What Separates Us

Is it important to understand what separates us from the world? We have been told all our lives that as Christians we should bring people together and be nice and sweet, but what does Christ tell us?

In Matthew 10:34-35 we are told by Christ himself

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law."

So Christ is telling us that he came to set us against one another, to separate us from the world. You see the world has a form of righteousness. Satan will appear as an angel of righteousness and talk about saving the planet or feeding the hungry. All of which seem as so-called "good things" but we miss the point.

There is no salvation in doing "good" things. There is no good without God in the first place. Yet when we do these things the world considers it as righteousness. So, Satan appears to support things that seem righteous. He talks about the children and feeding the hungry and giving and many things that can fool us into believing that maybe he is a god himself and he will even have us believe he is the true God.

If you follow his false righteousness you can feed the hungry all the way to the gates of Hell and totally miss the true righteousness, which begins and ends for us with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. He IS righteousness, not any so-called "good" work that we do.

So what are these things that separate us? Can we identify some of them? Could it be adultery or fornication? These are sins and as Christians we abstain from these. Could it be robbery or drunkenness? We all know stealing is a sin and we abstain from it. We also don’t go around drunk because this too is a sin and we reject it.

Again Satan has a righteousness and it can fool us. For instance, how many worldly fathers and sons argue about adultery where one actually says adultery is a good thing? Or perhaps they argue that robbery is a virtuous thing or one might argue for drunkenness? No, I tell you abstaining from these things are also considered righteous by the world.

The things that truly separate us are the issues that are backed by scripture but ridiculed, scorned and cast out by the world and even by the so-called modern day church. One of the most explosive separation issues is Christmas.

Read scripture from Jeremiah Chapter 10 Verses 1-5:

"Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good."

Here the Bible is describing an ancient pagan tradition that has come to be known as Christmas and anyone who cares to research the holiday will quickly realize it is fully and completely a pagan celebration dating back for thousands of years.

Pagans would and still do bring trees into their houses and deck them with silver and gold in order to worship their gods during the season of winter. They ask for their blessings to protect them during the cold months and today they sit and laugh at Christians who will fight tooth and nail to preserve the "Christmas Tree" from being taken down from a piece of governmental property when it has nothing to do with Christ at all. It belongs to the pagans!

The so-called special date of December 25th is not special because of Jesus’ birth but for the position of the sun on the horizon. This is what Jeremiah was talking about when he said "and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them."

A pagan's main source of worship is the sun and as the days got shorter they would begin to worry that the sun wouldn't return to springtime again. They would be dismayed during these changes in the seasons and on the 25th (being just a few days past the solstice) the sun would appear to begin its journey back toward springtime.

How Christians picked this mess up is a long and sorted tale. Our beliefs have been corrupted and we are barely aware of it. Suffice it to say that the only thing people can do is dream up reasons why the holiday could somehow be holy when it is NOT at all holy. Of course some will just twist scripture and say it really doesn't mean that or that was for them and not us or some other weak watered down tripe.

However, for the rest of us we are left with two clear sides, both sides know what the Bible says but one side rejects it in order please themselves, their families or for tradition’s sake and another side that is willing to allow themselves to be separated from the world.

Now, I understand that in Christ we are free and celebrating Christmas in ignorance will not necessarily send you to Hell but at some point you need to understand the facts. Realize that you are passing on the traditions of pagans and not the traditions of God. It is as simple as that and don’t forget that he that doubteth is damned if he eat not of faith.

Sadly, you probably know a great deal about Christmas lore. Santa, the reindeer, the trees, the elves and so on but what do you know about the traditions of God? What do you know about Passover for example? Is it possible you know nothing about it? Is it possible you have never even heard of it? 

I understand there is no salvation in any of these holidays but why is it we know so much about paganism's holidays while at the same time we know nothing about the holidays that Christ himself observed and fulfilled and why is there so little interest in these feast days? It boggles the mind.

Back to my point, it is clear that there are a lot more people who will cast us out over the fact that we have rejected Christmas than they will because of our views on adultery. This is an area that has great potential to truly separate us and I mean separate us to the point that people no longer even wish to speak to us unless it is to tell us how wrong we are.

This in itself is a sign that we are separate from the world but stop for a moment and consider the issue upon which Satan makes his stand, a holiday. A time when togetherness and family are stressed, a time when those who usually have the most sway in your life get together to continue the traditions that you have been brought up in, nothing seems more honest, natural and good to us than this time.

Then the Holy Spirit reveals the truth but the devil is prepared for this, he has spent many lifetimes building up resistance to this day when the truth is revealed. The idea is to bring your families, your childhood, your neighbors and the entire world down upon your head so that you will look past the truth and instead remain where you are most comfortable.

