Only Admit One

As Christians...

2010-09-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

Humble Orthodoxy

2010-06-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

An exerpt from "Born After Midnight" by A.W. Tozer written in 1959

Chapter 18--Let's Be Humble About Our Orthodoxy

"Christianity is rarely found pure. Apart from Christ and His inspired apostles probably no believer or company of believers in the history of the world has ever held the truth in total purity.

One great saint believed that the truth is so vast and mighty that no one is capable of taking it all in, and that it requires the whole company of ransomed souls properly to reflect the whole body of revealed truth.

The light has shone upon men and nations, and (God be praised) it has shone with sufficient clarity to enable millions to travel home in its glow; but no believer, however pure his heart or however obedient his life, has ever been able to receive it as it shines from the Throne unmodified by his own mental stuff. As a lump of clay when grasped by the human hand remains clay but cannot escape the imprint of the hand, so the truth of God when grasped by the human mind remains truth but bears upon it the image of the mind that grasps it. Truth cannot enter a passive mind. It must be received into the mind by an active mental response, and the act of receiving it tends to alter it to a greater or less degree.

As the sun’s rays are bent when passing through a prism, so has the light of God been bent when passing through the hearts of men. Sin, temperament, prejudice, early education, cultural influences, prevailing vogues: all have worked to throw the eyes of the heart out of focus and distort the inward vision.

Of course I refer here to theological and religious truth. How pure this truth is in any place at any given time is revealed by the moral standards of those who hold the truth and by religious practices among the churches generally. Spiritual truth (by which I mean the disclosures of the Holy Spirit to the human spirit) is always the same. The Spirit always says the same thing to whomsoever He speaks and altogether without regard to passing doctrinal emphases or theological vogues. He flashes the beauty of Christ upon the wondering heart, and the awed spirit receives it with a minimum of interference. Wesley and Watts were worlds apart in their theology, but they could and did love and sing the same hymns of pure worship and adoration. The Spirit united them to worship even though their respective views of truth separated them doctrinally.

Each age has interpreted Christianity after its own fashion. The religion of the barnstorming American revivalists of the nineteenth century was certainly something different from that of Luther or the medieval mystics or the apostolic fathers. The bishops who met at Nicea in the fourth century to defend the faith of Christ from the attack of the Arians surely differed radically from the scholars and saints who stood to defend that same faith from the attack of the higher critics in the early twentieth century.

Theology has a tendency to run to modes just as does philosophy. The Christian teachers of the Middle Ages bore down hard upon the vanity of life and the innate wickedness of the body. In the early days of America the prevailing doctrine was hell, and the popular preachers of those times revealed more details about that terrible place than were known to the inspired writers of the Scriptures. In more recent times it was discovered again that God is love, and the love of God for mankind became the chief theme of sermons and song throughout the evangelical world.

Right now we are in another period of transition, and blessed is the man that knows where we are going. Whatever direction the theological wind may set there are two things of which we may be certain: One is that God will not leave Himself without a witness. There will always be some who hold the creed of Christ, the inspired outline of Christian doctrine. Saving truth will never be completely hidden from the sight of men. The poor in spirit, the penitent, will always find Christ close at hand ready to save them. The other is that the Holy Spirit is the true conservator of orthodoxy and will invariably say the same thing to meek and trusting souls. Illuminated hearts are sure to agree at the point where the light falls.

Our only real danger is that we may grieve the blessed Spirit into silence and so be left to the mercy of our intellects. Then we shall have Christian scholars in abundance but we’ll be short on adoring saints. We’ll have defenders of the faith who can overawe their opponents with their logic and their learning, but well be without prophets and mystics and hymnists. Well have the bush, pruned and trimmed and properly cultivated, but in the bush there will be no fire.

Truth is forever the same, but modes and emphases and interpretations vary. It is a cheering thought that Christ can adapt Himself to any race or age or people. He will give life and light to any man or woman anywhere in the world regardless of doctrinal emphasis or prevailing religious customs, provided that man or woman takes Him as He is and trusts Him without reservation. The Spirit never bears witness to an argument about Christ, but He never fails to witness to a proclamation of Christ crucified, dead and buried, and now ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high.

The conclusion of the matter is that we should not assume that we have all the truth and that we are mistaken in nothing. Rather we should kneel in adoration before the pierced feet of Him who is the Truth and honor Him by humble obedience to His words." A.W. Tozer

Preach Christ

2010-06-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry for my lack of posting recently. I've just gone back to work full-time and have been quite busy. Lots to read here in the archives though. So make yourselves at home. These are the verses I have been mulling over for the past few days...

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice..." Philippians 1:9-18{my own highlights in red}

I have been thinking a lot about and plan on writing more about what it means to "defend/contend for the faith". Trying to find the balance between kingdom living and theocracy. The balance between physically waging war and not fighting against flesh and blood. The balance between relevancy and apathy.

So I hope to continue with these thoughts as I have the time. Like I said check out the archives on this blog. There is quite a bit to see and read...

Live The Truth

2010-06-06T14:39:00.001-07:00

Lord Save Us From Your Followers

2010-06-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

Just rented this movie last night. I defiantly recommend it. Lots of great things to think about as a Christian. Here is a sample of the movie and an interview with Dan Merchant who made the film. Enjoy...

A Reminder of His LOVE

2010-06-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

{These are some photos I have taken over the last year or so. I have been amazed to consistently find the "heart" of God in his creation...reminding me of His love and my call to love.}

"Love without Truth breeds deception, and Truth without Love breeds arrogance." Tim Ohai

"To love as Christ loves is to let our love be a practical thing and not a sentimental thing."

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness." Jean Vanier

"The sword of the peaceful warrior is love." Gary Amirault

"A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things." John of the Cross

"If love is the soul of Christian existence, it must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue. Thus, for example, justice without love is legalism; faith without love is ideology; hope without love is self-centeredness; forgiveness without love is self-abasement; fortitude without love is recklessness; generosity without love is extravagance; care without love is mere duty; fidelity without love is servitude. Every virtue is an expression of love. No virtue is really a virtue unless it is permeated, or informed, by love."

Fr. Richard P. McBrien

Light in the Darkness

2010-05-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Open Door

2010-05-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

Cross Before The Crown

2010-05-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

"Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning. A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our great Captain inside. The following Him is, of course, the essential point. That being so, it may be asked what practical use there is in the speculations which I have been indulging. I can think of at least one such use.

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly temped to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.

All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations---these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit---immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.

This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ /vere latitat/---the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden." C. S. Lewis--The Weight of Glory

Coming Down The Mountain

2010-05-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

I love worship! I am a horrible singer, I don't play an instrument but I love worship! I haven't always been that way. In fact for a long time I couldn't figure out what all the hub-bub was about. I had been raised in a climate of great worship and loved dancing to the music as a kid. But as a teen you would find me sitting in the back of the service, mouth closed and arms crossed. Then one day about twelve years ago I was in a worship service in Lausanne, Switzerland. {This was during a year of re-dedication for me. I did a 6 month discipleship school and a 3 month biblical studies course} It was during my first couple weeks there my attitude for worship changed. During this one particular meeting they had moved all the chairs to the back of the room so that people could dance and really let loose; you know like King David. However I found a chair in the back and sat in it...so not ready to "let loose", you know like Michal{2 Sam 6:14-16}.

As I sat there I began to ask God why I was not able to worship like everyone else. Everyone else was just going for it without a care about how they looked or sounded. Total abandon. Yet I so wanted to experience what they were experiencing. Then God spoke very clear and very simple to me. "I can only fill you to the capacity that you give Me. I want all of you. Are you ready to give all of you to get all of Me?" I thought about that for a minute. Thought about all the craziness I had been through in my teenage and young adult years. I knew God was right{as usual}. I knew I was holding back because of fear and that fear was the enemy keeping me from experiencing God they way I needed to.

So I stood up and began to worship. First very quiet, hands at my side. Then I closed my eyes and forgot about everyone around me. The singing got louder, my arms stretched higher and tears began to flow. I can't remember the song. All I remember is that I got louder and louder and began to call out to God in total abandon and total desperation for Him to take ALL of me. I remember my whole body feeling hot with the fire of God. And then I dropped to the floor face down. I couldn't move. The Spirit of God was so heavy I couldn't even lift my head. Oh and I was no longer speaking words that I could understand; my worship had turned to tongues. That had never happened before! I remember two of the leaders Darlene and Geeta coming over and beginning to pray for me. Can't remember the actual prayers but I remember hearing "more" and "new" over and over again.

So there I was in front of everybody face down on the floor unable to move. Crying out to God in this crazy language, face red and swollen from the constant tears, mucous running out of my nose down my face, clothes wet from the sweat, voice cracking and hoarse...total abandon! It was AWESOME! I have never been the same since. A heart for ardent worship was birthed in me that day. A new found tool for prayer, intercession and contending was birthed in me that day. A burden for others to experience God in His fullness was birthed in me that day. I have held close to those things for the past twelve years. In fact about a year after that experience I was led to do a three month school of intercession, worship and spiritual warfare in Israel because of what was birthed in me that day. Every time I let loose God is faithful to meet me there. I love being in the presence and glory of my God.

The trick for me has been learning how to mobilize that glory and presence of God to go with me wherever I go. For a while there I was spending all the time I could in prayer and worship, private and corporate, just to have that same experience. And God met me there every time. Awesome most every time. But what I started noticing is that I was frustrated with life and the world "outside" the prayer and worship time. I wanted to just stay in the awesome, powerful, warm, safe, hidden, renewing presence and glory of God. I would really have thoughts about how I couldn't wait to get to heaven where I could just worship at the feet of Jesus...forever, no interruptions. I was like Moses coming down the mountain the first time instead of Moses coming down the mountain the second time. Let me explain...

First Time

"And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written... So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. " Ex 32:15,19

Second Time
"When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God...Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai." Ex 34:29,32

The first time Moses came down from the mountain he only brought the instruction{testimony} that God had given him. He didn't bring the glory that he had experienced for forty days. He left the glory{experience} on the mountaintop. So when he interfaced with the real world and the real problems he lost it; smashed the testimony. I have had this so many times. Especially now that I have two little kids. I would be deep in a worship time driving in the car, kids sleeping. Totally in the presence of God, warm tears gliding down my face at the beauty of Jesus. Then from the back of the car, "MOM! I need to go to the bathroom." Ahh...talk about ruining the moment! Tablets smashed, glory denied...lol. So what was the difference on that second trip up the mountain? Moses asks for a personal experience of the glory God to take with him along with the testimony. In fact he tells God that he and the people will not move unless God's glory and presence goes with them. Both the testimony and experience of God.

"Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people. And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” Ex 33:13-16

"Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you...Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin..." Ex 33:18-19, 34:6-7

We know if we read further that God was faithful to his promise. He moved as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night wherever the people went. The glory and testimony of the Lord rested in the tabernacle and later in the temple among the people. The great testimony and glory of the Lord was made known consistently through the old testament not only to His people but also the nations. The testimony and the glory of God worked together to create a nation of witnesses. So now it wasn't the nation asking "Lord show me your glory." It was God saying to the nation "You show me my glory."

"Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory..."You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me..."It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And I am God." Is 43:7,10,12

"Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me...He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory." Is 49:1,3

Unfortunately by the end of the Old Testament the nation has gone back to the first trip down the mountain. They had the testimony of God but they no longer have the the glory or experience of God. We read in Ezekiel that the glory of God had left the temple. They are really left with just a dry, crumbling tablet of testimony. That is really what I am wanting to get at in this post. Testimony without the glory and experience of God is dry and crumbling. On the other hand experience and sitting in the glory of God without testimony is well...selfish. Neither one on it's own is a effective witness. God gave his testimony and showed his glory as a catalyst for his people to act; to be his witnesses. Let's fast forward to the New Testament and another mountain of glory.

"About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus...Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said...A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him."...The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him." Luke 9:28-31,33,35,37

Now why did Jesus need to take these guys up the mountain to "experience" his glory? Because he needed to not only tell them who he was, he needed to show them who he was. Why? So that they would listen to him and be his witnesses. Testimony{word}+Glory{experience}= Effective Witness. What is cool is that Moses was there representing that written word{law}, Elijah the spoken word of the prophet and Jesus the fulfilment of both. All three in the experience and glory of God to witness the truth. Awesome. Notice Jesus came back down the mountian too. Jesus was the glory of the Lord that went with them down the mountian. The disciples just hadn't quite figured that out yet. The glory was walking with them.

So the real lesson for me in all of this was learning that you have to come down the mountain. But when you do come down the mountain bring the glory of the Lord with you so that you might be His witness. I would love to stay at the top of the mountain most days. Just like the disciples I think "This feels good, let me just set up a tent here and stay in the glory of the Lord forever, uninterrupted." But the thing is is that there is a lost and dying world at the bottom of the mountain waiting for us to come and show the testimony and the glory of God. Am I saying that prayer and worship meetings are wrong? Absolutely not! We need to go to the top of the mountain so that what we do at the bottom of the mountain is more effective and moves in the power of God. We need to keep our testimony drenched in the Spirit of God so it doesn't get dry and cracked. So let the glory of the Lord and those experiences in the quiet place be a bolster for the lost and dying. Not to keep it for ourselves but to have God give us a heart that all would experience Jesus as we have. Moreover that all we do in every part of our day would be out of a heart of worship and to the glory of God. Let your face shine in all things not just for your own experience but to be a witness to the testimony and glory of God in Christ Jesus.

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. " 2 Cor. 3:18

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God....even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." 1 Cor 10:31,33

Love Is A Beautiful Thing

2010-05-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

{This is part of a letter written in 1967, by my then 24 yr old dad, from the mission fields of the Pacific, home to his parents in the States.}

What Is Truth?

2010-05-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

For more information on the documentary "Furious Love" click here. This movie is a MUST SEE for every Christian! I've only had my copy for 48 hours and I have watched twice. So much good, solid, Christ-centered truth in this film. It will change the way you view the world and hopefully the way you see yourself.

Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes Oh My! {Part Two}

2010-05-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Click here to read Part One...

"So he answered and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.' " Luke 10:27

"If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar." 1John 4:20

So in the last post I gave a little mini history of the three religious groups that were around during the time of Jesus. Now what I want to do is identify the negative spirits that some of them moved in so that we can avoid them in our own lives. First I want to start with the simple concept of loving God and loving neighbor. Jesus said that there was no other commandment greater than these. I see no where in Jesus' teaching that these commandments were separated. They always went together. In fact the above verse quit plainly tells us that if we do one without the other we are liars. Lack of the second commandment negates the first...period. But the religious groups during the time of Jesus had separated them. Let me explain.

If you only love you neighbor{mankind} and don't love God you are a humanist. This is what the Sadducees had done. They had taken God out of the whole picture. They didn't believe that God was involved in their lives at all, man could do what he pleased, man was his own god. God had become an abstract, non personal God. They did not believe in the super-natural {angels & demons} at all. They didn't believe in the afterlife or resurrection. The Sadducees had swayed more to the philosophical side of things, being the most Hellenized{Greek thinking} of the three groups. Remember they were the rich and elite and with that sought of began to worship themselves. When you don't believe that there is a higher power other than yourself, you become your highest power. Their main concern was the material things of this world and how it affected their personal kingdom. Materialistic Humanism.

At the other extreme we have only loving God and not loving your neighbor{mankind}. This is called monastic mysticism and this was the Essenes. They had taken the neighbor out of the picture. They had totally separated themselves from the world, not just spiritually but physically as well. They lived with strict apocalyptic ascetics in a monastic manner in the wilderness. In a quest for higher holiness they counted all material things and pleasures as evil. Everything was God centered to the point of being wholly deterministic. All they did was pray, read, interpret scripture and minister to each other. Their goal was to usher in the messiah that would find only them as the true and most holy elect. They were deeply religious, extremely devout, fiercely loyal and obsessively self-disciplined. But they ministered only to God and themselves and forgot their neighbor. Monastic Mysticism.

Finally in the middle we have the well intending Pharisees. It seems they at least had the right idea with angels, the afterlife, resurrection and the balance of freewill/providence. I believe that their heart had been in the right place to try to put "a hedge around the Torah". But the hedge had grown to such impossible proportions that God and neighbor got shut out too. They turned both relationships into legal transactions. They turned a real God into a paper law. They turned neighbor into some one to be watched carefully. In their minds God was the letter, the traditions and the doctrine instead of someone they could have relationship with. The more interpretation they made the more they lost the personality and character of God. This grew to the point that God was on the same level as the "traditions of the elders". Their own wisdom was just as binding as the wisdom of God! So they weren't loving God they were loving the God they had interpreted him to be. This affected the way they related to each other as well. People were bound to their interpretations, their law, their judgements and their punishments. I think this is why so many times in the gospels we hear the word "hypocrite" because they said they loved God and neighbor when really all they loved was the traditions and the law. Penal Legalism. {This taken to the extreme is Theocracy and Zealotry}

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

Then Jesus came to show us how to love God and love neighbor. What is interesting to me is that in this religious climate of elect, holiness, righteousness and law abiding they did not recognize him. If anything that should tell us how off they were. Those that were broken and in need recognized him. The demons recognized him. But the religious who supposedly knew God did not. Which is a good reminder to us that we should always view God through the lens of Jesus since they are one in the same. If you see Jesus and don't see God than you are no better off than the blind religious establishment.

So Jesus countered the authority of the elders with the authority of God. Jesus countered the pride and self-righteousness of the religious with a spirit of humility and brokenness. Jesus countered the attitude of needing to be served with title and prestige with the spirit of service and servanthood. Jesus countered the abstract, rigid non-emotional law with himself; a real, nurturing, gracious person. Jesus countered the spirit of fear with a spirit of love. Jesus countered the spirit of judgement, binding and death with the spirit of forgiveness, loosing and life. This drove the religious establishment crazy! They had become so concerned with right and wrong they forgot about love. Jesus didn't always do what was "right" according to the law, but he always did what was most loving.

More specifically to the spirit of the materialistic humanist Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to the Father but by me."{John 14:6}. He turned over the materialistic money tables of the temple {Matt 21:12}; he told the rich to sell everything and give it to the poor {Matt 19:21}. He warned that it is impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God{Matt 19:24} and against storing riches on earth{Luke 6:24}. He called them out on their lack of knowledge of the afterlife and power of God{Matt 22:29}. But still they loved man and the riches thereof instead of God and cried out "We have no king but Caesar."{John 19:15}.

To the spirit of the apocalyptic, monastic mystic Jesus said "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."{Matt 24:36} So in the meantime what you do for the least of these you do to Me "...for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me."{Matt 25:42-43}. He warns against false prophets that seek the hidden and mysterious “So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it."{Matt 24:26} He told them not to hid the light "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." {Matt 5:16} He told them that everything from the Father has been made known in Him; there are no mysteries.{John 15:15} He warned holiness does not make you the greatest but servanthood does{Mark 9:35}. He told them to stay in the world "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one."{John 17:15} Moreover to go into all the world as testimony of Him{Mark 16:15}.

To the spirit of theocracy and zealotry Jesus said to respect even the most volatile government "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."{Matt 22:21} To love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you and your beliefs.{Matt 5:44} He said not to take up arms "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword."{Matt 26:52} "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."{Matt 5:9} He made clear his kingdom was not of this world so we don't fight like it is "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting..."{John 18:36} But instead His kingdom peace has already overcome so that we may be at peace within the world. "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."{John 16:33}

To the spirit of penal legalism Jesus broke all the rules of the elders to bring healing and freedom! He called them out on their interpretations "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?"{Matt 15:3} He did not answer to the authority of men{Matt 21:27}. He broke the sabbath law by healing{Matt 12:10} He touched the unclean{Mark 1:41}. He ate unclean food{Mark 7:19} He hung out with sinners{Matt 11:19} He called them out on their binding laws{Matt23:4} on their pride{Matt 23:5-6} on their deciding who is worthy of the kingdom{Matt 23:13} on their lack of witness{Matt 23:15} on their lack of justice, mercy and faithfulness{Matt 23:23} on their self-righteousness and lack of humility{Matt 23:25,28} Jesus called them to a higher kingdom righteousness over their law righteousness that forced them to love and forgive neighbor...do not murder was now do not be angry...do not commit adultery was now do not lust...do not break oath was now do not swear oath at all but yes be yes and no be no...eye for an eye was now turn the other cheek...love your neighbor was now love your enemy also.{Matt 5:17-48}

The spirit of penal legalism that was stoning people to death in the first century, is the same spirit that was burning people at the stake in the middle ages. Today penal legalism isn't stoning people or burning them at the stake but it is most certainly alive and well. We just right books against each other, call each other heretics and preach disdain for "certain" theology from the pulpit...same spirit different time. Even Jesus' own disciples displayed this corrective, penal legalism at times. Notice how Jesus responds...love and tolerance. I have a feeling if Jesus were physically present for some of the theological and doctrinal arguments we have today, his response would be just the same.

"Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side." Mark 9:38-40

But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."" Luke 9:53-56

When you read through the gospels and Acts you really begin to see the spirit of penal legalism in the way that Jesus and his followers were treated. Remember that penal legalism depersonalizes and makes people into the lawyer or the lawbreaker. The accused or the accuser. The clean and unclean. The righteous and the sinner. The wise and the unwise. It always creates two opposing sides...right and wrong. So there is this overwhelming spirit of judgement and argument that is relentless. They don't feel OK unless they have corrected something or someone.

This spirit plots destruction{Matt 12:14}, it forces proof {Matt 12:38}, pushes man made doctrine{Matt 19:3, 22:17, 22:23}, it follows after man instead of God{John 9:28}, it seeks to entangle{Matt 22:15}, it disputes{Mark 8:11}, cross examines{Luke 11:53}, watches close to find fault{Luke 6:7}, it scoffs and mocks{Luke 16:14}, it seeks false testimony{Matt 26:59}, it threatens{John 9:22}, it spies{John 11:46}, it rebukes{Luke 19:39} it causes fear{John 7:13} it abuses{Acts 23:2} it binds in chains{Acts 9:21} it is jealous{Acts 13:45} it is riotous {Acts 17:5} and murderous{Acts 7:59}. They never rejoiced when someone was healed, they weren't happy that lost were being found, and found it difficult that the unworthy were being forgiven and shown mercy.  This only caused them to be even more judgmental, confrontational and relentless. Robin Watson sums it up like this, "Any system that is governed by rules will ultimately fail. Only in the New Testament and in the teachings of Christ do we see that it is "the mercy of God which leads us unto repentance."

So it all comes back to loving God and loving your neighbor. You cannot have one without the other. If you love man and not God you are a humanist. If you love God and not man you are a mystic and a liar. If you love the law more than God and man you are legalistic. We need to take a good look at these attitudes and how they have found their way into the church. We need to guard against these negative spirits that seek to kill, steal and destroy. But we also need to give each other the benefit of the doubt, be loving, be gracious, be forgiving, be civil to one another. Listen to how Paul tries to find some common ground with doctrinal differences. Much the same as in the verse above, "whoever is not against us is for us." We should first and foremost be for Christ...period. So act like it!

"You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.  My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. And So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." Acts 11:16

Finally the wisdom of Gamaliel...

"Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:38-39

Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes Oh My! {Part 1}

2010-05-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

So I had a question the other day as to how I could possibly think that Jesus was tolerant during his time here on earth. The statement was that Jesus used strong language and did things like knock over the tables of the money changers in the temple. My response was that if you read through all four gospels you will notice that the only people Jesus ever had strong words for were the religious establishment of the day. Interestingly enough he had strong reaction to them because they were NOT being tolerant of people.

So who were the religious establishment of the time of Jesus? We learn quite a bit about the Pharisees and Sadducees from reading the gospels. There were also sub-groups such as the scribes, the elders and the zealots. Finally a group called the Essenes, though not mentioned in the NT the historian Josephus tells that they were around during the time of Jesus. What I want to look at is the attitude or the spirit in which these groups operated. It wasn't just what they did legalistically or religiously it was the spirit in which they did it. So I don't want this post to be against certain groups of people, but against the negative spirit that Jesus seemed to frequently encounter with these groups. These same negative spirits and attitudes are easily found in the Christian church today. So we need to identify them so that we don't fall into the same mistakes.

I have been surprised in my limited research on this topic how many Christians call themselves Pharisees with pride. Most seem to do so in identification with the apostle Paul or a particular doctrine. That would be OK if their identification were on the positive aspects of the the Pharisees{yes, there are some}, but most seem to cling to the negative. That is dangerous territory folks. I personally don't want to identify with the very people and spirit that Jesus had such strong rebuke for. I don't want to identify with people and spirit that helped crucify him. I don't want to identify with the spirit that persecuted the early church. I don't want to identify with any religious group or apostle; I want to identify with Jesus! So while there were positive aspects to both the Pharisees and Sadducees ultimately most of them rejected the Son of God.

"For there are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of which are Pharisees; the second, the Sadducees; the third sect, which pretends to a severer discipline, are called Essenes." Josephus, Jewish Wars

So first I will give a mini history of each group and how they differed from one another. {Again, this is a limited study from simple resouces like Wikipedia, the writings of Josephus and my Bible dictionary}. There seems to be more info about the Pharisees than the other two groups. In the next post we will discuss the interaction of these groups in the gospels. Remember we are focusing on the negative on purpose so that we can identify attitudes to avoid in our own lives. I believe there were many righteous men in all these groups that maybe even became followers, but that is NOT who we are discussing in this post.

PHARISEES-HISTORY

The name Pharisee means "separated ones". Descendants of the Hasidim known as the "pious ones". They thought that they were spiritually superior and more spiritually enlightened or knowledgeable than other Jews.
They were the largest of the three groups we will be discussing. They were mostly non-priests, hard working, middle-class but held much sway over the masses. It is my understanding any Jew could become a Pharisee. They were extremely legalistic in keeping the sabbath, tithing and purification rituals. They felt a higher calling to holiness and purity.

"These are a certain sect of the Jews that appear more religious than the others..." Josephus, Jewish Wars 1.5.2

"...[The Pharisees] became themselves the real administrators of public affairs; they banished and reduced whom they pleased; they bound and loosed men at their pleasure; and, to say all at once, they had they enjoyment of the royal authority..." Josephus, Jewish Wars 1.5.2

They held to both the written law and the oral law. The oral law was their interpretation of the written, although they made it obligatory and binding as the written. This oral law was also known as "the tradition of the elders". Interpretation was only open to the competent; the scribes. In other words you had to be as wise and knowledgeable as they were and they were the ones that decided if you were in fact wise and knowledgeable.

"For now I wish only to explain that the Pharisees transmit to the people some rules in line with the fathers, which were not written in the laws of Moses. And because of this, the line of the Sadducees reject these things. They say that it is necessary to hold those rules that have been written but it is not (necessary) to observe what is (only) from the fathers' tradition. And, as a consequence, controversies and great disagreements have occurred between them." Josephus, Antiquities 13.10.6

"Because of these ideas, (the Pharisees) are the most persuasive among the citizens. And all the sacrifice and prayer offered to God happens to be according to their exegesis (of scripture)." Josephus, Antiquities 18.15

The "scribes" frequently mentioned in the gospels were the ones that made the scriptural interpretations. They were also known as lawyers. This combination of religion and law sort of made them the "religion police". If you didn't agree with their interpretation you got into big trouble.

"Be deliberate in judgment; Raise up many disciples; and Make a hedge for the Torah." Mishna, Aboth {Oral Law}

The Pharisees selectively opposed the Hellenization of their religion while still being open to doctrinal developments in keeping things relevant. Although Josephus did compare the Pharisees being a kin to the Stoics{person of a certain intellectual perfection is indifferent to pleasure and pain}. They believed in angels, demons, resurrection and the "afterlife". They also believed in both the freewill of mankind and "fate"{providence of God}.

"...I returned back to the city, being now nineteen years old, and began to conduct myself according to the rules of the Pharisees, which is of kin to the sect of the Stoics, as the Greeks call them." The Life of Flavius Josephus

"They assert that everything is accomplished by faith. They do not, however, deprive the human will of spontaneity, it having pleased God that there should be a mixture, and that to the will of fate should be added the human will with its virtue or baseness" Josephus, Antiquities 18.1.3

"Now for the Pharisees, they say that some actions, but not all, are the work of fate, and some of them are in our own power, and that they are liable to fate, but are not caused by fate. But the sect of the Essenes affirm, that fate governs all things, and that nothing befalls men but what is according to its determination. And for the Sadducees, they take away fate, and say there is no such thing, and that the events of human affairs are not at its disposal; but they suppose that all our actions are in our own power, so that we are ourselves the causes of what is good, and receive what is evil from our own folly. However, I have given a more exact account of these opinions in the second book of the Jewish War." Josephus, Antiquities 13.5.9

The zealots of the time of Jesus were mostly extreme Pharisees or extreme separatists. They didn't believe in paying taxes or giving any allegiance to anyone other than the Jewish nation and would fight to keep it that way. Opposed to peace with Rome; opposed to use of the Greek language in Palestine. Their patriotism and religion was one in the same. They were prepared to resort to violence to insure their religion was not violated by others.

"[Zealots] Believed that total obedience (supported by drastic measures) must be apparent before God to bring in the Messianic Age." Holman Bible Dictionary

"[Zealots] agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord." Josephus, Antiquities 18.23

The Talmud named seven plagues of the Pharisees...
1) The “shoulder” Pharisee wore his good deeds on his shoulder so everyone could see them.
2) The “wait a little” Pharisee who begs for time in order to perform a meritorious action.
3) The “bruised” Pharisee shut his eyes to avoid seeing a woman and knocked into walls, bruising himself.
4) The “humpbacked” Pharisee always walked bent double, in false humility.
5) The “ever reckoning” Pharisee always counting up his good deeds so to offset his failings.
6) The “fearful” Pharisee keeps the law in fear of the wrath and punishment of God.
7) The “God-loving” Pharisee with a heart after Abraham who lived in faith and charity.

THE SADDUCEES-HISTORY

The name Sadducee most likely means "righteous ones". Believed they were the line of the high priests of Zadok who was high priest under King David. They were the of the high priest party though not all Sadducees were priests. They were closely related to the goings on of the temple, ritually, politically and monetarily. In fact the were so bound to the temple that after its destruction by the Romans their group ceased to exist. They were high society, aristocracy, rich and elite. You could only be a Sadducee if you were born to a Sadducee. This was the group that thought of themselves as socially superior to the other groups.

"...of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed..." Josephus, Antiquities 20.9.1

The rejected the "oral law" of the Pharisees and accepted only the Torah. Some say that they honored some of the oral but did not hold it as legally binding. With the Torah they were rigid, strict and interpreted it literally. They did not believe in angels or demons. They did not believe in the afterlife or the resurrection. The Sadducees also held to freewill of man only. They did not believe in "fate" or the providence of God.

"But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the bodies; nor do they regard the observation of any thing besides what the law enjoins them; for they think it an instance of virtue to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent: but this doctrine is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity. But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves; for when they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise bear them." Josephus, Antiquities 18.1.4

"...the Sadducees are those that compose the second order, and take away fate entirely, and suppose that God is not concerned in our doing or not doing what is evil; and they say, that to act what is good, or what is evil, is at men's own choice, and that the one or the other belongs so to every one, that they may act as they please. They also take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and rewards in Hades...The Sadducees one towards another is in some degree wild, and their conversation with those that are of their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them." Josephus, War of the Jews

The the Sadducess were very strict with the Torah they seemed pretty lax on other things. They worked more closely with the political parties of the day{Romans and Herod}. They were more prone to the Hellenization and Greek philosophy of the times. In this way they were more liberal than the Pharisees and Essens. One scholar stated it like this "Theirs was a rational religion, placing high value on logic and reason, and they were more preoccupied with matters of current expedient interest than in eternal truths."

THE ESSENES-HISTORY

Uncertain as to the meaning of their name. They were the smallest of the three groups and the most "separated" even to the point of being monastic. Many believe they were a New Testamnet time relative of the Old Testament Nazirites{Numbers 6:1-21}. In fact some say that the term "Nazarene" is a combination of Nazirite and Essene. The Essenes had very strict ascetics. They believed that all pleasure was evil, they were mostly celibate and adhered to strict self-discipline and holiness. They thought themselves to be the most righteous of all the other Jewish groups. To be successful at this one had to remove himself completely from "the world" including what they thought was a corrupted Jerusalem temple. They believe they were the true and elect people of God. Their time was spent wholly on studying, interpreting and copying the law; prayer and meditation with emphasis on the prophetic and apocalyptic. They believed in the afterlife, especially revered angels and thought the end times were very near.

"The doctrine of the Essens is this: That all things are best ascribed to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not offer sacrifices because they have more pure lustrations of their own...It also deserves our admiration, how much they exceed all other men that addict themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness; and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath never appeared among any other men...and neither marry wives, nor are desirous to keep servants; as thinking the latter tempts men to be unjust, and the former gives the handle to domestic quarrels; but as they live by themselves, they minister one to another..." Josephus, Antiquities 18.1.5

"God... raised for them[the Essenes] a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart" (CD 1:9-11). The Teacher claimed to have the proper understanding of the Torah, being the one through whom God would reveal to the community “the hidden things in which Israel had gone astray” (CD 3:12-15). He also claimed to be an inspired interpreter of the prophets, as the one “to whom God made known all the mysteries of the words of his servants the prophets” (1QpHab 7:5)." Damascus Document, Dead Sea Scrolls"...a number of men living in Syria and Palestine, over 4,000 according to my judgment, called 'Essæi' (ὂσιοι) from their saintliness (though not exactly after the meaning of the Greek language), they being eminently worshipers of God (θεραπευταί Θεον)—not in the sense that they sacrifice living animals (like the priests in the Temple), but that they are anxious to keep their minds in a priestly state of holiness. They prefer to live in villages and avoid cities on account of the habitual wickedness of those who inhabit them, knowing, as they do, that just as foul air breeds disease, so there is danger of contracting an incurable disease of the soul from such bad associations" Philo of Alexandria

Any Jew could become a part of their group but only after a three year probationary period. Then he had to give all his possessions to the group and undergo several ritual baptisms. Once an Essene you were held to the strict rules with your life...literally.

"To those who are eager for their school, the entry-way is not a direct one, but they prescribe a regimen for the person who remains outside for a year, giving him a little hatchet as well as the aforementioned waist-covering and white clothing. Whenever he should give proof of his self-control during this period, he approaches nearer to the regimen and indeed shares in the purer waters for purification, though he is not yet received into the functions of communal life. For after this demonstration of endurance, the character is tested for two further years, and after he has thus been shown worthy he is reckoned into the group." Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.8.7

" Those they have convicted of sufficiently serious errors they expel from the order. And the one who has been reckoned out often perishes by a most pitiable fate. For, constrained by the oaths and customs, he is unable to partake of food from others. Eating grass and in hunger, his body wastes away and perishes. That is why they have actually shown mercy and taken back many in their final gasps, regarding as sufficient for their errors this ordeal to the point of death." Josephus, Jewish War 2.8.8

"Now with respect to trials, [they are] just and extremely precise: they render judgment after having assembled no fewer than a hundred, and something that has been determined by them is non-negotiable. There is a great reverence among them for—next to God—the name of the lawgiver, and if anyone insults him he is punished by death." Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.8.9

So with all that said....in the next post we will discuss how these attitudes came into conflict with Jesus in the gospels. How we need to identify them and get them out of our own lives. Stay posted...

Our Job To LOVE

2010-05-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

The Voice of God

2010-05-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

A dear friend sent me an email yesterday with a video by this man, Graham Cooke. I had never even heard of him...lol. I started watching some other videos by him and came across this one. It was hard for me to hold back the tears while watching. This video is such a confirmation about what I feel the Lord is speaking right now. This video is such a confirmation as to what I know personally of the character of God and how He speaks to me. This is THE MESSAGE the church needs to hear! This is a message I needed to hear and just at the right time! Enjoy...

The Real Jesus

2010-05-02T13:33:00.001-07:00

One more fantastic post from Dr. Gregory Boyd...

Religion vs Relationship

2010-05-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

I don't usually promote specific teachers but this is really good. I put clip #3 of 5 just to give a little teaser. The rest of the sermon is on YouTube---Evil of Religion by Greg Boyd.

Suffering Sucks!

2010-04-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

So I want to just quickly touch on two more points about suffering. We have talk about the idea of tolerance being an endurance and that endurance being a form of suffrage. {Click here and here to read those posts.} We live in a world that we are no longer citizens of is always going to be strange and uncomfortable. We learned that to suffer means to be affected by people. How do we respond to the people that affects us? Are we part of the remedy or part of the disease? Are we Christ like--always loving, always forgiving, always tolerating? So I would say tolerance is an indirect suffering . Basically it goes with the territory of being a Christian. We are commanded to tolerate and love one another.

The other more direct suffering we are commanded to do is "suffer the flesh". Now this is a phrase that I personally believe has been grossly misinterpreted. We must get one thing straight when it comes to suffering and that is...God does NOT cause suffering. If you want to believe in a God that is the author of suffering there are a bunch of other religions out there that have malevolent gods. God does not cause death, disease and misery just so He may be glorified. He doesn't cause death, disease and misery to test us. He doesn't cause death, disease and misery to purify us. I've never heard anything more twisted in my life! God's plan for you always has been and always will be fullness and life. Anything that happens in your life that is not life and fullness is NOT from God. God has NOT called you to a life of pain!

"The Lord said, "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress." Jer 15:11

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness{prosper,welfare} and not for evil{harm,calamity}, to give you a future and a hope." Jer 29:11

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10

What God does do is work existing suffering as a result of being now strangers on this fallen planet, for his good and glory{Rom 8:28}. There is a huge difference. Sin, evil and the devil are the author of suffering, God is the facilitator for working a good result from the suffering. In that way he is glorified because the plan of the enemy to destroy has been defeated. Warfare! That is why we are called to rejoice in suffering because in doing so we are thwarting the devils plan. He has no hold over us.

When we read in the famous suffering book of 1 Peter he is talking about three different types of suffering. {read the whole book for an interesting take} One is the tolerance that we have already discussed. Two and three is to suffer the flesh. There are two types of suffering flesh...1}we do to ourselves 2} others do to us. So lets start with the first; another command in suffering.

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." 1 Peter 2:11

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24

"Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries." 1 Peter 4:1-3

What these verse are saying is that we are to suffer our flesh of sin. We are to starve the flesh and feed the Spirit of our new creation. Just as Jesus starved his flesh and did not sin, so we are called to "suffer our flesh" not to sin. These verses have nothing to do with physical suffering. This suffering is turning from our former way of life. This suffering is no longer following the crowd. This suffering is following Jesus and uprooting any sin that may be in the way. These verses are NOT having cancer for Jesus. These verses are NOT self flagellation for Jesus. These verses are NOT starvation for Jesus. Do you see my point. This isn't something Jesus is doing to you, this is something you are doing spiritually in your walk with Jesus. So starve the old flesh{creature} desires and feed the Spirit or new creation desires. Again "starve" being metaphorically not actual starvation ok?...lol.

"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified." 1 Peter 4:12-13

This is suffering directly and maliciously caused by others...aka persecution. The book of 1 Peter was written in about 65AD during the reign of the infamous Ceaser Nero. It is believed that Peter was actually in Rome when he wrote this letter to the other believers scattered all over the Roman Empire. It is also believed that he was crucified there in about 67AD. Nero was considered the first Roman emperor to really turn up the heat on the persecution of the Christians. Torture and death were very real consequences for the people reading Peter's letter. Hatred was a given. Here is Roman historian Tacitus' take on the scene of that time.

"Therefore, to stop the rumor [that he had set Rome on fire], he [Emperor Nero] falsely charged with guilt, and punished with the most fearful tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were [generally] hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius, but the pernicious superstition - repressed for a time, broke out yet again, not only through Judea, - where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and disgraceful flow from all quarters, as to a common receptacle, and where they are encouraged. Accordingly first those were arrested who confessed they were Christians; next on their information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much on the charge of burning the city, as of "hating the human race.

In their very deaths they were made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights. Nero offered his own garden players for the spectacle, and exhibited a Circensian game, indiscriminately mingling with the common people in the dress of a charioteer, or else standing in his chariot. For this cause a feeling of compassion arose towards the sufferers, though guilty and deserving of exemplary capital punishment, because they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but were victims of the ferocity of one man." Tacitus {c. 55 -117 AD}

So again this is not suffering caused by God this is suffering caused by the enemy via man. Persecution is a bit foreign to us here in the western part of the world; in fact almost totally foreign. But there are still millions of people around the world that face death for their faith in Jesus. It is just as real and serious to them as it was for the Christians in the Roman Empire. So as a person living in the ease of western society lets not patronize our brothers in Christ who are actually suffering persecution by saying that we are as well. Because we aren't. Plain and simple.

