Little to Big Things

 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. - Gal 5

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men  nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. - 1 Cor 6

Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death" - Rev 21

Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.- Rev 22




That's quite a list.

Yet if you talk to anyone off the street they might tell you that they're going to heaven because they're a good person. It's pouring into the church with people that if they haven't out right endorsed certain sins as acceptable, they don't have the strength in their convictions to speak against them. When I look at this list, I know there are things that I need to change and that there are more than one thing that could bar me from heaven. I'm holding to God's grace as I work on them, but I also know that it's important that they be worked on. I have evidence of the working of God's Spirit in my life as when they heave their insults and they pour out the hatred, I'm slightly less quick to anger than I used to be. I still have a ways to go.

In the past week I have been told that I am not a believer because I quoted Leviticus 11 in regards to a cheese stuffed lobster carcass. I was told that it was judgment and these "other believers" said that I was going to burn in hell and wasn't following God because he said " judge not". Never mind the part where he says to judge with righteous judgment or the fact that in the context of what I was speaking about, I've removed the log from my eye and am able to speak of the speck in others in that regard.
I was also treated to a fury of insults ranging from very light to quite vulgar because I had the audacity to say that homosexuality isn't an identity, it's a sin. I was called a bigot and was told that I was filled with hate, even though I stated that I am quite tolerant of those who struggle (or don't even struggle) with homosexuality. I stated one biblical truth, cited one scripture, and that was enough to illicit a heinous response.

One of the things that stands out to me louder than the rest is cowardly. I often wonder about how many that encompasses. I know in our culture we're conditioned to not offend others with beliefs and that Christianity is offensive to the culture. In the scripture we're taught that to have friendship with the world is to be an  enemy with God
 ^"You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God"- James 4
Yet, we go out of our way to not really teach or preach the Truth, but kinda poke at it with a stick with tracts or neck ties with scriptures on them. Cowardly. Many of us are too timid to pray in public. Why? Why would we be so self conscious about speaking aloud to the God that gave us life and redeems us from our own lusts and selfish destructive ways?

A.W. Tozer has a line that says “Christians don't tell lies – they just go to church and sing them” We say things like "I surrender all" and "God have your way in me" then the moment Church lets out we drive to the nearest burger place and tell them to pile bacon high on our meal in contrast of Leviticus 11:7 where God says expressly to the people who He made the New Covenant with, Don't do this.
We say we love God but we don't even keep the Sabbath, which is by design a day off to hang out with God and love Him, given to us as a gift. We wont even stand up to ourselves... but what are we supposed to do with the world starts getting really bad?
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful,unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.- 2 Tim 3

Would you hold up in China where there are raids on Christians for being believers?
Would you lay down your life for the love of God and your faith?


... how are we ever going to get to those places when we refuse to be obedient in the small things as not sticking some gross abomination in our face and eating it?

Passover Musings.

I forget how to start blogs these days. I try to start them like I am talking directly to you, but for some reason I get a few lines in and scrap the entire conversation. I doubt you appreciate that since, in real life it would be as if you were starting to say something and I glanced at my phone and walked away.

What I want to talk about this month is Passover and unleavened bread. I was privileged enough to be asked to help throw a Passover dinner with some friends and it was awesome. This was the first time that I had lamb and it tasted delicious, the only time before that was in a gyro so, now I don't know what to believe. It gives me hope because for me, I consider myself a symbolism guy and to say that "Lamb just isn't my taste" always made me a little uncomfortable theologically. I did a clean on parts of my house and removed (ate) the leavened things before they were Biblically off limits for Unleavened bread. This lead to an interesting predicament.

There are those who clean out the leaven out of their house and they usually give it away to those that do not observe the feast. I've done this in the past, but over the last few years I've adopted the mindset that if it's sin, it's sin. Aren't we as believers supposed to be about 1) removing sin from our lives, and 2) teaching others how to be that example of Christ?  If it is a sin for me to be eating unleavened items during unleavened bread, then it would be a sin for me to give unleavened bread to another person and therefore contribute to their sin. This is the conclusion that I have come to in my walk.

