Bible Dictionary, part II

Mammon: Term that means wealth or profit, with the implication that the zeal of some to achieve wealth can too easily overshadow one’s relationship and duty to God. This then becomes a form of idolatry, where wealth and its unrelenting pursuit becomes an obsession to the point of the individual’s self destruction being the result. Religious leaders are quick to point out this inherent danger, and offer as a solution the person divest themselves of some of their wealth in their direction; but in so doing, they overlook that they too can easily fall prey to this as the pursuit of wealth by a prophet.

Man of Sin: Term used to describe an Antichrist, who will claim to be God, and loosely used in modern times to describe any man who heads a religious organization other than yours.

Manna: Substance collected and eaten by ancient Israel after being expelled from Egypt that was found in the wilderness. Manna tended to spoil quickly in the daytime, and was harvested early in the morning. This would imply it was a mushroom like substance that grew in the dark of night. If this hypothesis is true, then manna probably had some hallucinogenic effect which made the children of Israel see strange things, such as pillars of fire, and could also explain their reluctance to enter into the promised land, where manna was not to be found.

Martyr: A person who speaks or preaches truth, who is killed (or, at the least, vilified) by God-fearing people who are doing God a service.

Midwife: A wife between the first wife (primary wife) and the third wife, known also as the secondary wife. The common use of the term midwife should be proof enough for all to see that men are entitled to have three wives, with two of them working full time and the third to keep house.

Ministry: The elite of a church that exist to guide the lay members into properly providing for their needs. This is accomplished by constantly preaching to the laic the importance of financing the preaching of the gospel coupled with the teaching that if they do not finance the gospel, they will most assuredly find themselves tormented in hell for the rest of eternity for their selfish behavior.

Miracle: An event that defies a logical, physical explanation, such as causing one who was blind from birth to see— which should be an undeniable sign that the one performing such an event can only do so by and through the power of God. The first recorded miracle of Jesus was to turn a large quantity of water into wine. I, however, have mastered the miracle of turning wine back into water.

Money: Detestable substance that corrupts otherwise good people, who are instructed to rid themselves of this symbol of the earthy, evil nature by placing it in the collection plate.

Mormonism: A religious group that had it’s start with the production of some plates that later turned up missing, but the followers of Mormonism were assured the plates were real to begin with. I want to know what happened to the flatware.

Mormons suffered persecution at the hands of others who did not have china from heaven, so they relocated as a group to Utah. The group grew rapidly due to the habit of allowing a man to have several wives. One wonders why the Catholic church hasn’t caught on to this method of increasing numbers.

Mote: Speck of dust or other foreign matter found in one’s eye, usually by another who has a greater eye problem.

Music: In scripture, songs sung and performed as a part of worship. Although instruments were used commonly for this purpose in the Old Testament, some modern churches frown on their use, as they apparently can all too easily drown out the cacophonous noise of those people who are trying to sing.

Nazarite: An Old Testament long haired hippie weirdo freak who, as a part of a vow, refrained from cutting his hair— the most famous being Samson, who was a performer in the temple of Dagon, where he brought the house down.

Nehemiah: Short prophet of ancient Israel.

Neighbor: Annoying pest who lives next door, who we are supposed to love as ourselves.

Nile: Main river which flows through the heart of Egypt, where women of ancient Israel that had given birth to sons would place their newborns in small reed baskets and float them down the Nile in the hopes that a well-to-do Egyptian might find them and adopt them before the reed boat sank, was found by a crocodile, or was carried out to sea.
Papal Bull: Edict issued by a pope used to gore opposition.

Party: A gathering, usually in celebration of some event, where the participants are expected to overeat and over-drink and otherwise have a good time, followed by condemnation from others.

Patience: Abstract term regarding one’s ability to take things in stride, not being overly concerned when things go wrong. This condition can be easily confused in someone who has undergone a frontal lobotomy.

Pentateuch: 1 First five books of the Old Testament. 2 Hat with five corners.

Pharaoh: A king of Egypt. During the time of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt, a Pharaoh arose that burdened the Children of Israel, not unlike the later leaders of Israel called Pharisees, and today’s leaders known as politicians.

Phylacteries: Amulets worn for protection by Jews. Some Jews believe the practice to be superstitious (Anti-phylactists) as opposed to those Jews that believe it is but a show of their religious convictions (Pro-phylactists) and that their use does indeed provide some degree of protection.