On that same note don't feel that because you are not suffering persecution that you are letting God down. God doesn't call people to a life of persecution. Persecution may be a result to where you have been called, but not the initial calling. Persecution is a enemy reaction to your new life and testimony of fullness in Christ. God is not glorified in the torture and death of persecution. But you say..."the apostles counted their torture as glory to God." Yes, but it was in the overcoming of the persecution that God was glorified. When they were not beaten to death they glorified God that they had overcome death and could go on preaching. When they were actually put to death the glory was that they weren't actually dead, they were seated with Christ in life everlasting.

What I am trying to get at is that we don't glorify suffering, we glorify God. Did you know that the ancient Greek drama/tragedy was started as worship to the god Dionysus? Dionysus was the god of wine. He was known to inspire ritual ecstasy or inflict ritual madness and despair. The Greek word tragoedia means goat-song. Goat refers to the half man /half goat satyrs like the god Pan. This is how in very ancient times the actors would dress while offering their tragoedia to the god. At the same time actually sacrificing goats to the god. The offering of tragoedia later developed into contest between three playwrights to see who could offer the most suffering to Dionysus.

The tragoedia always consisted of a spiritual conflict between a god and a mortal. When the mortal had gotten too prideful or successful the god would inflict suffering to put him in his place. It was called a reversal of fortune, what was high was brought low, a twist of the fates. The pity and fear inflicted on the hero was to cause empathy in the audience in hopes of producing a cathartic experience or emotional purging due to witnessing such suffering. In the end the tragic hero was made hero by accepting his fate and living with his "unhappy ending". Accidental misfortune was thought as meaningless. Misfortune inflicted by the god was cathartic and therefore glorified the god---usually Dionysus{ie. the devil}.

So I personally believe we as Christians need to be very wary of not worshipping tragedy and suffering in our lives as a means to glorify God. We don't worship Dionysus. We glorify God by facilitating his grace and power in OVERCOMING our tragedies and sufferings that He had no part in initiating. Are we called to suffer? A loaded question. My personal answer...yes and no. We are called to suffer as citizens of the kingdom of God living in this world. Meaning that we must tolerate{suffer} people that have different political, religious, sexual etc views than us. We are called to love, tolerate, be affected and intercede for these people without any expectations. We are also called to suffer our flesh. Meaning to starve the flesh of the old creature and feed the Spirit of the new creation. Turn from the sins of the person we used to be. To be holy as Christ is holy.

We are not called to persecution per se. In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul says the you will face persecution because of your godly life in Christ. Remember that Paul and Peter were writing these letters to people with an acute understanding of actual persecution. Persecution is a response from the enemy via man for our righteousness. Christ is glorified in persecution because of the overcoming of the schemes of the enemy. Just as Christ overcame death on the cross so man over comes death in persecution. His being willing to suffer unto death is testimony and glory to the power of the Holy Spirit in him. So in living with lives rooted in Christ we will face the attack of the enemy which is sometimes displayed via persecution. If your life lacks persecution you are no less worthy to God.

Finally the suffering of disease, misery, distress, despair and death are NOT calls from God. I don't see how anyone could believe that our loving, merciful God would do that to one of his children. When a father inflicts pain and suffering on a child to "teach them a lesson" it is called abuse. That is not our God! Our God does however work all things for good. That is his grace and his mercy. So can a person have a deeper intimacy with God through the pain of cancer? Absolutely, but God didn't cause the cancer just for the intimacy. Can the death of a young missionary testify the gospel? Absolutely, But God didn't cause that death just so he could be a witness. Can a natural disaster shake the spiritual climate of a nation? Absolutely, but God didn't cause the natural disaster to do so. He uses the things that the devil has initiated to destroy to work His good and glory. It it when we see this that we ourselves overcome and live this life in the victory that Jesus purchased for us on the cross and facilitated in His resurrection!

Furious Love-The Movie

2010-04-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

DVD Release scheduled for May 4, 2010. Click for website link and purchase.

Not Of This World

2010-04-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

"If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world." CS Lewis

“Paradise is our native country, and we in this world be as exiles and strangers” Richard Greenham

"Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight...You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." John 18:36-37

So I started into another word study yesterday after doing my post on "tolerance". I started thinking about how tolerance can be a little uncomfortable sometimes. I think that is exactly for the quotes above. Once we as Christians experience Jesus we have a totally different worldview. In a way we do become strangers on this finite planet because we now live with an understanding of the infinite and eternal. We have an understanding of absolute truth in a world where truth is always changing. For this very reason how can we hold someone who has not had this experience accountable to our worldview? We can bear witness and testify the truth, but not all will hear the voice of truth. Jesus was OK with this, as should we be. Remember not fighting, only making known.

The concept that we looked at yesterday is that of endurance. To tolerate people that are different from us is sometimes a test of love and endurance. We discussed how Jesus was extremely tolerant as he walked among us here on earth. The almighty God in the flesh most holy and pure made it a point to interface with the most sinful and lost. At no time condemning or judging{he saved that for the religious leaders that should have known better...why?...because their experience of God should have changed their worldview}. To the lost and unclean Jesus always had compassion and ministered to them regardless whether they followed him or not. The Greek word for minister is diakoneo meaning "to attend to anything that may serve anothers interests"

Now the other word I cam across in my reading yesterday is the word "suffer". We often think of how Jesus suffered on the cross for us. But have we ever thought of how he suffered during His ministry? The first word I want to look at is the Greek word pascho which is a verb meaning "to suffer". Take a look at the Strong's definition on the right. All it really means is to be affected. So in this sense Jesus did most certainly suffer during his ministry! He was affected by everyone because he was pure and clean and we were unclean and stained. So in a way He suffered in his righteousness to interface with our unrighteousness. He came from the kingdom of God and light to the kingdom of the prince of this world{the devil} shrouded in darkness. The beauty of it is that He chose to do this. Because of His great affection for us He chose to come to us and suffer our unrighteousness in the hope of releasing us from the bounds of this world into His righteousness.

Now who does this tie in with us? What does it mean to share in the sufferings of Christ? Well given what we have discussed in the last two posts I personally think part of our suffering is endurance in toleration. This world is uncomfortable to us. Why? Because we are no longer citizens of this world. We are citizens of the kingdom of God. But we live in this world and have to endure those with a different worldview than us. But in this "suffering" the key is how we let it affect us. Again we must look to Jesus and see how he let it affect him; keeping in mind His final act of affection on this earth was death on a cross for all mankind.

"But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd." Matt 9:36

"And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:37

"Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt." Matt 18:27

In our affections or sufferings we can either use them for good or for bad. That is to say we can either use them to be a remedy or a part of the disease. The Greek word above is where we get our English suffix -pathy; take a look at the definition.

Antipathy is hostility or enmity, while sympathy is a sharing of feelings;compassion or pity. These are our choices. Do we tolerate our sufferings with those different than us with a heart of compassion or the indifference of hostility? And don't say "I can't have compassion on someone or identify with someone so different than me". Because Jesus in His divine holiness really had nothing in common with us either. But He took on our cause out of love and out of the desire to see light overcome the darkness. To see the strongholds of death and injustice destroyed. So in that sense you have everything in common with everyone on this earth! For once you were in darkness and now because of Jesus you are in the light.

"Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' Matt 18:33

"He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness." Heb 5:2

Ask God to change your heart if need be. Ask him to show you His heart for the lost and hurting. To see how it grieves the heart of God that so many have lost their way. We must learn to be affected with compassion and not hostility. People are making wrong choices because they are lost. They don't have an understanding of the truth. They don't have a correct worldview. They have no concept of the Kingdom and what that means. So we must tolerate where they are at in their own minds. That doesn't mean to be condescending. Jesus never did that. He always met people where they were at. He also accepted the fact that some rejected him and stayed where they were at.

Look guys this world is no more depraved than it was during the time of Jesus and the 1st century church. We as Christians are not having to face anything in the way of cults, sexual immorality, bad politics, drugs/alcohol, crime, poverty etc that the early church wasn't facing in their society. They counted it as their suffering to be living as a citizens of heaven in a world of despair. They were happy to do it! Let alone the actual physical death and suffering they faced by way of persecution. But they never tried to dominate they always were there to serve as Jesus had served. This was sometimes actual interface with people and sometimes prayer and intercession for people. I believe they sought out those who welcomed them and steered clear of those that didn't. Always keeping their eyes on the call as a follower of Jesus to be a light, to live the truth, to endure, to minister, to be a friend, to feed, to clothe, to heal, to visit, to loose, to lend, to have compassion and to tolerate everyone.

In a World of Tolerance

2010-04-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

"Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men." Voltaire

We hear so much of the word "tolerance" these days. The 60s and 70s were all about "love". The 80s were all about "me". The 90s were "whatever" and now in 2010..."Tolerance". Is it possible for Christians to be tolerant without compromising the truth? I say yes. I also say that we are commanded by God in His word to be tolerant of one another; not only of fellow brothers in Christ but for non-Christians as well. We as Christians should at least know the golden rule and that is to love one another. Jesus even went so far to say that we should love our enemies. But Christians seem to be the worse at this because they think that it will compromise their faith. I did a post not to long ago on what I personally believe God meant by commanding us to love our enemy...click here to read that post.

I want to take this post a little further and look at the word "endure". If you read the definition above you will see that much of it centers around the idea of endurance. I chose to use the definition of "tolerance" from Webster's Dictionary of 1913 {see above}since it lacks the "political correctness" of the present day definition which says..."sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own." See the difference? We need not indulge sin, but we must tolerate it and endure it in others.

Now in everything we should look at the life of Christ to be our guide as to how we should conduct ourselves while still here on the earth. What I want to focus on is how we are to interact with non-believers. How are we to tolerate them? How did Jesus tolerate them? It is well noted in the gospels that Jesus did not come to condemn or judge the world he came to save it. Jesus allowed everyone to approach him. His door was always open and he went through every open door. Though he never sinned he was a friend to sinners, broke bread with them and ministered to them. Some followed and some walked away. Did Jesus stand there and yell "How dare you deny the truth of the living God!"? No, he let them walk away. There was much wisdom in this because even though not all accepted him, the door always remained open. He didn't burn any bridges with anyone. Instead he let his love and righteousness plant the seed. Sometimes it bore fruit and sometimes it didn't, but at all times He was tolerant as to the choice of the person.

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children." Matt 11:19

Jesus really is quite a testimony to the heart of God for his created. We know that the wages of sin is death. Yet so many have lived. Furthermore whole civilizations have been allowed to live in total opposition to God. When Jesus walked the earth He was God in the flesh. The same God that had required complex rituals and sacrifice before he could be approached in the Holy of Holies was now walking among us. The same God that had consumed sin with fire and the opening up of the earth was now face to face with the most unclean. Did anyone burst into flames or get swallowed in the earth during the ministry of Jesus? No. Jesus' sole purpose on this earth was to redeem, reconcile, heal, forgive, minister and love. In doing this he endured and tolerated us even unto death just in the hopes that we would accept him.

"Consider him {Jesus} who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory." 2 Tim 2:10

It is because of the cross and what Jesus did for you and me that we MUST endure and tolerate the sin of others! Jesus made it very clear in the book of John that once we have partaken in our personal salvation that we are no longer of this world, just as Jesus is no longer of this world. But we unlike Jesus are still in this world. We were left in the world but not of the world, to continue in the ministry Jesus started. So if you must consider tolerating others that don't agree with you suffering, so be it. I like how number 3 in the above definition is a medical one. Tolerance to a drug means you can take more than the normal person without suffering the effects. This should be us Christians! We have the benefit and power of the Holy Spirit's covering. We should be able to tolerate all kinds of sin without being affected. We are not to rule the world. We are to testify truth and righteousness. We are to be righteous witnesses of a gospel of reconciliation, hope and love. Never condemning or judging. The moment you judge an un-believer the door is closed. You have lost the only chance that person may have in coming to the Lord.

"...but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ...For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them...I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." 1 Cor 9:12,19,22

"For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory." 2 Tim 2:10

Endure all things, tolerate all things and be a servant to all. This is hard to swallow for some. But try to look at in in separate compartments. Tolerance doesn't mean agreement. If it meant agreement then you wouldn't have to tolerate anything...lol. So are we to become indulgent within the faith and say anything goes? No. As Christians we have clear Biblical standards that we must live by. We cannot let the world's standards and moral compass become our own. First and foremost we are to live righteous lives rooted in the truth of God's word. But as for those outside the faith we are not to tell people how to live their lives. We can only be an example and hopefully a good one.

"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you." 1Cor 5:12-13

So there are different degrees of tolerance. Different expectations from those who have a knowledge of Christ and those who don't. As to those who don't know Christ our best witness is going to be as Jesus showed. That is to love them and minister to them without any expectation. To let the way we live our lives and the good deeds we do speak without words. Then as someone feels led they will ask and we will answer. But until that time don't slam the door in people's face. Don't burn bridges. Don't judge those that you have no right to judge. A Christian's quest for world domination has always led to bloodshed. We are not called to dominate we are called to serve. To make the offer and be at peace with the fact that some will accept and others won't. Sometimes the best witness is a silent witness. Leave the Bible out of conversations and just be a friend. Keep loving those that don't accept Jesus, keep being friend's with those that don't accept Jesus, keep being a silent, righteous witness to those that don't Jesus; because maybe one day your endurance will change their mind. And Jesus will be standing at the door you left open.

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1Cor 13:7

“By your endurance you will gain your lives." Luke 21:19

Eye On the Ball

2010-04-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

My Heart In Photos {1}

2010-04-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

For more of my photos click on the "my photography" label.

Justice vs Righteousness

2010-04-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

So after reading George MacDonald's {unspoken} sermon on Justice in spurned me to do a little research of my own. His view that mercy and justice are one in the same has spoken volumes to me personally.

I found it interesting that the more modern bible translations seemed to have lost the righteousness and mercy of God. Meaning that those two words aren't used as often in the text. On the other hand in the KJV the word "justice" is used only 28 times in the whole bible; all of those times being in the Old Testament. {The picture on the left is the breakdown of each word and how many times it is used in each version respectfully.} What I am wondering is that if we start to leave out righteousness and instead use justice it can give the wrong connotation of who God is in His character. Not that He isn't just, He is. But His justice is in the midst of several other attributes.

When I think of the word justice I always think in terms of judicial or criminal; earthly law. But when I think of the word righteousness I think in terms of Divine virtue. I don't think of the righteousness of God to be one of His characteristics; I think it to be the umbrella that defines who He is in all His characteristics and attributes. I have always believed one of the most powerful verses in the bible to be when Moses asks God who he should say is sending him, God responds "I AM who I AM" {Ex 3:14} Meaning God is who He says He is all the time and in all fullness.

What makes the Godhead righteous is that HE IS "merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." {Ex 34:6-7} That HE IS "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." {Gal 5:22-23} These are His righteousness, this is what makes Him who HE IS. So anytime anyone of the Godhead has told us who HE IS, it should tell us He has always been that way and will always be that way. God is infinitely and eternally righteous.

In the Old Testament Hebrew justice and righteousness are the same word tsedaquah. But what does righteousness look like? The Proverbs are always great definitions...

"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, But righteousness delivers from death." Prov 10:2

"The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked." Prov 10:11

"The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin." Prov 10:16

"The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom." Prov 10:21

"The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath." Prov 11:23
"The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright{righteous} shall deliver them." Prov 12:6

"The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit." Prov 12:12

"Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner." Prov 13:6

Now look at the difference in translation of these two verses Proverbs 8:21-22. The "I" that is speaking is Wisdom...

KJV
"I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment{justice}: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures."

NIV
"I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full."

Now see how the NIV makes it seem as though justice and righteousness are two parallel paths heading in the same direction. But then look at the KJV righteousness is in the midst of justice; the are not separate but one in the same. Now I am not doing this to dog on the NIV. I am just trying to show that the righteousness of God {and all the attributes that includes} should never be separated from his justice. They are one in the same just as His mercy and justice are one in the same.

Most of the verses in the New Testament that the NIV/NLT uses the word justice the KJV uses the word righteousness. And again I'm not sure why; because to me they have such different connotations. Even in the English language we can see the difference in definition. In the English language the definition of justice really leaves no room for mercy whereas the word righteousness does. Here are a few examples of New Testament...

KJV

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Matt 5:6

NLT

"God blesses those who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for they will receive it in full." Matt 5:6

KJV
"Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 17:31

NIV
"For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31

KJV
"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God..." Rom 3:25

NIV
"God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished..." Rom 3:25

KJV
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." Rev 19:11

NIV
"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war." Rev 19:11

It seems to me that we as Christians are called to be righteous, to be Christ like. Meaning to be merciful, gracious, loving, forgiving, gentle, good, kind, patient, joyful, humble, compassionate, giving, slow to anger, respectful, empathetic...get the picture? I do not believe we are called to fight injustice with justice. Instead were are called to fight injustice with righteousness. Righteousness is always fruitful because it is what is right. Justice can easily be corrupted since it is subject to man. Righteousness is not subject to man but to God. Are we thirsting for the justice of man which tends to be legalistic and leaves little room for mercy or the righteousness of God which is life and always has been and always will be merciful?

Justice

2010-04-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

"George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister. Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. It was C.S. Lewis that wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master": "Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier." G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_MacDonald

"I firmly believe people have hitherto been a great deal too much taken up about doctrine and far too little about practice. The word doctrine, as used in the Bible, means teaching of duty, not theory. I preached a sermon about this. We are far too anxious to be definite and to have finished, well-polished, sharp-edged systems - forgetting that the more perfect a theory about the infinite, the surer it is to be wrong, the more impossible it is to be right." from a letter George wrote to his father

The following are some exerps from George MacDonald's {unspoken} sermon on Justice. {link for entire sermon at the bottom of post}.I just read it yesterday for the first time and was totally blown away. I keep reading it over and over and am still blown away. MacDonald was known in his time for thinking outside the theological box of his day. Instead he focused more on what the scripture said to him personally and how it spoke of his relationship with Jesus. Sounds like my kind of guy.

"'Mercy may be against justice.' Never--if you mean by justice what I mean by justice. If anything be against justice, it cannot be called mercy, for it is cruelty. 'To thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou renderest to every man according to his work.' There is no opposition, no strife whatever, between mercy and justice. Those who say justice means the punishing of sin, and mercy the not punishing of sin, and attribute both to God, would make a schism in the very idea of God. And this brings me to the question, What is meant by divine justice? "
***
"God is one; and the depth of foolishness is reached by that theology which talks of God as if he held different offices, and differed in each. It sets a contradiction in the very nature of God himself. It represents him, for instance, as having to do that as a magistrate which as a father he would not do! The love of the father makes him desire to be unjust as a magistrate! Oh the folly of any mind that would explain God before obeying him! that would map out the character of God, instead of crying, Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do? God is no magistrate; but, if he were, it would be a position to which his fatherhood alone gave him the right; his rights as a father cover every right he can be analytically supposed to possess. The justice of God is this, that--to use a boyish phrase, the best the language will now afford me because of misuse--he gives every man, woman, child, and beast, everything that has being, fair play; he renders to every man according to his work; and therein lies his perfect mercy; for nothing else could be merciful to the man, and nothing but mercy could be fair to him."

***
"'Mercy is a good and right thing,' I answer, 'and but for sin there could be no mercy. We are enjoined to forgive, to be merciful, to be as our father in heaven. Two rights cannot possibly be opposed to each other. If God punish sin, it must be merciful to punish sin; and if God forgive sin, it must be just to forgive sin. We are required to forgive, with the argument that our father forgives. It must, I say, be right to forgive. Every attribute of God must be infinite as himself. He cannot be sometimes merciful, and not always merciful. He cannot be just, and not always just. Mercy belongs to him, and needs no contrivance of theologic chicanery to justify it.' "***

"Primarily, God is not bound to punish sin; he is bound to destroy sin. If he were not the Maker, he might not be bound to destroy sin--I do not know; but seeing he has created creatures who have sinned, and therefore sin has, by the creating act of God, come into the world, God is, in his own righteousness, bound to destroy sin.

'But that is to have no mercy.'

You mistake. God does destroy sin; he is always destroying sin. In him I trust that he is destroying sin in me. He is always saving the sinner from his sins, and that is destroying sin. But vengeance on the sinner, the law of a tooth for a tooth, is not in the heart of God, neither in his hand. If the sinner and the sin in him, are the concrete object of the divine wrath, then indeed there can be no mercy. Then indeed there will be an end put to sin by the destruction of the sin and the sinner together. But thus would no atonement be wrought--nothing be done to make up for the wrong God has allowed to come into being by creating man. There must be an atonement, a making-up, a bringing together--an atonement which, I say, cannot be made except by the man who has sinned."

