Celebrating the Fourth of July

Four centuries past in the year of our Lord, 1607, the first Pilgrims landed on the banks of what is now Virginia, founding the first American colony, Jamestown. I know that our history lessons teach that the first landing was in Plymouth for political correctness, but the landing in Plymouth (or Plimouth as it was so named) did not occur until 1620; some thirteen years later.

Whatever landing you choose, the reason these people endured months in tiny ships, unspeakable hardships, and the fear of the unknown, was religious persecution in their homelands. This freedom was so important to the authors of our Constitution, they made Freedom of Religion the First Amendment.

If religion is primarily a belief system, then the First Amendment has allowed us the right to think as we wish; not collectively, but individually. This freedom not only affects those with a belief in a Supreme being, but those who choose atheism, humanism, socialism and every other 'ism' that can be contrived by man. As with any freedom, there comes a responsibility. Our beliefs should never impinge the same right of another for even God has allowed man to choose him and his plan of salvation - or not.

Yet, once the our choice has been made, God does direct and admonish those who have chosen his path. In the book of Revelation, the angel of the Lord comes to the Disciple, John during his time of prayer and tells him to write what he sees for seven churches located at that time in Asia minor. John is then presented before the risen Christ and directed to record the issue Jesus has with these seven churches. But, before Jesus speaks to these churches, he shows John seven lamp stands - already housed in the throne room of God - so despite the shortcomings stated below, they are still promised for salvation.

I have listed each of the churches below. They are numbered as they are mentioned but listed from the best to the worst.

6. Philadelphia A church of brotherly love

2. Smyrna A church of martyrdom, persecution and poverty

1. Ephesus Apostolic, desirable, but they have left their first love - Jesus

3. Pergamos Married to the world. A church of mixed doctrines

4. Thyatira Continual sacrifice. Ungodly doctrines

5. Sardis A dead church although a few are not defiled.

7. Laodicea Lukewarm in their spirit - spewed out

I am employed in a very regulated industry, therefore, I must conduct my employment within the scope of my employers rules and regulations if I intend to keep my employment there. I do have the freedom to deviate from their decreed 'Best Practices', but my consequences would be the forfeit of the rewards (salary, bonuses and benefits).

So it is with God. As our Creator, he laid out the pathway to his rewards. We have the freedom to accept his plan or forfeit his rewards. Choose wisely and may God bless you, indeed.

Arise My Love, My Fair One, and Come Away;

What do Noah, Moses and Peter have in common? They each were vehicles for ushering in God's new economies.

God's covenant with Noah, symbolized by the rainbow, promised that God would never again destroy the earth by water.

God's covenant with Moses, symbolized by the Torah, promised that God's laws would be written on the hearts of his people.

God's covenant with Peter, symbolized by the tongues of fire, promised that we would achieve salvation by grace.

Three different events for three different economies separated by hundreds of years - yet - THEY ALL OCCURRED ON EXACTLY THE SAME DAY.

That day is called Pentecost by Christians and Shavuot by Jews. It is the Feast of the First Fruits. It is also called the Feast of Weeks because it is seven weeks (49 days) from Passover, and the Festival of Reaping because the first of the new wheat is harvested on this day.

Shavuot is also called the Festival of the Matchmaker. Homes and temples are decorated with a canopy of greenery and flowers hung over a large banquet as for a wedding. During the festivities, The Book of Ruth is read recounting Ruth's desire to become a member of the Jewish community. The reading is ended with Ruth's genealogy stating that David is Ruth's great-grandson.

God's next economy will remove the Holy Spirit from the world. This economy will be symbolized by the Rapture. Will his next economy occur on the same day as the previous economies? This year Shavuot will begin at sundown on May 22nd, and will end at sundown on May 23rd.

"For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 RSV

Know Your Enemy

Satan, a mythical creature standing tall on hoofed feet with a bottle of wine in one hand and the world's riches in the other, or is he the little red nymph who runs around waiting to unleash his pranks on unsuspecting humans? Before we can fight the enemy, we must study his personality. When we learn to discern the attacks of evil, we can then counter-attack using God's weapons.

The Torah names Satan, Azazel, which means Accuser and we see a product of his accusations in the Book of Job both in the Torah and the Old Testament. "The LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face." Job 1: 7-11 RSV

Christians call him Lucifer, the bearer of light. According to tradition, Lucifer was created by God as his light bearer, and as God's wisdom is frequently referred to as 'light', then we can see that Lucifer probably held a high office in God's kingdom; but Lucifer wanted more. Which was his first sin - lust or envy? Only God can know for sure, however, we do know that Lucifer lusted for more power and envied the power of God. Then, in his own pride, he incited other angels to follow him into a revolt against God. So we see 'the creation' fighting against the Creator for the Kingdom. Lucifer and his minions lost and were cast from heaven to the earth.