He has built descriptive words right into our consciousness for the occasion. Entire characters framed in our minds to describe anyone who would dare reject his holiday. Scrooge! Bah, Humbug! You will hear and no one wants to be a Scrooge, not even Scrooge himself, as he came around also in the end.

As a rule of thumb you can gauge how close you are getting to the truth by the amount of resistance you receive from abiding in it. Tell someone you are against adultery and you will not receive much condemnation, unless you happen to be at a swinger's convention, but mention to your loving family that Christmas is a pagan abomination and they will not sit still for it, you will be labeled a Scrooge.

You can try to explain it until you are blue in the face but they can not hear it. They don't want to understand it. They prefer to wallow in a pool of ignorance because it really doesn't matter to them. What's really important isn't understanding and following the scriptures but just getting together with their family.

In Hosea 4:6 God says:

"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."

Praise God for the things that clearly separate us from this world with Christmas just being one of the more obvious examples. These things make the world look at us funny and make them not want to be around us. These things make them laugh at us and cast us out, and these things cause us to suffer persecution.

These things separate us and I thank God for that.

Can we all just get along?

Some of you older folks might remember the Rodney King episode during the Los Angeles riots in 1992. He was the guy that was beat up by the LAPD, which eventually caused the start of the famous LA riots, which began on April 29th and ended on May 4th. On May 1st Rodney spoke his famous words "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" What a catch phrase! People have been using it for 20 years now and I'm sure there are many TV writers, directors and producers who wish they would have come up with one even half as good.

Yet we remember the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt who said "In Politics, nothing is accidental. If something happens, be assured it was planned this way." so you can rest assured that the LA riots were most definitely planned to accomplish a political goal, among other things, one of which is a ritual of sorts that falls on May 1st called "May Day". 

When you hear "May Day" you may recognize it from old WWII movies where a pilot of a troubled vessel calling for help. (The line goes "mayday, mayday, mayday") We are told that it originated from the French word m'aiders but the truth is it is was chosen to honor "May Day" which itself is celebrated by trouble. It is more openly associated with labor's struggle or the workers revolution, which is often celebrated by parades (May Day parade) and less openly but much more surprisingly celebrated in a morbid fashion by staging riots throughout the world.

Of course the entire day is steeped in paganism which is the real reason for the riots but I really don't wish to write about all of that but I'll just ask you to pay attention on May 1st and see if there is a riot of some sort happening. Sometimes it is a big one, sometimes it is small one and perhaps they skip a year here and there but just watch May 1st and see what happens. 

Anyway, be that as it may (no pun intended), my main point is not uncovering the elite's conspiracy to bring in their New World Order but instead to discuss a topic that may help you understand more about the truth and how it is found by walking the straight and narrow way. 

Years ago when I first dedicated my life to Christ I remember thinking to myself that one of the goals I felt lead to accomplish was to bring everyone together. I remember thinking that I could start small and begin visiting churches and talking with pastors and after saying all the right things everyone would begin to see that we "could all just get along".

Just like Rodney! What a great plan I had.

Unfortunately for me I had to realize that God was in charge, not me. The more I studied and learned the more I realized that God's plan did not include everyone joining hands and singing "kum bay ya". What a surprise! I mean it, I was shocked that a God of love didn't want to sing "kum bay ya" with everyone.

You see we are supposed to love but we don't just love everything and everyone. We should love our brothers and sisters in Christ and we should love the Truth. We should have an undying love of the Truth. I capitalize "Truth" because I am referring to our Savior Christ Jesus. (after all, that is one of His names).

While we should live peaceably with all men we are not supposed to "get along" in the sense that we compromise the Truth. We shouldn't look for trouble and we should avoid it if possible but again our first goal should not be to come to some sort of agreement with anyone that doesn't love the Truth. How can you live peaceably and not compromise the Truth? You can avoid trouble often by simply removing yourself from a situation. Don't fuss and argue, just walk away quietly.

Fact is, if you don't love the Truth you will probably be offended by things that I say and I don't even have to try to offend you, the Truth will offend on His own. The Bible says in Matthew 10:34 "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

So what are we going to do? I mean what a drag huh? No hand holding... no "kum bay ya"... what's a touchy-feely Christian supposed to do anyway? After all we really wanted to get in a circle and hold hands and sing that blasted song!!

Oh well, just one more thing that God has had to get through my thick skull. I am quite the moron sometimes, incase you felt like I save all my criticism for my readers. I am no better than anyone else, I have to realize when I am wrong and let me tell you it happens quite often.

But I have a love of the Truth. Do you understand that?

It really doesn't matter what you know or whether you are right or wrong, it matters more whether you love the Truth or not. Now, we are not supposed to be ignorant and we definitely should not remain ignorant, because the Holy Ghost leads us from our despicable condition into all Truth and righteousness. The question becomes "are you willing to let go of what you think the Truth is in favor of the real Truth?"