This post may be a little scattered and hazy, on account of my being Italian and not having full bread or pasta, it's taking a greater effect that I'd like to admit. Where was I? Oh right. So, I did a clean on parts of my house and knowing the time was approaching I didn't buy more things with leavening in them as to not be in a situation where I am purchasing things to just throw away.  Some times I attend a bible study with a well meaning guy who brings a teaching that is somewhere doctrinally comparable to what I believe being like Baseball, and what he believes being like Cricket. Might be a weird analogy, because the guy isn't British, but I think he is Jewish. Either way, we both have hearts to keep God's times. So I'm trying to get my house squared, but I've got roommates. They're believers, but compared to the theological analogy of Baseball vs Cricket, they're probably more Softballers.  Teacher guy decides to clear out his leaven and pass it over to my roommates. Now the leaven is in my house, with Softballers who I've been talking about major league stuff with. It's in my dugout.

This got me to thinking about other sins. Do we do this with other sins? Do we excuse certain sins because the players aren't in the same sport? I, am a terrible example of righteous living... but in my defense, which is no defense at all, I do tell people out right that when I am in sin, it doesn't excuse the sin. The sin doesn't cease being as such because I am in rebellion. It's still sin, and I should be a better example of resisting it. I don't think I have ever told someone that something in the Bible that God has defined as Sin ( not issues of personal conviction mind you, but God laid text) wasn't a sin to them if they did it because of  X_________. This is something that I have mused over, and researched some, but could stand to study more you know?  I'm getting that conversational rhythm back, you know. Yeah, you know.  I'm not trying to be unfair to the Cricket players standards because he's still working out his stuff and in fairness he hasn't been doing this for as long, and probably hasn't' had anyone on his wavelength that knew enough to check him on some of the things that he's brought about. Is that MY place? probably not. Do I do it anyway? Like a compulsion. I do limit my attendance for both of our sake.

The question still stands, If sin is the transgression of God's law, and God's law is His self disclosure to the world, Then should it matter if you're Jew or Gentile, Saved or not, Man or Woman, Child or Adult? Shouldn't Sin be opposite of God and therefore be avoided by all of mankind? I have a hard time seeing it not. If we look at it as some sins for one race and others for another, I think that fosters a sense of elitism and division between nationalities and it turns the Commands of God from a position of "living like the Savior" to a position of elitism.  If Galatians 3:28-29 is to be true that we are all believers in Christ and therefore descendants of Abraham, then we should be looking out for other believers in trying to keep them from sin regardless of birthright.

Chocolate covered matza is the best way to eat matza. I saw a video wishing people a happy Passover and they used Matza as like, construction material. It made me laugh because of parallels. Never fails though, I get two days into unleavened bread and every time I turn around, I am punched in the mouth with a longing for doughnuts. I've also learned how easy it is to live off of lunchmeat, honey mustard and a tortilla.  The tortilla is really just an eatable plate.

Sons Of Abraham

Some of the things I hear often, usually when talking about scripture relating to not eating pork, is something like these comments:

 

 

The OT is for the Jews? The Law was just for the Jews? How many times have you heard this argument?  Yet is it found that way in scripture?

"But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him’” Numbers 15:30-31
So an Alien ( that people say isn't part of Israel) who blasphemes (the God of Israel) Is to be cut off from his people ( isn't he already cut off from his people, and an Alien in Israel, unless this means from his people ISRAEL) because he broke a commandment ( Aren't the commandments only for Israel? )

What about the commands for keeping the feast of Booths?
 “You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. ¹⁵ Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.


Leviticus 24:22
²² There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.’”
 Numbers 15:16
 As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord. ¹⁶ There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.’”,

Perpetual statute means forever and it's echoed here in Galatians 3

²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise

So, lets recap, Who left Egypt?
Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.

³⁹ They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.- Exodus 12

Sons of Israel and Mixed Multitude

Who were the sons of Israel?
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,

² Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.- 1 Chronicles 2

12 tribes and a mixed multitude of people.

