Friday, October 28, 2016

God's Inconvenient Truth, (Part #3)

Syncretism, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is “the reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief.” It is most evident in the areas of philosophy and religion and usually results in a new teaching or belief system that is un-reconciled to biblical Christianity.

I began this dissertation with a verse that stated, "The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name." (Exodus 15:3)  I began this blog several years ago when I published my first Bible Study book, "My search for the real God."  At that juncture of my life I was filled with confusion, even though Bible Study and Sunday School was an intricate part of my life.    The more I sit in these classes the more I become aware of the confusion of Christianity.  There is a shaped truth, a feel good truth that is expounded upon and there is an inconvenient truth, a truth that we do not wish to acknowledge, this truth is buried.

In today's Christian arena, there ideologies, concepts and doctrines that are confusing, some are old and some are new.  Do we attribute this to the false teachers that Jesus and Paul spoke so passionately about, or do we attribute this to a better understanding of God Word.  Now the questions emerges, do we understand the Word of God better than the early Christians or are we shaping the scripture to fit our preconceived notion of what we want God to be. 

The Old Testament definitely portrays the Lord as a man of war.  During the Old Testament events, God would kill the infidels.   As stated before the Old Testament, is fill with accounts of God selecting Kings and sending them out to destroy the wicked.  The New Testament Christian church adopted the rules of inquisitions to stamp out hearsay among the people.  The idea of persecuting a religious war soon lost favor with the people as we learned how to explain much of the scripture away.   

Syncretism allows us to remove certain segment of a verse or scripture, casting aside context and perspective and presenting it as a complete thought.      This form of interpretation allows the speaker to claim Bible support for alien doctrines and ideologies. 

A good speaker can pack the house with a message of, "How to get what you want from God" and a message of; "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" will go unheeded.      

Throughout the scripture, many seemly hidden truths allow for the manipulation of the Word of God.   Some of these hidden truths are not the intent of the author, but occur through the process of translation, while some is the result of interpretation.  When God spoke in the Garden of Eden, the Devil's interpretation caused man to sin.  What the Devil spoke seemed to be a logical truth, what God had said was an illogical truth.  In essence, why would God bring us to this place just to destroy us.

There are numerous types of truth. For this discussion, we will look at those that affect our biblical knowledge.  There is the truth, nothing but the truth, there is translated truth, and there is interpretive truth.   Compound words, which are native to the English language, allow truth to take on many distinctive forms, convenient truth and inconvenient truth.   Convenient truth is a type of shaped truth, such as twisting the scripture out of it context to make it say what we want it to say.  Paul's statement, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me", (Philippians 4:13) has nothing to do with getting a job and being successful.

Inconvenient truth is that truth that we are not prepared to deal with.   The book of Revelation is an example of many inconvenient truths.  A discussion of the Book of Revelation is often tempered with big words such "post-millennial", "pre-millennial" and "Amillennialism".  These words quickly render any discussion irrelevant, thereby hiding the truth and causing the believability of the Word of God to suffer.


If we were to accept that the events portrayed in Revelation are unfolding chronological order, this would expose certain truths that we are not prepared to accept.   

The Bible purposely filled with illogical truths profoundly states that it is the truth. How illogical is it for a man to say, you must be born again?  Why was it necessary for Jesus to shed his blood for us?  If a man dies, shall he live again?  Can we drink his blood and eat his flesh?   The Blood of Christ open the door to many of the inconvenient truth of God.  Maybe we need to shift our perspective
   
The blood of Jesus was more powerful than anything the Devil had ever faced.  Judas, the instrument of his hand committed suicide, but there was no power in his blood.  Some equate this as driving the Devil mad.  Paul later issues this warning and referred to the Devil as such, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, and seeking whom he may devour:" (1st Peter 5:8)

