Get Up and Walk

by Richard Joseph

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

Many of us are familiar with the bible story mentioned above.  However the best interpretation of this famous passage was given by my brother Tom.  Tom caused me to see this scripture, as well as many others in a different light than what you would normally hear a preacher give.  My brother’s sermon not only talked about what Jesus could do but brought in a view of the human condition that I believe is essential to understanding this and other passages of scripture.  I was so inspired that I actually wrote a song about it and posted it on Tangle and YouTube.  Who knows, maybe I’ll get famous like my long lost cousin!

That’s right; I once had a famous cousin who is now passed away.  His name was Amos Jacobs and he was a small time radio entertainer in Detroit back in the 1940’s.  He aspired to become a success on the newly invented television.  His wife, Rose, who was also a small time singer, was not so sure and begged him to settle down, become a store clerk and raise a family.  Amos, however, still had an itch to do something bigger and when he finally came to the end of himself he visited his Catholic church and bowed down before a statue of St. Jude (That diocese has now been closed and the statue has been removed to Lapeer, Michigan and that is why you will see it in the YouTube video).  He promised the saint of hopeless causes that if he helped him find his way in life that he would erect a shrine to his name.  Amos then got in his car and drove to Chicago where he became a huge success at the 5100 Club as a stand up comedian with a special emphasis on funny story lines.  He then was offered to do a sitcom television show, changed his name to Danny Thomas (after two of his brothers) and became a huge success in the 1950’s and 60’s.  As a man of great faith, he kept his promise and built St. Jude’s hospital in Tennessee.

So, why the long story?  I believe it gives a backdrop to the scripture above and to the song I wrote.  Young Amos bowed down before a statue of a great saint but I hope that his prayer was directed to God through Jesus Christ since the scripture is emphatic about bowing down to graven images.  I suppose that if he were to ask Saint Jude to pray for him, I can accept that especially in the light of the explanation that my other cousin, David Allen, put it.  David asked me if I believed that it was ok if I asked my pastor to pray for me and I said yes I would do that.  He then asked if I thought that Saint Jude is really alive in heaven today and I said yes I do believe that. He then said, “Is it ok to ask St. Jude to pray for you just like your pastor”?  I had to say “yes”.   So I guess that a saint could pray for you and perhaps St. Jude did guide the foot steps of my cousin.  On the other hand, however, I see an epidemic of people praying to statues, praying for the lottery, praying for luck and every other superstition that you can think of and end up in poverty.  That is really what the song is about.

In the scripture above we see that a large group of invalids were lying around the pool of Bethesda waiting to step into the stirred waters in order to get healed.  What I believe was going on is this.  There probably was a legitimate healing that took place at this pool at some point.  Since people probably acted a little back then like they act today I can see how a superstitious story began to develop and before you know it crippled people from all over are beginning to show up for a healing in the magical waters.  As you can easily extrapolate from the passage above, when the waters were stirred, panic ensued.  The crippled people began to push and shove and trip each other to get into the waters first.  They believed that the first one to get into the waters after they began to stir got healed.  Now here is a simple question; do you think God operates that way?   Do you think that you are healed by some sort of rat race that only the winner gets rewarded?  This reminds me of the lady who rushed into Sunday school class and pointed out to her good parking spot right next to the door and said, “I prayed for that spot”.  My guess is that if she really understood God’s ways, she would have parked in the rear and prayed that a new member might get that good parking spot.  God does not reward the person who tripped and pushed himself to the front.  In fact Jesus talked several times about the first being last and the last, first.  This type of poverty thinking is so powerful in society today that it has diseased the land.

It is common to see poor people rushing to the corner store with three or four un-kept kids in the back seat of their junk car, and rushing in to buy cigarettes, beer and lottery tickets.  They are a slave to nicotine, they try to hide their troubles in the liquor and they think that they will someday be set free by that “one lucky ticket”.  This is not that much different than praying to a statue instead of God.  The truth is, is that those people never seem to bust loose and that is because they are not doing anything constructive to bust loose, they are just digging a deeper and deeper hole that they will eventually never be able to come out of.  This would be like putting a plant in a dark corner of your basement and hoping that it will grow.  Of course it will not grow and that is because you have blocked the source of life from getting to the plant, the sun.

When people hide in the crevices of sin, they effectively block the source of life from ever getting to them.  The source of “life” is Jesus Christ.  Wherever Jesus Christ is infused into a system, it springs to life.  That is why when Jesus showed up at the pool of Bethesda, people got healed. Instead of lying around waiting for something lucky to happen, you can begin right now to have life flowing through your veins.  When you allow Jesus to enter your life, drastic things will happen.  You will become alive.  You will be empowered for his kingdom to work.  You will have purpose.  You will be set free from the bondage of superstition.  Life will have meaning.  Your pitiful existence will diminish while God’s purpose will increase.  You will become a new creation.

