflammatory as well as lacking in the Lord’s grace; as, by the way, is the rest of what he writes here. Secondly, I trust no one that immediately refers to me as “BROTHER”! My true brothers and sisters in Christ and I, except for a few, and I know them and their hearts, never refer to each other as brothers and sisters, and yet we take care of each other much better than the religionists do in their crystal cathedrals! I know my true brothers and sisters in Christ, because I am led by the Spirit of God, as opposed to a man with a theology degree, in thousand dollar robes, standing on a pagan-oriented alter, on a lectern, with pagan crosses, or even worse, crucifixes (both idolatrous objects of the Vatican), and an American flag, in a million dollar-plus building that he refers to as a “church.” It’s almost comical, but not quite!

THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST ARE HIS PEOPLE, NOT SOME STINKING PAGAN BUILDING WHERE PEOPLE ARE LED AWAY FROM THE LORD AND KEPT CHASING AFTER THE AMERICAN DREAM, AND THE SUPPORT OF A COMPLETELY GODLESS GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMIC-SYSTEM (PATRIOTISM: MORE IDOLATRY)!

Summary: Addressed to Eddie,

Don’t tell me I need help! Show me how I need help, and then, if you can, which isn’t always possible, unfortunately, seek to help me! Don’t accuse someone while referring to them as your “BROTHER!” I, as far as I can tell now, am not, in any way, shape or form, your brother, sir! And NEVER, I mean NEVER, be so arrogant, in your lame religiosity, as to suppose you know my relationship, or any other individual’s, with our Lord and Savior; unless, of course, you know and have invested in them and their lives, and they in you, and have been walking the same path with them. You and I have not experienced what I just described, and therefore I reject your legalism and judgment, sir!!

{On this last sentence, when I write on Spiritual issues, I attempt to write of my experiences in and out of the deadness of organized Christianity, and I speak of the whole of Christendom, not every individual (since the Lord still has some of His people in that exile): except, of course, in the case of the clergy and politicians, since they have put themselves out there to be critiqued.}

This person knows nothing about me, and he has probably not read more than what he absolutely had to read of my posts in order to attack (“rebuke,” I’m sure, is how he sees it) and insult my faith in the Lord!

This man is one of a multitude of reasons why I, and thousands upon thousands of other sons and daughters of God, throughout the earth, have left the deadness of churchiosity and have gone, instead, seeking, on our own, as the Pilgrim had, the true abundant life of Christ!

This comment is just another example of the man-conceived religion about Christ that Satan has used, for the last two-thousand years, to keep many of the Lord’s created ones away from His Way, Truth and Life.

Enough said!

PS

The thought had occurred to me, since this person left no personal way to respond, nor responded back to my comment response, that Eddie just might be an atheist playing games with me. I have had this happen before, and this is why I waited to respond this way. If this be the case, and Eddie is an atheist, then all I have to say to him is this: Eddie, if there is a literal hell at the end of this age, then have a great time there, since this will have been your choice and thus what you desired and deserve!

My hope is that this is not the case, and Eddie is just another lost soul held captive in the bondage of organized Christianity. And, if this be the case, then I hope Eddie seeks his Spirit and allows it to tear off the religious chains that, by his words here, seem to have him in the bondage our Lord came to release the Hebrews and all of us from!

An Example of Life in the Body of Christ: The True Church!

Recently, I met someone on line, and what she has written in emails, over the past few days, has been a great blessing to me. So I thought I would share a small portion of them with you.

The following quotes speak of the gathering (home-church) she and her husband began ten years ago.

We started a church ten years ago, thinking the Lord had given us a vision for dozens of churches like it in our area – a network of house churches – that were connected to each other in common experience and conviction, yet autonomous as individual groups of believers. And while we have had a wild ride at times with some of the people the Lord has brought across our path, (long story) in the end we are only one small church.

