Kiln of the Soul

Celebration Time

2009-07-19T19:52:00.003-06:00

You'll have to pardon me, but something inside me is like a little kid living in poverty who just found out he's leaving for Disneyland in the morning, all expenses paid. That little kid is running around screaming, hands in the air.

What makes it all the more hilarious is I have no idea what it means. I'm supposing whatever it is will manifest itself tomorrow. And maybe I'll even notice it.

This business of gearing up for ministry during the coming tribulation has some pretty strange moments.

No Choice

2009-07-18T19:10:00.003-06:00

For some years I have been predicting the US economy would collapse. While I did make a few guesses, I don't recall saying I was certain when it would come. Then, more recently, I stated I felt it would most likely come at the end of summer. I won't be much disappointed if it takes until, say, October. It won't surprise me if it happens next Monday. It's not a word from God, it's just my best guess, which happens to include in the calculation a certain amount of input I can't explain. Saying we are doomed sometime in the next few years is a word from God.

Let's pretend for just a moment, come October, things suddenly begin looking better, and our economy begins a slow recovery. And while we're pretending, let's really go long and say the American Empire again projects her power around the world, and everything goes our way, so to speak. Would it stop me from writing the same sort of stuff I've spilled across this blog for the last three years?

No.

Let's establish something in the minds of you, my readers, in case you haven't figured it out yet. I don't have any choice. If all my words prove to be false, foolish, the blathering of a mad man, it would change only one thing. I'd warn you I'm insane, full of manure, and not to take anything seriously. But then, I've already acknowledged that possibility, so it would only mean confirming it.

Whether it be an educated guess, a hunch, or a forceful assertion I speak for God, it's actually all of the same cloth. In your minds, if all my predictions come true with the degree of assurance by which I qualified them, it would tend to make me more credible regarding things you can't possibly confirm by future events. So when I say, "this is what the Bible means, and this is what God requires of you," it's really a matter of whether the Spirit convicts you, or you just happen to find it plausible. Either way, whether I am found faithful to your trust, or completely bonkers, I don't have much control over it. I can't possibly stop writing, as I suffer from some of Jeremiah's affliction of "fire shut up in my bones" (Jeremiah 20:9). So you can drop me in the well and forget my stuff, but I can't stop spinning the electrons from my keyboard.

Notice the effect is polarizing. Plenty of people who have passed by this blog are already sure I'm a nut. A few seem to support me, asking me to keep it up. I can't imagine anyone much has shrugged and come to no conclusion. I'm not really concerned, myself. As always, I affirm as honestly as I know how, that there was never any intent to gain fame or fortune, nor even the Internet equivalent of "street cred." I'm doing this because I can't stop. Make up your own mind why that is, but I'm going to keep doing this until circumstances, also beyond my control, intervene.

Acts 12

2009-07-18T18:39:00.000-06:00

The flow of narrative carried Luke up to 46 AD. However, the thread concerning Peter cannot be dropped until Luke explains why. Peter had exercised his office holding the Keys of the Realm, having opened the way to all mankind. He is not God's choice, however, to spread the gospel much beyond his own homeland.

We take a moment to review the political situation. Herod the Great died while Jesus was a child. His sons divided the kingdom, but Judea and Galilee were reunited under the authority of Herod's grandson, Herod Agrippa I. He was granted this by his good friend, Emperor Caligula, shortly before the latter died. Thus, Herod Agrippa I comes on the scene in 41 AD, and survives just three years. During his reign, he sought to curry favor with the Jewish leaders. Late in his term, he had James the son of Zebedee arrested and executed. This had the desired effect, and he proceeded to have Peter arrested. While Jesus was executed on Passover, that was extremely rare. Typically, no one would be executed during Passover and the following seven days of Unleavened Bread. Thus, Peter languished in the Fortress of Antonio for at least a week.

Peter was under the guard of four squads, a total of sixteen soldiers. Their rotation came during the twelve-hour night shift, so each squad would take three hours. Two were supposed to sit awake with the sleeping prisoner chained between them. There were two inner doors, each with another guard. During the whole feast, the church had been praying for him. The last night of the feast, Peter surely expected to be executed the next day, yet slept soundly. An angel appeared, lighting up the chamber. He roused Peter rather roughly, and his chains simply fell off. The guards neither saw nor heard a thing. The angel had Peter arrange his clothing for departure. Peter was sure he was dreaming. They passed the two inner portals, and again the guards noticed nothing. At the outer gate which led onto the street, the thing opened automatically. After walking one block, the angel simply disappeared, and Peter realized it was not a dream.

It was a short walk to the old headquarters in the Bethesda district of the city, the house with the Upper Room, owned by Mary, the mother of John Mark. Peter knocked at the gate of the outer courtyard. It was still dark, and a young lady named Rhoda came to answer. Upon asking who was there, and hearing Peter's voice, she forgot to let him in, but ran back and announced to the assembled prayer meeting Peter was outside. For all their faithfulness in praying, it seemed too incredible, and they finally decided it must be Peter's guardian angel, since it could not be Peter himself. Upon opening the gate to see Peter himself in the flesh, they burst into a million questions, but he had to silence them. With the angel gone, Peter reckoned the miraculous part was past and he needed to be careful. After telling them of that miracle escape, he asked them to relay the news to James, the brother of Jesus. Essentially, this officially places James in the lead, as Peter must go underground. With that, his place in the narrative is essentially finished.

Roman law decreed if a soldier allowed a prisoner to escape, he suffered the same sentence expected for his prisoner. When the final shift came on duty, everyone suddenly realized the chains were attached to nothing. Luke describes a scene of military panic. Herod ordered a full search to insure none of the other soldiers in the fortress were playing games. It came down to the four guard squads having no explanation, and they were duly executed. Deprived of his prey, Herod went down to the palace at Caesarea on the coast, where Cornelius was stationed.

This places Peter's change of duties at 44 AD, which is when Herod Agrippa died. A short time after this incident, the Sidonians saw their opportunity to get out of a jam. They had managed to anger Herod, and were at risk of being starved, since Herod controlled the delivery of food to the ancient Phoenician home, since it produced precious little of its own. They bribed the king's chamberlain (manager of the royal household, a very influential man), Blastus. Working through him, they arranged an audience to make peace with Herod. The king suffered a serious case of vanity, and received them in a robe of woven silver. The Sidonian delegation played on this vanity. When Herod made some fancy speech to receive them, they kept exclaiming it was surely the voice of a god. In their pagan culture, this was entirely appropriate, but it was a sin for any king claiming to rule the Jews. During this royal celebration, Herod became sick. A few days later he died, according to Luke, from some sort of worm infestation.

This latest threat neutralized, the church began to grow again in the land of the Jews, and the gospel spread afresh. Thus, we find Saul and Barnabas delivered their donation to the church in Jerusalem to stave off another kind of threat. While there, they enlisted John Mark into their ministry, and returned to Antioch.

Tribulation Report #035: Calculations and Promises

2009-07-17T13:08:00.000-06:00

As always, let's remember no one really knows what's coming. We can generalize based on human trends of the past, but can't really see the actual outcomes unless and until God reveals them.

I can't pretend I'm a prophet in that sense. There have been times when I felt the gentle tug of the Spirit to prepare for certain things, and it served me well. I struggle daily with the perceptions floating in my head, as to whether this or that idea is from God or from my own wild imagination. The only thing I can say so far in this learning experience is: When things are fuzzy, it's because the Lord isn't talking. He's not ready to answer the question. I am doing a bit better right now than in the past in that I can now tell when something is surely not a matter of my own imagination. But then, I still have to deal with natural human doubts when the time factor delays too long between the Lord revealing and the Lord delivering.

Thus, I always caution my readers and those physically near me: Don't rely on me as the voice of God on things yet to come. I'm still trying to figure this out for my own personal service to God. This casts some measure of doubt on my pronouncements about things past, things in the Word, as well. You will, in the end, have to follow your own best estimation of what God requires of you. That is as it should be. Barring the rise of a genuine Apostle -- and whether you accept them as such -- we have no sure source other than the teachings of the Bible and our own spirits. Don't look at me as an apostle.

So when we examine the situation of our world, we are each thrown upon the slippery ground of human calculations mixed with the promises of God. Having an education in the Social Sciences may grant me some advantage, simply because I am aware of basic human tendencies not obvious to everyone. Still, it's a very muddy pot I stir seeking to see what's at the bottom.