***
"To believe in a vicarious sacrifice, is to think to take refuge with the Son from the righteousness of the Father; to take refuge with his work instead of with the Son himself; to take refuge with a theory of that work instead of the work itself; to shelter behind a false quirk of law instead of nestling in the eternal heart of the unchangeable and righteous Father, who is merciful in that he renders to every man according to his work, and compels their obedience, nor admits judicial quibble or subterfuge. God will never let a man off with any fault. He must have him clean. He will excuse him to the very uttermost of truth, but not a hair’s-breadth beyond it; he is his true father, and will have his child true as his son Jesus Christ is true. He will impute to him nothing that he has not, will lose sight of no smallest good that he has; will quench no smoking flax, break no bruised reed, but send forth judgment unto victory. He is God beyond all that heart hungriest for love and righteousness could to eternity desire."

***
"I believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, my elder brother, my lord and master; I believe that he has a right to my absolute obedience whereinsoever I know or shall come to know his will; that to obey him is to ascend the pinnacle of my being; that not to obey him would be to deny him. I believe that he died that I might die like him--die to any ruling power in me but the will of God--live ready to be nailed to the cross as he was, if God will it. I believe that he is my Saviour from myself, and from all that has come of loving myself, from all that God does not love, and would not have me love--all that is not worth loving; that he died that the justice, the mercy of God, might have its way with me, making me just as God is just, merciful as he is merciful, perfect as my father in heaven is perfect. I believe and pray that he will give me what punishment I need to set me right, or keep me from going wrong. I believe that he died to deliver me from all meanness, all pretence, all falseness, all unfairness, all poverty of spirit, all cowardice, all fear, all anxiety, all forms of self-love, all trust or hope in possession; to make me merry as a child, the child of our father in heaven, loving nothing but what is lovely, desiring nothing I should be ashamed to let the universe of God see me desire. I believe that God is just like Jesus, only greater yet, for Jesus said so. I believe that God is absolutely, grandly beautiful, even as the highest soul of man counts beauty, but infinitely beyond that soul's highest idea--with the beauty that creates beauty, not merely shows it, or itself exists beautiful. I believe that God has always done, is always doing his best for every man; that no man is miserable because God is forgetting him; that he is not a God to crouch before, but our father, to whom the child-heart cries exultant, 'Do with me as thou wilt.'"
***
"I believe in Jesus Christ. Nowhere am I requested to believe in any thing, or in any statement, but everywhere to believe in God and in Jesus Christ. In what you call the atonement, in what you mean by the word, what I have already written must make it plain enough I do not believe. God forbid I should, for it would be to believe a lie, and a lie which is to blame for much non-acceptance of the gospel in this and other lands. But, as the word was used by the best English writers at the time when the translation of the Bible was made--with all my heart, and soul, and strength, and mind, I believe in the atonement, call it the a-tone-ment, or the at-one-ment, as you please. I believe that Jesus Christ is our atonement; that through him we are reconciled to, made one with God. There is not one word in the New Testament about reconciling God to us; it is we that have to be reconciled to God. I am not writing, neither desire to write, a treatise on the atonement, my business being to persuade men to be atoned to God; but I will go so far to meet my questioner as to say--without the slightest expectation of satisfying him, or the least care whether I do so or not, for his opinion is of no value to me, though his truth is of endless value to me and to the universe--that, even in the sense of the atonement being a making-up for the evil done by men toward God, I believe in the atonement. Did not the Lord cast himself into the eternal gulf of evil yawning between the children and the Father? Did he not bring the Father to us, let us look on our eternal Sire in the face of his true son, that we might have that in our hearts which alone could make us love him--a true sight of him? Did he not insist on the one truth of the universe, the one saving truth, that God was just what he was? Did he not hold to that assertion to the last, in the face of contradiction and death? Did he not thus lay down his life persuading us to lay down ours at the feet of the Father? Has not his very life by which he died passed into those who have received him, and re-created theirs, so that now they live with the life which alone is life? Did he not foil and slay evil by letting all the waves and billows of its horrid sea break upon him, go over him, and die without rebound--spend their rage, fall defeated, and cease? Verily, he made atonement! We sacrifice to God!--it is God who has sacrificed his own son to us; there was no way else of getting the gift of himself into our hearts. Jesus sacrificed himself to his father and the children to bring them together--all the love on the side of the Father and the Son, all the selfishness on the side of the children. If the joy that alone makes life worth living, the joy that God is such as Christ, be a true thing in my heart, how can I but believe in the atonement of Jesus Christ? I believe it heartily, as God means it."

If you would like to read this sermon in its entirety {click here}

Why the Blood? {Part Two}

2010-04-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Here I am thinking out loud again. Not paying attention to what theology or orthodoxy says but only to what the word of God is saying to me personally through the knowledge of His son Jesus.

"Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Hebrews 9:12

So in the last post we talked a little about why there was a need for blood sacrifice. We talked a bit about what happened on the Day of Atonement each year. The Day of Atonement was a day of corporate repentance and atonement of the Israelites. It was also the only day of the year the the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. Once the appropriate sacrifices had taken place the High Priest could boldly approach the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat there of to make reconciliation for the nation in the presence of God. He also sprinkled blood on the ark to symbolically bind for another year the relationship of the people to God. Remember the ark contained a gold bowl of manna{symbol of God's provision for his people}, the law{symbol of God's justice and call to righteousness} and Aaron's budded rod{a symbol of God's authority through the priesthood}.

Now fast forward to the time of Jesus in New Testament and the great temple in Jerusalem. The day of Atonement was still the most holy of days to the Jewish people. But one very important thing was missing. The holy of holies was empty. There was no ark of the covenant, there was no bowl of manna, there was no ten commandments, there was no rod of Aaron. When the priests entered to sprinkle blood on the Day of Atonement it was sprinkled onto a stone. I can't image that it had the same meaning as when the ark and the mercy seat were there. So what does God do? He sends his Son to make atonement by the shedding of blood and a new covenant by the sprinkling of blood.

"And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." Hebrews 9:15

Now this portion of Hebrews also gives a great analogy of why Jesus had to die to mediate this new covenant. The author uses the concept of a last will and testament. A will is defined as "A legal declaration of how a person wishes his or her possessions to be disposed of after death." Therefore a will is not exercised until the the person making the declaration has died. Think of the covenant in the ark...provision, justice, righteousness, authority. BTW justice and righteousness are the same word in both the Hebrew & Greek. These are the things that God came in the flesh to mediate to us. He had to die so that we may receive our inheritance. Our only access to this inheritance is through the atonement of the blood shed on the cross and the sprinkling of blood on the new covenant.

"For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood." Hebrews 9:16-18

The extraordinary thing about Jesus is that he was a man but he also was God. He came as a man to reconcile man to God. He came as a man so that he could be approached as a man but redeem and reconcile only as God can. Notice all the people that approached Jesus during his ministry on earth; the sinner, the sick, the possessed, the unclean. Now compare that to how the high priest had to approach the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement. If we wasn't ritually clean and with the proper sacrifice he was faced with death. I can't think of any person that died, was consumed, or was swallowed by the earth on account of approaching Jesus during his ministry. Why? Because Jesus was both. He was God and man. He was high priest and mercy seat. He was atonement and inheritance. He was the mediator and the representative of both the parties being mediated! How cool was Jesus! I'm not sure we will ever fully grasp this. What Jesus did was made complete in what he did and was done for all mankind.

"...then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God..." Hebrews 10:9-12

The priest of the tabernacle in the Old Testament were not allowed to sit down because the business of mediating for the people was unending. So in Jesus sitting at the right hand of God making complete our atonement and the atonement for all mankind. We who have partaken of that atonement must rise to take also our inheritance. Now we stand and take office of mediation and reconciliation for the people in the same way the high priest did; in the same way Jesus did. Not to bring condemnation but to bring all men to the cross that all men may take hold of not only the everlasting inheritance but also the earthly one. Remember the ark of the covenant---provision, justice, righteousness and authority.

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrew 4:15-16

This is what Jesus did on the cross. It wasn't just to fulfill a judicial punishment. He shed blood for atonement and also sprinkled blood for our inheritance{earthly and eternal} that we may boldly approach God with no fear of condemnation. An inhertitence written on our hearts and mind that will never fade or that cannot be taken away. It is through the blood of Jesus that we cry Abba, Father. It is through the blood of the cross that we are co-heirs with Christ. It is through the blood that Son was reconciled to Father so we all may pray "Our Father which art in heaven...". We are called as partakers of this inheritance to boldly bring others to this throne of grace. Their atonement has been made. It is already finished. They just don't know it. Now we must give the same offer of deliverence Jesus gave. We must be as approachable as Jesus was approachable and above all must love as Christ loved. Because really isn't that why God sent his Son in the first place?

"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works..." Hebrews 10:19-24

I guess what really stuck out to me in these Hebrew passages is to not just concentrate on what we got out of the cross{which is HUGE, HUGE, HUGE} but to also look at what we are now responsible for because of the cross. Namely not got squander or shame the inheritence we were given while we are still here on earth. Instead, we need to multiply it so that the glory in heaven will be all the more glorious. I want nothing more than to hear my Father will say well done good and faithful servant, you brought as many as you could to the mercy seat. :)

Why the Blood? {Part One}

2010-04-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here I am thinking out loud again. Not paying attention to what theology or orthodoxy says but only to what the word of God is saying to me personally through the knowledge of His son Jesus.

I was spending some more time on why the cross was needed to save us. To a non Christian it seems silly that God would in a sense need to kill himself to satisfy his own wrath. I came across this comment on a YouTube video...

"I'm not going to worship a god who had to sacrifice himself to himself in order to appease himself."

This is an honest concern. So I started doing a little research into the Levitical law about sacrifice and what the Jewish community thought. It was interesting that on almost every Jewish website or blog they seemed to have the same concern. But from a more biblical perspective. I think just about every site had disagreement the Jesus was the Messiah and that He is the only forgiveness of sins based on this verse.

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." Hebrews 9:22

I was happy to see that so many of our Jewish brothers were reading the New Testament and thinking about a book that really was addressed to them. But it also challenged me to look a little further into how to explain WHY we need the blood of Christ to be forgiven. Because we most certainly do. Now the problem that the Jewish community is that this verse in Hebrews does not gel with what their Torah says, namely the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is the book on sacrifice and the goings on of the Old Testament tabernacle. Here is the verse they use to nullify {in their minds that blood is needed for forgiveness}. From the book of Leviticus specifically talking about the "sin-offering".

"If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil or incense on it, because it is a sin offering." Lev 5:11

So according to the Old Testament law people could have remission of sin without blood sacrifice. To top that off there are several verses in the Old Testament that God himself says he does not want blood sacrifice.

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1 Sam 15:22

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Ps 40:6

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise. Ps 51:16-17

To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Prov 21:3

"The multitude of your sacrifices-- what are they to me?" says the Lord. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Is 1:11

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hos 6:6

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:7-8

So in this sense I think it is good to see that God was NOT a blood thirsty God that needed to be appeased by blood sacrifice. The rule of being to offer choice flour instead of blood was made for the poor. So that people how could not afford an animal would not be excluded from atonement for their sins. But this still begs the question...why did Jesus have to shed his blood? I came across an interesting article by David Wilkerson who made the distinction that Jesus' blood was not only shed it was also sprinkled. Which lead me a little further in the book of Leviticus to the ritual of the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement was the the day that the high priest would make atonement corporately for the whole nation of Israel. It was only done once a year. This was the one time in the year that the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. The Holy of Holies held the ark of the covenant. Inside the ark of the covenant were the ten commandments, a gold bowl of manna, and Aaron's rod that had budded. The covering over these things was called the mercy seat and was guarded by the cherubim. This was the place that God would appear to commune with the priest on behalf of the people.

Read Leviticus 16 to learn of all the procedures on this ritual day. After the high priest had made his own personal sacrifice and made himself ritually clean he proceeded with the sacrifice for all the people. Two goats were chosen and lots were cast. One goat was for the Lord and the other had the Hebrew proper name of Azazel. The goat for the Lord was sacrificed and the high priest would boldly bring its blood and sprinkle it on the ark of the covenant on behalf of the people. The goat of Azazel was keep alive and released into the wilderness{welter and waste} after the priests hand laid their hands on him to symbolically transfer the sins of the people on his head.

Now after reading several rabbinical commentaries on this most holy of days a few things stuck out to me. If the priest had done all he was suppose to do he could boldly approach the Holy of Holies. The blood with its purgative power gave him authorization to come near to God. When the act was unauthorized ie. the proper blood ritual had not taken place, the implication was always that of encroachment or attack. Also that the Israelites didn't only see this day as atonement for their sins as a people but they saw it as a sort of an annual "spring cleaning" of the tabernacle. Purifying the place of communion with God to ensure he was able to continue to dwell with them. Before the tabernacle was built God displayed his relationship with a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud. He pursued his people. With the tabernacle an attitude is instituted of how now the people will pursue relationship with God. To keep a holy dwelling for him. To keep holy as people so they may relate to him. That is where the sprinkling of the blood on the Ark of the covenant had such significance.

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." Lev 17:11

The Hebrew word for atonement is kaphar which literally means to cover. Remember before Adam and Eve left the garden they were covered by skins from animals the Lord had sacrificed. God didn't kill the animals to take out the aggression he had for Adam and Eve. He covered them because he loved them and wanted them to be protected. Also that he wanted to remain in relationship with them. So in this sense the sacrifices of the Old Testament weren't only because something had to die in the place of sin, it was that the life was in the blood. It wasn't that God required death it was that we required life!

So the blood was a covering of life and a bringer of reconciliation to one that had entered into sin and death. So it seems the blood sprinkled on the ark of the covenant was not for God's benefit alone or to appease him. It was sprinkled on the ark that held the law a symbol of justice and righteousness, the manna a symbol of God's provision and the rod of Aaron a symbol of God's authority through the priesthood. This was God's promise to the people that was sealed and renewed with the life of the blood of atonement each year. This is why it was protected in the way that it was. That no man or power would encroach on the promise between God and his people.

Next we will take a look at the book of Hebrews and Jesus' fulfillment of this day...

What The Hell?

2010-04-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Some interesting thoughts on Hell...

"I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside." C S Lewis

"The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul." John Calvin

"How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man." Johnny Cash

"The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions." A. W. Tozer

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." C.T. Studd

"Heaven is full of forgiven people. Hell is full of forgiven people. Heaven is full of people God loves, whom Jesus died for. Hell is full of forgiven people God loves, whom Jesus died for. The difference is how we choose to live, which story we choose to live in, which version of reality we trust. Ours or God's." Rob Bell

"Denial of hell is one hell of a mistake." Mark Driscoll

"God’s justice and mercy unite in condemning the wicked to extinction. He justly punishes their sin and forbids them a place within the Kingdom. And he eventually mercifully annihilates them precisely so they will not endlessly endure what the traditional view says they endure." Gregory Boyd

"We can set no limits to the agency of the Redeemer to redeem, to rescue, to discipline in his work, and so will he continue to operate after this life." Clement of Alexandria

"Why were a few, or a single one, made at all, if only to exist in order to be made eternally miserable, which is infinitely worse than non-existence?" Immanuel Kant

"Hell is empty, And all the devils are here." William Shakespeare

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell chose it." C. S Lewis

Wrath of Man

2010-04-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

This is a comment from a reader on facebook that I would like to share with you. Here was my post...

"It's interesting to me that the people that are so hell bent on preaching the wrath and vengeance of God do so out of a spirit of wrath and vengeance. Let's not forget..."For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." James 1:20"

And here was his response...

"Insisting that when the NT says "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from GOD'S WRATH through him!" the authors of the NT meant it, isn't the equivalent of doing so "in a spirit of wrath and judgment." Paul wouldn't be enthused about people revising what he taught about Jesus' death; the one that was "cursed" by God for us (Gal. 3:10-14). Consider it a good thing to be corrected for teaching unbiblical concepts; you make it out to be a character flaw in the person correcting you.

The verse you quote in James isn't about condemning getting angry; it's about condemning getting angry at something without listening and doing so in arrogance, elitism, "filthiness" and "wickedness." James' book was VERY angry. Being angry is a good thing. It means you're awake.

When people taught a different message of the cross, Paul called them "dogs," "swine" and "fools" as well as telling them to "emasculate themselves" and "be accursed." Point being, strong rebuke is necessary in light of strong resolve to deviate from NT teaching. Denying that Jesus quenched the wrath of God or saved us from the wrath of God is unbiblical and in need of correction.

It may be worth reading the whole book of James in one sitting instead of misapplying 1:20 outside the context of James' sharp shooting of compromise in the church. The recipients of James' book got much more of an earful than you have I'm sure. He was a heavy hitter.

Cherie, your blogs are serious deviations from the NT teaching on wrath, God's nature and character and the cross."

Well...I have never claimed this blog to be orthodoxy or theology. In have never been to seminary or taken any formal theology. I have done a 6 month discipleship training, a 3 month biblical studies course and a 3 month worship, intercession and spiritual warfare course. That's it. That is why this is a personal blog of my thoughts and questions that I feel I am being humble and open in sharing with you. I have never claimed to have all the answers and don't believe a person has ever walked the earth that has. With exception to my personal Lord and Savior Jesus.

I want to make example of the spirit of malice that is poisoning the portions of the church and is hindering the lost from the freedom of trusting a loving God who longs for relationship. It is obviously also hindering relationships between fellow believers. That's not right. The word heretic and apostate are being thrown around today with the greatest of ease and honestly I am disgusted by it. I don't expect everyone will agree with me or what my blog says, but as brothers and sisters in Christ we are commanded to love one another and edify one another. Not burn one another at the stake!

I did however takes this young man's advice. I sat and read the book of James in one setting. I hadn't done that in awhile. Here are some of the verses that stood out to me in light of this guy's comment.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. Jam 1:5

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Jam 1:17

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, Jam 1:19

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Jam 1:22

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Jam 1:26

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. Jam 2:8

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,
because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! Jam 2:12-13

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. Jam 3:5-6

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Jam 3:10

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Jam 3:13

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Jam 3:14-17

Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. Jam 3:18

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Jam 4:6

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Jam 4:10

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you-who are you to judge your neighbor?
Jam 4:11-12

Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Jam 5:9

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Jam 5:11

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Jam 5:16

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. Jam 5:19-20

With that said, I'm wondering when was the last time that young man took his own advice and read the book of James? I do not see that James was angry. All I see is a call to love, to have compassion, mercy, humility, peace, grace and righteousness. My personal goal will always be to be Christ like and not Theology like. That is the heart of this blog! To worship God and not worship theology. To read His word with conviction of my heart and His Spirit in me not the theology of man and the sometimes spirit of wrath.

Christus Victor

2010-04-14T10:49:00.001-07:00

God's Wrath is Not For You {Part Two}

2010-04-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

To read part one click here.

Here I am thinking out loud again. I want to begin this post with a few verses to keep in mind...

“Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand." Dan 12:10

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail."
Lam 3:22

"In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the tent of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness." Is 16:5

“So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty."Mal 3:5

So my personal view is that Jesus was sent to die for the world out of God's frustration or wrath against the enemy, the Destroyer. He was sick of seeing his little ones perish and so He sent Jesus as sacrifice to cover us in His protective blood. Remember the blood of the passover was to protect from the Destroyer, not from the destruction of God. God is not a destroyer! The devil is the Destroyer. And so the blood of Jesus protects us from the destruction of the enemy. If we don't accept the blood we are handed to the enemy for destruction. God's judgment is righteous because we have chosen our own destruction. So the judgment from God is separation from His protection by our choice not His.

"By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them." Heb 11:28

"...nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer." 1Cor 10:10

"To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 1Cor 5:5

Now lets look a little closer at the concept of wrath and judgment in the New Testament. The word judgment in the Greek is krisis meaning to separate, to approve. So again the cross and the blood are the point of separation. Those who choose the blood are protected, those that don't are "approved" of their choice and "separated" given to the destruction of the enemy. Then both are separated.

"Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son..." Jn 5:22

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world{the Devil} be cast out."
Jn 12:31

The word wrath in the New Testament is a translation of a few different Greek words. Wrath is one of those words that unfortunately too many people love. It is their favorite aspect of God. But we must see what God's wrath is against before we get too excited. One is the word 'orge meaning temper, character, natural disposition. What is God's "natural" disposition? A man named Jesus, the cross, love, mercy...should I go on? Come on guys! God is not pissed at people he is pissed at the Devil and sin. He is grieved for his created that traded truth for a lie.