Right now there are about 13 adults, 4 teens, and 8 children under twelve years old when we are all together, which is not really that often. Some of us are spread out an hour’s drive from the others. We talk to so many people who are dissatisfied with ‘church as usual’ and like the idea of what we are doing, but like Dietrich Bonhoeffer indicated in Life Together, people generally like the idea of authentic Christian community MUCH BETTER THAN THE REALITY. What that has meant for us is that we are far fewer in number than we dreamed we would be by this time. Sometimes we wonder if we are ahead of our time (I believe a day is coming when true Christians will have to go ‘underground’ in the United States). Or maybe we are just out of our minds ;)… (underlined emphasis MINE, not hers)

Here is another email where she, once again, describes the Body Life they experience:

The church we started ten years ago has been an interesting, unpredictable, often taxing process. There is only one couple that has been with us the whole time and currently we have 6 family units (some of those are single people) who consider themselves part of us. We have no membership roll, no leadership staff, no meeting place save wherever we choose to GATHER. We have functioning elders, but no titled ones. We do have a bank account where we collect and disperse funds for various benevolence needs and missionary support.

We have had ex-convicts, recovering crack addicts, recovering alcoholics, battered women and troubled teens flow through the fellowship. At one point, the church families took care of an infant for 3 months while his mother served out prison time on a probation violation. A single mom and her three kids stayed in our home for several months while they recovered from the dad of the family leaving the mom – for another man. Right now we are in a relatively calm time in terms of crisis management – and it is a much needed break. We have learned that if you are going to be involved with people’s lives, it is going to be messy.

Have we arrived at a place where our initial dreams for Christian community have been realized? Well . . . .no. But we have come to understand that the problem was not that one group of people or another let us down, or was not serious enough about living the Christ life or whatever else complaint we had with them, the problem was our Utopian vision of what we thought the church should be like. We have come to understand that it is Christ who builds his church, with whom he chooses, in his time and in his way, and that we are to love those he brings our way, warts and all, and trust that he knows what he’s doing.

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-36)

We all, after all, have warts – hurts, insecurities, lurking sin – none of us are easy to love. We are all on a journey of sanctification, of learning what it means to be a new creation, of understanding what happened to us when we were crucified with Christ and raised to new life in him. Some of us are more mature in the faith than others, but I have been humbled more than once by spiritual insight from someone I considered to be a stumbling, bumbling, baby in the faith.(underlined emphasis MINE, not hers)

Here are a few quotes that really speak to me:

We talk to so many people who are dissatisfied with ‘church as usual’ and like the idea of what we are doing, but like Dietrich Bonhoeffer indicated in Life Together, people generally like the idea of authentic Christian community MUCH BETTER THAN THE REALITY

The church we started ten years ago has been an interesting, unpredictable, often taxing process.

There is a price to pay when we turn away from the deadness of Christendom and seek the Lord in a personal way (pick up our crosses and follow); and few, when truly counting the cost of discipleship, will be willing to stay the course. Institutionalized Christianity is merely a crutch which keeps those entrapped in its clutches in a perpetual state of Spiritual immaturity and Lifelessness.

We have no membership roll, no leadership staff, no meeting place save wherever we choose to GATHER. We have functioning elders, but no titled ones. We do have a bank account where we collect and disperse funds for various benevolence needs and missionary support.

This, to me, shows that the Spirit has led these folks to reject man’s worldly-organized version of the Lord: clergy/laity (Nicolaism), elaborate and ungodly buildings, and coerced offerings, or tithing.

We have had ex-convicts, recovering crack addicts, recovering alcoholics, battered women and troubled teens flow through the fellowship.

We all, after all, have warts – hurts, insecurities, lurking sin – none of us are easy to love. We are all on a journey of sanctification, of learning what it means to be a new creation, of understanding what happened to us when we were crucified with Christ and raised to new life in him.

“Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9)

Have we arrived at a place where our initial dreams for Christian community have been realized? Well . . . .no. But we have come to understand that the problem was not that one group of people or another let us down, or was not serious enough about living the Christ life or whatever else complaint we had with them, the problem was our Utopian vision of what we thought the church should be like.