My current expectations for the US as a whole range between a rather painless take-over from an outside agency, to a possible break-up between smaller autonomous region or state governments, all the way down to mass slaughter and chaos that would make Somalia look placid. Obviously, the latter is more likely on the two coastal belts, along with the northern Rust Belt and parts of the Southeast. I'd be surprised if California remains intact as a single entity under any scenario. If anything, it is likely to lead the way in unrest and violence.

There is an obvious tension between the rising Police State trend versus the rising likelihood of armed revolt. In this, the distribution of oppression is much harder to estimate, much harder to associate with mere geographical patterns. Big cities are naturally worse than the countryside. I can't imagine any urban setting where the government would call off the dogs, as it were, as things get more difficult. However, the ubiquity of the taser symbolizes the difficulty with calculating things. Official policy means almost nothing up against a culture which treats all citizens as potential law-breakers and enemies. This culture is not uniform across the nation in all police departments, but seems to be growing for now. The key here is whether the police in any given location see themselves as over-matched by those who would resist them. There will always be some surprises in either direction, because there are always invisible tipping points no one can foresee.

Current trends in federal legislation and policy are running dangerously close to testing some tipping points which should be pretty obvious. The policy of mandatory inoculations, for example, will most certainly result in bloodshed, should any government agency actually try to implement it. On this issue, you can take the wild speculation of conspiracy nuts as a fair barometer of the unspoken fears of the majority. Let me make it obvious: The common belief is the current flu scare was created in a laboratory precisely so it could be unleashed on the population. This then offers an excuse for putting in place elements of martial law by virtue of emergency response to fears of plague. In other words, government has created a bio-weapon for use against its own people.Further, any mandatory inoculation program would surely be no more than a cover for injecting any number of unwanted medical materials capable of anything from sterilization, to reduced mental functioning, down to outright death. A few nuts will assert these things, but frankly, most everybody tends to believe it. That being the case, you can expect no propaganda efforts from government will serve to soften resistance by very much. Mandatory flu vaccinations will mean a level of social unrest we cannot possibly calculate, except to say it will be huge.

What makes me so uneasy here is the apparent willingness of people in power to carry out such a thing. There is a mixture of attitudes visible among officials. Some don't want to think about resistance, simply asserting, "It has to be done." Others seem ignorant of the boiling fears, fully believing they can calm resistance by information. Far too many are simply truculent, willing to field troops to quell any resistance. In my estimation, these last appear numerous enough stymie any hopes for good sense to prevail. Perhaps the ugliest thing we have to consider is the sheer cowardice inherent in government officials, in that they will almost certainly contract out the actual hands-on inoculation mission to folks in desperate need of a job, and it is these who will bear the brunt of violent resistance. Never underestimate the moral depravity of government officials.

Yet, in every part of the US, we are likely to find islands of sanity. Some states are notoriously resistant to federal mandates, and already we can see a pattern of rejection which indicates some foolishness can be delayed for a time. Depending on the mixture of happenstance as people in office react one way or another -- those invisible tipping points -- we might see the US muddle along in a stand-off between the federal government and a revival of the 10th Amendment. While it remains hard to calculate, I find myself currently hopeful for Oklahoma. While there are a very large number of people who dearly love federal power here, the state as a whole tends to take offense easily over such intrusions. To the degree we have already compromised with federal funding over the likes of keeping Tinker AFB here, perhaps there are levers of power hidden from my eyes. Still, I can't help but believe the final result of any conflict is likely to find the state leadership unwilling to compromise where it really matters. I can't speak for other states, not even those directly neighboring us.

On an entirely different level, I find my spirit at rest. It's not simply the basic faith and confidence we have in Our Savior, but a rather specific expectation things will go well for me. I don't doubt there will be some very difficult decisions ahead. I've already spent a lot of time evaluating in prayer every element I can identify. So, for example, I can leave my computers behind and never trouble the Internet again with my presence, should that be required of me. At the same time, I would be loathe to find myself reduced to keeping track of my thoughts with pencil and paper, because my arthritis makes it likely I would write a lot less. I find the keyboard much easier on my joints than more primitive methods. While I don't know how it will turn out, I am at peace about what is coming. I am at peace in the sense I am certain the Lord is not finished with me by any means, that there is still a great task ahead of me which is not yet begun. Things must certainly change dramatically for that task to be possible, but more than that I cannot say.

My hope for you is that you have the same overwhelming sense of peace, sense of purpose, and bright visions of what God will reveal in the days ahead.

Short Item: Manifestations of Truth

2009-07-16T18:27:00.003-06:00

To my fellow believers who support Zionism, CUFI, and teach Dispensationalism: This is what you are supporting. This is the fine, upstanding, high moral ground you occupy when you give Israel a blank check. No, don't turn away. This is you.

Please tell me what part of the Law of Moses called for this sort of thing?

Reality Is Worse than Movie Nightmares

2009-07-16T06:52:00.005-06:00

The Apostle John wrote what many consider a nightmare scenario in Revelation too chilling to imagine. He consistently refers to the source of trouble as "Rome" (among other names) because, in his day, Rome was the quintessential manifestation of a demonic spirit seeking to destroy all humanity. Not so much to slaughter all human life, because that would be no fun, but to extinguish the crux of human seeking to better things: hope, courage, etc. The precedent set by Rome may be hard to distinguish in this far distant modern age we live, but Rome made it fundamental policy the individual does not matter. This is the antithesis of God's very message of Jesus on the Cross. Christ died for you, and He died for me. The only possible unity comes from voluntary submission to a loving Creator. Rome presumed to treat all humanity, even her privileged citizens, as an undifferentiated mass, not as unique people. The nightmare of Revelation is that Rome would not cease to manifest herself in ever-increasing inhumanity as mankind drifts forward through time. That John was teaching such a Roman spirit was the spirit of Satan himself is obvious.

The same people who are bringing us the mandatory health care scenario have already warned doctors and clinics will not be allowed to opt out of the system. You will not be permitted to offer private care at the retail price. Not only will the decline of our economy accelerate under this new system of confiscatory taxation, but all other options are removed. You not pull our of the system financially, and even if you can afford to go to natural medicine, the FDA will ensure the wishes of Big Pharma are enacted in destroying the entire natural supplement industry. And the various regulatory implementations for food production will insure you are not permitted to even grow your own herbs, never mind a more natural food supply without GMO and chemical poisons. Worst of all, we have the very real threat of forced "treatment" with poisons under the guise of preventing or treating imaginary or government-caused plagues.

The aims of such all-inclusive regulation will only get worse. Will Grigg warns the federal population control policies are only a short few steps from implementation, too. It's no longer just the hideous thoughts expressed by the demon-possessed minds of totalitarian apparatchiks-in-waiting, these people now stand in places of power.

If you trust the system to include a more benevolent streak to temper things, you are a fool. How about the Waco Massacre, Ruby Ridge, or the mass kidnapping of the off-branch-LDS kids in Texas? How many incidents does it take? Your government hates you, not in the sense of wishing you dead, but not in the least concerned if it happens on the way to god-like control over you.

It would be impossible to understand this on any other terms. It makes no difference whether it's Republicans lying about torturing -- which includes raping children in front of their parents -- or Democrats and their dreams of turning you into Soylent Green, people who gain power apart from ties of blood or marriage are servants of Satan. Mankind was never supposed to have the impersonal government of Roman bureaucracy; God knew it would bring nothing but evil. Governing power over people to whom you are not related is sin, no matter how you flavor it, package it or advertise it. This is the life cycle of empires: Start small, build energetically, spreading the control, claiming to spread peace and prosperity while putting a cover over the death and destruction, then reach a peak of inhumanity and blow apart, with massive loss of life, along with crushing sorrow for the survivors. The inherent nature of modern government starts with the very denial of humanity.

As we approach our own national apocalypse, keep in mind where it all comes from. I have great skepticism many will learn from it, but maybe a few hearts will come closer to the truth: God says the only government He blesses is the government from within your own kin. Every command from God regarding government assumes a tribal social structure. No exceptions. Nothing else will garner His blessings. All just relations begin with recognizing the individual, and any effort at making things "fair and equal" by seeking an impersonal standard is the root of sin. We have, in our grand human wisdom, chosen fearsome destruction by rejecting God's ways.

