Control ISSUES? THINK IT OVER AGAIN CHARLIE.

I am incensed. Moments ago on the CBS morning news show Charlie Rose said of Baltimore: "Questions are now being ask as to why the police lost control."

DO YOU SEE WHY HE AND MANY LIKE HIM ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY? WITH LIFE ITSELF?

THE POLICE DID NOT LOSE CONTROL, THE PEOPLE DID.

Not all, but many young men and women LOST CONTROL. Perhaps it was because there parents lost control of them when they were young? Or perhaps they just decided that they would not be controlled by the law or by love?

Charlie Rose, maybe you did not write that headline you spoke less than 10 minutes ago, but you should have had the discernment to see the flawed presuppositions behind that headline. I have lost a measure of trust in you that I should perhaps have never had.

having cake and eating crow?

I have come to the conclusion that I can not hold too tightly to my belief that craftsmen and service vendors should have the right to refuse this who would hire them. Baking a cake and receiving payment for it is not a religious statement. It is the provision of a product. If it is a wedding cake, how many not qualified by Jesus teachings on divorce remarry every week? How many of those folks are refused cakes by christian bakers? How many are just not even believers and marry for the wrong reasons and have their wedding cakes provided to them by christian bakers… no questions asked. Bakers are not marriage counselors. 

Everyone already knows that homosexuality is a sin, even and especially homosexuals who have to work so hard to persuade us and themselves it is not a sin. A somewhat well known former female impersonator who received christ said that the dirty little secret among homosexuals is that they are ALL VERY UNHAPPY PEOPLE.When Jesus walked in flesh among men, he taught them to love their enemies, to do good to them that persecute them and despitefully use them. Some were being despitefully used by Roman soldiers who impressed then into involuntary service. Jesus said if they force you to carry their burden one mile, carry it two. 

In the USA we have laws that forbid that sort of unwarranted demand upon citizens. 

But what might happen if a christian baker “turned the tables” and went the extra mile… by offering wedding cakes at half price to gay couples. Gays would flock to that store. What if when they got there it was explained that to receive the discount they must spend 15 (30?) minutes with a believer who would walk them through the scriptures which condemn homosexuality and define marriage and divorce?

I wonder if refusing to bake a cake really preaches the gospel. Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding when they ran out. They must been guzzling the stuff. Why did Jesus help them have MORE to drink? Wasn’t that wrong, immoral, and approval of drunkenness? But there was more to that than a cake wasn’t there? Or was there? Even if there was what would Jesus do today? He might write something on the cake… and say “Go and sin no more…” “… lest a worse thing happen to you.”

Is the concept of "Son of God" a pagan one?

Wrath... but whose?

Romans 13 English Standard Version (ESV)

CAN WE IMAGINE THE DIFFICULTIES WE HAVE WHEN THE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN WHO VOLUNTEER TO BE PLOICE OFFICERS HAVE THEMSELVES NOT BEEN TAUGHT RIGHT FROM WRONG? THIS IS A FACTOR IN INCIDENTS OF POLICE BRUTALITY. NEVRTHELESS AND NOTWITHSTANDING: 
"Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. "

a kinder and gentler me????

Psalm 63:3

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise thee.

 

 

 

The mainstream media news programs, local and national, can be depressing. I think the media wonks are aware of that and they now try to make the news lighter much more entertaining by adding feel good stories, many more than in past years. Christians should not be depressed by even the most evil reports. We should not require feel good stories. If you are a Christian, when you die you go to heaven; there is no other place for you to go! THAT is a feel good and TRUE story!

 

I just turned 66. It seems God is impressing me, not to stop hating sin, and not to stop writing about the foolishness of sin, but to add a level of compassion for sinners that I have lacked, and forgiveness for them. A fool is one with no moral compass. All have sinned. All have been fools. Some continue to sin, some live as fools. Jesus came to forgive the sinful acts of fools and He accomplished that. He is the Savior of Israel and the gentiles who have faith in Him, who TRUST Him.

 

Now it is ALSO up to us fools to receive Him as Lord. That will mean we will repent. Jesus says to fools, Jew and gentile: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (ASV Matthew 11:28-30) From The Message paraphrase: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly."

 

That rest, that “living freely and lightly” will not come if I continue to practice sin and/or if I continue to walk in unforgiveness toward anyone. Todd White, who was a drug dealer for many (20?) years got saved, gloriously saved. One day in his daily travels on his job he saw that he encountered no one whom Jesus did not die for. I think we ought to be so free that we also see that even those whose sins God abhors as the objects of His lamb who takes away their sins. If that is the goal that God accomplished for you and me by sending Jesus in the flesh, can I condemn any man or woman, neighbor, friend, lover, or enemy for any of their sins? Can I condemn my mate for picking me up late from work? My friend who still hasn’t returned my tools?  Can I condemn my neighbor who will place a “Hillary in 2016” sign on her front lawn? Can I condemn gays, or the gays who “marry?” Can I condemn muslims, or the muslims who behead my brethren in the Messiah?

 

“Vengeance is mine,” saith the Lord, “I will repay.”

 

I’m not saying that we should approve the wrongs people do. But if we agree with God that sin is wrong, and that your sin will find you out, and that those sowing sinful seeds will reap a harvest of rottenness, we should also agree with God that those who sin can be forgiven, received by God in saving faith and by God’s children as Brothers and Sisters in Jesus. We also must agree that with God (who “makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”) we must love our enemies. This love and forgiveness will not mean we always give sinners a pass. We need to understand that as we in faith are called to submit to chastening, so the unsaved will suffer punishments for their sins. God has appointed servants bearing the sword to be a terror to those who would do evil. We may easily injure ourselves by opposing the civil authorities God has installed for our own protection. (Today IS IT a frightening reality that the wall of protection God would keep raised for our safety is being torn down that we might receive the chastening we have refused in milder forms?)