What did the Mixed multitude of people and the 12 tribes do?
All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. - Exodus 19:8

Just to be clear, Deuteronomy 29:9-15
⁹ So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
¹⁰ “You stand today, all of you, before the Lord your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel, ¹¹ your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is within your camps, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, ¹² that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your God is making with you today, ¹³ in order that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
¹⁴ “Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, ¹⁵ but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here today

The Torah is for

Chiefs, Tribes, Elders, Officers, All the men of the 12 tribes of Israel,  Little ones, Wives, Aliens,

Those who are sons of Abraham, those who are in Christ, Those who were there at Sinai and those who weren't.

Of all of those people, why do we say that it is only for Judah?

A perpetual statute with the Alien is a perpetual statute. A perpetual statute with ones not there, is still a perpetual statute. 
We hear things like "Christ came to free us from the Law" and then we say "The law was never for us because we aren't' Jews"
We whom are saved by Grace through Faith are just the same as all those listed in Hebrews 11, who were saved by Grace through Faith... and it results in obedience, but is not a pre-requisite of Salvation
The Idea that the Law or Commands of God were to be kept in order to be saved was a NEW heresy that was springing up in Acts 15. Never before was such a doctrine in place and it was never the case that God had laid out in the "Old testament" To believe that in the "old testament" people were saved by adhering to commands and then Jesus came to discard the antiquated system is to trample on God's standard of Holiness, and to paint Him as disastrously inept. The same ideology paints Christ not as an obedient Son and Savior reflecting the goodness of His Fathers will, but instead makes Christ to be a violent over thrower of the kingdom of God, diminishing him to the likes of the Greeks on Olympus.

Neither Jew or Gentile, we are one in Messiah, the Savior, the Christ, to walk as HE walks.

 

Ayin Tova

The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.- Matthew 6

Time is the only currency we truly have. We trade some of it for money, which we trade for food and shelter so that we can spend other time on things more enjoyable. We spend, aptly put, our time. 
These principals caught my eye lately when I confessed to a roommate of mine that I've been lacking spiritually lately. I do not spend enough time in prayer, and I do not spend enough time reading the Bible.  I do God stuff, like go to church and serve. I attend a Mens Bible study where I do what I can to be transparent. It was at that Bible study that I was prompted to investigate my heart.

The other day someone ate my lunch. I'm not talking like, they chowed down on a $1.99 sandwich that I was left in the fridge for a week, no. I'm talking one of those $3.99 premium mac and cheese dinners that are even better than restaurant style mac and cheese. Now, I had had some tension with this person before, and this set me further on edge. They ate MY lunch.  This injustice was the subject of a lot of my thoughts until it's resolution, a week later. Yeah, a week later it was dealt with. that was a lot of time, a lot of life, that I spent on being upset over something stupid. I was hung up on it. My eye was not full of light. My heart was not where it should be.

At that Mens group Bible study the men said that they'd pray for the whole situation. When they said they'd pray for "the situation" what I am sure they were saying was " we pray that everything works out for peace" but what I heard was "we pray that you pull your head out of your butt".  That caused me to take a step backward.

That is when this passage came to mind:

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.  When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.  But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’  But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.  So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.  Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.  Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’- Matthew 18


Anger and gratitude cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Had I had more of a discipline focusing on the gratitude that I have for God's mercy and patience and gracious giving in abundance, I probably wouldn't have been so indignant about $3.99.  How much of my life looks dim because of a darkness in my eye? How much of the world looks bleak, not out of reality but out of our perception.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.- Philippians 4

The Breakdown

Things wrong with this by paragraph:
Paragraph 1
The Laws of God pertaining to His standard of righteousness and holiness are not just some set of rules to be followed. Granted obedience is credited to people as righteousness but this is only in response to their faith as stated in Hebrews 11. Hebrews also states that the blood of bulls and goats was never to take away sins in Hebrews 10:4 so the claim that that is how adam and eve got into heaven is also wrong. They put their faith in the coming Savior just like anyone else in the history of ever being saved by the redemption of Christ. Sacrifices were for a few reasons, but none of which were salvation oriented. If you wanna get really technical in Acts 21:17-26 Paul performs sacrifices after the death and resurrection of Christ for the express purpose of teaching people that this line of thinking that is being espoused in this post is categorically false.

