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A NEW CREATION: DEFINING THE NEW BIRTH [Part 2]

Everyone is born with a preeminent life mission, to discover not only the meaning of life but the purpose of one’s existence, as well as finding the way back home.

IT BEGINS

We often come across stories in the news of a child becoming lost. Somehow or another, a young one ventured beyond his boundaries and outside the scope of his usual supervision. Perhaps the best way to understand how such could happen is by recalling one’s own experience in this area.

Children raised right are properly warned. They are told to never go outside the backyard, or too far down the street, or beyond the gate to the back pasture. Whatever the limits may be in one’s urban or rural world, they are set for one’s protection. Of course, boundaries start from essentially a single point and gradually grow outward as a child matures, but each time they are reset it always involves another test. Would that it didn’t have to be this way.

Like many of you, I grew up in suburbia. It was the usual neighborhood of house after house in a vast grid of interlocking streets created as yet another master development plan. Prior to such largely twentieth century creations, tiny townships that grew to massive cities often had relatively crude starts with no concept of master planning. This allowed for much differentiation and an organic character. My city was like that. It was relatively already quite old when I was a kid, dating to the early 1700s. The main downtown area streets venturing outward were based on and followed original haphazard primitive trails and frontier roads. When mass suburban post WWII housing projects were plotted out, it was usually on the outskirts of town upon raw land though enveloped by previous country roads or open highways and other natural or manmade landmarks.

Our house, for example, was on one edge of the seemingly endless overall development. This was a bonus and allowed for potential adventure as opposed to being stuck somewhere in the middle of an endless sea of plain-Jane little houses. We were the third house from the edge, in fact. That edge was composed of a rough two lane street that acted more as a wild asphalt raceway. To add to the danger, our street was just down from the top of a rise from which the neighborhood raceway descended another half a mile or so downward. The older ones among us here will recall a time in America when suburban street rods ruled and demanded speed and decibels. Such teens thus showed much appreciation for that street on the edge.

As a preschool kid I was warned to never venture down the sidewalk from my front yard toward that edge for otherwise obvious reasons. It was a good part of being raised right. Yet beyond that street was an open field and beyond that the woods, like the woods that our neighborhood once consisted of just a few years prior, and woods which beckoned as a call of the wild.

The day came when little three or four year old me tested the boundaries. It was not my fault that I was a natural adventurer that descended from a long line of such people or that I was landlocked in an artificial construct that did nothing for a searcher’s heart. So, I tempted fate. I ventured beyond my boundaries. I stepped over an imaginary line and left my former world behind. I walked slower as I went. With each soft step on the concrete path I came closer to the forbidden boundary. It was all a wonder of new discovery. About the time I transversed all of about seventy feet and approached the end of the sidewalk at the third house down and only a few yards from the very edge, I heard a sound behind me, an indistinguishable voice as off in the distance though growing louder. What was it? What was cruelly interrupting my happy moment? Alas, my impending adventure, as being roused from an awesome dream, was soon to be ended. As I turned to look back to my house, there on the sidewalk before me was my fast approaching very concerned and very loving mother. We headed back to the protection of home.

The good news is I never got run over by a speeding hot-rodding teenager on the edge road raceway or even got lost in the woods far beyond, but I did gain an appreciation for properly set boundaries and that venturing beyond into the wild world would have to wait a fortnight. I also fully understood that such boundaries would not be crossed easily and would demand much effort to get past on some future date. Thankfully, though I certainly learned my lesson that day, I never lost my great unbounded yearning for the search.

LOST IN A LOST WORLD

“My people have become lost sheep;

Their shepherds have led them astray.

They have made them turn aside on the mountains;

They have gone along from mountain to hill

And have forgotten their resting place.” [Jeremiah 50:6]

But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [Matthew 15:24]

The new birth must begin with a search. A person must be hungry for spiritual truth or will never find it. To simply cruise through life as if this world is all there is reveals a nature devoid of the desire to seek the highest good. One must obviously prioritize survival in the here and now and do whatever one can to make a living but never make that the top priority except at the most on a temporary basis. Nevertheless, searching for spiritual reality and even for the Creator Himself is often met with severe challenges that sometimes cause one to stray off course not due to personal failure or resolve but the character of the struggle. It is the nature of such individual pursuits in a fallen world to be overcome with the sheer scale of the project since it requires doing the opposite of the vast majority, such as constantly swimming upstream and facing off against steady headwinds in one’s face. In this regard, the term “lost” is thus relative.

One must therefore deduce that there is something deep within the heart of those who yearn for something seemingly far away and from long ago which proves an inarticulate spiritual connection which must be identified and secured. This yearning, however, will likely never bear fruit until it is met by another from the other side who enjoins the search on the behalf of the searcher. That is, one’s spiritual hunger is the activation element which causes the searcher not to find but to be found.

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’” [Luke 15:3-6]

DEFINING THE NEW BIRTH

The Lord taught that one’s spirit must be resurrected and come to life again and is exactly what the new birth entails. It is the New Covenant directive which allows one to essentially return to the Garden. Therefore, when comparing the average normal natural non-born again human being to the Lord Jesus, we see such a massive difference. There is simply no comparison. We see the same difference, though obviously not as dramatic and on a lower scale, between such natural sinful humans and actual spiritually born again humans who have been saved from sin by the Lord and released from its power. The latter are certainly not perfect but certainly have been transformed into entirely new creations (see Galatians 6:15).

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. [2Corinthians 5:17][1]

They are thus like Adam and Eve before the fall in the spiritual sense because the salvation process has resurrected their spirits (which had only existed in seed form to that point). Their bodies, however, are still subject to the effects of sin in this fallen world (which results in aging and physical death) until one’s future resurrection when body, soul, and spirit will each be made perfect and whole again for all eternity.

This means ultimate salvation starts with the new birth. Since this is obviously so important, the new birth must be specifically defined. One must know exactly what the new birth entails. For this we must go to Scripture. What was it about the apostles, the 120, and all the members of the Lord’s first spiritual Community that separated them from everybody else? What did they do to become so much like the Lord? How did they gain their spiritual power? What common experience did they all undergo?

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Adam and Eve, Creation, Discipleship, Genesis, Lord Jesus, Lost Sheep, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection, Search For Truth, The Great Awakening, The New Birth, The Search For Truth, You Must Be Born Again

A NEW CREATION: DEFINING THE NEW BIRTH [Part 1]

Dec 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

Because original Creation was severely damaged by sin and rebellion in both the angelic and human realms, it required God’s subsequent plan for a New Creation.

AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD

Creation does not work as intended according to the will of the Creator unless the Creator is recognized and honored by all members of His Creation. Anything less than this will cause problems, allow for faults and malfunctions, and may ultimately cause major failures. Yet the Creator has deemed that all who desire His intention and will can only agree to it voluntarily. It is why He gifted humanity with a free will. People are thus given both the authority and responsibility to choose the Creator’s will and vision or not. The correct choice also should be their top priority since it is the Creator who created everything to begin with, and everything in His original Creation extended forth and branched out from Him, that is, from His plans and creative process—and that it was good.

In this we can see that the Creator is both benevolent and non-coercive in that He never forces one to recognize and honor Him and will not violate His complimentary endowment of free will, which proves His love and His obvious understanding that love can only be freely given. He has also created human beings with the power of perception—the ability to perceive on their own—and the desire to “look around and discover” whatever His Creation has to behold. He knows that in this process, if one remains honorable and honest in one’s ongoing search, one will eventually find Him.

OF SAINTS AND SINNERS

The perfection of His original Creation was marred due to an angelic revolt. One may wonder why such a thing happened or how it could have happened within the bliss and harmony of the heavenly realm. Such bewilderment reigns until one considers the foundational culprit at the heart of it all—the sin of pride. This unfortunate trait is the result of a strange brew. It arises as an alchemical concoction formulated deep within the bowels of worshipful reflection upon self—arising from gifts such as outward beauty, lofty intellect, and/or superior attributes and abilities—that which the self had nothing to do with but takes possession of as if it did.

When one is thinking correctly, the proper response to such personal gifts and attributes is the very opposite of the aforementioned sin. It is one’s focus on the Creator and the recognition that one is a created being with no right to claim creative title nor the right to choose as one sees fit. Thus, rather than personal pride, in which one puts his or her own selfish interests first, one chooses instead to yield to the will of one’s Maker and appropriate the positive character trait of humility, which is a recognition of endowed blessings as gifts given in love. This is an acknowledgment of the Giver and an expression of gratitude to Him. Humility thus originates from the unpretentious heart of a person very aware that he or she is the blessed creation of a loving and beneficent Creator.

As such, rather than focusing laterally on self and generating rebellion, one instead looks upwardly towards one’s Maker and offers praise.

REBELS WITHOUT A CAUSE

And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. [Revelation 12:7-9]

An apparent third of the angels of heaven rebelled against the Creator (Rev 12:4). This was followed by a much greater percentage of humanity throughout history. Such defiant outcomes had to be in order to allow for a dutiful Community willingly dedicated to the Creator composed of those who honored Him, appreciated Him, and loved Him. Those who refused were culled by their own choices. Each of the rebels, whether angelic or human, chose incorrectly, having been made vulnerable by personal pride, which caused their inability to withstand temptation, which further caused their descent into the darkness of deception.

THE TEMPTER’S TRICKS

The temptation tactics of the enemy are exactly the same in pretty much every respect as that which was presented to the Lord during His temptation in the wilderness, though nuanced to varying degrees to fit the person thereof:

(1) It was suggested to the Lord that He act out of character and turn stones into bread to satisfy His natural hunger, that is, prioritize natural desires and natural food over spiritual desires (serving God) and spiritual food—the Word of God.

(2) It was suggested to the Lord that He act out of character upon arrival at the “pinnacle of the temple” (having the highest level of spiritual authority and power) by operating outside the Law of God through engaging in a potentially harmful and injurious personal act, knowingly and purposely, in the sight of all, as if to prove He was bulletproof and above approach no matter what He did, in order to summon God’s unilateral protection and unconditional approval, and thus verify His official outward exalted sanitized religious image. (Sound familiar?)

(3) It was suggested to the Lord that He act out of character and accept the rule over all the kingdoms on earth in exchange for worshipping the devil, that is, trade His spiritual authority over His eternal spiritual kingdom for all the temporary perks of natural authority at the highest level over the entire planet, while serving as the devil’s flunky.

This is pretty much what Adam and Eve did. Of course, their spiritual kingdom was the Garden and the devil lied about the world outside it, which brings to mind the following:

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.

I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God

Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. [Psalm 84:10]

Therefore, we must understand that there are basic natural tendencies endemic to every person which can be utilized by the enemy to gain advantage. The serpent in the Garden knew this, of course, since he was a fallen angel who had failed his own temptation battle. He was very aware of personal makeup and knew the newly created humans had a similar nature in that they were free will beings made in the image of God. It is why temptation always starts in one of three overall areas:

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. [John 2:16]

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate… [Genesis 3:6]

IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. [Genesis 1:27]

One might take a step back here when thinking of the devil and demons as somehow being like God but one must also understand that such fallen angels were at one time bright shining sinless creatures who dwelt in heaven and that in his previous personification the devil was apparently the most gifted angel among them. We must also understand that God Himself has a particular distinct and unique nature and that He draws from Himself to create those whom He would be in relationship with, which, again, means that both angels and humans are at least similar to Him if not predominantly like Him (until they rebel against Him). It is why both have such wondrous abilities in both the spiritual and natural spheres.

Human beings, “made, lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7), are intelligent, physically gifted, and infused with potentially tremendous spiritual aptitude including the inherent capacity for accomplishing the things we see the Lord doing in the Gospels. The first man was like that, whose attributes also included immortality before his fall into sin, and was “a type of Him who was to come” (Romans 5:14). It is why the apostle Paul related the first created man to the Lord Jesus, calling both Adam:

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [1Corinthians 15:45] [1]

Adam was made in the image of God. The Lord Jesus IS the Image of God.

This puts things into greater perspective regarding God’s original intentions for humanity and also how very different humanity was originally. What we see in the Lord Jesus is an absolutely perfect Man but also One who is a type of what all people should be. In fact, Christians are instructed by the Lord’s teachings to strive to be just like Him, as impossible as that may appear. What He means by this is one must appropriate the same divine nature that Adam and Eve had before the fall. It is also why the Lord Jesus taught that every one of His followers must undergo a new spiritual birth in that they must be born again, which means “born from above” (John 3:7).

The Lord’s mission is thus the process of transforming humanity back to its original state and condition.

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Adam and Eve, Angels, Creation, Discipleship, Free Will, Genesis, Lord Jesus, Praise, Pride, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Search For Truth, Sin and Rebellion, Spiritual Humility, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, The Great Awakening, The Last Adam, The New Birth, You Must Be Born Again

UNREAL CHRISTIANITY’S LOVEFEST WITH ANTI-CHRISTIANITY [Part 1]

Dec 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

One is a great pretender, the other an evil saboteur. One claims to love Jesus, the other hates Him with a passion. One is Judas, the other the spirit of antichrist.

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? [2Corinthians 6:14-16]

SOCIALNEEDIA

One may wonder why so many Christians never take Christianity seriously. Rather than leave all and enter the spiritual Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, they prefer to hang around on the edges with one foot in the world. Of course, the one foot is actually both feet and indicates a heart never given and a sacrifice of real repentance never made. Such Christians have rarely been born again and merely choose a Christianity of their liking, one comfortable to them, or continue in an incorrect family tradition started at some point in the past by an errant ancestor. The main draw is the social connection and a sense of belonging, which is something everyone wants to various levels, and all the better if little or no demands are made. False Christian constructs and ministers take full advantage of this for their own personal and/or sinister reasons. They make it as easy as possible for one to remain perfectly comfortable in their sin.

It is this “social Christianity” in which the partakers thereof are infinitely more interested in and desirous of social acceptance, social credibility, social contacts, social family and friendship relationships, and pretty much social everything. They err, however, by desiring and seeking such relational need above the only relationship that matters most, that of a real relationship with the Lord Jesus. When one eventually does embrace the Lord, one’s other relationships and social standing often goes by the wayside, which proves real Christianity is a divider promoting absolute separation unto the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and the true fellowship thereof.

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.” [Matthew 10:34-36]

That is, a relative few choose Him but most do not and those who do not sometimes do not appreciate those who do.

Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” [Mark 10:28]

Thus, when one chooses the Lord, one is rejected by the world:

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” [John 15:18-19]

It would seem as though such Scriptures and direct teachings of the Lord cannot possibly be genuine. They are often treated in such a way, of course, by either neglect or outright shunning, revealing a clear indication of a Christian’s true motivation. Perhaps yet another of the Lord’s “hard sayings” puts the importance of the issue in better perspective:

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” [Matthew 10:32-33]

When one chooses the Lord Jesus with ALL one’s heart and gives ALL one’s heart and life to Him, one will be accepted by the Lord. The Lord’s great love will then become more than His previous one way unrequited effort toward such a one, and allow Him to be loved in return by His new faithful follower. This total love of each is what makes the His covenant work. The Lord will accept nothing less.

TRUE SEPARATION

Again, His love is a constant. It is always there. God IS Love. It is our love, however, that He longs for, and when one chooses to love Him with all one’s heart, it causes His covenant to come into effect and become established. It must be remembered, though, that when one turns to the Lord, one must also turn away from the things of one’s prior life without Him. For many new Christians, they end up losing everything they had, which often includes friends, family, and whatever comprised one’s social construct. This is the true dynamic of what takes place when one becomes a real Christian. Everything must be put forth as part of the total sacrifice one’s life becomes.

Think of it terms of throwing oneself upon the Altar of Sacrifice as the OT priests did with any number of animals which was a picture of the future Sacrifice Lamb. This is what true repentance is and reflects the Lord’s effective purchase of His new children by paying the inestimable price of His own Blood. Real Christians thus understand that they are saved by the greatest sacrifice, one that bought their redemption, remitted their sin, rescued them from an unfruitful life, and saved their soul.

Such a separation from the world is thus as the great chasm of eternal division mentioned in the Lord’s story of Lazarus and the rich man:

“Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’” [Luke 16:22-26]

That great divide between the good place and the bad place will happen one day for all eternity but in the meantime it happens for every person who passes from this life while dead in sin and without the Lord. They likely end up in the same place as the rich man. Would it not therefore be infinitely better to make the greatest choice before then though it causes great ongoing division in one’s life?

ONE CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

This is why Unreal Christianity is hopelessly deceived and why whoever joins with it becomes deceived also. Such Christians believe they can have the world and the Lord’s kingdom, though such is impossible and makes a complete mockery of the Lord, His teachings, and His mission. It is also why Unreal Christianity takes it a step even further by accepting and even embracing Anti-Christianity. Unreal Christians simply do not understand the spiritual world since they are not in it and do not walk in the Spirit.

But those evil ones who oppose the Lord Jesus and who “are of your father the devil” are definitely connected to that part of the spiritual world aligned with demonic forces. Such evil forces therefore have greater power than mere natural men in a fake construct though with a Christian name or front, and the evil ones are thus able to manifest great deception over such people. This is what happens when one manufactures a worldly artificial Christianity which exists on a mere natural level. It may be “down to earth,” socially acceptable, and comfortable to one’s fleshly nature, but has no spiritual power and is not in union with the Lord.

Now, regarding real Christians, they are fully aligned with the Lord and in union with Him. They cannot be deceived by evil, at least not for long depending on one’s spiritual maturity level. Real Christians therefore know that the Lord Jesus is God, is exactly who He says He is, has the only way of Life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Real Christians also know that all the religions and belief systems of this world are mere false constructs in league with the devil and must be opposed and exposed. It does not matter if such false religions are small or large or even comprise a billion people—they are still wrong, they still oppose the Lord Jesus, and they must be called out for what they are in hopes that the deceived ones stuck within them can escape and no longer be trapped. Also, when put to the test, the Lord Jesus will win every spiritual battle against such demonic forces and their deceptive religions though He must do it through and with the help of His people.

VEILED PACT

How then can it be that many so-called “Christians” instead actually accept such false religions and the leaders and people thereof? Instead of standing against them and stating what they are, they join them and at best never say a word. They actually invite them in!

What kind of asinine evangelism statement is that?

Again, just as the devil is referred to by the NT as “the god of this world” and heads up every kingdom of this world, he also heads up every false religion. This is why those who do not oppose the devil will be deceived by him and is also why so many Christians have embraced the spirit of antichrist.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Covenant, Discipleship, Faith and Unbelief, Fellowship, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Light and Darkness, Lord Jesus, Mystery of Lawlessness, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rich Man and Lazarus, Righteousness, Separation From the World, Societal Pressure, spirit of antichrist, The Great Awakening, The Sacrifice Lamb, Unreal Christianity

REMEMBERING JFK

Nov 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

Iniquity and lawlessness began rising exponentially in this country after the cold-blooded murder of an American President on this date sixty-two years ago.

In 2019 I started a new annual tradition on this site with a post entitled Remembering JFK. I’ve made a new post each year since with the same title, except for last year (2024). What follows is the sixth installment posted, as always, on November 22, the day America changed forever and which allowed for the greater rise of an evil element in power and ever-greater damage to the principles of our Constitution and rule by We the People. Today’s article is an update of the one I wrote in 2023, which remains topical, relevant, and informative, and also reveals the likely perpetrators.

A HIDDEN PLAN AND A CHANGE IN COURSE

Without getting into the deeper root causes that began in the 1890s and which eventuated in two world wars, a national depression, and the later creation of an entirely new country in the next stage of American Empire called Pax Americana, the most predominant changes to the country began in 1945. In our brief history lesson here, one may want to keep in mind that there is no such thing as the “accidental theory of history” in which transformative international events just happen by themselves and occur with no rhyme or reason or at the whim of obscure minor characters.

We are conditioned to see history this way because it is the manner in which the major news media has always presented it. Most people have no clue of the connecting undercurrents always in play or of a powerful ruling elite calling the shots behind the scenes, since they own the media and control the narrative. The only news the average person is aware of, including the larger events in our world, is that from headlines suddenly jumping forth on major media or news bulletins on television airwaves, which sometimes include seemingly disconnected-from-reality shocking events suddenly becoming reality before his or her eyes. Right after this, quick explanations come forth so the masses will know the “why” and the “who” and thus know how to respond. As on cue, the majority always responds in the same way according to the psychological suggestion given, and accepts not only the explanation of who perpetrated the deed or caused the event and why but also how one must understand and adapt to it.

This is how the powers-that-be deceived early 1900s America, a sovereign nation of freedom loving people who would never have agreed to so much intrusion upon their liberty had they known any better or been aware of the sly doings behind the scenes. It is how America was tricked, for example, into accepting the creation of the Federal Reserve Act in late 1913 at the zero hour before the Christmas break which gave the control of the economy to a small cabal of bankers, which dovetailed well with the ratification of the 16th Amendment in February of that year giving Congress the legal right to impose a Federal Income Tax on American citizens.

It is also how the country was propagandized and tricked into supporting WWI in faraway Europe in which four million US soldiers were mobilized and almost 117,000 American military personnel died for no reason. The propaganda was such that the relatively few enlightened Americans who were intelligent and aware enough to know what was really going on were castigated as unpatriotic cowards while those easily fooled and cowed by fear tactics were conned into embracing official disinformation supporting the war with no reservations and seemingly without a thought. It was likely the first time in American history the majority of the population revealed itself as an easy mark that fell without a fight, no pun intended.

The same process continued throughout the early to mid-twentieth century with each major event that transpired. None of these occurrences “just happened” or took place due to the official explanation. They happened because of the rich and powerful pulling strings behind the scenes according to a master scheme toward world control which had been well-planned far in advance.

Of such was also the assassination of President Kennedy. He represented an unknown quantity with an independent mind and an apparent belief in the Constitutional process. Though there were immediate theories on what actually happened that day constructed by those who could see through the charade which were then followed by many more theories based on emerging truth since, most Americans still don’t know the truth and pretty much don’t care to find it. The vast majority of the generation that was of age in the 1960s quickly buried its head in the sand and accepted whatever they were told to accept and thus believed the false “official” story like the good children they were, though this sad attitude began changing in following decades.

In their defense, however, it was not easy for the everyman to gain the required information in a dig for truth at that time, since so many of the necessary clues were hidden behind doors most had no access to, though once a door or two did open it led to more data coming forth which a few authors successfully compiled and built upon. Once the internet happened, though, a veritable tsunami of information became increasingly available which reminds one of a certain Biblical prophecy:

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. [Daniel 12:4 KJV]

Consequently, at this stage of the game, the news is now out that most people paying even the slightest attention know that members of the intelligence community participated in the JFK assassination. It has even come forth quite recently, according to a nephew of JFK, who was a boy at that time, and who happens to be a member of the current President’s cabinet—Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—that the CIA was involved. Of course, this was suspected by some from the get-go sixty-two years ago. Another belief that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reported which came out just a few years ago was that the actual killer of his father, Robert F. Kennedy, in June of 1968, was not Sirhan but a mysterious security guard. It has since been established that though Sirhan was there and did fire multiple shots, he fired wildly from the front, though the senior RFK was hit from behind. There were also too many shots to have come from just one gun. There are other anomalies which end up refuting the official story.

CONTENDER PRETENDER

With regard to the death of our 35th President in 1963, however, the official story has long since been proven to be absolutely false and full of holes though most people are none the wiser largely because they have never taken the time to look into it, which is why such disinformation thrust forth by the major media always works with regard to the majority. It is in part why the majority is always wrong—it simply never has the full story or the complete facts and therefore bases its beliefs on what it is told to believe rather than the truth. One would think a person may say, “Well, I don’t really know what happened. I know what they said happened but I would not be very smart to believe it without verifying it.” And at that, if the person was truly interested in the truth, he would begin his research. Yet most people never do this simply because they believe the official story since they would rather not contest convention and also willingly submit to the authoritarians pronouncing and promoting the given narrative.

This used to be, long ago, un-American. Yet because the American Constitutional construct changed radically with the events of the Civil War in the 1860s—the War of Northern Aggression—and continued down that path in succeeding decades, it is no wonder that so many Americans had become subject to deception and official propaganda by the turn of the century (1900). There was truly a war on the Constitution back then by powerful people who refused to be restricted by its principles. And even though the twentieth century brought forth great scientific accomplishments and much of American life was improved, critical thinking skills in general have diminished substantially.

For example, if one were to compare the collegians of the 1950s and early 60s to those of later generations, one would see not only an ongoing lessening of personal strength, maturity, and awareness at a young age, as well as practicality and common sense, but also an increasing inability to perceive authoritative, manipulative social agendas and an increasing acceptance of official narratives, as if such were truth rather than the means to indoctrinate the masses into the formation of a veritable hive mind. This proves that the long-running psychological effort to dumb down the populace has worked and worked quite well.

Again, this hive mind concept was nothing new but the current manifestation of it is, in that it is the end result of a century’s work upon the minds of Americans. Most believe that which is not true as if it was and reject the truth that is. It calls to mind what William Casey, the director of the CIA, said in 1981:

“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

Regarding who actually killed JFK and why has always mattered, of course, but has gained in importance ever since and especially matters at present, even though most Americans had previously become apathetic and would probably never believe or accept the truth anyway. However, the current Great Awakening, which began circa fifteen years ago, has changed that dynamic. Over these ensuing years the topic has grown in popularity as has the demand for answers.

It took a while, but thanks to a few key book authors, writers, many researchers, and most of all, what this author believes is the light of God shining forth exposing darkness, we have discovered the assassination had much to do with a certain entity’s resolute determination to become a nuclear power and JFK’s powerfully determined refusal to allow them to get there. It also had to do with the earlier forced selection of Kennedy’s running mate in 1960 which utilized egregious blackmail tactics with a future change of personal in mind. Kennedy had grave reservations regarding the choice but likely had no knowledge the man was chosen to be JFK’s planned replacement to serve the entity’s forthcoming interests.

Dealing with an educated population, however, requires a different tactic, one the devil is great at—lies and deception. If such can be couched within the realm of knowledge and historical “facts,” and if actual truth can be subverted, then one can achieve exactly what William Casey envisioned.

This does not mean God is not in charge but that He has given much dominion to humanity in general which should work to restrain the evil humans from wreaking such havoc. However, if the majority that can make a consequential difference refuses to take responsibility but continually allows itself to be deceived and submits weakly to false authority, then the relatively small percentage of humans that knows better and wants positive change has not only the evil ones to overcome but also the many willingly unaware who don’t seem to care.

THE CHALLENGE BEFORE US

Those who know ancient history and the Old Testament know the current ruling construct has actually existed since the beginning with the fall of man and has grown worse over time in that massive populations of the ancient world could be controlled by only a few and outwardly by only a solitary man sitting atop a pyramidal throne as it were. Such figures were Sumerian kings, Egyptian pharaohs, and Roman emperors. But they also included strictly religious leaders who used “the opiate of the people” to control minds and then wallets. Nevertheless, though only a relative few could see the solution by which to overcome such control, God certainly did so before everyone else and in the case of wayward ancient Israel, sent independent, incorruptible, intelligent, and ANOINTED prophets to expose the false narratives put forth as truth, reveal the wicked hidden sin of the powerful few, and break the mind power inflicted on the masses. This worked to varying degrees at times though many of these prophets ended up dead.

And there was and is no greater Prophet than our Lord Jesus who was also put to death as a result of sinister intrigue and a conspiracy but whose death serves as the greatest purpose in the history of humanity. For by it His people regain their spiritual freedom and life through His salvation and the new birth, and enlighten their minds to know and understand the truth as well as see right through the hidden machinations of evil ones intent on using humanity as slaves for their own purposes toward their own malevolent ends. The Lord referred to this as “having eyes to see.” The infilling of the Holy Spirit works wonders to enhance such spiritual sight.

On a human level JFK was very much aware of such hidden machinations behind the scenes and was intent on exposing the immoral perpetrators thereof. He died because he had the courage to rightfully challenge powerful men acting above the law, those who were wantonly engaging in evil and subverting the Constitution for their own sinister purposes. As President of the United States, he used the legal governmental authority he was given in the attempt to curtail their activity and even stop them. In the brief time he had, President Kennedy only had relative middling success in his efforts but did more than his predecessors ever did and much more than all those who followed him. Think of him what you will but the only way to stop him was to kill him. This meant he was on to something big.

May we all do our part to continue the fight that his death be not in vain.

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Devil's kingdom, Discipleship, Father of Lies, Gospel Truth, History, JFK, Lord Jesus, President John F. Kennedy, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Deception, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Truth

THE LORD’S REAL COVENANT MODEL AND DISCIPLESHIP STANDARD [Part 3]

Nov 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

There were times when the Lord was tactful and parabolic in His teachings. There were other times He didn’t hold back a whit and came out with guns blazing.

A STRONG POWERFUL MAN

“Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” [John 7:46]

No one taught like the Lord. No one ever spoke like Him or would ever do so again. During His ministry, the Lord Jesus, the great Yehoshua Ha`Mashiach, was the very epitome of the perfect Gospel Minister and the most excellent example possible to follow. He was the Living Word …and the Word was God.

Here was a Man who was strong as an ox, who had worked very hard at manual labor throughout His early life, specifically as a builder and carpenter, working with wood and stone, using by our modern standards relatively crude but effective tools and materials often straight from the fields. He likely hewed and harvested His own trees, loaded and hauled heavy rocks, made His own bricks, and possibly even forged metal though certainly used it as needed. All of it was extremely labor intensive and time consuming.

As a builder myself, and longtime carpenter and tradesman, I know what hard work is and have the “evidence” to prove it. Yet the work I’ve done is relative to the times which are wholly unlike the Lord’s times in that tools are a massive upgrade, the materials are often machined to the point of direct use, and most of all, we have electricity. There have been many times when I did remodeling work on relatively very old houses built prior to 1900 when local carpenters of that time did everything by hand using hand saws and drills. The first hand-held power saws were not invented until the early 1920s. The old material I worked on in those houses—old dark wood studs and framing—was somewhat rougher cut, thicker, and much harder—the latter likely being due in part to the passage of time. But those boys back then had to cut it all by hand without losing any precision or time. The milled lumber used for tongue and groove flooring, trim, and siding was all hand-nailed. It was very hard work and I think underappreciated by modern tradesmen. It did not matter what the trade was in the past, the men working them were much stronger and tougher. They had to be.

Keep this in mind when considering the work of ancient times. Most of the men the Lord chose for ministry were likewise strong and tough, wiry and ripped, and accustomed to hard labor whether they were carpenters, fishermen, lumbermen/millers, stonecutters, butchers—you name it. Whatever it was they did it was without the many later innovations and certainly without electricity which we all pretty much take for granted. This does not mean that modern workers do not work very hard in their own right or are not tough and strong as well (one has to be), but times must be put in perspective.

THICK SKIN TENDER HEART

No one is more tender-hearted than the Lord. No one loves as much, No one is more willing to serve and do whatever must be done in the process of saving souls from eternal death. It is why the Lord could use finesse and tenderness when called for, knowing a deft touch works wonders for the heart, especially upon those with broken, aching, and contrite hearts. Living in this fallen world of sin, pain, and suffering wreaks havoc on human hearts and the Lord was never one to pile on but expressed compassion whenever necessary. He was the essence of kindness.

Imagine such a strong Man with weathered thick skin and crinkling about His face and eyes showing such care and concern. He was the very picture of the ultimate Disciple, putting up with the rigors and necessities of life while also exhibiting the height of spiritual Light and Grace. He was a Man from heaven within but appearing ever much like a Man of his times without.

Yet, He was also a Lion and His roar could be heard at a distance. This was often the case when He had to preach to great crowds. To lesson the decibels, He would on occasion use natural means to make His voice go further, such as when He would preach from a boat just off the shoreline or at His Sermon on the Mount when He was actually at the base of the rise, allowing His voice to waft upwards as in a natural amphitheater.

I think He saved his greatest roar for those with the thickest hearts and thinnest skins. You know who I mean. Check out all His world-class “Woe to you” rebukeathons dispersed throughout the Gospel accounts. These were directed at non-men existing in the mere guise of humanity who hated people and wanted only to rule them, extract whatever wealth from them they could, and make them live in fear. In their twisted minds, people subjected to such conditions were far easier to control. The Lord greatly opposed such miscreants, those given over to false authority, especially those of the religious leadership variety. They were pretty much all sellouts, existing as mealymouthed persnickety hairsplitters, devious to a T, with less compassion than an angry rattlesnake. They were so evil they relentlessly attacked their very Creator, the One so infinitely unlike them. They were, as the Lord Himself stated, “of your father the devil.” This gives us insight into the hard-hearted thin-skinned one opposing all that is good and always falsely accusing the righteous.

WHY A COVENANT?

I spent many seasons as a coach. I put my own men’s softball teams together. I’ve done decades of team-oriented blue collar work in construction and the Texas oil field. Try working with people who refuse to be team players. These are usually not the higher minded and talented independent types able to forge their own path by God’s grace. If needing to be team players, such independent types almost always submit to teamwork because they are smart enough to know it works for the greater good and makes working together much more enjoyable and doable. The good guys often don’t care so much about who’s in charge but only that whoever is in charge is very good at it for the benefit of everyone else. Most people have no problem submitting to such leadership but there are always bad apples who can’t make it on their own and for whatever reason, can’t work so well within a team either (a covenant).

It is the same with many Christians. They either simply cannot understand the concept of covenant with God or refuse to do so, displaying a lack of perceived understanding regarding its required purpose, an incomprehension of its necessary full application, or an insufficient grasp of its inherent constitutional structure. Regardless, there is never any reason or excuse to violate it.

Speaking of which, there are times when tact and finesse won’t do. When the Lord has already put the very best deal together, one that can never be improved upon, He sometimes has to enforce it. Though it may be harsh, it is necessary. Here’s an example:

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! [Galatians 1:6-9][1]

This is why the Lord created a sacred covenant that each of His followers must sign on to in the beginning knowing it is forever and always and also knowing that one’s total submission to the Leader is a non-negotiable requirement. It is not because the Lord wants to rule and reign over His people and make them feel His weight (He can), but to simply make the whole thing work. He is the best. The best of the best. There is nobody better. He is the greatest Leader there could ever be and is infinitely trustworthy, loving, and kind. He is also stronger and tougher than anyone else, the greatest Alpha Male of all time, and proved it by His entire ministry.

The final proof came when He voluntary went to the cross, subjecting Himself to abject horrendous torture and shame on our behalf. There is no greater love than this. He deserves infinite glory for all eternity. One can never praise Him enough!

Therefore, whoever has a problem with signing an eternal covenant with such a Man has got a severe problem which likely demands spiritual deliverance. In other words, if the Lord will never wrong you (He won’t), if you can always trust Him (you can), if He will never walk out on you (He won’t), or betray you (He won’t), will always love you (He will), can always be counted on (Amen), and will forever do His best to keep His end of the deal (He will), then what’s the problem? There is no other covenant or contract or agreement that any of us has ever signed onto that is anywhere close to being as beneficial as the Lord’s covenant. And it’s eternal! Therefore, though church and ministry agreements are fine, they pale in comparison to the agreement each of us makes with the Lord. Anyone with a measurable IQ knows it’s the Lord who has by far the bigger challenge in such a deal.

WORTH IT ALL

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [Romans 8:18]

It is understandable then, why the Lord has commandments that His followers must keep. Whatever it is they must do is nothing comparable to what He subjects Himself to in His Covenant. And no matter what the cost of Discipleship may be, it is next to nothing compared to the benefits both here and beyond. Those who sign up and stay the course make the greatest and best decision of their entire existence.

The names of every one are found recorded in the Book of Life.

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Tags: Blessed are the Pure in Heart, Book of Life, Christian Pharisees, Circumcision of the Heart, Compassion, Covenant, Discipleship, Grace, Lord Jesus, Love, Mercy, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Oil and Natural Gas Wells, Parables, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Greatest Love, The Living Word, Woe to You

THE LORD’S REAL COVENANT MODEL AND DISCIPLESHIP STANDARD [Part 2]

Nov 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

The rebellion of Adam and Eve manifests itself as well through the many diverse forms of Christianity which purposely differ from the original and oppose the Lord.

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]

COVENANT AUTHORITY

We know from the historical account of Adam in Genesis, which the Lord Jesus referenced during His ministry (Matthew 19:4-6), that in the very beginning there was perfect spiritual covenantal relationship between this man and God. The same relationship with God transpired with Eve. Directly afterwards, a new covenant was created by God, the marriage covenant between Adam and Eve which was also a perfect covenantal relationship.

Now, regarding the stipulations of these two covenants, and due to the fact that God gave Adam and Eve free wills (because they were sentient beings made in the image of God and not robots), the respective covenants could only work and remain in effect if the parties thereof remained true in heart to one another. This means their close covenant connections were founded upon an eternal adherence by each party to the basic terms thereof which promoted and maintained ongoing good relationship, which, primarily, is Faithfulness (fidelity, devotion, commitment, loyalty, etc.).

Yet, the foundation for such faithfulness is Love. It is why whoever would be in covenant with God must love God (with all one’s heart). Without this love, regardless of great effort and doing everything else right, this covenant could not possibly work. It is the same with marriage. Therefore, these two highest of all covenant relationships are unlike any other. The first creates spiritual life. The second creates human life.

DIAGRAMS

To get a better perspective of these three parties and their original covenant connections, one might consider the simple illustration of a three-sided pyramid. Each point of the pyramid is a covenant partner. At the top is God. At the lower left is Adam. At the lower right is Eve. Each side of the pyramid, represented by a straight line, is the relational connection. Thus, according to this illustration, God has separate direct relationships with both Adam and Eve, as represented by the left and right outwardly descending lines, and Adam and Eve have their own relationship as represented by the base line. Remember, the spiritual covenant Adam and Eve each had with God superseded the one they had with each other (marriage).

So, the pyramid figure starts with the highest point (God). God then creates another point on the lower left upon the creation of Adam. He then creates a line between these two points (the spiritual covenant relationship between God and Adam). Later, when God created Eve, He created a third point on the lower right, followed by a second line between these two points (the spiritual covenant relationship between God and Eve). Only after all this is accomplished is the final connecting line drawn at bottom, (the marriage covenant relationship between Adam and Eve extending left to right). One may notice there is no one else between each covenant party. Adam and Eve each have their direct line of relationship and communication with God and a separate direct line of relationship and communication between each other.

Okay. Is this model actually true? Not really. Is the flaw in this pyramid diagram readily apparent? It is certainly there. This illustration may appear as a good example but is actually in violation of the Lord’s teachings. To discover the flaw, if you have not already, the Apostle Paul addressed the correct covenant relationship model in the eleventh chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians:

…Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. [1Corinthians 11:3]

Consider the following full explanatory passage from the Amplified Classic:

Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah). I appreciate and commend you because you always remember me in everything and keep firm possession of the traditions (the substance of my instructions), just as I have [verbally] passed them on to you.

But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the Head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the Head of Christ is God.

Any man who prays or prophesies (teaches, refutes, reproves, admonishes, and comforts) with his head covered dishonors his Head (Christ). And any woman who [publicly] prays or prophesies (teaches, refutes, reproves, admonishes, or comforts) when she is bareheaded dishonors her head (her husband); it is the same as [if her head were] shaved. For if a woman will not wear [a head] covering, then she should cut off her hair too; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her head shorn or shaven, let her cover [her head].

For a man ought not to wear anything on his head [in church], for he is the image and [reflected] glory of God [his function of government reflects the majesty of the divine Rule]; but woman is [the expression of] man’s glory (majesty, preeminence). For man was not [created] from woman, but woman from man; Neither was man created on account of or for the benefit of woman, but woman on account of and for the benefit of man. Therefore she should [be subject to his authority and should] have a covering on her head [as a token, a symbol, of her submission to authority, that she may show reverence as do] the angels [and not displease them].

Nevertheless, in [the plan of] the Lord and from His point of view woman is not apart from and independent of man, nor is man aloof from and independent of woman; For as woman was made from man, even so man is also born of woman; and all [whether male or female go forth] from God [as their Author].

Consider for yourselves; is it proper and decent [according to your customs] for a woman to offer prayer to God [publicly] with her head uncovered? Does not the native sense of propriety (experience, common sense, reason) itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is a dishonor [humiliating and degrading] to him, But if a woman has long hair, it is her ornament and glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

Now if anyone is disposed to be argumentative and contentious about this, we hold to and recognize no other custom [in worship] than this, nor do the churches of God generally. [1Corinthians 11:1-16][1]

Thus, the correct illustration of God’s covenants is not a pyramid but a vertical line.

It is the only spiritual hierarchy mentioned in the New Testament (a very limited hierarchy) and is uncomplicated and brief. It begins with God’s supreme presiding authority in heaven and descends to humanity on earth.

DEFINITIONS

Before going further, I must first address the meaning of the English word denoting this authority—“head”—used in 1Corinthians 11:3. It is from the Greek root word κεφαλή kephalḗ (kef-al-ay’). It is defined as: “the head (as the part most readily taken hold of), literally or figuratively:—head.” With regard to this verse, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states:

“Metaphorically, anything supreme, chief, prominent; of persons, master, lord: τίνος, of a husband in relation to his wife, 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23; of Christ, the lord of the husband, 1 Corinthians 11:3 (cf. Buttmann, 124f (109)).”

To clarify this, think of the authority the Lord Jesus has over His disciples. Also, think of the Lord Jesus as the Groom and the authority He has over the Bride of Christ. With reference to God or the Father, keep in mind that the Father-Son relationship is a package deal. These two cannot be divided. In fact, the Apostle John writes that whoever does not have the Son does not have the Father, and vice versa. God is not three people but He did manifest Himself in three principal ways. The Lord Jesus is Immanuel: “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). He is the Image of God (2Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1:15). During His ministry, the Man (the Son) subjected Himself to the Father. However, He often equated Himself with the Father. He even said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Therefore, this issue must be looked upon in a covenantal sense. For example, Paul stated:

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 means, in spiritual terms, that every actual member of the Lord’s real Community is equal regardless of nationality, gender, or social standing. However, a Christian slave remained subjected to his master. Workers remained subjected to whoever hired them. Citizens remained subjected to governing authorities. This also extends to marriage, but again, the marriage covenant is superseded only by one’s personal covenant with the Lord, which means it is obviously a covenant based on love and faithfulness. Nevertheless, the Word of God is clear that the husband is to have authority over his wife:

…Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. [1Corinthians 11:3][2]

CONNECTIONS

However, for the covenants to be in effect, the man first must be as Adam was before the fall, that is, in right relationship with God, and not as Adam was afterwards. And the woman first must be as Eve was before the fall, that is, in right relationship with God, and not as she was afterwards. The marriage covenant thus extends or emerges from the primary covenant with the Lord and is connected to it, just as the overall hierarchy of authority, the vertical line model, is connected through a series of links.

It is why the Lord’s real covenant model is overarching and so important, since every other covenant in the life of a real Christian is based upon it.

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Tags: Adam and Eve, Authority, Called Chosen and Faithful, Covenant, Discipleship, Free Will, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Love of God, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Sin and Rebellion, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THE LORD’S REAL COVENANT MODEL AND DISCIPLESHIP STANDARD [Part 1]

Nov 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

It allows for no deviancies or dissent, is always per the authoritative command of the Lord Jesus, and requires absolute trust and obedience (even unto death).

It is also entirely unforced and voluntary. The Lord never uses coercion. He never utilizes religious demands, false fear tactics, or compulsion to gain converts and grow His congregation. He also never engages in the payoff to buy the services of others. His model and standard is so unlike any other which must use such illicit methods of conscription to force compliance, it is truly a wonder He is left with any community at all. Yet His following grew quickly by leaps and bounds. He also had none of the usual personal incentives, such as the desire for social credibility and acceptance, a good living and hope of greater prosperity, and worldly religious power. These facts demand an otherwise unknown component, one based on a pure heartfelt willingness to submit to servanthood toward the Lord and one another, regardless of its perceived negative effect on personal choice and natural liberty. This hidden factor must be something great that God has done for those He loves before they could ever possibly do anything for Him.

SPIRITUAL COVENANT

The Lord Jesus taught that all who are apart from God and not in relationship with Him are dead in sin. Not most. Not a mere majority. ALL. In this He perfectly agreed with all previous Old Testament teachings and prophetic pronouncements on the subject. The Word of God thus makes it clear that personal sin separates one from God. From God’s perspective, this was a horrifying development which grew ever more so as the gangrene of sin spread evilly outward as a plague on mankind. He knew people in that condition could never fix themselves or transcend their situation. Something had to be done, of course, but it would have to start with Him.

Yet it is not possible for God to be in fellowship with sinners. It is primarily because He is holy and pure, which requires those in right relationship with Him to be the same. Though in the beginning, humanity had been created in the image of God, the original visage had become greatly marred. Some yearned for a return to the Garden. Most, however, adapted to sin and became comfortable in their fallen state. If such separation from God is desired, it is also an indication that the willful sinner places more importance on whatever causes the broken covenant than he or she does toward God or a relationship with Him. Regardless, in reality, human beings were not only created by God but created for Him. We were designed to be in relationship with Him and without Him we have a hard row to hoe.

Adam and Eve discovered this early on. Rather than continue to honor her husband as she had been doing and remain faithful, she made the fateful decision to honor another above him. In this she violated her covenant with Adam, which, because she committed gross sin, also violated her covenant with God. When Adam discovered that Eve had violated herself in sin, something from which she would not be able to recover, it was his duty to remain faithful to God and make sure the same terrible circumstance did not befall him. To keep everything intact he should have shown Eve the door. Instead, he allowed her deception to violate his good conscience because he apparently could not fathom life without Eve.

In that critical though brief interval of time when Eve was hopelessly corrupted but Adam was not, the man made a much more grievous decision than had the woman. Why? Because other than Eve, who had made her choice, everything else could still be saved. Adam’s covenant relationship with God could remain pure. The Garden could remain perfect, growing, and fruitful. God’s original plan for man could remain intact. This, however, would have required Adam to become as the Lord and be a savior.

Speaking of which, remember when Jacob’s son Joseph saved his entire family and future nation? He did so because he had apparently already subjected himself as a young man to the will of God. He therefore allowed God to use him for great good though it would cost him everything but his own life and also thirteen years of terrible trial, pain, and misery. Nevertheless, Joseph remained faithful throughout and completed his course. The famine which would have wiped out the tiny emerging nation of Israel in the land of Canaan would, though just as deadly in Egypt, have a solution against it there, again by the hand of God through Joseph, which also allowed him to save the most important thing of all—the generational line going through the children of his brother Judah that would result many centuries later in the coming Messiah, the real and greatest SAVIOR of all mankind.

Would that Adam had accepted his savior assignment. Instead, he did the opposite. Instead of saving everything He turned his back on God and effectively embraced the serpent as had Eve. She convinced him to partake of the dirty deed as she had done, because from her new perspective eating the forbidden fruit had become the right and good thing to do. This meant her life with God was already in her rear view mirror and she was not changing her mind.

Perhaps Adam had no natural defense or immunity from such powerful manipulation in that there is only so much God can teach us in His attempt to persuade us from making stupid idiotic decisions, the bad result of which we cannot perceive. Such a thing comes down to faith and trust and that even though it may look like God could not be more off base and wrong one will honor and obey Him anyway. Had Adam done this by simply fighting through the great temptation, something he was certainly equipped to do, and stating unequivocally as his future descendant did—“Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only,’”—everything would have been saved, save for Eve.

He also could have saved himself future misery by giving Eve what she wanted post haste, which she would get eventually anyway, by escorting her to the Garden Gate pronto and wishing her well in the wild world beyond which she seemed desperate to experience, you know, to push the envelope and enjoy life and rumble off on a Harley with her snake friend and no longer be cooped up in a boring Garden or under subjection to a measly man with incorrigible discipleship standards instead of being hooked up with a powerful demonic personage. Yeah, sure. What fun. See ya, Eve. Watch out for that screen door…

But no. Adam ended up forcing God’s hand to kick them both out. For God, this revolting development was not a surprise and was even something of which He had already made future provision:

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. [1Corinthians 15:21-22][1]

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Tags: Adam and Eve, Covenant, Discipleship, Joseph, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Spiritual Warfare, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Great Awakening, The Last Adam

WHEN WAS THE APOSTLE PAUL BORN? [Part 3]

Nov 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

It is my conclusion that Paul had just turned 30 years old when the Lord met him on the road to Damascus. From this I was able to calculate his year of birth.

WHEN WAS THE LORD JESUS BORN?

According to my extensive research over many years, I have discovered that there should not be such a relatively wide range of dates regarding the birth of our Lord. There are several clues to follow in the written New Testament accounts primarily within the Gospel of Luke. This man was not only an excellent writer and historian, he was also a man who put forth an exceptional effort at arranging the Lord’s life and ministry in a chronological manner. By the time he began his two part project which also included the Book of Acts, there already existed some written accounts of the Lord’s ministry, some probably brief, including at least one written in Hebrew.

Luke also paid close attention to historical dates which corroborated the Lord’s personal history. There is also no doubt that he sought as many eyewitness testimonies that he could gather. He at last wove all this material together in a clean, comprehensive fashion to create an excellent treatise of inestimable worth, especially regarding the Book of Acts as it is the only extant history of first-century Christianity.

When I became a real Christian decades ago, it seemed as though the standard date for the Lord’s death and resurrection was 30AD. I have not done all that much research into how such a date was chosen but the main reason appears to be primarily based on the demise of King Herod the Great. According to the general consensus this date has for the most part always been 4BC which would mean the Lord would have to have been born before this since Herod was very much alive when the Lord came into the world. Yet it could not have been too much before 4BC because the Lord’s birth date also had to fit with the historical record stated in Luke’s Gospel. However, the dates Luke gives were apparently somewhat contested by historians if they appeared to differ from what most perceived as the official record derived from secular sources, again, primarily based on Herod’s death.

According to my own research, though, beginning many years ago, I discovered that the official date of Herod’s death does not hold up under close scrutiny. In fact, a very good case can be made that Herod did not actually die until early in the year 1BC, most likely in January. I will not get into all the details of my research here but based on this date and the fact that the Wise Men actually visited the Lord about a full year after He was born, I concluded that the Lord’s Birthday was in the early autumn of 3BC, most likely on the 15^th of the seventh month.

This also fits perfectly with Luke’s account of the fourteenth year of Tiberius since the previous emperor Augustus died in 14AD. Based on the way the Roman dating system worked with reference to regnal years, the Lord actually began His ministry in the autumn of 28AD which fits perfectly with 3BC as His year of birth. (Remember, there is no Year Zero. From 3BC to 1AD is three years.)

BUT WHAT ABOUT PAUL?

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series I revealed my working theory regarding Paul’s birth year, based on several Scriptural clues, and that the Apostle Paul was actually 30 years old when he experienced his unprecedented visitation from the Lord out on the highway. We also know that the general consensus range of this event is about 33-36AD though it varies slightly according to different sources.

I had always thought it odd that nothing more concrete has apparently ever been discovered regarding the actual year of Paul’s conversion. As far as I’m concerned, though, I believe what I have accomplished here is at this point the definitive date. Please know I have already done a deep dive on this subject matter and have a good set of notes from which I am writing this series. If I am correct, it is also due to major clues I believe the Lord gave me which came as an answer to prayer when I began this project:

With regard to birth years, as Joseph was to his younger brother Benjamin, so was the Lord to Paul.

Based on the clues I received and a closer look at many Scriptural accounts, I concluded that there was a nine year difference in the ages of Joseph and Benjamin.

What I discovered was not at all far from the general consensus dates. But rather than give a range, which is not all that difficult to do and could be construed as lazy research, I wanted to find the exact year of Paul’s birth. I believe I did:

The Apostle Paul was born in the year 7AD.

He was nine years younger than the Lord. When the Lord began His ministry in 28AD, Paul (Saul) was a young man of 21. He had already spent much time in Jerusalem learning at the feet of his rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) which probably began when he was a young teen. It is also likely the case that Paul made several pilgrimages to the City of David throughout his youth since his father had to be a man of relative wealth and prominence to afford Paul’s exceptional education.

And as many have speculated, it is not at all beyond reason that this young man had heard the news of a new Rabbi up in the Galilee who appeared to defy convention and also draw comparisons to the mighty prophets of old. Did young Paul ever cross paths with the Lord? I think he did. One can only wonder if the young impressionable student ever allowed himself the opportunity to open his heart toward his destiny before his fierce hardcore religious indoctrination slammed it shut with no cure.

That is, until 37AD:

“While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect,

‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;

‘Rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

‘To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God,

‘That they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’” [Acts 26:12-18][1]

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Apostle Paul, Benjamin, Book of Acts, Evangelization and Witnessing, Genesis, Joseph, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, Roman Empire, The Great Awakening, The Lord's Real Birthday

WHEN WAS THE APOSTLE PAUL BORN? [Part 2]

Nov 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

In Part 1 I mentioned several otherwise hidden Scriptural clues in my search for Paul’s actual birth year which continued to build toward a remarkable conclusion…

I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

As inapplicable as it may initially appear, the first clue of note with reference to Paul’s birth year regarded the ages of the Hebrew patriarchs Joseph and Benjamin. These were the last two sons of Jacob (#11 and #12). Though there was technically not a “Tribe of Joseph,” he actually was given two tribes by his father Jacob—the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh—named after Joseph’s two sons. Though these were Jacob’s grandsons, they were given equal standing and rank as Jacob’s own sons and were counted as tribal progenitors of the Hebrew nation. Here is the list of Jacob’s twelve sons by birth order including the mother of each:

Reuben (Leah)
Simeon (Leah)
Levi (Leah)
Judah (Leah)
Dan (Bilhah)
Naphtali (Bilhah)
Gad (Zilpah)
Asher (Zilpah)
Issachar (Leah)
Zebulun (Leah)
Joseph (Rachel): Sons Ephraim and Manasseh
Benjamin (Rachel)

One might note that though they are generally referred to as the twelve tribes of Israel, there are actually thirteen tribes due to the inclusion of the two tribes descending from Joseph. It is interesting, however, that by the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation in the early 60s AD, the tribe list located there in chapter seven refers to the tribe of Ephraim as the tribe of Joseph and also does not mention the tribe of Dan. Hence, it is a list of twelve instead of thirteen. One might wonder what happened to Dan (I’ve done much past research on this) but that’s another study for another day.

The next clue I received/discovered concerned the age difference between Joseph and Benjamin. As I wrote in Part 1, I saw the Lord as Joseph and Paul as Benjamin.

This would mean the difference in ages between Joseph and Benjamin would be the same as that between the Lord and Paul.

MY WORKING THEORY

At the end of Part 1 I revealed that the scholarly consensus was that the man Benjamin, when he went to Egypt with the rest of his extended family, was 32-35 years of age. This is a reasonable estimate. But I decided on a specific age that was not only just as reasonable but scripturally foundational:

Benjamin was 30 when he went to Egypt.

I like this age number because it is significant in Scripture. Most importantly, it was the age of the Lord when He began His ministry. It was also the age of Joseph when the Lord raised him up to become second in power in Egypt. In addition to these, a Levite of Kohath/Gershon/Merari had to be at least 30 (to 50) to “enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting” (Numbers 4:3, 23, 30), as was also required of Levites such as the tent carriers. Both King Saul and King David were 30 when beginning their reigns. All of these prove that the age of 30 was chosen by God as the age of maturity for higher service and ministry in general.

Since Benjamin already had ten sons by the time he went to Egypt, he could have started his family early, maybe around 15-16 years old, since Jacob would have doted on him, and money, provision, shelter, etc. would not have been a problem. This is assuming, however, that Benjamin had only one wife, something Scripture does not address (or name), though the apocryphal book of Jasher (not likely the same one mentioned in the OT) claims he had two. A man would otherwise have to work very hard to build up his life in preparation for marriage and children and usually not be ready until his mid-twenties or so. Under that condition Benjamin would not have had the time to father ten sons.

Here is another interesting indication: Jacob was 130 years old when he went to Egypt, at two years into the famine during the “bad seven.” This would mean, according to this scenario, that he fathered Benjamin when he was exactly 100, just as it was with Abraham and Isaac, which could definitely be another clue. Incidentally, Joseph was born when Jacob was 91 which, as I mentioned in Part 1, would make him 39 at that same time.

This means, according to my working theory, that there was a 9 year age difference between Joseph and Benjamin.

If Benjamin was indeed 30 at that time, which appears increasingly plausible, it is why the age of 30 also fits so perfectly for Paul at the time of his salvation and the effective beginning of his ministry. It is also in keeping with why the Lord decided to make such a significant unprecedented move at that particular time, at least in part:

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. [Acts 9:3-9][1]

The time had come. Paul had turned 30.

By appearing to Paul in a flash of light “brighter than the (midday) sun,” the Lord had chosen a dramatic way to get Paul straightened out and on the right track toward his destiny. It was probably the only thing that would have worked when dealing with a headstrong, stubborn, intensely driven and focused man set on achieving his fervent religious duty come hell or very high water.

In Part 3, the conclusion of this series, I will complete what I believe is a relatively solid case with additional clues and a general timeline based on a very important key date which leads to Paul’s actual birth year. See you then.

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Apostle Paul, Benjamin, Book of Acts, Egypt, Genesis, Joseph, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, The Great Awakening

WHEN WAS THE APOSTLE PAUL BORN? [Part 1]

Oct 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

Though this subject may initially appear as unimportant or incidental, in looking into it recently I discovered some promising spiritual parallels that are quite intriguing…

A few days ago I was watching a multipart film series on the ministry travels of the Apostle Paul. This was a subject I knew fairly well, having read several accounts of Paul’s life in my lifetime and doing further extensive research on the subject roughly eight years ago or so. At that time I had determined to follow Paul on each of his journeys and get all the more familiar with the locations he visited and the happenings thereof, dovetailing his adventures with the Scriptural accounts in the Book of Acts and his own letters. In that process I discovered an interactive online map that gave one the feel of actually traveling along with the apostle and his cohorts which served as an excellent visual aid. I also supplemented this with much location information and dates. Both filled out the many texts I was reading which included excellent scholarly books, some going back over 150 years.

Early in the aforementioned film series, which was produced five years ago, the host and narrator, who was also traveling in Paul’s footsteps showcasing the locations and evocative ancient ruins of the very places Paul visited, said in passing that Paul was born in about 4-5AD. For whatever reason, I was instantly intrigued with this (as I likely was many times in the past concerning Paul’s birth year though apparently never doing a deep dive regarding it). I then paused the video and immediately decided to begin looking into the subject as though nothing was more important. But before starting the process I prayed for insight and revelation as if I was looking for certain clues. I wanted to receive from the Lord whatever He might want to reveal that I likely never would find otherwise.

A MAJOR CLUE

The scholarly consensus opinion I discovered early on was about 5AD with one source mentioning a range up to 10AD which I thought was too high. The author of the first book I ever read on Paul—The Man Who Shook the World—said he was born in 1AD. However, I wasn’t looking for an actual overall definitive consensus though 5AD might very well be it. While continuing this early process I suddenly hit on something seemingly out of left field. It ended up being what initially appeared to be the major clue I was seeking, which, if true, had to be a revelation from the Lord: It regarded the ages of Joseph and Benjamin.

Now, I think I know what you may be thinking. What would the ages of these two ancient tribal patriarchs have to do with Paul’s birth date? Well, to add to the spiritual types and shadows thereof, I saw the Lord Jesus as Joseph and Paul as Benjamin. With this it started coming together. Of course, Joseph was certainly a type of the Lord. He was also the one chosen by God to actually save his nation which would have otherwise perished in a future famine that only God knew was coming. It was also the case that Joseph and Benjamin were full blood brothers with the same father and mother (Jacob and Rachel) and had no other such siblings. There was thus a very special bond between these two especially because Rachel was the one real love of Jacob’s life though he fathered children by three other women.

With reference to the patriarch Benjamin, his most famous descendant by far was the future Apostle Paul. If you studied much history of the tribe of Benjamin you would possess greater understanding of Paul’s natural personality and demeanor. In essence, Paul was a perfect type of Benjamin. Not only does Paul state in his epistles that he was descended from this tribe he also claimed to be a then current member of it which must have carried a certain amount of weight among his former religious peers. In 1Corinthians 15:3-11, he also explains his spiritual stature in association with the twelve apostles as though he very much belonged. Paul writes in that passage that the newly risen Lord Jesus first appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After also mentioning the Lord’s appearance to the 500 and the Lord’s brother James, he says the following:

…And last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. [1Corinthians 15:8]

The KJV translates it this way:

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. [1Corinthians 15:8 KJV]

This fits perfectly with the Benjamin scenario in that he was not only the last son born to Jacob (#12), but there was also a substantial gap in the ages of the last two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, which does not occur in any other pairing. And because Jacob lost his favored son Joseph to what he previously thought was a violent death when Benjamin was very young, he undoubtedly became even more protective of his final son and likely did all he could to shield him which likely spoiled the child and even stunted his growth. This would make Benjamin less mature and disciplined which, again, appeared to show up as an ongoing flaw in his descendants.

In keeping with this probability in association with the findings of past historians, the Apostle Paul was likely not even five feet tall. Again, Scripture appears to say the same about Benjamin in that he was apparently small in stature. For example, there are several passages in the Book of Genesis in which Benjamin is referred to by his brothers as a “lad.” This occurs nine times in Genesis 43 and 44 which is in the time frame when Joseph was prime minister of Egypt dealing with his brothers. With this description—a lad—the reader night think Benjamin was a mere boy. However, this word “lad” is from a Hebrew word with a wide range denoting infancy to boy to adolescence, but could also possibly refer to a young adult depending on the context. I will get to more on this later. Suffice it to say that just as there was a large age difference between Joseph and Benjamin, it was also most likely if not certain that Paul was younger than all twelve apostles.

ANOTHER MAJOR CLUE

So, to sum up to this point in keeping with the large clue I believe the Lord gave me, I began studying the difference in ages between Joseph and Benjamin. I discovered what I thought was a high range in my early research with one source claiming 13 years. I thought that was too much. Other sources claimed that Benjamin was not even born when Joseph was sold into slavery (he was 17 at the time). I thought that was way too much. Yet, I was looking for the truth and these had to be considered.

I began trying to put it all together. The next major clue came regarding Benjamin’s age when he went to Egypt while being referred to as a “lad” by his brothers. They called him this not because he was a boy or even a teenager but because he was so much younger than they were. The fact is that Joseph, son of Jacob #11, was 39 years old at this time. We know this because he was 30 when he became prime minister of Egypt which was also the beginning of the “good seven” years in which bumper crops would come forth. But when his family moved to Egypt it was already at the end of the first two years of the “bad seven” when the great famine had arrived. Therefore, since Joseph was 39, imagine how old Reuben was, the first son of Jacob. He could have been almost 50. This puts things in better perspective regarding the way they referred to Benjamin even though he was not at all a young man. The major clue proving this is the following: Benjamin had ten sons when he went to Egypt:

And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons… And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. [Genesis 46:8, 21][1]

With this little factoid as a key puzzle piece it becomes evident that Benjamin was far from being a mere “lad.” In fact, the early scholarly consensus was that Benjamin was actually a full grown man in the vicinity of 32-35 years old at that time.

But I saw it differently. Thus, regarding the discovery of the actual birth year of the Apostle Paul, I perceived yet another major clue which I will reveal in Part 2. Stayed tuned.

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Tags: Apostle Paul, Benjamin, Book of Acts, Egypt, Evangelization and Witnessing, Genesis, Joseph, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, The Great Awakening, Twelve Apostles

OUR GREAT SPIRITUAL WARRIOR [Part 3]

Oct 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

Luke’s Gospel reports that the Lord and His well-trained twelve engaged in spiritual warfare doing masterful ministry work in the Miracle Realm. Then, the Seventy…

OVERCOMING DEAD TRADITION

One can believe what one will concerning what they think Christianity actually is or is supposed to be but the vast majority of Christians usually revert to their traditional modes of both belief and practice whenever the Lord may apply an extra degree of persuasion toward a higher level of ministry and the necessity of obeying His Word. Why He does this should be obvious since it involves the practice of actual real ministry as illustrated quite clearly in the written gospels. But many Christians are only familiar with such ministry in mere abstract form in that a few might actually read the Scriptural accounts of Miracle Realm happenings but pretty much never see such happenings in their own Christian circles.

Many also rarely or never see their own chosen Christian leaders performing in such a way and know next to no one who does. This raises the question of why such rejection of real ministry exists in the first place though it apparently often involves the fear of breaking church protocol, being perceived as a weirdo by Christian peers, or simply causing a general sense of discomfort (conviction?) among one’s social group.

It is also likely the case that most Christians believe the powerful ministry of the Lord and His twelve apostles was only meant to be ministered by the Lord and his twelve apostles and no one else ever again. In this we rightly place the Lord Jesus way up high as our Great Spiritual Warrior who could kick the devil’s backside all over Creation and defeat every other enemy in His path toward reaching the people whom He loves and who have great faith in Him and who need real ministry which includes every need of any kind whether outside or inside the Miracle Realm. It is good that many Christians, though very likely not a majority, do not see the gospel accounts as mere fantasy or made up stories. Such Christians actually believe the accounts are real and reflect actual historical events. Yet how many of these same Christians believe the Lord when He claims the same power which He possesses can be given to and practiced by whosoever will? Did not the twelve apostles prove this?

Yet, what has transpired in this regard is that the twelve apostles have been transformed (in the thinking of most within traditional Christianity, especially by many Christian controllers) into some form of ultra-human demigods as the mighty Titans of Greek Mythology throwing lightning bolts and whatnot. However, the Scriptures are very clear that the Lord purposely chose practical unpretentious hard-working men essentially like everybody else who struggled with life like everybody else and continually proved their humanity like everybody else pretty much every day and even in the early going after dropping their nets and exiting tax booths. They were just people no different than you or I. They were not special in any greater way but were chosen primarily because they BELIEVED IN THE LORD JESUS and He knew that about them. He knew they were teachable. He knew they would trust Him. And He knew He would be able to work with them and through them to extend His ministry.

Therefore, the original twelve apostles were men who, regardless of their shortcomings, personal foibles, sins, past failures, wrong choices, and likely even a feeling of inherent disappointment in themselves, somehow still had the desire to please God. They wanted to be right with God. They somehow knew such a thing was possible. And even though they had at the time done their best to achieve such but felt like they never got there, still believed it was possible and still had the desire to keep trying. This made them spiritually hungry. It also made them potentially faithful. And the Lord noticed…

This is why there is no excuse for any Christian anywhere not walking in the same Miracle Realm and doing as the apostles did to varying degrees and why the vaulting up of the twelve into demigod status is not only grossly wrong but also gross sin. The whole point in one sense is the Lord showing what He can do by raising up pretty much anyone to train for His work and get them out there doing it which proves He can elevate weak-minded temptation-prone spiritually fruitless struggling sinners (anyone and everyone) from the general low level of fallen humanity ruled by evil forces into fully trained Spirit-filled anointed witnesses and effective workers in His kingdom with authority over the enemy and even over the so-called laws of nature.

This does not make such people the stuff of myths and legends but born-again human beings appropriating their original spiritual nature possessed before the fall.

THE SEVENTY

We learn of the Seventy in Luke Chapter 10. Like the twelve, the Seventy were an additional large group of the Lord’s disciples apparently specially chosen by Him for the exact Miracle Realm ministry. This immediately dispels the notion once again that such ministry was only for the Lord and His twelve. It is here that we see what is effectively, for the purposes of this teaching, a third level of direct ministry participation. The Lord is obviously first, the twelve were second since He needed a relatively small core group to act as His initial elders and first ambassadors into the world—a foundation. The third level, then, is everybody else. As you read the following account picture the members of this large group and how excited and overjoyed they must have been to be counted worthy of being sent into the world as viable ministers of the Gospel just as important as anyone else with a distinct ministry to perform according to the will of God (rather than simply being as so many faceless members of the religious crowd, many of whom are stashed away on pews, rarely ever doing all that much or anything at all in the Lord’s Miracle Realm):

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

“But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.” [Luke 10:1-12][1]

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Tags: Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Discipleship, Gospel Truth, Lord Jesus, Luke, Miracle Realm, Miracles and Healing, Paul, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The LORD is a Warrior, The Perfect Teachings of Jesus, The Word of God, Twelve Apostles, Unreal Christianity, Victory in Jesus

OUR GREAT SPIRITUAL WARRIOR [Part 2]

Oct 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

In Part 1 we saw the Lord Jesus in action taking the fight to the enemy who could do nothing to stop Him. We then saw that nothing could stop the twelve apostles.

A WELL-TRAINED FIGHTING FORCE

Book learning is great. I have shelves loaded with books as do many of you. As a research scholar I have read a massive amount of books, periodicals, articles, study papers, PDFs, and the list goes on and on. The Word of God states clearly that the Lord’s people must, in the KJV Old English, Study to shew thyself approved. These were Paul’s written words to Timothy, one of his noted protégés which he trained in the faith. Here is the full passage in the Amplified Classic:

Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth. [2Timothy 2:15]

This means one must work very hard to initially gain the necessary knowledge one needs to successfully work his craft. The top priority in this regard is, of course, reading and studying primarily the New Testament Scriptures focusing on the teachings of the Lord in the gospels. This is foundational. It is the only way to gain knowledge of the Word which is a must for ministry especially a teaching or witnessing ministry.

One must know, therefore, that the Lord’s twelve apostles were already somewhat well-versed in OT Scripture prior to walking with the Lord as were many of the Israelites at that time in that the young were required whenever possible to gain such knowledge beginning at an early age. Such knowledge was stored for later retrieval when necessary and included many applications for practical and social matters. The Lord then built on their basic knowledge level and “book learning” to demonstrate the Word in action. He made the Word come alive in the 3D world before them as they followed in great wonder.

Thus we see that study is good and necessary but also that it must be followed up with meeting people where they live and applying the fruits of study for hands-on ministry purposes as the Lord did most effectively. The twelve then followed the Lord’s lead after seeing great demonstrations of miracles, healings, and successful operative ministry attacks against the enemy. Again, as stated in part 1, we see this throughout our primary text of Luke’s gospel in Chapters 7 and 8 after the apostles were first called in Chapter 6. And in Chapter 9 He sent them forth to do as they were trained:

Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. [Luke 10:6]

To prove their spiritual education had taken root and progressed very well, even at that early time, the twelve apostles met with great ministry success also.

When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. [Luke 10:10]

This was very important for their futures. Again, it is indicative of excellent training, the right kind of training, and proof that the spiritual authority they were given was no fluke. In other words, one can talk all day long about their Christian education whether from church ministry or a Bible college, but if it does not include actual working authority over the devil, the world, and the flesh, and the capacity to change lives for the better at their very core and usher people into the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, then it is not only lacking but essentially worthless.

AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL

After that the Lord performed the great incontrovertible though far out miracle of multiplying bread and fish to feed a multitude. One wonders what the apostles were thinking. It became a matter of trusting their eyes because what they were seeing was otherwise impossible. They had already been called and trained on fundamental spiritual knowledge and then further trained on witnessing the miraculous but the miracle of multiplication was yet another level above. After this (still in Chapter 9) the Lord revealed to them His future death by great sacrificial love and taught them about carrying their cross. This added an entirely new dimension of ministry in that humility and self-sacrifice (being strong in weakness as per Paul) is paramount to great effectiveness and moving spiritual mountains. Again, as I mentioned in Part 1, how many “official” Christian ministers ever get anywhere close to this level of spiritual training? We both know the answer.

Moving on in Luke Chapter 9 the Lord ramps up the training of a select few even higher with His phenomenal and wholly unprecedented Transfiguration. For this event He only chose Peter, James, and John as disciple witnesses, His so-called inner circle. As I’ve stated before in my work, the three celestial ones on the Mount that day, the Lord, Moses, and Elijah, are the only ones ever recorded in Scripture as going on forty day fasts which is yet another indication of their very high level ministries. This does not mean they were the only ones to do it but that their spiritual level required it. Moses and Elijah represented the Law and the Prophets. The Lord, of course, represented in a word—Grace. By choosing only three of His twelve, the Lord was placing upon them a similar ministry mantle of greater responsibility which each of them later fulfilled. Every real Christian must also strive to fulfill their calling though it will undoubtedly involve the fight of their life.

The Chapter closes with several finer points of required real ministry as characterized in the following:

An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.” [Luke 9:46-48]

John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.” [Luke 9:49-50]

And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:59-62][1]

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Tags: Discipleship, Gospel Truth, Lord Jesus, Luke, Miracles and Healing, Paul, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, Spirit of Truth, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The LORD is a Warrior, The Perfect Teachings of Jesus, The Word of God, Twelve Apostles, Unreal Christianity, Victory in Jesus

OUR GREAT SPIRITUAL WARRIOR [Part 1]

Oct 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

He represented by far their greatest threat. They perceived early on it would be an intense winner take all battle. It is why they threw everything they had at Him.

TOWARD REAL SPIRITUAL MINISTRY

As in everything else, the Lord showed His people how to fight. He was the perfect archetype of warrior. He modeled what it means to engage in spiritual warfare, how to outsmart and overcome the enemy, and how to gain spiritual victories. He made Himself a flawless example of warriorship and was willing to subject Himself to the worst of wickedness on our behalf.

His followers had to see Him in action. They had to see how it was to be done. They must experience how their Master faced off against powerful sinister forces and not only defeat them but make them look foolish. And perhaps most of all, they had to know that they could also—somehow, some way—do as He did, as absolutely impossible as that appeared to be.

Now, regarding this, one may think the Lord would start small with relatively easy doable tasks so His men could gain confidence. To this end, we see that just after His very careful choosing of the twelve apostles after much prayer throughout the previous night, that prior to any actual field work in the spiritual realm there first must be much instruction by example. In Luke’s gospel, this occurs in Chapter 6 in which appears a condensed version of such advanced spiritual teaching. Then in Chapters 7 and 8 we see the Lord modeling highly advanced spiritual ministry with much parabolic teaching, the doing of many miracles, and actual hands-on attacks against demonic forces. His apostles experienced it all, gained loads of empirical evidence, saw that all was possible, and understood the full ramifications of spiritual ministry and its highly beneficial impact on people’s lives. At that point they graduated from instruction and example to becoming doers of the Word:

And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. [Luke 9:1-6]

As men very well prepared and instructed properly and fully, the record is clear that the twelve apostles had great success right from the start. One wonders why all Christian ministry is not like this. Most of it, of course, is not and never has been. Why? How did Christian ministry become transformed into what can only be referred to as something else entirely? Why is it that most Christians worldwide going back many centuries have never experienced anything close to what appears matter-of-factly in the Lord’s ministry? And why have the vast majority of all Christian “leaders”/ministers/pastors/priests/etc. never been used of God for a single miracle or healing as we see in Luke’s gospel? Why do we not see them attacking the gates of hell?

Could it be because they were never taught by the Lord Jesus or instructed properly in real spiritual ministry? Could it be because no minister ever modeled for them what the Lord Jesus modeled? Could it be because they were not instructed in His Gospel—the real one—at all but in a false gospel altogether different and wholly powerless? Could it be because no one ever taught them how to engage in spiritual warfare? It is obvious therefore, that they were instead taught from a different playbook.

Check out what the apostle Paul said in this regard:

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things. [2Corinthians 11:3-6]

I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. [2Corinthians 12:11-12]

This was spoken by a man who had the exact miracle witness in his ministry as did the Lord. In fact, one of the signs of the ministry of a true original apostle was having the exact miracle power and authority over the demonic as did the Lord, in addition to a purity of in-depth teaching that changed hearts and destinies for the better in line with the Lord’s will. This means that Paul must have been taught by the Lord Himself as were the original twelve though there is no record of Paul ever meeting or knowing the Lord Jesus during His ministry or prior to Paul’s conversion. This is indeed what happened:

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. [Galatians 1:11-12][1]

What does this tell you about the vast majority of churches and Bible schools? The so-called ministers being turned out by these have apparently never been instructed by the Lord Jesus. The apostle Paul had a great lifetime ministry but says he never had any principle teacher of the Gospel in his life except the Lord. Such a statement is exceptionally profound. It also speaks very clearly to a preponderance of counterfeit gospels and masquerading ministers and explains why none of those guys could ever fight their way out of spiritual paper bag.

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Tags: Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Discipleship, Gospel Truth, Lord Jesus, Luke, Miracles and Healing, Paul, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The LORD is a Warrior, The Perfect Teachings of Jesus, Twelve Apostles, Unreal Christianity, Victory in Jesus

THEY SAID HE WAS CRAZY

Oct 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

And the majority of “Christians” apparently agree. It is why Unreal Christianity has created any number of fabricated versions of the Lord to suit their tastes and religious sensitivities.

THE MIND OF CHRIST

Then He went to a house [probably Peter’s], but a throng came together again, so that Jesus and His disciples could not even take food. And when those who belonged to Him (His kinsmen) heard it, they went out to take Him by force, for they kept saying, He is out of His mind (beside Himself, deranged)! And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub, and, By [the help of] the prince of demons He is casting out demons.

And He summoned them to Him and said to them in parables (illustrations or comparisons put beside truths to explain them), How can Satan drive out Satan? [Mark 3:20-23 Amplified Classic]

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [2Corinthians 4:3-4]

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. [1Corinthians 2:14-16]

Regardless of their false characterization of His mental makeup, the Lord was essentially the only perfectly sane Man in the loony bin. While this term refers in the greater sense to humanity the world over, the individuals of which exist prior to salvation in a state of sin and often willful separation from their Creator (not smart), it refers especially to the upper caste religious nutcases of His time and their spineless sycophant followers who believed and acted upon senseless dogmas, specious reasonings, and the ultra-casuistry of the Pharisees which gave vent to the creation of an opposition-to-God rebellious belief system and Torah-cancelling “tradition of men” that came to be known as the Oral Law:

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

‘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.’” [Matthew 15:1-9]

That entire religious lunatic asylum slash social outworking construct in ancient first-century AD Palestine, as a dark cloud invasive species within and upon a previous functioning ecosystem, was otherwise plain to see and recognize for what it was by clear-headed observers but alas, apparently never again by the willingly zombified members of the religiously conquered ensconced within. Such people may have been perfectly fine in the head prior to their deceptive indoctrination but after the willful submission of their minds to the masquerading enemies of God—successfully cloaked in faux righteousness and garish over-the-top trying-much-too-hard sheep’s clothing which the faked-out initially failed to properly identify and steer clear of—they became as mere dutiful serfs and lower caste cloned versions of their loony bin masters. Sound familiar?

“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 (quoting Isaiah)]

“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]

Though crazy behavior is ubiquitous as it certainly was in that place at that time, the most insane thing anyone could ever do is reject the Lord Jesus since it involves eternal proportions. Those who do this and refuse to change their minds up to and including death’s door have sadly sealed their fate and cannot possibly fare well at the judgment seat of God. Of course, rejecting the Lord also includes passively never accepting Him. It also includes not believing in Him or giving one’s heart to Him. Such people do not follow Him and do not appropriate and incorporate His teachings which just happen to reveal the only Way to Life. Most sadly of all, such people never honor the great sacrifice the Lord made on their behalf. What do they gain by rejecting Him? Living in darkness?

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. [John 1:9-13][1]

GOD-GIVEN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM

The United States of America was founded as a Republic in which We the People cannot legally have their inherent God-given rights abused or eliminated. The founding documents of the USA are saturated with the right of We the People to live freely with freedom and liberty and with the freedom to exercise their free will granted by their Creator. The American government was originally created primarily for the purpose of enforcing the law regarding individual rights.

However, a great many Americans, perhaps by this stage a majority, have been brainwashed into believing the USA was founded as a Democracy. This is asinine. A Democracy is rule by the majority which subverts and quashes non-majority beliefs and principles regardless of truth, often using violence:

“I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either. …Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

John Adams, 2^nd President of the United States of America

Democracies engage in such primarily because they do not honor the God-given rights and freedoms of the people. They are effectively mob rule with a powerful authoritarian enforcement arm. In fact, any and every form of government that does not protect and honor the inherent rights of the people (as God does) is evil. America is at present, of course, very far removed from what it once was—a bastion of liberty with a relatively miniscule outward government. As government has grown, now to gargantuan proportions, liberty and freedom have been greatly curtailed. Many of our rights have been trampled. The Fourth Amendment, for example, no longer effectively exists. Read the following first four Amendments of the Bill of Rights and be your own judge regarding how many rights of We the People are still in full effect, especially keeping in mind that a likely majority has been conditioned to willingly practice self-censorship and rights cessation probably due to fear of reprisal or social rejection and cancellation:

Amendment I

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.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Now, compare what has happened to a once great country heading ever closer to its eventual demise to what happened to God’s original nation of ancient Israel. It began with one man—Abraham—and then his miracle son Isaac. Isaac had twin sons named Esau and Jacob. Esau was as the aforementioned “natural man” who saw the things of God as mere foolishness. God chose Jacob. Jacob’s name was later changed by God to Israel. Jacob/Israel had twelve sons who became the patriarchs of twelve tribes. The nation continued to grow at a relatively rapid rate but a majority eventually formed which opposed their Creator. The faithful ones of the nation became a very small Remnant. The vast majority in general always opposed God and refused to honor Him. Israel remained that way throughout its history. At the end, during the Last Days of the nation, the long awaited promised Messiah, Savior, Deliverer, and King arrived. He managed to gather a relatively faithful few—the surviving Remnant—great faithful ones who honored Him, stood by Him, and served Him. The majority, however, dishonored Him, rejected Him, and then fully supported those who killed Him.

But because they were a majority, whoever disagreed were seen as deviants and worthy of death. This was democracy in action—mob rule, the rule of the majority over anyone and everyone who did not comply. It is why the chief persecutors of the Lord’s initial followers (the believing minority of Israelites) were comprised of the unbelieving majority of Israelites (primarily Pharisees, Sadducees, and Zealots). A sizable portion of this majority were not true Israelites at all but Idumaeans (Edom)—descendants of Esau. So here we see again the spiritual fight between Isaac’s twin sons just as it was after the Lord’s birth when the Idumaean King Herod tried to kill the Lord Jesus.

Yet despite all the violent attacks and persecution, just as the Lord prophesied, His relatively small band of faithful sheep eventually grew to very great numbers and had a massively beneficial early impact on both their ancestral homeland, throughout the Roman Empire, and the world beyond which continues until this present day! But the great insane majority which opposed the Lord Jesus and killed Him were effectively destroyed less than a mere forty years later and national Israel ceased to exist forever.

The Lord certainly does not want such destruction, pain, and suffering but allows people to destroy themselves if they want to even though He offers a true Way of Life. Be mindful of this as you see so many powerful entities in this world grossly violating the teachings of the Lord and the lives of His people while building on sand foundations and chasing fitful sinful dreams lasting a mere fortnight before sure destruction, while the spiritual Kingdom of the Lord continues growing ever more vibrant and overcoming every attack against it. The Lord’s Light is presently shining ever brighter and His Truth is being revealed in an extraordinary way exposing spiritual darkness on possibly never before seen levels. And the Great Awakening continues.

I encourage each of you my friends to keep fighting the good fight of faith. You may have to fight harder than ever before but His victories will come and His enemies will continue to be defeated. He is faithful! We see this in how the Lord’s earthy life transpired in that at one point it looked as though all was lost but “death was swallowed up in victory” (1Cor 15:54) and the Lord arose from the dead! Therefore it does not matter how dark it may be or how difficult life might have become, He will always bring victory as long as one stays faithful, trusts Him with full confidence, and praises Him always regardless of circumstances. Mature believers have seen such otherwise impossible miracles in their lives many times and know full well what the Lord can do and will do.

And when your victory comes in, and it will, it may be effectively as it was when He defeated His enemies forever on that Sunday resurrection morning long ago when the Lord might have considered this retort against them:

“Who’s crazy now?”

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Tags: America, Ancient Israel, Christian Pharisees, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Depraved Mind, Discipleship, Fight the Good Fight of Faith, John Adams, Light of God, Lord Jesus, Mind of Christ, Natural Mind, Oral Law, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Bill of Rights, The Great Awakening, Tradition of the Pharisees, Unreal Christianity, Victory in Jesus, We the People

THE REAL BIRTHDAY OF THE LORD

Oct 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today is the first day of Sukkot. It is otherwise known as the Feast of Booths or Ingathering. Scripture indicates that today is likely the Lord’s real Birthday.

AN AUTUMN FEAST UNTO THE LORD

According to the Hebrew Festival Calendar which marks the beginning of the year or ecclesiastical year, the first month is Nisan. It is the first month of spring. Nisan occurred this year (2025) from March 30 to April 28. It actually began at sunset on March 29 because each day (each 24 hour period), according to the account in Genesis 1, begins at sunset:

And there was evening and there was morning, one day. [Genesis 1:5]

However, the Hebrew civil calendar begins in the autumn with the seventh month of Tishrei. The first day of the month is Rosh Hashanah (September 23, 2025). The tenth day is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (October 2, 2025). After these comes the third and final major feast of the year which in the Hebrew is called Sukkot. As I mentioned earlier, it is translated into English as Booths or Ingathering. As in the first feast of the year known as Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Booths is also a seven day feast. It begins in part with the full moon on Tishrei 15:

Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord. On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work.’” [Leviticus 23:33-36]

“‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day.’” [Leviticus 23:39]

Tishrei 15 actually began yesterday, October 6, at sunset. Thus, this first day would be a holy convocation. The seven days are the 15^th through the 21^st of Tishrei. On the Gregorian calendar these Hebrew calendar dates would refer to October 7-13. The additional eighth day, Tishrei 22, which is also a holy convocation, occurs on October 14.

Regarding the great importance of this feast celebrating the autumn harvest, it also serves as a memorial to the days in the Sinai desert after the Exodus from Egypt when the people of Israel lived in rustic shelters of entwined boughs akin to early brush arbors. The following passage contains a closer look into God’s intentions and the early history of this feast. It contains several clues regarding the distant future:

“‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the Lord. [Leviticus 23:40-44]

A NEW TESTAMENT CLUE

In Western Civilization, we celebrate the wonderful birth of our Lord Jesus on December 25. There are reasons for this, of course. Regarding the Christmas Season (and I don’t care what anybody thinks or that the date is incorrect), I love pretty much everything about it in its wholesome traditional sense. The sooner we start the Christmas Season the better as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think the Lord has any problem with Christmas since it points everyone toward Him and to hopeful salvation.

Previous generations in America have created a great and eventful holiday season here and we should both cherish and honor it. And again, regardless of excesses or whatever else, everybody knows the real reason for the season is the birth of our Lord. And even though the country has ventured far from its moorings and entered into great sin and depravity, the Christmas Season still brings much hope and allows for much spiritual joy. For this we must be infinitely thankful.

The greatest promise of the Old Testament literature was that a future day would arrive in which the Creator Himself, as the Anointed One—the Messiah—would actually arrive here for a long-awaited visit. God would become one of us. Of course, HE DID. And He fulfilled everything on His list to the very letter. Because He was born into this world as a Babe in a Manger and completed a perfect Life without ever committing a single sin, He was able to give His Life as a perfect sacrifice as depicted in the following:

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” [John 15:12-13]

Through the events of His great world-changing ministry and sacrifice He opened up a Door into His spiritual Kingdom which can be entered by anyone—whosoever will—who fulfills the requirements and conditions which He revealed during His ministry. All praise and glory to Him.

Regarding His profound visitation to our world, there is this:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [John 1:1]

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:14][1]

In the latter verse, the word dwelt is from the Greek word σκηνόω skēnóō skay-no’-o. It means “to tabernacle.” Here is the Strong’s definition: “to tent or encamp, i.e. (figuratively) to occupy (as a mansion) or (specially), to reside (as God did in the Tabernacle of old, a symbol of protection and communion):—dwell.” Here is a further rendering: “to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle, abide (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent), tabernacle.”

From this we can clearly see that God resided temporarily in this world as one of us in a “tabernacle” (physical body) of His own choosing just as every person is only passing through this temporary life on their way to an eternal fate. This is what was depicted in part in the original rustic tabernacles of the Sinai. It was a way station and a place of preparation for the future Promised Land.

We can therefore conclude that John 1:14 is a direct clue to the actual time of our Lord’s birth: In the night, under a full moon, on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles—

He tabernacled among us.

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Tags: America, And the Word became flesh, Christmas, Feast of Tabernacles, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sukkot, The Great Awakening, The Greatest Love, The Lord's Real Birthday

JUDAS GOATS

Oct 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

After everything the Lord Jesus accomplished to lead people into His eternal spiritual Kingdom, whoever never gets there simply chose to be led by another.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” [Matthew 7:13-14]

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” [Matthew 25:31-34]

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels…” [Matthew 25:41]

GOATS ON PARADE

The vast majority of the wealthy and well-off privileged and influential people you see in high positions in this world, whether in government, private banking and business, or religious circles—those who essentially run pretty much everything and from the highest levels—are not as they may appear. When one sees the outward personas presented as the façade of the controllers, one observes only a very carefully fabricated surface image. When one hears them one hears only carefully crafted and embellished largely political prose loaded with otherwise fully unknown agendas designed to deceive and capture, and lead people toward beliefs they would otherwise not embrace and destinations toward which they would otherwise not go.

Due to their great deceptive influence over several millennia, going at least as far back as the vast sands of ancient Sumer of Tower of Babel fame, such figurative alpha goats bleating in the spotlight and their unseen owners/handlers at the top of the ziggurat have managed to form and create the largest and longest-lasting ongoing planet-wide roundup and herd drive, complete with trail bosses, point riders, and every conceivable clandestine cowboy on the range, all the while also gaining ever greater power, wealth, and overall success. Their resolute unrelenting actions prove there is indeed big power and money in deceiving and collecting the souls of humanity and subverting them to do their will. It also reveals the enemy’s hateful revenge in attempting to keep as many people from heaven as possible.

SELLOUTS

Regarding the perpetrators thereof, the unseen reality, successfully exposed only by the Lord Jesus beginning long ago and until this very day, is that this high-riding elite sold their souls to the devil. Also, they are well aware of what they did, of who they are, and of who they serve, and would do it again ad infinitum, largely because they simply love this present world and all its fleshly delights far too much to entertain any hopes of pinning their hopes on a mythical promised hereafter that would require them to cease from sin. Thus, whoever will assist them in fulfilling their pride and lusts and desire for fame are the ones they will serve, and gladly, regardless of the differing counsel of a holy God.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. [1John 2:15-17]

The only difference between the elite controllers and the clueless majority following their lead and being duped to believe in, accept, and personally apply their asinine antichrist agendas don’t know they are being led astray. They do not know they are on a trail drive. They do not realize they have become a mere commodity going to market. If anyone in this massive crowd the world over ever comes to their senses by seeing through the deception, noticing and breaking their hidden chains, changing their direction post haste, and getting the heck out of there, they can escape. They can be found by the Good Shepherd, their new Leader, and He can lead them out toward the real green pastures. For all others who fail to act in time, they will otherwise make it all the way to the end of the trail and to the slaughterhouse. Of course, by that time, when all those unaware arrivees finally figure it out, the exits will be closed and it will be too late. They will then see those credentialed, respected, and honored ones they obliviously followed and sucked up to for who they actually are—the Judas Goats leading them to hell.

Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. [Matthew 26:14-16]

And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd. [Luke 22:3-6]

Everyone who refuses the Lord’s offer of free salvation and eternal life takes the same backroom deal that Judas took. For the Pharisees in general, which the New Testament states are lovers of money, and for Judas, who was friends with influential Pharisees and was likely one himself, it was the love of money which precluded them from loving the Lord. In the simplest of terms, it always comes down to choosing one or the other:

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and *wealth.” [Luke 16:13]

[*Greek: mamonas, for Aramaic mamon (mammon); i.e. wealth, etc., personified as an object of worship.]

One may keep this in mind when considering the example of the Lord Jesus, His apostles, and His original followers in contrast with the bulk of Christianity which insists that very large sums of dinero are a must-have if one would do ministry right especially ministry of the ultra-non-organic televideo form demanding huge outlays of cash and which pretty much always creates its own fabricated figureheads which makes one wonder about their (1) suspect murky monetary sources, and (2) their actual sheep/goat identity.

TARGETING THE SHEEP

When I was a rookie Christian, after experiencing my first encounters with relatively mild persecution, the mocking of all things Christian, and also my initial engagements in spiritual warfare, I wondered why I was suddenly such a target. I also wondered why non-Christians never seemed to suffer for all their attacks against the Lord, whether they understood such or not, and for their own sin. When I asked mature believers about this they said it was largely because the devil has no need to attack the ones he already has. That made sense to me. I thought later on that it could also be because the enemy could be using such people for his own purposes. Hence—the reality of temptation and cultural peer pressure to lead one away from God and to the proverbial dens of iniquity. One may say there is no such mythical devil involved in any of this but I think the Lord Jesus would beg to differ.

In reality, all people everywhere are subjected to false leaders with hidden alternative agendas. I say leaders in the sense of actually leading one to a place they would otherwise not go, whether an actual physical location or usually a false belief or belief system (lies masquerading as truth). In this process, it is not the goats who are targeted but the sheep, since the goats are already in the devil’s fold.

Now, regarding the original Judas Goats, somebody figured out a long time ago in the circa late 1800s that a goat could be trained to gain the confidence of unsuspecting sheep to do what the human workers thereof could not do, which was to quietly and effectively lead small herds through the pens, corridors, and upper levels of packinghouses to the very place of slaughter. They got the Judas Goats to do this by getting them hooked on nicotine which was supplied as a reward.

It was said that cows and pigs were relatively easy to move to their final destination without the use of such goats. Sheep, however, were a different story entirely. They were essentially impossible to move because they would balk at such efforts having the sense to know something was not right. They would bunch up and refuse onward movement. Other livestock were susceptible to human force (think cattle drives) but sheep are different—they generally require a shepherd. And this is where the deviousness of the Judas Goat concept entered the picture. Once the sheep trusted the goat they could be moved to the eventual killing pit with ease. The Judas Goat would then be used again and again, with no apparent remorse, moving group after group of unsuspecting sheep to their final doom. This is what happens when one’s trust is misplaced and does not choose wisely. Thus, the Lord’s clear and strong warnings:

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

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance.” [Matthew 24:24-25]

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. [2Peter 2:1-3][1]

Be very careful who you choose to follow.

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THE PURITY AND PERFECTION OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST [Part 2]

Sep 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

In Part 1 we learned that the Lord’s perfect Bride must be comprised of perfect people and that this “perfection” is defined as being fully spiritually mature.

THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS [MATTHEW 25]

This is a story about hopeful brides-to-be. There is a bridegroom which means there will be a wedding. There will also be a wedding feast. The Lord mentions ten hopeful young ladies who are already very well prepared because each are chaste virgins. This illustrates their purity.

Each of these young ladies has an oil lamp. In Scripture, oil represents spiritual anointing. Also, the oil lamps allow for light which represents the Light of the Lord which every believer must possess in order to access and remain on the spiritual path and travel it properly. Yet the lamps are no good without oil. In the Book of Acts, the early believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. After one’s glorious initial infilling there had to be additional refreshings of the Spirit of God at ongoing intervals to remain strong and effective in and for the Lord.

Now, though each of the ten virgins had the required oil lamp, only five of them were prudent enough to consider possible future implications and made the wise decision to bring additional oil in flasks. For the sake of the story, the additional oil they brought would not only be necessary but sufficient. This indicates that the Lord’s people must be ever prudent and always allow for additional oil as required throughout their lives. Sure enough, as it happened, the bridegroom was delayed. Instead of arriving at the expected customary hour he would not arrive until later on in the middle of the night. While waiting the ten young ladies grew drowsy and then fell asleep.

We know what happens next. There was suddenly a shout: “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Upon waking up amid all the hurried excitement the foolish virgins saw that their lamps were running very low on oil and were about to fail! “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” “No, there will not be enough for us and you too.” “Sorry!” They had no choice but to rush off to the oil dealer.

Though well-prepared in spiritual purity they were ill-prepared in spiritual maturity.

While the foolish virgins were gone the prudent virgins finished trimming their lamps and began using the additional oil in their flasks. The long delay outside the wedding venue was finally over. The five wise virgins were overjoyed! The bridegroom! He is here! And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. It was the beginning of great celebration and joy.

And then the door was shut. There would be no further admittance.

The saddest part of this entire parable was what the bridegroom said when the foolish virgins returned and saw the closed door. They began fearfully calling out to the bridegroom to let them in. “Lord, lord, open up for us.” Remember, they had spent their entire young lives making the disciplined choices to remain pure and ready in preparation for this day. They had originally brought full oil lamps. They had done so many things right. Yet in the end it was all for naught.

“Truly I say to you, I do not know you.”

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THE PURITY AND PERFECTION OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST [Part 1]

Sep 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Bride of the Lord Jesus is comprised of every real Christian believer. Each member must therefore possess the same purity and perfection as the Bride.

THIS MYSTERY IS GREAT

In several of the Apostle Paul’s epistles he refers to what he calls a great mystery regarding the Body of Christ: He says that it is made up of every believer. Imagine that. This means that every real Christian, the only ones who qualify, are each a part of the Lord’s Body, which is also referred to as the Church. Of course, the Church is not a building. The Lord and the writers of the New Testament never refer to it in that way. Such an error arose a few centuries later as so many other errors have. No, the Church is the Community of the Lord. It is from the Greek word ekklesia which is defined by Strong’s as: A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly. Regarding its application to Christianity, the word refers to “The Community of the Called-Out Ones.” That is, each member has been called out from being a former sinful member of this fallen world to be a member of the Lord’s overall Community—His Church.

These words are therefore synonymous—Ekklesia (the Hebrew word is Qahal), Church, Called-Out Community, and Body of Christ. These are all terms which refer to the total collection of every real believer though there is yet another term—the Bride of Christ. Regarding the Lord’s Bride, Scripture states very clearly that His Bride will be perfect, pure, and holy:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. [Ephesians 5:25-27]

She will be spiritually beautiful. She will be as Eve, the last of God’s Creation, the wife of Adam and the first woman, as she was in her perfect state before her fall into sin. She was, of course, originally beautiful and perfect in every way. And as the Lord Jesus is referred to in the New Testament as the Last Adam—an absolutely perfect and sinless Man and one who replaced the First Adam who fell into sin, so will the Bride of Christ be the perfect and pure Woman who replaces fallen Eve.

Since this is true (again, a great mystery), we must therefore consider how it is possible for the Bride of Christ to be pure and perfect since she is composed of seemingly imperfect human believers. Nevertheless, it must follow that each member thereof must also be pure and perfect:

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48] [1]

And there you have it. The Lord commands His followers to be perfect. He raises the standard to the nth degree. He says each one of His real followers (believers, disciples, members of His Community) must be as perfect as God the Father. Now, how in the world is this possible, you may ask? No one can be like God! This word, however, does not mean perfection in our sense of the word but has a different connotation. It is from the Greek word τέλειος téleios (tel’-i-os) and is defined as “Complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.); completeness:—of full age, man, perfect.” It is further defined as “brought to its end, finished; lacking nothing necessary to completeness; perfect.” The word essentially means to be fully spiritually mature.

Now, in light of all that Christianity in general has become over the last twenty centuries in that the vast majority of what is known as Christianity is nothing at all like the first-century AD original—the only correct and perfect version and the prototype—one must understand that all the corrupted impure versions put together in total worldwide comprises overall Unreal Christianity. This massive amalgam, of course, is also comprised of people who can only also be described as unreal Christians. And if you may be wondering how the New Testament defines a real Christian in the most simple of terms, it is one who has submitted completely to the absolute Lordship of King Jesus and does his or her best to honor and obey Him, to incorporate His full curriculum, to love Him with all one’s heart, mind, and strength and love one’s neighbor as oneself.

The real Christian is also a lifelong disciple seeking to become fully mature and complete, or “perfect” as the Lord commanded. This means any Christian who does not fulfill these basic precepts cannot be for real. I say this because any Christian who gives it his or her all will get there with the Lord’s help. The Lord will see to it. This means we are talking about a heart condition in which one’s heart must be circumcised to the Lord. One must be born again. One must become a new creation. No one can achieve these things without the Lord’s direct ongoing assistance, of course, and without all the work He did and fulfilled during His earthly ministry to make it possible.

Remember, the Lord was so committed to our salvation and welfare that He submitted to the brutality and suffering of the cross, without which we would all go to hell and have no chance. He was certainly perfect and had certainly been fully spiritually mature and because of this He had the greatest beneficial effect on this sinful world—the only One who ever did or ever will—which means every single person who ever lived is pretty much absolutely nothing by comparison no matter how great one may think one is, and each needs Him as Savior or else.

The relative few who do join up with Him actually achieve the greatness He created them for, become the persons He created them to be, and live lives of spiritual abundance and achievement per the Lord’s definition though not without successful spiritual warfare.

Each also finds his or her place within the Bride of Christ.

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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: CHAPTER 6

Sep 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

CHAPTER 6

¹ Children, obey your parents in the Lord [as His representatives], for this is just and right.

²Honor (esteem and value as precious) your father and your mother—this is the first commandment with a promise—

³That all may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.

⁴Fathers, do not irritate and provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to resentment], but rear them [tenderly] in the training and discipline and the counsel and admonition of the Lord.

⁵Servants (slaves), be obedient to those who are your physical masters, having respect for them and eager concern to please them, in singleness of motive and with all your heart, as [service] to Christ [Himself]—

⁶Not in the way of eye-service [as if they were watching you] and only to please men, but as servants (slaves) of Christ, doing the will of God heartily and with your whole soul;

⁷Rendering service readily with goodwill, as to the Lord and not to men,

⁸Knowing that for whatever good anyone does, he will receive his reward from the Lord, whether he is slave or free.

⁹You masters, act on the same [principle] toward them and give up threatening and using violent and abusive words, knowing that He Who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no respect of persons (no partiality) with Him.

¹⁰In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].

¹¹Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.

¹²For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

¹³Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].

¹⁴Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,

¹⁵And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the [a] firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness [b] produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.

¹⁶Lift up over all the [covering] shield of [c] saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].

¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit [d] wields, which is the Word of God.

¹⁸Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).

¹⁹And [pray] also for me, that [freedom of] utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news (the Gospel),

²⁰For which I am an ambassador in a coupling chain [in prison. Pray] that I may declare it boldly and courageously, as I ought to do.

²¹Now that you may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord [and His service], will tell you everything.

²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may [e] console and cheer and encourage and strengthen your hearts.

²³Peace be to the brethren, and love joined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

²⁴Grace (God’s undeserved favor) be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying and incorruptible [love]. Amen (so let it be). [1]

Footnotes:

[a] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[b] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

[c] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[d] Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People: Subjective genitive—a type of genitive of possession. Thus here the Spirit is the subject or agent of the verbal action.

[e] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: CHAPTER 5

Sep 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

CHAPTER 5

¹ Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].

²And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a [a] slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

³But immorality (sexual vice) and all impurity [[b] of lustful, rich, wasteful living] or greediness must not even be named among you, as is fitting and proper among saints (God’s consecrated people).

⁴Let there be no filthiness (obscenity, indecency) nor foolish and sinful (silly and corrupt) talk, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting or becoming; but instead voice your thankfulness [to God].

⁵For be sure of this: that no person practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life, or one who is covetous [who has lustful desire for the property of others and is greedy for gain]—for he [in effect] is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments [for these sins], for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellion and disobedience.

⁷So do not associate or be sharers with them.

⁸For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [lead the lives of those native-born to the Light].

⁹For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light or [c] the Spirit [consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life.

¹⁰And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him].

¹¹Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] [d] expose and reprove and convict them.

¹²For it is a shame even to speak of or mention the things that [such people] practice in secret.

¹³But when anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visible and clear; and where everything is visible and clear there is light.

¹⁴Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light.

¹⁵Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people),

¹⁶Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil.

¹⁷Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.

¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit.

¹⁹Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [[e] and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord,

²⁰At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

²¹Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

²²Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord.

²³For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body.

²⁴As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,

²⁶So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,

²⁷That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].

²⁸Even so husbands should love their wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.

²⁹For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and carefully protects and cherishes it, as Christ does the church,

³⁰Because we are members (parts) of His body.

³¹For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

³²This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning [the relation of] Christ and the church.

³³However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [[f] that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and [[g] that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly]. [1]

Footnotes:

[a] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[b] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

[c] Some ancient manuscripts so read.

[d] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

[e] George R. Berry, Greek-English New Testament Lexicon.

[f] Webster’s New International Dictionary offers this as a list of English words with the same (or nearly the same) essential meaning as “respect” and “reverence.” The latter (“reverence”) includes the concept of “adore” in the sense not applied to deity.

[g] Webster’s New International Dictionary offers this as a list of English words with the same (or nearly the same) essential meaning as “respect” and “reverence.” The latter (“reverence”) includes the concept of “adore” in the sense not applied to deity.

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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: CHAPTER 4

Sep 5

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

CHAPTER 4

¹ I therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God’s service,

²Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another.

³Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace.

⁴[There is] one body and one Spirit—just as there is also one hope [that belongs] to the calling you received—

⁵[There is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁶One God and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [Sovereign over all], pervading all and [living] in [us] all.

⁷Yet grace (God’s unmerited favor) was given to each of us individually [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ’s [rich and bounteous] gift.

⁸Therefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He led a train of [a] vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men.

⁹[But He ascended?] Now what can this, He ascended, mean but that He had previously descended from [the heights of] heaven into [the depths], the lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest).

¹¹And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.

¹²His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),

¹³[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [[b] full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

¹⁴So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of [c] unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.

¹⁵Rather, let our lives lovingly [d] express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

¹⁶For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.

¹⁷So this I say and solemnly testify in [the name of] the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness [in the folly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility] of their minds.

¹⁸Their [e] moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is [f] deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their moral nature].

¹⁹In their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless and have abandoned themselves [a prey] to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity [that their depraved desires may suggest and demand].

²⁰But you did not so learn Christ!

²¹Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him],

²²Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;

²³And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],

²⁴And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another.

²⁶When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.

²⁷Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

²⁸Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.

²⁹Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

³¹Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

³²And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you. [1]

Footnotes:

[a] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Holy Bible: “He conquered those who had conquered us—such as sin, the devil, and death.”

[b] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[c] Literal translation: “dice-playing.”

[d] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[e] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[f] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: CHAPTER 3

Sep 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

CHAPTER 3

¹For this reason [[a] because I preached that you are thus built up together], I, Paul, [am] the prisoner of Jesus the Christ [b] for the sake and on behalf of you Gentiles—

²Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace (His unmerited favor) that was entrusted to me [to dispense to you] for your benefit,

³[And] that the mystery (secret) was made known to me and I was allowed to comprehend it by direct revelation, as I already briefly wrote you.

⁴When you read this you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

⁵[This mystery] was never disclosed to human beings in past generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles (consecrated messengers) and prophets by the [Holy] Spirit.

⁶[It is this:] that the Gentiles are now to be fellow heirs [with the Jews], members of the same body and joint partakers [sharing] in the same divine promise in Christ through [their acceptance of] the glad tidings (the Gospel).

⁷Of this [Gospel] I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s free grace (undeserved favor) which was bestowed on me by the exercise (the working in all its effectiveness) of His power.

⁸To me, though I am the very least of all the saints (God’s consecrated people), this grace (favor, privilege) was granted and graciously entrusted: to proclaim to the Gentiles the unending (boundless, fathomless, incalculable, and exhaustless) riches of Christ [wealth which no human being could have searched out],

⁹Also to enlighten all men and make plain to them what is the plan [regarding the Gentiles and providing for the salvation of all men] of the mystery kept hidden through the ages and concealed until now in [the mind of] God Who created all things by Christ Jesus.

¹⁰[The purpose is] that through the church the [c] complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

¹¹This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹²In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

¹³So I ask you not to lose heart [not to faint or become despondent through fear] at what I am suffering in your behalf. [Rather glory in it] for it is an honor to you.

¹⁴For this reason [[d] seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].

¹⁶May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

¹⁷May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

¹⁸That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

¹⁹[That you may really come] to know [practically, [e] through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses [f] mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] [g] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and [h] become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

²⁰Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—

²¹To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it). [1]

Footnotes:

[a] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Holy Bible: The Jews persecuted and imprisoned Paul because he was an apostle to the Gentiles and preached the Gospel to them.

[b] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Holy Bible: The Jews persecuted and imprisoned Paul because he was an apostle to the Gentiles and preached the Gospel to them.

[c] Webster’s New International Dictionary offers this as a definition of “manifold” (the King James Version’s rendering of the Greek polupoikilos).

[d] Many manuscripts consider that Paul here resumes the thread of verse 1.

[e] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[f] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[g] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

[h] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: CHAPTER 2

Sep 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

CHAPTER 2

¹And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins

²In which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion of this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God].

³Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God’s] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind.

⁴But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,

⁵Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved ([a] delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).

⁶And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us [b] joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

⁷He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved ([c] delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

⁹Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

¹⁰For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [d] recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

¹¹Therefore, remember that at one time you were Gentiles (heathens) in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by those who called themselves Circumcision, [itself a [e] mere mark] in the flesh made by human hands.

¹²[Remember] that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ [excluded from all part in Him], utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the [Messianic] promise [with no knowledge of or right in God’s agreements, His covenants]. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.

¹⁴For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,

¹⁵By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.

¹⁶And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end.

¹⁷And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near.

¹⁸For it is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him].

¹⁹Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God’s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God’s [own] household.

²⁰You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone.

²¹In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].

²²In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit. [1]

Footnotes

[a] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

[b] A.W. Meyer, Commentary on the New Testament.

[c] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

[d] Arthur S. Way, Way’s Epistles: The Letters of St. Paul to Seven Churches and Three Friends.

[e] Arthur S. Way, The Letters of St. Paul to Seven Churches and Three Friends.

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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: CHAPTER 1

Sep 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

CHAPTER 1

¹ Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), by the divine will (the purpose and the choice of God) to the saints (the consecrated, set-apart ones) [a] at Ephesus who are also faithful and loyal and steadfast in Christ Jesus:

²May grace (God’s unmerited favor) and spiritual peace [which means peace with God and harmony, unity, and undisturbedness] be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

³May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm!

⁴Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

⁵For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [ [b] because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]—

⁶[So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

⁷In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor,

⁸Which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence),

⁹Making known to us the mystery (secret) of His will (of His plan, of His purpose). [And it is this:] In accordance with His good pleasure (His merciful intention) which He had previously purposed and set forth in [c] Him,

¹⁰[He planned] for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, [both] things in heaven and things on the earth.

¹¹In Him we also were made [God’s] heritage (portion) and we obtained an inheritance; for we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand) in accordance with His purpose, Who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His [own] will,

¹²So that we who first hoped in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him have been destined and appointed to] live for the praise of His glory!

¹³In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit.

¹⁴That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it—to the praise of His glory.

¹⁵For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints (the people of God),

¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

¹⁷[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,

¹⁸By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),

¹⁹And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,

²⁰Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],

²¹Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.

²²And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],

²³Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself]. [1]

Footnotes:

[a] Some manuscripts do not contain “at Ephesus.”

[b] Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.

[c] Some commentators interpret “in Him” to mean “in Himself,” while others see it as “in Christ.”

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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: INTRODUCTION

Sep 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

As a new Christian many years ago, I discovered and began using the original Amplified Bible as a secondary supplement to the KJV, my primary Bible as a new Christian. I read both from cover to cover early on and used both extensively in Bible study. In my experience, the two worked great together.

The Amplified is named appropriately. Though technically not a traditional translation due to its additional “amplifications” it remains true to the source data as an authentic word-for-word translation (formal equivalence). (It certainly is not a substandard paraphrase version). However, as it sometimes gives multiple nuanced definitions of difficult to translate source words in which only one definition may actually apply, though such are clearly set off by brackets/parentheses/italics, the only corrective is to use multiple Bible translations in seeking specifics, something most readers are not wont to do and appreciate instead the additional material in one volume, something otherwise not possible.

The Amplified Bible is thus in my opinion an exceptional scholarly work that allows for greater richness and understanding of the Word of God especially on an introductory basis prior to one’s deeper research. For those of you who may not be acquainted with the Amplified, I highly recommend it.

After a few years with the KJV I moved on to the NKJV as my primary and eventually added a great many Bible versions (dozens) for use in my research. Beginning shortly after it was first published, I have used the New American Standard Bible 1995 Update (NASB95), touted as the most literal, as my primary Bible for reading and for use in my teachings and writings, though I will certainly use and quote other versions as supplements when applicable. I also highly recommend this version.

Regarding the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, it was written in circa 61AD while he was imprisoned in Rome. After landing in Ephesus, this letter quickly began making the rounds in that area of the world, western Asia Minor, and was soon copied extensively, sometimes without reference to a city or with references to other cities. Paul wrote four letters while under house arrest in Rome from 60-62AD. The others are Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon. He likely wrote Ephesians soon after writing Colossians, since the two have so much in common.

I encourage all to read the Scriptural passages I will present here with open spiritual eyes and consider the great love and maturity of the Apostle Paul which is revealed in the composition. His letter to the Ephesians is foundational, ultra-edifying, and historical in context. As always, all praise to the Lord Jesus, the true Author and Living Word of God, for inspiring and anointing His servant Paul to add to the burgeoning New Covenant writings of that early historical period of the Lord’s Community.

I will be posting one chapter at a time. Enjoy and Be Blessed.

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THE PROOF OF PERSECUTION

Aug 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

A certain proof of Real Christianity is real persecution. It always separates the real from the unreal. It clearly identifies those doing damage to the enemy.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!” [Matthew 10:24-25]

ARE YOU FOR REAL?

This is a question every Christian must ask himself at one time or another, probably more often than one may think, if for no other reason than to find out if one is still on track with the Lord and has not strayed off on a tangent, such as a tangent of temptation in the recent or distant past or one induced through the acceptance of incorrect information perceived as true. It must be noted the Lord, because He is a loving Father, will always convict of sin and of teachings not His own. He will also confirm truth. If such conviction and correction is not present and one is allowed to exist in a deceived state, it is a good indication of a lack of real relationship with Him since His presence always exposes darkness.

In this regard one may wonder how it is possible that one may claim Christianity and one’s secure status with the Lord though lacking the basic elementary evidence defined by the New Testament as a proof test. Yet this is the nature of deception in that the deceived one does not know he is deceived. It is therefore always wise to check one’s lamp for oil, so to speak, and to keep one’s oil flask resupplied, to assure one’s actual standing with the Lord and the ability to work for Him, and to never cease making necessary trips to the oil supplier for refills if only to be topped-off. (See The Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 23:1-13] The apostle Paul alluded to the actual outworking of this in the following:

For I am well assured and indeed know that through your prayers and a bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) this will turn out for my preservation (for the spiritual health and welfare of my own soul) and avail toward the saving work of the Gospel. [Philippians 1:19 (Amplified Classic)]

Concerning spiritual deception and even self-deception, there are a great many Christians in the world who are not actually actual Christians according to the Lord’s definition and the example of Holy Writ. Also, such unreal Christians comprise the majority. (Selah Alert: Pause, and calmly think of that!) There are any number of reasons why such has happened but the primary one is the simple fact that such people have never actually surrendered their lives in total to the Lord Jesus. Therefore, the root cause is a simple act of will: They have never actually repented of their sin, renounced it, and turned away from it, and thus have never been cleansed from sin by the only method one can be according to Scripture. This entails an unlikely possibility of a relationship with a Holy God.

There is also no proof they have ever fulfilled the Scriptural command to be born again (from above)—a powerful, clear, dynamic, life-changing occurrence akin to actual physical birth—something the Lord Jesus placed in the MUST category. The evidence of a new spiritual birth is an entirely new spiritual nature predicated upon the teachings of the Lord. One thus effectively becomes an entirely new creation:

Therefore if any person is [engrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! [1Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified Classic)]

GOT PERSECUTION?

We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ… [Ephesians 4:14-15]

In addition to “Christians” that never were who mistakenly think they are, there is also the case that many real Christians (maybe most, maybe all) stray off track from time to time and some, quite sadly, do this permanently, never finding their way back. There are, of course, New Testament examples of Christians who quit on God. This possibility is also elaborated upon in many of the Lord’s teachings in which He commands His followers to do all they must to maintain their walk with Him and warns of the many traps, deceptions, temptations, fleshly inclinations, and spiritual attacks designed by the enemy to defeat the one who would live for God. Of course, even after initial real repentance and genuine new birth, every real Christian must fight the battle of temptation and sin which is why the Lord has provided the means of ongoing spiritual cleansing, by the shed Blood of the Lamb of God, through the application of personal repentance as necessary. One should always allow for a personal altar of repentance.

Those who do fulfill the Lord’s requirements, consistently overcome, have the spiritual fruit in their lives as evidence, and gain a level of spiritual maturity, will also be subjected to perhaps the most difficult proof of Christian discipleship—the reared ugly head of persecution:

Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. [2Timothy 3:10-12]

THE EVIDENCE OF REAL CHRISTIANITY IS REAL PERSECUTION

One proof that one is an actual real disciple of the Lord Jesus is suffering as He suffered. No one will ever come anywhere close to suffering as much and as long as the Lord did or receive the great level of persecution He did. But a few of His followers will certainly suffer the highest price. For some, dying for the Lord is part of His plan.

We see this clearly in the life of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who gave His life for the truth of the Lord by exposing a wicked enemy that remains to this day. His inspiring testimony continues as one of the greatest in the Lord’s early Community. We also see the highest cost of Christian persecution rendered against James the son of Zebedee, perhaps the eldest of the original twelve apostles. He was killed by an evil local king to curry political favor with the wicked ones Stephen exposed.

When trying to figure out why the Lord allows such death and repeated injurious physical persecution against His children, as in the distinct example of the Apostle Paul, one may draw a blank. Such would appear to be a violation of the Lord’s promised protection. On the other hand, such deaths of His followers are relatively few and far between and account for a small percentage, and the persecution of many is never physically injurious though entail much suffering nonetheless. In searching for answers we must understand that real Christians willingly GIVE their lives to the Lord for His purposes to use as He desires. They no longer belong to themselves or another but to Him. This is a trust and faith issue. It also indicates that those saved by the Lord belong to Him since they were purchased by His great sacrifice on their behalf (See Acts 20:28).

This means every real Christian who gains actual real salvation was saved by the greatest persecution death in history, one in which a fully innocent Man unspotted by a single sin did what only He could do in the greatest act of love of all time. If not for Him every human being would end up in hell. The relative few who thus end up in heaven for eternity only do so because of His offering as a perfect payment of sin and because He granted access to the Door of Life.

Because of the Lord Jesus, and only because of Him, one can have their burden of sin removed, can have their hopeless addiction to sin destroyed, and can have their life record of sin expunged.

This allows for spiritual freedom and great joy! It allows a person the ability to live a good life and the strength to overcome whatever attack of the enemy may come forth. And it enables one to be a fruitful worker in the Lord’s Kingdom used of God for His purposes to help set others free and assist them in gaining spiritual maturity.

Therefore, if one is called to die for the Lord or to suffer much, we must know this all works together for God’s greater plan. So we trust Him and we submit. We work for Him and do our part. And we fight the good fight of faith.

Suffice it to say, however, the devil and his people do not fight fair. They are wicked and they are evil. Perhaps the most evil are those who once walked with God but betrayed Him and then betrayed others. There is nothing to be done about this. People are blessed of God with a free will. They may choose to do good or evil. But such good and evil is defined only by the Lord. It is therefore mandatory that one become extremely familiar with the Lord’s full teachings and do their best to understand and apply them. One must also obey the Acts directive and become filled with the powerful Holy Spirit of God. Those who do so will become strong vibrant soldiers in spiritual warfare doing much for the Lord and His kingdom. It is a high and blessed calling.

But spiritual warfare has a high cost in this sinful fallen world. The spiritual war raging all around us has casualties. Of such were the Lord Jesus Himself who paid the highest price for our salvation. Of such were Stephen and James. Of such was also the Apostle Paul who was executed by the Roman government under the auspices of Nero on false charges. The Lord allowed these casualties for His greater purposes. And, never to be forgotten, each of these faithful men managed to fulfill their callings.

May each of the Lord’s people be consistent overcomers and fulfill their callings as well.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” [John 16:33]

“These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” [Revelation 17:14][1]

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JULY 4TH 2025

Jul 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today we celebrate the 249th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This great document and the hope thereof appears in its entirety at the end of this post.

America has been under attack for several years now. The ongoing planned destruction had previously been slow and steady. And though there are great sinister forces from without, the primary attack has come from within. The enemy hates individual freedom. The enemy hates strong well-informed individuals. The enemy hates Spirit-filled believers who have sided with the Lord Jesus 100% and are determined to do His will.

As I have mentioned often here, there were three types of American Colonists that existed in 1776. Each type comprised roughly one third of the colonial population. One type was fully on the side of the English king and Parliament. One type was fully disengaged, ignorant, apathetic, selfish, and completely unaware of the battle at hand and its future ramifications. And one type comprised the greatest generation, the great American Patriots who put everything on the line to fight for freedom.

These three types also comprise the Americans of the present. Whether or not America survives will depend on which type eventually wins. I encourage you to do your own research, make your own evaluations, and come to your own studied conclusions regarding these three types of Americans.

As of now, it appears that the forces of evil have gained the upper hand. But I must remind everyone that the same dynamic was in play 249 years ago. The American Patriots appeared to have no chance but that never stopped them from taking that chance. They knew they would have no chance at all unless they went all in. Their great victory proved again that good is greater than evil and that Light always overcomes darkness.

To date, American Christians have generally become spiritually weak, dumbed-down, compromised, and overcome by the culture. Many rarely or never read and study the Word of God and thus fail to apply it to their lives. Most American Christians are not dedicated disciples of the Lord Jesus. One may wonder how this could have happened but it’s actually quite simple: The majority of American Christians have rejected the total Lordship of the Lord Jesus, have refused to honor and follow His Word, have rejected the Book of Acts in particular, and have instead dedicated themselves to fruitless socially acceptable counterfeits including the leaders thereof.

However, there is a group on the rise that has been on the rise for several years now. I saw this at least thirty-three years ago when I began my initial research for my book Real Christianity. I saw that if real Christianity was to survive in America it must overcome the massive forces of Unreal Christianity. I certainly expressed the hope that this group of real Christians would continue to rise, and for that to happen there must be an Awakening. I mentioned this in the book.

However, it was not until late August of 2010 that I received the definitive proof. The Lord told me America was in the early stages of a national Great Awakening. That was almost fifteen years ago. It has proven to be true.

Since then the enemy stopped his slow gradualism approach and went full bore into the open, no longer all that concerned with attempting to hide his sinister plans or keep his subterfuge secret. Of course, it pretty much stayed secret anyway because the great bulk of Americans and American Christians remained absolutely clueless and ignorant with no desire to change for the better. It has made things very easy for the enemy. He now does his dirty work in plain sight and most Christians still do nothing about it.

Real Christians, however, back in the 1990s, did see. They had the Spirit of God. They had eyes to see and ears to hear. Sadly, they were by and large castigated and rejected by their own, those who could only manage to live in the present and chose the way of compromise and friendship with the world. If the real Christians could survive and manage to coalesce, real Christianity in America could be saved. Thus, SOMETHING profound must have happened in this country in the roughly fifteen year period of 1995-2010. This was a time when enough real believers, largely as mere disconnected individuals, remained dedicated to the Lord Jesus and doubled down on their dedication in the face of persecution from their own. The Lord was apparently greatly pleased. He needed this group and fought for this group. This was a Remnant group of His making that would be necessary for His future plans. It was these who would be used to bring forth the current Great Awakening.

After 249 years this country remains at a terrible crossroads. Most never saw what was coming during the good times but the few did. Presently, more can see it, if not by spiritual eyes then by experience. Empirical evidence always promotes clarity. Americans will experience more in the immediate future—dire circumstances from seemingly every direction—that will cause them to start waking up. They will see that all the warnings they previously rejected had great merit. They will see that those who had it right all along but had their names and lives destroyed should have been listened to and honored.

Perhaps the best verse of Scripture which perfectly illustrates what has happened over the last three decades is the following:

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” [Mark 6:4][1]

The Lord always has witnesses. One might recall what happened to His great and powerful personal witness. One might recall what the Lord’s own did to Him. What might recall what the unbelievers of His nation—the forces of antichrist—did to the members of the Lord’s Community. This same dynamic plays out every day in every nation. It has certainly played out in America.

Thanks to the Lord Jesus, however, we have great hope. Thanks to Him and His real followers, everyone will have the opportunity to gain the spoils that go to the victor.

249 years ago a group of American Revolutionaries openly declared themselves independent and free of corrupt government. They would go on to fight another five years to win the prize. When they won, and it was a GREAT victory, the spoils of war were shared by all Americans, even the traitors and cowards.

American Christians must therefore thank those who have been in the spiritual battle all along, those who were most usually never or rarely supported and who were forced into long term survival mode. It was the real Christians, the only ones the Lord was allowed to work through and with, who brought us to this time of opportunity and hopeful victory.

The Great Awakening is here. Whether it will be enough or not remains to be seen.

In CONGRESS July 4, 1776

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

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Tags: America, American Revolution, Discipleship, July 4 1776, Lord Jesus, Prophetic Warning, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rejecting God's Prophets, Spiritual Warfare, The Declaration of Independence, The Great Awakening, The Prophetic Word, Unreal Christainity

CHURCH BUILDINGS AND DISPOSABLE ASSETS

Jul 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

Enterprise Christianity operates like a business. It has a corporate head, a small group of midlevel managers, and a must-have dedicated building called a “church.”

It also has a very large group of the nameless and faceless who are effectively nothing more than monetary supporters and pew warmers, each of which matter very little to the overall operation. Based on the ongoing dynamic of ever-present congregation turnover, this indispensable 90% of church-going Christians is usually perceived by the clergy class as mere disposable assets and the individuals thereof are rarely taken seriously.

The truth of the matter is that the Church is not a building. The real Church is actually the People of God—the Community of Called-Out Ones—and is comprised of all real Christians, those whom the Lord Jesus has saved and whom He loves and cherishes. This is pure fact but also something that most Christian advocates either have no knowledge of or simply do not care about and will never let it stop them from engaging in their false traditions.

A DIFFERENT AGENDA

A man starts a “church.” He may start it from scratch but it usually involves a few trusted ones such as close family or friends. He begins having meetings. These may take place in a residential home or a small commercial rent space. An effective means of word-of-mouth advertising is utilized which slowly spreads the news of the new “work.” A few new people start filtering in. These are often Christians who were previously “unchurched” or are marginal members of existing churches looking for a new place. Because there is a newness and freshness in the new startup with a relatively high energy level the new people like what they feel and are somewhat excited. Several decide to make a commitment and stay. These people know others like them and the word continues to spread.

If the “pastor” is somewhat affable, seems sincere and caring, and is also knowledgeable, though with a relatively new narrative in line with current Christian trends, he will appear spiritually attractive. His new group will be seen as a place where one not only feels at home but also grounded. The nucleus members—the few friends and family there at the beginning—also share the love, so to speak, with the new members and invitees in an energetic and demonstrable manner. This not only puts people at ease but helps create a caring environment which answers a basic need for recognition and acceptance.

If the small group stopped growing at that point in which it could still fit comfortably in a large living room, it would have a much more likely ability to continually foster the true care the members need and would possess the basis for them to develop toward becoming actual disciples. This was the method the Lord used. Though great numbers followed Him He had a relatively small core group of dedicated ones in which He poured more of Himself into and shared deeper truths. The hope was always that the majority on the relative periphery would also dedicate themselves with a desire to be closer to God and thus also embrace true discipleship. Many did. Others moved on. This was always a matter of personal choice. To prove this, one must remember that the Lord was only able to gather 120 for the Day of Pentecost.

However, in our new startup “church,” like the vast majority of such including those in many mainline denominations, there is a decidedly different agenda than the one the Lord employed. Rather than forming relatively small interactive groups of dedicated ones as the Lord did, long held alternative Christian tradition required that the living room outgrow its setting and thus locate a larger venue in which to meet. This is the only way, you see, to allow for the eventual creation of the desired end goal—an actual congregation in which all members meet regularly under the same roof.

One may surmise the root reasons why some groups achieve this status and some do not. Among the “successful,” some new “church” startups may only grow to maybe a hundred while others expand to a thousand and beyond. Eventually, though, for whatever reason, all such congregations most often stifle out at a certain point and stop growing though may successfully maintain their achieved number levels large or small. It appears to be only coincidence that the membership total of the faithful matches the available capacity of the buildings they meet within.

MY PREDICTION

The great Christian enterprisers noticed this phenomenon early on and realized that the massive congregational growth they desired and sought could only be achieved if they proverbially expanded the walls outward far enough and constructed large enough meeting spaces to allow for greater flocks. I noticed this emerging trend many decades ago and surmised that such enterprising entrepreneurs would not stop until they built the largest buildings possible. I even stated in my first book, Real Christianity, the following:

Since these churches are a relatively new phenomenon, we don’t know what their end result will be, but one thing is certain—the pastor who has three thousand under one roof desires five thousand. He that has five thousand wouldn’t have a problem with growing to ten thousand. The one who has ten thousand wouldn’t need a lot of convincing, if the people keep coming, to build an arena that can seat a hundred thousand.

Where is the logical stopping point of such proliferation? Will it end when we at last reach the architectural limits of domed stadium size? Will some people eventually start converting sports and entertainment arenas into church buildings? As strange as it may sound, the answer is an unqualified yes, because the dream of some ministers is to build a tower that reaches into heaven, to fully exalt themselves against the very God they claim to be serving. Lest we forget, the large crowds following Jesus were fluid. They had no roof over their head, were not fixed in a permanent location, and were not drawn together by human charisma or religious culture but by the Spirit of God.[1]

I originally wrote this passage in the mid-1990s, several years before a particular very well-known American church pastor obtained a downtown former NBA sports arena and converted it to a “church” which can seat almost 17,000 congregants on any given Sunday. This church building currently has the largest capacity in the United States. Yet, there are many church buildings elsewhere in the world that exceed this number dramatically, including a few in Nigeria that reportedly are claimed to meet or exceed one hundred thousand.

Yet none of this vast church building activity all around the world over the last seventeen centuries since the original Roman Basilica of Constantine—Old St. Peters—was constructed in circa 320-360AD, has one ounce of New Testament legitimacy or precedent. In fact, Constantine set the precedent by doing something the Lord Jesus never taught or advocated for and which the Early Church of the first century never did.

Nevertheless, the good old USA is perhaps the worst offender in this regard, especially since its traditional church building advocates have much more in common with a former Roman emperor who became a faux Christian rather than with the Lord Jesus, the one they claim to serve. Though the Lord was an accomplished builder and carpenter, He never built a church building nor told any of His disciples to build one and there is no record whatsoever in the New Covenant Scriptures of any exclusive church buildings. Such structures simply never existed until the fourth century AD.

TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS

Therefore, it is not so much of a stretch to understand that the disciples of the Lord were never meant to spend their lives wasting away on pews as the mere chattel of faux Christian enterprisers unaware of or unclear on the concept. Instead, they were to develop into powerful Spirit-filled witnesses and dedicated ministers of the Gospel that can go toe to toe with the invisible bad guys.

So, rather than submit to being mere disposable assets used for superficial purposes and then cast off, believers in general must seek and embrace their true identity as members of the Lord’s exclusive spiritual Community, walking in His grace and empowered by His Holy Spirit. This is what the original pioneers of real Christianity did. Their exceptional world-changing deeds speak for themselves, so much so that, according to the KJV translators, they were said to have turned the world upside down.

May the great bulk of backslid American Christianity repent, return to its roots, and begin doing the same. And may Christianity’s greatest assets finally be recognized.

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. [1Corinthians 1:26-29][2]

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Tags: America, Called Chosen and Faithful, Church Buildings, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of Called-Out Ones, Constantine, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Christians, Serving MONEY, The Early Church, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

ISRAEL GOES NUCLEAR: A HISTORICAL RECORD OF LAWLESSNESS [AND UNCLE SAM BOMBS IRAN]

Jun 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

Israel is the only state in the Middle East with nuclear weapons. However, it developed and obtained its nuclear arsenal through secretive clandestine means.

[Note: I began writing this article early Saturday, June 21, and completed the first full draft prior to final edits shortly before hearing the news of the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites Saturday evening. Yet with so much happening so fast in the Middle East I have since added additional material and also explanatory Notes to this article (in red) regarding events that have happened in the meantime. With grave concern for the massive bombing raid perpetrated against Iran by the U.S. on Saturday evening, it must be noted that it was illegal according to international law and wholly unconstitutional according to U.S. law. Overall, though the successful mission involved highly skilled and professional U.S. personnel obeying orders, the operation was lawless in the extreme.]

LAWLESSNESS

“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 23:27-28][1]

Of course, the state of Israel has never admitted to possessing a nuclear arsenal. It prefers to play it coy. On the one hand such an attitude is derived from the general historical facts of the matter which point directly to the surreptitious process employed, which is something Israel obviously knows must be concealed. Under normal circumstances this would be akin to a national version of unrepentant hidden personal sin that causes shame, something better left in the shadows. In this case, though, because there is no shame but more of a smug pride in their accomplishment, it is because if such facts were to get out they would tend to subvert one’s carefully constructed false outer persona and just might lead to ripping the mask off completely. Regardless of such efforts, however, and that the modern state of Israel has been largely successful for many decades in hiding its true identity, the current Great Awakening is assisting in exposing it for what it really is.

“But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” [Luke 12:2]

Israel’s deliberate cover-up of its surreptitious means of becoming a nuclear power also involves concealing the people and agencies utilized thereof, something deemed absolutely essential, not so much to protect national secrets and particular identities but to conceal a great evil, the evil ways in general that such clandestine efforts are carried out, and their real purposes. Suffice it to say there are thoroughly different agendas involved in such means and processes than what the public is propagandized to believe and by which, once revealed, it would be utterly shocked. That which occurs behind the scenes by such forces is truly the epitome of lawlessness.

Another primary reason that Israel has always refused to acknowledge its possession of nuclear weapons is due to the passage of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 which was signed into law by President Carter on March 10 of that year. This Act incorporated the Symington Amendment of 1976 which “barred U.S. economic and military assistance to any country that imported or exported spent nuclear fuel reprocessing or uranium enrichment equipment, materials, or technology but failed to comply with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) full-scope safeguards.”[2]

Israel has never complied with IAEA directives at their Dimona nuclear facility and still denies it access.[3] This portends that the hundreds of billions of dollars in “aid” that Israel has received from the U.S. is actually illegal and explains their hush hush attitude.

The reality is such that approximately 67 years ago the relatively new state of Israel (founded in 1948), with the assistance of France (which gained nuclear weaponry in 1960) completed the construction of their first nuclear reactor in Israel at Dimona in the southern Negev, as early as 1962. This was largely done in an undercover manner with origins dating to 1958. It was reportedly so secret that U.S. intelligence agencies did not know of its existence for three years. (It is since believed that this reactor supplied the fuel for Israel’s undeclared secret nuclear weapons program which came to fruition by approximately 1967.)

When President Kennedy, who was elected in 1960, became aware of their progress with the Dimona Reactor in 1961 he was reported to be surprised and likely stunned, knowing that the facility could easily be built out for military purposes. No President had ever been as concerned about nuclear proliferation. He then insisted that the state of Israel be subjected to the same official inspections by international nuclear governing bodies to both keep track of the progress but also to limit the process to strictly that of energy. (His concern was not unfounded since the establishment of nuclear power is a mere step toward the creation of nuclear warheads and he certainly smelled a rat regarding Israel’s future intentions.)

Of course, the President’s stance was cause for great concern by Israel since they had successfully avoided such inspection activity to that date and rather than being subjected to proper oversight protocols, were instead assisted by people and agencies in very high places. In President Kennedy, however, they found a stalwart American leader who refused to operate unlawfully in this area and demanded international transparency (for the sake of such trivial issues as world peace). By June of 1963, by official communication, he gave Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion an ultimatum. As a result, Ben-Gurion resigned. This sent shockwaves through the parties involved in the subterfuge.

According to the in-depth research of later select independent sources who pieced together the sordid back story and its implications, it was this event that played a major role in President Kennedy’s assassination only five months later.[4]

Therefore, Iran is an enemy of Israel for only one reason. It is because Israel is threatened by the possibility that Iran might someday develop nuclear weapons also. If this ever happened Israel would be compromised and essentially stalemated. They would no longer hold the great upper hand in the Middle East. It is why they always eliminate any threat in this regard long before such becomes possible by attacking even the benign nuclear energy projects of its neighbors. They had previously bombed both Iraqi (1981) and Syrian (2007) nuclear energy facilities for fear that such could be converted for military use. Such actions are beyond ironic and constitute pure hypocrisy.

IRAN IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Over thirteen years ago in February of 2012, I wrote and posted a five-part series here which I entitled Iran in the Crosshairs. In case you may be interested, these are well developed articles filled with relevant facts that pretty much perfectly align with the present. Most of the names are different but the agenda is exactly the same. The point here is that the state of Israel has been crying wolf about Iran’s purported nuclear weapons intentions about as far back as the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

The facts are, of course, that Iran has never had a nuclear weapon. Every pertinent certified agency and intelligence service confirms this fact and it was even recently confirmed in March of this year by the United States Director of National Intelligence. Conversely, Israel is constantly stating that Iran is only two years/a year/six months/weeks/any day now away from building a nuclear weapon. Again, they’ve been saying this for over forty years. Yet, when two years/a year/six months/weeks/any day now came to pass there was still no weapon. These were not, therefore (of course), actual warnings of an impending threat but mere ongoing propaganda and fear tactics to gain what they wanted, namely billions more in military aid and whatever else plus an eventual green light to attack Iran, something Israel has desperately wanted to do. I wrote about all of this in my series.

As we all know now, that long desired intention finally took place with Israel’s uncalled for surprise attack against the sovereign nation of Iran on June 13, only ten days ago. This happened after a softening up faux peace talk process involving the U.S. which Iran apparently did not perceive to be a charade. Now, regarding who could win such a fight between these two Middle East countries, the facts are that Israel could never win without much assistance from the U.S. and by engaging in the initial attack were either counting on such assistance to occur or the overall plan was always one in which it would occur. If the U.S. was not involved and would not be involved, and if Israel did not possess nuclear weapons, Iran would most likely be the victor. This is already proving true.

Therefore, if the recent two week decision period on whether or not the U.S. will attack Iran given on June 19 is for real the U.S. will continue building up in the meantime for inevitable war. [Note: Shortly after I wrote this and the following lines, of course, the world found out this two week interim was yet another ruse and a trust-busting continuation of the effective betrayal of diplomacy.] If by some strange chance the U.S. decides to not engage (After great intercessory prayer from American Christians? After yielding to the American electorate against such a war?), Israel would then be down to its final chance—it would invoke the Samson Option.[5] This is the alleged last ditch military option in which Israel would employ its nuclear weapons arsenal against whatever targets it warrants including those at a distance if you get my drift. For those knowledgeable of Old Testament history who understand invoking the historical character Samson and his final act, they should rightly perceive ominous overtones. One might readily ascertain, therefore, why the U.S. will likely get (more) involved in the Israel-Iran War very soon. [Note: My prediction here proved true.]

On the other hand, Iran is closely allied with such notables as Russia, China, India, and Pakistan, each of which possesses stores of nuclear weapons, and in the case of Russia, a vast store. Will these nations sit idly by if Iran is attacked with such sufficient force that its livelihood and perhaps very existence is threatened? And what might Iran do to protect itself and retaliate?

Such wars never go according to plan. There are always unintended consequences. Things quickly spin out of control which necessitates further action outside the scope of original objectives. Once started, they always involve happenings and occurrences that are unplanned and previously unseen. This particular war in the making has great potential to achieve that very thing and could easily result in an international Pandora’s Box scenario to the nth degree.

[2] ://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v19/d6

[3] ://apnews.com/article/iran-israel-nuclear-programs-iaea-94c0f87c357fd72169dee198cb6800a7

[5] According to Seymour Hersh and Israeli historian Avner Cohen, Israeli leaders like David Ben-Gurion, Shimon Peres, Levi Ashkol, and Moshe Dayan coined the biblical term Samson option in the 1960s. See ://thesvi.org/deconstructing-israels-samson-option/

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Tags: America, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Iran, Iran in the Crosshairs, Israel, Lawlessness, Lord Jesus, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, Pandora's Box, President John F. Kennedy, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Search For Truth, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The War On Truth, Unreal Christianity

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

Jun 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today is the actual anniversary of the Day of Pentecost. It occurs on Sivan 7 on the Hebrew calendar. Acts Chapter 2 is the test of our ministries, churches, and lives.