I believe that God did accept Young Amos’ prayer which caused him to be productive in life.  Many people joked about Danny Thomas’ faith but he kept it and built a life saving research center that is renowned world wide.  I also believe that the statue had nothing to do with it; it was his prayer to God as a Christian.  The work was God’s not Danny Thomas’.  God wants to work in your life also to produce life giving help for others.  Don’t sit and wait for a lucky strike but “get up and walk my friend”.

What’s Going On? – Summing up the three levels of awareness

Over six months ago I posted the first two articles in my What’s Going On? series. After a very good period of trying (not always successfully!) to put it all into practice, I read my articles again to see how my thoughts held up. At this time I am comfortable with what I wrote, meaning I wouldn’t change the original posts. It’s clear, though, that I need to elaborate on what I am calling the three levels of awareness—Amusement, Disillusionment and Clarity.

To make the point clearly, I summed it up below as briefly as I can. I also created three simple graphics and listed some of characteristics and a few examples to better explain these thoughts.

The main point
We should not deal with our disillusionment by simply seeking more and different forms of amusement. Instead we should work through the disillusionment and, with God’s help, we will find true life by seeing all its aspects from the deeper perspective of clarity.

The Characteristics of the three levels of Awareness

Amusement

• We focus on activity. Doing becomes more important than being.
• We desire experiences, especially new ones.
• “Fun” is our unspoken motivation and as long as we had fun, the experience was valuable.
• Amusement is characterized by a consumer mentality—things, experiences and people should meet our needs and we move on when they fail to or they stop doing so.
• We expect circumstances to change to continually provide Amusement.
• Amusement is concerned with “me” and “mine”. This may extend to other people (my family, my friends) and thus has a degree of love, yet it is limited in scope.

Disillusionment

• The things that used to provide amusement do not, but we cannot replace them or do not want to.
• We experience boredom, emptiness and depression in varying degrees.
• We feel the pull (from our habits and from social pressure) to seek amusement (fun) in new forms.
• We are very aware of what we do not have.
• We are very self-focused as we become more aware of our emptiness.
• We feel out of place, as if something is very wrong and we wonder why others are finding enjoyment in things that only make us feel empty.

Clarity

• Our strength and purpose comes from God and a spiritual focus.
• We focus on being rather than doing.
• Contentment replaces the never-ending search to meet our needs.
• We trust God to lead and to give us what we need.
• We let God change us.
• We look for ways to give rather than to get.
• We are grateful for the blessings that we receive and we fulfill the obligation that comes with them. (We realize we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.)

Examples of the three levels of awareness in different areas of life

Here are three areas of our daily lives and how we can view aspects of each from the three levels of awareness. Please understand that I speak of Clarity as an ideal. I have not mastered the art of seeing my life from this perspective. I provide these examples based only on the hints that I have so far been allowed to experience.

Our Jobs
Amusement – Ideally we all look for a job that fits our personality and that we find fun. If that doesn’t work, we hope to at least find some fun at work while we do the job. Even if we can’t do that, though, we expect the job will provide enough money for us to have fun outside of work. The job becomes a means to keep us (and usually our families) sufficiently entertained.

Disillusionment – Work becomes grueling. We feel trapped in a meaningless job that we do not enjoy. It doesn’t provide enough money to keep us entertained.

Clarity – Our jobs are an opportunity to give of ourselves. We trust God to show us the many opportunities we have each day to give in meaningful ways. We find strength in Him to do so. In this we find blessings (including the paycheck) and we accept and use them as such.

Our Leisure Time
Amusement – We probably think of leisure time as synonymous with amusement. Above all else, we expect fun for ourselves and our families. Good use of leisure time means each moment has something enjoyable to do.

Disillusionment –Things that were fun aren’t so enjoyable. Weekends feel like a waste of time. Due to a lack of resources, it’s hard to find something enjoyable to do.

Clarity – Leisure time provides an opportunity to reflect on our lives and improve our relationships with others and with God. In it we are renewed. The entertainment we enjoy in these times provides us with opportunities to give to others (possibly then or maybe later). As a simple example, we might deeply appreciate a good movie as a quality work of art. In it we see truth conveyed in a language that we might use to communicate that important truth to others.

Our Intimate Relationships
Amusement – From this perspective, a close relationship focuses on dating, feelings and most likely meeting the superficial needs of one another. Of course, physical attraction and sex take the forefront.

Disillusionment – It gets harder to maintain the relationship as the experiences are no longer novel. Unattractive characteristics in a partner and the relationship become apparent and they are difficult to ignore. We might think we find what we are missing in other people. In varying degrees of interaction, we seek out a new partner in order to find what we are lacking.

Clarity – The relationship is built on a true love where each partner simply gives to the other. Deep needs are met through deep, sacrificial love. Partners are committed to each other and to God and the result is a union that blesses them and others.

Give to Caesar?