This, I believe, is the most important point! It is the Christ’s Church and Body, not ours, and He can do with it as He sees fit (Jeremiah 18: 4). Through the leading of the Spirit, these believers and seekers have discovered the Lord’s Truth and set aside their own version of church for the One the Lord is revealing to them.

How different, then, is this portrait of Spiritual, corporate Life from the vast deadness and pagan ritualism we can find on almost every street corner (churchianity)? These folks are, to a great extent, experiencing the Life that Jesus and His disciples experienced (as well as the first century ecclesias), the Life the Lord came to give all of us: they are gathered together and sharing their Lives, they are seeking to know their Lord and Savior and be led by the Spirit, and they are seeking to serve and love others, no matter how fallen, politically-incorrect or hurting they may be.

We live in a day and age when abortion doctors, who are more than secure in their murderous activities, are warmly welcomed in “churches”, while REPENTANT sex-offenders, embezzlers and drug dealers, who are seeking the Lord for forgiveness and new Life, are, in most cases, turned away before they can even get to the “greeters”. This simple and small gathering of the Lord’s sons and daughters, however, have opened their minds, hearts and HOMES to those who are no longer welcome in the rest of this corrupt and hypocritical world:

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, SO THAT HE MAY NULLIFY THE THINGS THAT ARE, 29 SO THAT NO MAN MAY BOAST BEFORE GOD. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” (1 Corinthians 1)

These believers’ and seekers’ way of Living, loving and serving others is, in my heart and mind, the Body of Christ in action: the true Church of Christ!

“For It is Better to Marry than to Burn with Passion.” (1 Corinthians 7)

Roman Catholic Paganism

The Apostle Paul tells us,

…it is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 But because of immoralities, each man is to have his OWN WIFE, and each woman is to have her OWN HUSBAND. 3 The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does… 7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am (celibate, unmarried). However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.

8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. (1 Corinthians 7)

In the article below is yet another example of what happens when “religious” men turn away from the leading of the Spirit of God, and turn aside, instead, to their own man-made doctrines filled with pagan mysteries and ritualism: “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” (2 Timothy 3)

March 12, 2010

Cardinal Schönborn says celibacy partly to blame for clerical sex abuse

by Richard Owen and Ruth Gledhill

The Times

A senior cardinal has called for priestly celibacy to be re-examined in the light of sex scandals sweeping the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, conservative Archbishop of Vienna and a protégé of the Pope, shocked the Vatican by suggesting that it should carry out an “unflinching examination” of causes of the scandal.

These included “the issue of priests’ training”, he wrote in his archdiocese magazine, “the question of priest celibacy and the question of personality development. It requires a great deal of honesty, both on the part of the Church and of society as a whole”.

The Vatican said the remarks had been misinterpreted. “Priestly celibacy is a gift of the Holy Spirit,” Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, said at a theological convention on priestly fidelity. (emphasis added)

via Religion News: Cardinal Schönborn says celibacy partly to blame for clerical sex abuse.

The Perverse Results of Pagan Celibacy!

Celibacy is never mentioned in the Word of God as being “a gift of the Holy Spirit” (see 1 Corinthians 12). This is merely one of many pagan distortions perpetrated by Catholicism, as G.H. Pember exposes here:

As time went on, the teachings of the mystic Jezebel continued to be unfolded. In 341, Athanasius and his companions fled for refuge to Rome, and, soon after they had settled there, introduced the Monastic orders [asceticism], which had been already established in the deserts of the Thebaid. Subsequently, they were instituted in Gaul by Martin of Tours, and in Africa by Augustine.

Damasus and Jerome [Popes] had encouraged the movement in every possible way, and especially by teaching that celibacy and virginity were the highest of Christian virtues. And Pope Siricius-384-398 A.D.-who succeeded Damasus, supplemented their work by issuing a Decretal in which he insisted on the celibacy of all the Catholic clergy.

