“… they are forgiven. “
It is said that children test the boundaries set for them by parents, teachers and elders, and that when parents fail to establish and enforce boundaries children crave them; they want to know when they do wrong. And they also want to and need to know when they do the right thing. I identify with this. I grew up in a home where the boundaries were nebulous and what boundaries there were I easily circumvented when I entered into my teens. I got in a LOT of trouble.
This has had an effect on my life since I was born again in 1976. When I belonged to a church which honored prophetic gifts and prophets from 1988 onward more several prophets spoke the word and the heart of the Lord to me. I cannot remember one word which did not encourage me to a greater or lesser extent. Often I would ask God to give me a word to tell me what I was doing wrong! I wanted correction, I wanted boundaries. Even in this past week I thought to go to a pastor prophet I have known to ask for a word from the Lord: a word that would “really tell me like it is”, that would correct me or even rebuke me, even harshly.
Two days ago I was praying and thinking when the Lord spoke to me in the still small voice. I don’t share this lightly because it is not something that some people believe can happen today. But Jesus is not impotent today. He can still speak. The question is: “Will we believe He can speak to us and will we listen for His voice?”
What God said was this: “You have brought your sins before me, they are forgiven.” I doubt I will soon if ever forget hearing those words! To me their meaning is at once concise and comprehensive. It acknowledged my being a sinner, thus rebuking me albeit ever so gently. At the same time it gave me great courage and joy. I saw that God my Father truly sees only the blood of His Son covering all my sins. It is almost that after believing the Gospel of Christ God ignores the sins I have done and will yet do! I don’t want any to think that I take this as an excuse for sinning even one more time! It is not; there is never an excuse for sin.
Today I called that pastor prophet and shared this testimony with him. As we talked I was able also to see that when a believer sins after his/her salvation, that and every sin carries a new weight of shame previously unknown. For now he/she/I understand what sin is (evil), who it offends (God), and what (my/your) sin required (the bloody death of the Son of God!)! It is understandable that we might desperately want God to rebuke us and correct us severely. And I’m not so sure that He won’t do that in some cases. He did “upbraid” the disciples for “their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” Mark 16:14 But God is LOVE!
He truly showed me that LOVE in those few words: “You have brought your sins before me, they are forgiven.” I know my own heart as you know yours, yet we can’t know each other’s. We don’t need to. The shame of my sin is enough to humble me, as your sins are enough to humble you. That God forgives such an evil man as me is truly beyond my human comprehension. But by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, by His filling up of my understanding I am able to agree and receive the gift of Christ’s sacrifice and righteousness in exchange for ALL my shameful sins!
It is 35 years since I was born again FROM ABOVE. Many days in that time were lost to sinning. I have had two extended periods of backsliding, and many years of confused faith and living. But God IS FAITHFUL! He that began a good work in me is bringing it to completion! One scripture which seemed so foreign to me in 1976 is absolutely true of me today: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). ! An another I learned somewhat later is burning its way (in a good way!) into my soul: “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). !
Hallelu Yah! Thank You Jesus. To God be the glory, great things and with me seemingly impossible things He has done.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Thursday, December 1, 2011
At WAR
At WAR
If I don’t get it out, I lose it, so here goes:
2Co 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (6) And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Too often I wake up and go into the day without remembering I'm at WAR! America has had few wars on her soil. But the church has been at war in the earth for a long long time.
In the past week I have had at least two very strange dreams, perhaps more that I don't remember. I don’t know what they meant specifically, but this morning I was reminded that what our Pastor preached on this last Sunday is true: we are at war. I am at war. As a believer in the Messiah I have an enemy, an adversary, satan. satan, or ha satan in Hebrew means literally "the adversary." I'm persuaded as many believe that satan attacks us through our minds. We are instructed and urged by Paul to be transformed by renewing our minds. We are to no longer be conformed to the world, the world which satan rules, that world of men, women and fallen angels who follow satan in his disobedience to God. Obedience to God challenges us to stop and avoid (at all costs) obeying the adversary satan. It is more motivating to obey God if we see the two clear choices: God or the satan. Our own righteousness is not an option, for it is satan's delight to see us in our filthy rags.
Zecariah 3:3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
We, if we are taken away, are taken by disobedience into iniquity and into conformity to the world, doing the will of satan!
Eph 2:2-3 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 5:6-8 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. (7) Be not ye therefore partakers with them. (8) For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Disobedience to God ultimately is unbelief, unfaithfulness and a lack of trust. It is for those things that men are condemned to hell. They may express this in any and all manner of sins, from gossip to fornication, but if they would believe the Gospel they would be forgiven all. When we believe the Gospel, sin begins to be displaced by true righteousness. Obedience to satan is displaced by obedience to the will, of God, to His Word and His Way: to Jesus. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God we are “sanctified” set apart for His service. If we are not changing, that is repenting, and allowing Him to guide, teach and instruct us (instruct: to construct us within) we need to reevaluate our faith.
2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
It is a serious matter to be a believer, to be saved, to be born again.
If you are like me, you sometimes have strange and evil thoughts in your mind. Until we believed They can be troubling if we don’t understand that satan is still trying to influence us and draw us back into the sin nature. We don’t want to be taken again!
Rom 8:5-8 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (6) For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (8) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
And God has not left us undefended or ill equipped. We are in the Messiah. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, no matter how broken our jar of clay. Nonetheless we are at war with satan. satan desires and works to make the believer ineffective in the will and service of God. Is this to steal us away from God? There is great debate over this. But the misunderstanding is not over satan’s power, or the consequence of disobedience and sin. The question is this: “Am I born again in Christ? If I am, if you are, who has the power to take you away from God?
Consider these words of Paul and of the Master:
Philppians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
John 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (30) I and my Father are one.
Consider the Jews response to Jesus:
John 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
When you think of Christ, when you read the bible, when you see your brother or sister in the church do you want to stone them? Or do you want to love and serve them? How about your neighbor? How about God? How about your (human) enemies? We are called to the Lord to learn and to do the will of God. I think we might say that to do His will is to DO His love. To love God with all we have, our love neighbor as ourselves and our enemies with compassion and grace.
Are unkind or cruel thoughts forming in your mind, thoughts which wish others (even God) harm? These are stones you may or may not pick up to throw at neighbors, at enemies, or even at God.