Welcome to Hell on Earth, America. You've been begging for it.

Isaiah 54

2009-07-15T12:01:00.001-06:00

What joys, what mighty bottomless pool of blessings awaited those who returned from Babylon if they turn from the sins of their fathers and embrace afresh the ancient Covenant of Moses? We'll never know. However, Isaiah paints a glowing image of it in symbolic language, and ends up describing the Realm of the Spirit after Christ's Ascension.

A woman bereft of children is not the same as one who never bore. Israel was taken away into exile, rather like a woman who lost her children. Had she learned the lessons of Isaiah and the other prophets, she could come back home and start fresh and new as a woman who simply has not yet borne children. Not just forgotten would be the sorrows from before, but it would be as if they had never happened. Israel would not, so what we have instead is a contrast between Judah, the "the married woman" versus Christ's Kingdom, which had not yet born fruit. Barren wives were often treated poorly, and in this unspoken thought, we note the spiritual side of God's "Israel" was never well received by the Nation. But when her time came, she outgrew the Old Testament Israel beyond compare, because her progeny would include all nations.

So when she bears fruit, she will be like a rowdy young wife who finally shows her worth. He would proudly own her as His beloved. By being the bride of the Maker of all things, her social standing is without peers. The shunning of Old Israel would become the public celebration of a precious spouse. The time of separation would be forgotten as a brief incident.

In God's eyes, the Flood of Noah, harsh as it was, took away the constant, nagging, in-your-face embarrassment of very public provocation. The earth was cleansed of those who would never turn to the right. Once past, God changed things to ensure it need not happen again. Thus, if Israel would return to their ancient spiritual calling, there would never again be a time when Israel would be removed from the Land. As we know, roughly a century after Christ, the Jews were driven from Palestine by Roman soldiers, so it's obvious she never accepted the terms of renewal. Instead, we have a spiritual empire which cannot be removed under any circumstances.

This New Realm of the Spirit was indescribably delightful. How can you compare the vast riches of God's Heaven with mere building materials? It would have to be like a city founded of huge precious stones, walls of treasures, roofing of jewelry. The children of this New Covenant would be taught by virtue of being God's children. In obeying the draw of the Spirit, the new kingdom would embrace all the blessings ever offered by God under any covenant before. Nothing could possibly threaten the security, health and prosperity of such a realm, because it would be the same as threatening God Himself. If God, who can create the fire of the forge, the very iron forged in it, and the blacksmith who works it, how can any mere human build a weapon to bring harm to Him? Just so, no weapon of man can truly harm God's spiritual people. More, His very righteousness will be placed in our names, so no accusation can stand.

Gentle Words Easier to Eat Later

2009-07-14T10:13:00.003-06:00

We, as believers, are the incarnation of Christ. We have the Spirit of God Almighty inside us. But we are not God. We are not sinless as Christ was. We must plunge ahead in the calling by our faith/loyalty to Him, but know we will ever mess things up, because we are fallen. He will always make it turn out to His glory in spite of us, even as He says His one method is to use us.

That I am operating on the streets and in my home, instead of through some organized religious institution, is proof enough I find little in those institutions to commend. That is not the same thing as condemning the people who continue to operate from within them. Fellowship is easy enough when you aren't trying to pick a fight.

Jesus faced a literal and figurative enemy in the Pharisees. They were determined to maintain a status quo, in part because it made them wealthy and rather powerful. At times, I find the practices and words of churchmen to be dangerously close to those of the Pharisees. I use the label "Pharisee" as a metaphor, as a symbol, because the Bible arises from a culture where such symbolism is the primary form of communication. The very Hebrew language is symbolic in nature, and only with great difficulty can you use it objectively and clinically. Most of those with whom I have a dispute are not likely to murder me, nor would they wish it.

We use that label justly when some churchman comes across with any justification of slaughter which is not found in Scripture. That the very core of our debate is over what Scripture authorizes is duly noted. Thus, it becomes somewhat slippery ground when we apply the label "Pharisee" to a particular person, rather than a notable tendency of many persons together.

Nor is it a matter of clear conscience, since the Bible speaks of a seared conscience unable to discern truth -- as we know burn scars are notoriously lacking in feeling. The objective with all my teaching, particularly about Dispensationalism, is to renew the mind, to awaken a fuller conquest of the Holy Spirit over an intellect hardened into a non-spiritual pattern. The Pharisees suffered a like cultural conditioning, of a Hellenized rationalism which very much smothered the ancient ways of the spiritual mind. Most of them slept just fine at night, untroubled by a Spirit to which they were utterly dead.

Many modern "Pharisees" are not spiritually dead. They know Jesus, and love Him, but do not always understand Him. One particular Pharisee came to Him for some discussion during the hours of darkness. Jesus told him about being born-again, a need to renew that non-intellectual spiritual understanding. Today a great many churchmen use that term, even believe they own the definition of it, but don't realize how poorly they grasp what Jesus was saying. They lack the cultural background which gave those comments meaning, and have insisted on seeing them through a completely different, even Pharisaical, viewpoint. But they do have a home in Heaven, as it were.

Those of you who tend to follow my writings here: We would do well to be cautious in using such terms. Even where we are accurate by biblical standards, we do not always succeed in conveying the import of what we say. We have to approach them as Jesus did Nicodemus, not as He did the legalistic fools who tried to have Him arrested. We have to keep the lines open, or will play better at incarnating Satan than Jesus.

The Fool Blathers Again

2009-07-13T17:32:00.004-06:00

I'd be a complete fool if all I cared about was raising my own cachet. I still hope the dark visions I see are all wrong, that I'm just deluded, a fool. That way, I could have some hope folks would not suffer so much. So here's what the fool sees.

It's blistering hot here in Central Oklahoma. For over a week now, the daytime high has been above 100°F. That in itself is a bad sign, given we have had pretty high temperatures since before summer officially began. If you do some research, you'll see Oklahoma is already in drought condition. While any sort of climate estimation is mere guesswork, I believe the more severe estimates are correct. The fool sees drought and fire danger up through the end of this year. Texas is likely to be worse, as it would be for all southern states. The north central and northeast of the CONUS will probably continue relative cold and wet.

We won't die of starvation here, but we won't have all that much share. Then, there are human factors, too. We had the fire storms in at least three parts of the state a few months back. To the best of my knowledge, all of it was started by idiocy or malice. The fool sees more stuff like this coming soon here. Ordinary crime is bad enough already, and it will only increase. That's just common sense, given the times. However, I am looking for things people do not expect. That is, I believe the wild-card sort of crime will rise, stuff you can't possibly project from statistical analysis.

I keep seeing in my mind images of smoking ruins, wind blowing across dusty plains. I have no fear for myself, least of all, nor for my wife. In the sense of faith, we have a calling which stretches off into the future too far to estimate. God supplies His own work. What brings the tears to my eyes is knowing it means so very much suffering, at least here in Oklahoma. Winter will be hard.

A Hebrew Moment in Acts 11

2009-07-12T10:19:00.000-06:00

At the end of chapter 11, Luke drops a hint for us regarding a critical element in the Early Church. He refers to the "elders" in Jerusalem, leaders in the community there.

Keep in mind, Luke writes for a well educated Roman official called Theophilus. Such a man would have been acquainted with various cultural trends in the Roman Empire, and could not avoid knowing at least a little of Hebrew culture. Even if all he knew was through contact with Jewish communities scattered about the Mediterranean, with all the Hellenization and corruption from the ancient Hebrew ways of the Old Testament, there would still be a residual flavor of what the worldview and assumptions were for Semitic races.

In particular, the Hebrew people in the Roman Empire managed to keep their social structures fairly intact. Frankly, that extended family, tribal lifestyle was quite common across the world in those days. So the broad assumptions about daily life habits would be cast within the mold of a tribal social structure. When someone mentions the term "elder" in this setting, it means a leader of the household, as in tribal elder.

You recall there were two distinct groups in the Early Church in Jerusalem: the local Judean folks and those who were born abroad. The locals maintained their old tribal structures, but those raised in Hellenized cities might be lacking that. Even if they had it back home, as Jews often carried such habits wherever they lived, they were now in Jerusalem away from that family structure. Either way, when the Early Church began serving the needy in their community, the Judeans had a natural means for handling such distribution, since they tended to live in the tribal structures. The Hellenists had no such path, and no one was aggressively pursuing the care of Hellenized widows. There were no elders to look after them. The seven men were appointed to be the elders for the Hellenized Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, and it would include a lot more than just feeding widows.