 

 

Perhaps the heaviest thing a man or women ever carried is the burden of unforgiveness. When we don’t forgive offenses they become heavier and turn us bitter. I think we all have had that experience and Jesus wants us to be free of those burdens and from ALL bitterness. He doesn’t want us to be free by denying that we ourselves are sinners. We must confess our own offenses, the ones He carried to the cross and forgave us for before we were even born in our flesh! Nor does he want us stuck in self condemnation of our sins for that will also be a heavy bitter load to bear. But if we have the wisdom to forgive ourselves we ought to have the wisdom to let God change our hearts, and the wisdom to beseech Him to change them.

 

We must confess our sins and seek to walk in God’s Spirit as changed people, as holy people. It is not something we will be able to do by our own force of will. It must be something we seek out of a desperate desire to please and to love the One who loves us PERFECTLY and ETERNALLY. Becoming like Jesus is not a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” thing. We need the power of God the Holy Spirit and the Word of God Jesus. The Bible is enormously helpful for this. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The Holy Spirit is ESSENTIAL for this.  “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.  He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.  All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you.” John 16:13-15

 

Paul beseeched the Philippians to have the mind of Christ. He wanted them all to be like minded. In our time this is a message the church DESPERATELY needs to hear. So many of us for so many reasons suffer an identity crisis and it is revealed by our doctrinal divisions. Jesus has ONLY ONE church. If there was ever a religion that WAS hijacked it is Christianity. Some speak of “two” churches, the invisible church and the visible church. The invisible church is the one God sees, the visible is the one you and I see. Unfortunately to the human eye (especially to the unbelieving eye) the visible church is a hot mess of division, scandal, and the scandal of division!

 

I have been very critical of the division the visible church endures. Paul was very critical of it. In 1 Corinthians Paul upbraids the congregation for their sects. In Philippians Paul urges the people to think like Jesus thinks. In our human weakness, and pride is the greatest weakness of all, we seek to feel good, look good, and be right. If we trusted Jesus and walked in His Spirit that should be the result! But when we seek to accomplish this on our own the stumbling and falling is just plentiful and painful. Why? because we simply are broken things. Broken things don’t function. Broken people sin. There is a great advantage to knowing and admitting our brokenness, and confessing our sin… IF we will allow God to fix us. Get up into Dr. Jesus’ office for a check up. He will likely schedule surgery and send you to the Holy Spirit Operating Room. 

 

A very well regarded Bible teacher once prayed for me, but before he did he looked me in the eye and said: “You don’t know who you are, do you?” I didn’t. So vague was my identity as a child of God, I could not but mumble incoherently! And I was in my fifties! Now I find that I have to forgive the many people, especially the teachers who cling to the divisions of their doctrines instead of seeking the unity the Messiah offers, the unity He asked His Father, our Father to bestow those who would believe after He went back to heaven.

 

Pride produces an insidious child: Hypocrisy! I have found it very easy to excuse my carnality by condemning the visible churches carnal divisions, the same sort Paul condemned in the Corinthian congregation. I remember reading an author who had been a member of more than a few denominations over the course of his life. He knew who he was. He had no illusion hat he was any great person because he had “been around.” I, on the other hand, have gone AWOL from active fellowship, excusing that for the foolishness of those, who like I did,  do not know who they are! I know better whomI am these days, but still have a ways to go.

 

Agape love

1. is patient
2. is kind
3. does not envy
4. does not boast
5. it is not arrogant
6. it is not rude
7. does not insist on its own way
8. it is not irritable
9. it is not resentful
10. does not rejoice at wrongdoing
11. rejoices with the truth
12. bears all things
13. believes all things
14. hopes all things
15. endures all things
16. never ends

 

God is agape love and God has made me to be like Himself. That then is my identity. I’m to be grafted into the vine along with all it’s (His) branches. The visible church seems like a hot mess. But God sees the invisible.

Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12

 

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.  But now abideth faith, hope, love (agape), these three; and the greatest of these is love (agape). Follow after love (agape)… 1Corinthians 13: 11-13; 14:1a

 

When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does  1Corinthians 13: 11-13; 14:1a The Message

 

So I’m going to love you. You who have with Peter and Paul have obtained like precious faith through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. Philippians 3:13-16 The Message

 

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Philippians 3:13-16

 

And I’m going to love my enemies. Someone recently said we have enemies because we make enemies. I love the one who said that, enough to tell them that Christians have enemies simply because Jesus the Christ has enemies. If asked to recant my faith that I might not make others my enemies, I will say: I love Jesus more than my closest friends. Because I do, Jesus teaches me how to love my closest and how to love you, my enemy!

 

“Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”, m m

 

Dear Hillary Swank and friends...