Paragraph 2

Yes, Christ came with the express purpose of redeeming mankind by his sacrifice and pay the debt of the penalty of violation of the Law of God. his sacrifice is to free us from the bondage of Sin in our lives, allowing us to overcome sin. His words "it is finished" are not evidence of a destruction of the immutable words of God in the rest of the Bible, but rather a statement that the debt is paid. There are entire books of the Bible that discuss the returning of Christ and what that entails, this is by no means written off so glibly by the "it is finished" interpretation. This cites that Christ's death means that we no longer follow the law of God or the Prophets, but again that is EXACTLY what the FALSE teachers said of him Acts 6:10-15, and Matthew 5:17-19. Why do you think Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Paragraph 3

Falsely they make the claims about Christ. They make the same claim the false teachers said about him. The idea that they are saying is that if you are obedient to the very WORDS OF GOD as a RESPONSE to your FAITH in CHRIST, then you are invalidating the Cross. This is heretical garbage. What paragraph 3 is trying to say is that God was too weak and that he set up a faulty system that his son had to do a rush patch job on and nothing of that was the case. God's standard of Holiness is exactly what Christ lives. We, as followers of Christ are called to live the way Christ lives. Luke 6:40,Luke 24:27,John 5:46-47.
The irony of all of this is that it's capped off with a condescending message about actually reading the scriptures, when most of these paragraphs are talking points handed down or maligned from posts of sermons taken out of context. They're not what the Bible says.  Now as to the Meme itself, Jesus says that He and the Father are one and He says that He is the Way the Truth and the Light, When he says that He is the word made flesh, that does mean that Leviticus 18:22: and Leviticus 20:13are from Him as well.

Put the X in Xmas.

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible:
"Gradually a number of prevailing practices of the nations into which Christianity came were assimilated and ...were combined with the religious ceremonies surrounding Christmas. The assimilation of such practices generally represented efforts by Christians to transform or absorb otherwise pagan practices.

The Feast of Saturnalia in early Rome, for example, was celebrated for 7 days from the 17th to the 24th of December and was marked by a spirit of merriment, gift giving to children and other forms of entertainment. Gradually, early Christians replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas; but many of the traditions of this observance were assimilated and remain to this day a part of the observance of Christmas. Other nations, the Scandinavians, Germans, French, English and others, have left their mark . . . as well (pp. 804, 805)."

The Christian Encyclopedia:
"Various symbolic elements of the pagan celebration, such as the lighting of candles, evergreen decorations, and the giving of gifts, were adapted to Christian signification. Later as Christianity spread into northern Europe, the Celtic, Teutonic, and Slavic winter festivals contributed holly, mistletoe, the Christmas tree, bonfires, and similar items."

Unger's Bible Dictionary:
"The giving of presents was a Roman custom; while the yule tree and yule log are remnants of old Teutonic nature worship. Gradually the festival sank into mere revelry . . . . The custom was forbidden by an act of parliament in 1555; And the reformation brought in a refinement in the celebration of Christmas by emphasizing it Christian elements."

And then there is what the Bible says:

Deut 12:29-32
“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31 You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

Daniel 7:²⁵ He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time

No, I don't think that's it.

When I was first attending church as a teenager I was mostly attending for the company. There were genuine loving people that I could be around and not get into too much trouble. As I attended services I would hear things that were taught, and I would to a degree, accept them blindly as they were being preached by people who had more years in the faith than I had. This acceptance of whatever was being taught lasted for a few years until I started really reading the Bible on my own. I started seeing scriptures that disagreed with some of the things that we were commonly taught. This caused me to start asking questions, and finding that a lot of people didn't have answers. This made a lot of people uncomfortable.

One of the things those questions was about the Sabbath of God and God's decree of what is or isn't food according to scripture. After all, it's all spelled out by God in the text and I wondered why we didn't follow those commands. Those questions usually got an answer that probably went something like this: Those were all part of the old covenant which was made only with the Jews, and the Jews had to follow the laws in order to be saved. We're now part of the new covenant in Jesus and we don't do those commands. Instead we're saved by faith. That might sound familiar because it's commonly taught as part of a system commonly referred to as replacement theology.

Here are a couple of issues with this line of reasoning that I have found from a scriptural platform.