Matthew 22:21 (New King James Version)

21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

If you go to church then you heard a sermon on this scripture at one point or another. Unfortunately, most, if not all have heard a poor interpretation of this famous passage. I am not sure why the only message that I have ever heard was that you are supposed to obey your government and pay your honest taxes. That is not bad advice, at least in some circumstances, but it is totally and absolutely not what this verse is about. Let’s take a closer look and see if we cannot extract a more meaningful message from Jesus’ words.

Here is the first sentence of the above story: 15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. The evil heart of the Pharisees is what this is all about, not about taxes. Keep that in mind as we take a closer look at the story. The Jewish leadership at this point in Jesus’ ministry was bent on silencing this rabble rouser because they felt threatened by his waxing popularity and his direct assessment of the Pharisees’ job performance. They were literally sitting in dark, smoke filled back rooms plotting the demise of Jesus. They would come to him time and again with trick questions until they were finally becoming embarrassed and gave up questioning him and just arrested him outright. This question about the taxes was just another in a long line of inquiries that always failed. It is funny how God gets it right 100% of the time. So here we go again.

We see that the Pharisees goal is to trip Jesus up with a question that has no right answer, so they thought. If someone dumb, like me, was asked that question I would have stumbled up with some long winded political answer. I would have goofed up royally. Not so with Jesus. He could see straight through their flattery and trickery. The lawyers had this question all figured out. If Jesus said to pay your taxes then the Jewish patriots and zealots would have turned on him as a traitor. If Jesus said “don’t pay your taxes” then the Romans would have arrested him on charges of treason. He was between a rock and a hard place. It is funny how, when Samson was about to fight an entire battalion of Philistine soldiers, he backed himself between a rock and a hard place. Now it was Jesus’ turn. The Pharisees approached Jesus, tried to flatter him then popped the question.

17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?

19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius.

20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

If this were on a movie screen we would see something like this; The Pharisees approaching Jesus with stupid smiles on their face. They proceed to flatter him then pop the question, all the while having several witnesses ready to report his treasonous answer to the authorities. Jesus then, irritated by their constant badgering calls them what they are and says “toss me a coin”. They give it to him waiting for the wrong answer to come out of his mouth. But instead of an answer, Jesus asks them a question. “Whose inscription is on this coin”? When they say Caesar’s, he then gives them a challenge that he knows they will not pass. Jesus told them to give Caesar his rightful stuff, his money. Then Jesus walks up to the lead Pharisee and gets nose to nose with him. Now the crux of this whole passage takes place. Jesus now tells the Pharisee to give God what is God’s. The conviction is more than the Pharisees can take, they tuck their tails between their legs and all leave without challenging him any further.

The answer that Jesus gave is profound and is much needed today. We seem to go through our whole lives and never think about giving God what is God’s. This is a matter of ownership. Caesar is in charge of running the government and so we give “Caesar” his rightful dues but we never stop to think about what God owns; our souls. This is what most of the Pharisees never did. They never gave God what was Gods. They strained at a gnat yet swallowed a camel. Jesus challenged them to go home and take a close look at their lives and their souls. They were bent on doing evil but never gave real thought into the question of “are we doing God’s will or ours”?

Jesus is asking us the same thing. Are we giving God what is his? Are we totally committed to living for the glory of our creator? We seem to honor all others but leave God in the back room. So I challenge me and you today to put away our selfishness and give God what is God’s.

You’re Banned

Many people remember the Clearance Thomas confirmation hearings but most do not really know what happened. I just finished reading his book My Grandfather’s Son and it really opened my eyes to the extreme bigotry of the Democratic Party. Mr. Thomas was completely trashed by the liberals lead by now Vice President Biden because he did not bend to their will of keeping blacks in financial and mental poverty. They came up with every possible lie they could and was bold enough to say it straight in the camera that would influence millions of numb minded Americans who actually think that the news broadcasters broadcast news. Clearance Thomas finally had enough and finally called it what it was: a “high tech lynching”. In fact you can pull it up on YouTube if you want to hear him say it. Thank God that he finally was confirmed and we now have a decent judge on our Supreme Court. But all this shows that the liberals believe that if you do not uphold their beliefs and agenda then you have no right to be a part of our country or system.

“Well”, as Ronald Reagan would say, “Here you go again.” Now we have a beauty queen who is told that she cannot retain her title of Miss California unless she becomes a liberal. This is Sodom and Gomorrah all over again. When Carrie Prejean was asked if she was for gay marriage she answered in the negative very respectfully. The respect was not reciprocated. She was immediately and viciously attacked by the press and the homosexual proponents. To attack is their only weapon seeing that they are having a hard time promoting the idea of two or more men performing selfish acts of perversion with each other and calling that the same as a productive and loving marriage between a man and a woman. Because she will not disavow her own personal beliefs, they are attempting to ban her from her rightful crown. The practice of exclusion is the Left Wing’s modus operandi. The Democrats have practiced this since the 1800’s when they told blacks that they must remain slaves and actually started a civil war over the idea. When the Republicans finally succeeded in freeing the slaves the Democrats implemented the “Jim Crow” laws. This lasted until the 1960’s when the Republicans again passed the civil rights bill and, in order to get the votes, President Johnson signed the bill. The Democrats now had another trick up their sleeves. They started a welfare program that have kept blacks subject to poverty ever since. That way they can keep promising them a better day if they just keep voting Democratic. Have you seen Detroit lately? So, here we go again with Miss Prejean.