Pig: The most maligned of the class of unclean animals. Scientists claim that the pig’s physiology is remarkably similar to our own.

Polemics: The art and craft of arguing over doctrinal issues, where the individual in the majority holds as his trump card the ability to declare his theological opponent anathema and heretic should his polemic suffer defeat.

Polygamy: The practice of having more than one wife. This practice faded away given the understanding imparted in the New Testament that “no man can serve two masters” as aptly pointed out by Samuel Clemens.

Pope: Head Catholic, and by extension having unquestioned authority regarding ecclesiastical matters, such as birth control.

Prophet: One who speaks prophetically. This can include preaching or speaking concerning spiritual or religious matters. Most modern day prophets insist on speaking profitably.

Protestant: A non-Catholic, worthy of eternal damnation.

Pseudepigrapha: A collection of Jewish writings determined to be unclean.

Purgatory: Place “in limbo” between heaven and hell where some Catholics go, as no other Christian churches seem to have an equivalent.

Raca: Term used by Jesus to explain that one who would use such a term is in spiritual danger of “the council”, while one who utters, “you fool” is in danger of hell fire. Needless to say, rarely do you hear anyone call another Raca.

Rapture: The belief that, at the time of the return of Jesus Christ, those Christians alive at that time would be raised up into the air and go off to heaven and forever be with the Lord. Some bright individual one day realized that this would not do, as Jesus was coming back to the earth, and this scenario created a dichotomy with Jesus on the earth and the Christians in heaven sans the Lord. The belief was therefore modified so that Jesus will come twice, stopping in the air the first time and escorting the Christians to heaven, where he then turns around and comes right back to the earth in order to fulfill the prophesies of returning. None of the proponents of this belief has yet realized the dichotomy still exists.

Sacraments: Also known in some churches as Mysteries. Religious rites that were enjoined on the membership by Jesus or later by a church. The ritual of the Eucharist, with the bread and wine representing the body and blood, is an example of a Sacrament. That some churches refer to these as Mysteries demonstrates they weren’t paying attention to the scriptures that explained them.

Sermon: Religion’s answer to Nyquil. A sermon’s intent is to give a message that is related to the gospel as commanded by Christ to be preached. Once in a great while this happens in some small way. There has been much debate among Christian leaders as to what the gospel is. All agree however that the gospel cannot be preached without proper funding.

Temptation: A desire, usually sinful, usually submitted to.

Unknown God: The God people refuse to know.

Vow: A promise made to oneself to live by some restriction or standard. As an example, some take a vow of silence where they have determined never to speak. Others have taken a vow of poverty. Many religious leaders today have taken a vow of prosperity. Upon examination of those that have taken a vow of poverty, I should be so impoverished.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom.

Acts 17:11

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Faith; What it Aint

Faith; What it Aint

Sometimes we can acquire a better understanding of a thing by understanding the antithesis of a thing. When it comes to faith in God, people have differing opinions of what this means, and those of us who were, and presently are, members of the Armstrong legacy, have/had a particular spin.

Faith is seen coupled to, and indeed chained to keeping the law, or at least the ten commandments of the old covenant. Works are defined as works of the law when it comes to the statement in Scripture that faith without works is dead. (A simple examination of James chapter 2 bears this out to be false, but that has been too much of a bother for many, especially since said examination has the potential of exposing one’s beliefs as false; something to be avoided at all costs!)

I have shown previously that the sin of Adam and Eve, and the sin of Satan were the same; an abandonment of faith in God.

This understanding helps us to take a look into what faith is not.

Adam and Eve partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree’s fruit was described by the serpent as having the potential to make them over into beings who would know good and evil even as God knows good and evil:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. – Genesis 3:5

The fruit / tree had one other quality:

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. – Genesis 3:6

There was a wisdom associated with partaking of that fruit.

Faith in God is a total reliance on God. It incorporates belief, trust, and assurance in God and that what He says is true.

When Christ and the apostles proclaimed the gospel, it was a message of salvation through faith in God and Christ:

It is a simple gospel message, that can be understood by anyone; salvation through faith alone. There are examples of many in the Scriptures whose righteousness was based in faith. From the Scriptures we also learn that our “righteousness” derived through the law, is not going to cut it in the long run:

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: – Philippians 3:9

It is God’s righteousness we are to seek, and it is acquired through faith:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; – Matthew 6:33a

What then is the opposite of faith in Christ?