If you are entertaining sinful thoughts continually, it is time to examine yourself to see if you are in the Messiah. But remember that we are at war. satan who once held us captive was informing our minds, structuring them to think evil and cruel thoughts and selfish thoughts. Selfish thoughts produce indifference to God and all others. They are as dangerous as evil and cruel thoughts. If we believe satan will be seeking to influence us, to keep us where he had us. If he can gain access to our minds to fill and consume us with His anti-Christ, anti-Christian and anti-human thinking he will succeed in his goal. What is the goal of satan? To make the believer and the church ineffective in doing the will of God. Why does satan want accomplish this? Because satan no more men or women to be saved. satan hates men and wants to torture them for all eternity.
2Co 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (6) And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
What do we do as warriors in God’s army? We pull down strong holds, we cast down imaginations ad high things which exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. David Stern has translated this verse in his Complete Jewish Bible as follows:
2Co 10:3-6 For although we do live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; (4) because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God's power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments (5) and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah. (6) And when you have become completely obedient, then we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience.
2Co 10:3 The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. 4 The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. 5 We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. 6 Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
1. Strongholds strongholds that entire massively corrupt culture
2. Imaginations arguments warped philosophies
3. high thing arrogance barriers
4. thought thought loose thought and emotion and impulse
The “Torah observant” Jew who knows the Law and teachings of the Books of Moses should know what sin is even if he follows the legalistic word of the Pharisees. Paul (Saul) knew and was zealous for the Jews religion.
Act 26:5 They have known me for a long time; and if they are willing, they can testify that I have followed the strictest party in our religion — that is, I have lived as a Parush (a Pharisee).
The Pharisees seems to have come to terms with God’s prohibition of pagan idolatry. Their errors were self-righteousness and legalistic additions to the observance of Mosaic Law. But as Paul shows in his letters he knew what sin was and was not according to the Gospel. Sin is the character of satan as well as the deeds he does and inspires men to do. satan arrogantly argues against God with warped philosophies erecting barriers to Godly thinking if we listen to satan’s thoughts without discernment he will establish strongholds of warped loose thinking, emotion, and impulsiveness. All this is present in satan’s world, and it is this that entirely corrupts the world’s culture. It is a pervasive evil rooted in pride and selfishness which saturates every unbelieving person. It is the darkness from which every believer is delivered and from which every believer must separate him/herself.
If we do not we will be found in one or more of the “errors” listed in the churches of Asia Minor by Jesus in Revelation 2 and 3.
- have lost the love you had at first.
- hold the doctrine of Balaam
- hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes
- continue to tolerate that woman Jezebel
- works are incomplete, imperfect in the sight of my God.
- are neither cold nor hot:
- are lukewarm
- are saying, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;”
- are not aware of being wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
These “errors” are sins. They result from an incomplete imperfect faith and obedience to the gospel. If we know what is sin we must not do it. If we have stopped sinning, what are we doing? It will be God’s will in God’s righteousness. If we are imperfect we will suffer:
1. Strongholds strongholds that entire massively corrupt culture
2. Imaginations arguments warped philosophies
3. high thing arrogance barriers
4. thought thought loose thought and emotion and impulse
These things are like viruses that infest computers. They cause the system to function badly or to crash. We will have troubles, we will sin, we will not enjoy peace, the fruit of the Spirit will be thwarted, the Spirit will be quenched, we will grieve God and be bed stewards of the gift of His grace if we do not pull down, cast down, and take captive all that which satan throws at and into our minds. Jesus says: “it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” To enter God’s Kingdom and follow Jesus is not easy. It is not effortless. To get in and to stay in means to go to war. A soldier obeys his superiors at all times. A warrior does so energetically, eagerly, and zealously because is devoted to his/her leaders and their cause. The Christian is a soldier and/or warrior for God the Father, Son and Spirit and for the cause of Salvation. “For we cannot act against the truth, only for it.” 2Co 13:8
So am I warring against the adversary? Or am I wandering aimlessly in the sight of God? We have a great measure of “peace” in our nation, the United States
Act 19:13-16 Some Jewish men started going around trying to force out evil spirits by using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said to the spirits, "Come out in the name of that same Jesus that Paul preaches about!" (14) Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this, (15) when an evil spirit said to them, "I know Jesus! And I have heard about Paul. But who are you?" (16) Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them up. They ran out of the house, naked and bruised.
My fear is that many in the church do not yet know Jesus very well. If they did they would not do the things they do. They especially would not say they are Christian and act in his name while in ignorance of Him. We must know Jesus the Person of God, the Son of His Father God. We must know the Person of the Father, and the Person of the Holy Spirit. We are persons and we are made in the image and likeness of God. Satan stripped the likeness of God from all mankind in the Garden of Eden. Jesus was born into this world on earth in the flesh a fully human person in the exact likeness of His Father. Jesus came to save us, to redeem us and to RESTORE us into the likeness of God. While we will never be God, we will be like Him in every way!
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Usually this verse is seen to be a reality coming to pass when we enter heaven. But can’t we see Jesus today? Yes we can. He is the same yesterday, TODAY, and forever. His character and the truth of His words in the Gospels are unchanging. If we study His words, we will begin to hear him with our spiritual ear and see Him with the eye of our heart. Blessed are they who are believing Him though not having seen Him with their eyes when He was with the disciples, crucified and risen. Blessed how? Blessed to know Him, to know His divine Person, His character, His Heart.
If we know Him, if we see Jesus, we will be like Him, even TODAY!
Ro 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
1Jn 2:5-6 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. (6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1Jn 2:5-6 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. (6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Paul wrote: “When the Messiah was executed on the stake (cross) as a criminal, I was too; so that my proud ego no longer lives. But the Messiah lives in me, and the life I now live in my body I live by the same trusting faithfulness that the Son of God had, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” Gal 2:20
And it is in union with him that you have been made full — he is the head of every rule and authority. Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature's control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, you were buried along with him by being immersed; and in union with him, you were also raised up along with him by God's faithfulness that worked when he raised Yeshua from the dead. Col
And: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” KJV “Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!” AMPLIFIED
Note “old things are passed, the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away.”
Though we have not died bodily, something has died. It is our flesh that has died. What is our “flesh?” The New Testament Greek word is “sarx.” Here is the definition from Strong’s Greek Dictionary:
G4561 σάρξ sarx sarx
Probably from the base of G4563; flesh (as stripped of the skin), that is, (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of what is external, or as the means of kindred, or (by implication) human nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or (specifically) a human being (as such): - carnal (-ly, + -ly minded), flesh ([-ly]).
This is what dies when we are born again. The very thing which separates us from God, the nature that Adam received by sinning, in a very real sense the old man, the flesh which cannot live before God, the dead body (the sarx) - it is this very thing that passes away, that dies, and we are born again anew from above and now live in Christ who lives by the power of an endless life!.