Thus, we see the Early Church took pains to bring to life the tribal social structure where it did not naturally exist through blood ties. What we also must understand is the term "elder" is not exactly what so many religious scholars have claimed. It was not so much an office in the modern sense as it was a role. When the wealthy residents of Antioch took up a collection for the Jerusalem Church, the funds were delivered to "the elders" -- those who took care of their respective households, whether Judean extended families or merely spiritual "families" under the care of those chosen for the duties.

The modern distinction between deacon and pastor is wholly artificial. Part of that is the fault of a Western society which cannot bear the thought of living in a tribal setting. We train our children, consciously or otherwise, to flap their wings and live on their own, to include obtaining a separate domicile. This is utterly foreign to the assumptions of the Early Church. It is a long standing sin of Western Civilization, and until we repent of it, we cannot hope to regain the lost heritage of New Testament Christianity.

Acts 11

2009-07-11T17:56:00.001-06:00

The conversion of Cornelius's household was easily the climax of Peter's ministry in the Plain of Sharon. He returned to Jerusalem and immediately confronts a firestorm. Here is the birth of something we call today "the Judaizers." A certain slice of the Jewish converts remained consciously and militantly racist, as it were, regarding the adoption of Judaism as foundation for following Christ. It wasn't so much about being a Son of Abraham, since there was nothing anyone could do to change that, but being a Son of the Law (bar-mitzvah). This assumption plagued the Early Church up through the time John wrote Revelation.

Having already heard the news Peter entered a Gentile home, ate there and even stayed there, those infected with the Judaizer tendency were ready to pounce as soon as Peter returned. The accusation carries a threat to the assumption held by most Jews of being God's own special people. In essence, Peter was denying this, by acting as if the separation between Jew and Gentile didn't matter. It was tantamount in the eyes of some to blasphemy.

Peter recounts his experiences leading up to the decision to stay with Cornelius. He was in Joppa, saw the tarp filled with unclean animals, and was told to kill and eat. His protest about kosher was met with the stern warning not to call "unclean" what God had cleansed. It happened thrice, and right before he was called down to meet the messengers from Cornelius. Further, it was the Spirit Himself who directed Peter to go. Apparently the half-dozen companions who came along were standing there as Peter's witnesses. They were there when Cornelius told of the angelic vision and the precise instructions regarding Peter and his whereabouts. As soon as Peter got past the introduction of his message, the Spirit fell on Cornelius's household with exactly the same manifestation as the disciples first experienced on Pentecost in the Upper Room. It is here Peter remarks this was a direct fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy comparing the baptism of John with that of the Holy Spirit. How could Peter argue with God? While this silenced the Judaizers on this occasion, it did not end the controversy, as we shall see later.

Luke backtracks enough to pick up the thread of those driven from Jerusalem by Saul's persecution. Some of the places they took the gospel included modern Lebanon, the island of Cyprus, and the coastal region of Syria. The ancient city of Antioch was third largest in the Roman Empire, and the regional headquarters. At first these scattered Hellenized Jewish Christians preached only to fellow Jews. Eventually, those who had been raised in Cyprus and Cyrene (nearby Libyan coast) began evangelizing the local Gentiles. Luke refers to them as Grecian in the sense the region had embraced Alexander's mission to Hellenize the world three centuries before. Antioch sported temples to Apollo and Artemis, and the city was known as a great stop for sex tourism because of the temple prostitutes there. It proved fertile ground for Gentile conversions.

Having by now swallowed Peter's explanation in the case of Cornelius, the church leaders in Jerusalem decided to send someone to ensure things went in the right direction. They chose Barnabas, the wealthy Cypriot, since there were so many in Antioch from Cyprus. Seeing this was clearly a work of God, Barnabas did what he was famous for, encouraging the church members there to become eternally loyal to their Savior. His presence also encouraged a new wave of conversions. This was getting to be a big task, in need of more expert help. Barnabas headed north to find Saul in Tarsus, and brought him back for a year's mission work there. Luke notes the term "Christian" first arose here, marking them as partisans or followers of Christ.

Of course, many in Jerusalem adopted this first Gentile church in Antioch. Among them were prophets, such as Agabus. This man explained how God had warned there would be a famine in the Empire soon. Luke associates that for us with the famine of 46 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius. We note, for the most part, a famine in those days was the result of a drought. As it turned out, the church at Antioch was all for supporting their brethren in Jerusalem. Since the latter were particularly vulnerable to famine, due to their general lack of financial prosperity as a church driven underground, the generally wealthy crowd in Antioch raised funds to send back to the mother church. This aid was carried by Barnabas and Saul.

A Eulogy

2009-07-10T18:06:00.002-06:00

Lovella Marie (Buffington) Warren

There is no one, holy and righteous way to do this. If we were down in what's left of New Orleans, we would be marching in a parade and dancing in the streets. If we were somewhere in the Middle East, we would tear our clothes, throw dirt on our heads, and hire lots of women to scream and cry regardless how they felt, or even whether they knew the deceased.

Instead, we gather in a quiet room, rather plain, and rather plainly dressed at her son's request, so that Marie gets all the attention in this, her final glory. This tension between proper and casual existed from the start. Dennis tells me as a young boy, when his mother stood to sing a hymn in church one Sunday, he tugged at her skirt and told her to sit down and don't sing. She was proper and he was casual.

Yet she certainly knew life could not be all seriousness. During an ice storm here some years back, she cooked up a meal and invited my wife's parents, Royce and Velma Packard, to share it with her. They lived only a couple of blocks away. Did she know it was all ice everywhere outside? Sure. "Just slide on down here," she said, "it's all downhill anyway." And while they liked to have never got back home that evening, they all felt it was worth it, just the same. There's got to be a certain joy in living.

I watched her almost giggle giving stuff away once. She said, "You can't take it with you." As Dennis can relate, we are painfully aware of how much stuff someone can accumulate without trying. We gathered one day recently to help move her belongings, and it took four of us most of the day. But it wasn't just a bunch of stuff she left behind -- she also left a quote to be read today: "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (Proverbs 19:21). You take what God has granted you, use it as best you can with a clear conscience, and leave the rest in His hands. Then you stand before Him, as it were, naked. A lot of stuff with Marie's name on it is sitting in Dennis's garage. What survives death is only eternal things, things with God's name on them.

Inside this very lovely box is just a shell. You'll recognize the form, but she's not there. I hardly knew Marie; our paths seldom crossed. Most of you here knew her far better than I. I'm told she called on the Lord's Name often enough, but He alone knows what was in her heart. We know only what she allowed us to see. So we have our memories of her, such as they may be, which now includes this place, this time, and this last moment together with those memories. It's only fitting we should share this one last song she chose in celebration of what really matters most.

We sing "Family of God."

Rejoice and Weep

2009-07-09T20:57:00.002-06:00

I rejoice because in recent days I have been granted the rich opportunity to serve others in very specific ways. I weep because there is so very much sorrow out there needing a listening ear.

I rejoice because sometimes simple labor service leads to more substantive spiritual ministry. I weep because, in this case, it means doing a funeral service.

I rejoice because I was fully able to write a unique memorial, fitting the requests. I weep because I can't begin to talk about the misery associated with this event.

I rejoice because the hand of God is peeling back the layers of pretty lies hiding deep evil. I weep because the evil is so very deep and shocking.

I rejoice because the Lord is coming to visit His people here in the US. I weep because it would seem so very many of them aren't ready to face Him, and the vast majority of the nation seems to ignore Him altogether.

Isaiah 53

2009-07-08T12:55:00.000-06:00

As usual, Isaiah offers us a paradox when discussing the Messiah. On the one hand, we all know He inherits the very being of God Almighty. For this cause, some of the most majestic prose in Scripture confronts us here. At the same time, the description is of a man for whom it seems everyone feels compelled to reject His claims. It is the nature of ultimate Truth that only God can write it on your heart. There is no place in the brain to hold such a thing, because Truth is a Person, not simple objective knowledge. What really matters in all the Universe in which we exist is something no man can reach out and claim on his own. It can only come as a gift of God's grace.