(The Great Prophecies of the Centuries concerning the Church Volume 4: [pages 556, 57] G.H. Pember)

Pember, in his other three volumes, explains that the Catholic priesthood was not established on the basis of the Levitical priesthood (Hebrew), but was, instead, fashioned after the priests of Isis, as well as many other pagan entities.

Thus we can imagine the evil doors that have been opened, and remain open, because of this pagan, idolatrous form of religiosity! Is it any wonder that priests and nuns, starved of a normal relationship with a wife and husband, and caught up in pagan ritualism, would turn to perverse acts to satisfy their sensual cravings? As Paul makes clear in his statement to the Corinthians, “It is better to marry than to burn with passion.” The pope would claim that Paul’s statement, “I wish that all men were even as I myself,” is an imperative from the Lord to remain celibate. But that claim would merely be a fleshly protest, which, in the end, was put forth to validate, and continue, the pagan ways of the Roman priesthood and nunnery: a perverse way marred not just by pedophilia, but also by homosexuality and adultery. Just ask any priest or nun who has fled from this apostasy, and they will tell you, if they’re willing to be honest, of the sordid things that take place in, and around, a “convent” and “rectory”.

When paganism is at the heart of our “religious” worship, then the Lord will have no part of it; no matter how good the intention be on the part of those involved in the process. The Lord cannot accept worship when our spiritual service is connected to the manipulative, lying works of Satanic paganism. Ignorance of this Truth will not be an excuse on that soon coming day of judgment: it is for us to know what is of the Lord and what is not!

Another Darwinian Manipulation With the Help of an Apostate Catholic Priest!

The following Pew Forum article, although it deals primarily with the rewarding of a Catholic priest for his so-called “clear voice in matters of science and faith”, is yet another example, in my estimation, of the bad fruit of man’s pagan form of Christianity (Christendom).

March 25, 2010

UC Irvine’s Francisco Ayala wins Templeton Prize

by Mitchell Landsberg

Los Angeles Times

As a young doctoral student in the 1960s, Francisco Ayala was surprised to learn that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution appeared to be less widely accepted in the United States than in his native Spain, then a profoundly conservative and religious country.

Ayala brought a unique sensibility to the topic, because he had been ordained as a Catholic priest before undertaking graduate studies in evolution and genetics. What he believed then, and has spent his career espousing, is that evolution is consistent with the Christian faith.

On Thursday, Ayala, an acclaimed researcher at UC Irvine, won the 2010 Templeton Prize, awarded annually in recognition of achievements in affirming spirituality. The prize is worth $1.6 million, which Ayala said he would give to charity.

In announcing the award, Dr. John M. Templeton Jr., president of the John Templeton Foundation, praised Ayala’s research, which has focused on evolutionary genetics, as well as his inquiries into fundamental questions of life. “Ayala’s clear voice in matters of science and faith echoes the foundation’s belief that evolution of the mind and truly open-minded inquiry can lead to real spiritual progress in the world,” Templeton said.

In a telephone interview from Washington, where he was accepting the award, Ayala said he believed he was receiving it for his scientific work and for the “very important consequence of making people accept science, and making people accept evolution in particular.”

Ayala, 76, has been at the forefront of efforts to defend Darwin’s theory from attacks by Christian fundamentalists, many of whom favor the notion of intelligent design, which is consistent with a literal reading of the biblical creation story and holds that the world is too complex to have evolved without oversight by a supreme being. (emphasis added)

via Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Before I continue, let’s take note of this particular fragment: “[the] VERY IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCE of making people accept science, and making people accept evolution in particular.” Now let’s break this down a bit: “MAKING PEOPLE ACCEPT science, and evolution in particular,” has a “very important consequence.” Note the verb “Making” in this fragment:

The sixth definition of Make:

a. To cause to act in a specified manner: Heat makes gases expand.
b. To Compel: made him quit.

The first definition of Compel:

1. To Force, drive, or constrain: Duty compelled the soldiers to volunteer for the mission.
2. To necessitate or pressure by Force; exact: An energy crisis compels fuel conservation. See synonyms at force.

