Sunday, November 13, 2016

Are We Cursed by God?

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." (Revelation 13:1)

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.   

I began this discourse in a confused state, it is not the confusion of Christianity that shapes my gloomy outlook, nor is it the gloomy breaking of daylight outside my office window, it is the confusion of humanity.  The people of the world and the people of this nation now exist in a confused state. Undeniably, this nation has become a sea of confusion.  It is not necessary to establish a timeline when these changes began to occur, they began when we began systematically removing God from the equation, thus preparing the way for the advancement of (the) antichrist.   Revelation 13:1 speaks of a new nation rising up out of the sea (confusion).   In simple terms, martial law is declared, elections are set aside and a new and ungodly nation emerges. Whether history is repeating itself and whether we are in the first or last act, the stage is set.

In my study of the Book of Revelation, there were numerous inconvenient truths uncovered.  Revelation is a book about the vengeance of heaven. Ignorance of God is naturally accompanied by vice and crime, filling the nations and communities with violence and bloodshed, and making it ripe for the vengeance of heaven. (Hosea 4:6)  To mask these truths it is necessary that the interpretation of this book follow certain guidelines (denominational and politically correct).  These guidelines often inject variables into the book that renders it incoherent.    This is not only true with the book of Revelation, the same technique is being used to discredit the entire Bible.   

Never in the history of this country have Christian values been subjected to the harsh criticism that it endures today.  What once was a God fearing society now has raised up a generation that fears not God nor does it fear man.   It seeds have become corrupt and what has emerged over the past years is a nation torn apart by hatred that has been exposed to the light of day and allowed to grow.  In the name of change, this nation is in open defiance of God and other ancient deities are exploited. 
The introduction of multiple Gods, multiple beliefs or multiple religions has always been a factor in humanities struggle for self-recognition and self-worth.  The worship of multiple gods is a common denominator when studying failed or cursed civilizations, that disappeared under a cloud of unexplainable darkness.   

Regardless of the belief system, there are variations introduced from time to time that alter the true focus of the belief system.  Judaism, a monotheistic religion evolved based on the expressions of a monotheistic God who proclaimed that I am and there is none other.  Once Judaism had established itself as the flagship of religion, to allow for the acceptance of multiple creeds, religion divided itself into three groups.   Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three major monotheistic religions, all originated in what is known today as the Arab World. Monotheism literally means "the belief in only one God".

There is a strange sadness emulating from the land, not because of a presidential election, but because hatred has been cultivated, nurtured and it has grown.   Hate is akin to a plant if kept in the dark it become frail, weak, expose it to the sun, and it grows.  Any conversation that highlights the negative does not produce a positive result.  The lessons taught us by Nancy Reagan escaped us at the most critical time as we struggle to deal with a hatred that threatens to destroy us.  In an attempt to address the drug problem she instituted a conversation called, "Just say No".  The intent was good but the program caused a widespread increase in drug usage among the targeted students. 

In a natural world of opposites, emphasizing the negative is more fashionable then accenting the positive.   In a natural world, can we eliminate the negative and keep the positive?  This question begs for an answer.  How would the human condition fair in a world without night?  The Devil, the opposite of God preys on the negative aspects of society, even the Word of God 

In the aftermath of the presidential election, I expected to find small conclaves of Christians   rejoicing that the suppression of Christian values might be ending.   I expected pastors to breathe a sigh of relief at the prospect of no longer having their sermons scrutinized by the government.  When the moment of a possible change in government or administration arose, Christians began crying and begging God to allow the same administration to proceed. Many so-call Christians are content with an administration whose focus is on a godless society.  

The internet has proven to be a dangerous platform, fake news site publishes fake news stories that the gullible quickly accept as facts.  In today's high-tech arena, it has been said, "A lie can travel around the world before the truth can get up and get its pants on."  The media and the government have done an unfair job on characterizing those who stand against the prevailing agenda.  Shaming has become an acceptable tool to control dissent.  Those who seriously proclaimed to be Christians are shamed with words such as, uneducated, irredeemable, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and downright deplorable.    The sadness of the situation is that many are buying into this government supported, media driven frenzy, even families are being torn apart.