We are : “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Col
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Rom 6:4
This death, burial and resurrection in Christ must come through our trusting God and His giving of life to us.
Eph 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by (grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Unless our flesh passes away, all that we do and all that we are in in vain, is frustrated. Unless the old man dies, the new cannot be born from above. But if the old man dies, our souls live! And we will by patient well doing reap the harvest God has ordained for us.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Joh 12:24-25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (25) He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
If we do not die can we live? Can we live in God?
Galatians 2:21a I do not frustrate the grace of God…
1.Romans 8:13
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
2.Colossians 3:5
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
2 Corinthians 6
1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2 For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Strange Christmas Greetings 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
~ STRANGE Christmas Greetings 2011 ~
~ STRANGE Christmas Greetings 2011 ~
Are YOU asleep in the culture of death?
Govans (Baltimore), Md.
Monday November 28th, 2011
Dear friends, neighbors and Dear enemies, Dear christian,
Shalom! Thanksgiving has come and as a day it has gone in 2011. Christmas is very near. I write to you this strange (Thanksgiving and Christmas, holiday, or seasonal) greeting from my temporary shelter in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States of America. Christmas especially is a memorial, a reminder (should we need one) of the birth of the Savior of all who will trust in Him and His Father, and a reminder that He not only died for us, He was born for us, Emmanuel. To many this is not strange. What is strange about Christmas?
I heard it said recently that we don’t have a whole heart until it is broken. And this must be true! If we are well, if we are entirely satisfied with ourselves, we must be deceived. Why? Because we are dying. Our lives are vapors, passing away after a short 30, 60 or 100 years. Our bodily demise is always a moment away.
Our hearts are physically broken. The life they pump through our veins is unsustainable because in the realest and truest sense our hearts are broken. If we think otherwise we are truly deluded. Only when we see our hearts are broken, when we discover that they are broken far beyond our ability to repair them, will we then in their brokenness and in our honest integrity be able to receive from God in Christ the remedy which makes them whole.
It seems incongruous, but in our bodies which are perishing, God has caused our souls, our persons, our essence to be whole before Him, and to be alive by His mercy and grace forever.
This truth, which comes as a gift from Jesus who is the TRUTH, this is something worth our humble thanksgiving and worship all day every day. Amen?
I also heard someone pray, “Jesus, break my heart with the things that break Your Heart.” That is a difficult prayer to pray. I think the only thing that breaks Jesus’ Heart is sin. There is a ton of that going around. But this is a prayer which will cause to be conformed into His image. God gives grace to those who are grieved as He is. Ezekiel Chapter 9 is a remarkable testimony to that fact. I hope the rest of this strange letter upholds humble the need to be troubled by sin, by that which grieves God.
Again and again I am reminded and unable to forget or ignore the insanity and inanity of the current thinking of many Americans on illegal aliens and immigration and “the practice” (I will identify the strange practice later). This sounds like condemnation, but it is not, for I too suffer from unclean and stupid thinking, even if God has delivered me from much of it. It may sound like judgment, and this it is. We all make judgments every day. They may be wise or foolish. Jesus did say: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24 The thinking I am writing about is that American sovereignty must exclude foreign workers, especially illegal aliens from doing American jobs on American soil. It might be a reasonable legal view for illegal immigrants, but let’s ask some reasonable questions:
Why do aliens come in to the US illegally?
The answer is first and foremost that they come for work and for the U.S. dollar. Secondly they come in for criminal activity (and the U.S. dollar). Thirdly they come as enemies of the U.S. to overthrow the U.S. government(s). Let’s not be overly concerned with the second and third answers here, though they too are very important problems to solve.
Why aren’t American workers doing the work illegals come for?
Illegals have worked for very low wages in industries accustomed to very low profit margins. Illegals routinely worked harvesting crops for wages below the minimum wage, wages Americans would and could not legally accept in jobs Americans supposedly did not want to perform. I’m not sure how long the farmers of the south, and south west have been employing alien workers. My memory of controversy goes back to the sixties to the grape and lettuce crops in California and Caesar Chavez. (Chavez worked for the Community Service Organization, a Latino civil rights group from 1952 until 1962.
The idea that Americans were unwilling to do this hard work picking crops may have been the result of the below minimum wages offered to attract illegals. Regardless, illegals have been picking our crops for a long time. But for several decades illegals have been taking jobs in other industries, most typically food service and restaurant work, and landscaping and gardening. But why are more and more jobs in the USA held by illegals? Where are we? Where are the Americans? Where did we all go? While the economy has lost several million jobs since 2008 and some illegals have gone home having lost theirs, there are still 12 million or more illegals in the U.S. Why is there still so much room in the job market for illegals?
There are so many factors that a book would be necessary to expose the matter fully. But I think of several factors as very relevant to this dilemma.
Capitalism and capitalists, in specific American capitalists have become more devoted to profits than to the nation. Because of this illegals at low wages are in demand over Americans. Additionally illegals coming from poverty prove to be eager and productive workers, while Americans have succumbed to their sense of “entitlement” to high wages, union and government benefits, and legal resources. The federal government exacerbates the matter by placing regulations on businesses raising their costs. Business owners not finding illegals to work for them will and do move their business to other nations. Finally illegals are starting and running their own businesses and likely avoiding payroll income and social security taxes.
American patriots are conflicted, confused and/or ignorant if they condemn illegals as wholly responsible as lawbreakers and even as economic enemies. How can our farms and businesses run smoothly and profitably with American workers while “made in America” policies and practices encourage the hiring of illegals or foreigners?
But one more time I ask, “Why do aliens come in to the US illegally? Why aren’t American workers doing the work illegals come for? Where are we? Where are the Americans? Where did we all go? Why is there still so much room in the job market for illegals?”
These questions have one more answer. It is the most telling answer, in my opinion. Where are they (we)? Shockingly twenty five percent, one of four of American workers have died every year for 35 years. These have not been ill, and have not retired. They have died? What was their cause of death? It was and continues to be abortion. Leaving aside the moral objections so many have against abortion, we need to understand the economic consequences of abortion. Abortion “is the practice.”
The closest Bible reference I have found to modern abortion is found in Jeremiah:
“[… thus saith the LORD] And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” (Jeremiah 32:35)
This describes the sacrifice of children by their parents to the heathen god Molech. In Jeremiah’s time the children of Israel and the children of Judah had gone so far astray that they were making these sacrifices. Note the Lord says of this: “…I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination…” I think this shows just how alien, how strange the practice of child sacrifice is to God. Are today’s abortions child sacrifices to Molech or to any god? We know that children already born and living are still sacrificed in very dark corners of the world. But Abortion, is it a sacrifice? It is certain that the aborted child is unwanted. Why? Because something else is preferred. And what is that? What is preferred is relief from the responsibilities and the labors of raising the child conceived. In effect we worship our own selves. We give the child to whom? To God by the act of murdering him/her in the womb. But is it a sacrifice we are giving to God? No, although the child IS received by God.