Dear Hillary Swank and friends,

I don’t know Hillary Swank. She is an actress. She loves dogs. I do know the “crew” on NBC’s Today Show. Not personally, but from their daily reports and personal interaction I know them a lot better than they know me. They love dogs too. Ms. Swank appeared on the Today show recently promoting an organization the cares for dogs. She and not a few others work with organizations who rescue dogs and other animals from the streets and from abusive o...wners. But when will Ms. Swank, and Matt Lauer, Willie Giest, Al Roker and Tamron and her sisters speak for and rescue their fellow humans from the hands of abortionists? Do we really believe human children in utero have less worth that dogs, seals, and whales? Do we think that abortion is painless to the fetus, the “little one?” It IS painful, and if THEY condone or promote the painful slaughter of human beings by abortion THEY have NO moral right or authority to condemn any treatment of any living thing. In fact their words are worthless on any subject. If THEY told me water is wet, I would have to verify it is so.

God so loved Hillary Swank and the Today show crew...

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A16-18&version=ASV

at the door...

“…not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”

Revelation 22:17 to the world:

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Revelation 3:20 to the church:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

 

 

On NBC’s Today show this morning they played the 911 tapes recorded when a stalker/burglar was breaking into Sandra Bullock’s Los Angeles home recently. Sandra retreated into her bedroom and into the closet behind a “safe door,” a door presumably able to keep any intruder out.  The talking heads comments summarized were: “what a terrible frightening  thing to happen!” Willie Geist opined how frightening it must be to have someone on the other side of your door that might do harm to you or your family. And who would disagree? Yet…

In this small and dangerous world of sinners we are increasingly vulnerable to all manner of premeditated assaults on or persons and property. But many who are aware that our streets and even neighborhoods are dangerous have not realized the real dangers to the entire nation. Most of us have very limited access to the ears of our national leaders, and many of us just don’t concern ourselves with what is happening amongst the nations. If we were to look at the nations as individuals it should be seen clearly that some are not inclined to be friendly to others. While Israel and others want to be our friends and allies in this lifetime, others want to annihilate us. In Gaza, the West Bank, in Hebron and Ramallah AND in Iran the word on the street is: “Death to America.” That is not code. That is the sincere desire of those who chant it AND THE PLAN of those who lead them. But we call Islam a religion of peace and only “hijacked” by radicals who misunderstand Islam and twist the words of the Koran.

Islam is more than at the America’s front door. Islam is in the White House. Our nation’s founders never envisioned such a thing. In their minds and writings religion started and ended with those naming Jesus as Lord, Savior and God’s Son. Of gentile Christians Paul wrote: “… once ye did walk according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience…” Can we see that gentiles today who reject Jesus the Son of God the Father are truly sons of disobedience and do walk according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that is now working in them.

 

Friends, if it looks, walks and quacks like a duck… it is not a dove. In the case of Islam it looks like a monster. Can there be ANY DOUBT AT ALL that muslims are sons of disobedience? I fear those calling themselves christians and allowing muslims to be a religion of peace are at the least deceived and many do not know the real Jesus of Bethlehem and Nazareth whom claim as their own. Those in high places and low who say Islam is a religion of peace look like the ostrich with their heads in the sand. Muslims know better, Islam is an oppressive political system with religious form. Their leaders wield human power (brutally) while claiming divine power. Islam is a bully. Their leaders are liars, and their religious laws encourage lying as a strategy and tactic to advance their caliphate.

 

Real peace, true peace comes from God in the Messiah. It is offered by God as a gift, not coerced by force. It is of the truth and offered by God with NO deceit, NONE.

 

In this world amongst those who reject the Messiah Jesus, world peace comes from God by the agency of His servants who rule and “bear the sword.” World peace is maintained by vigilant people and nations who desire to live in tranquility. Yet He has given man freedom and some men abuse it, some want only war. God IS in control and is carrying out His Plan For those who  abuse their freedom God raises up Presidents, Prime Ministers, congresses and Parliaments, even Politburos and their armed/police forces. Why then do some like Iran and their surrogates ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and the Muslim Brotherhood rule and bear the sword? Because men are free and choose evil rather than good. If Jesus is not your Lord and Savior I fear you will not see the difference. In Islam an evil spirit rules, in God’s church the Holy Spirit is Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: 4 in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.

1 John 5:18 We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth himself, and the evil one toucheth him not.19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one.

As one preacher said, even “the devil is God’s devil, and He (God) has him (the devil) on a short leash.” So we should not worry, “be anxious for nothing!” Jesus is Lord, and He is Lord of all! And for we who believe and receive Him, Jesus the Messiah is our peace!

 

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. NKJV

John 14:27  I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn't like the peace that this world can give (is giving you). So don't be worried or afraid. CEV

Those faithful to God have ALWAYS found the Savior’s peace, even in the midst of the war and tribulations of the moment. But let’s not think that those who are unfaithful and unbelieving have God’s shalom (peace) or can give us God’s shalom. Under the hand of God and for this present world they may help keep the world’s peace, or they may seek to destroy the world’s peace. But in Jesus our Rock, our shield and buckler our high tower we have peace that the world cannot give, and that the world cannot take away!

 

Jesus is the Prince OF peace!

Glory, Hallelu Yah, Hallelu Yah Yeshua !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isaiah 9:6  For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace. [Isa. 25:1; 40:9-11; Matt. 28:18; Luke 2:11.]

Psalm 18:2  The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Deuteronomy 32:31  Even our enemies know that only our God is a Mighty Rock.

 

<<<<ß*à>>>>>

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

(Psalm 91:1-16)

 

 

Holy Enigma !!!

The Enigma of Our Day

Mankind is not equipped by nature for peace. His history shows it to be so and there is no doubt of it. He is equipped with great abilities, but to be at peace with his neighbor is not given him by nature, that is by his birth. And issue de jour is that of the bully. We don’t want our children to be bullied, or to be bullies. But there are many bullies today; some we call gangs, or terrorists. Some of them rule nations and armies.

