The Scourge Of Racism
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Enlarged in reach by multiple media platforms today, many from the religious educated elite attain even international acclaim and standing. Rather than humility, more careful, diligent attention and fidelity to God’s Word as it is written and the Holy Spirit instructs because of this, a number are caught in Satan’s snare and begin to think more highly of themselves than they ought; teaching what they ought not in compromise, falsehood and hypocrisy (Ezekiel 28:17; Romans 12:3; 1 Timothy 1:3-7, 3:1-7). One such internationally known Bible teacher recently exemplified this reality by declaring on his radio program that in spite of the legalists, he and his elders could defy the clear teaching of 1 Timothy 2:12 after first affirming its continuing authoritative validity.
I write nothing in part two of this re-titled and edited 2013 blog repost God does not already know and as a result, the judgment prepared for members of the religious educated elite who in all haughtiness corrupt God’s Word and deny His power while teaching others to do the same is not at rest. Many that have died without repentance await their final judgment in Hades with all other sinners; those that yet live and refuse to repent will follow in due time after also suffering God’s judgment of His house. Along with churches, this judgment will destroy all of the related institutions of religious education that facilitated the arrogance of the religious educated elite who are guilty.
Originally Posted June 30, 2013
It was not long before scholasticism (the formal study, development, teaching and dissemination of the philosophical and theological thinking of religious educated men) had come to bring confusion into the post-apostolic churches scattered around the Roman Empire and by the Middle Ages, to dominate Catholicism. Overcome by the spiritual deadness and unbiblical religious practices of Catholicism, by the 16th century religious educated priest Martin Luther re-discovered biblical Christianity in of all places, the Bible’s New Testament!
After leading the attempted reform of Catholicism, Martin Luther was in the vanguard of Protestantism’s theologians in which now--five hundred years later, a great deal of their proud scholasticism has managed to do as much if not more damage by way of false, confusing and conflicting doctrines in the churches as that of any previous scholarly teachers in Christian history. From the corrupt justification for enslaving my forefathers to the rejection of the plainly given prophecy of a 1,000 year reign of Christ with His saints on this present earth (Revelation 20:4-6), legion are their “doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1-3, NKJV).
Truly, just like the Sadducees in 1st century Israel, we have arrogant theologians at this hour that refuse to believe the whole Bible or in God’s power to heal through, much less raise His sons to immortal glory due to their private interpretations. Again, such men have their own agenda not Christ’s which begins outside of God’s Word. They belittle the child-like faith our Lord taught us to place in Him as “mysticism” and scoff at the critical role of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers preferring instead to proudly teach assent to doctrines they have constructed in accord with their own philosophical systems of religious thinking as all that is necessary.
Never mind too, many of them are carnal, spiritually weak and immature if truly saved at all because they have no power (1 Corinthians 3:1-4, 4:19-20)! Claiming to be wise because of their credentials from esteemed institutions, they do not realize their true lack of wisdom in having foolishly corrupted or “rejected the word of the Lord” in any part for the cause of their own thinking. And so, God asks, “what wisdom do they have,” (Jeremiah 8:8-9, NKJV)? If God Almighty asks this sobering question, ought not we to do the same especially since these men are standing to speak as spiritual authorities to us?
Part of the problem from ancient times is that the so-called “people of God” permit themselves to be led and deceived by those whose education, credentials and position they proudly admire. This is what the Lord says about it: ‘“An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end,’” (Jeremiah 5:30-31, NKJV)? The apostle Paul chides the Corinthian church in a similar way (2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
Did not our Lord Jesus and His apostles warn us about false prophets and teachers especially in these latter days (Matthew 24:11; 2 Peter 2:1)? What? Is a seminary education and credentials the only things required for a person to escape being identified as a false teacher, esteemed instead as a theologian with license as an expert to deceive in the name of worldly tolerance among the churches? I don’t think so and whoever does ignores the warning of God through His prophets, the Lord and His apostles to their soul’s peril (Jeremiah 17:5-6, 12-13)!
When He had finished with the Sadducees on that day, the people listening in were “astonished at His teaching” and those proud members of Israel’s religious educated elite departed His company speechless because their mistaken doctrine had been shattered to pieces by the Lord (Matthew 22:33; Luke 20:39-40, NKJV). If the Lord got in the faces of Israel’s religious educated elite, where do we get off thinking we can make the same mistakes, have the same attitudes and do the same things He rebuked them for and get away with it? Right doctrine drawn directly out of Scripture as the Holy Spirit teaches is still only honored by Heaven and will be so forever (Matthew 24:35)!