So, according to the dictionary, to Make someone do anything is to Compel, or Force, them to do so. In this light, then, we can see that this apostate priest (“scientist”) has merely set out to Make us accept, with the help of our children’s public education system, the universities, the government, and the liberal and conservative press corp, what most of us see as nothing more than the delusional rantings of the unregenerate atheist: another mere attempt by the God hating unregenerate to Force everyone else into believing, or having faith, in evolution (Darwinism).

The goal, then, of the postmodern-Darwinian atheists, and their apostate pawns (like this priest), isn’t to convince us of the physical evidence for the evolution of man, since there isn’t any substantial proof, nor will there be. No, the Darwinian atheists’ real goal is, instead, to Make us, to Compel us, to Force us, to accept and BELIEVE (have faith) in a unsubstantiated, at best, “scientific” hypothesis.

So, in reality, this award wasn’t really given to this priest out of respect and gratitude; since no self respecting postmodern-Darwinian atheist would ever admit to having respect for any person who believes in a Creator. No, this award was given to this gullible, apostate, and deluded, priest for the sole purpose of manipulating more than 1.1 billion Catholics, and as many or more pew-squatting protestants, into believing this lie perpetrated by Satan; the same Satanic lie, in essence, that enticed Eve to eat from the forbidden fruit:

“You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3)

This priest, like the Vatican he serves, has sold out the Word of God, the Christ (the Logos), and has turned an apostate eye and mind to the bad fruit of this unregenerate world system and it’s moronic, mediocre lies: a system that serves, with or without knowledge, the enemy of our Lord and Savior, Satan. This whole article is just another example of the nominal “church’s” falling away (apostasy), and the Lord’s deluding influence upon it, which is beginning to herald in the seventieth week of Daniel, and the revealing of the man of lawlessness, the anti-Christ:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will FALL AWAY from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron… (1 Timothy 4)

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (the great falling away) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them A DELUDING INFLUENCE SO THAT THEY WILL BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2)

We must come to understand that Darwinism isn’t a scientific endeavor, it is merely a proselytizing tool used by lost, lonely, and hate filled, atheists to draw more people down to their sordid and dark existence and beliefs: “Misery loves company!”

“A Deluding Influence” XIV

Martin Luther

{I have decided, from time to time, to post certain items that I sense (through my Spirit, hopefully) speak to many of the issues I write on. These will be short snippets (NOT ALWAYS), and I’ve decided to call them, “A Deluding Influence” (2 Thessalonians 2: 11)}

Here are two more Pew Forum articles which further reveal the bad fruit of the nominal “church” (Christendom). The first one comes from the land of Martin Luther, and the Reformation:

March 5, 2010

Scandals test credibility of German churches

by Anli Serfontein

Religion News Service

TRIER, Germany (RNS/ENI) Germany’s Protestant and Catholic churches may be facing the biggest credibility crisis in decades after an unprecedented bout of scandal-fueled negative media coverage.

Bishop Margot Kassmann, the first woman to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), resigned as leader of German Protestants on Feb. 24 after she was arrested for drunk driving, just four months into office.

In the same week, Catholic bishops met in Freiburg to address allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children by clergy that had surfaced late in January, prompting a possible criminal probe by state officials.

Germany is the birthplace of both the Protestant Reformation and Pope Benedict XVI, and religion plays a key role in German life; indeed, both churches are among the nation’s largest employers.

Some members of the Protestant church believe Kassmann’s resignation has thrown the EKD, an umbrella group for 24 million Lutheran and Reformed Protestants, into a crisis of theological, moral and political proportions. (emphasis added)

via Religion News: Scandals test credibility of German churches.