“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”
(Psalm 27:10) Amen
By preferring our money, and our leisure time to the needs of the baby in the womb we are elevating ourselves to be as Gods by taking the life, the LIFE of the baby to be.
By abortion, by the practice our labor pool, the number of available U.S. citizens for hire is reduced every year by 25%. Our tax base and tax revenues are cut by 25%. It could be that one of every four American jobs is held by an illegal alien, a legal foreign worker or has been given to a foreigner in another nation. The consequences of abortion simply reduce American prosperity.
A related matter is the prevalence of foreign goods in the American market place. These products are not the result of American labor. Their sale in the U.S. generates no wages, and no tax revenues on wages. We often hear the very reasonable advice: “Buy American.” But to “Buy American,” we must have American made goods to buy. Sadly 25% of future American craftsmen, manufacturers, business owners and job creators are eliminated every year as unwanted aborted babies.
Abortion became legal in 1973. That year more than 700,000 “conceptions were terminated,” a polite way of saying that babies or persons were murdered in the wombs of their mothers. In 1991 those 700,000+ aborted persons would have had the been born and lived turned 18 years of age. In 1974 more than 1,000,000 babies/persons were aborted (That number has been typical in almost every year since. As I recall, one year nearly 1,500,000 abortions were done). Eighteen years after 1974 those 1,000,000+ persons would also have turned 18 years of age. Today in 2011 babies/persons aborted in the year 1993, had they been born would be 18 years old.
At eighteen most people look for work, enter the military or enter trade schools colleges or universities. From 1973 to 1993 approximately 20,000,000 babies/persons were aborted. Is it a coincidence that there are (some estimate) 20,000,000 or more illegal aliens in the United States of American today? Note that every one of those 20,000,000 aborted would be 18 years old by January 1st, 2012. All of them would be eligible to vote in the 2012 election.
What has possessed us to be so blind to the economic consequences of this practice called abortion or termination of pregnancy?
I must add this to the list of consequences. Though liberal doctors and their powerful medical establishment deny it, and the liberal press/media will not report it, the risk of breast cancer in women is higher in women having abortions. It is higher by 33-100% in women having one abortion and higher than that in those having more than one aborton. Why? When a woman becomes pregnant estrogen begins to build up in her breasts. It is the body’s necessary way of preparing to deliver milk to the newborn. When the baby is aborted, the estrogen remains in the breast without being used and released in breast feeding. This trapped estrogen simply causes breast cancer in many women. If you want information on this Google search ABC Link, Abortion Breast Cancer, or Joel Brind, Ph.D.
Illegals here are frequently Hispanics and Roman Catholics; they do not have many abortions. They value children. In their culture they have not yet drunk the pro-choice Kool-Aid. I pray they never will. But it seems to me, and seems very clear that illegal aliens are a consequence of U.S. federal law and domestic policy gone astray and amuck in the worst way with abortion topping the list. Men are not only endowed by their creator with inalienable rights, they are endowed with creative ability. How sad that in ignorance of and rebellion against God, rights (powers) and ability produce oppression, and destruction resulting in debt, default and eventually poverty and death.
Illegals often pay no taxes by receiving under the table cash wages, or through their own businesses. Illegals send U.S. dollars out of the country to their families. Illegals receive government services, from medical health benefits to education courtesy of a government which has lost 25% (over a million every year) of its taxpayers. Illegals require state and federal law enforcement agencies to guard borders, arrest, care for and return illegals to their homelands. There are bureaucracies overseeing these. Illegals drain tax revenues by committing crimes here. We have many illegals imprisoned, also a cost to our taxpayers.
Notwithstanding this: God loves illegal aliens wherever they are found. Jesus was sent to whosoever will. Jesus has saved many already and desires many more be saved. He has saved many who have had abortions, approved abortion, and even some who have facilitated and performed abortions. He has also saved many who have gone bankrupt, who have lost their jobs, which have been corrupt in business, government and law enforcement. He and desires all not saved repent and receive His priceless gift of eternal life. In this time marked out (however inaccurately) for the celebration of Jesus’ birth (a real event), we need to remember and memorialize that Jesus was born so that he could die and take away the sins of the world, that world of bankrupt, jobless, corrupt, illegal men and women near and far (to you and me) living here on earth. Here Christmas and all “holidays” have the possibility of being HOLYdays, as does every day of the calendar.
Illegal immigrants are people. Their existence in America is a symptomatic condition resulting from other issues, some of which I believe I have touched on in this letter. It seems unlikely I will forget these troubles in the very near future, excepting when Jesus comes back to us. But with my will and heart, both which are weaker than any lamb, I set my self to forgiving the troublers in this earth which so surely belongs to the Lord Jesus our Messiah and Savior. God save such, for I was one such as they are.
Thanks and praise to God, our Father, Savior, Lord, brother, and Guide! He is Almighty forever and ever, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Baruch HaShem Yeshua, Baruch HaShem Adonai !!!
His and yours, Dave Severy ~ Govans, Md.
~ STRANGE Christmas Greetings 2011 ~
~ STRANGE Christmas Greetings 2011 ~
Are YOU asleep in the culture of death?
Govans (Baltimore), Md.
Monday November 28th, 2011
Dear friends, neighbors and Dear enemies, Dear christian,
Shalom! Thanksgiving has come and as a day it has gone in 2011. Christmas is very near. I write to you this strange (Thanksgiving and Christmas, holiday, or seasonal) greeting from my temporary shelter in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States of America. Christmas especially is a memorial, a reminder (should we need one) of the birth of the Savior of all who will trust in Him and His Father, and a reminder that He not only died for us, He was born for us, Emmanuel. To many this is not strange. What is strange about Christmas?
I heard it said recently that we don’t have a whole heart until it is broken. And this must be true! If we are well, if we are entirely satisfied with ourselves, we must be deceived. Why? Because we are dying. Our lives are vapors, passing away after a short 30, 60 or 100 years. Our bodily demise is always a moment away.
Our hearts are physically broken. The life they pump through our veins is unsustainable because in the realest and truest sense our hearts are broken. If we think otherwise we are truly deluded. Only when we see our hearts are broken, when we discover that they are broken far beyond our ability to repair them, will we then in their brokenness and in our honest integrity be able to receive from God in Christ the remedy which makes them whole.