Therefore, in the name of Jesus Christ who rebukes you and for the sake of the one faith once and for all given to the saints for which we are to contend (Jude 3-4), I call to repentance whoever calls himself a Christian teacher and exalts his own sinful thinking and opinions above God’s Word no matter how credentialed (Proverbs 30:5-6)! God has called us to doctrinal unity effected by the Holy Spirit in each man as we come humbly to the Word to be taught not teach as a first priority (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 1:10, 2:12-16; 1 Peter 3:8). The fact we do not have doctrinal unity in professing Christianity does not mean the concept can be relegated to the “worthy idealistic goal but not realistic” category. It is an indicator of sinful failure and wholly coming up short on our part.
Doctrinal diversity in phony loving, worldly tolerance may be a celebrated academic freedom, but it is condemned by the Lord who calls His followers to share in His singular mind. Unless then, the guilty do repent, the Lord will deal with you as He did the corrupt prophets, priests and teachers of Israel’s religious educated elite and as warned by Peter (Jeremiah 8:10-12; Ezekiel 22:23-31; Matthew 23:1-33; 2 Peter 2:2-3). Also, your religious house with beam and pillar of support is soon to be destroyed by the Lord (1 Peter 4:17; Revelation 18:1-8). Then what will become of all your proud, expertly crafted theologies and you as you with all other professing Christians are forced to stand only on God’s Word as it is written and the power of the Holy Spirit to endure at that time?
I follow up last week’s 2012 blog repost, “Pursuing Credentials And Authority” under the same Call To Repent category, with this and next week’s 2013 re-titled and edited two-part blog repost more fully examining the evil a considerable number of the credentialed religious educated elite has done and are doing in their arrogance to harm the faith, compliant and unaware professing Christians. Truly, the historical lion’s share source for all of the recorded corrupt, private interpretations of God’s Word (2 Peter 1:19-21) in professing Christianity over the centuries since the first has been those that teach from among the religious educated elite out of manmade Christianity the religion.
All of their private interpretations end up corrupt because they construct them rejecting some part of God’s Word (especially prophecy such as The Revelation Of Jesus Christ) and the revealing work of the Holy Spirit! How can an authentically born again man ever sit down to study, accurately interpret and apply any part of God’s Word without the supernatural aid of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:6-16)? Moreover, a man is fully arrogantly self-deceived (and anyone who long sits under him deluded) who believes he can keep essential Christian doctrine separate from his rejection of other parts of God’s Word and not ever have his corruptions created from the exclusion of those rejected parts surface in his orthodoxy or teaching.
Such is the madness that has been and continues in Christendom to this hour because biblical Christianity has been kicked to the curb by men practicing powerless, invented forms of it founded upon fallen, mortal thinking and satanically inspired confusion falsely called wisdom. Seeking to satisfy their ego and self-esteem needs among other self-centered reasons, these men in the flesh carelessly proffer their corrupt, private interpretations of God’s Word; ruining folk and churches without shame, whose judgment with dying churches is certain without repentance. Flee if you are in a church where the pastor and/or elders reject any part of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s power!
Originally Posted June 23, 2013
Again, I am a seminary graduate having attended as the Lord led to get better prepared for the work of ministry He (not mortal flesh or a church) had already gifted and called me to (1 Corinthians 12:1-18)! Understood and carried out in the spirit of humble service to Christ as Lord on the part of the school, instructors, students, graduates, churches and their affiliations, a seminary education can be a good thing and was for me. I have met a few and read the works of a number of born again, faithful, seminary educated and biblically solid Christian teachers--a blessing to the Body of Christ as they should be!
However, as part of my work of ministry (Ezekiel 33:1-9; 1 Corinthians 12:28-30), the thread of rebuke to Christianity the religion’s educated elite (which includes pastors and elders) in other blogs continued in this one is tied to the Lord’s ancient rebuke of all those who allow themselves to become arrogantly wise in their own eyes because of their education and credentials conferred by sinful men (Isaiah 19:11-15). They harm His people with false, confusing and conflicting doctrines; men empowered by position to vanquish with a word those in legitimate opposition to their corrupt, private interpretations of God’s Word (John 9:13-34).