Lucifer makes his next appearance in the Garden of Eden. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5 RSV

We see in this passage that Satan is subtle; covert in his temptations. This subtly displays intelligence and planning in his temptation strategy. He will weave one tiny untruth in a whole field of truth, but that one untruth will be the key to our downfall. He is also described as a wild creature. At first glance, this may be interpreted to mean that the character outlined in Genesis is not Satan, but in fact an actual serpent or snake, but let us remember that Satan is a creature; that is, he was created. To describe him as 'wild' highlights his previous rebellion.

To validate his subtlety, Satan approaches Eve with a rhetorical, but leading question. "Did God say you shall not eat of any tree in the Garden?" In choosing a question instead of a statement, Satan is fomenting doubt in the mind of Eve. He hopes that this doubt will lead to her confusion. Once he creates doubt and confusion, he can easily lead into his temptation. So, though his device was confusion, his temptation to Eve was the promise of power.

Not only did Lucifer's temptation create doubt in Eve's mind about what God had commanded, but he also created doubt about her own value and worth in God's eyes. Lucifer implied that Eve was not complete as a final product of God's creation, and the implication was that Eve needed something more . By eating the fruit, she would be more knowledgeable - more worthy. Doesn't Satan still use this ploy on today's Christians?

As we move through Genesis, we find the need for spiritual warfare. " I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15 RSV This statement made by God is a declaration of the war that exists between man and Satan.

God's Weapons of Mass Construction

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. " Ephesians 6:12 KJV

Man-made laws set a standard for acceptable behavior within society. Deviation from that behavior requires societal judgement and sometimes punishment. However, problems arise when what is perceived acceptable by one group is unlawful to another group, or what was once unlawful now becomes lawful. Does truth waiver? Are the boundaries between good and evil black and white, or are they ever-changing shades of gray?

Most people will concur that evil exists. There are those whose actions are so heinous, so remarkable, they prompt a consensus of aversion around the world. This is the face of evil. Evil is organic; it lives and left unchecked, it grows. As evil grows it blurs our perception of the boundaries between good and evil by creating confusion.

In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Eve a question - "Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" Genesis 3:1 RSV His question intended to cause confusion; a stirring up of Eve's inner peace about what is right and what is wrong. It is the same way he operates today.

People today are confused about what is right and what is wrong for the rules to the game continue to change. What was wrong fifty years ago is embraced today, and what was correct then is now condemned. We live in a world where animals have more rights than our own children. Outrageous hatred is given a wide berth by appeasement, and an act of kindness is returned with opportunistic violence. Humanists have lost their humanity and theists are demonized. Democracy has silenced our voices with political correctness, and socialism has made us all slaves for the first five months of every working year. Something must change.

When Moses brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, the people asked God for his laws hoping to obtain salvation by compliance. God had a different plan of salvation, but because the Israelites insisted, he gave Moses the law with the instructions that breaking just one required death. The Israelites failed. Centuries later, God sent his Son to complete His plan of salvation by grace. God allowed the Israelites to try it their way, but it is by grace - God's way - that we achieve salvation.

Today, we are making the same mistakes the Israelites made centuries ago. We want to fight evil our own way. Frankly folks, we are failing. I call on you to fight God's way, according to his plan outlined in his word. To prevail, we must use God's Weapons of Mass Construction.

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits

In the 7th to 8th Century BCE

The God of war worshipped by the Ammonites requires a sacrifice to combat chaos and provide victory to his worshippers. The Ammonites, people living east of the Dead Sea, named this god Moloch. The Assyrians named this god Ashur. They fashioned their god from metal, and it was hollow inside. A fire set at the feet of the statue would heat the entire metal structure. Then, an infant wold be placed on the outstretched arms of the statue as a sacrifice. While the infant screamed and cried, the priests would chant and sing to their god. Finally, at the end of the ceremony, a lever would raise the arms of the statue dispatching the infant into the fire.

In 1979

During the Iraq-Iran war, the Ayatollah purchased 500,000 plastic keys from Taiwan. Children as young as six years old were given the gaily colored keys and told that they are the keys to Paradise. The children would then be forced to walk ahead of the Iranian army to act as human triggers for the Iraqi laid land mines. The small stature of the children were a convenient trigger as the explosion usually left little to bury.

January, 2007

The holy day of Ashoura was celebrated by the Muslim world. This is the day that the Islamic saint, Inman Huessein was decapitated. In remembrance, Shite infants, children and adults slash their foreheads three times with razors or knives. While the children undergo this procedure, the adults break out into a chant commemorating the venerated saint. The children are then given juice and cookies to quiet their cries.