There are those who pretend that they oppose shaming and bullying with all their hearts and souls, the truth is far darker: they are the greatest purveyor of shaming and bullying in modern American history.   The government-supported media driven feeding frenzy has created a climate of fear wherein ordinary Americans must abandon their principles, and remain silent.  "They believe America is a force for evil that the military is composed of war criminals and that patriotism is the deepest form of treason. They incite riots and threaten violence by playing the race card, and then claim they are advocates for tolerance." (Marcos Carajol)

Those that are of the world, as a Christian's would say,  is not totally the blame for the condition of Christianity, the church and it leaders must accept much of the blame.   Our leaders have abused and misused the metaphysical God of our salvation.   What once was a solid foundation has emerged into a fairy tale ideology, based upon a foundation of entertainment.   The stellar awards go to those who can entertain as they recount the stories of a God rendered impotent by our greed. 
  
Over the past days the rallying cries of those offended by the supposed change of government administrations, were, God know what he is doing.  Often the utterance of this statement is as if some great knowledge is present.   Is God sitting back directing the affairs of man?  This is a fallacy that is often ascribed to because of the feel-good effect.  Does the scripture support blaming everything that happens on God?   No, God did not direct Adam to sin; it was a choice that Adam made.   God do not override the free will nature of man, and "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4)  If the answer to any of these questions were yes then humanity would be off the hook, and as the new age preacher proclaim, "The blood cover it all."


I can understand and accept the level of frustration expressed by newly empowered groups, but the response from the Christian community is confusing.     Like the Children of Israel, when Moses, a known murderer offered them an escape plan, they turned against him.  

Many of us, on a day-to-day base, encounter numerous incidents or situations that just do not make sense.  Whether it is Christian endearment, business transactions or in the field of race relations, there is that highly vocal element that has proven its inability to think rationally.  These entities of irrationality thought patterns though lacking the ability to lead, possess the innate ability to indoctrinate and manipulate the masses.  In their wake of deliberate confusion, they leave behind a mass of used, tangled and tortured souls.  The falseness that exists in each one of the fore mention areas speaks for themselves and somehow has found a means of acceptability.  I cannot reconcile the lies and falsehoods that emulate from the household of faith, especially when receiving the blessing of God is reduced to paying money or even typing Amen in a Facebook status.



Paul spoke of God sending a strong delusion in the end time.  When one knows the truth and refuse to obey it, he becomes subject to any lie, any deception, and any untruth that humanity can conjure up.  (2nd Thessalonians 2:10-12)

To be continued

Saturday, November 5, 2016

A Dying World (Part #1)

"Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.  Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away." (Hosea 4:1-3)

First, to establish the proper perspective we need to define who is speaking, what the subject matter is and who is the focus of the prophecy.  Hosea was a prophet in the Kingdom of Israel.  Tasked by God, he called on Israel to repent its sins of apostasy and warn her of the coming judgment.  His writings form the first of the Old Testament books of the Minor Prophets. Hosea was the son of Beeri and a member of the upper classes He was active 750-722 B.C., considering the repetitious nature of history; this makes his prophecies relevant to today apostate society.

The prophet is predicting doom upon the Children of Israel and to any generation that follows that disobeys God.  In today's modernist society, true to Hosea's prophecies, our food supply is contaminated, the fish and animals are dying and our young people are dying of horrible diseases.   Are we as the world, a nation, a people, standing on the brink of destruction?  History and evidence are all we need to consider.

Since the beginning of time, numerous civilizations have disappeared under what humanity defines as mysterious circumstances.  For almost as long as we have had civilizations, we have lost them. There are records going back hundreds of years of explorers discovering huge temples encrusted with jungle, or giant pits full of treasure that were once grand palaces.  Why did people abandon these once-thriving cities, agricultural centers, and trade routes?   When listening to my learned colleagues discuss the plight of lost civilizations hardly is there a reference to the "wrath of God".