Jesus tells us that John the Baptist was the greatest of all men that have been on the earth but the least in Heaven is greater than he. So, if John the Baptist could not attain the greatness known in Heaven how in the world would any of us think that we could attain it? We can't!

We are wretched and miserable creatures beyond hope except for the hope of ONE, Christ Jesus. Who as Isaiah says in 53:5 "...was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

It isn't our goodness that's in question, it isn't how right or wrong we are, it is all about Him. Jesus the Christ of God. The Anointed One, the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning star, the First and Last, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Lilies of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, the Amen, the Lamb that was slain, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the only begotten of the Father, the great I AM, the Word of God, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Revelation 5:13

Glory be to HIS name!

For HE is worthy! Jesus Christ is worthy!

Why is our road straight and narrow? It isn't that way simply to keep you from having any so called "fun". Nor is that the only reason that keeps people from walking it. It is straight and narrow also because almost no one uses it because most people will not humble themselves. If everyone would humble themselves and seek the Truth then it would be a wide road, a broad road and easily traveled because it would have been well worn from all the traffic but that is not the case, there is little traffic on this road.

Paul speaks of a race. It is a race of fierce competition yet not many runners.

I hope you can better see why "we can't all just get along". It's just not going to happen and it was never intended to be that way. We only truly "get along" with the Truth and those that do the will of the Father.

It is strange but while we advocate peace it is God's peace, not the peace of the world. While we advocate love it is God's love, not love of the world. While we advocate hope and faith it is hope and faith in God and not hope and faith in the world.

We love God, not the world, therefore the world hates us because they first hated him and they will not just "get along".

For they have not the love of the Truth.

Language of Lucifer

Have you ever read the story of Christ in the wilderness? He was tempted of the Devil for 40 days and one of the things the Devil tried to get Christ to do was turn stones into bread. Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn't simply do it? Would Satan have then been convinced? There is much more going on in this encounter than first meets the eye. In fact, Satan still uses this same trick on us today.

So why didn't Christ turn the stones into bread? It's because He knew that He would have been doing the will of Lucifer. Have you ever thought of this? It often seems to us that he could have simply turned the stones into bread and proved Lucifer wrong. I can see it now. Christ picks up the stones and miraculously turns them into bread and then the Devil is amazed and becomes a Christian because he is now convinced of the truth.

How many times have we attempted to "prove" the Gospel to someone who doesn't really want it but instead just wants to prove us wrong or just doesn't want to hear it? You can give them proof after proof and never convince them. Luke 16:31 tells us "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

The unfortunate reality is missed when we do this. We are the ones converted rather than them, even though we are trying to do right and trying to prove something good. We have fallen into Satan's trap of dialoging to consensus and we don't even know it.

Let's go back to Christ and the Devil. Again, why didn't Christ turn the stones into bread? He could have but he knew as soon as he tried to prove himself in that fashion he was not proving himself at all. He would simply have been dialoging with the Devil, he would be doing the Devil's will by doing what the Devil asked of him.

This is deep stuff. We think talking to people about Christ and trying to convince them is a good thing but it is only if they are accepting the truth. If they are arguing or saying things like "we can agree to disagree" or some other cliché they are manifesting the spirit of antichrist and in a sense they are giving you your spiritual Miranda warning. It's our fault if we don't recognize it.

We often come away feeling like we have proven our point and stuck to our guns and done a good work for Christ but look at it this way. If Christ had turned the stones into bread the Devil would have become the master. He would have had Christ doing his will, even though it seems to us that Christ would have been doing it to prove him wrong. It really doesn't matter what He would have been trying to do. It only matters that He would have done it.

Thank God he didn't but instead He tells Satan "it is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God."

So when you tell someone the truth and they begin to argue or say something like "we should agree to disagree" you are in the presence of the same spirit the Devil used against Christ. They are speaking the Language of Lucifer.

If you have the truth then why should you have to agree to disagree with anyone? Now if you don't have the truth then perhaps you should find it. In fact, if you don't know the answer then perhaps it is you that should quietly listen and receive the truth. Perhaps the person talking to you is trying to help you but you should never agree with a non-truth.

If you know the truth you should not compromise it whether it is about eternal salvation doctrine or the timing of the resurrection or even where did Cain get his wife? Would you compromise 2+2=4? That is also truth.

If you met someone who believed that 2+2=5 and you said "no, I'm sorry but 2+2=4" and they began to argue and give reasons for why they believed 2+2=5, why would you stay and argue? They have already proven that they do not love the truth. You could jump through all sorts of hoops trying to prove it but this person has demonstrated that they have larger problems than simply realizing that they are bad at math. Never realizing that he is an idiot keeps him from the love of the truth. Because to love the truth means to realize that we are all idiots, and we don't enjoy being idiots do we?