Such arrogant men and their showdowns with God’s sent prophets, Christ and His apostles are many in the Bible and continue to this day (2 Chronicles 18; Amos 7:10-17; Matthew 21:23-27; Acts 4:1-22). Have you ever wondered why God ends up judging most of them? It is because they do not humble themselves and repent when proven wrong due to the arrogant pride that fills their hearts. They would rather suffer judgment than be humiliated even though in the end, humiliation is exactly what God’s judgment produces (Proverbs 28:13; James 4:4-10). Thus, the Lord Jesus teaches voluntary humility is better than forced humiliation (Luke 14:7-11).
It is impossible that any creature of God could ever be smarter or wiser than He! Yet, this is how proud, credentialed members of the religious educated elite present themselves to God when they choose to reject or set aside any portion of His Word. The Lord Jesus--God in the flesh--did not blink or become intimidated in the least bit whenever Israel’s religious educated elite confronted Him. Indeed, when the Sadducees thought they would use their foolproof levirate marriage brain twister discrediting the possibility of resurrection from the dead to stump and finally publically humiliate the Lord recorded in Matthew 22:23-28, the Lord's reply was direct: "'You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God,'" (Matthew 22:29, NKJV). Alternate translations for “mistaken” (used also in the NASB) are “deceived” (NKJV), “error” (NIV) and “wrong” (AMP).
Imagine that, in words similarly quoted in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 12:24); in an incident also recorded by Luke (Luke 20:27-40), the Lord Jesus emphatically declares to Israel’s Sadducees of the priestly line, who were keepers of the temple, members of the religious educated elite and so smart they refused to believe God raises the dead, they were “mistaken.” These men were mistaken not because Jesus held a different opinion than they did (their religious educated elite rivals, the Pharisees, had already unsuccessfully opposed them as opinions go which is why they were so smugly confident their levirate marriage story would silence Jesus too), but because the Lord in rebuke says they did not know the Word or power of God!
Hear the Word of the Lord all of you modern day members of Christianity the religion’s educated elite: you can be mistaken and always are when you reject God’s Word and power! How could it be that specially educated and trained religious men could not believe something as basic as God’s raising of the dead taught and demonstrated in the Scriptures available to them or His power to do so even if there were no historic records of Him doing so? The Sadducees made the fatal error of limiting themselves to just the first five books of the Bible as authentic. As a result, they rejected the historical books that recorded God’s raising of the dead through the intercessions of the prophets Elijah and Elisha respectively (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:8-37) as well as all of the rest of the Old Testament that speaks of His power and promise to do so more widely in a future day.
God has made His Word an interconnected whole (Luke 24:27; 2 Timothy 3:14-17). It is impossible to develop a thorough, coherent and accurate biblical doctrine of any kind after rejecting any part of God’s Word! Also, clearly these men did not accept the displays of divine power starting with the first chapter of Genesis and running through every book to Deuteronomy as a theme. So, while they were outwardly religious, knew and taught the private interpretations of their group as well as carried on all of the common rituals and traditions of Judaism, these religious educated men had no faith in and were disconnected from God! Such has been the case of many professed Christian men too with the rise of manmade Christianity the religion.
In between the frantic activities of the week, reflect on this edited 2011 repost.
Originally Posted November 18, 2011
Thanksgiving has almost been lost as “Black Friday” and the “Holiday Shopping Season” looms large. Besides the commercialism and greed for which Thanksgiving has become only a launch pad, the holiday has lost some of its luster spiritually as our secular society requires only a passing attitude of gratitude to satisfactorily celebrate the day. Thinking of the blessings of God are no longer required as the warm and fuzzy feelings of gathering with family and friends takes the top spot as the reason for having had a really great holiday.
Echoing the declaration of that ancient aspiring strong man of God, Joshua: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” (Joshua 24:15, NKJV). In an extra special way from our routine on Thanksgiving, we will reflect on the goodness of our God who has saved and blessed us abundantly in so many ways over the past year. I can lead my family to do this thankfully to God, because I have a wife who lets me serve in my role and place as the head of our family. I challenge every man reading this to prayerfully seek the Lord for the courage to lead your family to at least have a special prayer time giving thanks to God if in fact, this practice has been lost in your Christian house.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
While every day of my life since being saved from my sins on Easter Sunday 1977 is a day I give thanks for, this Thanksgiving I am beside myself with praise and thanks to God for keeping His Word in Philippians 4:19 to me (and available to all) on the ninth of this month! On that day my brother, Richard and sister-in-law, Vicki Kelley, helped our Ministry reach its campaign goal for funds needed to support my continued full-time service this year.1 As with so many in this year of the Lord’s Coronavirus pestilence, I too, faced the prospect of layoff without God’s provision through those that reverence Him and had the means from His provision to them (2 Corinthians 9:7-8)!