The Maya are perhaps the classic example of a civilization that was completely lost, its great monuments, cities, roads swallowed up by the Central American jungles, and its peoples scattered to small villages. Though the languages and traditions of the Maya still survive up to the present day, the civilization's peak was during the first millennium AD, when their greatest architectural feats and massive agricultural projects covered a vast region in the Yucatán.

What causes the places of this great civilization to disappear into the jungle?   This same fate also befell the African nations.  We as Bible students know that the scriptures list two main reasons for the decline of civilizations, "wars of man" and the "wrath of God". 

Cloaked in darkness since medieval times, the spectacular ruins of the once dazzling, southern African kingdom of Great Zimbabwe posed a thorny dilemma for settlers who claimed to have “discovered” the region a mere hundred years before. 

Refusing to believe the massive, finely hewn walls could be the product of native culture, “experts” eager to claim the land for Europeans credited the ancient city to everyone from wandering Phoenicians to the biblical Queen of Sheba. In so doing, they began a long insidious European tradition of willful misinterpretation of Africa’s past, until, in the ultimate irony, the place where human history began would become a place with no history of its own.   This cloak of darkness, was it an act of God?  Does the worship of multiple God play a role in the decline of a nation or Empire?

There are numerous other archaeological finds that baffle the human mind when the explanation advanced removes God from the equation.  From the creation of the earth to the Pyramids of Egypt, if we eliminate God they become a series of theories and supposition.   

The question of what happen is often entertained, but the reason why is often overlooked.   The Old Testament speaks of many nations, cities, and civilizations wiped from the face of the earth.  Sodom and Gomorra is a prime example of the wrath of God, what once was a thriving metropolis wiped from the face of the earth because of their sins.   

It is necessary to point out that when studying the Old Testament prophecies we should exercise care in our interpretation.  It is necessary that we learn from these prophecies, without placing a greater burden on God.  If we say, God is talking to us as an individual then we are open to injecting inject errors into the scripture.  Too often, we shift the language within the same paragraph from figurative to literal and back, stumbling over perspective and context while trying to prove an asinine point. 

Hosea 4:1-3 seems applicable to the nations of today but it was also applicable to the nations of the past.  Since that day when the prophet uttered those faithful words, the sinful nature of humanity has led to the destruction of many nations and civilizations.  The African nations touting themselves as the birthplace of humanity is condemned to an endless struggle to regain its identity.  Ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire and most notably the Maya civilization are timeless examples of the dispersal of people and the destruction of civilizations.   These nations or civilization and others that are not mention had one thing in common, they pollute their religious base with a multiple God conceit. 

The multiple God concepts are a common denominator in all failed civilizations or societies.  As the knowledge of good and evil triumphs over the Knowledge of God, the one God concept is cast aside.  Humanity demands the right to choose what God if any, that it will serve, even the ancient impotent gods of their past. 

The changes that are taking place within the government and the government sponsored churches are akin to the problems encountered during the rule of the British Empire during the pre-colonial days. Not contented with the history lessons of the past, the government once again has begun to meddle in the religious affairs of the populace.  We live in a therapeutic government sponsored culture that seems determined to do away with sin and Christianity. Every form of immorality has been re-classified as addictions. 

Addictions to sex, drugs, and alcohol are classified as diseases, not the results of deliberate actions. Guns are now perceived as a greater threat than the murderers pulling the trigger.  If we could separate the gun from the murderers, we could solve the murder problem.  Whatever the sin may be, there always seems to be a way to excuse, redefine, or minimize it, even to the point of using the Bible to justify it.


  It is the nature of history is to expand and repeat itself.  We as a people and a nation, even the world find ourselves in the same situation as Israel was in.  The Bible is history that we should learn from and use to govern our lives.   When we sift through the prophecies, adjusting perspectives, changing    contexts, we inject errors into the message.  These errors can become an irreconcilable obstacle, as we study and attempt to live by the Word of God.  