No, we would rather remain blissfully ignorant rather than have to admit that we were wrong and how sad if we walk away from that conversation saying that we "agree to disagree" you just agreed with an idiot which makes you perhaps a "nice idiot" at best and a liar at worst because you just agreed with a lie.

If you have the truth you stand on that truth and do not reach a consensus against it by agreeing to disagree. No instead it is better to just walk away, DO NOT ARGUE, it is a trap of the Devil. Not only does it waste time but it involves you in watering down the truth even if only a little bit.

If you think of it 99% of the truth is really just a lie and that is all it takes to water the truth down. Actually it even takes less than that. Consider that 99.99999% of the truth is also not the truth but only 100% can be considered truth. This is why we need the Holy Ghost to guide us. We must not compromise our 100%.

Now what I am telling you here goes against everything our society stands for. In fact that is all we hear now days. "Let's agree to disagree Brother." or "We can agree on the central doctrine of Christ" or "We don't see eye to eye on that but we agree that Jesus died for our sins" These are all things we hear among believers. The Christians are some of the worst lot that speaks the Language of Lucifer.

For instance, we know that Joe Blow down the street doesn't believe in the Millennial Reign even though the Bible plainly teaches it so what do we tell him? We usually say "let's agree to disagree".

There is one truth and it doesn't split itself up by denomination or doctrine or even in the belief that Jesus died for our sins. Hear me out!

It begins with Jesus dying for our sins but that is not all there is. If you believe that Jesus died for your sins then you do become saved but if 10 years later you are still sucking on that bottle then what are you trying to prove?

You sicken me, sucking on the milk when you have been offered such glory and in the presence of such glory! And there you are sucking on the spiritual milk while your stinking flesh is pursuing all sorts of lusts and gains and appetites to fill your belly. You don't love God, you are a liar.

Now to someone deep in a jungle somewhere who comes to the knowledge that Christ died for his sins and receives the love of the truth and gets saved that is the greatest gift ever known unto man, but YOU! You have taken that gift and turned it into a mockery! Then you claim to be saved!

It is not that you make mistakes. You are a dog just like we all are.

In your flesh is NO good thing your flesh cannot be saved. It is your spirit that gets saved, hence you are born again, not of the flesh but of the spirit. Christ died just like your stinking flesh does when you accept the news that He died for you. Your flesh dies and your spirit is born. You are a spirit. You don't HAVE a spirit, you ARE a spirit if you are in Christ.

So, we see the deception all around us. Many have rejected what I have told you here, proving that what I am saying is true. The thought that we can believe whatever we want and simply agree to disagree is such a terrible trap that we think we are deep in God's will while practicing it. We feel like God is looking on us with pleasure when we do these things and an article on a blogsite is no match for our deep seated beliefs unless we love the truth because this is truth.

You have a lifeline.

It doesn't mean you have to get mad at everyone who talks to you this way. Most people don't realize it, they think they are serving God and we tell ourselves "if we could only get through to them" but we can't because the truth is that they don't really love the truth.

They only love what they think the truth is and that is a far cry from the real truth. The real truth requires humbleness and it requires that you deny yourself and it requires you to be wrong. Most people do not believe they are wrong so there is no way to reach them. It does seem a shame but only to the extent that we ourselves are deceived. Because we look to these people as someone who loves the truth but they don't. Can you see that? They don't love the truth, they love their own bellies.

The realization of this is staggering to me. To think that keeping the peace by allowing one guy to believe one thing and someone else to believe another is hard to accept. It seems to allow us to get along together and fellowship and grow and all sorts of so-called "good things" but if 3 people who each have 99% of the truth all get together and put all their doctrine in a pot and stir it up what is the result? 99% times 99% times 99% equals 97%. If someone with 100% truth shows up and tosses his doctrine into the pot what happens? 97% times 100% equals 97% so the guy who enters into fellowship even though he has 100% truth when he gets there, leaves with only 97% and 97% is a worthless lie.

So we see how futile it is to fellowship with or even dialog with someone who does not have a love for the truth. You wind up losing in the end when you speak the Language of Lucifer.

So, do not dialog with the Devil, he is smarter than you are.

Do not dialog with those who have not the love of the truth.

Just walk away.

Is Timing Important?

I recently came out of a church that believed strongly in the pre-tribulation rapture. The doctrine was central and in a strange way it went without any questioning. Total blind faith was its greatest strength. 

However I began to ask questions that I could never get a straight answer to such as "what happens to all the children conceived after the rapture?"

Imagine the rapture happens and 10 seconds later a child is conceived (after all the first 3 1/2 years are supposed to be good years). So, at the end of 7 years what you have is a bunch of 6-year-old innocent children that have no hope to make it to Heaven.