It seems incongruous, but in our bodies which are perishing, God has caused our souls, our persons, our essence to be whole before Him, and to be alive by His mercy and grace forever.
This truth, which comes as a gift from Jesus who is the TRUTH, this is something worth our humble thanksgiving and worship all day every day. Amen?
I also heard someone pray, “Jesus, break my heart with the things that break Your Heart.” That is a difficult prayer to pray. I think the only thing that breaks Jesus’ Heart is sin. There is a ton of that going around. But this is a prayer which will cause to be conformed into His image. God gives grace to those who are grieved as He is. Ezekiel Chapter 9 is a remarkable testimony to that fact. I hope the rest of this strange letter upholds humble the need to be troubled by sin, by that which grieves God.
Again and again I am reminded and unable to forget or ignore the insanity and inanity of the current thinking of many Americans on illegal aliens and immigration and “the practice” (I will identify the strange practice later). This sounds like condemnation, but it is not, for I too suffer from unclean and stupid thinking, even if God has delivered me from much of it. It may sound like judgment, and this it is. We all make judgments every day. They may be wise or foolish. Jesus did say: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24 The thinking I am writing about is that American sovereignty must exclude foreign workers, especially illegal aliens from doing American jobs on American soil. It might be a reasonable legal view for illegal immigrants, but let’s ask some reasonable questions:
Why do aliens come in to the US illegally?
The answer is first and foremost that they come for work and for the U.S. dollar. Secondly they come in for criminal activity (and the U.S. dollar). Thirdly they come as enemies of the U.S. to overthrow the U.S. government(s). Let’s not be overly concerned with the second and third answers here, though they too are very important problems to solve.
Why aren’t American workers doing the work illegals come for?
Illegals have worked for very low wages in industries accustomed to very low profit margins. Illegals routinely worked harvesting crops for wages below the minimum wage, wages Americans would and could not legally accept in jobs Americans supposedly did not want to perform. I’m not sure how long the farmers of the south, and south west have been employing alien workers. My memory of controversy goes back to the sixties to the grape and lettuce crops in California and Caesar Chavez. (Chavez worked for the Community Service Organization, a Latino civil rights group from 1952 until 1962.
The idea that Americans were unwilling to do this hard work picking crops may have been the result of the below minimum wages offered to attract illegals. Regardless, illegals have been picking our crops for a long time. But for several decades illegals have been taking jobs in other industries, most typically food service and restaurant work, and landscaping and gardening. But why are more and more jobs in the USA held by illegals? Where are we? Where are the Americans? Where did we all go? While the economy has lost several million jobs since 2008 and some illegals have gone home having lost theirs, there are still 12 million or more illegals in the U.S. Why is there still so much room in the job market for illegals?
There are so many factors that a book would be necessary to expose the matter fully. But I think of several factors as very relevant to this dilemma.
Capitalism and capitalists, in specific American capitalists have become more devoted to profits than to the nation. Because of this illegals at low wages are in demand over Americans. Additionally illegals coming from poverty prove to be eager and productive workers, while Americans have succumbed to their sense of “entitlement” to high wages, union and government benefits, and legal resources. The federal government exacerbates the matter by placing regulations on businesses raising their costs. Business owners not finding illegals to work for them will and do move their business to other nations. Finally illegals are starting and running their own businesses and likely avoiding payroll income and social security taxes.
American patriots are conflicted, confused and/or ignorant if they condemn illegals as wholly responsible as lawbreakers and even as economic enemies. How can our farms and businesses run smoothly and profitably with American workers while “made in America” policies and practices encourage the hiring of illegals or foreigners?
But one more time I ask, “Why do aliens come in to the US illegally? Why aren’t American workers doing the work illegals come for? Where are we? Where are the Americans? Where did we all go? Why is there still so much room in the job market for illegals?”
These questions have one more answer. It is the most telling answer, in my opinion. Where are they (we)? Shockingly twenty five percent, one of four of American workers have died every year for 35 years. These have not been ill, and have not retired. They have died? What was their cause of death? It was and continues to be abortion. Leaving aside the moral objections so many have against abortion, we need to understand the economic consequences of abortion. Abortion “is the practice.”
The closest Bible reference I have found to modern abortion is found in Jeremiah:
“[… thus saith the LORD] And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” (Jeremiah 32:35)
This describes the sacrifice of children by their parents to the heathen god Molech. In Jeremiah’s time the children of Israel and the children of Judah had gone so far astray that they were making these sacrifices. Note the Lord says of this: “…I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination…” I think this shows just how alien, how strange the practice of child sacrifice is to God. Are today’s abortions child sacrifices to Molech or to any god? We know that children already born and living are still sacrificed in very dark corners of the world. But Abortion, is it a sacrifice? It is certain that the aborted child is unwanted. Why? Because something else is preferred. And what is that? What is preferred is relief from the responsibilities and the labors of raising the child conceived. In effect we worship our own selves. We give the child to whom? To God by the act of murdering him/her in the womb. But is it a sacrifice we are giving to God? No, although the child IS received by God.
“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”
(Psalm 27:10) Amen
By preferring our money, and our leisure time to the needs of the baby in the womb we are elevating ourselves to be as Gods by taking the life, the LIFE of the baby to be.
By abortion, by the practice our labor pool, the number of available U.S. citizens for hire is reduced every year by 25%. Our tax base and tax revenues are cut by 25%. It could be that one of every four American jobs is held by an illegal alien, a legal foreign worker or has been given to a foreigner in another nation. The consequences of abortion simply reduce American prosperity.
A related matter is the prevalence of foreign goods in the American market place. These products are not the result of American labor. Their sale in the U.S. generates no wages, and no tax revenues on wages. We often hear the very reasonable advice: “Buy American.” But to “Buy American,” we must have American made goods to buy. Sadly 25% of future American craftsmen, manufacturers, business owners and job creators are eliminated every year as unwanted aborted babies.
Abortion became legal in 1973. That year more than 700,000 “conceptions were terminated,” a polite way of saying that babies or persons were murdered in the wombs of their mothers. In 1991 those 700,000+ aborted persons would have had the been born and lived turned 18 years of age. In 1974 more than 1,000,000 babies/persons were aborted (That number has been typical in almost every year since. As I recall, one year nearly 1,500,000 abortions were done). Eighteen years after 1974 those 1,000,000+ persons would also have turned 18 years of age. Today in 2011 babies/persons aborted in the year 1993, had they been born would be 18 years old.