No surprise them that we see many at war with their neighbors near and far. Though there are greater and lesser conflicts, for decades, indeed since May 14, 1948 the most persistent conflict has been seen as between Israel and those who would destroy her. For nearly 2,000 years Israel was a nation without land, that is, without a homeland. That did not mean she was not a nation, for a nation is simply a family. This family whom we call the Jews was scattered throughout the whole world by the armies of Rome in 70AD. After that war and scattering the Jews were persecuted, bullied almost everywhere they went. Jews did make two notable attempts to take the land back, but they failed in each.

Today there are around 17 million Jews worldwide, that number being only ¼ of one percent (0.025%) of the 7,000,000,000 (7 BILLION) people in the earth today. Somewhat over 6,000,000 of them now live in Israel, a land about the size of the state of New Jersey. On May 14^th, 1948  this land given, or returned(?) to them by the United Nations. On THE NEXT DAY, May 15^th, 1948, six Islamic nations attacked Israel. Clearly mankind was not equipped for peace with the Jews after this their AUTHORIZED return to the Land. Israel has been fighting a defensive war there since that time.

(We are told that there was some conflict in Israel prior to this between Jews already returning to Israel wih the Arabs and with the British forces then present in Israel. After their treatment in Hitler’s Germany one could understand why. The Jews had never lost hope in returning to the Land and the fervor for that return had been growing worldwide ever stronger. What a relief it must have been to have the Land given to them in May 1948. What a relief it might have remained since were it not for the ancient enmity between Israel and her enemies.)

The question I ask is this: WHY ARE SO MANY POWERFUL AND WEALTHY NATIONS, AND SO MANY CRIMINALLY INSANE TERRORISTS OPPOSED TO EXISTENCE OF THE JEWS IN ISRAEL OR IN ANY LAND? Also: WHY ARE JEWS BULLIED WHEREVER THEY RESIDE BY SOME OR MANY OR ALL OF THOSE WHO ARE THEIR NEIGHBORS?

PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY: Why are so many so afraid of so few? This has been so for a very long time. Proportional to the world populations, in a room with 400 people, around 150 would be Christian, 150 would be Muslim, 40 to 49 would be other faiths and ONE would be a JEW! Throw out academics, throw out politics, throw out even common sense, but explain to me WHY the Jew is so hated, condemned, persecuted, assaulted and murdered by so many gentiles.

Israel has had a most powerful ally in the USA for many years. Not a few American Christians have taken a keen interest in Israel as they believe her to be “God’s timepiece.” They believe that what happens to Israel today and tomorrow to already be a matter of record in the prophecy of their Bible. These commonly called “Christian Zionists” are staunch supporters of Israel and defenders of the right of the Jews to the land of Israel. Other Christians do not think the same way. There is an entire theology (Covenant theology) among these which declares that God is finished with the Jews as a people and Israel as a nation. It is known that on May 14^th, 1948, when Israel was given her Land back, it was as if an earthquake has rocked the community of the Covenant theologians. Sadly many, even most(?) Christians are ignorant of Israel as important to the Christian faith, in the past or the future.

Why does the world not simply tolerate Israel? Could we gentiles not live and let the Jews live? “World peace” seems like a game whose rules require that Israel be accepted, with one side trying to lawfully guard her and the other committed to break every rule of law to destroy her. And who is the referee?

Are Evangelicals Missing the POINT???

Are Evangelicals Missing the POINT???

Though he were a Son, yet he [Jesus] learned obedience by the things which he suffered 

Hebrews 5:8

John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose... Luke 3:16

Are we worthy of anyone that we might untie their shoes and wash their feet? If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

It used to be that Abortion was the third rail in American politics, touch it and you die. Now it has been replaced by homosexual “rights.” Or is this a fourth rail, an added level of liberal re-enforcement against Christian values?

As one who was a “world class” heterosexual sinner, and one who still wars in his heart against ungoverned desires for women, it might seem hypocrisy for me to be opposed to and disgusted by  homosexual behavior. But as a Christian I have to let God be God, I have to agree with Him. God calls homosexual behavior an abomination. “Abomination” is a strong word. It means disgusting. I fear that many people simply don’t want to believe God can hate anything or any one. For them God is someone who is capable of only one thing: Love. Whatever your or my opinion or knowledge of God, it is, and forever will be God who knows who He Himself is. Letting God be who He is: that is the only real starting place in knowing Him. If my name is Frank Smith and you come to my house calling me Bill Jones, it is not likely you know me at all. So I should tell you my real name and who I am, yes? Many say they believe God to be Jesus the Messiah, they actually know the right Name, but they have not known who He is.

If your “god” is someone you can make to agree with you every time and at all times, it is not God. God says His word is settled forever in heaven. God says His word is truth. God says ALL have sinned. God says He is not a man that He should lie. He says of Himself:  I am the LORD, I change not. You are a sinner. You are a liar. You change your mind frequently. God says for two men to lie together is disgusting. But now in 2015 your eyes may have already glazed over, or you may have become unrighteously indignant against God who IS Love, yet who is also Holy and Just.

Or perhaps you are an “evangelical,” or someone the media and the pollsters and the politicians call an evangelical. And perhaps you are also a caterer or an inn keeper. And perhaps you do not want to allow homosexuals to stay a night at your inn. Or perhaps you do not want to serve the meal for a homosexual couple at their wedding reception. And if so you certainly do not want the government by law requiring these things of you. I understand those desires. I have served homosexuals in my restaurant and in my taxicab. I’m retired now. But If I could have refused to serve them I might have done so.

