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THE LORD’S POWERFUL “WOE TO YOU!” REBUKATHONS (PART 4)

The parallels are uncanny. Many cannot see the forest for the trees. The corrective is rejected as destruction progresses. Christians are fiddling as the city burns…

OPENING STATEMENTS:

From Part 1: Much of Christianity in America has either rejected or forfeited its spiritual vitality and strength. Christians must seek the Lord’s full anointing.

From Part 2: By the time the Woe’s come it is apparently too late…

From Part 3: There is GREAT need of direct open rebuke of many Christian entities in America (most). Such will never, of course, come from the inside.

THE PRECEDENT

God had been rebuking and correcting the wayward nation of Israel for centuries. He had done this primarily through His prophets. The time arrived, however, when the prophets were no more…

This distinct nation had a miraculous beginning and was preserved repeatedly over many centuries by God who always kept His covenant with it though the nation strayed repeatedly and committed national adultery on a semi-regular basis. Things had gotten so bad regarding the nation’s inability or desire to remain chaste that a divorce and dissolution of the covenant was acknowledged at one point, in the time of the prophet Jeremiah while Josiah was king (640-609BC):

Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the LORD. [Jeremiah 3:6-10]

Already, three centuries before this, a few years after Solomon died in 930BC, the nation had split in two. It became “Israel” in the north composed of ten tribes and “Judah” in the south composed of three. (The twelve tribes had become thirteen as Joseph’s tribe became two, named after his sons.) The northern nation of Israel, composed of the vast majority, lasted only two centuries. It had grown increasingly wicked, refusing to repent, driven to this end mostly by its rebellious leaders. It ceased to exist in 722BC when carried off into permanent captivity. That constituted the divorce.

The nation of Judah remained in the south, composed of the three remaining tribes of Judah, Levi, and Benjamin, until its wickedness also caused the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586BC, and the resulting national exile as it was removed to Babylon for a total of seventy years. This constituted a national separation rather than an outright divorce but was only predicated upon God’s unending love for His people and His adherence to the covenant. Also, there were a great many things left to accomplish to fulfill the prophetic plan.

He would preserve what was left of the former nation to preserve the dedicated Remnant within it due to its undying faithfulness to the covenant. However, it did no good to preserve the Remnant unless there was a plan to come to its rescue, to deliver it from the clutches of evil, to end its subjection to the slavery of wicked authoritarians, both religious and monarchical, and to bless it with spiritual LIFE. He would fight for these people, His true sons and daughters. He would go to spiritual war for them. He would continue in His quest to lead and guide them, correct them, teach them, provide for them, and love them as their spiritual Father.

For the full working out of this long term goal and its all-encompassing consequences for the world at large, God also had to become that which He had intended from before the very foundation of the world: He must be His nation’s Messiah and Savior. To that end He must be the Sacrifice Lamb, the one who would go so far as to die for His Bride, expressing with His entire heart the greatest love, which included shedding His blood for her spiritual cleansing and salvation, and then raising her up to spiritual greatness.

Therefore, what was left of the nation was safeguarded and protected as it had always been: HE MUST PRESERVE THE MESSIANIC GENERATIONAL LINE. He must do this even though the majority of His people turned against Him, served other gods, embraced the devil’s religious cults, and did it all with a stiffnecked, rebellious, unmanageable attitude, always creating problems and fomenting crises that never had to happen. Sound familiar? The line began with Adam. Then Adam fouled up the plan bigtime. The line continued with Abel. So the devil stirred up Cain to kill him. And voila! No coming Savior. Then 130 years later Adam finally repented and got his act together. He could now have a son to replace Abel. This was Seth. The line was restored. And on it went. The enemies of God were forever trying to stop the Savior from arriving by attacking the bearers of the pure generational line that would eventually result in His long awaited arrival. They failed.

ABRAHAM

This small and obscure ancient nation composed of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was blessed to be the only nation on earth to have an actual covenant with the Creator of the universe. The far-reaching agreement was initially a compact of only two parties, the Lord and the nomad Abram, whose name meant “exalted father” or “father of elevation.” Later, as recorded in Genesis 17:5, God changed his name to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude.” In context, it is translated as “father of a multitude (הָמוֹן hāmôn) of nations (גּוֹי gôy).” Thus, Abraham was not only the progenitor of the nation of Israel but was also the father of other nations as signified by the Hebrew word goy, pluralized to goyim.

Regarding the name Israel, this had also been the result of a rename by God. It became the new name of Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. Jacob fathered the twelve sons whose descendants became the twelve tribes. One may recall that Isaac, the promised one, actually had twin sons by his wife Rebekah: Esau and Jacob. But the eldest, Esau, had no part in God’s covenant after he thought so little of it and sold his birthright.

Thus we have a man named Abraham who fathered the child Isaac by miraculous means though he had previously fathered his first son Ishmael by purely natural means thirteen years before. After Isaac was born and raised and after Sarah died, Abraham married again to a woman name Keturah and became the father of six more sons. There is also an indication that he had other children besides these by women other than Keturah because Genesis 25:6 refers to his “concubines.” Most if not all of these sons and later descendants settled to the east of Canaan. Isaac’s son Esau and his future offspring comingled with them to a degree. The sons of Abraham thus became the ancestors of many Middle Eastern peoples.

Therefore, Abraham truly became the father of many nations which later were referred to as “Gentiles” in that they were all distinct from the nation of Israel though they all descended from the same man.

Yet there is another aspect to Abraham’s fatherhood, one much more significant. There is another nation that arose through his miracle son Isaac. This particular nation is descended from Abraham but not through natural means. It is comprised of many nations in the natural yet is but one nation in the Spirit. The apostle Paul taught this truth as follows:

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. [Romans 4:13-25]

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. [Galatians 3:26-29]

THIS IS THE END

We see then, starting at the time of the Promise in 1876BC until the Exodus from Egypt 430 years later, that the original nation of God’s covenant had grown large, unified, and strong resulting in the victorious Conquest of Canaan in circa 1400BC. It was not long, however, until it fell into a pattern of fits and starts, national sin and deliverance, and then suffered a disastrous split about five centuries later from which it never recovered.

By God’s grace it continued through all its iniquity and waywardness for another millennium until its prophesied end, due only to its repeated violation of the covenant and hatred of its Founder. When He arrived in His land, according to a multitude of prophetic statements, the movers and shakers who controlled the nation, those who had drifted far from God, did not recognize Him. They failed to see Him for who He is and refused to honor Him. Unreal Christianity has the same problem and will suffer the same fate.

In the following statement, the Lord’s sorrowful lament for His people and pained anguish of His rejection and all He could have otherwise done for them bleeds through. It is a passage filled with pathos and lost love, characterizing the tragedy of what had become of a people so blessed and cared for, less than forty years before the end. This time there would be no mere separation or divorce, but termination:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” [Matthew 23:37-39]

This passage came at the end of the Lord’s greatest rebukathon in Scripture in which He held nothing back. Still, it did no good. They refused to repent. All hope was lost. It was the Last Days—the final generation—the time when all the prophesied events regarding the nation’s fiery conclusion would be fulfilled a mere four decades later. The Lord had done all He could do. Essentially the only thing left was speaking the final pronouncements through prophetic Woe’s.

And once the Woe’s come, it’s pretty much over.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

“Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” [Matthew 23:13-36][1]

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THE LORD’S POWERFUL “WOE TO YOU!” REBUKATHONS (PART 3)

Feb 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

There is GREAT need of direct open rebuke of many Christian entities in America (most). Such will never, of course, come from the inside.

NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATIONS

Those in control have long since gained full control of the “inside.” No one on the inside who discovers corruption or notices incorrect unscriptural practices and attempts to clean it up will ever get very far without consequently being shown the door post haste. It doesn’t matter if it’s a worldwide cabal masquerading as a Christian denomination or a little church somewhere with dishonest leaders operating on the sly. Whoever stands against whatever’s wrong by the Lord’s anointing will suffer at the hands of the resident corrupt authority. They do this to protect their racket. Sadly, the leadership usually has the support of the congregation which is often too clueless to understand and sees such an attempt at reform as an attack or too fearful to challenge their betters. Just as the Lord’s great Woe’s came from without by a great Prophet and prophetic rebukes of old came forth from outside the religious establishment by OT prophets, so must this great rebuke also come from without in most cases.

For all intents and purposes, every single Christian denomination and local church in the country has established controls of which no one outside of the power structure can bring any effective correcting voice. The “power structure” may be large and include both overall denominational hierarchies and local church hierarchies. Or it may be absolutely small and exist as a single “pastor” of an independent body. Whatever the case, it is very important to establish church ruling structures in which nothing or nobody can bring a word which might differ from church agendas and doctrines or standard operating procedure. This reveals many Christian ministries, therefore, not as entities existing to honor the truth of the Lord’s teachings but their own distinct interpretations of the Lord’s teachings thereof and whatever they allow to be allowed.

And because the success of the enterprise is that which is most important, including, of course, the success of those in control who draw their sustenance and in many cases their excess monetary gains from the enterprise, of which they cannot exist or operate, controlling whatever has proved to be monetarily successful is mandatory.

It is therefore a matter, then, of what is considered “success.” From this we can derive two basics. There is the usual form of success—that of the “bottom line” measured only in terms of necessary monetary income which supports the material structure and salaries thereof. Secondly, there is the spiritual success of the church or ministry reflected in the spiritual development, maturation, and effectiveness of the members.

Of course, the Lord always placed spiritual success first and foremost. He had next to nothing of the former, that of material outlays. He had no electric bills or mortgage payments because He had no church buildings. However, during His ministry, He definitely had need of shelter in that He often stayed at someone’s house and even told people on occasion He would be staying at their house. This means private residences were important and served as necessary shelter. Now, such a fact may appear obvious, but the point is that the Lord drew a distinction, a large one, between the private residence and the public “church building.” Regarding His own ministry, He honored and made use of the former but had no use whatsoever of the latter. Though he sometimes taught in the synagogues He never built His own synagogue or commanded His disciples to do so.

At present, and throughout much of history, especially of the last few centuries, this dynamic of priorities has completely flipped. The original first-century Community of the Lord met almost exclusively in private residences and had their meetings there, and though this did not only take place for a few years or even a few decades after Pentecost, as some wish to assert in defense of their incorrect beliefs, the house church standard actually transpired for centuries. This proves the Early Church maintained the exact procedure in this regard as did the Lord.

PRIORITIES

What this entails, then, is that the juxtaposition from the spiritual to the material which represents itself in church buildings etc. and the large material outlays thereof, is that the first and foremost spiritual priority of the Lord and His true disciples has become secondary. Rather than putting spiritual priorities first which results in strong developed spiritual disciples able to win spiritual victories, take great ground for the Lord and His Kingdom, and go forth as powerful witnesses for the salvation of great numbers, we are left with mostly “successful” non-spiritually developed non-disciple congregants that prioritize monetary and material success as most important. This mindset is perfectly represented in buildings much larger than their members’ individual houses so all the residences of such houses which make up the congregation can meet together at the same time.

