Ash Wednesday

Mute

Solemn,

knowing the time,

face like flint

set hard

this hard time.

Jerusalem !

mark this time,

this man

Jesus !

After Him

we mark this time,

face this time

solemnly

O man,

that

thou

art

dust.

The Sin of Superficiality

There's some guilt in hating superficiality. Sometimes people can feel, and say, it's an attitude of intellectual elitism: of "thinking you're smarter than everyone else." In American society; where "all men are created equal," and the voice of the people - not of a self-appointed elite - is the voice of God; that's meant to sting, and does.

One thing I love about (some) country music is that its songs can (sometimes) very much be the "voice of the people." Maybe that's true here. One country song I remember had the refrain, "don't get above your raising." An older country song which I liked very much, and still sing, exactly captured the spirit of anti-elitism: "you ain't no better than me."

There can be self-vaunting pride in hating superficiality, and resentment towards those who do. But that's the human side of it. For a mind renewed in Christ, He is the absolute measure of all things, "the Truth." The real problem with superficiality, the real reason to regard it as a spiritual evil, is that it gives us a false "truth."

It seems to work this way. As "desperately wicked" as the heart of man is, few of us desire to feed on rotten fruit. But that's all satan (and his human co-workers) can offer. To get us to take his lies into our hearts, the enemy has to present them as good. He has to make rotten fruit appear desirable.

But that's simple marketing: manipulate the buyer's perception of your product. And any dishonest grocer knows how to sell rotten fruit: with a few beautiful, ripe apples on top, people will buy a bushel of moldy, worm-eaten ones hidden beneath. Superficial buyers are easily deceived.

It's how the "conservative" agenda has been sold to American Christians. A few biblical truths to catch the eye: homosexuality is sin, abortion is murder: and shallow love of Truth will buy it. And along with it, a bushel of lies and spiritual corruption: that militarism, pride, contempt for the poor, factionalism, murderous hatred, and nationalism are good.

Jesus made it explicit: "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." (Luke 6:45) What fills our heart is what we allow into it: so Solomon warned to "zealously guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). We have a moral responsibility to examine everything we allow into our operative thinking, our heart, our being.

Superficiality has nothing of zeal; it doesn't guard, it deceives. Satisfied with appearances, superficiality manifests shallow love of Truth. Superficiality is sin.

Anti-Christ Speculation

The American evangelical tradition I grew up in greatly enjoyed the sport of anti-Christ speculation: my extended family perhaps more than most. At family get-togethers, some aunt or female cousin could usually be counted on to tell us an exciting new theory about who anti-Christ would be, and the signs of his imminent appearance that were currently being fulfilled. (It was never one of the male relatives that was onto a new theory, that I can remember, though they would add their opinions to the discussion).

It was always a given that the Catholic Church was teamed up with anti-Christ, of course. The Beast on which the Whore sits has seven heads, which Revelation 17 tells us are seven mountains, and Rome sits on seven hills. But the great fun was figuring out who was anti-Christ himself, the great human leader who would deceive all the world to follow him.

The first time I remember hearing the speculation, John Kennedy was President, and the new theory was that he was anti-Christ. For one thing, he was Catholic, which clearly put him in anti-Christ's camp. He was also a popular...as anti-Christ would be. When he was killed by being shot in the head, speculation was rampant, because the beast was slain by being wounded in the head...then healed ! That was the miracle that would persuade the whole world to follow after him.

Would Kennedy be resurrected by satan ? Or was he even really dead ? One of the supermarket tabloids (though probably not as a contribution to Christian eschatology) published a cover-photo of Jackie Onassis on a Greek beach with a man whose head was wrapped in a towel. Maybe Jackie married Onassis, the speculation went, so the badly-wounded Kennedy could be hidden on a private Greek island until he healed, then revealed to the world !

And for the next 50 years, the speculation continued: surprisingly, almost all of it centered on American Democratic politicians. Even Jimmy Carter was suspect. All that talk about him being deeply Christian: after all, wasn't anti-Christ's ploy to deceive believers by claiming to be a Christian ? And mightn't even Jimmy Carter's initials show that he was trying to present himself as Jesus Christ returned ?