Here, once again, is what the Apostle Paul has to say about overseers (elders) and deacons; the only two designated Church leaders given us in the Word of God:

It is a trustworthy statement: if ANY MAN aspires to the office of overseer (elder), it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be ABOVE REPROACH, THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE, TEMPERATE, PRUDENT, RESPECTABLE, HOSPITABLE, ABLE TO TEACH, NOT ADDICTED TO WINE or PUGNACIOUS, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 HE MUST BE one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

8 Deacons likewise must be MEN OF DIGNITY, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain… (1 Timothy 3)

An overseer (elder) or deacon, then, according to Paul, must be first of all a MAN who is TEMPERATE, a HUSBAND of ONE WIFE, RESPECTABLE, NOT ADDICTED to WINE or PUGNACIOUS, but most of all, this MAN, this overseer, this deacon, must be ABOVE REPROACH! An overseer or deacon is to be a man, not a woman. Women can, according to Paul, teach, exhort, and rebuke other women and children in small gatherings, but never, according to Paul, is a woman to be the head of any assembly (ecclesia) of the Lord. Nor is a man, who desires to be an overseer or deacon, to be unmarried or, even worse, divorced. And above all else, overseers and deacons are to be above reproach, so as not to bring the opportunity for unregenerate and pagan blasphemy against the Lord.

For those believers who may have their relativistic and “tolerant” sensibilities (products of a carnal mind) disturbed by this scriptural truth, I would suggest that they, at some point in time, come to the correct Spiritual, and scriptural, conclusion that our Lord and Savior is not, in any way, a politically-correct God: forgiving, patient (to an extent) and loving, yes, but not “tolerant”, nor politically-correct! In fact, the (hypocritical) political and philosophical doctrines of unregenerate and “religious” man are but foolishness to God:

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; 20 and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.” (1 Corinthians 3)

A False Prophet, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing!

This second article comes from Germany also, but it deals with a Danish reverend. As bad as the subject matter of the first article was, this second one, in my estimation, is even worse!

March 5, 2010

Danish pastor raises eyebrows with frank talk about sex

by Niels Sorrels

Religion News Service

BERLIN (RNS) Birds do it, bees do it and so should devout Christians — daily, even — according to a new book by a Danish pastor that is causing a minor sensation across Europe.

The Rev. Poul Joachim Stender, 53, is getting his fair share of media attention after publishing a book entitled “Med Gud i sengen,” which translates as “With God in Bed.” Among other recommendations, the book encourages devout Christians to have sex once a day, and to learn more about the parts of the Bible that focus on sex.

In an interview in the Danish newspaper Randers Amtsavis, Stender says the Bible — starting with the scene in Genesis where God refers to Adam and Eve becoming “one flesh” — encourages active sexuality.

“What is biblical is to have sex,” says the pastor from Saaby parish in Roskilde. “If it is not erotic, I don’t know what is.” (emphasis added)

via Religion News: Danish pastor raises eyebrows with frank talk about sex.

The first article showed the Spiritual immaturity and weakness of a woman who should never have been an overseer or deacon, according to scripture, not alone a person in charge of an entire denomination; which entity, by the way, as I’ve attempted to expose before, is the product of the pagan-religious system referred to as Christendom.

But unlike the out-of-control woman in the first article, this so-called “man of God” works his evil in a very premeditated and manipulative manner: much like the serpent of old manipulated Eve by the tree. This “clergyman”, like the Devil, takes the sacred physical union, instituted between a joined together man and woman of God, and reduces it, and the scriptures which speak of it, to a sordid pornographic indulgence. Like Lucifer, this apostate man of perdition, tempts those, weak in lusting after the flesh, with the false notion that God’s Word openly supports sexual promiscuity: sexual immorality, sin.

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2)

The Lord made Eve from Adam’s rib in order to provide him with a completer (a help-mate), and the Lord, then, blessed both Adam and Eve with a Spiritual and physical union; for woman was made from the rib of man, “and they (once again) shall become one flesh.” But this Spiritual and physical union, as Paul states, was not only for Adam and Eve’s, and their seed’s, blessing, but also to reveal the relationship which the Lord desires to have with all of His creation: All in All.