Thus, the only way to answer the question -- "Who would believe our report?" -- is to answer the question to whom the Lord has revealed His power on the earth. Lots of people see the works of God and attribute them to other causes. Knowing the mechanics is not the same as knowing the real cause. Those who tend to see past the mechanics to the ultimate purpose of things will be the folks who believe the prophecies. So when He is born and grows up unknown, in humble circumstances, exhibits no particular charisma or handsome face, we should not be surprised when His own nation tries to ignore Him. And when His message intrudes on that, He would certainly garner violent rejection. Because of this, He surely knows what we suffer. But in our carnal ways, we don't want His solution, so we turn away from His message.

Though He came to bear away all sins, in the main, His nation considered Him a sinner, and all His suffering was because of His own sin. You can't claim God doesn't love enough simply because He allows us to choose sin and suffering. He was more than willing to bear the full price of sin in His flesh. For every judgment against sin, He also declared forgiveness through His willingness to pay the price Himself. Everything He suffered was for us. Yet, humanity continues to look for some other way, as if God were subject to the intellectual standards we can raise by our pitiful imaginations.

So how would He react to this abuse? We stand on the far side of the story today and would be hard pressed to claim He complained at all. It should be obvious why: It's the reason He was born. Not just suffering in the broad human sense, but totally without justice. He was arrested, set before a judge without crime, and sentenced to death. Yet it was not for His own crimes, but ours. He died with criminals, but was buried among the rich and powerful who persecuted Him most, God's way of noting He would be sinless.

Sounds insane? That's because humans can never quite understand God. While it was God's desire to make His Son suffer, it was His decision that was the only path to paying the price for our sins. Once the price was paid, He could found an Eternal Empire of souls. How do you describe the sense of accomplishment this would bring Jesus, as He looks back on His ministry? To know His purity is more communicable than sin, to know His poverty pointed out the immeasurable wealth of Truth, His death was the greatest victory, all because there was no one else to plead the case of fallen man before God.

Cycles of Discernment

2009-07-07T19:39:00.003-06:00

Over the past couple of years, I've done my best to research various ways to minimize the shocks from an economic collapse. With the more recent indicators seeming to point to the end of summer as a general time frame, I redoubled my efforts. So many options; too little money, of course. So what made the most sense?

I was so sure my mountain bike would play a major factor, for all the obvious reasons. It would allow me to travel as much as needed, albeit at a slower pace, without fretting over fuel costs, and with a far lower cost of maintenance. So I began upgrading and replacing worn parts. I prayed for guidance in using the limited resources wisely. How much did God want me to spend of His money on this? I felt I had good answers to such queries. I'm now just one step from completion -- I need one more new part.

As I sat yesterday admiring the new stuff, all working very much better than the old stuff, and thanking God for letting me have the skill to get it that way, I sensed in my Spirit He said, "Oh, by the way, it won't be that important in My future plans." It will still be useful, but not a significant element in what follows.

In the flesh, that sort of thing would drive you nuts. Why did I waste all that effort, prayer and concern? For a start, it was good faith training. Please note: I was seeking God's face, and that's always the right thing to do. He answered; He provided. I'm still going to finish the job, but the time, effort and money were not wasted in that sense. It's all His stuff. He can do as He wishes and it never has to make sense to me, as long as I can find some indication of what I have to do to please Him.

For now, I can't picture what comes next in this ministry. I feel led to prepare for some travel, some time on the road taking this ministry to those who extend an invitation. I'm doing my level best to make it as cheap as possible, to insure the burden on others can be light. Naturally, I'll accept more comfortable accommodations, but people should not feel compelled for any reason to shy away because of the costs. The message is the thing.

So the bike, the mobility equipment and supplies, the vehicle, and my very life and breath, not to mention how silly I feel at times, are all merely tools for the Realm. Walking in His Spirit is loaded with adventure.

Documented Folly

2009-07-06T14:57:00.000-06:00

If you read much among Christian-oriented websites, you may run across terminology connected to a massive, on-going debate about the sources for our translations of the Bible. It matters. Jesus taught from the Bible of His day, what we now call the Old Testament. He quoted it often. So do the writers of the various books in the New Testament. In one place, Peter refers to some of Paul's writings as "Scripture" -- on a par with the Law and Prophets, as it were. Without that written record, we have no point of reference, and just about anything can be called "following Christ," since no one living today can, without that book, prove much of anything. Or they could as equally prove anything they like. We have enough of that silliness even with the Bible. So taking seriously the nature of and text of the Bible is simply natural. People debate most about things which matter most.

At the same time, we note Satan can quote Scripture and pervert it's meaning. In other words, to believe the words themselves have some sort of inherent power is a serious mistake, even heretical. Talk of "verbal inspiration" (word for word) make no sense if we don't have any autographs. The original documents from the hands of those who wrote the books of Bible don't exist. Out of all the mass of sound and fury, spilled ink on forests of dead trees, and uncountable electrons displaying text in your web browser, the one thing we can most certainly state without any debate at all is: We do not have any of the original manuscripts of the Bible. Jabber all you like about infallibility, but we don't have the thing which is supposed to be infallible, nor can anyone conclusively claim to have recovered any autographs by analysis.

There comes a point when you can go too far, when it becomes a silly parody of serious faith. Blustery denunciations of "Liberalism" against those who don't commit bibliolatry (idolatry of the Bible) is no more than modern Pharisaism. Not only do we not have any autographs, but we don't even have any really unquestionable copies, or even really good reconstructions. For example:

The Septuagint arises from the one place on earth most likely to produce heresies, in both Judaism and Christianity. Yet many New Testament writers quote from the Septuagint.

The Masoretic Text was the result of, in essence, Pharisees working to support the Talmud. These men Jesus condemned as children of Satan, and their Talmud as a pack of man-made fables.

Wescott and Hort are behind almost all modern English translations today, and they were obviously New Agers, and secretly worshiped Mary. They later admitted lying to Anglican examiners in order to get their ordinations.

Their visceral hatred of the text behind the KJV does not serve to prove it was so much better than their corrupted text.

On and on it goes. Effusive praise of the people behind any of the various manuscripts, texts, translations, in use today is certainly misplaced, if not blasphemous. Marketing has just about destroyed any hope of honest representation. About the only thing which makes sense is to trust in God to witness to your spirit what He wants you to use. At the same time, you must never take yourself so seriously you insist your choice is the only one God has blessed. Dig into the controversies if you like; you will no doubt learn something useful. But in the end, you still have to pick up a Bible you can read, and obey from it the things God's Holy Spirit indicates He requires of you.

For myself, I prefer the New King James, along with Green's Modern King James, not because they are so wonderful, but the others are so bad. Among text groups, I give a slight lead to the Byzantine Text over the Alexandrian, and a healthy distrust of both the Septuagint and Masoretic texts. Make up your own mind, but I would call it a major error to attempt elevating any particular text or version to divine status. God did not see fit to settle the issue in any obvious manner, so it's best to place our loyalty in Him personally. Refer to the copy you have, remain aware of its flaws, and trust God to show you what you need to please Him.

Keys to the Realm

2009-07-05T19:41:00.001-06:00

And I will give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven to you. And whatever you may bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven, and whatever you may loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven. (Matthew 16:19; MKJV)

Sometimes, we allow words to become calcified in our minds to the point there is no freshness to our spirits when we use them. It's a feature of our modern Western culture, because we make words into entities themselves, rather than a tool for transmission of meaning. The ancient Hebrew-Aramaic languages arose from a culture where written words were a poor substitute for conversation, because without that facet-to-face presentation, an awful lot of flavor was missing. As always, an English translation from a Greek text which reports a conversation in Aramaic places us at some distance. We have to do our best to reconstruct the impact.

While traveling, Jesus asked the disciples to consider what human minds made of His ministry. There was no doubt Jesus had some unique power and authority, but there was no consensus among observers. When Jesus asked the disciples what they thought for themselves, Peter barged through the opening and declared Jesus was the Messiah, though Peter and the others clearly had a poor understanding of what that actually meant.

Still, it was the right answer. They were committed to whatever might come from following their Messiah, and it was the loyalty which made these men right with God, made them able to grasp some things of the Spiritual Realm. It was upon such loyalty Christ was going to build that Spiritual Realm in the hearts of men. Regardless of the precise terms used in whatever language, it should be plain to us there is hardly any reference to a literal political entity which might justify the more modern use of the term "kingdom." This was a spiritual realm, and the words we use should emphasize the power and authority, the divine right of rule, rather than some concrete reality. The disciples struggled with this, but it is hard to mistake what Jesus meant from where we stand today.

