Two Spirits Manifest

Dylann Roof goes on trial today in South Carolina.

He was the young man who shot and killed nine people at a church' Bible-study.

Roof is white, and his victims were black, gathered at their black church. As hard as it is to believe (especially in Charleston, the mother-city of the Confederacy), his victims welcomed Roof to join them. Shouldn't God's people welcome all who desire to join them ?

They doubtless offered prayer, with Roof among them, that God would illuminate His word to their hearts; and opened and read the Bible together. Shouldn't God's people welcome all who desire to pray with them, all who desire to hear God's word ?

As hard as it is to believe, Roof spent an hour in fellowship with his victims, hearing God's word. Then he began to shoot them and kill them, one by one, hunting down and murdering those who attempted to flee.

It is hard to understand how, and especially WHY, a human being would act as Roof did. He was reportedly much influenced by white-supremacist ideas. If so, he was deceived by ideas which are lies in themselves, and of deeply evil intent.

But I'd riff on Brother Tim's spiritual insight on politics: "Race relations aren't really about race relations."

Human events...ultimately all human events...are about spiritual warfare.

God's Spirit is continually present in this world, and working among us. The spirit of the enemy is also continually working among men, opposing God. We human beings live on the battlefield of that warfare, and we are participants in that warfare...whether we recognize it or not.

It's not always easy to tell which side people are on. Human beings (ourselves included) are always of such mixed motive and purpose that it's impossible for any but God to judge rightly what spirit a person is acting in. We are people ourselves, and not always certain which spirit we are acting in. Hence scripture's command to us, to "Examine yourselves !" and "Test yourselves." (II Corinthians 13:5).

We arrogate to ourselves God's moral wisdom when we call some particular person (as we frequently do) "good" or "evil." And Jesus Himself forbade us to do so, saying that "God alone is good" (Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19: my emphasis).

But in so saying, Jesus also gave us a foolproof way to identify God's Spirit...even when He manifests Himself in men's imperfect obedience. Those who do good are unmistakably acting in God's Spirit...for "God alone is good." And scripture's thumbnail theological I.D. for "good" is simply that "God is Love" (I John 4:8).

Jesus also absolutely identified the spirit of the enemy, who is a "murderer," and "the father of lies" (John 8:44).

The acts men do in the pervasive spiritual war of this world may be hard to read. Men themselves certainly are. But the warring spirits are unmistakable in their manifestations.

There could not be a more clear manifestation of that spiritual war than when a man with hate-filled heart enters a church to murder people gathered to study the Bible. They were gathered by and in God's Spirit. He came against them in the spirit of the enemy.

The point is that we too are human beings, like the murderer, and like his victims. The point is that we must examine our own divided hearts: because we can, as certainly as each of them, choose which side of this spiritual war we join.

Which spirit do we, and will we, act in ?

There could not be a more clear manifestation of the spiritual war in our divided nation and world than this: the violent rage of a man whose heart is filled with lies and hatred toward those who love God, love Jesus "The Truth," love His word, and love His children.

Our world...and especially today, our country...faces the same question in this spiritual warfare that every individual one of us faces.

In which spirit does our country...and, our special concern at this time...will our country act ?

The Market for Deception

The comments of Brother Tim in Australia are always insightful. His is one of only two Christian blogs I find worth reading every day. His comments today are particularly insightful. His (highlighted) comment on "post-truth" theological thinking is painfully spot-on. To Tim's words, I can only add "AMEN !!" (See his blog at https://onesimusfiles.wordpress.com/)

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There are a lot of warnings in scripture about false teachers, false prophets and false Christs that would all be totally redundant if there wasn’t a need to alert people to the possibility of being turned from the truth to accept something contrary to the truth.

But not only are there warnings about deceivers, there are warnings about people who follow them. In Jeremiah a commentary on false prophets also turns an accusing finger upon those who welcome their messages; “My people love to have it so:" and Paul writes about people who collect teachers to appeal to their itching ears.

Without a “market” for deception, no deceiver would survive.

It seems today there is little difference between attitudes to theological ideas and the consumption of news. Does it really matter if the source is reliable as long as its message supports a desired stance?

Often it takes only a very cursory (honest) look into a teaching or news source to assess its truthfulness, but unless there is a genuine desire FOR the truth, it is easy to dismiss clear evidence if it contradicts what we WANT to believe.

Likewise it’s easy to ignore serious flaws in a teaching or news source if it’s PROMOTING what we want to believe.

It’s sad fact that many (even professing Christians) really have no love of the truth, preferring to mould a more appealing (to them) version of “reality” to live by.

Testing Christians

The last eight years it seems God's particularly tested Christians' hearts on their obedience to His commands about human rulers and authorities.

We know His commands. His command in Romans 13:1-7, that we should "be in subjection to governing authorities," because they are "established by God". That those who "stand against" (Greek, usually translated "rebel" or "resist") the human authorities God gives us, oppose God's Own ordinance (literally, what is "thoroughly set in place" by God)...and will "receive condemnation on themselves."