"And when He had looked around at them with anger{'orge}, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."" Mark 3:5

"For God did not appoint us to wrath{'orge}, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him."
1 Thess 5:9-10

The other Greek word for wrath is thymos meaning passion, heat, ardour. It comes from the root word thyo meaning to sacrifice. This is the word used throughout the book of Revelation in the phrase "wrath of God--thymos theos--God sacrifice". Again it's the cross, the sacrifice, the payment, the victory over the Devil! So if you look it that way the it makes sense that the "wrath of God" is foolishness to those handed over to the destruction enemy and the enemy himself. The cross is where the power is, the sacrifice is where the power is. Punishment is not where the power is. The cross is the love that conquers all!

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor 1:18

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death...for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath{thymos}, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Rev 12:11-12

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1John 4:18

Are you starting to understand where I'm coming from? God is not a punishing God. God is a loving God. God is a just God. And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Our job as Christians are to save as many as we can from the "devil...having great wrath" in this present age. We are to be marking them with the blood of Jesus so that in the end they will not suffer eternal separation. He is being patient in the end time coming because he wishes that none should perish! But some Christians just can't wait for the day of the Lord. They want justice now, they want wrath now, they want separation now. That is not the heart of God.

"For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." James 1:20

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

If we believe that the destruction in this age is the judgment of God and not the wrath of the devil it creates a lot of problems. What it does is give Christians the permission to marginalize the "wicked" and "judged" in hopes to be on the side of God. This is dangerous territory and it just so happens that it is the enemies territory. God is not judging and separating and will not judge and separate until the end. Man is the one separating himself from God. We as Christians were given the ministry of reconciliation to tear down the dividing wall of hostility. Even the totally wicked are given the chance to decide. And yes even after witness of the gospel for some wickedness has taken over to the point they do not see. But in that they are still the one's separating not God. In the end when God does judge and totally separate those people it is in love because they don't want to be with God anyway. But we were given the task to make sure everyone has that choice.

We are to be walking in the Spirit to bring forth conviction of sin. We are to be ones facilitating the heat of the Spirit to melt the hearts of men. To purge, purify and refine. Not to judge. To get rid of the sin and unrighteousness in the people. Not get rid of the people. Being a light in the darkness is warfare that the lost will not be consumed in the fires of wickedness. Changing desolation to correction and working all things for good so that judgement is avoided. Shame becomes testimony and glory to God. That in turn shames the devil and that is our power over Death!

Finally I want to share an interesting word in the Greek. It is another word that I was surprised to see its actual meaning. Brimstone, as in fire and brimstone. In the Greek the word for brimstone is theion meaning divine incense, to hallow or consecrate. In Greek times sulfur{brimstone} was burned as a purifying agent. It was also known in both old and new testaments as a cleaning agent. Torment is a word also associated with hell. In the Greek the word is basanizo meaning to test a metal on the touchstone. Remember we discussed that in the last post. Of course you know from other posts that the word hell is Hades, the Greek personification of the underworld. Just as Thanatos {Death} was also personified.

"Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Rev 20:14-15

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Rev 20:10

So I must say given the Greek definitions it sort of gives hell a whole new spin. What type of spin I'm not sure. But it gives me the same sense of consuming and refining that was in the last post. Do I think the Devil and his principalities will be totally crushed? Absolutely! Do I think all men will be spared from eternal separation. No. But I do believe that the natural temperament of our God is to love and to save. I also know there are some men that don't want to be loved and saved by God. So we can't really know what will happen. I think our focus should remain on the saving part. That was what we were called to do. To love, to bind up broken hearts, to fight against injustice, and to be a light in the darkness of this present age. The final judgement is not up to us, the final judgment is up to God. And it could be in no better hands.

God's Wrath is Not For You

2010-04-12T13:41:00.001-07:00

I was reading in the book of Jeremiah the other day when I found myself glancing to the opposite page. This is the verse that caught my eye...

"Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?" Jer. 9:7

One of the things I have been thinking about lately is the concept of sin, punishment and judgment. I talked a little about this a few days ago {click here}. What also seems to always play a role in that is the concept of the wrath of God. So these are some of my thoughts on the whole thing. I haven't totally worked it all through, so consider this post as me thinking out loud.

I have always been of the mind that sin is and of itself the punishment. That God is not the one punishing but instead is allowing the sin to punish on its own. Sin in the Hebrew mean "to wander from the way" the way being God's way. So when we sin we go our own way contrary to God's way and that just so happens to be the Devil's way. There in lies the punisher, the one who seeks to kill, steal and destroy. The other side effect from sin is separation from God. So the destruction and separation the sin causes is the punishment. But that destruction and separation isn't caused by God it is caused by the person teaming with the enemy.

"Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with Death, and with Sheol we are in agreement." Isaiah 28:15

I still don't understand how people get in their minds that our God is a God of destruction and death. That God seeks destruction or separation for any man. A God of war yes, a God of justice yes. But the war has always been and will always be against sin and the Devil, NOT THE PERSON! That is his justice and that was the cross! He took the wrath of the enemy that was intended for us. He stood in for us so that we wouldn't have to be separated from God. He was separated from God for us. He took the death that was intended for us. But he conquered death! He took the control over death from the enemy so that all my have the choice of redemption and everlasting life. That we never have to be separated from God. What I still am trying to figure out and have questions about is this...Did Jesus have to die to appease God's wrath for us or or was his wrath for the sin that separated us from him? Yes, God is totally indifferent to sin and hates it. But Jesus who was God in the flesh had indifference to sin but never the sinner. I guess that is why there is a few different views of atonement {penal substitution view, ransom view and Christus Victor}. Still trying to work those out...lol. Ok...getting off track...back to the Old Testament.

The cry of the prophets in the Old Testament were always the same. "Return to the Lord and He will spare you". But they wouldn't, they just kept on sinning. So then their sin would lead them even further from the Lord ie: into exile. Then the call of the prophet was "return to the Lord and He will restore you". The cry from the people was always "why has God forsaken us". That has always meant to me that during their times of "punishment" and "exile"they didn't feel like God was there. Meaning He wasn't the one punishing, the enemy was. Now they did also cry "why are you allowing this to happen?" To which God would respond "Because you sinned". Simply as that really. But can you see how it was not necessary for God to actually punish? The sin takes care of that on it's own. All God did was warn that they were headed in the wrong direction and they were moving out of his protection. When they didn't listen he let sin and the enemy take it's course.

Remember in the other post {link above} we talked about how the word "punishment" in the Hebrew to attend to or to hold back? Well one of the other meanings was to correct or instruct. What I want to help do is get out of the mindset of God being a punishing God and get into the mindset of God being a correcting God. See punishment in most people's mind can be arbitrary and unfruitful and a lot of times it is. Look at the justice system in America. We have millions of people in prison being "punished" but only a hand full are being "corrected". God is not arbitrary and He is never unfruitful so what he does is correct. Remember the devil has already taken care of the punishment part. Correction puts us back on the path that we wandered from in sin. The way he lovingly corrects is to refine and test. Look at the verse again.

"Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?" Jer. 9:7

So isn't it cool that God takes the situation that we got ourselves into usually after He warned us not to and He works it for good. For what else can he do? He can't stop the punishment because remember the punishment has to do with our choice to sin. So in effect ending the punishment of our choice would be overriding our free choice. Believe it or not He doesn't want to destoy His people. Notice He doesn't give what they deserve. He doesn't wipe them out. He gives grace. He uses a bad situation for good. He works it for growth. He works it for testimony to His glory. The analogy of refinement and testing is used many times throughout the Old Testament.

"I will also turn My hand against you, And will smelt away your dross as with lye And will remove all your alloy. Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; After that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness."
Is. 1:25-27

"...For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness...For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed."
Mal. 3:2-3,6

Yesterday I gave myself a crash course in gold metal smelting. Some interesting things I learned about gold are that besides its beauty and rarity it is sought after because it is the most malleable and ductile metal; making it a "precious metal". Basically meaning you can do a lot to gold before it breaks. It is also virtually indestructible and unaffected by most corrosive agents; making it a "noble metal". It also can be found pure in its metallic form in nature {like a nugget}not always within ore; making it a "native metal". To extract the gold{pure} from the ore{impure} in ancient times you needed oxygen, heat and fuel. The fuel is usually the from the sulfide content. BTW "brimstone" in both the Hebrew and Greek means sulfur, a little more on that later. The heat charged by the fuel of the sulfides would cause the gold and ore to melt and separate. The gold was extracted and the slag{impure ore by-product} was cast off. That is refining in a nutshell; a very small nutshell.

"Testing" in the KJV this is usually the word "try". The Hebrew word is bachan meaning to examine, try, prove. To test gold in ancient times they would scrape it on a black stone to see if it left a mark. Or to test gold coins they would bite them to see how soft they were. The softer the coin the more pure the gold. I always try think of testing based on the character of a loving God. Meaning it's not a test to see if we are good enough it is a test to prove that we are. The refining process it what always make the test sure. That is his grace to us.

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold." Job 23:10

Finally for this post we will talk a little about the "wrath of God" and what that means in the light of what we have just talked about. Wrath in the Hebrew is several different words. Here are some not all. Charon meaning heat, 'Aph meaning nostril-from the root word 'anaph meaning to breath hard, Quatsaph meaning displeased or angry, Chemah meaning hot, fever and 'Ebrah meaning outpouring or overflow. Now we have our heat source! Did God get angry and wrathful in the Old Testament? Yes. But the question is who he is angry or wrathful at? I propose He is angry at the Devil first and foremost for the destruction of his creation and created. Is he angry at pure wickedness? Yes, and usually they didn't stand they test and were consumed by the devil. Is He frustrated at the wickedness of his people? Yes. But His frustration is not at who they are it is at what they have become. There's a difference. Look at the Hebrew words for indignation; another very "mean" sounding word in the OT. Ka'ac means grieved or distressed, Za'am means to denounce.

So I have started to view the wrath of the Old Testament as God attending and defending His people. Being grieved for the state of his people he would show up in anger denouncing wickedness, meaning the devil and the agreement the people had with him. Then he would use the time {if they repented} as a time of purging and refining. Those that didn't purge were consumed. Why? Because the devil still had charge of them. They didn't take God up on His offer to change. Is it painful to purge and refine? Yep! Is that pain the punishment of God? Nope! I believe the pain that we feel in refinement are the claws of the enemy digging into our skin trying to keep us from getting taken away. Think of a hard core drug addict trying to kick the habit. They are often hospitalized due to the immense physical pain of trying to get the drug out of their system. Now is God trying to punish them for their sin? No. The devil causes the pain. The devil is trying to keep them on drugs! If they shoot up again all that pain leaves in an instant. The same is true with the refining "wrath" of God. The devil will never let you loose without a fight and so it is painful! Remember he wants to destroy you. And that is the reason God sent his Son.

Final thought...fire consumes wickedness but refines righteousness. The devil always wants to consume and God always wants to purify.

Next these concepts in the New Testament...

Refiner's Fire {my photography}

2010-04-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Some of my photography...

To see more of my photography click the "my photography" label below.

I'm a Sheep Too.

2010-04-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sheep,Goats and Wolves

2010-04-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

So I have been looking at the things that Jesus said after his victorious resurrection to prepare his disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit. In the last post we talked about Jesus being clear that he died for ALL mankind. That he forgave ALL mankind. That every man has a contract signed with the blood of Jesus that now awaits the agreeing signature. We discussed how Jesus told his disciples to do the same...FORGIVE!{John 20:21-23} That especially now given the power of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to both bind and loose. We should be binding no man that has already been forgiven. What we should be doing is feeding and tending. Feeding and tending who?

"He said to him, "Feed My lambs."...He said to him, "Tend My sheep."...Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep." John 21:15,16,17

This is a famous set of verses spoken to Peter by Jesus after the resurrection. John 21 tells us that one day the some of the disciples were all back doing what they had done before they met Jesus. They were fishing, but not catching any fish. So a man{Jesus} yells from shore to cast on the other side. They caught a huge net full of fish and the net didn't even break. {Remember when they first met Jesus did the same thing but the net broke}. Anyways the men come to shore with their catch and there is Jesus with a fire going, bread and fish already cooking. See Jesus didn't need their fish to eat, but he needed them to catch for themselves. He told them to bring the fish that they had caught to the table as well. Then the famous conversation between Jesus and Peter. Three times he asks Peter if he loved him. Just as the three times that Peter had denied. So Jesus said if you love me then this is what you are to do...feed and tend my lambs and sheep.

Now I think it is hilarious that there are Christians out there who think that these verses only pertain to the church. That anytime it talks about sheep that means Christians. First of all when they were spoken to Peter there was no church and there were no Christians. For all intents and purposes all mankind was on an even playing field. All mankind had just been bought by the blood of Jesus. So now the job for the disciples was to tend and feed all mankind to bring them into relationship with the Shepherd and teach them to follow his voice. To act as shepherds on behalf of the Shepherd.

"As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." John 10:15-16

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd." Matt. 9:36

Now what I want to point out here is the Greek word translated as "sheep" in the New Testament and in both these verses. The word is probaton. This word has given me quite a challenge in the last couple of days. It would be easy if the definition in the Greek was simply "sheep" but in fact it isn't. According to the Greek Homeric Dictionary{non-christian} probaton means droves or flocks. According to the Liddell/Scott Greek-English Lexicon{non-christian} probaton means anything that walks forward, flocks of small livestock ie: sheep and goats or animals used for sacrifice. Now here is the definition according to Strong's Lexicon{christian}.

probaton πρόβατον G4263
1) any four footed, tame animal accustomed to graze, small cattle (opposed to large cattle, horses, etc.), most commonly a sheep or a goat

a) a sheep, and so always in the NT

What I would like to know is why it is ALWAYS sheep in the New Testament and how do we know that. {If anyone knows ancient Greek please comment!} Because if probaton can mean both sheep and goats that totally changes the verses. Now it is also well known that sheep and goats were usually herded together. Both in the Hebrew culture and the Greek culture. BTW all of the pictures in this post are of sheep and goats together.

"Be diligent to know the state of your flocks{sheep & goats}, And attend to your herds...The lambs will provide your clothing, And the goats the price of a field; You shall have enough goats' milk for your food, For the food of your household, And the nourishment of your maidservants." Proverbs 23:26-27

Now, if probaton means both goats and sheep we need to be tending and feeding both goats and sheep! Just as Jesus was tending and feeding both goats and sheep. Meaning Christians and non-Christians both spiritually and physically. Tend means to minister. Minister means to attend to anything that may serve anothers interests. Feed means to provide and nourish. I have found no where in the new testament that we are to treat goats any differently than sheep. It is the wolves we are to fight not the goats.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." Matt. 7:15

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." Matt. 10:16

The wolves are the ones that seek to kill and destroy the probaton; the sheep and the goats. The wolves are the enemy, that is the Devil. We need to be protecting both the sheep and the goats from the wolves that would come to kill, steal and destroy. Fighting against injustice, poverty, disease and war. Remember folks our battle is not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers of the spirit realm {Eph. 5:12}

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly...But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep{probaton}, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep{probaton} and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep{probaton} and scatters them." John 10:10,12

In John 21 we were called to be shepherds to the probaton. This isn't just a call for pastors or missionaries. Jesus said "if you love me...feed my sheep". So if we claim to love God then we should be feeding and tending Christians and non-Christians, sheep and goats. We should be protecting both against the plans of injustice from the enemy. We should be ministering to open their ears and hearts to the voice of the good Shepherd. This was the call church! Not just to set up our own special clubs to sing and pat each other on the back each Sunday. Not just to gorge on the Word to the point that we are so fat that all we know how to do is get in theological arguments about it. Or so fat we can't even get up from the table and move the Word into application. The world is in desperate shape starving to death and being feed falsehood by wolves. Meanwhile the church is fighting about who the sheep and the goats are! I read yesterday how a shepherds could easily tell the difference between the sheep and the goats in their flock ...the goats always have their tail in the air and a sheep's tail always lays flat.

"All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left...For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Matt 25:32-33,42-46

Can we really call ourselves righteous or say that we love God if we do not do what He did? We must feed, tend, clothe, shelter, heal and protect both the sheep and the goats spiritually and physically. Be a witness to the goats not a hindrance. We must stop fighting the goats and start fighting the wolves; meaning the devil. If we keep walking around with our tails in the air thinking we are better than or more righteous than or just can't be bothered, we are going to be mistaken for goats. Lay your down your tail and act like a sheep if you want to be counted as one. We must stop wasting time arguing who is the greatest. Instead we need to get as many goats as we can to lay down their tails too.

This isn't only about helping the poor, the needy and the widow. This is helping those who are lacking in anything. This is about helping the stranger, meaning anyone that is different than you. Anyone of a different religion, theological background or doctrine. Anyone from a different country. Anyone with different gender than you or sexual identity than you. This is about helping the imprisoned, not just those in jail. Those that are bound with the chains of adicction to drugs, sex and gambling. The naked being anyone that is laid bare spiritually. So basically EVERYONE on the planet! Be a witness and testify the love and goodness of the Shepherd that ministered, nourished and layed down His life for the probaton. Jesus asked us to take it from there and lead as many as we could in through the correct gate. Getting through the gate is only the beginning. We have responsibility to care for the flock of ALL the sheep and goats. For if we don't, who will?

Forgiven

2010-04-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

"Truly I say to you, that all the sins shall be forgiven to the sons of men, and evil speakings with which they might speak evil, but whoever may speak evil in regard to the Holy Spirit hath not forgiveness..." Mark 3:28-29

These were the words of Jesus prior to what he accomplished on the cross. "It is finished" or "completed" or "accomplished" or "fulfilled" were the words that he spoke on the cross just before he gave up his spirit. I believe that Christ's death on the cross was for all mankind. I believe that he stood in as sacrifice for all mankind. Jesus was sent to die not to satisfy the justice of God, but to satisfy the death wish the enemy has for all mankind. He took our place so we wouldn't have to suffer and die as he did. Therefore the justice of God is grace. That by His blood any man may have forgiveness of sin and everlasting life. For Jesus even said that he came not to judge the world but to save it!{Jn 12:47} The only judgement ever given by God{in the OT} was exile and separation. Death and disease etc was the judgement of the enemy{the devil}. On the cross Jesus opened the door so that no one had to be separated, both during our time on earth and for eternity. He paid the price for every mans freedom once and for all. That door remains open so that anyone who chooses to walk through may do so. Final judgement is only up to God and will not come until we enter eternity. I have a feeling he will be far more gracious than any human on the planet!

{After the Resurrection} Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." John 20:21-23

Now, we know for sure that this verse does not mean that any man can absolve any other man of sin; only the blood of Jesus can do that. So what does it mean? Well I think in light of the verse above it means FORGIVE! In light of the verse above we know that Jesus forgave all mankind their sin on the cross. The atonement for all mankind's sin lays waiting for them, but each man must choose to accept it. Each man must agree for himself that the only way to the Father is through Jesus. But that doesn't mean that those who haven't accepted it aren't forgiven. That is to say, a contract has been drawn up for every man and has been signed with the blood of Jesus. Now every contract awaits the agreeing signature of each man.

I think what Jesus was saying to his disciples as a precursor to "the great commission" was "Don't tear up any of the contracts I have just signed with my blood." He was being sure to tell his disciples before he sent them into the world to do the same that he had just done. That was to forgive and show grace. Notice the impartation of the Holy Spirit to help them swallow this difficult command. The word forgive in this verse is the Greek word aphiemi which means "let it go", "give up a debt" or "not to hinder". Retaining a man's sin is unforgiveness, it is a hindrance and it is a sin in it's own right. It plays into the Devil's hand of destruction for that person and for you. In fact the word retain {in the above verse} is krateo in the Greek. Krateo means "to take hold of" or "to seize". This was not what Jesus was calling his disciples to do. In doing so you revoke what Christ already paid for that person. Are you sure you want to mess with that!?! I don't think so. Remember whatever you bind on earth will be bound in the heavens and likewise whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in the heavens {Matt 16:19}.

So given that we have just celebrated the awesome sacrifice and forgiveness of Jesus on the cross; lets remember to do unto others the same that has been done for us. Jesus was getting ready to send these disciples out to get "contracts" signed. He was sending them out to be a testimony of Himself, that is Jesus. He was sending them out to be a testimony of the Holy Spirit, that is the fruits of the Spirit. He was sending them out to bind up broken hearts, to heal and to set people free. He was not sending them out to judge or to be a hindrance. He was not sending them out to take hold of men by the neck and damn them to hell. This attitude will never be a witness of the cross because that is not what Jesus did on the cross. We are forgiven! At the very least we can give others the same grace that Jesus gave us, both within the church and outside of it. Jesus said to the disciples "Follow me" both before the crucifixion and after the resurrection. Meaning do as I did and now do as I do. Who are you following?

Defeated!