These keys could hardly be literal, either. Symbolic or parabolic language is the tongue of this realm. Peter was not asked to stand at some literal gate to decide which Joe or Jane got to come through. Rather, Peter took the lead in asserting his loyalty, and would take the lead in offering others the chance to embrace that same loyalty. Today we use the word "faith" in the same sense. It is the Spirit of God who reveals Himself, and awakens the dead spirits of people so they can operate in the Spirit Realm. Flesh and blood, and by extension the entire physical realm of existence, cannot embody such a thing, so it must come on that other level, requires an utterly different faculty than the senses or intellect. Peter didn't have to know all it meant to declare Jesus his Messiah. All he had to know was where his loyalty resided.

Before Jesus began His ministry, John the Baptist paved the way by calling for repentance, because the Realm of the Spirit was at hand. Jesus took up that same message, and it remained His message to the end. The messages of His Apostles after the Ascension were the same. "You are enmity with God. Repent from your sins and embrace His only true offering for your sins, His Son, Jesus Christ." That message first went to a people who had to be shaken from their complacency as "God's People" -- Children of Abraham. God could have made a better Children of Abraham from rocks, so it was necessary for them to see what God really demanded, and Jesus did a great job of summarizing the Law: Give your full loyalty to God, and treat your fellow humans with the respect you want for yourself.

That respect meant realizing a eunuch could be welcomed into the Spiritual Realm. Or a Samaritan, and widows, and people who performed work Jews found repulsive. Finally, Peter was forced to realize that respect included Gentiles. Whereas before, all these were not permitted to consider themselves fully "God's People," now Peter and his associates were telling them the symbolic gates to the Realm were wide open. If God moved in your soul, who could deny your citizenship? The good news to them was their inclusion.

The Keys to the Realm Peter held were spiritual in nature. Peter's brand of heedless loyalty was the foundation of Christ's Realm. No questions asked, we simply give ourselves to obedience -- we ask "how high?" on the way up. Anything less is not sufficient repentance from sins. We must embrace the Son as the only sufficient offering for those sins. When Paul said he would no longer bother to discuss, or even know, anything except Jesus and Him crucified, it was shorthand for that same thing (1 Corinthians 2:1-3). It matters not what you understand culturally or intellectually, you are born in sin, on the way to Hell. Repent. The only way you can do that is embrace the message of Jesus regarding what it means to sin and to turn away from sin, and only His personal Presence in your life can make that possible. Proclaiming Him your one Lord, your undivided commitment and loyalty, is your entrance into the Realm.

Acts 10

2009-07-04T18:54:00.001-06:00

Fundamental to God's purpose in electing the Nation of Israel among all the peoples of the world was that they should represent Him and His revelation to those other nations. We have no record Israel ever reached out to other nations, though we see plenty of Gentiles drawn to the regal faith of One God over all Creation. As early as Jonah's time, we see the bitter determination all the Gentile world deserved to roast in Hell. By New Testament times, the Judean people were openly hostile to any effort to bring redemption to Gentiles. Here we see how Peter takes the first step, according to the command of Jesus, to fulfill that original purpose of God's revelation.

Cornelius would be an army captain by modern standards. As commander of something called Italian Cohort, it would mean a rather privileged assignment at the head of Roman citizens, not simply some regional conscript force. Having felt the pull in his spirit, this man had become loyal to Jehovah as best he knew. While not circumcised as a full convert, Cornelius lived according to the Law of Moses, willfully seeking the fullest obedience, and would have been welcomed by John the Baptist. He would have known quite well the standard synagogue teaching, and would be familiar with the contents of Old Testament Scriptures.

It was mid-afternoon Cornelius was seeking God's face, and an angel stood by him. This apparition from God announced the Lord's favor on him, and instructed he should send for Peter, who was staying in Joppa. Most important, the angel promised this Peter would explain what God really wanted from Cornelius. Having in his own household servants and a soldier acquainted with his faith, the centurion explained his vision and instructed them to seek out Peter.

Most likely they left early the next morning. It was a hike of some thirty miles (48km), and vigorous men serving a Roman centurion would have just been able to make it to Joppa by mid-day. It was about this time Peter was praying on Simon the Tanner's rooftop, typically a good escape from the noise of a bustling house. We must not forget Peter was now quite famous in that region, so there must have been somewhat of the same crush of people always dogging Jesus wherever He went.

While Peter was praying, he had a vision. Descending from the sky was a large square tarp suspended by the four corners. When it settled before him, Peter saw an assortment of non-kosher animals. A voice from Heaven commanded Peter to kill and eat something from this collection. Peter protested he had always observed kosher, referring to the creatures as "unclean" -- an ancient phrase going back before Noah. The voice responded Peter was not permitted to call unclean anything God had cleansed. It was not as if Peter had not heard Jesus teach about how ritual kosher observance was not about actual food, but was symbolic of what a man put in his heart. But Peter carried the old reflexive avoidance of non-kosher food. That the vision was repeated thrice carried the same significance as his denial of Jesus, and the subsequent rehabilitation as senior member of the Twelve. He would not disregard such a message.

As Peter pondered the vision, the three messengers from Cornelius arrived at the gate of the household. Peter would have ignored them, as he had come up on the rooftop for privacy in the first place, but God told him to go down and meet this trio. In his loyalty to God, he was to go with them without question. He went down to meet them and asked what they sought. They described their master and their mission, how Cornelius wanted to hear Peter's teaching. Peter had the servants lodge overnight after their long journey, and left with them early the next morning, along with a half-dozen fellow believers from Joppa.

Upon arriving at Caesarea, with Cornelius anxiously awaiting their return, Peter and his friends found a full house. Cornelius had gathered his family and other Gentile believers. This high ranking Roman official honored Peter as an even higher ranking official of God's Court. Peter quickly corrected this by remarking they were both just humans. The first thing Peter did was explain the obvious violation of Jewish Law, entering a Gentile home. He remarked God had made it clear that Law no longer applied, because no one on earth was "unclean" or contemptible simply for failing to be born Judean. So he was there at God's command, and wanted to know how he could serve them. Cornelius recited the story of his vision, and how pleased he was Peter responded so quickly.

The obvious starting place was to note God did not reckon things the way the Jewish leaders had taught. In every nation He had already moved the hearts of men to reach out to Him. Those who responded by seeking His justice were in God's eyes "clean." He then noted the message of Jesus, who was the Messiah for all humanity, not just Judeans, was probably not news to them. It was wholly unlikely they could have lived there in Caesarea without hearing something about it, beginning with the message of John the Baptist. Peter was there to affirm for them this message was the truth, for Jesus had been too obviously anointed by God, demonstrating His divine authority over illness and demon alike. Peter was among the Twelve who traveled with Jesus for some years, witnessing all these things. They witnessed His death at the hands of His own nation, suffering the most ignoble death, but also His resurrection. He was not seen as publicly as before His death, but shared fellowship with those whom God called to follow Him. These many ate with Him some days after He arose. This same resurrected Messiah instructed them to take the message to all the world, for He was Redeemer and Judge of all humanity.

Noteworthy for this audience which had already absorbed the teaching of the Law was the remark Jesus was the final revelation of God, as well as the ultimate sacrifice for all sin. Embracing Him as the living revelation of God was the complete fulfillment of all He demanded of mankind. Jesus was the final answer to the longings of those who had sought God, and been unable to find a path open to them through the false Jewish barriers. They were acceptable to God. Such was indeed the gospel good news which would change their lives.

Peter now opened the Kingdom to these assembled in the house of Cornelius. The Holy Spirit chose that moment to fall upon them, to burn His Presence into their souls. The Jewish Christians there with Peter were astonished to see the gift of Heaven poured out on Gentiles, for it was something they had not expected at all. Indeed, God had cleansed these people before their very eyes, and it was Pentecost in the Upper Room all over again. How could anyone deny these whom God accepted the ritual of baptism? So it was Peter stayed a few days longer, confirming the teaching of Christ to these people.

There was no turning back.