I live in a dying world.  Animals are dying all over the world in huge numbers, due to humanities lack of concern for our environment.  Pollution is destroying the quality of the land, sea, and air.  Millions of Fish and massive numbers of various marine creatures are washing ashore dead.  The Bee population is decreasing at an alarming rate. Birds are falling dead out of the sky, and millions of poultry and wildlife are dying from the avian flu. The animals of the land are also dying in large numbers from disease. Although animals and fish have been dying all throughout history, the massive and consistent numbers that we are seeing are staggering.


People are dying as well, not that death is a newly emerging factor, and young people are dying from emerging diseases.  In the early years of my life even if cancer was mention, people live to a ripe old age.   Today the ages in the obituary section just keep getting younger and younger.   Just the other day the preacher was preaching on how God wanted us to live a long and prosperous life

To be continued...

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

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The Pacification of Christian Values (Chapter 1)

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin
(Part #1)
                                
Today, there are many ancient clichés reemerging and once again inserting themselves into Christian worship as sacred truths.   Why did these clichés or axioms lie dormant for so many years only to reappear with such vigor that the values of Christianity are changed?  The axiom, "Love the sinner, hate the sin", is an abomination to some, but to others, it is a broad road to reconciliation and salvation.  The argument for or against is hard to persecute because both sides use the same source to validate their claim.   Often, what God said is a matter of interpretation. 

The different interpretations emulating from messengers of God is and has always been the basis of my dissent.   Proclaiming a new age Gospel while professing that God or his Word never changes creates a platform of deliberate confusion.  

Through the early years of Christianity, its mission has been to create a separation between the saint and the sinner.  

Although "Love the sinner, hate the sin", is a noble concept and is attributed to the teaching of Jesus, the truth according to numerous Bible scholars is Jesus never made the statement.  It might seem to parallel the teaching of Jesus, but it is from St. Augustine. His Letter 211 (c. 424) contains the phrase cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum, which translates roughly to "With love for mankind and hatred of sins." The phrase has become more famous as "love the sinner but hate the sin" or "hate the sin and not the sinner" (the latter form appearing in Mohandas Gandhi’s 1929 autobiography).  

What was it about these two leaders that caused them to defend their actions with such clever crafted Clichés? St. Augustine struggled with his sexuality and that of humanity, he deemed that sex in its post-Eden form was sinful.    He dramatizes the fear of sexual pleasure, by equating pleasure with perdition. Sadly to say he did it in such a way that anyone who tries to follow his logic would have the sense of being trapped in a never-ending nightmare".  Thus, the "attitude of the Catholic Church's celibate hierarchy is that the locus par excellence of sin is sex, a view based on Augustine's pleasure-hating fantasies".

Therefore, the phrase or cliché emerged with a sexual connotation, "With love for mankind and hatred of sins."   Mohandas Gandhi’s use of the phrase, "Love the sinner, hate the sin", was to justify his abnormal sexuality.  History supports the thesis that the use of the phrase even today carries a sexual connotation.  The re-emergence of the phrase in today's society is to justify the sinful nature of humanity.  

Clichés have a way of sneaking into our sub consciousness and thru a process of self-coding, they emerge as something profound and worthy of reflecting upon.  Call them Clichés, Truisms, rhymes or even crude remarks they are capable of improving or even perverting our thought process.     Many of the clichés we heard as a child lay dormant waiting for that moment to spring forth and replicate themselves in the mind of those we meet.  Often they are nothing more than cute phrases that tickle the ear and soothe the mind of the discontented.   In the early onset of emerging, nations and communities the use clichés or truisms as learning or indoctrination tools were commonplace.  

Often, speeches that the presenter considers worthy of the populace remembering are clichés filled.  Although bordering on embellishment, remember John F. Kennedy's famous speech. "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." 

My grandmother used numerous clichés to teach me objectivity lessons.   Among her favorite were, "It is the early bird that gets the worm", and "You can't have your cake and eat it too."  Both of these statements drove her point home, but one afternoon while plowing my mother's garden I began to question the early bird concept, there were variables that created inconsistencies.  Even today, I still find myself wondering; why a cake is not a cake once you eat it.