AN UPPER ROOM EXPERIENCE

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. [Acts 2:1-4]

To show how far Christianity in general has fallen, the vast majority of professed Christians in the world have either never heard of this occurrence or have certainly never experienced it. This is due to what is largely a complete rejection of the Lord’s actual teachings, the Book of Acts in general, and a concerted effort to create a false Christianity of many forms which comprises overall Unreal Christianity in the world today. To say the devil has been hard at work is an understatement. It is also further ironclad proof that humanity apart from God is unregenerate and primarily stubborn and rebellious, Christian or not.

The Good News, however, is since the beginning of the Lord’s new spiritual outpouring in the world which began roughly 125 years ago, multiple millions have experienced Pentecost and have added great power to the Lord’s Community which assists greatly in the spiritual war at hand. Those Christians who refuse the experience due to whatever personal or social reasons are doing the Lord no favors. It is beyond curious that such a clear directive in Scripture has become so entirely obfuscated and complicated which serves to both drive people away and also hinder their ability to receive. Regardless of how anyone may choose to otherwise describe it, this can only be viewed from a New Covenant perspective as an evil work.

As many people have proclaimed over the years including preachers, the devil goes to church. Well, this is not only true but has grown exponentially. At present the devil essentially owns a likely majority of “churches.” There are presently a great many Christian ministers, including many hugely popular ones with huge followings, who are standing for and agreeing with great evil when they should be using their platforms to expose it. But you see, if they did that their funding would likely dry up, they would likely lose their popularity, and their great enterprises would likely collapse.

Part of preaching and teaching the real Gospel message of the Lord is exposing evil and the perpetrators behind it. The Lord Jesus did this. The Early Community of the Lord did this. It is why such a great spiritual war broke out at that time centered on Jerusalem. This was the city where great evil in various forms had manifested and had its headquarters. By the late 60s AD it had become a place of refuge for much of the population but this only served to assist in the great conflagration that ensued in 70AD when what was left of the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, and the great Temple was destroyed forever. Their act of great rebellion against the Romans was actually an act of great rebellion against the Lord Jesus.

Such a termination, fiery or otherwise, will also eventually occur against each and every form of Unreal Christianity.

God will not be mocked.

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. [Acts 2:37-47][1]

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Day of Pentecost, False Christian Movements, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rebellion Against God, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Upper Room, Worldwide Pentecostal Movement

THE PRESIDING AUTHORITY OF THE LORD JESUS [Part 3]

May 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

Though they wreak much havoc and many people have been casualties, it is likely the case that most people have never experienced a tornado. I did…

A TORNADO STORY

Several decades ago I was attending a church service. This particular church met at two o’clock on Sunday afternoons rather than Sunday mornings. It was early August. The church building held maybe 700 people or so and it was the usual capacity crowd. I was sitting among some friends in the center section about halfway up. After the opening praise and worship time backed by a large choir, there was a guy in the pulpit doing some extended announcements. He kind of got off on a tangent talking about something or another. Everything was pretty much as routine as always.

Then, suddenly, the house lights began to flicker. No one thought too much of it. After a few moments they went off completely as did all the electricity. People looked around a little. There was a low murmur. The guy in the pulpit paused briefly but then continued though the mike no longer worked. I remember him doing a short laugh and being quite good natured about what we thought would be a momentary interruption. Everyone in the congregation remained seated.

Then a few of us heard the muted sounds of something quite out of the ordinary from back in the spacious closed off vestibule. Before anyone had time to think of what it may be one of the vestibule doors opened and an usher came walking hurriedly down one of the two main aisles toward the front. He was met by the preacher and a couple of others and they all headed back to the vestibule. Congregants looked on following this unexplained action seeking clues. The low murmur returned and increased in volume punctuated by a few spoken voices in the crowd. There were also the sounds of undefined shuffling as people made increasingly larger movements while turning around to see what was going on. Many had much concern on their faces.

When the men arrived at the back and began opening the vestibule doors again the entire atmosphere in the church building dramatically changed. We instantly heard it. We heard the very loud sound of a mighty wind. The vestibule doors flew open. Ushers were trying with great difficulty to keep the outside glass doors closed but it was a fight. I was able to look back there and saw the whole ruckus as it was happening. Everyone in the congregation got the big idea really fast and the physical movement of hundreds of people increased the discordant sound volume precipitously. All around me people started diving under pews. A few people ventured into the aisles either coming or going though the majority stayed in place seeking shelter where they were. It wasn’t pandemonium but kind of a controlled effort to somehow gain a modicum of protection. And remember, it was all taking place in a darkened building lit only by the gray light from outside through the one set of open vestibule doors and the colored rays emitted through several narrow stained glass windows on either side in the far wings.

When I saw so many people in my vicinity going under the pews I decided on a different approach. As I envisioned the tornado busting through the brick wall not far to my right on the east side of the church building, rather than go down I stood straight up and raised my hands in praise to the Lord. If I was going out this was the way I would go. But I also thought that maybe I could somehow affect the inevitable outcome in some indiscernible way—that maybe by focusing on the Lord, praising Him, and seeking His help the disaster could possibly be averted. I was certainly not the only one seeking the assistance of the Lord at this time.

It got really loud. I found out later that the tornado was heading straight for the church building. It was following the major road across from the church on the opposite side but then jumped over to the church property and came close enough to suck the bark off of several trees close by the building just beyond the very brick wall I had envisioned taking a major broadside hit. Then one of the ushers back there white-knuckling the outside doors later told us that all of the sudden the F2 tornado stopped in its tracks right before it hit the church, picked up off the ground slightly, and jumped right across to the other side of the road again. It then continued passing by the front of the building and moved off to the west and beyond.

Things inside began to get still and quiet. We all started to sense that it was probably over. The great sound was gone. The wind had ceased. Someone at some brief point thereafter gave the final word that all was good. People emerged from under pews and sat down dazed. I don’t remember much after that. It was my first and only tornado experience.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord intervened to stop a disaster. Hundreds of people would likely have been killed and a great many injured. It is interesting that the only church property the tornado traversed on its way toward the church building was a small greenbelt and then a large parking lot. There was no damage to these either. Whether the tornado path toward a direct hit on a church building was nothing inherently sinister but simply a natural occurrence or an actual attack of the enemy is likely a matter of faith and perspective. God knows.

The next day or so I remember seeing a black and white photograph. It was a picture of the front of the church building someone had taken not long after the all clear was given. There was no damage whatsoever. Also in the picture was the previously mentioned brick east wall completely unscathed. But there was something else, something over the church. Hovering just above the roof were three indistinct whitish shapes. What were these?

Hmmm. Probably just photographic anomalies…

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Tags: America, Authority, Church Buildings, Lord Jesus, Praise, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Authority, The Blessings of God, The Great Awakening, Worship

THE ASCENSION

May 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today is the actual anniversary of the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven. It took place on the 40^th day since His Resurrection.

On the Hebrew calendar it occurred on Iyyar 26 (today). The Ascension began the ten day countdown to Pentecost.

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” [Acts 1:1-11][1]

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Tags: Ascension, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, The Great Awakening

THE PRESIDING AUTHORITY OF THE LORD JESUS [Part 2]

May 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

Whoever never acknowledges the overall authority of the Lord, whether due to simple ignorance or outright refusal, remains subjected to the flawed authority of others.

AN OIL FIELD STORY

I spent several years working on oil and gas rigs in Texas. One time many years ago I was working on a lousy little rig in the far south part of the state in that early contested area between the Nueces and Rio Grande. This was not a high dollar rig and was thus staffed with lesser clientele. It was during my early days when I was still learning the various nuances of my profession before I moved on to the much newer and much better Cadillac rigs.

The old rig was located out in the relatively unpatrolled badlands. I can’t remember the particulars but it was a lower class operating company that could only afford a lower class drilling rig which could only afford lesser clientele. I think you may get the picture here though it is virtually impossible to explain working on a rig to someone that’s never been on one or worked on one. Starting out on such rig sites is a good education toward certain elements of the industry, one of which is that one better keep working up the ladder or probably just move on down the road. In my case I had no choice at the time and had to stick it out.

Another cost saving measure is the quality of the company man. Again, for those who don’t know, the company man is the on-site man hired by the operating company to ride herd on the rig. He is like the captain of a ship. In the oil field he is the absolute on-site boss. In later years I met and worked with some fine men who knew their stuff and knew how to treat other men. Those lesser company men were different. They were not good enough to work the better rigs. You get what you pay for, as they say. (Regarding such pay, the best company men were getting upwards of fifteen hundred dollars a day back then.) Even so, most of those lesser guys were alright but an observant man like myself quickly understood why they were working for lower pay on lousy rigs in not so great locations. I didn’t know it at the time because I had no frame of reference.

Anyway, proceeding with the story, on that one particular well, the company man was not just among the lower class of company men but also had a big screw loose somewhere in his fat cranial region. He wasn’t just a brick shy of a load but several pallets of bricks shy. Though somewhat subtle when all was cruising, one could see the brick deficiency a tad better not long after one’s initial acquaintance. When things were not going so well which always happens on a rig to varying degrees, especially on a rig of this kind with a clientele of that kind, this man’s cranial deficiency was soon on full display. One of his episodes came my way one night…

By the way, oil and gas rigs operate twenty four hours a day. The work never stops though there may be occasional delays. The days are usually divided into two twelve hour shifts starting at 6am and 6pm though some might break at midnight and noon. In the industry, though, these shifts are never referred to as shifts. They’re called “towers.” But this word is spelled tours. Even so, it has always been pronounced towers. In other words a man works his tower. It may be the day tower or the night tower. For those that can read, however, all the paperwork says tours. There are many things like this in the oil field that hearken back to the very early days of the industry.

This means there are two full crews working the rig, a day crew and a night crew. One crew works while the other crew sleeps. It works the same with other personnel. This sometimes includes company men. The usual protocol, though, was one company man on the site working a two week shift. He was allowed sleep time as he could get it but must always be available for whatever may occur.

On this particular lousy rig in the badlands of far south Texas the operating company could only afford so much for a rig boss so they had to dip into their bag of dregs. He was supposed to be always available but really wasn’t. He slept at night. He was supposed to be on call at all times but this particular individual paid no attention to that and slept through the night regardless of what was happening on the rig. Everyone learned to fend for themselves because he made it clear that he was never to be awakened under any circumstances.

But no one on the rig passed on this most important piece of information to me. Well, because I was still in the early days of learning my craft as what they called “third party personnel” and was working the night tower, something pretty serious happened one night that demanded the company man’s attention. Again, because I was not wise to the rig protocol though was otherwise well trained and knew the company man must be told of the occurrence, I went over to his office which also was his lodgings and knocked on the door (unless a man tells you otherwise you never just walk in). I guess you may surmise what happened next. Not only did I wake him up but I raised his dander to full tilt and he pretty much went native. I could then see very well that the man was a certifiable nutcase. No man ever treated me like that before but because I could not risk my job and was a Christian I could not take a chance on beating the ever living tar out of him though I think the Lord would understand and not hold it against me but the company I worked for probably not so much.

So I had to take his guff. It’s hard for a real man to take the guff of a lesser man only because he is higher on the totem pole. When I got off tower and went to my motel room I didn’t take long to inquire of the Lord just what I should do about this. That’s when I learned once again about THE PRESIDING AUTHORITY OF THE LORD JESUS. He told me something really cool during that prayer time. It was by His inspiration that I received the revelation. So I prayed a really great prayer:

“Lord, you know I am submitted to your authority. But I also have to be submitted to the crazy man’s authority. So I ask you Lord to take full authority over him so when I submit to him I am submitting to someone who is under full submission to Your authority even though he does not know that and this will allow You to take authority over him for my sake and work your will in the situation.”

The next day I went to work. The man’s attitude toward me had changed. It even appeared as though he was somehow better in the head. He was now treating me with the respect I deserved all along and even appeared to have a better nature. We actually began getting along just fine. I never had any problem with him again and completed the well.

This is why wise people submit themselves 100% to the Lord Jesus. When the authority structure is lined up the way the Lord wants it everything goes better and it all works out.

All praise to You, My Father. Amen.

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Tags: Authority, Discipleship, Drilling Rigs, Lord Jesus, Oil and Natural Gas Wells, Prayer, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Authority, Spiritual Warfare, Texas, The Great Awakening, Works of God

THE PRESIDING AUTHORITY OF THE LORD JESUS [Part 1]

May 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

Whoever never acknowledges the overall authority of the Lord, whether due to simple ignorance or outright refusal, remains subjected to the flawed authority of others.

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST

Not long before He ascended to heaven, the Lord Jesus announced that He possessed ALL authority in both heaven and earth. This means He has the very highest level of authority in both the spiritual realm and the physical realm. One might also note that He always accepted worship:

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” [Matthew 28:16-18]

Yet even on this late date, after His entire earth-shattering, miraculous, and beautiful ministry, His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection, and the better part of His post resurrection forty days prior to His Ascension, there were still some who were doubtful! And according to the narrative, it appears that the doubters were among His own eleven apostles. It is no wonder, therefore, that the Lord had to continue stating the otherwise obvious right up to the very end in an ongoing effort to combat the dreaded spiritual disease of unbelief.

The otherwise obvious, of course, is that the Lord Jesus is the one God, something even most “Christians” still are not aware of in that they really don’t know who the Lord Jesus really is because they have yet to receive the full revelation. However, once we at last find success in wrapping our heads around the Lord’s actual authority level, the fullness of His deity will begin to dawn on us.

Regarding the preceding Scriptural passage, the Greek word used for “authority” must be addressed since this teaching begins there. The word is ἐξουσία exousía (ex-oo-see’-ah). It has a range of specific contextual definitions but does not vary in its most elemental general form. In this particular verse, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon applies the following specific definition which contains Matthew 28:18 as a reference. It is followed by my selected applications from the greater lexicon text including the full Scriptural passages mentioned therein:

4. The Power of Rule or Government (the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed (generally translated authority);

A. universally: Matthew 28:18; Jude 1:25; Revelation 12:10;

- authority over all mankind, John 17:2

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” [Matthew 28:18]

To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. [Jude 1:25]

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.” [Revelation 12:10]

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.” [John 17:1-2]

B. specifically,

- of the power of judicial decision; with an infinitive of the thing decided: John 19:10; followed by the power of deciding against one, John 19:11;

So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” [John 19:10-11]

C. metonymically,

- one who possesses authority; (cf. the Latin use of honestates, dignitates, auctoritates (so the English authorities, dignities, etc.) in reference to persons);
- a ruler, human magistrate: Romans 13:1-3; plural: Luke 12:11; Romans 13:1; Titus 3:1.

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; [Romans 13:1-3]

“When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” [Luke 12:11-12]

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. [Titus 3:1-2]

- the leading and more powerful among created beings superior to man, spiritual potentates; used in the plural of a certain class of angels: Colossians 1:16; 1 Peter 3:22, Ephesians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 2:10;

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. [1Peter 3:21-22]

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. [Ephesians 3:8-12]

But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. [1Corinthians 15:23-24]

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. [Ephesians 1:18-23]

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. [Colossians 2:9-12]

The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” [John 2:18-19][1]

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Tags: Authority, Discipleship, Divine Revelation, False Religious Authority, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Identity of Jesus, Spiritual Authority, The Great Awakening

HAPPY FOURTEENTH BIRTHDAY REAL CHRISTIANITY

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

Thanks to all my many readers over the years especially those of you who remain at present. I appreciate your faithfulness, friendship, and heartfelt spiritual rapport.

FOURTEEN YEARS

I created this site the day before making my first post on May 10, 2011: Fight the Good Fight of Faith. I had the assistance of a good friend who made the very first of five thousand comments here. Her help was most appreciated as is her initial contribution. Regarding that, I express much thankfulness to all who have made comment contributions. My longtime readers have made in the hundreds each and each of you have added much insight, perspective, wisdom, knowledge, spiritual experience, and stories from your lives. All of these have added up to a great body of interactive work illustrating what we as Christians have been taught to do by our loving Lord and Savior:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! [Psalm 133:1]

“You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” [John 15:14-15] [1]

It is an inestimable blessing to work for the Lord. Everyone’s spiritual work matters and is appreciated by Him. He created a Community and this demands interactivity.

May the Lord continue to bless each of you very abundantly and may you all continue to be effective for Him. He deserves our very best.

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Tags: Discipleship, Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

OBSERVATIONS ON THE GENESIS CREATION ACCOUNT

May 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

In the beginning, God set out to create a perfect world. While in the process of creation He often looked upon His work and saw that it was good…

It continued being good until His great project was completed and all the finishing touches were made. It was an astounding and truly amazing success. At the end, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).[1]

From this initial Scriptural account we learn that the goodness of original creation reflected the goodness of the Creator. We understand further that everything God does is good and perfect because God is good and perfect. Regardless of whether anyone recognizes or acknowledges such an otherwise easily discernable fact has no effect on God’s true nature or the nature of His Creation but, if contrary, certainly hints at the makeup of the observer.

THE GENESIS OF HISTORY

The initial Biblical creation account comprising Chapter 1 and the first three verses of Chapter 2 of the ancient Book of Genesis gives an accurate though brief depiction of how things came to be and the perfect state in which Creation originally existed. However, it is not actually the very beginning of the story. Instead, it is an account of how God made something great and very good of a place that was originally quite the opposite.

In Genesis at the beginning of God’s work He does not actually start with a necessarily clean palette so to speak. Instead there is the clear inference of a prior state or condition that was not good at all. From New Covenant Scripture we understand that God creates something from apparently nothing or at least that which is not visible or a part of the three dimensional world of which we are aware. As the writer of the Book of Hebrews records:

By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible. [Hebrews 11:3 AMPLIFIED]

As the preceding verse states, we must note something quite significant in the Genesis 1 record, that God actually spoke things into existence. That which was created was by the spoken word of God. It is also apparent that whatever God made did not exist physically as we know it prior to His making it, meaning that He used something or some means beyond the observance of the five senses. It must also be noted that, again, whatever God made was always good. The clear inference is that God does not make bad stuff. Yet Genesis 1:2a describes a pre-existing state or condition that is precisely that:

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. [KJV]

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep… [NASB95]

The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. [AMPLIFIED]

Now it could be the case that the author of Genesis is simply describing a prior level of God’s Creation in which He brought it to that particular not so good condition from an original state of pure non-existence. Geologic science seems to confirm this by claiming a consensus hypothesis that the early planet existed in a relatively smoothed over state and was fully covered with water. Is this what Genesis is stating? Was the earth a water world?

The Hebrew certainly describes something that is akin to desolation, primeval chaos, formlessness, emptiness, a void, and a veritable wasteland or extreme wilderness. These descriptive terms are not good. How so? And to top it all off, the earth was also enveloped by total darkness. Was this condition simply a state of creation leading to its final stages as science portends? Or was the earth actually a place of former goodness that met destruction, which was somehow destroyed? If so, there would have to be a destroyer. Whatever the case, whatever existed here prior to the Genesis Creation account was not good.

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Tags: Creation, Genesis, History, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

A STIFFNECKED PEOPLE [Part 3]

May 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

The rebellion against God by stiffnecked ancient Israel that resulted in its 70AD cessation corresponds to the parallel rebellion by stiffnecked Unreal Christianity…

SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST

Whoever has a problem with the Lord Jesus has a pretty big problem. Regardless of whether they understand the stance they have adopted or not, or if they are sane or not, anyone who opposes Him is on the opposite side of salvation. And while this position may not indicate a non-saneness among such people, it does indicate the equivalent thereof in a spiritual sense because the greatest human disease of all is the sin disease and the only cure for that is the salvation which the Lord Jesus, and only the Lord Jesus, has made available. And since this particular issue of spiritual salvation is one of which unbelievers/non-Christians would consider an unrelatable or “religious” one, it is usually not within their purview, meaning they cannot relate to it or will not attempt to try and are thus indifferent toward it and willingly separated from it.

In Parts 1 and 2 I briefly mentioned this inherently common rebellious issue stemming from the rooted bad attitude of majority national Israel which God described as being stiffnecked (KJV) or obstinate (NASB95). Yet I also touched on the fact that Unreal Christianity has proven to be pretty much the exact equivalent. One must remember, however, that this attitude also lies hidden and unperceived until provoked when it then presents itself in full fury. That which causes the provocation is the conviction of sin. That which brings on the conviction is the authentic Gospel. Most people steer clear of this including the majority of Christians who are not experienced with anointed preaching and witnessing against sin which is actually the very heart of the initial Gospel message. It is why John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, the twelve apostles, and Peter at Pentecost each strongly preached the preliminary need of repentance because it is the first step toward addressing the sin issue:

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Matthew 3:1-2]

Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” [Mark 1:14-15]

They went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them. [Mark 6:12-13]

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [Acts 2:38]

Accordingly, it means such hesitant Christians (née rebellious), rather than deal with their sin according to the clear Scriptural instruction, hide it and even coddle it, apparently because they have no intention of eliminating it apparently again because they want to reserve the right to continue in it even if it means subjectively reclassifying it as non-sin. To this end they apparently for the third time prefer extremely soft spiritually meaningless churchy sermonettes, liturgical theater, non-spiritual motivational speaker directives (that never or rarely address root sin), and pacifying pabulum so as not to be put on the spot and have their unrepentant sin revealed.

This proves that social and cultural status (and the money derived thereby) are much more important to such people than right standing with a holy God because the very thought of the process of real repentance is both embarrassing and humiliating as well as socially damaging.

HE NEVER SINNED

It is good that the Lord Jesus never supported such an attitude. It would obviously be antithetic to His very mission which demanded He be a bulwark against the sinful and wayward ways of this temporary fallen world. Because He was the epitome of resistance in this regard and even waged spiritual war against this and other spiritual enemies, He was an ongoing and continual target of attack and reprisal by the forces of antichrist. This is why persecution is a constant for real Christians. It is why the mandated command of the Lord to take the offensive, forge ahead, and attack the very gates of hell triggers a defensive counterattack (persecution) which acts as a proof and witness of real Christianity, something Unreal Christianity is completely devoid of since it represents no effective threat to the kingdom of darkness.

Because of the Lord’s wholesale and fearless opposition to sin, He was tempted severely. He was fought at every turn. He was eventually hated by almost everyone but without a cause. He was rejected. Even His own left Him at the end and were not there when He needed them most. His enemies pretty much called Him every name in the book. Of course, His detractors were actually describing themselves and were falsely accusing Him of exactly what they were doing, but they had managed to create such a stunningly believable fabricated front that the deceived humans (the majority) couldn’t see through it. Sound familiar?

Maybe this is why churches in general are loaded by and large with spiritually immature people unpossessed of critical thinking ability, spiritual eyes to see, and the wherewithal to actually do a little reading and research work to build up the eyes of their heart. On the other hand, however, those things are generally outlawed in such places because the last thing churches in general need is a congregation of people open to the revelation of God who seek truth, serve the Lord Jesus, think for themselves, refuse to be dictated to, and are impossible to program. Churches as we know them could never exist with a controlling majority of those kinds of people. They need a spiritually low common denominator of folks perfectly willing to go along to get along which never questions authority or applies the full New Testament to their proceedings.

So right there is another clue: The Lord did not seem to fit. Anywhere. He seemed to be rejected. Everywhere. Why? Well, again, He opposed sin and sinning. He was not a sinner. He had no sin. This means He did not possess the sinful human nature passed down through the millennia from the first humans. The Lord Jesus also had no human father of the biological kind. He had a human mother but she had been an especially chosen one. His mother Mary was certainly in need of a Savior like everybody else but she had to have as close to a sinless nature as there could be, and was likely exceptionally good-natured, humble, and thoroughly obedient to God. She was actually referred to by God as the favored one—one richly blessed—who found favor with God.

We know this by how quickly she said yes to the angel messenger Gabriel. We might remember by comparison that an older, seemingly wiser, very religious, dutiful, excellent member of society and one serving in the priestly ranks had a similar visit by the same angel yet made a significant error which was a perfect display of human nature in action. That man was the future father of no less than John the Baptist himself. As a penalty this older wiser man was struck dumb in large part because as old and wise as he was he still could not completely control his mind or his emotions or his tongue.

But Mary made an A plus. This means the Son of God had derived from a godly mother who likely did better than anyone else regarding doing her best to keep, act on, and correctly believe in and apply the Word of God. When these two are put together—having God for one’s Father and a truly godly human mother (a Man unlike other humans)—it is no wonder the Lord Jesus didn’t fit anywhere in this world. This should be a lesson to all Christians in that if one fits well in the world within human society, he or she likely does not fit so well in the Lord’s kingdom if such a one is in it at all. The Word of God is clear:

Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [James 4:4]

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. [Romans 8:5-8][1]

THE FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIP

We know, of course, that the Son pleased the Father to the nth degree. He scored a perfect grade in this area. This means the Son perfectly subjected Himself to the Father and to the law of God. He was perfectly aligned with the Word of God in that He is the Living Word and the Word is God. The Son was on perfectly friendly and loving terms with the Father. He set His mind on the things of the Spirit and never the flesh. And He was never a friend of the world.

God chose to become the Son in part as a living example to His followers. As the example of every real Christian, that is, every Christian who truly loves the Lord, wants to serve the Lord, and dedicates his or her life to the Lord and His work, every real Christian must do his or her best to follow His example and do likewise. This is obviously not easy and will take much work and effort over several years. Regardless of levels of success one can only do one’s best. If one thinks about it too much it will look like a daunting task and may even appear impossible.

Yet we know by the examples of those as recorded in the New Covenant Scriptures that such success can certainly be achieved though it is relative. In other words, there was only one Son of God walking this earth who achieved absolute perfection but He also had by far the most difficult assignment and mission. No one else achieved this perfection, not Peter, not Paul, not any of the apostles or any other disciple. Even so, each of these and so many more were sons in their own right and achieved an astounding level of spiritual success by doing their best to live according to the example of the Son of God—

But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law, To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God’s sons]. And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father! Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ. [Galatians 4:4-7 AMPLIFIED]

One must therefore never look at living for the Lord as impossible, unworkable, too difficult, or not worth putting forth the effort due to a perceived likely lack of success, but accept it wholeheartedly as the greatest of privileges knowing that God will grant His sons every ability and means toward spiritual achievement and victory.

Making a resolute stand for the Lord Jesus and being determined to fulfill His will is thus the antithesis of being stiffnecked against Him.

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A STIFFNECKED PEOPLE [Part 2]

Apr 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

Ancient Israel was supposed to be a spiritual exemplar—a light shining to the nations. Instead it became a microcosm of this dark fallen world (the macrocosm).

LEMMINGS OFF A CLIFF

Like many of you, if not most I assume, I had assumed in my youth that the little rodents called lemmings had an inbred death wish in that a large group of them will on occasion get together and decide they must run at full speed toward a local towering seaside cliff and then rush headlong right over the side, diving into mass lemming destruction in the deep briny waters far below. I never learned why they did this only that they did. And that was that. I probably heard this for the first time when I was quite young and never questioned it, you know, the same way we hear and learn a lot of stuff growing up without ever questioning it (pretty much all of it for most people).

When I got a little older I began to put two and two together and saw the need to question a few things here and there because some of what I learned in life didn’t add up. Somewhere in that youthful time frame was the genesis of my early onset critical thinking skills in that I learned the best course was to question pretty much everything. One of the things I figured out was that lemmings running over a cliff was a myth. They don’t actually do this. Though endowed by the Creator with tiny little rodent brains their brains actually work pretty well which means their gray matter is not really loaded with a little kill switch that somehow gets triggered (by “instinct” I assume?) to gather with a bunch of like-minded ones and go flying into eternity.

However, that does not mean they don’t have a rodent herd mentality because they actually do band together in large groups on special occasions. These are kind of like political rallies or rock concerts. Or lemming mega churches. Actually, banding together in large groups is the way lemmings migrate. In herds. Lemmings migrate in herds. They do this when their present environment no longer adequately engages in supply side economics and they go off looking for a new land of rodent milk and honey. And they are wise enough to travel in very large groups.

On the way over yonder, when they come upon the inevitable natural barrier, they do their best to go around it or through it even if it means a good climb or a decent descent or a good swim through a local body of water. And it is likely, sadly, that there may be a few casualties but not on purpose. It is also likely they have no rebels in their herds like cheesed-up bikers or rat finks or squirrelly agitators. No, the little critters are just migrating together with a herd mentality.

HUMAN HERDS

Regarding rebellion, however, especially spiritual rebellion, humanity in general has been proven over the millennia after the fall of man and advent of spiritual death to also possess a built-in herd mentality and also be in possession of pure animal instincts. Though there is a brain in the head (a much larger one) it often does not have the power to overcome raw unbridled emotions which many people live by or an additional component which the New Testament refers to as “the lust of the flesh.” One would think evolution would have granted an in-brain controller or governor (like in the old lawnmowers) of some kind in the physical evolutionized superior body to limit the desired excesses of physical cravings and whatnot.

But then again, evolution is a ridiculous unscientific theory dashed to bits on the rocks of proven-wrongness though many believe it is why humans actually exhibit animalistic behavior because they are actually animals anyway which seems to be proven worldwide on a daily basis.

Looking for clues, psychology says the human soul is composed of will, mind, and emotions. The New Testament says it a little differently in that the big three composing the entire human are spirit, soul, and body. In both cases there appears to be a controller/governor which should seemingly rule the other two, the first being the will ruling over the mind and emotions and the second being the spirit ruling over the soul and body.

However, the Bible also teaches that the spirit of man died in the Garden of Eden due to the sin of Adam and Eve and cannot ever be resurrected unless one is born again as taught by the Lord Jesus. This means human beings in their natural unregenerate pre-born again state are merely soul and body with no spirit to rule over/control/govern them, which again puts the focus on the will within the soul (according to Psychology) as the only possible authority figure to ride herd on the other hapless members. Such members often have zero impulse control and complete inability to resist temptation.

But where does the human will gets its strength? How can it possibly conjure up the great power it needs to shut down the all-over-the-map, out-of-control, physical-body/fleshly/human-nature/animalistic-tendencies coupled with raw/uninhibited/wild/hysterical/uncontrolled emotions with the consistency of water? That appears to be asking a lot of little mister will and it likely is since this guy was never intended to be able to achieve such a world class accomplishment.

So if the spirit is dead (before being born again) and the will is too weak, what keeps humans on the earthly societal straight and narrow since many people appear to try hard to do what is right, at least in civilized societies with a Christian ethic, and have a pretty good amount of success? What is the actual controller/governor riding herd on one’s behavior? I know what you’re thinking: God has given us a conscience, a built-in sense of right and wrong that seems to be like the little angel guy on one shoulder debating with a little devil guy on the other as both try to convince us to do either the right thing or the wrong thing.

It would appear then, that if a herd of humans gathers together based on doing the right thing then one will have a pretty good society or culture. Or nation. Maybe even a church. Which means there would exist relatively good nations in the world (which must be in the minority because achieving such good nationhood is hard). And of course there would also be nations of the other kind. And sometimes there are nations which have a good conscience so to speak (good leadership) but possess a majority of unwilling members who have the decided tendency to listen to the little devil guy instead of the angel guy.

The opposite would also be true in that, due to unfortunate events like an evil group wresting government control in a good nation, in which a good nation ends up going bad because the good people thereof are too stupid, lazy, willingly uninformed, and hopelessly weak to overthrow the evil ones. (This should sound very familiar.)

What is more, sometimes there is a very special nation such as the ancient nation of Israel which had God Himself as their Leader and yet they still couldn’t get it together the vast majority of the time. I mean, if the Lord God of all Creation is your Leader (Conscience/Controller/Governor), how can you not have a good nation or even a great one? Yet we know the history, however. And we know it almost never worked with ancient Israel except in fits and starts. And that it certainly wasn’t because the Leader was not good because He was both Good and Great. Sadly it has generally been the same with every nation on earth in that they all end up going bad eventually mainly due to a violation of the conscience on an increasingly mass scale.

THE FEW, THE REMNANT, THE SAVED

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. [Revelation 20:15]

I would think the evidence of this world would indicate there is therefore nothing to be done about the human problem but await the big incinerator below the big cliff and be done with the whole mess. Actually, as it turns out, that is the final solution. But not for everyone. For the majority of ancient Israel, yes. For the majority of humanity in general, yes. But again, the big fire will not claim everyone. One must take a looksee, therefore, into what the few who escape the culminating conflagration have in common.

We can start with the greatest Human Being who ever lived (there is no second place). Stay tuned…

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A STIFFNECKED PEOPLE [Part 1]

Apr 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

As a variation on the incredulous query of Nathanael in John 1:46, “Can any good thing come out of Israel?”

AGAINST ALL ODDS

As I’ve written here many times, it is truly a great wonder that the ancient nation ever survived as long as it did. Without God’s ongoing support and supreme faithfulness Israel would have had no chance. Sadly, it was not so much that it was vulnerable to outside attack, though this was certainly the case, but it was much more about national suicide. As the Lord God stated directly on numerous occasions, starting way back as early as shortly after the Exodus from Egypt (1446BC), the emerging nation had a serious attitude problem and could be described perfectly through the use of just one word, which was first used here:

And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people…” [Exodus 32:9 KJV]

Also, we see that it was the Lord God Himself who first used this term. And with regard to this perfect descriptive, God actually referred to His people in Scripture as “stiffnecked” a total of four times in the KJV Old Testament (out of eight overall) and once, through the prophet Ezekiel, as “stiffhearted.” In the KJV New Testament, Stephen, under a powerful spiritual anointing, used the term only minutes before his murder at the hands of, well, the stiffnecked, who were enormously convicted because the descriptive term described them so well:

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. [Acts 7:51] …When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. [Acts 7:54] …Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him… [Acts 7:57-58]

The evocative –S– word was later cleaned up somewhat in later Bible versions. For example, what follows is the NASB95 translation of the first OT occurrence which also includes verse 10 for context:

The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” [Exodus 32:9-10]

Whoa. That’s pretty harsh. If God said that today He would be censored and accused of, well, you know.

Here is the same passage in the KJV, which is just a tad more descriptive:

And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. [Exodus 32:9-10 KJV]

Now, why in the world would God be so powerfully angry at His own people not long after showing great love by miraculously rescuing them from abject misery and hopeless slavery in Egypt? What could they have done that would want to make Him trash the entire plan He had for them and consume/destroy them and start again from scratch making a new nation with Moses?

Oh yeah. The golden calf. And they had lost all moral control and had “rose up to play” and “have corrupted themselves.” All this while the Lord God was up on the mountain delivering grand plans for the nation’s bright future to Moses who was fasting for forty days in order to effectively commune with God, receive the Torah, come down in glowing joy bearing great gifts and a wonderful message, and would later lead them to the Promised Land.

That.

Therefore, it is absolutely perfectly understandable why God was so extremely wrathful that He wanted to off them entirely. We must note, of course, that the golden calf was in reference to the Egyptian deity Apis which in part portends to a love of money and which also means Israel quickly reverted back to idolatry and vile immoral behavior as soon as their deliverer was gone for a while. They were always doing this. They always required, by their inability to control themselves and live a holy life, a powerful anointed man of God to deliver, shepherd, and maintain them since they possessed so little personal discipline and desire for spirituality and closeness to the Lord. There was thus Moses, and then Joshua, and then after they arrived in the Promised Land one Judge after another over not just a few decades but centuries.

However, the actual much bigger issue regarding the very quick fall from grace Israel made on that momentous occasion of the revealing of the Torah is that God allowed His perfect mind to be changed and that He eventually relented of inflicting due justice by wiping them off the face of the earth. How did this happen?—

PUTTING UP WITH GOATS TO SAVE THE SHEEP

The same as it always does. Someone stepped in and did some heavy duty interceding. Someone got on their face before God and pleaded and prayed and wept and wailed. Someone proved to God that though the great majority may be hopelessly hell bound by their own choosing, there are others, though few, who really, really, really love the Lord and want to serve and honor the Lord no matter what and are willing to put up with any humiliating circumstance, every indignity, much longsuffering, and even pain if that’s what is required to do it. Some people will choose to try very hard to live holy lives and not rise up to play or corrupt themselves. The Lord God knew that Moses not only had a great heart for God but also a spiritual passion for God’s people and God’s great plans for them, and that he was willing to do whatever and put up with anything to see it all come to pass as impossible it appeared to be, in part because he knew all things were possible with God.

So Israel was saved to live another day yet again—saved from itself—due to the righteous Remnant of Israelites of which Moses was a part—the few and far between—being faithful to God and standing in the gap and taking it on the chin and interceding in prayer and suffering persecution from the very people they kept praying for and preserving in hope of their eventual salvation which never came for the majority.

I remember long ago when the Lord first gave me the revelation that the greater the particular ministry the more time it would take to prepare for it. Thus, Moses would not only have to be a very strong man, and he was, but would also need much preparation because he was being tasked with one of the hardest ministries of all time.

He would have to deal with the great cloud of stiffnecked goats in order to minister to the few faithful sheep.

REAL MEN OF GOD

It goes without saying, of course, that the people of Israel were in general a very hard people to shepherd (understatement alert). Moses, the man God chose for the task, was surely a monumental figure in history—one of a kind—since he actually fulfilled for forty years a ministry which was not only akin to herding a million cats but effectively far more difficult and which involved eternal proportions. He also spent his first eighty years preparing for those last forty, first as a member of royalty “educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22), and secondly as an obscure unknown sheepherder in the land of Midian. Yet Moses was just a man and could never have successfully completed the immense preparation requirements and then the massive task of transforming a great multitude into a cohesive nation able to conquer the wicked interlopers in their given land of Promise without the Lord God in complete control due to the humble man’s willing submission and the Lord’s powerful anointing, guidance, and strength.

For greater perspective on the actual nature of what had become a thoroughly sinful people deserving of not only ongoing rebuke but severe judgment back into exile, consider the following prophetic word of Ezekiel delivered eight and a half centuries later in 593BC in the midst of the Babylonian invasion (God uses the adjective “rebellious” four times!):

Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children (stiffhearted KJV), and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” [Ezekiel 2:1-7] [1]

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SING FOR JOY

Apr 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright.

Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.

Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.

For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.

He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.

The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;

From His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.

The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delivered by great strength.

A horse is a false hope for victory; nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness,

To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.

For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name.

Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, according as we have hoped in You. [Psalm 33][1]

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Tags: Joy, Lord Jesus, Love of God, Praise, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Word of God

REAL CHRISTIANITY HAS ONLY ONE REAL LEADER

Apr 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

Nobody else qualifies. Sadly, this otherwise obviously means that Christianity in general is saturated with scads of unreal “leaders” not in alliance with God.

THE WORD “LEADER”

The English word “leader” occurs nine times in the NASB95 New Testament in eight verses and in only four books. It occurs in the singular form four times and as a plural five times. It is capitalized twice. However, “leader” is translated from five different Greek words, as follows in order of their occurrence:

Leaders [Matthew 2:6] G2232: ἡγεμών hēgemṓn (hayg-em-ohn’)

leaders [Matthew 23:10] G2519: καθηγητής kathēgētḗs (kath-ayg-ay-tace’)

Leader [Matthew 23:10] G2519: καθηγητής kathēgētḗs (kath-ayg-ay-tace’)

leaders [Luke 14:1] G758: ἄρχων árchōn (ar’-khone)

leader [Luke 22:26] G2233: ἡγέομαι hēgéomai (hayg-eh’-om-ahee)

leader [Acts 18:8] G752: ἀρχισυνάγωγος archisynágōgos (ar-khee-soon-ag’-o-gos)

leader [Acts 18:17] G752: ἀρχισυνάγωγος archisynágōgos (ar-khee-soon-ag’-o-gos)

leaders [Hebrews 13:17] G2233: ἡγέομαι hēgéomai (hayg-eh’-om-ahee)

leaders [Hebrews 13:24] G2233: ἡγέομαι hēgéomai (hayg-eh’-om-ahee)

The key teaching regarding this leadership question utilizes G2519 as seen in the preceding chart in the following significant verse in which the Lord Jesus applies a complete restriction upon His disciples (and all disciples present and future) in the given context:

“Do not be called leaders (G2519); for One is your Leader (G2519), that is, Christ.” [Matthew 23:10]

As we see from our chart the essential Greek word is καθηγητής kathēgētḗs (kath-ayg-ay-tace’). It is defined by Strong’s Concordance as: “a guide, i.e. (figuratively) a teacher:—master.” The Lord is specifically stating here that His movement has only one Leader and that this Leader is the long awaited Messiah. By the use of the word He is also relaying that He is the only ultimate spiritual Guide, the only definitive Teacher, and the only legitimate Master. He is quite clear. There is therefore no reason whatsoever for any false “interpretation” claims to muddy the waters or for any causes of confusion regarding who’s in charge.

The point here is that every legitimate minister honors the Lord Jesus exclusively as his only Master and strives to serve Him according to His specific leadership and teaching curriculum. He will thus not teach what the Lord did not teach and he will teach only whatever the Lord taught.

In order to gain even greater understanding of the Lord’s statement in Matthew 23:10, we must consider it in the broader context of the overall instruction the Lord is giving and why He is adamant about this particular point. At that time He was teaching His close disciples and followers about the excesses of the Pharisees, about how they are so strongly concerned with religious authority and control, about gaining and maintaining their power and wealth, about putting forth a ridiculously overblown outward image, and why they insist there is a good reason for such adornment. He said His own followers should never engage in that sort of behavior or be like the Pharisees and the Rabbis thereof because, while they might actually quote Scripture correctly and get it right on occasion, they most often teach their own false traditions (in their case the ultra-casuistic [1] and false commentary-based Oral Law) and fail to do what the actual Scriptures teach. Sound Familiar?

He notes that their approach is all about making verbal declarations and assertions to be applied to others but not to themselves in that the Pharisees say but do not do. This is in further keeping with their dual class clergy-laity division model in which the establishment of their rule over everyone else is paramount. All of this comes down to leadership and is why the Lord stated the following to His disciples:

“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.” [Matthew 23:8-12] [2]

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

Based on this teaching, we can deduce that there are only two kinds of Christian ministers. First, there are the relatively few legitimate ministers who are actually called by the Lord Jesus to assist Him in His ministry (and there is actually only one legitimate Christian ministry—His) and do so to the best of their ability. These real ministers possess and produce the spiritual fruit and consistent evidence of their work to confirm their standing and legitimacy which matches the evidence and confirmation as listed in the historical record in the New Testament. Yet it must be noted that every real follower of the Lord Jesus is a legitimate minister of the Gospel. Remember, He said. “For One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.”

Secondly, there are the great many Christian ministers who were never called by God in the place they are working and who do not assist the Lord Jesus in His ministry and who effectively start ministries on their own of which each is the sole leader thereof. Or they join existing ministry organizations and preacher unions as members and fellow “ministers” which were never founded by God. Such organizations, including “churches” and even large to universal denominations give forth a misleading air of legitimacy through their authority, power, wealth, longevity, and vast number of adherents.

How can these two be distinguished? How can one tell the difference between the real and the unreal? How can one identify the legitimate and detect the illegitimate? Such a means is not actually all that difficult once one locates the source material with all the answers and the means of confirming the spiritually genuine. Without the source material and confirmation means and process, a person can be easily deceived and led astray. He or she can be made to believe things that are not true and led to accept things that are in opposition to the very God one claims to believe in and possibly honor and serve. One can even be deceived into rejecting actual spiritual confirmation as given by the Lord and accepting a false form of confirmation based on illicit claims of authority.

Therefore, the source material is mandatory as are the means God uses to confirm it and the work of those who use it and teach from it. Real Christians know this source material as the New Testament. They know the New Testament Scriptures are the legitimate Word of God. They know this not only because the NT has stood the test of time but also because the teachings and instructions within it when applied correctly and fully actually work.

This also proves the presence of the Lord.

[1] Casuistry (noun): Specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, especially in questions of morality; fallacious or dishonest application of general principles; sophistry. © Copyright Dictionary.com

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MESSIANIC PROPHETS IN CAPTIVITY: STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND

Apr 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

The ancient Hebrew prophets spoke of the Messiah often. They told of a future day when He would arrive. It would obviously be the greatest Great Awakening of all time.

PROPHETIC ACCOUNTS

And His name will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Eternal Father,

Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:6]

For historical perspective regarding the prophetic Messianic timeline, the prophet Isaiah, who was quoted by the Lord Jesus several times in the Gospel accounts, dates to the mid-to-late 700s BC. This means the beginning of his ministry was almost eight centuries before the Lord’s.

In his composite work The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, well-known author and speaker Josh McDowell highlights sixty-one major fulfilled Messianic prophecies. [1] The total number of fulfilled prophecies is actually much higher and an exact number depends on interpretation, comprehensive context, and detailed analysis. Suffice it to say, however, that the total exceeds 300! Specific sources cite 324 [2] and as many as 333. [3] In Isaiah’s written work alone, one source has listed as many as 122 fulfilled prophecies of the coming Messiah, each and every one fulfilled by the Lord Jesus, of course. [4] It is impossible that anyone else could have qualified to fulfill these many prophecies to even a slight degree.

Isaiah is characterized as a major prophet, primarily due to his book and extensive prophetic work. There are other prophets which could also be characterized the same but have no distinct books with their respective names in the title, such as Elijah and Elisha, whose works are recorded in the historical books of 1Kings and 2Kings.

JUDGMENT FOR SIN

The prophets with which we are likely most familiar date to either the time before the Babylonian Captivity, a severe judgment against the wayward Kingdom of Judah, or during it. This judgment began in circa 606/605 BC and lasted a prophesied 70 years. Before that key event, going back centuries, the Word of God had always arrived and in a clear and concise manner. This continued during the Captivity by a select group of Messianic prophets.

It must be noted that at the time of the Babylon judgment, the three-tribe Southern Kingdom of Judah was all that remained of a previously much larger United Kingdom of Israel which was composed of all twelve tribes (actually thirteen) and had existed from the time of the first king, Saul, who began his reign in 1050 BC. Following Saul, King David, through his many wars, excellent leadership, and heart for God, built the kingdom into the expanded state in which it existed for over a century until it was broken up into two separate kingdoms by internal strife in 930 BC after the death of Solomon (the third king). These two realms were the ten-tribe Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (comprised of the predominant tribe of Judah, plus Benjamin and Levi), each with its own kingly lines of succession.

The same manner of judgment against Judah at the hands of Babylon was also earlier rendered against the larger ten tribe Northern Kingdom over a century before by the Assyrians. The conquest by Assyria began in approximately 740 BC. This eventuated in the removal of the Israelite tribes located east of the Jordan River—Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh—to locations in Assyria. The invasion of Israel proper then commenced centered on the central section of Samaria. The conquest was completed in 722 BC when the rest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel population was also exiled to Assyria—the remaining seven and a half tribes—though many inconsequential stragglers remained. Samaria was later repopulated with other foreign groups who intermarried in part with the remaining native inhabitants and is why the area was later deemed a place of impure Israelite blood.

These two major judgments against the kingdoms of Israel and Judah differed however, in that the native tribes of the North were deported permanently with no allowed return, whereas the Southern Kingdom (Judah) would return after a 70 year hiatus. The tribes of the Northern Kingdom were apparently unredeemable since they had ventured so far into sin, idolatry, abominable practices, and gross degradation. Though Judah also engaged in great sin and likely deserved the same fate, a core of the nation had to be preserved for future purposes, the most obvious and greatest being the forthcoming eventual arrival of the Messiah. This is in part why the times called for Messianic prophets and their major works filled with detailed accounts of both the times and future prophetic events. (After the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Judah was later referred to as Israel also since it was all that was left and became the de facto Israelite nation.)

PROPHETS IN CAPTIVITY

The three primary prophets chosen for this difficult time were Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Prior to and after the start of the Babylonian Captivity in 606/605 BC the clear prophetic Word continued primarily through these men whose lives began before the great exile and continued throughout the first twenty year period thereof. This was the initial destruction phase which lasted until the fateful summer of 586 BC. It was on the infamous date of Av 9 of that year that Jerusalem and the 380 year-old Temple of Solomon were destroyed by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar. Afterwards, much of the remaining population was taken captive in the third and final deportation to Babylon.

Even though a sizable number of the population living in Judah was exiled per the nation’s judgment and was composed in the main of the nation’s best and brightest, Jeremiah only records a relatively small number of 4,600 deportees (See Jeremiah 52:28-30) though some authorities have estimated it to be as large as 20,000. There is also some apparent discrepancies regarding the deportation dates. Whatever the case, though these numbers of the exiled appear small relative to the overall population, there remained an existent segment of Israelites in the land left to survive on their own, primarily in the southern tribal areas of Judah and Benjamin (though a few migrated north). Yet it was likely the case that those who remained had the least chance for survival (or possibly no chance). This was due to God’s determination to inflict the strongest of judgments:

“Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’ [Ezekiel 33:27-29] [5]

Of these three major prophets associated with the Exile, only Jeremiah remained in the land for the initial twenty years until the great destruction of 586 BC. Though history does not record his exact birth year, it can be deduced to have occurred in circa 650-648 BC or possibly a little later. Jeremiah then began his prophetic ministry as a young man during the reign of the righteous King Josiah. He remained in his native land until sometime after 586 BC when the prophet was taken by force by his own people to Egypt, a place where many Israelites had been relocating in prior years. The time of his death is also lost to history though some sources estimate it took place in Egypt in about 570 BC.

The prophet Ezekiel was born in 623/622 BC and was part of the second deportation to Babylon in 597 BC. He began his ministry at 30 years of age like the Lord Jesus. Ezekiel’s year of death is unknown as well but is also estimated at the year 570 somewhere in Mesopotamia. The prophet Daniel lived from 620-536 BC though his date of death is an estimate based on the year of his last prophetic account. His life likely extended beyond that date, possibly to as late as 530 BC when he would have reached 90 years old. After being deported to Babylon as a young man in 605 BC he lived out the remainder of his life there, eventually seeing the same judgment inflicted upon Babylon when it was conquered by Persia. All three of these prophets never returned to their homeland and each were also victimized by the sad events of the Babylonian Exile.

With regard to other prophets of that time, Habakkuk, of which little is known, lived and preached in the range of approximately 612-598 BC according to some sources. If so he would have witnessed at least the first deportation and likely the second. Reportedly a contemporary of Jeremiah, he refers to the Chaldeans (Babylonians) in his short book of three chapters with strong sentiments and heartfelt complaints.

Thus we see that the Lord had good men stationed in the right place at the right time to give a clear and precise accounting of the events of that significant historical period. The Lord always kept His people informed though the majority either never listened or rejected His Word as well as the men who delivered it. Sound familiar? Nevertheless, the Messianic prophets were raised up and anointed to speak the Word of God to His people, to teach, guide, and direct them, and to apply ongoing necessary correctives and even severe rebukes.

There was always much need for the latter since the nation of Israel was constantly going astray.

[2] See: https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/

[3] See: www.preceptaustin.org/messianic_prophecies

[4] See: www.preceptaustin.org/messianic-prophecies-in-isaiah

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Ancient Israel, Babylon, Biblical Prophecy, Daniel, Discipleship, Ezekiel, God's Judgment, Isaiah the Prophet, Jeremiah, Jesus is the Messiah, Judgment, Lord Jesus, Messiah, National Judgment, Prophecy, Prophetic Warning, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rejecting God's Prophets, The Great Awakening

DOCTOR FRANKENSTEIN I PRESUME?

Apr 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

Who are the unknown concealed purveyors of various nefarious secretive agendas designed to condition, persuade, and convince the public at large to believe in and act on mere illusions presented as reality?

IT’S ALIVE!

When one is presented with the unfortunate subject of brainwashing one usually pictures a run-down grubby quasi-scientific laboratory off on the gritty edge of an industrial district in a bad part of a dark metropolis staffed by nutcase goons with grimy lab coats, strange facial expressions often stuck in place, and a psycho determination to fulfill a wild and crazy theory or some such for the sake of wholesale societal change involving the transformation of people into automatons. Or programmed slaves. Or manipulated masses obsessed by wacked-out agendas. Or extremists extraordinaire unaware of being the victims of mass social engineering yet insisting their position and belief is good, right, and correct though otherwise obviously backwards, stupid, senseless, morally wrong, and thoroughly unsupported by facts.

OUTWITTING TOTO

The sure existence of brainwashing demands the existence of brainwashers. While the reality of the latter may be acknowledged on a small scale, this acknowledgment decreases as the scale increases. At some point early in the process of their latest brainwashing technique the manipulators behind the scenes have the decided ability to fade into perceived nothingness though their ongoing number of deceived subjects increases exponentially. This would otherwise not only prove their work’s effectiveness but also their presence.

Yet when their illicit strategy works according to plan no one beyond them even notices there is a plan and thus is correspondingly never aware of the brainwashers’ existence. That they escape detection is obviously due to the brainwashers not only controlling the narrative but also controlling the narrative disseminators which they created whose main function is to spew out incessant spurious falsities, untruths, and inaccuracies disguised as facts as part of an ongoing overall agenda. This successfully gives forth only a fabricated perception of reality. The narrative disseminators also act as an imperceptible façade behind which the brainwashers may not only hide but essentially cease to exist in the minds of their subjects.

Hence, we somehow arrive at having great masses of the brainwashed yet without existent brainwashers. This in turn puts forth the false notion that the brainwashed masses do not exist either, as being brainwashed that is, which allows the brainwashed to continue on in their brainwashed condition though not aware of it or aware of what they actually are, especially since most of the people they know personally or are friendly/familiar with are seemingly just like them. They all appear to share the same common beliefs, have the same general view of history, have the same relative overall view of the world, and in the main operate according to the same social and cultural conventions.

EXPOSING THE MASTER SHYSTERS

This further means that the remaining few non-brainwashed who are still in control of their minds and have a handle on truth and actual reality are perceived by the brainwashed masses as the real social deviants since such people refuse to get with the program and go along with the nefarious overall social agenda. What this really means is that there are some who are somehow not programmable and are seen by the brainwashers not only as bad subjects but enemies of their shrouded plan. Their greatest fear is that the non-programmable few will expose their shrouded plan.

Because of this the societal brainwashers do all they can to initially censor any truth-tellers who are determined to shine light and expose darkness. They know such good guys not only want to tell the truth but also—aghast!—free the brainwashed captives. If censoring fails they will then attempt to demonize the truth-tellers by making them appear incorrect, extreme, and even nuts in the eyes of the brainwashed in the hope that the brainwashed masses turn against the ones trying to free them. Sound familiar?

IT’S THE REJECTION AND SHUNNING OF VERIFIABLE FACTS AND OBJECTIVE TRUTH THAT PROVES SUCH PEOPLE ARE BRAINWASHED.

This further proves the existence of hidden Doctor Frankensteins.

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Tags: Deception, Don't Confuse Me With Facts, Enemies of God, Gospel Truth, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, Media Manipulation, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reality vs. Illusion, Search For Truth, Secret Societies, Social Media, Spirit of Truth, Spiritual Warfare, Surveillance, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Truth-tellers, Wizard of Oz

SUFFERING FOR THE SINS OF OTHERS: COUNT IT ALL JOY (TRADING MY SORROWS)

Apr 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

It is sometimes the case that a Christian is forced to go through some seriously bad stuff not because of his or her own sin but due to the evil of others.

BEING SPIRITUALLY VULNERABLE

It is not exactly the same as being utterly defenseless though these two words are seen as synonymous. I would not think the Lord ever leaves His children completely defenseless in that He is always there watching over them. Any good parent always does his or her best to protect one’s children. The Scripture is clear:

“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” [Hebrews 13:5]

PAUL

However, we also have several Scriptural examples that such a promise appears untrue, especially during the worst of times when it seems as though God has checked out or is a million miles away. Every mature Christian has experienced this, many on multiple occasions, and a probable few as part of a discipleship lifestyle. One may be reminded of the life of the apostle Paul, for example, when it seems as though the poor man was always getting beat up, trashed, and run out of town. Paul’s ministry differs from the Lord’s in such a respect as there is no record that the Lord Jesus ever had a hand laid on Him until the time of His ultimate suffering and death.

So, why was Paul so vulnerable? Why didn’t God protect him? Why did he have to suffer such extreme persecution? For starters we know the New Testament states that persecution is a given, will happen, is a byproduct of spiritual warfare, and there is nothing to be done about it. It occurs because people are given a free will. When people exercise their free will for evil purposes then evil will certainly happen and does. The devil, however, never physically laid a hand on Paul though it can be construed that someone inflicting pain on him was possessed by the devil. We know Paul once wrote, “There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me” (2Corinthians 12:7 KJV). This is an indication of physical suffering brought on by a demonic entity but does not necessarily fall into the category of persecution. The point is that it was not usually demonic entities but human beings who were responsible for Paul’s persecution, though such people could have been and likely were possessed by some such foul spirit.

The reason I am keying on Paul here is because of his unique position and standing as a zealous Hebrew of Hebrews:

…For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee… [Philippians 3:3-5]

Prior to his conversion, Paul was perhaps the greatest representation of a powerfully strident Pharisee determined to invoke and follow what he believed was the apparent epitome of OT Scriptural teaching and doctrine who expressed no fear whatsoever toward the carrying out of what he deemed his official duty. His fellows knew very well who he was and the power of personality he held. Though likely less than five feet tall he was an otherwise ultra-feisty banty rooster one would not want to mess with. He had a fire in his gut pretty much unmatched by no one.

Because of his unique position within his religious crowd and the stature he held (along with the possible fact that he was meant to be the twelfth apostle but declined) the Lord reverted to extra steps to secure Paul’s conversion. When the Lord was successful in this and Paul submitted to Him, he instantly became public enemy number one. His former crowd would never forgive him. He was made a target early on and suffered through repeated assassination attempts. He was simply far too important a person in his nation in general and Pharisaism in particular to not be seen as a great loss and a prize for their avowed enemy—Christianity.

This does not mean he was special compared to other believers or more important, however, because every believer fills a niche no one else can, can do work no one else can, and reach particular people with the Gospel no one else can. What can certainly be discerned, though, is that Paul would have a lifetime great price to pay in that his spiritual vulnerability would be illustrated at the highest of levels but this only proved his great effectiveness as a disciple as well.

JOSEPH

A well-known Old Testament example of the innocent suffering for others is Jacob’s son Joseph. This young man had a heart for God and righteousness and through no fault of his own was rudely removed from a great life with his family and close relationship with his father. His young life was effectively destroyed. One can only imagine the great pain Joseph felt at being betrayed by his own and thrust into a hard difficult life surrounded by the uncaring and brutal who had no knowledge of who he was or concern if they did.

He had become highly vulnerable to the enemy and whims of humanity but it was all for a specific purpose which no other man could have had or performed.

The good news is that Joseph fulfilled God’s plan, as hard and little understood as it was early on. He submitted wholeheartedly and served as an effective savior of his family, his nascent nation in the making. Without Joseph’s sacrifice there would be no Israelite nation and no resultant Messiah and Savior of the world.

TRADING MY SORROWS

This is the title of a popular worship song from several years ago. It was written on the fly in a church service by Darrell Evans in 1997 and has long since gone worldwide enjoyed by multiple millions. If you are not aware of this song or haven’t heard it in a while I encourage you to look it up. The lyrics are based in part on a passage of Scripture from 2Corinthians:

I’m trading my sorrows

I’m trading my shame

I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord

I’m trading my sickness

I’m trading my pain

I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord

Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen…

I am pressed but not crushed

Persecuted not abandoned

Struck down but not destroyed

I am blessed beyond the curse

For His promise will endure

And His joy’s gonna be my strength

Though the sorrow may last for the night

His joy comes with the morning

I’m trading my sorrows…[1]

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. [2Corinthians 4:7-12] [3]

And later on into the future as these new believers ministered to by Paul become spiritually mature, death will begin working in them also so life can live in others.

TWO SUFFERINGS

These distinct forms of suffering experienced by real believers have their purposeful origin in the life of the Lord. As the apostle Paul wrote, “we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake.” The mature Christians of that time were therefore subjected to a spiritual suffering meant as a purposeful and effective means of ministry which somehow resulted in spiritual life for others. And though this suffering may have appeared as a violation of the Lord’s protection and fidelity, it was actually necessary to birth new life not at all unlike a woman delivering a child.

The second form is suffering due to the sins of others. Many Christians have suffered large losses in life because of those choosing to act out willfully in an evil manner. Excellent reputations have been maligned by malicious gossip. Many have had their lives demolished by unrepentant Judases stubbornly and selfishly insistent on having their own way. Many other righteous ones have actually been murdered. As such events were allowed by God it means they were in accordance with His allowable will. The victims of these attacks certainly knew they were essentially unprotected and even betrayed but not by God.

We must remember that the Lord Jesus Himself went through the worst persecution and suffering of anyone and was brutally killed. But it did not mean He was abandoned or forsaken even though He certainly felt that way for a moment while on the cross. Rather than be defeated by His suffering, however, He was the great Victor through it! His example must therefore encourage us to continue fighting the good fight of faith regardless of circumstances.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. [Hebrews 12:2-3]

What we must remember is that He was soon removed from the cross and three days later resurrected to new life. Whatever suffering we may go through, therefore, has its limits and is temporary. And if a disciple went through it in faith and obedience, completing the course as it were, something truly wonderful, miraculous, and life-changing occurred in another or maybe several others, as well as bringing a great benefit to the sufferer. The New Testament clearly explains these things and gives many examples. It is simply all a part of real Christian ministry and the lives of those who love the Lord.

Therefore, let us all know and acknowledge that though—

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed

Perplexed, but not despairing

Persecuted, but not forsaken

Struck down, but not destroyed

—We can joyfully sing:

Though the sorrow may last for the night

His joy comes with the morning!

I’m trading my sorrows

I’m trading my shame

I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord!

I’m trading my sickness

I’m trading my pain

I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord! [2]

[1][2] © Darrell Evans

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Tags: Apostle Paul, Christian Persecution, Discipleship, Embracing Suffering, Enemies of God, Joseph, Lord Jesus, Pain, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Battle, Spiritual Maturity, Spiritual Suffering, Suffering, The Great Awakening, The Sufferings of Christ

HARD HEART VS. TENDER HEART: TWO MODELS FOR LIVING

Mar 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

One model is as the socially popular Broad Way though it leads to eventual ruin. The other appears counterintuitive yet is the bountiful Way of Life.

A REJECTION OF THE REAL

There are many things about our world that are very difficult to deal with. There are a great many realities that force us to face such facts though we would usually rather not and may even wish such facts did not exist. As we grow out of childhood some begin to become aware of the existence of an upcoming forced change of course and one’s eventual coerced embrace of hard truths. While other young ones or maybe most do not perceive this early on it eventually becomes quite evident. Many children do not want to leave their innocent carefree childhood life behind and embrace such difficult truths and would greatly prefer to maintain their status quo as children.

But future adulthood beckons. Young children may never wonder so much about the great mystery of adults, how they came to be, and the far-out idea that they were once children also. It is simply too much to fathom and for the most part does not compute. Their reality is such that they must be protected from life early on yet also must slowly learn to incorporate that which allows them to handle the next steps they must make to attain the growth they need. But all in good time.

Therefore, parents must on the one hand shield and protect their children in the present but on the other prepare them for the future. There is a right and a wrong way to do this. Not enough shielding and protecting is not good. Too much is also not good. Some children are overprotected which essentially stunts their growth and disallows them from developing properly. Without a course correction this makes them incapable of being able to handle life and forces them to have virtually ongoing proactive assistance. It simply does not help their maturation to have a helicopter mom flying around them all the time, providing their every trifling need, and giving them ultra-shielding and protection by her constant presence. Yet many other children are subjected to far too much freedom and mature content at early ages at a time when they cannot properly deal with the subject matter. This inevitably gets them in trouble. Most would much prefer a loving parent close by.

OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

One would think the Lord does not engage in either of these extremes while raising His own children. Of course, He doesn’t. He will never spoil a child but He will also grant ultra-protection and shielding when required. Yet our Father obviously knows that children must grow to adulthood properly. The fact that there is a future adulthood which must inevitably be embraced is a simple hard fact of life and it does no good to shy away from it. Therefore, it is far better to prepare and be prepared rather than run from reality regardless of how cold and hard that reality may be.

For perspective, consider the Lord Jesus Himself. He was once a beautiful baby and a wonderful precious child. He truly was that perfect child we otherwise idealize. Yet He too had to grow out of childhood and begin the difficult trip to His destiny. I would say no one ever prepared as much as He did or was ever prepared to such a degree by His chosen parents. And then the day came when the former beautiful precious child filled with laughter and joy—God’s perfect spotless Lamb—had to endure the worst physical suffering any man ever endured and die an extremely difficult, painful, and traumatic death. When the time of His arrest arrived the onset evil to which He was suddenly subjected quickly advanced exponentially. His treatment grew worse by the minute and it appeared that His Father and all His friends and family had completely checked out on Him leaving Him vulnerable to a cast of the most wicked people who ever lived. This represented quite the contrast between the Lord’s former life as the holy Lamb of God and the Sacrifice Lamb who became sin on our behalf. It is also a genuine illustration of the fallen world in which we live.

We see then, that the existent hard world filled with potential sin and misery which every child must venture into must somehow be overcome. These are simply the cold hard facts of the matter. It is what it is. It is why good people who strive to be good parents of their precious children have great pause when considering the task before them. They want to shield and protect their children and they must, of course, but must also allow for the appropriate growth their children need to eventually become strong overcoming adults that can properly handle the world, stay on top of things, not be overcome by the sin and evil thereof, and also excel as subject-to-attack spiritual warriors.

THE SPIRITUAL SOLUTION

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“Return to Me with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

And rend your heart and not your garments.” [Joel 2:12-13]

Without the Lord’s presence in one’s life and His guidance people have a tendency to develop the very opposite of what the Lord prescribes such as a hard heart enveloped in a thick callus. This is due to the constant ongoing irritating friction and pressure one undergoes in attempting to make it in life and overpower the opposition one is subjected to. It is often the case that otherwise good-natured people become hardened due to what they must endure. This process also often causes people to have a “thin skin” in that one under the pressure of coping gives rise to raw emotion, is offended rather easily, becomes triggered at intervals, and on occasion even becomes ready for a fight. It is not because such intermittent displays are in their inherent nature but are due to the load of difficult things they have to bear at any given time. Again, it is an illustration of this fallen sinful world in which we live in that otherwise tender loving people become less so over time and are often hardened simply by the realities of persevering.

The Lord would rather things be the other way around. Rather than having thick hearts and tender skin, He would rather we have tender hearts and thick skin. Without a tender loving heart one is simply unable to communicate with God or understand Him. And without a thick skin which allows one to be protected and shielded from incessant offenses and ongoing pesky attacks, one cannot overcome such things and will succumb and be defeated. A tender heart also allows one to have close loving relationships with family and friends, of course.

We see then that it is an act of God that makes it possible for one to stay tender-hearted as a child but also develop great strength, a thick skin, a strong mind, a powerful attitude, and a spiritual backbone (like a saw log) toward defeating anything and everything that would hinder one’s vitally necessary ability, gifting, purpose, and destiny to overcome in life rather than be overcome by it. For this God has a plan in which He can maintain the pure and holy hearts of children within the mature spiritual warriors He must create both for His purposes and for our greater welfare and standing in Him.

VICTORY IN JESUS

He knows that His people must be victorious. We want to be victorious. This means gaining the victory, keeping the victory, and being the ongoing constant victor against all spiritual enemies demands tender hearts and thick skin yet there is only one way such can ever happen. It is never through our own efforts because such is effectively impossible. It can therefore only occur due to an act of God.

Trying to achieve this on our own develops the very opposite of what we want. It should be obvious that our own efforts only develop the hard heart-thin skin paradigm. Yet this world demands that we deal with very difficult issues and those who try to overcome and gain victory without the Lord, again, bring about the very reverse effect of that for which they are striving. It is a conundrum, no? An even bigger conundrum for those who otherwise rightly embrace taking responsible authority for their lives is the idea that one must surrender to God to gain the good life they seek. Many people recoil at such an idea because surrender is perceived as a bad word promoting weakness and irresponsibility that cannot possibly result in anything good.

So we come full circle. Though we may want to retain a childlike joyful heart and seek happiness in life we are instead conditioned and even coerced into rejecting such idealistic notions in order to grow up, develop a stiff upper lip, and achieve on our own doing whatever we must. Yet this results in an effective destruction of childhood innocence in which we end up far from God and really don’t appreciate what we become.

The Lord’s approach is just the opposite in that we must not only maintain the joyful attitude of a child but embrace it (which represents a tender heart) while also developing into full responsible adulthood (which represents a thick skin).

Such knowledge should clarify one’s perception of the Lord’s attitude toward His children. He is obviously Good. He is Love. No One has greater love. He gave His very life for His children. However, He also chastens those whom He loves. He subjects them to spiritual trials. He allows for tribulations and suffering. He demands a high level of obedient discipleship. All of these things are necessary for the removal of the old paradigm and application of the new one.

They are designed to tenderize our hearts and thicken our skin.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” [John 15:1-2]

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” [John 15:11]

…We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. [Colossians 1:9b-14][1]

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Tags: Blessed are the Pure in Heart, Discipleship, Heart Circumcision, Joy, Lamb of God, Lord Jesus, Paul, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Spiritual Warfare, The Everlasting Father, The Great Awakening, The Prophet Joel, The Sacrifice Lamb, The Way of Life, Trust Your Heart With God, Victory in Jesus, Wicked Heart of Unbelief

BELIEF IN MERE PERCEPTIONS: WHY MANY CHRISTIANS ARE OPERATING IN SIMULATED REALITIES [Part 1]

Mar 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

It may look real. It may feel real. There may appear to be the right people in charge, correct doctrine, and spiritual fruit which seems to confirm reality…

THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE LORD JESUS

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him… [Matthew 3:16]

According to the Gospel of Luke, a treatise which he wrote in large part with reference to chronological order, it was right after the Lord’s forty day fast and temptation victory out in the eastern wilderness that He came back to the home front including His hometown:

And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up… [Luke 4:14-16]

It was the beginning of His public ministry. However, He had actually been preparing for ministry His entire life and His greatly difficult wilderness time was not only further preparation though greatly intense, vitally necessary, and extremely consequential, it’s most important aspect involved the timely and specific impartation and release of dynamic spiritual power. He would use such power to not only work great miracles but also complete every aspect—to the absolute fullness—of His entire Mission Statement:

“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” [Luke 4:18-19]

His experience was not at all unlike those at Pentecost. Just as He had later told His disciples at the end of His public ministry right before His Ascension that in order to start the next phase of their overall ministry they must stay in Jerusalem and wait for and receive the promise of the Father:

“Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” [Acts 4b-5] [1]

We know by the historical record what these men and so many others aligned with them went on to accomplish. The record of their great achievements grace the Book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament. We also know, of course, everything written that the Lord Jesus accomplished. It must be emphasized, however, that none of their accomplishments would have been possible without the dýnamis of the Spirit of the Lord. It is this simple fact that fundamentally separates Real Christianity from Unreal Christianity. The latter has vowed to do without the power of God and this is supported by the empty evidence of their efforts.

COUNTERFEIT CHRISTIANITY

As proof,

(1) How many ministers actually begin their ministries with a wilderness wandering destruction-of-the-flesh process followed by a severe temptation battle against the devil himself?

(2) How many ministers of the Gospel put the enemy on notice at the very beginning and also defeat the devil at their initial start to illustrate what will follow afterwards?

(3) How many ministers actually wait for the promise of the Father “until ye be endued with power from on high”? Why do the vast bulk of such ministers/reverends/priests never even attempt to receive such dynamic power from God before beginning their public ministries/getting their first ministry job/starting their first church/heading out on the evangelism circuit/or even having a simple Bible Study?

And why do the majority of Christians simply not understand or seem to care that such ministries are conducted not in the Spirit by the Holy Spirit of God under the direction, leadership, and full authority of the Lord Jesus? In accordance with the three outcomes of discerning/distinguishing of spirits (see 1Corinthians 12:10), they are conducting their respective ministries under the dominant influence of only two other possibilities, one of which is the flesh. Ministers operating in the flesh are otherwise ubiquitous and should not evoke much of a surprise. It is the third possibility, however, a very real one, that is most disconcerting and those who operate in such a way prove they have the means of strong deception to gather and incorporate great numbers of the unsuspecting undiscerning.

Now, regarding what happens when ministry is done correctly according to the Word of God it is the exact same as that which happened in the Lord’s ministry. To confirm that the message the Lord was preaching and the power by which He was preaching it was correct, it was confirmed by fulfilling every plank of His Mission Statement. It was exactly the same after His Ascension in that He remained in control and authority of His movement and was working with and through the immediate Book of Acts Community. They were doing exactly as He had done and the results were exactly the same as His results.

Remember, in Acts 2:4 the Pentecost 120 became filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord. They had left the location of the Lord’s Ascension, went straight to Jerusalem as He commanded them to the house of the Upper Room, and then prayed, prepared, and waited for the promise of the Father.

Then the Day of Pentecost arrived. It was a Sunday morning at 9am. It was exactly ten days since the Lord’s Ascension to heaven. It was exactly seven weeks since the Lord’s resurrection from death. It was the beginning of the 50^th day.

This brand new beginning and birth of the Lord’s Community could not have happened unless there was a group of dedicated disciples who fulfilled every requirement thereof, notably of which was a 100% commitment to the Leadership of the Lord Jesus only. He was the coming Messiah and fulfilled every prophecy to prove it. He became the recognized King of His Kingdom. He was the sole authority of His Community/Ekklesia/Qahal/Church. He is the Living Word and He is God Himself. His real disciples had pledged themselves as willing voluntary bond slaves to Him and His purposes. They were an extension of His ministry. And because of this they also fulfilled to the letter the exact Mission Statement of the Lord Jesus. They also had the exact miraculous signs, evidences, and confirmation that the Word they preached was correct and in perfect keeping with what the Lord had preached. It should therefore not take a rocket scientist to figure out, “Hey! Maybe if we do things His way we’ll get the same results He got!”

We should understand then, that those Christians, Christian groups, Christian organizations, and even vast Christian denominations who do not exhibit as evidence the works of the Lord as exemplified and demonstrated in accordance with His continuous, uninterrupted, and everlasting Mission Statement are in some way incorrect in their teachings and incomplete in their ministries. This means whatever is not real is unreal, and if it is unreal it is only a false façade and dissembling semblance of actual Christianity based on an unfortunate belief in mere perceptions and a commitment to faux authority.

This proves the extensive presence of Simulated Christian Realities.

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Anointing, Deception, Discipleship, False Forms of Christianity, Lord Jesus, Ministry Within Community, Miracles, Pentecost, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reality vs. Illusion, Signs Following Believers, Spiritual Reality, The Great Awakening, The Infilling of the Holy Spirit, The Real and the Unreal, Unreal Christianity

LIGHT EXPOSING DARKNESS: REVEALING THE FAKERY OF UNREAL CHRISTIANITY

Mar 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

It will all be exposed for what it is. For an increasing number of Christians much has already been revealed. The majority, however, is still in the dark.

A NEW LIGHT IS DAWNING

“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]

“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” [John 8:12]

“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.” [John 12:46]

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. [John 1:5]

“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” [John 3:19-21]

“There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” [Luke 12:2]

GOD DID NOT CREATE FAKE CHRISTIANITY

In fact, of course, God did not create fake anything. Everything He made is awesomely wonderfully real. The enemy, however, is a great faker. He is a deceiver. This enemy is composed of all the unseen wispy bad guys the Lord Jesus revealed as real (not mere figments) and also all the human beings who joined in as well (those who sold their souls willingly but also the great bulk of deceived ones). According to Holy Writ a third of the previously holy angels joined up with the chief rebel and rebelled against God in a concerted effort to overthrow Him. It was an ill-conceived asinine plan from the start destined for abject failure and was based on a rise in personal pride in which mere created beings actually believed they could topple and dethrone the One who made them as if the Creator had not already factored in such an occurrence in case it was ever attempted.

That little episode did not work out so well for the bad guys. If it had they would have created a fake world in heaven with a fake king and a fake cast of sycophantic supporters. As it turned out they were all defeated soundly and pretty much immediately cast down to earth from their former heavenly sphere to a place where they could create their chosen deceptive fake world and were allowed to do so. And their fake world has otherwise obviously grown exponentially ever since.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” [Genesis 3:1]

Well of course God said that you lying piece of garbage. And Eve knew God said it. But she still succumbed to the serpent’s lying deceptive tactics anyway and you want to know why? Because she was beautiful. In this was the possibility for the advent of personal pride just as it had been the case for the chief angel who was apparently extraordinarily multi-gifted in both talent and appearance. Scripture appears to imply this. Therefore Eve had failed to consistently apply the correct level of humility and place to her life to disallow the wicked rise of pride and her desire for the prestige she felt she deserved which led to her downfall. (Even though she was living in paradise.)

It is the same with humanity ever since. Rather than praising our Creator for who He is and His great love and showing gratitude for the blessings He has bestowed we sometimes focus on what we want or prefer which takes the focus off the Lord and puts it on ourselves as if we could do anything substantial to better His plan for our lives including our eternal fate. Through this we drift astray and attempt our own way which may work for a time but fails utterly in the end. This sad fate of fallen man has become ubiquitous throughout history and has rewritten the story of mankind as one containing little hope or promise and an extreme lowering which has become the norm.

In humanity we are thus left with a mere part of the book: A created mammalian species formed from the elements of the ground with a former star link to God fashioned in such a way to illustrate an eternal appearance and make up but one which yet possesses an inherent humility due to physical realities that should otherwise convey to one the need for humbleness and place while enjoying the benefits of being “wonderfully made:”

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee. [Psalm 139:13-18 KJV]

But no. Pride took over. The sin of pride separated everyone from God. Pride says humanity in its fallen state is more than it actually is and we are worth more than we actually are. Pride makes us think we will live forever and be invincible and everybody better respect and honor us or we will get angry and put off because we know we’re great and everyone else should know that too and I’ll show you I’m great by the things I do or just by the way I look so back off and let me exult in my bad self, okay you morons!?

And one wonders why the Lord Jesus COMMANDED that we be born again. In reality humanity has generally become by its own choosing a worthless junkyard of failure and assumed importance destined to rot and rust and roast in hell and the only way out of such a default destiny is to reach way back to the cause of such a terrible tragedy and root out the root which caused it all and make a new start based strictly on the Lord’s protocol which He lovingly exampled for us all in His one single solitary perfect life.

Therefore the possibility certainly exists that people can be good looking and talented and intelligent and gifted but also understand his or her place and one’s scope and limitations and retain the correct level of required self-effacement, unpretentiousness, and modesty and quit thinking one is better than another and certainly never entertain such idiotic notions that one is somehow better than God or equal to Him.

You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? [Isaiah 29:16]

ONLY THE LORD JESUS MUST BE EXALTED

Only He deserves it. Only He deserves praise. Only He must be the honored One. Only He is the Great Spiritual Warrior who defeated death, hell, the grave, and every other spiritual enemy. Only He has made salvation possible. Only He has made a way for anyone to join Him now and forever. Only He can take one to the next level, a place of eternal joy. Only He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Whoever then attempts to place himself or herself in a place of honor meant only for Him and take authority where none has been granted is doing the same thing any of these previously mentioned rebels have done. And those who do such a thing in the name of Christianity are the worst offenders. That such offenders are in the majority is otherwise obvious except for those deceived who cannot see the forest for the trees. Such offenders have done what all such people have ever done in this fallen world of sin and depravity in that they have created various fake worlds in the name of the Lord. Can there be any higher form of sinful disrespect, dishonor, and evil than falsely proclaiming the Lord and merely using Him for one’s own enterprise?

The Lord severely rebuked the fake religionists of His day for this very thing who had successfully taken over His entire nation and put forth a thoroughly fake religious world with themselves as high ultra-respected potentates. They did this as the only way they could rule and gain wealth and prestige because God would surely never allow them such a place in His world until and unless they came to Him fully on their face in actual sincere real repentance which, of course, they would never do (except a mere few).

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. [2Peter 3:9]

So why do we think it any different in our day or any day in any Christian venue? If such a deceptive pile of futile and fruitless religious garbage was possible and actually happened in the Lord’s own nation that He had created then why does one think the same is not possible in “Christianity?” In reality it has not only been possible but ultra-doable since it has been done repeatedly and is still being done today. This is what I refer to as Unreal Christianity and have been calling it this consistently for decades. At its very core and essence it is FAKE in that it is not what the Lord Jesus created in the beginning nor does much of it even closely resemble the original.

So here we have a curious case of gross deception in which the great majority of Unreal Christianity cannot see through even the easiest to perceive deceptions and fakery and continue to honor it and also exalt it’s fake leaders just as the majority of ancient Israel did not only in its early days but also and much more prominently in the days of our Lord. And Unreal Christianity has been getting away with it often for many centuries simply because so few would call them out and the very few who did were quickly killed off. This let everyone know they better shut up if they figured it out or suspect something amiss because you get killed for it which would seem to prove the vile sinister nature of such fake Christian organizations.

Did not the same exact thing happen to the Founder of Real Christianity? And did He not say the same thing would/could/did happen and continued happening to His own followers ever since and at present? Was not His death in part the result of exposing fake religious garbage?

Therefore I can unequivocally assure one and all that the Lord has a purpose and desire to expose those faking it in His Name and sometimes does this in a really big way. I personally believe now is such a time and this is based on so much that has already been exposed to date. It matters not that most Christians are not aware of this but more and more are becoming aware. I have personally seen and even experienced a massive amount of Christian fakery in my time and have also seen much of it exposed for what it is as have many of you. This means there is always a level of success in keeping the fakery hidden but it cannot be hidden forever.

“There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” [Luke 12:2]

Sadly, the only reason the true reality of Unreal Christianity has stayed hidden historically and at present is because of the deceived Christians who sustain it, support it, and keep the fakery intact by insisting it is real. But many of these are presently falling off into eternity with not enough to take their place. This means the overall charade is destined to be revealed just as the Lord said it would and just as it was in His time.

His Light is still shining on darkness and all the fakery associated with it and His voice still calls to the sleeping. The Good News is more are hearing His voice with each passing day and heeding the call. The Great Awakening continues.

“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]

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Adam and Eve, America, Christian Pharisees, False Religious Authority, Hidden Agenda, Jesus is the Light, Light and Darkness, Light of God, Lord Jesus, Pride, Prideful Church Leaders, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reality vs. Fakery, Repentance, Self-Righteous Pharisees, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

WHO IS THIS MAN?

Posted on March 15, 2025 | Image

THE RIGHT WAY WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO “CHURCH” [Part 3]

Mar 12

Posted by RJ Dawson

If we are not following the example of the very first Christians as documented in the New Testament then we are not following the example of the Lord Jesus.

“FOLLOW ME AS I FOLLOW CHRIST”

The preceding quote is a standardized version of a statement made by the apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 11:1. It is often referred to when discussing the appropriateness of following the example of a mature Christian in a leadership role. Since young, new, or immature Christians are ubiquitous and are frequently seeking answers from those who have attained an accepted and recognized position of respect, such as “official” Christian ministers, they are often told in lieu of the actual answers they seek to instead follow the example of one who has gone before.

This is all well and good, of course, as many mature Christian ministers have proven their established place in Christian ministry by their growth, maturity, and achievements, as well as in overcoming all the challenges and difficulties toward reaching such a place. As Christians, we honor such people. We especially honor them if they have achieved their position in one’s respective denomination or in accordance with particular beliefs or practices that one holds dear.

However, it is regularly the case that one accepts a current generational Christian leader without seeking forth his or her bona fides regarding the previous generation or what might have transpired in the past to produce such a leader. For example, it is usually the case that such a leader followed in the ministerial footsteps of his or her parents, denomination, or another central leader who acted as a mentor. This means the makeup of a minister is commonly derived through the influence of others or established Christian bodies rather than through the purity of Scripture.

In fact, there are two particular major Christian denominations in the world, truly international in scope with effectively and comparatively ancient origins going back multiple centuries, that refuse to honor an exclusive foundational belief in the New Testament writings first and foremost because such a belief cuts into their desire and necessity for supreme authority. This belief which places Scripture first is referred to theologically as Sola Scriptura in that the Bible in general and the New Testament in particular is honored as the only infallible source of authority for Christian practices and faith. In was the Protestant Reformation which began five centuries ago that brought this truth into the light and established the belief in Scripture as primary which overrode the authority of customary ecclesiastical leaders and “Christian” potentates.

The reason this issue is so important is because a belief in “Christian” authority over Scripture removes the mandatory overall authority of the Lord Jesus. This means His authority is reduced to a secondary position at best which is a blatant violation of His own teachings and the beliefs of those who followed and honored Him in the very beginning who contributed their inspired writings showcasing His teachings. In other words, casting doubt on the veracity of the New Testament Scriptures and refusing to honor them as our sole foundation for Christian belief and practice also casts doubt on the Lord’s supreme authority as the only legitimate Leader of the Church—His Community of Called-Out Ones.

One wonders then at the asinine attitude of those who believe their Christian authority overrides the authority of the Lord Jesus. This is actually pure heresy on their part. However, they counter that the actual heresy is placing the authority of Scripture above their own. How did they arrive at such a place? What prompted them to entertain such a ridiculous notion? By way of answer I will say this: If one were to cut through all the fog and go to the very source one will arrive at the following:

Therefore, regarding the statement of the apostle Paul at the beginning of this article, Christians should only honor the authority of those mature Christians, such as Paul, if they follow the Lord Jesus. Such a condition is paramount. The apostle Paul would never in a million years attempt to supersede the authority of the Lord Jesus as so many traditional Christian leaders have done. Though it is obvious that some of these embrace Pharisaical pomp to the nth degree parading around as religious potentates and glorying in the honor and prestige associated thereof, many other Christian leaders downplay such an attitude somewhat while others are very subtle about it. These people don’t want you to know what they actually think of themselves and the position they’ve taken though it is otherwise obvious to those with eyes to see in that everyone knows who is actually in charge. And it’s not the Lord.

So Paul made it clear that one should only look to his example and accept his teachings if he indeed follows the Messiah, having recognized, honored, and submitted fully to the authority of the Lord Jesus:

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. [1Corinthians 11:1 NASB95]

Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah). [1Corinthians 11:1 Amplified Classic]

The English word “imitate” is from the Greek μιμητής mimētḗs (mim-ay-tace’). It is defined by Strong’s as: “an imitator:—follower.”

We know, of course, by what the Lord teaches as written in the Gospels, that to “follow” Him ultimately means that one must imitate Him, which means one must follow the Lord’s example, one must honor and obey His teachings, and one must do one’s best to represent Him correctly and properly. Now this is obviously a very tall order and the mind reels at the prospect of getting such an otherwise impossible thing right. But He said to do it which means it is not only possible and doable but mandatory. Or else one is not a real Christian.

This being said, and regarding the particulars of this teaching series, one must consider the following statements of the apostle Paul which appear in our subject Scriptural passage, 1Corinthins Chapter 14:

(1) Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. [14:1]

(2) Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; [14:5a]

(3) So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. [14:12]

(4) Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. [14:13]

(5) I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; [14:18]

(6) So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe. [14:22]

(7) If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. [14:27-29]

(8) Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner. [14:39-40][1]

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: 1Corinthians, Apostle Paul, Christian Pharisees, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Early Church, False Religious Authority, Gift of Prophecy, Lord Jesus, New Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rebellion Against God, Signs Following Believers, Sola Scriptura, Speaking in Tongues, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THE RIGHT WAY WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO “CHURCH” [Part 2]

Mar 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

The following includes a captivating Scriptural account of original New Covenant meetings and the Apostle Paul’s detailed Scriptural instructions thereof.

1 CORINTHIANS 14

As a lead in to what we will be looking into regarding how the Early Church originals in the first century AD actually conducted their spiritual meetings, I will present here the entire fourteenth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the believers in the Greek city of Corinth. This chapter is probably not only the most representative of the content of Christian meetings but also gives the most amount of information with regard to what took place in them. In Chapter 12 Paul had just addressed the many spiritual gifts, manifestations of the Spirit, and places of service in the Community and touches on them again in Chapter 14, applying instructions on their use.

If you have yet to read Part 1 I highly recommend it since it sets the tone for the series. There are already many edifying comments there which add to the article content and I am most appreciative of those of you who participated. Thank you.

I also decided to add the Scriptural text as it appears in the NASB95 online version which includes full footnotes. Though I have used and still use many different Bible versions I began using the New American Standard Bible 1995 Update exclusively for teaching and writing purposes about the time it was first published. To clarify the text format I have added the following explanations per the Bible’s introduction:

FOOTNOTES are used only where the text especially requires them for clarification.
ITALICS are used in the text to indicate words which are not found in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek but implied by it.
SMALL CAPS in the New Testament are used in the text to indicate Old Testament quotations or obvious references to Old Testament texts.

Now let’s read what Paul wrote way back when and see how the meetings of our original forebears proceeded:

¹Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. ²For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one ^[a]understands, but ^[b]in his spirit he speaks mysteries. ³But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. ⁴One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.

⁶But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching? ⁷Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? ⁸For if the ^[c]bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? ⁹So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of ^[d]languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. ¹¹If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a ^[e]barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a ^[f]barbarian ^[g]to me. ¹²So also you, since you are zealous of ^[h]spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.

¹³Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. ¹⁶Otherwise if you bless ^[i]in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ^[j]ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified. ¹⁸I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; ¹⁹however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. ²¹In the Law it is written, “BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,” says the Lord. ²²So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe. ²³Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ^[k]ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? ²⁴But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ^[l]ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; ²⁵the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.

²⁶What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. ²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; ²⁸but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. ³⁰But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. ³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; ³²and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; ³³for God is not a God of confusion but of ^[m]peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

³⁴The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. ³⁵If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is ^[n]improper for a woman to speak in church. ³⁶^[o]Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only?

³⁷If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. ³⁸But if anyone does not recognize this, he ^[p]is not recognized.

³⁹Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. ⁴⁰But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner. [1Corinthians 14:1-40] [1]

FOOTNOTES:

a. Lit hears

b. Or by the Spirit

c. Lit trumpet

d. Lit voices

e. Or foreigner

f. Or foreigner

g. Or in my estimation

h. Lit spirits

i. Or with the

j. I.e. unversed in spiritual gifts

k. V 16, note 2

l. V 16, note 2

m. Or peace. As in all…saints, let

n. Or disgraceful

o. Lit Or was

p. Two early mss read is not to be recognized

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Tags: 1Corinthians, Apostle Paul, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Early Church, Gift of Prophecy, House Church, Lord Jesus, NASB95, New Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Speaking in Tongues, Spiritual Gifts, The Great Awakening

THE RIGHT WAY WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO “CHURCH” [Part 1]

Mar 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

Most Christians would likely be shocked at what the New Testament presents as the actual way Christians are supposed to conduct their spiritual meetings.

“WE NEVER TRIED IT THAT WAY BEFORE!”

The preceding quote is what prolific Christian author and minister Ralph Neighbor Jr. referred to as “The Seven Last Words of the Church.” These phrases were the dual title of one of his many books, published way back in 1976, though his visionary ministry has very early roots in at least the early 1950s. Mr. Neighbor, born in 1929, founder of TOUCH Outreach Ministries, is also known for attempting and succeeding in part at many New Testament format applications otherwise rejected by mainstream traditional Christianity. He is perhaps known most for his work regarding what came to be called cell churches which are relatively small groups based on the New Covenant model.

To illustrate his evangelistic attitude and strong desire to do whatever the Lord required to reach the lost, coupled with calling out the deficiencies of standard American Christian practices, he once wrote while ministering in Houston, Texas that “80% of Houston is unchurched and 80% would remain unchurched.” That is, until the New Covenant model could be applied successfully, something which would demand a big change in heart and process.

I had the pleasure of corresponding with Ralph for a time several years ago. He was living in Houston then. I looked to him as an older brother and father in the faith who was quite the innovator regarding his research and writing on actual New Covenant meeting practices and his assertive though joyful attempts at applying them. Though a very busy man, I was blessed that he took the time to briefly discuss such issues with me. He relayed that he was also blessed by my contributions and was pleased to hear about my then new book Real Christianity (2001).

BEYOND THE FORMAT

Though stodgy unwilling-to-change traditional American Christianity has always been more about maintaining whatever achieved status quo may have existed at various times in our history, even going as far back as our colonial foundings over 400 years ago, it has been as a cultural entity generally more concerned about societal acceptance and monetary enterprise than in actually replicating and applying the excellent and highly productive ministry example of the early first-century Church. It was obviously the Lord Jesus, our Founder, who originally set such an example and taught it to His chosen successors. This very clear fact, however, often has no impact whatsoever on those who insist on starting “churches” in a so-called traditional or institutional manner and applying the same non-New Testament format, the one everyone is familiar with and which obviously still exists, as the remaining most popular format at present.

This means Christianity as we know it exists primarily in a form FOREIGN to the New Covenant writings of those directly chosen by the Founder. This also forces the realization, for those who can see it, that there is a high level of resistance being displayed at the hands of Christian masters who have essentially shanghaied the overall operation for their own purposes and desires. If this appears as a harsh assessment it is likely due only to the fact that the false representation has long since become the overall standard representation, meaning that the majority has insisted on it however it has become convinced by it.

However, as we often see in the pages of Holy Writ, the majority, from a Biblical perspective, is often always wrong or lacking. We know this by using only two observable and easily recognizable examples:

(1) The Old Testament nation of Israel continued to exist as long as it did due only to a very small Remnant of actual faithful followers of God, which means the Lord preserved it for His necessary purposes regardless of the actions of the thoroughly unfaithful majority which would have otherwise destroyed it. This majority was a vast collection of spiritually adulterous, inconsistent, stiff-necked sinners always fighting and opposing God despite His great love and support for them. Their unrepentant attitude all came to a head with the final cessation of the rebellious nation of Israel when it came to an end forever in 70AD as directly prophesied by the Lord Jesus.

(2) Even though the Lord had a massive amount of followers throughout His ministry, likely in at least the twenty thousand range if not far higher, He only managed to collect 120 sincere ultra-faithful and obedient disciples for the initial Upper Room experience of Pentecost. These were people who would only do what He instructed them, even to the very letter, and certainly did achieve the objective.

Such people, if they lived today, would also be preaching against standard American church practice regardless of some of the spiritual benefits thereof, simply because they would know it was not what the Lord created in the beginning and would therefore be effectively non-effectual in that it would not work according to the Lord’s intentions. This means it is entirely unfit and thus unable to evangelize the people for salvation and cannot possibly create and develop the people under its authority as the Lord requires. In fact, this majority form of Christianity is much more interested in creating contented converts rather than making powerful Spirit-filled and Spirit-led disciples ready, willing, and able to storm the gates of hell.

We also know this form is wrong due to the way in which its supporters treat Christian reformers, those who are dutifully and obediently carrying out the Lord’s instructions. Such dedicated people are always persecuted by the majority and eventually rejected only because they insist on the easily verifiable teachings of the New Covenant writings regarding how we are supposed to do “church.” I will remind everyone that even though most Christians still believe to this day that the Church is a building they visit to hold “services” and that such Christians go to church in order to have church, the reality is that real Christians ARE the Church.

COMING UP NEXT…

The following verse is a brief excerpt from a New Testament chapter rarely read by many if not most. In fact, it appears the majority of Christians do not even know it exists. Judging by what goes on in the great lot of mainstream church services, this would prove to be true. Though benign, the verse in question holds the spark of a wildfire in that it contains just enough information to set the tone for the chapter which further sets the tone for the entire format for all original New Covenant spiritual meetings.

In it lies a conviction that most Christians would apparently rather do without and a great hint that they are simply not doing their Christianity correctly or at least are doing it in a decidedly incomplete manner. By way of introduction, however, I believe the Lord is only happy to reveal it and thereby use it to reveal so much more:

What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble,

Each one has a psalm,

Has a teaching,

Has a revelation,

Has a tongue,

Has an interpretation.

Let all things be done for edification. [1Corinthians 14:26][1]

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Tags: 120, America, Ancient Israel, Church Buildings, Day of Pentecost, Discipleship, Early Church, Evangelization and Witnessing, House Church Movement, Lord Jesus, Ralph Neighbor, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reform, Spiritual Warfare, The Book of First Corinthians, The Great Awakening, The Outspoken Early Church, Unreal Christianity, Upper Room

THE GROUP OF ELDERS MINISTRY MODEL VS. THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITARIAN MODEL [Part 2]

Mar 5

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus is a God of order. However, religious authoritarians are often people of ultra-order in which they and their religion take prominence over people.

And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” [Luke 22:24-27]

SCHOOL DAZE

I remember my initial experience as a kid in first grade. We had relatively large classes back then usually in the 35-40 pupil range. We had the old-fashioned desks in which each unit had the requisite desktop, a curved wooden chair seat, and a metal mini locker under the seat open at both ends to put your books and stuff in. They were constructed very well, made of lacquered wood and painted metal. There was even a little elongated depression rounded out of the wood at the top of the desktop to put your pencil. The desks were arranged in perfectly straight rows about six or seven across and six or seven deep. Everything in the classroom was orderly and clean.

Of course, every desk faced the front. At the front center was the big wooden desk of the teacher and behind the teacher was an entire wall of blackboards. When one first walked into such an arrangement one deciphered pretty quickly that the classroom was a place of ultra-order and decorum. This would not be a place where kids can be kids but one in which kids would be just the opposite in that only prescribed movements would be allowed and no one would ever be allowed to talk unless called upon. A kid would walk in silently, go to his or her desk silently, place their books and stuff in that place under the seat quietly and then sit down. One was usually only allowed to look toward the front. When the teacher was there and class was in session everybody looked only to the front and focused squarely on the teacher. The teacher would thus hold court.

For little kids just getting used to this process and trying to adapt, there was a high level of intimidation. One wanted to make sure he or she was doing everything right and fulfilling the requirements. There was a quickly constructed built-in attitude one was forced to adhere to which stated that the teacher was absolutely totally in charge. We knew this by her stern, no nonsense authoritarian demeanor. I say her because most of my teachers from first through eighth grades were of the female variety but policy dictated that such gender identity was played down in order to enforce rule, which meant the normal caring attitude of the female person was transformed into more of a dictator in chief in that every child must know that respect for authority was paramount.

Maybe you had a different experience, but I was one of millions of children across America that experienced school in this way. It was obviously not a public school. It was one of those denominational schools that wholly rejected such a label since it was the predominant universal “church” on the planet that looked down upon such inferior Christian bodies (actual denominations) of “departed brethren.” And this universal church did not arrive at their level of success across the world without a powerful authoritarian nature that demanded absolute control which bordered on a militaristic ethos.

Regarding personal decorum, the majority of the teachers belonged to a strict religious order and were attired in black from head to toe with only the face showing. Even their entire forehead had a wide white cardboard band across it to the eyebrows. Therefore, it seemed as though not only feminine nature and appearance must be greatly reduced but human nature as well. Also, to add to the militaristic control-oriented authoritarian you-are-a-nobody-only-a-part-of-the-dominant-religious-culture theme, all the boys wore the exact same khaki uniform and the girls wore identical white blouses and dark green skirts.

The overall effect of all this over-the-top religious propriety and order can be, as I’ve stated, quite intimidating for a little kid and such intimidation often gave way to outright fear if one mistakenly broke the rules or failed to show the proper respect for authority and the all-encompassing correctness. There were thus punishments put forth (and sometimes inflicted) which went anywhere from writing lines to that of the actual corporal variety. But the greatest tool in the punishment toolbox used expertly by all the teachers was shaming.

Shame was a powerfully effective weapon. It singled out the individual while everybody else gave silent assent since no one dared to question the process. The powers that be in this organization had learned centuries ago that they must gain control of people when they were very young impressionable children in order to brand upon their young minds respect and obedience to the order. In this process no one was allowed any form of dissent or resistance. One will note it is this same process used on young raw military recruits by hard core in-you-face screaming drill sergeants. The recruits must lose all sense of their prior selves and individual identities in order to be transformed into the necessary group dynamic killing machines they must become if war would have a good chance of victory.

Yet such discipline used on small defenseless children in which their minds are melded into an indoctrinated religious mass grouping before they ever have the chance to think for themselves is not good, especially since such is for the sake of an institution and the power and wealth of those who run it. Such a process not only constitutes a loss of the innocence of childhood but could very well also keep one from an actual relationship with the Lord Jesus.

It is also in direct opposition to His pure teachings:

Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” [Matthew 19:13-14]

Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” [Luke 18:17] [1]

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Tags: America, Elder, False Conformity, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, religion, Servant, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THE GROUP OF ELDERS MINISTRY MODEL VS. THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITARIAN MODEL [Part 1]

Mar 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

When the Lord Jesus began His ministry, He created a nascent group of twelve elders which was the archetypal servant authority model of the Early Church.

THE LORD’S ELDER-MEN

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. [Luke 6:12-16]

The original apostles comprised the first elder group. When one studies the Lord’s ministry and how His teachings on eldership were applied, one sees that the Lord’s early Community always had a leadership group and never a solo minister. The reason for this was fairly simple: There was already an overall solo Minister who was also the one Shepherd, Master, and King. He was the one who created the Community to begin with and also maintained full control of it and over it. He created groups of elders under His authority to insure the greater chance of bringing forth and applying His means of ministry and teaching His curriculum.

Since these New Covenant elder men had to be accountable not only to the Lord Jesus but also accountable to each other, if any one of them got out of line the others were there to correct him. If one of them veered off course regarding the correct use of the Word of God, even slightly, the odds were great another one of the elders would point this out and apply the corrective. Of course, being an actual elder according to the Lord’s original model demanded not only a high level of discipleship but also great humility. It was never about being in charge with these men but always about making sure the Lord Jesus remained in charge. The following are a few Scriptural examples:

BOOK OF ACTS

When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. [Acts 14:23]

PAUL

To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you… [Titus 1:4-5]

JAMES

Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. [James 5:13-15]

PETER

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. [1Peter 5:1-5]

JOHN

And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” [Revelation 4:9-11] [1]

PASTOR OR SHEPHERD?

The word “pastor” occurs only once at most in the entire New Testament (in plural form) in many Bible translations including the KJV and sometimes not at all. It is from the Greek word ποιμήν poimḗn (poy-mane’). Strong’s defines it as: “of uncertain affinity; a shepherd (literally or figuratively):—shepherd, pastor.” Other than the one time, on almost every other occasion of its use this Greek word is translated as the English word “shepherd.” It should be translated as shepherd every time. It is due to this faulty translation that the vast majority of those who rule churches are called “pastors.” It is also likely due to the supposition that the title “pastor” appears more official, authoritative, socially acceptable, and commanding of respect rather than the humble, servant-like, and unobtrusive word “shepherd.” One might note that the Lord Jesus was never referred to as “Pastor” but as the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.

GRAND MASTER PASTOR

Have you ever noticed that the standard model of that which is presented as “church” on Christian television (and in pretty much every “church” large or small all across the land) is one guy on a stage and a veritable mute fest transpiring in the congregation? The camera might pan to the crowd on occasion and every single person sits in absolute quiet solitude often never even muttering a brief Amen. The one guy on stage, however, can do and say anything he wants. He will often drone on and on ad infinitum which could explain the sounds of silence down below in that people are trying very hard not so much to concentrate but simply stay awake.

And exact proper absolute decorum is not only determinedly called for but demanded. And everyone complies. If they don’t they end up looking like social misfits not clear on the concept, which those with any ideas of not complying or halfway complying or not too pleased with such absolute compliance have long since vacated the premises either of their own accord or they were drummed out by the shame police or a few might have actually been told to please make like a tree and leave.

And of course, this leaves nothing left of the possible independent thought, spiritually interactive, non-forced compliance, and SPEAKING element in the entire ever-homogenous congregation growing ever vaster comprised only of the agenda-subservient ultra-quiet submissive ones who never even think of having any form of disagreement or the application of necessary correctives factor, much less causing even the wimpiest of inquiries because, you know, we must prove our pure and holy Christianity by always giving way and expressing complete deference to the top dog alpha male who is obviously called and chosen by God Himself and you’re not. Amen.

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Elder, False Christian Movements, False Conformity, False Forms of Christianity, Freedom of Speech, Lord Jesus, Pastor, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Shepherd, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THE REWARD OF HEAVEN [Part 4]

Feb 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

Heaven will be sparsely populated. Only few will find and successfully traverse the Narrow Way.

“SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND”

The Greek word is ζητέω zētéō (dzay-teh’-o). Its primary definition is “to seek in order to find.” When the Lord Jesus stated this relatively simple truth He was not referring to a brief flippant attempt at possible discovery in which finding would be easy as if all one had to do was look under the first proverbial rock one stumbled upon and there it was. In reality, it is pretty much just the opposite. Why? Because on the one hand the enemy of humanity does his best to hide what must be found and do all he can to lead people away and astray. He has many means with which to do this including the creation of false doors that appear real by which most people are deceived. On the other hand the Lord also makes that which must be found a challenge in that only the dedicated devoted steadfast faithful committed give-it-their-whole-heart crowd will discover the otherwise seemingly secret entrance. And what is more, one must keep what one has found by maintaining a lifestyle toward that goal or else it could well be lost and even possibly become unrecoverable. As the Lord stated:

“I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” [Revelation 3:11-13]

Most Christians understand the concept of the “one pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:46), the “treasure hid in a field” (Matthew 13:44), and the “lost piece of silver” (Luke 15:8-9). In each of these cases and many more, the Lord was teaching on both the need for discipline and perseverance in the act of “seeking in order to find” but also the great reward thereof when one at last finds what one was duly searching for. And one would think most Christians also understand that which is by far the greatest of all rewards given by the Lord, other than Himself, of course, who gave His very life for His sheep which is the only gift/sacrifice that makes heaven possible.

Therefore, let us look again at the following familiar passages and glean from them all we can regarding the process of salvation and finding the “secret” entry:

KEEP ASKING / KEEP SEEKING / KEEP KNOCKING

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” [Matthew 7:7-8]

THE SMALL NARROW GATE / THE NARROW WAY

THE “FEW” WORD

I still retain a very clear memory of an event I had at a church I was attending many years ago. I was a member in very good standing but that did not matter so much at the time. After a church service I was talking to a friend and the discussion had turned to salvation. I told him about how there would only be a relative few that would actually be saved. Now, this particular place was a mega church in the making and it eventually got there in a very big way but when I was there it was still relatively small according to such standards. The pastor was a man with a giant vision. He had started the church from scratch. He worked very hard. He was certainly a dedicated and gifted man. And everybody knew who was in charge.

As it happened, after my little discussion, no doubt because the person with which I was having the discussion was not so aware of the written Word, that the word had somehow gotten back to the pastor that I had used the otherwise dreaded “few” word. Such a word does not dovetail so well with the word “mega.” It is the only thing to explain what occurred. I think it was a midweek service. Picture a congregation of about four or five hundred. I was sitting not too far from the front. At one point in the service the pastor said something to the effect that some people want to limit God and believe such things as only “few will be saved.” He was looking right at me when he said it. And he was not happy.

With that being said we must take a look at the “few” word a little closer. The actual verse in which this word appears is Matthew 7:14. It is from the Greek ὀλίγος olígos (ol-ee’-gos). Strong’s Concordance defines it as such: “of uncertain affinity; puny (in extent, degree, number, duration or value); especially neuter (adverbially) somewhat:—+ almost, brief(-ly), few, (a) little, + long, a season, short, small, a while.”

Here it is according to The Outline of Biblical Usage:

little, small, few
of number: multitude, quantity, or size
of time: short
of degree or intensity: light, slight

I could go further here and cite additional sources but you get the idea:

THE LORD JESUS SAID ONLY “FEW” WOULD FIND THE SMALL GATE AND THE NARROW WAY AND BY IMPLICATION SUCCESSFULLY FOLLOW THAT NARROW WAY TO THE VERY END.

This means we as Christians in general and especially as ministers of the Gospel should preach and teach the Word that the Lord Jesus preached and taught because He had an extremely good reason for it, instead of watering it down and changing it into something more palatable and socially acceptable, perhaps for the purpose of gaining greater numbers and possibly also to create and build a much more “successful” Christian enterprise.

Now, if it happens that the Lord wants to collect a great many of the “few” and put them all under one big giant massive roof in which maybe a hundred thousand may fit then such is all well and good and proper. But He will never cut corners or water down or change His Word in order to do it and the people there are still going to comprise a portion of the relative “few” worldwide and heaven itself will ultimately still be relatively sparsely populated and the great bulk of humanity will still never find the door.

Also, I think if most of us had our way and our heart is right we would want EVERYONE to be saved, but this is simply never going to happen primarily because only a “few” will ever repent of their sins properly and fully and give their entire lives and all their heart to the Lord Jesus. This does mean we are to limit our witnessing or sit around waiting for the inevitable end as if we could not help the Lord seek the lost. We must remember that in His ministry He sought the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Matthew 15:24) and found them and saved them even though the majority of the nation rejected Him. In our case, however, we can never make judgments regarding who is “worthy” of salvation and therefore we must desire the salvation of all.

THE REWARD

As the apostle Peter wrote:

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. [2Peter 3:9-18] [1]

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THE REWARD OF HEAVEN [Part 3]

Feb 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

In addition to the misconception that heaven is the eternal default destination (rather than the hot place), there is another massive misconception among many Christians…

THE GREAT DIVIDE

A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?” [John 10:19-21]

Everywhere one travels throughout the New Covenant writings, from the Gospels to Revelation, he will discover an ongoing underappreciated theme dealing with a thoroughly somewhat unpleasant topic. Whether the Lord is referring to sheep and goats, wheat and tares, or human subjects such as the rich man and Lazarus, He is often dividing by two. At times He is relatively subtle, such as through His expert use of particular parables to illustrate the fine nuances of the truth He wishes to convey. At other times, however, He charges ahead at a high spiritual decibel level to not only blast out a truth but also dispel false notions regarding it. The latter form of truth-telling is rarely heard in pulpits across the land, for otherwise obvious reasons, such as the following:

Whoa. Sounds harsh. Sounds unchristian. And He’s not done…

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” [Matthew 10:37-39]

Again, we see division. We see Him dividing by two. On the one hand He does not appear to be getting with the unity-at-all-costs program, that which an apparent majority of Christians are obsessed with, but just the opposite. On the other hand, however, we discover by such “hard sayings” that He is actually on a much higher level of the standard unity/unifying program by establishing the creation of spiritual unity through division. And we see that such a program has an ultimate end.

Here is more:

“I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. [Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] [Luke 17:34-36]

Therefore, according to these few noted passages and so many more throughout the written Word, the Lord Jesus, in reality, by creating the spiritual unity of His flock through His proficient means of separation by the sword, could rightly be classified as The Division King.

THE RESPONSE FROM EVIL

The use of the dividing sword will always bring a requisite retort that essentially solidifies the place of the unrepentant unbeliever as all-the-more willingly desirous of being apart from God. Such people do not realize that by their inability to control their anger and hatred by being called out and exposed for what they are, even though the intention is to bring them into the light, they play right into the hands of the division process. As we continue in this passage from John Chapter Ten, the Lord continues to cause division by simply revealing who He is. At the end, His detractors seal their eternal fate by going all in—100%—which proves conclusively the very necessity of the dividing sword in the first place:

At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 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. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

“I and the Father are one.”

The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” [John 10:22-33] [1]

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THE REWARD OF HEAVEN [Part 2]

Feb 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

The NT states it is impossible to gain heaven through our own efforts, but the Lord Jesus certainly gained heaven through His efforts—and also for potentially everyone.

He left heaven for our sakes with every intention of going back. However, the only way He could ever return is if He successfully completed His mission. (Keep this in mind regarding your own mission.)

What most Christians do not realize is that the Lord put absolutely everything on the line when He became one of us. He knew the only way to defeat the devil and death itself was to live a perfect human life without ever making a single miscue or misstep. If He committed only one sin He would have failed His mission completely, regardless of everything else He accomplished, and could no longer be the sinless Sacrifice Lamb of God. That would mean no one would be saved. It would mean every human being that had ever lived would be barred from heaven and end up in the dreaded default destination.

It would also mean the Lord Himself would never have a savior since He is the only possible Savior. And that would mean He would never return to heaven.

I know this may sound like sheer speculation of the off the charts variety, but it is actually sound from a New Testament perspective. It dovetails with what the Lord taught. It is not His fault that His authentic teachings have been so watered down and transformed over the centuries that most Christians think the real appears foreign while the gospel they are familiar with, whichever one of the many faux gospels it may be, looks correct and acceptable.

Additionally, some or quite possibly most Christians may believe it was impossible for the Lord Jesus to sin which renders what I’m stating here to be an essentially specious argument. In reality, however, if such a thing was true, how does one explain His extreme suffering, the great strength and determination He put into successfully overcoming temptation, the necessity of His initial forty day fast and who knows how many multitudinous fasts He endured throughout His ministry? How would one explain the exceptional discipline in His life and the same discipline required for every believer in order to be spiritually effective? And how would one explain this:

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. [Hebrews 4:15]

It should be obvious, therefore, that the enemy knew exactly what everything hinged upon regarding God’s plan for salvation and is why the enemy focused so much effort on attempting to get the Lord to succumb to temptation and commit sin. It is true, of course, that the Lord overcame every effort against Him but is also true that it often took everything He had to do so and was very difficult. It was high level spiritual warfare. And in war there is always the possibility of defeat.

Now that we have established the proper perspective we should understand how difficult the Lord’s mission was. Nevertheless, it appears as though most Christians do not understand this and thus take heaven for granted. It is also likely that those Christians with such an attitude also take their own walk with God for granted as if the requirements are not all that demanding. This is likely due in part to the preponderance of fake ministers of the Gospel preaching other gospels containing false doctrines that not only do not tell the Gospel truth but also fail to illustrate the actual supreme difficulty of the Lord’s mission and all it entailed. Those who engage in this dishonorable travesty and all those who follow them have decided on taking another way which, not surprisingly, is relatively simple and easy, instead of the Way. And the people overcome by such a deception likely never realize they failed a temptation test somewhere along the way and as a result will never find their way to heaven. Their only reward is thus in the present.

THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD

This parable is an excellent discourse explaining the truth of how to get to heaven. The Lord Jesus makes all the pertinent points in that regard and answers every question. He also does it using relatively easy to understand language and general terms familiar to his audience which are fundamental components of parabolic teaching. Nevertheless, as in all His parables, understanding them meant one must possess “ears to hear” and “eyes to see.”

The Lord begins by speaking of the evil ones who refuse to acknowledge the only Door and attempt to find another way into His sheepfold. Sound familiar? He then explains how the actual process works:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

“But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. [John 10:1-6]

Okay, we have a picture of the sheepfold. In the Lord’s time such folds or pens were usually created with stone walls which were just high enough to do the job. They were likely created in relatively crude but sturdy fashion using the ready rocks of the field. For greater protection and also requiring less material they were sometimes (or oftentimes) created when available against natural walls such as the edges of hills or rises or against cliffs. The shepherd would construct such pens to keep his sheep in for the night. If the fold was semi-permanent he would make one opening (a door) using stacked rocks or possibly one fashioned from wood. It was clearly important to make the enclosure safe and secure, primarily from predators.

Regarding the entry, the Lord taught that the shepherd always entered by the door. He stated that anyone trying to enter the fold any other way was a thief and a robber, meaning they had sinister intentions. He thus gives us the first clue at the very beginning regarding those to watch out for and how to identify them.

The sheep were generally penned up into the fold in the evenings. Such sheepfolds were usually created with minimum space requirements which resulted in somewhat cramped conditions. In the morning among the hustle of the sheep longing to get out and into the pastures the doorkeeper would begin taking down the rocks comprising the door. In their hurry to leave the somewhat impatient sheep would assist in this process by pressing against the egress and assist in knocking down the loose rocks on their way out finishing the opening and following their shepherd into the liberty of the free-range grazing fields.

In the next passage the Lord Jesus identifies Himself as the only Door. Additionally, He states His great love for His sheep and defines this love as that in which He is willing to give His life and due to which the sheep feel secure and protected. He also again teaches about the enemy who merely masquerades as the shepherd but is only a hired hand. Sound familiar?

So Jesus 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 will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” [John 10:7-18] [1]

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Discipleship, Heaven, Hired Hands, Lord Jesus, Parables, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Sin, Spiritual Warfare, The Door of the Sheep, The Good Shepherd, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THE REWARD OF HEAVEN [Part 1]

Feb 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

The New Testament states that heaven is not anyone’s eternal destination unless one does something life-changing to secure it and avert the dreaded default.

MANKIND’S INHERENT NATURE

It appears as though the majority of people who believe in an afterlife have the mistaken notion that pretty much everyone will end up in the good place regardless of anything in their lives which would warrant such a profound celestial gift. Yet it also appears apparent that most people go through life doing what they will and whatever life calls for without thinking too much about eternity as if one’s eternal destination has already somehow been taken care of by providence, which means they understand providence to be both benevolent and also no stickler for one’s behavior or intentions.

Consequently, the concept of sin doesn’t come up too often. How do we know this? For the simple reason that many people if not most (likely most) do not possess any objective moral checklist to indicate right from wrong except in a general sense or that which is dictated by their culture. Even though most people have a working conscience early in life that clearly delineates the good from the bad, humans are notorious for making exceptions and overriding their conscience when it suits them, usually when they want to engage in something for their own selfish pleasure or gain something through nefarious means. This proves one will generally break the rules and violate their conscience when it serves his or her own interests and believes such decisions should be no one else’s business, which has a tendency to subvert societal mores (understatement alert).

Now, if pretty much everyone has this attitude, which present and historical evidence certainly seems to strongly suggest, then it means human societies demand some method of restricting such an attitude and it’s pernicious fruits or else there will be utmost chaos and debauchery and the very antithesis of a cohesive culture and society, which is supposed to exist for the benefit of the members thereof and not so everyone can run amok in the engagement of vice. We call this restriction of human will that is naturally bent toward personal licentious outcomes Law. And we have law so there can be Order. Thus, the establishment of law and order which the majority has always been in favor of in the good societies in this world proves that humanity has a serious problem that must be not only addressed but addressed at all times, meaning law and order is a 24 hours a day and 365 days a year proposition.

No matter how one may look at this it proves absolutely that human beings are basically and inherently degenerate, otherwise we wouldn’t need massive skyscraper level libraries of laws and restrictions spelling out every human offense there is down to the minutest level. And we wouldn’t need scads and scads and scads of those who make their living in this medium of secular ultra-casuistry called Lawyers, some of which to defend innocent parties hurt/harmed/damaged/injured by the bad guys and some to prosecute said bad guys for their bad guy behavior. Such a process has a tendency to draw sharp contrasts between the harmed and the harmers (the good guys and bad guys) as if the harmed are not and cannot be the harmers. Yet, since all human beings have the same problem regarding what the Word of God calls sin, such a good guy/bad guy scenario must be based on another set of laws because God’s Law says everyone is a sinner on their way to you know where.

SOCIETAL CONDUCT CONTROLS

In other words, if one does fairly well obeying societal or cultural mores and behaviors then they are considered good “law-abiding” citizens. This means they score well on what are essentially watered-down tests of morality in that they manage to keep themselves from committing major behavioral aberrations and crimes to the point that their lesser indiscretions are either not counted, are unseen or unknown, OR there are no laws on the books for their particular immoral miscues. But since the more enlightened societies and cultures of the world doing well to illustrate a high level of civilization are also often the ones with the most laws and lawyers it indicates that something is simply not on the up and up, which proves that even the best human societies/cultures DEMAND endless laws ad infinitum and veritable armies of lawyers simply to stay intact and maintain some semblance of order.

What then happens to lesser societies/cultures? Obviously, things are worse in such places and are far worse in the worst of such places. If they somehow manage to stay intact it is only through greater degrees as required of brute force. This means their laws are essentially worthless since most don’t obey them and law enforcement can only go after the very worst offenders while everyone else gets away with their “lesser” crimes. One might call this grading on the curve.

This raises an interesting question: Why are some societies and cultures better than others? Why are some people better at regulating their behavior than others? Why are some cultures made up primarily of people who cannot or will not control themselves and do whatever they want to fulfill their evil desires? Regardless of whatever it may be that causes some populations of people to possess little or no morality whatsoever and simply cannot or will not control themselves, while other populations do a relatively very good job at such, it stands to reason that there must be something beyond the human beings comprising such better societies that keeps them in line if it exists and is applied.

Again, even the best societies and cultures of this world demand multitudinous laws and lawyers which means human beings have a serious problem with inherent human behavior. Thus, the only reason good societies exist is because the people thereof are well aware of their condition and work extremely hard at regulating it. They teach their young from the very beginning what is right and what is wrong. They reward good behavior but pay special attention to nipping bad behavior in the bud and make great demands of themselves and their charges to be upstanding citizens and strive to create and possess good reputations.

Now, that being said, most children have good natures and usually only need set boundaries. Their freedom must be limited in such a way that they are not so aware of it and then increased as they can handle it. If they prove worthy they get the recompense of slightly more freedom and rewards for good behavior. In this way they have a much better chance of learning right from wrong in a manner that agrees with their conscience which confirms they are being taught correctly which in turn establishes trust in and respect for authority. Some kids need relatively less strict discipline to keep them on track while other kids demand much more.

Hence, the good behavior required to be good kids and future good upstanding citizens must be learned and the rewards for fulling such must be earned.

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Tags: America, Discipleship, Heaven, Law of Moses, Lawlessness, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Evil, Societal Pressure, The Great Awakening

“THE LORD IS A WARRIOR; THE LORD IS HIS NAME”

Feb 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

Spiritual warfare is not optional. Battling the enemy is mandatory. The Christian spiritual warrior must do all in his or her power to FIGHT.

The title of this article quotes Exodus 15:3 from the Song of Moses, a wonderful and worshipful testament to God’s greatness and faithfulness as our Saving Deliverer. In the original Hebrew, the word “Lord” is actually the second level revealed Name of God—YHWH—which, due to its great holiness, the scribes replaced with the written Hebrew word Adonai (Lord). God the Creator’s first level revealed Name—Elohiym—is found initially in Genesis 1 where it is used exclusively. We first see His Name YHWH in Genesis 2:4. His third level revealed Name first appears in Exodus 3:14. It was during the burning bush experience of Moses when he received his commission to go to Egypt to deliver his people. He asked for God’s Name:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” [Exodus 3:14]

THE LORD IS A WARRIOR

We see parallels to these Names of God in the New Testament, especially many instances of the Lord Jesus referring to Himself as “I AM.” In fact, there are a great many parallels in the NT matching up with the God of the OT. The final and greatest revelatory Name of God is, of course, YeHoshua (Jesus), the Name above every name, which combines the Tetragrammaton—YHWH (Yahweh)—with the Hebrew word Yasha, or Salvation. Hence the Name of Jesus means “Yahweh Sets Free” or “Yahweh Saves.”

As mentioned in a recent post, the Lord Jesus was and remains the greatest spiritual Warrior in existence. There is no one greater. During His ministry He knew more than anyone that He must fight every day or would have no chance whatsoever to win spiritual victories and complete His mission. Judging by everything He managed to accomplish—an absolutely perfect ministry in which He achieved every single predetermined goal—He proved Himself to be the greatest of all time.

His enemies greatly feared Him. And they still do. They know they have no chance. Remember, however, that when God took on the greatest challenge of His life in a be-all and end-all battle that would decide everything, He did not decide to take on His enemies by roaring from the sky and tossing down furious burning lightning bolts to obliterate His foes but chose to enter the battle as one of us. By this He not only greatly curtailed His overwhelming ferocious inherent ability to crush His wimpy foes like bugs but do it through an otherwise rebellious and cantankerous medium which NT Scripture refers to as the flesh.

Therefore, not only would He be taking on—

The devil and the entire forces of hell
A fallen evil kosmos constructed by multiple generations of errant and immoral human beings not only apart from and out of communication with God but in willful opposition to Him (the “world”), and
Sinful flesh, that is, predisposed sinful human nature, our greatest enemy, and even wrapping Himself with it, as per the ancient prophecy in Psalm 40 written by His ancestor David, quoted here in the NT Book of Hebrews:

Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,

But a body You have prepared for Me;

In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices

For sin You have taken no pleasure.

“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come

(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me)

To do Your will, O God.’” [Hebrews 10:5-7]

Now, think about this. It was always His plan to become a human but when the time came to engage in the greatest battle of His or anyone’s life He approached it in the most unconventional manner imaginable. Rather than getting physically ripped and bulking up by consuming mass quantities of grain-fed beef, equipping Himself amply with the normal warfare implements of physical weaponry and armor, and psyching Himself out to take on the equivalent of Roman Legions, He instead planned on a forty-day fast and ultimately using the Word of God as His chief weapon of choice. As Paul wrote,

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)… [2Corinthians 10:3-4 KJV]

This should cause all Christians believers to think a tad more seriously about the battle at hand, how we approach it, and get a better idea why American Christianity in general is getting beat to death, destroyed all over the battlefield, and humiliated by a scheming deceiver never hesitating to laugh in our faces over our collective unskilled ineptitude. Could it be that American Christianity in general is stubbornly clinging to methods that never work in the spiritual realm but are great in the natural since social standing, dead religious tradition, and buckets of money are far more preferable? Is this not obviously the case since the majority of Christians prefer this world to the next and would rather run alongside the sinful culture than stand against it and even rebuke it?

As James wrote:

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. [James 4:4 KJV]

Again, this word “world” is translated from the Greek κόσμος kósmos (kos’-mos). It is the same in essence as that which the devil controlled/controls and which he offered to the Lord during the Lord’s temptation in exchange for worship. Can we not see then that this worldwide construct of sinful man apart from God is intricately connected to the tempter and that this tempter has obviously made great headway in successfully tempting all manner of Christian institutions and churches? Have not so many of these sold out and taken the deal? Have they not also been granted great success as the tempter promised?

We may often wonder how much of the success of American Christianity in general is the result of the Lord’s blessings and how much has come from the evil one but there is no doubt that at least some and quite possibly the greater percentage has been due to the latter. This should give us serious pause. It should also alert us to the clearest method of distinguishing the two: That which agrees with the ministry form and lifestyle of the Early Church of the first century AD is the standard to be embraced. They represented the prototype of all succeeding generations. Yet for some reason their example is often shunned and opposed as if one has taken another suitor.

Regarding the previous passage, James, the blood brother of our Lord, is adamant that spiritual adultery is a vile offense which makes a relationship with the Lord impossible. This was obviously the entire problem with ancient Israel in that it simply could not keep itself chaste unto God and was forever straying.

It is why only a relatively small Remnant of the nation, perhaps 10% if that (a tithe), stayed faithful. The surviving Remnant during the Lord’s time are the people He chose—all Israelites initially—and worked through to begin His ministry and wider movement spreading into and throughout the world of that time. They succeeded in great part because they were ferocious spiritual warriors who gave no quarter to the enemy and were determined with all their heart to fulfill the Lord’s directives.

The Lord’s people of our time are currently doing the same though are often working in obscurity. Many not only battle in the Spirit but also battle to survive. The devil hates them, the world hates them, and the flesh hates them. It reminds one of the following:

“You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” [Matthew 10:22][1]

I encourage you all to continue to fight for and with the Lord in the great battle against the enemies of God. Continue to be strong and consistent spiritual warriors. In the Lord’s time and timing we each will continue to have spiritual victories in the Lord’s service, that many will be saved, delivered, set free, and raised up to spiritual maturity in the Lord as His Kingdom advances.

The Great Awakening continues and is gaining ground. The Lord is winning!

FIGHT ON

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Tags: America, American Christianity, Discipleship, Fight the Good Fight of Faith, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Battle, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The LORD is a Warrior, The Remnant, The World The Flesh The Devil, They Hated Me Without a Cause, YHWH-Salvation

HOW THE LORD CONFIRMS THE ACCURACY OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING: A DIALOGUE

Feb 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

“Look. Here’s the problem. It’s like we have to follow a script. It’s like we are limited in what we can do in ministry because of Scriptural parameters.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Well, I don’t feel I am suggesting anything, I don’t think, but merely pointing out the problems that arise from always having to keep reverting back to Scripture, as in, well, ‘the Bible says this’ or ‘the Lord said we must,’ or ‘we have to apply this Biblical directive…’”

“You think your ministerial work is suffering because you invoke Scripture?”

“No, no, not necessarily, but because, well, because I think there are other applications that probably work better in some instances, and…”

“But don’t you realize that the application of Scripture, especially the teachings of Jesus, is exactly that which provides solutions?”

“But does it always? Sometimes I’m not so sure. I’ve seen…”

“Are you having a personal crisis regarding your faith?”

“What? No, no, I just think that, that, well, that sometimes I want to help someone get through whatever they may be dealing with and show, you know, my heartfelt sympathy or concern, and, I think that trying to quote Scripture at such a time is, just, not working, or won’t work, like it’s being cold.”

“My goodness. How long have you been doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve obviously been attempting to minister to people while also holding a clear lack of faith in Christian teachings. Do you not see this?”

“No! No, that’s not it. I know the Scriptures are the Word of God but I feel like I’m hitting people with a book, like I’m merely parroting verses and passages instead of reaching them at the point of their need, and showing sincere concern, and…”

“Did the Lord engage in ministry in such a way?”

“Well the Lord was certainly right there and touching hearts, and…”

“Showing compassion?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s it. He showed compassion. He granted mercy, He…”

“He watered-down the Law of Moses because that might help people not feel offended?”

“The Law! What?”

“You have a problem with the Law!”

“Wait. We’re Christians! We honor the New Covenant not the Old! We…”

“The Lord Jesus was never against the Law of Moses! The Lord actually fulfilled the Law of Moses! What is wrong with you?”

“Why are you getting so upset?”

“Because you have obviously gone off the deep end and need strong correction! How long have you been carrying this lack of respect for the Law?”

“But Paul was always talking about the deficiencies of the Law. It’s throughout all his writings.”

“You’re exaggerating. Paul spoke of the New Covenant superseding the Old Covenant but he also strongly defended the Law of Moses! Yes! The Law as delivered originally by God through Moses was certainly not deficient but was simply in need of its final fulfillment which could only be done by the future Messiah. To state that the Law was deficient or that there was a problem with the Law is grossly incorrect.”

“Okay… I’m thinking… I’m wondering where I picked this up…”

“It could be through a simple misapplication of Scripture.”

“Yes… But no. I must have received my understanding of the Law through those New Testament passages which refer to the Law in a negative sense.”

“Then you have an incomplete understanding of Scripture and need further teaching. Or you could have received it through the teachings of others in that regard.”

“But that, that would indicate that there are Christian teachers that get it wrong.”

“Yes. And what else is new?”

“No, I don’t mean… I mean, that they are doing it deliberately…”

“Which would mean exactly that or that they also have been deceived by a false teaching regarding the Law. They are doing what they think is right or…”

“Or they are not deceived at all but are deliberately teaching something that opposes the Scriptures…”

“Yes. Some are deceived. But some are agents of the enemy who have infiltrated our schools and churches.”

“How do we… What do we do?”

“First of all I appreciate the respect you are showing an elder. All real ministers of the Gospel at some point come across this sad state of affairs, this deceptive invasion, usually when they’re relatively young, as yourself. I discovered it when I was a young minister but I had no elder to help me out. I’m glad you came to me. Secondly, what we do is what any real minister of the Gospel would do. You know the answer…”

“Study to show yourself approved.”

“Exactly. Paul knew so much, so much more than he could readily share. People have to be able to receive it… When he wrote those words to Timothy he knew that Timothy, though relatively young, had gained enough maturity to know what to do.”

“Even if he didn’t fully understand. Like me. Right now…”

“But again, Paul knew Timothy would know what to do and he knew he would work very hard to succeed. And would do anything he must.”

“Timothy had to study. He had to read the Word. He had to pray.”

“That’s right. Real ministers know they often don’t know so they work very hard so they will know. That’s how they learn. It’s an ongoing process. The Word of God is Truth. It is filled with spiritual truths. It is our job to work hard at finding those truths. Then we can apply them.”

“That’s what I thought I was saying at the beginning of our conversation.”

“Well, you were seeing that merely relaying Scripture or quoting verses was kind of, kind of wooden, in some instances. You want to connect with people on a heart level instead of simply give directives toward the written Word.”

“Yes.”

“Then don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can minister all day long but it will be worthless without the Word of God. And I specifically mean the teachings of our Lord. His teachings were pure and they were purely delivered. He never ministered without the Word. It would have been impossible anyway. He is the Word.”

“So I need to study. Wait. Can I see your Bible?”

“Sure.”

“Okay… I need to read this… Here it is: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

“There’s a lot there.”

“He has given us His Word.”

“Yes.”

“He trusts us with it.”

“It’s a high calling.”

“And I feel ashamed, but not like, I mean, I know He understands. But I must work harder. I must be diligent.”

“It’s the only way. We only have so much time. And we have to get it right.”

“I need to focus more on the Word than on someone else’s teaching of the Word.”

“Well, there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. We just need to always make sure that our primary Counselor is the Lord Jesus. He will confirm the truth but also reveal untruths. For every untruth there is a lack of spiritual freedom. If you collect too many they act as chains tying you down. You came in here with a burden. We had to fish out its cause.”

“Thank you. I thought I knew what I was talking about.”

“You got a hold of some bad information. It wasn’t intentional. You see, if a believer gets some bad information in the context of Biblical teaching but doesn’t know it’s bad, and accepts it as truth, the only way to ferret it out is by reading and studying the Word. The more you read and study the Word the more likely it will get exposed. It is the Living Word you know. The New Covenant Scriptures were divinely inspired by the Lord and are actually alive. They will do the work as long as we do ours.”

“They didn’t even have written New Testaments in the beginning…”

“But they had Spirit-filled anointed preachers and teachers. There were a great many of them. They came to maturity rapidly.”

“And they handled the Word of truth accurately…”

“That’s right. And when they got it right the Lord confirmed what they taught with signs and miracles. Those miracles had a dual purpose. They acted as endorsements—a sign of approval.”

“That was the proof.”

“Yes.”

“And if they were somehow wrong…”

“No miracles. No attesting signs.”

“Wow. The written Word is a deliverance mechanism…”

“Well, yes. That is why it is so important that we get it right. We are charged with delivering the Gospel as He delivered it. When we do we get the results He got. The originals got it right.”

“On a colossal scale.”

“So you see why it is so important to never let anything foreign or false enter into our curriculums because they act as a drag on the power of the Word.”

“So a great many ministers want to get it right and many are very strong about teaching what they believe is Scriptural truth. They insist on their versions and doctrines. But they never test their teachings against the only proof that would confirm them. They are satisfied without proof.”

“Yes. Many Christian teachers never put their teachings to the Scriptural test. Instead of seeking God’s confirmation they get their confirmations from others. They seek the approval of others.”

“They mainly seek the confirmation of the congregation. Oh boy. You don’t want the church folks on your back. Or they seek the confirmation of their betters, their higher-ups. Whoever’s paying you. Whoever’s giving you permission to preach. That’s who most ministers are trying to please. …Yes, I get it. We must seek only the Lord’s confirmation. It’s the only way to know we’re getting our teaching right.”

“You mean His teaching.”

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [Romans 7:6-8:4] [1]

WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com

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THIS IS THE CHURCH WHICH THE LORD HATH MADE; WE WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT

Feb 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus gave everything for His people, including His life. He didn’t do this so the majority of Christians could reject His model and go their own way.

THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL REBELLION

The state of American Christianity in general has continued to dwindle ever farther downward into a veritable puddle of nonchalance and dissidence. For all those who claim orthodoxy and demand an attribution to tradition while concurrently effectively thumbing their nose in the Lord’s face by refusing His actual curriculum is far beyond the pale. One may wonder how we got here.

Here’s a clue: Deviation from the original. Why have so many Christians over the many centuries since the Lord’s time deviated from His original teachings? Why do Christians in general not only accept the presence of multitudinous denominations and a veritable plethora of various beliefs among so-called independent churches but also demand such especially as it pertains to their own chosen denomination or belief? This attitude is entirely inconsistent with the Lord’s original teachings regarding the overall unity of His flock, which brings us to yet another sad departure resulting in our current state:

IT IS HIS FLOCK.

Or it isn’t.

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? [Luke 6:46]

Of course, the sad fact and the main reason for such deviations from the Lord’s original is due to simple rebellion in that the perpetrators of such do not want the Lord Jesus to be in charge. Instead, they themselves want to be in charge. By being in charge they can have their own way, the way that “feels right” to them, which also allows them to take control over people and set up their own personal fiefdoms. Whoever they get to buy into their program only adds to their ability to build their enterprise. Such sycophants, whether they be fellow “ministers” (trusted ones) or simply insignificant pew warmers who never question anything, provide support and stature to the kingpin running the show.

If this sounds overly harsh let us remember that the Lord Jesus started ONE Community. He still has only ONE Community. In the Hebrew it was called the Qahal קָהָל (kaw-hawl’). In our English translations it is called the Church. The word “church” is from the Greek Ekklēsía ἐκκλησία (ek-klay-see’-ah). Both Qahal and Ekklesia always refer to a group of PEOPLE and never refer to a building or religious construct. Yet most Christians believe a “church” is a building and will forever be a building. This is absolutely false but the vast majority of Christians believe it is true.

One may wonder how this happened. How was the focus removed from the people and transferred to the building in which the people meet? Must we always be reminded that the Lord Jesus never built a meeting house or ever instructed His disciples or anyone else to build meeting houses? Why is the vast majority of Christians completely unaware that the Early Church of the first century AD never had such specialized meeting structures and that such buildings did not even exist for three hundred years? And yet somehow, in all their unchurched primitive backwoods crudeness meeting only in private residences in relatively small groups the original Christians managed to overcome incessant persecution and mockery and convert the entire Roman Empire. Compare that with America and all its constitutional freedoms (which the originals never had) rarely achieving the same overall level of success in this country.

Hence, the root of all this building-oriented church folly at the expense of the Lord’s spiritual Community of PEOPLE (Qahal, Ekklesia) does not go back to the Lord’s original ministry or the Book of Acts but only to the fourth century AD when the first great organized quasi-Christian rebellion against Him reared its ugly head. This was when the Roman Empire threw in the towel, so to speak, and surrendered to Christianity. Yet instead of surrendering to the Lord Jesus, the emperor, his ecclesiastical leadership clan, and all the weak-kneed fearful unaware supporters thereof decided to co-opt Christianity and use it for their own purposes. In this process they began converting large Roman public buildings to “churches” and mandated attendance upon such “churches” and forced everyone to adhere to all their new “laws and bylaws” which included the veritable worship of a small class of trussed up “leaders.”

By this process Christianity became recast into a two-class society, something the Lord Jesus had never created. The clergy class garnered all the power, influence, and speech. As a result the magnificent and powerful voice of the people, comprised of strong resolute individuals dedicated to the Lord, was removed and silenced. A brand new enterprise was created in which a small few possessed all the authority to do anything they wished as allowed by the emperor, including the formulation of false doctrines designed for mass forced obedience which otherwise obviously opposed the Lord’s original teachings. And of course, their authority also included the power of the purse in that a money pyramid was created that went in only one direction, from the people to the few in power. The entire structure of this new fake Christian creation made an absolute mockery of the Lord Jesus and His original curriculum.

And to add a final insult to such terrible injury, THE REAL CHRISTIANITY OF THE LORD JESUS WAS OUTLAWED. This meant every real Christian and all those in the generations before them responsible with the Lord for converting the empire had suddenly become criminals in the very place they created. This was the worst form of Christian persecution that ever was and has continued to exist ever since over the last seventeen centuries. It is the persecution of “Christians” against Christians, or that of fake Christians against the real guys. It was and remains the triumph of Unreal Christianity, the adverse effects of which we still experience to a very great degree today.

Thus, every single recognized Christian denomination that exists or has ever existed is in violation of the Lord’s original teachings and practices in some way, otherwise they would not be at odds with His curriculum. Some are obviously worse than others but degree of rebellion matters little as long as the rebellion in existence is not dealt with. In other words, Christian groups that agree completely with the Lord’s teachings and honor Him as sole authority have no need for a distinguishing appellative. In this regard, it is generally understood though incorrectly that the worldwide Body of Christ is composed of all denominations regardless of differences and departures from the Lord’s original but this is not only untrue but inherently silly. All it really means is that each recognizes the existence of the others to qualify its own existence.

THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL OBEDIENCE

“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” [Luke 6:47-49] [1]

Remember, anything Christian that deviates from the absolute authority of the Lord Jesus and His perfect curriculum is rebellion. The only possible exception is if sincere though immature Christians seeking the fullness of the Lord’s truth continue seeking Him, studying and researching His Word, applying newly discovered truths in His teachings, stop adhering to incorrect teachings and remove such from one’s belief system, and striving to be members in good standing in the Lord’s actual spiritual Community. In this process one proves himself or herself to be a genuine dedicated disciple intent on getting it right and pleasing the Lord. This is usually only possible by individuals or possibly relatively small groups because larger groups, including vast denominations, are far too invested and likely indoctrinated to make the required wholesale changes. They also include hierarchical leadership figures which often dilute the authority of the Lord and resist such reformation because they have too much to lose.