Faith in oneself. Self-reliance. Self righteousness. Where is this self righteousness derived from? Read again Philippians 3:9.

God provided the “standard” for those who put their reliance in themselves. God provided the alternative to faith in Him for those who felt there was more to it; that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God provided that law that was established as the standard by which His justice was served through the sacrifice of Christ.

There seems to be this inherent belief that, if you live a good life, God will reward you with eternal life. This standard is designed to show mankind that man will never, based on his own efforts, be good enough to God.

So a logical question arises. Why would God enable you, through His Spirit, to keep that law so you could prove yourself worthy of eternal life based on what is still your efforts? And if it were the function of the Holy Spirit to so enable you, then how is it those that believe this still transgress that law?

No, God wants to make sure you come to realize that, based on your own effort, you will never measure up. He wants you to understood that, the only reason you will have eternal life is as a gift to you in response to your faith in Him. You seek the kingdom via God’s righteousness, and not yours.

And yet, there remains a plethora of argumentation for trying to keep that law you cannot keep, as though you are required to try, knowing ahead of time you will fail over and over again. Does this prove anything to God? To God, it proves a lack of faith in Him and salvation being a gift. It engenders frustration in the one trying to keep that law. It is a doctrine of failure; a belief you have to strive to do the impossible.

I cannot emphasize enough that you can not possibly measure up to that standard set by God. God wants you to understand, you are not like God, and you never will be like God. You will come to understand that, like Satan, taking your faith, trust, and assurance off of God and transferring faith to yourself, will have disastrous results. This is the unpardonable sin.

You will have learned the results of the knowledge of good and evil. God is good, and you are evil, unable to be good like God is good. Only by having Christ’s righteousness applied to you are you made acceptable to God. This is about being under grace; the result of faith in Christ and His righteousness. This is about God justifying the “ungodly.”

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. – Romans 4:4-5

Do you honestly think any person will have eternal life because God owes it to him?

There is one last observation:

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. – Galatians 3:11-29

1. No one will be justified by the law.

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident:

2. The law is not of faith; the one who lives by the law does just that; lives by the law and not faith

for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

3. Christ has redeemed men from the curse of the law; the penalty for not keeping it perfectly, as required. Christ did this through His sacrifice. Those who believe they are still required to try and keep it will still fail, unaware that you can only sacrifice Christ once.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

4. The blessing of Abraham which was that he would inherit the world and his progeny would be like the stars of heaven, now comes upon the Gentiles who were formerly not a party to that covenant of promise. Neither were they a party to the covenant law, unless they underwent circumcision and entered into that old covenant with Israel. They are accepted into Abraham’s covenant without having to first come under the covenant of law, thereby becoming an Israelite and offspring of Abraham in that way. Their entry into the covenant of Abraham is via Christ, and not the law.

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

5. Abraham’s covenant was a covenant of promise, and the promises extended out to the offspring of Abraham. This cannot be changed any more than the old covenant of law can be changed by adding gentiles to it without the requirement to undergo circumcision, which these gentiles did not have to undergo. They entered into Abraham’s covenant of promise through faith; through Christ who is the seed, and gentile Christians are in Christ.

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

6. The old covenant of law therefore cannot affect the covenant God made with Abraham previously. These promises made to Abraham and his descendants are promises that cannot be affected by that law. This “inheritance” promised to Abraham, entails eternal life and salvation (for Abraham did not receive in his lifetime the promises (Hebrews 11:13)).

And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

7. Seeing as the law has nothing to do with the promises and salvation, what then was the purpose of the law? It was added because man is sinful. Added to what though? It was added to the offspring of Abraham who were sinful, and it was to have a limited time that it would be extant or in force. It was a mediated law between God, who is “one” and the Israelites who were many, with Moses as the mediator. Understand. The Israelites were given that law because they were faithless and sinful. Christ came, bringing the faith to be revealed, at which point, they would then live by faith, and no longer need to be under the alternate; the law designed for the faithless and sinful ( I Timothy 1:9-10)