For this reason, I also give thanks to God for and thank every soul that has contributed to the campaign to date. I have prayed and pray for His blessing of increase upon you both financially and spiritually (2 Corinthians 9:10-11)! These contributors include my wife and other family members, our current Directors Alvin Johnson and Richard Anderson and supporters old, new, named or anonymous on our fundraising platform. I also want to specially thank Rosie, widow of Director Philip Lovings, who had prayed for the campaign in our March board meeting before he departed to the Lord in April as well as family member, Miron Washington, for helping the Ministry reach the goal.
Now, while I overflow with joy and thanksgiving, I have not forgotten about those who have had it rough this year. I was careful to note parenthetically earlier that the same God and His promise of provision in His Word are available to all! How? Repent and believe the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ: that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. If you do that, you will be forgiven of your sins and born again through the Holy Spirit who will come to live in and make you an adopted son of God (Acts 2:36-39; Romans 8:14-17). Father God takes care of His children. Therefore, with the great apostle I also exclaim above all from the heart: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 9:15; Philippians 4:20, NKJV)!
A blessed Thanksgiving to all who know and love God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ!
1 You can read about my day of rejoicing and thanksgiving at https://fundrazr.com/salarycampaign1.
I am fully thankful to God to be among those who are born again Christians according to His love, grace and mercy that brought His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to make it possible through His atoning sacrifice (John 1:1-18, 29, 3:1-21). Indeed, salvation is the number one thing I am thankful to God for this Thanksgiving and every day! From the Lord’s saving of my soul has flowed every other thing I am thankful for not the least of which is His continuing work to help my progress toward becoming that strong man of God in the image of Christ I aspire to be (Philippians 3:12-14)! If you don’t know Him, I urge you to read last week’s post where I present God’s only means to His salvation through the Gospel.1 Have a safe, God honoring Thanksgiving holiday!
1 See the November 14, 2021 post, Overcoming The Male And Female Challenge, under the category, The Cause.
It hardly seems possible that the apostle Paul’s prophetic warning about dangerous times and men given to his son in the faith, Timothy, I reference in this edited 2013 Commentary could be referring to anyone but sinners of the world (2 Timothy 3:1-9). However, while sinners are referred to by him, these are men of the worst sort; professed Christians that are not led, controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, but Satan through their sinful flesh. Can they really be pleasing God serving out of the sinful flesh as they would deceitfully have us believe? According to Scripture, no (Romans 8:6-9; Galatians 5:19-21)!1 I have been dealing with such men (and women) among many churches all of my journey and stand yet again to hold up the biblical warning about them.
Originally Published March 2013
The Bible is a book of truth that chronicles and accurately reports the consistent behavior of human beings as fallen sinners from the beginning (and without divine intervention, a hopeless forever). Such has been my painful realization as a watchman/prophet and teacher in the churches as well as an aspiring strong man of God in the image of Jesus Christ. For amazing to me but quite in line with the biblical record, up until now, professed Christians have been my greatest antagonists. Still, to the end of saving some and helping others, the Lord has had me laboring over thirty years and intensely so recently in writing about Christianity the religion of men (Revelation 18:4-8).2
Ancient Judah should have known better especially in light of what they had seen happen to Israel, their sister to the North when God, after many warnings through His prophets, brought the foretold judgment with a harshness and finality that was staggering (2 Kings 17:5-23; Jeremiah 3:6-10). However, Judah too experienced God’s judgment for failing to heed the warnings of His prophets and repent from their spiritual adultery and wickedness. The fortunate found themselves captive in Babylon (2 Kings 24:1-25:21). Many of them were outwardly religious, knew what the Law said and had even experienced brief revivals under godly kings--the last, Josiah.
Yet, when God commissions Ezekiel as His watchman/prophet to the captives in Babylon, He calls this religious people "a rebellious house," (Ezekiel 1:26-3:27, NKJV). The Lord greatly encouraged His prophet since in the course of carrying out their God ordained ministries in the past, most of the prophets had been ridiculed, mocked and mistreated. Some of them had been imprisoned, tortured and murdered in the cause of bringing God's love motivated call to repentance and warning of judgment to His people which the Lord Jesus affirms in Matthew 23:29-36. Indeed, He even warns that as it was for the Old Testament prophets, so it would be for His sent servants in the New.