Henry Kissinger was the only exception I remember to the politics of my relatives' speculation. He was not really a politician: bur he was a European, and a Jew, as they understood scripture to say anti-Christ would be. Surprisingly, nobody speculated that Richard Nixon, Kissinger's Republican politician-master, was anti-Christ; even though he certainly would have fit most people's definition of an evil political leader.

Our Sunday School class is currently studying I John 2, which comprises 3 of the 5 times "anti-Christ" is so-named in scripture. It strikes me that John's teaching there (vv. 18ff) undercuts speculation about the identity of the future anti-Christ, with its insistence that anti-Christ's spirit is already abroad in the world: "...just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared" (I John 2:18).

John states that fact again in Chapter 4, verse 3: "...this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world." He re-affirms it again in II John 1:7, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist." (II Thessalonians 2:7 likewise says about "...the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction...;" whom I take to be anti-Christ; that “...the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed...")

It's easy to miss the import of this fact if we understand "anti-Christ" superficially. Probably most Christians take "anti-Christ" as simply meaning "against Christ." By definition, that's the essence of all non-Christian religions (and of unbelief): so the take-away to John's teaching that anti-Christ is here, now, is often simply that the world will always be awash in non-Christian religions, and unbelief. As true as that is, it's hardly a deep operative spiritual insight.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Vine's Expository Dictionary (two solid study-aids I consider indispensable in understanding all that the Bible's words are saying) both emphasize an additional aspect of the Greek "anti-:" that it means "against" with the sense "in place of" (Strong's), or "instead of" (Vine's). Vine's gloss says that "anti-" in Greek "...can mean either against Christ or instead of Christ, or perhaps, combining the two, 'one who, assuming the guise of Christ, opposes Christ' (Westcott)." (In this, anti-Christ is much like the false Christ, pseudochristos, Jesus warns against in Matthew 24:24 and Mark 13:22: who, Vine's says, "...does not deny the existence of Christ, ...[but] trades upon the expectation of [Christ's] appearance, affirming that he is the Christ.")

"Christ" means "Messiah:" God's Anointed One. False teachings about Christ always manifest the spirit of anti-Christ: but it's important to recognize there are varieties of those false teachings. (In opposition to the unity in TRUTH of our God, His Son, and the Spirit, doesn't satan always fill the earth with varieties of lies ?) Unbelief simply says, "There is no Christ." Non-Christian religions say, "There is a Christ, but Jesus is not him." John is teaching about the most deceptive, and most seductive, manifestation of anti-Christ's spirit: the one which says, "There is a Christ...and I AM him."

John is NOT writing to make us fearful of anti-Christ's deception. The whole point of his letter, after all, is that God's Spirit is manifest in actions, and that the contrary spirit manifests itself likewise, as in lies and hatred. Those who walk in the Spirit need not fear being deceived: "...you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know" (I John 2:20). To all who will receive the Spirit and His guiding wisdom, the working of the spirit of anti-Christ is "obvious" in the devil's children (I John 3:10): the spirit of ant-Christ is even more obvious incarnate in satan's false Christ.

John's teaching also undercuts speculation about who is that anti-Christ, by giving us specifics by which we can recognize his spirit. My relatives were on the right track, looking for deeper understanding of the details scripture gives us about anti-Christ. But they probably missed the mark by focusing on elements whose meaning God has hidden; beasts from the sea, heads that are mountains, and horns that are kings. Those details leave a lot of room for speculative interpretation: which was, of course, the "fun" of the "Identify anti-Christ" parlor-game (and also ego-boosting when, in your own estimation, you could figure out God's puzzle).

I have no doubt whatever that all those symbols have absolute spiritual meaning. And no doubt that the Spirit of God will reveal their meanings, to those who are attuned to Him, at whatever time He chooses. But I don't perceive that this is the time He's chosen. So I'll focus on the details God has made plain to us for now.