It is interesting then, that the Lord was never concerned about such. There were times during His ministry when multiple thousands of people were following Him—they were following Him in the literal sense. Great masses of people, likely as many as 20,000 or more, were literally following Him around. This was a perfect representation of what happened during the Sinai wanderings fifteen centuries before when the nation of Israel, having escaped from the slavery of Egypt by the Lord’s hand at the Exodus, were going about the desert terrain, not haphazardly with no direction, but as trailing God’s every move. They did this for forty years:

The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. [Exodus 13:21-22]

It is interesting, therefore, that the Lord Jesus did not care about sheltering these great crowds of people following Him. As we picture such scenes we usually never consider the weather. It was not always dry and sunny. There had to have been times when it was quite cold, when storms rose up or when it rained, maybe heavily or in a cool drizzle. Consequently, there were those who likely carried the means for a crude shelter composed of a blanket and thin tree branches or some such. The point here is that, in the course of the Lord’s ministry to His people, it was impossible to house all these thousands in a designated building. Maybe when the weather got bad many went home. Maybe the relatively harsh conditions weeded out the committed from those swayed by what they thought were excessive physical discomforts.

THE COMMITTED

Many years ago I was in our large church building at the beginning of a service. A friend of mine was making a few announcements up at the pulpit and then spoke a few sentences about spiritual commitment. He said something about a breakfast of ham and eggs. He said the chicken was involved but the pig was committed.

This draws an excellent contrast. Christians who are committed go way beyond being “involved.” They never quit. They are in it for the duration. They take their covenant vows to the Lord seriously. There is no greater covenant than one’s covenant with the Lord Jesus and those who never violate it are in it for the long haul and whatever that may entail. They will let nothing, absolutely nothing, stop them.

Christians who are committed express the same commitment the Lord made. No one ever had a more difficult life. No one ever suffered as much pain. He suffered in every way possible throughout His life. His sufferings reached every part of His being. But He would not stop. No inconveniences would stop Him. No suffering and no pain would hinder His purpose and objective. Whatever challenge presented itself He would overcome and did.

Though we may say “Yes, but that was Him. We are not Him.” This is true, but only in a sense. In reality He subjected Himself to life as a human being in this physical world and achieved His objective within it having to deal with the same stuff we do. He overcame it all, showed us how to do it, and maybe most importantly, spiritually equipped us to do it. And this is where the majority of Christianity, as opposed to a minority which is equipped, refuses to go. It rejects the equipping part. It may appreciate His example and achievements but rejects the idea that it can perform as He did. And what is the result? It does not perform as He did.

And this is not because this multiple millions-strong multitude of non-equipped Christianity doesn’t have the potential. It is because it refuses. It considers the means to be spiritually equipped as far too humiliating and inconvenient. It knows such equipping is bad for material and financial “success” and its respectable place in the culture. Such an attitude necessitates massive REBUKE.

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

We know from the Parable of the Sower that only one in four sowers will yield a crop. Only one in four planters will have a fruitful harvest. The other three will have no harvest whatsoever. Among those who yield a crop, some will do better than others: “Some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” One would think the varying success levels are somewhat based on commitment and dedication.

Before proceeding, there must be a definition in terms. We must know the Lord’s definition of success. Only 25% of all sowers were successful. Breaking this down further, on average only 8% were successful enough for a 100% return. What does the Lord mean when He speaks of a crop? Is He not speaking of the lost being found? Is He not referring to souls being saved and coming to full commitment in Him?

The seed sowed is the message of the Kingdom. It is the Gospel, the Good News. The harvest is PEOPLE. Yet the harvest of people does not refer to how many people one can stack up in the pews of churches as viable members. It has nothing to do with affixing a particular denominational name or title upon said people or placing them under the headship of a particular “pastor.” The people of the harvest all belong to the Lord Jesus. They are His sheep and belong to no other, and as His sheep they follow and obey His teachings and not those of anyone else. They are fully committed to the covenant they make with Him:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” [John 10:27-28]

It should not be difficult, therefore, to identify His sheep as opposed to other sheep who merely claim to be His sheep. The Lord taught specifically on this subject. He made several statements regarding it such as:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” [Matthew 7:21-23]

The main prerequisite here to be counted as one of the Lord’s real sheep is doing the will of the Father. But it does not mean that anyone who prophesies, casts out demons, or performs miracles is practicing lawlessness because the initial Community of the Lord did these things always just as did the Lord. In fact, we are instructed to do these things. No, the inference is that there are Christians who attempt to do these and other things but not under the Lord’s authority or by His spiritual power. He is saying that whoever performs his or her Christianity but not fully under His authority is not actually following Him and is thus operating on his own in a state of lawlessness.

The Greek word translated as “lawlessness” is defined as: 1. Properly, the condition of one without law — either because ignorant of it, or because violating it. 2. Contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness.

Essentially, it means acting apart from the Lord Jesus. The Pharisees and others in His time did the same in that they acted apart from the very God they claimed to serve as perfectly stated in the following verse using the exact word:

“So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” [Matthew 23:28][1]

This statement is spoken within the framework of the Lord’s greatest rebukathon contained in Scripture, a long passage contained in Matthew 23:13-36. This 24 verse passage contains eight occurrences of the word “Woe.” It is truly a shocking overall rebuke.

The same rebuke, at least, is required at present for American Christianity in general. And though this rebuke may or may not be conveyed in spoken form in all or most cases, it will certainly be conveyed through other means. It has actually already started and has been ongoing in part. There was a time when the shysters could get away with it either due to relatively easy economic means in which they could gain what they needed for their enterprises and also due to relatively easy deception in that so many Christians were simply unaware of the Lord’s real and full teachings and had too much misplaced respect and fear of Christian authority.

But due to the Great Awakening, when unobstructed access to the Word of God and superfluous research and study materials have been made available through limitless digital means, Christians are becoming aware of the former deception at the hands of the lawless fakers who look great outwardly but are spiritually empty inwardly. People are seeing that so much of what was formerly presented as absolutely necessary is not. They are also seeing that was is absolutely necessary has been either greatly downplayed or rejected outright by the Christian Pharisees in control.

The greater Light is exposing them. The same thing happened during the Protestant Reformation when Christians regained access to the written Word of God in their own languages and were shocked by what it actually said, in that it differed greatly from what had been pushed upon the unsuspecting people before then. The lawless ones of that time who refused to serve the Lord Jesus but instead served themselves are no different than those in our day.

Part of the forthcoming great rebuke replete with manifold Woe’s will involve a reversal of Unreal Christianity’s economic and material priorities. Another part will involve revealing the real and also the great strengthening and blessing of those Christians who have been doing the will of the Lord but under trying circumstances.

Many such trying circumstances were due to so much of the overall Christian pie being hoarded, gorged on, and scarfed down by the morbidly obese religious shysters concerned only with their own “success” and rarely with the spiritual success of the Lord’s sheep in their pasture.

WOE TO THEM.

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Tags: America, Christian Denominations, Christian Pharisees, Church Buildings, Clergy-Laity Division, Duping the Majority: A Foolproof Method of Success, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Gospel, House Church, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, National Judgment, Parable of the Sower, Pharisees, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Reality vs. Fakery, Rebuke, Spiritual Power, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Woe to You

THE LORD’S POWERFUL “WOE TO YOU!” REBUKATHONS (PART 2)

Feb 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

By the time the Woe’s come it is apparently too late…

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW [14]

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” [Matthew 11:21-24]

“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!” [Matthew 18:7]

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” [Matthew 23:13]

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” [Matthew 23:14]

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” [Matthew 23:15]

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’” [Matthew 23:16]

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.” [Matthew 23:25]

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,” [Matthew 23:29]

“But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!” [Matthew 24:19]

“The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” [Matthew 26:24]

GOSPEL OF MARK [2]

“But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!” [Mark 13:17]

“For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” [Mark 14:21]

GOSPEL OF LUKE [15]

“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.” [Luke 6:24]

“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” [Luke 6:25]

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.” [Luke 6:26]

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!” [Luke 10:13-15]

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” [Luke 11:42]

“Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places.” [Luke 11:43]

“Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.” [Luke 11:44]

“But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.” [Luke 11:46]

“Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.” [Luke 11:47]

“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” [Luke 11:52]

He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!” [Luke 17:1]

“Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people.” [Luke 21:23]

“For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” [Luke 22:22][1]

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Tags: America, Blind Guides, Christian Pharisees, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Final Judgment, Gospel, Hypocrites, Judas Iscariot, Lord Jesus, National Judgment, Olivet Prophecy, Pharisees, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Reality vs. Fakery, Scribes, Sodom, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Woe, Woe to You

THE LORD’S POWERFUL “WOE TO YOU!” REBUKATHONS (PART 1)

Feb 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

Much of Christianity in America has either rejected or forfeited its spiritual vitality and strength. Christians must seek the Lord’s full anointing.

WOE

The following is a study of every occurrence of the word “Woe” in the four gospels. We will look closely at this list to see who the Lord directed His “Woes” against and why.

This word “Woe” occurs in 27 gospel verses.

It occurs a total of 31 times.

Each time it is spoken by the Lord Jesus.

Each time it is spoken by Him in great intensity and emotion in His powerful anointing.

He speaks it against His wicked enemies, against wayward cities, and against errant clueless Israelites.

The word “Woe” is from the Greek word οὐαί (oo-ah’-ee): Alas! Woe!

It is defined as “a primary exclamation of grief” and “an interjection of grief or of denunciation.”

WOE TO YOU!

He used this word primarily against evil Israelite religionists.

Of the 31 total occurrences in the gospels, 14 Woes were directed in strong rebuke against religious leaders. They are listed as follows as they appear in Scripture:

Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites [7 occurrences]
Pharisees [3 occurrences]
Lawyers (Torah teachers) [3 occurrences]
Blind guides [1 occurrence]

In addition to the preceding 14 Woes, 3 more Woes were directed against Judas Iscariot—the apostle who betrayed Him—the duplicitous deceitful man who took a bribe and joined up with the religious leaders and played a major part working in concert with their diabolical conspiracy to murder the Lord.

These 3 bring the total to 17 Woes.

17 out of the 31 are thus directed toward religious authoritarians and their supporters. This accounts for more than half the total (55%).

These facts should ring a bell.

They should ring church bells.

They should ring every conceivable bell, buzzer, and alarm all across the country.

WOE TO YOU!

He also spoke Woes against those who act as stumbling blocks against the innocent, against small children, and against His spiritual children, tripping up the ones seeking and living for the Lord:

The world [1 occurrence]
That man through whom the stumbling block comes [1 occurrence]
Him through whom they (stumbling blocks) come [1 occurrence]

WOE TO YOU!

