Simplify

There is an old saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” which means if you drop your basket, you will likely lose all of your eggs at the same time. What humanity has done with the internet is similar. It’s not simply a source to find information anymore. It’s how we watch TV, Watch movies, listen to music, have conversations, go shopping, take pictures, take videos, get directions, book vacations, perform our work, perform our schooling, do research and pretty much everything in between. When we willingly place all of our trust in something other than God, that is idolatry. We are putting all of our eggs in one basket here and if we don’t start to turn things around quickly, that basket (The internet) is going to fall to the ground and our entire lives will be in pieces because we put our trust in a created thing, instead of the creator of all things. So I encourage you to think about this, maybe pull out the old books, CDs and DVDs from the basement or antic. Try to separate things. In the end it will be well worth it to once again see children listening to CDs, reading books, doing things other than looking at their phones. We have to try.

https://rumble.com/v4zs032-simplify.html

The Philippines

Sometimes people ask me why I've decided to live in the Philippines. It's really something that is really hard to describe. Often times people from all over the world visit the Philippines and they are not affected by the country the way I have been because westerners will almost always visit westernized tourist resorts or resort cities, places that are built and designed to cater to the western culture. So they might visit the Philippines yearly but they never really experience the real Philippines. Sure there are bad things about the country, but this is the case with every country, right? But what has affected me more than anything is that in America we are often so obsessed with things and statues. Even when we are not successful or wealthy we bury ourselves in debt in order to Keep up with the Joneses. We are so obsessed with what other people think of us, how we project ourselves to others. In the Philippines everything is so simple, things are clearer, there are much fewer fakes. People are what they appear to be. Of course there are always exceptions to this but the vast majority of people are who they appear to be, for good or for bad you know who they are. There are not all of these facades to hide who they are. When people are worried about where their next meal is coming from, they tend not to think or care much for what the neighbors think.The simplicity of life, without all of the pretension, this is what really inspires me here. Growing up in America I heard about different ways of life, I heard about people that left the comforts of life to live abroad, I heard about the people traveling to the ends of the world to spread the love of Christ. I heard about these things but here I see these things, I experience these things. There is such a HUGE difference between hearing a report of missionaries in the field during Sunday service, and traveling out into the jungle to a beautiful Ranch style orphanage and seeing it first hand, hosting a dinner for the children, interacting with some beautiful giving people. Coming from a country where everything is about “Me” “what do I get out of it” it's such a beautiful thing to see people who place HIM above “the mighty I”, who place the children above themselves. Come visit the “real” Philippines and maybe you can better understand why I have stayed here. Check out this video of some of these wonderful people.

Life without Church

I think we find it so hard to give up Church not just because of tradition, though that is a major factor, but because Church has become our spiritual measuring stick. We determine our level of spirituality based on how often we go to Church, how many Church activities we are involved in, how much money we give to the Church. Without that institution to measure ourselves against, we feel lost and devoid of direction. So how do we measure our level of spirituality without the Church? Well, that would require study, seeking God, prayer and solid leaders as our examples. You see, it actually requires you to do more than to just check off your little Church duties to determine your spirituality. Now it's just like – Sunday service=check..., midweek Bible study=check... music practice=check... Oh, that means I'm a three out of ten. Maybe next time I can add children's ministry and Sunday night service and then I'll be a five, wow, I'll be half way there.

Without Church, how do we assemble? Our daily interactions with friends, family and neighbors becomes our assembling together. What does this mean for us? It means no more gossiping with the neighbors, no back biting with your sibling. It means that evening with the guys needs to be talking about Jesus and not getting drunk. It means that weekend party needs to be filled with worship, not gambling. It means no more special day or special place where we play nice, it means that being a Christian doesn't begin on Sunday morning and end on Sunday night. I think this scares us. If there is no start and there is no finish, then that means we REALLY have to follow through, we REALLY have to commit, we REALLY have to believe, we can't just fake it anymore.

When I say no more Church, I mean no more Church as we know it. I believe in assembling, I just think that it should be considered “assembling” every time we are with our family, friends and neighbors, not in a building on Sunday. I still believe in Leaders like Pastors and Teachers, I just don't believe in the “Office” of Pastor that comes from tradition. I think the leaders should be going to the body, teaching, leading, counseling and conducting Bible studies where the body is, not standing behind a pulpit on a stage on Sunday expecting everyone to come to them. I still believe in Elders, I just don't believe in the elders as some kind of a comity to decide whether or not to pave the parking lot this year, or if we should start using LED light bulbs or not. I think that the elders should be considered any member of the body who is spiritually matured, has great wisdom. Someone that we can go to for sound Biblical advice.

You see, life without Church is not removing Christ from our lives, it's removing Him from one day and placing Him as the center of every day. Life without Church is a life in Christ.

Forgiveness

I am writing this post to address an issue that I have found to be
somewhat disturbing here in the Philippines. People inside the
Church here seem to be under the impression that forgiveness means
to pretend that nothing happened and to hide your feelings about the
problem at hand. First let me say I think there are two kinds of forgiveness,
forgiving our enemies, and forgiving our brothers and sisters.As for forgiving
our enemies, we forgive them even though they don't ask for forgiveness.
If someone is currently your enemy, it stands to reason that they have not
repented of their evil acts against you so we must assume that when Jesus says
to forgive your enemies that he was saying to forgive them without their
repentance.The second kind of forgiveness, however, is very different.
Forgiveness between brothers and sisters (the body of Christ) MUST come
with rebuke and correction. We have all sinned and fall short of His glory, but
we as the body of Christ are on a road of correction and transformation so when
we sin against one of our brothers or sisters, it is not just the right of the offended
party to rebuke that action, it is their responsibility as a member of the body of
Christ to do so.