Semi-annual Review of Assumptions

2009-07-04T08:35:00.004-06:00

Brothers and sisters, it comes to my attention I may need to restate certain essential foundational issues for the purposes of evaluating whether my blog, and my teaching, is worth your time. The foundation stone is Christ. In the guise of His Holy Spirit, if He does not move you through my work here, you need to move on to other things, mindful of His calling on your life. Willingly I explain what is behind all this, but there is no debate. Nothing in the gospel message directs me to convince you, only to inform you, to pull out my own heart for you to see. What you do with it is between you and God, as you owe me nothing. What I owe you is simply what I owe Christ Himself -- utter and complete transparency.

If it were possible to accomplish God's work by debate, then surely Josh McDowell would know. He has said in many places how often he was able to debate the atheists into a corner, but it did nothing to change their spiritual condition. If rational discussion and logical proof could change the heart of man, Paul would not have needed to flee Damascus, Stephen would not have been lynched, and Jesus would not have been crucified at the behest of the Sanhedrin. Paul made it all too clear the mind of the flesh is hostile to God's truth, and is unable to grasp it.

Spiritual truth is not within the capabilities of the rational engine of human understanding. That's because spiritual truth is a Person, not an objective reality. He stands far above reality. You can posit and assert all you wish about God, but you cannot bring Him to life in any soul without His divine election. All your statements will fall miserably short. God uses whatever He pleases to bring revelation to every heart, but it does not lie within the words and actions of any human. The power and initiative are His alone. You are commissioned to tell, and the results are entirely His.

This is not to say human reason is somehow in itself an evil thing. It is merely a tool, with distinct design limits. It does just fine for most basic tasks of passing through this world. We can use it just fine for observing how physical entities interact, to the degree we are able to measure those interactions. So long as God tarries sending His Son back to close up shop here on earth, we will continue our advancements in grasping consistent physical realities without any need whatsoever for a spiritual understanding. However, it is utter damnable hubris and heresy to assume that marvelous gift can make sense of spiritual things. Spiritual things will ever be beyond the grasp of the rational mind.

This is the primary reason Jesus used parables. He knew the rational mind could not grasp ultimate truth in the first place, but a spirit awakened by God could. Since ultimate truth cannot be confined to mere human words, it was necessary to use parables to point the mind to a place where it could be open to things it could not process on its own terms. Spiritual truth is only processed by spirits, and the spirit is hardly any part of the conscious human mind. Indeed, the very connection between them is beyond human understanding. So from parables the spirit discerns the will of God, and informs the mind by some undefined process what is required here and there. The mind might tend to see some patterns, but will never completely own the process.

If we hope to condition the mind to become more adept at hearing from the spirit, where dwells His Spirit, we must learn a form of logic not commonly exercised in this day and time. Indeed, it is pretty much universally condemned, unless it is subverted and compromised. Either way, in our modern Western culture, we are ill-equipped to operate along the assumptions so very common to the culture God chose for first revealing Himself to fallen man. Indeed, we can trace back to just how big this problem was when we realize Jesus operated from this ancient culture of God's own preference, and His nation did not. The leadership of Judea had in His day long since moved away from the ancient Hebrew cultural base, and had deeply perverted it with something we call "Hellenism" as a convenient label.

Let there be no mistaking this: Any part of modern scientific rationalism is inescapably tied to Hellenism. It all comes from the Greek philosophical traditions, which include Plato, Aristotle, etc. There is no "pure reason" without them. There is no escape from their legacy. Any claims to the contrary is intellectual dishonesty. There is no practical distinction between "reason" as discussed in modern Western Civilization as against "Hellenism" as a term to describe a man-centered influence the Early Church had to fight, in particular in the guise of the Gnostic Heresies.

To suggest the Early Church embraced Hellenism in its teachings is a damnable heresy. Jesus clearly rejected it. However, so deeply stained is our modern Western minds with worldly assumptions we tend to read that rationalist framework back into the Scripture. We have this vast horde of instructional material in our seminaries and colleges which promotes such idiocy as saying Scripture is "propositional truth." God is not a proposition! Nor is His Word -- His Son -- a proposition. The writings in the Book of Books is not meant to convey "propositional truth." The people who wrote that Scripture would weep for embarrassment if they could be here to witness what we make of their ministry. The very logic of the Kingdom of Christ is far, far beyond anything which can be locked inside printed words on paper, in any language you choose. That is a Hellenistic perversion, a man-centered approach to the message of God, and it will not stand.

The very notion of "propositional truth" assumes an image of truth as some objective reality apart from God. Jesus the man learned an awful lot from reading the likes of Isaiah, and quoted him often, but He felt altogether free to rephrase things, as did all the writers in the New Testament. Further, they didn't choke on using the Septuagint, of all things. Not because it was a better translation -- that is manifestly false -- but because the precise word didn't matter as much as what the words indicated. That's the very nature of parabolic logic. Things we can touch, to include words and human thoughts, are but symbols at best, pointers to something far beyond words and thoughts. Conceptions of objective reality as somewhere out there with God in Eternity is blasphemy, for it raises something lesser than God to His status, or brings Him down to a lesser place. The Word of God is a sacred trust, and we must do what we can to preserve it, to make sure what we have is as close to the original as we can get it, but not because the words themselves are sacred. If that were so, every translation is a sin.

Carrying that Bible all over the place is not some magic talisman. Memorizing it word for word is simply to echo the sins of the Hellenized Pharisees. You cannot hide mere words in your heart, because the heart is not an intellectual faculty. It is a decisional faculty. It moves on commitments, not rational content. That is how the Bible conceives the meaning of the heart. That word "faith" is not a matter of rational content, for it makes demands which are utterly irrational, completely indefensible in terms of human logic. Faith is just another word for loyalty and commitment, a living, burning desire to please God, not slavishly follow some human grasp of ink characters on paper.

Don't talk to me about what the Bible says in words. Tell me what the Bible demands of you as God's personal servant.

Living Death

2009-07-03T07:01:00.003-06:00

It is a fundamental trait of fallen mankind to die slowly. The spiritual meaning of this is more important than the literal. Did we not see how, with the miraculous presence of God Almighty in the very camp of Israel during the crossing of the sea, His Presence became something the people pretty much ignored during the wandering? Once we accommodate the miraculous, we forget it's a miracle. At the same time, we could so easily embrace the Cross of Christ. By this we nail our old self to the wood, making it die, instead of letting it kill the rest of us.

Isaiah 52

2009-07-02T09:45:00.000-06:00

What happened to Israel would happen to her Messiah. The difference was in which of them went on to accomplish God's redemptive purpose. The Creator of all things judged sin, and brought forth justice. His rulings are justice by definition.

We closed the previous chapter with the question whether Israel would embrace His rule, obey, and lay claim to His promises. Isaiah continues in this chapter calling for Israel to seize the moment and rise from the ashes and rubble of destruction. The literal destruction yet to come at the hands of Babylon, now decreed and surely on the way, was but a symbol of Judah wallowing in sin's destruction. Rise, people of God, to reclaim the just heritage of His calling!

It was Israel who chose to sell herself into slavery in sin. Her enemies conquered her, made her slaves without offering any price. In His justice, God had ruled those enemies would receive no compensation when He chose to set His people free. They were enslaved in Egypt, and crushed by Assyria. Both of these nations went beyond God's justified wrath, and blasphemed God Himself. So it is with Babylon. She would go beyond God's calling, like abusive policemen overstepping their authority, turning their mission of executing justice on its head. But God will not allow this to continue unnoticed. There will come That Day when He will execute justice Himself, and there will be no doubt who is God, and who God is.

The day of God's wrath need not be entirely bad news. Those who wait, longing for His justice, will celebrate the coming of His Executive Officer, who will see His justice done. We know Him as the Messiah. While He surely brings the wrath of God's condemnation on sin, He also brings redemption for those who call on the Lord as their Savior. He will announce to Zion her God reigns. Zion will be known by celebrating His coming, those who cannot keep silent for their joy that sin is judged in all the earth. The name "Zion" is reserved for those who long for the day His truth spreads abroad to all Creation.

So let that "Zion" come out of the midst of the false Zion. Just as the Remnant would return, leaving behind the captivity of Babylon, so the spiritual Zion would bear the vessels of God's incarnation in the Holy Spirit. Not refugees from destruction, for as Cyrus sent an armed escort for the Remnant, so God Himself would provide the honor guard for His spiritual children.