The Lord likewise spoke a number of Woes against those Israelites who would suffer from the severe judgment coming upon the nation at the very end when all would be destroyed including the temple and the city of Jerusalem less than forty years into the future.

Remember, His Woes were also exclamations of grief. The Lord was pouring His heart out.

Those people would also be guilty and deserved such strong rebuke since they supported the wicked primary instigators who brought on the destruction or never did anything to stop them.

The people may otherwise have prevented it or at least saved themselves if not for their cowardice and great fear of the religious authoritarians, their refusal to repent, and their rejection of their Messiah.

The following recipients of Woes are listed as they appear in Scripture:

“But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!” [Matthew 24:19 and Mark 13:17] “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people!” [Luke 21:23] [3 occurrences]
“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.” [Luke 6:24] [1 occurrence]
“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry.” [Luke 6:25] [1 occurrence]
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” [Luke 6:25] [1 occurrence]
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.” [Luke 6:26] [1 occurrence]

WOE TO YOU!

The Lord also singled out three particular Israelite cities located at the northern area of the Sea of Galilee for severe rebuke, pronouncing Woe’s against:

Chorazin [2 occurrences]
Bethsaida [2 occurrences]
(Capernaum) [2 occurrences]

These three Israelite cities, though they had experienced the Lord’s complete ministry, refused to repent.

He said the first two cities were worse than the sinful Phoenician port cities of Tyre and Sidon.

He said Capernaum was worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. Imagine that.

The Lord said the non-Israelite cities of Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and Gomorrah all would have repented if they had been blessed with the Lord’s ministry.

Scripture also states that first-century Jerusalem was mystically called Sodom and Egypt (See Revelation 11:8).

What kind of hell holes were these? —Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and Jerusalem?

What would He say about many American cities of the present?

He could obviously also say the same thing about many “Christian” churches, ministries, groups, and institutions of today that, regardless of outward beauty-is-skin-deep faux appearances, have apparently partnered with Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and Gomorrah as sister cities and are candidates for Woe proclamations as well as the following:

And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” [John 2:14-16][1]

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A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 8)

Aug 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

Real Christians MUST understand that Unreal Christianity is a devious enemy. It is a false façade operating deceptively diverting Christians away from the full Gospel truth.

RELIGIOUS FAKERS AND FAKERY

In case one has yet to get the memo, evil will do ANYTHING to get its way. We know from the way the devil tempted the Lord that he is a master manipulator and deceiver. If he would engage in such powerful tactics with God Himself he would certainly do it with anyone. We know from the way he successfully deceived Eve and how their transaction released sin into the world that he would stop at nothing. Evil is thus deceptive, cunning, and shrewd. Pageantry and symbolism serve as great tools. The devil is a specialist at presenting himself as perfectly legitimate and honest. He is a great actor.

Hypocrite: ὑποκριτής (hoop-ok-ree-tace’): An actor under an assumed character (stage-player), i.e. (figuratively) a dissembler (“hypocrite”):—hypocrite.

The first-century Pharisees had perfected the craft of religious playacting. They were insincere poseurs pretending to be effective stand-ins for God and an apparent majority of Israelites of the time were utterly fooled. A big part of their fooling was being blindsided by the majestic presence of such bedecked ones all fitted out in their religious finery and egress fenestrations. Secondly, their multi-credentialed résumés granted them superior status not to be trifled with. And thirdly was the fear factor, an egregious quality born of powerful presence and religious pride which disarms and instantly dispatches beholders to places of subservience. Theirs was a purely flesh creation designed to fool minds set on the things of the flesh. This deceptive process, however, opened them up to demonic influence. Their success, therefore, never came from God, nor does the success of today’s Christian Pharisees.

MAKING MERCHANDISE OF YOU

They provide the illusion-affirming attention religious people need to live the lie. They don’t care about anyone’s soul or eternal destination, only that their own status is confirmed and authority honored. In short, they pretty much do the opposite of the Lord Jesus but are such masters of illusion they appear to be outdoing Him. And if this is not true why are the majority of Christians in the world under their sway? We discussed in Part 7 how such an occurrence could happen and how it did. One wonders how so many still cannot see through the ruse but, as I’ve explained it in this article thus far, we are dealing with an extremely high form of deception.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. [2Corinthians 11:13-15][1]

IT BEGAN WITH A ROMAN EMPEROR

Constantine decided on wholesale changes. He went nuclear. He completely rejected the perfect original curriculum of the Lord Jesus. He rejected as well the clear historical record of the Book of Acts and created a new syncretic “Christian” religion. He established a post-Real Christianity institution and then claimed Christianity for himself and his rebellious agenda. He was otherwise obviously never a real Christian and actively opposed the Lord Jesus and His Community. He declared all religions illegal in the Roman Empire, completely eliminating any freedom of religion that existed before. He declared his new Universal Christianity as the only legal religion and forced everyone to join. This included grave penalties for anyone who may refuse. Those who refused exclusively were the real Christians who still honored the Lord Jesus and served Him only. Of course, real Christianity was also rendered illegal throughout the Roman Empire and all real Christians instantly became a persecuted people. This persecution never stopped. The real Church was forced to go underground.

While Unreal Christianity flourished above ground, entirely earthly, entirely of the flesh and not the Spirit, and became flushed with wealth, power, and worldly success, the real Christians only enhanced their position within the spiritual realm and secured all the more the truth that the Lord’s Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. We know they survived and even thrived in a world of increasing darkness including that of the religious variety simply because the presence of the Lord Jesus never left and His positive impact and influence on the world remained. We know that though the devil continued his fight against the Lord, the truth, and the Lord’s Community, he was never able to eliminate his nemesis entirely because spiritual Light is eternal and forever shines against the darkness, always revealing it and exposing it for what it is.

The enemy can thus only gain and maintain a foothold and never succeed in making the darkness of his heart global among all humanity and nature. The presence of the Lord Jesus always disallows this and always will.

Therefore, just as was the case with the first one, the Christian Tower of Babel was never completed.

And never will be.

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 1)

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 2)

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 3)

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 4)

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 5)

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 6)

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 7)

A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 9)

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Constantine, Deception, Discipleship, False Apostles, False Conformity, False Forms of Christianity, False Prophets, False Religious Authority, False Shepherds, False Teachers, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, Overcome Evil with Good, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reality vs. Fakery, Roman Empire, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Tower of Babel, Unreal Christianity

THE GREAT ERROR OF TRUSTING DUPLICITOUS HIRELINGS AND POMPOUS PUPPETS

Oct 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

Sans salvation, such human leaders are hell bound sinners awaiting a surefire inevitable judgment before God. Trusting them blindly is outright foolishness.

Many Christians learned the hard way once again. When he had the power of office, at a time when it was needed most, he failed to use it. He thus revealed himself for what he was—at worst a compromised puppet effectively controlled by higher powers like most of the rest, and at best a well-meaning man without the means or courage to follow through. He did many good things, possibly went farther than anyone else would go, and attracted much vitriol for his efforts, but not only did he lack the ability to close the deal, he left the nation defenseless against an unrelenting enemy. In the end, millions of Christian supporters were left in the lurch. It’s a terrible thing to believe in a leader’s apparent sincerity and ostensible truthful speech only to be left hanging when such speech is proven to be mere dissembling rhetoric and his supposed earnestness a con.

And that’s what these people are, pretty much all of them. They are merely con artists working their trade on the payroll of unseen puppet masters, making fools of the people and laughing behind your back.

DUPLICITOUS HIRELINGS

The Lord Jesus did His best to tell us. For the most part His warnings and wisdom go unappropriated in this area, as in many other areas, as so-called believers only trust Him to a point and no more while they fall at the feet of human pretenders both secular and religious, and essentially worship them. It is, as they say, a spectacle to behold, as if the Lord commands His people to surrender to someone other than Him which makes no sense but remains an extremely successful lie.

Real Christians learn early on in their walk with the Lord Jesus that the devil is real, that he is an excellent liar, and that he lives to steal, kill, and destroy. He loves to corrupt the good, innocent, and wholesome. He is a tempter extraordinaire. The devil always plays fast and loose with the truth and uses segments of truth to do his dirty work which always involves his skillful abilities of deception. The devil is a deceiver of the highest order; there is no one better. And we can tell who his disciples are because they do the same. He teaches them well. The greatest liars and deceivers are the greatest disciples of the evil one. They lie, they cheat, they steal, they kill, they destroy, and they fool a great many into believing in them. Such people could not possibly have their great powers, however, unless the greatest of evil powers granted his power to them. They cannot function without their evil spiritual master. And the people of this world who have no power in the unseen spiritual world are easy marks, very easily taken advantage of, used and abused, and then cast away. They have no chance whatsoever without the Lord. It is not a fair fight. Even those who get wise and figure it out have little ability to do anything about it. All are mere sheep without a shepherd.

One would think, therefore, that the few sheep who become aware of the truth of this fallen world would seek the One they know must exist somehow, someway, somewhere, and many do. But sadly, before establishing a solid relationship with the Lord Jesus many of these get cut off at the pass by the religious chucklehead posse and they end up bowing to a shepherd who is not a shepherd but just another hireling.

Such hirelings are much worse than other false leaders because they pretend to be spiritual leaders. And the very worst of these are false Christian leaders. Even though it may seem highly unlikely at the onset that anyone could ever pull off such a great deception—that one could actually deceive Christians—these have turned out to be the greatest deceivers of all. Though they are nothing more than lying sellouts, they are world class at pretending to be something they are not. In essence, their greatest powers of deception are as masters of disguise. The best are so good at their trade they can fool the best and deceive to the tune of millions. All it takes is the proper window dressing. And it is apparently quite helpful to also wear such window dressing, as their costumes often appear as explosions in a vestment factory.

Also, they understand very well that broken, hurting, needy, shamed, and weakened people need someone to look up to so they play this to the hilt. They become all the more the pompous pretenders they are. They love to dress up and pull rank. They love it when people bow down to them. They love being false idols. They are infatuated with titles, the longer the better. They are among the world’s greatest narcissists. But alas, when it comes to real Christianity they’re spiritually powerless. They’re also insincere cowards. They don’t care in the least that they rarely ever do a damn thing for those who need real spiritual help (you know, the kind the Lord Jesus supplies), and who look to them for assistance, but instead only offer worthless mumbo jumbo, possible temporary fixes, and false hope. They’re great at making excuses. All they really are is the personification of the devil’s trick to keep sincere seekers from the Lord.

Jesus therefore said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep.” [John 10:7-13 NASB77]

A hireling, or hired hand, is one who works for money. Rather than serving the Lord and the people in his care, he serves mammon. The Lord said a man cannot serve both God and mammon. He will love one and hate the other. Thus, hirelings don’t really care so much for the people supposedly in their care since their heart is not in the work. If there was no money to be made they wouldn’t be there. If they received no salary they wouldn’t serve. If they had no promise of an income they would find another job. And that’s what ministry is to them. It is nothing more than a job and career. The reason many Christians are not aware of this is because they either don’t know the Word or the Word they know is overcome by the more forceful word of the hireling ministers who never miss a trick at justifying their false standing. Of course, it helps tremendously that the hirelings outnumber real ministers of the Gospel.