When Jesus and the disciples taught the Gospel of the Kingdom a threat was implied, the wages of sin was death (Romans 6:23).   The populaces were encouraged to seek first the Kingdom of God.  Those that believed sought after the values of the Kingdom.  If we carefully study the scripture a strange paradox emerges, what God bring forth the Devil will attempt to use to his advantage.  For reasons not quite clear, Christians are reluctant to acknowledge the Holy wars depicted in the Old Testament.    Holy and unholy wars existed in the ancient Bible days, even today, there are wars fought in the name of God.  For centuries, wars between the Pagans, Protestants and Catholics have raged throughout the world.  Under the rule of the Catholic Church, heresy once was punishable by death.  Inquisition a court established by the Roman Catholic Church in the thirteenth century to try cases of heresy and other offenses against the church. Those convicted were handed over to the civil authorities for punishment, including execution.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis on March 13, 2013, named the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church.  Some describe him as the last Pope.  Pope Francis stepped outside of the church dogma in a flagrant attempt to bring peace to the warring factions of religion.   Pacification was his method of choice, the exchange of values, many of which will prove to be detrimental to Christian values.  Whether true or false it was reported that if the Catholic Church does not change its stance on same sex marriage, it would be barred from many countries.

As with all things natural, the rule of opposites applies.  There are the values of God and there are the values of the Devil.   There are Holy values and there are unholy values.   The battle waged today is not with guns and knives alone, it is the substitution of values.  That which once was unholy is now holy achieved through the pacification of Christian values.  

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:27-28)  This is an inconvenient truth. 

Sunday, October 23, 2016

God's Inconvenient Truth, (Part #2)

One of the basic questions that fuel the confusion of Christianity is, "who is God"?  How can God be a relevant force in a modernistic society when Christianity cannot come to a consensus on whom or what God is?   After 2000 years, more than 30, 000 denominations the confusion of Christianity is still another inconvenient truth.  The generation of today has rejected Christian values because our leaders are failing to present a cohesive front.   New and toxic ideologies are creeping into the realm of Christendom and those on the outside looking in are not impressed.  

When did the Supreme Court of the United States render God Irrelevant in the application of the law?  In what year did the courts enact laws that were contrary to the teaching of the Holy Scripture?  When did it become acceptable for our youth to question the existence of God?  By whose authority the talk show host, the football player and the soothsayer proclaim that Jesus was just one of many ways to obtain salvation. 

In the early fifties with the acceptance of radio and television, the field of entertainment began to grow.  The granting of star power to those who could sing, dance, or even talk was the beginning of the great proliferation of religion values.   What happened during that era that allowed the emerging of such notables as Jim Jones and the Father divine types?  What was it that drew the religious core to the radio on Saturday nights?  Were they looking for a fresh word from God or was it the sound of Rev. C.L. Franklin as he toned up and roared. 

The true knowledge of God is diminishing; thus, the arrogance of humanity and the ignorance of God are on the increase.  Ignorance of God is accompanied by vice and crime, filling the community with violence and bloodshed, and making it ripe for the vengeance of heaven. The arrogance of man caused by the rejection of the knowledge of God is growing.   "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." (Hosea 4:6)

A major step in the pacification of Christian values is to change the nature of God.   How can a mere mortal change the nature of metaphysical God?  Those of us who came of age in the early fifties and sixties can attest to the changes in the nature of God.  Not only reflected in the nature of God, but everything pertaining to God seems to have changed.  As a child coming of age in the sixties, I was afraid of God, I was afraid to use the Lord's name in vain. Our reasons for attending church have changed from that of the early Christians.  Toxic values have crept into the church service Pacification allows toxic values to co-exist, but it is the Holy Spirit and the fear of God that directs our choice.  Remove the fear of God from the equation and we have an impotent god sitting on the sideline smiling and waiting to bless his rebellious children. 

The children of emerging generations are looking for the blessing.  If there is a natural disaster, we can easily become complacent, looking to others for assistance.  For many a simple chore of grocery shopping is becoming dependent upon the government.  Dependent upon the government for survival while protesting the actions of the government is becoming synonymous with handouts, freedom, and rights.  It is only fitting that we emerge as a people looking to God or someone else to provide for us.  The nature of the Government is changed and so is the nature of God.   Why do we go to church?  We now go to church looking for that blessing.   How do we get that blessing from God?  Give God some money and he will bless you.  How profane, yet for every person that does not believe this a great majority does and the rest are shamed into silence.    