They will be as His Messiah. He would come with a level of prudence seldom seen among men. Surely He will bear God's own glory and praise. He would change the whole world, by first accepting the full price of sin in Himself. So His followers would bear persecution without complaint. Yet the most potent of human authorities will have no power to argue or overrule His ministry. It will shock them into silence, for nothing on earth can prepare a man to face God's justice.

Prayer Request: Jeremiah's Fire in My Bones

2009-07-01T19:47:00.003-06:00

The Lord told Ananias He was going to show Saul the many things he must suffer for Christ's name. The way He said it, we should realize suffering is taken for granted. In a sense, that is the business of the Kingdom for us.

There was a time some years ago I was on the brink of suicide. It's not possible to explain the private nightmares which held me there, but I'm sure you can imagine your own. I was suffering, and not at all sure it was God's will, but it was. Or rather, it was the side effect of God's work in me, which was very hard to observe, looking from the inside out. I'm not sure I can explain it even now, though the danger is past.

Yet as I sit here typing this, I have cause to doubt my own sanity from an entirely different angle. Some of this I can explain. I know I have been called to lead and teach. For some years, I've sought to teach right here on the Net, and in particular on this blog. On occasion, I've been granted time and place to teach in person. I'm told it comes across much better orally than it does in writing.

There is a burning desire in my heart to teach a lot of folks in person. Every time the Lord has put me in that place, I knew it was surely the thing for which I was born. I haven't forgotten those moments, and that fire has grown only hotter. It's not the kudos and admiration, but seeing the effects of that teaching come to life in mortal flesh. Related to that, I know it's impossible to teach without leading, and vice versa. None of this is news, really. I'm sure I've posted such comments here often enough.

However, the burden of calling takes on a new urgency this very day. My wife and I have felt a powerful sense of need to prepare for mobility. We came to realize it mattered not a bit what shape or form that mobility will take, only that something I must do will take us on the road. I even have a name for it, a particular image, but I'm concerned it would come across all wrong. I don't have any way to share it just yet. The last thing I want is to portray any hint of ambition as men measure such things. Let's just say we are willing to sleep in a tent if we have to for this to happen, and meet with people out of doors to share what we have, then walk away with nothing but dirty laundry and an empty ice chest. We don't even care where it is we have to go.

This message is worth my life and much more. My wife affirms the same commitment. Naturally, some things we can't exactly foresee must transpire before this thing begins. At a minimum, I would suppose someone is going to have to issue an invitation for us to bring our ministry to them somewhere. And while staying some days is surely in the cards, I sense it won't be long term. Rather, we would establish something "self-sustaining" and move on to some other invitation.

This message of the Kingdom is radical, utterly earth shattering for those who are taken by it. It's not simply a series of sermons or lessons, but a dramatic shift away from all we've seen or done before. The full sweep of what I've written here and elsewhere for at least the past two years is probably just the introduction. But it is not my message; it can belong to anyone whom the Spirit will not allow to turn away from it. I'm bound to this message, for it is the Living Christ Himself incarnated in His people. We can't afford to be schizophrenic about this any more. We must enter in all the way, or run away.

The tension I feel is maddening. I can go about my usual tasks, but this thing is either the hand of God, or my ticket to the booby hatch. Pray with us as I consider what these things mean, what they require of me in terms of obedience and service.

Declaring the Highest Loyalty

2009-07-01T10:29:00.001-06:00

We belong to Christ. He is Our Lord; we confess no other. We are close kin, members of the royal family in the Sheikdom of Heaven. He has made us counselors, given us access to His Court, that we may know how to serve Him.

In that service, it is inevitable we will come into conflict with those who pretend to be authority figures on this earth. It is seldom necessary to take the conflict to them, as in open hostility. While I deplore his religion, there is something to be said for the ways of Ghandi in this. He understood resistance to an unjust government from an other-worldly viewpoint, generally superior to our Western viewpoint. The shortest path is not always obvious to the rational mind. We do not have to take control with our own hands when we are simply displaying loyalty to Our True Master.

When the human government claiming authority over you rejects God's Laws, they are a criminal government by definition. When your government is criminal, having them label you "criminal" might be a compliment. Refusing to obey the criminal edicts of such a government is your duty to God. That our government's warfare in the Middle East is a sin is manifestly obvious. Any religious figure condemning your resistance is a liar against God.

I support those resisters. It may or may not be bravery. I'm not going to paint them as heroes, because I have no standing to do so. Their resistance may well not be a matter of serving Christ. However, they are my brothers under the Laws of God, for they resist a very clear evil. May the Lord prosper their lives according to His divine promises. They clearly embrace a higher loyalty to His covenant.

Mind to the Laws Makes a Difference

2009-06-30T19:13:00.004-06:00

This is a statement of faith. I could support it with anecdotes, but they could be easily dismissed. What God uses to confirm my faith not work for you. So I'm just going to make this declaration and allow Him to confirm it in your heart, or not, as He sees fit.

Having a mind to embrace and obey the Laws of Noah, particularly as reflected in the teachings of the New Testament, and a commitment to claim the promises of that covenant, will produce noticeable concrete results in your life. It matters not a whit how successful you are in implementing this; by faith your competence will increase. It matters not the whole world around you militates against that covenant loyalty; your commitment is what matters.

Every day, I face the same trials and tribulations all believers see, and perhaps more than many. In a few cases, some of my worst detractors are members of my own extended family. Yet, I will assert with all the power I possess: The promises are stacking up around me. Things for which I pray, having their own inherent endpoint, have all come out according to my faith. Multiple disasters have swept close by here, but none have actually struck. Things I seek, either I receive, or I have peace about letting them go. More than anything else is this unshakable sense I am on the right track. Things great and small confirm it every hour.

Giving yourself to the Law of Moses is a pointless waste of time, for Jesus closed it on the Cross. However, the Covenant of Noah stands even today. Insofar as we have a Law, it is Noah, a Law which points back to the spiritual Truth which cannot be put in words, because He is a Person.

The Rhythm of Life

2009-06-29T18:20:00.000-06:00

So long and so deeply has the mainstream American culture drunk from the poisoned well of Babylon, we assign a moral value to something which is purely cultural. And it's a bad culture, at that. Not merely a matter of what I normally term "prissy middle class culture" but something deeper, more rotten. We have to step back a bit to make sense of it.

In ancient times, the seasons and local climate dictated your activities. That is, most people were engaged in one or more agrarian pursuits, or work which supported that. If you were wealthy, you didn't work much, but hired others to do it for you. In the tribal communities of Bible times, this was all worked out pretty well. You worked during harvest and planting, or shearing or slaughter times, but most of the time there really wasn't that much hard work to do. You might stay occupied from dawn to dusk, but working hard was fairly rare.

That's what the human body is designed to handle. Do a little hard labor every day, but not all day. Take a frequent break to celebrate something and not do much work at all. The so-called "Puritan Work Ethic" is not remotely biblical. In more modern times, the idea of "full-time" is a violation of that ancient rhythm. Yet this is what we do across the whole of Western Civilization, and all too many other places. Creating a cultural situation which demands all day hard at work is oppression by another means.

We have developed this largely due to capitalism. It's more profitable if your consumer base demands more stuff, stuff they really don't need, so building a culture that chases higher pay instead of more leisure is the capitalists' dream. This is Babylon, trading in the hours of a man's life, building a system which locks him into consumption by necessity, by painting it with moral qualities. Worse, it is backed up by the entire regulatory and legal system. Judges have ruled against people simply because they failed to be greedy enough to work themselves into the ground.

Let it be known to all and sundry: The Puritans held a twisted theology. They served Mammon; they raged against the old Ancien Regime of feudalism not because it was actually oppressive, but on the grounds it did not let them prosper as much as they insisted their God intended. It was little more than Pharisaism modernized. This flavors our modern culture today, in the inculcation of dependency, insecurity and feelings of rivalry, competitive consumption for the purpose of briefly flaunting the fashion of the day, then quickly becoming bored and buying the next new useless toy.

It's not a sin to take a break, to work part-time, and to be satisfied with what you have. It's not a sin to decide the Lord owns more than 30 minutes of your day, and that you serve Him well by spending time directly and deeply involved in the people with whom you share your household. The only reason we have to get that job done, and the next one, and the next one, is because we have allowed things to drift into that mold. Our entire social structure is regimented on mass output. There is really very little in this world which simply has to be done.

Some day, I sincerely hope we can shed the failures of Western Civilization and rediscover the ancient ways God made us to hold.