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Exhortation Twenty-One
Confession of Another Kind
My
mind is in all but a fit of rage! It is all I can do to muster
up strength to discipline my reaction to the many annoyances
and atrocities surrounding me. Everywhere I look, everywhere
I turn, I fail to see genuine faith; supposing to be within us
yet, most are found without, deficient of any good measure.
A celibate priest was once
considered trustworthy, even safe. The hidden transgressions
of priests recently revealed is only the tip of the iceberg regarding
the activities behind church walls. Within those ornately adorned
temples are lairs where dragons and serpents gather. Unbeknownst
to many, this silent corruption has been taking place for centuries.
Don’t you remember? Lucifer had to go off and make war with
the holy offspring since he could not take down the Son of GOD.
He has been doing so since he fled from the mountaintop. He intends
to wear all down and trick you into believing you are powerless
and unable to stand up to the commands of Jesus.
The results are surely
evident today in the work places, schools, media, corporate infrastructures
and government. Everywhere you turn you are witnessing the kind
of extreme graft, lust, adultery, greed and random mayhem, which,
if gone unchecked, will lead to the biblical chaos Jesus, described
long ago. By the very freedoms we practice, we are authoring
our own demise. The sins of our fathers remain because we have
failed to distinguish the differences between right and wrong!
The wicked ones have been empowered by freedoms to indulge their
fleshly appetites while the more prudent spare their usage of
freedom and generally practice discipline.
A job or a duty was once
a place to trade a service or skill for a few credits. Yet now,
most are seeking to take advantage of their employer, stockholders
and employees. They care not what they might give only, what
they can get. The attitude was once, “how might I serve
thee?” Today, it sounds more like, “how might I screw
thee?”
Oh sure, they tell you
what you want to hear but beneath the lines of flattery are many
lines of deception. Everyone it seems though not all, driven
by lust, driven by greed. They are thoughtful only of self, expending
more energy to justify selfish wants over the common good, the
needs of many. Forgotten are the orphans and the widows.
A generous man will give
only ten percent yet a righteous man gives all he has. Both are
a rarity. Today, customer service is an oxymoron. Service is
all but extinct. Respect is no longer definable. Love is misunderstood
and sex is a game. The news is sensational gore and political
mockery distracting the masses from the apostate reality surrounding
them. Television is a medium where-by the masses can be hypnotized
into believing the economy is good in the face of increasing
lay-offs, taxes, consumer pricing and corporate bankruptcies.
Justice in the courts is becoming a vague memory. Even the elected
officials are found in contempt of the very laws they pass while
pocketing your hard-earned tax dollar. The seeds of hypocrisy
are well rooted.
Yes! The seeds of hypocrisy
are well rooted. Look at the many churches crowding today’s
neighborhoods. Most of these churches are mere corporations into
which the charitable give their money while the starving poor
are sent away with rotting bananas and stale bread. The merchandise
is freely given by local supermarkets, which would otherwise
be sent off to the pig farm or landfill. Do you really think
that’s what Jesus meant by feeding the poor? I tell you,
the poor are still starving, the orphans are distressed and the
widows continue to suffer. Quite a contrast to what James exhorted
in his letter, don’t you think?
The churches have replicated
secular models of government and business while wearing the costume
of religion. Many temples are adorned with the finest crafted
materials, new and old yet, within these structures gather the
wicked. The air reeks of rottenness and pomp. Members of these
churches spend more time casting stones at the churches down
the street then they do convicting the hearts of those who are
in attendance. They practice untamed judgments rather than demonstrating
unwavering love and faith. The people honor their elected leaders
of men who are later found out to be wicked and vile souls seemingly
depraved of God’s grace. They’ve learned how to forgive
the unforgivable and unrepentant. I don’t think this was
the kind of rock Peter was made of. Though not all I say but
most are this way. This is the state of things today.
If repentance (turning
away) is required of us to confidently receive redemption of
our transgressions then it stands to reason that we act, behave
and carry out our human interactions with one another in the
same way. It is what I’ve been saying all along, “As
Jesus has demonstrated, so, we too, are to follow Him in all
like manner and respect.” Jesus didn’t suffer and die
on the cross so you wouldn’t have to; He died and suffered
so you would also. The divine power you’re witness to and
of is proportionate to the measure of your example.