Now, in spite of our inability to answer simple questions such as this the doctrine still was not scrutinized in a serious way. We would discuss "how" the rapture would happen but not "if" it would happen. The conclusions we arrived at would often be something to the effect of "well, timing isn't important" or "I'll explain it to you on the way up" or "I'm pan trib" (it will all pan out if we leave it up to God) or some other trite phrase.

Looking back it was the strangest thing, the doctrine made no sense but somehow remained in its lofty place of honor.

It took me nearly a year of study, prayer and meditation before I came to the truth that the pre-tribulation rapture is a lie.

Now I could sit here and beat up the doctrine quite easily but never change anyone's mind. The rapture is so powerful a lie that it has seated itself amongst the most honored truths and it is defended as such.

The difference is that the truths in our lives are not afraid of scrutiny, in fact they welcome it. The lies however will not welcome the same, they will hide themselves.

So let's shine a light on the issue of timing and see who scatters. Is timing even important?

Christians claim it doesn't matter as long as we love Jesus. As long as we explain it to each other on the way up or as long as we are "pan trib" we will be ok. As long as we say timing isn't important and we should spend all our time bringing people to Christ and let God sort out all the messy details.

You may be surprised that Paul tells us differently in 2nd Timothy 2:16-18

"But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."

Apparently Hymenaeus and Philetus were preaching some form of what we call Preterism today and Paul is upset because he knows that "timing" is actually very important. If timing wasn't important why would Paul make such a big deal out of such a small error in timing?

Paul knows that the sign of a true believer is that he will know and understand these things.

So all of our theories about "pan trib" and "I'll explain on the way up" should be tossed out. We should repent of our belief that it isn't important or that we should just focus on getting people saved. It would seem that we don't even know who we are trying to bring others to. We say we love Jesus but what does Jesus tell us?

We read the words of Jesus in John 16:13

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."

Jesus comforts us by saying that the Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth and this includes the timing of the resurrection. If you don't know these things then who's spirit do you have and who are you leading others to?

If you hold to the pre-tribulation rapture theory you are in peril. Your timing is off just like Hymenaeus and Philetus of whom Paul says, "their word will eat as doth a canker."

Does the word you preach "eat as doth a canker"? Is that where you want to be spiritually? I don't think so.

So timing is very important. We are told in 1st Thessalonians 5:2-4

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."

Think about it, what does every pre-trib rapture teacher tell us about the first 3 1/2 years? They say they are looking for peace and safety first then secondly, after the good half is over, the destruction comes.

Unfortunately what they are truly saying is this can't be the tribulation because I haven't been raptured yet. They will say this throughout the entire tribulation (if they live that long) and then suddenly they will find themselves in the midst of the destruction and they shall not escape.

They will not have recognized the tribulation because they believed they had to be raptured before any destruction came. How sad that that day will overtake them as a thief.

Then the scripture says "but ye, are not in darkness" so what does Paul mean by this? He means true believers will know the Day of the Lord, the last day, the resurrection of the righteous dead and he tells us that we will not be surprised by it.

So the ones that know the day are the ones with the Spirit of truth because he shows us all truth and things to come. He doesn't say he will show all truth except for the timing of the resurrection.

Almost everyone I know believes in the pre-tribulation rapture (that alone brings to mind the "broad way" that we are warned about). A good rule of thumb I use concerning truth is to look at what the majority does and then don't do it. Whatever it is. If there is a majority doing it then there is almost 100% chance that it will lead you to Hell and folks you can deny it if you want but the majority of Christians today are following the "broad way" by believing the pre-tribulation rapture.

Many millions are openly walking that road.

May God place the love of the truth in your heart and may it become your one and only refuge.

He is the truth.

Jesus is truth.

Recognizing Evil

Recently I posted an article called "Recognizing the Truth" and from that stream of thought it occurred to me that recognizing the truth also means recognizing evil.

Let me explain. The only way you can have truth is by having a lie to oppose it. The same way light can only exists through the opposing darkness. As strange as it sounds you cannot have light without darkness, you cannot have truth without a lie.

This is not limiting to God or anything of the such but it is simply how He has designed the world to operate. Imagine if there were no darkness, we simply would not perceive the light. If there were no lies we would have no need to seek out the truth because there would be nothing but truth and therefore truth would cease to be truth in our understanding, in effect there would be no more truth.

A physical example is a coin. A coin simply cannot exist with only one side. No matter how thin the coin gets the moment it ceases to have two sides is the very moment that it ceases to exist. Imagine good and evil, truth and lies, and light and darkness as all being two sides of the same coin. Once either side is removed the other ceases to exist. Again this isn't something that places God in a box and limits him. He is the almighty, it is his construct, we are the ones in the box not God.

So, as we see the good we also begin to perceive evil and that is what I would like to discuss now.