Most people do not enjoy the guarantees and protections Americans have under the U.S. constitution. We have enjoyed freedom in a way few people have in the course of human history. Many have become so accustomed to these freedoms that any infringement upon them wounds us, it wounds our proud dignity. We have come to consider ourselves worthy of freedom. The Lord and His word teach us that all have sinned and the wages of sin is death. And we all do die. So we should not see any blessing of freedom in this life as that which we deserve, but as that gift of mercy and grace we receive from the Lord our God.

Are we offended by homosexuals and our government who now favors them? Are we offended so much that we would refuse them services we render to other sinners? What if the USA were to become a Muslim nation. Great Britain is nearly one today. Will we refuse to allow Muslims to rent our rooms, will we refuse to cater the weddings of unbelievers, or the wedding of a Christian to a non-christian, or of a believer who is a known adulterer? As a cab driver I often picked up men and women and transported them to bars and strip clubs. Sometimes I made round trips for people buying drugs from the streets. You never knew where you might take someone. It was a crazy job at times. I asked a Christian brother if he thought I should refuse transport people on such trips. He noted that if I didn’t someone else would.

When Jesus came to die for us, Israel was under the Roman boot, she was occupied by Roman soldiers representing the Empire of Rome. Roman dignitaries and military personnel had the power impress people, even Jewish people into service, to have them perform labors without compensation, to make them slaves temporarily And yet Jesus preached to His people:

Mathew 5:38-48  “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.  Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Homosexual sin is certainly the result of human denial of God in the Messiah Jesus. It is a rejection of the proper and noble relationship of man and woman. It is a sin which usually marks people for all to see. So does drunkenness and drug abuse. What should we do if the heterosexual wedding party we cater becomes an orgy of alcohol and marijuana? Both are now legal in several states.

HONESTLY WHAT BOTHERS ME IS SIN IN GOD’S OWN CHURCH. AND OF ALL THAT SIN, my sin BOTHERS ME THE MOST.

Job was blessed above most men, and was righteous more than many. He had sons and daughters and great wealth, and yet when he lost it all he declared: “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Left with nothing but his wife and his health, God allowed that his health be taken away. His wife, in a state of despair advised Job to “curse God and die.” Job replied: “‘Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?’ In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” Job would have done well  to  suffer in silence from that point forward…yes? no?

What would Jesus do? What did Jesus do? He took away the sins of the world. If any will trust Him, He will take away also their guilt and shame for their sins, and their punishment for them. God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

Evangelical cannot refuse to love their enemies. Jesus love them while they were still sinners, sinners at enmity with Him.

D. Severy aka lambsev 

God on VACA???

Ignorance Is Not Bliss, Better the Truth that Hurts as It Heals

On this morning’s Meet the Press, Chuck Todd interviewed Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, of the Roman Catholic church on the subject of Christian and religious persecution. It was the blind leading the blind. Among Dolan’s words: “God is the God of spring, not the God of winter.” How clear that Augustine’s penchant for allegory has fogged over (and through) the Roman heresy and her followers until this very day. I’m glad my God doesn’t leave town when the weather gets cold.

Dolan also said that Islamic terrorists were not consoant [compatible] with the Koran. To be consonant with such a book would lead to bi-polar schizophrenia. The most ardent terrorists are ardent students of the Koran. The Koran never calls muslims to love (or even forgive?) those who are non-muslims, it calls for muslims   to seek and destroy them or to assist in that task. Rushdie has it right, the Koran is a book of satanic verses. But in a world where Islamic clerics preach the Koranic “seek and murder” doctrine, and muslim terrorists carry out that Koranic mandate, those fearful for the loss of their gastronomic and genital pleasures (via the loss of their heads) toadie along with “moderate” muslims in friendly self deceits and deception of those who will follow them.  

I say if you’re “in for a penny” you’re “in for a pound.” And until you submit/convert to Islam, Islam will pound on you to do so.

Q: What do you call the student who graduated last in his/her class at medical school?

A: DOCTOR!

The same joke applies to those studying law, government and politics, economics, any degree… and let’s not forget those studying in Seminaries and Bible Colleges.

William Tyndale (b. 1494, d. 1536), the noted Bible translator (who translated the Bible when doing so was a crime against the Roman Catholic church), was confronted by a scholar who said: We would be better without God’s law than the Pope’s.” Tyndale replied: “I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life, before many years I will cause boys that plow fields to know more of the Scripture than you do!” God did spare his life for 40 years  and Tyndale’s translations have provoked and provided that many learn God’s word who would have otherwise remained ignorant of it. The Holy Bible has led countless muslims Faith in the Living God and His Son and to everlasting life in Him.

If Christ is God, follow Him! If you think, say or believe Christ is not God, may God in Christ reveal Himself to you. When He does reveal Himself as God, (and He will certainly do that in your life or at your death) you will have no doubt that Islam is the domain of satan, and that the Koran is satan’s propaganda. 

In Church Today: Prophets or No Prophets?

Are prophets and prophecy valid today?

Are we making a mistake by teaching there are today no more Christian New Testament church age prophets?