The use of clichés or truisms in a religious setting often promotes a sublime intent to deflect or detract from or even shape the word of God.  When a Bible truth is reduced to a Cliché the values of Christianity suffers.  Clichés maintain the innate ability to cross the line between teaching and indoctrination in a veiled manner.  A cute phrase can create a point of reflection such as, "One monkey doesn't stop the show", or a point of action such as, "Love the sinner, and hate the sin". 

Where did the phrase, "Love the sinner, hate the sin", come from?   To most, the answer is simple; it is the teaching of Jesus.   On any given Sunday, thousands of preachers will stand before their congregation and proclaim that these are the word of Jesus.  Many of those hearing those words will believe because if we do not show love they will hate us.   If we do not show love they will not come to our churches, thus our bottom line will suffer.  The organized church has decided that in order to remain relevant in a pessimist society it must dumb down its rhetoric in the face of it an adversary.   Imagine the howls of the wolves if one would proclaim from the pulpit or national television, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matthew 23:33)   The political correctness police would descend upon the interloper, shaming the pastor and the church into compliance.

Shaming has evolved into an art form.  It has morphed into something sinister from the days when one kid would say to the other, "Your mother wear cowboy boots".  Usually, a fight would erupt and afterward they would usually leave the playground as friends unless an adult intervened.   In today's society new and potent words are created and the rush to provide the proper definition and narrative is courted by the media.  The list includes words like racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.  These words are used to bring shame upon the person that they are being applied to.  Call a person one of these words and the result is similar to saying to the person you have body odor.  Whether it is true or not the person is affected.

I was in a Sunday school when I first heard the words, "love the sinner, hate the sin".  To put things in the proper perspective, it was the Sunday after the Supreme Court validated the President's alternate lifestyle agenda.  My world, based on the Holy Spirit led common sense and the Bible entered into a state of turmoil.  The Sunday school teacher took an ample amount of time explaining what I considered a new concept of Christian values.   The morning sermon was also based upon love and the pastor made a feeble attempt to explain how and why we were supposed to love the sinner, and hate the sin.  The government's re-indoctrination of Christian values was in full play.  I left the church that day one very confused soul.  

The reason Christians have begun to spout these phrases and clichés as if they were God inspired scripture is a part of the process of justifying sin.  Now that sin has been justified by the government, the populace is facing cultural crises, church crises, and family crises.   These crises have torn our communities and cities apart and now they are on the verge of destroying the very nation that spawned them.  As marriage equality gained support, the traditional church and Christianity found itself in a dilemma.  How do the churches attract people in a society that have turned its back on God?  Traditional churches are becoming empty and many churchgoers are wonders where it will end.     

Two statements in the above paragraph are not scriptural.  The founding of the church was not to attract people to Christ, and Christians who study the Word of God know how this is going to end.  

Most learned Bible scholars would have us to believe that Jesus actually said, "Love the sinner, and hate the sin."  Lest of all, we are indoctrinated into a belief that he would be on board with this 'simple truth'.  Why would he not be?  The adage supports universal love.  We take the catchphrase from Mahatma Gandhi who morphed it from Augustine's, "With love for mankind and hatred of sins",  not because we agree with everything Mahatma Gandhi said, but because he conveniently said, “Hate the sin and not the sinner.”

The problem with Mahatma Gandhi statement, “Hate the sin, not the sinner” is, there is nothing in the Word of God to validate the statement.  The question that it does present is how does humanity separate sin from a sinner?  Now, the use of the word sinner can be misconstruction as hate speech and to make such an assessment is of a person's nature is judging.  We are told that we are not to judge yet, every day we make judgment calls, whether it is the refusal to hire a person because of his history or calling a person names because they do not agree with modernist views.  Modern day Christians have allowed themselves to be backed into a rabbit hole and are asked to perform the impossible.  The Bible makes a clear distinction between the righteous and the sinner.  (1st Peter 4:18) Paul's message to the Corinthians was as such, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (2nd Corinthians 6:17).  There has never been a greater miss-characterization of the heart of Jesus or a more egregious bastardization of the Bible than proclaiming those words to be the Word of God. 