2010-04-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

Victory Over Death

2010-04-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

"And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades." Revelation 1:17-18

{keys κλείς kleis} {of death θάνατος thanatos} {and of Hades ᾅδης hadēs}

What are the keys of Death and Hades? How would the people of the Greco-Roman world understood what this verse said? I believe they would have taken this very literally and assumed that Jesus did in fact descend to the underworld as they knew it. I believe they would have had understanding of what this meant from a spiritual warfare point of view. I believe they would have assumed this verse meant that Jesus actually fought and won the keys in the underworld. The Greco-Roman world had an acute understanding of "who" held power in the underworld. I want to share with you a few of the principle characters, namely Thanatos, Hecate, Hades and Persephone.

I believe the people of that time would have been keenly aware of what Jesus had accomplished by stating that he had "the keys of Death and Hades". What a wonderful testimony of the power of the cross, resurrection and life everlasting. What hope for people to know then and now that Jesus holds their lives in the justice of the cross and no longer in the curse and injustice of these gods{the Devil}. That no man will enter the realm of Hades without going through Jesus first. He now decides in grace and perfect justice.

Thanatos is the Greek word for death. But in Greek mythology Thanatos was an actual god that was the personification of death. He was usually depicted with wings and a sacrificial sword{see picture above} and was the priest of Hades. Looks a little familiar doesn't he? The angel of Death, that is the Devil. The picture is from a relief that was in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

The temple of Artemis also had a special area dedicated to the goddess Hecate. Hecate was the Greek goddess of ghosts, spirits and the crossroads. She was usually depicted as threefold or as three women{see the picture}. Each held a torch in one hand, and a snake, rope and key in the other. So this would have been one of the keys to the underworld since she was at the crossroads of the physical world and the spirit world. One of her titles was Klêidouchos (holding the keys). It is thought that Hecate comes from one of the Greek words for "the will" and was most often associated with dogs.

Hades god of the underworld had a three-headed guard dog name Cerubus that is thought to be Hecate herself. Hades means "unseen one" and most ancient Greeks were afraid to even speak his name. Hades was a god and a realm. It was known of Hades that no alive person could enter through the gates and no dead person could leave. That is until the cross!

"Zeus Khthonios (of the Underworld) [Haides], thy sacred ear incline, and pleased accept these sacred rites divine. Earth’s keys to thee, illustrious king, belong, its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong. ‘Tis thine abundant annual fruits to bear, for needy mortals are thy constant care. To thee, great king, all sovereign earth assigned, the seat of gods and basis of mankind." Orphic Hymn 18

One of the most famous stories of Hades is his abduction of Persephone. The innocent daughter of the fertility goddess Demeter. Hades captured her, took her to the underworld and raped her; making the world barren {human & creation}. Thus she became queen of the underworld. Demeter fought for the release of her daughter. Since Zeus could no longer stand the barren earth he agreed to release her only if she hadn't eaten any food in the underworld. Unfortunately Persephone had eaten; pomegranate seeds {a known abortive agent of ancient times.} Maybe because of the rape? So Zeus decreed that she would have to spend four months of the year in Hades, hence the barren months of the earth.

One of the most widespread festivals of the Greco-Roman world was called Thesmophoria. This fertility festival was in honor of Demeter and Persephone. Two of the main rites of this "fertility" festival was for woman to abstain from sex and only eat pomegranate seeds to identify with the barrenness of Persephone. So with all that said let's read the verse again.

"And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades." Revelation 1:17-18

Now why am I telling you all this mythology stuff on Easter Sunday? Because I want you to get a spiritual warfare understanding of what the cross and resurrection accomplished! Mythology is an excellent reference to see the strategy of the enemy. Imagine being an ancient Greek person and hearing the above verse. They would have known immediately what that meant on a spiritual level. This wasn't an "Oh good now I get to go to heaven" this was an understanding of the battle that had been fought and won by this man Jesus over the powers of darkness. This meant no more fear of death, no more fear of unjust judgment at death, no more fear of barrenness, no more fear of fate, no more fear of fear! It is important to see that what Jesus accomplished on the cross was a spiritual victory over the powers that be. Not a battle against flesh and blood. To the Gentile world this would have had an even greater affect since it was the "powers that be" that they feared.

Jesus walked into the realm of Hades ALIVE, Thanatos{Death} could not hold him. He left Hades ALIVE and stripped of it's power over death and eternal life. Jesus holds the keys of the crossroads, Jesus holds the keys to justice, Jesus holds the keys to eternal LIFE. Jesus is God above all and Victor overall. The battle still rages but the VICTORY is won. So now that you know who you are battling...FIGHT. There is a spiritual power in the blood of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. Use it and be VICTORIOUS while we are still here. Use it to bring freedom to those still suffering.

Freedom

2010-04-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

Good Friday

2010-04-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

"I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly...

I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd....

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father." John 10:9,10,14-18

"And they brought him to the place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull)." Mark 15:22

Golgotha is from the old testament Aramaic word gulgoleth meaning head count, census or poll, hence the word "skull". It was used when individuals from a nation were to be numbered and counted. How fitting that Jesus was crucified on a hill that all mankind might be taken into account.

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his

wounds we are healed."

Isaiah 53:5

Thank you Jesus for saving me. Thank you Jesus for healing me by your blood. Thank you Jesus for forgetting all my sin. Thank you Jesus for giving me a new life. Thank you Jesus for the cross.

Remember Me

2010-04-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Sin is the Punishment

2010-03-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick list as to where I get the idea that sin is the punishment in and of itself. A list of Hebrew words and their actual meanings that are translated as "punishment" in the King James Version. The number is the Strongs concordance reference number. So in your Bible it says punishment but in the Hebrew...well take a look...

Words translated as PUNISHMENT in your Bible

H8433 Towcheleth-correct, rebuke

H6486 Pequddah-care, custody, visitation

H6485 Paqad-to attend to, to visit

H5352 Naquah-to be empty, be clear, be free

H4148 Muwcar-instruct

H5771 'Avon- guilt. {seen in the bible as the phrase "punishment of their iniquity" it is really just this one word in the Hebrew. See below}

H7725 Shuwb-turn back {seen in the KJV as the phrase "will not revoke its punishment" or in the NIV as the phrase "will not turn back my wrath". In the Hebrew just the one word.}

H7561 Rasha-wicked

H2403 Chatta'ath-sin

Words translated as PUNISHED in your Bible

H2820 Chasak-withhold, restrain, hold back

H5358 Naqam-to avenge

H6064 'Anash-to fine{money}

H6485 Paqad-to attend to, to visit

Words translated as SIN in your Bible

H2401 Chata'ah

H2399 Chet

H2403 Chatta'ath

H2398 Chata{this is the root word for all three others} meaning miss the goal or mark, to wander from the way or path.

Words translated as INIQUITY{usually sinful or wicked in the NIV}in your Bible

H205 'Aven-trouble

H5771 'Avon-guilt{most often used}
from the root H5753 'Avah-bent, twisted, distorted, perverted, amiss

H5766 'Evel-injustice

In the Old Testament God either allowed the punishment of the sin in and of itself to take its course or He showed up got them to turn from their sin {repent}and prevented the punishment of their choice in sin. The choice was always up to the people. Choose Me & life{which is God's plan} or sin & desolation{which is always the plan of the enemy}. Sacrifice was blood to placate the Devil not God. Death, destruction and disease was and is never the plan of God. God longs only to bind up and heal the wounds inflicted by the enemy.

"Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil. Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. " Is. 1:5-7

"For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?" Jer 8:21-22

GOD DID NOT CURSE EVE

2010-03-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

So over the past couple of months we have been talking a lot about the roll of women in the Bible and in ancient mythology. I find myself always going back to Genesis to look at what exactly happened there. There are still things I am trying to figure out. I have talked a bit about the fact that God did NOT curse Eve. {He only cursed the devil}I've talked about the Sumerian goddess Inanna and the myth of her garden tree. Now I want to put everything all together. I'm not totally sure on all my thoughts but really just thinking out loud and working some ideas out. As we approach good Friday I think it is important to see what Jesus accomplished and fulfilled on the cross in regards to women. So here are my latest thoughts on the subject.

In my research yesterday I came across a woman named Katharine Bushnell. She was a bible scholar, doctor and missionary in China in the early 1900s. She helped translate the Bible into Chinese{Mandarin or Cantonese; I'm not sure}. She has come across several interesting findings that co-inside with what we have been discussing. I have just begun to uncover her writings. So far I am in agreement with what she has to say about what happened in Eden and especially the mistranslation of Genesis 3:16. Which we will get to in a moment.

First let's recap some of the things that we have discussed in the other posts on Eden. I think that Eve was the one tempted by the Devil because of her dominion and her ability to bring forth life. I also believe that Eve could see in the spirit differently than Adam. This could of been part of how she was to "help" Adam, just as the Spirit a "helper" of God and those that yield to him. It's curious that Adam never mentions the serpent and I think that is because he couldn't see him. Notice it wasn't until after Adam ate the fruit that "both their eyes were opened" maybe Eve's eyes already were.

After sinning God first addresses Adam since it was his responsibility to tell Eve not to eat from the tree. That command had been given to Adam before Eve was made. The words of Eve about the command in Gen 3:2 sound a little mixed up, so it must have been Adam's incorrect interpretation. Since he was the one that would have told her the command. After they sin Eve tells God exactly what happened;that she was deceived by the serpent {the Devil} and disobeyed God. In this way she repents for her wrong choice. Notice Adam does not "repent" or tell the whole truth. He doesn't even mention the serpent, he just blames it all on Eve and God for giving him "the woman". Again giving Adam the benefit of the doubt, maybe he could not see the serpent. Now lets take a closer look at what happens to Eve and some of the mistranslation of the verses.

"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;..." Gen 3:16a {KJV}

"To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth;..." Gen 3:16 {BBE}

First of all the Basic English Bible is correct in not including the "I". The "I" is not in the Hebrew. God did not curse Eve or Adam for that matter. The only thing God "did" was towards the Devil.

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 3:14-15

Genesis 3:16-19 are the curses of the Devil not of God. These are the consequences of sin=death. Sin is the punishment. OK? Now let's look at Gen 3:16a a little closer.

el- 413 toהָאִשָּׁ֣ה ha·'i·shah 802 the woman
אָמַ֗ר a·mar 559 saidהַרְבָּ֤ה har·bah 7235 will greatly
אַרְבֶּה֙ ar·beh 7235 multiplyעִצְּבֹונֵ֣ךְ i·tze·vo·v·nech 6093 your pain
וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ ve·he·ro·nech, 2032 childbirth
בְּעֶ֖צֶב be·'e·tzev 6089 painתֵּֽלְדִ֣י te·le·di 3205 will bring
בָנִ֑ים va·nim; 1121 children{Hebrew Transliteration with Strong's Numbers}

Notice again no "I". God is not saying "I" am doing this. He is simply telling Eve this is what is going to happen as a result of your bad choice. So the consequence for sin is NOT God's plan it is the Devil's plan. This is happening to Eve because the Devil is pissed at Eve! Why is the Devil so pissed? Because Eve was brought back from his side to the side of God. "I will put enmity between you and the woman". Moreover it is through the woman that the Devil will be defeated. So really in Gen 3:15 God is saying "Devil, this is what will happen to you by the woman" and Gen 3:16 "Eve, this is what will happen to you by retaliation of the Devil." Because really why would God tell of the wonderful prophecy of Jesus that the woman will bring about, then tell her "but I'm going to cripple you in pain for it". That is not loving and that is not God! That is however a destructive, pissed off Devil that has made war against the women ever since this episode in the garden. {Rev. 12:13-17}

Now I want to show you the insight that I gained from Katherine Bushnell on these verses. Look again at the Hebrew words in Gen. 3:16a.

el- 413 to
הָאִשָּׁ֣ה ha·'i·shah 802 the woman
אָמַ֗ר a·mar 559 said
הַרְבָּ֤ה har·bah 7235 will greatly
אַרְבֶּה֙ ar·beh 7235 multiply
עִצְּבֹונֵ֣ךְ i·tze·vo·v·nech 6093 your pain
{Hebrew Transliteration}

See the words harbah and arbeh. They are given the same Strongs # 7235 but they are two different words. Harbah #7235 means become great, multiply. Arbeh is actually #697 meaning swarm of locust and is a root word of harbah. But what Katherine Bushnell proposes is that the word arbeh should really be 'arab #693 meaning ambush, lie in wait, lurk. Here is the explanation from Pat Joyce on Ms. Bushnell's findings. To read the whole article click here.

"The translation of five words or phrases in this verse should be questioned. They are shown in bold. Let's start with the phrase, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow . . .”

In the explanation below, Upper case represents the original Hebrew letter. Lower case represents vowel signs, which are a relatively recent invention added to make the language easier to read. Remember, if you read the original Hebrew, there are no vowel signs.
Bushnell holds that the first section should be translated “a snare has increased your sorrow . . ." She gets “snare” from the Hebrew word ARB (ARB) translated “ambush” and” liers in wait” or “in ambush” fourteen times in Joshua and Judges. The difference is between the two translations given below is only in the vowel signs.

HaRBeh, AaRBeh, "multiplying I will multiply," which is usually translated as I will greatly multiply your sorrow and HiRBah AoReB, "has-caused-to multiply a lying-in-wait.” Remember that lyer-in wait can also be translated an ambush or snare" So it can be translated “a snare has increased your sorrow," or it is also possible to read here, "A lyer-in-wait (the subtle serpent) has increased your sorrow." Regardless it does not say that God is planning to greatly multiply her sorrow. It is falling for Satan’s snare that has put her in this place."Isn't that interesting! So not only does that confirm to me that God was not saying "I am the one cursing you" it gives a great reference point as to what we found in the myths of Inanna. Click here and here. It was the child-killing demon Lilitu that made her nest in the tree of Inanna. Just as the devil made his nest in the tree in the garden. The devil had set up the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as an ambush to get dominion and control of the seed. Remember in the myth of Inanna she made her throne{power} and her bed{seed} in the tree. When Eve repented and didn't go along with the devils plan he was pissed and subsequently created his own goddess. He cursed woman for it! {Read all the "goddess" posts}.

I love the fact that Eve means "life or living". Adam gives her this name just before they leave the garden "because she was the mother of all living". Maybe this Adam's way of saying sorry to Eve for blaming her in the whole fiasco. She will be the one that delivers him from death via the birth of the Savior. Adam walks out of the garden with the curse of death on his shoulders and Eve walks out with the promise of Life. Notice God never kicks Eve out of the garden {Gen 3:23-24} It is man that is driven out "to work the ground from which he was taken" and to which he will return. But Eve knows that if she is to fulfill the prophecy she needs Adam and Adam needs her. Eve honors God and her husband and so leaves paradise to fulfill her call; to bring life in the physical and to help man see life in the spiritual.

To be continued....

DON'T Be An Ass...but DO Let Jesus Use You.

2010-03-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

Even the Rocks Cry Out

2010-03-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” Matt 21:5

"As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: "BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!..."

"Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace!..." Luke 19:37-42a

Don't be silent and cause the stones to cry out in your place!

Tear Down the Wall

2010-03-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

{illustrations by William Blake}

{God said that this was "very good" but the enemy had something else in mind. Both the man and woman traded this truth for a lie. But God would not allow what he had created as "very good" to be destroyed. He looked to redemption for the relationship of the man and the woman.}

{As a result the enemy cursed the "very good" relationship between the man and the woman. But in response God put emnity between the Devil and the woman. However the damage was done and man put emnity between himself and the woman.}

"Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem..." Galatians 4:3-4

{The woman fulfilled her call to redemption at the cross. Her seed struck the head of the enemy to redeem all mankind. And Jesus willingly laid down his life not only to tear down the dividing wall of hostility between God and mankind, but also the dividing wall of hostility between man and woman. It was finished in the eyes of God. But the devil has waged war against the woman for the cross. Are you still waging war against her for the garden tree?}

Jesus and Gender

2010-03-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

As I was reading through the gospels the other day looking for how Jesus related to women I was struck by two sets of verses. They are verses that I had read many times before but this time saw in a different light in regards to gender and how God relates to his people. Moreover the groundwork that Jesus was laying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts. For it is through the Spirit that man and woman become one and equal in Christ.

"Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. 12:47-50

"And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." Luke 8:21

I find it very interesting that Jesus spoke these words after he had been talking about the Devil and spiritual warfare. It where he says "every house divided can not stand"{Matt.12:25}. I have always read these verses to mean that God should be the most important. God should be number one in your life even above your family. And I think that is true. But this time when I read these verses again I heard Jesus speaking out against inequality in gender. Jesus was saying "Be One!".

In the body of Christ there should be no divisions. In the body of Christ male isn't above the female. In the body of Christ female is not above male. In the body of Christ male and female are equal! Not that we just both get to go to heaven. God's kingdom on earth should be as it is in heaven. We should be equal in our relation to one another so that we can be unified in our reaching out to the lost. We are both heirs{male} and we are both the bride{female}. This was ground breaking for the times. This shouldn't need to be ground breaking 2000 years later.

Yet there is still so much gender division in the body of Christ. And I believe that is part of the reason why we are not standing as a light to the lost; both male and female. Only having respect for women is not the same as seeing them as equal. People are finding their equality in places other than the church. That is sad indeed! This is part of the huge swell of women being drawn to Wicca and the goddess worship we have discussed in other posts. The church should be the cornerstone of justice and equality of women, not the goddess. The church should be filling the hunger of these women to be healers, prophets and purveyors of the supernatural; not the goddess.

I think part of the reason for that division is that the some of the church is still relating to only God the Father and Jesus his Son as a male driven faith. We have discussed a bit about the masculine and feminine functions of God. God needed to function as a Father in the old testament to create a nation. Jesus needed to function as a Son in the gospels to bring reconciliation between us and the Father. But Jesus was also the bridge that introduced us to the Spirit. I think it is so awesome that one of the first times he speaks of the Spirit is to a woman. And these are the other verses I saw quite differently the other day.

"Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from [His] journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink...

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans...

The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly...

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know...

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God [is] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:6,7,9,17,18,21-24

Usually when we think of the woman at the well we think of a sinful woman who had trouble keeping just one husband. She is Samaritan which means she probably knew of the goddess Inanna {click here for that post}. She is used to relationships without intimacy. She is used to taking orders from men. She is used to being used by men. She is defensive at the fact that this man {Jesus} is approaching her and expecting him to make a crass one-liner. She is used to seeking approval from men sexually. She is there at the well in the heat of the day so she won't run into any of the "other" women. So Jesus not being your typical man gives a beautiful analogy of how those who drink living water will thirst no more. But look a little closer and you will see Jesus explain something very needed in our society today.

He tells this woman who has a hard time relating to men "a time is coming when we will worship the Father in spirit...God is a spirit" Why was it important to tell her that? Because this woman who had been so wounded by men could not relate to a patriarchal God. And what Jesus was saying is that you don't have to. God is not a man, God is a spirit. Not only that he is a spirit but that we "MUST worship Him in spirit and truth." See how the Holy Spirit is the inclusion of the female aspect? So does this mean we don't worship the Father or the Son? No! What it means is that we worship all three in one. The masculine and the feminine. And isn't it interesting that those that don't walk in the Spirit are still driven by the patriarchal law and are legalistic. Those that don't include the Spirit are the ones the don't include the equal status of women. Are we no different that our Muslim and Jewish bothers? Are we are still going around looking down on the fact that women can't be circumcised in the flesh! That is craziness! That is cutting the Spirit out of the Trinity.

We need to worship in Spirit folks. When we don't do this the church operates with one hand tied behind it's back. We loose effectiveness and correct testimony. Untie the hands of the women and see the Spirit move. Un-gag the mouth of the woman and hear the Spirit speak. Release the woman and see the Spirit released. When we don't do this we bind women to the law that a man named Jesus fulfilled and crushed. Jesus did not begin His ministry without the Holy Spirit. Hold told his followers{including women} to not begin their ministry without the Holy Spirit. So they waited together in one accord man and woman to be joined in the Holy Spirit. That was the power of the church unified!

Feminine Spirit of the Gospels

2010-03-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is just a list of some verses from the gospels of women who who could perceive the Spirit before the outpouring in Acts. I think it is so cool to see that women were already sensitive to the Spirit and moreover that the authors of the gospels mention them. These women were facilitating and acting in a Spirit of wisdom that should inspire all of us.

An angel appears to Zechariah to tell him he and Elizabeth will have a son. Zechariah questions the Lord, but Elizabeth believes.

"Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on [me], to take away my reproach among men." Luke 1:25

I am sure it is this attitude that had to do with the Lord choosing Mary to be the mother of our Savior.