 Hebrews 11:24-29
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.  By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned

This is just one part of this chapter that clearly illustrates that Moses was saved not by adhering to commands and earning salvation. No, this a man who was saved by God by way of faith and God being gracious. That's no different than you or I.  We're taught that we are part of the New Covenant, and yes we are... but few seem to know the details of that Covenant. In that Covenant, there are still God's Holy appointed times and there are still the rest of His commands of what is and is not Holy.
Some want to dismiss all the commands of God as being for the Jews, but that isn't what scriptures seem to show.
Deuteronomy 31:10-13
 ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. ¹² Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. ¹³ Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

That seems to say that the same law for Jews was to be for gentiles too, as if there was to be one law for all of Israel.  Numbers 15:15  As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord. ¹⁶ There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.’”


If you're being taught that the Law of God is in opposition to the Grace of God or Faith in God... then you need to understand that God is not against Himself.

The Importance of Being Properly Informed

According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 70.6% of the Americans identified themselves as Christians. That almost seems impressive. After all one of the major thrusts of many churches is "soul winning" Where when you come to church you are told to go out and get more and more people to come to church. Then those people come to church and they bring people to church. Then a lot of those people say that they believe in God, or they believe in Christ.
You  won!!!

Except,

"You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!"-James 2

Getting people into a church is a good thing, but then what? Get them to believe? Demons believe. Could it be that there is more that comes out of belief? Lets look at this passage.

"But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question." - Acts 15

Here we have a division between people in the church, on the subject of belief. One group believed a heretical doctrine of salvation that was predicated on an action in the flesh, the other group walked with the Savior/ Scribed books out of the NT. They felt it best to be PROPERLY informed and took it to James the high priest/ Brother of  the Savior and Peter, the Saviors main guy.

"But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”- Acts 15 still.
I've been to some parties with pharisee type people... they're not as fun as you'd imagine, a lot of man made party fouls.  Long story short the conclusion is a few basic instructions to keep from getting kicked out of church so that
" For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”- Acts... 15. ( you want the exact number read the chapter)

Moses = Idiom for God's instructions/ Torah/ Scriptures

They wanted new believers to hear and learn proper instruction and grow in the truth. NOW, lets bring this back to my ranting that opened this up. You have people out there bringing people in to hear the truth. Then the people they bring in bring others in to come hear the truth. This practice is  great, with a few flaws. The people going to get other people, are generally not studying the word for themselves. They go and grab people and bring them into a building where a guy talks about God for an hour or two. That guy is a believer, but then again, so are demons.  How exactly could Satan possibly tempt Christ in the wilderness? By taking what is true and twisting it. Misapplying  the truth is a pretty big deal. A lot of the time, Satan doesn't even care if you bring people into the church because he knows that the guy behind the pulpit is teaching his doctrine and calling it Holy.
Don't believe me? Lets take a look at Aaron the brother of Moses:

Exodus 32. 

And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord ( Strongs H3068 Yehovah)

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

The Golden Calf incident was a worship of GOD done in the ways that are detestable to Him.
It wasn't building a false God, it was taking the ways and practices and examples of the things that are not of God and applying them to GOD. Lets be properly informed here on our unchaining and faithful God:

"take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’  You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods." - Deut. 12

Aaron the priest, Moses #2. A really Holy and Righteous dude was responsible for teaching the believers, the church, the congregation, something that was abhorrent to God.

If you can't get people to buy a false doctrine because they've heard the truth in church then obviously, the adversary is going to invade the church.

Are your pastors teaching something that is against the word of God by way of "lets make this a feast to the Lord"?

Are you?
Are you even prepared to check what they're preaching, not to make it difficult for them but to keep them accountable?  

Heart of the Matter

I'm tired. I've been up since about half past four in the morning yesterday, and I would like to go to sleep, but I can't yet. There are times when I lay in bed and I fall right asleep and then there are times like this, where I have the suspicion that God isn't ready to let me. There are times when I've got to process out what I think he's impressed upon me and he wont let me sleep until I do.