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you,
you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two
more with you, so that by the moth of two or three witnesses every fact may
be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Assembly of believers;
and if he refuses to listen even to the Assembly of believers, let him be to you as
a Gentile and a tax collector."
Matthew 18:15-17

Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven
times, saying, ‘I repent, forgive him.”
Luke 17:3

Do either of these passages say that if someone sins against you that
you pretend that it never happened?  No, it says "Show him his fault"
and "Rebuke him". This is how we learn. how we grow. We must
always be corrected when we make a mistake or else maybe we will
never even realize that an offense was even done. Holding in our feelings
and pretending that nothing happened is actually the worst thing for
everyone involved. The person who was offended is still hurt by what
happened and the person who offended is not even corrected on his
or her mistake. If we truly want to grow in Christ then forgiveness
within the body MUST come with rebuke and correction.

The Shadow and the Fire

A while back I started working on my own translation of the New Testament. My original idea was to fully translate all the words in the Bible that have been left untranslated. As I began I started running into an increasing amount of words that even though they were translated into English properly, the English word had it's original meaning destroyed by religious tradition. So in these cases I decided to describe the meaning of the word instead of using the word itself. But then I ran into this scripture and as always it stumped me and I couldn't continue until I figured out what it meant.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17

So, my problem here was the word “Fulfill”. The Greek word is a very open word that can lead to several different conclusions. The English word is a little more limited but again it can have a few different meanings. So I wanted to read the thoughts of some Jewish Christians on this scripture. The web sites I had checked out before really stressed the Hebrew meanings to words even in the New Testament and they really always seemed to attack the people who also look at the Greek meanings. But in this case I was really surprised, they all seemed to universally be talking about the Greek word for fulfill. This made me very suspicious especially because there is a Hebrew book of Matthew that they were all sold out on as the “original”. So I decided to look up the Hebrew word for fulfill and then I understood why they seemed to be steering away from that. The Hebrew word seems to have a very limited and clear meaning, it pretty much means to end. But this wouldn't make much since. So Jesus is saying “I didn't come to abolish the law, I came to end it”? This doesn't make any since to me and therefore I have to assume that Matthew was originally written in Greek. So now I just had to figure out which meaning to this Greek word applied to this scripture.

Then I came across this scripture and it got me thinking....

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Colo 2:16-17

What is a shadow? Literally it means “a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by an object intercepting light.” But some other meanings of the word include “a hint or faint, indistinct image or idea” - “outward aspect” - “a likeness, image, or copy.” - “exterior aspect” - a hint or suggestion”

So in other words Paul is saying that the eating restrictions and the sabbath day, both of which are a part of the law, are a physical act that represents a spiritual reality that we find in Christ. Another example of this is found in baptism....

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11

John is in essence saying that water baptism is the shadow, the physical representation of the Baptism of Christ which is the fire.

So then in my study I came across this group of passages from the book of Hebrews which I found to be very helpful to my understanding of this topic

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Hebrews 3

So here we see the writer of Hebrews describing one of the central elements of the law, the sabbath day as a shadow, a physical representation of the rest we find in Christ. This rest was offered to the people of Israel in the times of Moses but because of their unbelief, they could not enter into God's rest and so a day was set aside as the Sabbath day of rest . But now in Christ we can enter that rest...

“Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”

We can argue all we want as to what day the Sabbath day is but we would be missing the point. A day was selected because their unbelief prevented them from experiencing the real rest of God. So now armed with these scriptures I went back to my original scripture confident in how to translate the word fulfill..... Some say the word means to end, others say it means to complete, and yet others say it means to properly live out.... but in the context of these scriptures I firmly believe that proper translation for that word would be “bring to realization” because He was bringing the physical acts of the law into spiritual reality. The Sabbath day becomes the rest we find in Christ. The diet restrictions that were in place to separate God's people from the world, becomes the true spiritual separation from the world we find in Christ. The tabernacle/temple, the place where God lives becomes us. Point by point, law by law, Jesus brought all of these physical representative acts and made them spiritual reality. In other words Jesus turned the shadow into the fire. When we focus only on the shadow it's kind of like a parent who gives his child a picture of his dream car with all of the details written down on it. From the engine to the tires every detail of that car is there on the picture and the Dad tells him “I'll buy that car for you on your 18^th birthday”. As the years go by the child looks and looks at that picture and memorizes every detail and every spec of that car dreaming of the day that the car is his but when his 18^th birthday comes around and his Dad hands him the keys to the car, He would rather keep looking at the picture instead of going for a drive. The law is the picture with all the details and specs, the cross is the key, the car is the reality of that picture. Do we just throw away the picture? No, we keep it because on the picture we have all of the details, all of the specs and we always have to know what is under the hood. But we must not just focus on the Picture, we actually have to take the car out for a spin. The car is sitting in the driveway.....will you keep looking at the picture, or go for a drive?

"Do not think that I have come to get rid of the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to get rid of them but to bring them to realization.” Matthew 5:17

Losing faith in Church and gaining faith in Christ.