Some of the attacks on Prejean is that she posed nude in the past. This makes her bad, right. In other words, she is bad so she cannot keep her crown; that is, unless she accepts a perverted lifestyle of child molesters and groping men who perform horrible and abominable acts with each other. Now we can see that their logic is also perverted. Anyone who thinks that two men can fit together physically obviously has no logic.

In conclusion, if you are a liberal, you are contributing to this travesty. I am begging you to consider what you are voting for when you vote for people like this. In America, we want to promote the healthy and the good, not the perverted and wicked. Let’s join together and fight the good fight. Let us bring the light of Christ to this evil generation. Let us stand behind the young lady who stood up for herself.

And the Word Became Flesh – Chapter 3

By Richard Joseph

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Peter makes it clear that there is a definite spiritual change that takes place and that spiritual change causes physical changes. We are physically removed from the darkness of the “world system” into God’s marvelous light. So what is this “world system” and how did I get in it in the first place?

Understand that you are in one place or the other. There is no third choice. You are either in the “world” system or in “God’s” kingdom. You cannot be neutral. Jesus made this plain in Mathew chapter 12.
Matthew 12:30 (New King James Version)
30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

This is a lesson in light and darkness, lost and found, good and evil, fruitful and desolate. I have met many people who become irate when a they hear of the idea that they might end up in hell when they are, for all intents and purposes, a good person. They have never robbed a bank, they don’t drink and drive, they work hard to support their family and do all of the other “normal” good things that keep you out of jail. Unfortunately, these things do not get you into heaven and they are even possibly working against God’s plan. One of the most common mistakes most people make is when they think that being good equates to being a Christian. When you stand before the throne of God, He will not ask you if you were in jail or if you were late on your credit card payment. He is concerned about one thing and one thing only and that is “are you covered with the blood of Jesus”. Please understand that you cannot perform God’s will unless you are on God’s team. If you don’t go into the huddle, how can you know what play the quarterback called? And since you don’t know what the play is, you begin to create your own play. It might look good from the stands but to the coach you look silly. Your efforts are not coordinated with the team. You might run down the sidelines at record pace but that will not mean a thing if you were supposed to block for the halfback.

Remember that being in a religion or being good does not accomplish God’s goals. Only those that are spiritually connected can produce fruit for God’s kingdom. Only those that are born again can even see God’s kingdom. So when you come to God you must come through Jesus Christ who actually is God incarnate. You cannot think your way to heaven, you cannot work your way to heaven, and you cannot use an alternate route to heaven. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except by him and him alone. If you are arguing with what I just said then you are trying to “think” your way to heaven, which means that you want to work your way to heaven, which means that you are using an alternate route to heaven which means you will not end up in heaven. In fact you must have faith and believe before you can even understand what I just said. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so please do not try to have insight without the fear of the Lord first. Walk in the light so you can clearly see where you are going.

Jesus is in the business of calling his people out of the darkness into his marvelous light. Darkness is the place one goes when he is ashamed of what he is doing. Light is the place where one goes when he is not ashamed of what he is doing. A bar is dark. Kids play outside in the light. Those in a bar usually have something to hide. Kids on a playground are usually carefree. If you choose to live in the dark you do not know what is outside and therefore it seems silly to you when someone tries to describe the Christian life to you. But the truth is that they can see into your life but you cannot see into theirs. This is where a little faith comes in. Just take a peek out of your dungeon and let the light of Christ shine on you for just a moment. Bask in it and let it penetrate your darkness. Let your eyes be opened and you will never look back. Become part of the chosen generation, the royal priesthood that serves the most high God. Begin to proclaim his majesty. Take the focus off of you and onto Jesus Christ, the giver of life. Bust out of the world system and walk into the kingdom of freedom and light.

But what actually is the world system? Listen to what Jesus told his disciples:

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Let’s make this the topic of the next chapter.

Lord, Please Mess Up My Life

Several years ago I was talking with an atheist. There was no high pressure debate going on between us, but I was expressing how my faith made my life better. Every time I tried to point out something good in my life that was because of God, though, he told me I would have had it even without my Christian beliefs. He was arguing that my intelligence and a desire to be a decent person was ultimately the source of the wise choices I made and that I didn’t need the Bible to give me that wisdom. He didn’t completely convince me of this, but I freely admit I was starting run out of things to point to.