The Lord Himself would not escape the stark reality that the most religious men in Israel--her religious educated elite and leaders--would insist on His death out of the most common of human sins: envy (Matthew 27:15-20). Therefore, He warned His apostles and all faithful servants to come that those professing to know God in the Jewish religion and later, what sprang up as manmade Christianity the religion would be first among their persecutors (Luke 21:12; John 16:1-4; Revelation 17:1-6). The apostle Paul who experienced the painful persecution of those he once stood among likewise warns about this peril from religious men (2 Corinthians 11:22-26; 2 Timothy 3:1-9).
The New Testament record and history to this hour confirm the prophetic accuracy of the Lord and His apostle. Young and naïve in Christ those years ago, I was so hopeful it would be just a very few bad apples I might face in carrying out the ministry the Lord gifted and called me to (Ezekiel 33:1-9).3 However, I have since repeatedly experienced the mostly covert, but at times, openly hostile opposition to my ministry by legions of faithless, spiritually dead, proud, deceitful, corrupt and carnal practitioners of Christianity the religion from various races in the churches.4 Truly, if it had not been for the Lord at my side strengthening, encouraging and ministering to me, I would have forsaken His calling (John 14:18; Acts 18:4-11, 23:1-11; 2 Timothy 4:14-18).
The Lord foretells the time soon fully at hand when in the wake of global persecution, a total breakdown in civility among professing Christians will occur. He says, "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another," (Matthew 24:10, NKJV). In this breakdown, religious impostors devoid of the Holy Spirit will abandon their charade; unrepentant willfully sinning weak Christians quenching His fire will become apostates in their offense at the painful persecution. Christianity the religion will be exposed for the counterfeit it is as faithful Christians are betrayed to persecuting authorities and greatly hated by those once professing to be brothers.
Surely, we are now in the initial stages of this breakdown as the world's escalating rebellion and hatred forces all professing Christians to make their loyalties known. Christian religionists have done just like their Jewish counterparts historically and rejected those sent by Christ's love to warn and call them to repentance. They fail to realize they are more accountable than ancient Israel for their obstinacy since professing Christians have received so much more by way of the testimony of Christ, the Gospel and the warning of His apostles to give due regard to the biblical record (Luke 12:42-48; 1 Corinthians 10:1-11). The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Because the following behaviors I have consistently witnessed over forty years by numerous professed Christian pastors are not expressly listed by Paul in 2 Timothy
3:1-9 or Galatians 5:19-21 and the guilty obviously believe them to be okay, the Lord would have me include hindering God’s people under false pretenses, oppressing,
manipulating for gain sake and lording it over them to be works of the sinful flesh He condemns (Nehemiah 6:1-14; Jeremiah 22:13-17; Lamentations 3:34-36; Matthew
15:1-9, 20:20-28; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
2 Read the two-part, August 2016 post, Christianity The Religion Of Men, under the category, Instruction and Christianity The Religion American Style posted September
4, 2016 under the category, Call To Repent.
3 See the October 2, 2016 post, Gifted With A Prophet’s Heart under the category, Call To Repent.
4 Read my April 9-May 7 posts reflecting on being a Christian for forty years under the category, Glory To God! Also, get a copy of my book, The Strong Man Of God:
Back To Basics, wherein the last chapter I write to exhort the repentance of compromised pastors as professed Christians that have preeminently been among those
resisting our strong man of God message and cause. The book is available at all major internet booksellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in
the Strong Man Store.
I have been thanking God for and will make the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson and our sister, Asia Bibi, from imprisonment for the faith this fall an important part of my Thanksgiving celebration. Brunson, an American Pastor, had spent two years incarcerated in Turkey after living with his family and shepherding a church there 23 years. He was freed after President Trump threatened sanctions. Bibi, a Pakistan native, was arrested and held on death row 8 years as a Christian for the charge of blasphemy against Islam. Prayerfully remember fellow believers suffering all over the world for the faith and give thanks for those God graciously delivers remembering next time, it could be you (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Hebrews 13:3, 23).1 Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
1 Read this article about the arrest of an American Christian anti-abortion activist and why.
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