If I could ask you, what do you think about when you imagine the Devil? Would you say that you imagine a guy with horns, a goatee, forked tail and red skin sitting on a throne with flames shooting up all around him?

Would you visualize him touting sins such as murders, robberies and adulteries? Well, to be sure, those are all evil but that is evil that is easy to see. Looking behind the veil however, what can we see evil as?

First, the Devil or Lucifer is not an ugly looking guy sitting in Hell on a flaming throne of fire. No, Lucifer is beautiful. His name means "the light bearer". At his creation, he was set as one of God's highest angels and was perfect in all his ways before he fell.

Now when he fell he didn't turn into a red guy with horns, he is still beautiful. (Please don't misunderstand. He can present himself in many forms so this article is not trying to argue that evil cannot ever seem to be ugly.) Evil can manifest in many, many different ways. I simply want to look at one form today, a form that I believe is most deceiving.

Part of why the Devil fell in the first place is because he thought his ways were better than God's ways. God says that He, the I Am, must come first and that all other concerns in your life should become as if you hate them in comparison. The Devil tells us to love the children first, love your family first, love your country first.

Do you see what I am trying to say here?

The Devil doesn't just show up with murders, robberies and adulteries. No, he shows up with what seems like very noble and good ideals. After all who is going to argue against loving your families?

It shouldn't be surprising to us that he does these things. The Bible tells in 2nd Corinthians chapter 14-15:

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

There are many, many people who would tell you that their "family" comes first. There are even more that would say their children come first. This ideal seems so pure, good and wholesome that they would never see anything wrong with it. It seems almost as an absolute good. As I said who would stand against the idea that you should love, and put first, your families, children, country... etc.,

God, that's who.

Now God doesn't want us to hate anyone outright but He does demand that He comes first and everything else comes second and I am not talking about a close second either. I am talking about a distant second, a second that is so far back that it doesn't even register on the same chart. A second place that isn't even in the same race if you can hear that. A second that loses so badly that it garners a form of hatred.

So, when we set the two theories side by side what do we see? On one hand we have someone who is jealous, demanding and controlling. On the other hand we have a guy who tells you to put your children first, love your "families" and love your "country". He might even use the phrase "God, country and family" (as if country and family were somehow a close second and third.)

If you didn't know that we were talking about God and Satan here and you saw this comparison who would you be tempted to follow?

Unfortunately for Satan, God has created everything and he makes the rules. He is worthy of all praise, He is worthy of all honor, He is worthy of all glory. Through him flows all love and goodness and without him there is no love or goodness.

It is strange but by putting Jesus first you actually are putting your families first, children first and country first. If you try to put them first without Christ then they actually end up being last.

Luke 17:33 says "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it."

This quote might not at first seem to follow along with my point but in reality it is the exact same thing. Many people in addition to their love of family, children and country have one remaining thing that they love more than all these.

That thing is themselves.

They lust after money and power for themselves and much of the so-called "love of children" and "love of family" and "love of country" is in reality the "love of your own worthless carcass" which also gets tossed on the dungpile.

So there you have it, your own life is also counted as dung, as if you hate yourself in comparison to your love of God. As Christ's disciple every element of your existence becomes in comparison to God as if you hated it and to those who achieve this (as in the story of Job) they are granted in return, everything.

As it is said "whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it".

Glory to God!

I hope I have helped you see more clearly that the sins we should avoid are not just the big ones but also the seeming "little ones", the ones that are so cleverly constructed that we even believe them to be righteousness.

2nd Timothy 3:12 says "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

Maybe now we can understand better why we suffer those persecutions because when you tell people these things they get mad. Most will not hear it, some will come against you and you will suffer persecution.

May God give us truth and understanding.

A Prison for Your Mind…

Is it possible that you live in a cage that you cannot touch or taste? An invisible cage with bars you cannot see? This cage is defined by your vocabulary in many ways. If we cannot explain or understand something because we ourselves or our neighbors don’t have the proper vocabulary then we become prisoners within our own minds.

If you have ever read the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell you will remember the scene where the pigs painted the rules on the barn but later when the other animals (that couldn't read well to begin with, if at all) went back to read them they were confused as they seemed different. Actually the pigs had come during the night and added words here and there to change the meaning of the rules.

(If you haven't read "Animal Farm" you don't have any idea what I am talking about of course so don't even try to understand it.)

The point is this is how we are treated in our world today. How do you think it is that we all go down and apply for "drivers" licences and even pay them to get one? When you go to the law books and look up the key words in the "law" you will find that they back up the fact that you have to get your licence, so we all go down and follow the "law". The trick however is that the words have changed meanings in the last 90 or so years since the law was first passed.

The way they got the law passed to begin with was simple. "Driver" simply meant someone who drives commercially such as a taxi driver or truck driver or delivery driver and it made sense to everyone that those who use the roads commercially should pay a fee and get a licence.