At eighteen most people look for work, enter the military or enter trade schools colleges or universities. From 1973 to 1993 approximately 20,000,000 babies/persons were aborted. Is it a coincidence that there are (some estimate) 20,000,000 or more illegal aliens in the United States of American today? Note that every one of those 20,000,000 aborted would be 18 years old by January 1st, 2012. All of them would be eligible to vote in the 2012 election.
What has possessed us to be so blind to the economic consequences of this practice called abortion or termination of pregnancy?
I must add this to the list of consequences. Though liberal doctors and their powerful medical establishment deny it, and the liberal press/media will not report it, the risk of breast cancer in women is higher in women having abortions. It is higher by 33-100% in women having one abortion and higher than that in those having more than one aborton. Why? When a woman becomes pregnant estrogen begins to build up in her breasts. It is the body’s necessary way of preparing to deliver milk to the newborn. When the baby is aborted, the estrogen remains in the breast without being used and released in breast feeding. This trapped estrogen simply causes breast cancer in many women. If you want information on this Google search ABC Link, Abortion Breast Cancer, or Joel Brind, Ph.D.
Illegals here are frequently Hispanics and Roman Catholics; they do not have many abortions. They value children. In their culture they have not yet drunk the pro-choice Kool-Aid. I pray they never will. But it seems to me, and seems very clear that illegal aliens are a consequence of U.S. federal law and domestic policy gone astray and amuck in the worst way with abortion topping the list. Men are not only endowed by their creator with inalienable rights, they are endowed with creative ability. How sad that in ignorance of and rebellion against God, rights (powers) and ability produce oppression, and destruction resulting in debt, default and eventually poverty and death.
Illegals often pay no taxes by receiving under the table cash wages, or through their own businesses. Illegals send U.S. dollars out of the country to their families. Illegals receive government services, from medical health benefits to education courtesy of a government which has lost 25% (over a million every year) of its taxpayers. Illegals require state and federal law enforcement agencies to guard borders, arrest, care for and return illegals to their homelands. There are bureaucracies overseeing these. Illegals drain tax revenues by committing crimes here. We have many illegals imprisoned, also a cost to our taxpayers.
Notwithstanding this: God loves illegal aliens wherever they are found. Jesus was sent to whosoever will. Jesus has saved many already and desires many more be saved. He has saved many who have had abortions, approved abortion, and even some who have facilitated and performed abortions. He has also saved many who have gone bankrupt, who have lost their jobs, which have been corrupt in business, government and law enforcement. He and desires all not saved repent and receive His priceless gift of eternal life. In this time marked out (however inaccurately) for the celebration of Jesus’ birth (a real event), we need to remember and memorialize that Jesus was born so that he could die and take away the sins of the world, that world of bankrupt, jobless, corrupt, illegal men and women near and far (to you and me) living here on earth. Here Christmas and all “holidays” have the possibility of being HOLYdays, as does every day of the calendar.
Illegal immigrants are people. Their existence in America is a symptomatic condition resulting from other issues, some of which I believe I have touched on in this letter. It seems unlikely I will forget these troubles in the very near future, excepting when Jesus comes back to us. But with my will and heart, both which are weaker than any lamb, I set my self to forgiving the troublers in this earth which so surely belongs to the Lord Jesus our Messiah and Savior. God save such, for I was one such as they are.
Thanks and praise to God, our Father, Savior, Lord, brother, and Guide! He is Almighty forever and ever, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Baruch HaShem Yeshua, Baruch HaShem Adonai !!!
His and yours, Dave Severy ~ Govans, Md.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Jesus as a political/economic role model.
10/20/2011
I wrote this in response to Herman Cain having called Jesus the perfect conservative.
Jesus turned the world upside down and it hasn't stopped trembling yet. Until Jesus, the Jews were the vectors of God's law and morals to the world. Now we have Jesus elegantly quoted at great length in the New Testament Scriptures where He brings perfection to the law and morals of Moses. When Christians live out what the Bible calls “the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus” they do influence the world for good. They are salt (preservative) and the light for all who will be salted and enlightened. Their work is that of their Savior Jesus “to preach the gospel to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Christians have a “vocation” which seeks the true welfare of others, spiritually especially and materially where possible. Conversely, the world's other religious and irreligious peoples and groups will influence others as they wish, generally for their own self promotion benefit. For this reason it IS often controversial to bring the Christian faith directly to the political debate. It tends to make a mess.
Political debate is the promotion of self interest by compromise. Christian faith is the worship and love of God and the love neighbor. Self promotion and self interest is to take a back seat to the needs of others. We are to live sacrificially. I personally believe that any governmental system would work if people were willing to consider other and their needs before their own. Jesus came from heaven and is King of His universe, we ought to see it and learn to live according to His commandments. They are not grievous commandments at all. They in fact exclude all that causes grief, including the self absorbed greedy pretensions often called “capitalism.” Capitalism, or the market place, requires law and morals to contain and control those self interested persons who would steal from and defraud any to line their own pockets. It is in my opinion wrong to think that Jesus favors those who compete brutally in the capitalist market place to those who compete brutally in the socialist halls of government.
While Jesus may not expect an egalitarian result in this world today, I believe strongly that equity of care for all men, women and children, or the attempt to have equity is a large part of the gospel He gives us. It is said that if men would simply stop fighting the wars being fought, those who would do good could feed the entire world and have plenty to spare. Those who war in the streets, the government house or the boardroom in such a way which prevents and/or encumbers doing good to all men are not hearing the message of love God give in His Son Jesus. Ultimately the Kingdom will come and many will be so very sorry they had not listened to Jesus.
And he [Jesus] said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Luke 12:15
10/20/2011
I wrote this in response to Herman Cain having called Jesus the perfect conservative.
Jesus turned the world upside down and it hasn't stopped trembling yet. Until Jesus, the Jews were the vectors of God's law and morals to the world. Now we have Jesus elegantly quoted at great length in the New Testament Scriptures where He brings perfection to the law and morals of Moses. When Christians live out what the Bible calls “the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus” they do influence the world for good. They are salt (preservative) and the light for all who will be salted and enlightened. Their work is that of their Savior Jesus “to preach the gospel to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Christians have a “vocation” which seeks the true welfare of others, spiritually especially and materially where possible. Conversely, the world's other religious and irreligious peoples and groups will influence others as they wish, generally for their own self promotion benefit. For this reason it IS often controversial to bring the Christian faith directly to the political debate. It tends to make a mess.
