Two Questions for the Church

If your religion doesn't equip you to tell right from wrong, what good is it ?

If you don't care about the difference, what's wrong with you ?

Christian Orientation 101

Orientation as a Christian is a simple process: one step, the same step each time, in every circumstance. Skipping that step insures that you will miss Jesus.

Jesus said He IS "the truth" (John 14:6). He said satan is "the father of lies" (John 8:44). All who believe what Jesus says will orient their lives, hearts, words, and acts accordingly.

Like Jesus, truth is real. Truth is verifiable, and owes nothing to opinion. Like Jesus, truth is one: "I'll follow my truth, and you follow your truth" is a lie (see above, "father of lies"). Like Jesus, truth is sovereign: every other criteria is subject to it.

There are no lying Christians, and no Christian lies. "No lie is of the truth." (I John 2:21)

The whole of a Christian's orientation in life consists in this: who loves Jesus must love truth. Who follows Jesus must follow truth.

Hocus Pocus

The magician's main trick is misdirection. If the audience' eyes are all on the pretty assistant as she secures each lock with a loud "click!!", it's a simple matter for the magician to slip a hidden key from his mouth to his hand without anyone noticing.

Misdirection: get the rubes to look the wrong direction, so they miss the obvious, and they'll BELIEVE the deception.

Abortion, gay marriage, and all the other MORAL "issues" by which "conservatives" claim Christians' allegiance...who exactly told Christians the place to fight those moral battles was the political arena ? Was it Jesus: or politicians on the make for Christians' votes ?

Misdirect Christians' focus to political "issues," and the deceiver can even slip a priest of anti-Christ past us as the "Christian" party's candidate.

And nobody will notice.

Drawing the Line

Ted Williams was the last man in baseball to bat over .400 (.406 in 1941). He credited his visual acuity. Williams claimed he could see the spin of the ball's stitches from the moment it left the pitcher's hand, letting him distinguish a fast ball from a curve and anticipate the ball's placement and motion.

An interviewer asked Williams about his legendary batting skills. It was simple, Williams said: he made it an absolute rule to never swing at a ball unless its path would touch the strike-zone.

"But with your eyesight," said the interviewer, "surely you could have connected with pitches that were only an eighth of an inch outside, or a quarter-inch. Couldn't you have gotten even more hits that way ?"

"No !" Williams said. "If I did that, where would I draw the line ?"



The Church' first charge is to draw the line. God's has entrusted no one else with His spiritual acuity to distinguish good from evil. But the Church follows its own batting philosophy.

Ronald Reagan took office preaching rebellion: "...government is the problem."

George W. Bush used the anniversary of 9/11 to teach blasphemy. In the same words with which scripture lauds Jesus, Bush told us the "ideal of America" is "the hope of all mankind," and "the light [that] shines in the darkness."

Eighty percent of American evangelicals in 2012 voted their personal choice was to be led by a priest of anti-Christ.

Where does the American Church draw the line ?

A parable

Two rival politicians were on the platform, ready to pitch their candidacy to a crowd of voters.

The first politician took the microphone and began to build his case. He represented the party of the great Abraham Lincoln, he told the crowd. Moreover, he espoused the principles of Lincoln. As his speech progressed, he compared himself to Lincoln in more particulars. By the time he made his final humble plea for listeners' votes, it was clear the candidate was the near-reincarnation of Lincoln.

The second candidate took the microphone. "It's true my opponent bears a striking resemblance to the great Abraham Lincoln," He began, and paused. When he had the full attention of the surprised crowd, he rasped, "If you can imagine a short, fat, dishonest Lincoln."

Some say America is a Christ-like nation. That may be true...if you can imagine a rebellious, violent, greedy Christ.

How apostate is the Church ?

It's a sticky question to even ask. "Apostasy" is ordinarily the cry of those promoting a partisan view (always self-flattering, of course) of who is "really Christian" and who is not. In such cases, it should rightly be regarded as a matter of personal opinion; usually slightly unhinged (not to mention prideful) opinion, at that.

But treating every question as a matter of mere opinion is a teaching of the world's political culture. Given that source, there can be no surprise that it is untrue: and that it is favored by the dishonest. More to the point, the world's teaching is useless in questions of spiritual discernment, as "apostasy" manifestly is.

Christians have access to the Spirit's Own discernment. And we can't but discern that scripture regards apostasy as a reality, and exactly defines it (which definition, for Christians, must be taken as the absolute operative meaning of the word). Christians who blow off all talk of apostasy as "just your opinion" do so contrary to scripture and the Spirit.

Scripture's definition of "apostasy" is neither highly technical nor a matter of theological hair-splitting. Like all scripture, the word is meant to be understandable and readily applicable for all who hear it. "Apostasia" (for example, in II Thessalonians 2:3) means what it says: in Greek, "apo-," away from + "histemi," stand: in its various English translations, "falling away," "desertion," "defection."

Jesus put very simply what it is to be a Christian: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27), and "A stranger they simply will not follow..." (v. 5). Apostasy is following any-One but Jesus.

The Old Testament's formulation is equally clear and simple: it is when God's people "follow" or ("serve") "other gods." Apostasy is breaking the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me." Apostasy is the deepest possible disobedience to what Jesus said was the greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22, Mark 12, Luke 10).