I, like many others, made many assumptions about Christianity based on human traditions. I always assumed that what we call “Church” was in fact the Church of the Bible. Growing up seeing my father's discontent at the Church system lead me to question certain things about Church but never to question the entire institution. I thought that maybe there were things that needed to be fixed or adjusted but my faith in the system was never shaken.

When I was 13 years old my family started to attend this Church and it had such a profound impact on me that it made me look back at the Churches that we had attended in the past and start to see and understand how very far we have come from the Biblical Church. In past Churches I would hear sermons about how “Church doesn't end on Sunday”... but it always did end. But in this new Church I didn't hear these lectures about Church not ending on Sunday....It just didn't end on Sunday. In the Churches I had gone to in the past I would hear sermons about the importance of having the Church be like a family. They would create programs to try to encourage small groups to bond together....But they never really did bond. At this new Church there where no sermons about small groups, there where no programs.... It just was a family. It was just so unforced, unscripted and unplanned. Everything just happened so naturally. God really impressed something on me during my time there that I never really understood at the time. The more we try to plan, format, micromanage, script our worship, the less God is involved.

With this wonderful experience under my belt, boosting my expectations of Church, my family moved on to another state. Once again we found a Church and started to attend. It was nice enough but to be honest, it felt a little boring compared to my last experience. Even though it wasn't quite as exciting as my last experience, I really felt like the people there were really caring. If you missed a Sunday service they were always quick to call and make sure everything was alright and if you where sick, they were always there to pray with you. At one point the Church was having some financial troubles and so to “educate” the congregation on the costs of the Church, they released a detailed budget of every cost. When I read this budget I was shocked, It seemed that every single person who did anything for the Church was a paid employee. Those nice people that call you up if you miss service to make sure you are okay, they are paid to do that. The nice people that come visit you in the Hospital and pray for you, they are paid to do that. I felt heart broken, what ever happened to service, to sacrifice? What ever happened to doing something because it was good or right? Was everything just business now? The examples of Christianity I grew up with were people like my Grandparents. My Grandpa who was a Baptist Pastor and my Grandma would often visit sick people in the hospital, old people in the nursing homes and pray for them, visit with them and sing to them. My Grandmother on the other side of the family was involved with Meals on wheels where she would cook and deliver meals to people who were too old or too sick to cook for themselves. These where some of my examples and so this version of “paid service” was just not compatible with my faith. At that point I totally lost faith in the institution of Church and I vowed to never go to Church again. I never lost faith in Christ but all I could see was the disconnect between what we call Church, and Christ.

Ten years past and during that time I never set foot in a Church. But eventually I did start attending a Church. It was nice and very positive and uplifting but I just couldn't feel it in my spirit. I felt like I wasn't being honest. I felt like I was going to Church because I'm a Christian and that is what Christians do on Sunday. I felt like I was just living a lie. So eventually I stopped going there and went another four years without going to Church.

Then I moved to the Philippines and got married and started to attend the Church of my wife. At first I was intrigued, these people seemed more focused on service without financial reward. They were more interested in service than profit. They were very hands on in everything they did. I was very interested and felt like maybe I had found what I had been looking for for so long. I thought that these desires for a true Church might have finally been fulfilled. BUT, once again something happened. One Sunday my wife was supposed to sing with the group on stage. We got to Church and the worship leader told my wife that she needed to go home and change cloths if she wanted to sing on stage. The issue, the dress she was wearing showed half an inch of her knee and the rule is that it has to be below the knee. (Included is a picture of what she wore that day)Never mind that just a couple of months earlier my wife had lost all of her cloths in a horrible typhoon and she didn't have many cloths to choose from. No compassion or understanding at all. I asked the Pastor over to the house to discuss this situation. I told him our position and our thoughts on the matter but he was totally unwilling to make any concessions or exceptions to this rule, ever after explaining to him that my wife's cloths had all been ruined and that she was slowly trying to re-build her wardrobe. So I respectfully informed the Pastor that we would no longer attend Church there but I told him that there was no reason for any hard feeling with anyone and that I hoped that the congregation would not condemn us for leaving. He agreed and left. However within 24 hours many members of that Church including the Pastors family started to publicly attack us and even to question our salvation. Ridicules. After witnessing a total lack of people willing to stand up on our behalf, I realized that while the Church in the Philippines might not have the same problems that it has in America, it definitely has its own problems.

I now found myself calling out to God with a burning desire on my heart, a desire for a better way. I was now at the point where I could actually ask myself and God “Is what we call Church even Biblical?” I started digging deep within the scriptures looking for any examples of what we call Church. First I went to the writings of Paul and I noticed that most of the time he will start off by saying “To the Church at....” After meditating on this for a while I was then lead to look up the meaning of the word Church. I found that it is actually an un-translated or not fully translated word. The meaning of the word actually translates to “The called out ones” or “The summoned”. But going even deeper the word at it's root has the meaning of being called from one place, to be gathered at another place. So, the first question is who are the called out ones? Well, the Believers and followers of Jesus “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord” 2 Corth 6:17. And then the second question, if we are the called out ones and this word means to be called from one place to another, what is the place we are being called to? This is where the split in opinions comes. Some would say that the called out ones are being called out to gather at Church ____ Let us explore this opinion quickly. While following this way of thinking we have literally created thousands of denominations, thousands of divisions. So what does the Bible say about divisions? “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” and also we see Paul talking more about this here “For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?” Sound familiar? I am a Baptist, I am a Methodist, I am Lutheran, I am a Catholic, I am none denominational..... It's the exact same thing now days, just with different names. If the called out ones are indeed being called out to gather as in a Church setting, then why did Paul tell the Church “not to forsake the assembling together” ? If the word Church means the assembling at Church, then wouldn't that be saying that the assembled people should assemble? That doesn't make much since to me.