Political debate is the promotion of self interest by compromise. Christian faith is the worship and love of God and the love neighbor. Self promotion and self interest is to take a back seat to the needs of others. We are to live sacrificially. I personally believe that any governmental system would work if people were willing to consider other and their needs before their own. Jesus came from heaven and is King of His universe, we ought to see it and learn to live according to His commandments. They are not grievous commandments at all. They in fact exclude all that causes grief, including the self absorbed greedy pretensions often called “capitalism.” Capitalism, or the market place, requires law and morals to contain and control those self interested persons who would steal from and defraud any to line their own pockets. It is in my opinion wrong to think that Jesus favors those who compete brutally in the capitalist market place to those who compete brutally in the socialist halls of government.
While Jesus may not expect an egalitarian result in this world today, I believe strongly that equity of care for all men, women and children, or the attempt to have equity is a large part of the gospel He gives us. It is said that if men would simply stop fighting the wars being fought, those who would do good could feed the entire world and have plenty to spare. Those who war in the streets, the government house or the boardroom in such a way which prevents and/or encumbers doing good to all men are not hearing the message of love God give in His Son Jesus. Ultimately the Kingdom will come and many will be so very sorry they had not listened to Jesus.
And he [Jesus] said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Luke 12:15
“What is a Christian Zionist?”
................... by David Severy Oct. 2011
First a Christian Zionist is one who has received and trusted Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as their Savior and as their Lord. Their Bible includes the “New Testament” as well as the “Old Testament.”
“So are Christian Zionists different than ‘regular’ Christians? If they are, why are they different? What does the ‘Zionist’ part mean? What is Zion?”
Zion is defined by Strong’s Bible dictionary as:
1) the hill on which the higher and more ancient part of Jerusalem was built
1a) the southwestern most and highest of the hills on which the city was built
2) often used of the entire city of Jerusalem
3) since Jerusalem because the temple stood there, was called the dwelling place of God
Jerusalem is the capitol city of modern Israel and declared by Israel to be her eternal capitol. It was first called Jebus (Ha Jebusi), and was a city of the Jebusites in Canaan. David son of Jesse took the castle at Zion around three thousand years ago. As you can see, the city of Zion and Zionism are not new to history. Zion has been said to be a name for the Old Testament church, that is the assembly of God’s faithful before the Common Era (C.E.). Zionism has its roots in God’s history in the books of the Old and New Testaments. But isn’t Zionism a Jewish term, something pertaining only to Judaism? After all, isn’t the word Zion a Jewish word transliterated into English? True enough but wait! There is more!
The Christian Church worldwide (Christendom) is predominantly made up of gentiles (gentiles are all the non-Jewish people of the world). But the church was not always so. Jesus Himself is Jewish, and born of Mary a Jewess who was then betrothed to Joseph also a Jew, both from the house of David (Israel’s 2nd King who captured the castle at Zion), David being from the tribe of Judah, Judah being the son of Jacob named Israel. Jacob is the son of Isaac, and Isaac the son of Abraham.
When Jesus called the twelve disciples He called twelve Jewish men. We have them named in the King James Bible as Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot (which also was the traitor). These are names transliterated into English in 1611 C.E. Their Hebrew names (Hebrew is the language of Israel) are rendered by David Stern in the Complete Jewish New Testament as Shim`on, whom he named Kefa; Andrew, his brother; Ya`akov; Yochanan; Philip; Bar-Talmai; Mattityahu; T'oma; Ya`akov Ben-Halfai; Shim`on, the one called the Zealot; Y'hudah Ben-Ya`akov; and Y'hudah from K'riot (which also was the traitor). In fact Jesus Hebrew name is Y’shua (or Yeshua), Mary his mother is called Miryam, and Joseph is Yosef. The city of Jerusalem is called Yerushalayim and Zion is Tziyon. (Don’t bother spell checking here!)
The Bible is a thoroughly Jewish book! Moses who led the Children of Israel through the desert? Of the tribe of Levi the son of Jacob called Israel. Joshua is of the tribe of Ephraim, Ephraim a son of Joseph the son of Jacob called Israel. Aren’t there any gentiles in the Old Testament? Yes there are, and many more of them than of Israel. But the Old Testament, which the Jewish people call the Tanakh, is written by Jews and written first for Jews, but is now given by God equally to all gentiles who trust Yeshua (Jesus) as their Savior and Lord! The story now begins to get very interesting, and in the minds of some it is quite controversial! Why, you ask? Because the New Testament is a thoroughly Jewish book too!
An important feature of a Christian Zionist is that he or she recognizes that God began (again) with Abraham to reveal Himself to the whole world. What God began to reveal by covenant with Abraham brought us through to Jesus, a son of Abraham by human lineage and the Son of God by a divine miracle! The story of “the Jews” from Abraham to Jesus and beyond is one of how God through history has revealed Himself, His will, His way and His word to whosoever now will have ears to hear and eyes to see. It is a sad fact that gentiles beginning around the second century began to treasure less and less the grace God had given to the ancestors of their Savior and Lord, their Anointed One. Jesus is that Anointed One. Jesus is that Christ. Yeshua is that Messiah. And all three of the previous sentences declare the same exact truth!
Remember, Jesus is born of Mary a virgin Jewess by the Holy Spirit! Jesus 12 disciples are all Jews! While Jesus interacted with gentiles, and famously with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus (Yeshua!) said to another gentile woman: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:24 The apostle Paul, known to his Jewish brethren as Sha’ul, recognized that the Gospel was sent by Father God and Jesus to the Jew first, and then to the gentile. In Romans 1 verse 16 it is very clear when Paul (Sha’ul) writes:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (gentile).” Romans 1:16 King James Version.