How much of my life is truly the result of God changing me more and more into the likeness of Christ? This really is the key question of what it means to be a Christian, yet I rarely hear such a question posed from the pulpits in the church services I attend.

I think a serious issue is at stake here. What if our churches are filled with people who, even if they hadn’t grown up with a Bible, would have been decent people who didn’t take a lot of pleasure in what they call sin? Is it possible that many of those who want to take back America for God, had they not been raised on the Ten Commandments, would have wanted to take back their country or city for something else? Would they have done all they could to have their own opinions be the moral standard based on some other grounds than their favorite passages of Scripture? I fear this is the heart of why the church in the U.S. has lost its influence in our culture.

This thinking scares me because I can see in myself contentment with ways of thinking and living that are acceptable, from a cultural standpoint, but they are not, in reality, directed by God. I’m afraid other outspoken representatives of God are blindly doing this as well. I fear we have these unquestioned assumptions of how things should be, and they’re based mostly on our comfort levels, what our parents taught us and our natural preferences. What’s worse, though, is we know enough Scripture to be dangerous. We quickly grab a Bible verse here or there that supports our thinking and we use the things we like about God to justify ourselves.

To approach the problem another way, I notice that when I ask friends about something difficult Jesus said, like that we’re supposed to give to those who ask of us or we’re supposed to sell everything and give it to the poor, I get a mini-sermon on why He didn’t really mean what He said. What if those hard statements are meant to spur us on to God’s highest standard, but instead we write them off because they’d really mess up our concept of a good life?

I really believe that if we take a hard look at the Bible and at what God’s trying to do in His kingdom we’ll see that we’ve really got it backwards. The lives of those who know God should be guided by His thoughts. God’s word and God’s will should be transforming our natural tendencies. We must resist the natural tendency to interpret the things of God in light of our cultural definition of what is good and right.

Here’s something Paul wrote to the church at Rome about transformation:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

At the end of 2005 I decided to start praying that verse. I asked God regularly to renew my mind and to transform my life so that I could prove what His will was. I figured we could use more “good and acceptable and perfect” things in the world and that my life was the only place where I could have an impact.

Here I am three years later and guess what? The landscape of my spiritual life has been dramatically altered. Some events in 2006 completely blew my little view of God and my Christian world out of the water. I now have to rely on Him daily more than I ever have, yet so many of what I thought were spiritual expressions in my life have been stripped away. I’m not doing the same church things I used to. I have no ministry in a local congregation. Of course, some of my Christian friends have expressed concern for my newfound opinions and for my lack of interest in traditional “spiritual” practices. I am not worried, though, because I trust the One who leads me and I have anticipation of the good things He plans to do through me.

Author Shane Claiborne speaks of a similar, but far more dramatic experience. He says his life was going great, by all cultural standards, until Jesus came along and messed it up. Judging from his great stories I’m in the earliest stages of being messed up, but I’m glad I can relate to what he’s saying.

I’m still praying for complete transformation. I encourage any serious believer to make that verse the basis of a daily prayer as well. One by one our changed lives, drastically altered by God’s direction, can be a light and show many others that His will is in fact good, acceptable and perfect.