Nevertheless, Christians should know better. They should never let themselves become so deceived. The Lord Jesus never looked like the hirelings. He never acted like them. Though He is the most powerful Man who ever lived He is also the most humble. He was so humble he out-humbled Moses who was previously said to hold that title. (Remember, this is God we are talking about. Consider that.) Though humble, He had such a powerful presence in His time that every man knew the Lord was a much bigger and tougher Man than any of them. He exuded manhood. He exuded great strength and courage. Men of wisdom rightly give Him His due. It is only the disgusting and deceived who do not.

The religious leaders of the Lord’s time painted a perfect picture of what a mature follower of the Lord is never supposed to be and yet the majority of Christian leaders have always looked more like effete Pharisees than the Lord Jesus, who only wore simple utilitarian clothing, kept a low profile, and presented Himself as a common Man of the people. He never wore a sleek business suit or a bizarre pope hat. He was never ostentatious or drew attention to His humanity but always directed people to the spiritual. This means the majority of “Christians” tend to also gravitate to the pretender side since they support the hirelings and not the Lord, or they are among the vast ranks of the deceived. Why are so many so fooled? As I said previously: They are merely con artists working their trade, on the payroll of unseen puppet masters, making fools of believers and laughing behind your back.

Regardless, no one has a viable excuse. Though we are all possibly deceived at any given time to a certain extent and certainly unaware of the Lord’s full curriculum to various degrees, the Lord has made a way for us to see the Light and WAKE UP. He has overcome the deceivers and their great powers of deception so we can see the charade for what it is. He told us very plainly that “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” That is, in part, that one will no longer be bound by the powers of deception. It will no longer be possible to be fooled. One can then see behind the curtain, as it were. Though the enemy still works hard at his great masquerade, real Christians will see all the pretenders for what they are. Their elaborate vestments and attire will no longer hide them. Their fake sincerity will suddenly be seen as such. Their speech, which before had seemed so honest will be perceived as mere lies and religious gobbledygook. It’s a great thing. It’s great that they look at you fearfully and realize their cover is blown, that you see them for what they are. The look in their eye is priceless. The Lord Jesus got that look often.

The moral of the story, of course, is that there is only one Person who is 100% trustworthy. You can trust Him absolutely and fully. He will never walk out on you. He will never betray you. He will always be faithful and honor His Covenant. The Lord Jesus is that Person. He is the only One. He knows we need Him. And He never made any provision that a Christian should ever put another before Him.

ONE MAN SHOW CHRISTIANITY

This is also why the Lord never allowed for one man shows. Sadly, Christianity has long since fallen into the deception of single “pastors” leading “churches.” It is just one more thing the fakers and deceived appropriate in order to have their way. This is why there is so little accountability in organized Christianity. The pretenders and deceived always feel they must have a ruling “pastor” that everyone can submit to. It does not matter that there is no New Testament support for it. This is what they have been fooled into believing and they are bound and determined to enforce it. It is as if they are so superior to everyone else they are pretty much like the Lord. Some of these morons even claim to be infallible, but that high country is clearly only reserved for the Lord Jesus. That’s His territory and His alone. Whoever attempts to trespass on His sacred ground is obviously working for the devil. There is no one who is as pure, holy, powerful, humble, and loving than Him. It is extremely dangerous when one attempts to equate himself with God or demand that which only God should receive. This would otherwise be obvious but not in the world of the deluded. As I wrote in my book, Real Christianity, “The most fully evolved form of an idol today is a living human being.”

You see, the Lord refers to His Community as His Bride. No one treats women better than the Lord and He will certainly treat his own Bride the best way possible. And though it may be a hard concept for many Christians to grasp, He expects the members of His Bride to treat each other the same way. We are all in this together and are supposed to work together. He says everyone in His Community is on the same level ground in that we are all equal (See Galatians 3:26-28). There are no separate classes of people. There should never be anyone exalted over another. There are no ridiculous hierarchies. He never created a clergy-laity divide, which is the invention of imposters and only exists as a means to a false power grab. How is it then, that a few within the Bride (likely posers) insist they have authority over the Bride? This is asinine. Is the Lord Jesus going to allow another man to have authority over His own Bride?

This is why the Lord carefully and evenly distributes His authority. When He grants authority, and all believers have a level of spiritual authority, He doesn’t grant it so some Christians can take authority over other Christians. THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS AUTHORITY OVER A REAL CHRISTIAN IS THE LORD JESUS. In the Lord’s real Community, He works through each believer. He will obviously work through mature believers to assist new and developing believers, and mature believers must be respected for what they are called to do. Real ministers are servants. This is another way to distinguish between shepherds and hirelings. But how can the Lord work through those who have never received His Spirit? The Spirit of the Lord is what unites the Bride. It is what every member has in common. Since the majority of “Christianity” has rejected Pentecost or substitutes some fake version thereof, the majority of Christian “leaders” doesn’t have or want the Lord’s Holy Spirit anyway. This is why they are forced to disobey the Lord’s actual teachings in this area in order to procure their supposed authority since they are not granted authority by the Lord. They bypass Him. This, again, makes them pretenders. They refuse the prerequisite of Acts 101 and simply skip from the Gospels to the Epistles thereby circumventing that which would allow them to be actual ministers. And many of these are not content to merely reject Pentecost but are hostile to it.

Those who actually read the New Testament and study it know the Lord never allowed for a one man show. He actually set up groups of elders. He did this not only to look after the various small congregations making up His larger Community but also for the elders to look after each other. The Lord always knew, obviously, that He was dealing with human beings prone to sin and error, and He would never put one man in charge because there would be no accountability. Meaning, of course, that such a one would stray—always. This rule is forever in effect. Put one man in charge, no matter how good he looks or how gifted he is, and he will screw it up. The Lord does not want His people being led by a screw up. And it doesn’t matter what the deceived supporters of such a one may think but only what the Lord thinks. It also doesn’t matter how “successful” such ministers may otherwise outwardly appear. We all need to be told when we are wrong in order to get right or we will end up in hell. And when a Christian group is operating correctly there is no place for error to hide.

Now, it is certainly true that some ministers will give the appearance of having it all together despite extracurricular side trips if you get my drift, but that’s usually because of one of the following or a combination thereof: (1) They hide error and sin very well. (2) They are preaching watered-down nonsense or presenting a spiritually dead liturgical pageant that doesn’t attract the devil’s attention or is anything he would be afraid of. (3) They have mastered the craft of showmanship. (4) They have fulfilled the traditional expectations of the congregation (very important). For others, they simply take authority without any pretense whatsoever, letting everyone know who the boss is, meaning that the Lord Jesus IS NOT the boss. It is always an amazing thing to see some young “on fire” minister take control of a congregation. The next thing you know it becomes “his” church and “his” people and “his” pulpit. The people become beholden to him. He is thus not a servant according to the Lord’s requirements but is there to be served. He even puts his name and his name only on the church sign out in front (and all the church literature and letterheads and legal documents and bank accounts). Again, everyone knows who’s in charge. (We get it, okay? You da man.)

Thankfully, one other man in the congregation might actually do some New Testament research, gain some spiritual maturity, and then have the courage to speak the truth. Now, that man is actually doing what should have been done in the beginning. He is being used of God to show the need for accountability which the “pastor” refuses to have though he may appropriate a yes man or two or even a whole church board of dignified sycophants. Those guys also know who’s in charge and will never buck the man or system that gave them their position of prestige. They all cover for one another. So here we have yet again, for the umpteenth time, The Great Error of Trusting Hirelings and Puppets.

REAL MEN OF GOD

Real men of God, after being properly schooled, sometimes in the most effective but difficult manner, learn to never engage in such blind belief and non-scrutinized unverified trust in so-called leadership because they know the devil is a master deceiver who has master actors working for him. Remember, the Lord called the Pharisees hypocrites precisely because the word means “stage players.” The Pharisees were religious actors engaging in a high form of deception. They certainly fooled much of the nation of Israel. The Lord said the bulk of them were working for the devil. Christian Pharisees in America have done and are doing exactly the same. Few Christians can see through the masquerade or perceive the subterfuge but should certainly be able to understand its effect. We all should be able to put two and two together using the brain the Lord gave us and see that these people have not only not stemmed the tide of evil but have instead embraced it and promoted it. Rather than being part of the solution they’re part of the problem.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” [Matthew 23:25-28]

Real men of God are smart enough to know that embracing spiritual pride is a sin. They know that appropriating God’s authority for themselves and using it for their own power and purposes is a sin. They know that taking advantage of well-meaning church people to insure their own salary and success and feather their own nest is a sin. They know they are supposed to properly teach the Word of God and assist the Lord in developing strong mature Christian disciples instead of keeping the congregation spiritually immature and under control to be used for their own means. Real men of God know the humble road is the right road. They know they will be subjected to endless insults and dishonor but will have to wade through such flak in order to fulfill their callings. It doesn’t mean they are not strong and spiritually powerful. It certainly does not mean they are not real men. In fact, real Christian men who are Holy Spirit-filled and fully dedicated to the Lord Jesus are the most powerful men on the planet. It is because they know who the real power is and they always humble themselves before Him so He can work through them.

Then the Lord blesses them and they go out and win spiritual victories. And duplicitous hirelings are exposed and called to account. And lost people are saved and find a home with the Lord. And miracles take place. And New Testament Truth is taught. And the Book of Acts happens. And people are filled with the Holy Spirit. And dead churches come alive. And Christians actually develop, mature, and become unified and loving and love each other. And whole societies are turned around. And Great Awakenings break forth.

It’s an awesome thing when we do it the Lord’s way.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.

He who gives attention to the Word will find good, AND BLESSED IS HE WHO TRUSTS IN THE LORD. [Proverbs 16:17-20] [1]

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NEED A MIRACLE?

Mar 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus is available. He has never stopped being available. All things are possible with God.

THE FAUX BROS

The faux brethren are preaching a different Gospel. It brings no honor to the Lord. But it does bring them a living, and that is what they desire the most.

“Christianity” is very different behind the scenes. Once a Christian performer leaves the stage he or she can be seen for what they really are. I remember very well the early days when idealism gave way to reality. While the reality of the Lord was always the same the Lord showed me how the faux brethren change when away from the spotlight. I wondered then, just how a Christian performer is supposed to represent himself in public. There is obviously no way he can maintain the same persona and attitude as the one presented onstage.

Again, these were the very early days of my new Christian experience. Everything was brand new, holy, and pure. I had no reason to doubt anything presented as spiritual reality. The preaching I became associated with was powerful and convicting. It was obviously inspired and anointed.