 So one road we have tried and it has lead us to division that the Bible so strongly opposes. So in essence the institution that we call Church, the white building with a Cross on top, with pews and a pulpit, with 4 song standing up and 3 song sitting down, with passing the collection plate, with a nice message for 40 min.... this entire format that we call Church never occurs in the Bible at all.
What is the other way, what is the alternative to Church? If we are not being called to Church then what are we being called to?
Consider this...“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. And also “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” To repent means to change your mind, to leave one way and go to another. So now it starts to become clearer, we are not being called to a building on Sunday, we are being called to Christ Himself, we are being called to turn from our life and submit to His life, this is what it truly means to be a “Called out one” But, as I pointed out earlier we are told to assemble together, so, how should these assemblies look?

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20. The assembling of the called out ones is nothing more than this verse states, two or three brothers and sisters coming together in Christ. We pray for each other, we study the Bible, we encourage each other, we worship God together. We don't need a pretty little building to do this, we don't need pews, we don't need a pulpit. All we need is a living room, a kitchen table to share a meal with friends, an extra chair to offer a neighbor. This way the Holy Spirit is free, completely free to do what He needs to. No time limits (20 min of worship time) no restrictions (35 min sermon) He sets the times and situations. Before you call me crazy, before you dismiss what I'm saying, look it up yourself, what we call Church doesn't exist in the Bible. The next time you read in the Bible try replacing the word “Church” with “Those who have been called to Christ.” Check out the examples below.

Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in prison, but those called to Christ where earnestly praying to God for him.”

Romans 16:4 “They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all of the Gentiles who have been called to Christ are grateful to them.”

1 Corth 5:12 “What business is it of mine to judge those outside of those called to Christ? Are you not to judge those inside?

You see how simply describing the meaning of the word instead of using the word itself changes the religiousness of these passages? It takes the emphasis off of the building or system and puts it on us, where it should be. The most poisonous phrase I can think of is “Lets go to Church” Because if you go to Church, then Church is a place for you and if it's a place for you, you've lost its true meaning. If you think this is an important subject that needs more thought and discussion, please forward this to your friends and family.

As Children

A few months ago I felt God put these scriptures on my heart, I felt like there was something in them that I had not heard or thought of before....

Matthew 18:3

And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:14

But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."

Mark 10:15

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

I think we have all heard the explanation in Church of this meaning that we have to have the faith of a child. I'm not going against that explanation, I just felt like God was telling me there was something more to this. So I was meditating on these scriptures for a few days and trying to think of some clever answer to this question when one day as I was thinking about it I felt like I was Gibbs smacked on the back of the head...

I felt God saying “It's you, you came to believe when you were a child. What did you know about me when you accepted me?” So, I started trying to remember what I knew about God at that young age. I knew “God is good, Satan is bad” I knew “Jesus is God's son and that he was punished for the bad things I did and that he rose from the dead” That is it. I knew nothing about man made denominational doctrines, I knew nothing about the “trinity”, I knew nothing about the deity of Jesus, I knew nothing about whether or not laying on of hands for healing was for today or not, I knew nothing about pre, mid or post tabulation rapture. I knew absolutely nothing about the things that divide us, I only knew the things that all Christians agree on -God is Good -Jesus is God's son- Jesus died for my sins-Jesus was raised from the dead-period.

Seeing God through the filter of religion:

If you come to God through some denomination, organization, non-denomination or any other such organized group, generally you will be taught the basics of truth BUT you will also be taught man made rules, regulations and doctrines with the same importance as the Biblical truths you receive. So, in other words you might hear things like this “You have to dress up for Church” with the insinuation that if you don't dress up, you are somehow less of a Christian. Or you might hear things like “We should only sing the old hymens” or the opposite “We should only sing the modern worship songs” with the insinuation that anyone who doesn't subscribe to this belief is some how less of a Christian.

In truth these things are not addressed in the Bible at all, these along with many other things are simply man made rules and doctrines. Sometimes these man made rules might be necessary, but they should NEVER be elevated to the level of Biblical truth. In this case you are literally seeing and experiencing Jesus through the filter of religion.

Coming as a child:

On the other hand, when we come to Christ as He demanded, as children, that means we literally have to let go of everything we know and everything we think we know. We have to take all of the religious, denominational, Church thinking, all of the theology and all the man made doctrines and precepts and just throw it all in the trash, everything must go and then we must go back to just the very basic thing that a child understands when he or she accepts Christ “ God is Good -Jesus is God's son- Jesus died for my sins-Jesus was raised from the dead” It is only then that He will be your teacher...

1 John 2:27

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

It's not to say we can never be guided or taught by man, because we can. It simply means that we pass the teachings of man through the filter of Jesus, instead of passing the teachings of Jesus through the filter of man. God is our teacher. As the religious pass Christ through the filter of their religion, if we come to Christ as a child, we will pass the religion and denominations through the filter of Christ. We will take the truth from it and leave the religion.