I find it irony that the
world as a whole, honors the birth of Jesus more than any other
event in biblical history. Christmas is oddly enough, celebrated
by both, Christian and non-Christians in large scale. At the
same time in our continuum, the plethora of churches around the
world are best thought of as places to be born in Spirit and
nourished while young in the faith. Staying in the cradle though
is good only for a while.
Does not every child born
first suckle the milk then later take in solids? Does a baby
not first learn how to crawl then walk and later run? Do a son
or daughter not eventually leave their parents and join with
a spouse? It is our nature to follow this fundamental pattern
of growth and maturity. It is by His design. It is the natural
way things ought to stay.
Therefore, should it not
be necessary for those who are moved by the Spirit of God to
grow from one level of maturity to another eventually leaving
the places of their birth (generally churches) and going out
to become the living, abiding, ever-moving church of God? While
a few are cast out, judged to be apostate, others leave behind
what they believe to be apostate. However it happens, separation
is made by a few. Of them, the faithful are His church (those
gathered unto Him).
My Pain, My Despair, The Cross
I Bear
My
Dear Brethren,
So that you may not misinterpret
my last letter to you or take offense at such LARGE words; allow
me to quote the following message from Paul to the Thessalonians
and also to the kinship of fellow servants:
Regarding
persecutions and endurance in the face of many afflictions (adversity);
"This
is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you
may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which indeed
you are suffering." (2 Thessalonians 1:5)
I know clearly that this
message is to me and those who have also traded in their earthly
inheritance for something better, remembering YHWH is ever faithful.
This message is explicit throughout scripture. Read the rest
of this passage and get a feel for the reality of its context.
My life has become thus
the same and it is remarkably different than the majority who
are called by His name. Hence, my frustration with so many and
yes, even you at times. I am lonely, I am disappointed and I
know I need to work on my impatience. Most people I know have
family and are not without company during these cold winter months.
If only those whom I know were able to recognize the Spirit led
choices I have made and they were able to accept that this indeed
is what Salvation looks like, then perhaps a few chosen souls
would accompany me as I tread where most men fear to go....
I cannot turn back
to the former way of life for then I would be a grave disappointment
to my Master. I must endure this conflict of hardship and I will
do so to my last breath and drop of blood. Again, I say it is
very lonely out here and I am questioning even now, who loves
Jesus? Now, do you understand why I get so worked up over apathy
and indifference, hypocrisy and mediocrity? My tear banks
are bankrupt and all I have left is a voice, which echoes from
out of the wilderness. Is there anybody out there...out there...out
there?
I know, at least in part,
I am under judgment as was promised so that I too may inherit
the Kingdoms promises. As Paul, who was called after Jesus, endured
his penance for the sake of Salvation, so too, am I to enter
in by the same gate. Glory to GOD in the highest, whom is right
and just in all His ways. AMEN
The world today is being led; even seduced
into believing that Tolerance is a divine virtue. The United
States Government is promoting Tolerance and advocating liberal
allowances for transgressors. Indeed, this once great Nation
has now become a cesspool for absurd alternative lifestyles and
pagan traditions, which as history has shown, leads to the utter
ruin of whole Nations by YHWH’s faithfulness. He, who is
our Father, abhors the kind of tolerance that leads Nations into
defeat. Sodom and Gomorrah stood for a while but were utterly
destroyed by the will of our Father because no righteous ones
were present. How many escaped this seemingly harsh and final
judgment? What ever happened to the wealthy Egyptian empire?
How complete was Jerusalem’s destruction and later, the
fall of the Roman Empire?
While preaching tolerance,
The US is wielding its strong arm to force Iraq and other militant
Middle East countries to disarm themselves of any weapons of
mass destruction while they are themselves in possession of a
horrific nuclear arsenal pointed at the rest of the world. Though
there is no offer from the US to dismantle its current inventory
of their own weapons of mass destruction, they intend to restrict
Korea from their sovereign policies regarding tools of defense.
Of course, that would be a major political mistake if you were
to engage in further disarmament while facing terrorists’
religious and political agendas. So, here we are involved
in other Nations political and religious agendas, not for the
purpose of being a big brother to them but so that we may gain
control over the world’s petroleum supplies. At the bottom
of this agenda is the primary motive, money derived from resource,
which equates to power and influence.