But I began to realize that I never saw that kind of preaching outside a church venue, unless it was a larger church venue transported to a rented auditorium or something similar. Why did I never see that kind of incredible preaching out on the street in a non-official setting?

THOSE BRUTAL ROMANS

This is how the early believers did it. They had no church buildings. There were in fact no church buildings for almost three centuries and yet those powerful early believers turned the Roman Empire on its ear. One must keep in mind that the Romans were brutal. That is probably the best one word description of their entire culture. They perfected crucifixion, for example. Gladiators fought to the death as entertainment. Massive crowds came to the many entertainment venues to see human beings suffer and die. Once the early believers became more numerous and were seen as a threat, they too were sentenced to die in entertainment venues, often ripped apart by wild beasts. Imagine being one of those early stalwarts of the faith.

Despite all the persecution and barbaric brutality, the early believers actually brought the Roman Empire to its knees. They did it with love. They did it by making themselves vulnerable. They were never two-faced. What you saw was what you got whether they were behind closed doors, in small settings, or out in the public on the street. They learned all of this from the Lord Jesus. It is exactly the way He was and the way He did things. He was always the same and He is still the same.

STAGE PERFORMERS

Official Christianity, however, has been transformed into a stage production. Preaching has become an art form. Yet, such is not close to being new. The Lord called the Pharisees and those like them hypocrites. Though the word has a different connotation now, hypocrites were stage performers. They were actors. The Lord called the Pharisees actors. They were merely acting out a part. Their outward performance was never how they really were. Off the stage and out of their religious costumes, they were the opposite. They were as fake as the day is long.

It should be obvious that without church buildings and professional preachers most Christians would have no clue what to do. Yet again, the early Church never “went to church.” They had no “church” to go to. Today, most Christians go to church in order to have church. Back then, real Christians were the Church. They couldn’t hide once they were out of the spotlight because they didn’t want to hide and the “spotlight” was a 24 hour a day proposition.

REAL CHRISTIANS

There are still Christians that are like this. They are always the same. They can do the will of God wherever they are. However, they are not professionals. They can’t be fake. It is simply not in them. Because of this they usually don’t have an easy time collecting donations. People are so used to having only one out a thousand presenting themselves as worthy “official” ministers that they are conditioned to support them, even though the great bulk of Christian work—99%—is being done by non-supported nobodies who must work closely with the Lord to gain a necessary living doing whatever they must. These are the real Christians. There are a few real Christians on stage and before cameras but are very, very few. You will know they are real because they do not perform. What they are in public is the same as what they would be in your living room or on the street.

It is largely why most of the early Great Awakening is not visible—it is not happening in official venues in churches, on stage, or on television. The controllers of those venues do not want a Great Awakening. They oppose it. It is too threatening to their cushy status quo. Almost all of it is happening out there among the nobodies, the forgotten Christians, the rejected Christians—the ones who never have and never will make the grade to be prime-time players. They are all lousy actors. They can’t make a living that way. But they are real— just like the Lord.

OUR LOVING FATHER

And the Lord Jesus is with them. He is always available. He takes care of them all because they have each presented themselves to Him as a living sacrifice to be used in whatever way He wants. These are true disciples. The one thing they have in common is their pure love and desire to help. Part of that involves believing the Lord for a miracle when a miracle is called for. They KNOW the Lord will always take care of them and one another and they have experienced the Lord’s miracles to that end. The Lord does miracles for them out of love and concern, however. He never does it as part of some twisted religious stage show. He blesses us in this way because He loves us and cares about us and because He can. He wants to meet our needs and if we let Him and obey Him and trust Him He can and He always will.

And sometimes He blesses us with a miracle not because there is a dire need but simply because He just wants to bless our socks off. He’s in love with us. He sometimes just can’t help Himself.

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Tags: God is Love, Hypocrites, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Jesus Loves You, Lord Jesus, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Miracle Realm, Miracles, Real Christianity, Sacrificial Love

THE HYPOCRISY OF LIARS

Apr 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. [Proverbs 6:16-19]

The Lord Jesus said the devil is the father of lies. Therefore whoever engages in lying is siding with the devil. Whoever sides with the devil has turned his back on the Lord. Lying is a great evil. It is a great sin. It is one of the greatest evils and one of the greatest sins.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” [John 8:34]

The word “commits” is from the Greek poiôn: (present active participle). It means “continuous habit or practice.” It denotes ongoing sin in any area with little or no repentance or desire to stop.

Lying is a great evil in part because it destroys trust. It destroys the possibility of trust. No one can trust a liar. No one can have true fellowship with a liar. Even liars know this. Whoever trusts a liar is an idiot.

One can never know when a liar is lying or if he or she is choosing to lie at any given time. Maybe this time they are telling the truth. Maybe they aren’t. How can one know unless they can verify each statement? Some liars only lie on occasion. They save their lies when they can best be used. Others lie almost constantly. The latter are easier to catch. They are bad liars. Good liars fool the best of us. Good liars are the best. World class liars are the very best. Maybe they never lie to their friends and family. Maybe they do. How would anyone know? The most evil liars are those who deceive great numbers of people. The greatest of these are those who deceive their own people.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” [Exodus 20:16]

“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.” [Leviticus 19:11-12]

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD. [Proverbs 12:22]

QUESTION:

Who were the greatest liars at the time of the Lord Jesus? Who was He referring to when He said the following?

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” [John 8:44]

ANSWER:

1) Pharisees (John 8:13)

2) Probably Scribes (John 8:3)

3) Unbelieving Jews (John 8:22, 48, 52, 57)

(All who oppose the Lord Jesus are in the same boat. It’s a big boat.)

The Gospel of John Chapter 8 begins with scribes and Pharisees dragging a woman into the temple treasury where the Lord was teaching ready to stone her because she had been accused of adultery. The chapter ends with some of these same people picking up what are most likely the very same stones to stone the Lord. Why?

Because He is the greatest Prophet who ever lived. He saw right through them. They couldn’t hide. He revealed them as the liars and hypocrites they were. He exposed them as pretenders who claimed to be children of Abraham and of God but were actually children of the devil. He also exposed them as bald-faced liars who lied about everything all the live long day. Their entire lives were a lie. Nobody else apparently knew this or did anything about it if they did. But He obviously knew it. He knows who all the liars are. Many of us do not know this until the liars are caught in some lie and it becomes obvious.

ALL LIARS ARE MESSIAH REJECTERS

But if such liars have gained control and the people they have gained control over are also liars or do not care that their leaders are liars then the liars will get away with their lying. This is part of how the Messiah rejecters gained power. They joined up with the devil and rode his coattails. They lied and cheated and deceived their way to the top. No one ever successfully challenged them until the Lord did.

He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me. [Psalm 101:7]

This does not mean they cannot gain positions of great power. It only means they will not dwell in the Lord’s house. It means they will have no place with the Lord. He won’t have anything to do with them. They will be completely out of fellowship and communication with Him. Some pretend to be with Him but they lie. They betray themselves by their lies. Their deceit extends even to lying about their deceit.

But not to worry, they say. I lied, they say, and no lightning bolt crashed down upon my head. This means there is actually no retribution for my lying, they say. Besides, they say, lying is often very necessary to get along in this world. It is also necessary to protect us from evil people. Really? It’s okay to lie and engage in deceit to protect us from liars and deceivers? That may be true for liars and deceivers (obviously) but it’s not true for the Lord. There are no liars in His kingdom and there will be no liars in heaven.

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” [Revelation 21:8]

The rule of thumb here is thus: Whatever one does, it must be okay with the Lord and must be acceptable in His kingdom and in His eternal heaven. If one must sin “to do right” then one is only protecting something temporal and has very low priorities. It would be better to do right by God and be honest. If one is in a high position of power and is getting away with lying it is only because no one with sufficient authority and influence is calling him or her on it, or is but such advice is rejected. The latter is highly unlikely because those who make their living lying don’t want such people around. It’s why the great liars get off scot-free while whistleblowers exposing the lies are persecuted.

As a case in point, it is why the wicked Hebrew kings of old kept killing the Hebrew prophets and righteous ones who exposed their sin and depravity. The king most guilty of engaging in this practice was good old Solomon, the “wisest man who ever lived.” His brilliant propaganda reaches us still, three thousand years later. Few remember or know about his great sin in so many areas. All they know is that he was “wise.” So wise that he still deceives, like so many others who have learned to greatly deceive and are greatly deceiving the entire world right now…

THE ONLY SOLUTION

“THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.” [Matthew 4:16] [1]

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Tags: Deception, Don't Confuse Me With Facts, Father of Lies, Hidden Agenda, Hypocrites, Liar Liar Pants On Fire, Liars, Lord Jesus, The Deceived Majority, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity

THE DESIGNATED HECKLERS

Apr 11

Posted by RJ Dawson

What would happen in any of our hallowed church services if someone in the congregation stood up and started heckling the preacher in the name of “correcting” him?

Everywhere the Lord went during His ministry He enjoyed support and success, and the joy of knowing He was making a difference in the lives of those He loved.

Then the hecklers showed up. They couldn’t help themselves. They lived to confront Him, question Him, tell Him He was wrong about everything, complain about Him, call Him names, call His mother names, and generally be ongoing everlasting pests that dogged Him without end.

They were never satisfied. Every correct answer He gave was never good enough. For the most part He stayed calm and collected, knowing He was dealing with dimwits. They never cared so much about all the good He was doing or could do, but only that He wasn’t doing it their way. He wasn’t teaching their way. He wasn’t teaching what they taught (and thank goodness for that). He didn’t buy in to all their religious stuff. He wasn’t into getting rich off the ministry or turning it into a job. He didn’t care so much about making a name for Himself, so to speak, or standing up for His honor and His character. He knew He was only passing through and that most would reject Him. In that process, He strove to find the few who appreciated Him and were open to His ministry. He came to help but was often treated really bad by incessant detractors.

There were times when He had to be strong and tell ‘em off. His many rebukathons are never heard in most churches and ministries today. Many ministers wish these powerful and strong words of His that make many nominal believers (themselves included) so uncomfortable, had never been recorded. Such words don’t sound very loving. Though the Lord Jesus IS Love and no one could possibly be more loving, many Christians believe He didn’t sound so loving at all when He ripped the Pharisees and their associated ilk to the core of their being.

HIPPIES IN LEISURE SUITS

Some churches and ministry organizations have effectively eliminated all things discipleship. They don’t want to mention anything even closely resembling spiritual warfare, hardship, or suffering. Everything is all bright and peachy keen and rainbows and lollipops and many of these people look and act like hippies in leisure suits. These people love everyone who believes exactly as they do.

“Um, the Lord was crucified. It was a bloody, violent death. All of the original twelve, except apparently, John, died the violent bloody deaths of martyrs. Paul had his head cut off. So did James. So did John the Immerser. Anything like that ever happen around here?”