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

8. Does that law negatively affect the promises God made with Abraham? No, for the law has nothing to do with the promises that included eternal life through faith. The law, and keeping the law, does not result in this righteousness derived through faith. The law is not in competition with the promises or eternal life. The law was there to bring all under sin, so all would see the need to live by faith in order to attain to the promises. The law kept the people under the rules and requirements of the law until faith was to be revealed to the people; the way out from under the law and the condemnation of the law, when faith is embraced. The law made sure people understood that, based on their own efforts, salvation is not an option. Their natures are sinful, and the law reinforced that assessment (Romans 5:20; Romans 7:13)

Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

9. Schoolmaster: A paidagogos. A person, usually a slave, who accompanied a child of the household around, guiding and even punishing the child should he misbehave, until such time the child comes of age and is mature; in this analogy, a Christian guided by the Holy Spirit and the accompanying faith. The law is dismissed, its purpose having been served.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom.

Acts 17:11

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The Enemies of Israel are the Enemies of God

The enemies of Israel are the enemies of God, what an extreme statement. But if you believe the bible, then this statement must be accepted as truth. This statement explains my interest in politics; I’m interested only in how it relates to God’s will. I don’t want to discover, at some point, that I’m fighting God. The only available source for knowing the will of God, of course, is his word delivered to us by his Israelite prophets.

The bible is about the promises God made to Abraham and his children, the Jewish people, and within this story salvation is made available to the gentiles as branches are grafted into the spiritual tree of Israel.

Physically, Judah had been stripped of it’s branches as predicted Jer 11:16 The LORD called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form. But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken. V17 The LORD Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done evil and provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal. Only a stump would remain. Isa 6:13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land." This all happened.

Israel would be abandoned from the time of Jesus came until the time he comes. Mic 5:3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until (G5704 also means during, while) the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. V4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

From the time of Jesus to the present, simple belief that Jesus can and will save you allowed the owner of the orchard to add the believer to his tree, and to be transformed by his Holy Spirit. Believe Jn 1:12, 3:16, 5:24, 6:29, 7:38, 12:36, 13:20, 16:8-9, 17:3, Mk 16:16; Lk 8:12; Acts 16:30-31; Rom 10:9-10; Rom 10:13; Gal 3:22; Eph 1:13; 2Thes 1:10 1Tim 1:16; Heb10:39, 1Jn 4:15; 1Jo 5:4-5, 10-11.

God told Israel that disobedience would lead to being dispersed throughout the world: Deut 28:62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. V63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. V64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other.

The tree of Judah was cut down physically, but a shoot was to come up Isa 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. V2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear (H3374 also means reverence) of the LORD.

I have a fruit tree that died because of drought, but a sapling came up from its roots and is taking the place of what is dried up and dead. In the same way, Israel had a sapling spring forth in fulfillment of prophecy in the person of Jesus. Among the natural branches on the resulting tree, the wild (gentile) branches may be grafted in. Rom 11:17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, V18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

The physical promises to Abraham are not rendered invalid, the physical tree of Israel was promised to be restored, and those who try to spiritualize this away should open their eyes, for what God said would happen in clear language has indeed happened without ambiguity. Je 30:3 The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,' says the LORD."

Je 32:37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. V11 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. V12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. V13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.

Ezek 11:16 Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. V17 Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.'

Ezek 36:8 'But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. V9 I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, V10 and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

Isa 14:1 The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
These prophesies are being fulfilled before our eyes.

The time of Judah’s destitution has come to an end, but is not complete. Two wars in Europe left the USA, by default, as the most powerful of nations; coincidentally, just in time to act as the guardian of Israel, as a tool of God in fulfilling his word; Isa 66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. V10 Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.

The power of the US appears to have no other relevance to what God is doing other than to facilitate Israel’s rebirth; therefore, when the US no longer serves this purpose, I believe the blessing of God’s favor will be removed.

In the finale of Israel’s story, the nations of the world attack Israel, and apparently, no one stands up for her. That means the US abandons her. I hate this, and my feet are plowing furrows in the ground in resistance to this abandonment.

The US politicians who heap praise on the glory and goodness of this country, and then disregard, or disrespect Israel, and negate this nation’s duty to God as Israel’s defender; these politicians are all in the same category. I can only view them as standing in opposition to the sure promises of God to restore Jacob’s children to their rightful place, so I have no kind words for them. God forbid that anyone should find themselves in opposition to God. If our nation were a car, the politicians who wont stand up for Israel are parking it on a railroad track in front of an oncoming train.