The damage that has done to Christian values and to the public perception of Christianity may never be fully repaired before Christ return.   Based upon the testimony of Jesus in the book of Revelation, It is an embarrassment; a sin and a total abomination what the organized church have morphed into.  In my book, "The Evolution of a Failed Church", I take great care in explaining the difference between the organized church and the spiritual church.   The hijacking and backpedaling of Christian values did not take place overnight; it began when Christians grew weary of persecution under the rule of the Roman Empire.

Continues in (Part 2)

Friday, September 9, 2016

The Pacification of Christian Values

Prologue


Never in my lifetime has the attack on Christian values been so intense.  Many failed to see the shift in the battle and direction as a man of color took the helm of a nation that proclaimed to be a Christian nation.  A change was what he proposed and he soon issued a proclamation that America was not a Christian nation.  The empowerment of dredge elements was used solidified a campaign of shaming and hatred that was directed at anyone who did not agree with the emerging agenda.  The enactment of laws to curb hate speech even caused Christian church sermons to be dissected and certain phrases were label as hate speech.  In order to protect itself, the church scrambled to change the ancient focus and direction of Christianity.  Two impossible non-biblical shaped scenarios evolved, hate the sin, love the person, and do not judge.  It is akin to saying, "I love Ice Cream but I hate milk."  These two affirmations rendered the application of Christian values impotent. 

There are numerous forums on the internet and in our churches where   Christian members assembly and discuss the Word of God.  From these discussions there usually, emerge new ideas and/or interpretations that are game changers when it comes to Understanding the Word of God.  What is most disturbing to many is that during many of these sessions the question of sin is entertained, redefined and justified.  What often emerges is a watered down versions of what once were fire and brimstone messages.  The new message only depicts a God of love.  We are more comfortable with a God who loves his creation and sits high and are working things out day by day for his children.  Acceptance of a particular ideology becomes a matter of interpretation.  The ability to justify sin through the misapplying or misquoting the scripture is a strong selling point when looking to attract followers. 

In Isaiah 9:8-16 the Lord sent a word unto Jacob and Israel; the prophet speaks on the subject of the punishment that would befall them.  This God of love that we speak so highly off, joined together Israel enemies and used them to punish her.  The blame was placed at the door of the leaders and the so-called leaders who had failed to lead the people accordance to the ordinance of God.  They cast aside the religious values set forth by God in favor of a more accommodating lifestyle.  

A God who punishes is no longer an acceptable God in our modernistic society, thus we are free to become like spoiled and begging brats.   In the dispensation of Grace, God's wrath is withheld until an appointed time.  Therefore, it becomes easy to overlook all of the threat and acts of violence of the Old Testament and find that one verse that says, "God is love".  There are leaders who perpetrate a false sense of godliness, a false sense of contentment by focusing on just the loving aspects of God.  It is impossible to separate love and hate in a natural world, they are opposites and opposites support each other like day and night.  For God to love, he must be able to express his hate.   (Romans 9:13)  Christian values have suffered within the emerging generation because there is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:18)  

Often it is the lack of the knowledge of God that has permeated down through the ages that cause the Christian values to deteriorate and the believability of God to suffer. Neither of these adjectives is deniable because validation is achieved through the opening of our eyes and viewing the landscape. Preachers are preaching, prophets are prophesying and churches are being built but the conditions of the world and its people are not improving.  It began in the home, then the school, which spilled over into the community.  Once our communities began to suffer our cities, states, and nation followed.   Many of our youth no longer respect the values of old, yet they do not have anything to offer in their place.   History teaches us that when a system or idea is destroyed it must be replaced with something of equal or greater value, if not a vacuum is created, and chaos follows.