Husbands, love your wives, JUST AS ALSO CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5)

The fall of Adam and Eve, when their eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil, would ultimately lead to this sacred Spiritual and physical union being lowered to nothing more than what we see today: an impure and unholy animal-like instinct, a mere Pavlov’s dog response to something which, in the beginning, was meant to be beautiful and fulfilling to both men and women!

So, we can continue to take part in this kind of Spiritual deadness, and apostate confusion, or we can break our “religious” habit and come out into the Light and abundant Life of our Lord and Savior. It is up to us! But remember this,

‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone (believer) hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3)

For more on this subject, I highly recommend the following text: Earth’s Earliest Ages: G.H. Pember

“For I am Under Compulsion… Woe is Me if I Do Not Preach the Gospel”

The Apostle Paul: "For if I preach the gospel, ...I am UNDER COMPULSION; for WOE IS ME if I do not preach the gospel"

The Apostle Paul, as well as the other Apostles, did not preach Christ crucified in order to become famous, or make a living. In fact, the Apostle states that he gave up, and suffered, much, in a worldly sense, to preach the Word of God:

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, FOR WHOM I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS, AND COUNT THEM BUT RUBBISH SO THAT I MAY GAIN CHRIST, 9 AND MAY BE FOUND IN HIM, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may KNOW HIM and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His SUFFERINGS, being CONFORMED TO HIS DEATH; 11 in order THAT I MAY ATTAIN to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3)

It would seem, then, that the material things (perishables) of this world meant little, or even nothing, to the Apostle. Paul’s sole purpose was to bring the Way, Truth, and Life of Christ, to those who hadn’t heard, and without desiring the accolades of men, nor the material comforts which were afforded him in the Word of God. The following scripture reveals the heart of Paul, when it comes to preaching Christ crucified:

1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 Do we not have a right to eat and drink? 5 Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? 7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?

8 I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? 10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. 11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? 14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.

15 But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. 17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. 18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9)

Unlike most graduates of seminaries and bible colleges today, the Apostle Paul was not making a “career choice” by preaching the Gospel of our Lord’s grace to men! The Apostle said he was “under compulsion” to preach the Gospel of our Lord and Savior; he even went as far as to say “woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel.” Paul claimed that his “reward” was to “offer the Gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of his [my] right in the Gospel.”

How much different is this from what we see at the pulpits of Christendom today, where men and women choose to attend seminaries and bible colleges to secure a profession: a mere “religious” means to a meaningful career, and worldly-security, end? Where is Paul’s compulsion to, and sense of woe is me if I do not, preach the Gospel in many, or most, of these “religious” college grads?

The clergy/laity system, which spawned what we see on the pulpits of Christendom today, began, in earnest, in the Church of Ephesus, where the Nicolaitans had infiltrated the true believers, and filled them with one of Satan’s most harmful lies: “church” officials were to rule over the common Church member, and these officials were to receive the same respect and honor as the Lord (the birth of the clergy: “men of God”). Jesus speaks of these Nicolaitans:

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. 6 ‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the NICOLAITANS, which I ALSO HATE. 7 ‘HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’ (Revelation 2)

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Do we have an ear to hear the Spirit? Do we take the time to investigate, and try to hear, what the Spirit is saying to us about the Nicolaitans, or any other matter of Scripture or Life? Thank the Lord that some men have investigated, and heard the Spirit, over the centuries! One such man was G.H. Pember, and this is his sense, scripturally, and historically, of what the Spirit is saying about the deeds of the Nicolaitans:

“…the Nicolaitans were evidently a [religious] sect or party of the day whose advocates were striving to propagate their views among the Ephesian believers, but had met with a temporary check…

Literally, the word [Nicolaitan] means “Subjugators of the laity,” or “people…”

Its introduction here seems to intimate, that the Apostolic arrangements for the government of the Churches were beginning to be abused; that some were already striving to act as lords over the charge [people] alloted to them, endeavoring to establish a [human] hierarchy, a clerical caste, which should be distinguished from, and superior to, the great body of believers. No authority for such a scheme could be found in the New Testament, and those who were guided by the Word and Spirit of God must have foreseen how disastrous its results would be. For, if successfully carried out, it would turn away the eyes of the Church from her great High Priest, and fix them upon human leaders; it would quickly arouse party spirit [factions], cause schisms, and tend to secularize that which should be purely Spiritual: and it would thus soften, and, finally, obliterate, the line of demarcation between the Church and the world, and induce the former to use the tactics, and to desire the aid, of the latter.