It is a very awesome God who made the heavens, the earth and ALL that they contain. The outward and inward lack of unity in Christendom has been apparent for nearly the entire two millennium of her existence. Those who say “I believe God in Christ” (as do I) should be very careful how they understand His Book and how they teach it to others. God looks on our hearts. Even to broach a controversy such as this one is risky indeed. So I want to say I am at peace with you and love you without regard to your “position” in this matter, notwithstanding the very serious judgment of Revelation 22:18-19. In this effort I ask questions and also state opinions. I offer them here not as authoritative as I am not the Author of what is true, but do offer them as an attempt to arrive at the truth.

It is said that Augustine died and after several minutes passed he came briefly back to life and uttered these words: “All my writings are straw.” It is a fearful thing to know that what we say and write can be burned up and forgotten. If that is the true end of this treatise, may it come to that rather sooner than later.

May God speedily disabuse and deliver all He came to save from whatever lies and confusion has crept into our minds, hearts and souls. Maranatha.

James 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already.

4 Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they as of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he who is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

12 No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us: 13 hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. 16 And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.

17 Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love, because he first loved us.

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen. 21 And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.

Onward!

prophecy

 A. a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by foretelling future events

 B. Used in the NT of the utterance of OT prophets

 i.   of the prediction of events relating to Christ's kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions pertaining to it, the spirit of prophecy, the divine mind, to which the prophetic  faculty is due

 ii.  of the endowment and speech of the Christian teachers called prophets

 iii. the gifts and utterances of these prophets, esp. of the predictions of the works of which, set apart to teach the gospel, will accomplish for the kingdom of Christ

Those today who believe prophets and prophecy (and apostles?) have ceased use 1 Corinthians Ch 13 as a basis for that view. It is not a passage easily interpreted literally.

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

1Corinthians 13:8-10

Everything depends on “when that which is perfect” comes. What is that thing perfect and when does it come? If we can know these things are and that they have come, then we can be much more certain that prophecies, tongues and knowledge have been done away with. What is perfect and when it will (or has?) come are not readily apparent. If a literal interpretation is desirable we must not forget that God is Spirit and He is the Word. 

John 6:63 makes it very clear that:

“It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I [Jesus] have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.”

Are Paul’s words spirit and life? A literal interpretation of God’s words must rest on the foundation, that foundation id Jesus Christ (1Corinthians 3:11) and that foundation is Spiritual. Apart from the Holy Spirit, what is “literal” is next to worthless. We need to be very sure of how we use the word literal, for it does not occur in the Bible, BUT the word letter does! 


Romans 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 2 Corinthians 3:4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God- ward: 5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

7 But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away: 8 how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. 11 For if that which passeth away was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory.

The Pharisees were guilty of twisting the literal letter of God’s words to suit their own agendas. The letter of the Mosaic law condemned sin. Yet it was a spiritual God who gave it to Moses, and a spiritual necessity that required it be given. The Pharisees took that literal/spiritual law and twisted it into something God never meant it to mean.

It will I fear be a grave mistake to impose our literal interpretation of the scriptures on the Holy Spirit rather than be taught the lettered “words of the prophecy of this book” BY the Holy Spirit. I don't mean to discount the meaning of the words, but let God the Holy Spirit define them that we may have an understanding of His Spirit in our spirits. God delivered us from the letter of the law by the Messiah into the New Covenant; it is very clear that the Holy Spirit is foundational as God for our spiritual life everlasting and all pertaining to that life.
 

John 16;13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

15  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

In the definition just below the very first definition states: 1 taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory: dreadful in its literal sense, full of dread. It is noted that in the Bible we see over 200 “literary” devices used; among them are metaphor and allegory. We may not (I don't) know how each of the devices operates according to “rules” of scholarship, but we can by the Holy Spirit know what is of God and what is of man.




literal |ˈlitərəl, ˈlitrəl|

adjective

1 taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory: dreadful in its literal sense, full of dread.

• free from exaggeration or distortion: you shouldn't take this as a literal record of events.

• informal absolute (used to emphasize that a strong expression is deliberately chosen to convey one's feelings): fifteen years of literal hell.

2 (of a translation) representing the exact words of the original text.

• (of a visual representation) exactly copied; realistic as opposed to abstract or impressionistic.

3 (also literal-minded )(of a person or performance) lacking imagination; prosaic.

4 of, in, or expressed by a letter or the letters of the alphabet: literal mnemonics.

nounBrit.Printing

a misprint of a letter.

DERIVATIVES

literality |ˌlitəˈralətē|,

literalize |-ˌlīz|verb,

literalness noun

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French, or from late Latin litteralis, from Latin littera (see letter) .

usage: See usage at literally.

letter |ˈletər|

noun

1 a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet: a capital letter.

• a school or college initial as a mark of proficiency, esp. in sports: I earned a varsity letter in tennis | [ as modifier ] : a letter jacket.

2 a written, typed, or printed communication, esp. one sent in an envelope by mail or messenger: he sent a letter to Mrs. Falconer.

• (letters) a legal or formal document of this kind.

3 the precise terms of a statement or requirement; the strict verbal interpretation: we must be seen to keep the spirit of the law as well as the letter.

4 (letters) literature: the world of letters.

• archaic scholarly knowledge; erudition.

5 Printing a style of typeface.

verb

1 [ with obj. ] inscribe letters or writing on: her name was lettered in gold.

• classify with letters: he numbered and lettered the paragraphs.

2 [ no obj. ] informal be given a school or college initial as a mark of proficiency in sports: juniors who lettered in soccer, basketball, or softball.

PHRASES

to the letter with adherence to every detail: the method was followed to the letter.