“For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God's powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16 Complete Jewish New Testament
There is not time to recount the history of the church from the times of the book of Acts until now. But it can be said with no doubt that the church of the God we worship and love comes directly out of the church at Pentecost circa 34 C.E., and that church was entirely Jewish. The first gentiles to be divinely received into the church were received into a community composed entirely of Jews! Yeshua (Jesus) Himself said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well:
Yeshua said, "Lady, believe me, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Yerushalayim. You people don't know what you are worshipping; we worship what we do know, because salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming — indeed, it's here now — when the true worshippers will worship the Father spiritually and truly, for these are the kind of people the Father wants worshipping him." John 4:21-23 Complete Jewish New Testament
This is further confirmed to us gentiles as Paul (Sha’ul) writes this to the gentiles in Rome warning them against pride: "But now I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I lay great stress on my ministry and magnify my office, In the hope of making my fellow Jews jealous [in order to stir them up to imitate, copy, and appropriate], and thus managing to save some of them. For if their rejection and exclusion from the benefits of salvation were [overruled] for the reconciliation of a world to God, what will their acceptance and admission mean? [It will be nothing short of] life from the dead! Now if the first handful of dough offered as the firstfruits [Abraham and the patriarchs] is consecrated (holy), so is the whole mass [the nation of Israel]; and if the root [Abraham] is consecrated (holy), so are the branches. [Num. 15:19-21.] But if some of the branches were broken off, while you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share the richness [of the root and sap] of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches and pride yourself at their expense. If you do boast and feel superior, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root [that supports] you. You will say then, Branches were broken (pruned) off so that I might be grafted in! That is true. But they were broken (pruned) off because of their unbelief (their lack of real faith), and you are established through faith [because you do believe]. So do not become proud and conceited, but rather stand in awe and be reverently afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches [because of unbelief], neither will He spare you [if you are guilty of the same offense]. Then note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's gracious kindness to you--provided you continue in His grace and abide in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off (pruned away)." (Rom 11:13-22)
God found a man Noah whose generations were righteous and showed him grace by which Noah and his family repopulated the world which was destroyed. God found and chose Abram (Avram) the great great great great grandson of Heber (‘Ever) whom He would rename (Avraham) to leave his home in Ur and go out not knowing where God would send him. God sent him to Canaan and made Abram/Abraham a promise strengthened many times, even made to Abraham’s grandson Jacob (Ya’akov). The promise was that the land of Canaan was given to Abraham and his seed forever.
“Wait a minute! Aren’t you coming near to worshipping these Jews, these sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Aren’t you saying they are more important, better, holier than the gentile Christian?”
No, I am not. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus for whosoever would believe, that they should not perish, but live forever.
For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience, in order that he might show mercy to all. O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments! How unsearchable are his ways! Romans 11:32-33 Complete Jewish New Testament
What does become evident is that God has had a mysterious plan for mankind which exploded in the world with the first coming of Yeshua (Jesus). Since that time we have not only a Saviour and Lord, but also a Guide and Teacher the Holy Spirit who continues to reveal God and His plan, and also instruct our faith in Jesus! For those who receive Jesus as Lord, should His preferred means of bringing salvation to them be objectionable? I think not! The drowning man saved can hardly complain for the piece of wood not having been a rope. Men who are often under-educated Biblically, not fully sanctified or both need to humble themselves and pray, turn from their wicked ways and seek His face. This will heal their land, and they will find themselves healed as well, for more than even the soil they are God’s focus. It will be a blessing to all who seek the truth to find it, and to find what the truth means and reveals to them about their land in their day. God’s vision is perfect; it is we who need to be healed.
God’s plan has not ever been to abandon the Jewish people to hell. Some may end in hell, but God is not willing that any perish but that all come to repentance and salvation. God is not willing that any gentile perish either. He sent Jesus to care for our souls. What did Jesus do for the gentiles? He brought us in to the light and Kingdom of His Son, into the community of the saints gone before us all, the saved of the times before Christ Jesus first came to earth. Jew and gentile had every reason to thrive together in their now mutual Messiah, yet in the 2nd century something happened: anti-Jewish anti-messiahs grew prominent in the church. I think it surely has been true that few have found the narrow way and straight gate. How odd that God’s love is so misunderstood, is found by so many as something to avoid, and by so many who call themselves Christian. We who have found salvation in the grace of God’s Jewish Messiah must preach and teach those who will be His disciples. We are called to a love far different and far greater than human love. This love of God (God is love and love is of God) does not sin!
Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not gloat over other people's sins but takes its delight in the truth. (1Corinthians 13:4-6)
Therefore, remember that at one time you were Gentiles (heathens) in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by those who called themselves Circumcision, [itself a mere mark] in the flesh made by human hands. [Remember] that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ [excluded from all part in Him], utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the [Messianic] promise [with no knowledge of or right in God's agreements, His covenants]. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near. For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us, By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace. And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end. And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near. [Isa. 57:19.] For it is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him]. Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God's own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God's [own] household. You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone. In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord]. In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit. (Eph 2:11-22) (Amplified Bible)
Can Christians love as God loves? If they can, if they do how can they not love the Jews? How can they not be grateful to Yeshua the Jewish Messiah for the gift of everlasting life? How can they not want for Jewish people, the ancestors of the priests, prophets and shepherds of Yahweh to know their own Savior Jesus?
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:18-22)
As it is written, Behold I am laying in Zion a Stone that will make men stumble, a Rock that will make them fall; but he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] shall not be put to shame nor be disappointed in his expectations. [Isa. 28:16.] (Romans 9:33)
The stone is Jesus the Messiah (the Christ, the Anointed Savior) of Jews and gentiles who trust Him, has been laid in Zion. He is made by God the head (stone) of the corner. As Paul wrote: “let each one be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah.” 1Corinthians 3:10, 11 With these things in view, how can a Christian not be a Zionist? If we will not love whom God calls His beloved, we will be either indifferent to them or hate them. Today some churches who call themselves Christian are actively supportive of the Palestinian cause calling the divine return of the Jewish people to their land Israel an occupation. Churches have stripped their financial portfolios of investments which benefit Israel. They are active in political efforts to have Israel make more concessions of land to the Palestinians. They are deceived by revisionist historians who author lies of Israel’s history since 1948. They think the Islamic religion to be one of peace, and only “hijacked” by radicals. What is far more accurate is that they are ignorant of the history of Israel, and of Abraham, and the Holy Bible. So ignorant that they have become the prey of deceivers and do not know it to be so. May God reveal all His truth to them.
Remarkably there are also some Jews who are "drinking the Kool-aid" by supporting those who want to give up "land for peace." May God grant them revelation.
As a gentile believer in Jesus, His Father and His Holy Spirit I know I am called to be like Him. It is challenging to pick up my cross daily and follow Jesus knowing that I could be crucified on it on any day! That must be so; why else would Jesus have me (us) to carry one? But I know my bodily death will not bring condemnation and hell, but instead for my faith I will be received into God’s heavenly Kingdom and live with Him forever! Therefore, since God is for me who can be against me? I have no more fear of death, and no more fear of any man. There is no reason to hate any man, although there is good reason to hate all sin. The question with regard to the Jews and to Zion is: “Why are they so hated?” And the answer for that unreasonable hatred is found in the pages of the Holy Bible, Old and New “Testaments.” Have you read and discovered the purposes of God in the Bible, why He chose Abraham, why He gave the land of Canaan to him and to his seed forever? Do you know why Zion is important not just in the past but in the present and future? You can know these things, things so important that the whole world trembles over the controversy of Zion, of Israel and of God’s chosen people, the descendants of Isaac!
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