And the Word Became Flesh – Chapter Two

Many people who are new to their faith may need to know exactly how they can avoid the trap of being caught up in a religion or if they are truly serving God. Here are a few basic tenants of Christianity that might help you on your journey. A short history of the bible might be appropriate at this time also.
Remember that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. If you have a problem with that, then you will have a problem with your entire walk with God. I will elaborate on these issues more in a latter chapter but suffice it to say that you really need to understand that God was here first, not man. If God didn’t create you then you created God and there is no other way to view this. The next thing you need to understand is that once man was created, it didn’t take long for him to sin and the sin was exactly what we just talked about (us creating God). Read this next passage from the book of Genesis real carefully. It is when Satan was tempting Eve.
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Here Satan was telling Eve that she could be “like God”. When man attempts to take full control over his destiny, he has become god himself and there is one thing that I know for sure; I make a poor god! So your first lesson is that God is God and you are part of his creation. We will find a much more fulfilling life when we serve God instead of serving ourselves.
When Adam and Eve sinned they were ashamed and felt naked and hid themselves making an attempt to cover up with leaves that they had sewn together. God found that their covering was insufficient so he sacrificed an animal and used the skin to produce an appropriate covering that was made by God himself. This also is a vital lesson to learn. Me and you are not capable of fixing our sin problems, this must be done by God himself and the act in the Garden of Eden was a sign of the ultimate sacrifice God would make when he came to earth as a human, lived a sinless life and then paid in blood on the cross for our sins. That is why John the Baptist called Jesus, “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. Jesus was God’s sacrifice that He brought to the altar for our sakes just like he did in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. The Old Testament law written by Moses is very consistent as it takes great pains in describing man’s sin and the need for a sacrifice. A lamb without blemish or another appropriate sacrifice was offered by the Jewish community as an atonement for their sin. This of course was a prophesy of God’s gift he would finally give as the final blood sacrifice and ultimate gift of love for the human race.
What this really means is that we need a savior. This is where Jesus comes in. We may try and try and try again to cover up our sins but we just keep getting deeper and deeper in trouble. Once you understand the complete depravity of mankind, you will then be able to focus on Jesus Christ. Remember that being good is not what Christianity is all about, it is about becoming a new creation it Christ. Bowing humbly to the will of God and producing holy fruit acceptable to a holy God is the real meaning of Christianity. Check this scripture out that Paul wrote about:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (New King James Version)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
If you are a person contemplating Christianity, please remember that this is not just a choice of a religion, it is not even in the same category. Responding to Christ’s call is the difference between life and death, between old and new, it is becoming a new creation where old things pass away and a new life of destiny has begun. Jesus also made this clear when he was talking to a very educated and religious man named Nicodemus. It is believed that Nicodemus became a very influential Christian in the first century.
Here is what Jesus told him:
(New King James Version)
John 3
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.[a] 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but[b] have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Obviously I cannot say it any better. Jesus is not calling you to just another physical change; he is calling you to be born again from above. That which is flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit. This is not about choosing a religion, it is about becoming a new creation, experiencing a complete spiritual change that will transform your life forever even to the point of eternal life. Jesus operates in the light and all who seek the light will be drawn to him. This is not like a night club where things are hidden in the darkness but in God’s kingdom things are done in the open because there is no shame in it. Admit your sin to God and call on the name of Jesus Christ to give you a new birth. Do not be ashamed to walk in the light of Christ, you will not regret it.
Notice that Jesus didn’t question Nicodemus on his religious order but went right to the heart of the matter, his soul. We were all born of the flesh and sadly most of the world stays right there. Jesus is saying that there is another dimension that most people ignore or out right refuse to partake in and that is the spiritual world. In Jesus’ mind, the spiritual world preempts the physical world. Jesus clearly said that he was with the father before coming to earth. He claimed he knew the prophets of the Old Testament personally and was actually witnessed talking to two of them in front of Peter, James and John. To remain only in the physical is actually like missing reality. Personally my greatest fear in life is to come to the end of my time and say that I just went to work, watched TV, ate a bunch of food and died. I recently went to a funeral of someone who died of cancer. We loved this person but I certainly did not feel like he left a strong legacy. I will not go into all the things he did in life but I did notice one sad thing at the showing. As he lay there at the funeral I noticed a new pack of cigarettes neatly displayed in his shirt pocket. A close relative explained that, “that was him” so we wanted to display him as we knew him. I am not sure about you but I hope my legacy in this world is not summed up in a pack of cigarettes. I clearly explained to my kids that I am hoping to leave a “Christian” legacy behind. A Christian Legacy does not end with cancer but becomes like a good seed planted in a well toiled field that will produce fruit over and over and over again. This is what Jesus wanted Nicodemus to understand. Do not only look at the physical world but make the physical world come alive by sparking your soul with the Holy Spirit.

Warrior in Training

As I read the Bible lately I see its focus on God advancing His kingdom and His purposes here in our world. Every chapter speaks to this to some degree, yet we in the Church in America seem to easily miss the message. We live in a time when the messages of the worldly kingdom are masterfully presented to us. We breathe them like air and are unconscious of them just as we are the past thousand breaths we took.

But here’s the Bible crying out that God wants to do something wonderful through His people. He wants to bring joy and peace to everyone while the world promises comfort for the few who fight to grab it. Can we ever gain ground against the world’s subtle and pervasive reign that so effectively deludes the masses? I believe with all my heart that we can. There are pockets of hope where some people are doing it. I am convinced that if we properly use God’s weapons we can advance God’s kingdom. .

What is the primary weapon God commands us to use to advance His kingdom? If you listen to the voices of the church in the U.S. you might think it’s the political process. You might think it’s a moral code that, if we’d only abide by it, our nation would be great.

As I read through the words of Christ and the writings of the Apostles, though, I’m not seeing this. As I look at what some vocal Christians have tried to accomplish with these weapons, I see the church has only lost ground over the past few decades. Somehow we’re fighting the wrong battle with the wrong weapons.

Somehow almost all of us have missed it. We have not acknowledged and learned to use the primary weapon of His kingdom. It is the weapon he commands us to use. It is the mark that He said will let the world know we are His followers. It is love. How have we been so easily distracted that we have not become skilled in its use?

I want to shake up the Church and wake them to this obvious fact that she has forgotten, but I can’t do something that big. I can only start with my own life. I’m encouraged by the fact that God hasn’t given up on me yet. I see his lessons in love surrounding me daily. I see He has patiently waited all these years as He continually puts those lessons before me, hoping I’ll get it this time. I’m a horrible student, I really am. But I do believe more than ever that I want to learn to love Him and others more. That’s the hope I’m hanging onto as I continue the training.