I am asked to be tolerant of hypocrisy
and go with the mainstream ideals that promote pride and justify
murder, greed, oppression, elitism, homosexuality and idolatry.
I’m expected to be tolerant of the so called ordained and
degreed while they puke out liberal garbage to sow the seeds
of descent and degradation. I marvel at how man is so susceptible
to the charismatic influence of fallen angels and men who are
themselves, depraved of reason and truth. Can
mankind declare ignorance in the face of witness and testimony?
Is it not true that we choose our pathways and live by the choices
we make? Are we not where our prior generations led us? Who’s
to blame but ourselves?
I’m expected to be
tolerant of the excessive taxation and spending by the liberal
authorities to promote endless increases in convenience and salaries
for lawmakers. Two thirds of the money spent on building a new
school goes towards vain architecture rather than pure functionality.
The teachers in today’s economy strike and squabble over
increased pay, benefits and job security at the expense of timely
school starts. Some have the audacity to strike in the middle
of a school year! Their motivation largely of course, is from
the economic stresses, which stifle us all. Yet, many promote
exercising your right to vote at the poles for this program or
that initiative, this ballpark or that incumbent. So we make
our destiny by getting duped into choosing the lesser of two
evils thinking that one is better than the other. When our votes
do count as a sound majority, our elected officials cram down
our throats what we voted against anyway. To whom are we listening
when our choices lead us into utter moral defeat? What example
and role modeling are we establishing for our younger generations?
What are they learning from our example? I therefore submit my
bold opinion that tolerance leads to moral decay and utter dysfunction
of reason and common sense. This system will inevitably collapse
in on itself.
For the cause of freedom,
we allow the miscreants a voice in matters of health, welfare
and education. Our future generations are learning well how to
be comfortable with hypocrisy and mediocrity. Tolerance of liberal
lifestyles and behavior is the way of the world. Just how tolerant
was Jesus with these same influences that precipitated moral
decay in His day? The priests of His day lived lavish lifestyles
at the expense of the poor. Our religious leaders of today live
very comfortably as they did then. They enjoy the acquired wealth
stored up by the generosity of parishioners. Did our Lord actually
mean for us to lie down as carpets and be stepped on? Are we
called to be weak or take a bold stand against these abominations?
Was Jesus not a barrier breaker?
There is so much liberal trash out there
written by the so-called ordained and degreed, I want to scream!
As I work hard to tone down my frustration with contemporary
values and common Christianity, please allow me to remind you
that Jesus was not born into wealth and neither was John the
Baptist anything remarkable by civilized Roman standards. Neither
John nor Jesus was content with this kind of tolerance. The majority
make-up of the disciples was of common Hebrew stock. They became
apostles through their tenacity and were firm in their commitment.
They developed cell groups of believers called churches (gatherings).
They were a minority then as God’s Appointed ones are today.
They didn’t follow mainstream ideals then but clung steadfastly
to Christ’s teachings, which I have accepted and practice
as a way of life. The rest of the world then was as deceived
and enslaved as the world is today. Their world was under siege
then by secular powers just as our world today is at the mercy
of the same models of Government. Christianity today promotes
its own brand of elitism. The religious authorities today are
largely tolerant of sensual deviance and abhorrent authority.
Religion has in part lost its zeal because the message has been
so watered down that it has lost the power to keep the believers
faithful. The majorities are backsliding and many now are falling
into pits. Jesus made a point of rebuking the aristocratic class
of Pharisees for these reasons and others.
One
could then surmise that what we are looking at is judgment and
we are ignoring the lessons history has taught us. A few are
able to escape indoctrination but not without the help of our
Lord’s example. Those who are able to understand and accept
the works, teachings and life of Jesus know what the outcome
of our abominations will be. By free will, we are makers of our
own destiny and we so quickly forget the lessons of our bloody
history. So why are we heading straight on to moral defeat again?
Who is the one who rides a black horse? Whose face is behind
the mask of indifference? Who has seated himself upon a throne
and exalted himself as God? To whom is the world listening?
Stand
Alone
It
is human to stand with the crowd…
It is divine
to stand-alone…
It
is man-like to follow the people, to drift with the tide…
It
is God-like to follow a principle, to stem the tide.
Author
unknown
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