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47
Anna, a prophetess at the temple, Recognises Jesus as Savior even though he is only a few days old.

"Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem." Luke 2:38

This woman knew Jesus was not like the other rabbis and would not think her "unclean" for her blood issue.

"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years...When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole." Mark 5:27,28

The rejected Canaanite women is not too proud to beg even for the crumbs of Jesus. She had a hunger even though she was rejected. Jesus honored her by saving her daughter.

"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, [thou] Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us...But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Matt. 15:22,26-27

A women in the crowd seems to have total understanding of Jesus' discussion the devil and casting out demons. She is the only one who speaks out.

"And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" Luke 11:27

Herod's wife fears the "supernatural power" given to Jesus by John the Baptist. Herod is afraid to get involved. Herodias demands his head. Tell me she wasn't in tune with the spirit realm even though on the wrong side.

"And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger." Matt. 14:8

Jesus compares the coming of the permanent indwelling of the Spirit with women giving birth.

"A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." John 16:21

Two different women on two different occasions anoint Jesus. Once on the head, the other time on the feet. In the original Greek text in both these verses "spikenard" is two words. Nardos being the herb and pistikos meaning "power of persuading" or "one that can be relied on". Spikenard was used in the ancient world as a perfume but also as a stress reliever or to calm headaches. See how a woman's "power of persuading" is a spirit connection. It can be used for good or bad. In this case deep called to deep and the women knew the Spirit of Jesus and what he needed.

"And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured [it] on his head." Mark 14:3

"Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment." John 12:3

Even Pilate's wife can sense in the spirit who Jesus was. But her husband fears the people.

"While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” Matt. 27:19

It is a woman that Peter first denies Jesus to.

"And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, 'This man was also with Him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not." Luke 22:56-57

While most of the disciples were hiding in fear. The women ministered to Jesus at the cross just as they had through his entire ministry. Interceding for him and sowing in tears.

"And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children." Matt 27:55-56

"In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there." Mark 15:41"And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him." Luke 23:27

The women help Joseph of Arimathaea prepare Jesus' body for the tomb.

"And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid...And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments;" Luke 23:53,55-56

The women are the first at the tomb and have no trouble believing that he has risen!

"And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him...And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here..." Mark 16:1,6

"And as they{the women} went to tell His disciples,behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him." Matt 28:9"But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense." Luke 24:11

What an awesome example are these women! More on this next...

Male & Female Function of God

2010-03-22T13:56:00.001-07:00

Continuing from the last post{click here} we are discussing the male and female aspects of God. Not that God is part male and part female; God is a spirit. But God can and does function as both male and female. The male function tending to be through God the Father and Jesus His son; the female function being through the the Holy Spirit. We don't need the bible to make God neuter in order to see this. Any thought that the Bible needs to refer to God as an "it" instead of a "he" is silly and at the very least impersonal. God is a personal God and he personally functions as both male and female. I want to draw out these functions to give women especially a sense of who they are and who they can be in God.

On that same note we don't need the Bible to be neuter when referring to mankind either. The Bible is the word of God to his people, not just men and not just women. So if you come across verses that seem to be just talking to "men" don't think that you can glean from it as a woman. Same goes for the opposite. God tells us that male and female are mankind. So read His word as such.

"He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them Adam {mankind}." Genesis 5:2

Women were equally created in the image and likeness of God but have seemed to be but a shadow among their male counterparts through history. {We have discussed much of this in the last several posts}. So for a quick review lets look how it all started.

"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness and let them have dominion"...So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
Genesis 1:26-27

"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Genesis 2:18

So we have the Trinity creating male and female in their image and giving them both dominion. Eve is created after Adam as a "help meet". The Hebrew word for "help meet" is 'ezer which is better translated counterpart. Robert Alter notes in his commentary " 'Help' is too weak because it suggests a merely auxiliary function, whereas 'ezer elsewhere connotes active intervention on behalf of someone..." In fact this same word is used quite a few time in the book of Psalms{33:20, 70:5, 115:9, 124:8} to describe the "help" of the Lord. So with that said who comes to mind in the Trinity that is the "Helper"?

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." John 15:26

Right, the Holy Spirit. The word in the Greek is parakletos which means called to one's aid, comforter or advocate. So this is sort of our starting point for the the male and female functions of God and how they apply to us as men and women. Showing that the function of a woman is no less important than the function of the Holy Spirit. Even though the old testament seems to be overrun by masculine symbolism I would like to show you that the feminine was always close at hand working as a comforter, facilitator and sustainer. The beauty is how they complement each other, just as the Trinity does and just how we should.

The old testament seems to be very male dominant and in a way it is. God the was creating a nation through father Abraham. The kings of this nation were male, the priests of this nation were male and most of the prophets of this nation were male. Reading the old testament it seems that the women sort of get lost in the mix. Also interesting to note, there is not much mention of the Holy Spirit. What we see most of was God and man both functioning as the originator or the head of what was being created; a nation, a priesthood, a Savior. But likewise the female function was that of being the facilitator. Eve's name means "mother of all living". So while God as Father functioned as originator, head and leader the feminine Holy Spirit functioned as facilitator, life-giver from the womb and nurturer. Though often times in the old testament "God three in one" functions as both.

"A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation." Ps 68:5

"For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights." Prov 3:12

"Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever." Ps 131:2-3

"But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days." Ex 23:25-26

One of the most awesome workings of the masculine and feminine together in the old testament in when the tabernacle was built. This was one of the few times that the Holy Spirit was poured out on both men and women as sort of a precursor to Pentecost. It is also cool to see the symbolism of what was in the tabernacle when looking at the gender of the Hebrew words. Male and female both.

"Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD's offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments...All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats' hair...He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver--those who do every work and those who design artistic works." Ex 35:21,25-26,35

"And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom{feminine}, in understanding{masculine}, in knowledge{masculine/feminine}, and in all manner of workmanship{feminine}..." Ex 31:3

"And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud {masculine}to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire {feminine} to give them light, so as to go by day and night." Ex 13:21

Isn't it cool to see it side by side like that? You can really see how the Holy Spirit was involved. The other key symbolism's of the Holy Spirit in the old testament were FIRE, WATER, & OIL. All of which are feminine nouns in the Hebrew. BLOOD on the other hand is a masculine noun. I love how the the feminine wisdom and the masculine understanding is what brings knowledge for both the man and woman. Which again shows the God as the originator but the Holy Spirit as the facilitator, God as the provider but the Holy Spirit as the sustainer. Man and God was creating a nation but woman and the Holy Spirit were birthing a nation. God and man were king of the nation but the woman and the Holy Spirit gave birth to the king, they anointed him with life, they sustained him. The wife was the one that gave counsel to her husband who was king. We see very clearly in the old testament that sometimes it was Spirit lead counsel {for example Abigail} and sometimes it wasn't{for example Jezebel}.

So women should not feel left out when reading the old testament. We can see the close relation that they had to the Holy Spirit. This this was foundational to their perception of the Spirit in Jesus in the new testament. We will discuss that next...

{sorry if this post seems a little choppy. The kids are on school holiday so I have had to write a little at a time. :D}

God is NOT a Man, God is a Spirit

2010-03-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

So we have been talking about the goddess trough history and how the enemy has used to the goddess as a power and a comfort for women. We have discussed how through the ages that hasn't been hard to do since women have been faced by a largely misogynistic world or at the very least one that has been in large part run by men. Therefore women who have been hurt in this area have shied away from any association with a patriarchal God. And really who can blame them? But what needs to be clarified is that any hurt or fear that has come in the name of a patriarchal God is Not God, because God is not in the business of fear and hurting people.

So where does a woman find her place within a patriarchal faith? I have touched a bit on what God intended when he created the two sexes and how the enemy screwed that all up. How the enemy used what happened in Eden as a catalyst for his role as goddess and gender confusion through the ages. So now that we know that it is the enemy behind the goddess how can women find what they were searching for from the goddess in God? That is what I am in the process of trying to figure out. So I will share what I have come up with so far. Starting things off with one of the ten commandments from God.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath..." Exodus 20:4

Usually when we see this verse we think of demonic idols...at least I do. But notice God also says not to make an idol or likeness of anything in heavenly realms either. Why? Because God didn't want us to attach gender to any spiritual being of the heavenly realm or the demonic realm. Angels and demons do not have gender. And even though both male and female were created by God, God is not half male and half female. God is not all male or all female either. God transcends gender. However when mankind created idols{gods & goddesses} who did they look like; men and women. Why? Because the devil delights in screwing this whole thing up! He gets a kick out of taking the function of both man and God and creating dysfunction. Notice the pictures I have in this post. They are all "images" of god...including God, Zeus and Jupiter; hard to see the difference isn't it.

When we cross gods and goddesses with gender the enemy accomplishes a few things. 1} He gives mankind the impression that he can "be like God" meaning God is just a man or a woman. This slanders God and was part of the temptation in Eden. 2}The devil{no gender} gives himself the impression he can be like mankind{male or female} this slanders the image of God in us. BTW why does the devil want to be like man? Because through man the devil gains our dominion over the earth and power over our seed. Remember this was why the fertility cults were all the rage. But lets not forget the third option the devil uses. That is, having mankind believe he can "be like God" by way of transcending gender which slanders both who God created us to be and who God is Himself.

So in review...male and female can not be God and should not be worshiped as a god. The devil is a neuter spiritual being with no male or female capabilities nor the capability to create. God who transcends gender, created male and female in His likeness and image. Think of image and likeness as similitude meaning resemblance or a point of comparison. So while the anatomical make up as well as the physical functions of the male and female gender are out of the perfect and holy mind of God; God is neither male or female in form. What we are in physical form is a likeness to what God is in spiritual function. Therefore God can and does function as both male and female. Are you with me?

Now with that said I think that within the perfect trinity of God we can identify these functions. God the father and Jesus as a male function and the Holy Spirit as a female function. This is to help identify that both male and female are equally from the mind of God. What I want to show you is that through the entire Bible God was operating in both these roles. With one never being more important than the other. For there is no hierarchy within the trinity, they are one. It is in this same way God intended man and woman to function within their gender but in unity with one another, serving one another and ruling together. Part of the way I want to show you this in the next few posts is by looking at the gender used for particular words in the Hebrew and Greek. For example...

" And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2

When we look at the Hebrew word for God it is 'elohiym which is a plural masculine noun meaning God. The Hebrew word for Spirit is ruach which is a feminine noun meaning breath or spirit. So while I am no etymologist or ontologist I hope to show that most anything that has to do with the Spirit in the Bible is usually a "feminine" word. And that is where I hope to give women the female they are searching for in God. Not to worship God as a goddess but to be confident that within God is their source too.

Out of time for today...but much more to come on this subject so stay posted!

From Goddess to Witch

2010-03-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

So we have been discussing the time of the middle ages after the fall of the Roman Empire. Speaking in very general terms covering many years. We find that the church fathers had fallen into a fear of women's sexuality and closeness to the spirit realm. So if you were a woman in the church at that time{speaking in very general terms} you were kept close to home. Sex was only for procreation , if at all, as we know most catholics of the time were celibate. Woman had no role in the church and only learned of God what the men taught them which was most often skewed.

So during this time throughout we have a resurgence of pagan folklore sort of mixing with the old Greco-Roman pantheons. It was mostly woman who were involved in these practices and they became known as witches. We could spend a lot of time discussing all the evil practices, the witch hunts, the trials. But what I want to focus on is the scheme of the enemy and his arsonist firefighter trick. Once again he had created a misogynist oppression{this time within the church} then created a goddess to save them. What I find very interesting is that the principle goddess was Diana{Artemis}.

Remember Artemis/Diana was the goddess with the most disdain for men. She was the one that required virginity as a part of her worship of being subject to no man. We also found that much of the practice of infanticide in that time seemed to be loosely connected to her. Women would either consume or sit in baths of wormwood{artemisia vulgaris} to induce abortion. What changes about the goddess Diana/Artemis in the middle ages is that she is no longer a virgin. Given that the oppressive spirit of celibacy was already being taken care of by the church the devil used Diana to loose the chains of chastity or "procreation only" sex. But being the devil of course he didn't create a freedom of sexuality in a Godly sense but instead hearkened back to the damaging sexuality of blurred gender and lack of intimacy or relationship.

Many of the rites of "witchcraft" in the middle ages were no different of the ritual sex and sacred marriage of the fertility cults of the old and new testaments. With focus on goddess worship, human fertility, earth fertility, the use of herbal potions, and yielding to supernatural powers via sexual orgies or ecstatic intoxication with alcohol and drugs. In fact the notion of witches being able to fly came from such drug induced delusions.

"Have you believed or have you shared a superstition to which some wicked women claim to have given themselves, instruments of Satan, fooled by diabolical phantasms? During the night, with Diana, the pagan goddess, in the company of a crowd of other women, they ride the backs of animals, traversing great distances during the silence of the deep night, obeying Diana's orders as their mistress and putting themselves at her service during certain specified nights." Canon Episcopi 906AD

Now we could spend days looking over the varying degrees of witchcraft during the middle ages and the subsequent witch-hunts that ensued. A 'witch' could be defined as someone who simply rejected the church, or still practiced folk medicine, or had gotten pregnant outside of wedlock. On the other hand I do believe that there were varying degrees of darkness and that many 'witches' knowingly consorted with demonic powers. One major theme of that dark spirit seems to be that of abortion. Just as we learned with the other goddess cultures the enemy seems to twist the notion of feminine sexual freedom/fertility into the concept of right over the life of an unborn child. So while 'witches' became known for the beauty that is midwifery and bringing life into the world they were also known as the dark agents to extinguish that same beauty.

"Some go so far as to take potions, that they may insure barrenness, and thus murder human beings almost before their conception. Some, when they find themselves with child through their sin, use drugs to procure abortion, and when, as often happens, they die with their offspring..." Jerome Letters 22:13 {A.D. 396}

"Here is set forth the truth concerning four horrible crimes which devils commit against infants, both in the mother's womb and afterwards. And since the devils do these things through the medium of women, and not men, this form of homicide is associated rather with women than with men, And the following are the methods by which it is done." Malleus Maleficarum 1486AD

We could go on and on over the darkness of the middle ages that was both emitted from the church and from the new incarnation of the goddess. There is so much heaviness and sorrow during this time especially when it comes to women. There is tons of evidence on both the side of the church and the pagan witch for the damage that they did in destroying what a woman was meant to be in the eyes of God. What I want to show you is that during this time the scheme of the enemy didn't change. And from that time until this it hasn't changed either.

During the Victorian Era in 1899 Charles Godfrey Leland published a book called Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches. The goddess Aradia was the 'messianic' daughter of the goddess Diana/Artemis to bring the art of witchcraft to the next generation and to free them from the oppression of the age. Unfortunately once again woman of the Victorian Age did feel an oppression and so once again sought after the goddess. The church again fails to testify a God who values woman the same as the man. A God who longs for the restoration of intimacy and love in the lives of women. A God who longs to see women no only fulfill their roles of marriage and motherhood but also their roles as a powerful teachers, healers and missionaries of the faith.

Today Neopaganism{Wicca, Druidism, Shamanism, Occultism and New Age} is arguably the fastest growing religion boasting between 1-2.5 million members worldwide. Although because many practice on their own it is hard to get a solid number. Neopaganism has become particularly popular among young people given all the pop culture acceptance. There are also about three times as many women as their are men in the religion. Most popular to women being the "Goddess Wicca" which is still often called "Dianic Wicca" following many of the traditions that we have discussed. Why?

For the same reasons the goddess has survived through the millina. Women have been deeply wounded by men in the name of a patriarchal God. Women have been deeply wounded in the way of sexuality and intimacy. They have depraved of respect as wives, mothers or spiritual leaders. So they have sought their power supernaturally. They have have sought comfort in the arms of the goddess who hates God and men just the same. But in a quest to find their femininity they have been tricked by a neuter enemy. In a quest to find sexual fertility they have been tricked into sacrificing their gender and their offspring. In a quest to find power they have only found darkness disguised as light.

God is grieved at the treatment of his daughters. God longs to heal, he longs to bring life, and he longs to bestow power that no man or devil can take away. I really believe that women are called for a special purpose in the Spirit. Deep calls to deep and God is calling his daughters back to make war against the dragon. For it is only the woman coupled with the power of the Spirit that can destroy the goddess and fight for the return of true fertility in the land. Next...finding the 'woman' of God.

Slay the Woman Loose the Dragon

2010-03-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

Out of the wonderment and the power that was the very early church came a very angry dragon. The time of equal right and unity between men and women within the new faith was unfortunately short lived. The dragon had lost his hold over the woman and the huge polytheistic pantheons had begun to crumble. So the devil had to come up with a new way to revive the goddess and the catalyst came from within the church.

Remember how I discussed earlier that the woman seem to have a better perception of the spirit realm? I believe that is a gift that God gave woman that was intended to be coupled with mens strength of sober evaluation. So that together the perception of the woman and the evaluation of the man could produce proper judgement in situations. In Eden Eve could perceive the serpent but Adam was silent in his evaluation of the situation. Therefore proper judgment was not made. Maligned judgement of the situation lead to deception for both Adam and Eve.

Now we saw that the devil chose the woman not only because she was the one that bore the seed of man but also because of her spiritual perception. In this way the devil could use her for his spiritual deception via her sexuality and power of persuasion based in her spiritual sensitivity. This is how the role of the goddess flourished from the time of the Sumerian Inanna all the way through to the Greek goddesses like Artemis/Diana. What added fuel to the flame is that spiritual power was the only power that women were "allowed" to have in a man driven world. Then we saw how Jesus changed all that. The very early church was a spiritual power to be reckoned with because of the unity between men and women.

So the dragon let loose once again against women. But this time he created a fear of women from within the church. I believe the early "church fathers" were petrified of the power in the Spirit that a woman could wield. Instead of working along side that power they repressed it and in a way extinguished the Spirit from the church all together. Not only did they smote the spiritual fruit of woman they smote they physical fruit as well, by calling for a life of celibacy. Is it any wonder that this was the perfect catalyst for the enemy to draw woman away from the faith? To draw them back to the arms of the "loving" goddess that celebrated their sexuality and supernatural tendencies. I am confident that it is quotes like these that helped create the "witch" of the middle ages.

"You are the devil's gateway...you are the first deserter of the divine law; you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God's image, man. On account of your desert- that is, death- even the Son of God had to die." Tertullian{ 160-220AD}

"By herself woman is not of the image of God. The man, on the other hand, alone, is
the image of God." Saint Augustine{354-430AD}

"Woman is a temple built over a sewer. It is contrary to the order of nature and of
the law for women to speak in a gathering." Saint Jerome {347-420AD}

"As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active power of the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of a woman comes from defect in the active power." Thomas Aquinas {1225-1274}

"God created Adam master and lord of living creatures, but Eve spoilt all, when she persuaded him to set himself above God's will. 'Tis you women, with your tricks and artifices, that lead men into error." "There is no gown or garment that worse becomes a woman than when she would be wise." Martin Luther {1483-1546}

"It cannot be denied, but that the woman was created after the image of God, though in the second degree." "All women are born that they may acknowledge themselves as inferior to the male." John Calvin {1509-1564}

"Woman is more carnal than man….She always deceives….What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colors….To conclude, all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which in women is insatiable." Malleus Maleficarum {a treatise on witches written by the church in 1486}

And from a modern day non-Christian perspective...

"Christianity did not heal the wound to the image of woman caused by the literal reading or the story in Genesis 2 and 3. The inference that is that Adam was perfectly happy by himself in the Garden until Eve came along. With her appearance his troubles begin. As Luther put it, following a well established tradition, if the serpent had assailed Adam, then the victory would have been Adam's." The Myth of the Goddess, Baring & Cashford

Now I am not saying that the paganism of the middle ages was the fault of the church. I am not saying that women were forced into folkloric witchcraft because of the church. What I am saying is that the mistreatment of women within the early church had to have been a large reason for their leaving or never adhering to the faith in the first place. Women were drawn to the witchcraft of the middle ages for the same reasons they were drawn to the fertility cults of the old and new testaments. And again if the church would have been doing its job{that is presenting the gospel of Jesus as a freedom and unity for the sexes, as well as a life in the Spirit} I don't believe that folkloric witchcraft would have had the draw it did.

It is estimated that the church executed up to 300,000 witches during the middle ages{1480-1700AD}; most of whom were women. This was usually done by burning at the stake after having been tortured. So you could say that this was the end result of what the devil had intended for the spiritual and physical destruction of women. He used the goddesses Inanna and Ishtar to destroy their sexual intimacy. He used the goddess Cybele to destroy sexual identity. He used the goddess Artemis to destroy reproduction via required chastity and abortion. Then the devil used the early church to destroy the woman all together by putting her to death at the stake! Sad but true.