The USA has fought wars that have held back the tide of forces that would have crushed God’s newborn nation. The people who spew venom on US foreign policies are blind to God’s hand working behind the scenes.

Now we see attitudes changing in Washington, and this has implications that pertain to the whole world. Those who hate Israel, and by extension, the will of the Almighty, will soon be turned loose. The vehemence against God’s nation pours out like a river, and the people of the world are swept up in the propaganda they spread. They will soon act, seeking to destroy her.
Ezek 38:8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. V9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. V10 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. V11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people--all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.

During the interim, this verse seems to describes the present situation; Zech 12:2 I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. V3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.

Those who come against Israel will no longer rail against her, and be her accusers. God will make it clear that those who speak against Israel are fools for not believing his copious predictions of Israel’s restoration. Who can belong to Christ and stand in opposition to his will, this is oxymoronic. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of God. They will come to an ignominious end.
Joe 3:1 In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,V2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.

Ezek 39:21 I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. V22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.

Isa 29:6 the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire. V7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem), that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night—

Isa 34:8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion's cause. V9 Edom's (aria South of the Dead Sea) streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch!

Zep 3:8 Therefore wait for me," declares the LORD, "for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them-- all my fierce anger. The whole world(H776 eretz land) will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.

Zech 14:2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. V3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. V4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS- NO HEP C!!

A while back I told that a family member thought they may have Hepatitis C.

Well I want to  thank you all for your prayers!! I just got the call. No Hep C!!! It was a false positive!

Praise God!

9/11 town hall to re-air Mon, Sept 21

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * *

NRB NETWORK WILL RE-AIR 9/11 TOWN HALL MEETING MONDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 21 AT 8pm & MIDNIGHT EASTERN
* Joshua Fund expands efforts to care for the poor and needy in Israel

By Joel C. Rosenberg

(WASHINGTON, D.C., September 21, 2009) -- The following is a press release issued Monday by the NRB Network:
Viewers who missed the National Town Hall webcast featuring Joel C. Rosenberg and Lt.-General (ret.) Jerry Boykin have another opportunity to tune in.
On Monday, September 21st, NRB Network will broadcast the event at 8 pm ET and again at midnight. [Direct TV -- channel 378]
The webcast, which aired live on four television and 750 radio outlets from Calvary Chapel Philadelphia on September 11th, also attracted some 616 church congregations across the country who logged on to watch the discussion about the threat of radical Islam and the church's response.
Rosenberg, a New York Times best-selling author with multiple titles to his credit, previewed his new documentary called Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson & Jesus Are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World. The film was released the day of the event by Tyndale House Publishers.
Lt.-Gen. Boykin, former deputy undersecretary of defense intelligence and founding member of Delta Force, joined Rosenberg in a Q&A session. Other speakers included Tom Doyle, author of two books on Israel and the Middle East and revivalist Hormoz Shariat. Termed the "Billy Graham of Iran", Shariat is a former Shia Muslim who became a Christian after the Iranian Revolution. Today he has a satellite ministry seen by over 7 million Iranians every weeknight.
Viewers will not want to miss this important and informative program on Monday, September 21st at 8 pm and 12 am ET on NRB Network.

Racism, Airing an Explosive Issue

Racism is such a sensitive issue that most people seem to go the long way around the barn to avoid it. This accusation, by former president Carter, that objections to President Obama’s policies are fundamentally racially motivated, pricked a few holes in my own private can of worms, so I thought I’d air it out a bit.

First off, I find President Carter’s assertion to be outrageous, inflammatory and irresponsible. He continues to add to the pile of reasons why I just don’t like the man. A supposedly bible reading man who is anti Jewish is an oxymoron, and testifies to a complete bastardization of the word of God. All that aside, I want to know: President Carter, how did you come to this conclusion? Did you take a poll? Or are you doing what I think we all do, look into ourselves to imagine how others may feel? Did you find latent racism lurking therein; some ingrained remnant of some early cultural childhood influences and presume this is how all ‘white people are’?

Sometimes I like to approach a subject somewhat autobiographically since our personal experiences are so fundamental in forming our perspectives. I don’t often find many people exposing themselves in this fashion, but I always like it when they do; only in these rare instances do I gain any understanding of the how and why of people’s thinking processes.