Then the trickery began.

Once the law was passed they began changing the meanings of the words such as "driver" which used to mean only commercial drivers to what we know today which is that everyone is a driver and everyone has to get a licence.

Perhaps you think you can read but just like those animals you probably can't. The drivers licence is just a simple example. You are controlled every day by many other legal wording tricks that are just as manipulative but unfortunately it is all your fault because of something called the Maxims of Law.

One of the Maxims says "Let him who wishes to be deceived, be deceived." which basically means if you are not willing to go to the law library and study for six months in order to understand the truth about a law then it is assumed that you are willing to be deceived.

Did you get that? And on top of the six months you spend in the law library you will need to take constant refresher classes to keep up to date of all the new statutes they come up with. Now that's something I know we all have time for isn't it?

(Now you can more plainly see why they feel it is so important to keep you distracted with sports, TV and other junk to waste even more of your precious time.) Because if the people ever woke up to this deception their entire house of deceit would come crashing down on them, but they just laugh. They know we are just a bunch of bumbling, malnourished, flouride drinking idiots that couldn't find their way out of a paper bag much less understand complex lawyer talk.

We stupidly believe our government is controlled by fair and honest people who are only looking out for the benefit of the nation. We believe they use their offices for good and just outcomes that benefit the people but we are deceived.

Now, let's look at a simpler form of the deceit. I say simpler only because it has become so commonplace that even the mention of it seems silly to most people and will get you labeled as someone who "takes it to far".

Anyway, try to imagine living in society today and never using the names of our months or imagine functioning with out using the names of the days of the week on a regular basis? It wouldn't be easy.

This lack of ability is what I mean by the title of this article because it makes up a large portion of that cage in which Satan and the beast system has us all trapped in and we have trouble even seeing it. In fact, it is impossible for many to see it at all. The "driver" issue is much more obvious.

Please allow me to explain.

The Bible tells us in Exodus 23:13

"And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth."

Here God plainly tells us not to mention the name of other gods. Well, the following is a list of names and the false gods these names were meant to honor. Remember, these are names we should not even speak.

Sunday = Sun’s day (Sol "solar" worship)

Monday = Moon’s day (Luna "lunar" worship)

Tuesday = Tīw's Day (Norse god of war)

Wednesday = Woden’s Day (Head god of English heathenism, equated with the Norse god Odin)

Thursday = Thor’s Day (Thor, Norse god of thunder, equated with the Greek god Hercules)

Friday = Frige’s Day (Norse goddess and wife of the god Woden, spinner of the clouds)

Saturday = Saturn’s Day (Roman father-god, also god of agriculture, justice and strength)

January = Janus (the two faced god, the god of the doorway, looking forward and backward at the same time. This is why we always look back at the year past and then look forward to the future year during January 1st celebrations)

March = Mars (Roman god of war)

April = Aprilis (sacred to worshipers of the Roman goddess Venus, it is suggested that Aprilis was originally the month Aphrilis, from her Greek counterpart Aphrodite.)

May = Maia (a Greek goddess of springtime and fertility, accessible only to women)

June = Juno (Roman goddess, Jupiter’s wife)

July = Julius Caesar (renamed for Julius Caesar, who was officially declared a god to be worshipped by the Romans after his death)

August = Augustus Caesar (renamed for Augustus Caesar, who was also officially declared a god and was to be worshipped by Romans after his death.)

Mercury = (Roman messenger god known for his swift travel)

Venus = (Roman goddess of love)

Mars = (Roman god of war)

Jupiter = (Roman god-king and the son of Saturn, equated with the Greek god-king Zeus)

Saturn = (Roman equivalent to the Greek father-god Cronus, father to the god that would become king)

Uranus = (Greek grandfather-god, father to Cronus who gave birth to Zeus, considered to be primordial, having no parents himself.)

Neptune = (Roman god of the sea, brother to Jupiter and Pluto, you may know of his Greek counterpart Poseidon)

Pluto = (Roman god of the underworld, his Greek counterpart is better known as Hades)

So, here we see the cage that Satan has built around each of us. Actually trapping us inside our own minds and also the minds of our neighbors. From the time we were small children we have been under assault.

The world has had us transgressing the law and we didn’t even know it and let’s not pretend that this is not transgression of the law. It is clearly written that we shouldn’t speak these names. However, it is a glorious thing that we are under grace and are forgiven of our transgressions.

We simply have to ask in faith believing and he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins but this doesn’t mean we should willy-nilly disregard the law so that grace may abound.

We really should try to avoid using these names when possible and we should be aware each time we do use them. We should also teach others when we have opportunity so they too can stop giving honor to false gods.

Until Jesus sets up his kingdom we will be in this mess. There is no correcting it. This world is ruled by Satan and this is simply how things are done.