The Common Factor

The Common Factor
Richard Joseph

What do all these phrases have in common: Political correctness, hate crimes bill, celebrate diversity, mean people suck, ACLU, Democratic Party, Nation of Islam, evolution, liberals and global warming? Give up yet?
Before I tell you the answer, let’s see what most people would say that they mean.
Let’s start with political correctness. Most people would describe political correctness as a courtesy to others in the form of not profiling them in a non-desirable group. For example you shouldn’t call a homosexual a sinner but instead they are “gay and live in an acceptable alternate life style”. So in order to justify something that has been seen as unproductive and grotesque throughout most of history they now make it appear normal and acceptable; they in fact now describe perversion with a total false and deceptive definition. It appears that in every case the issue is to make something that is unacceptable, acceptable. So who are we to make something unacceptable in the first place? Why can’t everybody’s lifestyle be equally valid? And, according to the political correctness police, who are those bigots that tell us that some life choices are unacceptable? I will tell you who they are, they are the Christians. So in order to fully implement “political correctness” you must get rid of those pesky Christian bigots and that, my friend is the purpose of political correctness.
In order to help get rid of those Christians they do stupid things like waste our tax money in congress and try to pass things like the “Hate Crimes Bill”. Of course most people think the hate crimes bill is to help convict those bullies who beat up nice people, right. Wrong. The hate crimes bill is for one purpose and that is to silence the Christians. We already have laws that convict bullies. The hate crimes bill is to convict Christians who dear to speak out against evil and corruption. In Canada where they already have this bill there have been instances where pastors have been arrested and fined for speaking against homosexuality. That is what this bill is for and nothing else.
So what does “Celebrate Diversity” have to do with any of this? As you can readily guess, celebrate diversity comes across as another slogan to accept others that are not in your political, religious or racial group. But in reality this is a smoke screen for the truth. Actually “Celebrate Diversity” is an anti-Christian slogan drummed up by homosexual activists. You will never see a celebrate diversity program without homosexuality being a prominent part of it. This slogan is a call for society to teach our kids to believe that all lifestyles are the same. But in order for them to get normal people to believe that 5 men in a hot tube is the same as a married couple they need to indoctrinate us into believing that both lifestyles are equally valid. That is hard to sell so they devised a plan to use acceptable items such as race or ethnicity to cover up the real agenda. And the main reason that it is a hard sell is because of the Christians, of course. Therefore, if they can get young kids to believe that all religions are equal then they can then turn around and call the Christians bigots for not going along with the rest of the nation. Therefore, once again, Jesus Christ is the focal point of this, yet another, anti-Christian movement. And what kind of mean person would hold someone back from their lifestyle,
You guessed it, the Christians. I am sure that you all have seen the bumper stickers “mean people suck”. Well, who are those mean people? Once again the mean people are the Christians who do not allow sin to run rampant throughout our society. This is getting monotonous but it seems that somebody out there is having a hard time with Jesus Christ. He just seems to be getting in the way of perversion and they do not like it!
If all the slogans don’t do the job then you just have to organize and get serious. Perhaps a civil rights group will get the job done.
Perhaps the most prominent hate group is called the ACLU, known to me as the Anti-Christian Liars Union. Most people again believe that this is a civil rights group but they could not be more wrong. The ACLU is a hate group bent on abolishing Christianity from America. There is no other purpose for the group to exist. I need to say no more about this except the fact that most people do not believe that there are actually high powered groups raising millions of dollars that exist to abolish Christianity. Most people go around not realizing that the security of the entire earth is wrapped up in this struggle. God will never lose the war but we may lose the battle.
Many other hate groups also exist on this earth such as Hamas and other militant groups. As is obvious there are Muslim groups that would like to wipe the Jews and Christians right off the face of the earth. Their largest obstacle is, of course, the United States which is a strong hold for Christianity. Since they do not have the military strength to overpower the US they have resorted to subversion. They found an already disenfranchised group of Americans and courted them until the Nation of Islam became well entrenched in the American black community. The plan is for the Nation of Islam to become strong enough to overthrow the US from within. Again, the scenario is to get rid of Jesus Christ but you must get rid of America first.
Probably the easiest way to get rid of God is to prove he is irrelevant. And of course if the earth just happened to create itself and life just evolved from nothing then God never was and is therefore irrelevant. I have a science background and I can tell you with 100% certainty that I have never come across any evidence whatsoever that even indicates that such a ridiculous event such as evolution ever occurred. But, sad to say, most of the population has fallen for the biggest hoax ever to be put on mankind. I will not go into detail or start arguments on any of these subjects because it is way beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say that the only reason “evolution” exists is to get rid of Jesus Christ. It has absolutely no merit and is a non-functioning religious hypothesis.
Global warming is the same as evolution. Global warming is, however, more specific to the United States. Remember that the goal of many is to break the legs of the strong man which guards the treasure. The strong man is the United States and the treasure is Jesus Christ. Global warming is, of course, another untrue political trick. Its purpose is to weaken the US economy so that we sink from our world power status. Once they weaken the United States then they attack our God. The perpetrators of these things are from the liberal population. The “modern liberals” is just another phrase for non-Christian. Global warming as well as the other items mentioned are all born within this group.
The Democratic Party is the cesspool for all the above mentioned anomalies. I believe that the Democratic leadership has one purpose; to weaken the United States to the point where, they believe, that they can finally overcome Jesus Christ. Freedom is under attack. In the gospel of Matthew 16:19 Jesus says these words to Peter: 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[a] in heaven.”
These are the words to the Christian Church. In other words as the church goes, so goes the earth. If the church is strong, there will be peace and freedom. If the church is weak then there will be violence and strife. If there is to be freedom on earth it will be produced and maintained by Christians. It cannot come forth from or be maintained by any other system. In non-Christian nations, it is better to have a dictator to keep the peace than to try and infuse freedom into a system that cannot bear it. If freedom is desired then one must infuse Christ first then freedom will naturally arise.
My conclusion is therefore, that evil as pure evil will always exist on this planet. The only counter to evil is Jesus Christ. The United States once espoused Christianity but due to entropy we are on a decline that, if not checked, will cause freedom to perish from the earth. There is no other avenue to freedom so once Christianity is subdued, freedom is gone. Jesus Christ can never be overcome, but I believe if we reject him, we will then suffer, not him. Why not embrace the giver of freedom & life. Why not fight for righteousness. And why are so many so called Christians going right along with all of those programs mentioned above? It is because the American churches are failing to educate the flock. The American church is in the same denial that the German citizens were in during the Nazi years. It is no less damaging either. The world will eventually pay another debt similar to the holocaust if the church does not strengthen itself. The church should not mesh with the world system but be a light in a darkened world. The word church really means “the called out ones”. So let’s be called out of the world program and give this earth the hope of eternal life.