The woman who weren't burned at the stake were forced to take vows of celibacy thus riding themselves of any female characteristics or any hope to be a wife and a mother. While the Reformation allowed women the right to marriage and motherhood that was all they were allowed. Any hopes for a dynamic and powerful spiritual life was unheard of. So the women of the middle ages had the choice of servitude and silence in the church or "freedom" and supernatural power in folkloric witchcraft. With one you were dead spiritually and with the other the threat of physical death. All the while the devil was in a win-win situation for the bondage of women.

Now, before you think I am sounding too sympathetic as to what was happening in the ways of folkloric witchcraft let me tell you this...I only have sympathy to the bondage of woman wherever that may come from; I never have sympathy for the devil! But I think it is sad that when the church should have been a beacon of freedom for women it instead was a faint light leaving them to wander back into darkness. And who should be waiting for them? The new incarnation of Artemis herself, this time called "Diana-goddess of the pagan" and she has a bore a daughter named Aradia to teach witchcraft to the oppressed. More on her next...

Greek Myth of Pandora

2010-03-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

Before we move on I wanted to be sure to share one last Greek myth with you. You will see as we move into the time of the early church how this attitude towards woman was adopted by many a "church father". It was this attitude that fueled the fire while women were burned at the stake! If only these "fathers" had remembered the words of Paul to the Ephesians instead of seemingly ascribing to the paganist thought they were suppose to be rooting out! Again, you can not slay the dragon by killing the woman.

"For our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 5:12

The Greek Myth of the Mortal Pandora

"The gods keep hidden from men the means of life . . . Zeus in the anger of his heart hid it, because Prometheus the crafty deceived him; therefore he planned sorrow and mischief against men. He hid fire; but that the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men from Zeus the counsellor in a hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who delights in thunder did not see it. But afterwards Zeus who gathers the clouds said to him in anger : `Son of Iapetos, surpassing all in cunning, you are glad that you have outwitted me and stolen fire--a great plague to you yourself and to men that shall be. But I will give men as the price for fire an evil thing in which they may all be glad of heart while they embrace their own destruction.'

So said the father of men and gods, and laughed aloud. And he bade famous Hephaistos make haste and mix earth with water and to put in it the voice and strength of human kind, and fashion a sweet, lovely maiden-shape, like to the immortal goddesses in face; and Athene to teach her needlework and the weaving of the varied web; and golden Aphrodite to shed grace upon her head and cruel longing and cares that weary the limbs. And he charged Hermes the guide, the Slayer of Argus, to put in her a shameless mind and a deceitful nature. So he ordered.

And they obeyed the lord Zeus the son of Kronos. Forthwith the famous Lame God moulded clay in the likeness of a modest maid, as the son of Kronos purposed. And the goddess bright-eyed Athene girded and clothed her, and the divine Kharites (Graces) and queenly Peitho (Persuasion) put necklaces of gold upon her, and the rich-haired Horai (Seasons) crowned her head with spring flowers. And Pallas Athene bedecked her form with all manners of finery. Also the Guide, the Slayer of Argus [Hermes], contrived within her lies and crafty words and a deceitful nature at the will of loud thundering Zeus, and the Herald of the gods put speech in her. And he called this woman Pandora (All-Gifts), because all they who dwelt on Olympus gave each a gift, a plague to men who eat bread.

But when he had finished the sheer, hopeless snare, the Father sent glorious Argus-Slayer [Hermes], the swift messenger of the gods, to take it to Epimetheus[god of afterthought] as a gift. And Epimetheus did not think on what Prometheus had said to him, bidding him never take a gift of Olympian Zeus, but to send it back for fear it might prove to be something harmful to men. But he took the gift, and afterwards, when the evil thing was already his, he understood. For ere this the tribes of men lived on earth remote and free from ills (kakoi) and hard toil (ponoi) and heavy sickness (nosoi) which bring the Keres (Fates) upon men; for in misery men grow old quickly. But the woman took off the great lid of the jar (pithos) with her hands and scattered all these and her thought caused sorrow and mischief to men. Only Elpis (Hope) remained there in an unbreakable home within under the rim of the great jar, and did not fly out at the door..." Hesiod, Works & Days 54 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.)

Other quotes about Pandora

"And in her breast, the messenger, killer of Argos, created lies; deceiving words, a deceitful heart, just as Zeus with his angry mutterings had wished. Then the herald of the gods gave her the power of speech and the name of Pandora, because that name represented all the inhabitants of Olympus who, with this gift, made a present of misfortune to mankind." Hesiod, Theogony (circa 700BC)
"Pandora, donor of evil (kakodôros), man’s sorrow self-imposed." Euphorion of Chalcis, Fragments
"[Aion, Father Time, addresses Zeus :] `But, some may say, a medicine [Hope] has been planted to make long-suffering mortals forget their troubles, to save their lives. Would that Pandora had never opened the heavenly cover of that jar--she the sweet bane of mankind!'" Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. 7 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.)
All quotes from http://www.theoi.com/

Slay the Dragon Not the Woman

2010-03-16T03:31:00.000-07:00

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

I was going to try to avoid the verses in the new testament that have caused so much division in the church between men and woman. These verses have been re-hashed so many times you almost don't want to hear of them again! But because of what we have been discussing I find it necessary to visit a few of them. Many women have been deeply hurt by the way these verses have been taught. Which is a big indicator to me that they are not being taught correctly because God is not in the business of hurting people. I am hoping that you maybe see them in a different light putting them in context as to what type of women Paul was speaking to.

The words of Paul to women seem very harsh at times. But we have to remember that many of the people he was writing had never heard the gospel. The most common explanation is that the majority of the female coverts of the new testament church were prostitutes. It is true that prostitution was rampant throughout the Roman empire; both street and temple. They were always scantily clad, loaded with make-up, jewelry and spoke brazenly. Like most sexuality during that time there was an attitude of "anything goes". Sexuality was not an intimate male/female thing it was a ritualistic/hedonistic thing{as we have discussed in the other posts}. Infidelity, adultery, drugs and alcohol fueled the fire!

Now I want you to use your imagination and pretend you are a priestess of Artemis in Ephesus. You have sworn your virginity to her either from a young age or you have become a "virgin" because of your disdain for men. In fact some of your ritual sacrifices involve the blood cut from a man's neck. You have no children, you take no orders from men, you only spent time with other women of the same belief. You are a huntress like Artemis only answerable to yourself and willing to sacrifice whatever she asks. You believe that woman are spiritually superior. The only religion you know is that of Artemis/Diana and the corresponding Greco-Roman mythology in which the woman goddess Gaia created the earth and all the other principle deities. This is a very different woman than say the prostitute of Aphrodite.

So Paul had to give new understanding of the role of woman in this new religion. Sometimes he was speaking to a slave woman in rags and brokenness, sometimes a prostitute with lewd sexuality, sometimes a rich woman laden with gold jewelry and snobbery, sometimes a priestess who believed goddess created the universe. He had to bring all these women to the same level in Christ. If you read all the epistles it seems like Paul was contradicting himself on the roles of women; which tells me that he was speaking to specific situations within these baby churches. Let's look at some verses.

"For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived fell into transgression." 1Timothy 2:14

"Therefore just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." Romans 5:12

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."
1 Timothy 2:12

"Greet Andronicus{man} and Junias{woman} who have been in prison with me and are outstanding among the apostles{teachers}..." Romans 16:7

"In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God."
1 Corinthians 11:11

Can you see how he was saying different things to different people? To a woman who had been a slave her whole life she needed to be encouraged that she was allowed to pray and prophecy. On the other hand an ex-priestess in the town of Ephesus{to whom the Timothy letters are written} would need to be tempered a bit. She was needing to learn restraint in her new role.

Women who were rich needed to tone down their apparel as to not make the slave in rags feel inferior. In general men and women needed to revisit their Godly call to rule together without authority over one another. But instead to use the perception in the Spirit that a woman has and the sober evaluation that a man has to judge together what is the best and highest for one another. With that combination great and wondrous things happened!

Priscilla and Aquila were a perfect example of this. I love that in Greek Priscilla's name means "ancient" almost as if God is saying "this is the kind of woman I intended from the ancient times, from the time in Eden before things changed". Just as meaningful her husband Aquilas name means "eagle" which makes me think of the verse in Revelation...

"When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time...out of the serpent's reach." Revelation 12:13-14

This really gives a beautiful illustration of the role of the woman in the old testament. That while the enemy used the goddess fertility cults to weave his barrenness and lack of intimacy the woman of God were protected in the desert. I know at times it seems that the woman of the Israelites were so often quarantined for their "womanly functions" but it was for their protection from the enemy. The women of the old testament had to bring to pass the seed that would redeem the relationship between the sexes and between man and God. Jesus was the only one that could bring things back to how they were in the garden{man and woman with rule together}. So really you could say that the spiritual warfare of the Israelite woman was to be fruitful physically; that is to bear Godly seed. While the men fought physically.

With the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus that spiritual battle was won. So the new call of women was to not only be physically fruitful but spiritually as well. To battle the barrenness of souls that was caused by the lack of the Spirit in man. So in the new testament women were flocking to this "good news" that they could retain their womanhood and motherhood but also be mighty spiritual women of God that could act in power. That kind of power had only been available to pagan priestesses. But Paul was inspiring in the woman of the Greco-Roman world that they could have access to both in Christ. That is why through the epistles he encourages both marriage, sexuality and motherhood along with prophesying and being a apostle of Christ! That was unheard of up until then.

You had women/wives/mothers who could now move in the Spirit, and ex-priestesses who could become wives/mothers{along with using their sensitivity to the spirit realm for God and warfare}. You had prostitutes who found their identity in Christ and the equality that that brought them. They no longer had to devalue themselves for attention and love. I think as a whole it gave women in general a sense of self. That they were special and had wonderful things to offer apart from men but could also accomplish even more for the kingdom by working along side them as God intended.

As we all know this was a recipe for great things! Great moves of the Spirit, healing, new converts, releasing people from demons, so on and so on. This is part of what lead to the fall of the pagan Greco-Roman pantheon and the eventual declaration of a Christian Roman Empire by Constantine in about 325AD. I found a fantastic quote from an non-christian interview about the decline of the oracles at Delphi; as to why they faded out. You can read the entire interview here.

"So Delphi began to take a back seat. And in the time of the Roman Empire, although Emperors like Hadrian poured millions into the Delphic Oracle, and refurbishing its sanctuary, in that time the Pythia made a statement that was to cost Delphi very dear, when the Emperor Diocletian asked why the Oracular responses were weak, and the Oracle of Apollo replied that the Christians were interfering with the flow of divine power." John Hale

The very early church was at the very least a rebirth for woman and the roles that God intended them to have. I believe it was a time of great healing for woman. I believe it was a time of great spiritual freedom for women. To know that they didn't have to choose between being a wife/mom or being a woman of God. What great spiritual warriors the ex-priestesses must have made. To use their knowledge of the schemes of the enemy to now fight against him. To minister to the moms who may have sacrificed their children in abortion to the goddess that they had previously served. Or how about the ex-prostitutes teaching women{and men} Godly sexuality and intimacy. To see the numerous options in the church; to be teachers, apostles, missionaries. All the while keeping the God given femininity including marriage and motherhood. The woman of God had beaten the fertility goddess at her own game! Really to be quite honest if these opportunities weren't available in the "new religion" of Christianity there would have been no reason for the women of the Greco-Roman world to leave their lives of pagan priesthood, prostitution and high society. But that was what was different about this "new religion", although the enemy was not happy that his hold on women had been broken...

"Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring..." Revelation 12:17

Unfortunately part of this war came from within the church. The freedom of the Christian woman was short lived. The bondage of lifetime virginity, repression of the feminine, lack of the Spirit, and silence in the church began to rear its ugly head. The enemy took full opportunity to create a new goddess and new followers were not hard to come by. Only this time they wouldn't be called a priestess, they would be called a witches. And so the hunt was on...

Power of the Goddess

2010-03-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

So we have been discussing the word of the goddess through the old and new testament. I find it so interesting that in the way of "fertility goddesses" we went from Inanna and Ishtar whose temple practices involved copious amounts of sexual activity, a generous blurring of the lines between genders, and the consecration of any virginity or loss there of to the goddess herself.

As we moved into the new testament we have the goddess Cybele who still requires copious amounts of sexual activity for her worship but it is done in such a way that there in no fertility. Meaning that the sexual activity was between same sexes making it impossible to produce a child. Then we found Artemis to really be the antithesis of fertility in that she required anyone who worshipped her to never marry. This wasn't for virtuous reasons, this was because of the refusal to be attached to any man. Not only that but if one did marry and have a child it was quite possible you would suffer her wrath. Remember any woman who died in childbirth was attributed to Artemis. Their tunics would be taken to her as sacrifice. {according to the picture above maybe it was their bodies too!?!}We also discovered the eerie connection between a known abortion causing herb of the ancient world wormwood and the goddess. The herbs Latin name was Artemisia Vulgaris.

So we can really begin to see how the devil made a special embodiment in the goddess through the ancient times to destroy all that a woman was to be. All that God had created her to be. So what was the draw? Why did so many woman follow after these goddess and go to great sacrifice to become her priestesses? Well the short answer...power. Lets no forget that God's plan for the world as he created it was that both man and woman would have equal dominion. Then the devil came along and changed all that. He caused a brokenness in relationship between man and God and a brokenness in relationship between man and woman. He capitalized on this brokenness by creating the goddess to be worshipped instead of a God.

Now we all assume that the devil chose to tempt Eve because she was the one who bore the seed. She could have been in affect the enemies first fertility goddess. Not only using her dominion that God had given her but also her power to reproduce. But I would also like to propose another reason the devil chose to tempt Eve or likewise the reason Eve chose to talk to the serpent. It was because Eve could see the serpent! Not because she was an evil woman, but because she{women} had been created by God with a gift to perceive things in the spirit. Notice during the whole interaction in the garden Adam doesn't say a thing. I'm wondering if he could even see the serpent at all. Notice also that Adam blames Eve for the fruit but Eve blames the serpent...could Adam even see the serpent? Adam{man} on the other hand was given by God the gift of evaluation. Remember it was Adam that names all the animals. He could look at an animal, evaluate it and then name it. So together Adam and Eve were to use their giftings as a team. Eve to perceive in the spirit, Adam then to evaluate that perception so that they could judge the situation together as a couple in a Godly manner.

As we know from the story Eve didn't have the benefit of Adam's evaluation{he didn't say anything}. So Eve's perception couldn't stand on it's own and in turn she was deceived. If they both would have used their gifts and worked together maybe proper judgement of the situation could have been made. That is the scolding that comes from God in Gen. 3:16 it is not directed at only Eve. God is saying Eve desire your husbands evaluation and Adam, evaluate for goodness sake! {as discussed in other posts, there were also many other things being addressed here}

Now I'm not saying that men have no ability to see in the spirit. {Although there are a few times in the bible where the woman could see the angel and all the men saw was a man}. I am not saying that woman have no ability to evaluate a situation. What I am saying is that men and women by default have different abilities and even when they have the same abilities one may be stronger than the other. Which is exactly why God gave both of us dominion in such a way that we would need each others gifts to exercise proper dominion as He intended. But that had all been ruined. They devil used the rift between man and woman to create a great chasm between the sexes. He used men to war in the physical and women to war in the spirit. Hence the birth of the goddess.

Men used their physically strength against woman so in turn women sought spiritual power to fight back. What we so casually call "mother's or woman's intuition" today was a well known and greatly powerful connection to the spirit world in ancient times. That is how goddess worship was able to continue for as long as it did. As we have been discussing it was the goddess who was the principle deity of several ancient civilizations. Kings would come to the priestess to ask for advice and counsel trusting that she knew the will of the gods. Even King Saul in the bible consulted the witch of Endor who was most likely attached to the Canaanite goddess Anat or Astarte. Jezebel was another with strong attachment to Asherah. Then of course my favorite Deborah who with Godly perception lead her people out of a dark time.

By the time that we get to Greco-Roman times women priestesses were the ones that the emperors based many decisions on. The oracles at Delphi were renown for their prophecies and predictions. They were called the pythia after the great Greek serpent Python. People would travel for days just to hear them speak. This was the only way for women to have any sort of "power" in a male driven world. Their natural ability for the supernatural was being used to do the devil's dirty work. Woman were drawn to this not because they are evil but did it all in hopes to be equal to men.

In Greece a woman was totally reliant on a man for her home, food, clothes etc. She could not choose a husband or live on her own. She was not allowed to work or own anything. So she always had to be under the rule of her father or the man he chose for her to marry. For the most part {unless she was going to the temple} she wasn't even allowed to leave the house; neither seen nor heard. Priestesses on the other hand were given great privilege. They could own their own property, have their own money. They were invited to social events such as the theater and sports with the elite of the day. These woman were well respected far beyond their "housewife" counterparts.

So again we have the devil who works as the arsonist by night and then the hero firefighter by day. He worked society in such a way that women were treated so poorly by men that they sacrificed all womanhood just to be treated with some respect. Remember in many situations the priestess could not marry or have children. In excavations done at Delphi, Greece they found the bones of 600 woman and only like 10 children. Abortion was wll known! One the other side of the coin we have the huge groups of prostitutes in the ancient world who would sell their sexuality at the cost of intimacy just to be free from the rule of a man and have their own money. What a mess the devil had made of woman! But is it a wonder that Greek women were flocking to the temples of Aphrodite, Cybele or Artemis as if they were going to Tupperware parties. This is all there was for them.

Until a man named Paul of Tarsus began to speak of a man named Jesus...

Artemis Peter Pan?

2010-03-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

OK, so I know this is a little random and a bit of a detour...my brain does that from time to time...LOL. If you have been reading along for the last few posts we have been discussing goddesses of the ancient world. The last goddess we just discussed was Artemis of Ephesus fame.

So my kids {ages 6 and 3} have been watching Disney's "Peter Pan" off and on for the last couple of days. One of my favorites, although I have never read the original book by J.M Barrie. Remember how in the last post I said that Artemis was a female Peter Pan of sorts? Well I got to thinking...{remember my brain is a bit strange} that they do have quite a bit in common...at least with the Disney movie. Let me explain....

So Peter Pan is a boy who lives in Neverland and never wants to grow up and doesn't anyone telling him what to do. Mythology Pan is a satyr {half man/half goat} who is the Greek shepherd god. He spends a lot of time roaming the forests and glens chasing nymphs{nature spirits}. Because of his time spent in the forest he is good friends with the huntress goddess Artemis. In fact he was the one that gave her her hunting dogs.

Peter Pan is fond of the mermaids of Neverland. The nymphs of Greek mythology are known as the maidens of Artemis because of their normally chaste attributes. Also because Artemis spends quite a bit of time in the forest all the nymphs are quite fond of her. She is known for protecting their maidenhood. One particular water nymph of Artemis' was named Syrinx. She caught the eye of Pan and he pursued her. Artemis helped her get to the water edge and then she was turned into reeds so Pan couldn't find her. When Pan got to the water he cut down the reeds and turned the into a reed pipe to put his lament to music. The pan pipe is called a syrinx to this day.

The "Lost Boys" are the companions of Peter Pan that join him on all his adventures in Neverland. Often dressed as little animals. They are young, innocent and free. But don't realize how much they long for a mother until they meet Wendy. "Will you be our mother?" they ask. Artemis had her arktoi, the little girls who were in the ward of her temple. They would dress up like bears and learn the art of hunting and how to be forever innocent. Artemis was their Mother Bear and would be very unhappy if they ever tried to leave "Neverland".

Finally we have Tinkerbell. The little green fairy who is so loyal to her master Peter Pan. She does what ever he wishes but also has a bit of a temper.

Absinthe is a strong alcoholic spirit that gained popularity in the bohemian counter culture of the late 19th century. It has the most curious green color and is highly addictive due to its psychoactive properties. Such addicts were called slaves of the 'green fairy' or 'green goddess. Some famous 'slaves' were Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde and none other than Aleister Crowley. Crowley called it the 'green devil'. After many "drug related" problems associated with the drink{including death} several countries ban its consumption. In fact the US just lifted the ban in 2007 that had been placed in 1912. So what is the main ingredient of Absinthe? Wormwood. Or as we learned in
the last post...Artemisia Absinthium named after the goddess Artemis.

So there you have it folks my "Artemis Peter Pan" pop culture, just for fun post. But it is a bit eerie...huh? I wonder who Captian Hook is? Hmmmm......