There is a  few lines from one of my favorite songs by Don Henley where he says
"I've been tryin' to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness"

 That is pretty much exactly how I'd surmise this post. I've been trying to get down to what I think God would have me write about this month, and I wrote about the 1st commandment of not having any other gods before him... but I didn't get the notion of completion that I usually do when I know I've worked through a post.  My will gets God adjacent instead of inline with God some times and my thoughts are many.  

But this post is about forgiveness. 

I have found it surprisingly easy to forgive people that have committed great sins against me when they admit that they've wronged me. Often my joy at reconciliation eclipses everything else and I am pleased that there would be peace in a relationship again. This is the easier side, when both parties want peace and can own the faults of ones own. 

The part that God has shown me that I struggle with is forgiveness when the other party hasn't sought it. I'm talking when they know they've wronged you because you probably let them know is some kind of loud and clear way. When I screw up, I'm pretty quick to own and apologize for my mistakes, out bursts and creative vocalizations of pain. ( My family can tell you that I'm pretty funny when I'm angry once you get past the brutal barbs that I can throw out, that I try and work hard to not get to the point where I get angry about a thing)  I'm pretty quick to own my blame and my guilt and seek forgiveness. I know I can say ugly things to people I care about when I'm raw and vulnerable. I'm rarely ever vulnerable for that reason actually, and that  well, that is a whole spiral of other things. 
Grace is something that I do my best to apply to people who hurt me out of ignorance. I can even extend that out to things said in anger with the intent to inflict a jab. I have a hard time extending forgiveness to those who show malice, or spite or hatred. 

I might be contradicting. Its nearly 3am and I don't know if this is supposed to be about how we need to forgive people even when they haven't asked for it, or a confession on how I struggle with forgiveness in both giving it and receiving it.  When I've wronged someone that I love, I don't think I ever really forget it. There is this awareness that I care so much about a person, but something gross in me inflicted them. The awareness is something... learning is healthy, guilt is not maybe. At what point can I forgive myself for hurting people that I care about with some truth too harsh to be spoken. 

" “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”  Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”- Luke 7


I hold a grudge in some cases. I usually try what ever I can to be at peace with people... but others... the offend my ... well, pride probably. I was going to say my sense of justice, but it's probably pride.
Am I loving them right? I doubt it.
Not long ago I had a falling out with a family of friends and I was justified and right to walk away from a fountain of weirdness that sprung up... and that's what I did. As I was going on of the brothers in this family was grieved because he didn't do anything wrong, but I just needed some distance from the lot. I think that's one thing keeping me up tonight. There are people in that family that I should probably forgive. It's who I should be.

70x7.

A person forgiven much loves much. I know that I don't want to be a person that harbors forgiveness. I'm Italian for crying out loud, Hospitality and family are serious issues for me.

If my Savior can cry out to God as he was crucified in a plea begging Him to forgive us...

What right do I have to not forgive?
I'm working on that, along with everything else. I'm rough around the edges I know.
Love more.
Forgive.

Forgive like HE forgave.
Like HE forgives.

First Things First

"Then God spoke all these words, saying,
 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

 “You shall have no other gods before Me." - Exodus 20


In my men's group Bible study we've started going through the ten commandments and this week was this one.  I try to put out at least one post a month for anyone who reads them ( and If you do, I am glad and thank you) but for everyone post that I start, there are about 2 or 3 unfinished ones that sit in the box unfinished. God tells me things in his word but not everything that he tells me is what I'm supposed to share with everyone else. Sometimes I get incensed over something I can see biblically or I have a commentary on something that is said. This time, I was sitting in the Bible study and I knew that this was going to be the post today.

This one command has a few parts in it:
1. I am the Lord your God
2. who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
3.out of the house of slavery
4. you shall have no other gods before me.