There are specific simple facts John tells us by which we can, and should, recognize the present spirit of anti-Christ in its actions. Indeed, if we can't recognize the actions of that spirit already manifest in the world, it's doubtful we'll be able to recognize it incarnate in "...the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan..." (II Thessalonians 2), when he arrives (even if we flatter ourselves we've figured out what all of Revelation's horns, beasts, and heads mean).

John tells us first that those walking in the spirit of anti-Christ "went out from us" (v. 19) It's logical, of course, that the spirit of anti -Christ has to derive from Christ: "anti-" only makes sense as opposition to what already exists. Dependent opposition to Christ requires intimate knowledge of Christ: as the demon in Acts 19 said to the sons of Sceva, "I know Jesus..." The most hurtful rejection can only come from intimate friends, as with Judas. The opposition of those who "go out from us" after having been among us, reject Christ more deeply than any others can.

That fact alone undercuts much widespread speculation in the American Church. The Church' current p.c., for example, is that Islam is the great manifestation of anti-Christ's spirit in the world. But Islam did not "go out from us:" despite Muhammad's use of Christian folklore, concepts and terminology in some parts of the Koran, Islam did not originate in the Church. The same could be said of Hinduism, Buddhism, paganism, Shintoism, animism, etc.

John tells us further that the spirit of anti-Christ "denies the Father and the Son" (v. 22). This fact would certainly apply to all those non-Christian religions (and to generic unbelief), since John goes on to say that "whoever denies the Son does not have the Father" (v. 23). By definition, all non-Christian religions "deny the Son."

But the spirit of anti-Christ is one which denies Father and Son after having known Father and Son: after having been among us, supposedly a Christian, hearing the Bible's true teaching. The greatest deception of the spirit of anti-Christ is that it uses that knowledge to deny Father and Son; in the meaning of Greek "anti," by offering a seemingly-Christian "Father" and "Son" who are "in place of" or "instead of" the Jesus Christ of the Bible and His Father.

The spirit of anti-Christ is behind all non-Christian religions, and all unbelief. But at present, the religion which most closely matches I John 2's description is Mormonism.

It went out from Christianity: but claims to be "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

Its Prophet in 1998 decreed that Mormonism's "Christ" is not the Bible's Jesus Christ, Son of God:

"The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. He, together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages." (http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/31188/Crown-of-gospel-is-upon-our-heads.html)

Denying the Son as above, Mormonism also denies the Father, teaching he is Adam, a glorified man. The "different gospel" (II Corinthians 11:4) taught in their "bible" is that Mormons too can become gods of their own worlds: that "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be."

I don't know if the incarnate anti-Christ will come from Mormonism or not: that's something God alone knows. But in the clear and simple specifics I John 2 teaches about the presence of anti-Christ's spirit already in the world, that spirit is particularly prevalent in Mormonism.

Come and Eat !

I fixed lunch for my daughter and her boyfriend when they visited the other day. I'm not a great cook by any means: but I have a few things I do well. I take great pleasure in preparing food my family likes. And I know that going to the work of preparing food well will be rewarded in the best possible way: by my guests eating and enjoying it.

I get that from my mother. The food she made for us was a manifestation of love, and what she most wanted was for us to eat it, and enjoy it.

The thought occurred that the work I put into studying scripture for Sunday School is the same kind of thing. I ask for the Spirit's light, and study hard, so that my comments will be the Spirit's Own words, giving life to those who receive them. Jesus drew that parallel when He countered satan's tempting Him with food by quoting scripture, that the real bread is "...every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

But Sunday School is different than my kitchen. I can't help noticing that not many will receive what I'm glad to prepare and offer them. LOL.

We're currently studying I John. The apostle, from his first words, emphasizes the experiential manifestation of Christ. He presents himself as one who saw, heard and touched the incarnate "Word of Life...manifested to us." He tells us again and again that our God is as manifest in this world as light: and that "...the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious..." as well, by the spirit they manifest.

But the response in Sunday School when I noted that was to the effect, "That's not my experience. I've been deceived by people many times."