Regarding actual authority, the Lord said He had ALL authority in both heaven and earth which means the New Covenant authority of the believer only derives from Him which further means all real Christians must be under His full authority in order to have any by delegated extension.

Only the Lord Jesus is the Rock. He is the Chief, Choice, and Precious Corner Stone. There is only one forever Foundation which will never falter. Some foundations are weak and fail quickly. Others fail over time. A few foundations last relatively long far beyond individual lives but will eventually crumble. The Lord said as much. One must therefore approach his or her Christian discipleship and walk with God with the utmost respect and attention. Those who do have an excellent chance of fulfilling one’s calling and also hearing the following wonderful words from a kind and loving Savior:

“Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.” [Matthew 25:2] [2]

[2] Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com

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Tags: America, American Christianity, Church Buildings, Clergy-Laity Division, Discipleship, House Church, Lord Jesus, Obedience, Original Christian Community in Jerusalem, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Roman Empire, Sin and Rebellion, Spiritual Authority, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

CHRISTIANS MAKING NICE WITH THE ANTICHRIST [Part 4: Our Great Spiritual Warrior]

Jan 30

Posted by RJ Dawson

Though many Christians believe otherwise, the New Testament does not actually refer specifically to any individual as the antichrist but rather to a demonic spirit…

OUTING THE ENEMY

When the Lord Jesus arrived on the scene, all of hell was put on immediate notice. The worst possible thing that ever could have happened, from their vantage point, not only did happen but did so in a manner in which the devil, his invisible demon minions, and all of his human compatriots became aware immediately that their time was just about up and also that there was not a thing they could do about it.

This was readily proven by the emotional fear-based responses of specific demonic entities the Lord Jesus dealt with during the course of His ministry. Consider the following:

When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” [Matthew 8:29]

Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” [Mark 1:23-24]

The “time” these demons were referring to was the occasion of their coming judgment. They always knew it was coming someday but when the Lord arrived they knew it was imminent. Remember, our Lord Jesus, the greatest and most powerful spiritual Warrior in existence, He whom even demons referred to as the Son of God and the Holy One of God, was on a mission to not only defeat and destroy demons and all of hell but also and much more profoundly to defeat and destroy the one at the top of the pyramid who had gained control of human death. The Lord therefore intended to defeat death itself. This was quite the substantial goal (understatement alert).

The following passages reveal not only the Lord’s eventual victory in this endeavor but the entire reason for His appearing and overall ministry:

“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” [Acts 2:24]

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. [Romans 6:8-9]

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. [Hebrews 2:14-15]

The last enemy that will be abolished is death. [1Corinthians 15:26]

“…I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” [Revelation 1:18]

DEATH AND THE ANTICHRIST SPIRIT

Whoever opposes Messiah Jesus also opposes their only chance at salvation. It is not possible for unrepentant adversaries of Messiah Jesus to overcome their sin. It is why those in league with the antichrist spirit actually embrace sin because there is no way to otherwise serve this evil spirit. Also, those people deluded by committed antichrist advocates (who don’t see them for what they actually are) may not embrace sin with the same fervor and commitment but will certainly be more prone to sin in general (regardless of any positive they attempt to apply otherwise) due to their inept spiritual condition brought on by weakened defenses and collaboration with the enemy. Like so many Christians who fail to understand why they cannot gain victory over sin or some particular sin as the Lord’s teachings promise, they are simply too deceived through their acceptance of false teachings to perceive their deception.

If they KNEW the New Testament they would also know the false doctrines they’ve been influenced by and even overcome by and would readily reject them. And if they KNEW the actual teachings of the Lord Jesus as clearly presented in the gospel texts they would never succumb to the antichrist spirit.

Those who decide to give their heart to the Lord and truly follow Him will be led by Him toward eternal life. As long as they continue to follow Him and stay on the path they will eventually get there. Yet those who do not follow Him per His teachings and allow the antichrist spirit the opportunity to influence and delude them will be led in the opposite direction toward eternal death. One must note that the longer one is misled the greater the odds are that they will be deluded and never break free. Because one can never serve two masters one cannot embrace both the Lord Jesus and the antichrist spirit at the same time. It is one or the other. Some Christians think they are right with God when they are not due to the spiritual deception they fall under because of a lack of full commitment to God.

The following is a great narrative of how this process works: The Lord had gone to the temple precincts early one morning and began teaching. Not long after, the raucous event with the accused adulterous woman took place in which all present were shocked by what happened. It set the tone for what would occur afterwards which perfectly illustrates the dichotomy of being pro-Christ or anti-Christ.

As the Lord continued teaching, some of the Judæans there came to believe in Him while others dug in their heels and refused to. The latter were comprised mostly of the strong religious Judæans including the Pharisees who had invested heavily in a contrary belief system opposed to God’s actual Word and also to Messiah Jesus. Watch closely how this process plays out as the action moves to the location of the temple treasury:

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” [John 8:31-38]

The Lord goes on to state emphatically that these Judæans in covenant with the antichrist spirit who refuse to honor Him as the Messiah are children of the evil one:

“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][1]

We understand then that the millions of Christians currently devoted to supporting the work of an otherwise obvious bad spirit and its international group of devoted human supporters/worshippers, characterized by a vast worldwide hoax, deceptive lying propaganda, and wanton murder and mayhem, cannot possibly be serving the Lord Jesus or following Him but have instead been overcome by the spirit of antichrist.

By their fruits you will know them…

WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com

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CHRISTIANS MAKING NICE WITH THE ANTICHRIST [Part 3: New Testament References]

Jan 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

Though many Christians believe otherwise, the New Testament does not actually refer specifically to any individual as the antichrist but rather to a demonic spirit…

ANTI-MESSIAH

The word Christ (anointed one) is derived from the Greek Christos which is translated from the Hebrew Mâshîyach from which we get the English word Messiah. Therefore, the antichrist spirit is especially and specifically opposed to the Lord Jesus as Messiah and rejects the fact that He is the Messiah. Those possessed by, deluded by, or strongly influenced by this particular evil spirit act as stalwart adversaries to the Lord’s Messiahship.

Regarding Scriptural reference, there are only five occurrences of the word “antichrist” in the New Testament. They occur in four verses. One occurrence is in plural form. The original Greek word is antichristos (“the adversary of the Messiah”).

All five occurrences are found in the first two epistles of John, the only NT writer who uses this word (and might have coined it). These epistles (along with his third) were actually written just prior to the events of 66-70AD which he refers to as the “last hour.” By this designation John is echoing the Olivet Prophecy of thirty years before spoken by the Lord Jesus when He referred to the final end of the Israelite Nation. John was thus living at the very end of the “end times” when he wrote these epistles and was by that time extremely well aware, both externally and spiritually, of the parameters of the prophetic times in which he lived and that which was on the immediate horizon.

The five occurrences of the word “antichrist” and the four verses containing them are as follows:

ONE

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. [1John 2:18]

TWO

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. [1John 2:22]

THREE

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. [1John 4:2-3]

FOUR

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. [2John 1:7][1]

From these passages, we learn several things that assist in identifying this bad spirit. In 1John 2 we discover that the appearance of antichrist was expected, that many antichrists were already present, and that those who denied that Jesus was the Messiah are liars. We also discover that these liars denied Jesus as both Father and Son in that a person either honors both are honors neither. (The Father and Son cannot be separated—if one is denied so is the other. It is therefore impossible to honor the Father while denying the Son.)

In 1John 4 the author contrasts the Spirit of God from the spirit of antichrist and provides the clear identifying signs of both. The author also confirms that the antichrist spirit was then in the world. In 2John 1 the author specifically uses the word deceiver(s) as an additional descriptive of the antichrist spirit in that it not only fiercely opposes the Lord Jesus but also works to deceive people about Him. In this process this demonic spirit employs and works through a relatively homogenous group of its human supporters/worshippers, international in scope, to deceive the people of the world about the true Messiah.

This also signifies that the antichrist spirit uses its powers of deception to fool others about itself and its followers. It is said that the greatest trick the devil ever used is to convince people he doesn’t exist. We see a similar trick in that the antichrist spirit in concert with its human supporters/worshippers attempts to delude others about its actual evil nature. This trick of deception is especially used against naïve unsuspecting Christians and has been quite effective historically but perhaps never as effective as at present.

WATCH OUT!

The Lord warned His followers about great deception. He commanded that His followers give it their all and follow His example. He taught them many lessons about the power of sin and temptation and that they must overcome sin and master it in order to live spiritually fruitful lives which honor and please the Lord. Sadly, the majority of Christians in the world never do these things or fail to do them consistently and thus open themselves up to the deceiving power of the enemy.

Many Christians fall into the same trap Judas did. Others go so far as to follow the example of Cain rather than Abel. A large distinct faction of Christians even joins forces with the spirit of antichrist and its unbelieving anti-Lord Jesus cultists to the point of justifying the latter group’s gross violations of His teachings.

Such people are deluded by false prophecies, man-made religious doctrines, and cultural propaganda. They are much more familiar with and accepting of such aberrant indoctrination and the deceptive literature thereof than the actual New Covenant writings taught by the Lord Jesus and His early followers.

The beliefs of such Christians are thus not based on New Testament truth and facts but on mere unfounded false perceptions.

And sadly, their perceptions become their reality…

WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com

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CHRISTIANS MAKING NICE WITH THE ANTICHRIST [Part 2: Ancient Origins]

Jan 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

Though many Christians believe otherwise, the New Testament does not actually refer specifically to any individual as the antichrist but rather to a demonic spirit…

It is a spirit that relentlessly hates and opposes the Lord Jesus as all evil spirits do but does so in a more robust and formidable manner that includes a specific agenda and a well-organized human component.

BETRAYAL AND MURDER

The direct linking of evil spirits with human beings is, of course, nothing new, as the pages of the NT are literally saturated with such linkings though such unions usually involve the human unwilling. It seemed every day of the Lord’s ministry involved His delivering some poor soul from demonic possession or oppression. These people had no ability to free themselves but would if they could which proves a forced union by a higher power. The Lord Jesus showed that He had an even higher power—the highest power—and was determined to fulfill this particular plank of His mission statement for the sake of granting freedom to whosoever believed in Him, demonic spirits be damned.

Conversely, there were also human beings who entered willingly into covenant unions with demonic forces. Of such was the antichrist spirit organization. It combined the invisible “other dimension” bad guys of New Testament lore with visible boots-on-the-ground flesh and blood bad guys doing the bidding of the former. Such people are those who essentially sold their souls due to their abject hatred of the Lord Jesus and all He stood for as well as their ravenous personal lust for worldly power, wealth, and even fame. One wonders at the mindset of such people and their motivation but it is perhaps easier to comprehend once one understands that their illicit covenant union, international agenda, and unbridled lust go back multiple centuries, even likely to the very beginning:

And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. [Genesis 4:8b]

Cain wavered in his focus on God. He was also having a problem with sin in his life. As a result he failed to discern the proper sacrifice unto the Lord. By his wholly incorrect offering which well-illustrated his spiritual cluelessness and indifferent attitude he showed great disrespect to God:

…Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. [Genesis 4:2-3]

This was a problem due to a particular unfortunate result of his parent’s rebellion:

“Cursed is the ground because of you…” [Genesis 3:17]

When what he gave was not accepted Cain got very angry and his countenance fell (Genesis 4:5). The Lord explained to him that if he did well he would surely be accepted and his countenance would be lifted up. Yet because he had already proven he was not doing well it proved that “sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you” (Genesis 4:7). The Lord told Cain he must do better.

Regarding sin, He told Cain he must no longer give in to it (lose the temptation battle) but that “he must master it.” (Genesis 4:7). Having a good relationship with God demands this. Unrepentant sin and a good heart toward God never go together.

Now, Abel, on the other hand, had already gained mastery over sin. He had won the temptation battle that Cain had yet to win and Adam and Eve had lost. Abel overcame. Thus, he understood what God required and gave the Lord exactly that. It is why his offering was accepted:

Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering… [Genesis 4:4]

Abel pleased the Lord. His countenance was lifted up already and was lifted up even more when the Lord gave him a good report. He was likely smiling from ear to ear! Cain could have easily learned from Abel’s example but was instead quite bitter. One imagines an intensely angry appearance and surly demeanor. There was obviously something else going on in Cain’s life that kept him from relating to God.

It is likely that Cain had issues regarding his self-worth and was unable to live up to his mother’s high expectations which probably caused him to deduce he would never be good enough. It is also possible that probable spoilage made him feel he was already entitled without achieving anything or obeying God. This unfortunate attitude worked havoc with his relationship with God and caused sin. It is why he did not put the required full effort into giving God “the first fruits.” He was likely too focused on self and the slights he felt he suffered. His attitude gave vent to sin and sin was dragging him down. After the Lord’s correction Cain could have given it his all to overcome sin and get right with God but he instead went the other way. You see, based on the name she gave him (possession, acquired, or “gotten one”), Eve had most likely thought Cain would be the promised Messiah per the prophecy of Genesis 3:15.

…and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” [Genesis 4:1][1]

THE MESSIANIC BLOODLINE

This momentous occasion had obvious consequential overtones. It was the first time a woman gave birth. Did Eve think it could ever happen again? Did she initially consider it a one-time event? She knew she was blessed and that the birth of Cain was a miracle in that it required the Lord’s providential assistance. Of course, all human births are miracles though most are never acknowledged in such a way. Eve also gave birth to the first firstborn son, an event that was somewhat rare but highly honored according to OT writ and one which was perceived as a special blessing and sign from God.

However, as was often the case in the ancient Hebrew historical accounts that became a somewhat regular pattern, the firstborn son himself was sometimes personally undeserving of such an honor in that he did not respect it or even acknowledge it. We see that especially in the life of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, who had so dishonored himself and disrespected spiritual life that God replied: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13). Cain fell into this same category. In fact, he set the precedent.

Cain, of course, was not the Messiah. He would not even be in the bloodline of the Messiah. Ironically therefore, Cain killed the one who was the very next man in the early generational line of the Messiah after Adam. This would be righteous Abel who was an OT type of Christ. His cold-blooded murder, therefore, meant the Messianic line had been cruelly severed right at the beginning which demonstrates the dirty deed of Cain was not simply an act of uncontrolled anger and passion but one involving a demonic agenda.

A tale so sad proves the presence of an ultra-evil one who was not only in the garden previously but was still hanging around playing with Cain’s head not so long afterward. This “serpent” (nâchâsh) apparently deduced quite well what God was up to in that He intended Adam and his descendants (lowly humans!) to rule over this world, which included ruling over him, and he would not have it. The wicked and oh so shrewd night crawler consequently knew he must stop such a plan ASAP.

Once the devil gained dominion over Adam by successfully tempting him to sin all he had to do next was eliminate Abel and there would never be a future Messiah, Savior, and eternal King. The devil would thus maintain his dominion in perpetuity. There would also be no inglorious tossing of the hissing viper into future eternal hellfire. Thus, his success through Cain marked a win-win for his side and an escape from certain eternal judgment…

Therefore, what Cain did was essentially the same thing Judas Iscariot did. Although this man (Judah of Kerioth) was a disciple of the Lord in apparently good standing and one of the twelve (though a diabolos—John 6:70), he broke relationship with the Lord just before the end and was then actually possessed by satan (Luke 22:3, John 13:27).

With betrayal on his mind Judas quickly joined up with the wicked antichrist temple plotters who had formed a covenant with the antichrist spirit in a conspiracy to kill the Lord.

So we see that the Anti-Christ spirit has a very long history…

WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com

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Tags: Adam and Eve, America, antichrist, Betrayal, Building the Third Temple, Cain and Abel, Doctrines of Demons, Jesus is the Messiah, Judas Iscariot, Lord Jesus, Messianic Line, New Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, spirit of antichrist, Spiritual Warfare, Temple Mount, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

CHRISTIANS MAKING NICE WITH THE ANTICHRIST [Part 1: You’ve Been Warned]

Jan 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

Though many Christians believe otherwise, the New Testament does not actually refer specifically to any individual as the antichrist but rather to a demonic spirit…

FRAUD ALERT

In the Gospel accounts, the Lord Jesus often gave direct warnings to His disciples to prepare them for what was surely to come their way. He was obviously well aware of the tempter and his myriad ways of deception and knew His men would need future help in discerning the true from the false. Sometimes the difference between the two looks slight but depending on the observer can also appear as indistinguishable (there’s a scary thought). In the following passage from His Olivet Discourse the Lord told His disciples that the soon to emerge trickery of the enemy would be so effectively sly it would almost deceive His mature chosen followers:

“…For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.” [Mark 13:22-23][1]

The operative phrase here is “in order to lead astray.” This is forever the plan of the enemy, to lead one away from the Lord and keep anyone and everyone from getting close to Him. The last three words of that phrase are from the Greek word ἀποπλανάω apoplanáō (ap-op-lan-ah’-o). It is defined as “to lead astray (figuratively); passively, to stray (from truth):—err, seduce. Further, it means “to cause to go astray,” “to lead away from the truth to error,” “to go astray, stray away from.”

Because the antichrist spirit opposes the Lord Jesus as Messiah and wars against the Truth, it is always his intent to deceive. According to the preceding passage of Scripture, the enemy will thus employ false Messiahs and false prophets to do what they do best regarding the deception game. Of course, if one is not aware that these people are false then one will not defend against them and will be much more likely to be taken in, as it were, and believe something entirely false as if it were true. We currently have many well-accepted and established ministers that qualify as such with large followings proving a great many Christians remain none the wiser which further proves they have been deceived.

Such deception among Christians by the faux bros has long since reached epidemic proportions over the many centuries of the Christian era in that there are many more deceived Christians in the world who believe and act on things that are false rather than those who successfully follow the Lord Jesus in the way of Truth. To simplify the reason why, it is due primarily to trusting authority figures far beyond the level of trust they deserve. Wisdom demands that every authority figure must be held to account and this cannot be done unless they are properly vetted. And if you want to know how to vet a Christian minister it is simple:

A real Christian authority figure ALWAYS yields to the ultimate authority of the Lord Jesus and will not knowingly teach something other than what the Lord taught or not teach something He taught.

Therefore, New Testament ministers are vetted by the New Testament itself since it is the written Word of God. There is always the additional possibility that the Lord may speak directly through spiritual means or revelation but if it is actually His voice whatever He says will always agree with His written NT Word.

Though such a vetting process may appear simplistic, it is actually not all that difficult to discover areas of transgression or straying from the Lord’s clear curriculum if one is well versed in NT Scripture. Consequently, this means all real Christians must acknowledge and accept the fact that it is their responsibility to make sure they know the New Testament and thereby be able to notice when Christian ministers veer off course or were never on course to begin with.

In the final analysis, since a Christian must vet ministers, it proves he or she must also be a minister (and also be subjected to proper vetting). And this in fact is what the NT teaches in that every real Christian is a minister of the Gospel. Remember, the Lord never invented a clergy-laity division. Therefore, any refusal to accept one’s responsibility as a Christian and as a Christian minister regarding knowledge of the Word means one will not have the necessary ability to remain above deception. This is exactly why so many Christians, the majority, have been deceived by false ministers and their false doctrines.

Such irresponsible and effectively lazy Christians—those who place their spiritual responsibility upon Christian authority figures and yield to their total unvetted control, especially those who are most happy with such an improper arrangement—cannot help but be used and reap a harvest of trickery.

This is also precisely why millions of Christians are presently making nice with the antichrist…

WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com

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Tags: America, antichrist, Deception, Discipleship, False Christs, False Prophets, False Religious Authority, Lord Jesus, Prophetic Warning, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, spirit of antichrist, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The New Testament, Unreal Christianity

HAPPY NEW YEAR?

Jan 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today is the day we celebrate the beginning of a brand new year. In that regard, may 2025 be a blessed year for all.

In reality, though, this particular day is essentially meaningless regarding actual new beginnings.

Even though the civil calendar we presently use—the Gregorian—contains 365 days and twelve months, it otherwise has little cyclical bearing on celestial events. This means our months are not based on actual lunar cycles but are largely made up and based on nothing. The beginning of the calendar (today) also has no bearing on celestial cycles. Nevertheless, because particular authority figures created the Gregorian calendar several centuries ago and everyone was forced to adopt it, it begins today, January 1.

CELESTIAL CALENDARS

Ancient calendars were originally based on such celestial events, primarily the time it takes planet Earth to travel around the Sun. Yet within that cycle was an earlier calendar—smaller cycles regarding the time it takes the Moon to travel around the Earth.

The former is referred to as a solar calendar and the latter a lunar calendar. Their significance is that one can actually refer to something tangible, and in the above cases, something very powerfully tangible, to order the passing of time.

Though our current calendar is divided into twelve months and fifty-two weeks, it remains a mere abstract construct in relation to the actual celestial cycles.

Hence, January 1 is largely meaningless from a celestial perspective.

Regarding the actual first day of the calendar, common sense tells us that the year, divided up into four seasons, would naturally begin with the season of new life, the spring. The end of winter and the beginning of spring constitutes the actual beginning of a new solar cycle from our perspective, though this differs regarding on which side of the equator one lives.

The ancients had figured out that a year lasted 365 days. They figured out that lunar cycles, or months, lasted 29-30 days. We now know that such cycles can be calculated further to 365.2422 days and 29.53 days respectively.

The ancient Sumerians and later Babylonians managed to combine both of these cycles into a single calendar, a lunisolar calendar. This calendar was later adopted by the Hebrews during their Babylonian exile after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586BC.

It was discovered that 235 lunar cycles fit almost perfectly into 19 solar cycles. This results in 12 years of 12 months and 7 years of 13 months. By installing an additional month every third year or so during the 19 years, one arrives at an overall cycle (19 years) encompassing both the solar and lunar cycles and what is essentially a perfect calendar based on celestial events, in which one can mark time by the actual movements of the sun and moon.

For example, the actual current lunar cycle or month began with the new moon of December 30, 2024 at 4:26pm CST. There will be a full moon on January 13 which constitutes the exact middle of the lunar cycle. Therefore, like the solar cycle, one can see that January 1 also has no bearing on the lunar cycle although this year it was very close.

The present Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, but does not actually line up perfectly with exact lunar cycles since it is calculated based on when a new moon is sighted with respect to “evening and morning.” This means the new day always started at sunset and the first day of a new month also had to start at sunset. In reality, lunar cycles can start at any time during a 24 hour day.

For example, today, January 1, is represented on the Hebrew calendar as the 1^st day of Tevet. Tevet, however, is actually the fourth month, since the official Hebrew civil calendar begins in the autumn of the year.

Calendars based specifically on celestial cycles used to matter very much. They were necessary for the right times regarding planting and harvesting.

SPIRITUAL CALENDARS

Spiritually speaking, could it be the same? Does God have a spiritual calendar? Is pure nature a reflection of the unseen spiritual? Remember, pure astronomy is not astrology. God created celestial events and cycles. The Universe in this sense runs like clockwork. The more one studies such cycles, the more one discovers an absolutely perfect system which demands an extremely brilliant intelligence. These are not just random cycles, but cycles with cycles to the effective infinite degree.

Also, because we know that God, in His Word, makes thousands of references to time and cycles, as well as numbers, He no doubt has a reason for it. But if that reason is to be discovered, it can only be discovered by using His actual calendar rather than a man-made abstract.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth;” and it was so.

God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. [Genesis 1:14-18] [1]

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Tags: America, Babylonian Calendar, Genesis, Gregorian Calendar, Happy New Year, Hebrew Calendar, Lord Jesus, Lunar Cycle, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Solar Cycle, The Great Awakening

CHRISTMAS: A TIME OF GREAT HOPE AND NEW BIRTH

Dec 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

Though delighted by bright colored lights and snowy winter wonderlands, the real reason for the season happened Away in a Manger on a Silent, Holy Night…

A HOPE THAT DOES NOT DISAPPOINT

Who doesn’t love Christmas? Though much of the Christmas Season evokes the purely secular and even self-indulgent delights, it’s also the one time of the year in which honoring the Lord Jesus and celebrating His birth is not only largely acceptable but embraced. This is what gives it substance. Yet of far greater import is not simply a joyous though quickly passing holiday season forgotten after New Year’s but the greatness, goodness, and security of the Lord’s ongoing spiritual Kingdom that births the eternal hope that truly does not disappoint.

As one takes in the following astounding passage of Scripture which reveals much of the vast interworkings of the Lord’s Kingdom and the rich experience of the original Christians of that time, one should ponder the amazing hope-filled features therein and take stock of one’s own Christian life to see if perhaps one may need additional helps to assist in dealing with one’s current challenges:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. [Romans 5:1-5]

We all have our different salvation experiences and each is part of a rich tapestry that comprises the vast witness of the Lord’s spiritual Community. In addition, since the beginning of a worldwide spiritual outpouring initiated over 120 years ago, many millions have now received from the Lord the infilling of His Holy Spirit. This is the exact encounter with God shared by those on that initial Day of Pentecost two thousand years ago. The 120 people who gathered together on that morning had an encounter like no other. It was truly an Upper Room Experience. Such an occurrence had never happened before in history. It was a first time event that actually birthed His Community which proved that another immaculate conception had taken place:

And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues (languages), as the Spirit was giving them utterance (ability to speak out). [Acts 2:2-4]

The Spirit of God Himself filled the entire Upper Room where they were all gathered after they had spent ten days preparing themselves. They knew something very great and powerful was going to happen. The Lord had commanded them to take up residence there as one of His last orders before ascending to heaven. Just as Joseph and Mary had heard directly from God to leave Nazareth and head down south to their ancestral land of Judah and the small city of Bethlehem many years before, so did these 120 dedicated followers of the Lord go down to the city of Jerusalem to await their fate. As it happened, each received an entirely new spiritual birth just as the Lord had commanded all believers to undergo:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (from above) he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [John 3:3]

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” [John 3:5-7][1]

This is what I wrote in my book Real Christianity about this Upper Room Experience:

On the birthday of the Lord’s Qahal, Jesus established a sanctuary, a dwelling place on His own mountain—Mount Zion. On this mountain, the 120 were planted, both in the Lord and by the Lord, and functioned as the ovum fertilized by the Holy Spirit which would eventually develop into a body—the body of Christ. Before the sun went down that first day, the original 120 grew by twenty-five times to three thousand—all Israelites, all descendants of Abraham, all devout and God-fearing, from every country under heaven to which they had been dispersed. Even though Luke, the author of the book of Acts, doesn’t say so specifically, can there be any doubt that each tribe of Israel was represented in the initial outpouring?

This was the mysterious destiny of the house of Israel—to one day become the actual dwelling place of YHWH! [2]

A NEW BIRTH

Though we are often torn in many different directions engaging in any number of wonderful doings during this great time of year which often outnumber the weeks, days, and minutes until Christmas Eve, the whirlwind of activity is most often worth the enriching benefits. If not careful, however, we may lose sight of why the season exists in the first place: It is all about a new birth—the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus. His birth changed the entire world forever. His great birth birthed a brand new hope in our hearts.

It is certainly a hope that does not disappoint!

Merry Christmas everyone

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Tags: America, Born Again, Christmas, Hope, Lord Jesus, Love of God, Merry Christmas, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation, The Great Awakening, The Infilling of the Holy Spirit, The New Birth, The Spirit of Christmas, The Upper Room

THE NEW TESTAMENT IS MANDATORY READING FOR EVERY BELIEVER

Dec 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

At the very heart of the teachings of the Lord Jesus is His desire to bring salvation and blessings to our lives. This can be accomplished only by properly applying His Word.

REVEALING THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” [Matthew 24:35]

God is sovereign. He is also perfect. He is total good. There is absolutely nothing negative, incomplete, or deficient about Him. This is what the New Testament teaches. It also teaches that God became a human being and revealed Himself to the world as the Lord Jesus. The New Covenant writings thus contain the only authorized official written record of the original teachings of the Lord. They also contain the working out of His teachings among His first disciples in His original first-century Community. The New Testament is thus both a repository of His full written curriculum and an excellent overall living example of how to carry it out and carry it forth. And because the Old Covenant has been made obsolete by the New, the New Testament stands above the Old Testament as the highest revelation of God and His Word.

To gain a better understanding of this, the Lord Jesus reveals that His Word is eternal and is far more important and long-lasting than both heaven and earth. This is an extremely profound statement. Conversely, everything that comprises heaven and earth and all that one experiences at any moment through the five senses is wholly transient and temporary and will eventually come to an end. Such things are illusory in the sense that they appear as the most real (and apparently the only reality) but are actually only a mere limited reality in comparison to the eternal. This limited reality we all experience will one day pass away but the Lord Jesus and His eternal Word will never pass away. He and it will always exist.

One would think, therefore, if one is thinking correctly, that the Lord’s Word is vastly more important than anything in one’s temporal life and must consequently be honored as such. The only possible way this can happen is if an individual chooses to honor the Lord Jesus above everything and everyone else—He must be first. If He is first in one’s life His Word will also be first and will serve as one’s life instruction manual. In this way a person can apply the eternal good of God to his or her temporary spiritually fruitless life and be on the way to becoming an eternal abundantly blessed believer rather than one who will simply live within a temporary physical existence for a few years or decades and then cease to exist with no eternal record. This is the epitome of meaninglessness and the sad truth of the majority of human existence.

Therefore, in order for true followers of the Lord Jesus to become true disciples and prove their discipleship, each must read and study His teachings—His written Word—and become familiar with His full curriculum in order to know and understand what His instructions are and also how to fulfill them in one’s life.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. [2Timothy 2:15]

THE REST OF THE BEST

In addition to the life events and instructions of the Lord in the gospels, He has also provided many New Covenant writings beyond the four gospels to show succeeding generations how the original believers actually fulfilled His teachings. For starters, we have a complete history book of the early Christian Community—an authentic thirty year historical record—beginning with the time of the Lord’s resurrection in 32AD until 62AD. In this work, the Book of Acts, are all the major events of that time period which illustrate the Lord’s actions in the earth and the necessary vital components of Christian Community and evangelization. There are also a large number of instructional letters in the New Testament which not only applied perfectly to the first generation of Christians but were and remain applicable for each succeeding generation into the future.

In total, including the concluding prophetic Book of Revelation, Christians are blessed by God with a total of twenty-seven modules of New Testament literature by several different authors. These men wrote by God’s inspiration and anointing in accordance with His will to create a written record of His eternal Word. They had each experienced His salvation and wonder-working power in their own lives and witnessed ongoing miraculous manifestations in the lives of a great many others throughout their travels. God’s Word was confirmed on countless occasions and if believed in and applied correctly at present will achieve the same results.

To conclude, the New Testament exists for our instruction and edification. It shines a light on spiritual truth and exposes error. It also exposes deception, forces out of hiding wicked forces, defines sin, and discloses the fallen nature of this current temporary world. Most importantly, the NT reveals the true nature of God and illustrates His great love and mercy.

At the very heart of the teachings of the Lord Jesus is His desire to bring salvation and blessings to our lives. This can be accomplished only by properly applying His Word.

“But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” [Luke 6:47-49][1]

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Book of Acts, Discipleship, Eternity, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Great Awakening, The Living Word, The New Testament, Word of God

HAPPY THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY REAL CHRISTIANITY

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

When I created this site on this date thirteen years ago America was in the early stages of a national Great Awakening. Yet, it has been an Awakening that the majority of American Christians have missed entirely.

CHRISTIANS REJECTING JESUS

Oh, we love Him when He happens to get our religion right. We love it when He by some odd chance happens to agree with our take on Biblical interpretation. Notwithstanding that some such interpretations could not be more off and the Lord doesn’t seem to be on the same page with us most of the time we still appreciate it when He is.

Thank you Lord Jesus for affirming us and our ridiculous renderings and rejection of Your teachings. Oh sure, we do like some of Your overall curriculum but we would be hard put to accept all of it. I mean, some of the stuff You said was borderline wacky from our perspective and that is largely why we were forced to clean it up. We do this mostly by simply excising it from our Christian curriculum which we deem far superior. And that which we don’t excise in full (extract from our hearts and minds and never mention much less teach though we still carry around such written words of Yours anyway in our billions of unread Bibles), we reinterpret to fit our liking and tastes so as not to offend or be offended.

You must understand that giving offense is offensive. The majority of Christian ministers strive never to offend because it simply causes far too many problems. They have learned to try very hard to never offend their congregations, of course, because that would jeopardize their reputation, social standing, and most importantly, their paycheck. They know it is not fair to use You as an example here because You did not depend on a paycheck. You apparently did not care a whit about Your reputation either, and mostly, You never had an official “church” to pastor. All You did was roam about the countryside without even a home to call Your own. Your rules for ministry were thus much easier than ours.

You see, unlike Yourself in Your primitive times and Your strange primitive means, we live in a much more upscale rendering of Christian civilization at present which in turn forces an upscale version of Your teachings. Now, that certainly does not mean we will not honor Your full curriculum as contained in the New Testament writings, principally the gospels, but simply that we will ignore it otherwise. This may sound like a contradiction but from our perspective it is the only sane thing to do if Christian ministers, ministries, and church building enterprises are to survive. I’m pretty sure You must know that if we ever appropriated Your full curriculum—the whole catalogue—the whole nine yards—our present non-New Testament church building enterprises and ministries would blow apart in a nanosecond and most Christians ministers would find themselves in a bread line. In our most humble opinion these would be very bad things.

Thus, we must reject You for the most part but put forth the public perception that WE LOVE YOU! In this way we can have the best of both worlds so to speak. And because You are so willing to grant Your grace, mercy, and forgiveness we are confident You must understand. I mean, if You were to judge us for this or (aghast) get angry or upset about it, would not that be a violation of Your teachings?

JESUS IN CHAINS

Now concerning this so called Great Awakening which most of us have never seen and which is certainly not happening in probably 90% of our churches and ministries, it must be something other than what its adherents claim it to be. This should be evident because if such an Awakening actually was happening and was for real and was of You it would have to be happening among us first, right? Speaking of which, we don’t know where some people get the idea that spiritual truth strangely bypasses the most religious among us. How could that happen? Where in Scripture does it say that ultra-religious people miss God?

Furthermore, the vast majority of Christians like things just the way they are and have been for decades on end primarily because one cannot make the best any better except only in minuscule ways which could never drive a Great Awakening anyway. So all us Unreal Christians playing our unreal games that refuse reformation, regeneration, and even resurrection would appreciate it if those “hard sayings” of Yours would stay locked away and that Your great shining Light of Truth would not expose us or convict us because then all heaven would likely break loose and our cover would be blown. We would then be seen for what we are—Christian pretenders running an authoritative institutional false form of Christianity containing a hidden underground dungeon for those who refuse to go along.

PAST THE POINT OF NO RETURN

In these thirteen years I have written around 850 articles of good material designed mostly to teach the hidden truths of the New Testament but in a parabolic manner designed to promote critical thinking. Call it “putting things out there to reach those with eyes to see and ears to hear.” I have also engaged in a massive amount of further writings through comments and replies. In fact, I have saved every single comment made on this site by myself and each of you wonderful readers and have created an ongoing updated file that is now almost 1500 pages in length. The vast majority of reader comments have been positive. I thank you all and am much appreciative. It proves most of us searching for truth are teachable. Being teachable demands humility. But it also demands verifying everything one has been taught with Scripture. Therefore those Christians who are always in the Word with an open heart toward the Lord and are willing to become more knowledgeable of the Lord’s teachings are truly the heart of the Lord and at odds with the Christian status quo. And because of this they will be rejected by the majority just as the Lord was because such rejection and hatred is a byproduct of telling the Truth. This means that real Christianity is always defined by its received persecution, which means where there is no persecution, often of the extreme kind, then there is no actual legitimate Christian witness even though there may be a large outwardly “Christian” presence.

Well, after 124 years of the latter day Pentecostal Revival that has since gone worldwide affecting hundreds of millions, it is a decidedly SAD thing to see America fallen to such a degree that the country no longer has any hope of its own revival. In fact, I have already told you a few years ago that America is effectively DEAD. And this means that American Christianity in general is effectively DEAD. It does not mean that the Lord has not tried repeatedly to keep it from happening and attempting to send every form of revival He can including hardcore cardiopulmonary resuscitation defibrillation methods featuring multifunction electrode pads (CLEAR!) all to no avail. By this we know that the majority are not only spiritually dead but insist on staying that way. Judging by what the Lord had to go through for a great many centuries with His own rebellious, insufferable, and vilely sinful people (EXCEPT FOR THE FAITHFUL REMNANT!), it is sadly no wonder He has had to go through the same with American Christianity which has learned well how to look and act the part though mostly never doing the part (the definition of hypocrisy). Rather than allowing themselves to be judged by the Lord they judge themselves by each other and to that end strive to collect as friends and associates only those who judge them good by human standards. This makes such people think of themselves in good standing since they never subject themselves to the spiritual light of the Lord. Kind of like this:

Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” [Revelation 3:17-22]

THE FUTURE

I hope to continue. The last few years have been difficult as they have been for so many, but the Lord has remained faithful as always. I recently read something quite wise by Mary Carothers of Foundation of Praise in one of her last brief articles before going to be with the Lord about six weeks ago. She was 91. She had stated that God’s providence, though sometimes abundant and at other times limited is always sufficient. So whether we are living good times or facing difficult circumstances God is still God just as He has ever been God and God is still good as He has always been good and God still loves us all enough to die for us when we were yet sinners. And most importantly God remains ultra-worthy of receiving praise at all times regardless of our circumstances. In fact, praising God with a pure heart will actually change our circumstances for the better! By praising Him and thanking Him we empower Him to turn negatives into positives!

Regarding the present, those of you who understand Biblical numbers may identify with this: I have been seeing a lot of 8’s lately. This started several weeks ago and has been accelerating. 8 is the Biblical number of resurrection, regeneration, and new beginnings. Since I have been facing pretty much impossible circumstances, especially over the last year plus, it would make such 8’s seemingly inapplicable. And yet, though at this very moment I still have not received what I know I need and must have and am at a critical juncture in time, the many 8’s I have been seeing tells me very clearly that good times are coming. Actually, they are already here in part in the sense that morning light arrives before sunrise.

Therefore, even though those who now rule have pretty much reached that point of total corruption, all is not lost. The Lord is not done. The evil ones will be severely judged. However, those who will be true to the Lord Jesus must continue making difficult spiritual decisions to stay on the Path regardless of the immense pressure to do otherwise.

Thirteen years after I began this site and going on fourteen years since I received the revelation of the Great Awakening, an immense amount of truth and knowledge has been released into the world that had previously been hidden that reveals the sham construct (this wicked world) built up all around us that most still cannot see, largely because they have become a part of that infrastructure. But many others do see, though they comprise a Remnant, and have learned a great deal of new truth and knowledge though it has been difficult relaying that truth and knowledge. How strange it is then that some can perceive so absolutely clearly, learn so much because they are willing, humble, and teachable, and also see right through the evil deceivers and their deception while so many others can see absolutely nothing, remain clueless, and are consequently made use of and exploited by the Lord’s enemies.

If one truly understands this dynamic one will truly understand why the Lord used parables.

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;

You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

For the heart of this people has become dull,

With their ears they scarcely hear,

And they have closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart and return,

And I would heal them.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” [Matthew 13:10-17][1]

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Tags: America, American Christianity, Christian Denominations, Discipleship, Ears To Hear, Eyes To See, Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus, Parables, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

CHRISTIANS ASSISTING THE ENEMY: SPIRITUAL TREASON AND GUILT BY ASSOCIATION

Feb 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

When Christians support entities clandestinely involved in sin and evil but do so unaware, are they just as guilty? Is their ignorance an excuse?

JESUS IS GOD

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’” [Mark 12:28-30]

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” [John 14:8-9]

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” [Luke 11:23]

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ARTICLE III. SECTION 3. CLAUSE 1:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

GIVING AID AND COMFORT TO THE ENEMY: THE JUDAS KISS

Consider Disciple Iscariot. Some may think he was simply misguided. Maybe he got lost in the weeds while trying to dovetail what he had been taught as a good Pharisee with the fresh teachings of his new Rabbi Yehoshua which appeared to Judas to be somewhat foreign and difficult to grasp. In the end, however, he proved what he actually was and what his true intentions were by choosing of his own free will to lurk about in the shadows, secretly side with the Lord’s influential, formidable, and wealthy enemies, sell out for money, and join up with the devil. By this despicable act of treachery, he betrayed the Lord Jesus, destroyed God’s plan for his life, and thereby doomed his soul. He committed spiritual treason.

This one man, Judas, the son of perdition (John 17:12), of which David had prophesied a millennium before (Psalm 109), is also allegorically representative of all Messiah-rejecting antichrist Israelites (possibly specifically Judahites) who rebel against and hate their King, and thus mirror the treasonous apostle’s beliefs, intentions, and activities (Acts 1:16-20). His fate is their fate.

In my book, Real Christianity, I wrote the following:

Only Jesus is worthy of absolute power. Only Jesus can control it. Only Jesus cannot be adversely affected by it. When a human being is given power, he must be given checks and balances as well. In this way, he has a good chance of not being destroyed by power, or more importantly, not destroying others by it. This is why the concept of the “one-man show” church should be anathema to Christianity. This concept comes in many varieties. Other than a single individual, the “one man” could be a pastor with a sycophant board of elders, or even a worldwide hierarchy pledged to a single leader. In each of these varieties, individuals have no voice, no power, and simply do what they’re told.

We should never forget, however, what absolute power does to people. It corrupts the holders thereof and their yes-men, and in time alienates those subordinates who are passionate for positive change, inevitably causing rebellion against the abuse of power and the neglect of those under that power. If able to unite, the neglected will rise up to rightfully extract power from corrupt leadership. This rising up or rebellion against reprobate authority serves as a check on the flagrant mishandling of authority. A successful rebellion of this kind is called a revolution. A successful Christian rebellion is called a reformation.

The great Reformation of the sixteenth century was nothing more than a rebellion against corrupt, absolute power. The American Revolution of the late 1700s was exactly the same, though in a different arena. If the American Revolution had failed, George Washington would have been guilty of treason against the English throne and would likely have ended up with a rope around his neck. Many thousands were burned at the stake during the Reformation, not because they were heretics, but because they challenged corrupt leadership. Each of these celebrated, successful rebellions proved to be far-reaching, long-lasting remedies against the pox of nefarious authority that had come to be concentrated in the hands of one man. [Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church © 2001 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.]

In the Lord’s time, that one man appeared to be the high priest Caiaphas. This man outwardly controlled the Temple and was also president of the Hebrew legislative and supreme judicial high court, the Great Sanhedrin. He was overtly the most powerful man in the Israelite nation. Lurking behind Caiaphas, however, was the actual power behind the throne: His father-in-law and the former high priest Annas.

Though Annas was the actual high priest from 6-15AD and had been superseded by four others (Caiaphas being the fourth beginning in 18AD), this most powerful and influential man still covertly retained the title of high priest and is referred to as such in the Gospels and book of Acts, though the Law of Moses clearly states there must be only one high priest at any given time. Although one may deduce that these two men, Annas and Caiaphas, were joint-holders of the powerful office, it was actually the elder Annas who was the one man in which all the power—religious, political, and economic—was concentrated. Thus, Caiaphas was effectively a mere puppet obeying the dictates of his father-in-law.

Therefore, though Annas had not officially held the office of high priest for seventeen years at the time of the Lord’s trial, the extended House of Annas controlled essentially everything at that time and had held power for decades. Later, five of his sons and a grandson also became high priests. This notorious crime family would remain in power until overcome by insane militant Zealots toward the very end at the outbreak of the great Jewish Revolt of 66AD. The deal struck between these two parties to kill the Lord came back to bite both in the worst possible way when the rebellious nation of Israel was destroyed forever in 70AD.

The House of Annas, of course, greatly assisted in Israel’s destruction, primarily by its unyielding opposition, hostility, resistance, and hatred toward their own Messiah, His ministry, and very purpose, as well as principally participating in His rejection, betrayal, and death. Without any doubt, by keeping and honoring a long held national tradition, the Annas clan committed treason against God. It violated to the ultimate degree God’s first and foremost commandment. This ruling clique and the willingly wayward nation it controlled was constantly attempting to scatter all that the Lord was gathering. The early Community of Called-Out Ones thus had no greater persecutors than their Messiah-rejecting brethren.

One may say then, that the Lord Jesus had conducted His own revolution “against the pox of nefarious authority that had come to be concentrated in the hands of one man.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE

One does not have to look far at present to notice a similar circumstance. There is a hidden enemy in control that most Christians do not recognize. This enemy has invaded many spheres of international influence and has held such power and overarching sway for centuries. This deceitful influence extends even to the Christian realm, of course, in that many overtly Christian ministries, churches, and even entire denominations are controlled by a concealed power that is not of God.

Now, please do not misunderstand the structure of this evil arrangement and operation by relegating it only to the supernatural realm. One must recognize that just as the Lord operates through people, so does the devil. Just as the Lord has His own followers, so does the devil. Just as the Lord has those who are 100% dedicated to Him, so does the devil have those who are 100% dedicated to his authority. Therefore, because we know that much of Christianity does not actually subscribe to the full curriculum of the Lord Jesus, there must be a fake Christian contingent that only looks the part. It talks the talk but never walks the walk. I call this Unreal Christianity. Since the Lord does not have control of this massive worldwide contingent (since the controllers thereof do not want His control), it means the devil controls much of what is outwardly Christian whether one can wrap his head around such a thing or not. And the primary and most practical manner in which the enemy does this is through money.

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” [Luke 16:13-15]

In recent posts I have dropped clear clues regarding this. In my article of November 13, 2023, Christian Brainwashing is Real, I stated the following with regard to the present egregious war crimes and indiscriminate malicious murder campaign affecting multiple thousands of innocent non-combatant civilians, including tens of thousands of babies, children, and defenseless women of all ages—an otherwise bald-faced slaughter approaching genocide—by the state of Israel:

Unless one is 100% true to the Lord Jesus one will place their allegiance elsewhere and consequently be subject to deception. Also, major Christian ministries, including major Christian television ministries, have now been outed for what they are, at least in part. Until they stop supporting this ongoing wanton murder of innocents which thereby influences millions of Christians to also support it, and call out this evil for what it is, they are revealing themselves in part as veiled propaganda outfits with alternative agendas and hidden paymasters.

In other words, overt Christian ministries are being controlled by covert money masters. Such masters essentially control such “ministries” including the content of such ministries. For example, to this day, since the Israeli war against Hamas began on October 7, 2023, not one mention has been made by such Christian outfits of the blatant Zealot-like war crimes of Israel or the destruction of so many innocent lives. Instead, one is constantly barraged with the ongoing one-sided plight of Israel by any number of Israeli spokesmen who, of course, pay no homage whatsoever to the Lord Jesus and actually hold Him in contempt.

This begs the question, therefore: Why are the antichristers allowed such an influential platform on Christian television? Could it be because the antichristers are financing some or much of Christian television? And could it be that the antichristers are also financing other Christian ministries and even denominations? Is this why so many Christian ministries refuse to out the devil and his minions and break their relational connections thereof?

No matter how one looks at this it remains spiritual treason of the highest order. It is a pure betrayal of the Lord Jesus. After such clear violations of God’s commandments and demonstrations of pure evil on a massive scale as perpetrated by the Israeli state, the truth has come right out into the open. Therefore, unawareness of one’s friendship with the enemy is no longer justified. It is guilt by association. One will have to answer to God for it.

We know from the ancient legal maxim that ignorance of the law does not excuse— ignorantia juris non excusat—that Christians who claim to follow the Lord Jesus must have an awareness of His teachings and that a lack of such awareness will not excuse one of guilt if in violation.

It is therefore imperative, especially in these days of such high levels of deception and corruption, that all followers of the Lord Jesus read and study His teachings—His entire curriculum—as revealed in the four gospels, as well as the rest of the New Testament since it contains a record of the very working out of His teachings by mature spiritual disciples. For by this, and only by this, will one be able to (1) overcome deception, including demonic enchantment, and (2) gain the necessary clues to the grand masquerade now upon us.

And in case you’re wondering, the Lord Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and earth, remains in firm control and will destroy His enemies eventually. The only question remaining is the identities of those who will stand strong and fight with Him as loyal spiritual warriors to the very end and share in His victory. Treasonous sellouts who love this present world need not apply.

“ABIDE IN ME, AND I IN YOU”

The following passage of Scripture was written in the early 60s AD not long before the fateful end. John knew what was about to transpire. He was well aware of the enemy. May we also know what is coming in these days, including the identity of the Lord’s veiled adversaries lurking about in the shadows, and be rightfully prepared. I suggest getting as close to the Lord Jesus as possible. Praise His Holy Name.

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. [1John 2:18-24] [1]

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EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Lesson 6)

Feb 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

The 120 were gathered together in the Upper Room. The apostle Peter took his place as spokesman for the group. Keep in mind that this assembly was the entire Early Church, from the Greek Ekklesia, which is defined as “the Community of the Called-Out Ones.”

INTRODUCTION LESSON 1 LESSON 2 LESSON 3 LESSON 4 LESSON 5

LESSON 6

ACTS 1:16-20

¹⁶“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” ¹⁸(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. ¹⁹And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰ “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’; and, ‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’

This was Luke’s first recorded post-Ascension message of the followers of the Lord Jesus. They had a safe place at Mary’s house. Though the Lord was no longer physically present in the environs of Jerusalem, His small group of disciples was still considered a dangerous heretical faction. From the limited perspective of the non-believing Israelite religious leaders, however, with the Lord finally out of the way, there remained a consensual relief not presently threatened by the existence of His small band. But this would soon change.

Regarding the traitor, the greatest villain known to history, he did have second thoughts. He was assisted in his dastardly deed, however, by the devil himself along with the murderous and conniving chief priests which assisted in pushing him over the edge.

And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. [Luke 22:3]

One wonders at the arguments Satan may have made that at last convinced Judas to act. It was more than the man’s love of money. In essence, though, he was simply deceived. His bad spirit, bad attitude, constant grumbling and complaining, and refusal to adhere to real discipleship caused the man’s unregenerate flesh, his sinful human nature, to remain forever on display. This condition is common to all and without self-imposed restrictions wreaks havoc. It is why all real Christians must at the onset deal strongly with this spiritual enemy and defeat it if they hope to have any chance at serving the Lord.

When Judas saw the Lord condemned and that he had been deceived by the priests and elders he felt great remorse. He tried to return the money but they wouldn’t take it.

“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. [Matthew 27:4-5][1]

According to tradition, the Field of Blood was located just beyond the southern edge of the old city of David on the other side of the Hinnom Valley.

This had otherwise been known as Gehenna, the allegorical destination of the wicked.

I appreciate your prayers. For donations, see column at left to purchase my book. Thank you.

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Tags: Apostle Peter, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Early Church, Judas Iscariot, Lord Jesus, Price of Betrayal, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin, The Book of Acts, The Great Awakening, The Sentence of Hell, The Upper Room

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Lesson 5)

Jan 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

After watching the Lord rise up before them enveloped by a cloud, the disciples removed from Mount Olivet and returned to Jerusalem per the Lord’s command. It was time to await the promise.

INTRODUCTION LESSON 1 LESSON 2 LESSON 3 LESSON 4

LESSON 5

ACTS 1:13-15

¹³When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. ¹⁴These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. ¹⁵At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said…

This Upper Room was most likely in the house belonging to Mary, the mother of John Mark, as mentioned in the twelfth chapter of Acts after Peter’s miraculous release from certain execution:

…he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. [Acts 12:12] [1]

It was a very large room which, of course, implies a large house. This denotes Mary, a probable widow, as a woman of means. Mark was a cousin of Barnabas, the apostle Paul’s traveling partner, which made Mary his aunt. One can deduce that the respective fathers of Barnabas and Mark were brothers who were wealthy enough to (1) Own a large high end property in Jerusalem with servants, and (2) Send Barnabas, a man of letters with probable training under a rabbi to school. Barnabas was also the most likely writer of the Book of Hebrews.

The Last Supper was held in this same Upper Room, which made the private home a regular place of meeting for the Early Church. In fact, the entire Early Church at that time could take up residence within it. All eleven apostles were there along with possible family members. The Lord’s brothers were there, maybe all four, as was, of course, His mother Mary. Many other women were there, which must have included Mary Magdalene. With all of these together, it came to about 120 people, on the one hand a large group for a house church, but on the other relatively quite small.

After preaching to perhaps hundreds of thousands over a three and a half year period, having a large band of following disciples, and appearing to as many as five hundred after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus only gathered 120 dedicated praying disciples in the Upper Room awaiting the Day of Pentecost.

This should enlighten us to His selection process.

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Tags: Acts of the Apostles, Apostles, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Early Church, Jerusalem, Lord Jesus, Mary, Peter, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Upper Room

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Lesson 4)

Jan 30

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Bible records many miraculous historical events. One of the most miraculous, or downright mind-bending if you were there, was the Ascension of the Lord. Some say it defies belief. Believers say He defied gravity.

INTRODUCTION LESSON 1 LESSON 2 LESSON 3

LESSON 4

ACTS 1:9-12

⁹And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. ¹¹They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” ¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. [1]

Luke reports the event in an understated matter-of-fact manner. The likelihood is strong that he wasn’t there so he must have received the information from those who were. Since he wrote The Acts of the Apostles about thirty years after the Ascension, it is most probable that many of the firsthand witnesses had already passed on. Nevertheless, I don’t believe Luke would have relied on secondhand information, no matter how credible. Who might have provided their testimony? There was a large group there, not only the eleven apostles. Some of them probably later traveled into the far reaches of the Greco-Roman world. The apostle Paul, whom Luke spent much time with, would certainly have known many who were there that day.

Regarding the Lord’s departure, it must have been hard on everybody. Maybe the thoroughly unique and otherworldly method He chose took some of the edge off. He knew He would still be with them, though in spiritual form. But His disciples likely felt that an unseen floor had dropped away. They spent almost every day of the last few years with Him. He taught them everything they knew. They would miss Him terribly. We have all had such heartfelt goodbye moments, sometimes involving those we would never see again.

As they stood there on the Mount of Olives between Bethany and Jerusalem peering up into the sky at the Lord’s strange private rapture, the disciples were enthralled with an event never possibly experienced before, lost in their goodbyes, and momentarily overcome with loss. How would they manage without Him?

Then the two angels suddenly showed up with more of the matter-of-fact narrative as if the Ascension were a mere ho hum event. “Why are you guys still standing there looking into the sky?” With that statement the angels announced yet another event, one stranger than the first.

He’s coming back.

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Tags: Acts of the Apostles, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Biblical Prophecy, Early Church, Holy Spirit, John the Immerser, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Remnant

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Lesson 3)

Jan 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

In the first century AD, the Israelites continued to be obsessed with the restoration of their kingdom. Other than brief independence under the Hasmonean Dynasty (c142-37 BC), they had been ruled by foreign powers since the Babylonian Captivity six centuries before.

INTRODUCTION LESSON 1 LESSON 2

LESSON 3

ACTS 1:6-8

⁶ So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; ⁸but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The Lord continued attempting to patiently explain to his disciples that His was a spiritual kingdom. In His Olivet Prophecy, as recorded in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21, He warned them that great tribulation was coming and what was left of the nation of Israel would cease to exist within a generation.

Then He shifted His answer to the immediate future when they would be endowed with a power giving them greater ability to understand. He told them they would become dynamic witnesses of the Gospel message. The Greek word is dunamis and is defined as “strength, ability, inherent power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth.” This would be an entirely different ballgame. The powerful OT prophets and John the Baptist had the spiritual power of God upon them, but they were not indwelt by the Spirit of the Lord. In fact, the Lord said:

¹¹“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” [Matthew 11:11]

How is this possible? John was obviously a great and fearless preacher, the forerunner of the Lord. He had what would otherwise be an impossible objective—to prepare the collective heart of the nation for a soon arriving future. For many, if not most, it would be a future of growing tribulation and destruction. The independence and freedom sought by the Israelites would continually diminish just as John had prophesied:

⁷ So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” [Luke 3:7-9] [1]

A smaller percentage of the people did repent, though not enough to save the nation, and it was the Community of this repentant Remnant composed entirely of Israelites that the Lord initially gathered as a spiritual people for a spiritual kingdom. For this, they would have to be like Him and receive His power. They must each be filled with the Holy Spirit.

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EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Lesson 2)

Jan 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Gospel of Luke is the only one which sets the scene regarding the Lord’s last morning before ascending to heaven. He adds more detail in the opening of Acts. We now continue with the narrative:

INTRODUCTION LESSON 1

LESSON 2

ACTS 1:4-5

⁴Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; ⁵for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Many Christians are familiar with the incident in which the Lord appeared to two men on a road west of Jerusalem on the day of His resurrection. That afternoon they were heading to the small village of Emmaus, about seven miles away, when the Lord Jesus approached and began walking with them. Luke is the sole gospel writer to record the full story, though it is also briefly mentioned in Mark 16:12. After an eventful evening the two men quickly returned to Jerusalem and met with the apostles and the others, excitedly telling them what happened. While there the Lord again appeared to all of them and began His final instructions. It was then that we have the only occurrence in the gospels of “the promise” as mentioned above:

⁴⁹“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” [Luke 24:49]

In both books Luke records the Lord’s commandment that His disciples remain in Jerusalem to await the big event. It will happen in a matter of days. Before they can be His witnesses they must receive His power and anointing. He called it an immersion in the Holy Spirit (from the Greek baptizo, meaning “to submerge or overwhelm”). Though the specific terminology “promise/Father” is recorded nowhere else but these two verses to this point, there are several other gospel references. The first time Luke mentions it is in the following when he also pairs the two baptisms:

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” [Luke 3:15-16]

One of the most profound events referencing the baptism in the Holy Spirit is recorded in the Gospel of John. It is in Jerusalem at the temple on the final day of the feast of Sukkot in the fall of the year. From it we can gain a greater understanding of the significance and timing of the baptism:

³⁷Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. [John 7:37-39][1]

I appreciate your prayers. For donations, see column at left to purchase my book. Thank you.

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Tags: Acts of the Apostles, Ascension, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Early Christians, Early Church, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, Luke, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, The Father, The Great Awakening

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Lesson 1)

Jan 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

After writing his gospel, “about all the things Jesus began to do and teach,” Luke begins Acts by recalling the morning of the Ascension when the Lord gave final instructions to His chosen apostles.

INTRODUCTION

LESSON 1

ACTS 1:1-3

¹ The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, ²until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. [Acts 1:1-2]

Luke refers here to the Gospel which bears His name as the first of a two volume work. Though many accounts of the Lord’s life and teachings had previously existed in various forms and lengths from which to draw, Luke set out to write the definitive gospel. He would attempt to write the story sequentially, “in consecutive order,” fill in any gaps, and put the previous accounts into a workable whole. All agree that he did a masterful job. He would do the same with The Acts of the Apostles, though would also act as his own historical eyewitness on many occasions, which was not the case previously.

The “beloved physician” was a man of culture. As he did in the introduction to his gospel, he refers to an eminent associate named Theophilus, who likely lent his assistance and donated funding for the project. This man, whom Luke refers to in his gospel as the equivalent of “your excellency,” was probably a Gentile believer who held a relatively high office. Acts begins as if a letter to a friend recounting the life of the Lord Jesus until His Ascension into heaven. Luke uses the final instructions of the Lord to His close disciples as a starting point for his second volume, which draws in the reader and sets the tone for an energizing new phase of ministry in which all believers would participate in taking the Gospel to the entire world.

³ To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. [Acts 1:3] [1]

Luke reiterates the vast body of eyewitnesses who experienced the Lord’s living presence for almost six weeks after His resurrection. The apostle Paul said they were at least five hundred in number. These many accounts give conclusive proof of His resurrection as do manifold thousands of Israelites embracing Him as Savior and Messiah. He was not a ghost but fully human and able to perfectly relate and communicate as He had before. God became manifest in flesh and remains so today.

I appreciate your prayers. For donations, see column at left to purchase my book. Thank you.

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Tags: Acts of the Apostles, Ascension, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Early Christians, Early Church, Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Luke, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, The Great Awakening

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Introduction)

Jan 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today begins a new teaching series entitled Early Church History 101. Each post will be based on passages from our only text book, The Acts of the Apostles. Your interaction and dialogue are encouraged.

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INTRODUCTION

Because this is an introductory course, I hope to post on as near a regular schedule as possible and keep the lessons fairly brief, hopefully interesting, and possibly compelling. I suggest engaging in your own research as you see the need.

Our goal is to become better acquainted with the beliefs, practices, and accomplishments of the Lord’s original Community. It served as a prototype and foundation of the Church Age which began at Pentecost in AD 32 and continues to the present. During this almost two thousand year period, the Lord Jesus never taught any subsequent transition or alteration which would negate or change the beliefs and practices of our early forebears. We in the present must therefore respect and seek to emulate their holy and courageous example as they worked in close cooperation with the Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Early Church was sent into an often hostile world with the life-giving Good News in the opening salvos of a spiritual war destined to cover the planet. Their accomplishments were nothing short of miraculous.

The author of The Acts of the Apostles is Luke—Early Church historian, gifted writer, the beloved physician, oft traveling companion of the apostle Paul, and also author of his masterful “first account,” the Gospel of Luke. It is possible that Luke did not originally affix a title to Acts but the title we have is likely correct. However, based on the author’s chosen vocabulary and grammar, he clearly indicates that this historical record is a continuation of the ministry of the Lord, which means it could have been titled The Acts of Jesus. Some have suggested The Acts of the Holy Spirit.

Inserting Apostles in the title, however, serves primarily to indicate the Lord working through His original twelve (minus Judas Iscariot), but certainly was not limited to them. In fact, it was the entire Community through whom He worked, which includes each and every believer, though the apostles were the most spiritually mature at the time. Because they were His initial chosen ones who followed Him throughout His ministry and witnessed the Resurrection, they were the men primarily utilized in the early years. This was especially the case with the apostle Peter, whom the Lord powerfully anointed on that first Day of Pentecost in ancient Jerusalem to set the many authoritative precedents of the Early Church which continue until today.

I appreciate your prayers. For donations, see column at left to purchase my book. Thank you.

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Tags: Acts of the Apostles, Book of Acts, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Day of Pentecost, Early Christians, Early Church, Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Luke, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

A GREAT AWAKENING UPDATE: 12/31/23

Dec 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

It was 13 years ago this August that I received from the Lord the revelation about our current Great Awakening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was the end of August in the year 2010. I was writing a paper. I had written many papers that year. They averaged about eight to twelve pages in length. The paper I was writing at that time was about former revivals in America. Suddenly, I heard the Lord speak, very clearly. He said, “We are in the early stages of a national Great Awakening.”

To say the least, it was a tad shocking. As I have told you often over the twelve years and eight months of this site, dear readers, that relatively short paper I was writing then grew larger. I continued with it through the fall and winter and completed the work in April 2011. What I thought would be a short paper of 8-12 pages became a book, my second book, of about 340 pages, saturated with footnotes and including three appendixes. The existence of the book proved the Lord was telling me something significant, that something very great and powerful was in the works.

One might recall that during that time in late August of 2010, there was absolutely nothing on tap concerning any Great Awakening. All the ministers and other Christians I sought out had heard nothing about it. It wasn’t until maybe five years later or so that the phrase itself started being used. We started hearing the term “Great Awakening” more and more but usually through secular sources. Christianity in general in America never used it except occasionally to refer to the distant past. Christianity in general in America still doesn’t use the term for what is happening all around us. Christianity in general in America remains absolutely oblivious. Still.

But others have been working extremely hard. Others have been doing mass amounts of difficult research. There is far too much to recount here. A relatively small part of the country has indeed awakened but this small part remains for the most part non-Christian and secular.

Maybe this is for the best. Of course, the reason the people involved are having so much success is because they work independently. They don’t wait around for official sanction. They don’t wait around for donations. They use their own money, what little they may have. They just plow ahead and leave others behind.

This is what I have done in my research. I have worked extremely hard throughout my life starting a long time ago, decades before I received the revelation of our current Great Awakening in 2010. I did the best I could. I had to make a living like everyone else but I was also called by the Lord to a ministry that I was determined to fulfill and still am. Except very rarely here and there, I have never been funded. I simply used what I had and still do. Life would have been much easier to have never answered the Lord’s calling and simply dedicated myself to making money like most people do but it would have been entirely less rewarding.

Whoever takes that path, the path of serving mammon instead of serving God, always comes to a sad awakening at the end of life. Though the person might have fulfilled all the social conventions and is spoken well of for obeying the dictates of the culture, there is an emptiness that no amount of money or material goods could ever satisfy. Such people are often struck with the emptiness of it all. What was their life for? What did they actually accomplish?

Remember, the Lord clearly stated the following:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [Matthew 6:19-21]

Most Christians in America, however, have been falsely taught to not follow such a principle. That is why most Christians in America almost always have their sights set on this world and this life rather than on heaven and eternal life. It is why most refuse to work for the Lord.

This is why so much of Christianity, like most of the country, remains oblivious to what is actually happening right now. They know nothing of any Great Awakening nor do they know America is done. On December 31, 2022, in my post 2022 In Review: A Synopsis of My Work and a Look Toward a Challenging Future (a year in which wrote more pages for this site than any other calendar year, trying my best to warn and teach), I stated the following:

AMERICAN ICHABOD

We now live in different times. We are way past the “times that try men’s souls” phase. America is now a different country. Some say it is no longer a country. The America many of us knew is long gone, with the wind so to speak, and is essentially dead. The Great Awakening was sent by God to wake people up and in part keep the fall from happening but most have stayed fast asleep and prefer it that way. It is much easier than facing the facts, doing research to prove the facts, and standing up for the Lord and against the devil, his henchmen, and a degenerate culture. At the end of the day it is every man for himself in the sense that you are the only one you can control.

There has been a great incessant effort over at least the last twelve years to find the truth, know the truth, and tell the truth but has done little good for the most part. Half the country will never change it seems. It is lost in a strange neverland. Another large percentage continues to hang out among the yellow stripes and dead armadillos taking far too long to decide and merely bickering over things that don’t matter anymore. This leaves about a third, maybe. Maybe 30%. In reality, though, even among the committed, many have only so much time and resources. What remains is a core group of Americans, a small group, absolutely dedicated to the Lord Jesus and determined to serve Him, work with Him, fight the spiritual war with Him, and shed the Light of His true Gospel.

Call it the American Remnant. They know they MUST be salt and light. They know they MUST fill up their oil lamps and keep them filled. Much more effort toward this is required than in the past because so much has been saturated with evil and said evil causes a greater drain on one’s batteries. The country as a whole continually ceased living for God by degrees and refused to stand up and fight against encroaching evil which gave evil an increasingly greater foothold. America, a once great nation, went from spirit to flesh to sin to death.

Therefore, it is no longer about saving the good that once was but is now about resurrection and the remote possibility thereof. But unless you’re the Lord, no matter how much you try you can’t revive a dead guy. America has thus become a national Ichabod. The glory has departed. I said this would happen twenty-five years ago. I put it in writing…

I then added an excerpt from my first book, Real Christianity, in which I predicted what would eventually happen to this once great country. (I will add the excerpt later in this article.) At that time, in the mid-1990s, there was no indication that any such thing could ever happen. America was robust and thriving. In fact, right at that time (something I only learned the details of several years later), the people running things had already given up on the country and began dutifully extracting the wealth. This commenced in the autumn of 1997. I knew something really bad was going on then but didn’t have the details. Few did. The only reason a few people know now is due to some extremely diligent researchers among us who worked extremely hard to discover the information.

Suffice it to say that a Great Awakening was certainly in its early stages in late August thirteen years ago. At this point it has grown quite a bit and I believe will soon grow exponentially. More and more people are becoming aware. Sadly, however, the majority has stuck its head in the sand. The majority has been co-opted by an opposing narrative created to deceive, obfuscate, lead astray, and capture. One wonders how it is possible that a couple hundred million Americans can be so deceived as to latch on to such a ridiculous narrative. But this is actually nothing new. The majority is always oblivious. It’s actually a wonder anyone wakes up at all. This is what I wrote in my book in roughly 1997:

IS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

The price of compromise has been great. The United States of America is supposedly a Christian nation. Polls constantly show that at least ninety percent of the population refers to itself as “Christian” of some form or another. Yet, there is blood in the streets; there is an increasing number of kids who can’t learn; much of the population has discarded the idea of monogamy and have become so hedonistic in their relations they could learn morality from the example of numerous animal species; and diseases are coming out of the woodwork and running far ahead of treatments.

The country is enormously successful monetarily, especially compared to other nations, yet we are up to our ears in debt, and we fight from paycheck to paycheck to keep our head above water. For a Christian nation, something’s not right; someone’s dropping the ball. Illumined by the inescapable fact that we have churches on every street corner and airwaves saturated with Christian television and radio (these terms are used very loosely), we are in ridiculous shape if we are indeed a Christian nation.

I submit that we are not a Christian nation, not because we don’t consider ourselves Christian, but simply because we do not uphold the teachings of Jesus or live according to them. Instead, we live according to the twisted teachings of impostors, rogues, spiritual eunuchs, and pretenders. Professional clergymen are wholly responsible for bringing Christianity in America to this point since they are the ones who are largely responsible for teaching and interpreting the words of the Lord. If they were doing God’s will from such lofty places of authority, shouldn’t the effects show up in society as a whole if our society is indeed Christian?

If the ruling clergy class has been mandated by Jesus to be the movers and shakers of His teachings in this country, it has apparently messed up. Whatever guilt they do carry they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge, which makes correction impossible. This is why God is removing them—they refuse to act wholly on His behalf. And if you don’t think this is true, that they’re becoming history, check the stats. Their numbers are dwindling in this country, while the numbers of “nobodies” who simply want to do God’s will are rising dramatically.

Will America be saved? No. But when certain people get out of the way and other people mature en masse, hundreds of thousands of hungry souls will find salvation, and America’s greatest great awakening will take place. [Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church © 2001 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.]

WE MUST FOCUS ON THE LORD JESUS

Regarding America and American Christianity in 2024,

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,

“Awake, sleeper,

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you.” [Ephesians 5:6-14][1]

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Tags: America, Discipleship, Ichabod, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Love Thy Neighbor, Mammon, New Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Greatest Love, The Love of Wealth and Power, The Remnant, Treasure in Heaven, Wake Up America!, When You Gonna Wake Up?

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dec 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” [Luke 2:8-14][1]

Thank you for all of your support and prayers, dear readers, after a most challenging year. The Lord Jesus remains in charge as always and all of His many promises remain fully in effect. He loves each of you with His entire heart. He remains faithful and true. He promised to provide all our needs and even stated the following:

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [John 10:10]

The Greek word is περισσός perissós (per-is-sos’). Here is the Strong’s definition (G4053):

From G4012 (in the sense of beyond); superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); by implication, excessive; adverbially (with G1537) violently; neuter (as noun) preeminence:—exceeding abundantly above, more abundantly, advantage, exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, vehement(-ly).

From this we know the Lord is for real and means what He says. He entered our realm and became one of us in order to fulfill the process of giving us abundant life. To achieve that highest of goals He had to give His life. What a sacrifice He made! He lived a perfect life with no sin and then became the Sacrifice Lamb on our behalf. No one has ever given more. This is truly the greatest love and He proves His love every day.

Regarding the battle at hand, we must always remember that this world in which we live is a proving ground—a test—and contains both good and evil. Those who follow His plan by repenting of sin, being cleansed by His Blood, resisting temptation, and serving Him with a full heart will allow for the outworking of His abundant life. We must engage in spiritual battle and be victorious over all the plans of the enemy. Our life must be a successful good fight of faith. He teaches us all we need to know to be victorious. All things are possible with Him. It may take time (the timing is His) but He is always worth our full trust.

May we all honor Him completely and absolutely and welcome His presence always. May we work for Him diligently. May we love as He loved.

The Christmas season illustrates what is possible. Beyond the wonderful lights, decorations, presents, and family fun is a Savior who longs for reconciliation with each and every one. May we always give the greatest gift to Him—that of our very lives. He is worthy.

May each of you and all your loved ones be blessed abundantly at this great time of year.

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas.

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Tags: It's a Wonderful Life, Lord Jesus, Merry Christmas, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Spirit of Christmas, Trust Your Heart With God

WINNING THE SPIRITUAL WAR FOR THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD

Dec 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

What mysterious power compels one to shut off his mind to new truth? Why is this also true regarding many Christians and New Testament truth?

THE NEW COVENANT WRITINGS

As currently known, constructed, and accepted, the New Testament is finite. If one reads it one knows all there is to know of it. If one studies it continuously one discovers greater spiritual truth which serves to open ever more doors of understanding. If one adds additional background information which aids his awareness, such as, for example, historical knowledge of the ancient first-century AD world in which our Lord Jesus lived, then one has greater ability to comprehend the New Covenant writings. This also aids in applying them.

We live in a time which is the greatest time for accessing such truths. If one wants to read the New Testament Scriptures it is a simple process. One can find many different Bible versions in most of the languages of the world and certainly the major languages. One can find these in print, digital format, or on the internet—pretty much any medium. Much of it is free. Some Bible translations are excellent and some not so much. Some purposely leave out particular words or add others or change the content subtly though deliberately which proves the authors thereof have a decidedly different agenda than revealing the truth of Scripture as given in the original. Thus, such versions only exist to deceive and lead one astray in order to fulfill a hidden agenda. This means one must be very careful of one’s choices and never assume “a Bible is a Bible.” This is simply not true. If one wants the actual full truth contained in the NT one must be selective and choose wisely.

Some New Testament versions are the very best we can do regarding word-for-word or literal translations (which is not easy with regard to the original Greek) such as the New American Standard 1995 Update. There is also a 2020 version though I personally have yet to use it and I do not think it necessarily adds much. I prefer the 1995 as it has been my go-to version since it first came out twenty-eight years ago. Prior to then I was primarily using the New King James Version but it is a lesser version by contrast though immensely better than the original KJV, which contains a decidedly authoritative bias. Still, the KJV is the one I cut my teeth on in the beginning of my walk and I know it well. It was the first Bible I read through completely and it did not take long.

At that time, after first getting saved, I used an old relatively tattered paperback KJV given to me by my original witness. It was already well-used and marked up and I probably added to it. I still have that Bible and treasure it. The next year I spent quite a sum for that time, over $40 (two days of warehouse worker pay) for a brand new leather-bound Thompson Chain Reference KJV which I still have in good condition. Later that year I also began using a hardback Amplified Version as an excellent supplement (I still have this also but it’s considerably the worse for wear.) Over the years since then and into the present I have also used any number of additional Bible versions (many!) to assist as supplements in my research, study, and writing as well as making good use of the original Hebrew and Greek.

We therefore have no excuses whatsoever as Christians to not read and know the New Testament. It is an absolute requirement for the person who actually follows the Lord Jesus. It is likely the case, however, that the majority of Christians are taught otherwise, or think only a few select “ministers” are supposed to read and study the NT. Again, such a belief is not Scriptural and arises due to ignorance of Scripture, because:

All true followers of the Lord Jesus are ministers, all are New Covenant priests, all are witnesses of the Gospel, and all comprise the fellowship of the saints.

Nevertheless, this is probably where the initial breakdown takes place for many Christians in that they neglect and/or refuse to read the NT in its entirety and thus never gain the spiritual knowledge within it as required. This greatly limits their effectiveness as Christians and makes it more difficult to live a Christian life. This neglect or refusal may also cause one to develop a closed-minded attitude toward Scripture in general in that one battles the conviction thereof by going in the opposite direction, in that one sinks to making excuses or even begins casting doubts on Scripture as a way to alleviate their conviction or assuage their conscience.

If one could only see this in terms of the New Covenant Writings being the actual written Word of God it would hopefully change their perspective. The Lord Jesus is the actual Living Word of God. By reading the NT one is showing his allegiance to the Lord by following Him and getting to know Him just as if one was following Him in the first-century. He said we cannot serve Him unless we follow Him and one cannot follow Him at a distance and also be a close disciple and develop unto maturity.

It is therefore actually quite the predicament and a crisis to have the vast majority of Christians in the world living in either a spiritually dead state, due to never being born again spiritually according the NT model, or they have been born again but remain stuck in an immature condition due mostly to being somewhat or wholly Biblically illiterate. We can gain more knowledge of this circumstance by studying the Parable of the Sower. In this story, only one person of four ever gains spiritual maturity and the Lord gives the reasons why. If one studies this and discovers the reasons, would he not then try hard to overcome whatever may be holding him back? But again, this would require reading the Parable and then studying it to the point of understanding which many Christians apparently will not do. So the conundrum is clear.

KNOWING THE WORD OF GOD

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me…” [John 5:39]

In a recent post, The Lord Jesus Demands Total Allegiance: What This Means for Every Christian, I had a great dialogue with my friend Susan who added much to a good discussion. You can access the discussion following the post as usual. At the end of our discussion she said my article and our dialogue connected somewhat with a post she recently read and she provided the link. For anyone interested I suggest reading the linked article also because the author refers to the aforementioned crisis at hand and adds much to the necessity of reading the Word as an initial way of showing the proper respect and honor of the Lord Jesus, growing closer to Him, and yes, demonstrating total allegiance.

Remember, the Lord Jesus needs Christians who know the Word of God, know it well, can apply it correctly, and by this serve Him in helping others receive salvation, teaching others toward gaining spiritual maturity, and showing others how to successfully fight and win spiritual victories.

The only way these can occur is if Christians know the Word of God.

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” [Matthew 4:4]

But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” [Luke 8:21]

But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” [Luke 11:28]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. [John 1:1-5]

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:14] [1]

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Tags: And the Word became flesh, Bible, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, New Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Living Word, The Word of God, Unreal Christianity, Unreal Ministers

REJECTED BY HIS OWN: SHARING IN OUR SAVIOR’S SUFFERING

Nov 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

Spiritual suffering is part of being a real Christian. There is sometimes much pain that must be endured for His purposes.

We are commanded to love but loving makes one vulnerable. It involves trust and a lowering of defenses, otherwise others cannot be reached with the Gospel. The person who has already gone through the process of real repentance and surrendering to the Lord sometimes suffers from the actions of unrepentant sinners who do not follow the Lord’s teachings or obey the Golden Rule, and who also have little sense for mercy and compassion. This dynamic makes the spiritual work of real Christians often subject to personal attacks, a lack of respect, and a general mockery of all things New Testament, since such spiritual teachings are not appreciated or understood by the natural mind.

HEART PAIN

Though not exclusively Christian, this “heart pain,” which some refer to as the worse kind, describes well the process of necessary suffering. As for spiritual reasons why it must exist, one must suffer according to the Lord’s will, whose purposes may be temporarily unknown, for the betterment of one’s relationship with Him or to be more effective in His work. At other times it may be for the sake of others, for those whom Christians may minister to, and also for one’s ongoing spiritual maturation process and development. Here is a good illustration:

Though somewhat challenging to define, heart pain may be described in general as deep-set, like a nebulous rock, far within the core of one’s being and even somehow beyond it as if one’s being must expand to contain it. It is brought about by several possible stimuli, such as an unfortunate event or occurrence, negative treatment by others, misunderstandings, or having one’s hopes dashed. It may feel like an invisible floor or foundation collapses into nothing. The initial pain may arrive relatively fast and even be somewhat debilitating. Healing may take quite a while though in the interim the pain becomes somewhat lessened by the eventual onset of a general numbness, as though an internal medicated bandage has been applied or an imperceptible deadening drug administered.

A new Christian experiencing this for the first time may wonder about the purpose or necessity thereof—the big “why” question—and thus realize that he or she has signed up for more than originally thought. This pain may thus come as a somewhat rude awakening in that the new birth experience arrives with great joy and newness of life, what is described well as a “Holy Ghost” high. After one’s initial experience though, which might last a few months, there is the inevitable coming down from it and the realization that spiritual effort and means are required to gain it back and maintain it as one seeks a steady, ongoing, and effective walk with the Lord.

To gain a better understanding of spiritual suffering in general, it, like everything else, begins with the Lord Jesus. Scripture makes the clear implication that no one ever suffered to the degree He did. As our Founder and Leader, it was required that He experience all the pain His followers would later experience so there would be mutual understanding and that His followers would know He could relate to their pain and would be the One to go to for ministry and mercy regarding it. We see this process of the Lord leaving His perfect and holy estate, then being treated as essentially the last of all men, only to become victorious and rising to first across the board, as illustrated here:

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. [Colossians 1:17-18]

REJECTED BY HIS OWN

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” [Luke 9:22]

“For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” [Luke 17:24-25]

Rejection is something common to mankind and specifically regards particular individuals perceived as less significant or flawed or alleged as such by narrow, often prejudicial standards, and thus being unqualified for inclusion in a group. Such parameters are, of course, based on the necessity of exclusivity as a means of keeping the “riffraff” out for the purposes of group purity and superiority. Such rejection was also something the Lord suffered, which is really strange on the surface, since He is the greatest, most pure, and most loving and compassionate Person in world history. He was even a Man apart in His own family and among local kinsmen who considered Him “beside Himself” (KJV):

In addition to being referred to as senseless/crazy, He was also falsely labeled by others as a drunkard (a winebibber), a glutton (though He fasted often, even for forty days), a friend of sinners, as demon-possessed (by the religious leaders—a clear case of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit), and even of illegitimate birth, a scurrilous charge against His heavenly origin and pure bloodline. Even unbelieving Jews of today still refer to Him as a “magician” and by other profane names which still appear in their “holy” books. These were and are gross mischaracterizations and pure slander which, however, would cause one to understand why He was rejected by those who believed such lies so readily. His rejection was also prophecy:

For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” [Luke 22:37]

One wonders, then, what the hell kind of a group or society was it that excluded Him? It could have only been an evil, sinister group and one accepting of sin and rebellion against God. In fact, it was not just a group but effectively an entire nation. This, again, puts into perfect focus the kind of nation He was dealing with in that it rejected Him outright—and we are talking the majority here—of everything He was and represented. We must therefore see His rejection by His own people as foundational and definitive and that rejection in general is most often perpetrated by lesser people appearing as the greater.

This means that if the Lord Himself—the Creator of the Universe—is rejected by His own who were thus primarily an immoral people—then rejection is not necessarily a bad thing though it may feel that way.

It can actually be seen as a good thing in that one may not be evil enough, or sinful enough, or spiritually immature enough, or accepting of degradation enough, or has higher standards, or simply has a great desire to be close to God and walk with God. How then can the righteous not be rejected?

In the following definitive passage, the Lord quotes Psalm 118:22-23 and applies it to Himself. Though obviously familiar with it, His rejecters rejected His interpretation and application also:

Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘The stone which the builders rejected,

This became the chief corner stone;

This came about from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” [Matthew 21:42-44]

Here we have a picture of not only those who foolishly reject the Lord Jesus but also what the Lord will do about it and to them as a result. It will not go unpunished. He will certainly suffer rejection as He must but in the end will also not only bring justice and retribution to punish the guilty but also restore and bless those wronged by the guilty.

May this be a comforting thought for all who are rejected with Him for the same reasons. Their sufferings, though relatively great, will never be for nothing if walked out according to His will and purposes, but will prove to be beneficial both for the one who suffers and for the spiritual purpose thereof. We perceive this clearly in His life:

But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. [Hebrews 2:9-10]

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. [1Peter 4:12-14][1]

Dear readers, if you’re going through it now, and I can certainly relate, it won’t last forever and will somehow, some way, eventually turn to joy and victory. For this we must praise the Lord and give Him glory. He always has the last word. Hold fast, proceed through the process with a good attitude, keep a good spirit, pray for spiritual strength, pray for your enemies, and trust the Lord. (Also, fasting helps.)

Though we may not understand initially what the purpose or end result of suffering and rejection may be, we know we can always trust Him to bring the victory.

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Tags: Cornerstone, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Love, Pain, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rejection, Spiritual Suffering, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Sufferings of Christ, The Way of the Heart, Trust Your Heart With God

REMEMBERING JFK (2023)

Nov 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

The start of most of our present ills in this country can be traced to the cold-blooded murder of an American President on this date sixty years ago.

In 2019 I started a new annual tradition on this site with a post entitled Remembering JFK. I’ve made a new post each year since with the same title. What follows is the fifth installment posted, as always, on the day America changed forever. I encourage you to read the prior articles and insightful reader comments.

A HIDDEN PLAN AND A CHANGE IN COURSE

We are conditioned to see history this way because it is the manner in which the major news media has always presented it. Most people have no clue of the connecting undercurrents always in play and a powerful ruling elite calling the shots behind the scenes since they own the media. All most people know regarding the larger events in our world, for the most part, is that a newspaper headline suddenly jumps forth or a news bulletin hits the television airwaves and a seemingly disconnected-from-reality shocking event suddenly becomes reality before one’s eyes. Right after this, quick explanations come forth so the masses will know the “why” and the “who” and thus know how to respond. As on cue, the vast majority always responds in the same way according to the psychological suggestion given and accepts not only the explanation of who perpetrated the deed or caused the event and why but also how one must understand and adapt to it.

This is how the powers-that-be deceived early 1900s America, a sovereign nation of freedom loving people who would never have agreed to so much intrusion upon their liberty had they known any better or been aware of the sly doings behind the scenes. It is how America was tricked, for example, into accepting the creation of the Federal Reserve Act in late 1913 at the zero hour before the Christmas break which gave the control of the economy to a small cabal of bankers, which dovetailed well with the ratification of the 16^th Amendment in February of that year giving Congress the legal right to impose a Federal Income Tax on American citizens.

It is also how the country was propagandized and tricked into supporting WWI in faraway Europe in which four million US soldiers were mobilized and almost 117,000 American military personnel died for no reason. The propaganda was such that the few Americans who were intelligent and aware enough to know what was really going on were castigated as unpatriotic cowards while those easily fooled and cowed by fear tactics were conned into embracing official disinformation supporting the war with no reservations and seemingly without a thought. It was likely the first time in American history the majority of the population revealed itself as an easy mark that fell without a fight, no pun intended.

The same process continued throughout the early to mid-twentieth century with each major event that transpired. None of these occurrences “just happened” or took place due to the official explanation but because of the rich and powerful pulling strings behind the scenes according to a master scheme toward world control which had been well-planned far in advance.

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. [Daniel 12:4 KJV]

Consequently, at this stage of the game, the news is now out that most people paying even the slightest attention know that members of the intelligence community participated in the JFK assassination. It has even come forth quite recently, according to a nephew of JFK who happens to be running for President—Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—that the CIA was involved. Of course, this was suspected by some from the get-go sixty years ago. Another belief that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reported which came out just a few years ago was that the actual killer of his father in June of 1968 was not Sirhan but a mysterious security guard. It has since been established that though Sirhan was there and did fire multiple shots he fired from the front and the senior RFK was hit from behind. There were also too many shots to have come from just one gun. There are other anomalies which end up refuting the official story.

CONTENDER PRETENDER

Regarding the death of our 35^th President, however, the official story has long since been proven to be absolutely false and full of holes though most people are none the wiser largely because they have never taken the time to look into it, which is why such disinformation thrust forth by the major media always works with regard to the majority. It is in part why the majority is always wrong—it simply never has the full story or the complete facts and therefore bases its beliefs on what it is told to believe rather than the truth. One would think a person may say, “Well, I don’t really know what happened. I know what they said happened but I would not be very smart to believe it without verifying it.” And at that, if the person was truly interested in the truth, he would begin his research. Yet most people never do this simply because they believe the official story since they submit to the authoritarians pronouncing and promoting it.

This used to be, long ago, un-American. But because the American Constitutional construct changed radically with the events of the Civil War in the 1860s—the War of Northern Aggression—and continued down that path in succeeding decades, it is no wonder that so many Americans had become subject to deception and official propaganda by the turn of the century. There was truly a war on the Constitution by powerful people who refused to be restricted by its principles. And even though the twentieth century brought forth great scientific accomplishments and much of American life was improved, critical thinking skills in general have diminished substantially.

“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

Regarding who actually killed JFK and why doesn’t much matter because most Americans really don’t care and would never believe the truth anyway. But it had much to do with a certain entity’s resolute determination to become a nuclear power and JFK’s powerfully determined refusal to allow them to get there. It also had to do with the earlier forced selection of his replacement using egregious blackmail tactics with a future change of personal in mind that would serve the entity’s interests.

What this means, of course, is that in this fallen world of sin and evil the great ones with great wealth and power exist at the top as they always have and can do pretty much anything they want as long as they have a willing and complicit majority population of dupes. All one must do to achieve this is work to keep people ignorant and unschooled but obedient to authority, something which has always been the case throughout much of history. Dealing with an educated population, however, requires a different tactic, one the devil is great at—lies and deception. If such can be couched within the realm of knowledge and historical “facts,” and actual truth be subverted, then one can achieve exactly what William Casey envisioned.

Those of you who know the Old Testament know this construct has actually existed since the beginning and grew worse over time in that massive populations of the ancient world could be controlled by only a few and outwardly by only a solitary man sitting atop a pyramidal throne as it were. Such figures were Sumerian kings, Egyptian pharaohs, and Roman emperors. But they also included strictly religious leaders who used “the opiate of the people” to control minds and then wallets. Nevertheless, though only a relative few could see the solution by which to overcome such control, God certainly did before everyone else and sent independent, incorruptible, intelligent, and ANOINTED prophets to expose the false narratives put forth as truth, reveal the wicked hidden sin of the powerful few, and break the mind power inflicted on the masses.

And there was and is no greater Prophet than our Lord Jesus who was also put to death as a result of sinister intrigue and a conspiracy but whose death serves as the greatest purpose in the history of humanity. For by it we regain our spiritual freedom and life, and enlighten our minds to know and understand the truth as well as see right through the hidden machinations of evil ones intent on using humanity as slaves for their own purposes toward their own malevolent ends.

JFK died because he had the courage to rightfully challenge powerful men acting above the law and used the governmental authority he was given in the attempt to curtail their activity and even stop them. He only had relative middling success in his efforts but did more than his predecessors and much more than all those who followed him.

Think of him what you will but the only way to stop him was to kill him.

This meant he was on to something big.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America In The Balance, Deception, Duping the Majority: A Foolproof Method of Success, History, JFK, John F. Kennedy, Lord Jesus, Media Manipulation, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reality vs. Fakery, Spiritual Warfare, The Deceived Majority, The Great Awakening, The Prophetic Word, The War On Truth, War of Northern Aggression

THE LORD JESUS DEMANDS TOTAL ALLEGIANCE: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN

Nov 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

The original NT definition has been blurred and undermined by centuries of erroneous Christian teachings, easy believism, and errant agendas.

ALL OR NOTHING

This is what He actually taught. This is what He demanded of His disciples. It was the only way His ministry could possibly work. It is in part why so many original followers turned away from Him. He kept speaking of the great demands their discipleship would require. He kept attempting to teach the deeper and greater truths they must learn but they were finding these difficult to comprehend. He also kept coming up with “hard sayings” that some couldn’t handle or understand, and which caused not a few to develop a problem with Him. Such pure teachings also served to weed out the pretenders, the half-hearted, and the rebellious—those which Christianity later became saturated with, which includes these present times, of course, as the clueless faux bros comprise the majority.

Unreal Christianity thus, by refusing to grant Him full fidelity, instead mocks the Lord and makes a mockery of His work. The Christians involved possess no true allegiance to the One they profess to follow. They may talk the talk but refuse to walk the walk and cannot be counted on. Their leaders expose themselves as mere men for hire (hirelings) in that they never or rarely work without a paycheck.

“WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING?” [LUKE 22:46]

“Awake, sleeper,

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you.” [Ephesians 5:14]

Though easy Christianity is more comfortable and acceptable it is also spiritually ineffective (understatement alert). That’s the tradeoff. Its lack of salt and light makes it wholly unproductive and largely fruitless in a fallen world growing darker and more sinful every day. In fact, the slow dissolution of American Christianity over the last quarter century into its current backslid, sinful, deceived, and wholly weakened condition is largely the reason the America that once was is now dead and no longer in need of restoration but resurrection. The majority of American Christianity remains locked in a deep sleep and shows no signs whatsoever of waking up. I have been preaching the WAKE UP sermon here on this site for twelve and a half years and the only change I have seen regarding the trending majority is deeper sleep.

Now, the Lord God was certainly successful early on in rousing a few and then later quite a few more though the percentage remains woefully low. This means many Christians have awakened and are doing their best to awaken others. Yet there are likely more awake non-Christians than awake Christians but that is certainly okay. Both are doing great work.

Nevertheless, the effect of the Christian deep sleep has been disastrous for the country. We are now in the exponential rise phase in which the enemy has accelerated his evil and is getting away with massive crimes with no remedy and corruption has run amok. America has suffered a spiritual coup d’état and those who wrested control are purposefully running the place into the ground. It is the end effect of serving mammon and not God. And to add to all of the above, real Christians not only continue being persecuted by the usual suspects but these now include, strangely enough, the deep-sleeping Christians, many of which act like the proverbial small child refusing to rise from slumber and get out of bed in the morning, even turning against those trying to rouse them.

WEIGHTY WITNESS

On the other hand, those Christians who are awake who go all out in service to the Lord make their presence felt. Others feel their weight. There’s something going on with them that causes sinners to feel uncomfortable in their presence. However, sinners searching for truth and trying to escape sin bondage are alerted by their presence in a positive way and see such people as a hopeful answer and seek them out. It is why transformed sinners so love the Lord and His real people. They get it. They know what it’s like to be under sin’s spell and delivered from it and will never go back. It is also why the relatively few dedicated disciples the Lord ended up with in the beginning transformed their world. Even the devil was afraid of them because he knew those people had the power and presence of God! This was their witness, the only real witness. It was all or nothing. It was total dedication or forget it. They were simple people, nothing special, just like you or I, yet their testimony was undeniable—they walked with God.

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.”

And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” [Acts 4:13-20]

This was their profound and powerful effect on a sinful world but also upon a deceptive autocratic bad-natured contrary monetarily-rich religious authority construct that had much to do with the world, the flesh, and the devil but nothing whatsoever to do with God. You will know them by their fruits. It is the same with every manifestation of Unreal Christianity. You see, it was because the world was so far from God that He needed those willing early disciples to push hard and far with all their might in the opposite direction to get as many people in the world back on course, saved, and close to God. In this process false religion would have to be overcome, defeated, and hopefully destroyed so people under its influence could be free and no longer subjected to its evil wiles.

It is why the Lord Jesus, with this in mind, throughout His 3½ year ministry, had to put so much work and wisdom into: Selecting potential disciples, instructing them, guiding them, and developing them with the intention of bringing them to full maturity. The crowning finishing touch was their profound Upper Room experience at Pentecost when they gained the indwelling spiritual power necessary for their walk and work for the Lord. Otherwise such disciples would never have been able to perform His will for the great task at hand. They would never have been able to win spiritual battles. In essence, without such strong dedication they would have been spiritually worthless and would never have been able to operate as the Lord did. The devil would have held them in derision as spiritual sissies instead of shaking in his shoes at their presence. They would have otherwise appeared as the majority of Christians in our era who cannot fight their way out of a wet paper bag and are just fine with such a sorry set-up.

Whether these mile-wide and inch-deep Christians know it or not, their pathetic “Christian” lifestyle has made real Christians appear as something strange and foreign that must be mocked and rejected even by them. They treat allegiance to the Lord (the Man who gave His life for them) in the same manner in that any low level of partial commitment is perfectly okay and acceptable. Hence, they justify their anti-discipleship and deny their potential strength as not only unworkable but something to be shunned. They believe such real discipleship is humanly impossible with far too high a cost.

Those who actually did it then and do it now would beg to differ, however. These decided the great spiritual results were definitely worth the high cost. The originals, against great odds, proved what was possible. They showed every succeeding generation how it was done. This spiritual ability and what they accomplished did not end with that first generation but continued on with each succeeding generation. The road certainly got tougher, however, especially with the great rise of fake Christianity which joined and then surpassed unbelieving Jews as the chief persecutors of real Christians. That most Christians refused to enter and partake of the Lord’s actual kingdom in this world had no bearing on the relative few who did and succeeded.

Again, the Early Church suffered the same egregious treatment as those persecuted by the later fake Christians because their total obedience to the Lord appeared to those without as something strange and untoward even though it brought great spiritual benefits and freed hundreds of thousands from bondage to sin. Those who thought them strange were the actual strange ones in that they put personal comfort and social status above spiritual effectiveness. Their place in the new universal fake Christian religion was much more important in their eyes and the last thing such pretenders wanted was for people to think they were part of a strange minority caste of religious misfits who took God far too seriously.

ALLEGIANCE IN ACTION

The discipleship the Lord instituted, then, demanded that a believer honor their Master exclusively and totally. This is how it was done with itinerant rabbis of that time anyway, in that their students pledged themselves to their leader in order to gain the requisite teaching and wisdom desired for their schooling. Do we not see the same approach in our traditional teacher-student relationship? If a student fails to honor the teacher and believe what he or she is teaching then the construct will fail and knowledge will not be disseminated. This means that any doubt of the process including doubt regarding the teacher’s character, intentions, and material will cause a failure of the process but especially a failure of the student’s development which will not bode well for the student’s future.

This is why the Lord Jesus was so demanding of His disciple’s recognition of His standing—of His place of eminence as their sole Teacher and Shepherd—and of His disciple’s attitude in not only honoring Him but also properly respecting their spiritual vocation in order to excel toward their own proficiency and spiritual effectiveness. In this way, as He did, they could also be effective in making and developing disciples in the future. In other words, great teachers make great students who become great teachers (who make great students who make great teachers…)

So we see why the Lord demanded that one follow Him completely and sincerely or not at all. He would rather have three thoroughly dedicated disciples obeying Him and fully applying His teachings than three hundred or three thousand or three hundred thousand who fall short of this standard. Sadly, the vast majority of Christians in the world over the last two thousand years, especially at present, have always appropriated the latter underachieving class who fail to properly honor the Lord and His clear standard. This intransigence, laziness, compromising attitude, and ignorance of the Lord’s teachings, though primarily their refusal to honor Him as they should, has likely resulted in a much bigger mess in the world than if they had never become Christians to begin with.

For example, what good does it do to obey the Golden Rule only in part? What value is there in treating others the way we want to be treated in only a selective manner? How beneficial can it actually be if we only love the Lord Jesus short of 100% or become believers according to our own terms rather than His? How can one’s relationship with Him be viable if one refuses to give Him all of one’s heart or decline to have one’s heart fully circumcised? Is He not worthy? Is He not the Teacher? He is not the Shepherd? Is He not God?

PROVING A CHRISTIAN’S ALLEGIANCE

The following Scriptural passages reveal the actual truth of the Lord’s teachings and commands regarding our allegiance to Him. Remember, during His time here the Lord Jesus was a man’s Man with a powerful presence and bearing and not the false depiction we so often see of a long-haired hippie spouting fake peace and love with flowers in his hair. One can rest assured that those who initially put forth this false image in the distant past did so in an effort to denigrate Him while exalting themselves.

In reality, the Lord was a Carpenter and Builder engaging in hard manual labor every day until He was thirty years old in a rough environment with no modern conveniences or power tools. He was physically ripped, bronzed by the sun, and weathered by the elements. Many of the disciples He initially chose were also like Him in this regard. They were extremely tough men used to battling the physical world and the Lord then used their strong abilities and character for spiritual ministry purposes which also made great demands upon a man. In this they were perfect for the work they were called to do. They ended up performing admirably and put the devil on the run. None of it was possible, however, without full allegiance toward their ultra-worthy Lord and Master who set the precedent and showed them the way. May we all learn from His example and obey Him as follows:

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” [Matthew 12:30]

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…” [John 10:27]

“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” [John 12:26]

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” [John 14:21]

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” [John 15:4-5][1]

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Tags: America, American Christianity, Called Chosen and Faithful, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Dedication, Discipleship, Early Church, False Doctrine, Hired Hands, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Pentecost, Peter and John, Political Corruption, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Maturity, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

CHRISTIAN BRAINWASHING IS REAL

Nov 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are Christians so indoctrinated they will reject even the most elementary teachings of the Lord Jesus if His teachings violate their “Christian” beliefs.

Rather than brainwashing, we may call it by less pejorative terms such as the aforementioned religious indoctrination or one of the following however it may apply: Training, conditioning, influencing, and even programming. Much of religion, if not all, uses such a process to gain low-denominator sycophants. It can go so far as to create mind-numbed robots who accept and believe things not because they are true but because they have been put forth as true for the sake of an ulterior agenda. Brainwashing/indoctrination is therefore a completely different process than what the Lord Jesus employs in making disciples—He is a Teacher. He teaches spiritual truth. He never uses coercion. He doesn’t force feed supposed facts and figures in a highly impressionable manner in the effort to stamp one’s mind. He doesn’t use manipulation or control tactics. He loves His disciples first and foremost and treats them accordingly. He obviously never violates His own commandments.

SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE THIS OUT:

I was talking to a person once about the Bible. This person was a member in good standing of a particular Christian denomination. When the subject of the accuracy of the Bible came up this person said one can never believe what the Bible says overall which means all of it cannot still be true after all these years and that there must have been changes made to it since the beginning and it must contain errors.

There was nothing I could say.

It was not a matter of possible minor transmission miscues here or there in our Bibles, though some translations are better than others, but the fact that this person belonged to a Christian denomination based on the very Bible that was supposedly hopelessly flawed and which one could not put one’s faith in. This person just revealed belief in a flawed Bible yet belongs to a Christian denomination. Where is the logic in that? In other words, this person likely never read the Bible or very little of it and has little or no faith in its truth and accuracy but still wholeheartedly and faithfully belongs to a particular Christian denomination. If this is not the effect of pure religious brainwashing then what is?

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

By the way, my long time approach on this site has contained an effort at being parabolic with the truth in an effort toward promoting critical thinking. I want the teaching to be thought-provoking and stimulating. The Lord obviously did this and it worked great in that it drew out an understanding of otherwise hidden truths. He also used parables as a way to bypass religious indoctrination and mindsets set in stone. Rather than state otherwise plain truth and Scriptural truth in what some or many may perceive as being antagonistic toward personal beliefs (which happen to be incorrect) or see such teaching as too “preachy” (because it brings on conviction of sin and makes one feel uncomfortable), using the parabolic method compels one to ponder before emoting, the latter of which often causes one to reject truth.

Yet, though this method works well it cannot be used exclusively. There were other times, of course, when the Lord spoke the truth directly and very powerfully. He even told His disciples once that He would dispense with allegory altogether and would no longer teach them in such a way, probably because they reached a point of greater maturity and could handle it. He said He would do this primarily with regard to His true identity:

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.” [John 16:25]

MY LATEST POSTS

This has been brewing for a while. There have been times in the past when I have been more direct and less allegorical. However, I have felt compelled to step it up this year, especially after what I went through in the spring when it appeared I would never write again. Such an occurrence can compel a different mindset. When the Lord blessed and I was able to resume writing again in mid-summer, three and a half months later, though not at my previous pace, I decided on being more direct. I am still dealing with the situation so my mindset has not changed. Some of you may have noticed that my posts as of late contain a higher level of Scriptural truth and even more general truth than usual and that I have been addressing topics which appear controversial (to put it mildly). When one does this he or she must know there will be a cost.

On a good note, however, I want to extend my sincerest thanks to one gracious reader who put a link to my site on hers. I greatly appreciate it. I also thank the few of you who are still here with much appreciation and also to new readers. Blessings to all.

BEHIND THE LOOKING GLASS

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:34-40]

Regarding my previous post about the Israeli-Hamas war, which was apparently the post that caused the most negative reaction thus far (though the posts I wrote on The Real Chosen People did well in that area also), I had decided to begin shining some light on the goings on in the Middle East including mentioning the war crimes of the state of Israel (uh-oh). Talk about exposing sacred heifers.

You see, once a Christian decides to go all in with the modern state of Israel and support it blindly and unquestionably, there is absolutely nothing Israel can do in their eyes that is considered wrong or sinful even if it means murdering and maiming innocent babies and small children by the thousands—blowing them to pieces and crushing them beneath destroyed buildings and infrastructure.

Such look-the-other-way support demands a corresponding hardening of the heart.

Many thousands of innocent women have also been murdered and maimed in the ongoing Gaza campaign. I must assumed these include young women, married women with children, middle-aged women, older women with grandchildren, and even elderly and infirm women. Helpless women and children are being murdered but are only considered mere collateral damage. Some of these are Christians. YET, MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA SUPPORT THIS ONGOING MASSACRE UNEQUIVOCALLY.

How can this happen? It has not occurred, of course, without considerable assistance from the biased major media yet such does not absolve one of personal responsibility. It is otherwise obvious that such Christians are no longer considering or obeying the Lord’s teachings but have transferred their allegiance to another whether they know it or not. Perhaps the following may cause Zionist Christians to give a second’s thought to their allegiance:

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” [Matthew 7:15-20]

It also reminds one of this:

And that brings the following to mind:

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” [Luke 16:10-15][1]

So yes Virginia, there is such a thing as Christian brainwashing. Such Christians go to churches that don’t fully support the Word of God or even believe it is real, violate the teachings of the Lord Jesus, even the most elementary such as the Golden Rule, and most do not even bother to read His teachings or study them. They also support feigning insincere hypocrites doing vile things to innocents. They even go so far as to believe they must bless such people or God will never bless them and will even get them.

What about blessing real Christians—the Real Chosen People? Above all, what about blessing the Lord Jesus? Does God attach any great blessings to the one who blesses the Lord Jesus?

Now, in case you may be wondering, there is only one cure for such Christian brainwashing. Christians who know this know what it is.

Sadly, Christians who don’t will likely reject it (or already have).

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: A Nation Blessed by God, America, Bible, Blessed are the Pure in Heart, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, False Teachers, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Indoctrination, Lord Jesus, Mammon, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Parables, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Identity of Jesus, religion, Serving MONEY, Spiritual Warfare, The Blessings of God, The Great Awakening, The Love of Money, The Real chosen People, The Word of God, Unreal Christianity

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF? POTENTIAL OUTCOMES OF THE ESCALATING ISRAELI-HAMAS WAR

Nov 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

*This little girl is considered by the IDF as a “co-combatant” and is therefore treated the same as an enemy soldier. 5,000 such innocent children have already been killed by Israel in this war.*

Those who have studied ancient Israel’s war with Imperial Rome in 66-70AD notice interesting parallels with the present…

THE ZEALOTS’ RISE TO POWER

As mentioned in previous articles on this site, the two prominent Israelite religious parties in first-century Judea—the Sadducees and Pharisees—not only made the fatal decision to work together in orchestrating the death of their long-awaited Messiah which set their nation on a terminal course, they also made another fatal choice by aligning themselves closely with the militarist Zealot Party. Having perceived that the Zealots could be quite useful regarding their aims, the three parties formed a close bond, as a three-fold cord if you will. This resulted in the former loosely-aligned terroristic bands containing known robbers and villains under a common name which invoked their nationalistic zeal into a growing and more cohesive paramilitary force.

In the intervening thirty-plus years between the Lord’s time and the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome in 66AD, the Zealots had become much more sophisticated and gained greater ability to contend effectively with their hated Roman occupiers and actually wage war. This paramilitary group coalesced into three large main bodies, each with a powerful leader perceived as a Messiah figure.

When the main war began they put up an excellent fight showcasing their highly emotive tone against the Roman’s more steady professionalism. Those first-century Israelite fighters acted in a highly commendable manner from their country’s perspective and invoked the exploits of the renowned King David over a thousand years before. They saw their fight as not unlike the great battles of their more ancient forebears against the enemies of the time, whether nation states or indigenous Canaanites and Philistines.

Though it appeared quite clearly at the onset that Israel had no chance against powerful Roman forces, the small nation quickly illustrated otherwise by causing significant losses at intervals. This caused Rome to step up its game in that it realized the clash would not be a mere mop-up operation but a real fight. Rome had initially landed on the Mediterranean coast in northern Galilee and began its offensive there. Its forces were soon engaged in terrific battles and were forced to use all the military tools and know-how at their disposal. They eventually moved east facing skirmishes and winning battles along the way. The Israelites continued to put up stiff resistance. In the region of the Sea of Galilee there was another major battle though the superior Roman numbers using better and more numerous arms and military hardware prevailed.

This caused the Zealot armies to move south. They decided their best play was to head to Jerusalem in which their many forces could come together and use the walled city as both a strong protective bulwark and a national headquarters. As fate would have it, it was the place they would make their last stand. The Roman legions soon arrived in Judea and after one last major battle suffering significant losses they rallied together outside the walls of Jerusalem, having cornered their prey, and set up a siege encircling the city. It happened exactly as the Lord prophesied it would thirty-five years before:

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” [Luke 19:41-44]

NATIONAL SUICIDE

Inside the city walls there was a constant grappling for power regarding which Zealot group would lead and which Messiah figure would take charge. The Pharisees and Sadducees, after having lost much power and influence in the city and environs among the people as well as with the ardent Zealot brigands, had perceived that they had indeed created a monster all those years before. For the Zealot Party, which had been reconstituted after three decades into a legitimate fighting force worthy of national honor, had by that time taken over the country in a winner-take-all last ditch effort to defeat Rome. Those of the wealthy religious parties then knew the ultra-committed Zealots would fight to the last man and sacrifice everything in the process if necessary.

No Israelites had ever done anything like this before. Throughout its long history, great national sin, losing power, and being subjected to the rule of one nation state and empire after another, even going through the Babylonian Captivity, their forebears had never gone so far as to risk everything. But this was the Zealot method. It had always been that way. They had always, since their inception roughly seventy years before, been men who would risk it all for their cause, even their lives. It was a credo that those of the powerful religious parties had not fully understood at the time of their initial alliance. Though the Sadducees and Pharisees had always been men of much intrigue and secret scheming to the point in which they could deceive and influence pretty much anyone, even the most powerful, they had never seen the need to make such great risks. It was because they knew they didn’t have to because they could gain and maintain their power, influence, and wealth regardless of who held political power.

But the Zealots were not men of such high level deceptive tactics, those who would slouch about in the night as it were, using underhanded methods for mere political gain. No, they were nationalists standing up for their country and would much rather fight than fool and murder than manipulate. Their methods were much more to the point even if it meant taking on the vaunted world-class, well-supplied, and unstoppable legendary legions of the Roman Empire which had to that time destroyed every other fighting force on the planet and anything else in their way. Whereas the Sadducees and Pharisees had the sense to know such otherwise plain facts and would never risk a head-to-head confrontation, the reckless Zealots saw it much differently.

In fighting the Romans directly in disregard of political guile, they intended on saving their country the way David would, in glorious battle. But alas, they were not David, the man after God’s own heart, but actually anti-Davids and anti-Saviors, men distant from God given over to sin among those evil ones who would go so far as to kill the one Man who could save them. The various false Messiahs of the Zealots would rise and fall but no one of them ever commandeered a majority for long. In the end, they stayed ever true to form. They gained full control of the nation because everyone wanted them in control though many changed their minds after it was too late.

The Zealots did risk it all. And they did cause the loss of everything. It was the end of national Israel.

SAVING ISRAEL FROM ITSELF

By indiscriminately killing over 10,000 Palestinian civilians including upwards of 5,000 innocent children (over 6,000 injured) to date since October 7 in its current air/ground offensive and destructive bombing campaign in Gaza, Israel has now managed to do the impossible by uniting the entire Muslim world (over one billion people) against it. Even the ever-squabbling Shiites and Sunnis are starting to come together. To give just one instance of how far things have already escalated on the international front, Pakistan, a nuclear power and 97% Muslim country of which 90% is Sunni Muslim, has apparently offered to deliver nuclear warheads to Turkey if such is requested. Turkey, almost 100% Muslim, is also a 90% Sunni Muslim country and a formidable regional player not to be taken lightly.

Of course, no other country in the immediate region has nuclear weapons except Israel, though it has never acknowledged this. France helped Israel get going on their nuclear program in the late 1950s and through secretive means Israel gained nuclear weapons by the mid-1960s. It managed to do this despite President John F. Kennedy’s strong objections and rightful attempts to stop them. Once he was taken out it cleared the way for Israel to become a nuclear power

There was also an unprecedented ice-melting alliance made earlier this year between Iran (Shiite) and Saudi Arabia (Sunni). Iran, another major player and at the top of the American and Israeli attack list for many years now, has close relations with Syria (Shiite) but also limited relations with Turkey which are reportedly increasing. Israel has always done well at doing its part to keep the Muslim world divided as a defense measure and is why Israel, in the late 1980s, was involved in the very creation of Hamas, its current hated enemy—it needed a hedge against Yasser Arafat’s PLO and Fatah. Though the Israeli intelligence involved acknowledged later that this was a serious blunder, Israel’s current leader’s policy of supporting Hamas politically in recent years has evoked strong protests on the home front.

Those who have closely followed the events in the Middle East of the last several decades know this current conflict in Gaza is the bloodiest with the most far-reaching effect. It will only get much worse if the stated plan remains ongoing and the present course continues. The events of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began almost exactly 50 years to the day before this one, were such that Israel had come close to activating its nuclear arsenal when the tide of battle had turned against it. It doesn’t take much extrapolating to see that this current conflict will likely turn into a regional war involving major Muslim nations who greatly outnumber Israel but are also much better equipped militarily than they were fifty years ago. The US is already dutifully involved and will be more so if other Muslim nations and fighting forces enter the fray.

Will a possibly overwhelmed Israel once again reach a point when it seriously considers the nuclear “Samson” option as the only remaining means of defeating its enemies? Accordingly, does the present leader of Israel, a man who equates long-vanished Old Testament adversaries of ancient Israel with indigenous Palestinians, regard himself as a Zealot-like Messiah figure? Referencing a possible ceasefire or pause for humanitarian purposes in Gaza, he said recently: “We’ll simply carry on until we win.”

THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH?

Those who may think this current conflict is the Armageddon of Revelation playing out before us and that it is therefore inevitable in that nothing can be done to stop it, they are making the same mistake so many Christians have made before. The entire construct of the 1970s prophecy teachers has been proven false. I have written about this in previous posts here. I lived through those days and followed that supposedly prophetic narrative closely, believing all of it early on and even using it in my witnessing. But I also began discovering flaws shortly thereafter. That was 1977. As the years went by the construct began dissolving even more and then never came to fruition in the clear timeline supplied and purported. It was therefore either a mistaken forecast at best which some of the prophecy teachers kept updating (changing) to overcome errors, or a deliberate act of propaganda which allowed for two things: (1) Millions of Christians blindly supporting Israel unconditionally and excusing it regardless of its often brutal behavior and doing nothing about the horrific events and ME wars leading to “the end” since they believed all of it to be inevitable and the result of Biblical prophecy, and (2) That which acted as cover for the powers involved and gave them free reign to act indiscriminately with a complete lack of accountability.

Christians who were deceived by the 1970s false prophetic timeline and still believe it to this day must take a much closer look and understand that the New Testament prophecies about the “Last Days” were not references to our time but their time. The “Last Days” prophecies were about the last days of the ancient nation of Israel in the first-century which came to an end in 70AD—the final generation—and not the generation of the 1970s or today. The prophecy teachers of the 1970s said we were living then in the last generation of the world and that reading the newspaper was like reading ancient Hebrew prophecies. Yet it has now been over 50 years and we are still here. There has been no rapture. None of those guys lived to see what they taught as immediate prophecy for their generation come to pass.

Therefore, instead of sitting around doing nothing while watching “inevitable” prophecy happening, what would happen if the vast majority of Christians in the world rose up and began speaking out against the constant ongoing Middle East blood-letting and war after war? What if a great intercessor army was raised up to pray against all the murder and mayhem and misery? What if Christians worldwide and especially in America actually stood up for PEACE as the Lord Jesus taught us to do instead of support and fund the warmongers and their endless wars which kill and maim multiple millions? And why do so many Christians never think of that which is actually inevitable—the reap-what-you-sow blowback and scads of karma chickens coming home to roost?

Again, the following is what the Lord Jesus said of His own nation in His time:

Sound familiar?

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Biblical Prophecy, Book of Revelation, False Messiahs, First Century Israel, Hidden Agenda, Iranian Christians, JFK, Last Days, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, Messiah, Nuclear Weapons, Olivet Prophecy, One Will Reap What One Sows, Peace, Pharisees, President John F. Kennedy, Prince of Peace, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Roman Empire, Sadducees, Spiritual Deception, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening, The Romans, Unreal Christianity, Zealots

EMBRACING THE NEW COVENANT—ATTAINING SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

Nov 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

In my preceding post we discussed how the New Covenant made the Old Covenant obsolete. This post will discuss overcoming unrecognized religious bondage.

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” [John 8:34-36]

My preceding post of November 1, THE OLD COVENANT IS OBSOLETE AND NO LONGER APPLIES, is a prerequisite to this one and is filled with much explanatory Scripture so for those of you who have yet to read it I suggest you do so. There are already some excellent comments there as well. Delving into this subject is necessary because many Christians still do not know that the Old Covenant is no longer in effect. The New Covenant superseded it and became the legal spiritual covenant of real Christianity two millennia ago. In this post I will address why there remains so much unclear thinking on this subject to begin with and why many Christians are unaware of such an otherwise plain Scriptural fact.

SPIRITUAL PRIORITIES

This should not even be an issue. But it is. Why? It is very simple. Christians in general, over many centuries, have been subjected to false doctrine. This was no different before there was any Christianity because Hebrew religious teachers engaged in the exact practice. Not all, of course, but the majority. How do we know this? Because it was the majority that got it wrong, so to speak. And how do we know that? Because the Old Testament writings tell us exactly that, over and over and over. If the people were being taught correctly such massive spiritual blindness and bondage would not have occurred. It was in part why God raised up and sent forth so many prophets (His spokesmen) in the effort to bring correction by speaking truth.

Now, it cannot be that people in general are so ignorant and unaware naturally that they would fall into such religious slavery but it can certainly be that people are subjected to bad teachers and bad teachings, and when this happens to most then it is the majority that falls victim to false doctrines. But how does that happen? How does the majority allow itself to become such a victim? Could it be because such bad teachers are often also domineering authoritarians who desire and allow their own presence to be felt and become dominant rather than allowing for the presence of the Lord? These two, then—bad teaching and authoritarianism—usually go together.

Such is otherwise easily proven because if they were right and their teachings proved beneficial, they would need no strong authoritarian stances, domineering attitudes, the unfounded insistence on being in charge, deceptive three-dimensional formats, hierarchical positions, and distinctive attire which people in general are conditioned to respect. The Lord Jesus had none of that, of course, and was the most humble Man of all time. By His perfect example we know that His excellent perfect teaching aligns with the opposite of religious authoritarianism. The Lord surely had the highest authority in both heaven and earth but presented Himself in a way that He appeared as a simple obscure itinerant teacher. He obviously focused on His teachings, not Himself or any religious enterprise, and wanted His teachings and manner to be perfect so people could attain spiritual freedom. That was His overall priority.

Therefore, there is always the connection between bad teaching and authoritarianism because getting the teaching right is not their priority. Gaining and maintaining their authority and the perks thereof are their top priority. Serving money and not God is their top priority. The question, then, regards how the bad-teaching domineering authoritarians gained their authority and power in the first place.

A MAN AND A MISSION

One may recall that a long time ago in an Egypt far, far away God needed a very powerful man to lead His people out of bondage and into freedom. If there was any better way to do this the Lord would have employed it but there was not. Over the intervening years since the passing of Jacob and Joseph and the rise of a new power in Egypt that had little knowledge or respect of these men and the former times of God’s blessing, the Israelites had lost contact with Him due to their ever-increasing sin. Because His people lost touch with God He required a human being to work through to regain communication. The man God would choose had to be properly prepared, instructed, and anointed to lead His people back to God for their own benefit and blessing. The nation of Israel had to be saved.

At a time in Egypt when His people had been so subjected to increasing servitude, oppression, persecution, and bad conduct by (guess who) evil authoritarians in power (however, of the political/state variety), the great many descendants of Jacob/Israel had actually fallen so far they had become mere slaves. These unfortunates were therefore necessarily forced into spending the bulk of their energy and lives obeying such evil authoritarians in order to survive, because to do otherwise would not only make things worse for them it could get them killed. This meant they were no longer serving God.

Funny how that happens. Do you realize there is not one New Testament verse of Scripture that ever allows for a Christian to stop serving the Lord Jesus in order to serve a Christian authoritarian? Yet, the majority of Christians on the planet do that very thing. How does one suppose that happened? When did it start? When did Christian authoritarians gain power over the majority of Christians and then create an entirely new non-New Testament paradigm to both maintain their power and authority and also train ongoing new generations of religious authoritarians regardless of denomination to continue the process apparently without so much as a wait-a-second… from the majority in any congregation anywhere?

Well, the bigger question than when is why. We can know the when. The when is out there. It can be fully researched for those who are willing to put in the work. But again, the bigger question is why? It is the same question one must ask of ancient Israelites. Why did they allow themselves to come under the control and power of religious authoritarian dictators who led them away from God? Who convinced them that such was God’s will?

Well, again, one must return to the days of Moses for the appropriate answer. According to my much-researched understanding, Moses was born in 1526BC. He was raised in a well-to-do Egyptian royal home in which he was treated like a prince (because he was one though he possessed no ancestral link to Egyptian royalty and was actually a Hebrew in good standing). God put him there for a reason. Remember, God did not suddenly have a thought one day that His people needed a deliverer so He looked around and found Moses who appeared, surprisingly, quite qualified to that point for the assignment. No, God actually knew the future (surprise surprise) and planned for the arrival of a non-existent deliverer long before such a man was ever born. This means Moses was born with a specific and quite significant destiny.

Men with such destinies never have it easy. They are often in a conflict with their own desires of the life they want to live. Something keeps calling them back to adhere to a different path. It is obviously difficult for the Lord to continue impressing upon such a man the way he should go as opposed to any other path which is always self-serving and of no eternal use. Such men eventually understand they must sacrifice their own desires and wishes and surrender to something much bigger than themselves whatever it may cost them. And, of course, it will cost them everything.

Regarding the times then, God knew exactly what would eventually happen to the descendants of Jacob/Israel during their Egyptian sojourn. He knew they would drift away from Him. He knew they would go into great sin. He knew this would make them subject to being treated badly by people outside their culture, taken advantage of, eventually used by evil authoritarians for their own purposes, and thus be in need of deliverance. In other words, His people were in dire straits but due only to their insistence upon their own self will and resultant sins which caused their falling away from God.

This means that without the Lord’s intervention of raising up a man from this sinful wayward nation of Israelites it would never and could never be saved. Someone had to overcome the evil authoritarians. Someone had to quit being a mere slave under the power of illicit authority and give himself completely to God and make Him his sole authority. It is the only way to attain spiritual freedom. Therefore, before Israel was made free Moses would have to be made free.

It is exactly the same with Christians. One can always tell when Christians have been taken over by authoritarians. Rather than serve the Lord Jesus they serve those who gained power in His place. Their Christian culture, beliefs, and practices no longer resemble the culture, beliefs, and practices of the original Christians in the first century AD—those who set the precedent and became the prototype—but are a reflection instead of the dominant ruling religious class they subjected themselves to and the false doctrines and teachings such people espouse.

The nation of Israel fell into this trap and thus demanded the deliverance of God through Moses. This great deliverance was illustrated magnificently in the final happening of the Exodus when the deep Sea was parted in two and allowed the nation access out of geographic slavery. They left Egypt (a spiritual type of “the world”) forever. This happened when Moses was eighty years old in 1446BC. Through another forty years of instruction in the wilderness, the Lord eventually gave the Israelites access to their long promised Promised Land and created a nation subjected only to His authority and no other. In this they were delivered from slavery of every kind which included religious slavery under false religious authoritarians.

Well, for a while anyway. Then they lost it. Then the Lord delivered them and regained authority. Then they fell away again. This process continued throughout the period of the Judges. It later became a farce when the nation rejected God as its King and insisted on a mere man (King Saul). The cycle continued repeating until there was no longer any possible deliverance. The people simply said forget it. They grew tired of the process. As a result the majority quit on God completely and that was that. The Lord had to give them a divorce (Jeremiah 3:8). And into the void of no God in their lives came, you guessed it—evil religious authoritarians who set up a completely different system than God’s and subjected the nation to religious slavery. Because this Israelite religious class, composed primarily of Levites and priests out of position, gained such great power, they held the people in great fear and spiritual ignorance. This is how false religions have always ruled and it was no different with the ancient Israelites. The religionists used fear very effectively and also instituted a policy of ignorance of spiritual things so the people would be none the wiser.

REJECTING THE LORD JESUS

It is no different with Christians. The vast majority of Christians would much rather be ruled by mere religious human authoritarians rather than the Lord Jesus. However, they are not aware that they have also been subjected to spiritual ignorance through the process of their betters either hiding, rewriting, or shading Scriptural truth so the authority of the Lord Jesus would not be reestablished. As a perfect case in point, the early Roman Catholic Church effectively banned the New Testament from the people at large which continued for a millennium (the Dark Ages).

Hence, the Old Covenant which the Lord Jesus made obsolete is resurrected and comes to life again, as does religious slavery, and the people are none the wiser. This means such Christians actually reject the New Covenant and make it obsolete in their own lives. Why would otherwise intelligent people do this? Why would someone turn things upside down and make the New Covenant personally obsolete?

This is not a hard question. It is for the same reason the ancient Israelites failed. You see, when one loves another, it is the love that makes the difference in that without the love there would be no relationship. With God, it is a covenant of love. Other relationships are also based on love in its various forms and these are also effective covenants. We have different kinds of love but the principle is the same. The Greek language used in the writing of the New Testament refers to four basic kinds of love using four different words. Only two of these appear in the NT: The first is agape which represents the highest and most pure love and may be termed spiritual love. The other is philia and refers to close friendship or brotherly love. The other two Greek words for love are eros (marriage) and storge (family). Though all real love is good, one’s love for God is highest (agape) according to the New Testament and must be placed first since it is foundational. When the nation of Israel fell out of love with God it began its downward spiral. When one marriage partner falls out of love with the other it violates and often ends the marriage covenant. The same is true in family or friendship. The love must be mutual and must be maintained.

Why then do Christians often place a lesser form of love above their love for the Lord Jesus? Why do many Christians, likely the majority, love and support their leaders (pastors, ministers, reverends, priests, etc.) more than the Lord? Why do many Christians place the love of spouse, family, and friends above the Lord? Whatever the reason may be, it causes one to have the wrong priorities and this in turn causes one who should not be in the highest place of spiritual authority in one’s life to attain it and thus gain strong religious influence and primacy which effectively replaces the authority of the Lord Jesus.

We have ample verses of New Testament Scripture stating clearly that the Lord Jesus must always possess this highest place of importance in a Christian’s life and this is proven by a Christian placing His teachings first and foremost which always displaces the lesser or false teachings of substitute and counterfeit “ministers.” If the Lord Jesus is not first then a Christian will certainly adopt teachings other than His even though they may appear to be “Christian” in origin and practice.

The cure to overcoming such bondage is the same as it always was. We need a deliverer. We need someone raised up by God sent forth to free us from slavery. The worst form of slavery is religious slavery. It is due to unknowingly allowing a counterfeit replacement for the Lord. Within Christianity, specifically, there are those “leaders” who look the part, act the part, use New Covenant Scripture, and even honor the teachings of the Lord Jesus but only on a limited basis and in a superficial manner. Whether these people do this willfully and deceitfully (many do) or are themselves deceived, the effect is the same. The Old Covenant, otherwise dead and gone with the wind, is raised again like the rotting rusting hulk of the Titanic. The newness of the New is overcome by the oldness of the Old.

And through this process there is found the same deception that eventually destroyed the ancient nation of Israel forever. It is specter of sinful human will wanting the desires of the flesh and the treasure of this fallen world rather than the purity and power of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and eternal life. A very sad and evil extension of this is the creation of a false Christianity, in many forms, which draws in the unsuspecting and convinces them they are in a good place under good leaders within a good construct when the opposite is often true. Such people are cut off from the full truth and never seek the full truth of the New Covenant since they have been convinced they already have it. They will also embrace sin since there is little or no voice against it which assists in causing further deception and distance from the only possible cure. The writer of the Book of Hebrews stated it this way:

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? [Hebrews 10:26-29]

It is only by embracing the fullness of the New Covenant that one attains actual spiritual freedom and maintains it. It is not only the cure for sin but also the one remedy for spiritual deception.

A NEW AND LIVING WAY

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful… [Hebrews 10:19-23] [1]

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, False Christian Movements, False Doctrine, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Gospel Truth, Lord Jesus, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Moses, New Covenant, Old Covenant, Prophets, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Serving MONEY, Sin, Slavery, Spiritual Freedom, The Exodus from Egypt, The Great Awakening

THE OLD COVENANT IS OBSOLETE AND NO LONGER APPLIES

Nov 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

According to the teachings of the Lord Jesus and New Testament writings, the Old Covenant has been superseded by the New Covenant.

If you want to delve into this topic deeply in order to remove any possible cloudy thinking on the subject, the Epistle to the Hebrews will give you a good start and likely answer most or all of your questions. That monumental treatise was written in the early 60s AD by Hebrew followers of the Lord Jesus to their fellow Hebrews in a concerted effort to teach the principles of the New Covenant and how it surpassed the Old Covenant.

The following seven Scriptural passages from Hebrews provide a good starter kit to gain the basic elementary facts of the topic and put to rest any objections against this truth as well as jettison the false assertions that certain Old Covenant legalities remain in effect which attempt to subvert the ratification of the New Covenant, hinder the spiritual freedom thereof, and claim benefits which have no legal standing:

THE NEW COVENANT OF MESSIAH JESUS

ONE:

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of Him,

“You are a priest forever

According to the order of Melchizedek.” [Hebrews 7:11-17]

TWO:

For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,

“The Lord has sworn

And will not change His mind,

‘You are a priest forever’”);

So much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. [Hebrews 7:18-22]

THREE:

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says,

“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,

When I will effect a new covenant

With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers

On the day when I took them by the hand

To lead them out of the land of Egypt;

For they did not continue in My covenant,

And I did not care for them, says the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

After those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws into their minds,

And I will write them on their hearts.

And I will be their God,

And they shall be My people.

And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,

And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

For all will know Me,

From the least to the greatest of them.

For I will be merciful to their iniquities,

And I will remember their sins no more.”

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. [Hebrews 8:6-13]

FOUR:

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. [Hebrews 9:15-18]

FIVE:

After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

“This is the covenant that I will make with them

After those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws upon their heart,

And on their mind I will write them,”

He then says,

“And their sins and their lawless deeds

I will remember no more.”

Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

SIX:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. [Hebrews 12:22-24]

SEVEN:

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. [Hebrews 13:20-21][1]

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Tags: Blood Covenant, Hebrews, Law of Moses, Lord Jesus, Melchizedek, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation, The Great Awakening, The New Covenant, The New Testament, The Sacrifice Lamb, Tribe of Judah

THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD CHRISTIANS GUILTLESS FOR SUPPORTING SIN AND EVIL

Oct 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

Those who know the least are often those with the most settled, unswerving, and unchanging incorrect beliefs. It is an otherwise clear sign of indoctrination.

THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS ARE THE CURE

The New Testament must be differentiated from the Old Testament just as the New Covenant supersedes the Old Covenant. The apostle Paul wrote about this often and the teaching exists throughout his many writings. Those who know the New Testament and believe it to be the Word of God also know that Paul was taught the Gospel directly by the Lord Jesus in a one-on-one spiritual encounter that must have lasted quite a while and probably happened during his desert sojourn. It is also not difficult to correctly surmise here that Paul attended to his own forty day fast likely at the same time:

The man Saul was not only naturally brilliant, of course, and fiercely determined, but as Paul, he also came to be extremely knowledgeable of spiritual things. The Lord Jesus chose him for a reason and made a point to make it a special occasion because of one of Paul’s (Saul’s) other natural attributes: He was magnificently bullheaded.

The only cure for such if one will walk in the Spirit and do the will of God is to be humbled, and in Paul’s case and others like him, greatly humbled. In other words, the Lord Jesus sees all and knows all. He knows what one will be thinking next Wednesday at 1:37pm. He knows everything about every one of us. It is why it is so ridiculous when one tries to hide from God or think God does not see one’s every move. It is why so many people steer clear of the Lord because they know in their hearts that He knows this and they feel strongly uncomfortable and awkward about a possible meeting as a result. They do not appreciate the thought of having to encounter a holy God because of their many unconfessed sins which will undoubtedly be revealed as will be their sinful thoughts and thinking as well as knowing their intentions and justification for questionable activity will likely never pass muster. Such was possibly going through Paul’s mind when the following occurred:

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. [Acts 9:1-9]

BULLHEADED CHRISTIANS

Most Christians, of course, had not needed such a dramatic conversion experience. Prior to salvation they were not so full of themselves, their own worth, or filled with pride to such a degree, especially the kind Saul/Paul had—religious pride—which is about as difficult to extract as the giant back teeth of a living and very angry Tyrannosaurus Rex. Only God can do it. And He certainly knows how. But He will never waste much or any time and effort on people whom He knows will never repent. He knew Paul’s heart beyond his indoctrination and also knew he would make the right decision though not without some extra help.

All real Christians living in the world at present certainly had to go through an initial humbling process to gain their salvation that may certainly have involved some level of what Paul went through. It all depended on how much pride they had and how soon they were willing to give it up. Sadly, most people never do and it is why most people never make heaven but receive instead the eternal dumpster fire by their own choice. They simply consider themselves just fine and dandy and awesome and pretty and strong and together and well-liked and appreciated as one can be and therefore have no need of any (dread!) repentance. Adam and Eve’s first son Cain was like that. As the first man ever born into this world naturally, it was not so good an omen…

It is why those who would be saved from sin and from themselves must be like Abel. They must be transformed from Cains into Abels. They must be changed from Saul to Paul. In Biblical terminology it must be as follows:

And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God. [Ezekiel 11:19-21]

And of course the vast majority of God’s Old Covenant “Chosen People” had their wicked sinful bullheaded stiff-necked conduct come down on their own heads just as the Lord said would happen. And the same thing will happen with unrepentant and unreal Christians who cannot help but exhibit the same behavior though with a quite benign and cheery faux exterior.

We must never forget that anyone can be happy and self-assured in their sin until they are convicted of their sin. Then their happy self-assured cheery exterior quickly vanishes and the true person hidden within comes raging forth. Regarding the fake Chosen Ones as illustrated in the New Covenant writings, here is a good example of that:

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. [Acts 7:51-54] [1]

Gnashing their teeth? Have you ever seen anyone do this? Sounds demonic. Here’s the Greek:

βρύχω brýchō (broo’-kho); a primary verb; to grate the teeth (in pain or rage):—gnash. Usage: I. To grind, gnash with the teeth. II. To bite, to chew.

What kind of potent hateful psycho anger causes a person to do this? It is not unfair to say it relates to the behavior of wild or rabid dogs or a shark feeding frenzy. Of such are the natural excesses of unbridled human sinful behavior and an obvious case in point on why crucifying the flesh is a necessary and mandatory tenet of the Lord’s teachings.

SIDING WITH THE ENEMY

“You shall not murder.” [Exodus 20:13]

“Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.” [Exodus 23:7]

Which brings us back to the fact that the Lord will not hold Christians guiltless for supporting sin and evil. For example, one should know it is evil when multiple thousands of innocent toddlers and young bright-eyed children are being killed indiscriminately with a great many more to come toward a desired societal liquidation, and one would otherwise know such a fact clearly and absolutely if not for being taught that such is perfectly fine against certain people (but not others) and under certain conditions, because their kind are merely human animals anyway. Right? Speaking of which, rather than go through so much trouble trying to save and house and feed and find homes for so many hundreds of thousands of stray dogs and cats in America (probably more), why don’t they just shoot them? Then bulldoze them into unmarked mass graves? Wouldn’t that be easier and far less expensive? After all, it’s not like they have a soul and are going to heaven.

Therefore, in light of such, why is it that many Christians allow, support, and condone certain sins which the Lord teaches against and sometimes funds the people committing them? How is it that many Christians are so inoculated against proper conviction that they never think about such sins or attempt to stop committing them, or excusing others from the same and therefore tolerate and support evil behavior?

We should see that the Lord Jesus, who is PERFECT and NEVER sinned was always being falsely accused by his haters of some such offense that was never actually true. Why? They were operating under strong conviction and hated being outed for the evil people they were by One they couldn’t fool instead of being treated as righteous people the way they desired and were treated by the deluded and fearful due to their phony duded-up exterior and faux religious standing and behavior. It appears, then, that their sense of sin was contrary to His (understatement alert).

This being the case, what book or set of teachings were they being taught from and indoctrinated by? It was obviously not from the Lord’s superior, correct, and perfect teachings. And right there is your answer: Many Christians have been subverted by anti-Christian teachings and propaganda that they have accepted blindly and wholeheartedly even though such teachings violate God’s holy Word and such propaganda is used to manipulate them into siding with and giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

And even after being shown the error of their ways, many still refuse to repent, see the light, or change their way of thinking. They double down all the more, stick with their anti-Christian teachings all the more, believe the manipulative propaganda all the more, and attack those who are shining the light of Scripture all the more.

This is exactly what happened to Stephen. It is exactly what happened to the Lord. Both were innocent but both also spoke out very strongly against sin and evil. And both were attacked and killed by their own wayward countrymen—the stubborn, obstinate, stiff-necked, headstrong, and bullheaded (exactly as the attacks of Unreal Christians against real Christians)—those oblivious ones who find it impossible that they may possibly be wrong about anything and are determined to support their settled, unswerving, and unchanging incorrect beliefs, including religious beliefs that defy Scripture, even if it forfeits their place in heaven in order to remain in cognitive dissonance hell.

These types never do the proper research.

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Tags: Apostle Paul, Cain and Abel, Christian Pharisees, Cognitive Dissonance, Conviction, False Religious Authority, Guilty, Heart Circumcision, Indoctrination, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, New Testament, Prideful Church Leaders, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Saul of Tarsus, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Humility, Spiritual Warfare, Stephen, Ten Commandments, The Great Awakening, The Real chosen People, Unreal Christianity

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (PART 2)

Oct 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

I wrote and posted this article in March of 2012 as the second of a series. It revealed the New Testament definition of “The Chosen People.” What follows is an updated version.

SAVING ISRAEL FROM ITSELF

The Pharisees and Sadducees were so intent on stopping the Lord Jesus and His followers they unwisely enlisted the help of the belligerent Zealots. This proved to be an inauspicious decision that resulted in national disaster a generation later when powerful warmongering Zealot armies and their false-Messiah leaders took control of the nation and the national city of Jerusalem in a winner-take-all fight against Imperial Rome.

We see the beginning echo of this unfortunate choice at the Lord’s trial in the choosing of the Zealot Barabbas over the Lord. This unrepentant criminal and likely murderer was released from prison by popular demand while the same vociferous crowd demanded the Messiah be crucified. As the man’s name clearly indicates, the choosing of the “son of the father” (which could further indicate “fathers”) illustrates the malicious nature of the choice.

In the Lord’s time this loose collection of brigands which came to be known as Zealots in the early first century AD remained relatively small and incohesive. The party existed primarily as a hyper aggressive small-scale terroristic militarist movement intent on striking back at Rome due to what they perceived as its tyrannical treatment of the otherwise independent Israelite people in their own land.

The Roman Republic’s entry began almost a full century before in 63BC during the ongoing civil war which ensued after the Israelite queen Alexandra-Salome died in 67BC and the two heirs, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, fought each other for political control. This was yet one more event which demanded outside control to properly govern the region. The Roman general and statesman Pompey had already been moving east since being authorized that same year putting out fires, fighting battles, taking territory, and establishing Roman control across the northern Mediterranean regions. After capturing Syria in 64BC he decided to take advantage of the internal conflict in Judaea and head south.

One might note that this Israelite civil fight also involved the two still somewhat nascent but established major religious parties: The Sadducees sided with Aristobulus and the Pharisees remained true to John Hyrcanus II. Therefore, the Israelite civil war was a religious civil war as well. General Pompey entered the fray in Judaea and then after a siege took Jerusalem and captured the temple. Once establishing Roman control he returned home a hero. Rome then annexed much of the former Israelite kingdom, primarily Galilee and Judaea. This marked the beginning of the end of the independent Hasmonean Dynasty which eventually ceased to exist in 37BC when Herod the Great became the Roman client king. This set the stage for several profound future events culminating with the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah.

CHOOSING THE CHOSEN

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

“Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;

My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel, nor cry out;

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

A battered reed He will not break off,

And a smoldering wick He will not put out,

Until He leads justice to victory.

And in His name the Gentiles will hope.” [Matthew 12:15-21]

In these days when everyone is a Christian and Christianity is watered-down to a consistency barely above water itself, why do we think God even cares about doing any choosing? This is how far fake Christianity has traveled. There is hardly any distinction at all between many so-called Christians and a world going to hell. And it is the touchy, thin-skinned, aggressively defensive and convicted Unchosen itself that is often first to speak out strongly against any perceived judgment, however slight, regarding its perceived standing in God. The motto of real Christians, on the other hand, is thus:

“Talk about me if you please, but I’ll talk about you on my knees.”