The Wake Up Call

What’s Going On – Part 2

So here’s the conversation I will always remember. Kyle was hanging out on my lunch period talking about card tricks. He asked me once again if I’d show him how I did a fairly complicated trick that I had stumped him with for years. This day I finally relented. I showed him the moves one by one. With my explanation I unraveled the miracle and stripped away the mystery. What had seemed fascinating and entertaining to him for years became nothing more than a couple false shuffles, a little misdirection and some well timed patter. In the end, of course, there simply was no magic.

As soon as I revealed the trick he said something like, “Man, that seemed so cool before, but now there’s nothing there.”

I thought I had given him a secret—something I had shared with no one else. Instead of being grateful he was disappointed. He acted like I took something from him.

“That seemed so cool before.” The statement of his remorse echoes in my mind now. I hear it again often, whenever I, my friends, colleagues or family members catch a glimpse of the reality behind the illusions of life.

“Nothing’s there.” But that was where I disagreed. I was 37 years old then and I’d been doing card tricks for over 30 years. I probably did that particular trick for almost a decade. He found out the secret and felt like there was nothing left. I knew the secret and still enjoyed it thoroughly.

On my bike ride that morning that was the insight that finally broke through. It was like my eyes were opened to what’s going on. I saw us all somewhere scattered in a continuum from amusement to enlightenment. It’s in amusement where most of us live our lives, especially those of us in developed countries, where we have never spent much time concerning ourselves with survival. We are easily sedated with superficial distractions and entertainments. They are illusions of joy and peace and we tire of them quickly. We fear facing that fact. Like Kyle, who saw the card trick for what it was, we first experience emptiness in the light of the truth. Our glimpses past the illusion reveal boredom and things far less tantalizing than the little marvels we afford with our leisure time and easy credit. Rather than looking hard for something on the other side we look for another amusement.

But it is a great hope that with work we can find something real on the other side. It’s hard work and so much inside of us wants to avoid it. Kyle could have practiced that trick like I did, mastered the moves and pulled it off the mystery in front of his friends and someday made his own children laugh with it. He could have found the satisfaction of knowing the truth and still enjoying the reality.

The card trick is an imperfect analogy of this truth, but it served to wake me up. I now see the same thing going on everywhere and I believe it explains so much of our maladies—everything from our relationships to our empires. We were created to live with a true, deep sense of reality. We are broken, though, and we are always distracted by our drive for convenience. Here in the 21st century we have nearly mastered the art of amusement. While the signs of its emptiness are clearer than ever, it’s also harder than ever to get out. Only an intense effort to face and forge through our initial disillusionment will carry us through to clarity.

While I struggle too, often resting comfortably in a cocoon of shallow illusions, I do want to experience that which is life indeed. I do want to see more clearly. I press on slowly. I find strength in the words of those who walk with me and of those who call me farther along from far up ahead.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14