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French lettre, from Latin litera, littera ‘letter of the alphabet,’ (plural) ‘epistle, literature, culture.’

literally |ˈlitərəlē, ˈlitrə-|

adverb

in a literal manner or sense; exactly: the driver took it literally when asked to go straight across the traffic circle | tiramisu, literally translated “pick me up.”

• informal used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true: I have received literally thousands of letters.

usage: In its standard use, literally means ‘in a literal sense, as opposed to a nonliteral or exaggerated sense’: I told him I never wanted to see him again, but I didn't expect him to take it literally . In recent years, an extended use of literally (and also literal) has become very common, where literally (or literal) is used deliberately in nonliteral contexts, for added effect: they bought the car and literally ran it into the ground. This use can lead to unintentional humorous effects ( we were literally killing ourselves laughing) and is not acceptable in formal English.

If a word spoken by a believer to the church contains no novel (previously unheard) prediction (with regard to the 66 books of the Holy Bible) is it the speaker a prophet and his word prophetic? Predictive prophecy is easily judged, it either comes to pass with accuracy or it does not. But the definition of prophecy is more that just predicting future events.  

prophecy

C. a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by foretelling future events

If a word is found declaring the purposes of God, reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, is it prophecy? Must prophecy be predictive?  If it does make a novel prediction which then comes to pass as predicted, can it be of God?

If a word is said to be added to the words of the prophecy of this book, must it be added as the book of Mormon, or some other word apart from the 66 Books of the Bible? What is the nature of a word which can said to be unlawful or unspiritual when added to the Bible’s word? What is the nature of a word added to the words of prophecy? (It is easier to see what a word taken away might be from those words which are written.)

I believe the words we are warned NOT to add are words added  which alter the truth (Jesus IS the truth), the character  of God, or the plan of God. (Words taken away may also alter the truth, the nature of God, or the plan of God.)

If a word does seek to change the truth, change the character, or change the plan (will) of God, is it allowed? NO! Is a word in accord the truth, the character, and the plan (will) of God allowed? Is it allowed, not as an addition to scripture, but as an oracle of God, as an utterance of God? I believe a word can be spiritual without damaging literal meanings. If such words are not possible, the words we speak and teach in church and seminary seem less that spiritual.  If the scriptures cannot teach us how we are to speak the truth, ought we to speak at all, or write at all?

A lot of Christians go to church, to seminars, to conferences, even to Bible schools and seminaries and just swallow whole the teachings they are given. They don’t question anything but accept the men (and women too?!) as authoritative and never look beyond those teachings to the Holy Spirit! Many have followed human teachers AS IF THEY WERE PROPHETS, as if all of their utterances are GOD BREATHED! But the Holy Spirit ought to be, MUST BE the One (first and last) to teach us; we ought to, we must submit  our thoughts, speech and written words  continually to Him and to God.

If I want a seminary degree I should be careful, for many will require of me their flawed (sometimes egregiously flawed) version of the Doctrine of God and the apostles.

In the matter of the cessation of prophecy and prophets today I have selected some scriptures for consideration (with emphases in bold type). Am I indulging in eisegesis? Or have some thrown the baby (prophet) out with the bath water. It is for you and I a matter to take to God for His judgment (and for that a prophet may be MOST HELPFUL).

Many cite 1 Cor. 13 as proof that prophecy and tongues have ceased.



1 Cor 13: 8 Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;

10  but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

I believe that it is as one has translated verse 10: “But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.” The perfect renders partial prophecy, partial knowledge and partial speaking inferior and unnecessary because it is partial, but it does not invalidate the partial revelation we now enjoy.

I asked some who believes prophets and prophecy are no longer valid to say why that is so. They told me that the proof was too long and involved to present to me. I fear it was! And that they would have had to go to their teachers texts to be able to begin the presentation to me. Odd for those who are concerned others have ADDED to words to God’s book to need to add a proof “long and involved” to explain a doctrine directed to words added to the “book of this prophecy!” And here I write these many words, and they must be discerned and judged, but by whom? Certainly God will give a verdict! Nevertheless, could it be that a prophet might be “what the Great Physician” ordered!

There are several reasons I believe that prophets and prophecy seem rare in history after the death of John the Beloved. One is that the prophets may not have been writing their words down. Or that others were not writing them down. Because of the gentile rejection of Jews and the doctrines of the Old Testament, it may be a judgment of the church after the first century that no prophet spoke! As in the Tanakh where many of the children of Israel rejected God’s prophets and their “hard” words, it may well be that the gentile believers and perhaps even Jewish believers also rejected prophets and their words after the first century. It does seem very reasonable to say that predictive prophecy after Revelation was written seems unnecessary. However there are other purposes for prophecy. Most important are the warnings prophets give to those straying and warnings they give to the church regarding those who are doing harm. It would be immaturity, carnality and unbelief which caused people to shut their ears against warnings and even against encouragement and comfort prophets can speak to the church.

Of all the gifted Old Testament saints, God’s true prophets received the worst opposition and treatment from the children of Israel. From “Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias,” including Moses and Aaron, God’s TRUE prophets have been despised, opposed, imprisoned and murdered/martyred. I dearly hope that if prophets are today a benefit and blessing from God, that none by saying they have ceased deprive the church of their words. The words of a prophet are not his or her own; they are God’s words.

Are their false prophets today? Yes there are, and Jesus and the apostles warned us there would be those “who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” But does this mean that their will be now no more prophets?