It's not a game of theological inches to say Mormonism's "Christ" is another than He of Biblical Christianity: the highest Mormon "Prophet" says it is so (http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/31188/Crown-of-gospel-is-upon-our-heads.html): and no one heeding the Spirit's discernment could mistake the two.

It's not a matter of opinion that our vote shows who we desire to be led by. So the election just past tells us where the heart of the Church in America is: 79% of "evangelicals" desire to be led by the priest of a demon who claims to be Jesus.

Are Christians following Jesus ? Is the Church pure and without blemish, ready to welcome its Bridegroom ?

God, our Father, send your Spirit of deepest repentance on our hearts lest we die !!

Can the Church Hear Jesus ?

"And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” --Luke 18:9-14


"There are 47 percent of people who will vote for the president no matter what...who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what ... These are people who pay no income tax ... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” -- Mitt Romney


Mitt Romney's comments are not surprising. He follows an anti-Christian spirit: he believes its teaching that the Bible is full of "corruptions," and that the Jesus of the Bible is a false god. He has every "religious" reason to disregard and despise Jesus' words in our gospel.

Romney himself is hardly the issue, and has lost his political platform. But the spirit by which he is led, and leads, continues: and through the deceit of politics, that spirit continues to mislead Christians, those whose actual desire is to hear Jesus and obey Him.

Through politics, that spirit has taught God's beloved Body of Christ to live by the evil attitudes of the enemy. The Church loves rebellion because Ronald Reagan taught it that "Government is the problem."

The Church blasphemously loves America in place of Jesus as "...the hope of all mankind...That hope still lights our way. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it." George W. Bush told us so.

Meanwhile, the Church holds itself righteous, and views others ("liberals," the poor, illegal aliens, Muslims, etc., etc.) with contempt.

Jesus said "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." The simple fact is that when the Church follows the priest of a demon, it is NOT following Jesus.

To any who WILL hear, God is commanding repentance. May the Spirit of Christ fiercely purge the Church' heart of its sinful pursuit of its own way, and save those whom God loves and calls !!

Prayer for the Apostate Church

Please, Father, in Your mercy,

Send Your Spirit on all hearts who desire You,

With understanding, with wisdom.

Guide us in the ways that please You.

Uphold Your word.

Vindicate Your servants.

Glorify Your Name in all the earth.

According to Your heart, Father,

In Jesus' Name.

Amen.

Do As They Say

"Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: 'The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.' " (Matthew 23:1-3, NASB)


"Moses' chair" was a specific position of spiritual and national authority. I doubt it equates to anything in American politics. But this scripture has been coming to mind this week in regards to our place in the wayward church.

The hard-line view of the Church' apostasy is that it's an unmistakeable sign to "come out of her." That's tempting: though it inevitably raises the question where in America to find a fellowship that remains true to God. But I don't hear God saying "come out of her" just yet.

For one thing, I sense He still wants His witness to remain among those who have been deceived: even now, some may repent and follow Him. It's an uncomfortable business in the meantime: no one wants to hear that they've been deceived, or that they need to repent. But that's God's word to the Church: and clearly none of its own chosen leaders will tell it.

For our relation with the deceived Church, Jesus' words also seem to have another application. The Church still takes God's word in their mouths, and His word we should always "do and observe." Even if the Church and its leaders have gone off into the grossest possible disobedience, God's word remains true: we must do what they teach, and not what they do.

We Lost

The election is over. I'm simply glad it's over. It makes no real difference for God's sovereignty over our people and nation. Indeed, belief in politics' promise to change anything important is the foremost false gospel in America today.

But elections do tell us something about where people's hearts are. In that regard, we lost this election.

Not because Obama was re-elected: that's the "political gospel" again. The Church lost this election because of what was manifested about Christians' hearts. A significant turning-point...or point of departure...has been reached.

The enemy has been substituting his political gospel for Christ's in the Church' affections for many years, shrewdly undermining Christians' true faith, hope, and love. But there's no reason we should have been blind to his deceits: God has always been pleased to give His Spirit to any who will turn from his own way and his own thoughts.

Any who WILL honestly ask Him for spiritual eyes to see, can count on His promise. But we haven't bothered to question our own thoughts and ways, or WILLed to have eyes to see and ears to hear at all.

Our alliance with the world's political factionalists started with a questionable teaching we failed to question: that God will only bless nations whose leaders are godly. And joined to it, the prideful falsehood that America is God's especial "Christian" nation.

When the Church swallowed those propositions, it naturally followed that in our democracy ("people rule") WE can (and SHOULD) do the works that leverage God's blessing.

The political faction with which Christians foolishly allied was happy to paint its candidates "godly" (it washes off easily) on the superficial "issues" it shared with Christians: gay marriage, abortion, and so forth. It was a small price for them to pay (and with counterfeit sincerity, anyway) to ensure they could pocket Christians' votes.

The factionalists didn't even bother to whitewash their candidates this time: there's not enough paint to make men rooted in the teachings of Joseph Smith and Ayn Rand look like anything but what they are: men led, and leading, in the spirit of antiChrist.

But the factionalists' candidates didn't NEED to be whitewashed this year. The political gospel has replaced Christ's among Christians enough that few notice the difference any more...or even look for it.

The election is over. The Church lost.