Where in this country is there a voice that represents the real presence of God? Where is the voice that distinguishes truth from error and fake, dry, dead, boring lifeless expressions of faux Christianity from the real thing? Those who have dissolved the life-giving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will have to account for it. All those who have been deceived by their “other gospel” will rise up against them at the Judgment, not that it will matter then.

Why does one think the people in hell will be gnashing at each other with their teeth like a pack of wild dogs? There is the clear indication that the unchosen do not agree with their ultimate status.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

“But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” [Matthew 22:2-14]

This is a perfect illustration of God’s selection process. It goes like this:

(1) The first thing the king does is send out invitations. He makes his choices based on his own criteria. But these criteria must be based on those whom he considers His friends, relatives, and select subjects of his kingdom.

(2) What do the invited guests do? They refuse. They ignore him. They ignore the invitation. They treat the king with supreme indifference and disrespect. They are all completely unwilling to attend the wedding feast.

(3) Curious as to why no one wants to come after having been chosen, the king sends out another group to ask the invitees yet again, explaining how much trouble he has gone to, how much He has prepared, and how much he really wants them all to come and share in his joy. The slaves tell everyone what a great time will be had. There will be barbecued oxen and fatted livestock and a great dinner! My son is getting married and I want you all to come!

(4) This time the invitees not only continued to reject the king but some of them actually mistreated the king’s slaves, and they even killed them! What would compel the invited guests to resort to killing the messenger boys sent out by a loving king? (“Hey Joe, check out this story in the paper. Some dude up north was throwing a wedding for his son and one idiot killed the mailman when he got his invitation.”)

(5) Then what? The king was enraged! So He sent his army, executed the murderers, and torched their sorry city. I mean, all they had to do was politely decline. Why all the rage and murder about a simple wedding invitation?

(6) Now the king decides He is just going to invite everyone he can find. He no longer makes any judgment whatsoever on who may be qualified to come to the wedding. Those who were qualified proved themselves to be completely unworthy. He therefore sends out his slaves to invite one and all, whether good or bad. This time, he ended up with a packed house. His estate was filled to the gills with the rabble of the countryside. They must have thought themselves to be impossibly blessed. No one had ever done anything like this for them before. “Huh? You want little old nobody nothing me to go to a wedding at the king’s estate? Thanks!” They all wasted no time in taking showers and getting their fancy wedding duds on, however humble, and high-tailed it to the big barbecue. The king was most happy!

(7) But all was not perfect. You see, there was this one guy who made no acknowledgement at all of the great thing that happened to him. He didn’t consider himself fortunate and honored to be invited. He didn’t try to get cleaned-up. In fact, he had so little respect for the proceedings that he didn’t even put on a wedding garment. He just kind of wondered in off the street with no expression on his face loosely holding an invitation. The king confronted the man. He even called him his friend. But the man had no answer regarding his lack of proper attire. As a result, he was effectively thrown into hell. To close out the story, the Lord Jesus said: “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

There are three kinds of people in this story:

(A) Those who are called and chosen but do not respect the king and reject his invitation, some of whom even kill the king’s servants. By their own decisions, they revoke their called and chosen status.

(B) Those who are called but are not chosen because they do not properly respect the king or his invitation and dress incorrectly.

(C) Those who are called and chosen because they respect the king, honor his invitation, and dress correctly.

The man without the wedding garment was masquerading as a real Christian. The “wedding clothes” represent the robe of righteousness. Righteousness is a gift. It cannot be earned but can be accepted after one shows the proper respect and honor for the King, and also who properly repents, trusts, and obeys:

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. [Isaiah 61:10]

The following verses give us an indication of what God requires with reference to the appropriate wedding clothes which Isaiah had described so wonderfully in the preceding verse. Please understand that no will enter joyfully into the presence of the King and remain without being properly and respectfully attired:

“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” [Revelation 3:4-6]

“Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” [Revelation 3:14-20] [1]

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Tags: America, Ancient Israel, Ancient Jerusalem, Called Chosen and Faithful, Christian Pharisees, False Forms of Christianity, For Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen, Hasmonean Dynasty, Hebrews, Isaiah the Prophet, Israelites, Jesus is the Messiah, Judea, Lord Jesus, New Testament, Parable of the Wedding Feast, Pharisees, Pompey, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sadducees, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening, The Real chosen People, The Romans, The Wedding Clothes, Zealots

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (PART 1)

Oct 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

I wrote and posted this article in March of 2012 as the first of a series. It revealed the New Testament definition of “The Chosen People.” What follows is an updated version.

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (PART 1)

Many Christians have been conditioned to believe that “The Chosen People” are the Jews regardless of whether they honor the Lord Jesus as Messiah or not. Many Christians have been taught that Jews are the only people on Earth who belong to God and will forever belong to God even if they deny that Jesus is their Messiah, if they deny He died to save them from their sins, if they disparage His Name and character, if they actively fight against and oppose real Christianity, especially in Israel, and if they as individuals refuse to repent of their sins and submit to His Lordship.

For some odd reason, many Christians have been taught that the New Testament teachings do not apply to the Jewish people. Why? Simply because they are Jews? News flash: The Lord Jesus loves Jews the same as He loves Gentiles. He died for both. Since this is obviously true, why do so many Christian churches and ministries, especially Christian Zionists, shun or downplay reaching out to Jews for their salvation? Though there certainly are Christian ministries which specialize in reaching out to the Jewish people there is still a strange disconnect in this area that clouds otherwise clear New Testament truth.

As a clear example of what is possible, we are living in a day when Messianic Judaism is very popular and growing. The followers of Messianic Judaism honor Jesus as Messiah. They are still Jews, of course, but believe in and follow the Lord Jesus as did the Ἰουδαῖος of the first century.

Speaking of which, what was the greater fallout of the tumultuous changes of the early-to-mid first century AD? Historically, after the complete destruction of what was left of the Hebrew/Israelite homeland in 70AD when Jerusalem was invaded and destroyed by the Romans and the Temple was completely razed to the ground and burned, there was only one segment of the traditional overall “Judaism” of that time that remained.

The Sadducees ceased to exist since there was no longer any Hebrew/Israelite nation. The Essenes, those likely responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls, also faded away. Some Hebrew/Israelite nationals held out after Jerusalem was destroyed, comprising segments of the Zealot Party, but committed mass murder against one another and suicide on the heights of Masada in 73/74AD. There were two other large uprisings against the Romans, the largest and last of which was the Bar Kochba Revolt from 132-135AD. After their defeat there was no longer any effective and organized Hebrew/Israelite resistance against the Romans. It was the end of the Zealots.

The Pharisees, however, were the one party that lived on. They did not die out as the other Hebrew/Israelite major religious and political parties had. The same party that gave the Lord Jesus so much trouble during His ministry and fought the apostles at every turn, especially the apostle Paul, never actually ceased to exist. The Pharisees continued as the sole religious representatives of the Hebrew/Israelite people who had rejected the Lord Jesus as Messiah and Savior. They then morphed into what was later known as Talmudic or Rabbinic Judaism.

Again, the Lord Jesus was 100% a Ἰουδαῖος from the Tribe of Judah and a direct descendant within the kingly line of David. The genealogies in the gospels of Matthew and Luke prove this. Also, every original apostle had Hebrew/Israelite ancestral roots and so had every single member of the Community of the Lord we read about in the earliest history of His Movement as recorded in the Book of Acts including the 120 at Pentecost. For seven to ten years after the Resurrection of the Lord, the entire Qahal of the Lord Jesus was composed entirely of Hebrew/Israelite descendants, members of the nation of Israel, and of the twelve tribes. It was not until the salvation of the Gentile Cornelius and his group, as recorded in Acts 10, that the apostles understood that the Lord Jesus wanted non-Hebrew/Israelite Gentiles also to be included among His people and become members of His spiritual Community. Prior to that time, the Hebrew/Israelite followers of Jesus had somehow assumed that only Hebrews/Israelites and full proselytes to the Judaism of that time would qualify for membership in the Lord’s Community.

So here we see the first great division created by the Lord’s ministry, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, of the Hebrew/Israelite people. One camp saw that Jesus was indeed their long-awaited and hoped-for Messiah and accepted Him fully. The other camp rejected Jesus as Messiah. The camp of rejecters coalesced around the Party of the Pharisees, the lone remaining representatives of overall first-century Judaism. This party has essentially existed throughout history ever since and continued in part as the sole Hebrew organized religious force against Jesus the Messiah.

What happened to the first-century Hebrew/Israelite believers in Jesus? After Cornelius, more and more Gentiles entered the fold of real Christianity. Indeed, the apostle Paul was called by God to be the first and foremost apostle to the non-Hebrew/Israelite Gentiles. Later, at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), it was decided by the Jerusalem Hebrew/Israelite believers that Gentiles did not have to undergo all things Torah in order to attain official membership in the Body of Christ. As more Gentiles flooded in, ethnic differences between Hebrew/Israelite and non-Hebrew/Israelite believers were downplayed over time. This did not mean that Hebrew/Israelite followers of Jesus did not retain their unique identity. Such would have been tragic. These first-century Hebrew/Israelite believers in Jesus were descended from the great Patriarchs of the distant past and represented the then-current true Remnant of the nation.

Paul, a Hebrew/Israelite in very high standing, both ethnically (of the Tribe of Benjamin) and religiously (a Pharisee), as well as a solid Roman citizen, wrote this:

“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 (Ἰουδαῖος) 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 a very powerful statement.

From this we know that strict Hebrew/Israelite distinctiveness no longer mattered with respect to membership in the kingdom of God. According to the New Testament, it was no longer an issue to trace one’s physical lineage to Abraham. One can be a descendant of Abraham whether he or she is connected by direct genealogy or not.

Therefore, according to the New Testament and the teachings of the Lord Jesus, which the apostle Paul relayed in the Galatians passage, it is not an ancestral link that makes one a seed of Abraham but a spiritual link by faith according to promise.

However, Hebrew/Israelite non-believers in the Lord Jesus, of course, discounted and rejected this entire notion. They believed it destroys their unique identity. As a result, they hated Paul with the same passion with which they hated the Lord Jesus (How dare these Christian heretics dispose of our status as God’s chosen people!).

Which brings us back to the original point: God’s chosen people, according to the New Testament, are only those who honor the Lord Jesus as Messiah. Yet, even as you read this you probably cringe and think such cannot possibly be true. But it’s right there in your Bible. As is this:

“For he is not a Jew (Ἰουδαῖος) who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew (Ἰουδαῖος) who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.” [Romans 2:28-29]

Throughout the Gospels and New Testament writings we see, then, that the “Chosen People” are those who are in Christ, who embrace the Lord Jesus as the only Messiah and Savior, whose hearts have been circumcised, who are in spiritual relationship with Him, and who submit to His full Lordship.

Though the Hebrew/Israelite people were originally chosen by God as descendants of Abraham in ancient times, the majority of them later rejected God. All one must do is pick up the Old Testament and read a few pages to find that this is true.

However, there has always been a believing Hebrew/Israelite remnant and there were always enough who honored God to keep the ancient nation of Israel intact though diminishing. Israel split in two after Solomon’s death in circa 930BC, the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom went into captivity (circa 722BC) and never returned, effectively ceasing to exist, and only the Southern Kingdom of Judah remained until the first destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586BC. The land of Judah, which was originally also comprised of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, was later reconstituted and existed until the time of our Lord as a national entity. After its destruction by the Romans in 70AD it was the end of the Hebrew/Israelite nation. The unbelieving and disobedient had so outnumbered the believing remnant who dutifully followed YHWH prior to the Incarnation and the Lord Jesus afterward that the geographic and religio-political nation ceased to exist.

The Community of the Lord, however, began at the same time once the Messiah was revealed. Therefore, there is no hope for those who reject the Lord Jesus and look for another. There is no other Messiah and never will be. And without Messiah Jesus there is no salvation because He is salvation—it is the very meaning of His Name (YHWH-Salvation):

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4:8-12][1]

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Tags: Abraham, Ancient Israel, Ancient Jerusalem, Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, Called Chosen and Faithful, Christian Pharisees, Essenes, For Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen, Hebrews, Israelites, Jesus is the Messiah, Lord Jesus, Messianic Judaism, New Testament, Pharisees, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sadducees, The Great Awakening, The Name Above Every name, The Real chosen People, Zealots

WHO WILL SUPPORT THE LORD JESUS?

Oct 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

He gave everything He had to give. His love is total. He in turn asks exactly the same for those who would follow Him. Who will support the Lord Jesus?

CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES TODAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” [Matthew 12:30]

Serving the Lord Jesus is a 100% proposition. If one is to follow Him then one follows Him always. If one is to honor Him then one honors Him always. If one is to obey His teachings and commandments then one does not pick and choose but obeys His entire curriculum.

I coined the term Unreal Christianity many years ago. It refers to all the fake Christianity in the world and those fake Christians who claim to serve the Lord Jesus but do not. As it is in regard to the first two of the Ten Commandments, which text will follow shortly, the majority of Christians and their faux leaders believe in and serve the mere artificial religious constructs of men which exist as counterfeits and are only loosely based on real Christianity. It is a way to assuage one’s convicting conscience by engaging in a deception to fool it but one actually only fools oneself. Thus, Unreal Christianity in its many fake forms is nothing more than the creation of a deception to suit oneself and can never act as a true discipleship vehicle.

It is exactly the same when one attempts to create a god to suit oneself which is what the Second Commandment actually refers to. The real and only God will have none of it!

For greater spiritual light and understanding of the real meaning of this commandment, I wrote the following commentary and explanation of the Second Commandment in my book Real Christianity:

In Exodus 20:4–6, the second of the Ten Commandments flatly states: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

The word “idol” is translated as “graven image” in many Bible versions. The Hebrew word is pecel, and implies an image of a man or animal made from metal or wood. The word “likeness” in the stated verses is from the Hebrew temuwnah. This word has a more general definition—“form, representation, likeness”—but suggests three dimensionality. Both of these words connote something fashioned or shaped to be worshipped or served.

Hence, image building is designed to cover inherent flaws and promote a false representation of reality—a three-dimensional fashioning of an object other than God to be submitted to, and thus, to serve. Therefore, the intention of the Second Commandment is to protect God’s people from the temptation of honoring another above Him and consequently losing or never establishing both one’s blessed relationship with the Lord, and one’s dominion in Him. The most fully evolved form of an idol today is a living human being.[1]

GOD MANIFEST IN FLESH [1Timothy 3:16]

In light of what I just stated, let us read the text of the first two of the Ten Commandments once again. While reading, try to look through the lens of the revelation of our Lord Jesus who revealed Himself to the world as the one God of the OT. More importantly, ponder His actual identity as He made Himself known to His own people:

¹ Then God spoke all these words, saying,

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³ “You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

⁵ “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶ “but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” [Exodus 20:1-6]

During His time on earth the Lord Jesus was the perfect representation of the Father. He was God manifest in flesh. We see then another clear reason why the unbelieving religionists and religious leaders of His time so thoroughly rejected Him. It was in regard to the following:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]

By stating this, using the exact wording, the Lord Jesus was applying Exodus 20:6 to Himself.

He did such things often. Such statements exist throughout the four gospels. Therefore, as a few learned men had deduced in the past, this Man was either God or He was crazy. There is no in-between.

Of course, He continued to prove that He was God regardless of those who refused to believe then or refuse at present. This is why actual belief in the Lord Jesus has always been an all-or-nothing proposal. It is simply impossible that there can be anything in the middle. Hence we have this forced duality that continues to present itself as saint or sinner, sheep or goat, wheat or tare, and heaven or hell. We are either with Him 100% or we are not with Him at all. A real Christian must therefore give Him his or her entire heart. It does no good to only circumcise a mere portion of one’s heart.

This is why, in this temporary fallen world, we have either real Christianity or Unreal Christianity. There is no such thing as 50% Christianity or even 90% Christianity. There is only the real and the unreal. Regarding belief in and following God, it was exactly the same in the very beginning with all the patriarchs and prophets. It was the same with Moses. One was either with God completely and absolutely or one was not with Him at all.

The Lord Jesus said the same thing as applied to God, quoting the following words about Him by an OT prophet over 700 years before His time, which perfectly conjoin the truth of God’s true identity in the Old Covenant and the New and also reveals real believers and fake ones:

“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. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;

You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

For the heart of this people has become dull,

With their ears they scarcely hear,

And they have closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart and return,

And I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” [Matthew 13:13-17][2]

OUR CHALLENGING PRESENT

There was a time when Christians could get away with being halfway and partial or not at all in that it was relatively easy to keep up a Christian masquerade and still be accepted as legitimate. In the past, due to relatively good times in an apparent majority Christian nation, many faux bros could give forth the impression of being successful spiritually or appear that way enough to gain general acceptance and life success. Christians in general were simply less discriminating, less aware, and more easily deceived. In other words, doing one’s Christianity was easier. But though this former truth is far worse now in that the Christian masquerade has blown up like an exponential balloon with fake Christians everywhere emerging like sugar ants from the woodwork, the end result makes it that much more difficult for real Christians. This is why present times are such that successful spiritual warfare is now mandatory if a real Christian is to survive since a two front spiritual war has opened up featuring one’s usual obvious enemies but also one’s “Christian” enemies.

A quarter century ago during the “good times” I predicted in my book Real Christianity that Christian persecution in America would increase dramatically in the not too distant future. This is what I wrote then:

Christians have largely rejected the work of their most distant ancestors, and have lost due respect for the truths they taught, and the One who taught them.

And who are these chief persecutors? Who are the new Christian Pharisees? In what form do they exist today? Who are the ones influenced by the same spirit that gave Saul of Tarsus his commission to fight the Church? Such deceived ones are much closer to all of us than we think. Through their resolute and unwavering stand for their chosen form of Christianity, they have allowed themselves to become the very image of the unreal.

Our greatest enemy wears virgin wool.[3]

We are now there at that very place I predicted would come and actually have been for a while. But it is only happening for the most part to real Christians. (The devil is simply not afraid of Unreal Christianity. Why should he be?) Also, it is actually a lot worse than most Christians realize and this is proved by so many Christians essentially throwing in the towel and subverting themselves to the enemy’s playbook with very little if no fight left at all. Again, without successful spiritual warfare one cannot survive.

Unreal Christians, to their credit or discredit depending on one’s perspective, have therefore accomplished an excellent balance of being socially acceptable by both their respective Christian communities and the sinful decadent secular culture growing more degenerate by the day, and are thus compromised enough that Christian persecution has not and will not come to most of them. In fact, most of them are actually the chief persecutors of the real guys, which was the same dynamic in the first century.

Funny how that works.

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Tags: America, American Culture, Choose For Yourselves This Day Whom You Will Serve, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, First Century, Graven Images, Idol Worship, Idolatry, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Isaiah the Prophet, Jesus is God, Lord Jesus, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Religious Culture, Spiritual Warfare, Ten Commandments, The Great Awakening, The Signs Of The Times, Unreal Christianity

THE TRUTH OF “TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK” (IN ASSOCIATION WITH GOD’S JUDGMENT OF EVIL)

Oct 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

Like many of His teachings, this is another one that has been somewhat mischaracterized and misapplied. Such has often led to disastrous results.

WISE WARFARE AND THE TWO PRINCIPLES

He never taught that one should never fight back. There is a spiritual war that must be fought which demands excellent spiritual warriors. Nor did He ever say there would not be proper retribution for crimes committed. Evil must be dealt with. To understand how this should be done, however, on a day to day basis, which reveals the heart of God, illustrates correct discipleship, and shows forth both a Christian’s method for living and engaging in spiritual warfare per the Lord’s teachings, it is mandatory, as a minimal initial starting point, to honor and apply the two foundational principles within the following two Scriptural passages:

ONE:

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. [Romans 12:17-21]

This passage invokes two OT passages (as enclosed in quotes). The first is from Deuteronomy 32:35. The second is from Proverbs 25:21-22. Since the latter passage is relationally horizontal and self-explanatory let us focus primarily on the former since it is relationally vertical and states a clear command from God. It is the first of our two principles.

The context of this command regarding vengeance is more than initially meets the eye, however. There is an enemy of God referred to in Deuteronomy 32 (The Song of Moses) that God will act against and this party to whom he is referring must be identified. It is not, however, a foreign country or outside enemy of Israel but one much closer to home: It is the unbelieving and faithless faction of Israel itself, which comprised the majority:

“They have acted corruptly toward Him,

They are not His children, because of their defect;

But are a perverse and crooked generation.” [Deuteronomy 32:5]

“But Jeshurun (Israel) grew fat and kicked—

You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—

Then he forsook God who made him,

And scorned the Rock of his salvation.

They made Him jealous with strange gods;

With abominations they provoked Him to anger.

They sacrificed to demons who were not God,

To gods whom they have not known,

New gods who came lately,

Whom your fathers did not dread.

You neglected the Rock who begot you,

And forgot the God who gave you birth.” [Deuteronomy 32:15-18]

“How could one chase a thousand,

And two put ten thousand to flight,

Unless their Rock had sold them,

And the Lord had given them up?

Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,

Even our enemies themselves judge this.

For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,

And from the fields of Gomorrah;

Their grapes are grapes of poison,

Their clusters, bitter.

Their wine is the venom of serpents,

And the deadly poison of cobras.” [Deuteronomy 32:30-33]

“Is it not laid up in store with Me,

Sealed up in My treasuries?

‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,

In due time their foot will slip;

For the day of their calamity is near,

And the impending things are hastening upon them.” [Deuteronomy 32:34-35]

The main point here is that real Christians must never take vengeance on their enemies or seek revenge against them. We must instead love them, forgive them, and pray for them. Depending on the circumstance we might even feed them and give them water. Also, it is somewhat curious that the Lord is referring to His own wayward people here who are no longer actually His relational people but have strayed, abandoned Him, and betrayed Him. In this context one might note that the same tenet may apply between real Christians and unreal Christians.

TWO:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. [Ephesians 6:10-13]

From this we understand that as real Christians, our battle is not against people. Even if one may have enemies in the “flesh and blood” realm we are not to fight them but instead seek a way to bless them. If there must be a manner in which to deal with such human enemies (other than those mysterious unseen enemies in the spiritual realm that Paul lists in the preceding passage) we must leave it up to God and trust Him to take care of it. In fact, by treating human enemies in a positive way per His commands we enable the Lord to handle them His way.

We see then, that both of these two principles work perfectly within the particular teaching put forth in this article—turning the other cheek—and serve as a basis from which to operate regarding correct spiritual warfare.

WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS

Yet, due to spurious teachings on this subject and what is often a complete misunderstanding of the principle, Christians often go far too far in “loving their enemies.” Christians frequently condone evil behavior or “look the other way” from a misguided notion to be “nice” at all times, yet the Lord never taught this. It thus gives the enemy an upper hand and allows him egress into our lives and surroundings simply because Christians refuse to fight the evil that harms them.

When I was a rookie Christian, I was blessed to have a rather astute and relatively well-read pastor. He was also one of the best preachers I ever heard. This was not some egg-headed dry intellectual but a lively word-picture creator and one who could often hold a congregation enthralled and captivated. I remember well when he taught on this subject…

But before proceeding further with this story, let us first have a Scripture refresher. Let’s take a closer look at the teaching in question. It actually appears in the New Testament only twice, in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The structure is basically the same in both. However, for our purposes here, as we shall see, I will use the Matthew account.

In its original delivery and context the audience was well aware of the Lord’s direct meaning when He referenced “turning the other cheek.” They likely recognized the point He was making as it was based on OT Scripture. However, it obviously must have appeared relatively foreign in contrast to the Law of Moses as they understood and applied it due to subsequent casuistic embellishments as per their Oral Law (overwriting the Word of God with religious tradition). This does not mean the Lord Jesus was adding to the Law but rather teaching on the original intent of the Law. He did essentially the same thing with the likely equally famous OT “revenge payback” retaliation dictum about eyes and teeth with which we are all familiar that also appears in the same passage. Here is the Matthew account:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” [Matthew 5:38-39]

As you will notice, the Lord was referencing a “slap” and not an incredibly fast and furious cheek-crushing left hook out of nowhere like the one Joe Frazier used against Muhammad Ali in their 1971 heavyweight title fight that knocked Ali across the ring and down on the canvas in the fourteenth round. Though it wasn’t a knockout, it likely would have been with most other opponents. Frazier won that fight. It was a devastating loss for Ali whom most thought was the better fighter and should have won.

So you see, a mere “slap” is not a bone-jarring left hook that can knock a 220-pound hyper-conditioned powerful professional boxer and one of the greatest fighters in history on his backside. Here is the Greek word and correct definition:

ῥαπίζω rhapízō (hrap-id’-zo); from a derivative of a primary ῥέπω rhépō (to let fall, “rap”); to slap:—smite (with the palm of the hand).

In the culture of that time, such a slap with the open hand (often relatively just a mere tap), was not meant to hurt another physically so much but emotionally. It was meant to wound one’s pride. It was meant to humiliate a man’s spirit. It was meant to illustrate one’s total contempt for another in that he would not expend any unnecessary energy or even have to use his fist against so weak and defenseless an opponent, one who has somehow apparently been compromised, debilitated, and possibly rejected by his immediate society for some such cultural offense. Sound familiar?

Getting back to the story of my first pastor when I first learned this truth, he brought out the teaching of the Lord so well I thought I was back there at that time and I could vividly imagine such a scene playing out. As he walked across the front of the church while preaching, expertly illustrating the passage, he said this “slap” was even akin to one taking out a handkerchief and lightly hitting the side of a man’s face with it. In other words, it seemed to have more effect the less it hurt physically. With that in mind, as he had set the stage, my former pastor then acted out that very thing: He took his handkerchief from his suit pocket, grabbed a corner and flayed it out before him as if “slapping’ an imaginary opponent with the flowing cloth. And he laughed slightly, acting out the indignity, then turned with a big smile to show us that such an affront has no effect on the Christian living for the Lord!

This was the point the Lord Jesus was making. He is telling us that offenses will come. There will be personal attacks. His followers will be treated badly and denigrated before men. Good reputations will suffer unjustly. Yet rather than retaliate He said His followers must do the opposite in order to deflate the conflict before it has the chance to take root. Rather than add more air to the growing ember or throw another log on the fire one must instead try to put the fire out and douse the flame. One must be willing to take the hit for possible positive spiritual purposes.

It called for an act of love and forgiveness. Rather than the religious legal precedent of demanding an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, regardless of intent or accident and demanding retribution to even the score, one must instead allow the offended one his accusatory effort at wounding one’s dignity and thereby attempt to diffuse the situation. If done correctly the Lord’s follower will reveal to others a superior spiritual principle designed to lessen hate and hopefully eliminate hardness of heart. Our enemy may see that we are not his enemy.

Now, when the Lord Jesus—God Himself in the flesh—delivered this great teaching, He was before a gathered crowd in Jerusalem and particularly among the highbrow Israelite religious leaders who possessed both the upper hand and authoritative reputations to project and protect who knew the OT Word quite well. In His attempt to show them and all those there how they should respond to such affronts, they knew He was likely invoking passages such as the following:

(1) 1Kings 22:24 (the prophet Micaiah struck on the cheek)

(2) Job 16:10 (Job slapped on the cheek by his enemies)

(3) Isaiah 50:6 (a prophecy about the Lord giving His “cheeks to those who pluck out the beard”)

(4) Lamentations 3:30 (regarding a person who seeks the Lord, to “let him give his cheek to the smiter”)

(5) Micah 5:1 (“With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.”)

We see then, the bigger spiritual principle in the associated examples used by the Lord to drive the point home:

If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.” [Matthew 5:40-42]

SCRIPTURAL LIMITATIONS OF THIS TEACHING

Notwithstanding the Lord’s clear instructions on a Christian’s necessary humility and doing one’s best to act with love and not retaliate regarding minor offenses, the Lord Jesus was not a classic pacifist in that He did not swear off all violence. He obviously never did any violence to anyone nor did He teach His disciples to partake of violent acts against other people unless it was to defend oneself or one’s own. One may recall that the Lord defended Himself often. He had a knack for slipping through a crowd to avoid physical attacks. He was not here to fight in the flesh but if He ever did He could whip all comers. This was a man’s Man we are talking about who commanded respect by His very presence.

Therefore, though a person must turn the other cheek he also must defend himself. If it takes violence to do so then so be it. One must therefore know that self-defense is perfectly permissible according to the Lord’s teachings. It may not appear that way on the surface or according to incorrect teachings by Christians who should know better and who paint with too broad a brush in this area, but it is true:

And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.” [Luke 22:35-38]

Maybe a Christian man is willing to go beyond the dual cheek slap of indignity and take it on the chin to a greater degree for some reason. But will he also allow his wife and children to be physically accosted and never defend them? One might ask, “What about physical persecution? The answer to this lies in the reason for such an attack. Is one being “persecuted” because someone wants to steal his stuff and he won’t allow it? Is one being “persecuted” because someone who enjoys perpetrating violence wants to inflict harm upon him (beat him up) just for the sake of doing so? OR IS ONE BEING PERSECUTED BECAUSE HE OR SHE IS AN EFFECTIVE WITNESS OF THE GOSPLE OF THE LORD JESUS? There’s the difference, simply and to the point.

This is where real Christianity differs from other major religions, (including Unreal Christianity, of course), and especially the other two monotheistic religions which arose in the Middle East. These two are historically very violent and such violence is used primarily against anyone who may not belong to their religion or culture. Both look down upon those who don’t belong to their particular club and refer to them as “infidels” or even “cattle.” It’s in their “holy” books (not the OT). It is in part why their remains so much violence in the world. They have no problem using violence to gain what they want or inflicting violence on others if it furthers their cause and eliminates or debilitates the opposition. One might recall that the vast majority of violent persecution inflicted upon the early first-century Community of the Lord was done so by unbelieving Israelites.

EVIL MUST BE DEALT WITH

But if anyone thinks a Christian should simply let someone break into his home and steal his stuff such a person would not only be mistaken but an absolute moron. What if someone tried to hurt one’s children? Is one just supposed to stand there and let it happen? What if someone did hurt one’s child? Would one “turn the other cheek” and allow that person to hurt one’s child again?

Was not the entire point of the Law of Moses to bring swift retaliation against homegrown unrepentant evil people wreaking havoc upon the Lord’s planned holy and peaceful community so those who wanted to live a good life of peace and joy could do so? For historical reference, God stated exactly what would happen to His people based on their obedience or their disobedience. They would either be greatly blessed or terribly cursed. It is all stated very clearly in Deuteronomy Chapter 28.

God spelled it all out in the Law. He identified sin. He defined it. And He set up the correct punishment for those who engaged in it. His desire was to create a pure and holy people who could live in peace and joy in full loving relationship with Him but as it turned out there were not very many among His people who wanted the same thing. In fact, there was only a very small believing and holy Remnant throughout Hebrew history that desired to live peaceably in this world, strive for holiness and righteousness, love one another, and be close to God. The majority, though, went their own way. They essentially told God to hell with it. And that’s where one would assume they ended up.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Christian historians have pointed out that the creation and timing of the first-century Roman Empire somehow worked out perfectly for the relatively easy and rapid spread of the Gospel message. For the first time in world history a great empire arose with the best engineers and hardiest builders who created a vast network of extremely well-built stone roads, some of which still exist to this day. This was the genesis of the first national highway system on a massive scale. It included the construction of state-of-the-art bridges that could span any great ravine or canyon regardless of depth or width. The road builders let nothing stop them. Mile after mile after mile was laid down. They overcame nature at every turn. They often had to invent on the fly. They did all of this in a comparatively brief period, just in time for the Gospel messengers.

Was this a mere coincidence? Or is it possible that God Himself had a hand in it? If so it meant that He somehow assisted in the process which meant that even the Roman Empire obeyed Him. Remember the prophecy concerning the coming Messiah being born in Bethlehem? And that Joseph and Mary only went there due to Roman decree? When one thinks about this he or she begins to notice a lot of other “coincidences.” And then one concludes correctly that God used the Romans for His own purposes.

He also used the Romans for the purposes of keeping His insistently wayward people together. If it wasn’t for Rome the nation of Israelites would have blown themselves apart through their many political factions, religious parties, and constant infighting. Since the majority rejected the benevolent unifying force of God, God had to raise up a unifying force from without called Rome (not so benevolent but quite effective). Unfortunately, God also had to use Rome for the judgment of His wayward people.

All of this means, of course, that He is never unprepared, He is never without resources, He always plans for the future, He is always on time, and He always has a legitimate purpose.

A WRETCHED END

I will close this article in just a bit with a predictive parable explaining exactly the national judgment that would ensue in the very end including the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem itself in 70AD. He taught that particular predictive parable in the temple on the very day He engaged in the following:

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]

Some may see this temple cleansing as a violent act which reveals exactly what happened to His own people a mere generation later. It proves the Lord was willing to do exactly what must be done though it was the final straw that inflamed His religious money-loving haters to render unto Him the fullness of their wrath just four days later. In keeping with His teachings of love and sacrifice, however, He would lay down His life and never fight back against His hateful accusers at that time. He submitted Himself first to the Father but also, as the Sacrifice Lamb, to the scurrilous judgment and temporal authority of His haters though for a much higher spiritual purpose. It is the same reason there must be Christian persecution. It is why real Christians not only allow the affront of one cheek being slapped but turn the other cheek as well.

But the story does not end there. In the end the Lord proves He is no eternal pacifist. Evil must be dealt with. If not, there is no protection or justice for the righteous. And He was the only one worthy to deal with it properly. He is the only eternal righteous Judge who knows the thoughts and intents of all hearts.

Judgment had to come. One might remember, though, that the Lord had already provided a place of safety for His followers—the believing Remnant of Israelites—to escape to and thus miss the coming wrath. He had told them what signs to watch for. But His wayward unrepentant people had no clue of this due to their rejection of their only Savior, their love of this world and of money, and their resultant path of darkness. By this they had essentially begged for judgment as they had done throughout their history though in their twisted thinking they believed themselves to be bulletproof. They were the chosen. They had God on their side. Many centuries of rebellion and evil had coalesced in that final generation. Most of them never saw it coming.

They had never learned nor ever had the desire to turn the other cheek.

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.

“Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.” [Matthew 21:33-41][1]

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Tags: America, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Deuteronomy, Discipleship, Evangelization and Witnessing, Evil, Israel, Jesus Cleansing The Temple, Law of Moses, Lord Jesus, National Judgment, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Roman Empire, Self-Defense, Sin and Rebellion, Spiritual Humility, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening, The Real chosen People, Turn the Other Cheek, Unreal Christianity, Vengeance, Violence

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: A SWORD OF SEPARATION (4)

Sep 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

As we continue in this series, we must recognize that our Lord Jesus uses our powerful natural ability of human speech as an extremely purposeful medium of division.

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

It is otherwise overlooked. The vast majority of Christianity does not understand this or show any desire to do so. It is something that has been rejected and even denounced by most. There have even been many preachers, some very powerful and influential, who have gone so far as to say that “tongues are of the devil.” If this doesn’t cause someone to perceive that maybe, just maybe, there is a big masquerade going on in much of Christianity and that there really are two completely different “Christianities,” then I’m not sure what else may bring about the necessary enlightenment to see pure Scripture for what it is and accept it.

I remember hearing a sermon several years ago about the nature of Christians in general and their reluctance to embrace all the Lord has to offer. The minister painted a good picture of what often happens when the Lord calls His people to greater truth. Some people are interested right off and make a relatively quick move to receive. Others are somewhat reluctant but due to their trust in Him and feeling a sense of duty and obedience they move forward though somewhat timidly. Others simply rush right in. As the minister continued to illustrate this process He related it to a nice spacious house with large furnished rooms. He said the interior is often left, curiously, only to a few. The large living room, with plenty of good places to sit down and relax—many couches and chairs—often has several empty places due to so few getting that far. The semi-enclosed entry room, or small vestibule, on the other hand, has people all stacked in like cord wood from floor to ceiling with each person seemingly acting like such a thing is perfectly normal and per custom. For some reason that’s as far as they’ll go. They feel they are obeying the Lord’s directive to enter the house but otherwise resist going an inch further. The outside porch is also filled to capacity with people spilling out into the front yard which contains hundreds of people milling around, perfectly happy to be outside with no desire whatsoever to even look in the windows. And when someone peers up or down the block he sees a sea of humanity going through prescribed motions many of whom cannot even see the house at all much less approach it…

How does this happen? One should know the answer to this. It is usually due to denominational or church teaching and custom. For whatever reason, most pastors refuse to obey the Lord’s command to tell the entire Gospel truth and make disciples and are content with perpetual pew-sitting congregants. Spiritual growth and development is simply not a priority. Church attendance is, of course, as is making a commitment to the church and keeping one’s overall religious obligation including monetary support. Whoever may want to actually go beyond the mere elementary church teachings and break free of the controlled common denominator status quo can thus enter “the ministry.” Such individuals might have “the call.” But it must be “official,” of course. Such people must follow the correct protocol and eventually receive the official denominational church stamp. We can’t have anyone going it alone, you see. (You mean the way the Lord did?) But everybody else need not worry about reading the Bible in-depth or studying Holy Writ or getting into God or actually following the Lord Jesus as He commanded. These kinds of Christians put too much pressure on everybody else and make it difficult to keep a congregation in unity. It gets so bad in some places that whoever desires such is seen as some kind of weird church nerd who takes Christianity far too seriously.

A NEW KIND OF FOOD

But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” [John 4:32]

I remember when I was a rookie Christian. I was born again as a young adult. In my new church, the emphasis on reading the Word was certainly refreshing but somewhat curious in that it was relatively rare in my experience. Somewhat strangely, rather than appealing to church authority, my new church friends based their Christian beliefs on the teachings of the Lord and the written Word. They used the New Testament to verify their beliefs and practices. Now, I had been raised in a Christian denomination but it was one those which dissuaded individual Bible reading and study. Such a thing was confined to only a ridiculously small clergy class whose members supposedly devoted themselves to such study. Only they could ever know what Scripture really meant. Only they could decipher the actual teachings of the Lord. The 99% must therefore yield to them and their universal studied opinions and never seek to go their own way or question authority. Hence, there was no reason to read the Word which pretty much everybody was apparently okay with anyway.

When I became a real Christian, however, and was filled with the Spirit of the Lord just like the 120 at Pentecost, I suddenly had a great desire to read the Bible. I wanted to devour the teachings thereof. I dived right in. I didn’t wait around. I was never told to never do such a thing in my new church or that I was not qualified but was actually encouraged to do so as was everyone else there. Every day I read and read. I was doing manual labor at the time working in a warehouse and sometimes spent my lunch hours reading the Word instead of having lunch. I had somehow gone from having no desire to read something so outdated and ancient and difficult to understand and strange and boring and even grim to completely immersing myself in reading and study and deep research. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.

I’m sure many of you have had this same experience. We understood as we continued reading that the written Word of God was actually spiritual food. When we were born again and filled with His Spirit we suddenly had a great need to feed our spirit. We never had this need before because our spirit was essentially dead and existed merely in seed form awaiting the proper ground to be planted in and the signal to open up and burst forth and thereby bring forth all the life within.

One may recall what happened to Adam and Eve: “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Well, they disobeyed and did eat from it and they surely did die. But they were still alive. What died? Their internal spirit died. Their body and soul, however, stayed very much alive and did not die. From that point forward human beings were composed of only two-thirds of themselves. Until Pentecost. The miracle of Pentecost brought about the resurrection of the human spirit. This is why Pentecost was never a one-time thing for a few but an all-time thing for everybody.

Also, when one’s spirit rises from dormancy it takes authority over the soul and body. It also instantly requires FOOD much as new babies do or animals just born. These little ones are ravenously hungry and are not quiet about it. They must grow! They must develop! They need food! If baby birds in a nest just out of the shell could talk, for example, they would be constantly screaming feed me, feed me, feed me! Once born again, one requires nutrient-rich spiritual ground and living spiritual water and spiritual light. Reading the written Word, especially and foremost the teachings of our Lord Jesus, obviously greatly assist us in getting almost all we need and are hungry for in our initial start in following the Lord and learning from Him. Prior to this, what had before been a mere dead letter and never-touched dusty tome became a surging life-giving stream that was essentially easy to read and not at all difficult though we may not have understood parts at the time. It never stopped one from reading on, however.

Therefore, even though present followers of the Lord Jesus only read words on paper instead of sitting at the Lord’s feet as did those greatly blessed ones of long ago, the written Word still contains great power though in seed form just waiting for one to plant it in one’s spirit (the only place it can be planted). As all this reading is going on though, a new believer is also listening to anointed messages from anointed ministers, and praying and hearing from God, and fellowshipping with other believers in the spirit. All of these work to develop the spirits of new believers which were, again, essentially dead and lifeless not too long before.

THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT

Now, what does any of this have to do with human speech? We know the simple answer. Before the Word was written it was spoken. Before it was spoken it existed within God Himself, in His Mind and Being. Indeed, the written Word tells us that the Word of God IS God. It tells us that God was manifest in the flesh—that He became a Human Being—and that God Himself in human form SPOKE to us:

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:10-14]

How much easier could He have made it? To this day that small portion of the overall world population that actually thinks about the concept of God and wonders if there actually is a God also likely wonders what it would be like if God became one of us and walked among us. Of course, real Christians have always known the answer to this: HE DID. And He left a record of His perfect teachings. And those who read His teachings are greatly blessed and enlightened even though they are only reading words on paper. The Gospel message therein brings about their eternal salvation. But it is only because the words of the Gospel were first spoken.

Now, at Pentecost we have this strange occurrence of “speaking in tongues” that most of the Christian world rejects experientially though they may acknowledge the true historicity of the account. Most Christians apparently cannot get past the strangeness and therefore never experience the magnificence. But it was never “strange” in the beginning except to unbelievers! How strange it is then that this “strangeness” has been applied to the experience by the majority of Christians! It is only “strange” by those who see it from afar, by those who never experience it, by those who were taught to reject it, but primarily by one’s own human nature that perceives the experience as absolute nonsense and something to be avoided.

Remember, when we were sinners apart from God everything spiritual was unknown to us because we were human beings with dead spirits. We were merely “natural” people with no awareness of spiritual things or desire for them unless we were hungry and searching. The apostle Paul was one such person at one time prior to His born again experience. Though a powerful intellectual well-studied Pharisee of high religious rank he was still just a natural man with a dead spirit. As a real born again Christian, however, like all real Christians, he saw life from both sides whereas the never born again only ever see one side and believe it is the only side:

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

SPIRITUAL SPEECH

In Part 3 of this series we discussed the fact that human beings are extremely rebellious toward God in their sinful state prior to new birth and that those who desire to follow the Lord must overcome this natural rebellion and surrender to the Lord Jesus. We also learned about the most rebellious member of our body:

And because the tongue is the most unruly and rebellious member of the body it is the last to surrender.

Yet, like the illustration I used earlier in this article about the nice spacious well-furnished house with most Christians all piled up in the entryway and front yard refusing to go in one must also understand that a great many Christians do exactly the same thing regarding “speaking in tongues.” They may have otherwise completely surrendered to God but never surrendered the last member of their body to God. This means their speech never gained the spiritual quality God demands. It means their speech remains in the natural state.

Regarding what those initial real Christians did as recorded in the Book of Acts when they “spoke in tongues,” it is not at all “strange” if one understands what we have been discussing. These people, by surrendering all to the Lord including their tongue—their speech—they simply began praising God in a new language they had never learned. This proved the following:

(1) They fully surrendered their entire being and body to the Lord Jesus, as He commanded, including their tongue—their speech.

(2) To prove the tongue was fully surrendered, rather than speak in their normal language, the Lord verified the miracle and His direct involvement by having them speak in another language they previously did not know or have the ability to speak.

(3) The other languages they all spoke collectively (other tongues) were known languages heard by the crowd outside the Upper Room as their own languages spoken in the many parts of the world where they lived and from where they traveled.

(4) This phenomenon thus also served as a Gospel witness because everyone in the crowd below was an Israelite and they heard the Upper Roomers, whom they referred to as Galileans, “speaking of the mighty deeds of God” (Acts 2:11). In Acts 10:46 when Cornelius and the first Gentiles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues others who understood the languages heard them “exalting God.” In Acts 19:6 in Ephesus when former followers of John the Baptist that had never heard of baptism in the Name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit they were speaking in tongues and also “prophesying.”

We see then that the very first words these people spoke with their new “tongues”—spiritual speech—were words of great praise and exaltation of God! And we know this by the direct witness of the thousands of Israelite travelers who heard them speak in their own languages. As newborn babes they spoke that which was first, foremost, and closest to their hearts—that the Lord God was always to be praised! We see an echo of this with what happened during the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem during the last days of His ministry when He revealed Himself as King:

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” [Matthew 21:15-16]

We also see it here:

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. [Romans 8:12-17]

This latter statement about suffering puts the entire “tongues” question in proper perspective because we see it as yet another reason why the Lord created the phenomenon. Just as it is when new believers are water baptized in the Name of Jesus, it signifies a separation from the world. And this separation causes a new believer to be subjected to the worst forms of misunderstanding, insults, mocking, and scorn, and for some, even physical persecution and death. And all the while the real Christian is taught by the Lord to weather such persecution as it is part of a disciple’s “reasonable service” (see Romans 12:1).

In other words, the world is filled with sinners on their way to hell who have no understanding or care of spiritual things and will always engage in what comes natural against those “strange” people who engage in “strange” practices. This obviously includes much of Christianity.

I used to be one such sinner but I never mocked Pentecostals until the Lord sent a couple to witness to me, a couple I was formerly very close to, close friends, who somehow got weirded out and joined some strange church. I had heard about them and what they had done a few weeks before they came to witness to me. I thought they had gone off the deep end and I pretty much lost all respect for them though I had few details. When they called and wanted to come over and tell me about it I was very open to the visit and had a great attitude. It was good to see them. But when they began “witnessing” to me and I felt a little pressure, my good mood eventually changed and I told them if they didn’t stop they should leave. They left. But they didn’t stop.

They and their church began to pray for me. Much prayer went forth. I didn’t see them for quite a while. After three months they invited me to church again. In the meantime the Lord had been slowly destroying me from the inside out to prepare me for what was likely my last chance at salvation and the infilling of His Spirit. Long story short, it was soon my turn to become one of those “strange” people at that “strange” church. I then knew a joy I had never known before. My entire life changed for the better in every way. I met the Lord Jesus! But on the flip side, a veritable cascade of insults and mocking came my way by those who used to like and respect me. Like anyone truly born again I had then experienced life from both sides, from the non-spiritual and the spiritual, as an unbeliever and believer. I experienced the very sword of separation the Lord spoke about. Funny how that works.

Some may think such an occurrence is only in the extreme and not normal, yet real Christians worship a God who is the most loving Person who ever lived. Imagine the greatest times in His ministry when He was loved by tens of thousands. Then imagine Him all alone and rejected and beaten and bloody and nailed to a cross hearing all manner of horrendous insults and mocking from His own people. Is that not extreme? Well, so is it extreme when the Lord Jesus is at last given authority over a sinner’s tongue. It was possibly or even likely the case that some of those very people hurling insults at Him while He hung there dying were, seven weeks later, among those milling around the streets below the Upper Room greatly convicted at heart at Peter’s preaching:

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:37-39][1]

That very day another three thousand Israelites were immersed in water in the Name of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit. Though Luke’s account does not say so specifically we know from the context and by what they did afterwards that the massive group had their own Upper Room experience though it was actually a Streets of Jerusalem experience.

And the great sound of their many new voices carried throughout the city. They were praising and exalting God with all their hearts, each in a new language with a new tongue and an entirely new perspective. No one there could deny the great miracle. The Lord Jesus was bringing salvation to the believing remnant of His people!

But He also brought a sword of separation.

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: THE SECRET PLAN (1)

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: MIRACULOUS TONGUES—A SIGN (2)

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: WHO CAN TAME THE TONGUE? (3)

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: America, And the Word became flesh, Baptism in the Name of Jesus, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Book of Acts, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Clergy-Laity Division, Discipleship, Division, Human Speech, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Pentecost, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Separation From the World, Speaking in Tongues, Spiritual Pioneers, The Great Awakening, The House of God, The New Birth, The Word of God, Unreal Christianity

REAL CHRISTIANITY IS ACTS CHAPTER TWO—ACTS CHAPTER TWO IS REAL CHRISTIANITY: Review Links Parts 1-3

Sep 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

The following are the review links for this current series: Part 1: THE SECRET PLAN. Part 2: MIRACULOUS TONGUES—A SIGN. Part 3: WHO CAN TAME THE TONGUE?

REVIEW LINKS

August 4, 2023:

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: THE SECRET PLAN (1)

The Second Chapter of the Book of Acts DEFINES real Christianity. Whatever form of Christianity rejects Acts 2 must be defined as Unreal Christianity.

8 Comments

August 21, 2023:

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: MIRACULOUS TONGUES—A SIGN (2)

The Book of Acts reveals that the infilling of the Holy Spirit is a miraculous experience accompanied by distinct signs and wonders.

3 Comments

August 28, 2023:

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: WHO CAN TAME THE TONGUE? (3)

According to Scripture, the human tongue is the only member of the body that is capable of defiling the entire human body.

13 Comments

Posted in Real Christianity

2 Comments

Tags: Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Speaking in Tongues, The Book of Acts, The Great Awakening

GAINING SPIRITUAL HEALTH

Sep 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

Everyone wants to be healthy. Everyone desires to walk in good health and feel good. However, spiritual health should be our top priority.

It is readily available. Spiritual health is God’s promise to us. He revealed to the world multiple centuries ago what it is and how to acquire it. In fact, in the very beginning, spiritual health was the norm.

THE BOOK OF GENESIS

First of all, we know that God is good. He is perfect. He can be trusted to the nth degree. Therefore, anything that God creates is good and anything God creates to sustain life, including food, is good.

In the Genesis account, at the beginning of Life on Earth just after the Days of Creation were completed, everything God had created was pronounced good. This included the good health in general of all living creatures but also the spiritual health of humanity. Yet God created only one life form akin to Himself:

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them… [Genesis 1:27-28]

By this we see that not only is God good but the first people God created were good. He had blessed them abundantly with every form of good health. He had provided for them everything they could possibly need or want. They were living in a good place. Life was good.

As you read the following familiar passage from Genesis Chapter 1, see if you can find any hidden details in the narrative one might otherwise pass over. See if you can ascertain clear facts pertaining to spiritual health and good health in general. The foundational basics are all there. Let’s take a look:

²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. ³¹ God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. [Genesis 1:27-31]

According to this ancient narrative, whatever living creature God creates is not only good but God created the beginning and consequent perpetual process that allows for such living creatures to birth new generations. He also created the means required to sustain such living creatures, that is, how each must be nourished and gain the proper nutrients for good health and ongoing life. All of these were good.

In reading Genesis 1, then, we discover that at the end of each Day of Creation, God deemed everything He created on each day as good. The Hebrew word is טוֹב ṭôḇ (tobe). I suggest your own research to discover the full description of this word but Strong’s defines it as: Beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, × fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, × most, pleasant, pleaseth, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well(-favoured).

You get the idea. Regarding such Creation days and specific life forms and living creatures, on the Third Day of Creation God created the Plant Kingdom. On Day Five He created Part 1 of the Animal Kingdom (the creatures of the air and water, primarily birds and fish). On Day Six, the final day of His active work, God created Part 2 of the Animal Kingdom, the land creatures, that which may be termed advanced life. These land animals are listed in three categories: (1) cattle, (2) creeping things, and (3) beasts of the earth. The original Hebrew equivalent of these three are bᵊhēmâ (be-hay-maw’), remeś (reh’-mes), and ḥay ‘ereṣ (khah’-ee) (eh’-rets).

The following brief Strong’s definitions gives us a better idea of these three primary life forms:

(1) בְּהֵמָה bᵉhêmâh (be-hay-maw’); from an unused root (probably meaning to be mute); properly, a dumb beast; especially any large quadruped or animal (often collective):—beast, cattle.

(2) רֶמֶשׂ remes (reh’-mes); from H7430; a reptile or any other rapidly moving animal:—that creepeth, creeping (moving) thing.

(3a) חַי chay (khah’-ee); from H2421; alive; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively:— age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, merry, multitude, (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.

(3b) אֶרֶץ ʼerets (eh’-rets); from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × nations, way, + wilderness, world.

One of the common characteristics of all of these land animals was their food: They were apparently all herbivores—plant eaters. This included the birds:

²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. [Genesis 1:29-30] [1]

The first thing which may come to mind here is this: What about the carnivores? Why does the Genesis account apparently either not list meat-eating predators or makes the apparent claim that such predators were actually herbivores at that long distant early time before the fall of man?

This opens up a big box of questions, to say the least, but I will try to stay on point here. Remember, the author of Genesis, as God’s spokesman, was primarily referencing the grocery list of early humans in that God had originally made human beings to subsist on a diet of “every plant yielding seed,” the fruit of “every tree which has fruit yielding seed,” and by extension, “every green plant.”

Now, it is also a fact that the majority of quadruped mammals such as cattle and deer are herbivores. Most birds of the present are not strict herbivores but the majority of their diet is plant-based. Some mammals and most birds are omnivores in that they eat both plant and animal matter. Some birds are carnivorous predators. Scientific studies have shown that animal diets in general have changed over time and location and that the normal process of such change, when it occurs, goes from herbivore to omnivore and in some instances to carnivore.[2] Of course, natural herbivores and carnivores are quite different in physiognomy regarding their teeth and digestive abilities which obviously portends original creation.

Again, I don’t want to get off point here, but this section of Genesis, while it never mentions it, also brings up the topical discussion of animal death. Some believe there was no death whatsoever on the planet before the fall of man. Others explain that there must have been death as part of God’s original creation or the land would eventually be overrun with far too many animals which it could not possibly support. Death would therefore require predators to keep nature in the proper balance. Death would also require carrion eaters.

But back to our topic. The Genesis account is clear that mankind was originally created to be strict herbivores (no meat or dairy). Our bodies are constructed in such a way to back this up. We have the teeth for it. In fact, the Garden of Eden was actually primarily a fruit tree orchard. Human health, then, depends on proper human diet and if we were originally created to eat only fruits, vegetables (including leafy greens), grains, and nuts (and possibly roots) then a diet of that sort would appear to be far healthier than one that introduces foreign matter not suitable for human biology and digestion.

Sadly, much of our food supply and subsequent diet at present consists mostly of “foreign matter” in that it is predominantly non-organic, factory processed, and chemical-laden/saturated. This makes the very food we need to survive the likely leading cause of disease and general ill health whether people know it or not (or care).

What does this have to do with spiritual health? I’m getting to it. Stay tuned for Part 2.

[2] www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120416154417.htm

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Creation, Day and Night, Divine Healing, Garden of Eden, Genesis, GOD IS GOOD!, Health, Humanity, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Maturity, Spiritual Seed, Surrender to a Loving Creator, The Great Awakening

A GREAT AWAKENING UPDATE: AUGUST 2023

Aug 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

It was 13 years ago today that I received from the Lord the revelation about the current Great Awakening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

To say the least, it was a tad shocking. As I have told you often over the twelve years of this site, dear readers, that relatively short paper I was writing then grew larger. I continued with it through the fall and winter and completed the work in April 2011. What I thought would be a short paper of 8-12 pages became a book, my second book, of about 340 pages, saturated with footnotes and including three appendixes. The existence of the book proved the Lord was telling me something significant, that something very great and powerful was in the works.

Remember, the Lord clearly stated the following:

AMERICAN ICHABOD

I then added an excerpt from my first book, Real Christianity, in which I predicted what would eventually happen to this once great country. (I will add the excerpt later in this article.) At that time, in the mid-1990s, there was no indication that any such thing could ever happen. America was robust and thriving. In fact, right at that time (something I only learned the details of several years later), the people running things had already given up on the country and began dutifully extracting the wealth. This commenced in the autumn of 1997. I knew something really bad was going on then but didn’t have the details, Few did. The only reason a few people know now is due to some extremely diligent researchers among us who worked extremely hard to discover the information.

IS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

WE MUST FOCUS ON THE LORD JESUS!

Regarding America and American Christianity in 2023,

“Awake, sleeper,

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you.” [Ephesians 5:6-14][1]

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Discipleship, Ichabod, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Love of Wealth and Power, The Remnant, Treasure in Heaven, Wake Up America!

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: WHO CAN TAME THE TONGUE? (3)

Aug 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

According to Scripture, the human tongue is the only member of the body that is capable of defiling the entire human body.

Think about this. While it is clearly true that one can introduce a foreign element into the body that can defile it or even destroy it, most often by oral transmission or syringe injection, there is apparently no other strictly indigenous member of the human body that can do the job on its own except the tongue. How can this be? What power does the tongue have that other members of the body do not possess?

And, of course, the obvious though possibly overlooked inherent power and ability of the tongue is that it allows for and enables human speech. And, of course, again, it is not the tongue itself since it is only a tool—an instrument or means—but human speech that is the actual culprit. And, of course, thirdly, human speech must contain a clearly defined communicative language in order to launch its characteristic potency and capability. This means the particular language and particular words thereof must be able to be understood by both the party speaking and the party hearing. Otherwise, one’s speaking will appear as mere gibberish.

STRANGE TONGUES

I vaguely remember, when I was a kid, the first time I heard a foreign language. There were people close by just talking away back and forth, clearly communicating and carrying on a conversation, but I had absolutely no idea whatsoever what they were saying. It was really strange. They were talking so fast. The retorts were coming back in rapid fire, eyes meeting eyes, facial expressions bursting forth and changing on a whim, the expression of emotions—the whole nine yards. One notices more appreciably all the peripheral stuff regarding speech and communication when one has no comprehension of the language itself, when the words are meaningless and not even distinguishable. It is really strange. It’s weird. These people just jabbering away back and forth and there I stand not getting any of it.

Then I meet up once again with my own kind speaking our language and all is well. But, of course, when we speak back and forth and communicate we, of course, don’t sound like those strange foreigners at all with all their weird impossible to understand jibber jabber that makes no sense whatsoever. When we speak we speak a real language, the best language, our language…

Thus is one child’s introduction to strange tongues and their apparent inherent bizarreness.

GAINING AN ADULT PERSPECTIVE

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. [1Corinthians 13:11]

The same thing must be said of spiritual maturity, which Paul alludes to here, though with an outer wrapping of natural maturity. The point is to grow up. You see, we have those who progress toward natural maturity at about the right rate regarding their years. Then we have those who are forced to grow up too fast, those who grow up too slow, and those who never grow up. The natural body will mature and age within a relatively small comparative range in that one may be well-preserved in older years while another looks old at forty, due largely and likely to one’s lifestyle, though the persons within said bodies may mature at oppositional rates. In other words, the choice is ours. We can mature as our bodies mature and even far in advance of them. Or not.

In the somewhat distant past, the onset of puberty was a naturally accepted sign that childhood was over. The person reaching this stage knew he or she must consequently begin making changes in preparation for the immediate future. This is no longer the case in much of the world in that childhood is allowed to linger, whether by enabling parents or an enabling culture that works in defiance of the natural order. It is now becoming the norm that childhood must be extended as far into the future as possible as if maturity was an evil thing, an enemy.

Sadly, though it may be a relatively new cultural norm, it is not new to Christianity. There has always been spiritual laziness and rebellion to varying degrees, often to a high degree, within Christianity in general against the acceptance and embracing of spiritual maturity. Christians in general have always most often coddled their flesh rather than develop their spirit, something the Lord Jesus commanded for all of His followers. We see this in the following statement:

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48]

This is an extremely high standard. What He means here is that every one of His followers must put in the work to develop, grow, and gain full spiritual maturity. The word “perfect” is from the Greek word τέλειος (teleios tel’-i-os). It is defined as “complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.); completeness:—of full age, man, perfect,” and “brought to its end, finished; lacking nothing necessary to completeness; perfect.”

This is what the Lord Jesus requires. He will not accept excuses, half-measures, or insistence upon perpetual immaturity. He is a Master Teacher and wants as followers only those who give their full heart, mind, and strength which invokes and perfectly agrees with the greatest commandment. Now, this is not quite as austere as it may sound. The key is love. Love makes the entire difference. Becoming fully spiritually mature (“perfect”) is possible if one loves Him with all his heart.

Now, whoever may take it upon himself to do the impossible (sarcasm alert) and actually read and study the teachings of the Lord Jesus, he will find early on that the Lord placed a high premium on discipleship. In fact, though one may have a dozen to fourteen years or so of childhood before the big signal to begin the embrace of adulthood, the Lord in general rarely (apparently) gave his followers that much time. This proves that the spiritual body, so to speak, does not entail an extended childhood phase but can come to term much sooner. One may look at the twelve apostles as an example. They followed the Lord for only three and a half years before the big it’s-time-to-become-a-spiritual-adult signal of Pentecost.

Recall the spiritual state of the apostle Peter at the time just before and just after the Lord’s death and resurrection and then compare it to the spiritual state of the apostle Peter at Pentecost in which he took the bull by the horns and did a masterfully mature and responsible job of helping kick off Phase 2 of the Lord’s ministry. How did he manage to grow up so fast?

The biggest difference, of course, was that he gained something great that he never had before: He was filled and anointed with and energized by the Holy Spirit of the Lord! This is the great maturation signal of the spiritual man or woman in which he or she knows that spiritual adulthood has commenced. It is the time to put away childish things, including childish religious things with which Christianity in general is saturated. It is a time to no longer think, speak, or reason like a child.

So, the initial discipleship period of the early followers of the Lord was only three and half years at the most and even less for many others. And for those who had previously never followed the Lord but got saved and spiritually equipped for ministry at Pentecost it was appreciably almost no time at all.

As another case in point, consider Stephen, the first great martyr of the Early Church, who had somehow become so extremely knowledgeable, eloquent, and BOLD at a relatively young age and a very short time that he was willing to take on the entire Messiah-rejecting religious establishment with no fear whatsoever. How did he mature so rapidly? How was it possible that he embraced spiritual adulthood in so short a time? The Lord was so pleased with this young man that He dedicated to Stephen an entire one and a half chapters in the Book of Acts and a total of 68 consecutive verses! On a side note, if you happen to be dragging somewhat in your spiritual walk and need some instant inspiration, read Acts 6:8 to 7:60. The exploits of Stephen will likely charge you up and get you running.

THE POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [Hebrews 4:12-14]

For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For,

“All flesh is like grass,

And all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

And the flower falls off,

But the word of the Lord endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

And this is the word which was preached to you. [1Peter 1:23-25]

God created everything by speaking it into existence (see Genesis 1). That there, my friends, is some mighty speaking ability. He is the living eternal Word and spent three and a half years plus speaking His Word to us when He dwelt among us. Is there any wonder then why He has placed such supreme importance on human speech? Must we be reminded that He created the human body and put great power in the tongue?

That He created speech?

That He then created anointed spiritual speech?

That He gave us the same ability He had?

That He gave this great power of anointed speech to Peter and the 120 and a great many others on the Day of Pentecost and on other Pentecost events, and to Stephen and countless others after them?

That speech was the sign He chose to indicate and confirm full repentance and acceptance of the sacrifice?

TAMING THE TONGUE

The following is a reminder of the great evil of soul-destroying sinful human speech and why there had to be a means to save it and empower it for good:

If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect (teleios) man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.

See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. [James 3:2-8]

Thus, this is what the Pentecostal phenomenon of “speaking with tongues” was all about. It was about taming the human tongue, overpowering the rebellious speech of humanity, and thereby granting the means of overall control of the human body back to those who desired to do God’s will. It was about freeing the tongue and essentially granting it salvation, of saving it from being used in a sinful manner which defiles the person so it could become holy and used for the holy purposes of God. Therefore, “speaking in tongues” was a sign, a very clear sign, that the Lord had regained authoritative control of humanity by regaining control of human speech.

A SACRIFICE OF PRAISE

This was done through a free will offering, a full submission to the Lord—a sacrifice—made by each person dedicated to follow Him and develop to complete spiritual maturity, willingly and lovingly offering himself or herself up, just as the Lord had done by His great sacrifice.

And because the tongue is the most unruly and rebellious member of the body it is the last to surrender. When it does surrender, and is fully tamed, this is what happens:

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. [Acts 2:1-4]

“We hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” [Acts 2:11]

For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. [Acts 10:46]

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. [Acts 19:6] [1]

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: THE SECRET PLAN (1)

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: MIRACULOUS TONGUES—A SIGN (2)

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Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: MIRACULOUS TONGUES—A SIGN (2)

Aug 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Book of Acts reveals that the infilling of the Holy Spirit is a miraculous experience accompanied by distinct signs and wonders.

FINAL PREPARATIONS PRIOR TO PENTECOST

In Part 1 we discussed the Lord’s preparations for Pentecost and His secret plan. This great event would take place ten days after His Ascension. Right before He ascended to heaven He gave His disciples clear commands both for preparing for the event and what to expect when the day arrived:

The Greek word for “baptized” in this verse means full immersion. It is from a Hebrew word that also means full immersion. The Lord is telling His disciples here that just as one must be fully immersed in water regarding water baptism in order to fulfill the Law and for one’s water baptism to be legitimate, so must one be fully immersed in the Holy Spirit in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He then reveals to them in part why the infilling of the Holy Spirit is necessary:

…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” [Acts 1:8]

THE UPPER ROOM

The Lord’s Ascension took place on a Thursday, likely in the morning. Afterwards, the disciples who witnessed that great occurrence returned to Jerusalem as instructed. They went to a private residence that contained an Upper Room large enough to comfortably hold at least 120 persons. This was the same room where the Lord and his disciples had gathered for the Last Supper. To refresh your memory:

And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.” They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?” And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters. And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he will show you a large, furnished upper room; prepare it there.” And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. [Luke 22:8-13]

This house containing the Upper Room was likely owned by Mary, mother of John Mark (whose name graces the Gospel of Mark and which contains primarily the witness of the apostle Peter). We learn later in Scripture that Mark’s older cousin is Barnabas (see Colossians 4:10) who was an early evangelistic traveling companion of the apostle Paul. It is likely that Mark’s father and the father of Barnabas were brothers and were relatively wealthy. Since Mark’s father is not mentioned one must assume he had already passed on and that his wife Mary owned the residence. She and her house are mentioned in Scripture within the narrative of Peter’s angelic release from prison while he was awaiting execution:

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. [Acts 12:11-13]

According to tradition, the house containing the Upper Room was located in the relatively newer section of Jerusalem on the higher hill due west of the old original crescent-shaped City of David. The Upper Room is said to have been situated in the southern area of this western hill. While this may be the case and that there appears to be evidence to support it, there is actually no direct proof. One must remember that the city of Jerusalem of the present contains nothing of the original city proper in the time of the Lord Jesus. That city was completely destroyed and demolished. The only thing remaining from that time is the ancient high-walled Roman fort of Antonia which is mistakenly referred to today as the Temple Mount. The upper courses of these walls, however, were later additions.

It could have been the case that the Upper Room was actually located in the original old city of David acquired and built a full millennium before the Lord’s time. It would be fitting that the prophesied “Son of David” and “King of kings,” the actual final King of Israel (and first, prior to King Saul), would have chosen to start His Community (Church) on the actual royal ground of His kingly forebears from which He descended.

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

As per the Lord’s instructions, the disciples awaiting Pentecost truly tarried in the city of Jerusalem. In that process, the 120 chosen ones readied themselves accordingly. They repented profusely, preparing their hearts. They spent their time in ongoing prayer, fasting, and worship. Then, on exactly the fiftieth day since the Lord’s resurrection, exactly ten days after His Ascension, on the first day of the week (Sunday), at approximately nine o’clock in the morning, the following astonishing miraculous event, as recorded by Luke, transpired:

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind…

And it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. [Acts 2:1-4]

SPEAKING WITH TONGUES

Due largely to the original English translation of the New Testament (primarily the King James Version of 1611) and the language custom and usage of that time, the phrase “speak with other tongues” has been misunderstood by much of the English speaking Christian world. In essence, it should have simply been translated not as “tongues” but as languages. But again, at that time four centuries ago in England the word “tongues” meant languages and the people of that time understood it that way.

This would otherwise be obvious by what Luke revealed next in his historical narrative: Many Israelite world travelers in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost at that time, in the immediate vicinity on the streets and environs below, said they heard from the Upper Room the incessant voices of many people speaking in many different languages other than their customary Hebrew. They identified them as primarily northern Israelite Galileans due to their distinct dialect, accent, and inflection. They also surmised that these “unlearned and ignorant” [1] Galilean Israelites had never learned the many languages they spoke yet did so with excellent enunciation. Astounded and taken aback by this event, the visiting Israelites wondered why this was so, having never experienced such a wondrous thing before. Here is Luke’s account:

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” [Acts 2:5-13] [2]

There is arguably no greater controversy in Christianity than this miraculous “speaking in tongues.” Other than those relatively few Christians who have experienced the phenomenon (though accounting for multiple millions worldwide), it has largely been misunderstood, denied, railed against, rejected outright, and even mocked by the majority of Christians, many of whom are embarrassed and discomfited by it. Why is “tongues” such a charged subject evoking such strong emotion? One wonders how this could have happened. How is it that this great miracle brought forth by our Savior and Master is treated by many Christians the same way it was treated by the antichrist Messiah-rejecting Israelites of the first century, the chief persecutors of the Early Church?

There are answers for these questions. For astute students of the New Testament, there are various passages of the Lord’s teachings that can be applied though not necessarily specifically regarding the miracle of tongues itself. It has more to do with the severe reaction He said His teachings and commands would garner.

Of course, He has a perfect reason for His choice of anointing His followers with the ability to speak in languages they never learned through conventional means. We will delve into this in Part 3.

[1] Acts 4:13 KJV

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: THE SECRET PLAN (1)

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: WHO CAN TAME THE TONGUE? (3)

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Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: THE SECRET PLAN (1)

Aug 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Second Chapter of the Book of Acts DEFINES real Christianity. Whatever form of Christianity rejects Acts 2 must be defined as Unreal Christianity.

THE REAL GOSPEL

The Lord Jesus had it right from the very beginning. He taught perfect truth. Regarding the then immediate future after His ministry concluded and before His ascension, He revealed to His closest most dedicated disciples what to expect next. He told them exactly what to do regarding carrying on His ministry and continuing with its next stage of development after His departure. He had prepped them very well. They were to do nothing on their own but follow His instructions exactly. To the letter. With no deviations. They achieved this perfectly.

The Book of Acts thus contains the exact history of the working out and application of the perfect teachings of the Lord Jesus. He supported and directed His early Community and confirmed what they taught with miracles. Without such miraculous supernatural happenings proving the arrival of His spiritual Kingdom and the people He worked through to bring it forth there was no endorsement or confirmation from Him. He never supported any deviations from His curriculum.

THE PLAN

He always had a plan of ministry in the world to be applied after His physical departure but had to protect it and could only initiate it at the right time. It thus had to stay concealed and could only be revealed as necessary. Of course, accordingly, it meant He could only tell His deeper plans to a comparative few.

One must remember that, during His ministry, among His group of dedicated disciples (students), which might have eventually amounted to perhaps hundreds, the Lord had an original group of disciples—the original apostles—comprised of only twelve men. Among this group he had an even smaller inner circle which was comprised of only three men—Peter, James, and John. Among these three He placed the largest amount of authority upon Peter whose name He had changed from Simon. He had reason for this—Peter (Petros) means rock.

Therefore, regarding all the prophetic events and intricate spiritual plans that had to take place in the final days of His ministry, including the forty days after His resurrection and the ten days after His ascension to heaven prior to the great event of Pentecost, only a relative few could know. Consequently, in effect, a great reduction in the Lord’s overall band of followers must transpire for the immediate purposes at hand followed by the setting apart of a relatively small group for a higher purpose in order to pull it off.

This happened in part due to the scattering which took place during and immediately after His crucifixion when His thousands of followers became marked men and women subject to being hunted down by the evil religious authorities. There was much fear and trepidation among them and also a great lack of understanding of the events taking place. Even those closest to Him were shocked by the turn of events. Nevertheless, a core group remained. This small assemblage rallied together. Its members stayed together for the most part in those final fifty days and were united into a relatively tightknit group. One could call this the small inner remnant among the overall Remnant of Israelites who recognized the Lord Jesus as the Messiah and chose to follow Him.

Accordingly, in order to make His great plan toward Pentecost work, it required only the best of the best and the most dedicated, faithful, and obedient. In fact, it demanded only those disciples who were 100% committed to all that He commanded no matter what it cost them regardless of their personal sacrifices. It was the highest of callings. This meant only a relative few would participate because only a relative few could be fully trusted and could manifest the perfect unison and spiritual unity required. It was all for one and one for all.

Thus, of the tens of thousands that followed the Lord Jesus during His public ministry, which included perhaps hundreds of dedicated disciples, the final number of the most dedicated that actually made it to the Upper Room and stayed there for the full ten days doing all that the Lord required amounted to only 120 people. 120! This was a clear indication of the Gideon paradigm.

Those who know the story of Gideon understand this. In brief, in roughly the twelfth century BC, God had required a dedicated band of obedient warriors to perform a certain task regarding the battle at hand. The task had to be performed to perfection in order to work. In order to find those who could do this God commenced a couple of tests to weed out the pretenders. He started with a band of 32,000 men. The first test reduced the group to only 10,000. The second test reduced it to an astonishing 300. He then divided the 300 into three bands of 100. These best of the best warriors that required great faith and trust in their overall Leader (God) and His commander (Gideon, a no-name), using extremely peculiar and extraordinary war tactics that involved clay pots and hidden torches (Sound familiar?) ended up achieving the goal perfectly and won a great battle defeating a much greater force of seasoned warriors and commanders. By this God showed what He could do using the most unconventional means and processes though with dedicated men who followed His commands and instructions to the letter.

The Lord Jesus did the same at Pentecost. Those disciples who questioned His plan and process in any way were not included. Those who thought the means employed were strange and awkward were not included. Those who refused to give their entire heart were not included. Those who were potentially embarrassed by what they must do and allowed to happen were not included. Only those who would follow Him absolutely, not question anything, perform exactly, and obey every command were included. Thus, a great overall force of followers was whittled down to a mere 120. And with this tiny band the Lord Jesus created His Church—His initial Community of Called-Out Ones.

THE ASCENSION ACCOUNTS AND THE PLAN

He revealed to these, His most dedicated disciples, just prior to His Ascension, that He would be leaving this earth in physical form very soon but would not be leaving them alone, at least not for ten days. He had told them previously that He—the Truth—would never leave them as orphans without a Father but would return to them soon after He left:

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” [John 14:16-20]

Regarding the Lord’s remarkable, inexplicable, and astonishing ascension from earth (something most Christians seem to not pay much attention to or are likely even aware of), relatively few direct witnesses experienced it. Again, He allowed only a small trusted group for the occasion. After giving final instructions toward the Pentecost plan and the relaying of His heartfelt goodbyes, He simply began levitating off the ground briefly and then rose through the air, upwards, possibly gradually, likely keeping eye contact for a while with the band of disciples below as he floated upwards. This happened on our calendar in roughly late May of 32AD.

There were enough witnesses, however, that the incident was remembered and some apparently put it into writing early on. Luke was the man chosen by God to closely interview some of these remaining eye witnesses and also read whatever brief accounts he had located at the later date of His writing, around 60AD, and compile them into his two books—his Gospel and the Book of Acts, his history book of the Early Church.

The Ascension thus served as a perfect segue between the end of one era and beginning of another. God had become a Man and dwelled among us. He taught and ministered. He gave His life to pay for our sin. He rose from the dead. He was glorified. He opened a door into His Kingdom. He then left in physical form, which had certain limits, but would soon return in spiritual form which would have no limits.

What follows are the two Ascension accounts of Luke. At the end of the Lord’s forty days on earth after His resurrection He had led a relatively few chosen disciples up to a location just east of the city of Jerusalem. This was higher ground beyond the precipitous slope of the Mount of Olives where the Lord was crucified, entombed, and rose from death. His chosen spot of departure was a short distance away in the vicinity of the town of Bethany. It was here, fully within His tribal land of Judah, the land of His birth, that the Lord had decided to exit this earth in physical form:

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God. [Luke 24:50-53]

THE BOOK OF ACTS

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: MIRACULOUS TONGUES—A SIGN (2)

Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: WHO CAN TAME THE TONGUE? (3)

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STATING THE OBVIOUS

Jul 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

(Apparently not.) The obvious is a tough sell with the oblivious. Obvious proofs appear foreign to them. Facts are confusing. Truth provokes anger.

THE RECEPTION OF DECEPTION

It is much easier to deceive people than convince them they have been deceived.

It is hard to understand how the oblivious can willingly reject truth and willfully embrace deception. This is easier to comprehend when one considers the great power of conventionality and traditional mindsets coupled with peer pressure and one’s desire to fit in to society. Adding intellectual laziness, little or no actual historical knowledge, a general lack of discipline, narcissism/vanity/pride, no interest beyond the moment (presentism), and the absence of a spiritual backbone to stand up for the Lord Jesus and the picture comes more into focus. Such people become much more accepting of prevailing shallow social norms, including cultural decadence, and fear any personal deviations so they can better “assimilate” and avoid being perceived as standing apart or “marching to the beat of a different drummer.” Historically, the vast majority has always chosen this path. It is that which the Lord Jesus referred to as the “broad way:”

FLESH AND SPIRIT

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” [John 6:63]

Those who choose the broad way put all their confidence and assurance in what the New Testament identifies as the “flesh.” This term refers to the human body and human nature, that which is external, as opposed to the spirit. The Lord Jesus referred to these two several times and taught the clear distinction between each, instructing His disciples that one must not be governed by mere flesh and the lusts thereof but by the spirit, and that one must submit both to His leading.

Of course, due to the fallen sin nature of all human beings prior to being born again from above and obtaining a spiritual nature, living in the flesh will always result in personal sinful choices and opposition to God. Though some people living according to their fallen human nature may work hard at disciplining themselves and limiting their sinful choices they are still living according to a non-spiritual standard based on that which is, according to the Lord Jesus, “weak” and “profits nothing.” It is therefore impossible to please God while living according to the flesh, since one is not living by faith, which can only be accomplished by living in the spirit. This has never stopped people, however, from creating religions in which people continue living in the flesh according to mere human religious standards dictated by authoritarian leaders who eschew the necessity of a new spiritual birth.

The following Scriptural warning thus also applies to the majority of that which is referred to as “Christianity,” that which I term Unreal Christianity:

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh… [Philippians 3:2-3]

Those who choose the broad way do so not only because it is far easier than the correct path—the narrow way—but also because they prefer the flesh to the spirit. In New Testament terms this means relying on one’s own carnal abilities and fallen human nature and that of others. They prefer groupthink, that which seeks agreement at all costs, though always results in irrational dysfunction. They simply cannot handle independent thought which might lead them to question unproven and contrived consensus narratives and otherwise obvious deceptions (which the Lord warned would lead to destruction). Rather than take their comfort in the Lord, the people who choose the broad way take comfort in one another and follow their own accepted and chosen flawed leaders. Such people are much more comfortable surrounded by those who believe the same and adhere to the same general social construct and are thus reassured, incorrectly, that so many people, the majority they meld with, can’t possibly be wrong.

Such superficial social constructs are ubiquitous and may appear in several forms. Most are well aware of the secular variety but these also include the religious realm, which include the “Christian” realm, which feature offshoot Christian social constructs including major traditional denominations. These are merely based on real Christianity, in various limited arrangements, and which attempt to make real Christianity more palatable and acceptable (easy), to gain a larger market share and influence (allow for large masses), which effectively more closely resembles the “broad way” the Lord Jesus warned us about…

Thus, many Christian bodies et al, existing as yet another form of digression to divert one from the one narrow way the Lord Jesus taught must be followed if one is to gain salvation and eternal life, often mimic the spiritually dead secular culture and its many spinoffs and cults thereof. This includes, of course, the ever-present and powerful contemporary deception cult of these times, the Cult of Woke, which was created by the agenda masters to help counteract and head off the current Great Awakening. It exists essentially as an anti-awake and anti-aware sleep-fest designed to be a reactionary antichrist insurgency driving decadence and ignorance against the massive emerging truth and spiritual freedom movement of our national American Great Awakening which began at least thirteen years ago.

This irrational, illogical cult is promoted primarily by the zombifying corporate television mass media and big tech social media firms (which are supported by many Christians that may not perceive the overall agenda) by way of universal 1984-style telescreens of every size dominated by agenda-based platforms utilizing superficial collectivist dictums, controlling consensus narratives, and censorship of truth. Sadly, this strange but trendy belief system has fully captured the willing minds of multiple millions in America to the tune of possibly half the country which would otherwise stand a good chance of being awakened by the obvious.

This, again, includes Christians and explains the many woke churches. The Lord Jesus taught that one must either accept Him and His full teachings or not at all which also explains why so many “Christians” are deceived and become more deceived going forward. Such slumber-induced deception also occurs for the most part due to an inability or refusal to properly identify one’s greatest threat—that of pure unadulterated masquerading evil—and its thoughtless proponents are even brainwashed to unknowingly embrace an ancient folly:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes

And clever in their own sight! [Isaiah 5:20-21]

The deceived ones living in their dream world therefore lose their ability to perceive wickedness guised in holiness (Matthew 23:27), cannot comprehend wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15), and fail to recognize Satan appearing as an angel of light (2Corinthians 11:14). This results in a flippant disregard of unseen evil—a dismissal of malevolent spiritual reality—and amounts to actually joining it, completely unaware of its true nature and hidden proponents. It also obviously disallows one’s vital defense against evil as portrayed in the following:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. [Ephesians 6:12-13]

ENTER THE KINGDOM

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. [Proverbs 18:10]

Remember, there is only one Community of the Lord—the one the Lord Jesus founded in the very beginning—which, unlike various Christian bodies, includes ALL the teachings of the Lord and in which the Lord Jesus and no other is the principal Instructor and personage and His full curriculum the focal point, not just a portion of His teachings or the emphasis on a few, with the following two commandments as the greatest:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:37-40]

These commandments are not honored, obeyed, and practiced outside the Lord’s Kingdom, which is a purely spiritual Kingdom, and is not of this world. Consequently, His Community needs no heavy-handed hierarchies, dictating religious authoritarians, and extra-Biblical enforcement doctrines to make it work and hold it together, as in the counterfeit Christian kingdoms, because the Lord Jesus makes it all work through His unconditional love, His presiding authority, His full curriculum, and His Holy Spirit. His followers make it work by trusting and obeying Him, working with Him and each other, and applying His Word.

Again, counterfeit Christian social constructs merely mimic the dead culture’s means and social mores instead of submitting fully to the Lord Jesus and granting Him complete authority, which would thereby establish His methods and measures. But this otherwise obvious spiritual solution is disdained as it portends a loss of religious control and status, resultant material benefits, and personal independence (which includes walking in the flesh). The following pretty much sums it up:

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” [Matthew 6:24]

THEY WILL BELIEVE ANY LIE—AND DEFEND IT

Also, to maintain such a low common denominator social construct, the committed advocates of such make anyone who differs from said construct pay, and pay dearly, for any apparent personal boldness and oppositional independence. Those who, without thinking and sans research, made the commitment and toed the mark and became just another nameless and faceless brick in the wall feel that those who don’t fully commit and become a fellow brick (a brainwashed brick), or do but then later question something about it, must have a problem with their perfect collective construct. They do not appreciate seeing that to which they invested in and gave their lives held in perceived low regard. In this they attempt to nip independent thought in the bud and set an example for any others so inclined.

And not stopping there, they become chief persecutors manifesting their hate and anger against those they persecute and discriminate against. Sound familiar? They will go so far as to destroy a person and his or her reputation and make it virtually impossible to continue living within such a construct unless that person apologizes and does penance, often to a grossly degrading degree, in order to continue partaking of the good there, which usually involves economic good and a better material life (Matthew 6:24), but primarily involves being accepted as a member in good standing. These submissive and submitted ones who care more about their social credit score than their place in God, by succumbing to the hive mind, thereby avoid being subjected to the infamous “third degree” of their overlords (their betters) and no longer have to watch their backs among their associates or worry about their wrath. They become fully conformed cult fellows having mastered doing all they are told and believing all they are taught.

Many of these people, likely most, unfortunately, by willingly subjecting themselves to such demeaning degradation and deception are never the same. They learn to toe the mark as they should and never again question anything in order to avoid the thought police, having their conscience seared with a hot iron (1Timothy 4:2). People do this because:

(1) They become greatly fearful; they give in to fear. They have no courage to walk in faith with the Lord.

(2) They don’t have enough self-confidence or knowledge to maintain an independent position or defend it (that which allows for additional information and truth) against the domineering crowd staring them down and threatening their social standing if they don’t conform.

(3) They do not want to appear as a deviant. They can’t handle the thought of being a social outcast.

The much better otherwise obvious course of action would be to get away from such a compromised band of mockers post haste as soon as possible. But most don’t. They’re too willingly unwise. They’re too willingly unwilling. Truth would assist their escape and make them free but obvious truth escapes them.

THE DOUBLE DOWN PRINCIPLE

Such choices thus eventuate in an overall lack of awareness, a dearth of knowledge, and common apathy. When these truths are revealed to them, through whatever means, it is not appreciated. In general, people don’t like it when they discover their ignorance. They don’t like it when their lack of knowledge is exposed. They don’t like it when their level of understanding is challenged. They don’t like it when what they believe to be true is proven to be false. They don’t like it when so much of what they believe is nothing more than the end result of successful propaganda campaigns. In the realm of religion such propaganda is often mere indoctrination and people don’t like having their belief systems challenged or exposed as not only incorrect but largely baseless. It throws them off. It rocks their boat. It craters their foundation.

Hence, the double down. Rather than calmly putting their ignorance, accepted knowledge quotient, level of understanding, concept of truth, personal religious beliefs, world view, and cult indoctrination TO THE TEST, they instead double down and consider any and all opposition as fighting words. This means ignorance is truly bliss but only until such a one’s ignorance is revealed. It is then that bliss often becomes anger. Quickly. And by doubling down against correction their ignorance becomes all the more set in concrete. Again, it is much easier to deceive people than convince them they have been deceived.

WHY CERTAIN PEOPLE INSTANTLY HATED THE LORD JESUS

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. [Matthew 12:14]

It mattered not that He did everything He could to not tick people off; many got ticked off anyway. For the Lord, the anger He aroused in others by His perfect teachings was not intentional, not usually anyway, but merely the byproduct of exposing that which was incorrect by teaching that which IS correct. Those that had already figured everything out, knew it all, constructed and/or supported a fake religion or cult and built their lives on such sand foundations were bound to clash with the Rock who actually did know it all.

And because such ignorant virtue-signaling hypocrites walked around in great fleshly pride while the Lord Jesus presented Himself as a humble servant, it made it all the more infuriating. It proved their sense of superiority had no actual place except in an external sense because one cannot be prideful if one is incorrect, especially in the religious realm, so whoever inadvertently exposes one to be incorrect must be made to pay. If, on the other hand, through hearing the preaching of the Gospel, one perceives himself as incorrect, and especially an incorrect sinner, and wants to be freed from his sinful condition, he will repent and do his best to get right with the Lord and be reconciled to Him. However, if one insists he and his religious social construct are superior to the Lord and refuses to acknowledge his sin and repent then the Lord must be made to pay.

To repeat these choices:

(1) One will recognize himself as a sinner in need of a Savior and repent properly and correctly which amounts to throwing himself upon an altar of repentance and destroying his lower temporary life within the realm of fallen humanity (that which Scripture states is one’s initial crucifying of the flesh), in order to gain salvation and therefore preserve his spiritual eternal life (one must be born again according to the Lord’s instructions), OR

(2) One will advocate for and participate in crucifying the Lord.

Hence, again, those who clash with truth and perceive the Lord’s teachings as fighting words reveal themselves as the unrepentant indoctrinated who cannot be reached by stating the obvious.

In the Lord’s time, such people obviously consisted of those within the primary Israelite religious parties as stated in the gospels and New Testament literature. That the religious elite of these parties were brainwashed is obviously evident and is one thing (and some or many of them were demon possessed). Unfortunately, it is also evident and another thing that the elite had religiously indoctrinated many if not most of the Israelite people which in part served to effectively keep as many Israelites as possible from receiving the Gospel. They did this primarily using fear and control tactics. Many Israelites were thus forever fearful they would, (1) be put out of the synagogue, (2) lose their place in society, and (3) suffer financial ruin. Such was the power the religious elites held. It has been true ever since. Sound familiar?

WHY CERTAIN PEOPLE INSTANTLY LOVED THE LORD JESUS

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings. [Hebrews 13:8]

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 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 11:28-30]

One will notice that those who appreciated the Lord Jesus and became His followers back in His time were most often humble and self-effacing. In essence, they were teachable. They had no problem having their ignorance and lack of knowledge pointed out because they were already well aware of it and wanted change for the better. They also knew they were sinners (though not necessarily by that term), in violation of their conscience, and burdened by shame, and wanted this to change also. However, interestingly enough, they were most often better informed and equipped than the unrepentant who falsely deemed themselves superior. They also already knew they were victims of false teachings or lack of teaching and wanted to be taught the truth. Though looked down upon they refused to do as so many others did, those who lived their lives by simply going along to get along. Those who loved the Lord had no regard for such low common denominator kindergarten knowledge levels—a child’s way of thinking—that so many adults incorporated without any thinking. Hence, those who followed the Lord were by and large critical thinkers. They wanted to know. By rejecting society’s false notions and its embraced general ignorance they were willing to be rejected by society in order to be accepted by the Lord. They loved truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” [John 14:6]

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” [John 8:31-32]

In addition, new believers noticed right off that the bigwigs, both secular and religious, had rejected Jesus from the get go and, again, they personally identified with such rejection. Most of His followers were in some way solitary social misfits that somehow fit perfectly in the Lord’s band of spiritual brothers and sisters. When they found the Lord (when He found them), their lives suddenly made sense. Therefore, it was relatively easy for such people to put their acquired knowledge and level of truth to the test because whatever they had possessed to that point never got them much in life anyway. And they were also ready and willing to jettison anything that clashed with the Lord’s curriculum or stood in opposition against Him, including incorrect interpretations of His teachings, false doctrines, aberrant cultural traditions, fabricated social narratives and programming, religious indoctrination, or societal status:

Those original followers of Jesus were serious disciples-to-be who developed into mature effective disciples in good standing and were part of those who turned the then known world upside down (Acts 17:6). They were a major part of the very first Great Awakening. They accepted their callings with joy. They took what the Lord gave them and ran with it. They fought the good fight of faith. They were excellent witnesses. They effected great spiritual change for the better, allowing the Lord to work through them shedding His Light everywhere.

Most of all, they proclaimed incessantly from the housetops and high hills that the Lord Jesus was not only the long prophesied Anointed One, the Messiah—Yehoshua HaMashiach—and was not only our Good Shepherd, and was not only our only Savior, and was not only the Son of God, but was and is also God Himself—the Creator of the Universe—something the Lord Jesus had proved repeatedly during His ministry for all who had eyes to see.

And just as their Lord had done so brilliantly, our first-century forebears spent the rest of their lives STATING THE OBVIOUS.

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set free those who are oppressed,

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” [Luke 4:16-21] [1]

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Crucify the Flesh, Cults, Discipleship, Gospel Truth, Jesus is God, Jesus is the Messiah, Lord Jesus, Narrow Way, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Obvious, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Sinner's Self Deception, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Unreal Christianity, Yehoshua HaMashiach

ANNOUNCING NEW POST

Jul 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

Hello friends. I’m dropping this notice to let you know the Lord has blessed and I am writing again. I have an article about ready to post coming very soon. Please look for it.

Thanks to all of you who read my last article I posted over two months ago—my twelve year anniversary post of May 10. I appreciate all your congratulations and heartfelt comments. I also greatly appreciate your many prayers. I have really missed communicating with everybody and look forward to your latest comments and hearing from you again.

Additionally, there is one particular reader I want to thank most of all: THANK YOU. I have never received as great a Happy Birthday Real Christianity acknowledgement and recognition as yours this time around. May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly.

As always, all glory and praise to our Lord Jesus who we all thank most of all.

See you soon,

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. [1Thessalonians 5:18] [1]

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Tags: Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

HAPPY TWELFTH BIRTHDAY, REAL CHRISTIANITY

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. [1Thessalonians 5:18]

Blessings to you all, my friends, each and every one of you, going back twelve years, Thanks for reading and all your support.

Some of you may have noticed my absence and that I haven’t posted for several weeks. I do miss all of you and have tried to keep up with your posts but can no longer do so. Changes are afoot. Toward the end of March I experienced a circumstance which disallows me from writing as I once did. I have therefore made the necessary effort to write today’s post, since the anniversary is important, though it will likely be my final post until circumstances change for the better, and they will. I would appreciate your prayers until then. Such circumstances must involve the Miracle Realm but this is not a problem because I believe in miracles. Miracles are the Lord’s promise. He came to give us abundant life and that includes blessing us with miracles.

We must always be cognizant of the fact that the Word of God clearly states the existence of both a natural world and an unseen spiritual world. The spiritual world came first. The Lord worked from the spiritual world to create the natural world. The natural world is extremely limited, but in the spiritual world, with God, ALL things are possible.

Nevertheless, most people, including most Christians, only believe and/or pay attention to what they can experience though the five senses. They are overwhelmed by the natural world and fill their lives with it. They simply do not understand or honor the fact that each person has a spirit in seed form which can and must be activated and which facilitates the mandatory born-again process the Lord Jesus revealed. Without a born-again experience a person is doomed to live out his or her life purely in the natural and will know nothing else. All the promises and benefits of the spiritual world are thus not available to them by their choice.

In my time away I have noticed much more than before the deficiencies of gaining fellowship and having true spiritual communication through this digital medium. As much as I appreciate you all, you are all essentially and effectively a million miles away. I greatly value our communication, your insightful and heartfelt comments, and my ability to reply. I love that process. As a teacher, it gives me a great opportunity to share what I have come to know, hopefully, for your benefit, just as you all benefit from the support and interaction of others regarding your work.

But now that I can no longer write or engage in my research at present, it has been somewhat problematic to maintain the spiritual zeal required for my calling, but I have since made the required adjustments. In case you’re wondering, the Lord allowed the aforesaid circumstance to happen though I do not believe He is the author of it. Regardless, I must thank Him for it. We must be thankful in all things and I am thus thankful that I can no longer engage in my labor of love as I once did. I honor the Lord always. He went to the cross, died for my sins, and saved my soul a lifetime ago and I am forever appreciative and eternally grateful. He expressed the greatest love for all of us. He is the greatest.

I have been taking up the slack by spending more time in prayer. I have also been fasting more. As a result, the Lord has been revealing things to me that I likely would not have received and seen otherwise. For a man who spends so much time reading, writing, studying, doing research, teaching, and engaging in spiritual communication with you all though through a limited medium, it is a drag to have to stop all this until the miracle arrives, and it will.

I appreciate those of you who continue to check in and read my past articles. My hope for each of you is that you be blessed of the Lord beyond measure and continue growing ever closer to Him and to the doing of His will in your lives.

Our Lord Jesus is worth everything. He gave everything. He became last in all things so He could be first in all things. All glory, honor, and praise to Him. He is our conquering Hero who defeated all enemies for all time. He proves this every day. May He prove it to the fullness in each of your lives. Don’t ever stop believing in miracles.

Thanks again. It’s been a great twelve years.

With love and appreciation,

¹⁶ Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually—always.

¹⁷ Be unceasing in prayer—praying perseveringly.

¹⁸ Thank [God] in everything—no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks; for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

¹⁹ Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the (Holy) Spirit.

²⁰ Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets—do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning.

²¹ But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast.

²² Abstain from evil—shrink from it and keep aloof from it—in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.

²³ And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through—that is, separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God—and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

²⁴ Faithful is He who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [that is, fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].

²⁵ Brethren, pray for us.

²⁶ Greet all the brethren with a sacred kiss.

²⁷ I solemnly charge you [in the name of] the Lord to have this letter read before all the brethren.

²⁸ The grace (the unmerited favor and blessings) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, be with you all. Amen, so be it. [1Thessalonians 5:16-28] [1]

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Tags: Fellowship, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Miracle Realm, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Community, The Great Awakening

RESURRECTION TRUTHS FROM THE FIRST EPISTLE OF THE APOSTLE PETER, CHAPTER ONE

Apr 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, ⁷ so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ⁸ and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, ¹¹ seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷ If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. ²⁰ For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²² Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, ²³ for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For,

“All flesh is like grass,

And all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

And the flower falls off,

²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word which was preached to you. [1]

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Tags: Apostle Peter, Gospel Truth, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection, Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, The Great Awakening

FIRST DAY OF SPRING AND A NEW MOON (PAY ATTENTION)

Mar 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Vernal Equinox occurred on March 20 at 4:24 pm CDT. The New Moon occurs on March 21 at 12:23 pm CDT.

The Winter is over. Spring has begun. A new Lunar Cycle is also about to begin. It is rare that these two occur so close together, separated by only 20 hours (19:59).

It could be that this New Season and New Moon in the natural world is a sign of a New Beginning in the spiritual world.

Events are greatly accelerating. You will need an Anchor. Do not give in to fear. Keep your Faith in the Lord Jesus. Trust Him.

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.

For You have been a Refuge for me,

A Tower of Strength against the enemy.

Let me dwell in Your Tent forever;

Let me take Refuge in the Shelter of Your Wings. Selah. [Psalm 61:2-4]

The Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower;

The righteous runs into it and is safe. [Proverbs 18:10]

“Behold, I am making all things New.” [Revelation 21:5][1]

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Tags: America, Beginning of Spring, Good News, In the Name of Jesus, Lord Jesus, New Birth, New Covenant, New Life, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

CHURCHES ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE ONES IN CHARGE

Mar 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

And the vast majority of church leaders refuse to allow the Lord Jesus to be in charge, the only one who should be.

OBEY THEM THAT HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU

I have specified this header as a perfect example of a bad KJV translation pushing the highly authoritative theme within it. It is from Hebrews 13:17. Church leaders in general have traditionally used this verse and others like it as a control mechanism and even a hammer to bash over the heads of their congregants to force them to surrender wholesale to their Rule. And they are not shy in using the term Rule. They want everyone to know they Rule. The only way this could be true, however, is if they stole the rule of the Lord Jesus since they are not operating according to His instructions.

Here is the KJV version:

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. [KJV]

Even the NASB95, however, which is a far better translation, and interestingly does not contain the word “rule,” fails to get the true nuance of the writer’s intention:

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. [NASB95]

Here is a slightly better translation with greater explanation from the Classic Amplified:

Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch over your souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you [either]. [AMPC]

The word “obey” is from the Greek πείθω peithō. Here is the Strong’s definition: a primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy, to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively, to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty):—agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) confident, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.

From this we clearly gather that the writer of Hebrews was not instructing his readers to obey rulers. Here again is the authoritative bias in the KJV presenting itself, making the religious ecclesiastics which ruled the Church of England 400 years ago essentially the same as the English king. I can assure you that those Christian Pharisees in general were not serving the Lord Jesus, something that should be obvious. Therefore, we must not do as they say, or even their demands as inflected incorrectly by their hand upon Holy Writ, but do what the Lord Jesus says.

WE ARE TO OBEY FIRST AND ALWAYS THE LORD JESUS. This has never been optional. To that end, according to the spirit of what was written in the verse, a disciple willingly submits to spiritually mature Christian elders who obey the Lord Jesus in order to develop as good disciples. There is nothing about rule in this passage. It is instead a picture of the Lord’s people working in concert with Him and one another in love, harmony, and conciliation to be the best disciple in His service one can be and thus create the best and most effective spiritual Community.

Since He never created denominations our effort should be on joining and supporting His Church, the only one that exists and in which He is King and sole authority.

THOSE WHO RULE

Anyone who does even a modicum of research into historical traditional Christian leadership cannot help but notice that it is always top-heavy, largely unresponsive, and rarely in compliance with the Lord’s full teachings. The reason is otherwise obvious in that those who wrest control always apply their own stamp upon whatever they are in charge of whether they may be “good intentioned” or not. This makes it their own enterprise over which they rule. The rule of the Lord is subverted. Most church leaders thus always obey their denomination’s dictates and their congregation’s religious prejudices. To do otherwise is career suicide.

Keep in mind that many if not most non-denominational and independent churches also have their own respective doctrines that parallel those of the denominations their leaders are most familiar with or privy to, or from which they have come or in which they were raised. They do not necessarily advertise this, however, which can be deceptive. Others are aligned with denominations but often keep their fellowship connections under the radar. They have their reasons.

The majority of Christians are apparently unaware of such connections and may not understand that their church leaders are not working for them but for higher powers. These can be placed in only two general categories. One regards doctrine. The other regards money. Church leaders (pastor’s, ministers, priests, etc.) must obey these two. They must obey their doctrinal overlords and make sure they get the doctrine right including all distinctions thereof. Each denomination has their own divergent set of doctrinal bylaws, the “What We Believe” component or their “Statement of Faith.” These always vary. Thus, to be a minister within denomination 1, one better make sure he never preaches the doctrine of denomination 2 and vice versa. Denomination 2 does not pay him. He only gets a paycheck from the overlords of denomination 1. Therefore, such ministers must obey their benefactors.

They must also obey the constituents of the denomination. Of course, some denominations get cute by referring to their distinct denomination not by that term but as some other innocuous term such as “fellowship” or “communion.” But such names do not matter except as a surface feel-good diversionary tactic. The reality is that Christian denominations remain distinct because the big boys in control demand that all its lower prelates preach and teach only what they allow. Those who fully obey those who crack the whip are then compensated financially. This is how it has always worked and the only way it can work. Thus, such “ministers” do not work for the Lord Jesus as they claim. They ultimately only work for their higher-ups and their congregations.

HIRELINGS

This makes the majority of Christian ministers mere hirelings (KJV) or the hired hands of their respective denominations, which are actually religious enterprises that operate akin to businesses. They are hired by the denomination. They are supported by the congregation’s money and must keep the people of their church in line and contented. They are always much more concerned with the congregation as a group instead of with individual members. They serve the denomination and those who control it. They obey all of its laws and bylaws. They preach only what the denomination tells them to preach and allows them to preach. Also, such hirelings always prove their priorities when the going gets rough:

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” [John 10:11-18]

This passage of Scripture tells anyone with ears to hear exactly what the priorities of any Christian or Christian leader should be but rarely is. It’s a sad state of affairs and American Christianity is rife with this hired hand/denominational control by money and social status which routinely thumbs its nose at the Lord Jesus and the great sacrifice He made on our behalf.

Where do these people get off in deciding which of the Lord’s teachings they will support and those they won’t?

Real Christian ministers serve the Lord Jesus FIRST and ALWAYS. They will only work with those who also put the Lord Jesus FIRST and ALWAYS. They refuse to be compromised as are the hired hand sellouts who do a masterful job of covering up their duplicity. Also sadly, those who follow those who don’t follow the Lord Jesus though they think they do and they claim to end up like these unfortunate ones:

Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” [Matthew 15:12-14]

RELIGIOUS BONDAGE

Regarding how and why such a sad state of affairs can exist and has existed for so long, consider the fact that most Christians have been indoctrinated with their denomination’s beliefs and dogmas rather than being taught the fullness and purity of the Lord’s teachings. One of these enslaves and the other sets free. It is why there is so much fear among so many Christians who have been conditioned to believe that any questioning of their Christian authority figures must be and is verboten. It is why any real reform is impossible. Christian ministers fear career/monetary ruin. Congregants fear social ruin. Neither wants to be perceived as a deviant from the norm. Hence, serving the compromised uncircumcised-in-heart institution takes precedence over serving God.

Those who discover and honor the Light act otherwise.

“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.

This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” [John 12:36-43][1]

The bottom line here, again, should be obvious: When the Lord Jesus is allowed to be fully in charge, a relatively rare thing, one will know it. He is not some spiritually powerless ruling clergyite false authoritarian or fearful sycophantic bought-and-sold church pastor never venturing beyond the company line. When Christians submit to His rule and authority everything changes dramatically for the better: His ministry as it was in His time will break out. Pentecost will break out. The Book of Acts will transpire. People will WAKE UP and desire His direct management and control. Great Awakenings will not only happen but go into overdrive. This is His promise.

It is the evidence He is in charge.

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Tags: America, Christian Denominations, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, False Doctrine, False Religious Authority, False Shepherds, Hired Hands, Jesus Created One Church, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Obedience, Prideful Church Leaders, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Good Shepherd, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THE LORD IS A WARRIOR

Mar 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

Original first-century Christianity was known for the spiritual power of the apostles and early disciples. They had a powerful Leader.

LOVE INCARNATE

“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” [Acts 10:38]

There has never been any greater or stronger Man in all of history than the Lord Jesus. In the Hebrew language He is Yehoshua HaMashiach. The definition of His Name contains the Tetragrammaton—YHWH-Savior, or Yahweh sets free. And this is what He came to accomplish, to save people and free them from the evil power of sin and bless them with abundant life.

He is the Messiah, the Anointed One. No one was ever more powerfully anointed. He was both a man’s Man and a tender compassionate Man who loved and cared for others. He was a Leader of very strong men, men with independent minds and powerful bearing. He would build on their natural strength and transform them into stouthearted spiritual men, the greatest men, men unafraid to act, bold men willing to take the Good News into every hell hole of the nation and rescue those to be saved and redeemed among the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

They would not need just His training though. As a Coach and Mentor He would show them the ropes and teach them all they needed, but He must also impart a greater strength made possible only by His powerful Holy Spirit. In this He would be a spiritual Father imparting His indwelling Spirit and giving them both a personal strength of mind and manner as well as a spiritual strength far greater than that of dark sinister forces and demon-possessed rulers.

The Lord’s men must be trained and empowered to do spiritual battle against mighty spiritual enemies. They would have to take on the devil, the world, and their flesh and deal properly with the flesh of others. They must be powerfully equipped to do so.

They were. He saw to it. That’s what Pentecost was all about. Once Pentecost happened His people were off to the races. The evidence of their success is historically obvious and evident: They turned the world upside down. They upset the normal business-as-usual status quo order in a way no group of people had ever done. It was, of course, an extension of the Lord’s earth-shaking ministry as He continued working with them.

The Lord’s first intention was to set people free from slavery to sin, demonic influence, and evil authoritarians who used people as mere cattle. His success in this objective was off the charts.

THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL

Yet here we are in the present, living in a world far more wicked than that world of two thousand years ago. There are far more people needing salvation and spiritual freedom. Followers of the Lord Jesus must therefore be just as spiritually equipped as His original apostles and the first-century Community of believers in order to be as successful.

But sadly, American Christians in general have largely rejected the only means by which to do this and have substituted non-spiritual alternatives that do nothing to address our greatest need, that of winning spiritual victories and defeating spiritual enemies. This must change.

For starters, Christians will never be able to defeat the strong influence and temptation of this fallen world unless they effectively leave it, exactly as the Lord and His disciples taught.

“Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [James 4:4]

Exiting the “world” was clearly illustrated in the story of the Exodus. Egypt is a type of the world and the first major thing the Israelites were commanded to do when the time came was get out. This they did, en masse, in the dramatic event we call the Exodus. Their exit was sealed once they walked through the divided Red Sea on dry ground to the other side and watched as the sea came crashing back together as a slamming door. There would be no going back and that’s how it should be for all believers.

Then, from that point forward throughout the Sinai wanderings, the Lord did His best to get all the Egypt out of them but was unsuccessful with that first generation and it paid an eternal price. In our day, many Christians, a possible majority, have done the same. They have compromised their walk and made peace with a sinful world rather than flee as commanded. Having never left Egypt in their hearts nor allowed the Lord to get it out of them, they instead joined the equivalent of Pharaoh’s kingdom with no remorse. Such soft pretenders are filled instead with the spirit of the fallen culture. They are as worldly as the day is long and have no understanding or concern of the penalty which awaits. They will die out in the Sinai. They will never enter the Promised Land. Their choice disqualifies them from the following:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. [1Peter 2:9-10]

Christians will also never be able to defeat the devil unless and until they can defeat their own flesh. Remember, the Lord was not shy in His instructions regarding this—He effectively stated we must crucify the flesh. He said we cannot properly follow Him unless we do so while carrying our cross. The cross is a constant reminder that our flesh must be defeated, it must be put down, and it must be ever-crucified. He showed us how to do it.

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [Galatians 5:24]

Prior to ministry, as a manual worker, the Lord was an incredibly strong and dynamic Man, working long and hard each day out in the elements, laboring as a skilled builder and carpenter. His skin was bronzed and tanned by the sun. He was Man of rippling tendon and sinew and muscle. And yet when the time came to begin His ministry, His purpose for being here, He gave it all up over the course of a 40 day fast. He transferred His natural strength, suited to His prior purpose, for spiritual strength suited to His new purpose. He became thin and likely somewhat drawn but only in the natural. In the Spirit he was heaving 500 pound boulders like baseballs. The fasting never stopped, of course, though He practiced it at intervals. Scripture does not say how far He went in this regard after His initial fast but along with mighty ongoing prayer which often came forth in solitary all night prayer meetings, fasting was an overall part of His spiritual lifestyle. And the results were historic (understatement alert).

Unless American Christians in general also embrace the spiritual discipleship and dynamic ministry of the Lord and His originals they may just as well quit altogether because their efforts are largely worthless. Such amounts to nothing more than going through religious motions in the natural, in the flesh that should otherwise be defeated and crucified. In fact, their flesh is for the most part coddled and embraced. Thus, many Christians of whatever stripe have no means to defeat spiritual enemies.

This denotes, of course, that their spiritual enemies are defeating them. It is why so much has been lost. It is why America has fallen. American Christians in general refuse to get equipped to fight. Most won’t even start the program. They are content to play church while everything goes to hell around them. They refuse to engage.

But when they are actually faced with the enemy—when he comes to their town, to their church, or to their very home—they will need to engage and want to engage but will be unable. It will be too late. They will have no means with which to fight. They had previously rejected spiritual weaponry and chose powerless religion as a worthless substitute. They made no plans for any such enemy assault upon themselves. They never prepared. Their wimpy defensive posture renders them defenseless.

Why? Here’s why: The Lord Jesus created a dynamic spiritual army, one that goes on the offensive, is proactive, and attacks the gates of hell. He thus provided no armor for our backside. However, once Christians accept living in an anti-spiritual-fight mode and at best adopt a purely defensive posture, withdrawing from the fight instead of going on the offensive, they will soon find themselves unable to defend anything. The devil will have a field day. Sound familiar?

THE NEW TESTAMENT MODEL

It could all be so much different. Real Christians serve a very powerful King. There is nothing He cannot do. His spiritual enemies greatly fear Him. They each know He has the means to destroy them. He can obliterate them and make them pay. He can send demons to the abyss. Yet the Lord has decided to make things interesting by not fighting from the advantage of heaven only but also through the veil of humanity. He defeated the devil as a Man, as a Human Being. But before that He had already defeated the world and illustrated the process of defeating one’s sinful flesh. His flesh was never sinful so He never had to defeat it but He illustrated what it takes to do so.

His sinlessness, of course, made Him the perfect and only candidate to be the Sacrifice Lamb who would take away the sin of the world but it took extremely great courage and powerful determination to face the cross. No human being can ever know how difficult it was for Him. No one can possibly relate. But He was willing to face the cross in part to give His people the means to defeat spiritual enemies also. Sadly and inexplicably, however, the majority of Christians in the world have largely wasted the Lord’s great sacrifice by never appropriating this spiritual power. The likely culprit is sinful flesh unwilling to die. Therefore, if one wants to fight against and defeat spiritual enemies one will never be able to do so until one defeats one’s own flesh. Sinful flesh is a potent enemy and does not go down easy.

As a test case imagine the following scenario: On a Monday morning, when a never or rarely fasting Christian decides to do a simple half day fast from midnight to noon on Tuesday, he will suddenly likely want to head to the grocery store and load up as if a natural disaster is coming and then chow down even possibly unto the midnight hour “in preparation” as if he’s on death row and it’s his last meal. Then when Tuesday comes he spends the longest and most dreadful few hours of his life having no idea how he will ever get through such a difficult and trying procedure.

Of course, if this person, on Monday, never thought about fasting and never intended to fast on Tuesday, then skipped breakfast on Tuesday morning for any reason other than spiritual, it would be no big deal, the morning would fly by, and he would probably never even be hungry.

This is how the flesh operates.

As long as it’s in control and thoroughly satiated the flesh will be relaxed and happy and even sassy and won’t go nuts and fight back having no need to. But the flesh WILL go nuts and fight back when:

(1) Its authority is challenged

(2) Its comfort level is threatened

(3) Spiritual means are suggested and are intended to be applied

(4) It’s confronted with its greatest dread—conviction of sin

Sinful flesh hates being reminded of what it is and equally hates and fears the idea of any opposition toward sin and especially fears and hates the process of repentance. It also hates the entire idea of the Gospel. Again, the flesh is a potent spiritual enemy.

Now, for a positive example made for those who desire to make the correct application and gain victory over sinful flesh, here’s a quick illustration you won’t find anywhere else of what overcoming the flesh looks like:

In the movie The Wizard of Oz, the wicked witch of the west (who is worse than the wicked witch of the east), at her very worst and most evil represents the flesh in its greatest strength (“I’ll get you, my pretty!”).

The wicked witch of the west frantically crying out while being evaporated toward nothingness is the flesh being fought against and overcome (“I’m melting! Melting!”).

The wicked witch of the east under a house with her stockinged feet sticking out and toes curled up is the flesh defeated. Likewise, the wicked witch of the west, after she was reduced to a flat steaming heap of black witch apparel, is the flesh defeated.

THE OLD TESTAMENT MODEL

When one walked in the fenced tabernacle enclosure, the first structure seen was the Altar of Sacrifice. This represents Repentance. It entails total destruction, death, and consummation by fire.

The next structure immediately after this was the Brazen Laver. It was where the priests washed after making sacrifice. It perfectly represents Water Baptism.

Right after this was the opening to the Tabernacle itself. This represents the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Before one could do the work required within the Holy Place (the first section of the tent), he had to be equipped and qualified. In the Holy Place was the large seven-branched Golden Lampstand, the Table of the Bread of the Presence (KJV: shewbread), and the Altar of Incense. Each of these has a spiritual meaning and represents the specific work of the Lord’s Community post Pentecost.

It is why the apostle Peter used the following exact words at the end of his initial message, the very first of the Church. In it, he portrayed the greatness of the Lord and His unprecedented accomplishment on the cross on our behalf. He explained how the Lord defeated His spiritual enemies and why His followers must follow in His footsteps. And He announced the arrival of the Promise, which was on full display that very morning, moments before, when the Upper Room was filled with the presence of the Lord and in which each person there was also filled and became spiritual warriors.

The greatest of Warriors won the greatest of victories and would pass on the spiritual means to do the same for whosoever was willing from that point forward. Remember, every single real member of the Lord’s Community—His Kingdom—is a spiritual priest. And just as it was in the Old Testament when only priests could enter the tabernacle and minister (an allegorical type and shadow of New Covenant ministry), each spiritual priest must also be qualified to enter the Lord’s spiritual tabernacle and minister (listed in four parts in the following passage). And each priest of the Lord is subject to the only King and High Priest and reveres His holy Name.

He is the Door through which one enters the Holy Place—the Lord Jesus Messiah:

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

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Tags: Acts 2:38, America, Baptism in the Name of Jesus, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Discipleship, God is Love, Lord Jesus, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Infilling of the Holy Spirit, The World The Flesh The Devil, There is Power in the Name of Jesus, Unreal Christianity, Yehoshua HaMashiach

ETERNAL LIFE MATTERS

Mar 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

The greatest future plan one can ever make regards one’s ultimate concluding fate—at the end, everyone will meet with God.

The time will come when each will die

One will release that final sigh

When life’s total actions, fully recorded

—A legal case accusing the departed

(And, sans real repentance, no part discarded)

Which no defendant can deny

Will thus convict—A last goodbye

THE OTHERWISE INEVITABLE

The bewitching nature of this world causes humanity to neglect any thought of the next world. The strong gravitational focus on the here and now is such that one’s greatest priority is most often neglected or even rejected. One may plan to the nth degree regarding the things of this life and even prearrange end-of-life priorities and responsibilities yet never even think to consider the status of one’s soul or eternal destination.

This means people either do not believe in eternal life or simply do not treat it seriously, or if they do, assume they are going to a good place whatever it may be and thus disregard any idea of merit other than, in a general sense, thinking of themselves as a “good” person according to their own estimation who could not possibly end up in the bad place.

From a Biblical perspective, however, the default position IS the bad place. The bad place is where everyone goes or is going, instead of the other way around, unless a profound life-changing choice is made to radically alter that horrific inevitable course.

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

The nature of sin is such that people are largely blinded to it and unaware of its eternal consequences. They are also often unaware of sin’s effect in the present. Sin is seen as something that might or might not exist whose effect is not always clear or immediately forthcoming. In other words, one often gets away with some sinful action, sinful lifestyle, or unrepentant sinning in general and therefore has no fear of impending justice. People often learn this as children in that they are not always “caught” or comparatively rarely caught and thus incur no penalty, and causally apply this unfortunate learning experience as adults. This manner of thinking eliminates any desire for behavior modification. It allows for a “if it feels good do it” mentality even though, for some, the worst behaviors may successfully be avoided in that one’s conscience still has a good effect at least to that degree.

Of course, other people rarely got away with stuff as children. For various reasons some had a desire for righteousness—because their conscience was always working properly and they had no desire to override it—they often ratted on themselves in that they knew they were terrible liars and had no stomach for deceiving others—and also because they simply could not live with themselves without confession or attempting to make things right. Such a personal attitude is rare, however, without some form of moral supervision, parental or otherwise, or an enforced clearly understood equitable external code.

CONSENSUAL SINS AND SOCIAL INS

Paradoxically, the majority appears to have an awareness of the concept of karma, in that “what goes around comes around,” but not so much in a specific sense or when two “consenting adults” engage in sinful behavior, for example. This problem grows exponentially worse when “consenting” social groups or even large cultures agree that certain aberrant behaviors and activities are perfectly permissible as long as no one uses force or otherwise coercive behavior. The idea here is that two or more can make an unwritten contract or join a group with a particular social contract and as long as everybody remains on the same page then all is well. Intelligent people surmise, though, that such faulty consent is nothing more than group license in that these phony social unions merely enforce their own distinct code canons which often coddle and shield its members from conscience-rendered judgments. It is a case of willfully surrendering one’s independence to judge right and wrong to a group dynamic formed to allow sin, though they do not call it that, but something innocuous like “free expression.” Here’s how Paul described it:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron… [1Timothy 4:1-2 KJV]

Regardless of one’s motive, it is still a case of sacrificing the higher ideal of personal independent thought and action, that which allows for the best outcomes when sufficiently put to the test, for mere peer affirmation and loose inclusion in an otherwise questionable group not subjected to any advanced moral standard. We have seen in these days the greatest outworking of such cultish groups through the massive influence of social media.

JUSTICE

Though human beings in general have a sense of justice, especially injustices perpetrated against themselves, they have less understanding of the effect of their personal sins and injustices against others and may also be quite apathetic concerning them. Some sins can obviously be far-reaching and have a substantial impact on others though the perpetrator may be oblivious. In other words, the committing of sins and crimes is motivated by pure selfishness and illicit personal gain, usually against innocent victims, which portends no concern for those wronged. It also reveals a sense of justice completely out of whack and heavily weighted toward the justification of the guilty party and such parties always manage to somehow justify their dishonest and fraudulent behavior.

This also involves another blind spot—that of one’s behavior toward God. This almost always escapes the attention of most people who never acknowledge God’s presence and therefore have no concept that some of their sinful behavior is not only an affront to God but actual sin against Him. You see, whenever one sins against another person as illustrated in the prior paragraph, the trespass can only be made right relationally by confessing the sin to the person who was wronged. We call it an apology. Most never see the need to apologize to God.

This is not as true among those with a Christian ethic, however. Priority one is obeying the greatest commandment. Priority two is obeying the second greatest:

Christians are taught to be humble, understanding, slow to anger, and willing to take a hit so as not to cause a greater problem. Christians are taught to apply the Golden Rule, to treat others the way they wish to be treated, and to forgive. A Christian’s ultimate model is the Lord Jesus. They try to follow His example. Whoever tries to do this in a dedicated conscientious manner will have success at it or at least a much greater chance at success. His model is not only greatly beneficial to others but also produces peace and contentment for the individual. Most importantly, those of contrite heart who truly repent to God, stop sinning, and dedicate themselves to obeying the Lord Jesus will not only receive the gift of righteousness but will also gain eternal life. Their names will be recorded.

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. [Revelation 20:11-15]

THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE

The term “Book of Life” occurs eight times in Scripture, once in Psalms 69:28, once in Philippians 4:3, and six times in the Book of Revelation. We have already seen two of these occurrences in the preceding passage. What follows are the other four occurrences. Though the term is relatively rare in the Bible, it is not so in the final book, due likely to the subject matter at hand and the Lord’s emphasis on eternal fates and properly addressing the legal culmination of justice regarding particular earthly matters and His spiritual covenant. We must, therefore, pay close attention to the context here. We must also acknowledge the Book of Life’s very existence and eternal importance.

Accordingly, a person can only have his or her name entered in this book prior to physical death. Also, though one’s name be written there, one may also have his or her name possibly removed at some point prior to passing from this life. The following verses of Scripture reveal that one’s name in the Book of Life will play the deciding role in one’s eternal judgment. It must therefore be one’s top priority in life to fulfill the requirements of gaining entry to this all important book and also insuring that one’s name remains there. You will notice from the tone of Scripture in these verses that the Lord is extremely serious and, of course, necessarily so. He will not tolerate any watered-down attitudes or spiritual complacency. Eternal life is on the line. He gave His life to gain it for us.

One must also note that in the letters to the seven churches, the only one in which this term appears is the one to the church of Sardis. In this letter the Lord reveals a very close parallel to American Christianity in general. May we all obey His command.

Eternal life matters.

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” [Revelation 3:1-6]

And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. [Revelation 13:3-9]

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.” [Revelation 17:8]

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. [Revelation 21:22-27][1]

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Tags: America, Book of Life, Discipleship, Door of Death, Eternal Life, Final Judgment of Souls, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Justice, Revelation, Sin and Evil, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Great Awakening, The Great White Throne Judgment, The Sentence of Hell

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

ANNOUNCING NEW POST (AND A REMINDER OF MY PREVIOUS POST)

Feb 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

Hey Friends. Hope all is well. I’ve been working on a new post since Saturday. I will likely post it either Tuesday or Wednesday. Read on…

I’m not sure what happened to my previous post. It seems to have slipped by the wayside. Thanks to those of you who did read it and your comments. In the event you may have missed it you can check it out here: Real Christians Are Not “Kings and Priests”

You may have noticed I am not posting as often. I am also writing longer articles. I may decide to continue with this format and make this week’s new post one relatively long article instead of dividing it into parts. Your feedback is appreciated. I know blogging in general should probably consist of comparatively brief posts posted more often and even daily but my current format is working better regarding my inspiration at this time.

Regarding the new post, it deals with a theme of the Lord’s ministry contained in many Gospel verses that consist of His direct quotes. However, these sayings, like many others, are NT Scriptural passages one will likely never hear in a standard sermon. Such shunned teachings of the Lord (there are many) reveal a hidden censorship and bias by some ministers and churches that reveal their personal and religious priorities and agendas. Therefore, this is Gospel material that many Christians are not aware of that we all have need of, especially in these days.

Until then,

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

REAL CHRISTIANS ARE NOT “KINGS AND PRIESTS”

Feb 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

This erroneous idea, with serious implications, is due to an incorrect translation in the KJV.

Yes, I know this may be shocking for some. There are errors in the Bible? Well, let’s call this particular one a transmission error. Here are the two verses in question in the King James Version:

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. [Revelation 1:6]

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. [Revelation 5:10]

Here are the same verses in the New American Standard 1995:

And He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. [Revelation 1:6]

“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” [Revelation 5:10]

I could go farther into this using the Greek words but the NASB95 is the correct translation (along with other versions). You may ask, “Why is this important?” Well, for one thing, the New Testament consistently states that the Lord Jesus is the only King. Nowhere else does it say He has sub-kings under His authority. This would otherwise be a common sense issue. Secondly, these are the only two verses in the KJV in which both words occur. Third, there are no other verses stating that believers are kings.

And then there is a fourth issue. You see, this verse and others like it in the KJV along with this Bible version’s strong authoritative bias, assisted in giving rise several decades ago to Dominion Theology. If you have not heard of this or know it by a different name I suggest you do some minor research. I happened to be in the thick of it when it came to the fore in the 1980s and am well aware of its harmful effect and deceit. It is just one more false notion that Christians accept wholeheartedly because they trust their church or pastor and are often not even aware of such things. I will not get into it here in this brief post but again, a better understanding and greater knowledge of New Testament Scripture will keep a believer much better informed and prepared for such false notions and deceptions.

Now, in Colossians 4:18 the apostle Paul uses the term “kings” in this regard also but in a sarcastic manner. He proves my point. Why don’t we let him explain this issue which also existed in his time and broke out among Colossian believers? In the following passage Paul also reveals what real ministry is about as opposed to that of the highbrow clergyites who deem themselves superior (sound familiar?) and by it lead people astray:

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. [Colossians 4:6-13]

THE ORIGINAL NEW TESTAMENT LITERATURE

The written Word of God as originally delivered was accurate. It correctly communicated the truth of the writer. We know this in part because of the powerful impact the New Covenant writings had on the first-century world. These writings changed the course of history, as it were, as no other literature had ever done before or since. Millions of lives were changed for the better in dramatic fashion. The salvation of souls spread far and wide. People were transformed spiritually and received great otherwise impossible promises coming true in their lives exactly as the Lord Jesus had promised.

Much of this Good News in the early going, however, was not due to the written word but the spoken word. People received the Gospel message primarily through the oral transmission of highly anointed witnesses sent forth by God into a dark world straining under a great burden of sin and depravity. Most people were wearing the yoke of slavery, were under the heavy hand of dictators and evil authoritarians, and were struggling to survive. The Good News arrived as a shining beacon of hope. The message was different than any other preceding it and proved its legitimacy and genuineness by actually working and bringing forth exactly what it decreed.

Remember, the Lord spoke of “spiritual words.” He claimed there was “life” in the words He spoke. He said His words, or Word, had the power to overcome evil, break bonds, and greatly transform lives for the better. No other words had this power or inherent ability:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” [John 6:63-65]

We see by this passage, however, that though His Word was potentially spiritually transformative, it must be activated by belief. His Word does not work otherwise.

What follows is the definition of the original NT Greek word translated into English as “believe” which, if properly and wholly applied, activates the ever-present fruitful Word of God:

Strong’s Greek #4100: πιστεύω pisteúō (pist-yoo’-o); from G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ):—believe(-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.

Intransitive, to think to be true; to be persuaded of; to credit, place confidence in;

Universally: The thing believed being evident from the preceding context,

Specifically, in a moral and religious reference, “the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of his soul”; thus it stands:

Absolutely to trust in Jesus or in God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something:

Of the credence given to God’s messengers and their words, with a dative of the person or thing used especially of the faith by which a man embraces Jesus, i.e. a conviction, full of joyful trust, that Jesus is the Messiah — the divinely appointed author of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God, conjoined with obedience to Christ.

We see then, that though the Lord Jesus is the most powerful Person in the entire Universe (no contest), has all authority in heaven and earth, is the greatest Champion of all time who has defeated all of His evil enemies (who are deathly afraid of Him), and that His holy Word is powerful, spiritually beneficial to the nth degree, and potentially greatly transformative, He presents Himself in His initial interaction with people as a gentle humble Man speaking an appealing message of love, life, and hope:

In essence, the Lord Jesus is the antithesis of a jacked-up duded-up Pharisaic empty suit authoritarian as illustrated by any number of religious or secular potentates who major on externals and personal accoutrements and have little effective regard for those over which they rule, much like the false apostles Paul referred to. Don’t ever forget that humility is a giant spiritual door while pride and arrogance is a concrete wall.

RULING AND REIGNING?

Many years ago I was doing my usual Biblical research and came across an in-depth study article, quite long as I remember, regarding the King James Version of the Bible. The author claimed this Bible version held a very strong authoritative bias. I was not surprised but certainly intrigued. The KJV was commissioned by the king of England, the translators were working for the king among the trappings of the court, and they made ample use of William Tyndale’s initial English translation of roughly eighty years before (for which he was burned at the stake by the English king, somewhat ironic, no?). King James had made sure that this new translation would be one that “properly” conveyed respect for authority in general and specifically for kingly and clerical rule. It was his intention to further the cause of the new hybrid Anglican Church and the supreme religious authority thereof. This high handed attitude of the Church of England is what drove the persecuted Bible believing Separatists from the country. The good news is that they eventually landed in America and established Plymouth Colony in 1620. You know the rest of that story.

PRIESTS YES BUT KINGS NO

In truth, the Lord’s people are priests but not kings. There is only one King in His Kingdom—the Lord Jesus. This misunderstanding is derived from our fore-mentioned bad translation in the KJV. Also, we must be careful of the encroachment and excesses of gross authoritarianism. There is no verse in the New Testament that claims the Lord’s people are to “rule and reign.” His people certainly have a level of spiritual authority and must exercise it, but their authority is always subject to the Lord’s highest authority. One cannot “reign” in life over spiritual death unless one is fully subjected to the one who has defeated sin and death (Romans 5:17). One can only “reign” with Him, that is, because of Him, by Him, or through Him, but never as a king and only as His subjects.

The Lord grants to His people spiritual authority over His enemies but His people must always be cognizant of what this actually entails. It has nothing to do with kingly honor or ruling over physical, material, or geographic kingdoms. It has nothing to do with the usual trappings of such in which sinful people lord it over others. This evil spirit and attitude came to power centuries ago within certain denominations and transformed willing impersonators into religious authoritarians ruling over people. There is no such rule in real Christianity except the rule of the Lord Jesus. Under His authority each and every one of His people are exactly equal. Some obviously have greater spiritual maturity. Some are developing into such and will get there in time. Those who are spiritually mature and have the evidence of it should be respected as elders but must never be seen as anything more than a fellow sibling.

It is the same regarding the priesthood of the believer. All real Christians are certainly priests but the Lord Jesus is the only High Priest.

He is also the only King of kings and Lord of lords.

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Tags: America, Apostle Paul, Bible, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Faith and Unbelief, King of kings and Lord of lords, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, One Gospel, Pilgrim Separatists, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Humility, The Golden Rule, The Great Awakening, The Living Word, The New Testament, Unreal Christianity, William Tyndale

HEART OF DARKNESS: THE SINNER’S SELF-DECEPTION

Jan 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

Unrepentant sinners never care to count the cost. They never care to look down the road. They never perceive the future consequences of their actions. They seem to live only for the moment and let tomorrow “take care of itself.”

There are many Biblical passages which speak to the fallacy of living in such a way. The Lord Jesus taught very much on the subject. In fact, the subject is so widespread and all-inclusive, one should always be cognizant of what one’s current actions will turn into when his or her karma chickens come home to roost.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption… [Galatians 6:7-8]

Every day we are planting seeds. Each decision we make and act on is a seed that will manifest in something. It therefore stands to reason that we should all concentrate on making good decisions, on doing good things, and on planting good “seeds” so we can later have good outcomes.

…But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. [Galatians 6:8-9]

There are consequences in every single action we make. Like the proverbial ripples in the pond, what one does today will spread into tomorrow and next week and will continue “paying dividends” far into the future.

It is therefore mandatory that we know what is good and what is bad, so we can avoid planting bad seeds and concentrate on planting good seeds.

If we are always doing good deeds, the fruit of the good deeds will constantly be coming forth. Something good will happen tomorrow or the next day and it will be because we planted good seed and performed good deeds.

Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. [James 3:12-13]

However, those who do good must also be aware of the presence of evil in this world. Evil hates the good and goes to war against it. So one may do many good things and have the fruit of that good come forth, but also attract the attack of evil for doing good. Such evil is not the result of one doing good, but the result of being attacked by evil for doing good.

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. [1 Peter 2:12]

Unrepentant sinners are those who join forces with the dark side whether they know it or not. In fact, most of these do not know they are in league with the devil because they are deceived. And many are self-deceived. But in most cases it does not mean their conscience is dead. They deceive themselves into thinking their sin has no consequences and thus, not only continue to sin but develop a sinful lifestyle. Their personal culture and way of life has sin infused throughout it, and they actually believe their sin is good, and thus, not sin.

This is willing deception of the highest order.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. [Isaiah 5:20-24]

As an excellent example, this is why millions of American Christians believe ripping apart a living, breathing innocent baby is a good thing.

What?

It’s elementary.

Logic teaches us, through the basic form of the argument structure, the following:

PREMISE 1: Polls continually show that the vast majority of Americans refer to themselves as Christians.

PREMISE 2: America is supposedly a Christian nation.

CONCLUSION: Therefore, American Christians are pro-abortion, and have consistently supported abortion rights for over forty years, in that abortion, totally and completely illegal and immoral in the eyes of God, still exists as a legal and moral choice in this country.

If the conclusion is false, then one or both premises must be false. If either premise is false, America is not a Christian nation, and the giant majority that claims Christianity is not composed of real Christians. Since the facts of abortion are true, and since real Christians oppose abortion, it must be the unreal Christians who support it. And it must also be the unreal Christians who have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Doctors have advised thousands and thousands of parents that their unborn babies have such severe defects they should abort the pregnancies. And millions of parents-to-be have been counseled that babies on the way, physically impaired or not, are terribly inconvenient. Consequently, such parents have aborted their babies thinking they were doing the right thing, though they had to bypass a God-given convicting conscience. Many have regretted such decisions ever since.

But many parents have also refused such advice, trusted God, allowed their babies to be born, and such babies end up bringing great joy to their parents and the world, grow up and become good, productive adults, and are ever thankful that their parents allowed them to live.

Abortion is an extreme example, maybe the most extreme. But such an example gives perfect perspective to the “evil is good” mentality spread throughout the country and this fallen world.

Doing good is not necessarily easy. But deceiving oneself into sinning without repentance or recognizing the sin makes doing evil very easy. Such people have circumvented the one check on their bad behavior—they have removed their will/conscience from the equation.

Picture the ultimate running-with-scissors scenario. Picture one knowing full well what their evil behavior will manifest in but keep doing it anyway, over and over again.

And because of their disregard of goodness and light

And not living according to what is morally right

God makes it simple to sin to their hearts delight

By giving them a reprobate mind of blind and blight

And they begin to believe in, practice, and teach the most idiotic things ever known to mankind. They become complete and total doofuses—total fools unto themselves, though with an arrogant air and the perception of intelligence.

And they hang around with like-minded people—those who are also willingly deceived. And they fight for evil. They join forces with the devil and not only do they not care or see, they laugh at the thought. And they think God is an idiot. And they think God’s people are idiots. And they laugh at those who try to rescue them.

They will not be laughing in hell.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. [Romans 1:28-32] [1]

In other words, such people know they are doing wrong but are compelled to continue sowing bad seed with no remorse or repentance until they can no longer feel remorse or desire repentance. What else can this be but willing self-deception and an enthusiastic eagerness for endless sin sprees? And why should there not be justice for such crimes? Others may call them victims or place the blame anywhere but where it belongs, but God calls them what they are—those who love sin.

For most, justice will come after death. And they will not be able to defend their evil deeds.

Therefore, the idea that sinners are completely unmindful of and completely deceived regarding their bad seed and resultant bad fruit does not hold water. They know. And they know they will pay. The problem is they simply don’t care. They possess a self-created apathetic heart of darkness.

Nevertheless, though the result of their sin continues to erupt like a mad volcano spewing evil and misery all over the land, the Lord, in His great love and compassion, still tries to reach them…

Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors, therefore a tumult will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed… [Hosea 10:12-14]

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: America, Break Up Your Fallow Ground, Christian Pharisees, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jesus, One Will Reap What One Sows, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Reprobate Mind, Spiritual Deception, The Great Awakening, The Sinner's Self Deception, Unreal Christianity

WHY DO MOST NEVER TRUST THE ONE MOST TRUSTWORTHY?

Jan 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

Sin is not only a destroyer, those under its power are also prone to colossal deception. It is why so many refuse to trust the Lord Jesus.

THE LORD’S MISSION

No one is more loving or kind. No one is more willing to sacrifice on your behalf. No one gives His heart as He does. He will do anything to save you. He has proven this by His perfect life and sacrificial death. His goal was to defeat sin and thereby set people free from its power. There was only one way to do this. He risked everything in the process. How so?

What most Christians fail to consider are the immense implications of His mission. In order to defeat sin He would have to live His life entirely free from sin. He could never sin, not even once. If He did He would suffer the penalty of sin which is spiritual death.

Once the Lord God decided to become a Man, to pass into the realm of humanity as one of us and enter into the greatest and riskiest mission of all time, He knew it meant putting the entire Universe including the celestial environs of heaven up for grabs. If He failed the devil would gain everything. If the Lord sinned, if He violated the Torah, even only once, and even only in a minor way, He would no longer qualify as the perfect unblemished Sacrifice Lamb. That would mean there would be no Savior. It would mean there would never be a Savior. That would mean He would go to hell. It would also mean we all would go to hell. There would be no way to get around it. The apostle Paul would never write, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Death would win. It would forever sting the heart of all. Human beings would be but a memory. God would be a memory. The devil and his evil henchmen would rule forever.

Thus, we must always be cognizant of what was at stake. The Lord’s life/mission was obviously the most fundamental and crucial aspect of our potential salvation. No one can even imagine the immense pressure the Lord was under. These were monumental implications. The prodigious power of sin and the temptation thereof is such that no human being has the ability to ever come close to defeating it. It is by far the greatest disease known to man. Sin is simply far too powerful and human beings are far too weak and prone to temptation to ever have a chance against it on their own. Once Adam sinned he released this sad inability and weakness, this incessant persistent flaw, upon all succeeding generations. Once sin entered the realm of humanity it put everyone at risk of eternal damnation.

Prior to the Incarnation, with Himself as the only possible candidate, the Lord God knew He must be the first human to defeat sin. He knew He must be the first to never give into temptation, to never be deceived by the devil, and to never be betrayed by His own flesh. Setting a perfect example, He would never choose this fallen hell-bound world and its absurdly temporary pleasures over the spiritual purity of heaven. He must be successful in opening a spiritual door to eternal life for all. He would be that Door.

ADAM’S MISSION

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. [Genesis 2:15]

Humans were not bound by sin in the very beginning, of course. Adam had authority over sin. He had authority over death. Hell had no hold on him. He was absolutely free and lived in paradise. The Lord created Him above all Creation which included the devil. Adam had greater power than the devil. Adam ruled over the devil and all his fallen angelic cohorts. He was the king of the Garden, second only to God. The objective was for the Lord God, through Adam His human agent, to spread His righteous dominion throughout the world defeating the devil one step at a time and eventually eliminating his dominion here. God’s pure, holy, righteous, and loving dominion as it existed in the Garden would replace the devil’s evil dominion across the planet. The way Adam would accomplish this would be to continually cultivate and keep the Garden.

I wrote the following passage in my book Real Christianity in reference to Naboth’s Vineyard. You can find his story in the Book of 1Kings, Chapter 21. His Vineyard is a perfect spiritual type of each real Christian’s individual ministry and purpose. The spiritual significance is the same as Adam’s Garden:

One would do well to understand the creative power of one’s own vineyard. Every believer has a destiny to fulfill, a purpose for being here. Each person has a vineyard and is commissioned by God “to cultivate it and keep it.” The believer’s cultivating and keeping of his vineyard is his reason for existence. To cultivate is to prepare, to work at, and to foster growth. To keep one’s vineyard is to guard it, to preside over and protect it, to secure and maintain dominion, and to be individually responsible for its yield. It is that which gives purpose, it is his or her place in the body—the place where God dwells. [Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church © 2001 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.]

Well now, without looking too far into this, one should be able to immediately ascertain the devil’s strategy. Adam was the sole link between God and His dominion on the earth. Adam was outstandingly faithful to his mission but was only successful at continually achieving it day by day by fully focusing on God first and on his cultivating and keeping.

He was also fully aware that he must never engage in any activity that would subvert it and by which he would lose the strength and wherewithal to achieve it. Such spiritually unfruitful activity, the one and only “Thou Shalt Not” he received from God, is fruitful nonetheless though in the evil realm and is actually represented as forbidden fruit existing within Adam’s own Garden, a reminder that even in his earthly paradise there existed temptation and at a given point in time, a tempter. But not to worry. Adam was fully aware of this. The Lord taught him well. He trusted God. He obeyed God. Under these circumstances he would never eat the fruit of the Death Tree.