The Devil mimics God, often in the process creating mass confusion.  Often he speaks in the name of God his ability to twist and interpret God's word is phenomenal.  Along with some of the angels of the heavenly host, Eve also was a victim of the Devil's charming rhetoric.  Whereas in the Old Testament God would fight against the wicked; the Devil would fight against the righteous.  His tool of choice was misinformation.  Always confident that he could achieve the same success that he achieved in the Garden he continued to exert a negative influence on humanity.  The mass dereliction of duty by Israel, God's chosen people resulted in punitive action taken and the silence of God for four hundred years.  God's wrath began to build to Revelation proportion, and then the Father sent his son.

Confident that he had won the war and brought destruction upon God chosen people, the Jew, after four hundred years the devil found himself once again facing a new and more powerful threat, the Son of God.   A metaphysical being whose words evoked a state of fear and trembling, a personage destined to rule over his Father's kingdom as the King of Kings.

Many of Jesus followers were looking to him to raise an army and establish his Kingdom.  Exhibiting a pacifist nature, Jesus assured them his kingdom was not of this world.  (John 18:36) Jesus made it clear that the next battle would be a supernatural battle, and he was recruiting soldiers for his Army.  The Devil knowing that he would not survive a supernatural encounter with the King of Kings he sought for ways to engage Jesus on a natural level. 

The words of Christ possess the power to rendered Satan impotent, a simple phrase of "Get behind me Satan", sent him quaking in fear.  Demons enter a state of convulsion and cast themselves of a cliff at the sound of Christ's voice.  Failure to stand against Christ in a direct confrontation, he contrived a three-prong plan that we can say was beautiful, without giving him too much credit.   The first step of his plan required Christ acknowledge his Kingship.  On the surface, nothing seems sinister about this act of comradely.  The people would demand that he be their King.  The demand for a King had played out once before when the Children of Israel entered the land of promise.  It was not God's will but God relented and gave them a King.    If the people had accepted God as their King the prophet would have never stated, "The leaders have caused my people to err." (Isaiah 9:16) Now the people would be clamoring for Jesus to be their King to deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire.

"When Jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." (John 6:15)

Why did Jesus refuse the Kingship?  If Jesus had assumed the position of King of the Jews, then his Kingly duties would have been to lead a revolt against the Roman Empire, thereby establishing his Kingdom. 

Will you at this time restore the Kingdom of Israel; was the question at the top of the disciple agenda?  Therefore, if Jesus had accepted the Kingship from the people rather than waiting until the Father bestowed upon him the kingdom, he would have operated outside of the will of the Father. 
  
The next part of the Devil's master plan posed the question as to whether Jesus would fight to save his life.  Peter was ready to fight; he even drew his sword and attacked one of the arresting officials.  Judas expected Jesus to use his powers and save himself.  If he would fight then this would be an insurrection against the Romans.  Many of Jesus followers expected him to use his supernatural powers to free them from Roman oppression.  

Regardless of what part of the plan worked, the Devil was confident of the overall success.  If Christ refused to take any action, then crucifixion would become a reality.  Crucifixion would bring shame upon the Christ and the people would turn from him, they would say, "He can save others but he cannot save himself."   

After the death of Christ, but before the resurrection, the Devil realized the folly of his ways.  The wrath of God peaked and the earth trembled, the temple shook, those that were standing around gawking at their handiworks, cried out, "surely this man is the son of God."


Wednesday, October 12, 2016

God's Inconvenient Truth, (Part #1)

"The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name." (Exodus 15:3)

In Solomon dissertation on life, he wrote, "A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:8)

The following verses present an inconvenient truth, a truth that many are not prepared to accept.  We do not often hear about this in our Sunday morning church services because we are uncomfortable with this truth.  This does not make it wrong, or that it requires a special interpretation, it just makes it an inconvenient truth that we need to learn to accept.    From day one of our indoctrinated study of God, we learned of God love, now; expressing the love of God has become a way of life.  

Unable to reconcile John 3:16 with Exodus 15:3 we began studying to change the nature of God.  Changing the nature of God is easy when we see only our own reflection or, the reflection of our own predetermined beliefs.  Member of the clergy and scholars of the Bible hold almost countless opinions as to the meaning of certain scriptures.   Sadly, to their own detriment they overlook the most important part of the equation, the scriptures mean exactly what the original authors intended them to be.   What are the implications of this fact?   We must understand how to apply what the author said thru the Knowledge of God.  We must properly apply the Knowledge of God in accord with the original intent and objectives.  We must maintain the proper context and perspective of the authors when they composed the sacred writings.   If we do not, then our assumptions about the meaning of the scriptures will amount to just one more of the infinite often-meaningless opinions as to just what the scriptures mean. 