"I am the Lord your God" Seems easy enough for most of us to say in our minds, because he obviously is God. He doesn't say I am A Lord who is A God, though. He makes it personal from the start. He's commanded that we recognize him as OUR God. If I had done all the things that God has done, I'd probably insist on recognition too, lest I get mad at a bunch if ingrates and want to smite them all and start over with like, Moses or something. ( Not saying I'm godly, saying I can relate on some things that God feels to a marginal degree)
I think it was Jeff Durban that said "Everyone is already in a relationship with God, and that relationship is either at hostility with God or at peace with God."  I can see that in this.
"Who brought you out of the land of Egypt" I personally see this as God brought me out of the area in which I was afflicted and the land in which harshness occurs. This comes to mind:
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.- Psalms 23

When I read that I believe that God takes me from the place of hardship and he gives me peace.
"Out of the house of slavery" Sin is bondage. God commands that we be taken out of bondage, out of the house of slavery. This one is difficult for me. Knowing that often I choose sin in all its disgusting ways, I often feel unworthy of being brought out of the house of slavery. I some times think that punishment is warranted. God wants me to be free of that, free of all that would hinder me from him. I, in my own mind sometimes think differently and that is something that on occasion makes me believe that I fail at...
"You shall have no other god's before me"
I don't worship Zeus or Moloch and I don't make offerings to Baal. I try to not get wrapped up in the ways of Mammon and I don't praise Neptune, Dagon or any one of the water types. I do often think that I live by my own hand. I do often think that what ever I do is good enough and that it doesn't matter to God. I do often put my time and effort in things that aren't centered around him. I do sometimes think that I don't deserve to be forgiven. I do some times think that other people who have wronged me don't deserve to be forgiven either, and you know what.... isn't that nearly the same?
When we say, "God doesn't care if I do this" when God's word says that he does, aren't we really having another god before him? Aren't we really making God into OUR own image INSTEAD of being conformed to His?
It comes in various forms. It could be something as simple of eating something that God says isn't food, or something as complex as taking a life that God says wasn't yours to take.

I feel pretty guilty writing all of this because I always know the ways that I could be a better doer of what I believe in. I hold tight to the grace that God has afforded me, and I am glad for His mercy. I lament all the times that I build gods before Him. he still loves and is faithful to save me from bondage and hardship even though I am often not a great believer.  

Chartography

For fun and because I'm a little bit of a nerd, here are doctrinal charts that I made out of love and for fun, because I care. Feel free to check the work and share.

God's Unchanging Nature



The Torah in the Life of a Christ centered Believer

Build a Better World

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.- Jeremiah 29

Build houses
Live
Plant gardens
Eat.
Get married,
Have kids.
Let your kids get married.
Seek the welfare of the city and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.

This passage came to me as revelation. These verses when placed next to my life are revolutionary. In the old church I went to everyone was a buzz about the latest doomsday event, or how God was probably going to lift up a specific set of believers over everyone else in the town. They'd dream dreams that coincided with whatever the "leader" was choosing to do and they'd brand those who disagreed as heretics in a sense. I used to be okay with this. Their case was on the surface good. It's a pawns purpose to march forward in defense of the king and queen after all, but my mindset was instilled before I showed up to that church.
For as long as I could remember I have been mentally prepared for the whole world to fall apart. Coming from a set of broken homes where characters drop in and out, I guess I got used to the idea that the future was nothing special. I got comfortable with the idea that life was something we suffer, that we endure, that we make the best of until we can finally be free of it and rest in the arms of God. I've become familiar with these concepts lately when sharing with a friend where I come from as it feels like doom comes out, or perhaps pessimism.

My mind is stuck on this passage. In the midst of captivity, the diaspora, the outcasted believers God tells them that in their punishment... Live. Live well. Live and flourish and be a blessing to those around you. In the midst of your captivity, be Joseph. Seek God and be a blessing to your warden and captain of the guard- Potipher.

I am not only permitted to live a healthy and prosperous life, but I'm commanded to.  
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

For the past two years I have been living a life not rooted in dysfunction. I've walked out the door each day and looked at the world around me, happy. I work on things, God and I. I'm in a healthy church that I serve in. I have lives that I try to pour into. With this outlook and this breathing room, I experience a freedom in my service to others, not a mandate.


In this speak truth. Tell the truth of things that are sin, to a people that do not wish to hear it.  For some will accept it. Some will repent. Some will  join into the covenant of God through Yeshua the Messiah.  If we are ashamed of the truth, and it is rejection of the truth that brought God's people out into the diaspora... can we ever hope to be gathered back in? 

Jesus take the wheel?