Remember, the devil did not need to defeat the Lord God, which he could not do anyway; all he had to do was defeat Adam. Yet he knew, of course, that this was a virtual impossibility. He knew he could never convince Adam otherwise. Perhaps he had tempted Adam on occasion, maybe many times. It did no good. Adam’s bond with God with far too strong and unyielding. And no, Adam wasn’t duded up with body armor or armed with automatic weapons that could perforate the devil in seconds and cut him into a thousand pieces. Such weapons have no power over angelic beings (hell’s angels) of the spiritual realm. The only method for defeating and taking authority over the enemies of God, demonic entities, and sin is by gaining and using the Lord God’s spiritual power and by living in a state of no sin. As long as Adam never sinned he would maintain his complete dominion over the devil. He would continue honoring God, serving God, living for God, and increasing God’s dominion. He would continue RULING OVER the devil forever. Though certainly a potential weak link compared to God, Adam was effectively no weak link at all. The devil was flummoxed by this. (Keep this in mind as you consider your own discipleship.)

EVE’S MISSION

For however long it was, when Adam remained alone with God he remained successful. He continued faithfully in his work. But eventually, he became aware of something missing, an awareness he could not initially explain or understand—he became lonely. He realized that he had developed a desire for human companionship. He sought God over this issue. The Lord, not feeling slighted in the least, responded by blessing Adam with his next greatest gift. You see, Adam’s future mission must include others. Not only must the Garden be fruitful—Adam must be fruitful. Not only must the Garden continue producing beneficial fruit of every kind in great amounts and continue to expand, others must come forth to assist in Adam’s “cultivating and keeping.” He must have faithful human offspring to assist him in defeating the evil forces pressuring the Garden borders from without while he expanded them outward from within. Adam was meant to be a spiritual patriarch of a great righteous clan. He was destined to grow from miniscule beginnings in a tiny obscure Garden amongst the wilds of nature and the evil dominion of the devil to a worldwide Garden covering the earth with no room for evil and no place for the devil.

To achieve this he would need help, a lot of it. The overall mission was far too grand to achieve alone. He would especially need someone very close. One cannot be a patriarch without a strong loving matriarch. Of course, rather than the future, Adam primarily had the present on his mind at that particular time. And rather than thoughts of a future matriarch and kids and family, as wonderful as such thoughts were, he was thinking more along the lines of an extended honeymoon. God did not disappoint.

The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” [Genesis 2:22:23]

Eve was God’s crown of Creation. As far as Adam was concerned, God saved His best for last. For both, it was love at first sight. A holy covenant between these two was formed. God officiated as both a covenant official and a wedding preacher. He explained what love was, what it meant to be husband and wife, and what was expected of each for both one another and the future. He also taught them about working together, about ministry, and about cultivating and keeping. Because Eve was essentially born into an existing situation God explained what her role would be.

You see, Eve was created to be Adam’s one and only fully supportive side-by-side loving companion in holy covenant with him. She was Adam’s ezer kenegdo, a “helper suitable for him.” She was not equipped to rule except as part of Adam’s rule and must yield to the one she was created to serve just as Adam yielded to the One he was created to serve. Also, she was not equipped in the natural to as great a degree as Adam to perceive spiritual dominion and what must be done to gain it and maintain it. She was not created primarily to be a warrior but a nurturer. She was there to stand with Adam, to support him, to assist in easing the pressure of responsibility upon him, to be forever by his side and work alongside him under his authority. Her gifting and nature would be a tremendous benefit for Adam, aiding him to assist in maintaining his strength and continuing onward. He would become a much better and spiritually fruitful man due to her love and support. He would, of course, also love her and shelter her and protect her. He would cherish her. It was to each other’s benefit to provide what the other lacked and needed the most within the realm of their humanity. These two were destined to be on the forefront of spiritual battle and would need every bit of each other’s support, care, and encouragement. They were dependent on one another. They must be true. They were the only people in the Garden.

SATAN’S SUBTERFUGE

As long as their covenant union remained intact the devil would continue losing and continue losing ground. The wicked devil, a being of great darkness and evil, therefore must find a way to subvert this covenant marriage and especially this new person, this innocent beautiful woman.

The creation of Eve presented the devil with a new opportunity. Once Eve inhabited the Garden the devil planned on applying the exact initial strategy against her as he had with Adam. He would operate on the sly. He would find a way to bypass Adam. He would do an end around and hope Adam would never suspect anything. He determined to catch her off guard and meet with her alone away from Adam’s protection. It wasn’t simply because she was a new opportunity for him but because he had noticed a weakness in Eve he could exploit, a weakness Adam did not have.

Though the devil ruled the planet and had the run of it in the spiritual realm ever since God cast him out of heaven, he only had dominion here and nowhere else. And he didn’t appreciate the new invaders invading his turf. The devil hated the Garden. He hates everything pure and holy and righteous. He obviously opposed Adam’s mission from day one knowing exactly what it represented. He knew it was spiritual war directed against him but his counter offensive against Adam had been completely ineffective.

What the devil attempted with Eve is what he attempts with everyone. His goal is to corrupt, to change whatever is good, wholesome, and honorable into something immoral and sinful. Adam’s only chance was staying close to God. With him, however, it was not mere chance; Adam was very close to God and would never, ever betray Him.

The devil knows all too well what happens when a person becomes dedicated to God the way Adam was initially. Such people—real Christians—are a never ending headache for him. They’re a pain in the neck, a thorn in the flesh, and an endless succession of punishing left jabs and jaw-breaking right crosses pounding cranium and midsection, leaving ribs broken and face a bloody pulp, and all this before the sweeping left hooks slam upside his head, contorting it grotesquely, and knocking him clean out of the ring. These real Christians unrelentingly stand up for the Lord Jesus and His righteousness and thereby inflict ongoing damage to the devil’s workings. They do exactly what Adam did when he was right with God.

Though the devil fights them, they have the wherewithal through the Lord’s Holy Spirit to successfully fight back and thus engage their enemy every step of the way. They pray. They fast. They stay “read up” on the Word of God. They stay filled with the Holy Spirit. They remain revved up on full oil lamps. They invade the enemy’s dominion. They rescue lost souls. They witness. They tell others about the Lord. They preach and teach the Gospel. They uncover lies, false doctrines, and false narratives, revealing them for what they are. THEY EXPOSE THE DEVIL AND THE LORD’S HUMAN ENEMIES. They do exactly what the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to do:

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” [Luke 10:17-19]

EVE’S WAVERING TRUST

Though she did very well for a while, maybe a relatively long time, the day came when the devil’s temptations and tricky wordplay began to at last find their mark. On a particular day, not unlike any other, she happened to have a weak moment. This happens on occasion to all believers, of course, and demands an immediate adjustment. One must quickly pivot back in God’s direction. I would think Eve had done this many times. She was not unaware. And she certainly was not unaware of temptation. Well, she suddenly pivoted alright, but in the wrong direction.

She started perceiving the Lord God as someone holding out on her. She felt she was being dishonored. She tired of her apparent secondary place. Mostly however, the devil had finally convinced her that Adam was no longer worth honoring or serving. Why should she be this so-called ezer kenegdo? Why should her life be a mere side by side support to Adam’s life? Shouldn’t they be identical? Shouldn’t they share top billing? And for that matter, why should she actually serve God? Is He really what He claims to be? Why are we stuck in this Garden? Why can’t we venture forth outside these Garden walls and check out the scene beyond? What else is out there? Maybe this serpent isn’t so bad after all. Maybe this tree, this big beautiful tree, filled with beautiful fruit that looks quite delicious and nurturing and is likely even better than all the rest of the fruit in this Garden is actually a very good thing, a wonderful thing, and something that Adam and God are keeping me from enjoying. Maybe if I do eat this fruit that for some strange reason they don’t want me to eat I can not only attain the authority of my husband but actually have him serve me! And maybe I can even be like God! Give me the papers. I’m signing…

TRUST MISAPPLIED: THE FALL

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” [Genesis 2:16-17]

Adam didn’t have to eat the forbidden fruit. He knew better. God had always warned him. God warned him for a very good reason. He could never explain the full implications and outcome of such a vile deed because Adam, in his purity and innocence, would never understand anyway. Rather than know, then, Adam would have to TRUST. This is what faith is. It is not just faith, it is pure faith in the Lord God. It is faith in believing His words, directives, teachings, and commandments. It is trusting in Him that He knows best and we therefore must obey and comply. It is for our own benefit but also His and our relationship. And this faith, this trust, is not just faith in a generic “God,” it is faith in the Lord Jesus who is the express image of God.

Those who trust in “God” but refuse to trust in the Lord Jesus are not actually trusting in God at all. They don’t even know God.

Yet, Adam knew God. And he trusted Him completely. But he was suddenly presented with a different dynamic. It came out of left field and he had a big problem processing it. As the one who had to keep everything intact, he was challenged with fitting this new puzzle piece in—it was large and unwieldy and appeared unsuitable to the Garden environs. In the effort to contain it all Adam lost sight of his main objective, part of which was to not try to fit things in that simply didn’t belong, that were not at all good for the overall setting.

His main problem along these lines (understatement alert) was what to do about Eve. She had already eaten the fruit. She never prayed about it. She never asked his advice. She just did it. And now she was a different person. Her internal beauty had faded. He still wanted her, of course, but he also wanted God. How could he have both? Somewhere around here is where Adam began losing his trust. He was no longer completely sure about the Lord. He had strayed into onset unbelief. The new dynamic threw him. It was something he never thought he would have to deal with. In his final analysis, he decided that the only way to make it all work, to please God, to please himself, to please his wife, and keep everything intact and all included, was to join up with Eve in her new endeavor instead of showing her the door. This way he could keep her. God would understand…

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” [Genesis 3:8-13]

SIN CAUSES SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

Adam failed. He failed at his mission. He was defeated by a far lesser foe. The original dominion plan was lost.

This required another Adam. A future Adam. A final and only remaining chance Adam who must be successful, though also under the commandment to never sin and thus maintain power over the devil, and the world, and the flesh, and temptation, and the grave, and hell, and death itself. He would be the last Adam:

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [1Corinthians 15:45]

He would also be the firstborn of a new paradise, an everlasting spiritual Kingdom:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. [Colossians 1:15-18]

The God Adam knew was the only God there is, the One who dwelt in heaven in the far reaches of a glorious celestial realm. But this God also walked in the Garden. This is not a mere euphemism. Adam and Eve heard the sound of His walking. They also talked to Him. Directly. This was not a theophany. It was not a disembodied Spirit. They heard His voice. They saw His face.

Yet now, somehow, something terrible had happened. Adam was now on the other side of a former spiritual relationship. Fear had replaced faith. His purpose had drifted away. His mission had ceased.

How is it that the devil has the power to blind the minds of the unbelieving? Could it be because unbelief is a sin? Could it be because those who willfully dwell in sin are under his authority? Is it because they cannot bring themselves to trust someone they cannot perceive? Do they not perceive Him because they are under a trance? An enchantment? And is this not due to the great power of sin? The fact of the matter is that sin causes spiritual blindness and a break in relationship with God. The only way to be reconciled to Him and have the spiritual blindness removed is to first have the sin removed. And the only way to do that is to turn from sin and seek the Lord Jesus since He is only one that has the cure.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” [Matthew 5:8]

One must desire an actual relationship with God. One must no longer justify sin or dwell willingly with sin but repent of sin and cease from its practice. One must become pure in heart. When a person is cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, which pays for all sin, it washes it away. It scours out all the sin from an individual’s life all the way down to the infinitesimal DNA level. Then an amazing thing happens—spiritual seeing happens—spiritual sight is created. The thick colossal deception one has been subjected to is overcome and removed. Though one may never see the Lord God with the physical eye one can nonetheless see Him with spiritual eyes. One becomes aware of His holy presence. One discovers that the Lord Jesus actually exists and is the source of all Life and blessing.

One receives the revelation that Jesus is the Lord God. He is the One we all have been searching for. He is the One who longs to rescue and save all who desire Him.

And one knows He can be trusted to the nth degree.

Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” [John 2:28-29]

BLESSING BORN OF TRUST

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!

And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

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 16:16-20] [1]

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Adam and Eve, Called Chosen and Faithful, Christ Died For Sinners, Faith and Unbelief, Fight the Good Fight of Faith, Garden of Eden, Lord Jesus, Naboth's Vineyard, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Sin and Rebellion, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Deception, The Great Awakening, The Last Adam, The Sinner's Self Deception, Trust Your Heart With God, Without Faith it is Impossible to Please God

2022 IN REVIEW: A SYNOPSIS OF MY WORK AND A LOOK TOWARD A CHALLENGING FUTURE

Dec 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

I hit the ground running in January 2022. It was a great start to my most productive year yet. And now, in these last hours of the calendar year, I will end with post #80.

TO MY FAITHFUL READERS

Thank you for your spiritual support. I appreciate each of you taking this annual trip with me. A writer is not much without faithful readers. You have given me much of your time in reading and also added much with your valued comments.

It has now been twelve calendar years. I started this site on May 10, 2011. I also hit the ground running then and wrote 64 posts in less than eight months. By May of 2012 at the one year mark my total posts had grown to over 100. My total posts to date are right at 800 and exceed 2500 pages. I consider this quite a consistent accomplishment and proves my faithfulness to the work the Lord has given me to do though what I do here is only part of my overall work. Also, a great many of these posts required much research, multiple drafts and edits, and contain spiritually mature, sound Biblically-based and topical material which many Christians either cannot handle or don’t care for. This limits potential readership by a large margin.

Though the last twelve years have been good overall, for which I am most thankful, there were also several extremely challenging times. 2022 was one of those. We all go through such. Like many of you, though, I stayed faithful throughout my travels over the years and kept up my work regardless of circumstances.

Regarding my site, I have used the same WordPress Theme since the beginning. It’s old and outdated and whatever but still works for me. Some of you may recall the notice I put on some of my posts asking you to please not read my posts at the WordPress Reader but at my site. I work hard at trying to present the best posts I can (though my Theme will no longer allow me to justify the text) and the WP Reader does a very bad job of reflecting my work. So I ask again, please read my stuff at my site. On the far lower left is a widget containing your comments and additional material. There is also a long list of my current posts on the left. If new to the site please review. I also post my books for sale in the left hand column. At the top is access to all my posts.

Though I have no means of receiving funding on my site I do ask for your prayers toward an increase in income. There is much I need to do but have limited resources. This year was especially challenging in that area. Your prayers are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

AMERICAN ICHABOD

Call it the American Remnant. They know they MUST be salt and light. They know they MUST fill up their oil lamps and keep them filled. Much more effort toward this is required than in the past because so much has been saturated with evil and said evil causes a greater drain on one’s batteries. The country as a whole continually ceased living for God by degrees and refused to stand up and fight against encroaching evil which gave evil an increasingly greater foothold. America, a once great nation, went from spirit to flesh to sin to death.

Therefore, it is no longer about saving the good that once was but is now about resurrection and the remote possibility thereof. But unless you’re the Lord, no matter how much you try you can’t revive a dead guy. America has thus become a national Ichabod. The glory has departed. I said this would happen twenty-five years ago. I put it in writing:

IS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

To refresh your memory regarding Ichabod:

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken.” [1Samuel 4:19-22]

You will become more cognizant of this in the coming year. Though most will never see spiritually, of course, those who grow closer to the Lord will gain greater spiritual eyesight and see things they never saw before. And it will all make sense. The Lord needs us to have spiritual eyes and ears. Our work with Him is impossible otherwise.

World War is now upon us. Great division is here. Corruption has erupted. We have a Christian Tower of Babel. The entities which once served to act as checks and balances have become derelict in their duty. The forces of Antichrist have gained great ground. The only hope now is ongoing unrelenting victorious spiritual warfare.

I suggested back in March the following: In light of what is coming, every church in America should be having 24 hour daily prayer meetings with all members on their faces before God. That has not happened. In fact, Christians in general have become even more lackadaisical. Like the other sellouts in control in secular realms, most Christian “leaders” in control have also sold out. And like the others, these Christians, a majority, have also done a great job of covering their great sins. Most Christian activity in America is now largely simply going through the motions with no true spiritual motivation toward great gains and big victories. Most churches and ministries are purely institutional status quo outfits intent on doing what they’ve always done, lost in greater ineffectiveness and bound by money and dead tradition. The majority of churches and church “leaders” are not living in the spirit but walking in the flesh. For these, again, the majority, there is no hope of saving the good or of revival. That leaves only resurrection. And the odds are greatly against that.

THE ALWAYS EVERY TIME SOLUTION

So what to do? As always, I suggest seeking the Lord Jesus. More than you ever have before. I suggest, again, that we thoroughly immerse ourselves in the Book of Acts. This historical account teaches us what the greatest Christian generation did, how astoundingly successful they were, and exactly what we must do to be like them and have the spiritual success they had.

I will warn you in advance, though, those of you who may not know, that you will get stiff resistance in doing this. The world and culture will fight you every step of the way as will the devil and his minions. The greatest fight, however, will be with Unreal Christianity and the flesh, both of which hate and reject what is presented in the Acts of the Apostles. Though our spirits cry out for salvation and freedom and love and joy and peace and spiritual victory, our flesh knows all those things come with a price and many simply won’t pay it. They would rather find easy counterfeit replacements to assuage their conscience and fool themselves into believing they’re obeying God or are right with God.

Regarding our immediate future, then, I say turn to the Lord Jesus all the more. He is the only one we ever had a chance with anyway though many discover this only after eliminating everything else after seeing that all of it fails to deliver.

2023 will thus be the worst of times and the best of times at the same time. You will continue to see evil things you never thought you would see and wonder how in the world we came to this. Some of you will also see the increasing miraculous happenings of the Kingdom of God. The Great Awakening will continue and force the enemy’s hand. The enemy will overact and accelerate his efforts. The Lord will bring victory where He can based on our compliance with His will.

Choose wisely.

WALK IN THE SPIRIT

“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [Matthew 26:41]

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” [John 3:6]

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” [John 6:63]

And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. [Galatians 4:28-29]

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. [Galatians 5:16-18]

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [Galatians 6:8]

For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. [1Peter 4:6][1]

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Book of Acts, Crucify the Flesh, Dead Churches, Discipleship, Flesh, Future, Ichabod, Keep Your Lamp Filled With Oil, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Political Corruption, Prayer and Fasting, Prayer and Repentance, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Revival, Salt and Light, spirit of antichrist, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Search For Truth, Unreal Christianity, Victory in Jesus, You Must Be Born Again

MARY HIGHLY FAVORED: “BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN!” (Intro)

Dec 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

Three years ago at this time I wrote the following six part series with the above title. I will repost each part at intervals until Christmas. Blessings to all

Hello friends. I hope all is going well for you during this special time of year. I started a new article with the above title early in the week and it has expanded beyond one posting. I am giving you all this head’s up that I will be posting Part 1 soon.

Mary is one of history’s most intriguing figures and it is especially that way for Christians worldwide. Even so, there is little historical material regarding her life. Perhaps this is why there is so much traditional information which actually has no backing in Scripture. However, within the extant Scriptural material we have there are many captivating clues about her life that lead to greater knowledge. This is what we will be sharing with one another in this series.

Thanks for reading. In the meantime, blessings to you and Merry Christmas!

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Early Church History 101, Lord Jesus, Mary, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

A TRIBUTE TO THE DEDICATED ONES WHO WORK IN OBSCURITY (AND A STORY OF INTERCESSORY PRAYER)

Nov 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are dedicated Christians who go about their effective work for God in total anonymity. This post is about their ministries.

[If you are reading this at the WP Reader, please read at my website. Thank you.]

They move mountains. They assist the Lord in maintaining lives and relationships. They do their work in secret. They are not in it for recognition or glory. They know that such an attitude would stymie their effectiveness. These are people who go about their spiritual work in such great dedication that they always plow ahead regardless of circumstances. They know the people they help need them and their work and are dependent upon them whether they know them, acknowledge them, appreciate them, or are even aware of what they do and have done. Recall the Lord’s teaching:

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” [Matthew 6:5-6][1]

How many of us have been blessed by such selfless people and don’t even know who they are?

THE REMARKABLE POWER OF GOD

I remember a prayer story from my early days as a new Christian. I’ll get to that later. I was just a rookie but was absolutely enthralled at the prospect of God’s spiritual power working through human beings. In my short time to that point as a new believer I had already seen and experienced the undeniable outworking of His power. The greatest thing I saw at that early date was the magnificent transformation of a couple I knew who were instrumental in my salvation. What had happened to them?

I heard the stories. These were people I respected in my young life, people I hung around with. I hadn’t seen them in a short while but heard they had gone off the deep end. Something about a church. They had joined a church? I could hardly believe the reports. The next time I saw them, in a visit to my apartment, I saw two different people. I noticed right away that they were filled with some kind of happiness and energy. They were exuberant, smiling. It wasn’t due to the usual when a friend greets a friend. Something was decidedly different. Then, after a while, they began trying to explain what had happened to them. And they began witnessing. My great mood suddenly vanished…

The meeting didn’t end well. I basically told them to stop, to back off, or leave. They grew sad. And they left. Now, if this was just some sort of shallow sales job the way it is with some of those notorious witnessers who try to convince a person of the validity of their religious tenets it would have been different. Those kinds of people have no power with God. They thus have no real spiritual love. They essentially subsist on intellectual arguments or quote particular Scriptures to set the tone for a necessary choice to be made. They do this through stating their superior position juxtaposed with the lower position of the witnessee who stands in need due to his inferior condition. And while an aspect of this form of witnessing is correct, the attitude, purpose, and desire of those who “witness” this way are most often not.

I later discovered that those who the Lord worked through to bless me with my initial Gospel witness were undeterred and had decided to continue on in the fight. They were not satisfied with one short meeting that started out great but went bad. Though they were brand new to the faith and personally hurt by my negative response (though in my defense it was all so very strange and they were pressuring me to make a decision), they decided it wouldn’t end there. They went back to their church. They enlisted the big guns.

They told everybody to pray…

Their prayers proved to be my undoing. There were people in that little church who prayed for me but I never knew who they were. Though I knew later on that my friends were praying and maybe another one or two were, the subject was never addressed. Others had prayed some powerful prayers. There were strong collective prayers. They moved mountains. Long story short, after three months’ time their prayers worked to perfection. I came to full salvation in Jesus.

THE PRAYER STORY

After being settled in as a new Christian I began learning about historical New Testament happenings I was never previously aware of. I was raised in a Christian home but belonged to a denomination that didn’t put much or any emphasis on the Bible. As a result I had very limited knowledge of the New Testament. I certainly had no practical knowledge of how real Christianity actually worked so the things I began learning about the New Covenant Scriptures were somewhat shocking. Most Christians have a very limited understanding of the New Testament, usually confined to the basic Gospel story. When I began to learn what was actually contained in Paul’s letters regarding the operation of meetings, the gifts of the Spirit, and the actual history of the first-century Community of believers as told in the Acts of the Apostles, a whole new world opened up to me. I also experienced the actual operation of the gifts in our meetings. Then I learned about actual prayer and especially intercessory prayer. I learned how powerful the latter could be and how necessary it was. I became aware of the following story:

Somewhere in the mission field overseas some believers were driving a vehicle over relatively rough terrain. The car or truck, I can’t remember which, slipped off a bad mountain road. If not for some brush and mostly a particular tree stump the vehicle and the people in it would have suffered a terrible fate. As it began to slide down a steep descent just off the road the car immediately became temporarily lodged upon the tree stump. The Christians in the car could not exit safely. Of course, they began to pray.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Lord alerted a prayer warrior. This was a person used very often for intercessory prayer and knew the drill. The feeling came over her that it was time to pray. The anointing became very powerful. The woman, seeking relief, went to floor. She then grabbed the nearest table leg and held on for dear life while she prayed in the Spirit. In the midst of an extreme spiritual battle she prayed intently while holding on as if it was vitally important that she did so. After a length of time the anointing lifted and she knew the prayer time was over and whatever needed to be accomplished had been.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, the occupants of the car hanging perilously, restrained by a mere stump which might or might not be able to continue gripping the ground, had also been praying. The car never fell. It stayed glued to the tree stump. The stump held. They had somehow managed, against all probability, to safely exit the car. It was later, when these people happened to meet up again, and in comparing notes, that the two parties discovered how the Lord had worked. The woman’s powerful intercessory prayer had assisted in the saving of the missionaries.

I have read of several stories like this. There are Christians who keep detailed prayer journals which also sometimes contain answers to their prayers. It is a wonderful thing to see such answers to prayer, some which come years later, as the Lord creates the circumstances for people to meet again after often “chance” encounters.

YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED

A coincidence is when God wants to remain anonymous.

While writing the last section I received a message on my phone. It was from an old friend. A text from out of the blue. I had not been in contact with him for many years, over a decade. They live in a different part of the country and we had spent much ministry time together. As it turned out he still had my number on his phone which means he either still had the same phone which I would think would be highly unlikely or had transferred all his numbers. I no longer had his number. I‘ve been through several phones since the last time we had been in contact. I decided that his text wasn’t just a random event. I mean, here I am writing about such things when he happens to contact me after a dozen years?

Maybe half an hour later I decided to call him. He was doing some chores outside. We talked briefly, only a few minutes. It was great catching up and he said he would call me back later on after he completed the necessary chores. But in that brief chat he told me that his former pastor who I also knew very well had, in the interim, heard from God about three years ago to make a ministry move. He and his wife had left the fellowship they had served for many years and, are you ready? …They went into the mission field.

This was no run of the mill coincidence.

I ask those of you who like to pray, any of you who are prayer warriors, and those in intercessory prayer ministry, to pray for this couple in the mission field. I also ask that you would pray for my friend and his family. There is also an urgent unspoken need of someone I know that requires prayer. Thank you.

And thanks to all the dedicated ones who operate powerfully in obscurity for your vital service to the Lord and fellow believers, whatever it may be. You are MOST appreciated. Keep up the great work!

Later

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Tags: Discipleship, Evangelization and Witnessing, Lord Jesus, Ministry Within Community, People Helping People, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Prayer, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Power, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The LORD is a Warrior, There is Power in the Name of Jesus

THE REJECTED BECOME THE CHOSEN: SEPARATIST PILGRIM PIONEERS AND THE JOURNEY TO AMERICA

Nov 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

In the 1590s English Separatists and dissenters were finding life in England ever more difficult. Several were sentenced to hanging in an enhanced effort to kill off the movement toward spiritual liberty.

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Laws were passed that made exile to the European continent the punishment and death if one ever returned. England would thus stop at nothing to rid itself of unwavering Christian reformers. There was no going back for those who had gone so far with God. Queen Elizabeth was determined to wipe them out and the level of her persecution continued until her death in 1603. She had no heirs and her passing thus ended the generational line of the ultra-dysfunctional Tudor monarchs.

The new king was James Stuart I (1566-1625), the then present king of Scotland under the name of James VI. He had ascended the Scottish throne at a mere thirteen months of age in 1567 when his mother, Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587), had abdicated. As “King of Great Britain” James I united England, Scotland, and Ireland under his leadership. Though his mother was a loyal Catholic, James was raised as a member of the Protestant Church of Scotland. The developing church was attempting to continue the reform movement began a decade earlier by essentially removing all things Catholic, but James obviously felt more comfortable with those men manning church offices whose ecclesiastical nature lent them to monarchial rule.

Of course, that’s what bishops and ruling prelates are by nature and why such offices were created. The Presbyterians were setting up a national polity in which churches would be administered by the Biblical model of elders and overseers, which simply does not mix with monarchy any more than does oil and water. The comfort level for kings had always involved close trusted ones, be they civil or clergy, and James was thus not prepared to get on board with the movement toward spiritual truth. In becoming king of England he had quickly embraced an anti-Puritan sentiment, which gives one an idea of his treatment of Separatists and other dissenters who continued pushing for reform and refused to conform to non-Biblical tenets. The Puritans still maintained membership in the Church of England and had consequently escaped the larger wrath of Elizabeth, but the heat began rising. Yet, regardless of the new king’s negative attitude toward them, it was their own compromise and apprehensive middle-ground approach that relegated them as unfit for the spiritual frontier. They were not of a mind nor possessed the strength of purpose to be used of God in the necessary major way as those Separatists who had given their all. The Puritans as a group had remained far too connected. They were unqualified as pioneers.

After Elizabeth’s reign of terror, it seemed there remained only one Separatist church community in all of England. Located in the hamlet of Gainsborough, most of its members had fled to Holland two years later. There remained a few holdouts of this group in the town of Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, and it is here the story gets interesting. In Scrooby there lived a man who became postmaster there in 1590. He had attended Cambridge in his youth and later became greatly interested in the new Christian reformation movements. By the early 1600s he had taken under his wing a young man from Austerfield while ministering in the Scrooby area as a reforming Puritan when persecution raised its head once again. A group of perhaps 50 were meeting secretly at Scrooby Manor, having managed to cobble together a small community from the remains at Gainsborough, when the decision was made in 1607 to break ranks completely with the Church of England and establish themselves as Separatists. Thence began the great adventure.

The two men were the postmaster William Brewster (c.1566-1644), who would become a leading Elder at Plymouth Colony, and his young protégé William Bradford (1590-1657), the future Governor thereof. These two were undoubtedly placed together by Providence. Bradford’s father died when he was only a year old and his mother when he was seven. The orphan was forced to live with several relatives in the interim. He met Brewster at the meetings of the Puritan Richard Clifton when only a young man of about twelve and at last found an appropriate father-figure. From this he received a better upbringing and someone to direct his already keen interest in the Reformation movement.

The restrictive spiritual atmosphere in England was such that the young congregation decided they must leave the mother country and sail across the channel to Holland to live according to their convictions. Yet, as another indication of the severe trials and fight to come their way, they were robbed of all their possessions by the officers of the ship they hired and imprisoned for attempting to leave England illegally. They remained undeterred, however, and were able to make their getaway the next year, finding peace and religious toleration in The Netherlands. After a year in Amsterdam amid the bickering of two other congregations, they moved to the city of Leiden, approximately 100 strong, and settled into a peaceable and productive life.

One can see by the trials they faced and tests they passed that God was preparing them for a much greater mission. Others had disqualified themselves for one reason or another, be it a lack of faith, selfish attitudes, inability to work together, or loyal connections to the state church, which prohibited a lack of complete loyalty to God. Those connected, as the Puritans, had not considered their inevitable betrayal through their association with ecclesiastical authority and the throne or the temptation of looking back. We see the same thing in the ancient history of the Israelites when God had to remove all Egyptian influence and fleshly nature from His people through their wanderings in the Sinai desert.

These Separatist future founders of the American Plymouth Colony had proved their loyalty to God by both their obedience to Him regardless of greatly challenging circumstances, and also their complete separation from the world.

In Leiden, Brewster began publishing books for sale in England and was soon under arrest by English authorities in 1619, who had accused him of the same crime as William Tyndale—printing up non-official religious works that did not toe the mark of the accepted Anglican confession. The Dutch government agreed with England in a political move and confiscated the printing equipment. Brewster was able to escape to England and hide out. It was during this time that plans were made to make the most radical move of all—securing a land patent from the London Virginia Company.

The community as a whole had become very concerned after ten years of relative comfort and security in Leiden that their children, if allowed to grow up and become established there, would lose both their English heritage and Christian beliefs. The Netherlands was a free pluralistic nation by comparison to England, but the resultant freedom also gave place to a more open mindset regarding moral values and sin. It occurred to the group that the time had come yet again when they must move on if they would maintain their walk with God. Their willingness to suffer so many trials for the sake of the real Gospel had undoubtedly impressed the Lord. Due to their relentless attitude toward holy living and walking in God’s new light, rather than fighting against the movement or holding back like almost every other group, they had become the chosen ones to take not only the Gospel to America, but a community form much closer to Scriptural intent.

The 180 ton Dutch cargo vessel Mayflower was hired in London and sailed to Southampton on the southern coast of England in late July of 1620. Most of the Pilgrim community remained in Leiden, Holland and bought a small ship called the Speedwell to take them to Southampton, from which both ships would sail across the Atlantic to Virginia. The second ship proved unworthy of the journey, however, having leaked on the trip across the English Channel, and after repairs, began leaking again at the start of the great voyage. Stopping at Dartmouth, repairs were made a second time. On their second attempt at the Atlantic crossing, as they reached the open ocean after having traveled roughly 300 miles, the Speedwell continued leaking once again and the Pilgrims were forced to return to England. Many of the passengers had become so tired and frustrated they decided to stay home. Here was yet another test of heart and a further winnowing of the passenger list, from about 120 to 102. Of these, approximately 40-45% were members of the Leiden congregation.

They decided to scuttle the second ship entirely and transfer all their goods and supplies to the Mayflower, making for very cramped quarters and a much less comfortable trip. After losing about forty days, the Mayflower finally set sail from Plymouth, England on September 16 (Gregorian calendar). The second half of the ocean voyage was very rough, having hit the severe northern Atlantic storm season, and piled yet more discomfort and trepidation upon the passengers. Imagine the battle these Pilgrims had with doubt and second thoughts, crammed together in a freezing ship tossed forth like a cork on the frigid seas.

After 66 long days, the sturdy ship arrived intact off the coast of America around November 21, 1620. During the long and fitful journey there was one death but also one birth. The colonists’ destination was the mouth of the Hudson River, part of Virginia at the time, but the captain first sighted land off the coast of Cape Cod. In the attempt to go south the elements were again against them, almost causing shipwreck. As if by divine hand they returned to Cape Cod and dropped anchor. With great courage and whatever stamina remained as the biting cold winds of winter descended upon them, parties were arranged to explore the land for a suitable settlement site. By the next summer, 50 of the original 102 passengers had perished, the majority over the harsh winter, and most of them from disease contracted during the voyage.

From these extremely difficult and humble beginnings Plymouth Colony was built upon the hope and grace of a committed people and the Lord Jesus. Having served as willing pioneers and taking the full brunt of the battle, many more parties were soon making the trip across the Atlantic and adding to the new colony. In time it became a routine crossing peopled primarily by English Puritans who began spreading out into the wilderness. In time the Separatist Pilgrims became greatly outnumbered, though their spiritual stand and way of life had a decided effect on later arrivals.

Happy Thanksgiving

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Tags: America, Be Strong and Courageous, Christian Persecution, Come Out From Among Them and Be Separate, Lord Jesus, Overcome Evil with Good, Pilgrim Separatists, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Freedom, Spiritual Pioneers, Spiritual Warfare, Thanksgiving, The Fight For Liberty, The Great Awakening, The Real chosen People

REMEMBERING JFK (2022)

Nov 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on this day 59 years ago at 12:30pm. It was the result of a conspiracy.

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I wrote the following on November 22, 2019:

I remember when it happened. As was my routine, I had gone home for lunch. My grade school was within easy walking distance.

It was getting close to the time when I should be heading back. I was sitting right in front of our small black and white television. My mother was a few steps away in the kitchen. Suddenly, whatever I was watching was interrupted. There was a news bulletin. One could almost sense the haphazard effort of the station in relaying the shattering news while trying to maintain professional decorum. A man with a strong and hurried voice began speaking. The president has been shot…

The United States of America changed forever on that fateful day. After 56 years, the majority of Americans know the official story is full of holes. This was proven early on. But a very strange thing happened. Though evil people were having their way, Americans insisted on supporting the official narrative. As more truth leaked out regarding what really happened, and as many knew in their gut something was not quite right, it became one’s patriotic duty to do the very opposite of what should have been done.

This let those in control know they were in good shape. The country was in their hands. They could do whatever they wanted and would not only get away with it but would never even be questioned. Everything changed at that point. Fast, dramatic change ensued. Regarding the country, it was all for the worse. In the space of less than four and a half years our president was murdered in cold blood right out in the open in the bright sunshine in a gruesome display. His brother, who surely would have become president in 1968, was also killed right after securing the Democratic nomination. Martin Luther King was also murdered by a sniper two months earlier. Each one of these cases involved much subterfuge and unanswered questions. Quick verdicts were reached in the official narrative. The vast majority of Americans went along with the official stories though many had private doubts. What happened to the country?

THERE WAS ONCE A REVOLUTION

Throughout the period of the 1760s to mid-1770s patriotic American colonists grew increasingly concerned about the great lessening of personal liberties and the increasing power plays of a distant British government. These people were a relatively small minority. Most American colonists were full-bore Tories who either supported the King and Parliament without question or were too apathetic and ignorant to care one way or the other. By the time independence was declared these three groups comprised roughly the same percentage. Only about a third of Americans were willing to commit themselves fully to the cause of outright revolution to secure their individual liberties which had been under severe attack for several years by those who saw their control weakening and who must strongly reassert its position of rule to overcome any notion of freedom from said rule.

How did only a third manage to overcome the other two-thirds? It is fully understandable that the third of Americans which fully supported the British overlords did so to protect their wealth and social standing. People like this are cowards at heart. They have little or no concern for others, those who make up the majority, who are on the outside looking in and do not share in their upper class stature. Their lives are not about higher ideals and ideas but merely a social position brought on by comparatively greater wealth and the desire to make friends with power—those who would advance them in their careers and protect their higher place in society.

Regarding that other third, the apathetic group, these people are also well-represented in history. They are those who never stay informed, don’t care about truth, will stand for nothing of any real importance, are willingly ignorant, and are basically only along for the ride. They like floating down lazy rivers. They find the whole idea of taking a stand for higher values and ideals ridiculous. They have no understanding for laying good foundations for future generations. They can barely see beyond the end of their nose. The present is what they care about, just like the Tory group, but they don’t care about it enough to make any attempt to excel.

REAL PATRIOTS

Back in the 1960s the generation in charge still held to the false notion, “My country right or wrong.” The most insane occurrences were taking place all around from day to day and it seemed that most would insist on keeping a stiff lip and hard face refusing to question anything. Had they been brainwashed? Why could they not see the evil? Why did they continue to support those in power who were violating the Constitution on a daily basis and doing whatever the hell they wanted to insure that the rich and powerful gained even more wealth and power?

King George III and the British Parliament never came close to the violations inflicted on America less than two centuries later. It has only gotten worse since. We now live in a semi-surveillance state in which our God-given rights and freedoms have been seriously curtailed by the very entity supposedly existing to insure them. Where are the real American patriots? How many are left?

Exactly 56 years ago powerful people conspired in the dark to remove the President of the United States because he refused to go along with an ongoing sinister plan to run roughshod on We the People. They were willing to kill him in broad daylight to achieve their goal.

And they got away with it.

I wrote the following on November 22, 2020:

It has been exactly 57 years. An American President was brutally gunned down by an evil element in Dallas, Texas. That evil element gained great power that day. It has only increased in power since.

One can always tell when evil has gained a foothold: Evil unlawful acts not only proliferate but have no remedy. No matter what one may do to overcome the evil nothing works. It may be stopped temporarily. There may even be modest gains against it at times but such minimal losses are often quickly gained back. Exponentially speaking, evil continues on an upward trend.

At last a few bright people figure out that the reason for evil’s upper hand growing greater is because it is being fed. Somehow or another evil has gained access to great funding and support. These few bright people then figure out that evil is gaining this funding and support surreptitiously. In other words, otherwise good people have been deceived into supporting an evil element. Such good people are not so wise because only the unwise allow themselves to be fooled continually.

This is why, in Old Testament parlance, God always sent prophets. The prophetic voice was clean and clear. It was strong and unwavering. It was sent to shine a Light on TRUTH. It was sent to wake people from their spiritual slumber. Through the prophetic Word, the Lord Jesus identifies good and evil. He tears away the cloak of deception. He reveals the evil element behind the curtain.

When the unwise but otherwise good people then understand that which comprises the evil element, they cease supporting it. As its funding and support begins being cut back it no longer has the free ability to wreak havoc as before. In the effort to save itself it uses that much more of the only weapon it possesses: More evil. —More sin, more lies, more cheating, more obfuscation, and more dissembling. By this it only reveals itself all the more.

We are living in the days of a Great Awakening. Pay attention.

In 2021 on this date I posted a compilation of the preceding two posts from 2019 and 2020. Before proceeding with today’s 2022 post I will add a comment I made in the 2020 post:

Yes. Times have changed radically over these last 57 years. Regardless of President Kennedy’s flaws, he was aware of a great evil element and did all he could to successfully fight it. He saw that it threatened great evil for the country. He had limited success against it but was making progress. In the end he was simply overwhelmed by it with too few standing with him. And of course, evil being what it is, the evil element had no reservations about murdering him in cold blood if it came to that. And it did. Everything immediately changed for the worse that day. It was the end of America as we knew it. The American people in large part never caught on, but this is changing.

“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 tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” [John 8:44]

2022

As you can see, I established an annual tradition regarding our remembrance of our former President John F. Kennedy beginning in 2019. This will be the fourth year in a row. It was on this day, November 22, 1963, that JFK was murdered in Dallas, Texas. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. Though the day began with a dreary overcast and rain it slowly began to clear up as the morning progressed. By the time the President’s plane landed at Dallas Love Field the day was transformed into bright sunshine. There was much excitement and joy in the atmosphere. Little did the people know that an evil element, unseen to all, had been planning a brutal assassination for what was likely months.

Regardless of the various theories regarding the conspiracy that took the President’s life, the most plausible ones have much in common. There was certainly a secret cabal that had been cobbled together. Each participant had its own reasons and motives. As always, however, as I have often mentioned in these pages, the primary motive for such always boils down to power and wealth. The power and wealth of some very powerful and wealthy individuals, some at the state level, had been threatened. Such people operate largely in secret though their outer façade may be well known. Most people do not understand that there are always primary hidden agendas. That which is presented on the surface is mere cover for what lies beneath. What you see in the major media is mere window dressing designed to obfuscate and lead people off in the wrong direction. It is a deception game.

Remember, the greatest lie the devil always tells is that he doesn’t exist. Remember also that a major part of the Lord’s ministry was exposing the devil and his scurrilous hidden machinations. Evil always operates in the dark because it must. Otherwise its cover is blown. People catch on. Most people, sadly, never catch on and are easily deceived. It explains why the enemy gets away with his ongoing crime spree. We are talking multiple generations here. If you have never considered this side of history—actual history—you have work to do.

A great many authors have written a great many books about the assassination of President Kennedy over the last 59 years since the terrible event occurred. Some have gotten pretty close to the truth. When one reads these books and continues keeping up on the subject as new light comes forth it furthers one’s understanding of how and why it happened.

A CONSPIRACY

It is the same when one reads the accounts of the murder of the Lord Jesus. Of course, the word “conspiracy” and the term “conspiracy theory” have been branded by the perpetrators of such conspiracies as silly and foolish and used only by the screw-loose crowd. But the Lord Jesus was certainly murdered as the result of a conspiracy.

The religious leaders who controlled the synagogues, the Pharisees, wanted Him dead pretty much from day one. They hated everything about Him. This explains who they were working for and were aligned with. Remember, the Lord’s own people in Nazareth, the people who knew Him well and among whom he grew up, tried to kill Him the first day He preached there. (“Welcome home. Good to see you. Wait. What did you say?! It’s off the cliff with you! Let’s get Him!”) There’s a fine how-do-you-do.

Those who controlled the temple complex also came to hate Him once they understood more about Him. The wealthy Sadducees had become hopelessly corrupt by that time. They were closely aligned with the money power and Rome. It took them decades to arrive at such a place. The priesthood was also corrupt. It had become so corrupt that a large element of the Zadok priesthood, over a century before, had pulled up stakes and left Jerusalem entirely. These became the Essenes. They set up shop out in the wilderness by the Dead Sea, wanting nothing to do with the corrupt city or temple.

The deciding blow of the conspiracy against the Lord came when both the Pharisees and Sadducees, ostensibly religious but both great lovers of money, who had already conspired together, also conspired with the Zealot Party, which comprised the terrorist arm of the nation. The Zealots were murderous ideologues who would stop at nothing. They hated and despised Roman authority. They were pledged to throw off the yoke using any violent means possible. Once these people were brought on board the Pharisees and Sadducees were virtually assured of success. They did not realize at the time, however, that they had made a deal with the devil, so to speak, that would come back to bite them later on like an enraged rabid dog. It was primarily the Zealots who eventually caused the destruction of the nation.

How is it then, that these three great powers who conspired together, those that essentially possessed all the wealth and political power of the nation, could end up losing everything less than forty years later? It all came to an end in 70AD. The original city of Jerusalem and the great temple were both reduced to rubble. The entire place was wiped clean. The only structure remaining was the massive Roman Fort Antonia. The Roman emperor Hadrian built an entirely new city only sixty plus years later. Nothing that presently exists of the current city of Jerusalem, other than Fort Antonia, existed at the time of the Lord. It was a total annihilation, just as He had prophesied.

Thus, their great conspiracy ultimately failed. It succeeded in that they did conspire to kill the Lord Jesus and did kill Him, just as did the conspiracy to kill JFK had succeeded. The problem with the former conspiracy was that the Lord Jesus didn’t stay dead.

It could be that America won’t stay dead either.

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Tags: America, American Revolution, Deception, Evil, Eyes To See, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, Overcome Evil with Good, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Warfare, The 1960's, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, The Search For Truth, Truth, Truth-tellers, Wake Up, Wake Up America!, When You Gonna Wake Up?, Zealots

YES, THEY REALLY ARE THAT STUPID

Nov 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

I wrote this article over five years ago. Since then, things are now much worse in America. For the majority, the corrective continues to be rejected.

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All over the country millions of Christians are going through their usual church routines this morning having not changed one iota for the last five years, or the five years before that, or the fifty years before that. Are they blind? Lazy? Rebellious? Deceived? Hopelessly stuck on tradition? Under powerful authoritative religious rule and control that has robbed them of their spiritual identity? Whatever the case, I posted the following on October 23, 2017:

The Lord gave us a wake-up call in 1906. What happened then illustrated how powerful the Lord can be when we get it right, even in the face of great opposition.

It was a powerful event. What was just as striking, however, was the usual resistance of the opposing authoritative Christians. The humble organizers, the good guys, those who were merely self-effacing enough to seek and obey the Lord, were hounded from the very beginning and eventually forced into using the most rudimentary building for services.

They began in a house, but the movement grew too big too fast and they couldn’t allocate enough houses fast enough, so they were blessed with a bigger building, though old and run down. It had much in common with the Lord’s actual beginning, something we lose the significance of over time. But there really wasn’t any room anywhere in Bethlehem for the Lord to be born. No residence, no inn, no nothing where people normally live. He ended up with the farm animals, something equivalent to our barns, but a small one. He apparently had no problem with this. He even expected it. He expected this world to treat Him in such a way. He was born anyway, in a place none of us would ever permit our own babies to be born, regardless of circumstances.

The same thing happens with His work. The apostle Paul said no people of higher bearing are chosen, in general, for the Lord’s work, largely because they deem themselves far too important. They are also ultra-pampered. There is no room for a pampered preacher in the Lord’s real work, but we are besought with pampered preachers everywhere you look. In fact, this has become the standard.

Where then, are the real preachers? Where are the real Christians? In general, you will rarely find them in the limelight. William Seymour was a one-eyed black man shunned by much of Christian society yet the Lord worked wonders through him. The apostle Paul has been wrongly relegated after the fact as some sort of high churchman or great theologian. Of course, he was certainly brilliant, but much more so in a spiritual sense. Prior to his own personal Pentecost he used his theological brilliance and high religious standing to do the very opposite of what the Lord had intended for him. How did he get so lost? How did he get so caught up with his own pride? How did he ever get so full of himself?

One might ask about 90% of today’s so-called pastors and preachers and priests and what have you. To show what must be done NOW to correct this is to show what had to happen to Paul—the Lord knocked him down, thoroughly humiliated him, showed him who the boss was, blinded him and made him helpless, and then completely revamped his life. He showed him how he was completely wrong and on the wrong path and had the wrong attitude. He could have just let him go to hell but He knew Paul would respond correctly to the correct stimuli, which in this case involved knocking him on his butt and destroying everything that he had previously held dear.

Paul responded properly. He quickly ascertained that he had been a giant jerk of the worst kind and was thoroughly embarrassed. After a few days his sight returned. He underwent full repentance, giving himself totally to the Lord for whatever purpose no matter how difficult. He went through further humiliation, from a religious view point that is, by immersing himself in water in the Name of Jesus, the name of his new Master and Savior, and he was soon filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s all right there in the Book of Acts. It was a complete changeover, beyond even a total remodel. The old Paul was DEAD. A new Paul was BORN.

RESISTING REAL CHRISTIANITY BRINGS GRADUAL DEPRAVITY

The same thing must happen to Unreal Christianity in America or it will continue the death spiral it brought upon itself and has engaged in ever since it rejected that which all must submit to for new life to come forth. It is not so much that the Lord cares all that much for trying to set right those Christian leaders who will never change or repent, like so many of the Pharisees of old. It is that He wants to rescue all those good-hearted Christians living in a lesser state, as Paul was, who are deceived and blinded by fake Christianity. They will never be set free from within. It must come from without, as the Lord must do so much from without since He has been rejected so much from within.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind… [Romans 1:22-28] [1]

The Lord Jesus will never stop trying to wake us up and turn us around, and talk sense to us, and break us from our dependency on religious rebellion, in order to save us and free us, because He loves us, enough to die for us, even if it means knocking us down while on our own personal road to Damascus.

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Christian Pharisees, Deception, Depraved Mind, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Revival, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

IDENTIFYING THE SHEEP AND GOATS: DIFFERENTIATING REAL DISCIPLES FROM THE BOGUS BOYS

Nov 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are two Christianities. One is real. One is fake. The following will help you tell them apart.

[If you are reading this at the WP Reader, please read at my website. Thank you.]

The reason Unreal Christianity is a big bulky non-innovative high-dollar extremely low bang-for-your-buck non-New Testament intractable overly bureaucratic religious sluggish slow-moving massive blob dictated to by institutional seminary-trained bosh heads, cold-minded clerics, and charged-up dense denominators endlessly parroting the centuries-dead Ichabod gloryless company line is because, principally, the Lord Jesus is not in charge.

That is a problem.

When one reads the New Covenant writings with a clear head and pure heart without all the mind-numbed artery-clogging casuistic falsely-interpretive nonsense nomenclature and grossly obese religiosity and churchianity content, one discovers an incredible streamlined living and loving Community of Called-Out Ones exhibiting cleanliness, quickness, Spirit of God-fueled power needing next to zero overhead and fitting into any and all cultures with a life-giving new-life Gospel message for anyone anywhere on the planet.

It is fast. It is mobile. It is loving. It is caring. It is merciful. It is self-effacing. It is filled with joy. It is creative, fruitful, and productive. It is easily financed. It never requires large money outlays to be powerfully effective. The members love each other, always support each other, and always develop quickly into strong mature and secure disciples. Rather than pour everything into a building with one guy preaching there is no building and a hundred guys preaching. They go anywhere demanded, do anything commanded, suffer any hardship, overcome evil with good, and battle raging hate with pure love.

And it can’t be stopped. Kill one member and ten more pop up. Try to eliminate it and it only grows larger. Try to destroy it and Great Awakenings break forth. Persecution only makes it more powerful. When the devil jabs he gets knocked over the ropes with a ferocious left hook. When he fights dirty he gets pounded into the ground. When he uses lies and gossip he and his entire operation is revealed for all the world to see. When he tries to hide he gets outed. When he brings darkness he is exposed with a million megawatt game spotter.

There is thus no comparison between real Christians and the fake pretentious pretenders. One is led by the Lord Jesus and the other is not. One is filled with His Spirit and the other is not. One can move mountains and the other cannot. One can raise the dead and the other is the dead. One believes and the other disbelieves. One obeys and the other rebels. One is faithful and the other is a cynical denier of spiritual reality. One will inherit the Kingdom and gain eternal life and the other will …not.

SHEEP AND GOATS

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” [Matthew 25:31-46] [1]

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of the Called-Out Ones, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Final Judgment, God's Judgment, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sheep and Goats, The Great Awakening, Truth, Unreal Christianity

HOW THE LORD CONFIRMS THE ACCURACY OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING: A DIALOGUE

Nov 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

“Look. Here’s the problem. It’s like we have to follow a script. It’s like we are limited in what we can do in ministry because of Scriptural parameters.”

[If you are reading this at the WP Reader, please read at my website. Thank you.]

“What are you suggesting?”

“You think your ministerial work is suffering because you invoke Scripture?”

“No, no, not necessarily, but because, well, because I think there are other applications that probably work better in some instances, and…”

“But don’t you realize that the application of Scripture, especially the teachings of Jesus, is exactly that which provides solutions?”

“But does it always? Sometimes I’m not so sure. I’ve seen…”

“Are you having a personal crisis regarding your faith?”

“My goodness. How long have you been doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve obviously been attempting to minister to people while also holding a clear lack of faith in Christian teachings. Do you not see this?”

“Did the Lord engage in ministry in such a way?”

“Well the Lord was certainly right there and touching hearts, and…”

“Showing compassion?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s it. He showed compassion. He granted mercy, He…”

“He watered-down the Law of Moses because that might help people not feel offended?”

“The Law! What?”

“You have a problem with the Law!”

“Wait. We’re Christians! We honor the New Covenant not the Old! We…”

“The Lord Jesus was never against the Law of Moses! The Lord actually fulfilled the Law of Moses! What is wrong with you?”

“Why are you getting so upset?”

“Because you have obviously gone off the deep end and need strong correction! How long have you been carrying this lack of respect for the Law?”

“But Paul was always talking about the deficiencies of the Law. It’s throughout all his writings.”

“Okay… I’m thinking… I’m wondering where I picked this up…”

“It could be through a simple misapplication of Scripture.”

“Yes… But no. I must have received my understanding of the Law through those New Testament passages which refer to the Law in a negative sense.”

“Then you have an incomplete understanding of Scripture and need further teaching. Or you could have received it through the teachings of others in that regard.”

“But that, that would indicate that there are Christian teachers that get it wrong.”

“Yes. And what else is new?”

“No, I don’t mean… I mean, that they are doing it deliberately…”

“Which would mean exactly that or that they also have been deceived by a false teaching regarding the Law. They are doing what they think is right or…”

“Or they are not deceived at all but are deliberately teaching something that opposes the Scriptures…”

“Yes. Some are deceived. But some are agents of the enemy who have infiltrated our schools and churches.”

“How do we… What do we do?”

“Study to show yourself approved.”

“Even if he didn’t fully understand. Like me. Right now…”

“But again, Paul knew Timothy would know what to do and he knew he would work very hard to succeed. And would do anything he must.”

“Timothy had to study. He had to read the Word. He had to pray.”

“That’s what I thought I was saying at the beginning of our conversation.”

“Yes.”

“So I need to study. Wait. Can I see your Bible?”

“Sure.”

“Okay… I need to read this… Here it is: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

“There’s a lot there.”

“He has given us His Word.”

“Yes.”

“He trusts us with it.”

“It’s a high calling.”

“And I feel ashamed, but not like, I mean, I know He understands. But I must work harder. I must be diligent.”

“It’s the only way. We only have so much time. And we have to get it right.”

“I need to focus more on the Word than on someone else’s teaching of the Word.”

“Thank you. I thought I knew what I was talking about.”

“They didn’t even have written New Testaments in the beginning…”

“But they had Spirit-filled anointed preachers and teachers. There were a great many of them. They came to maturity rapidly.”

“And they handled the Word of truth accurately…”

“That’s right. And when they got it right the Lord confirmed what they taught with signs and miracles. Those miracles had a dual purpose. They acted as endorsements—a sign of approval.”

“That was the proof.”

“Yes.”

“And if they were somehow wrong…”

“No miracles. No attesting signs.”

“Wow. The written Word is a deliverance mechanism…”

“Well, yes. That is why it is so important that we get it right. We are charged with delivering the Gospel as He delivered it. When we do we get the results He got. The originals got it right.”

“On a colossal scale.”

“So you see why it is so important to never let anything foreign or false enter into our curriculums because they act as a drag on the power of the Word.”

“You mean His teaching.”

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Tags: Confirmation Bias, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Discipleship, Duping the Majority: A Foolproof Method of Success, False Teachers, Gospel, Gospel Truth, Lord Jesus, Miracles, New Covenant, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, New Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, Signs Following Believers, The Great Awakening, The Living Word, The Perfect Teachings of Jesus, The Word of God, Where The Spirit of the Lord is There is Liberty, Wonderful Counselor

CORRUPTION ERUPTION: THE ROT HAS SET IN

Nov 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

[If you are reading this at the WP Reader, please read at my website. Thank you.]

THE FATE OF EVIL

All evil will be judged. Everyone and everything associated with it will be dealt with. Those who join up with evil and make the free choice to be connected to it and engage in its practices, whatever their reason, will suffer the same fate. The time will come when all evil and all evil people will be judged, sentenced, and cease to exist. Evil will never make the transition to eternity. It will be incinerated.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” [Matthew 10:28]

TWO OPTIONS

“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.” [Matthew 25:32]

The Word of God reveals a clear dualism. There is good and there is evil. There are the righteous and there are the unrighteous. There are sheep and there are goats. There is wheat and there are tares. Every human being who has ever existed or ever will is in one group or the other. There is no middle ground.

The Word of God also defines sin. No other definition matters. Any other definition is false. Therefore whoever makes the choice to live according to God’s commands knows that God is the sole Author of His commands and made them for a reason. A person has no choice, then, but to accept God’s parameters for living. One cannot make up his own rules and be right with God. He or she cannot choose some of God’s commands and reject others. His commands have already been established. Thus, it is simply a matter of a person living for God to the full or not living for Him at all. Again, there is no middle ground.

When God gave the Law to Moses He made no provision for alteration. There was no amendment process. He never allowed for the later “Oral Law” which corrupted His Word (and is still in effect today). His Laws were not suggestions. They were not experimental applications seeking personal and societal solutions. God already knew what worked and what didn’t. He already knew what was evil and what was good. He already knew what good and acceptable behavior was and what behavior was evil and unacceptable. He didn’t need anyone telling Him what He already knew. He didn’t need someone with an extremely limited level of knowledge and life experience telling Him what He had known for multiple centuries regarding the behavior of human beings. He created human beings. Every human being who has ever lived has an extremely limited level of knowledge and life experience compared to God. The same holds true for generations. Entire living generations of human beings existing at any one time are collectively grossly inferior to God. It is therefore laughable for anyone to suppose he or she knows better than God. An honest courageous person thus understands that the best way is God’s way, that God knows best, and that all one needs to do is do one’s best to trust God, obey His commands, and live for Him.

The dishonest rebellious person, however, refuses to accept this course of action. Such a one would rather submit to his or her own will or that of another rather than God. Consequently, he or she will question God and will question His commands. He or she will attempt to eliminate some or all of His commands, accept what he or she happens to agree with, and will refuse to accept the rest. He or she will desire to modify, alter, amend, change, or revise God’s commands to suit himself or herself not understanding or caring that such is a purely selfish course of action which can never be applied universally. The only universe such people care about is their own. The dishonest rebellious person, then, is not concerned with pleasing God but only pleasing him or herself. He or she does not care about an actual relationship with God. If the only way to be right with God and have a good relationship with Him is to obey His commands, such individuals would rather not be in relationship with Him at all. Their personal freedom, including the freedom to sin, is more important to them. They are thus contemptuous of God and His commands. They will violate any law, rule, or social more, usually to the degree they feel they can get away with (because most are cowards at heart), for personal pleasure and enrichment.

CORRUPTION ERUPTION

This is exactly where corruption originates. It starts small and grows over time. When a person commits sin for the first time, always at a young age, his or her future course depends on how the sin is dealt with. Though God has blessed humanity with a working conscience which convicts a person of sin and which assists in one learning right from wrong, some people learn to reject the conviction of their conscience and eventually deaden their conscience to the point that they have no problem with sinning and engaging in ongoing sin. This is an otherwise obvious form of mental illness but when everyone else is mentally ill the mental illness does not register. When everyone else in one’s chosen group rejects God and chooses sin, are they actually living in sin? From God’s perspective the answer is yes indeed, of course, but from the perspective of those within that sinful group, society, or culture, since everyone adheres to the same principles and beliefs and behaves the same way, there is no comparative by which to judge. The people therein are therefore unaware of any acceptable alternative since they reject the possibility of all others and remain smug and secure within their own group and are constantly confirmed of one’s rightness by each other.

In other words, if all the animals in a particular enclosed pasture are goats, then goat behavior is perfectly acceptable because no one there will ever challenge goat behavior because everyone there is a goat. Goat behavior thus becomes the norm and any animal not a goat is perceived as a vile deviant that must be hated, rejected, censored, cancelled, ripped off, run off, and/or murdered, likely with malice. (That will teach them to mess with perfection.)

As another case in point, Cain and Able had a difference of opinion. Abel loved God, obeyed God, honored God, and served God. Cain did none of those things. Since Abel had love in his heart, he had the ability to put up with Cain’s sin and bad attitude. He had no evil intent toward Cain. He knew it was not his place to do anything about his brother except do his best to remain positive about him and pray for him. Cain, however, had no such ability or attitude. He grew to despise his brother. He was jealous regarding Abel’s walk with God. His hatred for Abel’s excellent attitude and good behavior grew until it reached a boiling point. Rather than repent, change, conform to God’s will, and eliminate his bad attitude and sinful lifestyle as well as create a happy union with both God and Abel, Cain chose instead to violently murder his brother and thus eliminate him. He did this in part to create his own “pure society” playing by a different set of rules in opposition to God’s Kingdom.

He also did it to remove the source of his conviction.

This is how it always happens. Rather than accept and conform to God’s perfect universal commands for living, rebellious sinners who oppose God make their own set of rules which benefit themselves and force everyone else within the range of their influence or authority to conform to them. Since all such subsets of rules are insufficient and even immoral and fraudulent compared to God’s, and since any number of such societal subsets exist simultaneously, they cannot help but spawn greater hate and ever-greater division. Some such societies and cultures will gain greater traction and overcome others. This allows for a strongman or chieftain to arise who plays the part of God and battles other such chieftains. The end result is incessant killing and perpetual warmongering. It is the end result of rejecting God and His commands. It is Cain killing Abel on an ever-increasing scale. In time, eventually, the pack of evil, selfish, unrighteous cowards will wipe out all the good, unselfish, courageous, righteous ones. The evil will eliminate the good from the earth. The goats will win. Sound familiar?

Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. [Genesis 6:11-12]

BEYOND THE POINT OF NO RETURN

I remember when I was a kid and learned about what happens when one flies an airplane too far out to sea with no opportunity to refuel. Once the pilot reaches the point of no return he will not have enough fuel for the return trip and is doomed. And I wondered why anyone would do that and not make sure it wouldn’t happen. I also remember a small factoid regarding the Japanese kamikaze pilots bombing American ships out to sea in WWII: They were only given enough fuel to make it to the target. Those guys were so dedicated, and they only chose the most dedicated, that they wouldn’t have turned back anyway. But just in case…

The same holds true for societies and cultures. Those who research the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, for example, become aware of certain societal signs to watch for which indicate the downward slope of a nation in decay. I studied this a long time ago and was certainly intrigued by seeing those exact early signs in my own country at that time. America was starting to look just like Rome in its declining phase. Things have grown steadily worse since then, much worse than most people would have ever thought, and we are now in the exponential days in which cultural decay is proceeding rapidly. There are no longer any sufficient societal checks to keep the inevitable from taking place. America has gone beyond the point of return.

People who used to have high moral standards have allowed their morals to slip. Many formerly strong people regarding societal mores have allowed themselves to be overcome by the upcoming lawless culture. They used to know what sin was and stood against it but stopped standing and laid down. Salt and light is at an extremely low ebb. Many in the older generation who had much better morals and a Biblical worldview have grown tired of standing against the incessant onslaught of sin and corruption. It is such that no one has escaped it. Evil has come against every segment of society. No one is immune.

Even many Christian ministries and churches have gone the way of the world. A majority have adopted whatever new cultural mores have come forth, mores which oppose real Christianity. A new agenda has replaced the former. Rather than living for the Lord and accepting, believing, and practicing the full Gospel, the new agenda calls for mere financial survival and ministry in general is now tailored toward making money and serving mammon. Sin, even egregious sin, is rarely or never addressed. This is just a fact. It cannot be denied. Money is now first. This means, according to the statement by the Lord Jesus, that most of Christianity is not serving Him but serving wealth. This means there is no longer any effective witness from American Christianity against the wicked traditional servers of money. These two used to be at loggerheads but now are joined at the hip. One has an infinite supply of ready cash and the other needs increasingly greater amounts. American Christianity has thus grown as corrupt as the corrupt ones it used to rebuke. There is no longer any effective rebuke. And this is in part why the evil ones are presently going in for the kill.

American Christianity in general grew weak and corrupted because it kicked out the strong honest Christians it could not control who were trying to save it.

The same thing happened in the secular and civic realm. Those trying to save the country clashed with those trying to destroy it. I revealed this destruction protocol in my prior post though few of you read it. I understand that such articles are not popular. I suggest to those who have yet to read it to take a look, though. I told you in advance. Yesterday marked another one of those points in history in which everything is made clear to those paying attention.

Regardless of this present darkness and the corruption therein, however, the Great Awakening continues. Praise God for that. May many more wake up and get right with God.

Otherwise, consider the following:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” [Matthew 5:13][1]

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Cain and Abel, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, False Moral Codes, Good and Evil, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Law of Moses, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Oral Law, Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Political Corruption, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sheep and Goats, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Salt of the Earth, The Sentence of Hell, Unreal Christianity

CLASHING COVENANTS AND THE DESTRUCTION PROTOCOL: THE LORD’S KINGDOM AND THE DEVIL’S DOMAIN

Nov 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus mentioned the devil often. He referred to him as a destructive force. The devil hates the Lord’s covenant. He is a covenant breaker and a covenant destroyer.

[If you are reading this at the WP Reader, please read at my website. Thank you.]

“What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” [Matthew 19:6]

Those who destroy covenants created by God are aligned with the devil. When the Lord Jesus brought forth His perfect covenant model the devil immediately went to work against it. He knew such a model meant death and destruction to him so he did his best to bring death and destruction to it. The apostle Paul stated what would happen at a certain point in history:

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert… [Acts 20:29-31]

This is how the devil always works. And he must do it through humanity. What kind of people are these who pledge themselves to doing the devil’s business? We may imagine them to be a relative miniscule few, extremely abominable and evil. While this is true of those at the very top of the pyramid running the world vowed to the devil’s authority—in full covenant with him—most of the people involved appear as mainstream to the unaware sleepers and hide their evil status expertly through false façades, appearing as normal as anyone else and even as morally good and culturally superior. It is the ongoing masquerade of one’s visible betters in apparent control, but compared to their hidden higher ups, the talking head storefront jockeys are mere pawns in the devil’s hierarchy.

COVENANT AND UNCOVENANT

The world we are born into is made to appear as something other than it actually is. Starting at an early age, before anyone has the ability to correctly discern reality or even be aware of the world at large and how it actually works, people are deceptively instructed to make covenants with apparent innocuous entities that are not in covenant with God. This is obviously never spiritually beneficial for anyone but the lack of knowledge of the true intent of such covenants is beyond them and also beyond the lower level lackeys instructing them. In essence, we are made to make agreements with authoritative organizations, cultural beliefs, and religious practices while having no idea of their origins or agendas. People simply do not understand that they have been subjected to programming, that there are hidden programs and programmers, and that such programmers are subject to higher controllers with evil agendas. If this scenario sounds far-fetched we need only look to the gospels to verify it. The Lord reveals it right here:

And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” [Luke 4:5-7]

The existence of such a passage of Scripture causes many Christians to question Holy Writ. How could such a thing be true?

How could the devil control all the kingdoms of the entire world throughout time? And who was it exactly who gave all these kingdoms to him? And how is it exactly that he has gained the ability to give partial control of any or all of his kingdoms to anyone he chooses?

This was the deal he was offering the Lord. Maybe he never tried to make such a far-reaching deal with anyone else. Maybe he has only made much lesser deals to certain people throughout history in that they would control only continents or regions or large cities or other non-tangible kingdoms. In all of these, though, as it was with his proposed deal with the Lord, the one overall caveat would be that he, the devil, would be recognized as the supreme authority to which one has dedicated his or her life. The people making such deals would have to bow down and worship him and do anything and everything he tells them to do. This obviously speaks of covenant. It is making a deal with the devil to gain the power, wealth, and goods of this world which one would not otherwise be able to gain.

Imagine then, how many well-known people there are in history and at present who have signed on with such demonic deals and made such covenants. What was the Lord going to gain if He made the deal the devil was proposing? From this we can surmise those who existed who have made such deals. We can also surmise those currently living who have made such deals. Who are those ruling over large “kingdoms” whether tangible or not? Whether unseen or not? How did they gain such rule? How did they gain such great wealth and power? Who opened the doors for them? How else could they have gained it? If it all belongs to the devil, the one the Apostle Paul referred to as “the god of this world,” then it only follows that those in positions of great power with great means have only gained their exalted places and status by the devil gifting it to them in exchange for their acknowledgement of him as “god,” their worship of him, and their obedience of his dictates. They owe him everything because everything they have and have become is due to him.

The following is a good illustration of how this works:

Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” [John 18:33-37]

…And he entered into the Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate *said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” [John 19:10-11]

These passages reveal the nature of this world. Remember, the Word of God clearly states that we all live in a fallen world, on a sinful planet, and that while the Lord Jesus certainly has all authority in heaven and earth, He is not in covenant with those who oppose Him. He is not in spiritual fellowship with unrepentant sinners, with the rebellious, and with those who put their faith in sinful flesh, this world, or the devil. He obviously is in no covenant with those who have made unholy covenants with the enemy. And while there are a great many kingdoms in this world there is only one holy spiritual kingdom in this world and He is the sole King of that kingdom. He has instituted human government for obvious reasons but when such governments become corrupt they no longer function per His design.

How sad it is then when the majority of that which is called “Christian” in this world is also not in covenant with the Lord Jesus. The majority of that which is called “Christian” creates their own kingdoms and covenants and while they invoke His Name they do not fully obey Him, do not do His will, do not teach the real Gospel, and are not part of His spiritual kingdom. They look legitimate on the surface but are actually non-spiritual entities not created by Him. They are spiritual deep fakes. These false Christian entities are included with all those other earthly kingdoms existing in opposition to the Lord. We know this in part because they have acquired the same benefits as the other sellouts: Wealth (for some, great wealth), territory, worldly authority, control, cultural acceptance, and elevated status. The Lord Jesus never had any of these things. His early Community never had any of these things.

Consider the following:

“…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”[Matthew 6:21-24]

(Wealth: Greek: mamonas, from Aramaic mamon (mammon); i.e. wealth, etc., personified as an object of worship.)

This is why the faux bros within false forms of Christianity, like the original Pharisees, say one thing but do another. They talk the “talk” very well, enough to fool and deceive many people and even deceive themselves, and some are much better at the “talk” than others, but they simply do not walk the “walk.” They have not entered into the full covenant of the Lord Jesus. It should not be difficult to understand, therefore, that the ruling Israelite religious authority of the first century AD that opposed the Lord and His Kingdom was also one of the kingdoms belonging to you know who, who gave those religious authorities their rule and position. It is why they clashed so vociferously with the Lord and His people. These were two kingdoms at war. They are still at war.

CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY VS. WOKE SOCIALISM

These are kingdoms also at war. The ideology of Wokeism opposes everything about America’s original founding. It opposes the original colonists, particularly the Pilgrim Separatists who established Plymouth Colony in 1620. It opposes the American Revolution and the original Republic. It has no problem denigrating and defaming the Founders of this country. It opposes the very essence of what America is and what it stands for. Though aligned with classic Marxism, Wokeism is an entirely different and unique belief system which has presently risen upon this country. It stands in stark opposition against traditional America and is designed to become established and take over. It has spent years forming and gaining recruits by taking over former cultural institutions and transforming them into indoctrination centers. It has already made huge strides toward its ultimate goals. But the majority of all who invoke this anti-freedom destructive ideology do not understand that it is not organic but part of an agenda sent forth from on high which has deceptively captured their minds into believing they are engaging in something good and necessary. They do not understand they are actually assisting in destroying their country as part of an ongoing destruction protocol.

It is same with false forms of Christianity. In order to exist and gain power they must throw off the old. This means they must oppose the original Christianity of the Lord Jesus in order to establish their own. They deceive their people into making a covenant with the new “denomination,” whatever it may be, which means such people are not in covenant with the Lord Jesus. Constantine, in the 4^th century AD, was the first to do this on a massive scale and it proved hugely successful. He created a syncretic religious kingdom in the guise of Christianity. All later Christian denominations do essentially the same to varying degrees. They prove by their very existence that they are different entities than original Christianity as created by the Lord Jesus.

Rather than create new religious kingdoms they simply could have joined the Lord’s existing Kingdom. See how that works?

So this again begs the question: How many of these Christian entities which comprise overall Unreal Christianity fall under the aegis of “the kingdoms of this world?” Are their leaders actually in full covenant with the Lord Jesus? How can we know who is actually in full covenant with Him? The following passages present clear clues, yet apparently hidden to many:

“But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.” [Matthew 5:36]

The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…” [John 10:24-27]

Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” [John 14:8-10]

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:12-15][1]

The Lord Jesus proved He was for real in part by the miraculous works done by Him. These works proved the Father dwelt in the Son which illustrated full covenant. Later, at Pentecost, the believers were also filled with the Spirit of God which signified their full covenant with the Lord as well. It is therefore not difficult, from a New Covenant Scriptural perspective and foundation, to name some key points which identify those in full covenant with the Lord Jesus, those who are actual members of His spiritual kingdom:

(1) They honor the Lord Jesus 100%. They strive to learn and follow His full curriculum. They obey “You shall have no other gods before Me.” They fulfill the instructions of the Apostle Peter in Acts Chapter 2. They are not in covenant with anything or anyone in which the Lord is not in covenant. They desire the Lord’s will.

(2) They are willing to deny themselves, carry their cross, and even go to the cross. They subject themselves to persecution.

(3) They are spiritual warriors. They oppose the devil and the devil opposes them.

(4) The Lord Jesus operates through them doing the works He did during His ministry, works that can never be empowered or facilitated by anyone else: And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. [Mark 16:20]

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Tags: America, Biblical Miracles, Carry Your Cross, Choose For Yourselves This Day Whom You Will Serve, Christian Pharisees, Covenant, Devil's kingdom, Discipleship, King of kings and Lord of lords, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Pontius Pilate, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Signs Following Believers, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, The Everlasting Father, The Great Awakening, The New Covenant, The Presence of the devil, United States Constitution, Unreal Christianity, Word of God, Works of God

AWAKE, SLEEPER

Nov 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

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Useful Unbelievers—Gullible Sheep

Those Who Ne’er Try to Waken From Sleep

Dreaming Through Existence

Their Obscure For Instance

Lives, Never Touching Eternal Deep

What Could Have Been Was Scripted Forward

A Plan Discarded As Untoward

Alternative Chosen

Their Heart’s Fire Frozen

Full Steam Ahead, a Course Set Backward

They Bought Into the Deceiving Lie

Too Lazy or Uncaring to Vie

For Truth, They Fail to See

To Be or Not To Be

They Flunk the Question and Then They Die

The Lord Said the Saved are Only Few

Who’ll find the Gate That’s Narrow and True

All the Rest Give Their Best

To the Broad Way, a Fest

And Reject the Way That Leads One Through

Give Praise to the Lord Who Paid the Price

Who Gave His Life to Cleanse Us From Vice

And Bless With a Welcome

To His Present Kingdom

A New Living Way For Those Born Twice

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Tags: Enter Through the Narrow Gate, Father of Lies, Finding Our Way Home, For Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen, Gospel Truth, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Praise, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sinners Saved By Grace, The devil's a Liar, The Great Awakening, The Sacrifice Lamb, The Way of Life, Unreal Christianity, You Must Be Born Again

FASTING AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Oct 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

Our success as Christians must be defined in purely spiritual terms. Such success can never be gained without pure spiritual means.

When I first came to the Lord many years ago and was filled with the Holy Spirit I immediately received an intense spiritual hunger for the Word of God. I was doing hard manual labor at the time, working in a massive warehouse distribution center. It was often the case that I would spend my lunch hour fasting and reading the Word.

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Fasting was something entirely new to my life but before my born-again experience I had already understood the need for organic food, proper vitamins, and etc. I even went so far as to become a vegetarian. That lasted about five weeks… Much new information had come forth by the 1970s regarding the chemical-laden junk food in the standard American diet, whether store bought or not, and that it was causing a multitude of health problems for a great many people, most of them unaware of the cause. I had read a lot on the subject of natural foods and still have one particular book from that time entitled Eating For Life. Such literature mentioned the benefits of periodic fasting so I was aware of the practice though had never applied it.

That changed with my new church. They believed in fasting though primarily for spiritual reasons. We were taught to fast at least one day per week, every week—a full 24 hours. I began practicing it, usually on a work day, and it became routine. We were also expected to go on a two-day fast every quarter which I also began doing. This was a bigger challenge. I noticed, however, that despite the difficulties presented the spiritual benefits were quite evident. One had better spiritual vision, clarity, and strength. The Holy Ghost within you was more pronounced since the Lord had less flesh to deal with. One’s witnessing was more empowered. Prayer was more powerful and effective. It was easier to hear from God.

Of course, the Lord fasted often and taught fasting. The original apostles and disciples fasted. It was a practice of the Early Church in the first century AD. And though there are only three men listed in Scripture who ever managed a forty day fast—Moses (twice), Elijah, and the Lord—there is no doubt the apostles and others must have done this as well.

It is not difficult to understand that fasting one day a week is a type of resting every seventh day as the Lord rested on the seventh day of Creation. Giving your system a break every seventh day is highly beneficial and allows for restoration and cleansing. We see this same practice in the Lord’s command to let the agricultural land lay fallow every seventh year. It allows the land to recharge and regenerate. It allows for a rebuilding of the nutrients in the soil. Whenever this form of land management is practiced consistently, in a natural environment, the soil never loses its ability to provide an excellent crop. It is the same for one’s physical body. Fasting is especially necessary in these days of ubiquitous toxicity in which environmental poisons have increased exponentially. But again, for the Christian, fasting is primarily for spiritual purposes.

Even though I was working hard on fast days I got used to it. When one has a regular fast day (same day each week) the body adjusts and though it can be a challenge it is simply not as difficult as one who doesn’t fast may suppose. Also, by reading the Word at the same time, one gains spiritual strength to make up the difference for a loss of physical strength. Incidentally, I was never very good at longer fasts but I have done them on several occasions. Yet, back then in the early days I worked with a guy once who was a master at it. I had become a professional carpenter by that time. A carpenter I worked and went to church with had, on one occasion, gone two weeks without food and never missed a day of work. That was impressive.

Though all new believers have a hunger for the Word of God I noticed early on that I had it to a much greater degree. It did not take me long to read through the entire Bible. I then began doing word studies. Back then, before computers, the general practice for those who wanted the fullness of study was to get a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance which had every listing of every word in the entire King James Version of the Bible. One could look up any word from any verse and find its meaning. Of course, it contained only the root words and their definitions but it was plenty for general study. A Strong’s Concordance was likely the first study book I ever purchased. It had a light green hardback cover. I still have it. I spent untold hours going through that concordance for many years getting up to speed on Biblical words and meanings.

I soon branched out to other study material but could only afford so much. I didn’t have much to spare on a working man’s salary. However, no matter how much I studied and read it was never enough. I was always pressing on. Again, this was not normal. My fellow congregants all read the Bible, of course. We attended church services four times a week. We did much outside witnessing. We were very proactive in attempting to fulfill the New Testament commands of the Lord. But when it came to reading, study, and research, I outdid everybody else, even some ministers, as I had eventually discovered. I didn’t realize I had a gift.

I didn’t find that out until I took my first spiritual gifts test about six or seven years after becoming a Christian. I had never been aware of such tests before. I was absolutely blown away at the results. Romans Chapter 12 lists seven spiritual giftings of which every real Christian has one which is dominant:

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. [Romans 12:6-8][1]

When I took the test I came up very high on Teaching. A close second was Prophesying. Whenever I took a test after this over the following years it always scored out the same. This explained everything. It explained why I had such a powerful desire to read and study the Word. You see, one cannot be a teacher unless he knows how and what to teach. I also discovered something else, however. Having the teaching gifting does not necessarily mean one will be a standup teacher with a class. What it actually means is that one is gifted to be as a spiritual detective to work hard at going where no one without this gift will go. The Lord gives a person this anointing and strength. The one with this gift will thus spend hour after hour studying the Word, searching out clues, and doing research not only to gain general knowledge but the hidden knowledge most Christians never gain.

Now, I am not talking about some esoteric nonsense but the “hidden” knowledge of the Word. It is not actually hidden but is effectively hidden since most Christians either don’t read the Bible enough or study it in-depth. Many Christians have a rudimentary knowledge of the Word of God but it is usually not very deep. Many ministers obviously have greater Biblical knowledge than most of their congregants but much of it usually has a denominational bias. It is therefore not so easy to be an independent Biblical researcher, which I developed into, because one eventually discovers false doctrines and bad interpretations of Scripture and has to deal with the societal implications thereof if you get my drift. One must always guard against extra-Biblical stuff masquerading as truth and such non-truth must be exposed for what it is. Otherwise the Christians taken in by the false will likely never be set free from it. They become deceived and stay that way. (When one is deceived he or she is not aware of it.) Such deception effectively cuts one off from a closer walk with God. Accordingly, false teachings are not good for one’s spiritual health for two reasons: They replace the truth the Lord taught and restrict one from gaining further truth.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

As our greatest example in this area, look at what happened to God Himself when He walked this earth trying to reveal truth and expose error. The religiously brainwashed didn’t take long to resort to outright hatred against Him because He revealed them as posers. Simply by shining His light He revealed their ignorance and sinful motives. It was a severe blow to their spiritual pride. They didn’t appreciate that. They didn’t think they were posers. They believed they were highly accomplished. They thought He was a poser. See how that works? This is where Christian-on-Christian persecution comes from.

All real Christians will be persecuted, of course, but some will be especially persecuted. Again, the reason why should be obvious. Christians who are never persecuted probably need to check their oil because something isn’t adding up. Also, one must remember the Lord Jesus had all seven giftings operating at 100%. He was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure. He is God. He is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when He taught He was doing so with the highest and most pure form of spiritual light. His light would shine upon all darkness. Those fake religionists thus had no chance to hide. They managed to fool most of the people with their obtrusive costuming, smug manner, and societal standing, but the Lord performed what amounted to a spiritual X-Ray upon them which went right through their false façade and revealed to those paying attention exactly what they were.

The majority of Christian ministers do not do this. Why? Because rather than operating as an extension of the Lord Jesus they are actually doing the opposite. They cannot, therefore, shine a light on darkness because they are darkness or lack the light, though duded up to look otherwise. Many are mere Christian Pharisees. It is why they banish anyone who happens to reveal them for what they are. They are threatened by spiritual light. The only way they stay unexposed and in power, therefore, is to get rid of or silence those who would reveal them. It is the way all authoritarians stay in power.

The Christians who actually get what the New Covenant writings teach know that there is only one who must be in power and control. He is the one who has all authority in both heaven and earth. Sadly, of course, all of heaven and earth does not include many churches who are manned by counterfeits. The real Church has only one King. Everybody else in His Kingdom is not a king and are all on the same plane. When we structure our gatherings in such a way that the Lord Jesus is the only authority it eliminates the notion of a single “pastor” ruling a congregation. It supports the truth of the NT format in which a group of mature Spirit-filled elders oversee the operation from a secondary position to the Lord and in which the Lord is able to do anything He wants anytime He wants.

WE KNOW WHEN THE LORD JESUS IS IN CHARGE BECAUSE HIS GOSPEL DOINGS AND THE BOOK OF ACTS BREAKS FORTH.

Well, what self-respecting Christian minister wants that? The whole church would be in an uproar. The surrounding town or neighborhood would think he lost his mind. He would certainly lose his dignified status and pretty soon his job. He would quickly be knocked back to the Stone Age and have to start all over again (you know, like when one first comes to the Lord in real repentance). What Christian Pharisee would ever allow such a terrible outcome?

Remember, the fakers can last forever with their true identities hidden to the masses until the Light shows up. It is then when their cover is blown. Until Christians start waking up to the fact that many Christian ministers are simply not endowed by God, equipped, or gifted, and are not bringing the goods but are getting by on shallow non-spiritual blatherings that sound great but do nothing or little spiritually substantial, they will keep getting what they’ve always got: The needle won’t move and the creeping enemy will continue to take over until the local church looks exactly like the fallen world. The Lord Jesus did not give His life for that.

And such shallow Christians will also discover the biggest thing, something they REALLY don’t want: They will have to take upon themselves their own spiritual responsibilities, embrace discipleship, and do their spiritual work as the Lord commanded. It is no wonder then that most would rather maintain the status quo. The majority of the Israelites in the first century AD had the same attitude.

We must thank the Lord then, and show great gratitude and appreciation for those Israelites who saw it differently. They decided to give everything they had for the one who died to save them. Though in the minority, and though facing spiritual and cultural persecution, they didn’t hold back. They were great spiritual warriors who received the spoils of victory on a daily basis. Because of their foundational work way back then we have the opportunity today for every ability and gifting we need to do the work that must be done so that we can have the same outcome they had.

In future records, may it be written of our generation as it was for theirs:

“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” [Acts 17:6 NKJ]

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Tags: America, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Bible, Book of Acts, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Fasting, Jesus is the Light, Lord Jesus, Miracles, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Prayer and Fasting, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THE JUDAS SPIRIT: TREACHEROUS BETRAYAL BY THOSE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL

Oct 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

Every real Christian is subject to everything experienced by the Lord Jesus, one of which is cold betrayal. This is always done by someone close, usually a trusted one.

THE JUDAS KISS

The reason it works so well is because one’s defenses are down. One has no reason to put up a shield against friends, family members, or Christian associates. In this sense the victim is essentially defenseless. His or her sense of loyalty, good faith, and thinking and believing well of others, without which one cannot have good relationships, is the very thing taken advantage of by the Judas spirit and the person aligned with it. However, this does not mean the victim was not necessarily wise or watching. It does not mean the victim of betrayal was not being exactly what the Lord wanted him or her to be or was not walking with the Lord. One may wonder, then, is this is true, why the Lord did not warn them before the attack.

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In reality, there are often clues along the way that are certainly acknowledged but usually not taken as seriously as they should be, but again, to take them too seriously can damage the relationship, a relationship the victim appreciates and protects. There is thus a fine line. Potential Judases, as deceiving and conniving as they are, sometimes reveal themselves for what they are in relatively minor ways. Sometimes their outer packaging slips a tad. Sometimes their mask fails to hide completely. They may say or do something that arouses suspicion but because they are such excellent liars, something the victim can’t quite conceive of since it is so diabolical, they manage to stay above any suspicion that may otherwise reveal them for what they actually are.

Now, some people, a relative few, have their suspicion motors running at high speed much of the time. Others are never suspicious. Most people, however, with regard to close personal relationships, have a healthy mindset which allows for suspicion but are not focused on it. It kicks in when it is called for, when something appears off and when things don’t quite add up. But even then it is likely that these are mere general warnings that don’t have actual merit. Such warnings let a person know the system is running properly.

Those who are always suspicious have likely been burned to a high degree at some point, maybe several times, and feel they are forced to always be on high alert. Those who are never suspicious are those most vulnerable to attack and are often the kind of people who are easily taken advantage of. These may be placed in that general group that contains the naïve, the gullible, and those more easily prone to indoctrination. Interestingly, along with these are people of status so sure of their beliefs they believe it ridiculous to second guess their station in life. Why they are so trusting without testing is too broad a subject to discuss here but could be due to never seeing any reason to be guarded. It could even be because they perceive guarded people, even those only slightly such, as paranoid. Still, allowing for suspicion is a vital part of one’s defenses. Most people learn at a young age that some people can be trusted and others can never be. Defending oneself is a vital component of life and part of the way God made us.

Regarding the Lord’s betrayal, it may not be the best of examples in that it never surprised Him but He did allow for it. He did this in part to show what is possible and what one should watch for. He was obviously wise and knowledgeable enough to know all about the man Judas Iscariot, his makeup, and his motivations; he was never fooled by Judas. But the other disciples were, at least in part. One or some of them may have known Judas before the Lord chose him. Some of them didn’t take long to figure out that Judas was certainly a man to be suspicious of. They knew he was a thief, for example, though this knowledge may not have come until later in the Lord’s ministry. They knew he was a lover of money. They also must have known that he was highly religious in the Pharisaical sense. In fact, Judas was actually a type of the unbelieving Israelites who rejected the Lord Jesus as Messiah. Hence, the Judas spirit and the antichrist spirit are closely aligned.

I think he probably was a Pharisee though a stealthy one. Considering how he so easily met with temple insiders to betray the Lord suggests he apparently had close relationships with some who worked in the temple. These might have been long term or may have only arisen after he became a disciple by spies who desired to cultivate an inside spy. And Judas, due to his own concerns about the Lord and his lack of full commitment to Him likely granted him access to the intrigue of the evil inner circle where others had none. For example, no other apostle had any such relationship. All the others had given their hearts and lives wholly to the Lord and this cut them off from any worldly relationships on the outside.

So this is a clue. If one has a potential Judas in one’s life then one likely has an unhealthy friendship with the world to some degree manifested through friends or family. This may be hard to understand for many Christians but the student of the New Covenant Scriptures is very aware of such passages as the following:

“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you.” [2Corinthians 6:17]

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [James 4:4]

According to the latter passage, whether or not we receive mercy is contingent upon leaving the world of darkness, joining up with the people of God, becoming God’s own possession, and serving as a spiritual priest of the Lord. (This must include real repentance.) According to the former passages we must be separate from the world, never be a friend of the world, and not touch what is unclean. Whoever fulfills these requirements will be welcomed into His kingdom by the King Himself, will be a friend of God, a member of His holy nation, and again, will receive mercy. One will never have to be concerned about being betrayed by such people.

One will not have to worry about being betrayed by non-Christians either because real Christians have no spiritual relationships with non-Christians. Therefore, the Judas people will appear somewhere in the middle. They are those who have one foot in the world and give the appearance of having the other foot in the kingdom. This may appear impossible but on the other hand some people are flakes. Some people are commitment-challenged. Some people are a mile wide and an inch deep. Unreal Christianity is rife with such people.

It kind of reminds one of the present condition of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi has not been this low in a very long time. There are vast stretches that are only about five feet deep. Stuff that has been forever under water is now being revealed. An old ferry barge over a century old has been exposed. Human remains have been found. There have been other discoveries. One can now walk across large swaths of exposed river bottom. Upstream barges cannot get their crops to market. What is more, there is little hope for the necessary rain beyond the immediate future. This sounds like those virgins who neglected to keep their oil lamps filled. It reminds one of the corruption of hidden sins never repented of or dealt with that hide beneath the surface waiting to be revealed when the masquerade comes off.

And this is reminiscent of the Judas spirit living within or around a potential traitor who keeps his or her treachery well-hidden by high enough water until the time of their strike. And though the river is muddy, it is up to his or her potential victim to see the signs, to look overboard once in a while, do some catfish noodling, and maybe partake of a scuba dive or two. Even then it is sometimes not possible to avoid attack because the devil is sly and Judases are good liars and very deceptive.

SOMETIMES CHRISTIANS GO SOUTH

Generally, people don’t lose their religion all at once. It is most often a gradual thing. It usually has something to do with not repenting of a certain sin and allowing it to fester and turn into a problem. When sins are small they can much more easily be dealt with. If not they have a tendency to propagate. It seems that sins have little seeds attached that grow into new sins. If not dealt with, such sins become a bumper crop and overcome the ability of the person to deal with them. Because the person likes the sin at least to some degree he or she thus coddles the sin instead of KILLING IT. Then the next phase kicks in when evil spirits are attracted to the darkness. Evil spirits love sin. They love darkness. They love corruption. This is why, when someone possesses such a ponderance of unrepented sin, they also open themselves up to demon oppression or possession. And according to the account of that tomb-dwelling demon-possessed guy in the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake (see Luke 8:26-39), it is possible for a person to be possessed by thousands of demons at the same time, kind of like a mass of flies of a particular kind. (The term Beelzebul is actually a derogatory takeoff on the ancient deity of the Ekronites, the lord of the flies.)

Because Judas Iscariot never dealt with his minor sins they compounded and became major sins. Then, evil spirits were attracted to him. The temple insiders were also attracted to him and saw an opening to use him to murder the Lord. But guess what? Things got so bad and so out of hand within Judas due to his embrace of sin, his bitterness, his anger, and his frustration with his inability to change the Lord or manipulate Him that he not only attracted those guys but also attracted the devil himself:

Here is another clue: Betrayal of this kind usually involves money. It involves a payoff for causing either great suffering to the victim, eliminating the victim altogether, or both. Some people have no problem destroying a person’s life for a reward of some kind. Also, keep in mind that there is a natural form of manipulation that is purely of the flesh but is used in the same way. Some people are manipulators. They are devious tricksters who do their evil under the radar in order to change a person to his or her way of seeing things in order to use them for their own purposes. Those who are best at this are never or rarely perceived for what they are. It is often the case if not always that such schemers are too personally weak or outnumbered to get their way otherwise and must therefore resort to double-dealing and perniciousness. Or it could be that there are laws against such behavior, whether legal or moral, and the person must find a way to get around such laws without appearing to break them overtly in order to keep up appearances and not arouse suspicion.

However, when it comes to evil spirits, it is a different ball game altogether. When a person is betrayed with the assistance of such demonic entities he or she is dealing with a much higher level of strength which most often overpowers the person’s natural strength and ability to perceive what is happening. Accordingly, this also involves a much higher level of deception and manipulation. The person and the demon work together. Judas Iscariot, remember, would never have been able to betray the Lord without human help and demonic help. Of course, the Lord was aware of the entire scheme the entire time whereas all others are not though they may be suspicious to varying degrees. The early Christians were well aware of demonic entities and their machinations and knew they could only defeat them using the power of God. They were spiritual warriors. It is in part why they knew they must be Spirit-filled.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TRUST

As a final warning, one based purely on Scripture, one must be careful who he or she is in relationship with. In the Early Community of the Lord in the first century, believers were strictly instructed by the Lord and then one another to make only a 100% commitment to the Lord and nothing less once they decided to follow Him. One’s relationship with the Lord Jesus must be such or there is no real relationship. He will not accept anything less. Spiritual Covenant is impossible without a full commitment.

Then, when two believers have done this—when they have each done their part to create a vertical covenant relationship with the Lord Jesus—they can each create a horizontal spiritual relationship with each other based on the same covenant teaching. They then need not worry about betrayal from one another because both have fulfilled the entry level requirement (“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.”) and both have fulfilled the second requirement as well (“And your neighbor as yourself.”). Again, both would also be filled with the Holy Spirit which greatly aids in being aware of or identifying potential Judases.

The same is true for a group of twelve or 120 as on the Day of Pentecost. It is also true for thousands. In fact, when one considers the many hundreds of thousands or millions of people which comprise the entire Body of Christ on the planet—the actual Body of Christ comprised of real Christians—one can see that one will always be safe with the Lord and mature real believers dedicated to the Word. One will never be betrayed by these, especially of course, by the Lord Jesus who has already proven His love and faithfulness a million times over. He will never leave you or forsake you. He gave everything for us He possibly could give. He did everything for us He possibly could do.

For other relationships, however, there is no guarantee. It is why each disciple must be their own watchman on the wall.

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Tags: America, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Betrayal, Christian Pharisees, Come Out From Among Them and Be Separate, Discipleship, Judas Iscariot, Liar Liar Pants On Fire, Lord Jesus, Mercy, Price of Betrayal, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Relationship, Separation From the World, spirit of antichrist, Spiritual Warfare, The Blood Covenant, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Great Awakening, The Love of Money, This World is Not My Home, Trust Your Heart With God, Unreal Christianity

TENDER MERCY AND THE PROPHETIC WORD: FROM MALACHI TO JOHN THE IMMERSER

Oct 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

The ancient prophecy of Malachi said the next prophet to come would be a forerunner to prepare hearts and would announce the Messiah through the prophetic Word.

The Messiah is always announced through the prophetic Word. That is why there is no Messiah wherever there is no prophetic Word.

JOHN

John the Baptist—I prefer to call him John the Immerser because this title is both accurate and illustrative in the original Hebrew—was a mere man. Yet he was a man with a powerful spiritual anointing. His anointing was so powerful that it was aligned with the anointing of the ancient prophet Elijah. This is what the prophecy in Malachi actually entailed. It did not refer to a mere man or to a return of Elijah but to a particular powerful prophetic anointing which would show up in the Last Days.

MALACHI

He was the last prophet of Israel before the prophetic Word ceased. For roughly four and a half centuries until John there was no prophet in Israel. Imagine that. For perspective, if we traveled back through time from now for 450 years we would arrive at the year 1572. This was way before anything America. It predates Plymouth (1620) and Jamestown (1607). It even predates the Lost Colony of Roanoke (1585-87). Hence, Israel was prophetless for an incredibly long time.

Malachi’s ministry occurred in the late fifth century BC and ended at some point prior to 400BC when he spoke his last and passed from the scene. His voice was stilled. Having no successor, the prophetic Word went silent. One may wonder how or why this happened but it likely had something to do with an age-old fight between two elements meant to work together but were often effectively at each other’s throats. This ancient battle between priest and prophet continues to play out in our day but’s that’s another story for another time. Suffice it to say that the priests won their battle against the prophets when Malachi breathed his last.

We get an indication of the timing by taking a closer look at Daniel’s prophecy of weeks. He speaks of a distinct division in time that occurred after forty-nine years (seven weeks) which coincided with the completion of the rebuilding of Jerusalem in approximately 407BC. One can easily read into this as a time when the priests had taken full control of the city of Jerusalem and the second temple. They had everything going their way though they achieved it in part (likely a major part) through guile, mammon, and self-serving determination. Now they no longer had to worry about that confounding variable of God speaking to His people and stirring them up against their dead religious order. They had finally eliminated their great nemesis the prophet who was ever exposing their corruption. Does this sound familiar?

The anti-prophet effort had been brewing especially during the time when what was left of the nation of Israel was in Babylonian Captivity almost two centuries before. The nation had been banished there due to its great sin and faithlessness. A defiant faction of the priestly element never did repent but grew further from God and more rebellious. They also picked up some bad demonic stuff while in Babylon and incorporated it into their teachings. When they finally returned to the land after their 70 year penalty phase it was only a matter of time before their evil hearts would overtake the dutiful priests honorably adhering to the Law of Moses and the pure honesty of the prophets and rid the land of not only the prophetic Word but the edifying and preserving influence of God Himself.

Thus, the words of Malachi have special import. Imagine a friend or relative at the end of life speaking his or her final words. This person would never be heard from again. One would therefore want to spend time with the passing one whose speech would soon cease forever. Whether Malachi knew this or not we may not ever know but I think he did. He was a prophet after all. Unlike the priests who performed routine quotidian tasks and ceremonial duties, prophets had to stay close to God at all times or would not be able to fulfill their callings. They could never fake it. Their lives were not composed of man’s order but the comparative wildness of spiritual warfare as reflected in nature when one may not know what may come next—crashing oceans, great thunderstorms, raging blizzards and the like—but had better be equipped and able to deal with it. They were given a most difficult task to achieve that demanded the crucifixion of flesh. They were often greatly humbled. It sometimes appeared that God had little concern for their welfare or physical comfort. They were driven to be the best and to achieve their calling against great odds. These were tough men. Very strong. God demanded of them a high level of spiritual discipline and the outworking thereof because the people needed to hear from Him for their direction and salvation and this could only happen through the prophetic Word delivered through humanity.

Obviously very few men qualified to be prophets, not necessarily because God was partial or particularly choosy but because He had a hard time finding those who would willingly submit to the rigors of the calling. I cannot imagine how hard this process must have been for the Lord but I get a pretty good clue whenever I think about the working out of my own walk and its hopeful effectiveness and how the Lord must be forever patient but also demand commandment-keeping, curriculum-learning, calling-achievement, and having something great to show in our lives for what He did for us on the cross. He built a great foundation which gave each real Christian a tremendous head start. I would think He expects us to strive to be the best we can be. This is how it was for the OT prophets, though to the nth degree.

The book of Malachi has been described as “a beautiful expression of God’s love for a nation that continues to disobey Him,”[1] and in one sentence: “The Great King will come not only to judge his people, but also to bless and restore them.”[2] It is composed of four chapters. The verses we are concerned with in this paper come from Chapter 4 and describe that distant time four and a half centuries from Malachi’s era into the future when the great closing prophetic events occur in the final generation of Israel in the first century AD. Here is Chapter 4, the last verses of the Old Testament, in full:

Final Admonition

¹ “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

² “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

³ “You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts.

⁴ “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

⁵ “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.

⁶ “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” [Malachi 4:1-6][3]

Those who are aware of the final conflagration of the nation of Israel will see in this passage the absolute accuracy of the prophetic Word of the Lord spoken through the prophet Malachi. This man was given a pure vision of the future by God and he captured it in written form. As I wrote earlier, the vision within this short passage directly refers to the final generation of Israel and the “Last Days” spoken of in the New Testament writings. They were the days of the next prophet after Malachi, a man named John, who the Lord Jesus referred to as the greatest man born of a woman. And of course, right after John arose the greatest Prophet, a Man excepted from the former description since He is truly the greatest, who was the long waited Messiah as referred to by Malachi in verse 5, “the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” This day was great primarily because He would arrive and save all believers from their sin and grant them eternal life. But the day was terrible in that:

V1: It would burn like a furnace and all the arrogant and every evildoer would be chaff; the day that is coming will set them ablaze and leave them neither root nor branch.

V3: The wicked would be tread down and be ashes under the feet of the righteous on the day “which I am preparing.”

In the last verse the Lord speaks of one final chance for the nation. If not heeded He would “come and smite the land with a curse.” Of course we know it was not heeded. The prophet John was rejected. The Messiah was rejected. The prophetic Word was rejected. Every warning ever spoken was rejected.

The nation crashed and burned, as did the great city of Jerusalem, the city of David. And the brand new sparkling gold-laden and gold-filled third temple was also burned to the ground and every last trace of it vanished.

For the righteous believers who welcomed John and welcomed the Messiah and respected the prophetic Word we have:

V2: “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”

We see this prophetic truth mentioned once again as reflected in the next passage from the Gospel of Luke when John’s father Zechariah spoke the following prophecy at baby John’s circumcision ceremony:

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of His servant David, just as He promised through His holy prophets long ago. Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering His sacred covenant—the covenant He swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell His people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.” [Luke 1:68-79 NLT]

[1] city.org.nz/kit/bible-overview

[2] biblestudytools.com/books-of-the-bible/

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Tags: America, Ancient Israel, Babylon, Discipleship, Generation, Herod's Temple, Jesus is the Messiah, John the Immerser, Last Days, Lord Jesus, Malachi, Mercy, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Prophetic Warning, Prophets, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rejecting God's Prophets, Spirit and Power of Elijah, Spiritual Warfare, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening, The Prophetic Word

THE RISE OF THE ANTICHRISTERS

Oct 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

…the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice… [2Peter 2:16 KJV]

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. [1John 2:22]

OUR PRESENT CHALLENGE

By now the lines have been drawn. Most have chosen their side. America is divided. It is breaking apart. There is no going back. Unless, that is, Christians in America, the only possible potential unifying and positive force remaining to restore the country, get their act together. But of course, that will never happen because such Christians, in a general sense, have denied the fullness of the Gospel and consequently have no chance against the level of evil coming forth. Therefore, it will take the “church within the church” to stem the tide toward destruction. This group comprises that small steadfast percentage of American Christians overall, those who take the Lord absolutely seriously, who truly understand what happened at Calvary and how it applies to them personally. Only these possess the 100% dedication to the Lord Jesus, displayed by their pure discipleship and absolute honor of His full curriculum. Only these can be the required positive force to counteract and overcome the negative forces of hatred, rebellion, and destruction. Their pure moral loving nature, anointed by the Lord’s powerful Spirit, stands as a bulwark against the flowing immoral degeneracy of the current evil agenda.

And for any who think I am being far too concerned about saving the country rather than living for the Kingdom I will remind you that without a country with a Constitution of laws to protect and defend the innocent and law-abiding and their God-given rights for the good of all one will be forever on the defensive against marauding evil authoritarians ever on the prowl for taking a spoil and destroying the good. There will be nothing to stop them. Once Constitutional Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press is cut away to nothing it will be total war on Christians and Christianity with no possible corrective.

Therefore, there is a Great Awakening. Seeing what was coming, I have been calling for the need of one for decades. I have been speaking, teaching, writing about, and hoping for its arrival openly for the last quarter century. I have mentioned it in my book Real Christianity. And since I received the spoken revelation of its arrival over twelve years ago and have been proclaiming its presence since the beginning of this public blog in May of 2011 long before the vast majority of Christians in America had a clue I can tell you it’s been a lonely fight. The only question at this point is whether enough REAL Christians get involved and work with the Lord Jesus to bring about the desired outcome.

What we have then is a variation of the Lord’s statement, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” In our case, will enough Americans and American Christians become REAL Christians? That’s the real question. It is not that we do not have a Great Awakening. We do. People are certainly waking up. It is happening right now. It’s been gaining steam from initial beginnings at some point just prior to August of 2010. The question remains, will enough American Christians join it to make a difference?

THIS PRESENT DARKNESS

The two sides in this spiritual war are based pretty much exclusively on Pro-Christ or antichrist.

There are intelligent and knowledgeable people in this country who are predicting much more than just Civil War (as some call it, somewhat inanely, a cold impassive term with no guts or feeling that does no justice to the actual terror of that historical bloody betrayal). They are predicting actual geographical division. They are saying the country will be broken up into groups of states. One man in particular foresees another North-South divide with the South including most of the western states but not including the three west coastal states which will compose a third region. Where the North-South border will be is not clear but one can probably figure it out. One thing is certain, however: America as we knew it is projected as gone forever (or with the wind) and those who hide from this reality are only making things worse.

In reality, of course, for the few remaining who can still see reality and actually handle reality, the war began long ago. It was a war waged on everything good, strong, and wholesome about America. It was a secret attack by secret forces who had secretly invaded with most American Christians none the wiser because they were ill-prepared spiritually and never prepared for an attack by the devil himself using his chosen duplicitous instruments who act like him and deceive, lie, hate, kill, steal, and destroy like him.

Now, if this was 2000 years ago the Lord Jesus would certainly have prepared and equipped them. He would have told His people all about the wicked wiles of the evil one and the backstabbing antichristers and the great evil such creatures do. But unlike real ministers of the Gospel, the wimpy DA’s we call pastors and priests who took control of American Christianity long ago never had the spiritual backbone to teach the real truth of the Gospel, part of which is teaching about the great enemy among us who only wants to destroy us. No, most did not do that. They were much more concerned about the cultural aspects of Christianity and the religious aspects of Christianity and were too clueless to understand that there were never any such things in the beginning because God is the antithesis of an idiot and His Kingdom is something far different from their desired kingdoms. Yet, even with the Biblical knowledge they did have they didn’t honor it and created out of thin air such counterfeits anyway. Why? Well, maybe because it worked out well for them.

But it worked out very bad for the poor dumb Christians who followed them. They never learned about how great our enemy is. They were taught that all is always well and God is in control regardless of human effort and participation and everything will be alright and there is a reason for everything and I know I don’t have any control but I trust the Lord as I watch my life get frittered away by the evil ones who rip me off that we just can’t stop because, you know, well, because. If this does not describe a Christian DA then nothing does. And these poor misguided people were not that way by nature but were taught to be that way and affect that attitude by guess who? By the very ones in control who pontificate their nonsense all the day long whether we are talking in the last century or the one before that or even right now when one must put up with the never-ending nonsense of the same defeatist and stupid attitude in which they master dancing all around the actual truth that would set people free but never go there for fear of upsetting the very one behind the gates of hell they are supposed to be attacking. And they side with the Lord’s enemies.

It is why America has descended into this present pit without the spiritual wherewithal to muster any gumption at all toward a slimy wicked enemy who would go down hard if only enough Christians would attack him the way the Lord Jesus and His men did. Those were the great ones. They were tough. They proved their toughness by the rigors of discipleship they subjected themselves to unlike the Christian wimps of the present who have about as much spiritual testosterone as a eunuch. Rather than attack the enemy they ignore him and hope he’ll go away. They refuse the great powerful spiritual strength they should have and would have to overcome him and defeat him and mop up the parking lot with him because they refuse the infilling of the Lord’s Holy Spirit and the powerful anointing thereof because they refuse real repentance and refuse to not be in control. It is why they created their fake versions of Christianity and also why their people suffer all the live long day unable to overcome and never become the mighty warriors they were meant to be. One can never be spiritually victorious with such an unaware and powerless collection of unreal Christians.

We are no longer accepting things we cannot change. It’s now time to change the things we cannot accept.

YOU MUST FIGHT BACK

I remember reading a book by John Eldredge and an account he put forth regarding his young son’s big problem in first grade which robbed him of a great joyous attitude and replaced it with downcast cloudiness. What happened? Well, as it happens to most Christians who get blindsided by the devil but lack the ability and strength to fight back because no “minister” ever told them about spiritual war so they simply take it on the chin and lose the victory and go through life as spiritual losers knowing they can’t possibly ever win a fight against the big bad devil—What happened to the kid was that he was accosted one day at school by a bully. His innocence, trust, and good nature was shattered.

Now, most Christians these days would likely tell their young son there is nothing you can do in such a situation because the bully is bigger than you and you must be nice and not add to trouble so we probably need to tell the authorities… Hogwash. As I continued reading the book to see what Eldridge would do about the unfortunate event I was both surprised and somewhat euphoric when he sat his young son down, looked him in the eye, and said:

“Look at me.” He raised his tearful eyes slowly, reluctantly. There was shame written all over his face. “I want you to listen very closely to what I am about to say. The next time that bully pushes you down, here is what I want you to do—are you listening?” He nodded, his big wet eyes fixed on mine. “I want you to get up . . . and I want you to hit him . . . as hard as you possibly can.” A look of embarrassed delight came over his face. Then he smiled.[1]

The kid was absolutely overjoyed. He had thought fighting back was somehow wrong even though he wanted to; he didn’t want to get in trouble. But all of the sudden he was beaming and his wonderful nature came back and the gloominess was gone. He looked forward to the next day when he would reclaim his place and position and restore his reputation and standing. And the moral of the story was that he never had a problem with that so called bully again and gained a great victory and felt great about himself.

For Christians in this day and age there is no way to gain the victory in this current battle without a committed, for the duration, spiritual fight. We must face the enemy eyeball to eyeball without backing down and without compromising. However, we must not engage until we’re properly equipped. It’s a spiritual war. The forces of evil are spiritually powerful. One must be spiritually powerful as well. The Lord never sends His children into open spiritual warfare without giving them the weapons and armaments they need. And what is His great weapon of choice you may ask? What makes one love everybody? What anoints our prayers with great power and might? What empowers our gifts, ministries, and witnessing?

IT’S HIS OWN HOLY SPIRIT. HIS OWN POWERFUL PRESENCE PRESENT IN YOU. THE ENEMY CANNOT STAND AGAINST IT. THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD WIPES HIM OUT. THE DEVIL IS DEATHLY AFRAID OF THE LORD JESUS. THE ANTICHRISTERS HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST HIM REGARDLESS OF THEIR DEMONIC CONNECTIONS.

So, returning to the narrative, all those fake Christian ministers who were never Spirit-filled who taught their mostly willing congregants a false wimpy powerless gospel forced their congregants to be overcome by the greatest bully of them all. Rather than rear back and punch him squarely in the face they gave him the upper hand. They made a mockery of the powerful Gospel of the Lord Jesus. The majority of Christians in America have thus never been equipped for spiritual warfare, have never engaged the enemy, and apparently never want to and never will. This is especially true today. It is in part why the enemy has run roughshod over American Christianity and most American Christians. Their fear factor is far superior to their faith factor. In light of what the Lord can do and wants to do, their attitude is both defeating and disgusting.

It is why America has fallen.

DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.

Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.

It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” [2Peter 2:1-22][2]

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

Aug 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

Those who create their own versions of Christianity which differ from the original are MOCKING GOD. They have no respect or honor for the Lord Jesus, WHO IS GOD.

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, “Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?” And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming. [Luke 22:63-65]

DENOMINATIONAL BLASPHEMY

All the major denominations of first-century Judaism were not just wrong; they were operated by blasphemous pretenders who mocked God by creating their own distinct religious belief systems, fleshly interpretations of Scripture, and mental constructs based on wrong thinking due to their great sin and distance from the Lord. Everything they created differed significantly from the original. Their desire was not to be in good relationship with God and not to preach Truth but to gain earthly power and prestige, unbridled authority over people through the medium of religion, and enrich themselves monetarily.

“The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” [Revelation 2:8-9]

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.” [Mark 7:9]

What possesses a person to make departures from Holy Writ? What causes Christians to reject the original teachings of the Lord and create their own? Why do they believe they have the authority to do this? Why do they think they can get away with it? What is so wrong with original real Christianity that they feel justified in rejecting it, or tweaking it, and changing it to better suit themselves? Don’t they know it is the responsibility of a follower of the Lord Jesus to conform to Him and His teachings rather than create offshoots merely based on His teachings?

There should be no Christian denominations. Every single one has departed from the original by their very creation. If all believers in the Lord would adhere to His curriculum there would be no need of another. Catholics fight with Protestants and Protestants fight among themselves and they both fight against the Pentecostals and Charismatics who also fight among themselves. There are even divisions within denominations. Churches split but so do denominations. Some of this is playing out right now. It is part of the reason they increase, at times exponentially. If they all abandoned their respective alternative Christian belief systems, slaughtered their sacred cow religious slants, and embraced the Lord’s curriculum only, Christian denominations would no longer exist.

OUT OF DARKNESS

On the other hand, Protestantism was progress. Some Protestant denominations progressed more than others. They were seeking greater Light. Most found some Light and were on a progressive spiritual track to gain more early on. Some continued. Some stopped at certain points. Wherever they stopped and set up permanent camp is when a denomination was formed. They deemed themselves in their own minds far enough down the road from Catholicism to justify discontinuing their spiritual progress. Instead of continuing onward through the fog toward the bright shining light of a new day they apparently still remained out on the vast plain of Shinar and proceeded to build their own Towers.

Here a Ziggurat, there a Ziggurat, everywhere a Ziggurat.

In essence, however, this was only an illusion. Roman Catholicism has long termed Protestants as “departed brethren.” If they truly departed, however, they would have departed completely and conformed to the Lord’s original. Most never did this. Maybe the Lord was leading them out. If so they should have kept going all the way—all the way back to the first century. But none of the major Christian denominations ever did any such thing. Therefore, did they really depart at all?

We know the Protestants retained some Roman Catholic doctrines. We know they maintained Catholic formats. They looked and believed different in part but they also continued to look very similar. The new Protestants felt more comfortable being “Catholic light” than embracing Acts Chapter 2. Sound familiar?

Keep in mind that the real Christians in the world, those who had forever remained faithful and true to the Lord Jesus, obviously still existed at that time five hundred years ago as they always had since the very beginning. But because they were obscure like their Master and preached the Truth like their Master and were never in it for power, prestige, authority, or money like their Master, they were also persecuted like their Master. They were looked down upon by this world like their Master. They were written out of perceived history like their Master. And they were rejected by denominational Christianity the same way their Master was rejected by denominational Judaism.

For those who may not know, I will say this again. The Lord Jesus will have nothing to do with halfway followers. He only accepts those who give their entire hearts to Him. What is the proof of this? How can anyone know who actually does this? What is the test? Here you go: They will believe and act exactly like the original first-century believers.

THE LOVE TEST

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:34-35]

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me;” [John 14:21]

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” [John 15:10]

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” [John 15:13-15]

“…Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…” [Matthew 28:20]

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; [1John 2:3-4]

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” [John 8:31-32][1]

THE HATE TEST

One can discover the unreal by the way they treat the real. Unreal Christians are Christian persecutors. Real Christians never persecute anybody. Unreal Christians use fear, force, guilt, shame, anger, deceit, trickery, and insistence upon their various non-Scriptural traditional means, methods, and beliefs to get their adherents to conform to a common denominator. This creates their false unions (Towers). We know that great masses of people can be psychologically brainwashed, indoctrinated, conditioned, and programmed, even to their own detriment, in order to remain socially viable and accepted members within their group.

The Lord Jesus, however, never engaged in any of this and never taught such. He was forced by who He is to often remain a largely solitary Man even among His own. He also taught that His disciples would be treated as He was and they were. They had to learn to stand alone much of the time against the onslaught of those who bought into false paradigms and fruitless works who often resorted to force and hatred as means to compel conformity. The fearful always fell for such; they had no faith to counteract their fear. They found solace in joining such groups because they knew the leaders thereof would then leave them be and their social standing, low denominator as it was, would remain in place. Being part of such groups helped relieve anxiety and fear. It made them feel as though they belonged. They could thus relax within their faux social constructs, gain the support thereof, and not have to deal with their sin or the higher requirements of God.

The Lord Jesus, however, rejects such unrepentant cowards. He has nothing to do with these mulish misled mockers. He will not have in His Community anyone who refuses their entire heart.

He will never give His love to an unfaithful masquerading bride.

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 8)

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Tags: America, Book of Acts, Christian Denominations, Christian Pharisees, Constantine, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Discipleship, False Forms of Christianity, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Love, Mocked, Protestant Reformation, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Day of Pentecost, The Great Awakening, They Hated Me Without a Cause, Tower of Babel, Unfaithful, Unreal Christianity, Ziggurat

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

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

Aug 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

The initial history of the Early Church occurred during 32-70AD. Afterwards, until the early 300s, real Christianity grew exponentially. Then the enemy made a masterstroke…

The Christian Tower Builders had been preparing well. During a period of roughly 230 years after the destruction of the nation of Israel (70AD) and the establishment and great fruitfulness of the Lord’s spiritual Kingdom throughout the Roman Empire, the enemy had been stealthily at work. He had developed a plan to strike back at his hated nemesis even though its full effect would be long in coming. His first intention was to undermine the original teachings of the Lord by introducing familiar philosophical reasonings and standard ancient religious concepts which centered on idolatry. He would add Gnostic understandings which initially emerged during the apostle Paul’s time primarily in Asia Minor centered roughly at Ephesus, having likely originated in Alexandria, Egypt. In essence, the enemy would do what he had always done to lead people astray: Obfuscate their thinking, corral them into cults, and draw them into eventual worship of him whether such people knew it or not.

He would also begin the process of recreating and applying the accoutrements of tyrannical rule which would largely mirror the Roman emperor and his court and thus generate the means to rule over as many Christians as possible through as few as possible. This had always been a successful strategy in other cultures in prior times in that it created influential figureheads by which to control and manage the herds of humanity regardless of realm—government/politics, religion, the military, or even economics. Regarding Christians who had already adapted to following one Leader—the Lord Jesus—the enemy would have to make the attempt to introduce sub-leaders, those who stood between God and the follower and who would act as religious mediators. In this way he could cut off a believer’s direct communication with the Lord by making him go through a surrogate and compel him to become dependent on a stand-in—a hireling—and by this muddy the believer’s knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. Sound familiar?

One may wonder how the enemy thought he could be successful at any of this after the great triumphs of the Lord’s Community, the far-reaching application and successful results of its spiritual power and authority (greater than any other), and the prodigious number of born again believers to the tune of multiple millions. Why did he think his subterfuge may work?

To start with, one may consider all that God had done for His ancient people and what He equipped them with, starting from Adam to the nascent nation of Israel escaping Egyptian bondage, and onward to the full burgeoning of the nation, and then see what happened to each. How did Adam fare? How did the promising initial population of the world deteriorate so badly that it required the Flood of Noah to cleanse the land? What happened to that first generation after the Exodus? How did the conquest of Canaan go? What eventually happened to the promising nation of Israel? You see, the Lord was positively involved in all these efforts, had great plans, unlimited resources, and the spiritual power to see them through and grant success but they all botched it. How was any of this failure even possible?

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. [Hebrews 3:19]

Unbelief: ἀπιστία (ap-is-tee’-ah): faithlessness, disbelief, unfaithfulness (disobedience), want of faith, weakness of faith:—unbelief.

—Adam introduced sin into the world. The world population destroyed in the Flood had grown far from God, willingly distant from His will, exponentially evil, and characterized by the sin of murder. The first generation of Israelites after the astounding miracle of the Red Sea Crossing at the Exodus were wiped out in the desert and never entered the Promised Land due to unbelief, disobedience, rebellion, and obstinate opposition to the divine will. Joshua’s Conquest was great in part but the assignment was never completed fully per his instructions and far too many Canaanites remained which eventually assisted in corrupting God’s people.

So you see, the devil had much to be hopeful for. He felt assured that he could corrupt Christians as he had corrupted so many others in world history. He knew what he had assisted in doing to the nation of Israel, which no longer existed, and was confident he could do the same to the Lord’s new spiritual Community. Though this may have appeared inconceivable early on and certainly a daunting undertaking due to the Lord’s people being a much greater foe than past heroes of the faith, the enemy knew he was still dealing with human beings who had their flesh to contend with. They were imperfect. They may have chinks in their armor. They may be vulnerable to certain sins. Those Christians who failed to stay filled with the Holy Spirit, die daily, and crucify their flesh would be susceptible to a successful attack and such were those who would be targeted.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [1Peter 5:8][1]

He would attack indirectly. He would make a play on the flesh. He would mess with people’s minds. He would conjure up the specter of religious pride. If these sound familiar they are exactly what He tried on the Lord Jesus with obviously no success whatsoever. But they had worked in the past. They worked with Adam and Eve and later Israelite kings, notably Solomon. They certainly worked with the Pharisees et al. It was a known strategy and a very familiar story. If he managed to make steady inroads during the second and third centuries he could eventually reach the plain of Shinar phase of the operation. Would the devil be able to foment a maneuver in which the spiritual reality of living stones could be transformed into a religion of fake rocks? Made of burnt mud brick? Could he gather enough faux believers to overcome the real believers and therefore institute a new Christianity, one based on syncretism and hybrid renderings, on ultra-ceremonialism, and authoritarian rule?

This was certainly his aim. Again, he knew the concept well and knew it worked well. The challenge would be furthering the notion that Christians need not obey the Lord Jesus exclusively or obey His directives of being Spirit-filled as per the Book of Acts model. It was the only model that worked, of course, at establishing a real Christian and equipping him or her to successfully overcome the world, crucify the flesh, remain properly subjected to the Lord, walk in the Spirit, and defeat spiritual enemies.

The devil knew he must thus construct his own oppositional monolith to counteract the real Church, his own vast “community,” and his own hierarchy through which to rule.

When the fourth century dawned, he decided the time was right. He had worked hard over two centuries to blur the lines of what Christianity was and had introduced damnable heresies as it were, an echo of ancient OT times when he raised up false prophets in the land of Israel. Peter wrote:

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly… [2Peter 2:1-5 KJV]

The devil had convinced enough Christians to betray the Lord the same way the faithless Israelites had. He must now create an opposing force sufficient to engage in battle on equal terms. He had a means in mind. He had a particular man in mind. He would now foist it upon an unbelieving unaware world and do it quickly so as to deceive enough of the population to render them willing accomplices.

The Christian Tower of Babel was becoming a reality.

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 8)

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

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Early Church History 101, False Christian Movements, False Conformity, False Doctrine, False Forms of Christianity, False Gospels, False Prophecy, False Prophets, False Religious Authority, False Shepherds, False Teachers, Gnosis, Hired Hands, Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Shinar, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Tower of Babel, Unreal Christianity, Wicked Heart of Unbelief

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

Aug 5

Posted by RJ Dawson

As noted in Part 5, there are two Christianities. Both are united. Real Christianity is united spiritually with the Lord Jesus. Unreal Christianity is unified in opposition against Him.

CLUES TO A MASQUERADE

¹Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. ²It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.

⁵The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. ⁷Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. [Genesis 11:1-9]

TYPES AND SHADOWS

The preceding ancient passage is loaded with spiritual clues. Before we get into likely allegorical meanings within it we must first reiterate once again the existence of two Christianities: The real and the unreal. Regarding real Christianity we must remember that the Lord’s Kingdom is spiritual. Oppositional Unreal Christianity is not spiritual. Based on the following verse from Part 4 in this series there is only one other choice remaining:

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. [Romans 8:5]

To this I will add to what we studied in Part 5 regarding the Lord Jesus being the one Foundation and Cornerstone of a “spiritual house” composed of “living stones” as the apostle Peter termed it in his first epistle. The apostle Paul calls it “the temple of the living God” (2Corinthians 6:16). He gives a better description of this spiritual temple in the following passage:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. [Ephesians 2:19-22][1]

Based on these passages it is clear that the Lord is spiritual and His real followers are spiritual. We have an entire history book of the Early Church located between the Gospels and Epistles that tells us how this occurred. The Book of Acts contains one passage after another of individual believers getting filled with the Holy Spirit and all the signs that accompanied their transformation into Spirit-filled believers. We also have proofs located in the teachings of the Lord in the Gospels regarding the historical events in Acts. He instructed them about what would happen, how it would happen, and what to prepare for before it happened. Everything written in the epistles supports what happened in Acts. Paul even goes into greater teachings on the subject regarding spiritual gifts and manifestations.

Now that we have the preceding background information established we can go back to the Genesis Chapter 11 passage about the Tower of Babel and identify its allegorical significance:

AFTER NOAH

When the great flood was over Noah and his family remained in the general region where the Ark came to rest. We identified this region in Part 3. We know Noah lived another 350 years after the flood so his descendants had ample time to reproduce exponentially. Yet, instead of moving out into the world they remained all together in the same area. Now, there must be some reading between the lines here because it must have been the case that a small percentage of Noah’s descendants did obey the Lord and ventured out as pioneers and adventurers. Yet the vast majority did not. In this they were essentially just like those who were killed in the flood in that they were disobedient and rebellious toward God and likely very fearful instead of faithful. They were not the kind of people you could create a new spiritual civilization with.

LET US MAKE BRICKS

Here we have a direct opposite type of the spiritual temple of the Lord:

They decided to find a new location in which to live. It was relatively close. They moved in mass as a uni-culture. They all believed the same, thought the same, and spoke the same language. We discussed this in Part 1. They left the hilly and mountainous region and came upon the plain of Shinar. This is loaded with clues. The flat plain with no variation describes these people to a tee. There was no rock anywhere. It was most likely an alluvial plain, one built up over millennia by multiple layers of silt deposited by flowing waters. There were likely very few trees as well and only relatively low vegetation. Thus, the place they chose had no building materials. But not to worry. We’ll just make bricks from mud.

Okay, there’s another clue. Remember when we discussed Adam’s creation from the elements of the ground in Part 4? The ground does not represent spirit. It represents flesh. Over 99% of Adam’s flesh was made of only eleven elements. But Adam was also filled with the Spirit of God. Because the New Covenant describes the Lord Jesus as a Rock—a Living Stone—and His people comprising the spiritual temple as living stones, we can gather that stones represent spirit and mud bricks represent flesh.

So here we have these disobedient non-spiritual fleshly people leaving a place filled with building materials and settling in a place with none. They then proceed to use alluvial soils as their main building material. In order to insure the strength and durability of their bricks they burn them. They created fake rocks. Then, instead of using actual mortar which contained sand (ground up rocks/quartz) and limestone as a bonding agent, they used tar! This was likely some form of natural asphalt or bitumen but likely not as thick or concentrated as that around the Dead Sea. There must have been great pits nearby where this substance was available. There are indications that it could have been reddish in color, based on the Hebrew root word. Did you know Adam’s name comes from a root word that means red or ruddy?

To burn in this sense calls to mind what Paul wrote about those hypocritical apostates who fell away from the faith. In the KJV it is written: “…having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1Timothy 4:2). These burned bricks represent the fully indoctrinated. Their minds are made up. You can’t build a tall religious edifice without making sure your members will never stray. This denotes the cultish nature of so much Christian indoctrination when such people never receive from the Spirit of God but must have their beliefs drummed into them.

LET US BUILD A CITY

Notice that they want to build a city first. The city represents their economic interests. It is an indication that they are putting money before God. The Lord Jesus said one cannot serve both. Flesh always puts money first. Spirit always puts God first.

LET US BUILD A TOWER

Rather than a desire for spiritual things these wayward people set their minds completely on the things of the flesh. Flesh doesn’t want God but it craves religion. Flesh also craves material representations of religion. Flesh never thinks in terms of the invisible spirit, or invisible faith, or invisible spiritual gifts, or the invisible Spirit of God. It must have only that which can be experienced through the five senses. Therefore, these people had to build a material representation of their religion which would thoroughly overwhelm and satisfy their flesh. And not only that, they would build it so high that it’s “top will reach into heaven” and overthrow the power and authority of God. Christian religionists have done this very thing on countless occasions over these many centuries of the Christian era. Regardless of the fact that the Lord Jesus, His original twelve, and His early Community never constructed any buildings “dedicated to God” but maintained everything on a spiritual level and met in private homes, it never stopped later Christians from engaging in the same practices as the Tower builders. This manifested powerfully for the first time in the fourth century by the Roman emperor Constantine when he began converting large Roman public buildings into “churches.”

LET US MAKE FOR OURSELVES A NAME

Have you ever heard of a church that doesn’t have a name? How about a denomination? Have you ever heard of a church that doesn’t have a single “pastor” in charge? Should not only the Lord Jesus be in Charge? Shouldn’t His Name be on the church sign out front? Quick question: When the apostle Paul was out establishing spiritual communities did he ever name them? We know Christian communities were identified by the city where they were located but this is merely referring to all the real believers in that particular city. There were no church buildings.

It is obvious that Christians who are obsessed with names and identifying their stuff never properly consider the greatest Name of all, the Name above all names. The majority of Christians rarely or never put the Name of Jesus first.

They are obsessed with building their own Stairways to Heaven.

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 7)

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

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

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Tags: Adam, Cornerstone, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Crucify the Flesh, Foundation, Indoctrination, Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Noah, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Serving MONEY, Shinar, Spiritual Warfare, The Book of Acts, The Great Awakening, The Name Above Every name, The Real Temple, Tower of Babel, Unreal Christianity

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

Aug 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are two Christianities in the world: The first is the real one created by the Lord Jesus and preached in the first century. The second is the amalgamation of all others.

UNREAL CHRISTIANITY

It might appear virtually impossible for all the various forms of Christianity on the planet to actually come together in general agreement. Imagine each Christian denomination and independent church great and small and here and there casting off and discarding their particular individual identities, distinctive doctrines, and exclusive characters, and then glomming themselves together in a worldwide kumbaya moment as one might throw various colored waxes into a gooey melting pot. Specific identifiable shades all fade out into an indistinct brownish gray-like beigey non-hue. Former Protestants sit with former Catholics around a welcoming campfire singing folksongs accompanied by an acoustic guitar or two while heart-struck with philia love and their new unity-mix faith which encompasses all God’s children in warm fellowship all aglow.

Right.

However, if you hold this painting before you using both hands and turn it just a tad and then tilt it up a bit to catch some light you’ll gain an entirely different perspective and suddenly see that our hypothesized mass union has in fact already occurred. The otherwise impossible unity has already been achieved. How? Well, you see, this particular Christian unity is not based on a consensus of doctrines and practices but on opposition against the original. Thus, it matters not that the bright white light of the first-century original real Christianity happened to fall upon a flawed oppositional prism and scattered out into a million different off colors each dissimilar in its own right. Why? Because each is tainted with the commonality of rebellion.

ONE FOUNDATION

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” [Luke 6:46-49]

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [1Corinthians 3:11]

Though the first of the preceding passages refers to individuals, the same holds true for individual Christian organizations (churches, ministries, denominations, etc.): They are either built on the only correct Foundation or they are not. The Lord Jesus is not only the Chief Cornerstone but the very Foundation of His Community (Church, Ekklesia, Qahal, etc.) and, of course, He should be. It belongs to Him. He started it. Original Christianity is His movement. When one becomes a real Christian he or she accepts the totality of the Lord’s teachings, not merely what one feels like accepting, and does what He says. He or she comes to the Lord, hears the words of the Lord, and acts on the words of the Lord. All of them. Whoever does this joins His spiritual Community. There is only one. And there is only one Leader.

It is therefore relatively easy to understand the process which resulted in so many different Christian organizations, each one different from the original to varying degrees. Whether those who started such were well-intentioned or not doesn’t change the fact that they failed to build on the correct and only Foundation. They also took liberties with their doctrines and practices. They each have different beliefs and traditions. And it may appear as though many churches and denominations are still standing though built on the ground sans the Lord’s Foundation but this is either because the flooding torrent has yet to arrive or they have long since died internally and only their outer shells remain. It could also be that outer shells is all they ever were.

The following is a third Scriptural passage regarding the one Foundation, the implications thereof, and additional truth regarding how the Lord’s actual spiritual house must be built and what happens if one strays from the blueprints:

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

“The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,”

and,

“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense;”

For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. [1Peter 2:4-8][1]

CHURCHES AS FRANCHISES

Most people understand the importance of uniformity when it comes to corporate franchises. Each franchise must adhere to the regulations and guidelines which allow for every franchise to appear and function as every other franchise regardless of location. It is why individual franchises within a particular corporation all look the same, function the same, and have the same product as every other one though they may be located throughout a large geographical area or even all over the world.

Interestingly enough, several Christian denominations mirror this exact model in that all their individual churches look essentially the same, function the same, and have the same product as every other one though they may be located throughout a large geographical area or even all over the world. They also have the equivalent of a corporate headquarters and a management hierarchy (a pyramidal tower). Their individual churches must also show a profit as do business franchises. That is, each must prove it is able to collect enough local donations to keep the doors open, provide for the pastor and leadership team, fund local sub-ministries, and support the denomination. Also, just as it is in business, correct advertising, financial, and sales methods must be utilized. And though independent churches without denominational support often must sink or swim on their own, member churches of a denomination have the comforting privilege of accepting assistance from the overall organization when needed.

One wonders then, seeing such uniformity within business franchises and denominational churches, why the majority of Christians including Christian leaders fail to see the same need for uniformity when it regards the Lord’s original. Why don’t they put the necessary effort into conforming to His standard rather than their own? Why do they allow for church and ministry leaders to gain such big spotlights there is no room for the Lord? And most troubling, why do they often remove the Founder from His own movement?

Could it be because it’s the only way to continue building their Tower?

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 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 8)

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

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Christian Denominations, Church, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Cornerstone, False Forms of Christianity, Foundation, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Real Temple, Tower of Babel, Unreal Christianity

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

Aug 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

The majority of what is referred to as “Christianity” in this world is counterfeit. It is not of the spiritual realm. It doesn’t work in the spiritual realm. It is a mere illusion.

THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. [Romans 8:5]

The preceding verse gives a perfect illustration of mankind’s dual-natured composition: We are both spirit and flesh. We have also been blessed by God with a free will. That means at any point in one’s life one can (1) choose one or the other, (2) make a decision based on one or the other, and (3) can even devote one’s life to one or the other. Our eternal destination will also be based on one or the other.

However, our dual nature did not exist originally nor was it ever the intention of God for such a dual nature within humanity to exist. He did not create humanity this way. It is something that developed later.

Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. [Genesis 2:7]

The “breath of life” is synonymous in this instance with the Spirit of God. This phrase is derived from two Hebrew words: נְשָׁמָה (nesh-aw-maw’) “breath, spirit,” and חַי (khah’-ee) “alive, living.” The breath of life here is the living Spirit of God. The connotation is clear and denotes how all other living beings on the planet are fundamentally different from humanity: Adam had the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was breathed into Him. This fact supports the following previous fact in the Genesis account:

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. [Genesis 1:27][1]

Prior to Adam’s momentous and life-changing event when he received the Spirit of God—though he was a much greater physical specimen than any other created being on earth—he was closer in essence to the animals which he later named. Thus, after his initial creation but before the introduction of the breath of God, Adam was by all accounts merely flesh, whether animate or inanimate, but still a magnificent physical specimen “fearfully and wonderfully made.”[2]

He was created from the elements of this earth, or in Biblical terminology, the “dust from the ground.” His physical body was composed of flesh (as opposed to spirit), and based on an estimate of the average human body at present, approximately 98.5% of his flesh was composed of only six elements: Oxygen (65%), Carbon (18%), Hydrogen (10%), Nitrogen (3%), Calcium (1.4%), and Phosphorus (1.1%). Most of the rest was made of Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, and Magnesium. There’s also another 49 trace elements involved as well.[3]

Therefore, flesh creation as he was, it was the Spirit of God that made him what he was to be. The breath of God finalized his creation. The Spirit of God within made him like God. It allowed for a closeness and fellowship with God. No other creature can claim this even though many if not most animals are sentient, and there are certainly those that relate very close to man such as dogs and horses.

BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT

Because all living creatures have the spark of life that animates them but do not have the Spirit of God as did Adam, a distinction must be made to differentiate the two. Did you know that all life is created from that which is not seen? For example, we must breathe to live. We can go without food for many weeks. We can go without water for several days. But we can only go without air for mere minutes. In breathing, we inhale invisible oxygen and exhale invisible carbon dioxide. Trees do the opposite. They draw in or “inhale” carbon dioxide and water, use the invisible energy of the sun to convert these into specific chemical compounds that provide sustenance (such as sugars), and produce or “exhale” oxygen. Trees actually clean the air and produce much of the air that humans and animals breathe. In other words, though all life is composed of elements it is also produced by the invisible energy all around us.

Thus, there is a wholly natural animating spark derived from the intricate system of Creation in which energy is combined with elements to produce natural life, whether it be mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, or trees. The life is in the seed and the seed responds to the correct combination of energy and elements to create what it was created from. In simple terms then, God created a natural world that works without His direct involvement not unlike an appliance or tool that is activated and runs when a power source is applied, such as electricity or a battery. His creation is one giant brilliant system that works perfectly indefinitely with no need of anyone to man the controls so to speak though God can and will intervene for His own purposes.

This appears to make God impersonal. For atheists, it makes it easier to see God as a non-entity. The old Deists perceived God as a possible personality who created but does not involve Himself with His Creation. Most people in the world never or rarely think of God or a Creator but merely spend their lives seeking to survive and thrive while here and thus put little stock in an afterlife. Are such people any different from animals?

In fact, due to the fall of mankind and the introduction of disobedience, sin, and rebellion into God’s perfect Creation, the resulting sinful nature of man caused a complete break in relationship with God and destroyed the close communication and relational love between Father and son. Also, of course, not only was Adam banished from the perfect garden in Eden, he also lost the animating breath of spiritual life: The Spirit of God left Adam.

God had told him if he ever sinned he would die. He did sin. And he did die. But he stayed alive on a lower level. It was his spirit that died. He went from being body, soul, and spirit to body and soul. Rather than become like God according to his destiny, the first Adam actually became more like an animal. He retained the spark of life shared among all life forms on earth but lost his spiritual life and his spiritual connection to God. Rather than be like his son Abel he became like his son Cain. Because he was no longer a spiritual man he was forced out of the perfect spiritual garden and sent to the natural world. He became a mere soul man, a man of flesh, because he had set his mind on the things of the flesh.

Whoever would reverse this destructive process released by Adam must set his or her mind on the things of the Spirit which were released by the last Adam.

CROSSING THE SPIRITUAL DIVIDE

God also created spiritual beings. These are the most advanced form of life. Man was made “a little lower than the angels” (Psalms 8:5 KJV). This translation, though done with likely proper intent, is misleading, however. The Hebrew word translated as angels in the KJV is Elohim which is the exact word used for God in all of Genesis Chapter 1. The NASB translates Psalm 8:5 not as angels but God. The point is that Adam was obviously created lower than God but was also a lower form of created being than God’s advanced spiritual angels, though only slightly lower.

Yet, He had the potential to be a being of a higher order than the angels.

In fact, it can be argued that Adam, being a recipient of the actual Holy Spirit of God, was given a golden opportunity to become that very thing. That was the initial plan anyway.

He failed.

His seed, however, would not, and was destined to graduate to the very throne of God.

[2] Psalm 139:14

[3] sciencenotes.org/elements-in-the-human-body-and-what-they-do/ (updated 5/2/21)

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 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 8)

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

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Adam, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Crucify the Flesh, Door of Life, False Forms of Christianity, Holy Spirit, Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Reality, The Great Awakening, The Last Adam, The Way of Life, Unreal Christianity, Where The Spirit of the Lord is There is Liberty

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

Jul 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Book of Genesis states clearly that the land of Eden was located in the area of the Tigris-Euphrates headwaters in what is now a region predominated by eastern Turkey.