The government has created a system of values that is being sanctioned by the masses, and the church is reinterpreting itself in order to remain inclusive. Too many church leaders have stepped away from the confrontational nature of the gospel and embraced a motivational and prosperity message that massages the sinful nature of man. 

In the early days of Christianity, a different lifestyle was a part of being a Christian.  Christians were a name given to those who were said to be followers Christ and those that adopted this lifestyle were previously warned by Jesus that they would be  persecuted because of their lifestyle.  Blending was not a trait that Christians embraced and they were encouraged by their teachers to separate themselves and rejoice in tribulation.   

After the killing of Jesus Christ by crucifixion, persecution of the Christians intensified under the rule of the Roman Empire.   There was a concerted effort by the Jewish elite and the Romans to stamp out this new religion called Christianity.  Upholding the values of this new religion was instrumental in the early death of all of the Apostles and many of the newly converted followers of the Gospel.  Paul was one of the chief instigators of church persecution, yet when he was converted, he endured the same hardship like a good soldier.

The church was formed in the midst of persecution, as a place of refuge, a place where members assembled to support to each other.  In the midst of persecution the church flourished.  This was not the intent of the Devil.  The Christians were expected to compromise their values in exchange for a life filled with worldly pleasure.  The Devil drunk with a false sense of success in his campaign to destroy the Jews and after the crucifixion of Christ turned his full attention to  the destruction of the Church.  

Realizing that torture did not work against the early church, the Devil devise a scheme to infiltrate the church and destroy it from within.  The Roman Emperor Constantine became the instrument used by the Devil.  In 312 AD, the great persecution was still going on in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. Constantine became a Roman Emperor and he is said to have had a vision, which made him convert from Paganism to Christianity.  Christianity replaced Paganism as the religion of the Empire.  The Christians were given high-level positions within the government and the church moved into richly endowed buildings.   The pagan influence began to infiltrate the church; the values of Christianity began to change as the church walked hand in hand with the government.  The result of this marriage caused Jesus to issue a stinging indictment against his church in Revelation 2: and 3: 

Christianity was no longer a persecuted religion within the ruling empire and the emerging church begun to look upon Constantine as the great deliverer.  Deliverance from persecution was something the Emperor not Jesus had not done, thus Emperor Worship and the worship of men found it place in the church.  Jesus expressed his disdain for those who came into the church for the purpose of ruling the church.  "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."   "So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." (Revelation 2:15) 

Whether it was or was not Constantine's intent to pollute the Christianity is arguably, yet the Devil used these concessions to merge Christian and pagan values.  Pagan worshippers not wanting to left on the outside of this newly emerging power base came into the church without the benefit of conversion. They profess a belief in Christianity, yet they clung to the traditions and values of paganism.  In many instances, they continued to worship their same gods and celebrated their pagan Holidays.


The organized church became a polluted church, steeped in pagan tradition, with men installing themselves as the head of Christ church.  Thus began a journey of false teaching and reinterpreting the scripture to fit a particle narrative.   The weapon of choice was scriptures out of context.  The Devil, now confident that he had achieved a victory, accepted his position within the organize church and guided it towards it first major split.

Monday, September 5, 2016

When We Are Tested

 "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.  And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" (Job 1:6-8)

When the story of Job is presented in sermons or Bible Studies the emphasis is usually placed on Job's faith.  Leading up to the climax, there is a reference to how his wife and friends failed to  comfort him in his time of trouble.  The emotional climax is often centered around Job's proclamation, "If a man dies, shall he live again?  All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:14)   It seems to many that this confirmation of faith is what the story of Job is about, but is this what it is really about?  

The question that many find un-entertainable and un-answerable is, "why did God point out Job to the Devil?"  It is not acceptable to conclude that God tested Job's faith yet this is exactly what happen.  In the Garden of Eden, Adam was tested and he failed.  Abraham also had his faith tested and so did many other Biblical figures.  Somewhere in the dark crevice of our mind, the questions should emerge, "Why was it necessary for God to test Job's  faith?"  "Do God use or allow the Devil to test our faith?  There is only one biblical answer.  We can accept it or we can explain it away.