Such hate portends the presence of a very violent enemy who will stop at nothing. When given the chance this enemy will kill every real Christian he possibly can. Millions of real Christians have died such a death. They all stood tall. They are all great heroes. Though you rarely hear about it in churches and most ministries, not to mention, obviously the main stream media, real Christians are presently undergoing severe persecution all over the planet and have been for a long time, especially in places like China where they are having a major impact.

In America, we don’t see this. It is because American Christianity in general is not much of a threat. It is also because we have laws against it. It is because America is the one country in the world that has the highest level of religious freedom written into its founding Constitution. This does not mean there will not be persecution. This does not mean there is not persecution. It only means the persecution comes in a different form. The persecution still comes to the greatest extent that it can and the perpetrators thereof certainly wish they could do much more, as was done to the originals. But alas, the enemies of the Lord are restricted by freedom principles established by our founders and the great American patriots of that time. No other country ever had such great ones and that’s why no other country has our freedoms, especially the freedom to serve the Lord Jesus the way He has called us to do.

DEFINING GREATNESS

I have an internet friend. His name is Bill. He has a disease that leaves him bound in a wheelchair unable to move or even talk. But he has a blog. He has had it for years. He says what he wants to say. Even though his body almost doesn’t work at all he still manages to speak his heart and lift up the name of Jesus. He would probably wish I would shut up about Him but I appreciate him and see him as a very great man. He is a hero. He has effectively said, “Fine. My health is pretty much gone. But I’m still here. AND I AM GOING TO DO WHAT THE LORD HAS CALLED ME TO DO REGARDLESS.” The enemy will never stop him. Ever.

Many of us have suffered greatly and suffered great losses. But we go on. We see what happened to the Lord. We see what they did to all the early believers. We see how real Christians are persecuted all the live long day by those who insist on perpetrating suffering to uphold their own beliefs and traditions. Because we have laws in America, all these people can do for the most part is bring insults and attempt to destroy one’s name and character.

I have another internet friend. Her name is Kat. She is one of those stalwart ones who preach against abortion, including right out on the sidewalks in front of abortion mills. It is her life. The Lord called her to it. She knows many more have been called but most don’t go. It is too hard. They don’t want the hassle. She works extremely hard and is very dedicated. You probably don’t want to know about all the insults and threats she and her associates have suffered. It is pretty much ongoing. She has effectively said, “Abortion is a great evil. It must end. Babies must be saved. AND I AM GOING TO DO WHAT THE LORD HAS CALLED ME TO DO REGARDLESS.” The enemy will never stop her. Ever.

THE REAL GOSPEL

We know by the Lord’s example what we must do. As Christians we are all called to help Him save the lost. The mature are all specialists by gifting according to the Romans 12 model. Those of us who have been at it a long time have been slandered and reviled, and this never stops. Most people are never a problem. Even non-believers can be quite friendly and charming, and even supportive. There will always be some unbelievers, however, who are quick to strike out and show the hatred in their hearts. But most don’t do this. Those who do are miffed because their beliefs get challenged.

Well, that’s pretty much what the real Gospel does. It challenges beliefs. When the real Gospel comes to town all the little imps come out of their hovels and start throwing hissy fits. They get their panties in a wad. These are those who have bought into something contrary to the Gospel and do not appreciate being told they have been deceived. The real Gospel thus causes powerful reactions. For one person, it is Good News that sets him or her free and makes life abundant and joyous. For another, it is heresy, and strange and weird and off-putting and evil. One accepts it with open arms and another rejects it with a passion.

Regarding the Lord’s Gospel preaching method (since He created the Gospel), the following are two differing approaches depending on the audience:

THAT DOESN’T SOUND SO LOVING

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” [Matthew 23:23-28]

BUT DIDN’T YOU JUST SAY…?

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” [Luke 6:27-36]

CORRECT SPIRITUAL BEHAVIOR

From these passages we know there will be designated hecklers and that they must be loved. The Lord taught this. No other curriculum teaches this. Most people think it is impossible to bridge such a contrary gap. The chasm is too wide. You can’t get there from here. Paul wrote:

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. [Romans 12:9-14] [1]

On the one hand the Lord’s enemies were always coming after Him with a passion with a firm belief that their job was to heckle Him always to prove themselves right and Him wrong. Otherwise they knew they would lose. They had to defend their enterprise, their chosen belief system, and their hand-picked “facts.” On the other hand the Lord said to love them, something no one can really do except with His help. The fact that He loved them did not stop Him from telling them off. But a word of caution here: It is relatively easy to tell someone off. It is not so easy to turn the other cheek. What this means is that the more the designated hecklers come after those they insist are wrong, the more they will be subjected to the same treatment in some form or another from someone or something else. The Lord was strong enough to take it and thus was both strong enough and qualified to dish it out when necessary. (Plus, He was never wrong.)

The designated hecklers are not lovers because if they were lovers they would not be heckling. What the Lord did during His rebukathons was not heckling. It was telling the truth about their real motivation for the sake of illustrating correct spiritual behavior. But it cost Him. He knew it would cost Him. Loving them was what kept Him from feeling otherwise about them, and that is the lesson.

It is the triumph of love over hatred and good over evil.

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Tags: America, American Revolution, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, Spiritual Warfare, The Golden Rule, The Great Awakening

NEED A MIRACLE?

Feb 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus is available. He has never stopped being available. All things are possible with God.

THE FAUX BROS

The faux brethren are preaching a different Gospel. It brings no honor to the Lord. But it does bring them a living, and that is what they desire the most.

THOSE BRUTAL ROMANS

STAGE PERFORMERS

REAL CHRISTIANS

OUR LOVING FATHER

And sometimes He blesses us with a miracle not because there is a dire need but simply because He just wants to bless our socks off. He’s in love with us. He sometimes just can’t help Himself.

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HYPOCRISY ON STEROIDS

Oct 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” [Luke 6:41-42]

The real Community of the Lord Jesus has been achieving spectacular growth, maturing, and getting better and better since the Lord created it almost two thousand years ago, just as He predicted would happen.

But the world is regressing at an ever-faster clip and is going straight to hell.

IN OR OUT

To make your life and perspective much less confusing and muddled with regard to the world scene at present, let it be known that there are only two kinds of people on the planet: Those who reside in the Lord’s Kingdom and those who do not.

It really is that simple. The Lord Jesus continually proclaimed this exact truth. He made it a day and night issue. There was absolutely no misunderstanding whatsoever on this subject within His curriculum. You were either IN or you were OUT.

He wants everyone to be IN. Everyone is invited by Him to be IN. He does not discriminate in any way regarding membership. All are welcome.

But only very few will make it. The vast majority of all human beings who have ever lived will fail, by their own decision, to make the cut. All those who end up in hell will have decided repeatedly throughout their lifetimes to make that destination their choice for various reasons.

The number one reason?

Pride.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. [Proverbs 16:18]

BASEBALL

Now, if a man happens to be a star player in Major League baseball, for example, then he has ample reason to feel good about himself. There have been many star players who took the opposite approach, however.

One great star and pure Hall of Famer who refused to give in to personal pride was Stan Musial. He was one of the most humble and likeable players in history. He was the opposite of the preening showboat. He went about his day-to-day work in such an incredibly consistent manner that he ended up with exactly the same amount of hits on the road and at home. Some consider that to be a mere coincidence but I consider it a sign. He is number four on the all time hit list with 3,630. He had 1,815 hits at his home ball park in St. Louis, and 1,815 hits at all other ball parks on the road. He was one of the greatest players to ever play the game but if you met him and knew nothing about baseball you would think he was just another guy.

The point here is that Stan Musial and players like him had all the reason in the world to be preening, showboating, boastful, full-of-themselves, focused-on-number-one, narcissistic nitwits. But they chose the humble path. While some later resorted to pumping themselves full of steroids to put up monster numbers and break long-held records (and the results are obvious), the honest and humble players rarely or never allowed their mature skills on the baseball diamond and resultant recognition to define them as greater or better people than anyone else. They knew there were millions of people just as excellent in their own right in their own fields of endeavor though they may all labor in obscurity.

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

It is people like this who make up the Community of the Lord. They know what they are. They know their faults and limitations. They know that prior to their Upper Room experience they were hopelessly prone to sin and overcome by it, and that they had no recourse to the heart of the problem or remedy to correct it. They know what they would be and where they would end up without the Lord. Though they may be talented and have achieved many good things, they also know they are gifted by the Lord above. They know they are anointed for service and that their walk with the Lord is just that—a relational partnership between a Father and His son or daughter. They owe everything to Him.

This is why it is so disconcerting to see celebrities, politicians, and media members of whatever stripe act as if they are God’s gift to the world though they reject God at every turn. We currently have such a celebrity-oriented atmosphere in America that pure goodness and a desire for real morality is not only no longer toward the top of the list—it isn’t even on the list.

We have the worst, the most depraved, and the sickest individuals in places of high power and prestige who are en masse the greatest collection of sold-out narcissists who ever lived. And you do not only find them in the entertainment sphere, but in politics and the media. In fact, these three spheres have largely been merged. They work together. Once one gets beyond the bright and shiny fake surface, one finds the people at the top of these professions are not only the greatest narcissists, proving that narcissism was the single greatest factor in their rise to power, one discovers they are also the greatest hypocrites.

In their ridiculous upside-down conception of morality, they often hold little back in attempting to destroy the reputations of others who do not agree with them, and they also transform the most evil sins into virtues. While they say many despicable things about others caught in sin, they refuse to acknowledge their own sins which are often far worse. They are also excellent at deceiving ignorant people and the self-righteous to the tune of tens of millions in order to gain power or remain in power.

They will stop at nothing. They will lie repeatedly (forever and always), cheat, and deceive. And they do it with a smile and much laughter. They are depraved and completely deceived themselves as well, of course, because they fail to recognize that their end is just around the corner and that without redemption they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. They have sold out to the devil and the devil’s religion whether they know it or not. While pointing out the splinter in another’s eye, they fail to see the great forest in their own.

“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” [Luke 6:41-42] [1]

To witness the incredible hypocrisy forever on display among our elected politicians and selected media these days is to know that this country has not long to live. America is about to go the way of all nations, into the dustbin of history as they say. The change has been transpiring for several decades. This country has truly sowed to the wind and reaped the whirlwind. All parties are guilty. Almost all of the people you see at the forefront on any given day have rejected the Lord, have no place in heaven, reside outside the kingdom, serve the devil, sin regularly with no remorse, have their collective conscious burned out, support evil and reject good, and most of all, they think they are the greatest, best, nicest, most wonderful people who ever lived and should be respected, admired, and bowed down to as such.

It is truly hypocrisy on steroids.

The Lord Jesus and His Community is the only chance this country has left.

WITHOUT A NATIONAL GREAT AWAKENING AMERICA IS DOOMED.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

“You’re Going To Hell!”

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Tags: Christianity, Humility, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, Narcissism, Pride, Real Christianity, Stan Musial, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

Invasion of the (Invisible) Body Snatchers: Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Jul 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [Matthew 13:10-13]

Everything false and deceptive has a dual nature.