For those of us who are not psychic, the best we can do is contemplate how we feel in order to imagine how some one else feels. When I look into myself, I don’t find a basis for presuming racism is a monster hiding under a façade of politeness. This is not to say that I don’t find some racial ambivalence. It is, in fact, this ambivalence that forms my basis in my attempts at understanding the attitudes of African Americans etc. who demonstrate their own ambivalences to white people.

I often wonder if African Americans define themselves as ‘black’ among themselves as they appear to do in mixed society. I’m just wondering because I’ve never heard a ‘white’ person refer to themselves as a ‘white’ person. I think it’s usually a non issue, and from my perspective, the fact that African Americans have brought up the subject to me, has been an impediment to being able to simply accept them as an individual.

There is a song by Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) ‘Groove Thing’ that asks the question ‘What color is the soul’; it says ‘evening is the color of the soul’. I say the soul (spirit of man) has no color; that is how I see it.

This Idea was planted in my head by my very white dad and his ‘evil’ protestant church before my memory kicks in properly. The phrase: “you, or I, could have been born of any race, nationality or in any country.” Seems to have been common, and predates the civil rights movement. “The soul returns to he who gave it” Ec 12:7 has implications about our true nature not being that of a physical body; and this has not been lost on people who have understood God’s message over time, regardless of however many people have shamed the title ‘Christian’ through their excuses and warped eisegesis used to make a child of God appear to be something less, and to justify inequality. The aggressive domineering ones make history, and are more likely to be the wealthy ones who play king of the mountain, and survive to impose their will on every one else. Who remembers the meek of the earth that have been mindful of God’s interest in his human creation, and had a fear of offending him through self glorification?

At this point I’m going to wax autobiographical, as an example of experience that leads to certain racial attitudes, and the introspection that becomes a basis for attempting to understand others.

I remember few black people in my early days in Anchorage Alaska. One in particular I remember was a friend of my dad’s at his local carpenters union; I must have been around four at the time. I remember sitting up on a counter with my feet dangling while he and my dad talked, he said something to me, laughed, poked me in the belly and laughed some more. I liked him. I don’t think I was cognizant of some difference about him. No one ever said there was, so I didn’t notice.

My brother came home from school one day with a little Japanese girl. She was having fun on our old creaky swing set, and I think she became my first childhood crush. Nobody told me there was something different about her.

The one person that I saw my dad with most frequently was an Inuit guy who made paintings of mountains, fish, bear and such, on pieces of moose or caribou horn that my dad would slice up on his band saw, which would be sold to tourists. This man was wheelchair bound, and this was the difference I noticed about him, because nobody pointed out that there was a difference.

In Alaska, before statehood, people lived off the land more than they are permitted to today. My dad could only work half the year as a carpenter, so food came from hunting, and he had a fish wheel he built on some small river that he mechanically maintained, but was operated by local Intuits who gave him a share of the fish it captured. Nobody said anybody was different; everyone was just trying to put food on the table.

My mother got drawn into the teachings of Herbert Armstrong and decided that my dad’s church was of the devil. She had been married previously, so she believed that she was not married in the eyes of God. She left him, and we went to the lower 48, and thereafter, my brother and I learned that *all people of other faiths were an inferior subspecies*.

I was 9 by the time a custody battle resulted in around a year of living in foster homes. Down the street from one, a Mexican family moved in. there were a lot of kids; some my age. I was glad for new playmates. My brother and I went over to get to know them. Their mother was great and I though the kids were my friends.

Later, some of their family came for a visit. I met my ‘friends’ and their cousins after dark one evening. I had been coming home from another friend’s house. They were acting strange. They surrounded me in a big circle, laughing. They started slapping me and pushing me back and forth in the circle, taunting and calling me names. After having their fun, they finally left me wreathing on the ground in pain from punched to the stomach, gasping to breath. I guess some one had to teach me about racism.

I use this experience as a visual when I try to imagine why an African American would hate me because of my complexion. I understand that this may be how they had been treated by some white people; but you know, although I know of white racism, I’ve never seen it except on TV, that is, beyond a few racial slurs on a few rare occasions.