My goal is never to tear anyone down, to simply criticize for the sake of criticizing. My goal has been and remains to try to help people to think outside of the box of religion. You see, religion takes God and tries to package Him in a way that you get everything you need at Sunday service. The truth about God is that He is so much more than we could ever imagine. If we have read the Bible hundreds of times and we think we know everything about God, than we are only fooling ourselves. He is so infinitely more than we can ever understand on this earth. What we call Church, what we call religion in most cases is just holding us back from experiencing God in a bigger and more meaningful way. Always remember that if you think you know what love is, His love is more infinite than you can imagine. If you think you know what goodness is, His goodness is much more infinite than we can imagine. If you think you know who God is, He is so much more infinite than you can imagine. We are only scratching the surface, lets dig in and break open the pretty little box of Church, religion and denominationalism and unleash the infinitely powerful and loving God!!

Pray

I just saw this article and it really goes to show you how easily things can be twisted and perverted if we don't know the actual and original meanings of words. This article is about what they call "Secular prayer"

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/06/atheists-swiftly-respond-to-supreme-courts-pro-prayer-ruling-with-a-plan-that-could-bring-secular-prayers-to-your-town/

So, we have the modern interpretation of prayer as placing your hands together closing your eyes and bowing your head. You then proceed to say a few nice words and conclude by saying a word most people don't even know what it means "Amen". So, with this as our understanding of Prayer, it is quite easy to pervert this...put your hands together, close your eyes , bow your head and say a few nice words (this time omitting any reference to God) and ending it by saying "Amen". What is wrong with that? Well, everything is wrong with that.

The actual original Hebrew meaning of the word we translate as "Pray" actually means to "fall down to the ground in the presence of God and plead a cause" Now, with that as our definition of prayer it's not so easy to take God out of the equation is it? And as for the nice little word at the end, "Amen", that is not even translated into English. Translating it into English it would say "So be it", again, this is a statement of faith and if we know it's real meaning we can easily see that this couldn't legitimately be used in a "secular prayer"

Words mean things, lets don't be lazy, lets care and lets find the truth because where the truth is, there is also a closer relationship with our creator.  

Yeshua (Jesus) and the Law

Opening:

In this writing I used the name of Yeshua instead of the name Jesus. I am not one that thinks the pronunciation of the name is a magic word, The Hebrew word for name doesn't just mean what you are called, but refers more to the essence of the person. That being said, I think it's kind of cool to use the name that His friends and family called Him, so that is why I am calling Him Yeshua. Secondly, I have replaced the untranslated word “Christ” into the English equivalent “Anointed one”. So Jesus Christ becomes Yeshua the anointed one. Now on with the study...

The sacrificial laws have been satisfied by Yeshua, they are no longer in effect because His sacrifice was the ultimate sacrifice.

The moral laws are still in effect, and they are really pretty easy to follow...Don't murder, that is easy, right? They are all pretty basic and easy to follow on a surface level....

Then there are what I call the separation laws. These were laws created for the reason of making the children of Israel Holy. When we hear the word “Holy” we often think of an old painting of some saint with a halo over his head but this word simply means to be “set apart” to be different from the other people or nations around you. These laws were temporal laws, clearly they didn't exist from the beginning because God tells us in Gen 9:3 “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.” but then later in Deut 14:8 we see God telling the people of Israel “The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.” It also goes on to say other things that they shouldn't eat or touch. So, where the moral laws existed from the beginning, (it's always been wrong to murder) the separation laws did not exist from the beginning.

So what did Yeshua do in regards to the law? First, in regard to the moral laws, He did not by any means end the moral laws, instead, He elevated them beyond the capacity of anyone under the original creation to fully follow. For example... Do not murder turned into “whoever will provoke his brother to anger without cause, he will be pronounced guilty and be subject to judgment. And anyone who says to his brother, ‘I spit on you,’ will be condemned by the assembly. And whoever will call his brother an ‘Unbeliever,’ he will be condemned to the fire-stove of the Vally of Hinom.”Matthew 5:22. It's easy not to murder someone, but who among us in even a brief moment of anger can help but provoke someone to anger, or call someone a name? Again, We have Do not commit adultery which Yeshua turns into “whoever looks at a woman with sexual desire has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Who among us can fully control even the slightest or briefest thought that might pop into our mind? And you could go on and apply this elevation to the rest of the commandments and with every one it would become more and more impossible to live by these commandments under the original creation. So in the death and resurrection of Yeshua He made a new creation 2 Cor 5:17 “From now on if any man is in the anointed one, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.” In believing into Yeshua we are a new creation, a human that can be in complete unity with God John 17:23 “I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” Yeshua already proved that He could follow the moral laws, even the elevated moral laws that are impossible for humans to follow fully, so now that we are a new creation and He is in us and we are in Him and He is in the Father our nature is changed to His nature and we“are being transformed into his image” 2 Cor 3:18 and so as He followed the moral laws, we too can follow these laws and these laws will actually be second nature to us IF we totally and completely subject ourselves to His control.