There is the outer form, the one presented to the world which makes use of spectacle and illusion.

And then there is the inner form. It is unseen and hidden. Few can perceive it. Few know of its presence outside those that are part of the delusion.

**The inner form wears a costume—the outer form—which it presents as its actual form…**

Q: Why?

A: Because the inner form does not operate in good faith. It is stealthy by nature. It has a hidden agenda.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

The aim of the inner form is to fool the public by putting forth a false outer form, that which is essentially mere window dressing. People are drawn toward it and eventually taken in by it.

In its best manifestation, the inner form within is hidden by the outer form without to the point that the inner form becomes completely invisible and effectively ceases to be.

Throughout history, the majority of people have often been deceived into thinking the outer form they see is the only form there is. Because they never see or perceive the inner form, they believe it does not exist.

Much of the reason the majority of people do not believe there is any actual inner sinister presence is because their natural senses are overwhelmed by the outer pretentious costume.

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

Hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace’) Greek. (1) One who answers, an interpreter, (2) An actor, stage player, (3) A dissembler, pretender, hypocrite [2]

There is a reason stage actors and orators have traditionally depended on ostentatious costuming and loud, somewhat strange methods of speaking. Their voices must be loud and clear enough to be projected to the farthest seats and end of the crowd. They must never miss a beat in their speaking in order to keep the attention of the audience. Distractions are anathema. They must command attention at all times. That’s why they are there. The audience must be riveted upon their every move and word.

This is also the reason costuming, or branding, is so important.

Of the five senses, only two are most applicable to the thespian art and therefore must be appropriated fully by the stage player. These two senses are: Sight and Hearing.

Stage productions must do everything possible to grab the full attention of the entire audience and maintain it from beginning to end for any chance at all to be successful.

In former times this depended greatly on the appearance, voice, and emotive ability of each actor, especially the lead actor, including gaudy costuming, quasi-gymnastic bodily movements, and extreme facial expressions.

It was all pretend, of course, and completely overblown. It was not real and everyone knew this, but everyone also wanted to be entertained. Everyone was mindful of the few people in their lives that possessed the ability to command attention in social groups. They also knew that some of those people were mere put-ons, having learned how to take advantage of others by their looks, charm, natural skills, confidence, and speaking ability.

The best ended up on stages making good livings at being nothing more than super-emotive fakes. They could turn it on in a second and right back off again once the curtain dropped with most spectators being none the wiser.

In these times, the success of the two-faced process has gained considerably. Many millions are completely fooled not only by the false appearance of the body snatchers, but are completely oblivious to anything beneath the surface.

Image is Everthing.

As a result, the world is quickly becoming a purely surface-oriented entity. Motives and morals no longer matter. It is a world dominated by the present, by phonies, photographs, illusion, tweets, and sound bites.

The inner form has completely disappeared. The outer form has taken over.

CONFUSED BY LIES, BLINDED BY SIN

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, devastation and destruction are in their highways. They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks; they have made their paths crooked, whoever treads on them does not know peace.

Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, but behold, darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men, we grope like those who have no eyes… [Isaiah 59:1-10] [1]

RELIGIOUS PERFORMANCE ART

In the first centuries AD, it did not take long for the emergence of those with a hidden agenda to make use of stages, clerical costuming, acting skills, and theater props to appropriate and further their personal and denominational cause.

They had joined the ancient cult of the outer form.

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” [Matthew 7:15]

These were hypocrites—religious stage players of the highest order. They learned well from the originals and the best at their craft—the demonic enemies of the Lord Jesus.

Their spiritual descendants of the present have multiplied exponentially, invaded many other fields since that time, captured minds by the billions, and are presently all over the landscape.

Their dual-natured, double-dealing method and ability to deceive has made possible the acquiring of incredible wealth and power, the means to successfully sway public opinion toward their hidden agenda, and the diabolic skill to induce millions into believing in and accepting the opposite of that which the Lord Jesus died to give them.

But no one knows they are there. They are perfectly hidden by their outer form.

Unless one has eyes to see.

[2] Strong’s Concordance

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Tags: Ears To Hear, Eyes To See, False Forms of Christianity, False Prophets, Hidden Agenda, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, Parables, Pharisees, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

SPEAK UP: Muting American Speech through Televised Political Theater

Jun 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

AMENDMENT 1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace’) Greek. (1) One who answers, an interpreter, (2) An actor, stage player, (3) A dissembler, pretender, hypocrite. [1]

.

And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” [Mark 7:6-8] [2]

It’s a ruse. It’s all a ruse.

The outward visage of politics has become mere theater. Someone originally had the big idea about 35 years ago to pit a liberal pundit against a conservative pundit on television and let them go at it. Up to that time political news shows had been relatively restrained and dour, and about as entertaining as watching grass grow.

The people ensconced on these mind-numbing, wearisome programs, thinking they must bring the proper decorum and intellectual window dressing, considered ramping up the rhetoric a somewhat appalling negative, as such an allowance could lower their shows into an emotion-driven semi-slugfest and away from the proper high-minded intellectual discussion sessions that defined their medium.

In other words, unknown to the public, they knew their product was nothing but political theater.

They knew their shows were mere agenda-driven stage productions to allow for influencing the public toward whatever agenda the government was pushing at any given time.

They knew if they collected enough “respectable” talking heads with ultra credentials they could pass off their drivel as actual programs of free thought and fool the public, which had been the entire point of that medium once it had been corralled in the beginning.

Therefore, their productions must always have the aura of respectability. The actors must be seen as sincere, wise, and fatherly in order to gain the orbiting electrons (you and me) needed to sway public opinion. Getting gruff and blue-collar would merely equate them with those they identified as the great unwashed ignorant public.

CROSSFIRE

Then, in 1982, the seminal television program Crossfire came along. It had been on the radio incubator for four years and despite the network owner’s initial opposition, it made the jump to TV. This was in the early days of the new CNN, when a great broadcast explosion began due to cable television. In a quick leap, caution was thrown to the wind for the simple fact that the thing which mattered most was ratings at any cost.

It was the beginning of an entirely new form of political theater. A decision was made to take opposite ideologies and pit them together like a dog fight. Suddenly, a political wrestling match ensued. It certainly raised the rhetoric, and one saw for the first time on television a semblance of what goes on behind the scenes in the proverbial smoke-filled rooms.

The paid shills (actors) and stiff directors on the major networks were aghast and no doubt called it a mere ratings gimmick and the lowering of upstanding ivy league political discussion and classic Aristotelian argument form into nothing more than gladiatorial combat. It was seen as a circus sideshow.

But then something happened. People began watching. The predicted rise in the ratings began, exactly as foretold by those who had originally convinced management of the idea. Suddenly, instead of boring productions like “Faze the Nation,” the format became both entertaining and educational.

It educated the public because ramping up the rhetoric made it more interesting and grabbed one’s attention. The heightened verbiage and decibel level allowed the so-called great unwashed masses to identify with the subject matter. An entirely new medium was created.

MUTATION OF THE MUTERS

But then, something else began to emerge… I noticed it way back then.

One must remember that the 1960s had taken place only a decade-plus before that time. The 1960s was the time of the great political statement when people marched in the streets and let their voices be heard to an unprecedented level. Much of that free political speech was overshadowed by the excesses of the time, but there is no doubt America’s voice was heard.

The older generation that came of age in the 1920s and 1930s was largely silent and stoic during that era, however, having been conditioned over the prior decades to surrender their voices for Uncle Sam, and be used, abused, and dictated to or face the possibility of severe life-altering penalties.

The spirit of 1776 had long been dead until the sixties. It has been rising in fits and starts ever since.

Yet, regarding what began to emerge in the 1980s, and how bewitching it was in comparison to the organic free speech of the 1960s, one must conclude that it had somehow all been planned. Someone was smart enough to notice, having swayed public opinion for so long, that the swaying must be ramped up to reach everyone with a television set.

Television must be entertaining. Everyone knew this. And judging by all the garbage being broadcast daily, it did not have to be great entertainment, but simply attention-grabbing.

The ratings meisters figured out way back in the 1950s what would make people sit prostate in front of a little box and observe it intently, endlessly, and watch without necessarily knowing why, or that they had been duped.

Television has since brainwashed America.

There is no doubt about this. The cat has long since left the bag. Pandora’s Box was opened and has produced an exponential curve reaching far into the heavens with no end in sight, sucking people along like a gravitational comet tail. People have become addicted.

The PTB figured out then, after seeing what happened with Crossfire, to introduce the concept on a wider scale. Soon, many television “news” shows began popping up all over the landscape. Then, an entire ratings-grabbing network was created. They just as soon developed more caped wrestling stars and what were essentially pugilistic pundits, or talking heads fighting with their mouths. Heated exchanges became commonplace. The watching public chose sides. Emotion was ramped up. And ratings went through the roof.

Yet, again, referring to what I saw emerging from the early days of the format three decades ago, instead of millions of Americans being engaged in the public engagement of ideas in open forums all across the country and often in the streets, they had become engaged only in their homes or workplaces in front of a TV.

The political and media actors were doing all the speaking—ALL OF IT—and doing it for them. And it was all spin. America, having become brainwashed by television in general, was now becoming brainwashed by political and government talking heads in general.

Through the process of engaging in the entertainment such news and opinion shows offered, America gave up its voice, men surrendered their political testosterone, and the emotion-driven were driven into silence. Effective open discussion ceased, and watching television—zombie like—ensued.

Of course, the television crafters always stayed several steps ahead of the public which went on its blissfully ignorant way, completely deceived by the entire process, having become chimps in a cage conditioned by outward stimuli to change their behavior.

The greatest loss has been the real voice of America.

PONTIFICATING PINHEADS

It has been replaced by lying well-paid actors in the guise of honest data-bearers emoting forth the agenda of the Big Boys, whose intention is to control political speech and thus control the country, sway it 100% to their evil desires, and remove it completely from the American people, the real boss of this country.

At present, the only people talking in the streets that get actual camera time are members of more agenda-based groups fighting for their political side but never the country. They are the mere minor equivalent of K-Street lobbyists who have grabbed the entire political establishment by the nads and forced it to do its bidding.

Sadly, every time one thinks they have found a rare good guy in Washington, he or she turns out to be merely one more bought and sold puppet under strict control.

America has known there is a huge problem for many years now, and has engaged with much fervor in many good intentioned and hoped-for direction-changing, political reforming, and take-back-the-country groups and formats, only to fail every single time.

The success of these endeavors remains yet to be.

The direction is never changed.

Nothing is ever reformed.

The country remains in the hands of duplicitous mammon-worshipers.

And the one thing—the only thing—that can right the course sits passively at home completely dumb-struck and conditioned to stay there, engaging merely in pure political theater as part of a vast audience of two hundred million nobodies silently worshipping the words of a few television somebodies.