My experience with racism has been being verbally assaulted and threatened when I wondered into the wrong neighborhood of a city. People of color walked through my neighborhood and no one bothered them. I’ve been knocked unconscious and robbed by a group of black teenagers. I’ve had racial epithets hurled at me from people I didn’t know, and African American men on buses and in school brought up the subject of racism and insisted on explaining to me the sinful nature of the ‘white’ race, which paradoxically dissuaded me from seeing or treating them like ‘just a person’. This created in me a racial ambivalence, but my early indoctrination from an essentially white protestant church etc., was such that I could not return a racial slur against those pouring them out on me.

This is not necessarily saying much about my personal character, that’s not my point. Actually there are a number of points that can be drawn from this. The first of which is the notion that it took the civil rights movement to teach white people to respect people of color as equals. However much I respect the goals and accomplishments of that movement, the notion is pure bunk. There was a cancer in American society of a cultural and educational nature that the civil rights movement addressed, and I can only see it as the will of God, and I’m thankful that Christians who could understand the simple words of Gal 3:28 led this movement, in particular ML King; but these words have been understood by many long before. I should add that ‘all are one in Christ’ I take as implying that those who are not of Christ still belong to God since God isn’t through dealing with anybody, and he will take them to himself at such time as he chooses. Who, then, dares to offend God by forgetting to be thankful, and copping an attitude of superiority.

The second thing I take from my own experience is that racism is indeed an educational issue. This means that the poison was introduced at some point in time, and it was taught from generation to generation. Conversely, if no one teaches a child that there is some significant difference which is indicated by variations of complexion, this notion probably won’t occur to that child.

I think that most people know that the nation of Liberia was created by the US as a place for former slaves to go if they wished to return to the land of their forefathers. I don’t know if many know that those who returned built plantations like those they had known, and they enslaved the local inhabitants as they had been, as their labor force. This says a great deal about education. We do what we know, and of course, we’re likely to abuse as we’ve been abused.

The third thing I gather from my personal experience is that those who have suffered racism frequently generate the very thing they hate and stand apposed to. Being pre-judged is what prejudice means, and treating people like ‘the enemy race’ becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. This is understandable, but it is a fruit of paranoia. It may be difficult to resist, but presuming racism is an endemic, built in quality, is also making a rash and racist presumption. I wish adults could be like kids; put a bunch in a room and they innocently interact without concern of racial variations; and this wouldn’t change if adults didn’t teach them differently.

Now I want to say something to counter balance what I’ve said about my experience with race, and it’s about a certain 30 second moment. I was a church pariah as a kid and teenager, socially awkward and suffering from extreme depression/emotional disturbances. I left school at the beginning of the 8^th grade due to a nervous breakdown. No one in OWCG (Original World Wide Church of God) gave me a second thought. I had no where to go, and no friends, so I just wondered around on the streets.

I must have been 15 or 16; there was a Black church that I some times would walk near. When the people arrived or were leaving, they behaved towards each other like family. I’d see some mother like woman holding her arms wide pulling kids into a big monster hug with men joyously greeting one another creating a wonderful din of social interactivity. Every one neatly dressed, boys all spiffy and the girls all like colorful spring flowers. They’d disappear inside their church and sing songs that made me tingle, but added to my sorrow because what they had was nothing like my church.

One day I was drawn closer, virtually up to the walk leading to the door, trying to hear the singing better. From some where a well dressed black man appeared behind me and said: “you know you can go in if you want.” I felt shocked and embarrassed so I quickly excused myself and left, but he did for me what no one from OWCG ever did. In fact, who could enter an OWCG service without going through a trial of examination and humbling, groveling to ‘authority’? There was nothing of the sort here. Although I was a stranger, one of what he might have thought of as a hostile race, this man invited me in.

Thirty seconds of kindness has had more power in forming my perception of the African race than all the abuse I’d experienced. I’m inclined to think that the hateful ones were just loud and stood out, and taking them as representative would be an error. People of African extraction are people whose colorless spirit just happens to dwell in a black body, what the apostle Paul called a tent 2Cor 5:1, 5:4. I think Jimmy Carter has made a mistake in his judgment of his own race, perhaps because he looks inside himself and sees what he expects exists in every one of similar complexion; but there’s no intrinsic reason to make this so, it’s certainly not an inherited trait. Caucasians also have a colorless spirit that just happens to temporarily dwell in a white tent; so Jimmy Carter, I reject your assertion.