Now, we have talked about the moral laws, how they were elevated by Yeshua and how as a new creation in Him we can, by His nature in us, follow even these elevated laws. But how did Yeshua effect the the separation laws? Okay, the first time that I am aware that this was directly discussed in the new testament was in Acts 10:10-15 where it states that Peter “fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, 'What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy'.” So, we have a vision of a sheet being lowered from heaven with all of the animals that God had called “Unclean” in the old testament and Yeshua himself saying “Kill and eat, what God has cleansed do not call unclean anymore” Now, many will say this actually has nothing to do with animals at all and that God was using the example of the unclean animals as a metaphor for the non-Jewish people. While it is true that this was indeed a metaphor for the gentiles, we really have to examine how metaphors were used by Yeshua to understand this vision fully. Yeshua used truths of nature and truths of human nature and truths of situations as metaphors to demonstrate spiritual truths. In other words he never used untruths or half truths to demonstrate spiritual truths. So, knowing this we can state with absolute certainty that when He said “what God has cleansed no longer consider unclean” that not only was He stating that He has cleansed the non-Jewish people, but that He has also cleansed the animals formerly forbidden. Paul also confirms this when he states “do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in the anointed one.” You see the separation laws were the shadow, an earthly example of the spiritual separation from the world that we would encounter through Yeshua.

So, in summing this up,

1 Yeshua the anointed one fully completed sacrificial law through His sacrifice.

2 He elevated moral law so that when we, through Him as a new creation, are able to live by that elevated moral law which is not humanly possible, He will be glorified.

3 He has made the shadow, or physical example of the separation law, a spiritual reality, meaning that our separation from the world is no longer “Do not eat, do not touch, do this, do not do that” but rather is a transformation into a new being that is spiritually separated from the world.

One last closing thought. Many will point to scriptures that say that these laws will never end. This is true. But you have to look at it as two different systems. The first system will last as long as the earth lasts and the people who are in that system will be under that system. But the second system doesn't change the first system, it changes the people into a new creation and therefore they are under a new system. A system that doesn't ignore the first system, but one that takes the first system and elevates it to a new level that could never happen under the first system. Fallen mankind are forever under the first system, but if they accept Yeshua the anointed one and follow Him they will become a new creation and be transformed into a new system, a more perfect system.

“Yeshua the anointed one has a more excellent ministry, because he is mediator of a better covenant, which is established on the footing of better promises.” Hebrews 8:6

Ecclesia=Church?

After my last post it was suggested that I add some scriptures and other information so that people know that I'm not just saying things randomly, that I do have some scriptural and other evidence to support what I say. Some of my ideas are just that, my ideas. But they are based on my understanding of words and scriptures. So, here we go.

First, the definition of the word Church from the Websters English dictionary.
1. A building for public Christian worship.
2. Public worship of God or a religious service in such a building: to attend church regularly.
3. The whole body of Christian believers; Christendom.
4. Any division of this body professing the same creed and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority; a Christian denomination: the Methodist Church.
5. That part of the whole Christian body, or of a particular denomination, belonging to the same city, country, nation, etc.

Now, the definition of the word that “Church” is translated from.
Ecclesia
1. To summon forth
2. Ones called out
3. to call

So, every time that you see the word Church in the Bible it is translated from this word, Ecclesia. But now just look at the difference in definition between these two words. In the Church definition the closest one to reality is number 3, “the whole body of Christian believers” because who are the summoned? They are the believers, the body. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” 2nd Cor 6:17. But, still the overall English definition of the word Church isn't really close at all to it's original meaning.

Some might say that the word Ecclesia has as it's foundation a meaning of gathering together for a singular purpose because it comes from the the assembly of citizens of the ancient Greek state. This is true, in it's meaning is not simply a summoning or calling, it is a summoning and a calling to a gathering. So using this logic you could say that Church is a gathering of believers and thus it is an accurate use of the word.

However, I don't believe that the call or the summons in the Biblical context is to go to a building on Sunday, the calling and the summons is for us to come to HIM.  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 And again “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32 and again  "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." John 6:44 and again “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” 2nd Cor 6:17. and again “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.” It is a recurring theme throughout, a call, a summons to Himself. He is calling, He is drawing, He is knocking. These are just different ways to say he is summoning us. Summoning us where? To a denomination? To a building? To a service on Sunday? No, He is summoning us out of the world system and to Himself. The word Ecclesia is calling us and summoning us to a gathering, but not in the way you might think. He is summoning us to be gathered into himself. When we are truly the Ecclesia of Jesus, the summoned forth, the called out ones of Jesus then the assembling together of the believers happens automatically, it is not something that needs to be scripted or formated, it is just our normal life. Sometimes we might need to scheduled a meeting of believers but that is not the Ecclesia, that is simply a larger assembly, but no more or less important.

As for the statistics I posted on my last post of how statistically the Church has become totally indistinguishable from the rest of the world, that is from real research and real hard statistics gathered from the Barna research group.

The Definition Of Insanity

They say that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. If this is in fact a true definition than we, the followers of Jesus, must be the most insane people on earth. At some point we decided that our gatherings should be scripted, our worship contained and our fellowship formatted. We decided that we would call this gathering the “Church” when the word we translate as Church simply means “the Called out”. The “Called out ones”are of course supposed to gather together, but to call that gathering itself the Church I don't think is accurate or even close to the original meaning. We decided that a building with a name on it is the place that we should gather. We decided that one day a week was the time when we get closer to God. We decided that daily life could and should be separated from Church life, that these are two very distinct things. We decide that to be involved more at “Church” that we need to spend more time at that building.

We have totally failed to see it. We have failed to see what it's really all about. We see that there is a problem so we try to change, we try to redefine Church but at it's essence it is still the mindset of Church as a place or as a gathering of believers. We keep doing the same things over and over again just adding or subtracting things here and there and expecting things to get better.