For many the issue hinges on these verses:

Rev 22:18  I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: 19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

After much thinking and some studying a question came into my mind: Does one have to be a prophet to “add” or “take away from the words of this book?” I believe any man or woman could make those mistakes and do make them! But of prophecy:

1 Corinthians 14:29  And let the prophets speak by two or three, and let the others discern.

30  But if a revelation be made to another sitting by, let the first keep silence.

31  For ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted;

32  and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets;

33  for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.

It is somewhat unnerving to think that there are no prophets in the church today, for they serve a purpose: “that all may learn, and all may be exhorted;” It is a prophet who is ORDAINED to judge prophecy! How can such a matter as the cessation of prophecy and prophets (and tongues, knowledge AND apostles) have arisen except that words have been taken away from the prophecy of this book!!!!! If prophets are no more who can judge even false prophecy? Are those who say prophets are no more actually taking the entire 12_th chapter of Corinthians and more away from the words of the prophecy of this book?



Num 11: 29  And Moses said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all Jehovah’s people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!

What are warned about in Rev. 22:18-19? We are warned about adding or subtracting words from “the prophecy of this book.” Which book is this? Is it Revelation or the entire Bible? Are 1 Cor. 12 and 14 words from “the prophecy of this book?” I believe as many do that the Bible’s 66 books are God breathed or God inSpired. But if they alone are God’s breath, every word man breathes out by speech or on paper is not from God. I can live with others interpretation that we are forbidden to add any more written words to the predictive prophecy of Revelation. I can even see how unnecessary added words are to those who receive the Bible as God’s breathed. But I fear that some who teach the cessation of prophecy today may be guilty of doing the very thing they preach against: taking away the words of the prophecy of this book (or at the least their iteration and reiteration)!  

There are so many worthy and Holy words to learn in “this book,” be it the whole Bile or only Revelation. But so many offer their own thoughts as shibboleths by which they judge their neighbors outside the Kingdom! Because they do, should we turn away words which encourage us?

1 Peter 4:11 if any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God;... that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen
“...if any man speaketh, speaking as it were logi0n (speech, or utterance)  of God.”

Is my speech and my writing relevant to the warning of Rev. 22?? Is anyone today able to speak for God? As an oracle of God? If to speak or write is to risk adding or subtracting from God’s prophetic message and incurring very serious consequences, then we all ought to be a much more sober people. But if to remain silent when we are inspired by God to speak may be to bury the talent God has given.

Now I’m going to write something here and say it as a “word” I have only begun to think may be from God. From Him as prophecy? As a teaching? As a “word?” I can’t say yes or no out of fear I may be wrong. But if there are no more prophets today, how will I be judged as true or false? 1 Cor. 14:29  And let the prophets speak by two or three, and let the others discern. And if there are no more prophets today WHO DOES have God delegated authority to judge a word said to be prophetic, or anything at all? You may say we have the Bible as the final authority for faith and doctrine, but I must ask how am I able to hear that Book except by the Spirit of God? And “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17.

If you are not a prophet, how can you judge prophecy or what is claimed to be prophetic? Even the written prophecy of Revelation? I take this position: Even if I don't understand all the Bible I have faith the original manuscripts are inerrant. My knowledge and understanding may remain in great part (prayerfully a lesser part) incomplete, not full, partial.

1 Corinthians 13:2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 12:31 But desire earnestly the greater gifts. And moreover a most excellent way show I unto you...

1 Corinthians 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, and exhortation, and consolation. 4 He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church39 Wherefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 40 But let all things be done decently and in order.

How is it that God sent Jesus and then the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul to write clear instructions (by the Spirit) to the church with her prophets and 100 years God then rescinded, canceled, took away the gift, the truly high gift of prophecy which we should desire and do need to EDIFY the church? Or did the church after John's death simply wander away and close her eyes to prophecy and prophets, and apostles. Men in the flesh tend to reject authority and the prophets and apostles have authority.

Can a man speak or write the truth in accord with the character of God?  If he does, is it not as an oracle of God at the least? If he does so, is this prophetic? If a man testify of Jesus is it prophecy?



Rev 19: 10  And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow–servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Have I taken some single verses and sections out of their context? Undoubtedly I will be seen as an eisogete by some. I welcome greater wisdom that my own, but am not inclined to welcome greater eisogesis under the color of context. God looks on our hearts; should we not seek to know His? Should we not seek the Holy Spirit's guidance into the context of the entire Bible? That will be a Spirit led enterprise or fall short. I fear Context Context Context may itself become a pretext. Or worse, a literal idol.

Before you think me an idiot remember that the prophet Isaiah was cleansed in order to fulfill his call. If I am not cleansed by the Messiah’s blood...

1 John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.

...if I have not the anointing... for any gift or word, please pray for me!


Num 11: 29  And Moses said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all Jehovah’s people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!

CONTRAST:

Matthew 23:30  And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

32  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

34 ¶  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

CONTRAST:

1Th 5: 16 ¶  Rejoice evermore.

17  Pray without ceasing.

18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

19  Quench not the Spirit.

20  Despise not prophesyings.

21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22  Abstain from all appearance of evil.

23 ¶  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

Rom 11: 1 ¶  I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

2  God did not cast off his people which he foreknew. Or know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth with God against Israel:

3  Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.

4  But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

Isa 30: 8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.

9  For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah;

10  that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits,

11  get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon;

13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

May we hear God by His Holy Spirit on these matters from thee, Lord Jesus our Savior, first and last,  Amen.