That human government is "a minister of God to you for good," and "a minister of God" to punish evil-doers: so we need not fear if we "do what is good."

Titus 3:1,2 likewise teaches we should "...be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men."

I Peter 2:13-17 again commands us to "submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake [my emphasis] to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."

I Peter frames our obedience as following Christ: "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps" (v. 21). We have to think of the moment when Jesus faced His suffering. Pilate put to Him the question of human authority: "Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You ?” (John 19:10) Jesus, our Example, answered in submission that Pilate's authority was from God: “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above..." (v. 11)

The last eight years, many Christians have failed to walk in Jesus' example. Very many American Christians have joined in the world's violent hatred towards our ruler God "established." Joined too in the world's lies against government, by which the world justifies its rebellion against God.

More than we've ever seen before, that hatred and rebellion have been extremely personal, extending even to filthy attacks on the president's family-members. Christians joined in: and many Christians seem to have bought into the lie that who the ruler is, justifies disobedience to God's commands.

It does not. When God gave His commands in scripture, Nero was the ruler. His name is still emblematic of an evil ruler, these 2000 years later. But God commanded that Christians "submit" to, and "honor," and pray even for Nero (I Timothy 2:1,2). We don't submit to human authorities because of who they are: but because of Who God is

It's not about persons. And in the profound observation on American politics by our Australian brother Tim, "It's not really about politics." If we truly "analyze" the times, as Jesus commanded in Luke 12:54-57...or be, He said, "hypocrites"...it's always, and all, spiritual.

It's no surprise that "the world," under the dominion of satan, operates continually in his spirit of hatred, violence, lies and rebellion. The greater news from the spiritual battlefront in the last eight years is that very many Christians have been seduced, through politics, to operate in that spirit. They need to deeply repent, and turn back to God. The good news is that God is still merciful to those who will repent from the heart.

Now God's test is for Christians who stood apart from the rebellious politics of the last eight years, which seduced so many of our brothers.

We must guard ourselves against falling into the same disobedience they did, by the same false justification. It would be easy for us to personally despise and rail against our soon-to-be human ruler. We would not even have to lie, as the disobedient did, to make him appear unrighteous: arrogance and contempt for others (the two always go together), deceitfulness, and lack of moral principle are truly his spirit, on full display daily, to everyone in the world.

We could easily hate and rebel against a human ruler so profoundly unrighteousness and devoid of moral wisdom (as all Godly wisdom is). But our obedience is not about personalities. It's not really about politics. Thinking so was how our brethren were seduced to disobey God.

God's test for us is the same as for those who fell away. Will we obey God's commands, whoever HE has established as our current human ruler, by HIS authority ? Will we "submit" to, and "honor," and pray for him, as God commanded we do ?

We are entering a time when God will deeply test every heart which claims to love Him, by its obedience to Him.

Scripture's warning to us: "...let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12).

Amen !

Here Is Wisdom

"And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?" (Luke 12:54-57)

Here is wisdom: Jesus says to "analyze this present time" by "what is right."

Jesus tells His followers to "analyze" the times Spiritually.

Here's scripture's analysis of the spirit of "the last days:"

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." (II Timothy 3:1-5)

It's a detailed description of "this present time."

It's a detailed description of the man Americans have chosen as their ruler in "this present time."

The man himself doesn't really matter: it's not at all about him (though he would violently disagree). Politicians themselves are transient players. The soon-to-be-ruler's real importance is that he so completely embodies the spirit of this time.

And his ultimate importance, that Christians choose to be led by that spirit.

Vox "Evangelical" Populi

I've talked a great deal lately about this scripture: that's because it's been on my heart daily. When God does that, it's usually because He wants me to pay particular attention to the passage, and deeply meditate on it. And when I do so, He shows me more of His wisdom in it.

"And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?" (Luke 12:54-7)

He clearly tells "the crowds" to not "analyze this present time" by appearances, but by "what is right." He's even more explicit in John 7:24: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Jesus also says this is God's command: "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me" (John 7:16).

God commands that we judge the same way He Himself judges. And He judges men the same way He judges the times.

Choosing a ruler for His people, God instructed Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him;...for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (I Samuel 16:7).

Our time, America 2016, is another example of "the people" willfully choosing unrighteousness. My earlier post "Vox Populi" gives a starter-list of Biblical instances.

That "the world" chooses unrighteousness is a given. But what does it say that 80% of "evangelicals" choose unrighteousness because they can't recognize it when they see it, and can't hear Jesus' command to judge by "what is right" ?

Could it mean that the majority of American "evangelicals" are blind and deaf to God's word ?

God is faithful: He promises to forgive all who will repent; and He heals the blind and the deaf who will ask Him.

Praise His mercy !!

Praying for America

My prayer-group recently prayed for the next president's transition-team, that they would choose people for their administration-in-waiting who will make wise decisions for America.