Right now, statistically there is absolutely no difference in between “the Church” and the rest of the world. In other words, all the bad things, the drugs, the abortions, the alcoholism, the adultery, the violence, the murder, the rape, pornography, all of the bad things in our world happen at the exact same level within the Church as they do outside the Church, statistically there is no difference. Is this really what Jesus described the Church as? Of course people are going to fail, of course people are going to sin BUT we (the believers and followers of Jesus) should NEVER be indistinguishable from the rest of the corrupt world.

So, what can be done? First I think we need to just forget the word Church, throw it out. If it ever had any significance in scripture in the past, it has lost all of it's true meaning and been so misused that most people can not separate that word from the image that it now puts in their mind of a nice little white building with a cross on top. Instead of using the word Church, use “the called ones” or even “The Believers” would be a good description of what the word “Church”really means. The word describes us, the believers and followers of Jesus, not a gathering of believers, but the believers themselves. The called ones are told to “Assemble together” but the assembling itself has no title, it is simply an assembling. There is nothing that says it has to be formatted, scheduled, or held under any name or banner. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that describes anything close to the basic format we now call “Church”. The Bible simply says that we are to assemble together, maybe worship, maybe share a word, maybe pray, maybe encourage. It never says it has to be at a certain building at a certain time. There is nothing that says that it has to be planned out at all.

If we get together with some friends for dinner and we pray for each other and we share with each other what God has done for us, how is this not the assembling of the believers? If we get together with family and have great fellowship and maybe sing some worship songs together, how is this not the assembling of the believers? If you share the word of God with a neighbor how is this not the assembling of the believers? You see we need to break free from the restraints of what we understand as “Church” and realize that It's not someplace you go, or something you do, it is who we are. The assembling of the believers should happen all the time, in many different forms and in many different ways.

This is a tough sell for many. The leadership isn't interested in these changes because it would take much of the power (and money) out of their hands, while the masses are not interested in this change because it would require them to do more than show up for Sunday services. But I believe this is the first step to the next level of Christianity that needs to be taken. We need to stop trying to fix something that just needs to be done away with altogether otherwise we are just trying to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The “you can't” society

These days we are told over and over again “You can't”

-You can't make it on your own because of your race. You need a government program to help you

-You can't plan for your own retirement, you are too stupid. You need a government program

-You can't save money, you need the government to do it for you

-You can't take care of your own health-care, the government needs to do it for you.

It's really become a “you can't” society that will soon result in no one believing they can do anything without the government helping them. And then if you try and fail at something, they tell you it's not your fault, it's someone else holding you down, pulling you back and denying you your rights. There is no personal responsibility for success or for failure.

Recently I have been watching the Bob Ross “How to” painting show from the 80's and 90's. I find it absolutely amazing how different he is from society today. People often make fun of him because of his huge hair and funny way of talking (Happy little trees) but he was one of the most positive and optimistic people ever. Can't wasn't even in his vocabulary. He was always saying “You can do it” And he would go on to say that if you try and fail it wasn't because you didn't have the ability, it's because you didn't believe that you could do it. “If you believe that you can do it, you can do it” he would often say. And he would also often go on to say this same mentality could and should be applied to more than just art. Bob Ross might have been a little odd and unusual but he was a unique man, a man with a “you can” attitude in an “you can't” society and I find that very refreshing!

Check out this video, someone made a little song with some Bob Ross footage :)

Christmas...Pagan or Christian??

I'm not writing this article to try to convenience anyone that Jesus was born on December 25^th, I'm simply looking into the origins of the Holiday because I think it's important. God clearly tells us that we should not take pagan practices and try to use them in our worship of the true God. 








So if the December 25^th holiday and all of it's traditions are all based on the Pagan holiday of “Winter Solstice” (the worship of pagan sun gods of different cultures) then we shouldn't try to assimilate it to our Christian beliefs.           

The common argument is that when the emperor Constantine converter to Christianity (or a twisted version of it) that he simply took all of the pagan holidays and re-named them to Christian themes but they maintained all of the same pagan practices. For example they say the Christmas tree is simply an extension of the pagan practice of winter solstice where they would bring greenery inside the house.

So I started looking at the origins of this Holiday to see where the truth lies and what I have found so far as been surprising to me because it has shown how sloppy and lazy so many people have been in accepting the whole “Constantine Christmas” idea because it fits their agenda.

All I had to do is dig a little to find that the December 25 feast celebrating the birth of Christ seems to have existed before 312 AD—long before Constantine and his conversion. The Donatist Christians in North Africa seem to have known it from before that time.

So, where did these early Christians get the dates of December 25^th and in the case of some eastern Christians January 6^th? Did they simply borrow them from Pagan holidays? Far from it.

By the second century there seemed to be a lot of interest show in the birthday of Christ but just as much uncertainty about the actual date. 

But then almost 300 years after Jesus was born, we finally find people observing his birth in mid-winter. But how had they go from showing interest in the date in the second century to celebrating December 25 and January 6 in the third century?

the first mention of a date for Christmas (AD. 200) and the earliest celebrations that we know about (AD. 250–300) come in a period when Christians were not borrowing heavily from pagan traditions, in fact they were fighting this. During that time the persecuted Christian minority was greatly concerned with distancing itself from the larger, public pagan religious observances, such as sacrifices, games and holidays. This was still true as late as the violent persecutions of the Christians conducted by the Roman emperor Diocletian between 303 and 312 AD. So to suggest that these same people that were dying trying to keep Christianity clean from Pagan influence would then turn around and accept a Pagan holiday as the birthday of Jesus, is quite ridiculous.