The dumbing-down of America has gone hand-in-hand with the dumbing of America.

Americans in general keep all discussion and thoughts squirreled away under lock and key exactly as did the shocked and emotionally battered citizens of Communist regimes who learned the hard way that speaking out against any segment of a politically correct enforced agenda will get them rounded up, imprisoned, and possibly killed.

This exact spell-binding fear is now ever-present in this country. One’s social standing, social media status, and job, most of which are now soldered in to a shanghaied PC nomenclature, have become eternally more important than liberty and free speech.

Sadly, under all the onslaught against second amendment rights and the false call to remove all guns from society, most Americans have never noticed that the greatest weapon toward the furtherance of truth and freedom has already long since been removed:

YOUR VOICE.

[1] Strong’s Concordance

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Tags: America, Freedom of Speech, Hidden Agenda, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, Political Freedom, Political Theater, Television, The Bill of Rights, Truth

Christian TV: Entertaining Actors Unaware

Mar 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

Many billions of dollars have been spent on Christian television over the last few decades with little overall effect on the spiritual condition of the country, though a few have greatly benefitted.

By this it should be obvious that money never drives real revivals and actual spiritual awakenings. Neither do popular personalities. Great Awakenings are always brought forth by the Lord Jesus through very humble people on a grassroots level, often with minimal financial support.

Appearing on major Christian television networks, these major personalities have major backing by tens of thousands of people who support each of them unequivocally. In essence, these personalities are idolized.

They are never questioned. Their backers have long since been persuaded by the demands of their religious culture to be silent and absolutely supportive. Their backers have been taught to believe that these personalities are standing right next to God Himself, are spiritually special, and are “God’s anointed.” Maybe some are.

Television is the perfect medium for these personalities. However, before they could ever appear on television, they must have first proved to be able to gather large crowds of solid supporters who never question anything they do or teach, though the majority of these personalities do not teach the fullness of the New Testament.

Here is a sign—a clear disclosure for anyone with eyes to see.

How is it that these personalities do not typify and better represent the example of the Lord Jesus as clearly illustrated in the Gospels? They do not seem to look like the Lord Jesus or any of the original apostles and disciples of the Lord. In fact, they sometimes present themselves as the complete opposite.

In further fact, some of them by their very example apparently live by the motto, in referring to the Lord Jesus, “He must decrease while I must increase.”

Uh Oh.

WHO’S FOLLOWING WHO?

In order to be successful, they had to create not disciples of the Lord Jesus, but their own followers. Their followers are not necessarily followers of the Lord and are usually not His disciples. Why? Because it is obvious that the Lord Jesus is not their primary focus and that they do not answer to the Lord but to these personalities they have chosen to be their leaders.

Once these personalities have gained a substantial following, they are allowed to be on television because television programs can only be successful if people watch. Having a built-in following already insures that a sizable amount of market share can be gained and can be used to build upon.

Some prove to be not quite ready for primetime. Some fail their opportunity. It could be because they are too honest and too real.

Others, however, fit the television medium perfectly. As a result, they are followed by even greater numbers of people, huge market share is gained, and donations rise exponentially. These people are thus gold to the network. They are what make the network successful.

Remember how the Lord Jesus described Himself? If one wants an accurate description of the Lord, it can be found in the following:

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29-30]

Also, remember how He was kicked out of the synagogues and was fought by organized religion? And how the religious elites and controllers of His day hated Him? And how they finally had enough when He cleaned out the money makers from the temple?

Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.

And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS?’ But you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. [Mark 11:15-18]

This account adds to the former description of the Lord Jesus. From it we can see that in addition to being gentle and humble in heart, He can also astonish people and make religious leaders afraid of Him.

BRAZEN IMAGES

The Lord would probably not have been so effective within the deemed requirements of the present Christian television medium. Here’s why:

People do not want television to reflect reality—even “reality shows” are at least partially scripted (fake). People want television to be entertaining, including Christian television. They want it to reflect fantasy. They want it to be a hyped-up, better-than-this-world, fictional adaptation of reality. And because these major Christian television personalities had already proven themselves to be entertaining showmen by the performances they put on in their churches every Sunday, it makes it possible for them to do the same on television.

It takes much training to look at a television camera and talk to it as if one were talking to another person. Some are not so good at this. There are television news readers, usually local, who have not quite mastered the concept. They talk to the camera well enough to have their job, but they do not appear so convincing. When a person watches them one can see that the news readers in question are certainly looking at the camera but appear to be talking to the camera instead of talking to the television viewers.

Major Christian television personalities do not do this. They have mastered the craft of appearing sincere while talking to a camera either with an audience or virtually alone in a studio. If they can get people to identify with them and watch them and listen to them intently as if they were actually talking directly to the person watching on television, then they have mastered the art of communicating through the medium of television.

This mastered art makes them primarily actors, not preachers of the gospel.

And everyone knows that the best actors are those who give the most convincing performance.

“…But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

“They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men…” [Matthew 23:5-7] [1]

During the Lord’s time, the chief religious actors were the Pharisees. How do we know this? Because the Lord Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites, and the meaning of the word hypocrite is, “an actor, a stage player, a dissembler, and a pretender.”

According to the major Christian television networks that exist because of these major Christian personalities, (1) Image is everything, and (2) Biblical truth is not as important as monetary success and maximum viewership.

REAL CHRISTIANS DON’T GO TO CHURCH TO HAVE CHURCH—THEY ARE THE CHURCH

It is obviously the same with many churches and denominations. It takes large amounts of money to make a religious enterprise work. It takes the purchase of real estate, much of it very high value. It takes the building of large very expensive structures. It takes the paying of very good salaries. Christians are conditioned to believe that Christianity simply cannot work or function without the preceding and without very large amounts of cash.

To that end, congregants and adherents of their respective denominations must be put upon to constantly support the enterprises with much time and much money, though most of the money goes to mere material outlays and most of the time is spent going back and forth several times a week attending the “services” in the buildings we call “churches.”

The Lord Jesus never bought real estate for ministry purposes.

He never built a church building.

He never commanded the building of church buildings.

Neither did any of His original disciples.

The first official church buildings were built three hundred years later.

Therefore, one must attempt to figure out how something so foreign to the Lord and the first Christians had become traditionally indispensible to later church folk. What spirit is being honored here? Who are these people trying to impress?

The Lord Jesus spent most of the donated ministry funds on everyone and everything but Himself. He purposely put Himself at the very end of the line in the use of ministry funds and allowed Himself only the very barest of the bare necessities.

Pharisees did the opposite. Major Christian Television Personalities often do the opposite. Many church leaders often do the opposite.

Rather than obeying the Lord Jesus, they have joined the “successful ministry profession,” and simultaneously the “religious acting profession,” since you can’t have one without the other. Both require large amounts of money, so the raising of money through any means possible is vitally necessary to the existence and maintenance of both professions, and has become a ministry of its own.

That’s why there are “religious telethon ministers” whose primary duty is to raise cash by manipulating as many people as possible using any means possible to get as many donations as possible.

On top of all this, the owners and purveyors and on-camera personalities of these enterprises use fear tactics against anyone who might question the necessity of their enterprises and the sincerity of its movers and shakers. Those who don’t go along with their shenanigans are attacked and labeled as something ungodly, which is another great trick of the devil.

The Pharisees used this exact trick on the Lord Jesus many times—“If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!” [Matthew 10:25]

Remember, the above dynamic involved an attack by institutional, traditional, mammon-serving religious leaders and their followers against the Son of God, who appeared as a total radical by comparison. The amount of conviction He brought to them by His perfect example was off the scale.

YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON

Because correct teaching is deemed less important to the enterprise and is even frowned upon since it tends to greatly decrease market share, mass viewership, and especially potential donations, the major Christian television personalities only engage in what is popularly accepted by the majority since that is where the money comes from.

They also bow at the altar of all-inclusiveness by accepting non-believers and legitimizing “Christian” cults. They stay away from divisive issues, both social and political, but most often never address any strongly convicting New Covenant truths that are sure to cause problems with their real agenda.

Every good business owner knows the customer is always right and one must always honor the clients that make one’s business successful. That is why many ministers know one should never tick off the donor base. And whoever has the most money to donate and influence to grant, regardless of their spiritual condition, must be doted on and given a greater stake in the organization and interaction with those at the top of the pyramid.

Regarding such behind the scenes actions, the truth is usually not possible, whether it concerns real intentions and motivation, or why they shy away from preaching the full Gospel. They appear as seasoned politicians, expertly deflecting everything beyond the script with sincerity and smiling faces, knowing that as long as they have their financial backers everything will be fine. As a result, they are rendered largely untouchable regardless of scandal or the hint of one. Most may be as honest as possible within a not so spick-and-span industry, but many are at least guilty by association.

And instead of rebuking those among their ranks who are involved in questionable behavior and refuse to toe the New Covenant mark, they rally to the side of the guilty parties who sometimes remain unrepentant. They know the light may be shining on them one day and they’ll need the support of their allies.

Quiet on the set.

UPDATE (3/13/15): The AP reports that a major Christian television personality, a man who claims he can garner $100,000 for a speaking engagement, needs your help. He needs $65 million dollars for a new luxury jet. Seriously, I do not make this stuff up…

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Christian Television, Deception, Graven Images, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, One World Religion, Real Christianity, Unreal Christianity

Woe to You, Christian Pharisees!

Jul 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”

1. “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”

2. “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.”

3. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”

“But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

4. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

5. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”

6. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

7. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?”

8. “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?”

“Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.”

9. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

10. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”

11. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

12. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.”

“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” [Matthew 23:1-39] [1]

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Tags: Blind Guides, Brood of Vipers, Christianity, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, Pharisees, Real Christianity, Scribes, Whitewashed Tombs, Woe to You

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The Lord Jesus is available. He has never stopped being available. All things are possible with God.

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What would happen in any of our hallowed church services if someone in the congregation stood up and started heckling the preacher in the name of “correcting” him?

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The Lord Jesus is available. He has never stopped being available. All things are possible with God.

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And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [Matthew 13:10-13]

Everything false and deceptive has a dual nature.

There is the outer form, the one presented to the world which makes use of spectacle and illusion.

And then there is the inner form. It is unseen and hidden. Few can perceive it. Few know of its presence outside those that are part of the delusion.

The inner form wears a costume—the outer form—which it presents as its actual form…

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THE BILL OF RIGHTS

AMENDMENT 1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace’) Greek. (1) One who answers, an interpreter, (2) An actor, stage player, (3) A dissembler, pretender, hypocrite. [1]

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“WHEN YOU LIFT UP THE SON OF MAN, THEN YOU WILL REALIZE THAT I AM.” [JOHN 8:28]

“WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A NATIONAL GREAT AWAKENING” [RECEIVED AUGUST 2010] 🇺🇸

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**The inner form wears a costume—the outer form—which it presents as its actual form…**