Paul anticipated Nicolaitanism in his farewell address to the Ephesian Elders, when he said,

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20: 29-30) (emphasis mine)

(The Great Prophecies of the Centuries concerning the Church Volume 4: [pages 510, 11] G.H. Pember)

This “obliteration of the line of demarcation,” by the Roman Church, would become, in many ways, similar to the line of demarcation which had been crossed by the nation of Israel’s religious leaders in Jesus’ day.

"Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites..."

The pharisees and scribes knew who Jesus was, but they openly rejected their Lord, and Christ, because He didn’t fit the definition of what they were looking for: a powerful, rich worldly ruler who would allow them to rule the world. The “religious” leaders of Israel, in Jesus’ day, loved being in power: they loved being honored by men, and profiting from that honor. The pharisees and scribes had also made an unholy alliance with the pagan Roman government, and they were profiting from that sordid relationship also. So, in order to keep this “religious”/political status quo, the pharisees and scribes had to keep the people (the common Hebrew) ignorant of scripture, and, thus, ignorant of the Lord and His Truth! In truth, and reality, the pharisees and scribes had the Christ crucified simply to maintain their hypocritical, and apostate, “religious” status, and way of making a living! All of this is not to say that the common Hebrew was much better: the Hebrew people were also looking for a worldly deliverer, and thus they had little interest in a true personal relationship with their Christ!

Here is what the Lord Jesus had to say about these apostate, corrupted, and hateful, pharisees and scribes:

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 “But THEY DO ALL THEIR DEEDS TO BE NOTICED BY MEN; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 “THEY LOVE THE PLACE OF HONOR at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. 8 “BUT DO NOT BE CALLED RABBI; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 “DO NOT CALL ANYONE ON EARTH YOUR FATHER; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 “DO NOT BE CALLED LEADERS; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

13 “BUT WOE TO YOU, scribes and Pharisees (clergy: priests, reverends, cardinals, popes, pastors), HYPOCRITES, because YOU SHUT OFF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN FROM PEOPLE; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

“WOE TO YOU, scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

“WOE TO YOU, BLIND GUIDES… (Matthew 23)

"Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites... Woe to you, Blind Guides"

{Hmm, let’s see, a hypocritical, and apostate, “religious”/political way of making a living (career), and a people (pew-sitters) who are also, as their “religious leaders”, looking for a worldly deliverer, and without any personal responsibility or major commitment on their part? Does this sound familiar to anyone? Doesn’t this sound exactly like the “clergy/laity” system of Christendom?}

So in much the same way as the scribes and pharisees had come to power in Israel, after the Babylonian exile, the birth of Catholicism in pagan Rome, after the persecution of Christians, for almost two hundred years, had led to an ungodly “religious” hierarchy (sacerdotalism) in the nominal “church”. Only this time the “religious” hierarchy, unlike that of Jesus’ day, would be almost entirely based on pagan ritualism and worship: extravagant buildings (Basilicas), marble alters, incantations (repeated prayers), prayer beads, priests in pagan vestments, pagan wafers, pagan deities, worshiped as “saints”, statues, crucifixes, etc, etc.

So the next time you call a man with a white collar “father”, kiss the ring of your local “bishop”, or put money in the till (tithe) to pay for the “right” reverend’s new house and Mercedes, you might want to remember the Apostle Paul’s example of a man driven to preach the Word of God. And you might also want to remember that you’re actively taking part in an idolatrous, pagan ritual which Paul warns of, and your Lord and Savior “hates” (Nicolaitanism)!