In fact the way they reached these dates had nothing whatsoever to do with paganism but it was instead based on a Jewish understanding of how God works. This way of thinking says that creation and redemption must happen on the same date. Rabbi Eliezer states in the Talmod: “In Nisan the world was created; in Nisan the Patriarchs were born; on Passover Isaac was born … and in Nisan they [our ancestors] will be redeemed in time to come.” So the thought process was “we know when the Lord died, and He would have died on the same date He was conceived.” He was placed in the unused (virgin) grave on the same date that he was placed in the virgin womb. So, if they think they know when he was conceived, then the next step is to count 9 months and then you have the date of birth. Nine months from that point puts it at December 25^th.

So, we have Christians in two parts of the world calculating Jesus’ birth on the basis that his death and conception took place on the same date (March 25 or April 6) and coming up with two close but different results (December 25 and January 6).

The Christian authors of the time do note a connection between the Pagan holiday and Jesus’ birth: but they never saw it as being engineered by the Church or pagan influence on the Church, but rather a coincidence or as a providential sign, as natural proof that God had selected Jesus over the false pagan gods.

So, I think it's clear that the origins of Christmas were not born out of paganism as many have stated. But has it been influenced by Paganism over the centuries? Like most things it has been influenced by pagan practices. Many of the European customs like Yule logs, holly, mistletoe and many other elements are from old pagan holidays that were introduced to the Christmas celebration during the middle ages. Many of these customs were lost in America because the puritans of America didn't celebrate Christmas because of all the pagan influence added to it during the middle ages and so Christmas really didn't catch on in America until the 1800's.

Santa:

As for Santa, actually Saint Nicolas is the Saint of children and commerce. Ancient legend tells of Nicolas going to the poor houses and leaving gold coins in the stockings people would hang up near the fireplace to dry. There is actually a Saint Nicolas day on December 6^th. It used to be a festival for children however at one point due to religious persecution it was banned but Christmas on the other hand was allowed to continue and so they ended up merging the two together forever linking Saint Nicolas to Christmas. However, the modern incarnation of Santa was actually invented by the Coca-Cola company near the turn of the last century and he, and the legend surrounding him, bare little resemblance to the original. One could make an argument that the modern day Santa is nothing more than a pagan symbol that doesn't belong in the Christmas celebration. One could also argue that Saint Nicolas is a legitimate early Christian leader that is recognized by both Catholic and many protestant Churches.  

The Christmas tree:

Is the Christmas tree really the modern equivalent of the winter solstice pagan tradition of bringing greenery inside? Actually the history of the Christmas tree is completely separate from the traditions of the winter solstice. Again, it's only lazy and sloppy research that suggests the tie between the two.

In medieval western Europe, mystery or miracle plays taught biblical stories and Christian ideas to a largely illiterate population. The most famous and loved of these plays was The paradise play, which recounted the story of Adam and Eve. This was traditionally performed on the Church steps at around Christmas time.

 

Although the play featured the story of the Creation and the disobedience of Adam and Eve, it closed with the promise of the coming of a Savior. This made it appropriate for the celebration of Christmas. The paradise tree served as the central prop for the paradise play. It represented the two important trees of the Garden of Eden: 

the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Originally, only apples adorned the paradise tree. These symbolized the fall of humanity described in the Adam and Eve story. Perhaps because most other trees were barren and lifeless during December, the actors chose to hang the apples from an evergreen tree rather than from an apple tree. In the fifteenth century round, white communion wafers were added to the paradise tree. These wafers stood for the promise of reconciliation with God made possible through Jesus Christ. Church authorities banned miracle plays in the fifteenth                           

century but since they were so popular among the people, many people performed it privately and would even put a paradise tree on their front pouch out of protest. That is why even today much of Europe places their Christmas tree on the front porch instead of inside like Americans do. Later it was widely called the Christ tree and the red ball shaped ornaments that still represented the apples from the paradise tree were taken down on Christmas day and they would stomp on them and shatter them as a symbol of Christ defeating sin.

So, in closing, if we ask now is Christmas a pagan holiday just clocked in Christianity? Was the pagan holiday just renamed and all of it's pagan practices just relabeled? I think anyone who puts in just a little effort can clearly see that this is not the case. The date was used long before many people think. And the Christmas tree, the iconic symbol of Christmas, is it simply a pagan winter solstice tradition? Absolutely not. We can clearly trace the origins of the Christmas tree back in time and see that it indeed has it's own history apart from the winter solstice traditions. Does Christmas contain pagan traditions? Unfortunately like most things in our world it does. In the middle ages it adopted some of the pagan symbols of the winter solstice which are heavily ingrained in it to this day in Europe and to a lesser extent elsewhere.

While some of the practices might not be good, the intent of the holiday and the day it was placed on is not one of the bad practices. 

I would not fault or criticize someone for not celebrating it on the grounds that it has acquired too much paganism over the centuries.  But when people point their finger at me and tell me that Christmas is a Pagan holiday and that if I celebrate it then I am a pagan sun-god worshiper, I will correct them.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival,a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17