The first chapter of Job paints revealing pictures of how God and the Devil work, once you examine them thoroughly.  This is not the picture painted in Sunday services and Bible Study.  For this reason, it is getting harder and harder to reconcile the God of the Bible especially the God of the Old Testament with the God of today.  God placed the children of Israel in bondage so they could grow as a nation.  God punished Jonah because of his disobedience.  God harden Pharoah's heart causing him to follow the children of Israel, leading him and his Army to their ultimate death. What is most revealing in the Old Testament and the story of Job is not about what God can or cannot do, the story seems to amplify a time of testing and how God work. 

The first picture painted is that of a person walking up and down unobstructed on a small plot of land, visual that small plot as a garden plot. The understanding here is that this person has such complete control because the thing under his control is very small and insignificant compared to his overall power and ability. We think of Earth as being very large, but to a supernatural God and Satan, Earth is nothing more, nor less, than a small, insignificant garden plot, over which the Devil exercises complete control. Christian are not comfortable acknowledging that the Devil has control of the earth, therefore for cosmetic purposes, I will add the disclaimer, 'unless a greater power intervenes'.  

The opening statement in the first verse of Job establishes the type of access and relationship the Devil and God maintains.  When the sons of God came to present themselves before God,  the Devil was in the group.  The verse does not depict a scrounging or rebuking session, rather God and the Devil engaged in an amicable conversation.  The Devil states his purpose for walking to and fro, and God suggests that he try his antics on Job.  There are numerous thoughts and suppositions that are added to make the picture fit our frame, but the reality is, God suggested that the Devil test Job.   We can justify this act by saying; God knew in advance that Job would pass the test.  If we follow that line of reasoning the whole conversation, become irrelevant, the same as saying God is controlling the mess that man has made out of his creation. I would rather believe Job could have failed the test. 

In addition, immediately in Job, we see that God exercises his power of control by telling Satan he may test Job, but with certain restrictions, specifically not taking Job's life. Yet, God allowed Satan to take the life of Job's family members! We should thoroughly understand the power of Satan.  Everything that happens here on earth is not the will of God,  Satan has circumvented the will of God.  He has the power to kill humans,  and when that drunk crashes into that mother's car and kill her child we should not place the blame on God.   When speaking of the lost sheep or souls, Jesus stated that "...it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:14)  "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)  

There are times when we should ask God to forgive us for the things that we blame him for falsely.  The evil that is in the world was not brought about thru an act of God but it is used by God to test the resolve of souls that will enter into his Kingdom.  Those who succumb to the temptation of the Devil will not enter and those who enter will not come before the throne acting like the Devil.  God has a timetable of testing leading to the destruction of the devil and those whom he has corrupted.  God allows much of what goes on in the world today because of the sinful nature of man. 


Let's take a closer look at the Devil, that insidious figure that we much rather pretend it didn't exist.  The Apostle Paul calls Satan the "Prince of the Power of the Air".(Ephesians 2:6-7) The reference to "air" refers to the air surrounding this Earth. It is just another way of saying "Earth". Paul's picture here is that of Satan being the Absolute Dictator (Prince) of this Earth. The Apostle John also speaks of Satan with this title, in John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11)


In The Book of Revelation Jesus states that Satan had his throne, in the city of Pergamum.  That city was steeped in idolatrous worship. " ...where Satan dwells. Satan had his throne set in the city where he felt most comfortable, the people, even church people, were practicing his witchcraft and all forms of idolatry.  Pergamum is certainly not Satan's throne today; I wonder in what city Satan's throne exist today? In what nation or city is Satanism in all its forms most practiced? I do not know, but I do know that such a throne exists in some city in this world.


The fact is clear -- Satan is the Prince of the Earth and he rules this Earth as completely as you or I would rule our little garden plot. And, he sits on a throne somewhere on Earth!!  There are those who proclaim the works of Satan to be the works of God.  Thus the old adage emerges, the greatest trick the Devil ever performed was to convince the world he didn't exist.