I wasn't even sure how to respond, except to say, yes, I've been deceived by people too. Maybe I should have responded that being deceived is a manifestation of not heeding the Spirit...which it is, and which we're all guilty of at times. But what hit me at that moment was that the class' response seemed to argue that scripture is wrong: the children of God and the children of the devil are not obvious.

Musing on it since, I've been reinforced in the long-held belief that we can only be accountable for the quality of what we put out...whether it's food, or scriptural insights. Whether it's received or not received is the choice of those to whom we offer it.

It's very gratifying if what we offer is received with joy: as John writes, it makes our joy complete. But food is only fully enjoyed by those who are hungry. When people turn up their noses at food they're offered, and say it's not to their tastes...they're not really hungry.

God, PLEASE give me Your grace to be always HUNGRY for Your Word !

Love of Truth and Partisanship

"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness." II Thessalonians 2:7-12


“Love of the Truth” requires we accept that “Truth” exists as objective reality. For us, by His Own Self-definition in John 14:6, that Reality is the Person of Jesus Christ. As objective reality, Truth is sovereign and impartial, the same for all, against Whom all alike are measured. It's one regard in which I understand Jesus to be effectually "Lord of all."

Brother Tim, in one of his "Onesimus Files" blog-posts, speaks of cessationists' “goalpost-moving” in their use of historical evidence which doesn't fit their theory. It's a common evasive tactic of controversialists when one of their untruths is shown to be incongruent with reality/truth.

But if Truth is objective, impartial and (ESPECIALLY) sovereign, it is IMmovable. When regarded as anything less than that, "truth" is whatever we may individually deem it to be, and can be manipulated to OUR purposes. Every man can then do what is right/truth in his own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 17:6 and 21:25). The problem is that God characterizes that as the way of fools (Proverbs 12:15 and 21:2).

It’s also what we'd call “relativism:” which Christians have rightly been taught to reject as part of the false "spirit of the world." And so it is: even when used by Christians. The formula I've heard from fellow "Christians" (discussing scripture !!) is the evasive “Well, you have your truth, and I have mine."

It’s one reason, I think, that “factions” (Greek “heresia”) is listed in Galatians 5:20 as a “work of the flesh.” A faction is by definition a group gathered around it’s OWN proprietary “truth:" the assertion and defense of which gives rise to the “…enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions” also listed in that verse as works of the flesh.

It seems a good description of politics in present-day America (and other nations as well, I’m sure). Through politics, factional partisanship has become a notable mindset of Christians who’ve chosen to deeply involved themselves in the world’s kingdom and its thoughts-contrary-to-God’s. Through politics, Christians' minds have been turned from "love of the truth:" at least as He truly IS, objective, impartial, and sovereign: Jesus.

Scripture's promise is that people in such a mind...even those who call themselves "Christians"...will not be saved. Nor is that the end of it. We have the further promise that "...God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false..." (my emphasis). God Himself will act to ensure they believe falsehood !

These are the scariest words in the Bible. If GOD sets Himself to make a person believe lies, that person WILL believe lies.

I pray fiercely that God set His intent on me for "love of Truth" !!

Spiritual Warfare 101

I. Battlefield Orientation

A. Identify the Enemy

1. Jesus said He IS The Truth: John 14:6

2. Jesus said satan is the father of lies: John 8:45


B. Confirm Identification

1. The Spirit is The Truth: I John 5:6

2. No lie is of The Truth: I John 2:21

3. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error: I John 4:6



II. Battlefield Operations

A. Know your weapon

The sword of the Spirit is the word of God: Ephesians 6:17


A. Follow your commander

The Spirit of Truth will guide you into all the truth: John 16:13

What's Wrong With This Picture ?

God delegates His Authority to human government with a moral mandate: that it be "...a minister of God to you for good..." (Romans 13:4).

American Christians today are fierce partisans of a political faction whose agenda includes


contempt for the poor;

more armed people with attitude on our streets;

restricting the right to vote;

low wages for the working-poor;

less affordable health-care for all.