EDEN

It is where YHWH Elohim planted the garden in which He later placed Adam and Eve. The garden is initially characterized as a garden of trees—an orchard—“every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food.” The Greek Septuagint calls this abundant fruitful garden Paradise. The home of Adam and Eve was a place of divine perfection and both natural and spiritual order.

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. [Genesis 2:10-14][1]

Eden was located in what is now the Armenian Highlands, an area rich in water resources, the location of several rivers, their tributaries, large natural lakes, and springs. The source of the Tigris River is primarily Lake Hazar and is also fed by many small tributaries in the area. The Euphrates begins not far from the headwaters of the Tigris at the confluence of two smaller rivers, the Karasu and Murat, which flow west from the eastern ranges. This area of confluence is now Lake Keban. (There are many relatively new hydroelectric dams on these rivers.)

The greater region has most probably changed appreciably since very ancient times. It was likely a relatively peaceful place with a different climate before the advent of much volcanic activity and the associated uplift which created mountains, etc. For example, Mount Ararat is presently an inactive volcano which last erupted in 1840.

WHEN WAS ADAM?

Christians have postulated various dates for the creation of Adam based on different criteria, one of which follows an exact rendering of the listed patriarch’s ages in Genesis which gives a date of about 4000BC (Young Earth). Others say such a late date is unreasonable because it fails to consider and/or ignores scientific facts. These place Adam as far back as 50,000 years ago, or at various dates since, including just after the Ice Age, known scientifically as the Last Glacial Maximum of 11,000-8,000BC when the Pleistocene ended and the Holocene began.

As the great glacial ice sheets began melting and retreating to the north, the resulting meltwater caused sea levels to begin rising precipitously. From approximately 20,000-13,000BC, the ocean level rose about 45 feet. Then from about 13,000BC to roughly 4,000BC sea levels rose another 375 feet for an overall total of approximately 420 feet. Since 4000BC the ocean level has remained constant.

It was not until after the Ice Age that evidence of human habitation appears on the historical record. Evolutionary theory claims that homo sapiens sapiens first appeared from out of nowhere 200,000 years ago (the big leap forward) but offers no actual evidence of transition or habitation at such an early date. According to Young Earth theory, the flood of Noah took place around 2300BC. Yet, interestingly enough, we have clear evidence of three roughly distinct cultures emerging circa 6000BC or even earlier in the same Armenian Highlands location where Eden once existed. We also know that Noah’s Ark came to rest after the flood in that same region.

So here we have (1) Eden, (2) the garden of Eden, (3) the place where Noah landed the Ark (the mountains of Ararat) and likely began his sailing journey, and (4) the evidence of human habitation and the rise of three distinct cultures all in the same geographic area. It is a great thing that over the last few decades among a few erstwhile researchers, proponents of both science/ancient history/archaeology/etc. and the Biblical record have utilized both to come to a meeting of the minds rather than stay incommunicado over perceived insurmountable differences.

THINGS TO PONDER

There are central differences of opinion among Christians regarding our origins and the Genesis record. Most of what we believe is what we have been taught. It is most often the case that Christians do not challenge their beliefs to any significant degree if at all and therefore rarely change their minds. If we continue to frequent institutions which support our beliefs and ban any and all challenges to them we develop a mindset of enforcement rather than enquiry and thus do not see the need of any research regarding them. When a person in another institution in another part of town has an opposing view which he also refuses to test properly we should see why we do not communicate and why fellowship is not possible.

There are some who believe Creation commenced in 4000BC. There are some who believe it was earlier and likely much earlier. There are some who believe that Noah’s flood was worldwide. There are others who believe it was a local flood. Some believe that the Genesis 1 Creation story is the same as Genesis 2 but that Genesis 2 is more specific. Others believe these two are separate accounts, which means God created human beings in general in Genesis 1 but created two specific human beings (among the others elsewhere) with a distinct purpose in Genesis 2.

I have found that the best way to go about finding the truth is allowing what we think is true to be challenged. Our own individual research can do that. Over many decades of open-minded truth-seeking Biblical study and research, I am absolutely convinced that the Biblical record is true. I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. But I can guarantee you that I have tested many Christian doctrines against the Word of God and found many to be unsupportable. We can do the same concerning our ancient origins if we have an inquisitive mind to do so. I believe the benefits gained are well worth the effort.

Truth never fears a challenge.

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 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 8)

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

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Adam and Eve, America, Archaeology, Christian Denominations, Confusion, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Euphrates, False Forms of Christianity, Garden of Eden, Genesis, History, Lord Jesus, Mesopotamia, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, Shinar, Sumer, The Great Awakening, Tigris, Tower of Babel, Truth, Unreal Christianity

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

Jul 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

In Part 1 we discussed the basis for the great sin of those who decided to settle on “a plain in the land of Shinar” to eventually build the Tower. What was their motivation?

I posted Part 1 last Thursday. I had hoped to post Part 2 the next day. Then my research took me to places I had not planned to go. The trail kept going deeper into uncharted territory. I had to keep following it. And as is often the case, new research has a tendency to take precedence over schedules…

For example, I found one interesting quasi-scholarly article from several years ago which put forth a thesis that the Biblical land of Shinar was not necessarily in the southern region of Mesopotamia, the place scholarly consensus locates ancient Sumer, but actually quite a ways further to the northwest in what is now eastern Syria. The author made many good points. He made enough good points that I had to question what I had come to believe in the past on this subject. And if you may be wondering, I have done some deep dives into far ancient history and the origins of mankind over many years. It is always interesting what one discovers.

I always start with Scripture. I believe Scripture is inspired by God. I use the Book of Genesis as an ancient factual foundation and framework from which to build out the historical record. Of course, Genesis is relatively brief and often starkly brief but God always gives the pertinent information necessary to get His point across. Due to its concise nature, however, it allows for many different scholarly opinions and perspectives regarding the actual ancient historical and chronological record. There are a few basic reasons for such differences:

(1) Some scholars are less interested in being open minded and going where the truth takes them and more interested in maintaining whatever status quo belief they have accepted as the truth. Such people have a vested interest in their interpretation of ancient history in that their churches, ministries, and Bible schools have adopted a particular viewpoint which disallows any further light or updates based on new information. In other words, it would be significantly inconvenient to modify their mindsets since such would cause systemic change which the majority within their institutions et al simply would not understand. They make the decision, therefore, to protect the institution and the majority opinion thereof at the expense of truth.

(2) Some scholars simply are not very good at their profession. It is why some have put forth the wackiest of ideas from somewhere out in left field. They either do not have the proper background information which usually easily disproves their notions, simply do not know any better, and don’t seem to care about becoming better informed, or maybe they are taking a sensationalist tack with their theories to gain attention and notoriety.

(3) And then there are those compromised by money. Most people are apparently unaware that money talks and in this case paychecks and prestige talk. If one knew the percentage of people in society who were willingly compromised in this way they would be shocked. It is not a small number. In fact, it is most likely a decided majority. That includes academic professors who generally teach what they are taught to teach and told to teach. There is no room for modifying their curriculum to include newly discovered information if it somehow puts a damper on what they have been teaching for years. But this is due primarily to economic reasons in that the entity—colleges, universities, etc.—are built on specific knowledge models which may or may not be true because such models work best for making monetary profits. Many churches work the same way.

I could go on but those are the basics. One may notice that it was all three of these, at least in part, that essentially got the Lord Jesus killed. He came in as a shining Light proclaiming pure Truth and those who didn’t put Truth first hated Him for it. They didn’t appreciate their hidden darkness being exposed. And keep in mind that some of the most wonderful, nice, and polite people, including ministers, can suddenly be transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde when they are exposed for what they really are.

RETURNING TO THE GENESIS NARRATIVE

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. [Genesis 11:1-2][1]

We must therefore understand that simply because a general consensus of opinion exists does not mean that opinion is necessarily correct. Most people are not of a mind to question authority or check their betters but simply believe what they are told in that they allow themselves to be indoctrinated. They have been taught that having everybody on the same page is healthy and good for society when the opposite is true.

I’m going to be running some things by you, my readers, in this series, that may appear to be somewhat foreign or unusual and it will require you to think deeper on the subject and consider doing some additional research. It’s all for the sake of truth. Also, please keep in mind that I don’t have any ulterior agendas. The preceding three points do not apply to me. This is a free site. You can take it or leave it. Of course, your contributions are most welcome. I certainly believe in community involvement, dialogue, and discussion. Comment threads on this subject will likely be quite revealing and informative.

Remember, the issue at hand is the sad truth that Unreal Christianity has built a modern Tower of Babel that puts to shame the original that existed millennia ago out on the distant windblown plain of Shinar built by religious rebels too fearful of Truth to honor it and too disobedient to God to honor Him.

Both stories have the same outcome.

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 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 8)

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

Posted in Current Events

4 Comments

Tags: America, Archaeology, Christian Denominations, Confusion, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, False Forms of Christianity, Genesis, History, Lord Jesus, Mesopotamia, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Research, Shinar, Sumer, The Great Awakening, Tower of Babel, Unreal Christianity

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

Jul 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

Throughout our Christian Age, countless Christians have taken liberties to create and adopt beliefs and practices which were never granted or supported by the Lord Jesus.

There is only one New Testament. It contains the only original record of the teachings of the Lord Jesus. It is upon His teachings that Christianity bases its entire existence. He is the chief Cornerstone. His teachings are the foundation of our instruction. They contain the code by which real Christians live—the standard—the only means by which to bring forth spiritual fruitfulness and please God. There should therefore never be any deviation in any direction to any degree from His original perfect curriculum.

Right.

In reality, there is likely no other major belief system or “religion” of any kind that contains more deviations, more divergences, more departures, more differences, and more digressions from the original. It is truly the saddest state of affairs among all such sad states, from a New Covenant perspective, which illustrates a complete disregard for the Author and Finisher of our Faith and the high price He paid to bring us the only perfect belief system in existence—so perfect that it’s full and correct application results in the only means to actually rescue people from eternal damnation.

But whatever.

LET’S PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE

There was a time in the very early days on this lovely earth of ours many millennia ago when all the people of the earth (a relative few compared to later billions), instead of venturing forth over the planet as the individual adventurers they should have been in obedience to the Lord’s commandment and positive desire for them, decided to instead all hang out together as an ancient collective, so to speak. They had an entire planet to explore but opted instead to be a congealed mass of low common denominator conformists believing only what everyone else believed. Sound familiar? It helped that there was only one language:

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. [Genesis 11:1-2] [1]

The Biblical Shinar is the same as ancient Sumer. Though much research has transpired regarding this geographical area, one cannot be definite regarding all aspects. For example it is said that there was another people that existed in the area prior to the Sumerians. These are termed the Ubadians. They are said to have arrived as early as 4500BC. Some sources claim they spoke an earlier language than the later Sumerians who arrived roughly 1000-1200 years later.

Incidentally, I have researched ancient Sumerian, the language of ancient Sumer circa 3500-2000BC, and discovered that it was a language isolate in that it belongs to no known language family. This has been contested by a few but remains the consensus view. It is also the oldest known written language in the world. Archaic Sumerian, its oldest form, has been proven to exist as early as 3100BC. Sumerian gradually began disappearing as a spoken language in circa 1750BC but continued to be used in cuneiform writing until that medium ceased to exist at around the time of our Lord. [2]

Is Sumerian also the oldest spoken language in history? The debate at present usually names Sumerian and Sanskrit, the latter language indigenous primarily to India, as the earliest of the world’s spoken languages (Sumerian no longer exists), although there is ongoing debate about the actual origin of Sanskrit. Some claim it also originated circa 3000BC but this is a reach. However, Sanskrit is an Indo-European language (Indo-Aryan branch) which must share origins with whatever was the first Indo-European language spoken. That language was obviously distinct from Sumerian and must have come into existence later.

From the Biblical perspective, it certainly appears that Sumerian was the very language spoken at the time of the Tower of Babel incident, which would make it the one language spoken then and the original common language of world history. In this regard, one must keep in mind that the Old Testament historical texts contained the only general written world history for many centuries, going back to well over 2500 years ago. Moses had collected the world’s history through Egyptian sources during his time (1526-1406 BC). His history was passed down orally among the Hebrews until committed to writing centuries later. Yet, it was not until roughly two to three centuries ago that much ancient history as we now understand it was developed, aided in large part through the new science of archaeology.

During this entire time, then—three and a half millennia—the world had already possessed the record of Genesis. Of course, with the advance of science, primarily in the 1800s, the Biblical record of Genesis suffered ongoing attacks as being merely a collection of ancient myths unworthy of modern scientific knowledge. Yet, archaeology continued to prove the Biblical record as correct and the early “scientific” naysayers as wrong.

I have studied the beginnings of archaeology which took place in the early 1800s. I have studied the work of those men as they continued their pursuits in the Middle East and primarily the “Holy Land.” It was modern archaeology in its infancy. Palestine was one of their first targets. They wanted to dig up the tells (buried stratified city mounds) of ancient Israel to prove or disprove the Biblical record. From there they branched out to other lands mentioned in Holy Writ. Their discoveries were astounding. Hidden beneath the sands and strata of the Middle East were the actual long lost cities of the ancients and the Biblical record, proving to all but the most incredulous skeptics that the Bible was historically accurate.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Moses, the writer of Genesis, was right. The God who spoke to him was obviously right. The only legitimate time-tested record for the ancient origins of mankind, therefore, continues to name that ancient land between two rivers—Mesopotamia—as the place where it all began.

[2] The Graeco-Babyloniaca Once Again © 2007: “The latest datable cuneiform tablet that we have today concerns astronomical events of 75 AD and comes from Babylon. It provides a terminus post quem, at least for Babylon.”

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 8)

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

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Archaeology, Christian Denominations, Confusion, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, False Forms of Christianity, Genesis, History, Lord Jesus, Mesopotamia, Moses, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Original Christian Community in Jerusalem, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Shinar, Sumer, The Great Awakening, Tower of Babel, Unreal Christianity

DEALING WITH HEART PAIN THROUGH KINDHEARTEDNESS

Jul 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

It is said that the greatest pain is heart pain. Sometimes it never goes away. Life is such that reminders of what caused it never cease.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. [Hebrews 4:15-16 KJV]

When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.” [Matthew 8:14-17]

Jesus wept. [John 11:35] [1]

I’ve written recently about the great pain the Lord Jesus suffered beyond His great suffering on the cross. There was ongoing pain that plagued Him throughout time. Maybe we do not think of God in that way, that He, as great and powerful as He is, suffers from something apparently only endemic to mere humans. Yet, the Scriptures are very clear on this subject: God suffers.

Perhaps that is why He is so into mercy. He goes out of His way to have compassion for others. And perhaps that is why so many people have a heart for mercy and compassion, even though they may have never submitted to the Lord. It is because we are made in God’s image. This is why even unrepentant sinners often find it in their heart to be loving and kind and help people along the way.

The last two plus years have been very difficult for a lot of people. Though never reported in the major media, a great many people have lost their businesses, their means to make a living, their relationships, and their health, many in spite of the so-called cure. Millions were forced to comply with authoritarian strictures that did much more harm than good. Millions will never recover. I am at a loss regarding what will become of so many of these people. And instead of this being a time of much greater soul searching, of much research toward answers, and of genuine caring on the part of those who made it through for those who didn’t and so many who are suffering still, we have seen an even greater manifestation of hardheartitis. Rather than move into an even greater state of compassion for the hurting, broken, and terribly betrayed, many have taken a hard heart against them, as if they all got what they deserved.

There is no way the Lord can be pleased with this. We know what touches His heart and we know He will do absolutely anything for anyone as demonstrated by His supreme sacrifice in payment for our sins, many of which are directed against Him. He has long since taken an attitude of forgiveness and hopeful reconciliation, of course, though he bears no fault. He will do anything in His power through righteous means to become reconciled to any person anywhere. And remember, though the Lord often gets blamed for the way things are or for what humans have done to Him and each other, He has never been guilty of sin. He is pure and holy. Sadly, some people gag at that truth.

ANOTHER CAR ADVENTURE

Though I believe in proper maintenance and keep my vehicle as well maintained as possible, over the last several months I have had a problem with said vehicle. It has a tendency to not start. Earlier it was due to a balky starter. There were times I would try to start the car with no success. I would wait a short while, turn the key again, and the engine would roar to life. I dealt with this for a year or two. It got worse. I took it in for repairs. I am blessed to have a great place to take my vehicle when the need arises. The people running it are honest and forthright. It is one of those rare places in that field in which you know they are shooting you straight. I have a great relationship with them.

I came across it, probably in the yellow pages, over a decade ago, when new to the area. I was about to take a long cross country trip. The day before, I was running a lot of last minute errands. It rained heavily. The next morning, when I started up the car, there was a problem. It was running like garbage. Since I had very little time, having appointments on the road that must be kept, I quickly looked through the phone book, chose a place that looked good to me, and gave them a call. The owner answered. I explained my situation. He said bring it in. When I got there, though he didn’t know me from Adam, and though he had other work in process, he attended to my car right away. I had chosen the right place. There is no doubt it was God-directed.

It turned out to be an ignition coil and a plug. He explained that there was a slight design flaw on my vehicle that allowed water to splash up and settle in the wells where the plugs and coils are located. He fixed the problem. I was there about two hours. I think it only cost me about $200. I thanked him profusely for going out his way to help me. He replied that he needed to help me get on the road.

When I took my car in maybe four years ago for the start problem I had then and they confirmed it was the starter, they put a new starter on it and all was well. What I didn’t know at that time was that the preferred starter they wanted was unavailable and so they got the next best thing, a starter from another manufacturer than the ones they usually installed. Last year, when the starter problem rose again, I took it back in. They replaced the starter.

Then they did something I have never seen done before or ever even heard of, and I talked to people about this that would know.

After installing the new starter, a good one from their main parts supplier which was then available, they brought out the old starter in a box and put it on the counter when I was paying. They said the old starter, the inferior one, was actually still under warranty. They explained why they had installed it previously. They told me to take it down to the parts house where they got it and ask for the warranty money. I was blown away that they would do that.

So I went to the local parts house. They said yes, the starter was still under warranty, but they would need to talk to the owners of the shop and give the warranty money through them. I returned to the garage. They called the parts house. The parts house released the money to the garage. As soon as they got the credit they came out and handed me about $130 or so for the old starter. I told them you can’t do that. They insisted. I said okay, then let’s split it. They refused. I essentially got a starter for free for three or four years. This was an unprecedented situation.

Now regarding my latest start problem, the one that has been off and on for the last half year or so, it turned out to be a bad battery terminal, the part that connects the wire directly to the battery. I’ve been dealing with cars forever and this kind of knowledge makes one feel like an idiot, but I logically thought it was the battery. When I took my car in on a previous occurrence, maybe two or three months ago, under similar conditions, they saw me right away, found that the battery tested good, and replaced one of the battery terminals with a much better one. For free. The owner did this. With a smile.

So the other day, I had a bunch of stuff to do that had to be done that day, and was about to leave early in the morning. And surprise, surprise, the car wouldn’t start. I could hardly believe it. It was fine just two days before. I live in an out of the way place. I prayed. I checked the old terminal. I took it loose, took it apart, cleaned what maybe needed cleaning, put it back together, tightened it down, and nothing. Dead battery. I would need a jump.

In this process a yard service contractor showed up not too far away and began mowing. With time wasting away and needing to get on the road, I prayed some more. I decided to go ask the yard guy for help. We had never met. I got his attention while he was mowing and explained my problem. He was very friendly. He first said he would come by in maybe thirty minutes. Then he suddenly stopped his mower, turned it off, and came from out of the yard. We had a friendly discussion. This was a positive guy. He agreed to come over right away. He pulled up next to my car, we hooked up my cables, and my car started right up. He noticed the bad terminal. We said our goodbyes. I thanked him profusely. He refused to take any money. I knew he wouldn’t but thought it was the right thing to do to at least offer.

I called my garage. They had no time. Were very busy. They were two weeks out. I explained the situation. He said he might have time just after lunch. Everywhere I went until then I had to keep my car running. Had many places to go. I had to leave my car running in parking lots. It never overheated. Also, when I had taken apart the bad terminal and cleaned it, the nut in one side never seated again properly. The connection was not very good. My car kept running. That afternoon I made it over to the garage. I had to wait. No big deal. But then the owner made time, came out to my car, and tested the battery. It was good. Incidentally, I bought the battery from them. It’s a five year battery. It’s been over four years. Batteries have since almost doubled in price.

He went back in the shop and got one of those excellent terminals they use and installed it. For free. And a smile. The car started right up. I thanked him profusely. I have prayed for these people many times. One can never know for the most part whether one’s prayers have had an impact but no matter. It is not the one who prays but the One who answers the prayers that makes the difference. These people are so busy they are actually two and a half weeks out and their customers keep making appointments. Half the garages in my area have gone out of business. They have almost more business than they can handle. And they continue being friendly and forthright with their customers.

I will leave it to you, dear readers, to make any spiritual applications regarding my stated adventure in this post. Is there a bad connection? Do the battery terminals need cleaning or replacement? Need a new starter or know someone who does? Maybe there’s a bad ignition coil or sparkplug. Regardless, the best way to deal with such problems is to first seek the Lord in prayer. Then be ready for the answer. And know that the answer will most often include mercy and compassion, either on our part or that of another. Sometimes we have to initiate the process.

Suffering is very real and we often have to deal with pain, but heartfelt mercy for those who hurt and are in need acts as a salve and anointing to meet such needs and absolve such hurts. The Lord demonstrated how this is done. Much compassion is called for in these times. We must give it and also receive it, depending on the circumstances. Dealing with pain, whether our own or that of others, is helped tremendously through simple acts of caring and love.

In my experience, I have discovered that beyond an apparent unseen barrier keeping people disconnected, a smile, an act of help though relatively minor, or something bigger such as miracles, all act as works of compassion that dissolve the barrier and allow for necessary human contact toward the alleviation of suffering. Most of us have been on both the giving and receiving ends of such interactions. Both have their purpose. Both are edifying. And you can’t have one without the other.

So, what began as a very hopeful day for me which turned into a short term mini-misadventure ended up being a great day thanks FIRST AND FOREMOST TO THE MERCY AND COMPASSION OF THE LORD JESUS, and secondly to some very good and friendly people who also demonstrated such care, one of which I had never met, who were willing to help out. For free.

And I’m not so sure they’re even professed Christians.

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Tags: Blessed are the Pure in Heart, Compassion, Golden Rule, Grace Abounding, Heart of Darkness, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Mercy, Pain, People Helping People, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Suffering, The Great Awakening, The Greatest Love, The Sufferings of Christ

BAPTISM OF OPTIMISM: REJOICE!

Jul 11

Posted by RJ Dawson

He was born to die. He always knew it. He planned it. But even at the very darkest hour He knew there was a call for unbounded optimism: He would soon open the Way to Life.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [Hebrews 12:1-2]

COUNT IT ALL JOY

Mature Christians of the real variety are very well acquainted with giving a message most will reject. As the Lord Jesus engaged in the greatest ministry of all time with a perfect message expertly delivered and a perfect teaching curriculum second to none, no one was more aware of the inherent difficulty of the task at hand than Him, in that His perfect message would be wasted on the majority.

It would seem, during His time, that all impartial hearers and personal witnesses of His love, compassion, mercy, mighty works, and incessant miracles would immediately join up with Him in a veritable heartbeat if for no other reason than that nothing they experienced could be denied. Denial of His extraordinary presence and perfection was impossible. His ministry was that clear. It was absolutely astounding.

And yet, as a stark testimony to the sheer impossibility of errant and immoral human beings besought with a sinful human nature—obstinate and unyielding at its core to any and all reform—recalcitrant and unruly—not only did the majority of His own people reject His message, they also rejected Him and drove His Name into the dirt.

His “own people” constituted not only His fellow Israelites in general but also the political leaders of His nation, the religious leaders of His nation, the foreign leaders in positions of authority in His nation, an untold number of His relatives, and even members of His own immediate family. One can only wonder at the great mental, moral, and emotional disconnect existing in the heart of the willfully lost and the message that could set them free. The Lord had effectively given everything He had, even acting as a supernatural electrician running miles of spiritual romex connected to the power plant of Heaven directly to their hearts and all they had to do was flip a switch. BUT NO.

And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” [Mark 3:2-22]

Rather than acknowledge the great Light that had arrived for their salvation and honoring Him and praising Him and being thankful for Him they instead said He had an illegitimate birth, that He was a drunk and a glutton, that He was crazy, and that He was demon possessed. If this does not reveal to an impartial observer the wickedness of humanity nothing ever will. These hell bound moral laggards, at that time the greatest DAs in the history of the world though perceived by the world as upstanding and trustworthy, were the epitome of deceived demon-influenced dunderheads which a sinful unseeing nation prostrated themselves before and trusted exclusively with no thought of thinking for themselves or even giving God a glance. The blind were truly leading the blind but only because the wimpy blind yielded to the authoritative blind because they were far too fearful to risk thinking for themselves.

And yet none of it took the Lord by surprise. No one was more aware of the utter depravity of humanity. He created humanity. He watched humanity fall. He saw humanity from the very beginning from the Garden up to His present and knew very well what He was dealing with. And He came to this earth anyway. He subjected Himself to the vast stupidity and hate anyway.

He knew most would reject Him. He knew most would find fault with Him. He knew most would count themselves better than Him. He knew most would trust their own inclinations or those of their betters. He knew most would not budge an inch from whatever their chosen belief system was. He knew the majority of the indoctrinated and brainwashed would willingly remain that way.

He knew, for most of the people He preached to, that facts would never matter. Nor would the truth matter. Most would not and could not appreciate the truth. For most there was simply no love for facts and truth if these in any way violated their chosen beliefs.

BLINDED BY SIN

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. [John 9:39-41]

“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” [Revelation 3:17-18]

How spiritually blind must one be to indignantly and continuously reject the very Light that would heal their blindness and allow them to see spiritual reality? How dark are the hearts that refuse the Light which would otherwise brighten their being and deliver them from the eternal night?

THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM

Yet there were others, a decided and relative few, who took a completely different tack. They were personally bold enough to go against the grain of the fallen world and deceitful sinful culture. These were spiritual pioneers who would rather seek Light and salvation even it meant inviting the wrath of the wayward and cause ongoing personal suffering. They possessed a gravitas that strengthened them against all onslaughts from evil, both human and demonic, and allowed the Lord to greatly supplement their strength with a spiritual power none could resist.

These composed the Remnant. He would rescue these. He knew they would comply. He knew they would surrender to Him and obey. Why? Because they had already been communicating with Him through prayer and supplication for years, long before He ever arrived as one of us. They had been asking for His help. They knew He could help. They wanted Him. They longed for Him. They would do anything for Him. They knew He was and had always been the answer.

Of course, due to their excellent attitude and desire for actual spiritual reality they did not fare too well with other members of society who were impossible to communicate with on a spiritual level. These had a different mindset. They had very little in common with the unrepentant. The Remnant, with reference to this world, knew something was off. They refused to make peace with sin or accept the sinful ways of the world, though they also knew it would make life more difficult.

They knew the way of the Lord Jesus was the highest way, the most pure and righteous way, and they would do their best to follow it. Thus, they rejected the social relativism of the sinful culture which always sought an extremely low common denominator. Such relativism is, of course, the administered agenda of the controllers since dumbed-down masses all on the same drivel-inspired page of monotony are much easier to control and use to do their bidding. And the exact dynamic is present in Unreal Christianity.

OUR GLORIOUS PRESENT

People are waking up. People are gaining their sight. By allowing evil the upper hand and freedom to show itself in all its wickedness, that which had previously been hidden behind dark shadows has emerged into the open. They think the coast is clear. They think they are free to sin to their heart’s content with no ramifications or accountability. They have revealed themselves for what they are. And people are noticing. Those who desire righteousness are raising up a standard, first, in their own lives and then against the wicked. Many are coming to an understanding of repentance, what it is and why it is necessary.

Real Christians have always known from the time of their born again experience that a spiritual Rubicon must be crossed and that one can never go back. They know that when a person makes a commitment to the Lord Jesus it is an irrevocable commitment. There is no looking back or turning back or desire to do so. They know they have crossed a line of separation. The terms of the New Covenant demand it. Those who have recently been awakened know they can never unsee what they have already seen. They know too much.

They know the only remaining direction is forward.

The world of fakery, much of it media-inspired, whether cultural or religious, must be left behind.

BAPTISM OF OPTIMISM

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. [Psalm 23:1-3]

But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever. I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, and I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones. [Psalm 52:8-9]

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. [Psalm 92:12-15]

He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like the green leaf. [Psalms 11:28]

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” [Jeremiah 17:7-8]

Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, for the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. [Joel 2:21-24]

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [John 10:10b][1]

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Tags: Betrayal, Blind Guides, Christ Died For Sinners, Christian Pharisees, Don't Confuse Me With Facts, Green, Joy, Lord Jesus, Mercy, Optimism, Overcome Evil with Good, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Christians, Real Repentance, Reality vs. Fakery, Rejection, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Blindness, Spiritual Warfare, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Great Awakening, The Lamb's Book of Life, The Remnant, The Sacrifice Lamb, The Way of Life, Tree of Life, Unreal Christainity, Wake Up America!, Wicked Heart of Unbelief

REAL CIRCUMCISION: HEARTS SEWN UP IN BLUE

Jul 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

I wrote this article in two parts eleven years ago. It remains as relevant as ever and likely more so. The issue of heart circumcision is not a mere suggestion. It is a commandment.

PART ONE

It is said that the greatest pain known to humanity is childbirth. Or breaking a femur. Yet, I must say for all the males among us that circumcision must rank right up there, though the majority of us partook of the round cut as tiny tots and blessedly have no memory of the event. Based on this, a spiritual circumcision of the heart can’t be a walk in the park either or the apostle Paul would not have used such a descriptive illustration.

Though there are many good things associated with physical circumcision, especially in the realm of health, God used it to distinguish the ancient Hebrews from heathen nations. It was a mark in flesh denoting the particular people of God. It signified the later New Covenant circumcision of the heart, in that all seed proceeding from a cleansed heart is pure and holy, and takes place by the Spirit of God. It was a viable part of the Mosaic code and no man who would keep the Law was exempt. Becoming a real covenant man of God thus required serious commitment.

God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” [Genesis 17:9-14]

Is there any doubt that Abraham wondered if he heard right? “Uh, you want me to do WHAT?” Here was a serious test. Though there were several reasons for God’s command in this area, the greatest was obedience. The next was the understanding that covenant with God would cost, would separate, would distinguish, and would weed out all pretenders. There is no way His people could adopt this practice without a full heart commitment.

As opposed to most of our current sappy and wrongheaded Christianity, this was serious business. Yet, even circumcision became a mere rite over time. Like so many Christian things we presently do, many have become mere rituals with no heart involvement. It got so bad that the Lord had to make the following statements in the days of Moses:

“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” [Deuteronomy 10:16]

“Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” [Deuteronomy 30:6]

Though the Lord established an outward sign in the flesh, He kept trying to make the point that it was meant to also be a sign of an inward change of one’s heart. In a passage that echoes of the future Parable of the Sower, Jeremiah touched on this very topic in his time, speaking to a very wayward Israel:

“For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.’” [Jeremiah 4:3-4]

The keeping of external regulations is worthless if the heart remains unregenerate. Unreal Christians with uncircumcised hearts have mastered the process of acting out their chosen religious forms while turning a deaf ear to God. They violate and rip to shreds the commandment against idolatry. They create a God to suit themselves. With very stiff necks, they obey a false depiction of God and refuse to bend their knee, honor the Name, and give their hearts to the real Lord Jesus.

PART TWO

For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. [Romans 2:25-29]

In writing such things, it is no wonder that Paul was a hunted man. The unbelieving Jews hated him for seemingly making of little consequence the distinguishing mark of ancient Jewish belief. Yet the truth of a circumcised heart was obviously revealed by God and it relates just as directly to all unbelieving Christians who make their religious service or quasi-Christian beliefs their saving grace. Paul was, of course, a Jew in very good standing. He saw the issue from both sides, first as an unbeliever and later as a disciple of the Lord. The believing Jews, who comprised the great bulk of early disciples, understood what he was saying, as did believing Gentiles, and applied the truth accordingly. They saw that one’s heart must change for the better and a person must become a new creation.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. [Colossians 2:8-12]

In spiritual New Covenant terms, physical circumcision is a non-issue:

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. [1 Corinthians 7:19]

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. [Galatians 5:6]

For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. [Galatians 6:15]

It is the circumcision of the heart by the Spirit of God that really matters. It brings forth:

(1) The Keeping of the Commandments of God

(2) Faith Working Through Love

(3) A New Creation

From the Jewish perspective, that which Paul was stating was akin to blasphemy. To say that circumcision meant nothing violated the very covenant that God made with Abraham and the entire nation of Israel! Something had changed. For the unbelieving Jews, it was that the original covenant had been violated anyway, since it had become a mere ritual. For the believing Jews, they understood it was about the heart.

We are warned, therefore, to watch out for the counterfeit. There are many people preaching and believing false gospels. Paul was not the least bit shy, through speaking and writing by the anointing of God, in attacking the enemies of the Lord and those who persisted in bringing forth false teachings. Many in his day claimed to be the real thing. Many others stood up for truth and for the correct teachings of the Lord, regardless of the cost. False believers of today are no different from those of yesteryear.

The Lord has made a way to not only perform very necessary surgery on unregenerate hearts, but also established a method of remembrance upon them in keeping with an Old Testament type as put forth in the following passage:

The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the LORD your God.” [Numbers 15:37-41][1]

In Hebrew, these corner tassels sewn into the garments of the sons of Israel are termed tzitzit. God instructed His people to wear these as ongoing means of remembrance of their Great and Mighty Lord and all His commandments. On these tassels, God commanded there be a cord, or thread, of blue. However, the exact knowledge of this color was eventually lost after the destruction of Israel in 70 A.D. It might have been more of a bluish-purple color. The point is that real Christians have the Word of God within their newly circumcised (or born again) hearts.

(For New Testament reference, it was one of these tassels, or “the hem of his garment,” that was touched by the woman with the issue of blood at the exact moment she was instantly healed.)

Regardless of suffering and persecution, real Christians serve the Lord Jesus because they love Him. They give their lives as a burnt offering, are washed in His Name in water baptism, are raised to new life, and submit completely to a holy God.

And their new circumcised hearts are sewn up with a thread of blue.

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Abraham, Blue Thread, Brit Milah, Christianity, Circumcision, Circumcision of the Heart, Heart, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Circumcision, Uncircumcision

JULY 4TH PRELUDE

Jul 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

Tomorrow we celebrate the 246th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Tomorrow’s post will contain the entirety of that great document and the hope thereof.

I have told you several times in recent posts of the three types of American Colonists that existed in 1776. Each type comprised roughly one third of the colonial population. One type was fully on the side of the English king and Parliament. One type was fully disengaged, ignorant, apathetic, selfish, and completely unaware of the battle at hand and its future ramifications. And one type comprised the greatest generation, the great American Patriots who put everything on the line to fight for freedom.

As of now, it appears that the forces of evil have gained the upper hand. But I must remind everyone that the same dynamic was in play 246 years ago. The American Patriots appeared to have no chance but that never stopped them from taking that chance. They knew they would have no chance at all unless they went all in. Their great victory proved again that good is greater than evil and that Light always overcomes darkness.

However, there is a group on the rise that has been on the rise for several years now. I saw this at least thirty years ago when I began my initial research for my book Real Christianity. I saw that if real Christianity was to survive in America it must overcome the massive forces of Unreal Christianity. I certainly expressed the hope that this group of real Christians would continue to rise, and for that to happen there must be an Awakening. I mentioned this in the book.

However, it was not until late August of 2010 that I received the definitive proof. The Lord told me America was in the early stages of a national Great Awakening. That was almost twelve years ago. It has proven to be true.

After 246 years this country is at a terrible crossroads. Most never saw what was coming during the good times but the few did. Presently, more can see it, if not by spiritual eyes then by experience. Empirical evidence always promotes clarity. Americans will experience more in the immediate future—dire circumstances from seemingly every direction—that will cause them to start waking up. They will see that all the warnings they previously rejected had great merit. They will see that those who had it right all along but had their names and lives destroyed should have been listened to and honored.

Perhaps the best verse of Scripture which perfectly illustrates what has happened over the last three decades is the following:

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” [Mark 6:4][1]

Thanks to the Lord Jesus, however, we have great hope. Thanks to Him and His real followers, everyone will have the opportunity to gain the spoils that go to the victor.

246 years ago a group of American Revolutionaries openly declared themselves independent and free of corrupt government. They would go on to fight another five years to win the prize. When they won, and it was a GREAT victory, the spoils of war were shared by all Americans, even the traitors and cowards.

The Great Awakening is here. Whether it will be enough or not remains to be seen.

Posted in Current Events

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THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’: NATIONAL ABORTION AND THE GREAT AWAKENING (2022)

Jun 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

Hello Friends. I posted the following highly relevant article as titled on July 3, 2015. In it I delve into the basics of “the worst decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court.”

I wrote it about a week after the Alternative Marriage Supreme Court ruling. Many Americans believed that particular ruling to be incorrect, but it paled greatly in significance to the Roe v. Wade decision of January 22, 1973. It is estimated that 65 million babies have been legally aborted since Roe was made law. This constitutes roughly one third of the American population over the last 49 years.

The math is simple. The US population in January of 1973 was roughly 211 million. It is currently estimated to be 333 million. That’s an increase of 122 million Americans. This means the number of aborted babies over that time span constitutes the population growth of roughly a quarter century, which is astonishing. Essentially, one out of three people is not here. Of course, this does not take into account the children and grandchildren of these aborted babies who never were, which means the population would be effectively even higher and likely much higher. These are sobering statistics.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned as of last Friday, I thought it would be good to revisit some of my past articles on the subject of abortion. In this article from 2015 I name the justices on the Supreme Court who participated in that ruling and how they became members of the Court. Independent Constitutional scholars have long held that Roe is bad law. The current Supreme Court agrees. One thus wonders how in the world such bad law has been allowed to exist for half a century. I will discuss this in future articles. As you read the following post, try to remember that time seven years ago in order to gain perspective:

Happy July 4th.

On the eve of America’s 239th birthday from which we declared our independence from a tyrannical king, a new tyranny has come forth.

And it is no one’s fault but We the People.

Christians are upset about last week’s Alternative Marriage Supreme Court ruling but I would like to strongly remind everyone that the recent ruling, though a definite sign of decline, is merely a sign of further decline, a great decline that began many decades ago.

On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court ruled with an iron hand in one sweeping decision that baby killing in the womb had become perfectly legal and the law of the land, overturning every state law against abortion. The vast majority of Americans were against this ruling but the will of the people did not matter. And innocent babies otherwise safely in the womb would now be targeted by heinous practitioners of depraved butchery.

These innocent babes had no voice. They lost all their rights. Barring later repentance that I can find no record of, the seven deceased justices that formed the majority opinion are now suffering a far worse punishment than the one they perpetrated upon the roughly fifty-five million innocent babies to date.

These men were heartless and cold. We have now learned, several years ago in fact, that these babies feel excruciating pain when being ripped apart and sucked out, unlike the mere glob of tissue they are purported to be, which means they suffer the double whammy of physical pain and a complete disregard, dismissal, and indifference toward their status as both human beings and free Americans.

The Roe v. Wade decision was the worst decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court, without question, and makes the one rendered last week look like nothing. The recognition and acceptance in America over the last 42 years of legalized baby killing should put the recent ruling in proper perspective. We should understand that the Supreme Court had already rebelled against God many decades ago and that such current decisions should not surprise us.

Regarding the weird White House color show of last week [President Obama bathed the White House in multi-color], perhaps the White House of early 1973 should have been bathed in blood red.

But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. [2Timothy 3:13] [1]

Regarding America, just who are these evil men and imposters prophesied about by the apostle Paul so long ago?

Well, considering Supreme Court justices, they are in office by the will of the people. They are nominated by Presidents and must be confirmed by the Senate, which means both branches must work together to make the appointments final.

Presidents are elected by the people of the nation. Senators are elected by the people of their respective states. Therefore, such Presidents and Senators are elected by We the People, which means the ultimate responsibility is with the American voters who elected such people into office.

THE ALTERNATIVE MARRIAGE DECISION

If American Christians want to blame the Supreme Court justices for last week’s Alternative Marriage decision, they are blaming the wrong people. Those justices were placed in power by the America electorate. Here is how they got there:

VOTING AGAINST:

Justice Antonin Scalia (Catholic):

Assumed Office on September 26, 1986. Nominated by Ronald Reagan (Republican).

Justice Clarence Thomas (Catholic):

Assumed Office on October 23, 1991. Nominated by George H. W. Bush (Republican).

Chief Justice John G. Roberts (Catholic):

Assumed Office on September 29, 2005. Nominated by George W. Bush (Republican).

Justice Samuel A. Alito (Catholic):

Assumed Office on January 31, 2006. Nominated by George W. Bush (Republican).

VOTING FOR:

Justice Anthony Kennedy (Catholic):

Assumed Office on February 18, 1988. Nominated by Ronald Reagan (Republican).

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Judaism):

Assumed Office on August 10, 1993. Nominated by Bill Clinton (Democrat).

Justice Stephen G. Breyer (Judaism):

Assumed Office on August 3, 1994. Nominated by Bill Clinton (Democrat).

Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Catholic):

Assumed Office on August 8, 2009. Nominated by Barack Obama (Democrat).

Justice Elena Kagan (Judaism):

Assumed Office on August 7, 2010. Nominated by Barack Obama (Democrat).

The Alternative Marriage Decision was a 5-4 vote. Voting For were Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan. Each one of these justices was nominated by Presidents who were elected not only once, but twice. The American people cannot be clearer about their choice for President when they elect that President twice. Each one of these justices was also confirmed by elected members of the United States Senate.

Therefore, regarding last week’s decision, it can be argued that those who voted for Ronald Reagan (Kennedy), and especially those who voted for Bill Clinton (Ginsburg, Breyer) and Barack Obama (Sotomayor, Kagan) are the responsible parties. It must be noted though, that justices often go left after attaining office, which is certainly the case with Kennedy.

THE ROE V. WADE DECISION

Regarding the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, if American Christians want to blame the Supreme Court justices of that time for that decision, they are, again, blaming the wrong people. Those justices were also placed in power by the America electorate—We the People. Here is how they got there:

VOTING AGAINST:

Justice Byron White (Episcopalian):

Served 4/16/1962 – 6/28/1993. Nominated by John Kennedy (Democrat).

Justice William Rehnquist (Lutheran):

Served 1/7/1972 – 9/3/2005. Nominated by Richard Nixon (Republican).

VOTING FOR:

Justice William O. Douglas (Presbyterian):

Served 4/15/1939 – 11/12/1975. Nominated by Franklin Roosevelt (Democrat).

Justice William J. Brennan, Jr (Catholic):

Served 10/15/1956 – 7/20/1990. Nominated by Dwight Eisenhower (Republican).

Justice Potter Stewart (Episcopalian):

Served 10/14/1958 – 7/3/1981. Nominated by Dwight Eisenhower (Republican).

Justice Thurgood Marshall (Episcopalian):

Served 10/2/1967 – 10/1/1991. Nominated by Lyndon Johnson (Democrat).

Chief Justice Warren E. Burger (Presbyterian):

Served 6/23/1969 – 9/26/1986. Nominated by Richard Nixon (Republican).

Justice Harry Blackmun (Methodist):

Served 6/9/1970 – 8/3/1994. Nominated by Richard Nixon (Republican).

Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr (Presbyterian):

Served 1/7/1972 – 6/26/1987. Nominated by Richard Nixon (Republican).

Roe v. Wade was a 7-2 vote. Voting For were Blackmun, who wrote the majority opinion, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Burger, and Powell. Each one of these justices was nominated by Presidents who were elected not only once, but twice, with the exception of Johnson who did, however, serve more than one term, and Roosevelt, who was elected four times. The American people cannot be clearer about their choice for President when they elect that President twice or more. Each one of these justices was also confirmed by elected members of the United States Senate.

And for those who think voting Republican will work to eventually end legal abortion, FIVE of the Supreme Court justices who voted for Roe v. Wade were nominated by two Republican Presidents.

Therefore, regarding the Roe v. Wade decision, it can be argued that those who voted for Franklin Roosevelt (Douglas), Lyndon Johnson (Marshall), and especially Dwight Eisenhower (Brennan, Stewart) and Richard Nixon (Burger, Blackmun, and Powell), are the responsible parties.

SLOW SUICIDE

The slow suicide of America will never be stopped without the intervention of the Lord Jesus. Every nation and empire in history has gone the way America is going now. No nation lasts forever. Not even ancient Israel. If God could not stop the slow suicide of His own people, how can He stop the destruction of any nation that does not want His help?

Enough Americans know better, however, and millions seek Him. But we should not be seeking Him to save America. We should be seeking Him to save souls, including our own.

Believers are coming together and getting wise, and are beginning to understand the problem. American churchianity as usual has brought us to this place of powerlessness and increasing persecution. We created and bought into the wrong “Christian” paradigm many decades ago, believed the false prophets in charge, and supported people who proved to be our enemies.

The Great Awakening is changing all that.

Regardless of American culture falling all around us and the advent of a new evil in the form of false freedom, those who know and love the Lord Jesus are truly free and will always be.

The lovers of this present darkness will not be so fortunate.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Abortion, America, American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Love Thy Neighbor, Love Your Enemies, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Roe v. Wade, Spiritual Warfare, Supreme Court, The Bill of Rights, The Great Awakening, United States Constitution

THE ELEPHANT IN THE CHURCH BUILDING

Jun 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

The “Elephant in the Room” paradigm fits perfectly here, as almost everyone knows about the problem but next to no one admits it’s there or has the courage to do much about it.

There still remain many successful churches in America, though an increasingly larger number over the last several decades are of the mega variety. You may be a member of a successful church and are thus blessed. Many are getting it right, seek the Lord every day, and are willing to do anything He says. There are also a great many unchurched real Christians, some of which are part of small organic groups or maybe even on their own. Many seek fellowship on the internet which has proven to be a great medium for sharing information and encouragement. Formerly silenced ones have found their voice. It can be a tough spiritual landscape but the Lord is always faithful. All things remain possible. Awesome things are getting done. However, there also exists a flip side…

PROVING MY THESIS

We live in a time when authoritarian, dishonest, sell-out politicians have skyrocketed into a high arc over the land, effectively spouting “catch me if you can,” as if trying to best all the crooked ones before them on what they can get away with, something one may think impossible, yet they achieve it day after day. These boys and girls are getting their marching orders from above, of course, and are only obeying their puppet masters who remain ensconced behind the curtain, out of view and out of mind of most. The puppets you see are not only controlled but likely forcibly controlled if you get my drift. And Americans in general, over and over and over again, do absolutely nothing about it.

Except talk. And vent. And gripe/complain/mumble—worthless ventures all. Except when some trustworthy Americans (including a few elected reps), do actual truth-telling with facts and research that cannot be denied or discounted, expose dishonesty, and give well thought-out solutions for every single problem. These Americans are, of course, most often denied and castigated, as any reformer knows, including those attempting to reform off-kilter Christianity, because the solutions therein put an end to in-house corruption, fraud, and graft and make it difficult for grifters and abusers to carry on their devil’s work. Sadly, such solutions are also rejected by those who would benefit most because the great many refuse to do their own research or question authority, stay glued to the TV, and keep trusting the word of the appearance-based shallow people instead of listening to the warnings of the good guys because the major media makes the bad guys look like good guys and the good guys like bad guys. Sound familiar?

Thus, the great stringed people know the majority won’t do anything to stop them. They used to have at least a modicum of fear and expectation of reprisal from voters but of course many don’t anymore because voting is often fixed at the national level. And if you think this coming November will result in appreciable change when a great red wave will supposedly replace all those evil blues, you will be gravely disappointed once again. Even if elections were not corrupted, these people (actors) are all on the same team. It is the Uniparty. Until the voting system is reformed your votes count generally for effectively nothing. It’s become far too easy to game the system. If people still cannot see this after what happened in 2020 then its lights out.

I wrote a post about the great election steal of 2020 exactly one month after it occurred on December 3, 2020. You can find it here: THE REPUBLICANS ARE COLLUDING WITH THE DEMOCRATS: THE SACRIFICING OF AMERICA. Well, guess what? After almost twenty months this collusion has only expanded exponentially in that Republicans are supporting virtually everything the Democrats are putting forth and not stopping most of it. This sacrificing of the country has continued unabated since that time, has accelerated, and is now accelerating greatly. I told you in recent posts about the ongoing destruction of the economy, the ongoing destruction of the supply chain (diesel anyone?), and the ongoing destruction of the food supply. None of this is happening by accident. It has all been planned. It is impossible for such things to occur unless some great outside force CAUSES it. Along with everything else, therefore, Americans must wake up. They must stop supporting the enemy. The enemy is no longer merely at the gates. He is inside. He is at the controls.

Regarding what could have been done and should have been done to stop this, even at such a late date, there was a duly elected gentleman in power not long ago that decided to stand down instead of stand up. As it turned out he was nothing but rhetoric at a time when action was demanded. You know what kind of leaders you have at the moment of crisis and at that moment, as the opportunity was still viable, he let it all drain out. He frittered it away. There were people with the goods on the enemy who tried to get him to act but to no avail. He now continues to speak in rallies in hopes of a return but that ship has sailed. His time has passed. Whoever is putting their hope in him is missing the mark. The time for action is NOW.

“I, only I, am the Lord, and there is no Savior besides Me.” [Isaiah 43:11]

All real Christians must now understand that the only remaining chance that exists is one far beyond any possible usual and tried and true. None of that exists anymore. It’s gone. No one is coming to save you in that area. I wrote about this a year ago in my post of May 10, 2021 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of this site: HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY REAL CHRISTIANITY. That post received a relatively great response with many Likes and Comments. It was very well received. However, most of those readers are now gone. I have had several people say great things about my work and then they suddenly disappear. I have tried to engage them and discover the problem to no avail. What do you call it when one greatly appreciates you and your work, follows you for years, makes positive comments, reblogs your work on their sites, and then suddenly disappears?

This is sad. Really sad. I’m sure I’m not the only one this is happening to, of course. It is a time when we should be putting relatively minor differences aside and uniting against the enemy, but appreciable differences, apparently, still remain strong. The Divide and Conquer approach against American Christianity has had great success. Love is still the answer but appears to always be in short supply when needed most. Nevertheless, I am greatly appreciative of those of you still reading my work. Thank you. Christians may not agree or even not agree on much at all but can still love one another anyway.

A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

A few days ago I read a post by a friend. Part of it involved the story of a non-believer visiting a church at some point in the recent past. This person had dressed inappropriately on purpose. She was going to test the people there. If anyone said anything negative she would leave and likely turn her back on God. Everybody there ended up treating her well and she eventually gave her life to the Lord. They loved her into the Kingdom. I left the following comment:

That’s a great testimony of how it should be done. I have a massive amount of church experience so I’ve seen this kind of thing many times. Once, in the late 1980s, a young couple visited the church I was attending. I had never seen them before. They had a great attitude, were smiling and happy to be there. They sat right behind us. The young man had a dangling metal earring in one year. No big deal, right? Well, to my chagrin and great embarrassment, during the service the pastor called him out, rebuking him for the earring from the pulpit. I could hardly believe it. Needless to say, I never saw them again. I saw a lot of this.

Though there have always been rednecks in churches, I think most of this stuff began happening on a large scale in the 1960s to 1970s when so many young adults were coming to the Lord. The traditionalists often treated them like lepers. Granted, many simply didn’t know any better but the overreaction to their appearance was a gross violation of the Lord’s teachings and still is. One wonders how many quit on their pursuit of God based on the way they were treated.

When I first visited a church (traditional, conservative, but with a new group of young adults) in the mid 1970s at the invitation of a good friend I trusted who was recently saved, my hair was really long. Thank goodness I was among some cool understanding people, at a prayer meeting, some of whom were also recently saved or just knew how to treat people. Nobody cared about my appearance or said anything. They were happy I was there. A week or so later, my decision for the Lord made with no looking back, I got a haircut. A real one. No one ever told me to or even suggested it.

We MUST allow the Spirit of the Lord to do His work in bringing whatever conviction is necessary. We MUST trust Him and allow for His timing. In the meantime we MUST love people and not judge them.

Be Blessed

Since then (June 17), my comment has received seven Likes, most from readers I do not know, proving that the subject matter is something most identify with. It has historically always been a bad problem but has essentially never gone away. Christians in general remain committed to their sects and divisions. Too many still possess not so great attitudes. If we try to engage in any type of cross-communication we often get stuck with the ecumenical label. If a Christian questions the beliefs of another Christian offense takes place. If Christians judge other Christians or non-Christians, however, their judgments often stand and are supported. The people in charge should know when violations of the Lord’s teachings take place but apparently most do not or simply do not care. Protecting the “pastor,” church, denomination, or institution is much more important than addressing any wrongs. This prerogative trumps obeying the Lord Jesus. It trumps obeying the Golden Rule. In reality, anything that violates the Lord’s teachings should be thrown in the river but if some churches do this there won’t be much left, which likely explains the protocol.

I am saying all this to say that I have been involved in this fight for decades. I have pretty much always known what the problem was and discovered the solution long ago. (It is simply a matter of returning to our roots.) The bigger problem is that most Christians refuse to address the problem and would rather let the problem stand in order to protect themselves from having to change and get right with God. They see necessary positive and reformative changes as too all-encompassing.

We see the same approach to reforming the voting system. Those at high levels know this could reveal systemic corruption on a wide scale. It would reveal that a great many were never properly elected and that a great many more were denied legitimate victories.

Churches in general do not appreciate the idea that they might be engaging in something that is incorrect or teaching incorrect or incomplete doctrines. In general, much of Christianity hates the very idea of reform. Rather than repent and change for the better they effectively stone those the Lord sends to correct them. Yet, was not the Lord often forced to use this very method?

So, forget about trying to change existing churches, denominations, and institutions for the better. It will likely never happen. Their protection filters are so fine they also block out any possible corrections. The Christians thereof are far too invested. They do not know the Word of God as they should. They simply cannot see the forest for the trees. They will change, however, and do change. They change for the worse. They degrade over time. THIS IS OTHERWISE OBVIOUS. If one looks at history it is a no-brainer. Those who refuse to continue following the Lord Jesus into the fresh new green fields always end up dying out in the resultant spiritual famine which they brought on themselves. And because of this chosen spiritual famine there is currently a plan for actual famine in America gaining steam.

Most traditional Christians are thus pre-primed to reject the current Great Awakening. It doesn’t fit their paradigm.

I recall reading the works of Ralph Neighbor and communicating with him in the past. He is a great source if you’re interested. He often spoke of “The Seven Last Words of a Dying Church” which are “We’ve never done it that way before!”

Christians in America must understand that business as usual no longer works. Anything that deviates from the Lord’s teachings is a sign of disobedience and rebellion and is destined to fail. Christian leaders in general almost never get the memo that God begins warning of bad times coming when good times are happening. Christian leaders in general reject anything that seems to put a damper on their good times.

Imagine a farmer in the past who listens to the Lord, who is close to the Lord. He has been experiencing bumper crops and knows he is blessed of God. Then one day the Lord tells him to prepare for drought. The farmer doesn’t question the Lord. He doesn’t ask to bless him by arranging things to stop the drought. He knows that is an immature approach, something he had tried long before that doesn’t work. Instead, because he hears the Lord and knows His voice, he simply starts preparing for a drought. He knows that somehow or another the Lord will sustain him and his family and help him get through it. So he prepares. He prepares during the great times. He gathers in his bumper crop as usual but prepares for what’s coming. People think he’s an idiot. “Lighten up, man!” When the drought hits, those who never heard from God, either because they are not real Christians, because they grew cold spiritually, or because they continually rejected the warnings, were not prepared. When the drought hits, only those who began preparing during good times and continued following and obeying the Lord Jesus made it through. And though the farmer did try to help others there was simply not enough to go around. HE WAS BLESSED AND PROTECTED. They were not.

Over the last few decades many churches have failed and no longer exist. There are empty and repurposed church buildings in many locations all across the country. It is a trend that is not stopping. Those who got the memo long ago have long since made the proper adjustments. They saw what was coming. When they heard the Word in good times, and their warnings were rejected, it sealed the fate of those greatly “successful” ones who would meet a very challenging future unprepared. And those who obeyed God, who were rejected, made fun of, cast out, and cold-shouldered, who went through tough times due to their bad treatment by other “Christians” and were forced into survival mode, learned how to prepare.

“But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” [Mark 10:31]

So, none of the current garbage taking place right now is a surprise to God. For those who insist on continuing to do things the way they always have and trust in the things they always have, they will find that what used to work no longer works. It has certainly never worked as good as the original. Most of it hasn’t worked for years but they either don’t notice or don’t care. They can’t see the big picture, don’t care about the big picture, and only care about what goes on in their respective closed-off bubbles. Because the majority of American Christians refused to prepare during good times and continually insisted on depending on their usual traditional way of doings things and not honoring the Lord Jesus or obeying His warnings, they have entered into a future, which is now upon us, unprepared.

One would think, with all the Biblical directives and Old Testament stories at our disposal on this subject, and the many teachings and warnings of the Lord Jesus (the Parable of the Ten Virgins, for example), that Christians in general would be the last to be unprepared for anything.

The opposite is often true.

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’” [Luke 13:1-9][1]

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CRITICAL THINKING VS. LIVING IN FEAR

Jun 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

Critical thinking and the questioning of authority allows for accountability and exposes corruption. The only force that blocks these two vital components of freedom is fear.

FAITH VS. FEAR

This is why the event that began 27 months ago was so successful: They began by scaring the hell out of everybody. Or tried to. It worked against most, apparently. At least in the beginning. Anyone who was already predisposed to being affected by anxiety and influenced by fear tactics bought into the false narrative and sans exiting are now controlled by it. They remain incapacitated due to their fear.

One may notice, then, a direct correlation between fearful people and their blind obedience to authority. Because they bought into a false paradigm which they believe is true, they continue to obey the dictates of the paradigm. They continue to honor their investment. They remain controlled by their leaders.

[One simple way to test this is by introducing the concept of choice. Shouldn’t people be allowed to choose? If a person is sane, thinking correctly, not controlled, supportive of personal rights, and believes in freedom, he will answer in the affirmative. Otherwise he will not. When someone is brainwashed (or indoctrinated) one perceives the freedom to choose as limited or eliminated altogether according to the parameters taught by their chosen authority figures. Such people merely parrot the narratives and allowed allowances of their higher-ups.]

They believe whoever is in authority is legitimate. They see them as forever honorable. They apparently believe (against all odds, of course), that whoever is in authority is upstanding, trustworthy, and above reproach. Because they believe this absurdly false idea they never question authority. They have no need to; in their view authority is always right. It is also why such people likely have no critical thinking ability. What little they may have is applied incorrectly.

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.[1]

PERCEIVING THE BEAST

Thank goodness the greatest American generation of the mid-to-late 1700s didn’t have a living-by-fear attitude. If they did there never would have been an original USA. There never would have existed a nation with constitutionally protected freedom and legal liberty, set forth in an ethical context to create a habitation for morality, for free thinking, as a powerful bulwark against tyranny, and where Christians can exercise their beliefs without constraint, a place that had never before existed. Of course, it is the Lord who grants freedom and liberty to each, not governments. The Constitution simply supports God-given rights legally.

It should go without saying, however, that the forces of evil will not be stopped by the mere invocation of rights. They will always test. They will always bring a fight against God-given rights. Such tests must be answered. Such battles must be joined. The enemy must be made to know that people will stand and fight, will never give in, and will expose his chicanery. Otherwise he will do all he can to chip away at freedom. This is why people must be aware of the enemy. They must know there is an enemy. They must know this enemy is also the enemy of the Lord. They must know this enemy stealthily rises to positions of authority and uses such positions to gain advantage. They must know the enemy cloaks himself in false righteousness through both his outward deceptive costuming and faux manner in the effort to affect a benign exterior. And they must know that behind this seemingly friendly false façade lies a snarling sneering vicious beast wanting to tear a person to bloody shreds.

The greatest American generation knew this. They had seen the enemy. They recognized the beast. They saw him clearly. They realized who he was and what he was after, and that he must be defeated at all costs. This is why they never held back in questioning their governmental authority (the English Crown, Parliament, and financial backers thereof) when they knew their authority was corrupt because they had personal experience of said corruption used against them: They were cheated. They were defrauded. They were used. They were lied to. They were treated like chattel.

And they said this wouldn’t do. They knew if they didn’t fight against the enemy of their liberty to live as free people while they had the chance, the opportunity would pass and all that could have been would be lost. Because they had never given in to fear they saw the enemy and knew they were the only responsible party remaining to defeat him. And defeat him they must.

In early 2020 very few people in America had this exceptional attitude. Most were quickly scared so significantly and became so fearful they quickly laid down, surrendered, and did whatever they were told regardless of what it cost them. There were millions of others who did fight, or tried to. But because the apparent majority had agreed with the enemy, it turned against them and never came to help. Many of these Americans lost everything. It was and remains a sad state of affairs in a supposedly free country and is a great wrong that has yet to be made right. The home of the brave had become the haunt of cowards.

Maybe most of the squeamish majority had no critical thinking skills to begin with. Maybe most never questioned authority figures in their entire life. But there were likely quite a few that did who were scared into compliance anyway. It is hard to take a stand when everyone around you is putting their hands up and surrendering to the enemy. The social peer pressure of that time was off the scale. There was intense pressure to conform. It remains amazing that a likely majority never did the slightest bit of research into that which was turning the entire country sideways and setting a course to not only transform it significantly but destroy it.

CHRISTIAN CORRUPTION

All that said, it was only one more episode of the usual in that area. It was not at all different except to a much greater degree. The bigger issue is how what began twenty seven months ago exposed the corruption in organized official Christianity. The full story on this has yet to be revealed but we know enough to know much of American Christianity was in bed with non-Christian authority and that it chose to go along with the program and did. Those at the top would benefit from the crisis just as it was in the secular world. Some of these Christian leaders received great amounts of special funding (bribes). This large subsection of Christianity was also scared into compliance. The Christian leaders thereof who obeyed their hierarchical masters quickly told their congregations what to do regarding the same and they all followed suit. As usual. It was a wicked combination of mammon sellouts and the blind leading the blind. It should be obvious that these American Christian leaders, a probable majority, and their millions of followers, were not serving the Lord Jesus.

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” [Luke 16:13]

“Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” [Matthew 15:14]

THE GREAT AWAKENING

Though Americans must constantly be reminded but shouldn’t have to be, our country was founded on a Great Righteous Revolution against corrupt authority, and those who won the Revolutionary War never gave in to the fear which would have disarmed them and removed their fight. And though the fear did work on two-thirds of the Colonists who never fought for freedom, it never worked on the third that did.

There is presently a rising “third” of Americans who have Awakened to the Truth.

I must also remind all American Christians that the Lord Jesus, our great Founder, also never gave in to fear of corrupt authority and He always knew exactly how greatly He would have to suffer at its hands.

During the last twenty seven months a massive amount of previously hidden information has come out and more is coming out every day which proves the deception. But those who gave in to fear still cannot see it, will never consider it, and will fight hard against those revealing it. Why didn’t they fight so strongly on the right side in the beginning?

It is because, by their own choice, they have no critical thinking skills. It is because they always believe, support, and never question authority. It is because they are greatly affected by social peer pressure. They cannot afford to take a stand and alienate others. They must defend and honor their social reputations. They know they could never make it on their own apart from their family, social, and business connections. It is because they do not believe or understand that they are individuals who are actually supposed to be in authority in a free country but have surrendered their authority to others unworthy of it.

It is the same with Christians who surrender all their God-granted authority as Christians to a false Christian authority that is not even supposed to exist. This was and is also done through fear. Powerful religious authority figures scare Christians into giving up their individual authority. Such fearful ones can then be very easily controlled, manipulated, and used to feather the nests of their betters and build their mini-kingdoms.

Real Christians, on the other hand, know they have been granted freedom and authority by the Lord Jesus and are to use both for His purposes. One cannot be an actual Christian and obey the Lord’s teachings otherwise. We are each responsible for our own soul and where we will spend eternity. One will not be able to blame those who were in authority that led them astray. Those who chose wrongly to serve mammon and follow blind guides will have no defense. Those who squandered and surrendered their spiritual freedom and authority to others will not fare well at the Judgment.

At the Judgment we will each have to answer directly to the Lord Jesus. There will likely be no one else in the room save maybe angels. The Lord will have to tell each person who doesn’t make it exactly why. He will explain their error. He will reveal their sin. It will be a perfect judgment for each person.

And He may remind those who lost their souls of the following passage:

But for the cowardly (fearful KJV) 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][2]

[1] criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

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Tags: America, American Christianity, American Revolution, Bill of Rights, Critical Thinking, Death of Jesus, False Religious Authority, Fear, Final Judgment of Souls, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Hell, July 4 1776, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Overcome Evil with Good, Political Corruption, Political Freedom, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection of Jesus, Spiritual Authority, Spiritual Freedom, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Sacrifice Lamb, United States Constitution, Unreal Christianity

A GREAT AWAKENING UPDATE

Jun 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

I’ve been telling you about the current Great Awakening for over eleven years. In this article I will explain why it is so extremely important for both your present and future.

FIRST, A NOTE ABOUT MY CURRENT SERIES

I appreciate those of you who are keeping up and have read each of the 6 Parts of Three Types of Christians in America. I encourage the rest of you to take the time to get caught up. I would rather not barge ahead and proceed with the next installment until the right time, part of which is based on waiting for my valued regular readers to read the current post. You must understand that I approach my work as a teacher. Teaching is my Romans 12 gifting. It is my desire to reveal Biblical information, primarily of the New Testament variety, which you may not have. Within the scope of this is additional material for context and illustration purposes. You can access the post links from the left hand column as well as that of my recent article I posted last Sunday that seems to have gotten lost: The Day of Pentecost 2022 (June 6).

Thanks. Your prayers are always appreciated.

THE REAL GREAT AWAKENING OF THE 21^ST CENTURY

The preceding is what I originally chose as the title for my second book which I completed in 2011. This book began as a short paper I wrote in August of 2010. It was while writing this, at the end of August, that I suddenly received the revelation that a national Great Awakening was coming to America. In fact, the Lord told me it had already begun. He said we were in the early stages. I proceeded to continue with the paper which I thought would be like all the other ones I wrote that year, somewhere around eight to twelve pages. But it kept going. I kept writing. The Lord kept downloading. He continued with increased anointing. It demanded a great amount of research.

I continued through the fall and winter and completed the work in April 2011. What I thought would be a short paper of 8-12 pages became a book of about 340 pages saturated with footnotes and including three appendixes. The existence of the book proved the Lord was telling me something significant, that something very great and powerful was in the works.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

Regarding the Great Awakening at present, it is necessary to utilize current events and general news to assist in gauging where we are on the Lord’s timeline. It is necessary to do this so we will know what is currently happening that effects our lives and the future plans of those controlling world events who are not aligned with the Lord and often oppose Him directly. They have their own agendas.

The Lord spoke often of “the signs of the times” during His ministry. He arrived as a baby in Bethlehem at the exact time for His purposes. He revealed to His disciples the implications of the times in which they were living. He spoke of Old Testament prophecy coming to pass at that very time. He prophesied about the immediate future and the not too distant future. His disciples did not understand some of it at the time, or maybe much of it, but it came to them later. Part of this was due to the great change that occurred in their lives once they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Their minds were enlightened. They received new spiritual eyes and ears. They had access to the mind of Christ.

Therefore, the Lord is constantly attempting to reveal to us what we must know. Remember, I am only referring to real Christians—fully dedicated disciples who have decided to follow the Lord Jesus 100%. There is actually no other way to follow Him. It is not possible to be a part time disciple. In that light, it is most appropriate to do our best in obeying the Scriptural directive to strive to be the best disciples we can be. A big part of that is our spiritual education. It is why we are blessed to have so much material easily available to us. However, we need not look only to official Christian authority figures and major works of Christian literature but also to one another. It is a great thing to have so many Christian blog sites authored by dedicated Christians like yourself doing your part. There is much to choose from. We end up teaching one another and adding to our spiritual education in the effort to excel for the Lord.

In order to counteract what is coming and to be properly prepared, it is always a part of the Lord’s instruction to reveal to His children the plans of the enemy. For example, I remember something years ago that I learned in my early research that assisted in dispelling the notion that whatever happens in the world other than obvious accidents is usually the result of random chance, a notion we are often ingrained with from our youth. It is known as the accidental theory of history as if nothing is prearranged. This is likely based on how we get our news and the nature of news, which is most often elementary and disconnected. The truth about world events is the virtual opposite. It was a simple quote I found made by Franklin Roosevelt that revealed how things actually work: “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.” This can obviously be expanded upon to include nearly all historical world events that happen through political leaders large or small, heads of state, and their financial backers behind the curtain. Almost everything you know in this regard was thus a result of planning.

This especially includes everything that has happened over the last 27 months that has transformed society. It was all planned far in advance.

THE LORD PROVIDES FOR HIS OWN

It is therefore very important to do our best to know what’s coming. I’ve told you previously, something you have likely only heard from me, that the Lord Jesus financed His own ministry. This included taking care of His twelve originals and their families. He would not otherwise have called them from their existing lives and left their families alone without an income. The twelve are most often referred to in Scripture without a title but were originally known as disciples, which comes from the Hebrew word talmidim. Here is a good definition of this word:

תלמידם talmidim (tal mee DEEM): A plural Hebrew noun meaning “disciples” in its truest sense: Those who leave family to study and follow the ways of their teacher [rabbi]. They study not only to learn what their teacher knows but to become the type of man their teacher is. From the Hebrew root word “limmud” meaning “instructed.” Strong’s #8527. Singular: talmid. [1]

This means He will always take care of His children and provide according to His will and timing, but this must include our own cooperation and we must walk by faith and trust in Him. If He called us to salvation, if He called us to follow Him, if He called us to learn from Him and be His disciples, and if He called us into ministry, then He will provide for us, always, at every step of the way.

THE PLAN OF THE LORD

His plan always comes first. His plans were already planned out before the foundation of the world. He already decided on and knew what He would do before He ever began His act of Creation. This includes us. He never did anything, from what we know, without planning for it. He drew up plans. He figured it all out. He had incredibly intricate blueprints loaded with details large and small. His plans were absolutely perfect. Then He created. His original Creation was absolutely perfect. We know the story.

Then other plans were made counter to His. These other plans opposed the Lord’s plans. They were negative, opposing, rebellious, vile, and sinful. They were as imperfect as could be. Again, we know the story. For our purposes in the here and now we must know He has plans to counteract the plans of the enemy. This means no matter how powerful the enemy may appear and how many human beings actually buy into the evil plans of the enemy, such evil plans can be overcome. People can also buy into the Lord’s plans if they so choose. Those who do continue to receive the blessings and benefits of their Father who loves them. Remember, the original talmidim had no observable chance at the time in going up against the world. And remember further, it all began with only one Man which no one thought would have ever had the chance to achieve what He did. Almost two thousand years of the history of the Lord’s Kingdom proves the love, grace, and ability of the Lord to bring forth great change for the better.

And this is partly why He has brought forth the current Great Awakening—to counteract the evil plans of the enemy whose plans He knew very well. He knew them long before they were implemented. He began leading His children in such a way that they would not be overcome or hurt by them. Isn’t it always this way in Scripture? Shouldn’t we know we serve a loving Father? Don’t we know He will protect us and defend us?

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

With respect to the current evil plans of the enemy, the Lord would certainly want us to know all about them to prepare us for having to deal with their implementation, not be affected by them, and overcome them. He would never want us to be surprised by the outgrowth of evil plans used against His children. This is why formerly secret plans and sinister agendas that were never supposed to see the light of day have been exposed.

It is easy to dupe the ignorant, but the enemy can’t deceive someone who sees everything he’s doing.

“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] [2]

[1] psalm11918.org/References/Glossary/talmidim.html

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Tags: America, Discipleship, Filled With the Holy Spirit, God is our Provider, Jesus is the Light, Lord Jesus, Mind of Christ, Political Corruption, Political Theater, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, The Signs Of The Times

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 6)

Jun 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

Having identified two of the three types in Parts 4 and 5, one can detect the Christians responsible for assisting the enemy in bringing the country to its present condition.

MEDIA MANIPULATION

God does not own the major media. Those who do keep pumping out their garbage and a probable majority always gets duped into believing whatever they present. It’s a sad state of affairs getting worse by the day. The Word of God is the ONLY original written material on the planet that exposes the enemy. God says the devil is a liar. Most people don’t know this because they never read the Word. Most Christians don’t read the Word. It is why most Christians are just as deceived by the major media as non-Christians and anti-Christians. The only way to overcome this deception is to stop consuming the output of the major media and start consuming God’s media. Once one starts to do this the blinders start coming off, one starts noticing Truth they never noticed before, and the Truth starts setting them free. If one continues on this course they cannot help but eventually become aware that they’ve been supporting the enemy to their own detriment rather than serving the Lord Jesus to their benefit. Once the spiritual benefits start to flow into one’s life the enemy loses a supporter and gains an enemy which is the way it should have been all along. Then the Lord has a greater opportunity to help others. This is the spiritual battle we face. It is not an unfamiliar kind of war.

And though we all face difficult times in our lives to varying degrees, some more difficult and trying than others, America, overall, for many reasons, has never faced a more difficult time than the present, not only because of the immediate current events but also because of what is surely on the way. There’s a big ugly monster in our rear view mirror and it is closer than it appears. For precedent, and to illustrate where we stand regarding difficult times, including what some are projecting as the future, the one possible exception of a worse period and event in our history more challenging and ultimately detrimental was that of the Civil War (1861-65).

GONE WITH THE WIND

That war, which is grossly misnamed, destroyed not just the South but effectively destroyed the original America created by our greatest generation, that which lived in the middle to late 1700s. From 1787 when the new Constitution for the United States of America was written—1788 when it was ratified (June 21) and the late winter of 1789 (March 4) when the new government of the United States began its operations—until the outbreak of the Civil War in the spring of 1861, America was a better reflection of what the united States stood for and agreed to when they formed the union compared to what came later. The central government was supposed to remain small and respectful of the rights of the States rather than enlarge itself and rule over them. This period of time when the country expressed greater fidelity to its founding principles lasted a mere 72 years. During that initial era, the Constitution was still fully in effect. It was still honored as the Law of the Land. It was still supported as the agreed upon and legally ratified foundation of how Americans would live. The freedoms and liberties expressed therein had survived every challenge and test up to that point. Each State retained its sovereignty.

But again, this all changed with the Civil War. A better term for this conflict would be The War of Northern Aggression. Whoever has done in-depth research into the actual causes of that war understands that it was in many ways a carbon copy of the Revolutionary War (1775-1781). It was the Southern economy that was paying the most into US government coffers. The South’s contribution to the US Treasury was approximately upwards of 70% but the Southern States—free and independent States—were not receiving the appropriate recognition for this nor were they treated fairly by the central government which had greater influence from Northern interests. It was the Northern banking and industrial interests with foreign connections that had essentially taken control through strong lobbying efforts and influence peddling just as the equivalent interests which held sway over the King of England and Parliament had dictated the war against the American Colonists roughly two generations before.

This article is much too brief to get into the particulars but the facts are there for anyone who may wish to do the research. And whereas the American Colonists actually defeated the world’s preeminent super power of the time in the Revolutionary War, the Southern Confederacy was not as fortunate. It was a war that obviously never should have been fought and any number of means should have and could have been advanced to gain the desirable solutions. The country has suffered ever-greater degradations since by the precedents set at that time and we are now at a place in which whatever America once was that still remains is going fast. A massive amount of freedom and the great benefits thereof has been lost but most Americans don’t know this because they have nothing to compare it to. It is not only the case that ignorance is bliss in the sense that people don’t know any better, it is also because dumbed-down lazy people don’t want to do the work that would otherwise set them free and make them strong for the task at hand. And again, many of these are Christians who prefer their “leaders” doing the work for them.

That’s why doing research into actual history is so important. And we know from history that though nations and empires degrade over relatively protracted periods of time, they collapse very fast. Sadly, no matter how many warnings are given that a people must remain morally strong and spiritually sound in order to exist in continuous freedom and liberty from generation to generation, far too many people never make the connection. They do not understand that individual freedom is tied directly to their moral nature. Once one’s morals are compromised it is only a matter of time before their liberty will be diminished. Perhaps this is why the devil keeps trotting out the deviants, which far too many Americans embrace rather than stand against, and continues coming up with more forms of deviancy every day. He and his minions have been doing their best to destroy the moral fabric of the nation for over a century. We are now in the latter stages.

At present, the level of sin and depravity in America is probably at an all-time high. This is not so difficult to discern. Along with the depravity has come the predicted loss of freedom. The Constitution and the expressed citizen’s rights therein have been under attack for many years but especially so in recent years. There is an unseen exponential curve in effect here which, if Americans could see it, would cause them to express much greater alarm and do something to overcome it. Instead, half the country saved their greatest fears and alarm for another recent unseen enemy that was projected to kill multiple tens of millions. And while so many were so fearful they failed to notice or care about their greatly diminishing independence and curtailed liberty brought about by that effort.

We know by the manner in which much of the country responded to the event which began in March 2020 that the nation had been primed for takeover. Otherwise the response of that time would have been as it had always been before on such occasions when fear was ramped up as part of a desired hidden agenda: A small percentage of people would have reacted in great fear, willing to give up its freedom, while the vast majority would have responded in the direct opposite manner, kept their head, and stood their ground. Two years ago, however, we discovered that the previous small percentage had grown to about half the country. This should not have been surprising given that Americans had continually voted into office those who would be tyrants over the previous couple of decades or so.

Those people who should never have had the reins of government then laid the foundation and built the infrastructure of further depredations set to be continually loosed upon the country into the future.

THE CREATOR’S CHALLENGE

From the Lord’s point of view, He always has the means to keep people morally strong and free, and transform the unrighteous, if willing, to righteousness, but can do little against human will when people are disposed to choosing against Him. He never uses force or coercion to get us to be right and live right. He will use love, gentle persuasion, encouragement, and urging, however, because He cares for and respects the people of His Creation. This is why one must be allowed to choose. The Lord Jesus is a choice. He must be chosen. His means must be chosen. The unregenerate clay must look to the Potter to gain redemption.

But when people become so deceived and arrogant they think they know better than the Lord there is not much to be done. People can reach a point of no return. When people of this kind become the majority rather than the former salt of the earth majority, the end comes relatively soon. The entity which arrives at its end, whatever it may be, in this case America, then ceases to exist. If one cannot see American crumbling at this very moment then one is simply unaware of reality.

Those with power who are doing the damage and destruction are determined, depraved, or deranged to varying degrees, and some are simply deceived. It doesn’t take a genius to see this.

The deceived people can still be awakened but the other three are most often too far gone and simply love sin and are captured by their alternative agendas and will usually never change. If there are not enough righteous people—the salt and light—to overcome the unrighteous people, then simple math tells us the bad guys will win.

As real Christians, we identify sin and evil by the Word of God. Real Christians believe in the Lord Jesus. They believe in His teachings. They do their best to follow His entire curriculum. They do not pick and choose from it. They decide they will follow the Lord Jesus regardless. They give Him their entire heart. It is therefore not difficult to understand that though a probable majority of Americans identify as Christians, only a decided minority are actually real Christians.

During the Civil War—The War of Northern Aggression—the South was greatly outnumbered. The North had greater material resources, greater industry, and much greater amounts of ready money. The North could have kept their supplies in force indefinitely. The South never had much of a chance but it almost won anyway. They knew if they were going to win it would have to be relatively fast. Except for a few blunders here and there, the South actually would have won. They almost did. There was a time when the North was on the run. The aggressor was being beaten back. The South could have been victorious just as the earlier American Colonists had been seventy plus years before and original America could have been preserved.

But it was not to be. They didn’t fully understand that the Constitution for the United States of America was no longer being honored by their Northern enemy. It had been violated by a powerful few who would never allow themselves to be restrained from their evil pursuits by “a mere piece of paper.” They wanted to take a spoil. They saw the South as easy pickin’s. Their great power and influence over the government caused it to act the same. After the war broke out, honored Constitutional principles were routinely trashed. Lincoln became a veritable tyrant. The real history is there for those who wish to seek it out. Many fairly recent books have been written on the subject.

As the war progressed the North continued to reveal its true nature. At the end its evil nature came clearly to the fore through the gross atrocities of Sherman’s March to the Sea. Northern Americans did despicable evil to Southern Americans. How people can be so revoltingly evil to an already beaten foe—their fellow Americans!—is beyond the understanding of most. And when they were through with the South those very same people later went after the American Indians and did the same thing to them, wiping them out or subjugating them all the way to the Pacific Ocean. And after that they never stopped. They went beyond borders. It is how the empire was built.

But all empires have their stages—they rise, they fall. Where is ancient Sumer? Egypt? Babylon? Medo-Persia? Macedonia/Greece? Rome? The Mongols? They all rose up very high and subjugated any and all they possibly could within their range of conquest. And then time passed, their immorality and evil caused them to reap what they sowed, and they ceased to exist. The story never changes. One gains the upper hand, uses their gain for selfishness and sin, grows fat, lazy, and unable to maintain dominion, and then another stronger and more strident force puts him down and takes over. One tyrant loses to another tyrant who loses to yet another tyrant, ad infinitum. It’s the ongoing pumping heart of the universal subjugation process.

SURE FOUNDATIONS

Just as the Constitution for the United States of America is the Law of the Land for American citizens, so is the total curriculum of the Lord Jesus the foundational belief system of real Christians. And regarding the Lord’s teachings, keep in mind that He never opposed the Law of Moses but fulfilled it. He began His ministry in the autumn of 28AD going on two thousand years ago. All must agree His teachings and the fruit thereof has stood the test of time. His spiritual curriculum is hands down the greatest of all time. Nothing else comes remotely close.

The Constitution will be 235 years old on September 17 of this year with respect to the date it was completed and signed. It was formulated and written over the long hot summer of 1787 starting on May 25 when the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia was initially convened. That which our Founding Fathers formulated is by far the best founding document regarding a system of government that has ever been written.

However, the people who can only see as far as the present and have little or no concern for higher eternal principles will always dishonor such to “get theirs” in the here and now, legally or not. They essentially sell their birthright, as Jacob’s twin brother Esau did, for an effective bowl of stew. They are willing to sin to whatever degree they must to gain whatever it is they covet. They just don’t care. They want it now. ASAP. They don’t think long term or consider the reality of eternal life. They may appear as upstanding citizens who merely engage in some antiquated “sin” unrecognized as such by an increasingly deviant culture, though Moses said the worst of these unrecognized sins were actually stoning offenses which demanded capital punishment.

As the deviancy progresses and more people buy into it, the concept of sin melts away as does the need for justice. Steadfast believers in the Lord are gradually targeted because they appear as old school holdouts toward the new downgraded cultural norm. Then, when the morally deviant people become the majority, the minority of righteous people will begin undergoing greater forms of persecution. The latter understand that it is spiritual war and are doing their best to stand firm for righteousness.

But the deviants from the righteous norm don’t care. They only care about the present. They are intent on using their freedom in whatever manner they want regardless of any sin and moral degradation. They may or may not characterize their actions as such, however. In order to stave off conviction, they redefine sin in such a way that they can practice it without regret or shame: Immoral behavior is redefined as moral. They call evil good. They call good evil. They do this because they have no knowledge of or respect for the Word of God which defines righteousness and sin. It may also be because they have damaged their conscience which would otherwise inform them. They thus fight against that which they term evil which in reality is good. They may be deceived but are likely willingly self-deceived in that they have given themselves over to evil for personal gain. Such an attitude, of course, is not new. The following passage of Isaiah the prophet dates from about 700BC:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes

And clever in their own sight!

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine

And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

Who justify the wicked for a bribe,

And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble

And dry grass collapses into the flame,

So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust;

For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts

And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. [Isaiah 5:20-24]

The Word of God contains many historical occurrences explaining and revealing the preceding. Great evil, like that being revealed and displayed at present, has been on earth for a very long time. When it gains hold destruction is not far. Salt and light always preserves but such must be resident in people. The Lord made this possible through the infilling of His Holy Spirit. When the salt and light people become greatly outnumbered by the sin and evil people who think they are righteous but are not it becomes less likely that the good will continue to overcome the evil. When one considers the greater implications with reference to the last five thousand years it is a wonder humanity ever made it this far.

The reason it has is because spiritual salt and light, like matter itself, never ceases to exist. The enemy can never fully eliminate goodness and love. And whereas the enemy can certainly create wars, destroy nations, subjugate populations, murder millions, steal everyone’s wealth, and create tyrannical empires, he can never defeat the Lord Jesus, who is Love and Truth incarnate. The Lord’s Kingdom of righteousness and His righteous people will exist forever. His Kingdom is eternal.

In the meantime, the present is in play. Temporary evil has advanced. It may win or it may not. It all depends on the Great Awakening. It depends on how many righteous people will engage. It depends on living according to higher eternal principles. It depends on more and more people getting right with God. It depends on fake Christians quitting the masquerade and getting real. It depends on real Christians banding together and demonstrating the Love of God. It depends on applying the teachings of the Lord Jesus wherever they must apply.

And while the Lord’s righteous Kingdom is advancing as it always has and always will, and is now composed of multiple millions worldwide, it is sadly evident that the collective seeds of evil sowed over many a year in this country have presently escalated into a rapidly expanding bumper crop of sin with no end in sight.

America’s karma chickens have now come home to roost.

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon. [Isaiah 55:6-7] [1]

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 1)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 2)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 3)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 4)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 5)

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: America, American Revolutionary War, Jesus Declared War, Kingdoms At War, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The LORD is a Warrior, The War On Truth, Unreal Christianity, War of Northern Aggression

THE DAY OF PENTECOST 2022 (JUNE 6)

Jun 5

Posted by RJ Dawson

Tomorrow, June 6, according to both the Hebrew and celestial calendar, is the actual Day of Pentecost. It is Sivan 7 on the Hebrew calendar. May we all honor the day.

[I ask sincerely to please not Like this post unless you read it in its entirety. It is likely that some of us have not read Acts Chapter 2 in a while and reading it is a great way to prepare for and honor the day. I would appreciate your comments. You are welcome to share your experiences. Thanks. Blessings to you.]

It is the anniversary of one the greatest events in Early Church history. We date its occurrence starting with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. On the Hebrew calendar, the Lord died on Thursday, Nisan 14 which was Passover—He became the Sacrifice Lamb dying for the sins of the world.

Whoever has repented of their personal sins and given one’s life to Him in total will be blessed with the application of the Lord’s Blood. The Blood of Jesus will be applied to the doorposts and lintel of one’s heart, cleansing the person of all sin. This begins the salvation process and the beginning of a new life made possible by the Lord’s perfect sacrificial offering on our behalf. Following repentance, the originals were each filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord and were immersed in water invoking the Name above every name, the Name of their Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Many millions have experienced Pentecost since that time almost two thousand years ago.

The day after the Lord’s death was Friday, Nisan 15, the first day of Unleavened Bread. His body remained in the tomb this day and on the next day, the Sabbath. Three days after His death, on the third day, He rose again. The date of the Resurrection was Sunday, Nisan 17, the first day of the week. This was the traditional date of First Fruits, the third day of the week long Feast of Pesach, or Passover/Unleavened Bread. It is from this date that the Feast of Pentecost is dated.

The word Pentecost means “fiftieth day.” It is the fiftieth day from the Day of First Fruits on Nisan 17. On our 2022 Gregorian calendar, Nisan 17, the date of the Resurrection, occurred on Monday, April 18. Seven weeks later on the fiftieth day is Sivan 7, the Day of Pentecost, which occurs this year on Monday June 6.

I’ve included the entire historical account of Acts Chapter 2 as follows. The apostles, the Lord’s mother Mary, and a total of 120 people, all Israelites, had waited and prepared themselves for a period of ten days since the Lord’s Ascension into heaven. They prayed and fasted. They did everything possible to make sure they were ready for the big event. On the beginning of the fiftieth day, exactly seven full weeks from the Lord’s Resurrection, at approximately 9am, the following powerful event that dramatically changed the course of history and ushered in the New and Living Way took place:

¹ When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

⁵ Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” ¹² And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”

¹⁴ But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. ¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; ¹⁶ but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,

‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

And your young men shall see visions,

And your old men shall dream dreams;

¹⁸ Even on My bondslaves, both men and women,

I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit

And they shall prophesy.

¹⁹ ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above

And signs on the earth below,

Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.

²⁰ ‘The sun will be turned into darkness

And the moon into blood,

Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.

²¹ ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

²² “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— ²³ this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. ²⁴ But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. ²⁵ For David says of Him,

‘I saw the Lord always in my presence;

For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.

²⁶ ‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;

Moreover my flesh also will live in hope;

²⁷ Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades,

Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

²⁸ ‘You have made known to me the ways of life;

You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’

²⁹ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. ³² This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ³⁴ For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

³⁵ Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” ⁴¹ So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. ⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

⁴³ Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵ and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. ⁴⁶ Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. [Acts 2:1-47][1]

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Hebrew Calendar, Holy Spirit of Jesus, Holy Spirit Outpouring, Lord Jesus, Passover, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, The Day of Pentecost, The Gift of the Holy Spirit, The Great Awakening, Unleavened Bread, Worldwide Pentecostal Movement

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 5)

Jun 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are Christians who, for various reasons, will never be the first type of Christian I identified in Part 4. Nor will they ever give their hearts to the Lord.

Prior to the Declaration of Independence, when America was hanging in the balance and subjected to the ongoing whims of a great nefarious power holding the nation in contempt for not groveling before it, the American Colonists were divided into three distinct groups. One remained loyal to the mother country, one decided to put everything on the line and fight for freedom and liberty, and one group didn’t much care one way or the other.

These three groups mirror the three types of Christians currently existing in America. We discussed the first group in Part 4 and identified it as the Christian Pharisees. These are those Christians who look good on the outside but whose hearts are far from the Lord. They have bought into traditional religious externals without bothering to seek the Truth of the Gospel and the full curriculum of the Lord Jesus.

Today I will discuss the second group, the middle group, the group which cannot commit. This is their primary characteristic. Keep in mind that these groups are not so finely constituted that there is no overlap. These three groups are thus somewhat general in scope but defined by their primary attributes. Where is their true loyalty? Where is their heart? What do they deem most important? Do they simply follow the crowd? Do they go along to get along? Do they stand fast, first, and foremost with the Lord Jesus regardless of circumstances? For what will they give their lives?

We see then, that the heat of battle will reveal priorities. I mentioned in Part 4 that many Christian ministers of the Gospel during the Revolution, some very well-known at the time, decided to take up arms and fight for liberty. They made the decision to stand up for their lives and their future generations. They would not allow the thought of their children not having the same freedom and opportunities with which they had been blessed. They saw what was happening as a powerful attack against everything they held dear. They were passionate for the cause and fully committed. Other Christian ministers were aghast at such a development. They could not fathom such a thing. It just didn’t seem “Christ like.”

Before the battle lines of the Revolutionary War were drawn, there were already unseen battle lines in existence which had to be dealt with and sorted out. It seemed the pro-British American Tories had decided where their loyalties were and, of course, the American Patriots had surely decided what course they would take, but the other group of Americans that fit neither of these categories remained gooped up in apathy and unconcern, too small to see or care about the Big Picture.

Christians like this have a severe motivation problem. (“What is my motivation?”) Maybe some were clueless and simply unaware of what was going on all around them. Maybe some were so far out in the boonies they were not affected either way. Whatever the case, it reminds one of that guy with the one talent who went out and buried it. God was not pleased. At all. These are the people that, no matter the provocation or prompting, will simply not engage. And how is it that they could be so unaware, so callous, and so apathetic? Especially during one of the greatest times on earth with the greatest to be gained? Sound familiar?

This kind of Christian goes through life sleepwalking. And whereas all Christians need to wake up from time to time the Christians of this second group simply cannot. They must sleep. They are sleeping. They exist in a netherworld without ever realizing what’s at stake. The word risk is not in their vocabulary. Based on the teachings of the Lord Jesus such an attitude is beyond problematic because the holders thereof cannot possibly be saved from sin without a major change of heart because they cannot understand they are gambling with eternal life. It is one thing to lose one’s soul by being overcome with temptation and committing to a wrong path. Though it is obviously wrong there is clear decision making in such a choice. For the Christians of this second group, however, they simply cannot grab hold of making a life-changing decision. They remain muddled in the middle.

We can gain more clues about this type of Christian in the Gospels. We clearly see those who commit fully to the Lord. We also see those who oppose Him violently. The third group, however, is mostly invisible. We know it’s there but it’s pretty much beyond obscure. They don’t have the rebellion or fight to oppose the Lord. They also don’t have the passion to join His movement and risk everything. During the American Revolutionary War, the two opposing sides were all in. We discussed this in Part 4 regarding the Levitical priests and the Prophets. The Law-first people and the Prophetic Word people often did not see eye to eye. The Lord never intended this. He wanted everyone to understand that everyone was viable and necessary. There was a great reason for The Law of Moses, for the Temple and all the ministrations thereof, and also for lone Prophets out in the desert giving their all to hear from God and be His voice.

These two groups are roughly represented within Christianity in general to varying degrees and it’s sad that some have gone so far to the opposite edge of the other that there is simply no possibility of communication. This serves no good purpose. The answer to bridge this great divide is right there in the Gospels and the New Covenant writings but some are so invested they simply will not go there. Of course, it is a fact that the early first-century Israelite believers post resurrection still attended the Temple precincts as well as going house-to-house but the time came when the Temple was no more. And there were no church buildings for three hundred years. This meant they kept going house-to-house. But they also had a definite spiritual order and great purpose in their meetings, organic as they were.

Whatever the case, and whether one had this gifting or that, each real Christian was and remained committed. And the faux Christians were committed. But that other group couldn’t bring itself to go one way or the other. It craved a middle ground that didn’t exist. In the first century AD it is likely, as thoroughly unlikely as it may sound, that many Israelites had never even heard of the Lord Jesus or were aware of what happened during the final week of His life. They didn’t read the Scriptures. They didn’t read the newspapers. Their level of gossip never contained anything of any substance. They simply went about their lives in an unconscious uninformed indifferent state.

These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. [Jude 1:12-13][1]

Meh

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 1)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 2)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 3)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 4)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 6)

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: America, American Revolutionary War, Book of Jude, Discipleship, False Conformity, False Forms of Christianity, False Security, Lord Jesus, Prophets, Real American Patriots, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Most High Does Not Dwell In Houses Made By Human Hands, Unreal Christianity

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 4)

May 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

In this post I will identify the first of the three types. For those of you who have been faithfully following this series you have likely deduced the three types by now…

THE PHARISEES

On the surface, the original Pharisees didn’t look so bad. They were dedicated (one may say ultra-dedicated) to their belief system. Outwardly, it looked as though they were faithfully following the Word of God. They overtly held the Word of God in high honor. But this must be qualified. Their emphasis was not actually on the entire Word. As many Christians today, they had their prejudices and were quite selective regarding Scripture, though they convinced themselves otherwise. Regarding this practice, and how they made their supposed application thereof, the Hebrew Scriptures of that time (the OT) had a different format than that which we have today in our “Christian” Bibles. Their Scriptures consisted of three main divisions:

(1) The Law (Torah, or “Teaching”), which comprised the Pentateuch, the first five books of the OT

(2) The Prophets, which included not only the individual accounts of the Major and Minor Prophets but also the earlier historical books of Joshua, Judges, Kings, and Samuel

(3) The Writings (the remainder of the OT, primarily the Psalms, which the Lord referred to often)

The Pharisees were specifically very high on The Law. They emphasized the teachings of Moses. And though Moses was certainly a prophet, they didn’t necessarily see him that way nor do most Christians. They saw Moses as the great lawgiver and ostensible head of the nation in that he revealed all the particulars of how they should live.

Moses (1526-1406BC) predated the kings of Israel and the many prophets, both the well-known and the not so much, which arose several centuries later. The Pharisees certainly had respect for Abraham (1946-1771BC), but focused primarily on the Law and neglected (often spurned) The Prophets.

The latter is due in part because the Pharisees (Separated Ones) originated at a time which was already far into the “Silent Years” in which the prophetic voice was entirely absent from the nation. Regarding a specific date of their founding, some say it coincided with the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt in 167BC. However, there had likely already been a loose organization by that time which may have existed for a few decades which rapidly coalesced in response to the attack and desecrations of Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

The last Hebrew prophet was Malachi in approximately 450-420BC. Therefore, since there were no longer any prophets or prophetic voice speaking to the nation in what remained of Israel (primarily Judea) after that date, the entire focus shifted to The Law, since this was the area of expertise of the Tribe of Levi, along with the temple and its ceremonies, rites, etc. The Levites were the only ones remaining in authority in charge of anything “spiritual,” so to speak. Lacking the very necessary prophetic Word and the highly anointed Prophets to balance them out, correct them, and keep them in line (theses two camps often clashed), it is not difficult to see how the nation drifted away from the heart of God and proceeded to emphasized dogma, laws, rites, externals, liturgies, and unbridled religious authority from an ecclesiastical caste which superseded the heart of the Lord as characterized through the prophetic writings.

Which made it all the more strange that the Pharisees and their precursors effectively dishonored the Law. How did they do this? First of all, one may recall the apostle Paul’s admonitions about the letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law:

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. [Romans 7:6]

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. [2Corinthians 3:4-6]

Those who look at The Law from a strictly legal perspective have a problem with it covertly though they may honor it overtly. The problem? It is not specific enough. Though it contains a great many laws (613), including the ceremonial directives, it correspondingly contains behavioral commands about what to do and what not to do and lists many “for instance” particulars which are very specific. It also defines sin. Yet it cannot possibly list all the sins known to man and could not possibly list all the possible “for instances” that might occur. So even though it appears to be a comprehensive collection of all conceivable thou shalts and shalt nots that would satisfy the strictest Torah teachers and certainly everyone else, who would otherwise think it to be much too extensive and far-reaching (and extremely difficult to follow and obey), there were some who thought it to be quite limited.

Why? Because they could conjure up other specific particulars that Moses never addressed. In their defense, they likely experienced such particulars or heard of such and knew as lawyers they must address every possible occurrence. So while God was giving specific laws through Moses these laws were seen as somewhat general laws and needed to be further parsed out. This is why the Torah teachers, over several centuries, began adding greater specificity to the original Torah so as to have an answer for pretty much any eventuality. All these additional “laws” were collected over time and became quite extensive. And because they could never write all these additional laws down and thereby give them the same legitimacy as the Torah, their vast collection became known as the Oral Law. It was passed down orally over the centuries and collected greater weight and honor along the way.

But this large collection of specific oral additions to the written Law of Moses caused a problem. By attempting to be too fine, the Oral Law had a tendency to lessen the impact of the original. After a while, those guys went even further in their attempt to add to the Law by adding much additional fine tuning to their initial fine tuning. For example, if the Law stated plainly “Don’t Do This,” they would break down all the possibles of what that single command entailed so as to have every possibility covered. One may see this as a good thing in that it merely added greater clarity to the issue, especially since there were penalties involved in breaking such a law, sometimes severe.

But as I alluded to previously, a very strange thing happened. Within the list of further particulars and possibles contained in the Oral Law was the possibility of some particulars which seemed to get one off the hook. In delving into all such possibilities an even stranger occurrence took place. The Torah teachers actually started making laws designed to do that very thing. They eventually created a massive system of statutes that only they were privy to and they learned exactly how to implement them to gain a particular outcome.

Therefore, is it surprising that the Oral Law tended to favor its most loyal supporters, those who actually created it? Is it not a phenomenon in this world that laws are often written to favor those in charge and do damage to perceived political enemies? This was the inherent danger in adding to the Word of God, whether one was sincere or not. Mixing religious prejudicial renderings from the hand of man causes the Word of God to lose its impartial and holy nature.

Remember, this was the “Oral Law.” It was never written down before 70AD when the nation ceased to be. The only way to learn it and know it was by being taught by the few who did, and the only way that could happen was by being an ultra-dedicated student who would honor their Torah teachers (lawyers) exclusively and never question them or their teachings.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Though it may seem obvious to people from without (or should), those people who created, passed on, and taught the Oral Law had actually created an elite Secret Society with its own precise rules and regulations in which only the top members knew what their Oral Law actually stated in total. Most Israelites were apparently completely unaware of these sinister goings-on. Maybe they never noticed because the internal goings-on were always done essentially in secret though in appearance in the open. (There existed a superficial front of legitimacy hiding the actual unspoken agenda.) In other words, the few candidates to become members of the next generation of Oral Law teachers learned their craft in schools which only they attended. The people at large had no idea what went on in such places but were conditioned over time to believe that the Torah schools (in which the Oral Law predominated) were a great and holy enterprise created and supported by God. They learned to never question anything that went on there.

Now, while this was true for the majority of Israelites, whether some actually believed in the institution fully or not but went along with it anyway, there were a few who disagreed. And some of those who disagreed and saw through the false façade of the Oral Law institution and its teachers were strongly opposed. Yet, not having a voice and being appropriately wary of crossing powerful people who had tricked the general public into supporting them and gaining their trust, few ever spoke out. But the time came when the centuries of silence finally ceased. The blessed day arrived when God’s voice returned.

THE AGE-OLD CLASH SUDDENLY REIGNITED

It was the coming of John the Immerser that blew the lid off and exposed them. A Great Awakening had begun. God was intent on exposing this secret society and all others like it which had gained illicit control over the nation and its people to their detriment. We have seen the same thing happen throughout our current Age of Grace which has existed from that time. There have been many occurrences when great corruption was exposed within Christianity in general. We are now living in one of those times.

Never forget that corruption always thrives in secret. John had to be completely and absolutely disconnected from society at large in order to be incorruptible and effective. He did an excellent job. May real Christians in the present be as effective.

It is always the case that a lack of proper accountability results in eventual corruption. When the ability to correct is removed, especially from those who lead and have great power, their corruption will spread throughout whatever it is that they control. When the corrupt controllers have the ability to threaten, coerce, and make demands upon the people they rule over and have the law and the means on their side to carry out their threats, there is no remedy or ability to counteract them outside the Kingdom of God. It is why countries, societies, and yes, religious organizations, should never allow the establishment of a tyrannical government, secret society, ruling class, or religious clergy group to take control because once they do, freedom will be the first casualty. And they will twist everything around for their own benefit.

It is why America, in its original form post Revolution, was the greatest country and form of government ever created. And while America now has an ever increasing amount of domestic enemies, some in very high places, who hate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and never have any problem ripping apart the Founders and their hope of a place in this world where individual freedom may reign, they never address any better alternative in the world. Even in its present degraded condition, America arguably remains the best country on the planet in the eyes of a likely majority, though freedom is under severe attack and will not last much longer without a powerful corrective.

However, one must know that the necessary corrective will never come from this first type of Christian in America which I identify here. Their political equivalent in the 1770s were the American Tories who continually betrayed the cause of freedom and independence by staunchly siding with the English Crown and Parliament. These people comprised about one third of the American Colonists. Many if not most of them were directly connected economically to the higher money interests in England and Europe which essentially controlled the government of England since the Bank of England was created in 1694. For the Tories, then, it was a power and money issue. Why should they fight against the very hand that feeds them? Why should they sacrifice their comfortable position in American society or allow it to be threatened for a mere political cause?

There are Christian denominations that still exist which were identified as Tory at the time of the American Revolution. They opposed the relatively smaller Protestant denominations who stood for freedom, those who actually had ministers of the Gospel who took up arms and fought for the cause. One particular well known large denomination which still exists today, though a mere shell of what it once was and almost thoroughly taken over by the sinful culture, was so against the American Revolution that many members left the country or went into hiding. They supported the English money-controlled tyrants absolutely. Those that remained refused to fight. And then when the War was over and their side lost, the many members of this denomination suddenly came back out of the woodwork and began evangelizing in America again, taking full advantage of the new religious freedom won in the War. Talk about your blazing hypocrites!

In essence, those who believe in high church, who cannot exist without customary church structures and a ruling clergy, who must be told what to believe and do, who have no desire to do their own research into the written Word, who refuse to put the pure teachings of the Lord Jesus first and always, and who revert to the beliefs of their denomination or church or pastor though such beliefs often clash and disagree with the New Testament, are identified as this first type of Christian. They will stand by as real Christians who honor the Lord Jesus are persecuted. They are the equivalent of the religious acolytes who refuse to get their hands dirty by helping the unfortunate victims of assaulting robbers left dying on the side of the road. They are as the rich man Dives who neglected a destitute Lazarus asking for mere scraps to stay alive and viable. They will rarely do anything which may threaten or sacrifice their standing in church society or as members of a higher group. Their money, salaries, prestige, and success are always more important. They place a high premium on their social status and are mortified if people see them as something other than legitimately mainline.

They are opposed to the total authority of the Lord Jesus, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and the free exercise of spiritual gifts. They are against the spiritual love and close fellowship as characterized by the originals and their unity in the Spirit. They insist that Christian unity can only exist through an authoritative establishment which must include institutional church structures just as the unbelieving Israelites insisted on the physical temple and its priesthood instead of the Lord’s new spiritual Temple comprised of every single believer as a priest thereof.

They gag at independent Christian home groups or Bible studies. They will only support whatever their church or leaders sanction and nothing else. They cannot see that church as we know it is much different than it was in the beginning. They don’t care about the beginning. They don’t care about Biblical Truth. They much prefer their own respective “Christian” interpretation which is more comfortable, socially acceptable, and not threatening to the devil. They love playing church. No matter how much someone may point out that so much of what they hold dear has no precedent or support in Scripture, they will continually insist they are perfectly satisfied with their interpretations, doctrines, and church formats to the point of actually holding Scripture in contempt. They hate it when Scripture proves them wrong. Even five hundred years after the Protestant Reformation we still have a great many Christians who insist on putting clergyites and church governments on the throne and allow their oppositional pronouncements and beliefs to counteract and overcome the Word of God.

These people are best defined as Christian Pharisees. They are perfectly described by the Lord Jesus in the following passage as He reveals the fallacy of the Pharisees’ vaunted Oral Law (the tradition of the elders), which Unreal Christianity has their own many examples of (extra-Biblical church doctrines, traditions, bylaws, statements of faith, confessions, catechisms, specific denominational beliefs, etc.) which render the Word of God of none effect:

The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 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.”

He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” [Mark 7:5-13][1]

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 1)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 2)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 3)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 5)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 6)

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Tags: Abraham, America, American Revolutionary War, Christian Pharisees, John the Immerser, Kingdom of God, Lord Jesus, Moses, Oral Law, Pharisees, Prophetic Warning, Prophets, Psalms, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Religious Tradition, Secret Societies, Spiritual Gifts, The Great Awakening, The Infilling of the Holy Spirit, The Law of Moses, The Letter Kills but the Spirit Gives Life, Unreal Christianity

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 3)

May 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. [Proverbs 21:2]

“Official” Christianity’s ongoing and incessant obsession with the non-New Testament clergy/laity division apparently exists for essentially no other reason than to benefit those in control. For correct perspective, here is the New Covenant model:

SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS

By creating and instituting a non-New Testament ministerial credentialing structure composed of exclusive and compulsory key portals through which a candidate must travel and any number of additional required hoops through which he or she must jump, the prospective ministerial pool is significantly diminished until it becomes a veritable puddle.

The Christian ministerial candidates who make it through this credentialing process and thus end up in said puddle do not only thoroughly believe in its exclusive nature which bars 99% of Christians from “official” ministry for various non-New Testament reasons, they are also inclined to be brainwashed by whatever dogmas, doctrines, bylaws, and philosophies specific to their particular denomination they are forced to learn and believe in along the way. Their “Christian” education thus serves as a gatekeeper conferring ministerial legitimacy and confirming their official standing which everyone must honor to maintain their membership in the organization.

And though these “ministers” may appear to be learned, wise, and highly worthy of respect above that of the non-ministers, it is in part because the vast laity class which makes up the much greater part of the overall membership has been conditioned and effectively coerced to believe this as part of their membership protocol, also by obligatory persuasion. Sadly, this massive laity membership comprising the 99% also must believe (and most do believe) that the laity is basically worthless as a ministerial candidate pool (ocean) because:

(1) It belongs to the wrong class (inherently) and effectively embraces its low class status, and thus cannot possibly qualify.

(2) It does not possess the proper credentials (largely academic) or connections (preferential treatment, nepotism, social status) and has no hope or means of ever attaining them.

(3) Gains no support or recognition from those who rule and are in control.

One would otherwise see, then, that the entire ministerial credentialing system was created not necessarily for actual ministry but for control of the operation since it decides both what constitutes ministry and decides who will be ministers. In this they are not protecting the Lord’s teachings so much as their own. This was not the case in the Lord’s original Community in which every member was a minister and there was no clergy-laity division. There is therefore a huge dichotomy here between the Lord’s authority and control and those who would rule in His place.

Nevertheless, we see this division in almost every Christian organization. There is a controlling clique more concerned with control and funding than with preaching and teaching the pure Gospel. This clique at one extreme may be a large international ecclesiastical body with a single figurehead. At the other extreme the control may be vested in a single family unit which passes control of their church or ministry to the next generation in the family as one often does in business. This phenomenon is a fairly recent development and has been ramped up especially over the last quarter century. In both cases (pretty much all cases), the only ones allowed to be “official ministers,” which includes receiving official funding, are those within the controlling clique or those the clique chooses to support. We even have ministerial supra-organizations made up of individual clergy members from various churches and ministries (created by invitation only). If one is so privileged to gain such membership the ministerial opportunities and open doors are ubiquitous.

THE PYRAMID

Just as in any other tiered hierarchy with a chain of command, such as that found in corporations, the government, or the military, those at the very top of the clergy class have strict control over the mid-level and lower level members of the clergy hierarchy, who in turn have strict control over the vast laity. It’s the perfect picture of a pyramid scheme hidden in plain sight created strictly for control—control of the operation, the religious beliefs of the operation, and perhaps most importantly, the funding of the operation.

Notice that all standards, teachings, beliefs, and statements of faith are all top-down while all principal funding is bottom-up. And though large monetary accounts exist for general support and funding specific projects in mainline denominations and larger churches and ministries, it is still the case that the bulk of the money was donated. In other words, the laity class, which is comprised of the great unwashed and unworthy, must finance the clergy class which curiously often has much greater needs and a higher standard of living than the average believer. It also possesses a predilection for extensive material outlays (understatement alert) rather than assisting members in need. And while it is true that there may be those within the laity class who are relatively well-off, most members are not and many are effectively poor. These economic percentages are roughly the same as those per capita percentages in the world at large. This portends (pretty much proves) that this structure is based not on the Lord’s example but on a worldly model featuring a high class ruling a low class.

This entire system which has been adopted by relatively all official Christian denominations and bodies not only does not reflect the New Testament model and the pure teachings of the Lord Jesus, it is often the very opposite.

And even though in the unlikely event every existing Christian minister in the world of any denomination is legitimate (which would be a very good thing, of course), we are still beset with the massive difficulty that arises when 99% of potential Christian ministers are denied the same legitimacy.

Consider the following:

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” [Matthew 20:25-28]

One may also note the perfect example and lifestyle of the Lord Jesus which is unquestionably the effective opposite of that of many clergyites. Rather than exist at the top of a religious pyramid (however large or small) in which all money and control moves upward, the Lord existed at the bottom level of society—at ground level—and taught His men to do the same. This never meant that they did without, necessarily (though there were sometimes hard times), or that they were not provided for by the Lord, but only that ground level was likely where they were most effective at meeting the very people they were sent to serve so He could save.

Think about it this way: Many years ago I distinctly remember a little factoid put forth by a genius level individual who wrote for various publications. A question was presented to her regarding the amount of water which existed on the planet. She answered by saying that if the planet was perfectly smooth throughout with no mountain ranges, valleys, etc, the water level around the entire planet would be about forty feet deep. In other words, there is enough water here that under such conditions we would have a veritable water planet. In more other words, there is a lot more water here than what we may think and is roughly evenly distributed as best as possible since water always seeks its own level. Unless restricted in some way, water will always travel from higher to lower elevations and eventually fill low places and depressions. To go in the opposite direction is not natural.

If we put this in economic terms, there is plenty to go around for everyone if the existing world money supply was allowed to be naturally evenly distributed. It is the same with food. There is enough food and food production in the world to make sure nobody ever goes hungry. God designed it that way. He created a perfect system. It is not His fault that evil always-for-profit people have taken control of much of the world’s resources.

If righteous people—those who put people before profit—were in control, the problems associated with food production and distribution would be relatively minimal and fairly easy to address. The reason people do go hungry, starve, and die in mass famines is because the food is not being distributed to them due to any number of severe supply chain disruptions or local disasters, which may include:

(1) Periodic wars or other large scale events

(2) The controllers of food production seeing food as a purely for-profit commodity

(3) Food being willfully withheld from populations for whatever sinister reason

(4) Some taking much more than their share

Again, if the world was being run by righteous people practically no one would ever go hungry. It is the same with money, even though money is an artificial construct.

And in case you may be wondering, addressing such large scale challenges with forced authoritative (tyrannical) social controls never works long-term. The only reason they work or may appear to work for a time is because force is applied which causes submission usually for self-preservation. Such force always invokes an eventual corrective response, however. Only a truly organic system based on human freedom which has respect for human freedom actually works. Controlling people in general always has an ulterior agenda regardless of the faux beneficent propaganda thereof.

Most people have no need of such controls since they are well-behaved, self-controlled, and law-abiding. Such control only inhibits them, serves as a drag on their lives and production, and eventually enslaves them. Societal control should only be applied to those who cannot or refuse to properly control themselves since such people subtract from the freedom and wellbeing of the socially moral and responsible, cause trouble, destruct instead of construct, and disturb the peace.

MONEY TYRANNY

Though a very small percentage, there are still a great many people in this world who are worth vast sums of money—millions, billions, and even trillions—who could do much to alleviate hunger, suffering, and poverty but most never or rarely do this. Why? Maybe it’s because they didn’t gain their money by giving it away. Maybe it’s because they actually got it by doing the very opposite—by siphoning it from the people at large through various means and schemes. Maybe this is the actual system they created that now exists in the world. Maybe they are fabulously rich for the most part because they are excellent rip-off artists and have been at it for a very long time. Maybe they’ve created an ingenious system of artificial money in this fallen world in which the real wealth always flows upwards to them from everybody else. Maybe they are serving mammon and not God.

And maybe a good percentage of these are those in the “Christian” realm who utilize the exact system for their own benefit.

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 1)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 2)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 4)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 5)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 6)

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Tags: America, Christian Denominations, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of the Called-Out Ones, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Jesus Cleansing The Temple, Jesus Created One Church, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Ministry Regulations, Money Boys, One Household of God, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Servant, The Great Awakening, The Love of Money, Unreal Ministers

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 2)

May 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

There is one overall demand made upon every person who would be a real follower of the Lord Jesus. It is the one thing that divides real Christians from all others.

In these days of utter depravity and supreme idiocracy in which masses of apparently sane people are believing in and acting on the most insane notions, assumptions, opinions, and theories that cause so much hatred and destruction and not see anything wrong or aberrant about any of it, how can a sufficient remedy ever be applied? They have an irresponsible non-answer for all of their abnormal behaviors and beliefs which they use to constantly fight for and enforce their position, meaning that they refuse to tolerate any discussion or reasoned argument. All they care about is forcing their opinions. Do they do this because they know it is their only chance at success? Because they know inherently that they do not have the benefit of truth and facts on their side? Who trained them in such a way? Where did they receive their instruction? How did they receive it? Do they even know? What is their level of self-awareness? They exhibit the classic signs of pure indoctrination. How did it happen?

Well, it is not difficult at all to surmise that it happened the same way it happens with any religious or cultish indoctrination. People believe stupid things and act on them. People believe things that look somewhat good and seem to have good underlying causes but fail to do their proper research which would reveal hidden agendas. Christians believe things for the same reason that violate the Word of God but they never get that far in their understanding and agree to thoughtlessly accept the word of their betters who know everything and are officially ordained. Seriously, just taking the time to read the Gospels in their entirety would clear up much but they don’t do it. They just don’t. Some Christian denominations even caution against reading the Word. Some Christians are actually afraid of reading the Word. These are otherwise obvious signs of indoctrination.

Over the last several decades the question has often been asked about a particular nation of the fairly recent past. It consisted of a generally bright and industrious people. And yet the entire nation was overcome and made to believe and do things they otherwise would have likely disagreed with in normal circumstances. Were these people under some kind of spell? What drove them and allowed for this behavior?

It is actually not all that unusual. Denominated Mass Formation Groupthink is the end result of a multifaceted agenda taking place largely under the radar and beyond the ability of most to perceive it as it is happening. It is a quite common theme presenting itself pretty much ubiquitously in world history, but has developed over the last century into a science. Imagine Judas to a much greater degree. Then imagine a highly intelligent Judas. Then imagine such a Judas incapable of remorse. All one need do to gain understanding on this issue is acknowledge the full depth of the betrayal inflicted upon the Creator Himself by His own people whom He created, the ones He had saved from sure destruction in the very beginning and then roughly a million times afterwards on countless occasions. As strange as it may seem, it is often the case that deception and indoctrination causes a person or even a nation to allow their natural love and affection to be overcome by something sinister.

LOVE ON THE ROCKS

Have you ever given your heart in love to someone only to have them stomp it into the ground? It is a painful thing, and though the pain is quite real and can be intense, it pales in comparison to what has happened to our Lord and Savior. He still reaches out in love to all every day and otherwise sane people still reject and make fun of Him every day. It is even the case with Christians.

Non-Christians are a different subject altogether and many of them can be excused for their bad behavior due to pure and powerful ignorance which keeps them bound in a prison of unknowing. They may be bright and successful and appear as lights in the world but are ignorant and in prison just the same. There is a Way out of their predicament. There is a Door. They must find the Door.

But Christians of any kind or type have essentially no excuse due to their knowledge of the Lord Jesus and access to His Word. You see, some of the non-Christians among us who despise the Living Word and His written Word would never knowingly allow His presence or His written Word in their whereabouts unless possibly as a dust collector. There is something about a Bible that makes some people very angry. To have it around much less actually read it is anathema. They recoil in horror at the very idea. One may wonder then why some of these might possess a Bible only to never read it and it is likely because they honor themselves by showing whoever that they are actually open-minded and respectful in that they do consider His Word. (Hey look at me! I have respect for all world beliefs and religions! I even have a Bible!) These people are so great don’t you know. And the Lord sees through their dubiousness and double standards in a nanosecond.

But again, most of these people likely have a very good excuse. The apostle Paul, no stranger to being a former rabid anti-Christian of the highest magnitude, summed it up in the following:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief… [1Timothy 1:12-13]

Therefore, when one lives in darkness on the other side of Light in the permanent Night, how is he or she supposed to know any better? With Paul, of course, he not only had a heart for his religion, he gave himself to it full bore and never looked back. He became so thoroughly and completely given over to his religion and religious traditions that he refused to consider for a second any alternative in the slightest degree. He needed to be stopped, knocked down, and delivered. He needed to be redirected. Because if he wasn’t his religion would end up taking him straight to hell. Thank the Lord that he was redirected. It took the Lord knocking him on his backside to achieve the desired result, something all real Christians have experienced in their blessed “redirecting.” The Lord knew Paul’s heart and was willing to do whatever He must to save him. It is, again, the same with every real Christian, each one a former sinner, some to very high degrees. The Lord must put much effort into saving us, even by suffering the worst torture and death ever suffered.

These are the ends the Lord Jesus will go to in order to save those whom He knows will love Him fully after their deliverance. He knows who they are. There are others in the world who don’t have quite the same attitude. The Lord knew Paul was already all in before salvation and would be all in afterwards. What to do with those people who are simply too apathetic or uncaring? Can their lack of full focus be redirected? Is there enough there?

As in the case of the rich young ruler (see Luke 18:18-27) who ardently sought out the Lord and felt extremely blessed to actually talk to Him and get a personal word, he proved to not have what it took though it looked like he may have and may have even thought he did. He had apparently done everything right since his youth. He had kept the Law, at least externally. He seemed to have a good heart. But the Lord proved that the young man was bound by money and loved the security of money above his love of God and security in God.

And keep in mind, the Lord never told the young man to come join His movement and thereby donate his family wealth to His group. He told the man to first give his money to the poor.

This obviously proves the Lord didn’t want him because of his money or cultural prestige or what this man’s social standing could bring to His movement. Sound familiar? He wanted the young man to be set free, delivered from sin, and be blessed with salvation. He also knew the man would have to be broken from his love of and trust in wealth. But it was not to be. The Lord did His best but to no avail. One wonders if it was also this young man’s dependence on his family religion that kept him bound.

EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED

There is another passage of Scripture that speaks to this definite 100% all-in requirement of the Lord. He puts it within the context of religious belief and for our purposes here that means Christianity. The Lord paints a picture of formerly bad news sinners of the worst kind in juxtaposition with holier-than-thous missing the Kingdom. I can tell you based on past experience and reams of historical knowledge that if there is one thing outwardly religious people hate more than anything, especially the big boy higher ups, is anyone anywhere ever questioning them or not properly respecting them or their religious standing. (Don’t look at the man behind the curtain!) Imagine the apostle Paul if he never got saved and continued on for a few more decades in that dark condition and you’ll get the idea. Such people will stone you in a heartbeat. Whether the Lord said the following words to gig ‘em or just point out the plain truth, He sure did tick them off to the nth degree:

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.” [Matthew 21:28-32]

How is it that rank sinners are often located, loved, and directed by the Lord into salvation and His Kingdom before it may happen for the religiously or culturally indoctrinated? Or the upstanding outwardly and/or apparently righteous clergyites? What do the former rank sinners such as tax collectors and prostitutes have that these other people lack? What keeps many Christians from full dedication and commitment to the Lord Jesus?

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 1)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 3)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 4)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 5)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 6)

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Tags: American Revolutionary War, And the Word became flesh, Discipleship, Indoctrination, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Mammon, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, religion, The Door, The Great Awakening, The Living Word, The Word of God

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 1)

May 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

Prior to and during the American Revolution, there were three separate and distinct types of American Colonists. Each one comprised about one-third of the population.

UNITED WE STAND?

America has never been the united country portrayed in standard narratives. It has always been a place of great division. Even in the very early days of the 1600s when American colonists were predominantly if not exclusively composed of the Anglo-Saxon British citizens of the same general culture of their compatriots back home, there remained political and religious differences, some quite diverse.

Remember, though false narratives still abound in America regarding our founding, including within the realm of early colonial history, and that such false narratives have exploded in content as of late, the original colonial settlers perfectly reflected the sharp divisions in England of that time. Nowhere were these divisions more profound than within religious belief and expression.

One can see this division by merely looking at the first two colonies established in America—the first in Virginia in 1607 and the second in Plymouth in 1620. The Virginia colony was founded by Anglicans, those who fully supported the English state church, an entity freshly created in the prior century. It was a mercantile colony. Plymouth, in what later became part of the Massachusetts colony, was founded by their direct opposite, English Separatists, who were fully opposed to the Anglicans and had gone through many years of persecution by government and ecclesiastical overlords. Plymouth Colony was founded principally for the cause of freedom and religious freedom in particular. In these two original colonies we can hear the echo of the Lord’s statement:

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” [Luke 16:13][1]

THE GREAT DIVIDE

At the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s, one of the greatest and most necessary events in world history, the English monarchy also made a dramatic change by fully separating from the Roman Catholic Church. The level of gross corruption and arrogant authoritarianism within Catholicism had reached a point in which even European monarchies, no slouches when it came to tyranny, had gagged at the bit.

This always happens when tyrants push too far, as the Catholic religious tyrants of that time had done. It had obviously been building over a thousand years since the beginning of the Constantinian Church in the early 300s AD. This Roman emperor, Constantine I, his national traditional realm having lost to real Christianity, knew the only choice he had left was to make a bold move toward co-opting Christianity by creating his own empire-wide hybrid religious body. He knew he could never get rid of the Christians dispersed throughout the Roman Empire or ever force them to oppose the New Covenant and support Roman pagan beliefs which included emperor worship. Many emperors had certainly tried.

The latest and last gasp of bloody persecution directed against Christians was orchestrated by Diocletian and his gang of four in the early fourth century (303-313). Christians were imprisoned, tortured, and murdered here and there throughout the Empire. Afterwards, having failed miserably to make an impact in furtherance of their tyrannical cause, those in power knew the gig was up. They discovered what previous Christian enemies had learned, that persecution not only didn’t work, it strengthened Christian character and unity and made them even more fruitful than before. Persecution also created a level of sympathy among some in the general population. Hence, Christians had essentially taken root. They were everywhere, spread all over the empire, and to wipe them out would be wiping out the Empire itself. These people proved by their great witness that they were dedicated to the Lord Jesus first and always and would never conform to anti-Christian governmental and cultural norms.

In fact, Christians had actually preserved the Roman Empire as it increasing grew more disgustingly corrupt and morally bankrupt. If not for the great numbers of loving Spirit-filled Christians obeying and putting into practice the bountiful and beneficial teachings of their Savior and the vast successful evangelistic efforts made for almost three centuries in blessing millions with the Light of the Gospel, the Roman Empire would have ceased to exist long before it actually did. These people were truly salt and light. However, rather than recognize the wrongheadedness and governmental futility involved in a corrupt military dictatorship and instead attempting to institute a government composed of principles of freedom in which people may live according to their conscience without being forced into various forms of slavery, including religious slavery, those in control refused to stand down and continued beating a dead horse as it were. It was all about control and insuring that those in power maintained it and kept the wealth flowing in their direction.

In this political maelstrom Constantine saw a golden opportunity to create a government model which appeared new but was actually only a hybridized form of the same former tyranny. Again, knowing he could not defeat Christianity, he decided to co-opt it. He would create a new “Church” and then make it the only legal church. He would make all other “churches” and Christian expressions illegal or “illicit.” And of course, he would rule as a religious dictator. It was indeed a brilliant move though diabolical to the core. He was likely never a real Christian and never cared for the actual application of the Lord’s full teachings. In fact, he wanted a low common denominator Christianity in order to bring all Christians on board and congeal them into a forced controlled mass union.

In essence, as King Henry VIII had done after his nation’s divorce from Catholicism so he could gain a personal divorce and become the Six Wives Legend and create a new state English Church (the Anglican Church), Constantine also created a state Church. He would require all citizens of the Empire to join it whether against their will or not. Thus, the new Constantinian Church would force conversion to his new hybrid miscreation. All citizens of the Empire were forced to become “Christians.” They would be forced to engage and participate in the new “Christian” mandatory practices and dogma designed to create a common governmental and religious belief system which had the implausible goal of creating national Roman unity. Rather than a military dictatorship to force compliance in which emperors must be worshipped as gods, Constantine would rule by force from the top of a religious ziggurat, as the ancient Sumerians, and maintain the thinly disguised emperor worship aspect thereof invoking new gods characterized after Roman deities and a central triad. He would rule through his chosen religious prelates which comprised the first “Christian” hierarchy. These surrogate ecclesiastics and policy dictators in the guise of Christian leaders were basically channeling the old Jewish Pharisees of the first century.

Consequently, official religious freedom in the Roman Empire was essentially dead. No one was allowed to practice their religion legally according to conscience. This was especially true of real Christians. And just as any number of pagan religions would eventually be outlawed, including those which were held in high esteem by the Romans such as Mithraism, real Christianity would also be outlawed. This was the devil’s masterstroke. By creating a replacement Christian religion and forcing everyone by government decree under penalty of law to join it and practice it, he knew the real Christians would never submit. In this way, the enemy could then single them out and direct the greatest persecution effort against them with the full weight of the Roman Empire to back him. In time, the “new” Christians, the backstabbing traditores, would cold shoulder the dissenting real Christians. In a massive turn of events showcasing the devil’s dirty tricks and methods, the “new” Christians, those who fully sold out and conformed to Constantine’s “Church,” would become the chief persecutors of the Lord’s people just as the unbelieving Israelites were the chief persecutors of the believing Israelites in the first century AD.

ORIGINS OF ROMAN TYRANNY

Almost four centuries before this time, in 44BC, it was a big gamble that a government faction of Senators et al murdered Julius Caesar in cold blood in the Senate chamber for fear that his power had grown too great. The perpetrators wanted to make a statement, doing the dirty deed in the light of day in an open forum. That they did. The Roman Republic had formerly granted Julius Caesar his excessive power and he was not necessarily taking advantage of it but merely ruling from the platform he was allowed. Some were fearful he had gone too far or would. Their fears were not disingenuous. The actions of the assassins, however, were a corrective that need not have been made if the government had not previously made Julius Caesar possible. Perhaps the tyrant faction that supported him was answered by a faux freedom faction opposing him, the reported gang of sixty that assassinated him. Perhaps the greatness of the existing Roman Republic and freedom thereof was seen as ending too soon for the comfort of some who saw the writing on the wall sooner than others. Ironically, of course, the death of Julius Caesar had the opposite effect intended by his killers, in that rather than greater freedom it precipitated the end of the Republic and the beginning of a tornadic period of civil war that would later result in the Roman Empire ruled by dictatorial emperors with much greater power than Julius ever had.

And so it was with Constantine centuries later. Seeing the inevitable crumbling of empire soon coming, even after great reforms had recently been made to shore it up (knowing these would not last) and the inability of Roman emperors to effectively rule as before and contain the freedom brought about by the Lord’s Kingdom, he moved on replacing the Lord’s Kingdom with his own kingdom. He created an earthbound religious empire. And sadly, he also moved on replacing the Lord Jesus, making himself the effective first Vicar of Christ (substitute).

What is much sadder, tragic actually, is that so many Christians of one kind or another, evoking Judas, supported his illicit endeavor and disguised tyranny. They were obviously overcome by fear as were all dwellers in the Empire suddenly saddled with compulsory conversion. These low or no oil Christians accepted the unprecedented overarching government mandate without a fight, never questioning the process. Rather than stand up against an otherwise obvious power play by the new potentate and his hierarchical henchmen, they weakly surrendered to a new king, a dictatorial government tyrant, a faux King Saul who quickly morphed into an apostate Solomon.

They betrayed their Savior.

Sound familiar?

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 2)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 3)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 4)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 5)

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA (Part 6)

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: America, America the Beautiful, American Revolution, Come Out From Among Them and Be Separate, Division, Early Church History 101, Is America a Christian Nation?, Israelites, Lord Jesus, Pilgrim Separatists, Plymouth, Protestant Reformation, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Roman Empire, Solomon, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Wake Up America!

LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF: THE UNRECOGNIZED MILLIONS OF GOOD PEOPLE IN AMERICA

May 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

You don’t know they exist. Most don’t know you exist. They go about their lives quietly and unselfishly, determined to do their best and be kind to others. It has its own reward.

THE GOLDEN RULE

“You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” [Leviticus 19:17-18]

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:35-40]

“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 7:12]

Whether they actually know it or not, or try to, the good people in America instinctively obey the Golden Rule. They just do it. They generally don’t let something else come into their life and interfere with their natural behavior. They reject false narratives and pejoratives that may cause them to become something they are not, or act inappropriately, or disparage people they don’t know personally, or give in to hate. They know the best they can do is simply be what they are in the sense of doing well for their fellow human beings. It is not a religious thing whatsoever. They do not think, “Oh, I must obey the Golden Rule today.” They might pray and ask for help in doing this to a better or to the best degree but when out among the community, they just act naturally.

And that’s the key. It is what I think the Lord Jesus appreciates most about these people. And please understand, I am not saying these people are perfect. Nobody is. We all prove our humanity from time to time even when we try our best not to. What I am saying here is that some people don’t need to be prompted to act right or do right but just do it at the time when life presents itself before them.

A COOL STORY (AND ANOTHER)

Several years ago I had to assist in taking care of my mother’s house after she passed away. We had to get it prepared for sale. Her belongings were either donated to charity or divided up among her children with each on board working together and behaving perfectly through the process, a rare thing among families. She had still lived in the city we grew up in. I had moved out of town in my twenties. I discovered that good people were still everywhere there at that time, simply going about their business, most not causing any trouble, like in many places. The city had changed quite a bit outwardly, becoming even larger. The demographics had also changed.

Early one morning I was going to a grocery store to get a few things. I knew no one in the neighborhood. I parked my car and was heading toward the main entry at the front of the store. As an aside, I have been drinking only purified water for over thirty years after discovering the poisons that lurk in tap water. This store had one of those water purifying vending machines just outside the main doors along with other vending machines. Along with an empty water jug, I was carrying with me a little component from my car, a small cup with a spring lid that fits in a round car tray behind a small door in the dash. I would keep my change in it.

So I’m walking. Right when I entered the main traffic area in front of the store which separates the parking lot from the store entrance, it happened. It was one of those things that makes a person feel a tad embarrassed but later proved to be a veritable godsend. Right there where all the cars drive by and many people cross, right in the middle of that high traffic area, I dropped my coin container. It hit the pavement, the lid opened up, and loose change went flying everywhere. There, all over the asphalt in a widening circle were my quarters and nickels and dimes making their acquaintance with the dirty street and coming to rest as either heads or tails though I briefly, for a split second, could not make heads or tails of the situation.

Then I immediately got down and went to work quickly gathering them up, not so concerned about my money but about getting it done as fast as I could so as not to further inconvenience anyone, especially the people in cars who would have to wait until the perpetrator of this miscue gathered up his coinage and made haste to clear the way. Then, while I was down there engaged in tunnel vision carrying on in my hurried solitary pursuit with the eyes of the world upon me from all sides on a stage not at all of my choosing, the most amazing thing happened. Other people who were also walking to and fro started helping me. They started picking up coins and putting them in the little coin cup or handing them to me, all without saying a word. One young mother with two or three kids in tow had stopped and was doing this. I distinctly remember one little girl, her daughter, of maybe four years of age. She immediately took a few steps to the side, picked up a stray coin a few feet away, and returned it to me. She looked at me with not so much of a smile but with a pleased look on her young face, as though she knew she was doing something good to help the poor man. As I think about it, and knowing how powerful memory-making can be when we’re young and impressionable, she may still remember this event.

Then a guy came walking in from the parking lot talking on his cell phone. He was in the midst of a kinda sorta animated phone conversation as he was walking and when he came into the area he simply bent over and started picking up a few coins and giving them to me while still carrying on his conversation. He never even looked at me or missed a beat. He just did this all in stride like he did it all the time. I’m sure the people waiting in their cars to drive through were also quite patient with the proceedings. Maybe they enjoyed what they saw. Maybe, as spectators, they were blessed by the proceedings. I was still scrambling to get it all done and was somewhat surprised that so many were helping and that they thought nothing of it. Not one single person tried to take anything. They all helped me until it was quickly done and I had all my coins back ready to feed a few into a machine for some water. Is there a parable here? I thanked them but I don’t remember anyone saying a word. There could have been a language barrier with some. They just acted. They had this goodness in them. Nobody told them what to do. They just did it. Without even acknowledging what they were doing or thinking about it each of these people had perfectly obeyed the Golden Rule.

There was another time after this, several days later, when I was at that same location to buy a few groceries and also get some more water, when a similar event happened but had much more important ramifications. I was in the exact place walking through the parking lot close to the entry and stopped to get a shopping cart. There was a rack of them in the lot on the left before one crossed the main traffic area in front of the store, right where the former coin spillage had occurred. As I reached to get the first cart and separate it from the rest, right there on the tray-like depression at the top of the cart by the handle was a ladies beige leather wallet. I immediately thought of the unfortunate person who mistakenly left it there and how worried she must be. I took the wallet and went directly to the entry and found a store employee that happened to be there and told him about it. I asked him about a lost and found. He said yes, they had one. I told him the story. I gave the wallet to him and he went directly into the store right away and turned it in.

Then, while filling up my jug with water just outside the store by the entry, a young woman came walking up from the parking lot. I must have been the only one there at the time. She came right over to me, a very concerned look on her face, and asked if I happened to know about a beige wallet she just lost. Can you imagine this? Can you imagine how the Lord does His best to put the right people in the right place every day everywhere all over the world so we can help each other out? I immediately told her that yes, I found it. I found your wallet. I told her I had just given it to a store employee who turned it in to the store lost and found. She thanked me and hurriedly went into the store, still bearing a very concerned look on her face. A few minutes later she came back out with her beige leather wallet in hand, much relieved, and thanked me heartily. She began reaching into her wallet, wanting to give me a reward. I politely refused and told her I was glad to help. Then she dropped a MOAB. She told me she had just cashed her paycheck before she lost her wallet and that her newly recovered beige leather wallet was filled with cash which she needed to pay bills that day.

Now, please understand, I am not relaying this story in an attempt to bring glory to myself. This is something you would have done exactly the same as I did. It is something any of the millions of good people in America would have done and do on a daily basis. I am certainly thankful for her that I was one of the ones who found it that would have turned it in. I am glad I was there for her. There are other people out there that would have ripped her off in a heartbeat and not thought twice about it or have any remorse afterwards.

Granted, this second story has much more impact than the first story about the goof who scatters his spare change all over the pavement in the most absolutely conspicuous of places. But on second thought, maybe God planned it that way. Maybe it wasn’t purely an accident. Maybe I wasn’t a goof at all but one who obeyed God. Maybe that container full of coins was supposed to fall down and empty its contents all over Creation like that. It sure did make for a great memory and also blessed others with an opportunity to display their natural goodness and unthinking adherence to the Golden Rule. It obviously blessed my socks right off. I will never forget those wonderful people.

Maybe the apparent miscue was actually an answer to prayer. I don’t know about you, but I do pray every morning, the very first thing, on my face, that the Lord would order my steps for the day, along with other short prayers. I’ve been doing this for a very long time. This is the prayer:

“Father, I ask that you would order my steps today and line everything up the way you want it to go. I ask for your great powerful anointing and strength and your great physical anointing and stamina that I can do your will. Thank you Father. Amen.”

On some days it appears as though I never prayed this prayer, based on the not so great events of those particular days. Sometimes I wonder if the prayer does any good at all. We must remind ourselves, however, that the vast majority of days are not about conquering the world but about engaging in the greatness of what many good days strung together consistently will bring into one’s life over the long haul and the beneficial impact it will have on others.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. [Romans 12:1-2]

Imagine a society in which everyone obeys the Golden Rule on a daily basis. Though we are all human and subject to being humans and doing human things, as we get better at obeying the Lord and becoming a better reflection of Him we will also get better for one another. When one is having a hard time another will pick him up. When one is blessed she will be able to bless another not as fortunate. Some people are so hurting it will take a while to get them well again. The better we get as people the more we will be able to help each other.

This is what the real Community of the Lord Jesus is like. It is about regular people who joined His Kingdom and pledged themselves to do His will and become better people with an eye for helping others so everyone can be blessed instead of just a few.

Remember, the more people there are doing the work of God the less the burden there is on each one.

And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

‘Make ready the way of the Lord,

Make His paths straight.

‘Every ravine will be filled,

And every mountain and hill will be brought low;

The crooked will become straight,

And the rough roads smooth;

And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’” [Luke 3:3-6] [1]

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: America, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Golden Rule, Lord Jesus, Love Thy Neighbor, People Helping People, Prayer, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Blessings of God, The Great Awakening

HAPPY ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY REAL CHRISTIANITY

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

It has been a privilege and blessing to do this work here over the last eleven years. I am thankful to the Lord. With your help I look forward to year twelve…

So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. [Acts 5:41-42]

As Christians, suffering is often a difficult concept to grasp. It is hard to make sense of in light of the fact that the Lord said He came that we may “have life abundantly.” Abundant life and suffering don’t seem to go together. These two appear to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. How can such opposites have fellowship? The Scriptures are clear, however, that real Christians are also called to share in His sufferings.

I’ve written about 750 posts in my time here at WordPress. Most of these are teaching posts of two to four pages. I have also written many longer articles, however, which means my total count here is probably approaching three thousand pages. That’s approximately ten to fifteen books.

Please excuse me for personal reference but I think we need times of such accounting. These annual birthday posts are one of two times during the year when I allow a tad more personal reference in order to give you, my dear readers, a better understanding of who I am and what the Lord has called me to do. In that light, we should all be glad that His standards of judgment are not those of the world.

The world, and yes, even the Christian world, judges ministers on their success, how big their church or ministry is, whether or not they’re on television, and whether or not they have millions of people, millions of dollars, and many church higher-ups backing them. I am not saying that all of such people have drifted off and do believe that some of them are where they are supposed to be, but I am saying that the standard of what a real minister of the Gospel is was established in the very beginning and that it is FAR different from modern standards.