I've also prayed for the person Americans have chosen as president. That is what scripture says we should do (and that scripture was written during the reign of evil Nero). Indeed, there's no person who doesn't need prayers for wisdom, and repentance.

What Christians emphatically CANNOT pray, if the president-elect institutes the unrighteous policies he said he would, is that his policies and methods will "make America great again."

We cannot pray that doing bad things have good results . . . contrary God's inviolable law.

It didn't work in the Garden of Eden. We can't pray it will work today.

God Personally guarantees it will not.

The Spirit of the Time

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." (II Timothy 3:1-5)

This seems to me a detailed description of the spirit of this exact time.

If I'm hearing the Spirit accurately, this scripture confirms that we are living in "the last days."

If I'm hearing the Spirit accurately, this is also a detailed description of the spirit by which America has chosen to be ruled.

Interestingly, one sister said in prayer-group a couple weeks ago that God was bringing this passage of scripture to her mind.

Interesting, because she seems to be a hardcore "Christian conservative," and probably a Trump-partisan.

I'm hopeful God gave her that scripture in fulfillment of His promise that He will be setting many Christians free in the coming days.

Praise Him !

Vox Populi Vox Dei Non Est

"Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, 'Come, make us a god who will go before us...'...The Lord said to Moses, 'I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them...'" (Exodus 32)


"So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?'...And they said, 'Barabbas.' Pilate said to them, 'Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?' They all said, 'Crucify Him!' And he said, 'Why, what evil has He done?' But they kept shouting all the more, saying, 'Crucify Him!'..." (Matthew 27)


"democracy (n.)...from Greek...demos..."the people"...+ kratos "rule, strength..."

The Kingdom of God, in contrast, is God's rule.


"Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, '...appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.' ...And Samuel prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, 'Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.'..." (I Samuel 8)

O.K., I Get It Now

Our beloved brother Tim in Australia does a blog, "Onesimus Files" (https://onesimusfiles.wordpress.com/). His is the only blog I read almost-daily. In the comments there of Tim and others, I frequently hear something God's saying.

But it sometimes takes me a while to get what God's saying. I tend to expect that truth is complex, and I over-think things.

When God is saying something simple, I often miss it. And truth is usually simple.

That was the case with a simple comment Tim made recently, in a discussion of America's current politics: "It's not really about politics."

It took a while for that simple truth to sink in, and open to my understanding.

I finally get it. Nothing that human beings do is really only about what humans do. Humans are spiritual beings, and the things we do are . . . not "ultimately," at the end: but FIRST and ALWAYS . . . spiritual acts.

That seems to me what Jesus is saying in Luke 12:54-6, when He tells us to "analyze" appearances. "This present time" cannot be understood by those who only look at appearances.

We have a wide choice of "commentators"...political and religious...eager to explain to us what's "really" going on. We constantly hear them analyze every event in terms of all the demographic "appearances" they (and we) believe determine people's political thoughts and actions: age, sex, race, political orientation and religion (often the same thing), by region, by educational and income levels, sexual orientation, occupation.

What Jesus is saying in this time . . . has always been saying . . . is that politics is not really about politics. Politics must be, and can ONLY be, understood in spiritual terms.

President-Elect in the Garden of Eden

At the start of the Civil War, Georgia politician Howell Cobb said that only two things stood in the way of peace between the North and South: "...the landing of the Pilgrims, and Original Sin."

Those same factors will determine America's fate today. Especially the latter.

God set Adam and Eve to live in the reality He'd created. God ruled reality by one simple Law: obey God, and He will bless you; disobey Him, and you will die.

Original Sin came by human beings accepting satan's "alternative theory" of the law. Not only will you NOT die when you break the law, "the father of lies" assured Eve: breaking the law is actually the way to seize blessing for yourself...and then you'll be like God. (Genesis 3)

This is an interesting time for we who believe God's law still rules reality: who believe that doing evil can NEVER bring good results.

An interesting time for God's people, because the leader Americans have chosen for themselves promises that his harsh, arrogant, and violent ways will have good results, and "make America great again." An interesting time, in which Americans have chosen to follow the leader in testing God's law.

If America's defiance of God's law fails disastrously and quickly, it will be because God chooses to show us undeserved mercy. The sooner we learn the consequences of rebelling against the King's authority and rule, the more hearts will repent, and turn back from rebellion.

But God rules as well over time. He may choose to let our chosen leader's evil schemes succeed in "making America great again"...for a time.

The hearts of the rebellious who helped bring that leader to power...including many "Christians"... are already vested in his success. If God lets his unrighteous rule temporarily "succeed," the hearts of the rebellious will be devoted to him even more than they were in electing him: and even more blind to God's impending judgement on America.

If letting evil rule seem to "succeed" is God's choice for America, we should expect His delayed judgement will be especially harsh. God is no respecter of persons. And we know how harsh His judgement was on those whose rebel hearts were devoted to the evil rule of the leader who promised that his evil ways would "make Germany great again."