As a simple moral judgement, how is that faction's agenda good towards people ?


What's wrong with this picture of American Christianity ?

My Opinion

The Greek of the New Testament seems to distinguish two kinds of opinion.

The first word translated as "opinion" is dialogismos in Romans 14:1. It's the word from which we get "dialogue;" as Strong's says, it denotes man's internal " '...back-and-forth reasoning' – reasoning that is self-based and therefore confused..." The word is more often interpreted in the New Testament as "reasonings;" but also "thoughts," "motives," "speculations," "doubts," "dissensions." It's frequently used of the teachers of the law who posed hostile questions to Jesus about His teachings.

(And indeed, His listeners were amazed that Jesus' teaching had none of this kind of opinion..."for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Mark 1:22; also Matthew 7:29 and Luke 4:32. The near-contemporaneous Mishnah, first part of the Talmud, exemplifies the teachings of the scribes: "Rabbi Akiva taught...on the other hand, Reb Meir said..." Jesus taught no such human "reasonings:" and when the One Who IS "the Truth" affirmed Truth, His authority was manifest to His listeners.)

The second word translated as "opinion" is gnómé, in I Corinthians 7: 25 and 40, and II Corinthians 8:10. It is the usual Greek word for "to know:" as Strong's says, "...a personal opinion or judgment formed in (by) an active relationship, the result of direct ('first-hand') knowledge." The most frequent interpretation of the word is "judgement:" but it's also translated as "decision," "counsel," "view," "purpose."

As used in Romans, we are told to accept weak believers, but not for the purpose of judging their "opinions/reasonings." In the I and II Corinthians passages, Paul gives his "opinion/judgement" on marriage, and on making a collection for the saints.

The New Testament view of "opinion" is very much as we use the word today: that it's a (wo)man's personal view, from internal reasonings and personal experience. In view of Isaiah 55:8-9, opinion has to be deeply mistrusted, as man's thoughts rather than God's. But by Paul's usage (though "judgement" seems a better translation of the word he uses), we have to allow that "opinion," when one's personal thoughts have been transformed by personal experience of God, may be worth taking into account.

It's noteworthy, however, that in all his uses of "opinion" when writing to the Corinthian Church, Paul draws an explicit line. He makes a clear demarcation of "my judgement" (my emphasis), and goes so far as to remind readers that his "judgement" is "no command of the Lord."

With that scriptural understanding of "opinion:" what God tells us about "opinion:" I give my opinion, from personal experience. Sunday School is usually a place people go to spout their differing fleshly "reasonings." "Bible studies" likewise. To that extent, neither edifies the spirit of believers, or builds up the Church.

Keeping It Light

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." -- I John 1:5


Meditating today on the first chapter of First John, this verse hit me: that God's first creation was light...revealing and giving Himself to creation, before creation even existed.

The verse also called to mind a recent comment on "Following Judah's Lion" by brother Rick Frueh: "Instead of seeing a remarkable light, the fallen culture sees its own shadow in the church."

Thinking Straight About Everything

It's truly said that everybody has a theology. Even atheists have "ideas about God" that they operate on. Indeed, they, like Satan, are created beings in rebellion against God...which makes Him as much the Center of their lives as He IS for the most-dedicated believer.

It's also true that we all have our beliefs about human beings.

Those two belief-systems, I think, are where we get all our thinking right: or, it seems more often, wrong.

My beloved brother Tim, in his "Onesimus Files" blog, has been writing about many aspects of the "cessationist" controversy, newly stirred up by John MacArthur's anti-charismata "Strange Fire" book and conference. In reading and musing on his posts, it seems clear to me that MacArthur and his followers base their beliefs in basic false ideas of God, and of man:

that God may withdraw His "charismata and calling," as Romans 11:29 specifically says He does not;

that when men do not receive God's grace (and "charismata" denotes "manifestations of grace," charis), it is God's fault.

All false ideas come from some error-of-concept in our thinking about God, or about man. But it's hard to think of a false idea so deeply grounded in both kinds of error as "cessationism" is.