Of course, though most Christians and most ministers thoroughly reject it, the greatest and only standard is that of our Lord Jesus. Prior to official ministry He worked tirelessly and obscurely preparing for it. He also worked for most of His life to that point as a builder. Though the Scriptures refer to Him as a carpenter, the meaning of the term extended beyond what one may think a carpenter was in those days. He was actually involved in larger construction projects though to what degree we do not know. Suffice it to say that He learned His craft from His stepfather Joseph and served him honorably while growing up. There is no doubt the Lord had great success as a builder though such success is relative. At some point Joseph passed away and the Lord had to take responsibility for His mother and siblings. He also had to prepare for future ministry which included earning enough money to finance it. He would have to earn enough not only for Himself, which amounted to next to nothing, but mainly to take care of His twelve and their families. This measure of a minister of the Gospel is therefore, truly, pretty much the opposite of Christian ministers in general, who are more concerned with their own bottom line rather than that of their congregants.

During His ministry, the Lord Jesus, a Man accustomed to having much more, one whom the apostle Paul said was rich and became poor, pared Himself down to the use of only the barest of the bare essentials. He had no house. He had pretty much no possessions whatsoever other than the clothes on His back. This was the model He set. He taught this model to His men. He taught them to travel light. Therefore, the idea that He would involve Himself with something so spurious and foreign as building “church buildings” and doing His best to look like a Pharisee is ludicrous.

It was the Pharisees and those like them who were obsessed with religious externals. They had to have their synagogues and their high places therein, their own equivalent of platform thrones, from which they could rule and make sure everyone knew who was in charge. They also loved their extravagant clerical costumes and their highbrow religious attitudes that would gag a maggot. The Pharisees were also lovers of money (as were the Sadducees, Scribes, etc.). Their religion was entirely external. The Lord, on the other hand, had no need of such ridiculous externals. His was a spiritual ministry. He was a spiritual King of a spiritual Kingdom. From without, He had nothing by which to command respect according to sinful religious standards. This is obviously why the religious leaders had no respect for Him and why they treated Him with such contempt.

It was the same for the twelve apostles. It was the same for all the Lord’s disciples. It was the same for all of His true followers. And it is the same for all real Christians ever since.

SPEAKING OF EXTERNALS…

Over the last several years church buildings in America have been closing at an alarming rate. Until a person takes a look at this phenomenon he is completely unaware of it and doesn’t understand either side of the issue. A great church-building campaign was implemented throughout the last century. Protestant churches of all major denominations engaged in the practice once they had the money to spend, and they obviously had gained a lot. The Roman Catholic Church had always been flush with cash and power, so building church buildings everywhere was relatively easy for them also. However, what goes up must come down. That many of these church buildings no longer exist or have been sold and transferred into something else is yet another sign of the times. Sadly, for the most part, much of the money that these religious leaders possessed and had access to was used improperly. THE MONEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPENT ON PEOPLE.

This is what the Lord did. Unlike the grifting Christian religious leaders who refuse the Lord’s example and appropriate that of the Pharisees who have no problem asking for and demanding money all day long because they are worth it though “their people” are obviously not, the Lord worked very hard in His early life earning the money He would need for ministry and for supporting His ministers. He never called them forth from their life’s work at earning money for their families, whatever their trade may be, such as fisherman, without also providing for them. Imagine all those guys just dropping their nets and following a poor preacher all of the sudden and leaving their families in the lurch. This is apparently what most Christians must believe.

In reality then, one can see that the object of highest value in the Lord’s eyes was never external religious stuff but PEOPLE. The Lord Jesus loves PEOPLE. The Lord Jesus died for PEOPLE. He lives for PEOPLE. He rose again from the dead so that PEOPLE dead in sin can be saved and also rise again. His entire focus was always on PEOPLE. And He loves every single PERSON exactly the same because one cannot exceed the fullness of one’s heart and the Lord always gives His full heart to “whosoever will.”

Thus, practical externals are okay if necessary but are always far down the priority list. Regarding places to meet, why build external “church houses” when so many homes are available for use? How many times do we see the Lord using someone’s home, such as Peter’s, as not only a place to stay but a place to meet? The Book of Acts, early on, reports that they went “house to house.” And how many times do we see this standard throughout the epistles? There was always someone’s home here and there used as a meeting place. The houses of the early Christians thus served a dual purpose. They were following the Lord’s example.

As we continue on we will see more and more church buildings shuttered forever, especially after so much of American Christianity bought into the scam of the last two years and began worshiping “remotely.” One wonders what happened to these people. The bigger question, however, is how American Christians in general also bought into the hate toward those Christians who refused to engage in the false narrative. This is obviously a terrible development but what is done is now done. There is no going back. It was a big test and many if not most American Christians failed it.

ON THE EVE OF DESTRUCTION

Over the last eleven years I have done my best to warn you and keep you informed. I have always worked very hard at gaining information and truth because it is what I do. It is my calling. The Lord anointed me for this. I mostly get rejection, however, which is roughly par for the course. And I often prefer a parabolic approach. I don’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence. (The Lord used parables for a reason. They force people to think and become engaged.) However, Americans, and people in general, who refuse to consider the Lord’s gracious offer to become real Christians, usually do not make this decision based on what but on will. In other words, most people know the Lord Jesus is someone very special and have little or nothing against Him. With just a little introductory witnessing people quickly understand what is what. Their problem is thus not one of facts and truth but one of will, in that if they acknowledge the truth about the Lord they know they will have to submit to Him and quit their free-to-sin lifestyle. They don’t want to do this. Carrying a cross is no fun. They would rather keep their independence from God so they can maintain their authority to live in whatever way they choose. They are therefore forced to reject truth which forces them to cast aspersions upon the Lord’s Truth in order to be comfortable in the unworkable place they have chosen.

It is interesting that many Christians have the same attitude. In their case, New Testament facts do not matter. If New Testament facts clash with the doctrines of their denomination most will always choose the false or incomplete doctrines of their denomination. It is a religious thing. It is a cultural thing. It is a social thing. It is a lowest possible common denominator thing. Rather than choose the Lord’s full Truth and likely lose fellowship and social standing (and money and power and prestige and honor and self-congratulatory plaques on the wall and trophies in one’s case) they would rather keep on keeping on and keep the Lord and His hardcore Christianity at a distance. They would rather not be confused by facts. Again, especially in these days when so much truth and information is available, it is not because disobedient Christians do not know it but because they don’t want it. So they gather among other Christians like themselves and support one another in their disobedience. It gives them a warm glow or something and makes the conviction go away.

Tradition is a hard taskmaster to break free from.

Speaking of houses, did you know vast swaths of housing in America are being bought up at this very moment? Did you know that entities worth trillions of dollars are buying entire neighborhoods and plan to continue until they own as much housing as possible? And that they are buying houses above market rates to insure that owners will sell? And that they plan to turn all of these into rental properties and raise the rents astronomically? Money is not a problem for them. All they have to do is keep raising the sale price until the sellers sell.

Did you also know that the American homeless problem is growing by leaps and bounds? Did you know that renters are being priced out by being presented with massive rent increases they simply cannot afford? And that these responsible hard-working Americans can now not afford to live anywhere in their areas because the cost of housing has risen so dramatically? It is one thing to be homeless because one may be lazy or has given up or is mentally unstable or is addicted to drugs or alcohol. There has always been a percentage of the populace that fits this category. But many homeless people as of late are homeless because their salaries no longer allow them an affordable place to stay. Many of these continue working their jobs while living in their car or on the street. This is an entirely new phenomenon. And it is beginning to explode.

Did you also know there is war against your food? That bad actors are buying up all the farm land? That a great many food processing plants are mysteriously being destroyed all across the country? That multiple millions of chickens, etc. are being willfully destroyed because of possible bird flu? In other words, in order to protect the people we must starve them. Famine is thus coming to America as is increasing poverty. Destruction is upon us and most people are not even aware of it. I humbly suggest you do your own research to confirm this. You will then see.

We must also work harder at researching Scripture. The Lord rebuked the Pharisees in part because they knew the Scriptures but refused any understanding of Him as the Messiah. To do so would put too much pressure on them to change and get right with God. For them there was simply too much to lose. Our attitude toward Scripture thus reveals the condition of our heart.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” [John 5:39-44][1]

The Lord said the Scriptures tell all about Him. But how many “Christians” are willing to do the simple work of reading and studying the Scriptures, especially the pure teachings of the Lord Jesus, to get to know Him better and pattern their lives according to His will? If we want to know Him and know about Him, this is how to do it. Of course, the Lord was talking about the Old Testament in the preceding. We have so much more! A great way to get to know the Living Word is by reading the written Word. Those who do are much better prepared for any eventuality including that of the present.

At the end of the day we were all properly warned. Many Christians have been warning for a long time. It is mostly a failing cause which reminds one of Jeremiah’s work. Next to no one heeded his warnings or considered his teachings. Most of the Lord’s own people even rejected all of His warnings when only a very short time was left to repent. Most refused. Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple were destroyed forever. Is this America’s fate? Unless something dramatic happens very soon it certainly is to whatever degree. As of now it appears that no one is doing anything to rebuke the devourer. The Devourer is running roughshod over the country and Christians are still doing and believing what they always have which is exactly how we arrived at the present. Unless one is doing what the Lord requires, the same old same old will no longer work. It is not working and hasn’t been for a while now. Also, the spiritual void created by the fake Christians is now being filled up by the fakest of fake ministers and most are none the wiser. It is all happening right before us. For many it is hidden in plain sight. American Christianity has largely been taken over by imposters.

SOMETHING MUST CHANGE. CHRISTIANS MUST DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA MUST INCREASE THEIR SPIRITUAL PRESENCE AND ABILITIES HIGH ENOUGH AND STRONG ENOUGH AND POWERFUL ENOUGH TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. CHRISTIANS MUST START STANDING UP AGAINST ALL THE DECEPTIVE COUNTERFEIT GARBAGE.

The tide of this greatest spiritual war in this country must be turned. I believe it will be. But it also looks like it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Maybe this is the only way to make Christians wake up. Maybe they cannot be properly motivated while relatively free and financially comfortable and must be enslaved and suffer great lack before they get the big idea. (Experience is the best teacher.) When they do the Lord Jesus will be there to meet them.

MY WORK

I have written more new material and longer articles this year than in any previous year. I remain very thankful for those of you who read and follow. Words cannot express how much I appreciate it. But it’s not about me, of course, but the material. If you want to further support my work, say a prayer. There are many things I need to accomplish. Your prayers may help move some mountains. I continue to do what I can to direct people to the Lord’s pure teachings. When we apply them correctly we no longer support lesser teachings and false interpretations of His Word, maintain false ideas and formats, or focus on religious externals. Real Christianity is about the heart. The Lord knows your heart. He knows everything about you. This would normally cause a person to simply give up and surrender to Him knowing he or she cannot hide. But again, it is not about what but will. One must engage one’s will in the process. One must surrender one’s will to Him. Whoever does gains the greatest benefit which is a close relationship with the Lord and secondly, is blessed with specific fulfilling spiritual work to further His Kingdom.

Remember, the last member of the human body to surrender to the Lord Jesus is the tongue. When this most rebellious member fully submits the Holy Spirit enters and heavenly speech pours forth. This is the clear record in Acts. It is the same when we surrender our will. His will then becomes dominant in our lives and everything begins to change for the better. We must know He loves us with all His heart and will bless us with abundant life if only we allow Him to do so. He is a benevolent God of mercy and compassion. It is very important in this regard that we embrace His full curriculum. This process will drive out any false or incomplete teachings resident in our minds which means such things will no longer be a burden or a drag on our spiritual lives. His Truth also puts an end to confusion and cognitive dissonance.

WHAT ABOUT AMERICA?

I have been telling you for eleven years now through this medium that a national Great Awakening is upon us. I got the word from the Lord in late August of 2010, going on twelve years ago, that we were in the early stages at that time. The term Great Awakening was not at all in use then. Roughly five to seven years went by as I continued to labor in obscurity before the term then burst upon the scene in America. Now, probably half the country is well aware of the term Great Awakening. Millions know what it means. Millions are seeing the light and gaining more truth daily at an exponential rate. The Lord is seeing to this. HE IS EXPOSING EVIL LIKE NEVER BEFORE. But the perpetrators are still getting off scot free. Facts no longer matter. It reveals who is in control at that level. But the Lord’s Light will keep shining. Sin will continue being revealed. There is nothing anyone can do to stop this juggernaut let loose by the Lord. The devil wanted to amp it up and the Lord essentially said, “Fine. Now watch what I can do.” Whenever the enemy comes in like a flood the Lord will have the last word if we submit to Him and allow Him and will bring an answering flood of goodness and abundant life for His people. The Lord always takes care of His people but this works best when we fully cooperate.

Therefore, regarding the country, all nations and empires eventually come to an end. The only entity existing in the world at present that will never come to an end is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. This Kingdom has existed on this planet since the first century AD. It was designed to continue growing and expanding until it fills the earth. It is constantly clashing with the temporary kingdoms of this world controlled by you know you. The Lord, however, said the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Currently, spiritual warfare in America is off the charts. It will be up to the relative few to continue fighting this battle. Most Christians are not engaging and will not engage. It is because most are not really Christians anyway. They have false conversions. They are Christians in name only. These are the people who comprise Unreal Christianity. They cannot fight their way out of a spiritual paper bag. It’s just the way it is.

OUR PRESENT

Though things look pretty bad and times are growing darker, and it appears as though all sin ever known to man is being freely exhibited all around us with no apparent remedy, and that those who are supposed to honor the rule of law and enforce the law are doing the opposite, always remember that the Lord Jesus is in charge. And even though He is not in effective charge in that He gave us free will and honors it and will never force anyone to do anything, He is in charge in that He can answer effectively at any time. It greatly helps Him when we pray properly and sincerely. I have the faith that He can do anything whenever He wants to. I have seen great miracles in my time and in my own life. We should all know what the Lord can do.

So be strong! Believe Him! Believe in Him! He keeps winning! The enemy has been throwing everything he has at us but keeps failing and thus continues resorting to different tactics. If the Lord’s relatively few people stay with Him the Lord will continue defeating anything the enemy might try. But again, we must put all of this in the context of the Lord’s invisible spiritual Kingdom. He puts all of His efforts into saving PEOPLE not things.

Outside of His Kingdom, everything in this world is temporary with an expiration date. We must occupy and be responsible but know our spiritual responsibility must be paramount.

Consider His perfect example. Consider the example of our Christian forebears in the first century. Study them. Read their accounts. Do what they did.

This is the answer.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Abundance, America, Christian Pharisees, Church Buildings, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Discipleship, God Invests in PEOPLE, Happy Birthday, Home Groups, House Church Movement, Lord Jesus, Overcome Evil with Good, PEOPLE are the priority, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, Suffering, The Early Church, The Great Awakening, The People of God, The Real chosen People, Unreal Christianity, We the People

REAL REPENTANCE AND THE BLOOD COVENANT (AND ABEL AND CAIN)

Apr 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

In my last post I said repentance means to change one’s mind. That is the actual definition of the Greek root word metanoia. In our culture this means something far less…

IT COST THE LORD JESUS EVERYTHING

It is the same for every real Christian. The Lord Jesus, the Man who is God manifest in the flesh and Immanuel—God with us—gave everything He had to purchase our salvation. He did everything He possibly could. He left nothing undone. At the end, right before He died on the cross, He said, “It is finished!” He absolutely completed His course and thereby made everything readily available regarding abundant life:

So Jesus 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 will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” [John 10:7-15]

Yet, why is it and how is it that so many Christians, a likely majority, fail to recognize this? How did it come to pass that so many Christians seem to take the Lord’s suffering and death in stride? It appears as if most take His death for granted. It doesn’t register as it should. There is a disconnect from the reality of Calvary and the understanding of many believers: These people were apparently never told they must also give all, or were told to do so in some rudimentary sense that has no spiritual impact, or maybe they simply chose to never do their part in full so as to apply it. For these, it means the Blood Covenant has never actually gone into effect in their lives. For a replacement, something to assuage their conscience, they may have given mental assent to the covenant or merely acknowledged it without giving their heart.

REAL REPENTANCE

In my last post I said repentance means to change one’s mind. That is the actual definition of the Greek root word metanoia. In our culture this means something far less, as merely changing how we may think about something in particular. If we take the word literally, however, which is how it was presented in Scripture, it means to change one’s mind in total—to transform it. This process must have a starting point, of course, and is something in general generated from without. This is because one most often cannot convict himself of sin. One’s conscience can convict which may result in changing certain behaviors, but after years of such conviction the work of one’s conscience is usually only acknowledged without the person doing anything substantial to change overall behavior.

When the Word of God is properly applied, however, there is a much different scenario. The Word of God, especially when delivered by an anointed minister of the Gospel, flashes like a bright laser light show within one’s mind and exposes everything in it and puts it on full display so the person can actually see what is resident there the way God does. It’s like living for years in a very dark house with heavy dark drapes and next to no interior light while wearing dark sunglasses and never doing any cleaning and simply losing track of actual conditions and everything resident there and not being aware of just how bad it has become and then suddenly have the brightest LIGHTS on the planet shining full bore in every room at the same instant. Yikes. This can be quite unnerving (understatement alert) and quite motivating. After the initial shock. Any sane person would want to immediately start a floor to ceiling whole house deep clean and not stop until everything was spic and span.

Such cleaning is accomplished through the application of the Blood of Jesus.

This is what the Word of God means by repentance. It involves commitment. It demands a real changing of one’s mind and a complete change of heart as well.

THE BLOOD COVENANT

For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. [Hebrews 9:17-22]

Therefore, if one is to answer one’s half in the Blood Covenant he or she must also shed blood as the Lord did. This is not literal, of course, but real repentance does invoke the Old Testament Tabernacle Bronze Altar where the animals were sacrificed. Repentance essentially also means throwing oneself upon the altar of sacrifice and destroying the old life in order to save the new life. It is the end of the old mind, the mind containing the stain of sin, rebellion, and disobedience to God. It is the beginning of the new mind, the changed mind. John the Immerser said:

“Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance…” [Luke 3:8][1]

Real repentance is the initial act causing spiritual fruit to grow where it never grew before. The changed mind born of repentance and given to God, devoid of sin, is fertile ground for good fruit. The good fruit proves real repentance. It is the first step of the Blood Covenant. It proves one has laid down his life as the Lord did His. This good fruit is spiritual fruit and not mere works of the flesh disguised thereof. For illustration, Adam and Eve’s son Abel had properly repented and continued on to become mature in the Lord. He offered the correct sacrifices that God required. Cain, on the other hand, never repented and merely offered fruit from the ground which was indicative of the works of the flesh. Many Christians perform such “good deeds” as Cain did but do not please God. Abel understood what God required.

I wrote the following in my book Real Christianity:

To start with, there was a guy named Abel. He refused to do anything which didn’t show absolute respect for God. Because of his pure stand on this central issue of life, his brother killed him in a jealous rage. Abel was not like his mom and dad, and he was certainly not like his brother. He was thus the minority. His brother killed him because he couldn’t stomach the fact that Abel was blessed by God due to his righteousness which came as a direct result of obedience. Many Christians “kill” their brothers today for the same reason. Their sacrifice to God is not acceptable by God because their Christian service is not done in obedience to God but in obedience to man. Modern day Abels, therefore, are hated by the religious Cains who are envious of their brothers’ walks with God.

Abel was going to do the will of God even if it cost him his physical life. Contrary to prevailing popular opinion expressed through the worldly attitude of Cain, Abel understood that God required a pure sacrifice—a sacrifice represented by the ultimate in giving, with no strings attached. Cain, on the other hand, merely offered the fruit of a cursed earth.

In spiritual terms, Abel gave of his spirit, while Cain gave of his flesh. In order to relate this to the present, we must see Abel as the very first type of Christ. We must also see the true followers of Christ as those who are set on doing His will regardless of the costs involved. Abel’s sacrifice, therefore, relates in the present sense to recognizing the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, followed by the giving of ourselves—a sacrifice which must come before any other we might make and which must be complete. This is what real repentance is. If we understand this and apply it to ourselves, there is no need to make Abel prove his case. Instead, the burden of proof should fall squarely on Cain, an Old Testament type of the religious Christian whose alternative sacrifice has not been accepted by God. [2]

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Blood of Jesus, Cain and Abel, Discipleship, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Repentance, Sacrifice, The Blood Covenant, The Door of the Sheep, The Good Shepherd, The Great Awakening, The Sacrifice Lamb

ALL BECAUSE THEY REFUSE TO REPENT

Apr 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

To repent means to change one’s mind. It means one must allow for new Truth to update one’s mindset. Unfortunately, this demands a commitment many cannot make.

Gonna change my way of thinking

Make myself a different set of rules

Gonna change my way of thinking

Make myself a different set of rules

Gonna put my good foot forward

And stop being influenced by fools

Bob Dylan [1]

LAST DAYS ARCHETYPE

The Lord Jesus taught that real salvation demands radical change. He expressed a true turn or burn message. He actually stated this literally. He said His own nation would eventually burn due to its refusal to repent. He did everything He could to get this message across.

And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” [Luke 23:27-30]

This prophecy points directly to the Sixth Seal of Revelation:

Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” [Revelation 6:15-17]

One might say the Lord failed in His warning. In reality, though He knew the nation was at an end and would cease to exist forever in forty years, and that it would actually involve destruction by fire, He never came to His people to save the nation itself. Why would He try to save a nation that was already destined for destruction? He certainly wanted His nation to be saved and preserved. Again, He did everything He possibly could to gain that outcome.

It must be remembered, however, that He had been fighting that battle of preservation for multiple centuries. He was the one who created the nation in the first place. It was His nation. It began with Abraham. He called out Abraham for this very purpose. He created the miracle child Isaac to exist as the first generation of His nation. Thus, the future nation of Israel was founded on a miracle. And there were untold miracles performed by God to preserve the nation throughout its long history. No one was more involved in creating, preserving, and blessing the nation of Israel than God. He loved Israel with all His heart.

Therefore, no one was more saddened by what ended up happening to His nation than the Lord. His heart was broken. You can see this in the words He spoke to those women lamenting Him. They were words drenched in pathos. He had done everything He could over the many centuries of its existence to keep what ended up happening from happening, but to no avail. He lost the battle. Ironically, those who won the battle against Him destroyed their nation. They destroyed His nation.

And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” [Luke 20:9-16]

And it was all because they refused to change their minds. They refused to allow for new Truth to update their mindset. They had already committed to a different mindset which they adhered to totally which left no room whatsoever for the introduction of anything else. Though absolutely nothing the Lord Jesus taught was ever refuted by His enemies according to the Law of Moses and objective truth, they rejected Him anyway. Why? Because their minds were made up. They were stubborn as mules. Not even the Lord could get through to them. They were obstinate, hard-headed, religious rednecks. At one point their off-the-scale close-mindedness caused the Lord to exclaim the following:

“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?” [Matthew 23:29-33][2]

Even then the Lord was thinking of their souls and their eternal destination. Again, He knew they were lost and many were filled with the devil. He knew they were the religious leaders of the most wicked generation of Israel to date. And that is saying a lot in light of so many evil generations of the past. Their world class obstinacy was one thing, but something even greater was the abject weakness of all those who submitted to them. Almost everybody in Israel was scared to death of those guys. There was such rampant fear in the nation drummed up by its leaders, next to no one was willing to challenge them. They knew they would be destroyed if they did. They knew their evil leaders controlled pretty much everything and could make their lives a living hell. How did such an outcome ever transpire in a nation created by God? How could a nation founded on spiritual freedom devolve into such a hellhole? To save their nation, all the people had to do was turn to God and repent. All they had to do was change their sorry way of thinking and get right with God, and then God would have taken care of the rest.

BUT NO! This proved there was something more than simple fear of religious leaders going on. It proved the majority of people actually preferred being led around like a bunch of stupid morons by idiots in charge. Otherwise they would have to do what God required. And what God required was crucifixion of the flesh. He required an elimination of sin from their lives. He required that they quit engaging in sinful practices. He required a total clean up on Aisle One. He required a circumcision of the heart. And though the sins of the average Israelite was less than that of those who led them, they still preferred a life of sin (though often sins of omission) to making the necessary changes that God required.

INSISTENT INSINCERITY

Keep in mind most of these people went to church every week (synagogue). They did what they were told by the leaders thereof. They bought into the program. For many, however, they never actually gave their hearts to God. They only obeyed because they were required to do so. To do otherwise would put them on the outs in society. Doors would close. They would be looked down upon. They would no longer be welcome at the cool kids table. Their popularity would plummet. They would be cancelled. They would get stuck with a low social credit score. Yet as long as they continued to surrender to the religious leaders in charge and obey the main prerequisites they could otherwise sin to their hearts content. The main prerequisites were based on:

(1) We are in control here and you must surrender to our control. (2) What we teach is what you must believe. You are to have no other teachers or doctrines before you. You must have no independent religious or spiritual thought. What we say is what goes. If you don’t understand it you must believe it anyway. (3) In order to be in good standing you must make a full commitment and dedicate yourself fully to our program. If so, all will go well with you. (In other words, you will avert our wrath and the possible disfellowship which could break your back socially.)

The people of the nation thus discovered that as long as they paid the proper obeisance to the religious leaders they could be free to do what they wanted within the set parameters. Some freedom was better than no freedom. As long as they deferred to them, genuflected before them, and essentially kissed their ring then all would go well. Whether they saw themselves as religious sellouts is another issue. There were certainly some who were completely brainwashed and actually believed all the tripe presented to them. Maybe this was the majority. It probably was because over time the constant pontificating from those who dwelt on high would have had an effect. The total lack of any alternate viewpoints would also serve to cause most to become indoctrinated. The fact that no one could ever stand up to the idiots in charge would eventually remove the backbone of the nation and cause it to become docile and subservient toward them. Once the big boys were successful at eliminating any testosterone directed in their direction, the men of the nation were made impotent toward them. They thus couldn’t change their nation for the better if they wanted to.

All the ultimate testosterone and manliness was thus reserved only for the religious elite in charge. Only they were allowed to throw their weight around. Only they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it. The law didn’t apply to them. Only they had no accountability except to themselves which was a circle to nowhere. Sound familiar? And because they controlled the rage factor they could draw up a rage response among those they controlled at any time. Because the men were held in estrogen prison they were ever-burning to get out and allowed the opportunity to vent. Then, whenever they got the word from on high they could be easily directed to enter into instant rage response mode and attack whoever they were directed toward, which were always those with the audacity to question “the elders” and “our tradition” or (aghast!) whoever may preach or teach a different message.

The Lord Jesus had managed to subvert this demonic process much of the time because the people in general were overcome by His great love and compassion, and His willingness to do miracles in their midst to help them. He would heal blind eyes, eliminate their illnesses in a flash, bless them with everything their souls were longing for, forgive and remove their personal sin, assist the poor on a grand scale, and even raise their dead on occasion. He was a force! He was winning hearts and minds!

In the end, however, everyone realized they would also have to change their ways, repent, change their way of thinking, love their enemies, change their hearts, submit fully to God, change their minds, and stop engaging in dead religion.

It was simply too much. There would be way too much to change. Their entire lives would be affected. They would have to start over. It was just too much. It would require way too much faith and too much effort. It would be much easier to simply continue on as before. And that’s the choice they made. They declined the great spiritual power the Lord offered them to make changes for the better.

THE REMNANT

This was not the case for the Remnant. There were some, many untold tens of thousands of Israelites, who actually did obey the Lord Jesus. They recognized Him as their Messiah. They saw that He was the great I AM. They became aware of just who this Man was and the great privilege they were allowed to know Him, be with Him, and honor Him. This brought forth the very first Great Awakening! For forty years the Lord’s new born again Spirit-filled people continued to work toward the salvation of as many of the people of their nation as possible. Many were saved, taught, and made secure. Many developed and came to full spiritual maturation. It was the greatest thing that had ever happened to Israel in all its history, even though the good guys, those who believed in love and loving, were outnumbered and always had to face the incessant hateful wrath of the bad guys.

But the wrath, rage, and hate of the rebellious religious tyrants along with those under their control—the unrepentant majority of insincere, spiritually lazy, surrendered silent sellouts who chose to continue being influenced by fools—caused them all to be without the one thing they needed to save the country: None of them were saved. How could they therefore save the nation or anything else? Their lack of salvation and lack of saving ability left only one other outcome: Their national rebellion and sin content insured they be destined for destruction.

And it was all because they refused to repent.

They refused to change their way of thinking.

They refused to allow for new Truth to update their mindset.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Ancient Israel, Bob Dylan, Christian Pharisees, Clergy-Laity Division, Depraved Mind, Discipleship, Gospel Truth, Last Days Deception, Light and Darkness, Lord Jesus, Mind of Christ, Natural Mind, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Religious Control, Repentance, Spiritual Warfare, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening, The Remnant, The War On Truth

TIME TRAVELER

Apr 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

After His resurrection He told Mary Magdalene He must travel “to the Father.” If He could do that He could travel anywhere. He could even travel back in time…

He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind. [Psalms 104:3]

Many years ago I was doing my usual research. I had been delving into the Word of God for years up to that time. Directly after my born again experience when I was filled with the Spirit of God I had an insatiable hunger for the written Word. Though I knew well it is our duty as Christians to read and study the written Word it should not be forced labor. It should not have to be a chore. It was certainly not that way with me. I simply couldn’t get enough. My employment at the time entailed hard physical labor but I would often spend my entire lunch hour reading the Word. On days I didn’t fast I was still out in my car reading. It didn’t take me all that long, relatively speaking, to read through the entire Bible. There was also much study on various topics and paying more attention to certain passages.

In this process I was always coming across things that reminded me of interesting topics I had studied and books I read prior to salvation. In those years pretty much nothing in literature was off the table. One cannot restrict oneself in the search for truth. One must be open and even consider subjects the world at large may think are different or weird. I didn’t care. That never bothered me. Time travel was likely one of those subjects I looked into. What could be cooler than that?

There is so much associated with the doings of this world that most people know nothing about. The majority of people seems to spend their short lives running on treadmills to nowhere and extremely limiting their intake of knowledge and are perfectly satisfied with being told what to believe. Most are apparently not at all inquisitive nor do they consider learning on their own. This demands they must always be taught by others. Their level of knowledge is thus often limited to what they learn in school and directed additionally by whatever they learn passively from television or read in a newspaper. If they ever worked in television or for a newspaper they likely wouldn’t do that. They would see how “news” is received, packaged, and delivered. They would know there is always an ulterior agenda attached. The media people have to make money, you see, and they must use their product in such a way. They also “teach” through subtle manipulative practices. Today, much such news is pure for-profit propaganda. It’s not that it wasn’t that way in the not too distant past, but was not as bad as it is now.

I discovered when young that the more one read, from different sources and forms of literature and media, the more one would eventually know because everything one reads has bits of knowledge in it that lead elsewhere. One’s curiosity in piqued by something read in Book 1, which leads to checking out Book 2, which opens one up to seeking knowledge from Books 3-1000. It never ends. After a while one learns to disseminate knowledge properly, retain the real and reject the hokum.

When I first began reading the Bible as a young adult I likely had that same attitude. Yet, I found things that didn’t appear to add up. I would keep reading and then discover confirmation of something I read before which made it more plausible. I wasn’t doubting the Word but only trying to make it make sense to me. I was building consensus and forming the big picture. It is a process that takes much work and many years but becomes extremely satisfying over time. The Lord does not fear our little doubts or tests. It is all part of learning. We must have an attitude that we are in it for the long haul, however, or may succumb to deception and deem His Word unreliable or not worth our efforts.

One of the unique things I noticed in His Word that initially appeared otherworldly (and approaching science fiction) were the various Old Testament appearances made by God in the form of a human being. I thought that was a tad odd, but again, from my prior experience before salvation of letting my mind loose to wander in consideration of discovering whatever, knowing there is so much out there we don’t know (and knowing there is much we are not supposed to know), I figured, okay, God visits us (a few anyway). He has to appear to a few chosen ones on occasion in order to relate and communicate something important and specific. He is (I thought) great and powerful and way out in the Universe somewhere and also invisible, but is nice enough to take the time to come see us, though we are unworthy little human mud balls without a clue. He somehow becomes a human being (we are talking Old Testament here, long before the Lord Jesus came) and walks among us. He travels through space and time and then somehow changes from being invisible to visible and manifests as a human being.

He did this with Adam and Eve. And with Abraham and Sarah. And with Joshua. And with Moses. And others. There I was, a rookie Christian, reading the Word of God for essentially the first time with Spirit-filled eyes-to-see and ears-to-hear and it was as if I was back in my prior element under the influence of a hazy helper getting into all kinds of cool stuff, all based on historical literature and suppressed news of the time. But I was as clear-headed as possible and the Lord was showing me stuff. In my thinking at the time I considered it very cool stuff that I had no idea ever existed in the Bible. It was as if all the cool stuff I had studied before proved I was not necessarily that far off track and that God was now showing me stuff in His Holy Word that backed up my previous desires to know beyond what I was allowed to know. In other words, by what I was seeing in His Word, His Word would be considered “weird” according to the straight-laced close-minded attitudes of the overall culture at that time which strove at all costs to be perceived as so far down-to-earth that it may as well put brick ballast in its shoes.

I discovered later that these Old Testament appearances of God in human form had a name. They were called theophanies. And I thought, “Okay, this is really getting good.” Here I am an open-minded guy in search of truth and I am finding that the Bible contains the kind of weird stuff the world rejects as untouchable that I was used to researching before. Think about it. How many people actually believe in a Creator God? And how many of the relatively few who believe this also believe He could travel down here from heaven, whatever that may be, and manifest Himself as a human? And then actually meet with people and talk to them? If it wasn’t in the Bible Christians in general would think it was stupid. There’s probably a lot of Christians who would think it was stupid anyway if they were aware of it.

PUTTING TWO AND TWO TOGETHER

Maybe just a few years later I started thinking about these discoveries again and then applied them to the Lord Jesus. I thought along these lines:

After the resurrection, and after the Lord ascended to the Father and then returned during that forty day period He spent on earth before He ascended to heaven for good, He still had work to do. He still had more teaching and ministry to do among His chosen disciples. He had to make final preparations. But He also had an apparent habit of discarding the use of doors and walking through walls. Okay, now that’s weird. That’s bona fide weird. And the Lord didn’t seem to think too much of it. I guess, since He just raised Himself from the dead, that walking through walls was simply not that big a deal. From there, it didn’t take me long to start thinking of other possibilities of things He could do. He said before He left that He had all authority in both heaven and earth so I am fairly certain that means He could pretty much do anything he wanted.

It then came to me. He could time travel. Those theophanies of God back in the Old Testament were not necessarily God traveling from heaven to earth, they were the Lord Jesus traveling back in time from the first century AD. Think about it. God had always planned to become one of us. Before He ever began the Creation process He arranged for His eventual arrival. He was not human at that time, of course. Humans had yet to be created. The only way He could become a human, since He would limit Himself to enter this world the way everyone does, was to be the product of other humans. He would therefore have to create Adam, then Eve, and then be born as one of their progeny at a future date. That being the case, He would have to wait a long time to become a human. And then, in order to appear as a theophany in the past, He had to travel from the future…

Here is something else to consider: On the Mount of Transfiguration He met with Moses and Elijah. Now, I understand in the orthodox that these three men represented the Law, the Prophets, and the Living Word, or Grace. Moses was apparently long dead, of course, but he had his own private funeral which leaves room for speculation. Elijah, of course, according to the Old Testament account, apparently never died. And here they both were with the Lord up on the mountain. I’m thinking, well, if those two guys could travel from wherever they were and meet with the Lord in His time, then why couldn’t the Lord travel to meet with them in their time? While they were still living on earth? We know He did meet with Moses on Mount Sinai after the Exodus, though it is not generally characterized as Him but as “God.” But whoever it was, He had to have human form to some degree. (He certainly did have human form when He met with Abraham.)

So rather than God assuming human form many centuries before He actually became a human being, why didn’t He just wait to become a human and then travel back in time to meet with those people? Too farfetched? You think I’m being too weird? If so I will remind you that we Christians actually believe a Man came back from the dead. And not just any Man but God. This is easy to believe if we simply keep it in our minds as a concept and read it on paper. But consider the possibility of it happening right now with someone you may have known. Do you still think it is something that is easy to believe? Though we have many Biblical examples of people being raised from the dead, have you ever heard of this happening to anyone you know? What if the Lord sent you to pray for someone to be raised? What then? Therefore, I ask that you consider the strong possibility that what I am postulating here as merit.

Do you think the Man in the following account is the Lord Jesus?—

Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. [Joshua 5:13-15]

How about the account in Genesis when the Lord apparently appeared with Adam and Eve?

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. [Genesis 3:8][1]

Keep in mind that the phrase “in the cool of the day” actually means “in the wind (or breeze) of the day.” It sounds like the aforementioned quote from Psalms 104: He walks upon the wings of the wind…

In the account with Abraham, God is seen doing very human things much like the human things the Lord Jesus did in His time such as walking, talking, and eating a meal (See Genesis 18).

THEY SAY TIME IS A DIMENSION

Whatever time is, the Lord is not restricted by it, because He is not restricted by anything. Past, Present, and Future is a concept based on our perspective, not His. The ancient philosophers had their studied ideas on the nature of time as did Einstein and many modern scientists. Some say all time is one. Whatever the case, it should be obvious that we humans live in an extremely limited dimension in that our life experiences are based on mere sensory input for the most part. We can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. Yet there are physical forms of life on this planet with senses that far exceed our own. There is much more out there than we are aware of simply because we do not possess the means to sense it or experience it. Our abilities are thus greatly limited. There is a vast amount we do not know or can perceive. The Lord Jesus, however, showed us what is possible by doing the impossible things He did. He had already done the impossible countless times during His ministry, even though He had limited Himself to human spiritual abilities, and even gave these spiritual abilities to His disciples. But after His resurrection He went beyond these. Walking through walls is not something most humans can generally do, for example. Such things are said to be theoretically possible, however, at least on a drawing board.

Keep in mind that scientific discoveries have increased exponentially almost from nothing over the last two centuries or so, especially during the last one. And if one trips back to the times of the ancients one would see that they had next to nothing compared to what we have today. They were still capable of great feats however, but were simply not in our class. What if such knowledge and discovery continues on its current track? What else is there to know? What else will we discover?

We can say the same about our understanding of real Christianity. There is far more there than most Christians are aware of. In fact, Christianity in general is often the virtual opposite when we trip back and consider the way they operated. Our forebears in the first century AD did things that we for the most part only dream about. The vast majority of Christians don’t even try to emulate them, apparently of a mind that what they accomplished was effectively impossible for us guys in the present. Their spiritual record is undoubtedly one that puts us to shame by comparison. Rather than be like them most Christians are either not aware of them or shun them. And sadly, Christians of the present often substitute worldly and material counterfeits as replacements for signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We must learn to follow their example, however, because what they did was in direct obedience to the Lord Jesus and they had massive success in the world.

We must learn to start walking through the walls of our limitations.

We must travel back in time.

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Tags: Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Miracle Realm, Miracles, Mount of Transfiguration, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Signs Following Believers, Spiritual Gifts, The Great Awakening, The Living Word, The Prophetic Word, The Signs Of The Times, The Time Of Our Visitation, The Word of God, Theophany, Traveler

SPIRITUAL ASSASSINATION (AND A TIMELY RESURRECTION)

Apr 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

Just as in the case of the Lord Jesus who was marked for assassination by His enemies (who succeeded but failed), so is every dedicated real Christian likely marked.

Some of these spiritual assassination attempts will succeed (we have Scriptural examples). The vast majority will not. But no matter. Physical death is not the end of the story. Every real Christian so marked is also marked for resurrection just as our Founder was marked. He was destined to die for a great purpose but was also destined to rise again not long after. In His case it happened on the third day after His death. (This also happened to be the third day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.) For the vast majority of real Christians, however, their resurrections will come much later. There will be a day in the future when all will rise again together. Old-timers referred to it as “that great gettin’ up mornin.’

I say “the vast majority” because there were some who actually received their resurrections from death in the first century AD. In this, I am not referring to Lazarus or others whom the Lord or the apostles raised up because those people had to die physically a second time. I am instead referring to those mysterious resurrections which took place soon after the Lord’s resurrection referred to in Matthew’s Gospel:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. [Matthew 27:50-53]

One wonders if there were others elsewhere in various locations who were also raised at that time. The city of Jerusalem was not the only place saints of old were buried though it is possible more might have been buried in its environs than elsewhere. One wonders further just who these saints might have been. What qualified them to be resurrected at that time? Were they Old Testament saints from centuries past? Or were they first-century believers who died at some point during the Lord’s ministry? What if some of the well-known national figures were included in this group, such as David, who was buried in Jerusalem?

THE PRIVILEGE OF RESURRECTION

Because there is so much misunderstanding or lack of information about the future resurrection of those who have passed, the subject must be put into context. We know the Scriptures are clear that all will be resurrected, both the saved and unsaved:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” [John 5:25-29]

In addition to this, the Lord makes it clear that the future resurrection unto Life is a privilege not given to everyone or just anyone but only to those who are worthy:

Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” [Luke 20:34-36]

It is likely the case at most funerals that the person who died is assumed to have gone to heaven. Imagine all the funerals (term used very loosely) worldwide for all time. The dearly departed was likely loved by someone or maybe a great many. To question his or her eternal destination at such a time is probably the height of protocol-breaking or certainly awkward. According to the teachings of the Lord and the entry requirements He mandates, most of these people went to the opposite place they were assumed to have gone.

The point, of course, is that “going to heaven” and participating in a future resurrection unto Life is not automatic or a right but a great privilege and blessing reserved only for a relative few. It is something, in the words of the Lord Jesus, to attain. The Greek word means “to hit upon, meet, happen, obtain.” It is something to strive for, to work toward, and to make oneself worthy to receive. This does not mean we can earn our salvation, which is impossible, but that we must work within the context set forth by the Lord Jesus to be “considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection of the dead.”

WHY THE LORD JESUS WAS A MARKED MAN

We are in a war. It is a spiritual war. The devil is a mighty foe. He is very powerful. He attacks his enemies. His aim is to eliminate anyone attacking him or his kingdom. Those who do the most damage are at the top of his list. But the Lord Jesus, on the other hand, is so much more powerful He could squash the devil like a bug any time He felt like it. And He will protect His children in this world who work for Him the same way He protected Himself from the many assassination attempts upon His life before He surrendered to His destiny as the Sacrifice Lamb.

A close friend told me the other day something a pastor had recently preached. The pastor said to the effect, “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the Lord was killed or murdered. He laid down His life willingly…” I said “Well, the pastor is wrong. It is in fact, both. The Lord certainly laid down His life and made Himself vulnerable, but He was also murdered. The apostle Peter said this very thing in the first anointed message of the Church on the Day of Pentecost.” Here is the passage:

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” [Acts 2:22-24]

It is often said that Stephen was the first martyr of the Church but this is not true. It was the Lord Jesus who was the first martyr. He had to be first. He was indeed greatly persecuted by evil unbelievers and eventually suffered physical death at their hands. He was the first to die and also the first to rise. It had to be this way. Nothing else could have possibly worked otherwise. The Lord Jesus is both the Door and the one who opened the door to Life. He is the only spiritual Warrior who could defeat death, hell, and the grave. He had to go first to do this because He was the only one worthy. It would have been impossible with anyone else because everyone else has sin but He never did. He was thus worthy to attain His resurrection and eternal life.

And because He did attain it He makes it possible for His followers to attain it as well. They must be cleansed of all sin, however, or forget it. But He has the power to do that. He has the power, with His own Blood, to cleanse a person of all of his or her personal sin. He also has the power to raise one up to new life in this world, fill one with His Holy Spirit which enables one to be properly equipped for service and the spiritual battlefield, live an overcoming life over sin, and also to work for Him within His kingdom doing works that He did. THESE are the people, in general, who are the worthy ones.

Thus, heaven is not nor has it ever been automatic, the only condition met being death. It is reserved only for those who submit to the salvation method of the Lord Jesus. Now, granted, there will be those who are also judged by Him to be worthy who do not fit the apparent conditions within the context of His teachings. Paul alluded to this possibility in the following:

For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. [Romans 2:11-16][1]

It is thus possible that one may never hear the Gospel and still go to heaven. (Consider all those who died prior to the Lord’s ministry or who lived at great distances away on other continents long before the Gospel ever reached their lands.) But this can only be possible if the preceding qualifications are met. How many millions, and indeed, billions of people who have ever lived on this planet lived in such a way that they did their best to honor their conscience, strove to do good and shun evil, and reached out to a Creator they knew must exist. These are things beyond the realm of human judgement or knowledge. No one can see such things but the Lord. Only the Lord Jesus knows all hearts. He is the best possible Judge of one’s soul. He will make the right decisions. He will always render perfect judgments.

THERE IS LIKELY A CONTRACT ON YOUR LIFE

If you are a big enough threat, expect to be attacked. But know also that the Lord has means to grant you victory. I knew someone several years ago who was attacked severely and his entire life was essentially destroyed. The devil’s aim was to do even more. His original goal was to destroy everything including the person’s life. But it didn’t work out quite that way. Because this man had walked with God the Lord allowed his former life to be destroyed but preserved the man’s spiritual life. He preserved the man’s ministry and life purpose. He worked with the man over several years to sort out all the ramifications which resulted from both a diabolical Jezebel attack and also a Judas betrayal. The enemy meant total destruction and it should have been such in that he threw everything he had at him. It was a pure assassination attempt in the first degree.

But it failed. Rather than be overcome by the severe repercussions of the spiritual attack, this man worked with the Lord over several years to work everything out. He patiently crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s. Everything was settled above board and properly. And it was done with no evil intent toward his human attackers who assisted in the plot. This man had what might be termed an ongoing resurrection. Though the enemy tried with all his might and though he succeeded at destroying much, he failed at destroying all. This is always a dangerous outcome. It made the man who was marked for death an even greater threat than he was before.

It also meant he survived the worst. This man will never have to go through such again. You may know people like this. Their experience is noted for something many have gone through over the last quarter century or so. There are people who represented a threat to the enemy who for all practical purposes should not have survived the attempt against them who then later became a greater threat than before.

Those who are forced to go toe to toe with some gnarly Goliath, who face otherwise certain death and destruction, and live to tell the story of a great victory are the kind of people you want on your team. They have already experienced a type of resurrection, reminiscent of their future one, and rejoined the Lord on the battlefield. The assassination they were marked for is what they mark the enemy with and have greater power and ability given by God to achieve that objective.

All praise and glory to the Lord Jesus.

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Tags: Discipleship, Door of Life, Eternal Life, Final Judgment of Souls, Heaven, Kingdoms At War, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The LORD is a Warrior, The Sacrifice Lamb, Yehoshua HaMashiach

PRESSING ON. TOWARD RESURRECTION.

Apr 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

The following posts are dedicated to all real Christians on this Resurrection Day of 2022. They contain the answers some of you are seeking. Be encouraged!

Pressing On. Toward Resurrection. (1)

Pressing On. Toward Resurrection. (2)

Pressing On. Toward Resurrection. (3)

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Tags: Lord Jesus, Pressing On, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, The Great Awakening

TODAY IS THE DAY THE LORD JESUS PAID FOR YOUR SINS

Apr 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

He died a horrific death after undergoing many hours of grueling torture. His own people and arrogant religious leaders did this to Him in a demonic spasm of evil hatred.

I had to catch up on some chores around the house yesterday. I got the lawnmower tuned up for another mowing season. I also had to tend to a very minor roof leak. While on the roof, on a relatively cool and breezy early evening, I noticed a few branches from an old ash tree on one side of the house that had grown over the roof a tad that I might as well trim while up there. This tree was one of a few hit hard by a massive out-of-the ordinary hard freeze the previous winter. It almost died but survived. It bloomed out last year but only partially. Several of its large branches died. It bloomed again this year with a flurry of new bright green leaves on about half its branches, most of them closer to the central core and trunk. It is a tree showing signs of life and death at the same time.

A couple of dead bushy branches were within range of trimming from the roof. At first I was cutting them but because they had died over a year ago it was easier to just break them off. While doing this, standing right at the edge of the roof, a had to put a little extra effort in breaking off a larger one and when I did my forearm came down on a closer branch that had a few broken protrusions on it. It caused a good little surface skin gash. After a few seconds I had three or four rivulets of dark blood tricking forth a few inches down my fore arm. A couple of drops fell upon the roof and left noticeable small round splatters. I continued with my work and other chores another hour or so.

I must confess to you, my readers, that I lost track of the time this week. Like you, I’ve been pretty busy. I knew Resurrection Sunday was coming, of course. I knew Monday April 11 was the “Day of Crossing Over.” This was the day, Nisan 10 on the Hebrew calendar, when the young nation of Israel first crossed over the Jordan River after their forty years wandering the desert wilderness. I always mark that day every year as the start of a new season in the Spirit. But I lost track of the most important day coming up.

That day is today. It is Nisan 14. As I write this it marks the time when the Lord’s false judgment at the hands of evil people had reached its final conclusion which they had been lusting for during the Lord’s entire ministry. They would finally get to do to Him what they had always wanted. For them, it was a great day. The Lord’s torture and crucifixion process began early that morning. He shed great amounts of blood at His scourging of thirty-nine stripes before He ever got to the crucifixion site. He shed much more blood there…

He did this for all of us. He had to pay for our sin. Every person who first comes to the Lord is very aware of sins they have committed in life of which they can do nothing about. There is a record of sin on their account that they are well aware of. They wish they could do something about it. They wish the record didn’t exist. But there is nothing they can do. Many try to stop sinning. Some try very hard. But their understanding of what sin is trips them up. And the people they hang with, friends and family, (even so-called Christians and church-goers), don’t seem to have any concern about sin. They do their best to get along but want new life and cannot find it. They may have some success against their sin and eliminate a few things but no matter what they do they cannot stop entirely. They remain convicted of past sins and a growing record but must simply put up with the unfortunate results and a long rap sheet that won’t go away.

Then they hear about the Lord Jesus. They suddenly discover that there actually is a way to get their sorry record expunged. They come to the Lord as a dead man walking with no previous chance whatsoever and discover someone who actually cares about their sin record as much as they do. And they realize that He paid for it all long, long ago. He paid for their sins. He paid the penalty. He qualified to do this because He had no sin. He was the spotless Lamb of God, the Sacrifice Lamb. He gave Himself over to evil people in complete surrender so the price could be paid in full.

And it was. I remember when I first came to the Lord as a young adult. It was so hard to believe that my record could be cleared, that my sins could be washed away, and that I could have an entirely new life living for the Lord. But I did believe. I submitted to Him completely. He washed my sins away. I remember when I was water baptized. It had only been a few days. I wasn’t waiting around. I wanted the whole catalogue. I had been searching for Truth for several years and the Lord directed me to exactly what I had been looking for. My new local shepherd came down in the baptismal tank with me as they did back then. He said, “Upon the confession of your faith I now baptize you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ…” I went under water and came up a new man. Everyone was gathered around, smiling and shouting. There was much joy and laughter. I could not stop beaming.

It was the opposite of what the Lord had endured that day so long ago, the same day on the calendar as today, Nisan 14. And though many Christians will honor the Lord today on this Good Friday for His sacrificial death, the original Nisan 14 was on a Thursday. But no matter for our purposes at the moment. What we must be concerned about is what He did for us. We are all going straight to hell without Him. Prior to real salvation, our record of sin is clear and a mile long, including those who refuse to acknowledge their sin or don’t think they have any. All who attempt to enter heaven without having done anything about it will be turned away. Heaven is not for sin criminals. Heaven is not for unrepentant sinners. Heaven is not for those who refuse to honor the Lord Jesus properly and what He did for us.

He died that we may live.

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.

Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” [Luke 23:39-47] [1]

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Tags: Blood of Jesus, Christ Died For Sinners, Crucifixion of Jesus, Eternal Life, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Great Awakening, The Sacrifice Lamb

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: Editing the Lord’s Teachings (4)

Apr 11

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are two kinds of Christians in the world—those who are deceived, have always been deceived, and don’t know they’re deceived—and those who are no longer deceived.

As I’ve stated here before, according to the teachings of the Lord Jesus, the default position of every single person born into this world is to die and go to hell. As distasteful as this subject may be, and as most may find it cringe worthy and fit for immediate denunciation, the Lord actually taught on it quite often. The reason He did is because there is no more important subject to teach.

“For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” [Matthew 7:14]

“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” [John 3:7]

Regardless of so many wanting to rewrite the Gospels to arrive at something more acceptable, or recharacterize the Lord Jesus as someone more like their perception of Him may be, or make Him what they may want Him to be to make them feel more comfortable, it never changes the eternity facts He spoke about except on a temporary basis, that is, while one lives in this life under deception.

WORSE THAN JUDAS

The worst perpetrators of editing the Lord and His curriculum have been Christians. These people, regardless of their socially acceptable, outwardly benign, or religiously duded-up exteriors, have ulterior motives and are His greatest enemies. They are worse than Judas.

I say that not because Judas Iscariot was not a bad guy (he most certainly was), but that Judas was primarily a very confused guy and one who could never overcome his intrinsic understanding of things or his prior religious indoctrination. He was likely a Pharisee or Pharisee sympathizer of somewhat high standing though such was probably due to family and religious connections. He had a good report with those who controlled the temple and was apparently there relatively often. Yet despite all of Judas’ failings which ultimately led him to be possessed of the devil himself, he still had enough of a working conscience to know that after he had betrayed the Lord he understood that he had betrayed the Lord. Though he did not know it while he was doing it and likely thought in his warped thinking that he was doing something good, when it all came down and he understood that he had been thoroughly deceived by the devil and the devil’s religious authorities, the only thing that made sense was to go kill himself. At the moment his eyes were opened (when he finally woke up), he suddenly saw that he had done something absolutely horrendously terrible and that it might have been the greatest sin ever perpetrated since the original sin of Adam and Eve.

Thus, it may be said that Judas acted based on living in deception. And again, deceived people do not know they are deceived. Judas was likely deceived his entire life but I will leave some room for him here in case he had moments of true understanding regarding the Lord. Effectively, of course, he never overcame his lifelong deception and made a perfect candidate for use by the devil. Judas may have been sent on a mission from the very beginning by the devil and joined up with the Lord as the devil’s tool within the Lord’s inner circle. The Lord would have always known this, though, and alluded to it on occasion:

Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” [John 6:70]

Therefore, those Christians who deliberately edit the teachings of the Lord Jesus do far worse than Judas ever did because they apparently don’t have a working conscience as Judas certainly did. Everyone remembers, for example, their first big sin as a little kid or when they first became aware of right and wrong, when they instantly came to understand that they had done a very bad thing. The understanding came because their conscience did what it was designed to do. It pointed out their error. Whatever the age of accountability may be for each person, and though there may be a time as very small children when we do wrong and do not yet know it, we all reach an age, maybe five or six years old, when we become responsible for knowing our conscience works and can no longer escape its convicting power.

For some people in this world, however, this is not true. They never seem to have a working conscience. They do not appear to feel guilt. They do bad things and like it. They enjoy doing wrong and are not convicted. They do not appear to have the remorse gene. They make light of things of very high importance and lack the respect they should have for the true things of God. They may know it is wrong behavior and even engage in greater sin as they get older but usually never have any tendency to stop. Repentance is simply not in their vocabulary. When they grow up they are capable of doing wrong without regret. While Judas was so stricken by the grossly evil thing he had done once his veil of deception was lifted, the religious psychopath has no such reaction.

ARE THEY BORN THAT WAY OR MADE THAT WAY?

There is only one original full curriculum of the Lord Jesus. Anything which purports to be His full curriculum but deviates from the original is false. This deviation from the original can be done by adding teachings and understandings that are not His or simply omitting teachings and understandings that are. Such newly created Christian curricula, regardless of how good they appear and how well they escape scrutinizing from Christians who should know better, are false and not of God. If they are not of God they must be of another source. That source must be evil.

Because we now have any number of false gospels masquerading as the real one and great numbers of Christians supporting such false gospels, we know there must have been a point A for each, a starting point, and that the starting point of each had to have been implemented in this world through human agency in tandem with a higher invisible agency. This worked the same way it worked with Judas in that the devil deceived Judas to believe his betrayal of the Lord was not a betrayal and was instead something good and right, though it was actually pure evil (Sound familiar?). For each false gospel on the planet there had to be an original hidden and sinister “Judas” or “Judas group” used of the devil to create it. Their supporters likely believe their false gospel is not false at all but the best gospel or the real gospel.

What kind of people are these? Maybe some are like Judas in that they eventually see their error. Most however, likely never care about any error to begin with and know very well they are engaging in editing the Lord’s teachings and enjoy doing it. Perhaps they have become so overwhelmed by religious indoctrination and staunchly supporting their false denominational beliefs that they justify their work as good. Perhaps they are mere religious underlings forced to carry on the work by their Christian cult leadership.

Maybe they do it for power and prestige and as the willing price to pay for joining a higher social caste. Maybe they are overcome by the physical eye which overpowers the spiritual eye. Maybe they do it for access to fulfilling the lust of their flesh and having all that money can buy. These are the three roots of temptation, remember, that the enemy uses on everyone. But how evil must one be who would actually corrupt the teachings of the Lord for gain? And not feel bad about it? And never have the reaction Judas had? What is wrong with such people? It could be they are true psychopaths. Or it could be they know they are doing wrong but have such a great desire for the preceding three outcomes or any one of the three that they are willing to make a deal.

Here is a good test:

Let’s say the Lord calls a person to salvation but that it will greatly complicate his life and even place him in grave danger. But he does it anyway. Most of those around him who also receive the Gospel seed turn it down, maybe largely out of fear of social or religious rejection and castigation, but that one guy does not and is willing to go through any pain to gain salvation. He then works diligently to prepare himself as a good disciple by studying the pure Word of God and learning how to present it correctly. And let’s say that one guy is then given a specific ministry but no salary. And he somehow makes it work anyway. And there are confirming “signs and wonders” in his ministry to further prove his legitimacy.

The vast majority of Christian ministers, on the other hand, never agree to become ministers unless an acceptable salary is involved (failed test). Many of these must also desire social acceptance and prestige to some degree (failed test). And some even demand that their lust be satisfied even though it may only be in the “material” realm though such is done in a deceptive manner in that their lust satisfaction is deemed “success” and therefore not only acceptable but something also desirable by their followers (failed test).

But that other guy has none of those things, maybe for many years and maybe his entire life, and somehow fulfills his ministry anyway. Regardless of what may be an extreme example, this is actually not so uncommon. The others, however, are as fake as the day is long (though such fakery is rarely or never understood by the deceived). They are mere sellouts. The vast majority of Christian “ministers” in the world fail the test. What is worse, though, is that they preach false gospels and assist the devil in deception. Whoever listens to and believes these charlatans, though such supportive believers outwardly appear as “good Christians,” end up just as deceived as Judas was. They go through life believing all is well with their chosen walk and don’t know they are deceived and have believed a false gospel. Judas got the big idea while he was still alive. Many if not most of these others will never get the big idea until afterwards when it will be too late.

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. [2Timothy 4:1-4]

Any deviation from the Lord’s presentation is an invitation to deception.

Once one crosses the line into the realm of deception his perception is changed. He will think he is doing good when he is not. He will even be happy and satisfied and completely unaware that his spiritual reality has become compromised. He begins operating according to a non-Kingdom understanding since he does not dwell in the Kingdom though believes he does. And even if the Lord sends messengers to rescue him and bring him into the light he will likely see no need because he believes he is already dwelling in the light. And because many more are living across the line with him, a decided majority, he has plenty of support from everyone there that all is well in their vast happy land of bliss and ignorance.

Praise God for Christian persecution.

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Deception, Doctrines of Demons, False Doctrine, False Teachers, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Deceived Majority, The Great Awakening, The Perfect Teachings of Jesus, Unreal Christianity

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: New Testament References to the “Last Days” (3)

Apr 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

Christians of today believe they are living in the “Last Days.” Christians in the first century believed they were living in the “Last Days.” Both cannot be correct.

In Part 2 I listed every passage of Scripture in the New Testament that referred to “This Generation.” Each passage referred to the same generation. That generation was obviously the generation that existed in the first century AD. That generation began with the birth of the Lord Jesus. It ended in 70AD with the complete destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and what was left of the nation of Israel. Israel was thus no more, exactly as the Lord Jesus had prophesied forty years before.

The Lord Jesus said that last generation of Israel would see the fulfillment of all the prophecies made about that time, which was referred to by New Testament writers as the “Last Days.” Why were they the “Last Days?” –Because they were the last days of Israel. “This Generation” was the final generation.

THE NATION OF ISRAEL

The nation of Israel had begun with the call of Abraham. This took place in approximately 1876 BC when Abraham was 70 years old. It was birthed with the miraculous birth of Abraham’s son Isaac in 1846 BC, which represented the first generation. The nation was birthed in great joy, as Isaac’s name means at root, “to laugh,” or “laughter,” or “he laughs.” Isaac was a very happy child! One pictures little Isaac as a happy, smiling, joyous, laughing baby and little boy.

Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” [Genesis 21:6]

Isaac grew up and was blessed with a loving wife. Rebekah gave birth to the first-born twins Esau and Jacob in 1786 BC. Though Esau was born first he had no heart for God. God thus chose Jacob as the new heir. Later, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.

Jacob/Israel had twelve sons. His sons married and began having children. Some of these children grew up and had children. Ten years after the great Patriarch Isaac died, when the young four-generational family group of Jacob consisted of seventy-plus persons, they left the land of Canaan in approximately 1656 BC and went to live in the Goshen area of Egypt. This was made possible by Jacob’s son Joseph who was sold into slavery by his own brothers when he was seventeen years old and ended up in Egypt, preparing the way for his family’s future salvation. Joseph rose to become the second-most powerful man in Egypt by the time he was thirty. This family group of seventy-plus persons consisting of generations two, three, four, and five was the original nation of Israel.

All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all, and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy. Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. [Genesis 46:26-28]

Untold multiple generations later we arrive at the time of the last generation of the nation, initially characterized by great joy and laughter once again with the miraculous birth of the long hoped-for promised Redeemer and Messiah. A Great Light had come into a land of darkness. When the Lord Jesus was thirty years old His forerunner, John the Immerser, prophesied about Him and the nation of Israel in the following:

Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” [Luke 3:15-17]

This verse has been misinterpreted often yet is actually quite clear. John is speaking in terms anyone there could understand: The wheat will undergo a harvest. The Messiah, winnowing fork in hand on His threshing floor, will do the work of separating the edible grains from the useless chaff. He will gather the wheat (the saved and redeemed of Israel, the sheep, the righteous) into His barn. But He will burn up the chaff (the unsaved and unredeemed of the nation, the goats, the unrighteous) with unquenchable fire.

He will thus baptize (immerse) the redeemed of Israel with His Holy Spirit, but will baptize the unredeemed with fire.

We see these two fates of the nation again in the following illustration of John:

“Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” [Luke 3:9]

In both of these prophetic pronouncements of John we see that the final generation (“this generation”) of the nation of Israel is under pressure to get right with God and produce good fruit. We see that the axe of judgment is already poised against the nation. The axe is about to drop. But before the end comes, as the nation will be divided by those who will either become wheat or chaff, so will the nation be divided by those who will be baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit of God to produce good fruit and those who will do the opposite. Again, the nation of Israel will be divided into two distinct parts during the final generation.

On that great Day of Pentecost at the beginning of the final thirty-eight years of the nation and continuing until the end, the Holy Spirit will be given to all those who properly repent and are cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb. This large group of the redeemed within the overall nation of several million, most likely the smaller of the two groups by percentage, will honor their Messiah and prove themselves with consistent discipleship and as trees bearing good fruit. At the conclusion of the final thirty-eight years the end will come when the besieged city of Jerusalem and the great Temple will be burned by unrelenting fire in a great conflagration just as both John the Immerser and the Lord Jesus had prophesied roughly forty years before. The end of Israel arrived in 70 AD.

THE “LAST DAYS”

Thus we see that what was referred to as the “Last Days” were actually the last days of Israel which took place almost two thousand years ago in the first century AD. Though referred to with other terminology, the following are the five Scriptural occurrences when the exact term “Last Days” is referred to in the New Testament by at least three if not four different writers, which greatly adds to its credibility (dates approximate):

ONE / 32 AD

¹⁵ “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; ¹⁶ but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ¹⁷‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; ¹⁸ Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy.’” [Acts 2:15-18]

TWO / 64 AD

¹ But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. [2Timothy 3:1-5]

THREE / 63 AD

¹ God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. [Hebrews 1:1-2]

FOUR / 50-60 AD

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! [James 5:1-3]

FIVE / 65 AD

³ Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. [2Peter 3:3-7] [1]

We can see that four of the above five works were written just as the nation of Israel was coming to a close, in the twilight hour so to speak. They served collectively as a latter bookend to the former bookend at Pentecost. Each is filled with dire language describing very well the final times. Since Pauline authorship of the Book of Hebrews has never reached a consensus it could very well be that these were four different men using the exact “Last Days” terminology at a time when the end was extremely close and they could feel it in their spirit. The great Jewish Revolt against Rome began in mid-summer of 66 AD. Vespasian’s siege barricades began being constructed around Jerusalem in the spring of 67 AD. This was one of the signs of warning the Lord gave to His people dwelling there concerning when they should depart.

Only those who honored Him, who had treasure in heaven, would heed His words.

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: A Brief History of Misapplied Prophecy (1)

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: “This Generation” (2)

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Tags: Abraham, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Biblical Prophecy, Fire, First Century Israel, Generation, Herod's Temple, Isaac, Jacob, James, John the Immerser, Joseph, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, Paul, Peter, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rebekah, Sarah, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: “This Generation” (2)

Mar 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus is recorded using the exact term “This Generation” a total of 17 times. To what generation was He referring? How does it relate to the “Last Days?”

“THIS GENERATION” IN THE GOSPELS

I stated the following in Part 1 of this Series:

The Lord Jesus frequently and consistently referred to a single generation throughout His ministry. Throughout the Gospel accounts He refers to it specifically as “this generation.” There are a total of seventeen such references, five in Matthew, three in Mark, and nine in Luke. He also described it. He referred to “this generation” as “evil, adulterous, unbelieving, perverted, sinful, and wicked.” In Acts 2:40, Peter also refers to it as “perverse.” In Philippians 2:15, Paul agrees with Peter and adds another fitting adjective—“crooked.” So here we have seven quite descriptive adjectives describing the generation the Lord referred to as “this generation.”

THE LIST

To make sure we are all on the same page and become familiar with the seventeen occurrences of the exact term “this generation” in the Gospels, here is the list (NASB95):

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW (5):

¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, ¹⁷ and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’” [Matthew 11:16-17]

⁴¹ “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” [Matthew 12:41]

⁴² “The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” [Matthew 12:42]

³⁴ “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, ³⁵ 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. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” [Matthew 23:34-36]

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” [Matthew 24:32-34]

GOSPEL OF MARK (3):

¹¹ The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. ¹² Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” [Mark 8:11-12]

²⁸ “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” [Mark 13:28-30]

GOSPEL OF LUKE (9):

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’” [Luke 7:31-32]

²⁹ As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.” [Luke 11:29]

³⁰ “For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” [Luke 11:30]

³¹ “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” [Luke 11:31]

³² “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” [Luke 11:32]

⁴⁹ “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’” [Luke 11:49-51]

²⁴ “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. ²⁵ But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” [Luke 17:24-25]

²⁹ Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. ³¹ So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.” [Luke 21:29-32]

ADDITIONAL OCCURRENCES

The following are nine additional occurrences that do not contain the exact term “this generation” but relate directly to it and contain the word “generation.” Notice the descriptive adjectives:

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW (4):

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;” [Matthew 12:39]

⁴³ “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” [Matthew 12:43-45]

⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. [Matthew 16:4]

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” [Matthew 17:17]

GOSPEL OF MARK (2):

³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” [Mark 8:38]

¹⁹ And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” [Mark 9:19]

GOSPEL OF LUKE (1):

⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” [Luke 9:41]

APOSTLE PETER:

⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” [Acts 2:40]

APOSTLE PAUL:

¹⁴ Do all things without grumbling or disputing; ¹⁵ so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. [Philippians 2:14-16] [1]

Remember, every one of these 26 occurrences refer to the same generation. They each refer to “this generation.”

Is it the generation of the “Last Days?”

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: A Brief History of Misapplied Prophecy (1)

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: New Testament References to the “Last Days” (3)

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Tags: Biblical Prophecy, Generation, Gospel, Last Days, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, New Testament, Olivet Prophecy, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: A Brief History of Misapplied Prophecy (1)

Mar 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

We have been convinced we are living in the “Last Days,” that there is no remedy for the growing evil of these times, and that we must surrender apathetically without a fight.

“THIS GENERATION”

“Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” [Matthew 24:34]

GROSS ERROR

There is a very strange occurrence that takes place when Christians refer to prophetic content within the Gospel accounts. They almost always have a tendency to refer to the generation the Lord referred to as “this generation” as their own generation. This phenomenon became more common after the advent of the Protestant Reformation five hundred years ago. It happened before then as well though the instances are far less due to a lack of access to the Word of God, attributed to general illiteracy, and also because the Roman Catholic Church had purposely hidden the written Word behind a wall of Latin.

Thus, in the 1500s, as more Christians began reading the few emerging Gospel accounts in their own languages, and apparently due to their limited understanding of the phrase “this generation,” they had the decided tendency to think it meant their generation. The same thing happened in successive generations since, from the 1500s to the present. This became especially true beginning in the early to mid 1800s in America with the advent of Dispensational Theology, a spurious construct invented out of thin air. By the time the 20^th century dawned in the year 1900, the phenomenon became much more pronounced. It gained great steam by mid century, especially by the 1960s when America began being inundated with so-called Christian “prophecy teachers.”

Strangely enough, though these “prophecy teachers” had relatively slight differences which got blown out of proportion (such as the pre-trib, mid-trib, and post-trib nonsense), they generally agreed very closely on what they termed Biblical prophecies coming true in our time. This does not mean that they were right but that their interpretations were coming from the same original source.

Then, in the mode of Space-based science fiction popular at that time, the phenomenon broke out into the secular culture with the publication of a seminal Christian prophecy work entitled The Late Great Planet Earth in 1970. According to the New York Times, this was the “bestselling nonfiction book of the 1970s.” [1] All of the sudden, Biblical prophecy not only became a popular topic in America, it was also said to be coming to pass in real time. According to the author, the prophesied future was now upon that generation of fifty-two years ago. Due to its nature and claims, the book was also publicized through high circulation mainstream newspapers and magazines. Many more prophecy books were published by various authors. The top prophecy teachers were touring the states speaking at churches, colleges, and conferences. With the advent of Christian television in the early 1970s they were suddenly selling their wares through that medium. It truly was a burgeoning phenomenon. And the one astounding constant those guys all had in common was that our time (the 1970s) was the specific time referred to in the New Testament when the “Last Days” prophecies of the Lord Jesus were actually coming to pass.

In essence, the prophecy teachers made the declarative persistent claim that the American generation of the 1970s was the New Testament “this generation” referred to by the Lord Jesus.

THE DECEPTION PERSISTS

Remember, pretty much every generation over the last five hundred years has, to varying degrees, believed their generation to be the one that would see the culmination of prophetic events and the second coming of the Lord Jesus. This was more pronounced on scattered occasions here and there especially during times of revival. But as I stated previously, the phenomenon became a flowing stream with no discernible interruptions beginning about 120 years ago. This had never happened before. That generation was convinced we were at the end of time. When WWI broke out it appeared all the more believable. The same thing happened during WWII. The belief that we were in the “Last Days” gained force and notoriety for seventy years until it burst onto the scene in the 1970s reaching an apogee that carried on into the 1980s and 90s.

Of course, the year 1900 or thereabouts was not the end of the world, nor did the prophesied end come in the 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, or 1940s though many in those two generations were convinced otherwise. A third generation then came upon the scene and gained age in the 1950s and 60s. This generation was also fully convinced it must be the last one on earth due in part to the advent of nuclear weapons which were said to have the firepower to effectively destroy the planet. The 1960s saw great social change not only in the secular but also within Christianity which for the first time was visited throughout with the Holy Spirit outpouring within all major denominations. This occurrence definitely had an effect on the “Last Days” theme.

Then, with the initial emergence of the fourth generation beginning in roughly 1970 the phenomenon blasted into outer space. One could not escape such news if one tried. The Christians of that time knew the “Last Days” had certainly arrived. Regardless of what any previous generation had thought prior to the 1970s, those people were simply wrong, it was said, and they were only seeing the earliest glimpses of the future in their time. The previous generations had made the mistake of attributing the future to their time, it was said, while the emerging generation of the 1970s, having been shown so clearly by the prophecy teachers “that one can see prophecy coming to pass simply by reading the newspapers,” were convinced their days were truly the “Last Days,” the time when Jesus would definitely return. Well, He didn’t return fifty years ago in the early 1970s. Maybe He was “tarrying.”

When nothing changed in the 1970s the new mantra was based on the state of Israel. The prophecy teachers insisted the Lord must return within a generation of the founding of the state of Israel, which took place in the spring of 1948, as wrongheaded as that contention was. Their reasoning was thus: Since a Biblical generation was thought to be forty years the Lord will return by 1988. And of course, because there must be a seven year “Tribulation” period within this construct, this great time of turmoil and suffering which the world has never before seen would have to begin by 1981. That was forty-one years ago. Of course, the “The Great Tribulation” never happened. The Lord did not return in the 1980s.

The prophecy teachers made more adjustments. They were absolutely right all along you see and never admitted to being off, so they simply added more to the mix. They continued to make the rounds and make money. They continued writing best sellers. They continued pontificating on Christian television. Everyone, it seems, kept believing them. As time went on, however, they started sounding that much more incorrect. They could no longer come up with adequate explanations. But giving credit where credit is certainly due, these guys were masters at their craft. And Christians in general remained Biblically uninformed regarding New Testament Scripture as usual and thus extremely gullible. As time continued to pass the entire prophecy timelines and constructs of the prophecy teachers simply started to fade away. There was no sense pushing them anymore. They could no longer be made to fit.

Then a new generation began to rise in roughly the mid-1990s. Christians were still aware of these so-called prophecies somewhat but no longer emphasized them. Nevertheless, from then until now the deception has remained. Christians still insist we are in the “Last Days” referred to in the New Covenant literature. Christians still believe we are in the days directly preceding the Second Coming.

As it turns out, the “Last Days” last a long time, much longer than prophecy says they should. They have now lasted over 120 years. The state of Israel is almost 74 years old. That’s almost two Biblical generations. Every generation from roughly 1900 until now believed they would see the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. Each generation was obviously wrong.

THIS PRESENT DARKNESS

We are now at the beginning of the sixth generation. The entire construct of the prophecy teachers of the recent past has been proven absolutely wrong though a probable majority of Christians and even great millions of non-Christians still believe it. Though it has no rhyme or reason from a New Testament perspective, it has become accepted religious theology. We have seen this play out once again over the last few weeks in the Russian war with Ukraine in which prophecy is once again being applied to the actions of Russia as it always is when Russia makes a perceived major move of one kind or another.

The major problem which arises from this prophecy heresy is the idea that evil will continue to grow worse and worse in the world and that there is absolutely nothing Christians can do about it. Though the Lord Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth there is nothing He can do about it either. If Christians have been convinced that prophecy says the world is lost then the current Kingdom of the Lord Jesus existing in this world lacks the power to overcome evil which indicates evil is the greater power.

I submit that this idea is pure unadulterated garbage and that the reason evil is overcoming good is because many potential proponents of spiritual good have been erroneously taught to stand down and go about their Christianity in such a way that they represent no threat to the devil. This absurd attitude based on the “Last Days” deception may best be described by the Lord Himself in the following:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” [Matthew 5:13][2]

Sound familiar?

[1] Wikipedia

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: “This Generation” (2)

THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: New Testament References to the “Last Days” (3)

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Biblical Prophecy, False Forms of Christianity, False Prophecy, False Prophets, False Religious Authority, False Teachers, Generation, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, New Testament, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Deception, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Salt of the Earth, Unreal Christianity

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

Mar 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

In light of what is coming, every church in America should be having 24 hour daily prayer meetings with all members on their faces before God.

A NATION OF FAKE CHURCHES

Of course, this will never happen. It is not happening now. Most churches do not even believe in real prayer. The great majority of co-called Christian ministers in America are as fake as the day is long. How many of these ministers sold out to the false narrative of the last two years? How many took great sums of bribe money to go along with the program and keep quiet? How many of the great indispensable TV preachers who garner great millions of viewers are actually in on the fraud? If there are any good ones why don’t they point out and rebuke the bad ones? How long will it be before American Christians see their great leaders for what they actually are? Hint: Pretty much never. Generally speaking, Christian ministry in America has become a sham.

If you thought the last two years were rough you haven’t seen anything yet. It will get worse. As it gets worse the thought will continue to cross the minds of those paying attention that an apparent majority will either never wake up or will do so far too late. It is becoming more the case that more are becoming aware of what is happening but is also the case that far too few are willing to do anything about it. What kind of mind-numbed mockery of humanity is this when the vast majority still refuse to get their rear in gear even when they know we are falling so far so fast?

There is only one solution left and it is the solution that should have been applied first a long time ago. But this never happened you see, and it still isn’t happening, because American Christians in general have higher priorities than serving the Lord. The Lord Jesus is never first for most. The majority of Christians in America refuse to honor Him, serve Him, and obey Him. It never seems to matter how much He does to get our attention or take care of us or help us out of jams. Most Christians simply go back to their sinful ways.

Many of these people put their faith in a particular political leader. They still are. But this particular man sold everybody out at a time when they needed him most which proves he was never for real for what is needed. His handlers told him to stand down and he willingly complied. He left his supporters in the lurch. But even though he has been obviously compromised he is still out beating a dead horse as if he could make the difference. He won’t. Nobody will. All your ministers all across the country won’t. All the mighty great ones on television won’t. Pretty much all of them sold out. Just like the original Pharisees, the majority are lovers of money and titles and prestige and saving face. The majority refuse to do what the Lord Jesus requires. Though they look great and are flush with cash and popularity, these so-called leaders are spiritual losers. Why do so many still support them?

The effects of this false and horrendous leadership are all around us. They are exactly like our political leaders who rarely stand for their constituents but always for their money masters. Both have grossly violated their respective Constitutions. How sad can it possibly be that American Christian leaders refuse to honor the Lord Jesus and obey His Word? What is so much worse are the great many millions who honor them anyway and are deathly afraid of possibly stepping out of line and having their social standing cancelled. They have decided to go along to get along and take their chances at hell later on which they have no actual chance at escaping if their attitude never changes.

And when someone does stand up doing the right thing he or she is immediately attacked by all the fakers. It is bad enough that cancel culture has now taken such great hold but I was aware of this evil spirit decades ago in my early travels within organized Christianity. I saw then how ridiculously hard it was to spread the gospel truth among people who hated it and repeatedly insisted on their own warped gospels. To anyone who might have been listening or paying attention to any of my recent posts, they will notice a common theme which relates directly to this. The following are a few excerpts from my 2019 annual review which I posted over two years ago on December 30, 2019: 2019 Real Christianity Annual Review and Summary: All Posts. I highly recommend this post in which I told you what would happen in the infamous year of 2020:

“2019 was a year of warning. The enemy, brimming with confidence, showed his hand. I did my best to keep you posted. As we head into the future, your life as a Christian will be more challenging.”

“Regarding trends, 2019 was the year when the attacks on the First Amendment went into overdrive. There are anti-American forces in America that will do anything they can, legal or not, to eliminate Constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.”

“Real Christianity is under attack like never before. Christian persecution is rapidly advancing in the world and is now manifesting very powerfully in America. Most ministers and churches never talk about this. It proves they are either ignorant and unaware or remain a big part of the problem. The Lord does not appreciate Judases, money-firsters, and those who water down His powerful Word for social acceptance, and American Christianity is saturated with these at present. Believe me, it will only get worse.”

“Lies, misinformation, and disinformation are being exposed for what they are. The lies that hide the truth are being torn away. It will no longer be possible for these to remain hidden and includes exposing the perpetrators, some of which are fake and/or compromised Christian ‘leaders.’”

It happened just like I said it would. I continued this work in the year 2020 to do my best to prepare you for what was coming and keep you informed. In the spring I began a new series entitled, Early Church History 101. I began on March 29, 2020. By May 23 I had completed 22 Lessons over Acts Chapters 1 and 2. There was much support for this series. Perhaps a few of you remember. I then got slammed with an attack that made it impossible to continue. I had to shift gears. My posts beginning in the summer of 2020 were somewhat dire in scope and much longer than usual. I continued to be on point throughout that summer and the rest of 2020.

On the last day of 2020 I again wrote an annual review and stated very clearly what was coming for calendar year 2021. It happened exactly that way. If you care about what is happening today and want to be part of the solution, I highly recommend that you read this post: 2020 In Review and a Look into What’s Coming Next. Here is your refresher from this post of December 31, 2020:

STEPHEN ON STEROIDS

If you want to know what the future holds for America in 2021 and beyond, imagine Stephen on spiritual steroids. He exposed the frauds for what they were. He did this by forcing their hand. This is what the Great Awakening has done to the powers that be. It forced them to act against it to protect their turf. This in turn exposed them. There will be much more of this going on.

We will call it the Discovery Procedure…

This post was well-received at the time, but it is pretty much ancient history now. I didn’t write a review of 2021. I made no end of year predictions for the year 2022. Part of this was due to so much of my readership drifting away and then distancing themselves from my work. I always find it amazing that someone can love your work for years and then suddenly leave. Were they offended by something all of the sudden? Did someone else convince them I was wrong about something? Keep in mind I do my best to reveal what I know while also doing my best not to offend and keep readership. It does no good. My work has been spot on for many years. You, my readers, have consistently told me this.

2021 was thus a year of drift. There was obviously a culling process going on. I relayed this to you in my 6-Part series in the fall of that year: Gideon’s 300: Why a Small Group of Christians is Always Better Than 32,000 Pretenders. The Lord was whittling down His group. He was testing and removing those who failed. He was putting together a solid group of Gideons due to the great threat of the Amalekites which invaded the country in 2021 in places of very high power and influence.

THIS CURRENT SERIES

For whatever reason, this current series has not been well-received. I can understand that the content might not be something people can embrace but we must be warned and I did my warning. I am going to end this series now, but first I will answer the question: When Will This Evil End?

It will end when and only when enough American Christians return to serving, obeying, and honoring the Lord Jesus. Until then things will continue to grow exponentially worse. I have tried to tell you how bad it is going to get but also that it can be stopped through those things the Lord commands us to do. For a couple of particulars of what is coming you must know that the cost of living will rise exponentially. We have already seen this process begin. Don’t be surprised if a gallon of gas costs $8 in the relatively near future. Don’t be surprised if you cannot locate groceries as before and that their cost will go way up. And don’t be surprised when the warmongers get their way…

In the meantime we must do what the Lord has always commanded His people to do. But as I said, the vast majority of Christians in America will continue to reject this. As I said in the beginning of this article, every church in America must immediately begin 24 hour daily prayer meetings with all members on their faces before God. I am serious. These are extremely serious times. It is really bad but will get much worse. The Lord can still come through, of course, as He can at any time, but He won’t if no one wants Him to. For the relative few real Christians in America who do want Him to and are willing to continue with their full discipleship and faithfulness, believe me, regardless of all the garbage being strewn about, you will be fine. THE LORD JESUS TAKES CARE OF HIS OWN! HE IS A GREAT FATHER!

Though it is sad that so much evil is happening and will continue, it is much sadder that so many so-called believers simply do not care and refuse to engage.

Many of these will never wake up until it is far too late.

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, American Churches, Christian Pharisees, Christian Television, Dead Churches, Discipleship, Early Church History 101, False Forms of Christianity, False Gospels, False Religious Authority, Gideon, Lord Jesus, Overcome Evil with Good, Political Corruption, Prideful Church Leaders, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reality vs. Fakery, Serving MONEY, Sin and Evil, Sin and Rebellion, Spiritual Warfare, Stephen, The Early Church, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Unreal Christianity, Unreal Ministers

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

Mar 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

They have created an Ishmael—an illegitimate counterfeit. Most Americans are none the wiser (sleeping). This illicit replacement imitation is wreaking havoc on what’s left of the country.

ISHMAEL

His name was Ishmael. He was the product of an unholy and faithless union. Ishmael was conceived because the great patriarch abandoned his faith in God and did the unthinkable. He had illicit relations with a foreign woman not his wife. Yet this great sin was not characterized as the adultery it surely was because Abraham performed this unholy deed at the behest of his wife Sarah. She convinced him to do it. It was a strange love triangle born of spiritual infidelity and outright rebellion against the Lord God. The good man was overcome by the incessant pleadings of his faithless barren wife. Sound familiar?

What Eve did to Adam is what Sarah did to Abraham. However, what these two women did obviously reverberated far, far beyond their respective significant others though they never saw that at the time. Both men knew better but both failed in their faithfulness to God. Had these two men stayed faithful to their overriding spiritual covenant as God had highly advised and counseled them, the great evil that resulted which continues even until this day would never have happened.

Both men made a spiritual recovery later on but the great damage had already been done. There was nothing that could stop the ongoing burgeoning of sin and evil in this world which has grown exponentially ever since. We are currently seeing evil shooting upward as never before like a proverbial rocket, as so many explosive and fiery launches over the last sixty plus years has enthralled a rapt but clueless audience beholding the wonder though never understanding the means and motive.

We see that the serpent was responsible in Eve’s case. Was the serpent also not responsible in Sarah’s case? God had promised Abraham a son, a very special son. He had made the promise to Abraham and Sarah roughly fifteen years before. This childless couple had kept the faith throughout those years. Sarah had always been barren. For all they knew it could have been Abraham’s problem also. The point is that this couple called by God could never have children yet God promised them a very special child who would have an immense and immeasurable beneficial effect on the world.

But they wavered. They grew tired of waiting. This was especially pronounced in Sarah. Her hopes were raised to the heavens when she first heard the promise many years before but then nothing ever came of it and her hopes were dashed. Abraham held on but only in a weakened state. He did his best. There was less and less to sustain his faith. Once Sarah quit and returned to her faithless condition, which barrenness portends, it would only be a matter of time before Abraham’s little remaining supply of faith in God regarding the promise would drain away. And it did.

A surrogate wife was found. The surrogate would be the mother of the promised child. Sarah decreed this. Sarah was just as wrong as Eve, of course, but because the correcting voice that had authority over her was effectively silenced—the voice of Abraham—as Adam’s voice was also silenced by his wife, Abraham proceeded to engage in the unholy, faithless, adulterous union. Again, Sarah did not merely suggest he do this or tell him to, she insisted upon it. Abraham was waylaid. Perhaps he was also tempted in his own right with forbidden fruit that was pleasing to the eyes and flesh. Perhaps he thought of his future great patriarchy and enjoyed the prospect of having another mate for such a purpose. Whatever the case, these two chosen ones messed up really, really bad. Being born into this world wasn’t Ishmael’s fault but the replacement boy later proved to be what he was—the fruit of an illicit union of which God had never approved.

Thirteen years went by. Abraham and Sarah apparently kept up the ruse the entire time, at least in part, and treated young Ishmael as the promised one. Hagar, the boy’s real mother, had something to say about this however. She likely never bought into the narrative and didn’t care. She only knew Ishmael was her boy and she couldn’t help but fight in the tug of war instigated by Sarah. Abraham thus had two wives and they were at odds always and he had to play the referee always, and as his faith had waned which brought forth Ishmael so had his good nature waned, being caught between two warring women, and he must have grown seriously weary as a result.

He also knew in his heart that Ishmael was not really the promised child. He was forced to engage in the deception initially to please his wife and was also forced to continue the charade to stay in her graces. As far as Sarah was concerned Ishmael was her son and anything contrary to this was forbidden. There is thus no possible way she could have had a relationship with God during the entire time for if she had she would have been convicted of her sin and changed her way of thinking.

It is quite interesting how the Word of God gives us clues that bypass most Christians, likely because most Christians are also stuck in false narratives as Sarah was and cannot see them. We know in Adam’s case he lived another 130 years after his initial sin and banishment. At that point he finally repented and did what was required to get right with God. Eve also repented and got right. Their third son listed in the Genesis account—Seth—was the result. He was the fruit of their return to God and effectively replaced Abel who the devil had eliminated by the murderous hand of the abominable Cain.

The point here is the 130 years. It is ten times thirteen. Ten is the Biblical number of ordinal perfection and thirteen is the number of rebellion. Once the rebellion ended, the Messianic generational bloodline was reestablished. For 130 long years there was no hope of a future Savior. If Adam had never gotten right with God there would have been no Lord Jesus. We would all end up in hell with no remedy. The devil would have won the universe. It is therefore no surprise that the number thirteen entered the picture once again in the case of Ishmael:

Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. [Genesis 17:24-26]

It was imperative that Abraham be circumcised prior to the birth of the promised child. Should he not have known that Isaac was impossible until he had done this? That Isaac would not only be the product of pure faith but also, by implication, the circumcision of the heart? How often do we as Christians make claims upon God’s promises but remain unwilling to fulfill the terms thereof? Circumcision portends spiritual cleanliness. It portends pure seed. It was the cutting off of the flesh. Though Ishmael was conceived while Abraham was uncircumcised (flesh), Isaac, the promised son, must be conceived in circumcised purity (spirit).

Also, the outward end of Ishmael’s development as a son of flesh must be officially stopped and was stopped at thirteen years. The big picture, of course, illustrates the nature of Abraham and Sarah’s sin in that, like Adam and Eve, it was a sin of disobedient faithless rebellion. Abraham’s faithlessness and rebellion against God ended, fully, with his circumcision. In fact, everyone in his entire household was also circumcised. God does not merely suggest spiritual purity if an Isaac is to come forth—He demands it.

Perhaps this is why much of Christianity never brings forth an Isaac but can only ever manage an Ishmael.

ISAAC

Immediately after this wholesale repentance/circumcision event when Abraham returned to rightness with God, he was paid a visit by God and God confirmed the initial promise He had made many years before. Keep in mind that God never would have shown up if Abraham did not fulfill what he must. God always has more time than us and will wait forever if need be. Also, the wholesale repentance/circumcision event of Abraham’s household broke the power that Sarah had gained over Abraham and to which he had fallen victim to when he obeyed her in forcing him to bring forth an Ishmael. As long as her power over the situation remained, Isaac could not possibly be born because he must be born of Sarah and not a surrogate. His birth would never happen as long as Sarah was in charge. Sarah would never have an ounce of faith as long as she was in charge. She would never be fertile. She would be unworthy of receiving spiritual seed. Of course, in her case, she was also unable of bear children in the flesh. She was barren both physically and spiritually. She was also faithless. The only way this could change is if she submitted to God. Fully. Why was Sarah so hardheaded and stubborn in this regard? Why did she demand to have her own way? Was this not the vestige of fallen Eve in her nature? (Abraham had also partaken of the vestige of fallen Adam by weakly complying with the demands and/or manipulation of his wife.)

The process toward spiritual life and away from fleshly rebellion, as it was in the exact case of Adam and Eve, started when Abraham took back control from Sarah and then submitted total control to God. (As long as Sarah was in authority she would never submit to God and there would never be an Isaac.) This is why there was such an immediate dramatic change for the better once Abraham repented and was circumcised. The change was so dramatic that even Sarah herself would be blessed with pure faith and her newfound faithfulness to God would result at last in spiritual fruitfulness. God had initially told them Isaac was coming 29 years before. The time had now arrived for Him to tell them again, this time face to face:

Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.” [Genesis 18:1-5]

Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” [Genesis 18:9-14][1]

THIS PRESENT DARKNESS

Though an Ishmael has taken over and gained great power at the behest of evil forces he will not and they will not have the last word. Regardless of their success to date in establishing a counterfeit which appears to be legitimate, there remains much more to this story. We see many forms of attack against this Ishmael but none have worked so far nor will any other work. Except one.

As I have faithfully reported over the last eleven and a half years, primarily through this medium, a Great Awakening had always been in the plan of God for America. Just as He has done on countless other occasions, if we as His followers fulfill the terms of the promise, the present illegitimate Ishmael in control will not only be stopped but circumcised. Its evil fleshly power and connection to the devil will be cut off. This will happen when the rebellion is complete, when the perpetrators thereof have spent themselves in an ultimately losing cause. And every real Christian in America has a vital part to be engaged in toward that end. The Lord Jesus will do this, as He always has, through His people, His spiritual kingdom-minded Community of Called-Out Ones who bow the knee to Him, confess His holy Name, and circumcise their hearts.

In the interim, get faithful and stay faithful.

Isaac is coming.

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Abraham and Sarah, Adam and Eve, America, Called Chosen and Faithful, Circumcision of the Heart, Discipleship, Faith and Unbelief, Fight the Good Fight of Faith, God is Faithful, Heart of Darkness, Isaac, Ishmael, Lord Jesus, Promise, Promise by Faith, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Repentance, Rebellion Against God, Seth, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Without Faith it is Impossible to Please Him

A NOTE ABOUT OUR DIGITAL COMMUNITY (AND A BIT OF HUMOR)

Mar 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

Hello my friends. Hope all is well! The following is a brief note regarding how we operate as bloggers and the interaction thereof which you may find helpful and interesting.

Like some of you I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve “met” some really great people here over the years. Like you, I have also had readers come and go. It is always great to get new readers who like your stuff and believe it to be edifying. On the other hand, we sometimes lose readers. Some stop reading your stuff. Some stop blogging altogether. Some delete their sites. New bloggers come on board. It is all very fluid. When I look at some of my posts from just a few years ago I wonder what happened to those readers. If you do this blogging thing long enough you will have a turnover of supporters several times. This is all completely normal.

A NOTE ABOUT THIS MEDIUM

Attention spans have generally become very short. When I started out here going on twelve years ago my posts were usually in the range of one to two pages and occasionally three. Anything exceeding that was broken into two to three parts and very rarely did I write a series longer than three parts. From time to time after that I occasionally wrote a four page post. Due to the nature of the medium I realized that relatively short posts work best and if I wrote a series, three parts at the most would work best. If one uses the same title in a series, readers have a tendency to drift off and lose interest. This is perfectly understandable.

This has happened in my current series, but the title of a series cannot change unless one scraps the entire series. The writer usually never knows if a reader doesn’t read or stops reading due to the unchanging title in a series, the content of articles, or the length of articles. It could be all three or a combination. (My posts have become longer as of late.) We are therefore continually looking for what may work best to (1) Honor the Lord who has called us to this work to do what He wants, and (2) Strive to make our posts as readable, informative, interesting, and edifying as possible.

Here are a few other things of note: I learned early on that there are bloggers out there who desire to be helpful and point out things about this medium that may have escaped our notice. We always appreciate helpful hints and ideas. I had one particular blogging friend whose site I followed who liked doing this and I did learn a few things. Also, if we have a good well-rounded blog roll we cannot help but learn a great many things that will assist us in our walk, which is in essence the entire purpose of being here and doing this. My thanks to all of you for the content you post and your distinctive style.

To go along with the good, however, there’s a tad bit of bad. I want you all to know that I will never Like a post unless I read your post in its entirety. There are some who do not do this. They may not read a post at all or only read a portion but will still leave their calling card. I remember the first time many years ago when I got blasted with Like spam. I suddenly received a ton of Likes on many of my posts and, of course, knew the other blogger had never read any of them. I also learned you cannot do anything about this. It just happened again a few days ago. I suddenly received many Likes from one individual who never read the many posts he or she referenced and apparently only wanted to post his or her icon. This is not good.

Again, most of us never do this. I never do it. It is therefore difficult to know for sure how many people actually read your posts and Like them for what they contain. Regardless of such not so great behavior, we learn who our solid readers are by their great behavior and attitude, and their ongoing consistent support. At the end of the day we are all family, those of us who have given our lives to the Lord Jesus. We are each fallible, however, and need one another. We also obviously need the Lord. Always.

I remember one occasion when I was a rookie Christian. I was attending one of those churches in which we had a time of testimony. We could stand up and share with everyone there some wonderful thing the Lord did. We had a great song leader guy who also did the testimony service, as we called it back then. I’m sure some of you are familiar with the format. He would ask whoever had a testimony (a short account of something great the Lord recently did in our lives) to stand up. Then he would call on us in turn. At that time I had been engaging in some spiritual warfare and was learning, as a rookie, that sometimes God has some serious enemies. I decided to let fly with something on my heart regarding this which may or may not have fit a testimony service. I stood there in the small congregation and said something to this effect, that sometimes living out our Christianity can have serious repercussions in that the enemy can hit pretty hard. And we want to hit back but know that isn’t right and we must simply take the hit and then figure out how to fight in the Spirit. So the punchline to my brief “testimony,” delivered with a not so bright and cheery attitude, was, “And if the Lord was not watching over us and protecting us, we’d all be sitting ducks!” It got pretty quiet…

So again, we need the Lord. Without Him the enemy would treat us like little duck targets at a circus sideshow knocking down one after the other. And we need each other. Each of us has our part to engage in to help one another. Keep up the great work!

PS: I remember a brother from that time years ago telling a story about another rookie Christian. It seems somebody actually had a successful witness with some big dude who happened to be a longshoreman. The guy was your typical hard-working brawler. He ended up giving his life to God and was gloriously saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, he was still a brand new Christian and had much to learn. He was excitedly witnessing to one of his buddies at work one day and his buddy wanted no part of it. The guy being witnessed to began getting upset and angry, and belligerent toward his former friend. He even began disparaging the Lord. The brand new Christian doing the witnessing had no way to process this and thus reverted to known behavior. As he told a friend later, “Then all of the sudden the Holy Ghost came on me and I whipped the socks off him!”

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Tags: America, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Joy, Lord Jesus, Ministry Within Community, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Outspoken Early Church

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

Mar 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

They’ve been violated. It has already happened. There is no use, therefore, in being fearful of what’s coming because it’s already here. It’s been here in stages a long time…

THIS PRESENT DARKNESS

The deceived don’t know this. They have been unaware of this hidden reality in general ever since it was first brought forth. They have no idea they are being played. Some may have a clue or two momentarily but usually reject the idea of sinister planning behind closed doors by hidden higher-ups as the fruit of the nut brigade. By this they prove their membership in the latter by discarding the very possibility of gaining the required insight toward being released from deception.

Anyone with adequate Biblical knowledge knows the enemy is a deceiver. He deceived Eve in the very beginning. What thus took place in The Garden of Eden was certainly a conspiracy. It was a planned assault formulated in secret and expertly managed to deceive our first parents toward surrendering their high spiritual status and gaining authority over their lives. It worked like a charm, as they say.

The enemy has done the same masterful job to date by bringing along a long term plan very slowly but surely. As in the beginning, he has a lot riding on its success. Part of the reason for the long gradualism approach was waiting on the technology to catch up with the plans. The plans, of course, have always been there. The specific plans for our generation were made long before our generation existed. One must go back four or five generations to discover the original source of the river now upon us.

Because people are created by God to be Strong and Freedom-Loving, one of the first things that had to be done was pare down the inherent strength of human beings and remove their freedom in as many areas as possible to the greatest degree possible to make them more pliable, conforming, and weak. An insecure weakened foe with less freedom and confidence is more easily defeated. An ignorant unaware foe disconnected from the reality of his or her inherent potent nature is much less likely to make a stand and fight. For the most part, through surreptitious and deceptive means undetected by the victim, the battle is often over before it ever starts.

SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY AND DISCIPLESHIP

Big rocks are not pliable. There are big rocks in big rivers that can withstand indefinitely the ongoing powerful effect of raging waters. It will take a very long time to wear them down. Most of the time the only thing that happens to them is ongoing smoothing and polishing. They become more rounded and less sharp-edged. This is the exact process that takes place when the Lord’s people subject themselves to real discipleship. The rough edges are slowly removed. But the great Strength of the Freedom-Loving rock not only remains but grows even Stronger and more Freedom-Loving. Their smoothed out and polished nature allows opposing forces to flow past with little feeling or discomfort.

Christians who have been brainwashed by religion and religious idiots into thinking that God is against freedom obviously do not know God. That a likely majority of Christians believe this and surrender their lives accordingly proves that a likely majority of Christians are not clear on the concept. They’ve got their minds stuck on submission to authority, submission to authority, submission to authority. The idea isn’t necessarily wrong but they submit inappropriately to the wrong people. They become slaves to those they submit to whether they understand it or not. Slaves have little or no freedom.

And as I have said forever, the teachings of the Lord Jesus never advocate for such beyond one’s complete submission to Him. If the Lord wants us to obey others under His authority we only do so because we obey Him first. Real Christians place themselves first and foremost under His umbrella of authority. In this way whatever we may do is under His authority which means He has complete control over anyone else He may want us to submit to and if such people exceed their authority we can immediately cease to obey them just as the apostles Peter and John explained in the following:

In other words, those who command Christians to do something against the will of God that grossly violates their entire reason for living can be effectively told to go stick it in their left ear and jam it in all the way until everyone knows they’re as much a moron as they appear. Christians with such an attitude will always have the full 100% support of the Lord Jesus in doing such. ¿Comprende?

Therefore, all real Christians know they must submit to the Lord Jesus entirely or there cannot possibly be a real relationship with Him and His authority will never work in their lives. The unreal Christians do not understand this or have lost sight of the fact that all real Christians have been bought with a price. Our spiritual freedom was paid for by His horrific torture and death as the only possible Sacrifice Lamb who paid for our sins and set us free from its power.

Now, after the Lord Jesus has willingly paid the greatest price that could ever possibly be paid to buy us back from the forces of evil and the evil power of sin, why would He then violate our new freedom by making us slaves all over again?

It is true that real Christians are effectively His bond slaves. In fact, the English word “servant” in the Gospels referring to the Lord’s people is best translated as slaves and is translated that way in some versions. But this fact must be put into the proper context. The Lord Jesus is also obviously a loving Father. Again, did He not die for us? And is not that the greatest love? This being the case, He is obviously wholly trustworthy, loving, kind, merciful, and compassionate. Why then, must real Christians go through such a tough process which seems to violate this affection to become Strong Freedom-Loving disciples?

There are several reasons. We live in a broken, dysfunctional, sinful, fallen world filled with evil ruled over by powerful evil forces. If one is to have any effect against such evil then one must be very strong and powerful otherwise one will have no chance. To become spiritually strong and powerful one must work very hard at it and allow the Lord to assist in the process. This is in part why there must be growing pains and spiritual trials.

And in case you’re wondering, it impossible to possess this kind of powerful spiritual strength unless one is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Himself was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure. The Early Church of the first century was filled with His Holy Spirit and this is what made it so powerful. They had greater power than the devil. It wasn’t their power. It was His power. The evidence of His power within them is illustrated throughout the New Covenant writings.

Remember the Roman centurion who believed in the Lord? He stated the authority paradigm very well. By considering the military we better understand the need for growing pains, spiritual trials, and necessary discipleship. The military takes young raw recruits and transforms them into strong, disciplined soldiers who obey orders. One could never have an effective military otherwise. We can also see this in the realm of sports in which the very best players work extremely hard over many years to become the best they can be. Both of these examples illustrate the necessity of submitting to strong training and discipline. It is how the largely worthless and weak become powerful and great. Some may have great natural talent but such still must be properly subjected to the process. For real Christians, it is absolutely mandatory that they get their flesh under control and never allow their lower human nature to subvert their higher nature and violate their true character. The addition of the Lord’s Spirit to our spirit makes this possible.

But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. [1Corinthians 6:17]

Real Christians understand real discipleship. They know they are greatly loved and supported by the Lord Jesus but also know they are in a spiritual war against powerful evil enemies. They know that pacified, compliant, soft, wimpy, conformed-to-the-sinful-culture non-Spirit-filled Christians won’t have much impact whatsoever against such evil forces. They know that those who insist on such an attitude are actually working for the enemy. Keep this in mind when religious rulers insist that one must submit to them rather than the Lord Jesus. It is exactly the same when such Christians weakly submit to the secular variety of such rulers. Those who submit to either of these without ever submitting fully to the Lord are doing the same thing Adam and Eve did when they rebelled against God. They are effectively submitting to the devil.

This is why it is vitally necessary to submit to the Lord fully and properly. His teachings tell us how this is done. The history of the first-century Christians reveal to us how they did it. However, much of what the Lord taught and what the original Christians did in obedience to His teachings has been thoroughly rejected by the majority of Christians ever since. Now, why would they do that? Hmmm… This should tell one all one needs to know about Unreal Christianity. It is just another of the devil’s evil and deceptive hell holes. Rather than being Strong Freedom-Loving rocks as created by God, such Christians are mere spiritual wimps led around by the nose, broken and violated. And they don’t even know it. They are deceived.

THE LAST TWO YEARS

The Lord told me eleven and a half years ago in late August of 2010 that we were in the early stages of a national Great Awakening. He revealed this to me long before the term “Great Awakening” became popular. Starting maybe five years ago at the most this term began being appropriated by a few and then grew to massive acceptance. Curiously, however, it has rarely been used in Christian circles, Christian media, or churches. It is as if Christians are completely unaware of what is actually going on in these times. In reality, this is exactly the case. The majority of Christians are clueless because their chosen official leaders are clueless, because such official Christian leaders for the most part are not serving the Lord Jesus and have different agendas. They serve someone else. They desire something else.

Yet, how is it then that many non-Christians in America know a great deal of what’s going on behind the scenes, do an incredible amount of research, work very hard to stay informed and aware, filter out all the mis and disinformation, and do their best to inform others (for free!) while most Christians don’t know squat? Could it be because such Freedom-Loving people are doing a much better job obeying their Creator and being what He wants them to be even though they likely don’t know Him or know Him very well? And could it be that they have refused to submit to brainwashing of either the secular or religious variety?

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. [Romans 2:14-16]

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.” [Matthew 21:28-32]

Even though the last two years have likely been the worst ever experienced in America though many Americans don’t know this or believe it because they are, well, you know, and though the devil has made great strides toward his master plan, the Lord Jesus has also had a plan. His plans always predate the devil’s plans. The Lord knows what the devil will do before he does it and has a plan to counteract it. But the Lord can only implement His plans through fully submitted disciples—loving sons and daughters pledged to Him and His work—those who not only say they will do the work but actually go out and do it. Thus, we now perceive much more clearly the real Christians and the fake ones based on what each has done over the last two years. Some Christians merely did everything they were told to do without ever seeking the Lord and therefore were exactly like the wayward son who told his father he would obey but never did. And because these Christians obeyed someone other than the one they claim to follow it proves they don’t really follow Him. The last two years have revealed the unreal Christians for what they are.

The last two years have also revealed the real. The real are those who acted as big rocks in a raging river who refused to move but got that much more smoothed out and rounded and polished during a greatly difficult time. By staying with the Lord Jesus and one another and doing their best, they preserved who they are and got even stronger and more aware of the devil’s tricks.

…so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. [2Corinthians 2:11] [1]

Because the enemy was arrogant he became vulnerable. The Lord Jesus drew him out. The Lord depended on His people to withstand the process and remain faithful though it looked as though all was done and over with and the enemy had achieved a great victory. Thank the Lord that so many of His children did remain faithful. The enemy will never quit, of course, and has already brought the next phase of his plan out, but, as always, the Lord Jesus has His own plan to counteract this one as well. His people must be faithful to the current plan of the Lord as well. It is why real Christians must be forever faithful and obedient. It is how they remain Strong and Freedom-Loving.

Anything less proves spiritual adultery.

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Christ Died For Sinners, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Evil, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Deception, Spiritual Freedom, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Unreal Christianity

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

Mar 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

As objects in your side-view mirror are closer than they appear, so is the encroaching evil rapidly bearing down upon us. It is likely much worse than you may think.

A DEEP SLEEP PANDEMIC

I do not write the following to frighten but to awaken. If a person is determined to remain asleep and oblivious regardless of ongoing attempts to rouse him from listless slumber he will eventually tune out the lifesaving alarm bells to the point of no longer hearing them at all. He will effectively mute the warning. He will destroy his spiritual ears. He will become spiritually tone-deaf.

By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron… [1Timothy 4:2]

Once seared, the damage is pretty much irreparable. If a person is hopelessly indoctrinated, completely programmed by false narratives, filled to the saturation level with propaganda—brainwashed, he will almost always react in one of two primary ways against the truth that attempts to rescue him:

(1) There will be anger. But it will be a strange incoherent anger. It is similar to the anger of one who got severely burned by enemies disguised as friends. Such fooled ones who were played as fools, upon realizing they were greatly deceived and ridiculed by evil forces, have a tendency to grow very angry very fast. It is an explosive anger. So it is with the brainwashed, except in their case, instead of realizing or accepting that they are brainwashed, they will angrily stand their ground as if they are not.

And in case you’re wondering, facts will not matter. Facts actually become the enemy. Truth is the enemy. Why? Because truth acts as an aggravating, incessant alarm that never stops. The brainwashed are angry in the face of truth in part because they have invested heavily in falsehood without necessarily knowing it was falsehood when they invested so heavily in it (believing it was truth) and do not appreciate being confronted with the difficult fork in the road now before them. Repentance leads to a doable tear down and rebuild:

“Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” [Luke 17:33]

The lack of repentance thereof leads to their lives eventually crashing down as the proverbial house built on shifting sands:

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” [Matthew 7:26-27] [1]

So in order to keep their mock lives intact, if that is the foolish choice they make, they must flee from truth. They must reject the facts that prove their lives are mere artificial constructs. They must preserve their faux lives and fabrications. They must protect their simulated realities in order to protect themselves. Though what they’ve spent years embracing and nurturing may make them feel very comfortable, may look very pleasing to the eye, may greatly satisfy one’s sinful flesh, and may make one socially acceptable and maybe a social standout (because seemingly everybody embraces the same), it is still a lie.

(2) The other reaction is on the opposite end of the spectrum. When confronted with truth, the brainwashed often react with ongoing ceaseless yawning. They fight falling asleep. Of course, what is actually happening is that they are already asleep and doing their best to stay that way and safeguard their sleep status. It could be they have already rejected such truth and such truth does not only not interest them but bores them.

This is what the rejecting of facts that don’t fit one’s overall desires, personal narrative, or belief system does. Such people exhibit the extreme opposite of love and hunger for truth. They do not so much possess a hatred of truth but a complete indifference toward it. We see this in common reactions to such warnings as: “Engaging in that immoral activity, ingesting that excuse for food, and partaking of such chemical poisons is causing you great harm,” and “Whether you believe it or not or accept it or not, sin is real and the wages of sin is death.” These essentially have no effect whatsoever because the person has long since decided they WANT to engage in such sinful activities regardless of the harm and pain they will cause.

And while they must acknowledge such undeniable truth on a head level, they remain hopeful against such facts on a heart level, convincing themselves to be unconvinced in hopes of dodging the otherwise inevitable. They are thus bored by truth alarms and fight hard to stay asleep. In fact, their immoral activities and bad habits often increase in order to maintain their chosen rebellious state and condition.

PHARMAKEIA INC

Perhaps this is why America—a drug state with a pronounced drug culture of both the legal and illegal variety (two wings of the same bird if you will that has existed for multiple decades now)—is currently engaged in a drug epidemic of such immense proportions. And what is more, the legal drugs and pharmaceuticals now arguably outrank and outnumber those of the illegal variety. The wicked little seedy drug pusher of decades past has now graduated to elite status and wears his white lab coat proudly. Perhaps as many as 200 million Americans now run to him unswervingly without equivocation for their ongoing fix. And it could be that these required fixes exist in the first place because their wholesale embrace of fear and lack of courage to face the truth demands their use and abuse.

The enemy of our souls has everything to do with this. A drug and alcohol-addled population of pseudo-Christians is of course no threat to him. He is the great drug pusher par excellence after all, sitting at the top of the pharmakeia pyramid, sending out directives through his henchmen and their billionaire human agents. There is great profit in this trade on many levels. The greatest is the ongoing propagation of evil that has now captured the very soul of the nation in that a great bulk of the warriors that should be and should be fighting for God have been brainwashed by the serpent and have defected to the enemy camp. Rather than stand against the flood of evil and engage in the spiritual fight they have weakly surrendered and willingly entered soul prison, closing the cold steel doors behind them.

Where they’re safe.

And you’re wondering when this evil will end…

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Deception, Spiritual Warfare, The Enchantment of Deception, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, The Sinner's Self Deception, Truth

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

Mar 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

For those of you who have stayed with me so far and have read all four parts of this series to date, your time and attention is about to pay off.

I wrote a segment within Part 3 about Adam and Eve. My longtime reader Amber and I had a good discussion in the comments section afterwards which answered several questions. What follows are more clues from Genesis.

GOOD AND EVIL

Of course, our first parents first lived in Paradise. They existed in a state of innocence. They had absolutely no knowledge of sin. They were pure and holy. God allowed them to eat from any tree in the Garden except one. This meant that every single tree other than that one had good fruit. Only one tree had bad fruit. And there were only two trees mentioned by name in the Garden:

Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. [Genesis 2:9]

By inference, we know that the Tree of Life was located somewhere in the center of the Garden. It was likely more prominent than the other trees. It held this strategic place not only to showcase its importance but to be equally accessible from any place thereof. Wherever one traveled in the Garden one would often pass by the Tree of Life and always be reminded of its significance. The Tree of Life is mentioned three times in the Book of Genesis. The bad Tree is mentioned twice. Three is the Biblical number of Divine Perfection. Two is the number of Division.

By further inference, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil must have been far off in a relatively remote location close to the boundary of the Garden. It was in a relatively hard to reach area which for the most part demanded a determined effort to visit it, possibly also because it was at a higher elevation. The odds upon happening upon it by chance were very low.

Regarding which direction this tree might have been located from the center, we can gain clues by simply reading the text. One notices that Adam and Eve were apparently driven out of the Garden on the east side:

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. [Genesis 3:22-24][1]

By inference again, it would seem that the bad tree would be located close by. It would seem that the bad tree was close to the eastern boundary. It would appear that visiting the bad tree was associated with a consideration of leaving the Garden, or in other words, rebelling against God and going off into sin. Was this Eve’s intention?

A FIG TREE

Also, Hebrew tradition states that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a fig tree, precisely because it is mentioned thus in Genesis. It was the Tree from which Adam and Eve gained the large leathery leaves to sew together and wear as loin coverings to hide their newly discovered nakedness.

This is not the fig tree of which most people are familiar. It is not a relatively low and bushy shrub but rather a very large tree that can grow to great heights.

Here is Ficus Sycomorus, the Sycamore Fig Tree of ancient Israel:

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

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Tags: Adam and Eve, America, Discipleship, Evil, Garden of Eden, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Rebellion, The Great Awakening, Tree of Life, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

Feb 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

God is forced to put up with never-ending willful sin and outright rebellion against His authority every second of every day in this fallen world. HE HAS HIS LIMITS.

THE REAL VS. THE UNREAL

In this magnificent day in which we live, when long time sleepers are being stirred awake to varying degrees and unaware “normies,” as they are called, are finally starting to see through so many false narratives that had previously captured their minds, we must take note that the Lord will hold everyone responsible, regardless of their sleeping or awake condition, because of the massive effort over many years that was put forth to get us here.

Anyone who has spent years doing manual labor of some sort knows the cost of which I speak. Hard work gets things done. It can be tiring and draining, as we all know, but greatly rewarding. It gives us a great sense of accomplishment. Such effort demands the required rest afterwards to regain one’s health and ability to function properly. This normally comes with a good night’s sleep, of course, but many people who do such labor don’t often get the sleep they need and the labor takes a cumulative toll. Spiritual work involves the same dynamic.

For a brief synopsis on spiritual work and how things operate and get done in the spiritual world, it kinda goes like this: Some nobody real Christian somewhere of no reputation or notoriety labors intensely in total obscurity for pretty much forever in a determined ongoing effort to turn things from darkness to light. It may be someone engaging in heart-rending intercessory prayer, often not even aware of what or who they are praying for. They pray incessantly until the Lord says stop. Prayer of this kind costs. It costs a great amount. But what is gained from such prayer makes a massive difference for something or someone. Our prayer warrior may thus move mountains in answer to God’s call who uses such a method to accomplish His will in the earth.

Most people, including Christians, are never aware of such things. Great things happen and they appear to have just happened on their own. Imagine someone who engages in some kind of secret blessing ministry in which they give to others in such a way that no one knows who the giver is. Some of the recipients know exactly what happened and are extremely grateful. Others simply accept their gift, whatever it may be, as if they were somehow entitled to it with little or no thought of thanking the giver or even knowing there was a giver. They accept the gift without understanding or caring about the great effort that went into appropriating the gift to give. Sound familiar?

THE WAY THE KINGDOM WORKS

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

It can never ever be overstated what the Lord Jesus has done for us. He did it all with the most humble self-effacing attitude. His greatest work was done in secret in that no one knew by observation that He was the Author. During His ministry, He spent hours in prayer pretty much every night and there must have been times when He pulled all night prayer meetings all alone. The results of His prayers showed up in His ministry work the next day. Keep that in mind when you see so much “Christian ministry” going on all across the country while New Covenant miracles are pretty much non-existent among such people. If the results are not there it should be obvious that the spiritual work was never there either.

The Lord has His reasons for keeping a very humble and obscure low profile and for commanding that His followers have the same. One cannot help but notice that the Lord Jesus always gave the credit and glory to the Father. He would not allow the glorification of flesh or mere humanity in the spotlight, even if it meant His own humanity, perfect and pure as it is. This should give all the glory hound in-the-spotlight Christian ministers great pause. Those who stand in such a place had better deliver or there will be consequences. Most such ministers, of course, never deliver. Their efforts remain squarely in the natural flesh realm. Not only do their ministries never see miracles many don’t even believe in miracles. And Christian ministry without miracles is NOT Christian.

Again, a great amount of behind the scenes spiritual effort by hard-working obscure nobody Christians has gone into the current Great Awakening. It is certainly the Lord Jesus who is bringing it but He must work through His people and He can only work through those who fully surrender to His will and are willing to be used in whatever way He desires. So, just as the Lord Jesus, as our example in this regard, gave all the glory to the Father (even though He later explained that He is the Father), so must all real Christians give the glory for the accomplished work to the Lord Jesus. He is the One with all the authority in both heaven and earth. There is nothing He cannot do. Once Christians actually see and understand this and apply His methods for achieving the work He has commanded must be done, they gain effective understanding that truly, all things actually are possible with God. They shift over into believing in miracles. They see that the help the Lord wants to give MUST include the supernatural.

OUR GREATEST OPPONENTS ARE NOT HUMAN

The devil is a powerful spiritual entity. This is simply fact. The majority of Christians don’t know this, don’t acknowledge it, lose sight of it, refuse to address it, or are much too fearful toward addressing it. Yet, the New Testament states this very plainly. The devil is in fact so powerful that he has gained control over the entire world. The only place he doesn’t have control is in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. There is a huge disconnect here among Christians, however. The Lord Jesus acknowledged this fact. The Early Church in the first century was well aware of it. To refresh our memories there is this:

How did the devil gain control of all the kingdoms of the world? Why do we think this passage of Scripture does not apply to the present? Do Christians really believe that the devil controls all the kingdoms of the world at present? How many Christians actually acknowledge this?

It must be few. The few who do are most likely the real Christians of the world. They know this to be true because they are Kingdom-minded. They know when they were born again of the Spirit that they left the sinful world and entered the Kingdom of God. They know they were previously bound by sin and living in the devil’s prison. They know the Lord Jesus busted them out of jail. They thus know how this world really works. They are not unaware of the devil’s power and authority in his own realm. They also know, however, that the Lord Jesus has much greater power than the devil. They know that the Lord’s spiritual power is vitally necessary because the devil is a spiritual being and uses spiritual warfare against us. We MUST in turn use spiritual warfare against him. The Lord Jesus taught all about this and demonstrated clearly how such spiritual warfare must be done.

Therefore, though the great bulk of “Christians” in the world have no spiritual power by choice because they are not filled with the Holy Spirit and don’t want to be, though many convince themselves they are when they are not, and though these Christians represent little or no threat to the enemy, the relatively few real Christians in the world are the ones who work with God and are actually getting the work done and accomplishing the works of their Father. It is the few real Christians who have the courage to actually attack the enemy. The devil has created a prison planet with most of his subjects in jail, unknowingly, and God is intent on busting as many people out of the devil’s jails as possible. That takes effort. It takes great spiritual power. It takes the Lord having actual strong disciples intent on doing His will and being used of Him so He can work through them. Every time someone is actually busted out of the devil’s jail and brought into the Kingdom of God IT IS A GREAT MIRACLE.

THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL

Therefore, if you’re wondering when this evil will end, it is ending in part as you read this in that great spiritual work is being accomplished behind the scenes as it were and we see the evidence in part every time someone gets saved, set free from sin, and busted out of the devil’s prison.

Someone paid a great price for such to happen. Someone paid it forward with His very life. Moreover, we know great miracles are happening worldwide and the Lord’s Kingdom is growing larger because the devil is being exposed. The Lord’s LIGHT is shining on the great darkness in this world. His TRUTH is exposing all the lies and false narratives. This combination of spiritual Light and Truth means the enemy must be on the run from both.

He and his minions, including those of the human variety, can run for a while and hide for a while but will never be able to outrun the Lord Jesus or hide forever.

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

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Tags: Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Miracles and Healing, Overcome Evil with Good, Prayer and Fasting, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rebellion Against God, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

Feb 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

We live in a finite and temporary world. These two facts portend that evil will achieve a point of allowed maximum growth and will then be terminated.

I wrote in Part 1 of this series that Sin is Progressive. According to the dictionary definition, this means it is “moving forward or onward: advancing,” and “increasing in extent or severity.” [1]

The Word of God states that sin had a clear starting point in this world. There was a time here when there was no sin. The first two human beings on the planet initially existed in a state of pure innocence. They had no experiential concept of sin. Adam was certainly warned of it and Adam warned Eve of it. He taught her what God had taught him. But they only knew sin as a concept. The only thing that continued to protect them from it was their faith in God and obedience toward Him. More than these, though, it was Adam and Eve’s great love for God that compelled them to obey. Their love generated trust. They believed God and believed in Him.

This love was more pronounced in Adam, however. There was a period of time in Adam’s early life when he was blessed with much alone time and fellowship with God. Their Father-son relationship was undoubtedly very close. Eve never experienced this. It appears as though Eve spent little or no time as God’s daughter apart from Adam. She was created to be Adam’s wife. This created a dynamic that demanded even greater attention to their relationship with God. Just as we do not know how long Adam spent alone with God before Eve was created, we also don’t know how long Adam and Eve existed in innocence before they sinned. It would appear, though, that it was a relatively short rather than long period of time regarding the latter.

ADAM’S EZER KANEGDO

God stated: “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18). The Hebrew word for good in this verse is defined as “pleasant, agreeable, good.” [2] It was not good that something not good existed in the Garden. It is my belief that this “not good” only lasted a short time. I explain it this way: God created Adam and breathed His own life-giving Spirit into him. Adam became a living being. His first relationship was that of a son to his Father (See Luke 3:38). We do not know at what age Adam was created but it was likely young enough for God to be a good Father to him and teach him all he must know. When the time came for Adam to seek a wife he entered into the “not good” phase. Adam arrived at a time when he needed close human companionship beyond his perfect companionship with God. His need denoted lack. The lack was “not good.” It was initially not good because there was no such helper suitable for him. She had yet to exist in all of Creation. God would have to create her. God knew He must create Adam’s ezer kanegdo. And it appears as though God saved His best for last.

It was up to Adam to teach her. He had to show her the ropes. Adam had the best Father and Teacher possible but now he would have to step into this role for Eve. It appears as though he did a very good job because we later see that Eve was well-versed in spiritual knowledge when she had her fateful conversation with the trickster serpent. She held up very well for a while. The serpent knew her every weakness, however, and took full advantage. There is no doubt that Eve wanted more than she had. She apparently did not understand fully that she already had it all. Her desire for more, wherever it came from, is what caused her to listen attentively to the serpent’s counter attack.

Remember, God had commanded Adam that he must never eat the fruit from one particular tree in the Garden. That was it. Just one thing he must never do. Only one negative command. Adam always obeyed. He taught Eve exactly as he had been taught. She undoubtedly knew the command. But whereas Adam had no longing for the forbidden fruit Eve apparently did. Adam did not think he was missing out but Eve apparently did. There can be no doubt that Adam had been tempted this way, maybe several times, all without giving in to temptation. What happened to Eve?

For starters Adam had somehow allowed her to be alone with the serpent. Even though Scripture seems to report that Adam was with her during the temptation this could not have been true. The words “with her” in Genesis 3:6 do not appear in the Hebrew. The conversation only involved Eve and the serpent. Though she had always obeyed up to that point, she did so because she feared death. She knew death was the penalty for violating the one negative command.

The first thing the serpent did to throw her off was ask her directly if God had ever actually made such a command. Eve said He did. She also told the serpent that whoever ate the forbidden fruit or even touched it would die. Adam had taught her this. But again, it appears as though God taught Adam better than Adam taught Eve. It looks as though Adam respected God more than Eve respected Adam. Adam had full confidence in God but Eve apparently did not have the same confidence in Adam. She must have questioned this command in her heart. This could be because she essentially got the message second hand. Because Adam was the go-between and because Eve never heard this directly from God she possessed a weakness the serpent could take advantage of.

(1) The serpent asked her if God had actually ever made that particular command. This put doubt in her mind. This pretty much proves that she never heard the command from God.

(2) When Eve told the serpent the command and the penalty for breaking it the serpent simply lied to her. She had never heard a lie before. The serpent told her, “You surely will not die!” Then he lied to her again and told her if she ate it she would be like God.

(3) Eve was now disarmed. She was no longer sure that God had ever made the command and then began believing that if God did make it He only did it because He wanted to keep her down. She must have thought God was holding out on her, that He did not want her to be fully blessed and fulfilled. She also probably thought that Adam had gone along with the ruse. How could someone so blessed living in Paradise actually think that the two most important ones in her life who both loved her were actually lying to her and holding out on her?

(4) Then the devil went in for the kill. He had managed to get her completely confused and off-balance. She could no longer properly discern the veracity of God’s command or the penalty thereof. Was it actually true? Is there something much better for me that I didn’t know about before?

She eventually succumbed to temptation.

THE THREE SOURCES OF SIN

In the first epistle of John the apostle, he warns his readers to “not love the world nor the things in the world.” The Greek word is kosmos and there are several definitions. In this context John is referring to the world of sinful man existing apart from God in opposition to Him containing “the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.” [3] John then tells us that all sin originates from only three main sources:

These three sources of sin are aligned with the three main temptations to sin. We may call them Door #1, Door #2, and Door #3. The three sources are three portals. The portals are presented by the enemy as Portals to Paradise. Whoever may enter through these doors is guaranteed to experience a paradise on earth. One is also promised a place of ruling authority. One can have whatever one’s heart desires. This should sound familiar:

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. [Genesis 3:6][4]

Here we have the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and lastly, the boastful pride of life in which “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).

The Lord Jesus Himself had to be tempted with these three and pass the test before He could start His ministry. He succeeded where Adam failed. But it must be remembered that Adam and Eve repented of their great sin and got their act together with God 130 years later. They produced a righteous son named Seth, a replacement for righteous Abel who was murdered. Abel was the original beginning of the Messiah’s generational line. Adam started the line anew through Seth (See Genesis 4:25).

This tells us that any and all sin, no matter how heinous or egregious (except the unpardonable sin), even that as far-reaching as the sin of Adam and Eve, can be forgiven and washed away by the Blood of the Lamb. But this only happens if one exits “the world.” Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden and cast into the wild world. Everyone since was physically born into “the world.” In a reversal of fates, the last Adam makes it possible “for whosoever will” to exit the world of sin and enter the Kingdom of God on earth.

Nevertheless, the world of sin, since it was created many millennia ago, has grown worse and worse over time. It is because Sin is Progressive. It will continue progressing until it maxes out. We will look into this process further in Part 4…

[2] Strong’s Concordance

[3] Strong’s Concordance

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

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IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

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Tags: Adam and Eve, American Sin and Depravity, Discipleship, Garden of Eden, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Evil, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Great Awakening, The serpent in the Garden

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

Feb 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

For the most part humanity goes through life with blinders on. Life being what it is, the vast majority are always in the process of oblivious survival and reality denial.

FACING REALITY

Indeed, survival has been the main preoccupation of the great mass of humanity throughout history. Life in this world is difficult in general but the gradients thereof can rank from just this side of impossible on a daily basis to being stalwart enough to keep two or three plates spinning at once for long enough stretches. The relentless attention to staying alive, however, must at some point be supplemented (to do it justice) by achieving relatively good health with minimal food and shelter for greater advancement to be possible. Yet, striving further, the struggle is then not only about the attempt at gaining the hard-won fruit of difficult toil, but also overcoming the incessant forces forever trying to keep one from getting to better places, and once getting there staying there.

As great feats of architecture must be engineered to overcome all manner of often unacknowledged natural stresses and forces arriving through moving winds, rushing water, and quaking earth, so must human beings learn to cope with forces and stresses which seem intent on fighting every step one makes toward a better life. Survival portends overcoming these relentless attacks and establishing small beachheads from which one can expand outward and upward. One’s first camp in life, with the rudimentary basics, in most often the hardest. From there it gets more doable but only because one has established a rough home of sorts to resort to when the going gets so tough it demands a break to rest and recharge. Without such an established starting point protected from the elements one can never sustain a drive toward breaking out of mere survival and remains forever at the mercy of those opposing forces intent on keeping one from rising up over them.

For the relative few who do manage to escape ceaseless survival mode, their new found freedom, diminutive as it may be, is immediately used for hopeful progress and they become preoccupied with improving their basic station in life. If actually succeeding against most odds at their lofty goal of bettering living beyond staying alive, the next pursuit is even loftier in that the attempt to excel enters the realm of possibility. There are some who do excel though the definition of such is fluid and depends on perception. At each hardy, difficult step of going-against-the-grain accomplishment and overcoming, one establishes a solid foundation from which to build the next advance. As long as said foundation remains strong and secure and one proceeds with correctly engineered plans and construction, one can keep building with confidence.

“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” [Luke 6:47-48]

The foundation part of one’s overall edifice is the decidedly tricky part. If not careful in building and securing one’s spiritual foundation the right way to the proper level of bearing strength, one finds out the hard way that one’s architectural life was actually a big game of Jenga just waiting to return to a disassembled natural state.

This unfortunate and all too common outcome experienced by a probable majority was inevitable once one’s faux foundation and the edifice upon it failed to hold at bay the straining-at-the-leash evil howling dogs of omnipresent stresses and forces determined to discover overlooked architectural error and slipshod work exceeding the parameters of allowable sound building practices which fatally compromised construction integrity.

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

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IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

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Tags: American Sin and Depravity, Christ Died For Sinners, Discipleship, Evil, Fear, Lord Jesus, Overcome Evil with Good, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

Feb 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

From one of the first anointed preaching messages I ever heard when I was a rookie Christian years ago I remember the clear and haunting words, “Sin is progressive…”

I’ve visited this theme several times over the course of this blog. It is not an easy thing to face. Sin begins at a single point. It then grows. It rides along a rising wave gaining strength. In time it proliferates. In further time it rises higher and then suddenly starts shooting upward exponentially as on the right side of an intangible graph. If nothing stops its advance, and nothing often does, it goes forth and it conquers. Sin is truly progressive…

For the overly fearful among us, the notion of sin and evil running so out of control that next to nothing can be done about it can be petrifying. It is why most don’t want to touch the subject. Such an approach is not necessarily a rejection of such facts but akin to hiding them away in a far corner of a dank and dusty immaterial attic or burying them out somewhere in a nondescript field without a marker. The idea that an evil so great and powerful lurks in our midst taking precedence over our lives regardless of benign exteriors to the contrary is simply too much to deal with for most.

When one actually does look into it, even for a brief few seconds of consideration, seeing the distinct possibility, and maybe even venturing to the edge of the shocking reality though still at a presumably secure distance, it often causes a gut reaction and an instant recoil back to safety, as one may force a waking state from a nightmare to escape the spine-chilling terror thereof.

This is why most people have succumbed to ignoring the great hidden evil or claiming its non-existence. It is due both to being either unable or unwilling to face it for the great fear factor involved because of the shock such fear does to one’s system, or because they know inherently they have no means of battling it, fighting successfully against it, overcoming it, and thus eliminating it. They know the evil is simply too great and they are not strong enough to duke it out as one may win fights against far-lesser foes, or that they do not have the necessary tools of warfare, as one is well aware of the futility of bringing a dull butter knife to a gun fight.

Humans know this. Or, they used to. Maybe the vast majority has run so far away as yellow-striped cowards over the last several decades and more that such a weak-response attitude has become embedded in the DNA of present generations. Maybe the blindness that has thus ensued has reached a point of mass all-encompassing willful sightlessness that most could never see it no matter what obvious facts are presented or even if the Sacred and Holy written Word of God is used as potent searchlight.

I remember once, at a deer hunting lease, our small group of men, all family, had to go out one late afternoon right before the season started to check on some feeders or something. Among our group was one young man who had never been out in the deep woods that far. It was his first hunting venture. As we dealt with the last tasks in the growing evening it quickly grew almost dark. Being heavily overcast in mid-autumn with little or no moon, the recognizable was fading fast. The sunlight through the deep clouds had drifted off surreptitiously rather quickly and it was soon night.

Anyone who has experienced this scenario knows of what I speak. Normally in such conditions one would already have a fire going in camp and the dark/light ratio is not noticed so much, especially amid the usual supper activities and whatnot of that time. Out in the brush, however, there was no fire and no light other than our small handheld flashlights which work good at seeing the immediate surroundings but not so much that the enveloping shroud of deep darkness all around doesn’t have the clear upper hand.

Then someone thought it would be cool to douse them for a while. We turned off our lights. The great darkness of the deep woods out in the middle of nowhere instantly invaded our immediate presence and let us know who the boss was, at least in that moment. It was total blackness. Then, as our eyes adjusted somewhat, the distant starlight muted by the dark overcast unseen clouds above filtered in, at least toward a point of seeing enough to know we were at a supreme disadvantage. The eyes of the wild were on sudden alert and we must have surely appeared as easy targets. We beheld the wonder momentarily.

The two older men, though with necessary respect and a positive appreciation, thought nothing of it having experienced it many times. Deer hunting is such that you enter your blind or climb a tree in the pitch black darkness of cold mornings and leave them the same way after the evening hunt. The two younger men probably thought it was an interesting experience but was, of course, nothing new. But the young lad had never been in such a situation. We stood there briefly in the great darkness of the wild world and allowed ourselves a chance at natural reality and spiritual perception. All was quiet.

The young one, however, was a tad shaken. Knowing full well he was fully protected and had the security of strong company and family ties did little to stop the deep impression on his young heart of just what this world is apart from our technological advances and artificial surroundings.

He felt relieved when we turned our flashlights on and headed back…

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IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

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THE REAL GOSPEL

Feb 11

Posted by RJ Dawson

The odds are great that most Christians in the world have never experienced the real Gospel or are aware of it, and have embraced another gospel in its place.

Christians in general are not so discriminating in their gospel choices. Rather than do the required reading and research which the Lord Jesus, as our Teacher, demands, in order to locate the real one, they accept whatever gospel they are most familiar with or the one their particular tradition mandates. Many apparently do not even refer to their respective denominational beliefs as a gospel. They have been taught, and have accepted, the notion that anything Christian is close enough and anything Christian is the gospel, and that denominational separation and variation are the norm. This attitude makes a mockery of the Lord’s extensive teachings as though His full curriculum were optional, as though one can deviate from it and create partial gospels based on segments of His teachings. It makes a mockery of all He went through and the struggles and great victories of the Early Church which they achieved through never-ending spiritual warfare and incessant prayer. What they accomplished was extremely difficult and demanded real discipleship. Such remains a foreign concept in most of today’s churches.

Therefore, what I write here is an attempt to set the record straight. The record, of course, is contained in the actual written Gospel presented in the New Covenant Scriptures. This record is our Christian foundation. And though the early first-century believers had no written New Testament, the written New Testament is an absolute necessity in our day. For by it we can discern truth from error.

THE GOSPEL, THE COVENANT

We call it a testament. The better word is covenant—from the Greek word diatheke. The writer of the Book of Hebrews explains the nature of this covenant (in a passage we will get to shortly) in a manner most often not acknowledged or fully understood by the very Christians who claim to invoke it. How is it that the majority of Christians spend their lives going through their respective Christian motions yet never participate in the covenant which decides their eternal fate?

A covenant is a binding legal contract or agreement between two parties. This is exactly what the New Covenant is. The Gospel, or Good News, announces this covenant. The Good News, or Good Tidings, or Glad Tidings, is that God has made a way for people to be delivered from the bondage of sin and have their sins paid for and remitted completely. It is an agreement instituted by our benevolent Creator for the sake of being relationally reconciled with the wayward people of His Creation. And unlike most contracts which involve the participation of both parties in the authoring of the contract, the New Covenant is a contract in which God authors the terms. But unlike authors of covenants who control the terms and thus write for themselves the best terms, God blesses the wayward offending party with the best terms—the highly beneficial terms normally granted by the controlling author to himself. And what is more, the Author of the New Covenant must not only be the Priest which divides the sacrifice to shed its blood (for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin), but be the Sacrifice and shed His own Blood. God has so loved the wayward people of his Creation that He was willing to become one of us, shed His blood for us, and die for us. There is no greater love than this.

The Greek word diatheke, translated into English primarily as covenant, is also translated in some Bible versions in a few locations as will, as in last will and testament, which is a covenant that goes into effect only at death. Paul uses it this way in Galatians 3:15, for example. For our purposes here, we may focus on Hebrews 9:16 in which most versions translate diatheke as either covenant or testament, but a few as will. Thus, the New Covenant necessitated the death of the Testator—the Author of the will—whose last will and testament went into effect only upon His death and which involves the rights of inheritance for the second party.

And due to the nature of the sacrifice He made for sin, it is also a covenant of blood—a Blood Covenant in that two parties agree that a sacrificial death must take place to institute it (the death of the Lord Jesus, the first party), but also that a second sacrificial death must take place to ratify it (the death of the second party):

¹⁵ For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. ¹⁶ For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. ¹⁷ For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. [Hebrews 9:15-17]

Now, the death of the first party of the New Covenant was a brutal physical death involving horrific torture and suffering. It was, of course, undeserved. The Lord Jesus was absolutely innocent of the false charges His accusers threw against Him. He never committed a single sin and kept the Law of Moses perfectly. This, of course, made His an extremely difficult and dedicated life. His love for wayward humanity was such that He subjected Himself to the otherwise impossible task and living a life with no sin so He could defeat sin and release us from the evil power of sin. The Lord had to be completely innocent and pure in order for the New Covenant to be instituted. He was the Sacrifice Lamb and the sacrifice had to be without blemish.

The death required of the second party in this covenant, however, is not a physical death but a sacrifice of the totality of one’s life. It is illustrated by the anguish, agony, and grief of the full repentance process as one expresses pronounced sorrow for one’s lifetime personal sins and is broken and “burnt” as an offering upon an intangible altar of sacrifice as one surrenders completely to the terms of the covenant which mandates such a death.

The second party, of course, has no leg to stand on as it were and no defense, since he or she is the guilty party, the party of sin. The Author’s terms which one must agree to in order to accept and ratify the agreement cannot possibly be any better, however, since they entail not only a brand new clean and purposeful life in the here and now but eternal life as well. And this eternal life, of course, demands that there also be a later resurrection after physical death, just as the first party had undergone resurrection. The Lord Jesus had died physically but later came back to life. The second party of the covenant will also undergo physical death and will also later come back to life.

But regarding the present, there is more. If the second party repents properly, correctly, and fully, which means he or she effectively dies, the pure Blood of the Sacrifice Lamb, the Lord Jesus, will then be applied to his or her life. The Blood is applied at repentance. Thus, if there is no real repentance, there is no application of the Blood, and there is no ratification of the New Covenant for any particular second party.

If there is real repentance by the second party, then he or she will be thoroughly cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb and all personal sin will be washed away. And since the second party does not actually die physically to ratify the covenant, the Lord Jesus has instituted full immersion water baptism in His Name—it must be in the Name of Jesus—as a type of burial for the “dead” second party. In other words, real repentance signifies death and full immersion water baptism signifies burial.