Do we trust God to be God?
How man any times in the walk of believer do we come to a point where we want to make people believe. Some times we don't share the gospel, sometimes we shove it.
This is something that God has been working on with me.  When presenting a scripture, or Biblical truth I tend to become zealous for God in a way. I have a desire for people to see God, and I have a hatred for falsehood and sometimes that clouds my vision. It clouds my vision because instead of looking at GOD to do HIS work in the life of whom ever I have presented HIS word to, I look at a sense of logic, I look at a sense of a lie that needs correction. I see the avenues of the falsehoods propagation and it bothers me. The zeal is almost right, but it isn't tempered with the grace and patience of God.


I had lunch with some friends a while back and I shared with them leviticus 11, and how God saying that something is not food will not become suddenly food without God changing His mind, something scripture states that He does not do. Bacon is a big issue for a lot of people.  We had this conversation and as it always does every time this conversation takes place, passions flared on both sides. My passion was for these people to see something that the Bible calls a sin, as such.  When I presented the logic, I sought prayer from friends. I prayed that I not get in the way of whatever God would do. That I not lay awake at night upset about the doctrine. I prayed for peace. What my friedns and family kept emphasizing to me, and what I felt impressed by God was the the same. " Don't push"  That was not exactly what I wanted to hear in my desire to make people believe, but I've been working on compliance.

Fast forward to Sunday, I'm having lunch with a friend. I'm paying and they ask me to "Please don't be mad if I order bacon"  It gave me pause. On the one hand, I know it's a sin. I know that it shouldn't be consumed and it's something that God equates to being an abomination. On the other hand, it is something that they are to work out with God. It's up to the Holy Spirit to impress upon them what they already have been presented.  They knew the word because I had shared it with them. I didn't need to hammer them with it. I reminded them that its something between them and God.
Same thing happened today at lunch with a different friend.  He asked if I'd get angry if he ordered a superslam sandwich with bacon on it.
It occurred to me by the  fact that both of these friends were asking this, that the point was made. the seed is there. My part in sharing the truth is done. The part where I give them the truth is fulfilled, but it isn't my job to make them believe. It isnt my job to make them walk as I would walk. People are at different points in their journey with God. Somethings that others have so easily, I struggle with. Some things that I have have down, others struggle with. We're each reaching toward God and working out our salvation with fear and trembling, I hope. I take myself out of the equation and let God be God. I would be a terrible Holy Spirit.

So let God be God. Share scriptures,  share the truth, but don't shove it.

Feelings, and the Feeling Feelers that Feel them.

At a Thursday night bible study we've been making our way through 1 john and at the time of my writing this, we just went through chapter 4. It starts off with this:
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

After we spent some time ripping into a popular greasy mulleted Caucasian television pastor who often dawns a plastered smile beneath his beady alligator eyes I began thinking about the greater body. God gave us feelings and those feelings reflect attributes of His nature and personality, but they are not the bedrock upon which decision making is to be built upon. There is this mentality that permeates the church in, well America for sure, I don't know about everywhere else. The idea that Faith in God/ Christianity is all about the individual and that isn't what the scriptures show in full context.

Yes, Christ died to redeem you personally from your sins. Yes, you must have a personal relationship with the Father through Him by the Holy Spirit. However there is this idea that as we are the recipient of so much love and adoration by God that we are some how exalted into a place where our ideas; concepts, and own standards of what we think is right is lifted up above God's ways and word.

Creepy greasy tv pastors wife was even on tv once telling people:
""I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we're not doing it for God—I mean, that's one way to look at it—we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy. That's the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy.

For those who do not know the Word of God, this has the appearance of being right. It's shiny. God is love after all and we being the recipient of his love only wants us to be happy right?

Actually wrong. What God wants for you and I and everyone in the history of ever, is that we would be Holy. That we would be like Him instead of our own selfish selves. That instead of listening to our own flesh, we'd seek out what His will is, and His word. Here is the scripture that directly refutes what greasy pastors wife said


2 tim 2
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such peopleThis is the heart of what "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world" means.

Where did sin start? "The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!  For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate"- Gen 3

It started with feelings that were swaying people into actions that are contrary to the ACTUAL Word of God