The Old Testament gives us a detailed account of one bloody war after another bloody war. Bible scholars are often troubled that God is at the center of many of these horrific battles. The most disturbing and hard to reconcile is the practice of herem, a Hebrew word difficult to translate (awkwardly translated as "things under the ban").  Herem's meaning for the Hebrew inhabitants of the land was clear: they were to "utterly destroy" the enemy of God.

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." (1st Samuel 15:3" 

The first war command given to man was, "subdue the earth". (Geneses 1:28) God blessed man or empowered him with the necessary assets to conduct or persecute a war against the Devil on a natural order, a war that had begun in Heaven.  Jesus alluded to this event in Luke 10:18. 

On close examination, there are two important passages in the Word of God concerning the origin of sin and fall of Satan. Ezekiel 28:12-19 describes the creation and judgment of a vile and vicious non-human creature whose name was Lucifer. The Prophet Isaiah presents the origin and fall of Satan in Isaiah 14:12-14.

There is no clear revelation as to exactly when Lucifer fell, but there are limits to the possible time, which we may deduce from biblical evidence.  The following picture of Lucifer, (Satan) emerges based upon information gleaned from a comparison of Ezekiel 28:12-19 with Isaiah 14, Jude 6, and II Peter 2:4, and other passages.   

In order to defeat an enemy, we must ascertain the enemy's strength and his weakness.  The scripture provides an in-depth analyst of our adversary, but much of what we know and what we learn about God and Satan are inconvenient truths.  We prefer to recognize Satan as a defeated foe, and God as a God of love, yet Peter described the Devil as a roaring and stalking Lion. (1st Peter 5:8)   

Lucifer was one of the hosts of angelic beings, an anointed cherub; he was the captain of the cherubic hosts. Somewhere between Geneses 1:1 and Geneses 1:2, Satan became vain about his beauty and position, and his heart became rebellious against God.  In essence, he began to seek out glory for himself.

He was able to secure a considerable following among the angels, resulting in their expulsion from Heaven (Luke 10:18; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12:4). Thus, Geneses 1:2 begins with, "and the earth was without form, and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep."  Since that day, Satan has devoted himself to opposing the works of God in every way possible and to attempting to destroy all of the good that God has created in the natural order. He (Satan) is allowed to continue this way for a period but will ultimately be confined to Hell for eternity” (Revelation 20:10).

There are numerous ways to prosecute a war.  When brute force is no longer a logical option, the implementation of a different strategy becomes necessary.  Annihilation and pacification are the two methods used to implement the plan of God.  Annihilation is the severest method of prosecuting a war and pacification being the most humane. 

 Annihilation is to "utterly" destroy the collective existence or main body of; wipe out, to defeat completely.  In the Old Testament, annihilation was the choice of God.  God pronounced annihilation or destruction as early as Genesis chapter 6.  As God prepare for a war of annihilation, he is manifesting certain traits that infringe upon the comfort zone of modern day Christians.   It is hard for many to reconcile a God of war with our conceit of a God of love.  "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." (Genesis 6:6)  Thus, the tone of the war throughout the Old Testament was the total destruction of the wicked.

Pacification is to bring peace or a change by the use of threats or implied threats rather than force, to quell the anger, agitation or excitement through the exchange of values. In the hands of the righteous, it can be a noble asset, but the unscrupulous will use it to undermine the fabrics of a righteous society.  In the New Testament, pacification was the choice of Jesus.  "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matthew 13:30)   The implied threat once was the basis of Christian sermonizing.

Christianity often refrains from embracing the warrior attributes of God (Father) in favor of the pacifist nature of the Son.  The introduction of God (Father) as a war God was necessary to set the stage for his son to appear as a meek and humble lamb.  Yet, we are inclined to overlook the message of, "follow Christ or face the wrath of God (Father)."  The demeanor of God, the Father did not and will never change, and his son who came as a lamb will one day return as a Lion and he will fight in the name of his Father.  This will take place when the God of war unleash his wrath upon the earth. 

To be Continued