Corruption breeds corruption but we should not be ignorant of the Devil's devices.

Recognizing the Truth

How do we recognize truth? We can begin by asking whether we think Jesus taught in parables so his message would be easier to understand?

Let’s read in Luke 8:10 "And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."

Did you know that Jesus used parables so many might NOT see and might NOT understand? You see, God gives all understanding and if he doesn’t reveal a thing to us then we can not understand it. We do not figure things out on our own but we often think we do.

We should then better understand how people often become frustrated and angry at the "foolishness" of Christians who "take it too far" because the things of God make no sense to those who God has not revealed it. The world is in this state right now. They cannot understand why we believe because God has blinded their eyes to the truth.

In this vein of thought I began to think about those that don't recognize the truth. You see, to them it all makes sense. They go through life happy-go-lucky chasing money, fame and/or power and they think they have it all figured out.

They never stop to question it and simply laugh at Christians. They live their lives in pride, competing against each other in order to be the "top dog". Feeling proud when they "win a championship" or some other contest. They feel good when their team beats some other team, they shake their fists victoriously at the vanquished. ...dripping with pride ...it makes me sick.

Now, none of us would ever intentionally believe a lie much less defend it as the truth but once a lie is firmly ensconched in our lives we will hold it as tightly as any truth because we are convinced that it is truth.

In effect we act as if we already know all truth. Otherwise we would have already changed our beliefs to reflect the truth had we thought we had been in error. Now, since many of us are not currently in conflict with our exisiting beliefs and since we would never voluntarily believe a lie we are basically claiming we only have truth left. This is demonstrated by our lack of conflict within ourselves.

The problem is none of us ever think we could be deceived into believing a lie. (Note that I am including myself in all these descriptions.)

I recently asked a "Christian" who I sensed was very proud the question "how do you know that you don't know something?" He was immediately offended and claimed that I had just posed a riddle to him, as if it wasn't worthy of an answer. He missed the fact that it is a question that should be carefully considered.

The question reveals rather quickly in us whether we are prone to humbleness or pride. For instance, if you tend to lash out against someone who is telling you something that you don't understand then you are demonstating pride. If, on the other hand, you quietly listen and consider what you are being told then you are demonstrating humbleness.

If you then go on to realize the information is true (after considering it through the scriptures) and you change your beliefs to line up with the newly revealed truth then you are demonstrating humbleness. If again you find it true (or actually refuse to study it further) and instead bull up and push it away then of course you are demonstating pride.

The problem is we do not recognize this as pride. Instead we consider it to be our accurate knowledge that we have learned thoughout life. It will not seem to us to be pride but it will appear as a righteous clinging to things we believe to be true, even a righteous defense of the gospel, but not pride. No way, not us, we cannot be deceived!!

The terrible unfortunate pitfall is our simple inability to humble ourselves. We often realize something to be true and then reject it because it goes against something else we have believed for 30 years. We remember the comforting times when we fellowshipped and rejoiced with others believing ourselves to be in the truth and then suddenly we are confronted with the reality that what we believed was a lie. Our hearts sink as we realize we were not rejoicing in the truth but in a lie and fellowshipping in a lie and we are devastated.

It short circuits our brains and we cannot accept it. We ask how could God bless over such an error? Surely He wouldn't have, after all God would never bless over sin, yet there it is, so many years spent in error, we just cannot hear it. Sadly we will often continue in the lie rather than admit that we could have been so wrong. These lies then become our idols and stumbling blocks that ultimately undermine our relationship with Jesus.

Deception is a hard thing especially when we are deceiving ourselves.

For instance, in Luke 14:25-27 we read "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple."

Does it shock you, that you should hate your father, and mother and wife…? What does this mean? It means when we compare our love for God to all our other concerns, even that of our very lives, it is as if we hate them and we would gladly drop each and every one of them rather than forsake Jesus Christ.

How many among us immediately embrace this without a thought and how many of us will say Jesus didn't really mean it that way?

We have read what the Bible says yet many or most of us will continue as we always have loving our families first and claiming that God honors this and claiming that he would never say that we should hate them. Even when these people actively work against the things of God many among us will reject what Jesus said and hold to our so-called "families".

We simply can't believe that we could be so wrong. It is not our nature to visualize ourselves in constant error, instead we assume that we see when in truth we can't.     

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1st Corinthians 10:12

How do we protect ourselves from ourselves? We must recognize that we are as filthy rags and there is no good in us at all. We must read and study the Bible. We must humble ourselves and not turn our false beliefs into idols and stumbling blocks. When we find the truth we must embrace it and hide ourselves in it but when we are shown, through the scriptures, any belief to be false we drop it just as fast.

Deny yourself.

Take up your cross.

Walk that narrow path to life.

...and earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.