Now what? You’ve got a person, the second party, who is dead and buried. When he or she then emerges from the waters of baptism it signifies in one sense a resurrection from the tomb. In effect, however, though one is now clean and pure, his or her spirit must be resurrected as well in order to complete the process of attaining the same state that Adam and Eve existed in before they sinned. Remember, God had told them that if they ever sinned they would die. Yet, when they did sin, they did not die physically, but spiritually. They continued living physically but Adam’s spirit had died. Eve’s spirit had died. Because of this, their sin and their dead spirit cut them off from spiritual relationship with God. And because they were no longer innocent and pure they could no longer live in the spiritual Garden made for spiritual people but were required to leave the Garden and go into the wild world.

The last Adam, however, restores this spiritual relationship. He has made a way in which one can return to the Garden (His Kingdom). He does it through the infilling of the second party with His Holy Spirit:

But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. [1Corinthians 6:17]

TRANSFORMATIVE SPIRITUAL POWER

Thus, we now see the complete process toward total restoration. This is what was demonstrated in the early history of the Lord’s Community per the historical record of Acts. This is the fullness of the real Gospel. This is the Good News. The second party, previously completely helpless and bound by sin with no chance of changing his or her condition for the better, is fully transformed into a new creation by the sacrifice and power of the first party.

Therefore, the New Covenant is actually a covenant of transformative spiritual POWER. This was demonstrated throughout the ministry of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel accounts. He possessed and demonstrated the power of God. People were miraculously healed. They were miraculously delivered of possession by demons. The poor and downtrodden, those beat down and taken advantage of by others, were blessed with the uplifting Gospel of hope and joy. And the dead were raised to new life.

This great spiritual power and the one Gospel—the only real Gospel—were and remain a package deal. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. Not only was this great spiritual power (Greek: dunamis) demonstrated in the Lord’s ministry, it was also demonstrated after His initial ministry through the ministry of the Early Church in the first century. So the power never ended with His direct ministry, continued after His direct ministry according to the clear historical record, and was obviously intended to continue throughout the age of His Kingdom on earth until the present and beyond. To support this fact, we have these three passages for starters:

So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. [Mark 16:19-20]

“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:39]

After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. [Hebrews 2: 3-4]

The New Testament, therefore, is: (1) A written record which reveals the spiritual power of God in action, the very cause of the miracles which took place among them and without which the Gospel would have no power or ability to transform. (2) A written record which documents the full teachings of the Lord Jesus—the real Gospel—but also exposes any and all consequent false gospels.

ANY Christian teaching that deviates from the Lord’s pure curriculum is in essence a false teaching, either because it contains error, that which the Lord never taught, or it acknowledges only a portion of His teachings. Whatever gospel thus contains additions to His teachings denotes a false gospel. Whatever gospel thus contains omissions from His teachings denotes a false gospel. And whatever gospel that denies and does not possess the transformative spiritual power of God is a false gospel. It was none other than the renowned Apostle Paul who first claimed this fact in his second letter to Timothy when he wrote:

…holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these. [2Timothy 3:5]

For greater insight and clarification, the phrase “form of godliness” in the preceding verse is from the Greek words morphosis eusebeia. The first is defined as “a forming, shaping, semblance, a form, embodiment.” The second is defined as: “reverence, respect, religion, piety.” Putting the two together, using various existing Bible translations, we see much better the man-made formulation of the many false gospels in the world and their inherent character:

A Form of Godliness

A Form of Religion

A Form of Piety

A Pretense of Religion

An Appearance Indeed of Godliness

The Appearance of Godliness

The Form of Religion

The Outward Appearance of Religion

The Outward Form of Godliness

THE REAL GOSPEL

Partial salvation is not real salvation. Partial cleansing of one’s soul is not real cleansing of one’s soul. A partial born again experience is not a real born again experience. Partial healing is not real healing. A broken heart cannot be partially healed and actually be healed. The real Christians of this world know they had to surrender all and give their entire heart to the Lord in order to receive all that He had to offer and must be offered in order to be fully transformed. With the Lord Jesus, there are no partial or halfway measures. He will never allow a person to think he or she is okay when he or she is not okay.

HE IS NOT A QUACK MINISTER LIKE MOST OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTERS IN THIS WORLD, EACH OF WHOM HAVE THEIR PRICE AND HAVE SOLD OUT.

And a lawyer (a Torah teacher) stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” [Luke 10:25-28]

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” [Matthew 12:30]

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” [Luke 11:23]

According to the Lord Jesus, who is our only authority, real Christianity is a 100% proposition. One is either with Him or one is not. If one is with Him one is with Him 100% or one is not with Him at all. He has all authority and all power both in heaven and on earth. As part of His ministry, He shares his power with His real followers. He even said His real followers, those who believe in Him, could do anything He did and more:

To this astounding statement, however, He adds an apparent caveat:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]

And it is here that we see the answer. We discover how real Christianity works. We understand how the people of the Early Church, not only the apostles, were able to be used of God to allow for the doing of the same miracles that the Lord performed. They must have loved Him with all their heart. No one would ever do all that He commanded otherwise.

Though they believed in Him and trusted Him completely, their obedience went beyond mere trust. They obeyed Him because they loved Him. This is why they kept His commandments. He loved each of them with all His heart. And they loved Him the same. We know the Lord was willing to do pretty much anything for anyone to help them and bless them and that His help went beyond the mere natural into the supernatural. He empowered His disciples to do the same works He did but they were only able to do them after they reached the same point of love for Him that He had for them, and by this they were able to love each other.

It was the bond of spiritual love (agape) which made the early believers so effective in doing miraculous works (ergon). Their love of the Lord Jesus meant that they trusted the difficult discipleship process they had to go through to receive the spiritual power (dunamis) through which the works were activated. Their love of their neighbor allowed them to work well together and meet the spiritual needs of their neighbor.

And this is why the one Gospel—the real Gospel—is founded upon spiritual love and works through the power of spiritual love.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” [John 15:12-14][1]

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TENTS OF INTENSITY: IDENTIFYING THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Feb 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

I’m reading a book about a Christian minister in the early to mid-20^th century conducting evangelistic meetings and starting churches. In tents.

ATTENTION TO TENT MINISTRY INTENTIONS

This is nothing profound or out of the ordinary, of course, since big canvas tents had become the norm of sorts for large evangelistic meetings by mid-century. They were also used by those sent to start new ministry works in various small towns and locations throughout the country. If one had a tent he could carry it around on a trailer with the other stuff necessary for holding services. Once the minister secured a location on which to set up the tent it didn’t take long to begin holding services. The tent itself would often act as free advertising. When the people of the town saw the new curiosity, like a traveling road show or entertainment spectacle, they were often drawn to it since the interloping tent attraction added a new level of excitement in a hum drum existence. The minister to which I am referring did much of his early work in the late 1920s and into 1930s during the Great Depression. He was not only offering the Gospel of salvation to the locals but also giving them hope and inspiration.

He later revealed his method for starting new churches. He would visit a new town, usually of the smaller variety and sometimes in out of the way places. He would set up his tent, which often included a platform to preach from, maybe do a little additional advertising around town, and then commence with holding services. After a few months of steady work holding consistent meetings and growing a regular congregation he would set up a pastor to take care of the folks while the folks compensated the new pastor with a living. Then he would move on. It would take a certain quantity of people giving a necessary amount of money to support the pastor depending on the situation and his needs. To replace the tent, a local building would be appropriated for either rent or purchase depending on the circumstances. If all continued to go well regarding growth and expansion the new church start would be able to eventually build a new church building to call their own.

This was a difficult effort overall if the church start minister was not connected to an established deep pockets denomination from which to draw support and financing. Anything the Lord created through him must have been greatly satisfying, since he was starting from scratch, especially since his preaching method, doctrine, and ministry emphasis was on the salvation of souls, which was usually not the emphasis of the mainline churches. Such tent ministry methods were sometimes or frequently seen as deviating from the Christian norm and were somewhat disdained by both local anti-Christian forces who often got stirred up and provoked rather easily, as well as by the local denominational church pastors who may have seen such efforts personally intimidating, a threat to their authority, and an invasion of their turf.

It is why this particular minister and those like him saw Christian ministry not as business as usual but one much more in line with the New Covenant practices of the Lord Jesus. They got their ideas from the New Testament. Thus, they saw themselves as certainly different from the norm but were not so untraditional that they would not later adopt the same formats of those churchmen and traditional Christians opposing their early efforts.

BEHOLD, I WILL DO A NEW THING

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. [2Corinthians 5:17]

These new ministers of the Gospel were part of a new wave breaking upon America as part of a Great Awakening movement that had its roots primarily in the 1906 Los Angeles Azusa Street Revival. The people of that time associated with the movement were more than willing to step from traditional methods and go out on large limbs of pure faith to honor the Lord. And He blessed them for it.

The majority of Christians today cannot identify with that movement or what those people went through to assist the Lord in bringing forth new Light. Their emphasis on Pentecost and Book of Acts happenings took a tremendous amount of courage and demanded a willingness to have one’s Christian reputation destroyed. As John the Baptist facing off against the Pharisees, they had to put up with unending attacks not necessarily from local yokels in general, though that was surely the case, but primarily from status quo Christians in high places and their unthinking drone army of pew-worn sycophantic lemmings. Whatever Christian norm had been established at that time by the current generation was seen as the norm from which no one should deviate. Of course, necessary deviations from such established traditional sleepy time norms must happen anyway if the real Gospel is to be preached, otherwise there would never be the proper spiritual corrections and ongoing restoration toward the pure New Testament prototype.

DID THE APOSTLES USE TENTS?

And this is where it gets interesting. The minister tent user of which I speak and whose book I’m reading who held a great many tent crusades et al in his time over several years was not actually engaging in a pure New Testament effort after all because the big top model was relatively recent. I’m not sure what minister first used a tent for ministry purposes and I don’t feel like doing the research but one wonders if the idea came from the ever present traveling circuses of bygone years. I’m sure big canvas tents were used for more than just circuses but I think said circuses indeed captured the market on the imagination since pretty much everybody back in the day associated circuses with giant tents filled with lions and tigers and bears and acrobats coming to town. It was only a hop and a skip sans the jump to put the proverbial two and two together and manifest a flashing yellow light bulb over one’s head toward the big ministry-minded voilà: We can use tents in ministry!

It was certainly a good idea and maybe a great one. Except for one little problem. It was at heart a mere variation on the standard model of the local church building. As I said, if the tent ministers/ministries were successful, the people they gathered would eventually be housed in something more permanent than the transitory tent which makes the tent a kind of halfway house toward the standard church house. So the question regarding the Early Church and its non-use of permanent meeting buildings would also apply to the big tents of past crusade fame. You see, not only did the early believers never have any permanent church buildings as we know the term, they would also not use big tents if indeed big tents were available. Now, stay with me here because there is a point to this, hard to figure though it may first appear.

HOUSE TO HOUSE

Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart… [Acts 2:46]

The private home was their preferred meeting place. It was essentially their only allowable meeting place. The New Covenant Scriptures are filled with references to houses being utilized for meeting places. The apostle Paul mentions them often and that he taught “from house to house” (Acts 20:20). This means the term “church house” has an entirely different connotation from their perspective. Rather than it being a public Christian meeting house which Christians attend from without as it has been throughout much of western history, the original church houses were actual church houses—they were private houses that Christians lived in that Christians also used for ministry meetings. This was the case in the very beginning in Jerusalem and it remained the case for roughly three centuries. The exact model was used throughout the Gentile world within the Roman Empire.

Regarding overt persecution from the state, in the early going until the emperor Claudius was ousted in 54AD and Nero came to power, the Gentile Christians got a pass because the Romans considered them a Jewish sect and the Jews had already been granted an exclusion of sorts from practicing the Roman religion and participating in the emperor cult. One reason for this was their many centuries-old religious practice that far predated Roman times which gave them an effective grandfather clause. That and the fact that Jews made big gigantic huge earth-shattering trouble at any appearance of attack against their religion or when obedience to Roman religion was put forth or even suggested.

The time came however, when the Gentile Christians could no longer fly under the radar though they sincerely attempted to always “follow peace with all men” (Hebrews 12:4). Part of the reason for that was those same unbelieving Jews who professed holy hell when their religion was slighted had no problem doing the slighting themselves against followers of the Lord Jesus, most especially if they were fellow Israelites. It was also quite problematic that the more vocal and hard core branch didn’t stop at mere slights but proceeded to destruction and murder. In other words, the unbelieving Jews were blessed with effective freedom of religion and respect by a Roman government which could otherwise be quite brutal but they refused such freedom of religion to their brothers following the Lord Jesus and the many Gentiles following Him as well.

Thus the Romans were not the persecutors in the beginning. They were sometimes influenced by unbelieving Jews undercover to go after Christians as was the case recorded in Acts Chapter 12 when Herod Agrippa had the apostle James unlawfully executed, and “when he saw that it pleased the Jews,” he planned on murdering Peter also. Both of these men were obviously solid Israelites but no matter.

It was nutbag Nero who later jettisoned the peaceful policy of Claudius (41-54AD) toward the Christians, a period when real Christianity had flourished in the empire. It was on Nero’s sordid watch that the first major Roman state persecution broke out against Christian believers. At that point the home fellowships in Rome and other areas had to take extra precautions not only because of Nero’s madness and the antichrist influence upon him but also because Christianity was now seen as something entirely different from first century Judaism. Its growing numbers and influence appeared threatening. Christians soon became Roman public enemy number one and convenient scapegoats.

Therefore, even though real Christianity had gained great early success and had much freedom to meet relatively unmolested in their homes over a wide stretch of territory throughout the Roman Empire, there had certainly been insufficient wherewithal to create actual Christian meeting houses (though they saw no need for such and even likely perceived what we termed church buildings as counterproductive), such buildings became impossible after the start of Nero’s persecution.

Yet, as it was, after the early glory days in the 30s AD when persecution and famine broke out in Jerusalem scattering the seed of the Gospel to the four corners, the same in essence had happened in Nero’s time (54-68AD), as Christians were forced to grow ever more vigilant, spiritually strong, and able to travel. And they had to travel light. This still required meeting in small groups in homes as the best way to stay undetected in part and be seen as peaceable law abiding citizens of no threat to the state or their neighbors. To construct an overt large building to meet in would be seen as an affront and would be out of character anyway. The plan they were taught by the Lord had always worked very well as it had for Him. Remember, though the Lord sometimes ministered in synagogues there came a time when He was no longer welcome. The same thing happened to the apostle Paul in his early ministry who often started in the local synagogues teaching the Good News to his brothers. He was often warmly accepted early on and gained converts but eventually the unbelievers there created such a terror he had to move on.

For the early believers, ministry was not bound by convention but simply a matter of shining their light, witnessing, assisting the Lord in saving souls, helping and loving others, teaching the Gospel when open doors and hungry hearts presented themselves, keeping a relatively low profile when necessary, and most importantly, being vessels filled with the Spirit of God and praying others through to the same experience.

THE REAL TENTS

For the Early Church, Pentecost was essentially an everyday affair. Real Christianity started in a private home in Jerusalem in an appropriately named Upper Room and continued with that format everywhere it traveled. The first many generations of Christian believers had no church buildings or large canvas tents. They had next to nothing of what later Christians, including today’s, deemed indispensable. What they had, however, worked wonders. It did so because their ministry model was organic and close to the people.

The closer we get to their model at present, the more we will be like them and the more spiritual success we will have. Rather than insisting on traditional largely non-productive, unworkable, unbiblical ministry models and watching the culture and country fall down all around us as a result, not to mention millions of souls being lost due to such models never caring to reach them, it is high time we get this right and do things the Lord’s way. Humble servitude always works. People need the Lord.

“Freely you received, freely give.” [Matthew 10:8b]

At the end of the day, the only real church buildings, the only real tents, are our own bodies—spiritual temples—each of which should be dedicated to the Lord Jesus as a welcome home for His Holy Spirit. This is the actual New Covenant model—individual spiritual temples built up into one large spiritual temple composed of all real Christians, exactly as our spiritual forebears believed, taught, and practiced. They placed a very high priority on believers being filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord. We see this referenced repeatedly in the early history of Christianity at Pentecost, immediately after Pentecost, and throughout the Book of Acts record over the next forty years. Receiving the Spirit of God was AN EVENT. It never happened by osmosis and never happened “by faith” without powerful empirical evidence witnessed by others.

The one common denominator evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, through the process toward total submission, was the surrender of the last rebellious holdout of the human body—the tongue.

Thus, the early Community of the Lord Jesus was composed of brand new, spiritually clean, holy, set apart for service, mobile temples filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord alluded to this future standard repeatedly during His ministry in the gospels. The New Covenant epistles, especially those of Paul, also mention this truth. He taught on it. He refers to believers who have experienced it. In the middle of these two we have the Book of Acts which illustrates the experience in real time. The major problem with much of Christianity is that it skips over Acts and goes straight from the gospels to the epistles. This causes non-Spirit-filled Christians to identify with the content of Paul’s letters as though it applied to them and causes them to think they are Spirit-filled when they are not.

In the following passage, the apostle Paul identified the real Christians of his time not according to Christian religious tradition, but according to OT Scripture and as those who had fully experienced Pentecost. A separation and dedication was called for then as it must be now:

For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty. [2Corinthins 6:14-18][1]

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Tags: Acts of the Apostles, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Church Buildings, Early Church History 101, Evangelization and Witnessing, Holy Spirit of Jesus, Holy Spirit Outpouring, House Church, House Church Movement, Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Pentecost, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Revival, Speaking in Tongues, Tent, The Great Awakening, The Most High Does Not Dwell In Houses Made By Human Hands, The New Birth, The Real Temple, Worldwide Pentecostal Movement

DENOMINATED MASS FORMATION GROUPTHINK

Jan 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? [Galatians 3:1, 3]

Most Christians continually embrace the status quo, as in “I’m a (insert name of denomination here) and I’ll always be a (insert name of denomination here) and that makes me just fine and dandy.” But what about the new birth? (John 3:1-21). Have we all been born of the Spirit as Jesus said we must be? Again, most of us reply with a snappy Biblical comeback such as, “Say what?”

And therein lies the problem. Most of those who call themselves Christians have been repeatedly told by their religious authority figures that the station of their spiritual life is basically as good as it’s ever going to get. They were never told of any new birth, and have therefore never sought it. This keeps them from ever entering the kingdom of God. (Off in the distance, one can hear that famous old choir hymn refrain, “The kingdom of what?”) We are a nation largely comprised of Biblically illiterate, multi-cultural quasi-Christians who have been sold a false bill of goods, and our first reaction to hearing such news comes from page 31 of the Ignorant Pulpiteer Manual—“Stick it in your ear!”

The second reason the Lord lacks full authority within our churches is because, by and large, it has been our choice. We don’t like to be told we are wrong and it is often simply our own human nature which compels us to protect whatever ignorance and bias we are associated with. The nature of the real Christian, the one who has been born of God, is to expose ignorance and prejudice. Could this be why the institutional clergy is growing ever more concerned about its standing? Could this be why some in its membership are starting to get the idea that Jesus is quite upset with their Pharisaical practices and that their gig is just about up? There is a gigantic hook reaching out across the stage which is about to yank the clergy spirit out of its stealthy position of prominence in the Church so that God’s people can be free to learn the truth from Him and receive His righteousness. When the enslaved Christians are set free, truth and righteousness will flourish.[1]

I penned the preceding 25 years ago in Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church. I wrote the bulk of this book in the mid 1990s and eventually published it in 2001. I began receiving the revelation of the book in 1992. I know this may sound as though the book is likely dated and therefore essentially worthless for our time but the opposite is true. My book was ahead of its time, maybe way ahead. The corrective has yet to be applied as it should and those entities which rejected the message and dug in their heels against the new move of God which was surely coming have grown all the more obtuse, inbred, and obstinate ever since.

We are told that doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting a different result is effective insanity. Thus, since this form of insanity has fallen upon or been appropriated in general by the major Christian denominations in America, it easily explains why they are generally a mere fraction of what they once were, spiritually speaking. Because they rejected the fullness of the Lord’s teachings they have been overcome by the sinful culture. This is what happens when a Christian or Christian entity rejects God—they no longer have the strength or ability to fight the good fight. They can no longer resist sin and temptation. Thus, in order to stay intact and keep their head, so to speak, they must make friends with the enemy. They must make friends with sin. If they go to war they know they will be destroyed in battle. They are not equipped and are ill-trained. Their generals are spiritual sissies. They are afraid of the devil. They reject the Spirit of the Lord and embrace the world. Again, this is what happens when one denies the Lord Jesus, the Lion from the Tribe of Judah:

“The Lord is a Warrior; the Lord is His Name.” [Exodus 15:3]

Because they feel the Lord is too strong in demanding discipleship and is restricting their lives and desires, they move on to be “free” but eventually discover they have far less freedom than before. Their blessings and favor go out the window. They have no choice but to embrace mammon since they rejected God’s providence. They put the full burden on themselves. This causes stress and often great stress. Such stress must be drugged. Such minds must be pacified. Godless religion works well at doing this. (Just do what we say and nobody gets hurt.) No wonder Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses. They foolishly abandon real freedom and subject themselves to spiritual slavery. They either never accepted the following or at some point rejected it:

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. [Galatians 5:1]

They had thought the great things they accomplished and were doing were largely due to their own good sense and hard work, not acknowledging the great role the Lord was playing. They made a god of themselves. They rejected the original and created a new fellowship in which they were the boss. Their pride caused them to walk away from the Lord because they felt they were being held back. After a fling without the Lord’s authority in their lives and the new fun and “freedom” they gained as a result, and likely a rise in income and influence due to making friends with the world and non-believers, they started experiencing adverse consequences they never foresaw or wanted. Gone were the productive crops and in came the weeds. Sin grew exponentially. They could no longer control it. Because they could no longer keep the invasion of sin at bay they renamed it and transformed into non-sin. They opened their doors to it. Suddenly, the vilest sins became not only okay but commendable. The worst abominations became praiseworthy.

Professing to be wise, they became fools… [Romans 1:22]

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. [Proverbs 16:25]

The only reason the major denominations still exist is because, over time, they were stealthily transformed into something else. They are actually only mere shells of what they once were. And some were never that close to God to begin with after their early productive formative years. As long as the members keep supporting what is left, what is left will remain but in name only. They are essentially no longer Christian. They only appear that way. They are the denominations and churches of Ichabod (1Samuel 4:21). The glory has departed and they like it that way. If the Lord did bring a spiritual revival most of them would be greatly upset and would fight it all the more. Many of the major denominations, including those of the Pentecostal and Charismatic variety, have been resisting the Great Awakening from the beginning. They are rebellious children toward the corrective. Some have brought an excessive fight. It proves the Lord is no longer among many of them.

Twenty five years ago the situation with wayward Christianity was not at all that bad. There was still a good chance of making the proper corrections. When the directive came, however, designed to stave off what was surely coming without the necessary repentance, the “successful” blind guides rejected it. It likely sounded preposterous to them. Next to no one then foresaw our present day of depravity and spiritual famine among the ultra-organized world-embracing sellouts. Back then, in the mid 1990s, there was a booming economy nationwide and many ministries were flush with cash, especially the majors. Rather than needing repentance, the big boys considered their wealth and prestige a sign of blessing. I’m sure it was for some, but only those who were humble and obedient. Many were neither and still are not.

The Lord told me what was coming and about how we must prepare. I wrote an entire 330 page book encapsulating the message in great detail. It remains amazing to me that those who have read the book appreciate the message, find no fault with it, and have benefited from it, while others in influential positions who needed to read and support it refused. The results of such refusals and of the message in general are now all around us. The enemy has come in like a flood. We have been invaded by Midianites.

“But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.” [Matthew 19:30]

My book is still as topical and fresh as it ever was. It still contains a great message that, if applied, will bring spiritual success. There must be hunger for spiritual success, however, and this demands we stop supporting dead structures and rebellious compromised Christian leaders and their entities. This is in part what the Great Awakening is all about. Those who are awake get it. Those who remain sleeping never do.

I challenge all who read this article to do some research regarding past revivals and awakenings. Whenever the Lord opened doors into the Light of His Word and attempted to bring Life the main resisters were almost always initially the existing status quo “church leaders” of the time. They, their authority and authoritative positions, and their comfort level were threatened by the truth. The new moves of God exposed them as mere hirelings at best and workers of evil at worst. It was, of course, exactly the same in the first century. The most rabid enemies and persecutors of the early Church, composed only of Israelite descendants of Abraham for about the first nine years before Gentiles began being added, were fellow Israelites of the extreme unbelieving variety, the same who brought so much trouble to the Lord. This remains the case. The greatest persecutors of real Christians are unreal Christians.

THE GREAT AWAKENING

It has now been over ten years since I got the revelation, since the Lord spoke those words to me—“We are in the early stages of a national Great Awakening.” That was at the end of August in 2010. Well, we are no longer in the early stages. Massive amounts of truth have come forth. Massive amounts of hidden sin and iniquity have been exposed. The majority of denominational Christians still cannot see it which proves their continued resistance against it. They would rather have the old wine and the old wineskins. They would rather keep propping up something that died long ago. And though it may look like the best thing to do is obey the tyrants and surrender, and that those who comply will be treated best, the opposite is true. The Lord Jesus will never reward cowards, those that know better but instead embrace evil and look for the weasel way out. He will actually support and stand with those who resist evil and give them greater strength, ability, and means to do so. This is where the real blessing is and always has been.

Therefore, rather than chicken out and continue to beat a dead horse, it would be better to embrace resurrection and hope one’s karma chickens die of bird flu.

It would be much better to repent, get right with God, plead for His mercy, and ask sincerely for His Life. It would better to cease preaching false gospels, end the masquerade, and join the real Church, the one the Lord Jesus created, and the only one in which He has the rule and is King. It would be better to Arise, shine; for your light has come.

But many won’t.

They’ve gone mental.

They’ve embraced entrenched consensus denominated mass formation groupthink.

WHO HAS BEWITCHED THEM?

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [Galatians 5:13-25][2]

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Tags: Book of Galatians, Christian Denominations, Discipleship, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, Hysteria, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Rebellion, Spiritual Freedom, Spiritual Maturity, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The World The Flesh The Devil, Unreal Christianity, Worldwide Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement

GOD’S GIFT OF GRACE

Jan 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

Sometimes I wonder why the whole world isn’t lined up to receive the one thing that cures their eternal ills and reconciles them with God.

Though living a real Christian life is not easy, living in a cold, hard world is significantly more difficult and often impossible. We were designed to live for God and with God. We were created to be with Him, not apart from Him, and not lost on some weird avenue leading nowhere but down. Everything about the Lord is upward, and positive. He lifts spirits, He blesses with joy and peace, and He makes a place for the lonely and alone:

A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. [Psalm 68:5-6]

Grace is not about deserving anything. It is by perfect definition a pure gift—a gift inspired and motivated by pure love. The Lord is out to get us. He wants us for Himself. His desire is to smother us with love and affection, make our backs strong and straight, light up our faces with the joy of His Spirit, and bless us abundantly. But He also knows we can only handle so much blessing. Too much at any given time and He might spoil us, something He will never do. In the meantime, though our trials and times of testing and growth may be severe, such in no way must ever question or diminish the full measure of His love and grace. As He Himself, these things are eternal. They are gifts to be accepted that He will only give and never, ever take back. Falling away from God and going into a world of sin, however major or minor, is purely our decision. It is never His. Though He often grieves for lost souls who refuse His grace, He also respects their choices.

And though He is a mighty Warrior and powerful in all respects, the Lord Jesus has a tender heart of love. He extends a hand of grace toward you this day.

…For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [Romans 3:23-26][1]

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Tags: Christianity, Five, Gift of Grace, Grace, Lord Jesus, Love, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Great Awakening, Unmerited Divine Favor

ANNOUNCING NEW POST / JANUARY POSTS

Jan 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

Hello Friends. Hope all is well. I’ll be posting a new article on Monday morning, January 24. Please watch for it.

The Great Awakening continues. Much progress has been made. Keep up the good work. All glory and praise to the Lord Jesus.

Thanks and Be Blessed.

The following are links to my January 2022 posts:

THE DESCENT OF THE ASCENDANT: THOSE WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS (NIMROD IS HERE)

They have crossed over into full-fledged iniquity. They break the law routinely and no longer care. They are determined to have their way. They will not be restrained by anything including the Constitution.

DAMAGING GOD’S MANAGING: SUPPLANTING THE LORD’S ORIGINAL MODEL WITH THE PASTOR PARADIGM

It is a direct result of the false clergy-laity divide. Once that precedent was set, local one man rule quickly followed. Most insist on the “pastor” title.

STILL SLEEPING, STILL DREAMING

The more you try to wake them the more they prefer sleeping. The ongoing dream they are having is much more desirable and comforting than the waking present.

REAL CHRISTIANITY HAS THE ONLY CURE FOR SIN DISEASE (BEWARE THE BLIND GUIDES)

Sin generated a maelstrom of evil upon God’s perfect Creation. Every time someone sins evil is released. Sin is the real deadly virus. Sin is the real pandemic.

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Tags: Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

REAL CHRISTIANITY HAS THE ONLY CURE FOR THE SIN DISEASE (BEWARE THE BLIND GUIDES)

Jan 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

**Sin generated a maelstrom of evil upon God’s perfect Creation. Every time someone sins evil is released. Sin is the real deadly virus. Sin is the real pandemic.**

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALTAR CALLS?

Much of Christianity, that which refuses the Lord’s full authority, and that which I have long termed Unreal Christianity, has, in recent years, especially the last two, become that much more obvious regarding its true nature. There is no greater proof of this than its outright refusal to preach and teach the truth about sin.

If you don’t preach sin there is no conviction of sin experienced by the hearer. It is conviction of sin which tells a sinner he is one, is in possession of sin, and must do something to eliminate it from his account and be cleansed. The sinner is then drawn to the Lord Jesus, who paid for his sins, to have his sins eliminated, gain power over sin, and receive salvation. This is clearly a vital component of the Gospel message.

However, instead of telling sinners they are sinners and attempting, per the Lord’s New Covenant teachings, to bring them to real salvation and transform them into disciples, the proponents of Unreal Christianity do the very opposite. They don’t want to bring it up. They are afraid of the negative reaction from unrepentant sinners. They are afraid people will leave their church. They are afraid of losing their social standing in the local community. They are afraid it will negatively affect their market share. They know it’s bad for the bottom line. They might even go out of business. They would thus rather coddle sinners and bless them on their way to hell. They are fearful and faithless. The New Testament reveals them as deceptive imposters.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

One may note the strong and unwavering Biblical directive on correctly measuring up to God’s righteousness standard in this statement:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. [James 2:10]

In this declaration, the brother of our Lord states clearly that anyone who does not keep the Law of Moses in full is guilty of violating the entire Law. It does no good to keep as many as nine of the Ten Commandments, for example. One must keep all ten or one stands in violation. God doesn’t grade on the curve. He demands 100%. We must score an “A.” Of course, there are actually a total of 613 commandments in the entire Torah. Imagine acing that test. Seeing as how it appears to be an impossible task, how can one actually attain God’s standard of righteousness?

In addition to the Law of Moses which lists and defines sins, and which primarily concerns “the mere performance of externals,”[1] the Lord Jesus goes even further in His teachings to incorporate “the inner stirrings of motives.”[2] He obliterates the idea of a religious checklist in which one can outwardly appear to keep the Law (or church protocol) while possessing an uncircumcised heart filled with sin and corruption. His teachings expose the false standing of the likely majority of Christians in America who only pretend to be Christians, hide their true nature, carry hidden sin, and compromise with the enemy. In mining the depths of the following example of the Lord’s teaching in this regard, in which He insists on getting to the very root of the problem and leaving no stone in a stony heart unturned, one can see just how far one must go to live a truly righteous life:

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” [Matthew 5:21-22]

From this, it is apparent that violating the sixth commandment involves much more than Thou Shalt Not Kill. In the Lord’s Community, we are supposed to love our brothers and sisters as true family members. If one becomes angry with his brother to the point of a break in relationship and refuses any attempt to make peace, he is guilty of a relationship trespass violation and becomes “liable to the court” the same as one who commits murder. Now, keeping in mind that murder was a stoning offense (the death penalty), being angry with one’s brother is a much worse offense than we may realize. Anger itself is not the problem because anger in itself is not a sin. The apostle Paul, quoting Psalms 4:4, taught this:

“Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” [Ephesians 4:26]

We know the Lord was angry on occasion as was Paul, but what both are getting at is continuous anger with no forgiveness. This not only results in a break in relationship, which the Community of the Lord must never have, but causes the object of the anger to be falsely characterized as unworthy of relationship, essentially meaning he is evil and beyond redemption. To make sure anger does not lead to such a separation, one must deal with it before the sun goes down so it won’t gain power and eventually become set in concrete.

The Lord then goes further and speaks of the highest court, the Sanhedrin, which had the greatest earthly authority among the Israelites to pronounce sentence. Here, the Lord says whoever says to his brother “You good-for-nothing,” (Raqa) will also be guilty of violating the murder commandment. This is probably an Aramaic word. It means “empty” or “good for nothing,” One authority (Bruce) says, “Raca expresses contempt for a man’s head=you stupid!” The Lord says this is a great offense against one’s brother, even greater than being angry with him. Even so, the Lord does not stop at this point because there is yet a greater offense than these two that also deserves the same sentence as murder. However, it appears that the first two contain the possibility of redemption. The third does not. What could be so bad that is not actual murder but would cause one to be in grave danger of hell? –“You fool!” Yes, calling your brother a “fool” will do it. The Greek word is Moros, defined as “dull, stupid, or foolish.” Bruce says it “expresses contempt for his heart and character=you scoundrel!”[3]

Thus we see that, though a man be not guilty of actual murder, he can still violate the sixth commandment by having murder in his heart. This evil condition starts with unresolved anger and a refusal to forgive. It grows into accusing one’s brother of being empty headed, good for nothing, and stupid. Beyond that one expresses utter contempt for his brother’s heart and character and accuses him of being a fool and a scoundrel. Note that the accused brother in question, probably originally guilty of a minor infraction that caused his brother’s anger, is most likely none of these things but has been subjected to character assassination and had his good name slandered, all because someone was offended at some slight and then built up the offense into a bonfire. The sixth commandment does not spell out these details but the Lord Jesus sure does. If the willfully sinning unrepentant angry man is able to convince enough people of these lies, the innocent man could actually lose his place in the Community by being effectively convicted by false charges and innuendo, have his reputation destroyed, and suffer greatly in life as a result.

Consider this while you consider the existence of so many Christian “denominations” and how the extreme disunity they caused ever happened in the first place. Each denomination exists because it diverted from the original or diverted from another denomination but stopped before it advanced to honoring the original.

REAL CHRISTIANITY

The Lord Jesus started only one Church (Ekklesia)—the Community of the Called-Out Ones. He has only ever had one Church. He still has only one Church. It is composed only of real Christians. A real Christian is defined as one who is 100% under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus. Regarding sin, real Christians fully obey the Lord’s teachings regarding being completely freed from sin. They do this through initial repentance as a type of sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering in which the cleansing Blood of Jesus is applied coupled with full immersion in water invoking the Name of Jesus for the remission of sins per the command in Acts Chapter 2, and ongoing repentance of sin as required:

The entire purpose of real Christianity is to free people from their manifold sins, from the destruction their sins cause to themselves and others, and from the deadly disease of sin which wracks their souls, and then bring them into the New and Living Way:

Our great Founder, the One who created His Creation—all that exists around you sans sinful man’s additions to it—decided on His own before He ever created anything that He would have to one day pay a visit here, walk among us, teach us the truth and the proper way of living, and then, in the greatest act of love anyone could ever possibly make, and in His case, the greatest act of love of all time, actually surrender His perfect life as a perfect sacrifice to make payment for our sins and to save and deliver humanity.

His sacrifice works because He never committed any sin, not a single one, in His entire life as one of us. He obeyed the Law of Moses to perfection, never violating a single proviso. Obviously, no one had ever done this before or since. His perfection was in part unequivocally proven upon His resurrection from the dead. He actually defeated death. Death could not hold Him. “It was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24). He was and remains the only perfect antidote or cure for all sin for all time.

WHY UNREAL CHRISTIANITY FAILS THE LEGITIMACY TEST

It doesn’t properly address the sin problem.

Again, the whole point of Christianity is to address what we must do about sin, which is defined as “missing the mark” or violating the laws and teachings of God which exist to lead one to righteousness. Christianity is supposed to have the means to allow people to be cured of and released from their deadly disease that will cause them to struggle through life, lose their souls, and go to hell. The teachings of the Lord Jesus perfectly address this. He tells us what sin is, how it got here, and how to get rid of it. His teachings instruct us on how to stop sinning, overcome the hold that sin has on one’s life, and cease being slaves of sin. If this central teaching of the Lord Jesus is not being properly and correctly addressed by a minister, church, or denomination (and many ministers, if not most, no longer preach about sin), then it should be obvious that those ministers, churches, and denominations are frauds. They may be clueless brainwashed frauds in that they are too deceived to know it or more likely, they know they are frauds but don’t care. They don’t care because they are not in it for the right reasons. They are merely using the platform for their own purposes.

Note: It is impossible for those hungry in heart searching for truth to hear the real Gospel and not be convicted of sin. This conviction is designed to activate faith, which leads one to repentance, which then leads to salvation. Unless one’s temple is thoroughly cleansed through proper repentance by washing away all sin with the Blood of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit of the Lord will not take up residence within it. The same is true for churches. This is why it is imperative to preach and teach about the disease of sin. Refusing to address sin and expose it allows for its destructive hidden presence to remain and allows the enemy a place of residence and a foothold from which to operate.

THE PRESENCE OF THE DEVIL

The Lord Jesus saw fit to give us a perfect allegory in His time of false shepherds in action which can be applied to any time or geographic location. The first century Hebrew/Israelite major religious parties, the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes, had control of almost all religious thought. Almost every Israelite of the first century AD identified with one of these three parties, mainly, of course, the first two.

One of the reasons the Essenes are not addressed in the New Testament Scriptures is because they were not involved as movers and shakers in the overall society at that time. The original group of them had long since left town in the middle of the second century BC. Happiness for them was Jerusalem in their rear view mirror as it was the only way to appease their conscience regarding the sinister machinations transpiring in the City of David. They took up residence out in the wilderness to the east, close by the northern edge of what the later Romans called the Mare Asphaltum. Scholarship consensus maintains these Essenes were the monastic group inhabiting the ruins of Qumran associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient writings discovered initially in 1947. As former members of the viable Zadok priesthood, this group of men left the temple and Jerusalem because they grew disgusted with what became the official priesthood of that time—a shady group placed in power through political means.

Over the next two centuries this illicit priesthood in Jerusalem became staffed through political appointments which had nothing or little to do with God’s original intent. The political had merged with the religious. Sound familiar? Rather than the priesthood addressing sin as the Torah commanded, the appointees thereof merely went through religious motions appearing as real while saturated with sin and fraud, not the least of which was masquerading as being legitimate. This corruption started a fight for control which eventually congealed into two main religious parties that controlled Jerusalem, Judea, and Galilee, and also the temple and the synagogues: The Sadducees, who worked hand in glove with Rome and had authority over Jerusalem and the temple, and the Pharisees who controlled the local synagogues.

These two parties made a mockery of God, the prophets, and Moses the lawgiver, by appropriating their own versions and wrongheaded interpretations of God’s Word, which even included mass exclusions of Holy Writ (the Sadducees) and a wholesale rewriting of Scripture through ultra-interpretive, casuistic, and specious renderings, the so-called Oral Law, which, in the words of the Lord Jesus, invalidated the Word of God! (the Pharisees). Think about that. These religious leaders were so wicked they both trashed Scripture and rewrote it while pretending to teach it! This is exactly what Unreal Christianity has done and is doing.

Also, keep in mind that the prophetic word had ceased 250 years before that time, in the late 400s BC, so there were no Hebrew prophets correcting these ultra-erroneous shysters. At present, of course, in American Christianity, we have a parallel condition. It explains why most ministers and churches get away with their multitudinous errors. They are all non-Prophet organizations.

KNOWING THE TREE BY ITS FRUIT

The majority of that which is referred to as Christianity in America is incomparable to the original. It refuses the truth of Scripture regarding sin, refuses to teach it, and thus refuses the actual teachings of the Lord Jesus. It has rejected God. It merely uses the Lord and Scripture for its own purposes without actually submitting to Him. Again, maybe the majority of those engaged in this are completely duped, but if so it is the greatest duping ever known to mankind. Why? Because they have the Word of God. They read it. They teach from it. They claim to honor the Lord Jesus. And all in all, they disregard and refute anything in His curriculum they do not feel comfortable with or agree with. Remember, one both strives to follow the Lord fully and obey His teachings fully or one is in violation of not following Him at all. This halfway walk of the false ministers who pick and choose what they believe and teach, and make a god to suit themselves, is the height of ministerial evil but it is an evil couched in faux righteousness. It is an evil that leads people toward the pure and holy stream but never gets them there. They would never allow anyone under their jurisdiction to partake of it. They only want to get close enough to appear real without actually being real. This means they are exactly the same as the ancient Israelite Pharisees and Sadducees though with simulated Christian clothing.

In other words they are mere actors. On a stage. Loving the limelight and place of honor. The Lord called them false stage players or hypocrites. And all unreal Christians deceived and captured by Unreal Christianity are living in a controlled simulation. It appears to be real but is nothing more than a choreographed program in which people go through spiritually meaningless motions which have no effect on their eternal soul and their personal sin. They enter church services as sinners and they leave church services as sinners. They substitute false religious rituals heavy on surface connotations with little or no spiritual effect. The vast majority have never repented of sin properly or had a real born again experience, both of which the Lord Jesus said was mandatory for all. This is deception of a very high order.

BLIND GUIDES

There is no new thing under the sun. The world has never been devoid of religious charlatans. No matter what the righteous may do expose their trickery and eliminate their influence they always somehow manage to creep back in and establish a foothold. In closing, the following passage is a great refresher on this recurrent “goats as sheep” problem that presently exists as a nationwide mainstream false representation of Christianity. It gives a great explanatory illustration of these pretenders in action. It exposes those of today just as it did those of yesterday. Read, watch, and pray:

After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”

But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” [Matthew 15:1-14][4]

[1] ISBE

[2] ISBE

[3] See A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures of the New Testament

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STILL SLEEPING, STILL DREAMING

Jan 11

Posted by RJ Dawson

The more you try to wake them the more they prefer sleeping. The ongoing dream they are having is much more desirable and comforting than the waking present.

When will you arise from your sleep? “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest”— [Proverbs 6:9-10]

LOST IN A DREAM

The following may appear at first glance as a strange idea, far from Biblical orthodoxy, something concocted by a writer doing a story featuring a full-tilt New-Ager with stars in her head. She can see the future in a crystal ball mounted on a small round wooden table of early vintage in her dark backroom parlor decorated with heavy felt drapes, multicolored hanging bead curtains, and the usual accouterments used by fake-out confidence artists who know vulnerable marks can more easily be had in the midst of over-the-top and off-the-wall surroundings and imagery. Her clear ability to see what we cannot and her flawless emotive verbal declarations attests to her authenticity. What need can there be for greater verification than this? She fulfills the need in one’s soul. She allows one a glance within the dream…

And that’s where they would rather be. In the dream. They spent a lifetime creating the dream, fashioning everything that must fit within it in order to honor tradition, their family religion, and their own deep set desire for what “works best for them” regardless of what the Word of God might say. The Word reveals a common truth for all, of course, devoid of partiality or designer beliefs, and invokes requisite commands which must be addressed by each and every disciple-to-be. Rejecting such pure truth is infinitely preferable by these due simply to the maintenance of a faux comfort zone which includes, by forced option, rebuffing the Lord Jesus Himself and His problematic “hard sayings”—the One they claim to follow, though they assert otherwise, since He apparently would never actually claim such discomforting notions, which means there must be a problem with those Christians who spout such clearly penned New Testament verses or even a problem with written Scripture itself.

I mean, who can really trust what the Bible says after eons of translations and endless word-of-mouth renderings? Better to not get too dependent on the off-putting black and white in-your-face dictums of ancient epistles and primitive apostles whose authentic words are likely lost in the gray mist of ages past. One must leave a reserve from which to insert calming rationalizations and soothing validations in order to walk with head held high in smiling peaceful rectitude honoring one’s own grand and gallant noble views which the better people of this world surely appreciate and recognize…

THE WISE STILL SEEK HIM

Though many strive for a salvation process featuring peace at all costs in an effort to bend spiritual reality toward an impossible concord, neglecting to acknowledge the presence of evil in this fallen world, there is actually no such thing as a peaceful coming to Jesus moment. This phrase has been made fun of by the devil, of course, and those who rest assured in their own standing often use it to both disavow those idiot real Christians who make it a thing, as it were, as well as forswearing the entire idea of the need for soul salvation in the first place. They are simply not aware of their sin or they are and don’t care. One wonders how the rude and sacrilegious enunciations of a culture gone bad can mute the unrelenting loud speakers of one’s conscience incessantly warning of an unaddressed terminal threat on the very threshold of one’s future. But an ongoing dream state could fit the bill. Being lost in a dream of one’s making could certainly be the cause.

No, the reality of coming to the Lord as an otherwise hopeless sinner, the so-called Come to Jesus Moment, is anything but peaceful. If one actually makes it that far it will have involved the greatest decision of one’s life and the wrenching of oneself free from the binding chains of willful living, personal sin, immoral cultural mores, and traditional belief systems holding one in check. It is a wholly solitary place as will be the final Judgment when one must face God alone. There is no greater gut-check occasion in life. It is the height of courage to recognize the depravity of one’s condition and attempt to remedy it. No, there is no peace until afterward, until after one has repented profusely, throwing oneself upon an altar of sacrifice and having the old man and all his sin burned away, until after one has faced spiritual reality and caught a glimpse of hell. It should be characterized as a RUN To Jesus Moment because those who finally awake from their enchantment waste no time in getting right with their Savior.

OF THE FOOLISH AND THE FEARFUL

Would that this wise attitude could be had by all professed Christians but as it is, far too many remain ensconced within disguised sleeping stations—traditional Christian versions of the old hippie sleep-ins where everyone is crashed out in the pews in a haze of otherworldly religious languor and far out abstraction while a weirded-out droning guru sets the laid back tone for religious repose and holy hibernation.

On the flip side of this LP, as proven in these most recent times, fear acts as a wide door to such a dream, an entry portal into transchristianism, as one can be driven by fear into a psychological corral with no egress, since one rejected the door to life which obliged one to embrace the only other door—the entrance beyond the great gaping chasm separating Paradise from Gehenna—the ultra-tropical other side of Abraham’s bosom—the hot place where rich man Dives begs for a drop of H²O not to be had.

In other words more simply stated: Unrepentant sin causes massive deception. Personal pride, as with Mr. Dumpty, leads to a great fall. Refusing to be cleansed of sin causes the attached sin within one to act as a powerful attractant to the great death magnet sucking souls into the black hole of eternal damnation. The temporary corral on this side of life acts as a deceptive soothing waiting room inhabited by those of like minds who reassure one another and confirm each other’s wayward eternal choice since for many there is great comfort in numbers. Rather than solitarily entering the diminutive unpopular gate and taking the difficult road narrowed by pressure on both sides as an ongoing lifespan birth canal toward eternal life to validate their choice per the Scriptural directive, many people choose choice validation by the numbers following great groups of the like-minded who prefer well-lit free-wheeling Broadway, and the larger the group the better. This latter view places great faith in people in great need of a Savior rather than in the Savior Himself who is often on the outside looking in and thus stuck fast in the shunned group.

From a Christian perspective, the members of one’s local church or denomination and the doctrines thereof serve as the large validation sample group of one’s chosen beliefs rather than the Lord Jesus and His difficult though pure teachings. This means that rather than seeking validation for one’s beliefs from the Word of God one will instead trust the collective word of one’s chosen group and its chosen leaders.

WHEN THE DREAM BECOMES A NIGHTMARE

Even though an apparent majority of Christians still grapple with what should otherwise be a flawless Biblical fact, that the Creator Himself became a Man and visited His Creation, we can still learn an otherwise obvious truth by simply observing how this world treated Him when He was here as one of us: The greatest Light was vociferously and repeatedly opposed and attacked by the greatest darkness. If nothing else, this proves the great darkness existing in this world, its residence also within certain humans, and their connection to the devil. Whoever sided with such people could not possibly be on God’s side, and owing to the devil’s bewitching ability, those hesitant to go all in with the Lord would inevitably gravitate in the other direction, being gently pulled along by the malevolent magnet, the enemy making sure not to rattle them so as to bring them closer to his trap (corral). It’s why antichrist spiders spin their webs on the beaten path, on the major cultural highways inhabited by the teeming masses who most always look with disdain upon those who stray from established societal methods and mores though such straying often avoids the web.

If one looks closely one can see that this is what they did in the Lord’s time. They first took control of the crossroads and the few major thoroughfares. In time they controlled religious thought. They decided what one should believe and practice to be in good standing within the culture. In essence, they captured the media. The same thing has occurred in our time. This would otherwise be blatantly obvious if so many were not enchanted and sleeping. Those lost in the dream do not know they are heading for a bad one.

“If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” [Luke 19:42]

One MUST understand that the deception was so thick among these people in that little land in the first century that the Creator himself could not get through to most of them. No matter what He did the majority could not be broken free from the devil’s trick. They were greatly afraid of being in the synagogue and also greatly afraid of being out of it. While in the synagogue as bona fide members they were subjected to the vindictive religious control of the leaders thereof and without the synagogue they could hardly function in society because the vindictive leaders saw to it that they would be outsiders within their own culture. SOUND FAMILIAR?

Therefore everyone must choose from where they will gain their comfort, either from going along to get along, adhering to the dictates of the sinful culture, and obeying without question the pronouncements of the beguiling gurus in charge OR following the Lord Jesus with one’s whole heart. And whereas one might trust in and accept any number of false belief systems, faux Christian or not, and gain the comforting sleep and enchanting dreams thereof, there will come a day when one will be forced to wake up, though they would not awake for the Lord.

At that time, with their ears ringing from the blasts of angelic shofars, the simulated reality of their chosen comforting dream state will suddenly fade away like fog in the morning light, and they will find themselves in an eternal nightmare from which they can never awake.

This is the real fate that must be avoided at all costs.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Duping the Majority: A Foolproof Method of Success, Enter Through the Narrow Gate, Fear, Hidden Wisdom, Judgment, Lord Jesus, Narrow Way, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, The Edge of Night, The Great Awakening, The Sinner's Self Deception, Unreal Christianity

DAMAGING GOD’S MANAGING: SUPPLANTING THE LORD’S ORIGINAL MODEL WITH THE PASTOR PARADIGM

Jan 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

It is a direct result of the false clergy-laity divide. Once that precedent was set, local one man rule quickly followed. Most insist on the “pastor” title.

Everybody calls them pastor. Next to no one ever questions the title nor the position of the title holder. Much worse than this, next to no one ever does any New Testament research on this particular term to verify its legitimacy. Like so many other things regarding traditional Christianity as opposed to the Lord’s original model, the pastor title and one man rule has been successfully embedded in religious concrete with nary a fight. Though it has no legitimate reason to exist, its presence proves the further presence of misinformation by design and millions of Christians unaware of the truth. Those in control would rather not deal with any Biblical truth that challenges their position.

THE LORD’S ACTUAL MANAGEMENT MODEL

For those interested in what the New Testament actually teaches about the Lord’s original model, the following four points explain it succinctly:

The New Covenant Communities were each ruled exclusively by the Lord Jesus through the medium of His Holy Spirit.
He appointed men under His leadership to supervisory places of service. These men were generally entitled elders and overseers.
He appointed other men to associate places of service generally entitled deacons and ministers.
Each Community was supervised by a group of elders and never by one man.

I have researched this topic for decades and written long papers. I have done exhaustive New Testament studies on the subject. Because I must be relatively concise with this article, I will explain and clarify, though briefly, the New Testament facts regarding the pastor title and position, and why the issue matters. I will be quoting from my book Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church (which contains much deeper research). Each book excerpt will be indented to differentiate it from the post text. Keep in mind that the words pastor and shepherd are not synonymous:

As mentioned previously, the word “pastor” is mentioned only once in the New Testament and is translated from the Greek word poimen, which is translated as “shepherd” on every other occurrence of its use. “Pastor” is originally a Latin word and means “herdsman,” which is defined as “a manager, tender, or breeder of livestock.” Though “herdsman” and “shepherd” might appear identical, there is a difference. The Good Shepherd, for example, cannot be identified as a mere manager of livestock, but only as a caring shepherd who gives His life for the sheep. A herdsman, or pastor, is actually more similar to a hired hand in the sense that livestock is seen as a commodity, and the level of personal care is much lower than that of a true shepherd. It is in Ephesians 4:11 that we find the only occurrence of the word “pastor.” If the translators had used the word “shepherd,” as they should have, we quite possibly wouldn’t have today’s “herdsmen” in authority over God’s people, but true shepherds who assist the Great Shepherd. [1]

Again, the word “pastor” is mentioned only once in the New Testament and is translated from the Greek word poimen which is defined as “shepherd.” This Greek word occurs 18 times in the New Testament. Why is it translated as shepherd 17 times instead of all 18? There is absolutely no legitimate reason for this. Since the original King James Version of 1611 was written with a strong authoritarian bias per the king of England and his translators, this was their chance to insert an authority word since the word “shepherd” is disdained by authoritarians as weak and essentially useless for instituting rule. Of course, the Lord Jesus was never referred to as “Pastor” nor were any of His disciples. He was, however, addressed often as Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd not the “Good Pastor.” We must follow His example:

A real pastor is nothing more than, and nothing less than, a shepherd. Many of those who represent themselves as pastors today are anything but. There are many preachers who desire a nice, steady job and a “Pastor” title. There are also quite a few homesick evangelists who would rather settle down in one location to do pastoral work instead of attend to their callings. It should be obvious that the only real pastors are those who are functioning as pastors, that is, caring for and shepherding God’s flock according to God’s will. There are undoubtedly many people who are called to be shepherds who are not serving as such, or else the Church would be in a lot better shape. Most of these are probably wasting away on pews because they don’t feel qualified when comparing themselves to the multi-credentialed big boys in the pulpits. [2]

Because a great many of our so-called Christian leaders refuse the original New Testament management model of the Lord Jesus, might they also be engaging in other violations? If their desire is to rule over the flock instead of shepherd the flock, their spiritual condition doesn’t really matter. Perhaps this is why so many Christian leaders, including those with a pastor title, seem to always be engaged in some form of hidden sin:

Through deception, each of us can become blind to our own sin at any given time. No one is immune from this possibility. The most susceptible are those who have such a high opinion of their worth and stature the very idea of their fallibility and sinful tendencies escape them. Such “right” supremacists would no longer think it possible to be unaware of or compromised by their own sin than they would think anybody else could possibly serve in their place. When this high-minded attitude is resident within professional Christian leadership, it serves as an obstructing hidden sin against abundant living for those in their care. Hence, it is far too often the case that those who lead congregations do so according to their own will since they are not fully obedient to the will of God. This is not the picture of Jesus working through a person, but a person working of his own accord.

Therefore, many spiritually hungry and unfulfilled seekers of life have unknowingly committed the sin of appropriating for themselves leaders other than Jesus. The Lord makes it very clear that He is the only Good Shepherd, and though a believer may gain assistance from a person of more mature spiritual standing, such a person must never occupy the foremost place of authority in a believer’s life. Such facts bring us to the sad conclusion that many Christian leaders and/or pastors are not true shepherds at all, but mere hired hands. They might indeed care somewhat for those in their congregations, but they certainly don’t possess the same level of care as the Good Shepherd. As hired hands whose salary stems from the pocket of their congregations, they can get by without being tapped-in to God’s payroll and yet maintain their ministerial credentials. The shepherdless sheep, however, are not quite as artful and are often scattered by the wolf. [3]

HOME GROWN WOLVES

While churches have been hyper-sensitized to all manner of possible minor deviations from doctrinal and cultural protocol arising from the congregation and (Aghast!) mysterious visitors, no one ever looks in the other direction. The dude in the pulpit is thus most often immune. He is rarely queried. As long as he gets the denominational doctrine right people look the other way. This would explain the previous passage regarding sin in high places. Where then, would the enemy strike? Would the enemy seek to clandestinely enter the well guarded congregation, the laity class, where every member must always toe the mark and squeal on those who don’t? Or would he attempt a takeover by going after those high and lifted up with little or no accountability that control the operation? We should all know that the devil will always try to gain control of the few in control in order to control all. This is yet another reason why such false Christian authority positions are highly vulnerable to temptation. It is the opposite, of course, with legitimate, accountable, and transparent Christian eldership groups. These men act in the service of the Lord Jesus and not only watch over the flock but each other as well.

Could this be why the clergy boys double down and also establish protective manned check points toward their hidden ivory towers? And condition the congregation to never question “them that have the rule over you?” Do they set up all this protection to keep people from finding out what they really are and what they’re really up to? This is a far cry from the way the Lord Jesus and His followers ever conducted themselves. The “One Man Show” Ruling Paradigm has thus done great damage to the Lord’s management model and has had a devastating effect on what could have been regarding American Christianity’s positive impact on the country. The enemy has gained a beachhead:

Christianity in general has become too stodgy and complacent to be changed by Him in any appreciable manner, since the will of the people for His control is greatly lacking. Revival and/or renewal do not address the root of the problem, and this consequently demands a new approach. The people who are at least trying to obey Him in this regard are finding some success, and their new-found fresh spiritual forays contrast sharply with conventional methods. It is in comparing the two that we discover a glaring truth.

When the splitting of community became official, it easily did more to thwart God’s plan for evangelizing the world than anything else man has devised. The reason why is simple—ninety-something percent of the membership was removed from the process. The “laity” was deemed unqualified for officially ordained Christian service and, consequently, unworthy of receiving God’s call. Yet, there was a time when all believers heard the call of God, and each person heard it from Jesus Himself. At the present, due to the entrenched tradition of the clergy-laity division, many Christians never consider the possibility of devoting their lives to God because they have been made to think that God only chooses certain rare holy ones for His work. If this is true, the Lord is breaking His own commandment by judging a good many people as unqualified before they ever get a chance to prove themselves.

The only thing which actually disqualifies a person from ministry is the same thing which disqualifies him from membership in the Church, and that is simply a lack of full commitment to the absolute Lordship of Jesus. There is nothing inherent within any sincere believer which disqualifies him or her from the Lord’s service—somebody else’s service yes, but not the Lord’s. Every Christian needs to know that all legitimate calls to ministry come only from the Lord, and each should be encouraged to find his or her place of service. There are abundant ministry needs to address, very few who feel worthy to address them, and many who were discouraged from entering the Lord’s service by inept ministers who were more than likely never called themselves, at least, not by God. [4]

ESTABLISHING DOMINION THROUGH ARCHITECTURE

Why are church building interiors arranged like theaters, auditoriums, assembly houses, and ancient Roman amphitheaters, with platforms and stages, and lecterns and pulpits? The Lord’s original apostles and the entire first century Christian Community never appropriated any of these. Instead, theirs was an organic fellowship utilizing available organic means. For example, they never had any central meeting house but always met in private homes. They took care of one another. What one lacked another provided. They steered clear of any institutionalism, prideful shows of earthly power, or dominance over the people dogma precisely because they were spiritually powerful humble servants, exactly as their Lord commanded them to be.

This question of church buildings thus pretty much answers itself for those paying attention. To go along with clergy dominance, it helps to create imposing material representations of said dominance. The people need to know who’s in charge. It began about 1700 years ago with the first “cathedrals.” They simply transformed Roman government structures for Christian use and then continued with the government model to showcase their rule over the people. Never mind that the Lord Jesus never engaged in such earthly nonsense. When did the Lord and His men ever advocate for the building of static church buildings? There were no church buildings for three centuries and the early believers managed to turn the world upside down anyway. The Lord’s kingdom was and remains a spiritual kingdom devoid of the mandatory trappings of earthly kingdoms.

Also, when did the Lord Jesus ever act like a duded-up ruling potentate preaching down from on high to the lower class? Is He not the most humble Man who ever lived? Did not the Creator Himself choose to present Himself that way? Why did God enter this world like everyone else, as a mere babe? Is He teaching us something with His perfect attitude? Is He not our perfect example?

There is a massive disconnect in this area. When presented with such information most Christians simply stare and say nothing or get angry and go into defense mode. This is highly unfortunate. I am not saying that good is not being done in traditional Christian settings. But such tradition has most often been a huge drag on what could otherwise be accomplished. And nothing subverts the process more than a solitary strong man in control dictating anything and everything, and building according to his vision instead of the Lord’s vision. These ruling pastors (and this is a perfect grammatical definition) are most often working in direct opposition to the Lord Jesus rather than working in concert with Him. The Lord is thus forced to support them in part because of the limited good done in such places since they are on balance better than nothing at all.

STUDY TO SHEW THYSELF APPROVED

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. [2Timothy 2:15]

Imagine rightly praising your first grade child for doing well in his or her school work. Then imagine the idea of praising him or her when the child continues to operate on a first grade level in the second or third grade. Then think about what happens when kids are passed on to the next grades when they never complete the required course work for their previous grade. You will eventually have some really ignorant children and teenagers that simply cannot handle the work which the grade they were passed to requires.

Did you know we have an absolute epidemic of ignorant children in schools? That we have ignorant teenagers actually graduating from high schools? That some of these are actually attending college? In the early years of this country, roughly three centuries ago, children were learning new languages. They were reading the classics at early ages. They were reading the Word of God and understanding it. They had difficult course work but many were mastering it. Have you seen the bright but disciplined children in this world mastering musical instruments? Have you noticed how some children learn practical work at early ages and later become masters at their trades?

We do a great disservice to children by allowing them to be dumbed down rather than instructed properly toward higher levels. How many people notice the miracle of very small children somehow learning complex grammar and language at the age of two to three years old? How did their grasp of grammar and vocabulary suddenly shoot through the roof? The so-called experts have no answer for this. It defies evolutionary thinking. It is impossible that the children learned it on their own. It is not possible to teach it. They acquire a great amount of information and ability at an extremely young age and begin working out complex problems when they should not be able to.

Then they are placed in “schools” with extremely limited learning environments with forced low common denominators that cause their revved up rocket engine minds potentially taking them into outer space to be downgraded to virtual Model T’s and in other cases horse and buggy technology that make it difficult to get on down the road and impossible to travel any appreciable distance. Rather than continuing toward epic flight they are forced into slave galleys pulling at oars to support the institution and its parasitic inhabitants and leaders instead of the other way around.

This exact dynamic has transpired in American Christianity. The arrogant clergy boys and their sycophants have created institutions that serve them instead of serving the people. The people suffer. Christians never get the teaching they need or the Biblical and spiritual knowledge they require. These Pharisaical leaders almost never create a single disciple but maintain dumbed down “congregants” who rarely progress and are next to worthless spiritually. Most American Christians have never had a real born again experience. Most have never read the Bible. Most are Biblically illiterate. Most have a dirt foundation with a future fall. It is almost never the case that such eternal church-going Christians cannot learn or be properly discipled as the Lord clearly commanded. It is that true discipleship is at odds with the traditional curriculum. Keeping the congregation dumbed down and under control is a much better management model because it’s a much better business model. It is better to keep everyone in elementary school perpetually to keep them coming, giving their money and support, and maintaining the rule of the clergy and local “pastors.” The last thing they want is people doing things the Lord’s way. I mean, if everybody developed as real ministers of the Gospel and actually graduated, how could that be good for the local church?

SUPPORTING THE COUNTERFEIT

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” [Luke 6:46] [5]

Why is it that most Christians never properly compare the Lord’s ministry style with their own and comprehend the night and day difference? Is it simple cognitive dissonance? Why do so many Christians look upon the Lord Jesus, the original apostles, and the first century Church as primitive and even wacky, and their methods those of a long dead culture that could never work in the present? The reality of the matter is that the Lord’s management model, which is the perfect model, is rejected not because it doesn’t work or cannot work but because it conflicts with what Americans Christians have built in its place.

Why do so many Christians support the Pastor Paradigm? Why does the majority continue to insist on supporting a failed model? The official model is a counterfeit substitute that falls short on many levels. It is why American Christianity in general continues to deteriorate and lose influence. Look around! America and Americans are suffering! Real Christianity is under attack! It is only the current Great Awakening which largely exists outside official channels that is allowing for a vehicle through which the Lord can work. Sound familiar?

They refuse the Lord’s full authority, refuse His perfect management model, and refuse to allow the infusion of spiritual life that so many are desperately praying for. For them it will always be business as usual.

“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. 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 23:8-13]

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Tags: America, American Christianity, Christian Denominations, Christian Pharisees, Church Buildings, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Discipleship, Elder, False Forms of Christianity, False Shepherds, Lord Jesus, New Testament, Original Christian Community in Jerusalem, Pastor, Prideful Church Leaders, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Servant, Shepherd, The Good Shepherd, The Great Awakening, The Most High Does Not Dwell In Houses Made By Human Hands, The Perfect Teachings of Jesus, Traditional Christianity, Unreal Christianity

THE DESCENT OF THE ASCENDANT: THOSE WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS (NIMROD IS HERE)

Jan 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” [John 3:19-21]

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’” [Matthew 7:23]

In reading the preceding verses, remember who the Lord’s ministry was directed to. At that time He was obviously not referring to the world at large but only the land associated with His direct ministry. Much of the context of the Gospel message is lost without this proper frame of reference.

HIDDEN EVIL (IN OTHERWISE PLAIN SIGHT)

Going back to ancient times, there have always been people in the world who gained enough power and money to do absolutely anything they desired. They reached a point of no restrictions. Though the possibility existed that some of these people possessed enough self discipline to restrict their behavior, and though outward observers, including those researching history, may have thought the best of such powerful people, the reality is that the vast majority, in essence, all of them save a possible one or two here and there, crossed over into absolute hedonism.

Consider this hypothetical question: If a person has gained so much power and money he can do anything he wants and no one can stop him, do you think he will limit himself? The Word of God is clear on the depravity of unregenerate humanity bound by sin and out of relationship with the Lord. Those who sow to the flesh will reap the sinful fruit of the flesh. Those who do so with powerful means and no restrictions will reap the greatest of sinful fruit. The Lord Jesus expounded upon this issue in the following:

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” [Mark 8:34-38]

Reflect on the Biblical illustration of Solomon, a person many Christians highly honor, as one who fits the preceding passage perfectly. He reached a point in which he gained zero accountability and did whatever he wanted (because he quit on God and eliminated God’s prophets). Rather than one wife, for example, he appropriated several and many more “concubines.” As time proceeded there were never enough women to satisfy his lust. He eventually possessed over a thousand:

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. [1Kings 11:1-3] [1]

Can you then see the distinct likelihood that other powerful people like Solomon with zero accountability might have grown tired of attempting to satisfy their lust with grown women and branched out? The Old Testament spells this out exactly. The Law of Moses describes specifically the sins which one should never engage in. It involves the most disgusting practices you can imagine. It’s all right there in black and white. Great tyrants who could do whatever they wanted were doing such things. No one could stop them. Then their disgusting sins permeated the entire nations over which they ruled and those nations became as corrupt as the disgusting leaders. Then the nation of Israel engaged in the exact behavior. Repeatedly. Over and over. The rumors that abound in our day of powerful people engaging in such lawless behavior are rampant. Remember, they can do anything they want and no one can do anything about it. They have embraced absolute lawlessness. They possess the means, the motive, and the opportunity.

It is strange that people don’t see this. The evil of the powerful mostly remains behind a curtain. The likely reason is centuries-old psychological conditioning in that the subjects of such people are forced to fear their leaders and what will happen to them if they attempt to call them out. There have always been stiff penalties. Offending those in power has traditionally resulted in societal rejection and prison. Revolting against them has resulted in death. This is how the world has always been run. The ones who gain power and their sycophants step on everybody else to get there and keep a boot on their face after they do. Whoever objects to the sin and lawlessness of those who gain power are made to pay and some are made to pay exceedingly as examples to check whoever else may have such tendencies. This is likely why most people refuse to consider the subject. The Lord Jesus, however, has forever remained undaunted regarding such. He strives to root out and expose the evil. He knows the great harm it causes. In the nation of Israel’s case the Lord sent prophets. Even so, what happened to the prophets?

We could get into a long list of such powerful unaccountable people from ancient times to the present in both the secular and religious fields, including “Christianity” of course, even if we restrict it to the world’s most powerful at the top of various hierarchies and pyramids. But for the purposes of this short paper I will limit the scope to just one guy to illustrate what is possible and to honor the Lord for using this person as an early example in His Word:

ANCIENT SUMER

The first great empire on the planet was created by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, the “land between two rivers,” in about 3000BC, roughly occupied at present by the country of Iraq. The Bible refers to this land as Shinar. A man by the name of Nimrod created and ruled over this first of all empires and did so with an iron fist. It was not an easy task to run roughshod over the entire population of the vast region and cobble together a union of city states. To streamline the process Nimrod gave very little or no heed to “human rights” or what any of his potential subjects may have thought of the process. He was determined to rule the world and he achieved his goal. In the process everyone under his rule became slaves to various degrees. Those who bucked the process were simply eliminated.

How do we know some revolted? The bigger question, in my estimation, is why did not everyone revolt? Why was there not a wholesale revolution? Why did they not stop him from coming to power? What Nimrod engaged in was a total mockery of humanity and rejection of the inherent liberty of each person. He had no respect for the mass of people. He would only use them for his own ends. Once he gained enough toadies bound to his will, those who had the same evil outlook in life who wanted only to satisfy their flesh with the usual sinful practices, and paid them off with such, he had enough of an army to fight the few who were bold enough to oppose him. Though the great majority were likely greatly offended at what was happening, likely only a relative few, as always, had the boldness to put their lives on the line to prevent it. In the case of ancient Sumer it obviously did no good. It was the end of an egalitarian social structure and the beginning of a collectivist one-man-rule dictatorship model later emulated by others, notably ancient Egypt and eventually Rome. Ironically, those early Sumerian tyrants are credited with creating “civilization.”

NIMROD IS HERE

To better explain the following verses of Scripture regarding Nimrod, I wrote the following passage about twenty five years ago. It is an excerpt from my book Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church. What I wrote then has turned out to be prophetic. What I wrote then has now essentially come to pass. The warning I gave then was largely rejected by the very people (Christians, especially those in “leadership”) who should have taken it to heart. See if any of the following sounds familiar. Remember, I wrote the following in approximately 1995:

Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. [Genesis 10:8-12]

Nimrod was the great-grandson of Noah, the grandson of Ham and the nephew of Canaan. In this verse he is called a “. . . mighty hunter before the Lord,” but this phrase is not very clear. Its surface meaning is a tad ambiguous, and its deeper meaning is hard to judge on the basis of its simple translation. Therefore, an in-depth explanation is called for. This will get somewhat confusing, but the end result in greater understanding is worth the effort.

1. To begin with, the English word “mighty” in the above verse is translated from the Hebrew word gibbor which means “powerful,” but by implication, a “warrior,” or “tyrant.”
2. Tsayid is the Hebrew word which was translated as “hunter,” yet tsayad is the proper word for hunter or “huntsman.” Tsayid actually means “the chase” or “hunting.”
3. “Before” is taken from the word paneh which means “the face (as the part that turns),” or as the preposition “before” in the sense of being “against.”
4. “The Lord” in this case is, of course, YHWH, the “Self-Existent or Eternal.”

When translated closer to the original intent, the following sense emerges: “Nimrod was a powerful warrior-tyrant hunting the face of YHWH.” Now, what exactly does it mean to hunt the face of YHWH?

First of all, it helps to be aware of the terminology of early Genesis. In the first fifteen chapters, the word paneh (face) is mentioned eighteen times. On seventeen of these occasions, “face” is a reference to the face of the deep, the waters, the earth, and the ground. On one occasion, there is a reference to the face of YHWH. [2]

Of course, even though God appeared in theophanic form on occasion, Nimrod wasn’t hunting God’s human face but the façade which marked the boundary, or surface (presence) of the Lord, or in other words—the Lord’s dominion. He was against the Lord in this sense. Nimrod’s name means “rebellion.”

In essence, Nimrod’s objective was to hunt, or chase after, the kingdom of God. He either did this in direct competition against God, as one who would build his own kingdom, or he labored under great deception, thinking he was seeking the kingdom according to God’s will and by God’s plan. In either case he was wrong, and the effect was the same.

Throughout the ages and continuing into the present, countless Nimrods have established control over the unsuspecting by wresting away their freedom. They create governments which place themselves in supreme authority over the masses. They swell up like Thanksgiving Day parade balloons with the life they steal from their subjects—those who innocently trust them—those defenseless ones who eventually become nothing but inert husks, mere shells of destitute humanity. As fish out of water, a people lose their energizing spark and eventually breathe their last breath, while those who destroyed them build monuments to themselves.

It is for this very reason that the founding fathers of the United States of America sought to place ruling authority in the hands of “We the People.” This would prevent another Nimrod from taking over. History clearly shows us that this experiment in government known as the USA has been the most successful of all that have ever existed, hands down. Why? It is due simply to the fact that when people have authority, they have freedom, and when they have freedom, they have the chance at life. That is why the Declaration of Independence refers to the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No other government in the history of the world had ever stood on such a principle, with one exception.

Many centuries earlier, an extremely limited form of government was created which depended on one thing to make it work—obedience to God. The nation was ancient Israel. This form of government failed because its people did not “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” [3] nor did they “love your neighbor as yourself.” [4] The government that God gave to Israel was also formed to keep a Nimrod from taking over, but that objective failed and we have documented proof to verify it.

In ancient Israel, the spirit of Nimrod rose from within. The Old Testament gives us a Hebrew king list which is largely composed of one despot after another who ruled the descendants of Jacob with complete disregard for God’s first intention—His children’s life and liberty. When the people of Israel turned their back on God, they turned their back on everything, and thus received the leadership they deserved.

The USA will also fail to stop the current Nimrod insurgency if we don’t get our priorities straight. Each citizen of this country is guaranteed by the Constitution the right to life. This right has been greatly curtailed, paradoxically by the government itself, that is, the government of “We the People.” We have surrendered much of the substance of our original right to life. We have created a hierarchical, bureaucratic machine which has no feeling or regard for our true welfare. We now largely look to the government instead of to God for answers to our problems. Even though our government was built in such a way to keep Nimrod from taking over, Nimrod is about to come to power anyway—we created him, and the exact creation has transpired within American Christianity.

In the early church, God spread out power and authority evenly among His people, but in the majority of today’s churches, the religious upper class rules with a velvet-gloved iron hand. If one doesn’t think this is true, then one has never challenged the ruling class as Jesus did. Those who do find out post haste that it has a dark side, that it often regards its dependents with contempt, and that its holy exterior remains that way only as long as one remains its fool:

And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.[Luke 4:28–29] [5]

[2] Genesis 4:14

[3] Deuteronomy 6:5

[4] Leviticus 19:18

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Tags: American Christianity, American Sin and Depravity, Carry Your Cross, Final Judgment of Souls, Law of Moses, Light and Darkness, Lord Jesus, Nimrod, Prophetic Warning, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Shinar, Sin and Rebellion, Solomon, Sumer, The Great Awakening, The Love of Wealth and Power, The Mystery of Lawlessness, The Presence of the devil, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Truth, United States Constitution, We the People

UNREAL CHRISTIANITY IS A FLAWED MODEL (IT THUS DEMANDS CHRISTIAN PROGRAMMING TO MAKE IT WORK)

Nov 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

It appears to function properly. The people who exist within it appear to have a correct perspective. Appearances, however, can be greatly deceiving.

In writing my book, Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church, I coined the term “Unreal Christianity.” This term is defined as everything Real Christianity is not. Real Christianity is: (1) The total curriculum of the Lord Jesus and everything He taught and carried out during His ministry as revealed in the New Covenant writings. (2) The sum total of everything taught and practiced by His initial real followers in obedience to Him during the first century AD as revealed in the New Covenant writings.

Discovering Real Christianity is not difficult. The Word of God reveals it. The Spirit of God is active in the world leading whosoever will to Life and Truth. There are millions of people with solid testimonials who have experienced it. We have historical records. The first century written record is a spiritual gold mine. Also, the central core of the Lord’s teachings regarding salvation are easy to understand and apply, and one does not need full knowledge of the New Testament to gain salvation.

However, one does need such knowledge to reveal the unreal. One must know the New Testament very well to overcome false teachings. Those who add to or take away from the Lord’s teachings are not working for Him. That should be obvious. The reason so many Christians are deceived and are teaching and practicing that which the Lord never did or does not support need the proper frame of reference to discover their error. They will never gain this within their limited circles.

The teachings and practices of the original Community of the Lord were commanded to be carried out perpetually from generation to generation. We have ample historical evidence that this is true. There is therefore no justification whatsoever for deviating from the original, though a great many Christians have done this and continue supporting false forms of Christianity. It makes no difference that the majority of Christians belong to the unreal camp. The majority is always wrong. The rigors and full commitment of real discipleship are such that only a relative few will follow the correct path. The majority chooses the broad well-traveled way.

Thus, Unreal Christianity is an all-inclusive term denoting every Christian belief system and practice that deviates from the perfect original. The New Covenant writings do an excellent job at defining the real and exposing the unreal. If one cannot find confirmation for his Christian beliefs and practices in the New Testament then such beliefs and practices are incorrect. There is no proof or reason for their existence.

TWO TYPES OF CHRISTIAN INTELLIGENCE

In general, there are two basic types of intelligence which Christians choose to adopt. The majority type can be referred to as programmable intelligence. This is characterized by people who accept indoctrination willingly. They rarely or never question authority. They never seek confirming proof. They go along to get along. Truth is much less important than fitting into the group. Therefore, the belief system of the overall group, the glue which binds the members together, is predominant with reference to any other belief system, including Biblical truth.

Of course, anybody can be programmed. Yet, to the consternation of religious tyrants everywhere, some people can only be programmed to a point. These people adopt the second type of intelligence. The time always arrives when such people, always in the apparent minority, will start to notice flaws in their programming and begin to ask questions. They will notice that elements of their indoctrination don’t add up. Because they are also independent thinkers, they measure their programming against the Word of God. They then become fully aware of their programming. It is a life changing moment when their eyes are suddenly opened, so to speak. It can be a shock, not only because they realize they were deceived by their previous Christian beliefs but that the ones in authority in which they trusted had lied to them. They then begin to deconstruct their programming and allow for the pure teachings of the Lord.

This form of intelligence can be referred to as non-programmable intelligence. Though these people can certainly be deceived, their deception is always temporary. Over the long term, it is impossible to keep them in an ongoing state of deception. No matter what the religious programmers do, they simply cannot keep these people programmed to a flawed belief system. The mindset of those with non-programmable intelligence, because they possess an inherent hunger of and love for the truth, is one composed of critical thinking, testing, and ongoing questioning of authority. Their only supreme loyalty is to the Supreme Being. They can hear His voice and will only follow the Good Shepherd. They know that the curriculum of the Lord Jesus is the only flawless Christian belief system.

Those with only programmable intelligence never notice any flaws in their programming. They also do not perceive that they have been programmed. Whatever denominational beliefs they espouse have been programmed into them. They are very well indoctrinated. Some would use the term brainwashed. These people never test their programmed beliefs against the Word of God. They never see the need to test them. They fully trust their religious authority figures. They simply believe what they are taught and look no further. They have little or no critical thinking ability regarding their Christian beliefs. Why question what is right? If by chance they happen to find apparent flaws in their indoctrination (or have them pointed out to them by others), they often chalk it up to concepts which can never be understood in this life and thereby invoke the spectre of mystery in that such concepts are impossible to comprehend.

Though there are certainly mysteries in this life there are none within the teachings of the Lord. It may appear that way if one never studies the Word. Therefore such defeatist attitudes actually reveal intellectual laziness and a refusal to search for available answers, as well as a strong reluctance to deviate from the teachings of the group because they fear rejection by the group. They know they can never make it without group support.

Those who choose mere programmable intelligence have this in common. They rank social standing very high. It is extremely important to them to belong and be well thought of by the overall group of which they are a member and that they fit in well and maintain their standing in the group. This demands that the overall members of the group have essentially the exact core beliefs. Core beliefs are so important they must never be questioned whatsoever and any member who does so is quickly rendered a social violator. The punishments of such social violators are the proverbial cold shoulder at best or excommunication at worst. In the middle exist all manner of punishments designed to inflict enough abuse to force one back into compliance. Any one of these punishments inflicts social humiliation and can be quite damaging though most are temporary. The abused accept their abuse willingly, though they still may not understand why they are being punished so severely. The last thing they want is cancellation because they consider actual removal from the group the worst possible outcome. It is the social death penalty.

Those with programmable intelligence could never handle such an outcome. Their place in the group is far too important. It is not only fear of banishment from the group, it is also the great fear of being thought of as different, strange, quirky, or as a deviant. They will do anything to keep either of these two outcomes from happening. They know they must strive to be a well thought of member of the group at any cost and will strive for that social standing. They crave group support to bolster the way they think about themselves. Doing all that is required as a member of the pack, the gang, the group, or the congregation validates their standing and shields them from outside attack. They must have a structured environment in which they are told what to think and believe. They often do not have the capacity to do their own research. They can rarely stand alone.

This means they must believe as the group believes. They believe the beliefs of the group are paramount. They do not understand, however, that the group has only a low common denominator set of basic elementary beliefs. And they also do not understand that the heart of these core tenets are founded upon control. The beliefs are used to keep everyone in the group under control to a higher authority. Though there is a higher authority—those few in control who dictate what will be believed and practiced—the members perceive their set of beliefs as their foundation instead of the sly controllers who use the “foundational” beliefs to program them and thus control them.

The members of the unreal assembly believe their chosen beliefs are fundamentally sound and true but they never test them. Their Christian beliefs appear on the surface to agree with Scripture. But because the beliefs are never actually tested against Scripture (and because any such testing is often forbidden) it does not take much further programming to convince the members that their beliefs are absolutely confirmed by Scripture (falsely). The controllers know those who are successfully programmed will never demand proof. Such followers believe that whatever testing is required has already been performed by the authorities in charge. Members learn that their core beliefs must never be deviated from by any member because it negatively affects the unity of the group. And even though most have undergone abuse to conform it will not stop the abused from engaging in abuse against others. All must defend their group and their group’s practices and beliefs, whatever the cost.

All that I describe here is the essential definition of a cult. Unreal Christianity contains a collection of Christian cults with a false façade. The leaders thereof are wolves in sheep’s clothing and are often demonic.

Such cultish thinking is based on primeval aspects of survival. Groups survive because they stick together against enemies (those who believe differently). Over time, small groups become large groups but their basic tenets remain the same. Whoever does not believe and act as the members are characterized as deviants and must be opposed. It becomes a joke when all Christian denominations adopt the same attitude—everybody is wrong except us—we have the full truth—our church is the right church—our leaders are the only real leaders.

Regarding Real Christianity, the Lord Jesus is the only Leader. His teachings are the only Christian truth. His Community is composed of the only Christian unity. His disciples follow and obey only Him because they love Him. They are not programmed.

AWAKING TO THE TRUTH

If the faux bros tested themselves against the Lord’s model they would discover their error. They would understand they possess a flawed model of Christianity. And then they may wonder how this happened. If they’re not careful they will start adopting the other form of intelligence, one that cannot be successfully programmed. And then, horror of horrors, they will start thinking critically. They will even test their beliefs against the Word of God. They will start questioning their betters. The next thing you know a great many Christians will break free from their Christian programming, stop being religious zombies, and actually gain more fear of losing their soul than losing their place in their chosen Christian society. It will dawn on them what living for God actually is and how blessed they are to have the opportunity to do so.

And they will see the Lord Jesus as He was at one time—rejected, betrayed, banished from the group, and left completely alone, and they will lose their fear. They will see that He overcame it all. It never stopped Him. He was victorious anyway.

He exposed the flawed models. He defeated the programmers. He did it all to set us free.

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. [Romans 16:17-20] [1]

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Christian Cults, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, New Covenant Teachings of Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Societal Pressure, Spiritual Freedom, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Victory in Jesus

THE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AND WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW: JOURNEY TO THE SOURCE

Nov 5

Posted by RJ Dawson

Every river has a source. And every river flows downhill. Though many people are aware of rivers few are aware of the point at which a river begins.

This holds true even for those familiar rivers flowing by one’s locale where a man might fish or kids swim or families gather, or those city rivers spanned by bridges and shadowed by tall downtowns. People may know all about a section of the river closest to them or that part which they may frequent for whatever reason. They may also know about a portion of the river flowing away from them to various degrees because anyone who’s ever been on a river has drifted downstream either on purpose or not, maybe in a boat or a tube or a canoe or two. But fewer are familiar with any great distance in the other direction, that upstream direction that requires more effort as you go, both to overcome the current and the faster currents in the main current and also because you be going uphill toward them thar hills where the gold is and the higher you go the more effort it takes, which kind of removes the whole point of being on a river in the first place. One will also figure out that the day goes faster on the upstream track and it gets darker sooner and unless you got a plan for Z-catching time you’ll be up a river without a plan. Or a paddle. Plans and paddles always seem to work better going downstream.

Which only proves my point all the more. Going with the flow is cake and even dogs can do that. Speaking of which, in a former life I was once the very proud master of the greatest dog that ever lived. We would go to the lake together. I had a big inner tube. I would lay across it out there on an inlet of the lake and my good doggo, a fifty plus pound mostly black lab would stand on the tube crossways with her fore feet on one side and hinder feet on the other. We’d ride like that, a captain and his mate, me relaxing and her on her high perch on the lookout alert to all of nature with senses in overdrive locked in on distant pirate ships off on the horizon only dog eyes can see and maybe sensing or smelling a school of fish in the unseen underworld swimming under us and catching wind from distant points and occasionally making a clean jump overboard and a dog splash with nary a degree course shift to said tube undoubtedly to protect me from Leviathan (or probably just to get wet and do some doggo paddling).

And speaking further of which, those big inner tubes from tractor tires that people used to float around on back in the day curiously only work in one direction even though they came from a large rolling farm machine that goes in several. Go figure. Going downstream requires a couple of oars. Going upstream requires gasoline, or maybe a lot more oars, probably manned by guys that look like Vikings. It’s fun to be following a river to its mouth where it exits into a nice day at the beach. Going the other way on the other hand is work.

A river’s source is much less familiar than its terminus. Fewer people are aware of where a river begins. Many more people sit on a bank of sand and watch the river flow than those who think about where it flows from. And many fewer than that ever do something tangible with such thoughts. Maybe it’s because the source, or headwaters of a river, are often difficult to trace and sometimes very difficult, like tracing anything else to its source, especially those things that have sources which seem to try awfully hard to hide the way there if you get my drift. There may be an area far upstream toward headwater country when the main channel branches off into several small streams which most often don’t have traffic signs and one must choose one or another and this may involve some or a lot of backtracking and getting familiar with tricky cricks that may only end in mud and much bugs.

Going downstream from a not so well defined source may have smaller streams converging into larger ones which become at a certain point a single channel. This is somewhat equivalent to capillaries. There may be a slightly larger small stream among the many when going upstream that can be traced to a single origin point and that’s what you’re looking for. The sources of some rivers are more defined than others.

Rivers obviously begin at higher ground and flow downward. It is often the case that major rivers fall fast in the beginning due to their headwaters being inconveniently located in what may effectively and certainly by comparison be the great white north in cold snowy icy mountain regions where rivers for some odd reason aren’t quite as much fun. You likely won’t find too many people up there having laid back family reunions with barbecue and little kids running around with arm floaties.

After rivers go through their contrary stage in the early going, falling fast and dangerous as if having no time to lose and needing to get somewhere yesterday, they start catching their breath a tad as the lay of the land becomes increasingly less pronounced and angled. The slope lessens and eventually flattens out in comparison to the upriver rocky waterfall stage. Some rivers reach areas where they spread out with very wide banks. What was once a clear and cold quickly running rivulet becomes a wide slow moving body of water appearing almost as a lake, kind of like a butterfly turning into a worm. The gradient continues to lessen over large stretches as the river at last approaches the place it was so fired up about reaching back in the beginning—the flat land of its ultimate destination in which it finally exhausts itself and goes to river heaven, pouring itself out with one last primal scream and a few deathbed prayers into a vast sea or the big bad ocean becoming one with all as it were. It may even decide on splitsville prior to exiting at its technical terminus, becoming a many branching delta as it might have been in the beginning and completing the river circle of life in that the many became one and then the many again. This is really philosophical but rivers, as you know, can be deep.

Thus, since water always seeks its own level, which explains why it was in such a gol-dern hurry at the start, the waters which begin in the high mountains always end their long winding descending journey at level (unless obstructed, usually artificially). This is why they call it sea level because water always has to level out. Once water escapes anything that may be holding it, from Lake Superior to a drinking glass, it will do its best to get flat as quickly as possible and the more of it there is the more this force is compounded. This is why sea level is the zero point and benchmark for all land elevations. It’s because the ocean is the place most rivers go to die where they simply can’t get any more level. I guess this makes them happy.

THE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

Information works the same way water works. It has a source. The source is often limited or even singular. The information chosen for authorized channels must be approved before being released and thus becomes official. Approved official knowledge or information then flows relatively quickly from the top down through hierarchical levels until reaching the initial lower levels of distribution. It is then disseminated throughout the flat land of the masses in which the information flow shifts from vertical to horizontal.

At this point information which once descended from a mysterious and largely unknown elevated source is shared laterally across a virtual plane. The receivers become the final distributors. Though the indoctrinated are blissfully unaware of the source or legitimacy of the information or the process of mental manipulation which they are undergoing, they accept the information presented to them as truth. They believe it and compel others to believe it. News spreads from person to person within the proverbial ocean of people. Cultural belief systems are created. Narratives are formed. And the majority are none the wiser that it was all planned that way.

Imagine therefore all the rivers of the land flowing into a single ocean at sea level. The waters of multiple rivers converge and mix together in the ocean waters. Again, it works the same way with information. The information is rarely vetted. It is assumed to be true. Next to no one ever goes on a perilous journey upriver seeking the source. Such can be extremely difficult. Many different terrains will be encountered along with whatever other dangers may lurk upon them such as hostile inhabitants or wild animals. Imagine getting into the high mountain regions presented with bottomless crevasses and vertical icy cliffs. Whoever the long ago down-streamers were, those non-indigenous to the unexplored high country, that discovered a major river’s headwaters were indeed the hardiest of souls. They were seeking the source.

As opposed to the ancient source seekers, the vast majority of the people downstream in gently sloping relatively flat regions and on the coast usually had no desire to discover where their water came from. They simply accepted the water for what it was, the life-giving element essential for all. In prior times when the earth was clean the water was also usually safe. People were not aware of the microscopic dangers inherent in some waters. Over the last two plus centuries when areas of the earth were subjected to industrialization and the pollution thereof, some waters became slightly polluted, but again, nobody understood the lurking danger. In areas of very high populations settled in a section of river in which the flow was not sufficient to overcome the pollution, many people came down with unexplained illnesses due to the higher concentration of pollutants in the water and many died. It became a serious problem.

Those were the days of unsanitary practices engaged in by relatively everyone. Very few ever made a connection between such practices and ill health. For example, it was the same during the Black Death in Europe in which great numbers died. No one had understood that unsanitary practices in the highly concentrated population centers attracted rats which had fleas which transferred disease to humans. Therefore, those who imbibed in dirty water had no clue that dirty water caused illness and death. The people who lived far upstream in small villages in which the river water was clear and cold had few such problems.

Though there were large systems of water distribution in ancient times among high population centers, some were upgraded significantly and became relatively modern engineering feats. A great example was ancient Rome. As the city grew larger in the first few centuries BC they began building long aqueducts from distant high ground many miles away which carried fresh water into the city. Many of these were built around the turn of the millennium under the rule of Augustus who had thoroughly modernized Rome. These aqueducts were built primarily for water distribution, however, and not necessarily for access to cleaner water though it was certainly of better quality than what they had previously. Most other large population centers in the ancient world never possessed the thought process or means of the ancient Romans, much less the engineering ability, to build such sanitary systems, and always struggled with disease and death by dirty water. And again, the problem was compounded by never understanding the connection. Lesser cultures suffered more than relatively enlightened ones.

Whatever knowledge in this field might have been gained by the first century AD was apparently lost once again as concentrated population centers continued suffering the effects of water pollution throughout the Middle Ages. It was not until modern times when water distribution became so advanced that much waterborne sickness and disease was eliminated. We have all seen the signs stating that a city’s water supply is “approved.” Municipalities and water districts make water quality literature available for the few who may be interested. One can peruse tables and charts containing the levels of remaining contaminants after filtration. One may also see something else. They may discover the levels of various chemicals added to the water to kill the contaminants. We are told that such industrial chemicals are at such a low level of concentration that they are harmless.

This has long since been proven to be false. That which is flowing through the distribution systems of our cities and towns is roughly equivalent to swimming pool water. Most people do not understand that such municipal water systems are self-contained in that whatever flows down the drain eventually returns through the tap. Drain water and its ingredients must go through multiple levels of high filtration to remove the many contaminants as best as possible and then the water is chemically treated before eventually returning for multiple uses including drinking. In other words, from the time such systems were first constructed the water has never been pure. Dirty water will get you relatively fast. Chemically treated water will likely get you later. In the past, people never made the connection between dirty water and disease. Today, most people do not understand the connection between chemical water and disease.

However, such a problem is comparatively benign compared to information pollution. Few people ever vet the sources of information they receive. Just as we are conditioned to believe that whatever comes out of a tap is perfectly safe, so are we conditioned to believe that everything presented on television, radio, and newspapers is true. You could say the same for history books. For Christians, you can say the same for pulpits. Few ever vet what comes from a pulpit. Even fewer vet the pulpit sources. The original sources and hierarchies that send the information through Christian distribution centers, including pulpits, are often completely unknown. Christians in general have historically been the equivalent of some guy reading a newspaper or watching TV news. The content is not only rarely or never questioned, the creators of the content remain unidentified and anonymous.

Of course, much Christian information comes through the distribution channels from denominational headquarters. And much comes from approved Christian literature through various Christian colleges and seminaries. But most Christians don’t know that or apparently care about the upstream vetting of these information sources. That which is chosen to distribute has agendas attached. There is much that is not chosen. Who is the arbiter? Who makes such decisions? The main final delivery connection point for most Christians, like a household faucet, is the local pulpit, but if the pulpit is ever vetted it is usually because the congregation insists on a particular denominational viewpoint. Sadly, Christian information sources are rarely properly vetted against the only Source that matters.

THE WATER OF LIFE

It is not possible for a Christian to be a well-informed disciple without attending the school of the Lord Jesus. The Lord has seen fit to preserve His written Word. Thus, by praying for Light and direction, and reading and studying the Lord’s actual teachings, one is effectively attending His school. This is the purest of all waters. Reading His Word can obviously be supplemented by accurate Bible preaching and teaching, and vetted Christian literature. There are several means of distribution of the Lord’s teachings but the emphasis must always be on His pure Word. Direct reading and study eliminates the middle man. It is the same as drinking from a perfectly pure mountain stream or cold water spring.

Consider those who were able to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus. They were getting the pure Word directly from the Source. I highly recommend that those of you who have yet to have your initial Upper Room experience to seek it. It is where the originals first received the infilling of the Lord’s Holy Spirit. This is a gift to all but it must be sought. Rather than get your information from a downstream unfiltered and likely polluted source in which vital nutrients are missing and contaminants are present, I suggest all take a trip to the Mountain of the Lord to the very Source of the Water of Life. His Spirit will filter and vet everything and keep one from being misinformed and/or deceived.

The evidence is in one’s spiritual health. The Water of Life creates strong, healthy, and joyous disciples.

THE SOURCE

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. [John 7:37-39]

“‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy.’” [Acts 2:17-18]

“Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” [Acts 2:33]

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb… [Revelation 22:1] [1]

Posted in Teaching

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Tags: Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Outpouring, Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Information Age, Journey, Living Water, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

ONLY THE FULLY AWAKE SEE HIS GLORY: A GREAT AWAKENING UPDATE

Nov 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory… [Luke 9:32]

Yes, it was about the Transfiguration. But the Transfiguration is about a Great Revelation. Only the fully awake can see this. Christians who do not see this are not awake.

I can’t tell you exactly when the majority of American Christians went to sleep but it was fairly recent—about a quarter century ago. Prior to the present Great Awakening there was the Great Sleep. The Great Sleep stretched all across the country. It affected all denominations and independents. Of course, many of these have always been asleep so there was no change among them and no frame of reference to discern the times. Most Christians are still asleep.

We were in the early stages of the Great Awakening eleven years ago. I received this revelation from the Lord directly in late August of 2010. I knew of no one else at the time that had received it. I received no confirmation from others I knew at the time but within a few years I did start receiving some. People I knew were seeing breakouts here and there.

Recently, I was watching an interview of a prophetic believer, an older man with a solid record. At one point he said the prophetic people he knew had been saying we entered into the beginning of an awakening around eight to ten years ago. This interview was conducted in the summer of 2020. His statement would make the beginning of the Awakening, according to them, in 2010-2012. This was more confirmation. The Great Awakening likely began only a short time before the year 2010, maybe only a few years at the most. That settles the time frame.

There is obviously no need for a Great Awakening unless there has been a Great Sleep. As a country, America has been sleeping a very long time. It is why so much evil was allowed to happen during the 1900s. The Christians in official high places with most of the influence were not minding the store, were sleeping, and were actually in cahoots with the enemy whether they knew it or not. There were always voices of truth speaking forth because the Lord always has witnesses but these were drowned out by the unseeing sleeping majority. It’s impossible to speak truth to a sleeping man. They must wake up first. Most don’t want to wake up. They like the faux world. They like the fantasy world between their ears and not only don’t know they are deceived but don’t care. They enjoy sleeping.

However, during the last 120 years, despite the official Christian gatekeepers and all their followers being zoned out and snoring away, there were Christians who were absolutely serious about serving the Lord Jesus and made a full effort at being real disciples. These people were fully awake. It began at midnight on January 1, 1901 in Topeka, Kansas. The next huge spiritual wave hit in 1906 in Los Angeles, California. From then it was off to the races. The entire Christian landscape began to change for the better. Around 1960 Pentecost began happening all across the country. By the mid-1960s all denominations were touched powerfully by the Spirit of God. In pretty much every Protestant denomination and even the Roman Catholic Church people were getting filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues per the Book of Acts experience.

The movement continued unabated well into the 1970s. By the 1980s the movement began going into overdrive all across the world. It began in China in roughly 1976. Today it is estimated that over 100 million Chinese people are filled the Holy Spirit and having a massive impact. The same has happened in South America and many other places.

Something bad happened in North America, however, at some point in the 1990s. The movement subsided. Christians in America who should have known better began appropriating a Laodicean attitude. Churches were flush with money. Christian television had gone into the stratosphere. Somehow or another it all went off track. The enemy was able to gain much influence. Spiritual pride set in. A spirit of narcissism rose up. What was once a purely organic movement much like the initial movement of the Early Church was raided and invaded with the same revival killing practices that end all moves of God. A clergy-laity divide enshrouded the Community. Celebrity Christianity rose dramatically. Prosperity preachers and motivational speakers became the standard. Everyone else returned to form and became mere spectators and clergy worshippers.

What had made the 1900s movement great was the participation of every believer and the equality of all believers. This was lost. It was thrown out the window. If an honest anointed man didn’t have the false credentials of the faux leaders who had gathered together as a bloc he had no influence or open door for ministry. Christians were conditioned to trust only those with false résumés who stood on high taking the place of both the Lord Jesus and His people. They had the money, the power, and the prestige. They wrested control from the Lord and their people supported it. Together, they effectively killed the movement. Christians all across the country lapsed in their devotion to the Lord and simply went along with the program. This allowed for an influx of sin which remained unaddressed.

People who were once fully awake seeing the glory of the Lord fell asleep and no longer saw Him for who He is. They stopped serving Him. And then the devil had a field day. Though the outer structure remained intact and Christian routines continued the glory had largely departed. American Christianity became the Church of Ichabod.

PAY ATTENTION:

Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed and he could not see. The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” And he said, “How are things, my son?” Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great defeat among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas are also dead; and the ark of God has been taken.” When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. And so he judged Israel for forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, because her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women who were standing by her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. And she named the boy Ichabod (no glory, or where is the glory?), saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. So she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been taken.” [1Samuel 4:15-22] [1]

Thus, when American Christians started waking up 10-15 years ago they had no effect on the great shell of spiritual emptiness which is what became of the outer expression of much of American Christianity. Though it looked great on the outside it was empty on the inside. Those in control had already given themselves over to mammon since the Spirit of the Lord was no longer there. Mammon became their lifeline. They connected with the secular holders of mammon. They became mammon addicts.

The real Christians who never went to sleep soldiered on through it all looking forward to the day when the Lord would be invited back. The Lord, of course, never left the lives of those who stayed awake but they were largely rejected as He was. Those who were awake and working didn’t fit in with the sleeping. Imagine the God of all Creation being shut out of His own movement and relegated to the sidelines. Sound familiar?

The Great Awakening continues. Such happenings always start with repentance. Those who serve the Lord want to be right with Him! But the last to repent are the controllers. Their lives are good. They really don’t need or want the Lord. Or they want Him only as a lesser Lord Jesus. They don’t want Him in His power. They don’t want His power. It would mean giving up their power. You see, when a Christian exalts himself the Lord Jesus is dethroned and those sitting on their thrones have an extremely hard time giving it up. We know from history, however, that unless they do a time will come when the Lord will take it away from them. For His own sake, for the sake of His people, and for the sake of His movement in the world, He will take it away from them and give it back to His children who want Him and recognize Him. It allows Him to rise again.

As more sleeping Christians begin to awaken, rubbing the sleep from their eyes, they will somehow manage the strength to get out of bed. They will break free from the false dreams and entranced state into which they had succumbed. They will start to see the Lord for who He really is. If, after a good jolt of spiritual coffee, they are able to fully come to their senses, a great thing will happen. Their sleepy visions from enchanted dreams of an alternative Jesus which never existed will suddenly vanish:

FOR THE FULLY AWAKE THE LORD JESUS WILL BE TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM.

Only the fully awake see His glory.

BLOG UPDATE! ANNOUNCING NEW POST

THE GREAT ERROR OF TRUSTING DUPLICITOUS HIRELINGS AND POMPOUS PUPPETS

KICKING AGAINST THE GOADS

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Tags: America, American Christianity, Clergy-Laity Division, Discipleship, False Forms of Christianity, Gideon, Ichabod, Jesus is God, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Mount of Transfiguration, Passive Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Religious Spirits, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Traditional Christianity, Unreal Christianity

KICKING AGAINST THE GOADS

Nov 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

I wrote my first book, Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church, in the 1990s in part to show the clear distinction between real and unreal Christianity. It released a sword of separation.

All Christians must understand that the New Covenant writings contain contrastive material. The Word of God is designed to draw clear distinctions, cause sharp divisions, and assist one in making positive decisions. It presents Light and darkness, good and evil, sheep and goats, wheat and tares, and righteousness and sin. Real repentance is challenging (understatement alert). Personal sin, false beliefs, contrary attitudes, and uncircumcised hearts all must be addressed. It is not an easy process nor should it be. The Light shines on the darkness and everything hidden in the darkness gets exposed. Whenever one comes to the Lord he or she is exiting darkness and entering Light.

THE SWORD OF SEPARATION

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.” [Matthew 10:34-36]

Over the last quarter century, the spiritual climate in organized American Christianity has radically changed. Previous errors have been compounded. It is apparent that American Christians in general have consistently rejected the fullness of the Gospel. Most have certainly rejected the Book of Acts. The instructions and warnings of my book went unheeded. One might recall that the 1990s were considered the good times. Does not the Lord always warn during the good times that bad times are soon coming if one does not stay right with Him?

Real Christianity is based firmly on the full teachings of the Lord Jesus and the New Covenant writings. Our Lord is the Master. What He says goes. He instructs us to build our entire lives upon His foundation. Most of what we term “Christianity” has never done this. This means most “Christians” are actually not on the Lord’s side at all. Maybe most are deceived. It is more likely most simply refuse to follow the Lord as He said we must.

A Christian’s bullheaded balking at the Lord’s direction becomes evident, as kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14), when he or she reaches a point of refusal to go any further or in the right direction, though the Lord gently applies pressure to do so, and he or she insists on staying put wherever personally anchored or wander off wildly on a course of his own choosing. From the Lord’s perspective, those who have pledged their lives to Him have no call to refuse Him. But not only does an apparent majority of Christians refuse Him and decide on their own how far their discipleship will go, some are also guilty of persecuting the Lord (Acts 26:15). This is not something to have on one’s Christian résumé.

The Lord has never needed large numbers of followers to have a great impact in the world. I have consistently reiterated this point in all my writings going back decades. What He actually needs are fully obedient followers who trust Him fully and make a stand as He did. It is easy to discern a Christian who is not standing properly with the Lord because they do not put His teachings first. Instead, they will appeal to church leaders or teachers or writers or speakers or whoever else that has an alternative perspective and agenda which most often includes false and opposing denominational doctrines. They cannot understand that they have been compromised. Rather than put their trust in the Lord Jesus they put it in others and in themselves though outwardly insisting otherwise. This likely explains the great amount of Cognitive Dissonance among Christians.

The best way to break free from any accepted “Christian” belief that is contrary to the Lord’s teachings is to simply pray for direction and then dive in to His teachings. Don’t pick and choose. Have no agendas other than learning His full curriculum. Read the gospels focusing on all of His statements. Get familiar with everything He taught. Do your best to apply it. We are all a work in progress in this area in one sense. In another, however, we must understand that the early members of His initial Community immediately hit the ground running from the very start. They didn’t know everything as individuals but were always open to instruction; they acted on what they knew and continued. Also, the Community as a whole did know pretty much everything and it is why every voice mattered. They believed and practiced the adage, “Nobody is as smart as all of us.” What one didn’t know another did. When one was not operating correctly or speaking fullness of truth another lovingly corrected him. Fellow believers were never censored. It was an organic fellowship of the Spirit. They never waited to become “perfect” disciples in knowing and applying everything the Lord said before doing their Christian duty, though they certainly believed in everything the Lord said. They preached and taught the most foundational and important teachings first and went from there. They put first things first.

The first thing is salvation from sin and establishing trust and faith in the Lord Jesus. This requires a complete change and transformation of one’s life, initially through repentance of sin and walking away from all sinful practices. Ongoing obedience must follow. And because the Lord would never leave us powerless or defenseless against powerful spiritual enemies He commanded we be filled with His Holy Spirit. Those filled with His Spirit in the first century turned the world upside down. Every real Christian has the same influential impact.

Most Christians, however, are not filled with His Holy Spirit as the originals were and are thus not much of a threat to the enemy. This is largely why the enemy has come into America like the proverbial flood. It is why the enemy now controls pretty much everything.

The majority of American Christians insisted on being spiritual wimps, biblically illiterate, and embarrassed by the Lord Jesus.

The enemy has taken full advantage and likely couldn’t believe it would be so easy. And now, after a quarter century, much of American Christianity, compromised by sin and enslaved to mammon, has gone over to the enemy.

THE SPIRIT OF JUDAS

The problem arises from a consistent refusal to do what the originals did and instead substitute their own various forms of “Christianity” which look nothing like the original. The most reprehensible consequence of all the false gospels and False Teachers is their rejection of the Lord Jesus and His teachings and those who truly follow Him. Therefore, long before such disruptive times as these when so much hate and division is being openly presented, real Christians in America have had to deal with such throughout their entire walk. They are used to it. They are quite familiar with betrayal. Such negativity is not necessarily coming from non-Christian Americans, however, most of whom really don’t care all that much what real Christians believe, or even from secular authority which has most often been neutral and even supportive of religious freedom. No, the worst battle has always been with the various forms of what I term “Unreal Christianity.” This is where most of the hate and rejection has consistently come from. This can only mean the devil has an established presence there.

It was no different in the first century. The very worst and most extreme persecution of the Lord’s followers came from among their own. It came from religious leaders and family members. It was brother against brother. Even the Lord’s own family were against Him for a time. Some within the nation saw the Light and received the Lord as the long hoped for Messiah. Others hatefully rejected Him. This dynamic remains in place. Some Jewish people, a relative few, the Messianic Jews, have embraced the Lord Jesus. The rest reject Him, hate Him, and mock Him. It was the relatively small group of unbelieving Messiah-rejecting Israelite/Judean religious and political leaders and those indoctrinated by them that led the effort in murdering the Sacrifice Lamb. They turned against their own blood, against vast numbers of their own nation. Remember, as I have always pointed out, the entire original Community of the Lord Jesus, every single one of the 120 in the Upper Room, and all twelve apostles were also composed only of Israelites/Judeans, including the Apostle Paul. For some of you, such a betrayal might be familiar.

The movement started by the Lord Jesus which later became termed “Christianity” was originally an entirely Israelite/Judean movement for roughly nine years. There were no Gentiles until the time the apostle Peter was sent by the Lord to preach to and preside over the salvation of the Gentile Cornelius and his family/associates (See Acts Chapter 10). Those people all received the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the exact manner of those on the Day of Pentecost. Peter was initially shocked by this. In time, Gentile believers far outnumbered Israelite/Judean believers. Regardless of nationality, the Lord Jesus always consistently did the exact thing on every occasion of a new spiritual outpouring and it is all recorded in the Scriptural history book of the Early Church. Each occasion was an exact repeat of Pentecost.

However, from that time to the present, scads of false or incomplete gospels have been presented and the majority of “Christians” have believed and accepted something very different or incomplete compared to that of the originals. Those Christians who are participating and having a positive effect in the current Great Awakening have one primary thing in common: They are fully dedicated to the Lord Jesus. They have pledged to do His will. They do their best to know and obey His teachings. They identify with the Early Church of the first century. They will not stay in a place where He is not fully supported. They want the full curriculum of the Lord. They want to excel. They have become aware of the difference between the real and unreal. If the Lord directs them to, they will walk away from the faux bros.

COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM

It is why so many have walked away. They are tired of sleepy time Christianity and less than the best Churchianity. They are tired of hanging around the willing sleepers and pew droolers. They want the whole catalogue. They want to be exactly like the originals. THEY WANT EVERYBODY TO WAKE UP. They are tired of all their spiritual efforts pretty much going nowhere because only watered-down common denominator stuff is accepted so the stragglers won’t be offended. (We must never offend; it keeps the money from rolling in.) Things keep getting worse, the people in charge still refuse to change and get right with God, and those who see know the Titanic has struck an iceberg and is going down.

The great Ark of the Lord, however, sails on unimpeded. It’s got this cool Upper Room that keeps going 24 hours a day. There is much joy! The Lord guides His ship expertly and anyone and everyone is welcome aboard, though a few New Covenant papers will have to be signed.

Remember, according to the Gideon Paradigm and the Upper Room 120, all it takes is a comparative few to have great success and rout the enemy. It is not necessarily the big crowds that make the difference but the obedient few separated from the rest and united in heart and Spirit. The Lord proved this with Gideon’s 300. He proved it with the 120.

And He proves it every day when as few as two or three are gathered together in His Name.

Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. [Daniel 12:3] [1]

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Tags: Come Out From Among Them and Be Separate, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Cornelius, Discipleship, Early Church History 101, False Forms of Christianity, Gideon, Lord Jesus, Pentecost, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Early Church, The Great Awakening, The Upper Room, 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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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of the Called-Out Ones, False Forms of Christianity, False Religious Authority, False Shepherds, Hired Hands, Hypocrites, Judas, Judgment, Lord Jesus, Pentecost, Prideful Church Leaders, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Authority, Spiritual Deception, Spiritual Freedom, Spiritual Warfare, The Door of the Sheep, The Good Shepherd, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Tradition of the Pharisees, Trust Your Heart With God, Unreal Christianity

BLOG UPDATE! ANNOUNCING NEW POST

Oct 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Great Awakening continues to gain momentum. And Americans are becoming more aware by the day that we are in the midst of a great spiritual war.

Yet most American Christians appear to be clueless. One can certainly understand. It is hard to keep one’s focus on spiritual things when so much warfare is breaking out all around us. There is no doubt that we are under severe attack. The enemy has made his move and will not relent. He is committed. There are, though, very encouraging signs that many are resisting the devil and fighting back.

I’m sure many Christians wished we could return to simpler times and go back to the routines they once held so dear but, as always, nostalgia has a bad memory. The reality of the present is what we must focus on. The Lord Jesus told us to always be prepared and that the enemy never takes a day off. Sadly, however, American Christianity takes many days off and in general has long since gone off the deep end. It no longer has the strength and sense of purpose it once held. Many of those we honored as leaders led us down the wrong path and we are now paying for their gross errors, their spiritual pride, and their love of money, position, and prestige. There were always Christian voices speaking the truth and pronouncing warnings but as always, such were shunned and cast aside. The high hats didn’t want anyone messing up their good times or compromising their social standing. They acted invincible. And most pew-sitters sat back and let them get away with it.

Christians who knew the Word of God knew it was a battle that each much engage in and some did their best. It is not their fault that the majority rejected their dedication, discipleship, and close relationship with the Lord. Real Christians appeared as idiots who overstated everything and refused to lighten up. Well, the majority got its way and now things in this country have devolved into a massive mess. It never had to happen, but it is what happens when believers become spiritually lazy and rebellious toward the Lord.

GIDEON’S 300

I believe my series on Gideon’s 300, now consisting of six parts, will continue. Since I last posted on September 14, forty days ago, I simply have not been led to post the next segment. Those of you who have been keeping up may recall that my term, the Gideon Paradigm, is one that not only fits perfectly in these times but is necessary as well, since the majority has been immobilized and compromised, and is not qualified to be used of God in the present spiritual warfare. That leaves the battle up to a few.

These times, of course, have not surprised the Lord Jesus. He obviously knew where we were headed years ago and has already prepared His spiritual army. Like Gideon, and like the nature of spiritual warfare, the Lord will often work through those rejected by the thoroughbreds. Those who appear ultra-qualified are most often spiritually worthless when real battle breaks out. They’re great in the good times when the enemy is at bay, however, and they know how to appropriate wealth and prestige. Good for them, right?

But these times are a tad different. Many of the qualified upstanding Christians in this country prior to two years ago have now been proven to be bootlicks and cowards. They are now tattooed and branded as the 31,700 who failed the test. That leaves a mere 300, meaning of course a very small percentage of Christians in America who must now do as Gideon’s 300 did.

In the event anyone may want to brush up on the series to gain some insight, encouragement, or strength for the battle at hand, each post is easily accessed in the left hand column.

Also, I have written a new article over the last two days and plan on posting it Monday morning. It is entitled THE GREAT ERROR OF TRUSTING DUPLICITOUS HIRELINGS AND POMPOUS PUPPETS. Please watch for it.

As always, I greatly appreciate your time, attention, and support for my work. Remember, there are MANY things to be encouraged about but the main thing, as always, is that real Christians serve a God who is 100% dedicated to His children. There is nothing better than His will for your life. He has a plan. He will not be denied. He cannot be defeated. He has all power in heaven and on earth. The enemy is deathly afraid of Him. The Lord suffered greatly on our behalf and gave His perfect life to buy back our freedom. Each Christian should know that ALL things are possible with Him. This is especially true in times like these.

The Great Awakening continues! More are waking up each day.

See you Monday morning.

Posted in Current Events

11 Comments

Tags: America, Gideon, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

AND STILL THEY DO NOTHING

Aug 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

For the few who are keeping up, you now have all the evidence required to prove traditional institutional Christianity in America has become largely willingly ineffective in the current spiritual war.

This is the price of compromise, of holding on to cherished notions that what worked yesterday can still work today. It can’t. Yesterday is gone forever. Those who know what real spiritual war is know this is true. Those who have fought valiantly with their entire being know it was the only means to victory but also that victory is not necessarily guaranteed. The days of playing church as a means of overcoming a determined enemy out to destroy them only worked in the minds of the deceived. As always, it was the largely hidden frontline spiritual soldiers keeping things as intact as possible while the majority looked the other way, not comprehending spiritual reality and not willing to be bothered with the Lord’s call to spiritual arms.

Such real believers continue to take the Words of the Lord very seriously. They don’t pick and choose from His curriculum what they will believe and act upon. These are real disciples who understand that His full teachings have never been a mere suggestion or some quaint repository from which to draw to maintain the mere semblance of duty. They give it everything they have as the Lord requires.

Compromised Christians are people who simply don’t get it or won’t. They do not understand or care that, according to the Lord’s teachings, the only way to win spiritual victories is through a 100% commitment. Maintaining the spiritual high ground works only through the same process. The Lord did not teach full commitment as only a last stand gesture to be utilized as a last resort when the enemy comes in like a flood, but as the only means of ongoing victory through its consistent daily application. Why? Because the enemy never takes a day off. Slackers and rebels thus side with the enemy through their inaction and refusal to obey the Lord.

We should now know the majority of Christians were playing church all along because of what has now transpired in America. Whatever they were doing did not prevent it. We should now know it is still doing it even in the face of the current dire circumstances. I have been arguing for decades against the wrongheaded notion of restricting ministry to official church tradition as usual for several reasons, but primarily because it stands as a stubborn opposing force to the actual powerfully effective means the Lord taught and practiced. We currently have insistent traditional Christians still insisting on traditional Christian means even though they are no longer practicing traditional Christian means because they have been ordered to cease practicing their traditional Christian means by their traditional Christian leaders who have succumbed to secular mini-tyrants.

Remember, in times of peace and prosperity many never notice or care about real Christianity. But when peace and prosperity goes south in part due to Christians not honoring their commitment to the Lord they start paying more attention. A few get the message. A few get the big idea. A few repent. A few rededicate themselves to God. A few rise to the occasion. A few stand up for the Lord Jesus. Those who do make all the difference. Remember Gideon’s 300.

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” [Matthew 12:30][1]

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: America, American Churches, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Maturity, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

CHRISTIANITY IN CRISIS 2020: THE CANCEL CULTURE IS COMING FOR YOU

Jun 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

THEY SHOWED US HOW IT’S DONE

.

A crisis always reveals concealed reality…

An attack reveals one’s preparedness or lack thereof…

The great emerging attack upon Christianity in America proves Christians in general are still blissfully unaware of it.

CANCELLING CHRISTIANITY

If you read my first book, which this site is named after, you would have been aware of this trend and prepared for the present. Those following this blog over the last nine years would be largely up to date on current happenings and would not be surprised at how ruthless things have gotten most recently because they would have known it was coming.

My book was so far ahead of its time the majority of the small percentage of Christians made aware of it in the beginning rejected it almost immediately. This caused most Christians to have never heard of it. I did my best at the time to remedy this. I fought long and hard. There was an incredible amount of spiritual warfare going on, praying, and fasting. I did my best under the circumstances to publicize it but the fight was such that the Christian Pharisees won. This made it difficult and essentially impossible for all those Christians who needed the message to receive it.

One must understand that Christians must reach out for assistance regarding the elements they need which they don’t possess in order to do the will of God. He created a Community of which each member is only a part. But when one happens to be someone raised up by God for the purposes of Christian reform, then one must be careful who he deals with, because reform is anathema to those in control or those who kowtow to those in control. In other words, if everything is perfect the way it is, why are you trying to change it for the better?

LURKING JUDAS

Ordinarily, Christians often never consider that some Christians may be something different than what they project. We can be naïve based on taking positive aspects of the Lord’s teachings to heart without considering other aspects of His teachings which tell us to be careful with whom we associate.

As new Christians, freshly born again, we love everybody. We especially love those fellow believers close to us. In our great and wonderful joy we are absolutely unaware of lurking Judas. It never enters our minds that another believer might be someone out to get you. And for those of you who may think I just drifted off into la-la land, you might want to read up on all the times the Lord Jesus reiterated this very fact. If one doesn’t believe He faced incredible opposition then one obviously does not know the Word or the nature of spiritual reality.

By the way, on the morning of November 22, 1963 in Fort Worth, Texas, while about to walk out into the open before a large crowd under gray drizzling skies, President John F. Kennedy had this very much on his mind. Only a short time before, among the many preparations of that day in his hotel suite, he had already broached the subject of assassination. He had told aides of the ease of which someone could do the dirty deed if so inclined, if someone truly wanted to “get you.”

All that morning, based on the inclement weather, the Secret Service agents were yet to decide on whether the limousine bubble top would need to be installed. For purely political reasons, and it was obviously a political trip to several Texas cities to shore up Democrat support for the 1964 election, it would be best to have an open convertible. It would be best for the electorate to see the relatively young and vibrant President and the attractive First Lady. When the time came to leave the hotel for the airport in Fort Worth, from which they would make the short flight to Dallas, a strange phenomenon following this president’s official trips happened yet again. The rain had largely stopped and skies began clearing. The decision was made to have an open car and leave the top behind. It was a risk John F. Kennedy was not only willing to take but felt he must take.

HE STEADFASTLY SET HIS FACE TO GO TO JERUSALEM

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. [Luke 18:31-34][1]

Every single thing the Lord would have to suffer was typed into His Master Plan before He ever created the heavens and earth. He would create free will human beings in the likeness of God. The majority of these would use their free will to grossly violate God’s commandments and holiness and would be lost. A relatively small minority, however, would be made up of individuals who would instead choose to honor God and strive for righteousness and truth. This latter Remnant of humanity was, in God’s considerable estimation, absolutely worth dying for. They were worth the price of redemption.

One of the common denominators of the Remnant is possessing a never-say-die attitude. Regardless of personal stumbles, learning curves, bad circumstances, spiritual attacks, rejection, and even bodily persecution, its members are determined to never quit the path. They signed up for the long haul. They love the Lord Jesus with all their heart. They too set their face as a flint to do the will of God come hell or high water. They all essentially die for Him as He did for them. This is the spiritual dynamic. This is what God created before the beginning of creation. He determined to have a free will people who love Him for who He is and love each other likewise. The only way to allow for this to happen is recorded in the annals of mankind.

Keep this is mind when they tell you once again you must close your churches on false pretenses. Ponder it when they demand that you surrender to the culture and obey immoral anti-Christian regulations and strictures. Think about it when they insist that you not only believe in false agenda-based narratives but make them the very fabric of your lives.

Consider it when the current cancel culture comes calling for the eradication of real Christianity.

Posted in Current Events

6 Comments

Tags: American Culture, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Judas, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Sacrifice Lamb

THE DAY OF PENTECOST 2020

May 30

Posted by RJ Dawson

blog pic 1.4.19

The actual Day of Pentecost, according to celestial rendering, was yesterday May 29. This is a very important date in our current timeline and relates directly to the Great Awakening.

THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS

For those of you who have been following my site, a little news is in order. Due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to access the net for over three days early this week. My last article was posted a week ago Saturday. It was Lesson 22 from my latest series Early Church History 101.

My intention was to write two or three more Lessons to finish Acts Chapter 2 by this past Thursday and then post an article about the Pentecost anniversary yesterday. However, it may be a couple of weeks before I can get back to writing and posting the next Lesson. I ask for your patience and your prayers.

I want to thank those of you who are still following the series. I hope you are learning new facts from that time. It is imperative that Christians become much better informed about the Christian happenings of the first century in order to better prepare for what the Lord is doing and planning now. Official church policy in America has most often supported a complete rejection of the events of Pentecost and the actual truths of Acts for greatly watered-down renderings thereof. The main reason for this is that their substitutes can be authored and controlled by them.

Christians should know, however, that they cannot control God. They should not attempt to control God. What they should do is submit to God. I can guarantee you that if these people who comprise a majority would actually obey God, Pentecost would be breaking out everywhere. Churches all over the country would be transformed into Upper Rooms. But this is not happening. For the most part it never has. That’s because the Lord Jesus is not in control in these places. Those who are in control refuse His full authority. They don’t want Pentecost.

PAY ATTENTION

Nevertheless, something spiritually profound started yesterday. As I have said all along, there are two types of Christians in America at present: (1) Those who WANT the Great Awakening and will do anything within the will of God to do their part in bringing it forth, and (2) Those who insist on having the same old same old.

This is why there is Civil War in American Christianity and why it has been building to a crescendo. The Lord needed time to prepare His people for these times. The enemy is not only composed of non-believers who refuse to support the Lord and actively fight Him with their own agendas, but also Christians who do the same. Though many of these Christians are deceived and unaware, and thus just as quick to reject and denigrate the new move of God, many are being led by fake leaders who are not getting their marching orders from the Lord.

Real Christians know whatever they attempt for the Lord will be opposed. But it’s a sad thing when they are opposed by fellow believers. This must stop. Real believers know that whenever the Lord Jesus is given full authority, that is, when we fully submit to Him, obey Him, and invite His rule, Pentecost happens. Some of you reading this know exactly what I am talking about. You have been in the presence of God. You have had your initial Upper Room experience and many more since. For those of you who are yet to experience such and sincerely want to, it always begins with your personal prayer time.

Our current times have become flat out nuts. Incredibly weird things are happening. But also, truth is coming forth. Millions are becoming aware. A spiritual outpouring is in process and will not stop. The evil and strange things you have seen before you over the last several weeks are generally a reaction toward the new move of God and the various attempts to stop it. For those with eyes to see it is apparent that the perpetrators will stop at nothing.

But neither will the Lord.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Acts of the Apostles, America, Deception, Discipleship, Early Church History 101, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Day of Pentecost, The Great Awakening, The Signs Of The Times

HAPPY NINTH BIRTHDAY REAL CHRISTIANITY

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

Thank you all for following. Thanks especially to my longtime faithful readers over the years. Thanks first and foremost to the Lord Jesus, of course, the One who paid for our salvation and grants His life and blessings, and makes all things new.

Real Christianity the website was created on May 10, 2011. I named it after my first book. I have since posted roughly 600 in-depth teaching articles. These articles have come forth regardless of circumstances, though some were much more challenging than others. Wherever I was and whatever I was engaged in at the time, I continued to write.

The Lord provides. Always. Sometimes there is a fruitful field and other times a desert. I would like to relay to you one particular story from many years ago:

THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN

A big financial need, all very positive, would be required a mere six weeks in the future. I was working very hard and things were generally on track. Then suddenly, with no warning, the contractor I was doing business with and lining up jobs informed me he ran out of work. This put an entirely new perspective on the situation. I realized I would not only come up financially short for the upcoming expense, but that I also had to quickly start finding work to replace what I just lost. I had been doing carpentry work for a few years but never strictly on my own. That was about to change. I made some calls. Met some people. I started doing what I could. But before any of that, and after engaging in some serious prayer, the first thing I did was follow through on what some might call a really dumb decision. In the midst of a financial crisis I decided to give the Lord what little money I had saved up.

I did this because: (1) My back was against the wall and I would never reach my goal without His direct intervention. (2) I was now on my own and had to find a way to make it work, starting from scratch. (3) My savings would not amount to much in the big picture but was perfect for seed money. (4) I knew if my heart was right and I fulfilled His conditions He would bless me and turn the little I had into much more.

Though I had always tithed I had never done anything this bold. Making sure I followed the Lord’s directives and doing my best to give in secret, I took my savings from the bank and went to my church one afternoon. There was a secretary in the office. No one else was around. The only ones who knew what I did were the Lord, myself, and her. With a great attitude and big smile I gave my savings, in the only way I knew how, directly to the Lord Jesus. I then went about my life.

It was touch and go for the next month and a half. I began placing inexpensive ads in a city circular. The Lord blessed me with some work. Weeks passed. A few days before the big financial need, I was on a construction jobsite one summer afternoon working on an old historic house. I got a phone call. The foreman happened to have had a phone line installed, which was a rare thing. This was long before cell phones. I think I was upstairs at the time but I’ll never forget that black rotary. The call I received was in reference to work. I jotted down the number and called a man I had never met. He said he had some work and that I came highly recommended. But it was more than that. It would be steady work and at a good rate.

This was great news. I started a day or two later. A week’s amount of work turned into two. They kept coming up with new projects. The work kept multiplying. It was like bread and fish déjà vu all over again. Long story short, it turned into six years of work at that single high tech industrial location and accounted for half of my total income in that time. The money I had cheerfully given to the Lord was essentially all I had. It was truly seed compared to what I ended up receiving. I also became a fulltime contractor and was always busy. The glory goes to the Lord.

MY LATEST POSTS REGARDING THE PLANDEMIC

Over two months ago, On March 7, 2020, I began a 4-Part series entitled Pharisee Control Tactics: the Spirit of Fear (1) (2) (3) (4). This was a lead-in series regarding the plandemic, revealing the massive fear tactics involved by illustrating such tactics used in the past, especially within Christianity. After that I immediately began writing additional posts regarding the unprecedented times at hand. This site was on the cutting edge of revealing the truth of this massive diversion and subversive attack on America. It began with the following aptly named post and six more afterwards which not only exposed spiritual reality but gave positive practical advice to real Christians. You may want to check these out:

March 16, 2020: PANICKED OVER A TRICK PANDEMIC

Whatever this actually is—a real pandemic, yet another disease scare, a hoax, a biowarfare attack, or a government response test, the REAL pandemic remains unacknowledged.

March 18, 2020: THIS IS YOUR TIME: GREENER PASTURES ARE CALLING

The Lord needs you to step up. It is time to make a move into greater spiritual maturity and quit being overly dependent on the Christian means and methods of yesterday.

March 22, 2020: THE CURRENT SHUTDOWN: AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISCOVER AND PRACTICE ORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY

They had no church buildings. They had no New Testament. They had no professional clergy. And still, they turned the world upside down.

March 25, 2020: CHRISTIANS IN LEAGUE WITH THE ENEMY: THE TRAITOR WITHIN

There is no effective difference between those in powerful positions on the world stage engaging in mass subterfuge who actively oppose the Lord Jesus, and deceived Christians who support them unequivocally without knowing it.

March 31, 2020: THE CONTROL TEST: PROVING THE MAJORITY COMPLIANT

None of this would be happening without a predetermined confirmation that the controlled have reached a majority and will readily comply with every directive from upper management.

April 19, 2020: APRIL 19, 1775: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BEGINS

The Americans of that greatest generation stood for liberty at all costs and created a country. These times illustrate how far America has fallen.

May 4, 2020: SUBMITTING TO HELLBOUND AUTHORITARIANS

Christians taking life-changing advice from people on their way to hell is not a good business model.

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101

In addition to these and other posts I also began a commentary on The Book of Acts in lesson format entitled Early Church History 101. It began with an INTRODUCTION on March 29 and has continued regularly since with 18 lessons. LESSON 18 was posted on Thursday, May 7. We are currently close to completing Acts Chapter 2.

For those of you who would like to review the series, maybe read some Lessons you missed, or even start from the beginning, the posts are relatively short, only one page or so, except for a few. I have made it easy by putting embedded links for all Lessons at the top of each post. There are also many excellent comments to browse. My desire is to reveal the actual history of the early first-century Community of the Lord, which stands as a perfect foundational prototype for the Church Age and draws clear distinctions between their witness and so many half-lit and fake churches since and especially of the present. If you want to know why official American Christianity is in dire straits and failing against the culture, it is because we have strayed far from our moorings.

THE GREAT AWAKENING CONTINUES

I want to encourage all of you that the Lord Jesus remains very much in charge. He possesses ALL authority in heaven and earth. He can work through you to better promote His Kingdom depending on your discipleship level and willingness to be a faithful servant. As we strengthen our individual walk with Him, He is strengthened overall. Regardless of the incessant fear tactics employed at present, do not fear. Obey His directives regarding your needs. Put your full confidence and trust in Him. He will always make a way. Make the commitment to being a better and more mature disciple to supply His needs.

And now, Year Ten begins. I hope to continue seeing you along the way.

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Called Chosen and Faithful, Discipleship, Fight the Good Fight of Faith, Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Trust Your Heart With God

THE HEBREW MONTH OF NISAN 2020: ATONEMENT AND RESURRECTION (Part 4)

Apr 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

BlogPic4820

I originally began studying the Hebrew calendar with reference to Biblical events many years ago and have written several papers and studies concerning them. The following post begins the republishing of a series of posts I first made in 2012 and then again in 2014. I have done some major updating and also installed the correct dates for this year. Though the spring feasts have been fulfilled, it does not mean these dates do not have current significance. I encourage you to continue studying God’s calendar on your own, and see how this time of year might be applied to a new beginning in your own life.

THE MONTH OF NISAN

Nisan 14 / April 8, 2020 (Began at sunset on April 7):

Four days after crossing the Jordan River, and exactly forty years after the first Passover in Egypt, the nation of Israel celebrated its first Passover in their new land:

While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. [Joshua 5:10]

They had received this teaching from Moses:

“Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.” [Exodus 12:5-6]

Also on this date, the Lord Jesus became our Sacrifice Lamb:

So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” [John 19:16-19]

We know that the Lord Jesus died on the cross at some point after the ninth hour—about 3:30PM. [1] The time was according to the Hebrew manner of reckoning the hours in the day, which began at sunrise. On that particular day, there were actually about 12.5 hours between sunrise and sunset, and sunrise took place sometime between 6:00 and 6:30AM. However, the Gospel accounts do not say the Lord died at exactly the ninth hour, because other events took place after the ninth hour and before His death. It is safe to say He died somewhere between just after the ninth hour and with enough time remaining to bury His body before sunset.

Also, this particular Nisan 14 was a Thursday, not a Friday. It was the fifth day of the week. Five is the Biblical number of Grace. The Lord did not die on a Friday. He died on a Thursday.

On the equivalent of that Wednesday evening, the Lord and His disciples ate the Passover meal. He then suffered the trauma of Gethsemane. After being up all night, shuttled around to various false trials, and beaten severely, our Lord Jesus had been stripped of His clothes and nailed to the cross at the exact time of the Temple morning sacrifice, which was at the third hour of the day. This was somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30AM.

Over six hours of excruciating pain and suffering later, the Lord died. His body continued hanging on the cross until it was taken down at the request of Joseph of Arimathea, by the light of a full moon just then rising over the Mount of Olives. [2]

If the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, it possibly meant the sacrificial lambs were slaughtered a day before the Sacrifice Lamb. There remains ample conjecture concerning Passover dates because Jewish sects, such as the Essenes, honored different dates. Yet the Lord must have partaken of the Passover since it was commanded in the Torah, and it was during which He instituted the New Covenant by introducing His broken body and shed blood as a memorial.

Could it be that the Lord’s death was progressive? It certainly appears that the “death angel” passed over the Garden of Gethsemane the night the Lord made His final surrender. At some point that night the sins of the world were placed upon Him. This was a legitimate form of death. There was no protection for the Sacrifice Lamb. It would have cancelled out His purpose. Once sin was placed upon Him, the spotless Lamb became sin on our behalf. [3] He continued “dying” until the next late afternoon when He breathed His last, when full payment was made, and when all was finished.

The original Passover in Egypt took place in the middle of the night, when the death angel “Passed Over” each house while looking for the shed blood of lambs upon the door posts and lintels of the dwellings. Whichever family’s house did not display the blood of a perfect lamb suffered the loss of its firstborn son.

Those families whose houses displayed the blood were representative of having the blood of Jesus displayed on their hearts as a substitute sacrificial firstborn Son, who died in place of their actual firstborns, and thus suffered no loss.

Nisan 15 / April 9, 2020 (Begins at sunset on April 8):

After crossing the Jordan, the nation of Israel ate the produce of the Promised Land for the very first time:

On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. [Joshua 5:11]

This was the first day of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pesach 1, a day of holy assembly, which concluded with Pesach 7, another high holy day on Nisan 21. [4] It was the day after the Lord was slain, the sixth day of the week, and equivalent to our Friday.

Nisan 16 / April 10, 2020 (Begins at sunset on April 9):

It was on this day that the manna which God provided for forty years during the wilderness wanderings ceased. From that point forward, Israel would only eat the food of their new land.

The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year. [Joshua 5:12]

This was a Sabbath day. Manna never fell on a Sabbath, but a double portion always fell on the day before—the sixth day of the week (Friday morning). Therefore, there was still manna left over from Friday to eat on this day, but it never fell again. In the week of the Lord’s passion and death, this day was also the seventh day weekly Sabbath, which always fell on a Saturday.

Nisan 17 / April 11, 2020 (Begins at sunset on April 10):

The Captain of the Lord’s host appeared to Joshua:

Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” The captain of the LORD’S host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. [Joshua 5:13-15]

It was also on Nisan 17 that the events of the week culminated in the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Scripture says that the Lord was resurrected on the first day of the week, which would have been equivalent to our Sunday. This means He was actually crucified, as stated previously, on Thursday, Nisan 14. That evening at sunset, after Joseph and the others had taken the Lord’s body off the cross, prepared His body for burial, and encased Him in the tomb, it become Nisan 15. This was not only the high holy day of Pesach 1, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Friday), it was also the day before the weekly Sabbath (Saturday).

Then, after the weekly Sabbath was over and the night had passed, Sunday morning dawned. This was Nisan 17, or the day of First Fruits, which took place after the Passover Sabbath each year. [5] On the agricultural calendar, it was the beginning of the barley harvest, and our Lord Jesus was the First Fruits, the choicest portion. Imagine the scene, then, as all these days and prophetic events played out perfectly, and imagine the shock and delight of Mary Magdalene at the tomb that morning:

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” [John 20:11-16]

He had been physically dead, just as He said He would be, for three days and three nights:

“For just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [Matthew 12:40]

But on that resurrection morning of Nisan 17, also in keeping with another prophecy, a new Temple was raised by the Lord Jesus Himself that will never be destroyed again:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” [John 2:19] [6]

This is the hope that every real Christian has, to be a living stone, part of the Real Temple—the Body of Christ, that the Lord is currently building with Himself as the Chief Cornerstone, and that one day he or she will also be resurrected bodily just as the Lord was, to spend eternity with Him and one another forever!

[1] Matthew 27:45-50, Mark 15:33-37, Luke 23:44-46

[2] Mark 15:42-47

[3] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[4] Exodus 12:18

[5] Leviticus 23:11, 1 Corinthians 15:20-23

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THE HEBREW MONTH OF NISAN 2020: THE TIME OF OUR VISITATION (Part 3)

Apr 5

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES

The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. [Matthew 16:1-4]

The Majority never noticed anything. Messianic hope was alive and thriving but most were looking in the wrong place. The people had been deceived by a bunch of silly interpretations of Biblical prophecy over the previous half century—interpretations with an agenda that had next to nothing to do with actual prophecy—that which was delivered by God’s actual prophets.

Much of the false prophecies of that time had more to do with making money and grabbing authority. It is no different now. The prophecy preachers took over starting in the 1960s and the vast majority of believers believed just about everything they preached and taught, considering the main themes they all had in common. Money started flowing in, especially after they started writing books and going on television. It was a money-making boon, something no one had ever seen before, and many jumped on the bandwagon. The new-found wealth and authority energized these prophecy preachers all the more.

The inevitable range wars began breaking out as many different teachers taught many different things. They had to fight for the market share they gained and it became a joke when they became much more interested in their point of view instead of the truth. They had to keep up the charade, because to change their interpretations of prophecy meant the money flow might stop. They continued to prop up their stuff regardless of new truth based on solid research and much more valid perspectives that most people, as usual, ignored. They ignored it because it didn’t come from what they viewed as an authoritative source, and most Christians then, like most Christians now, are led around by the nose by those they surrendered their authority to, and thus rejected the truth.

These willingly deceived Christians were told to believe what they were taught and to never question anything, as that would be heresy. But according to the Lord, the real heresy is refusing to take on the mantle of a real disciple:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [2Timothy 2:15 KJV]

Real Christians must FOLLOW THE LORD, not the present equivalent of the first century false prophets and fakers. They must do this in order to stay in obedience to Him and stay above deception. Otherwise, “God’s people” become nothing more than useless willing dupes with absolutely no critical thinking skills, no desire to research it all out on their own, and no willingness to rock the boat for the sake of truth.

Again, the exact same thing happened in the early first century and it was why the majority rejected the Lord. It was also why what remained of the Jewish national state was destroyed forever forty years later.

And in our time, as at that time, a point in history arrived when it was too late. Just like in the first century, most Christians of today believe in a very particular sequence of events they firmly believe is actual prophecy, and have no clue they are deceived and deluded. “Official Christianity” in America, that is, the prime movers and shakers that control most Christian wealth, authority, and media (especially television), have adopted what they believe is an orthodox viewpoint of upcoming prophetic events yet are missing it entirely. Because they have supported a false view of Biblical prophetic events, they have brainwashed most believers into believing a false view of Biblical prophetic events.

Real prophecy is certainly coming forth, however, though most Christians are blind to it. The Lord repeatedly warned us of very strong deception. It would be good at this particular point in history to review our beliefs. Perhaps the powerful verses in this post will help us see that which is really happening in “Official Christianity,” and why most within it remain unaware of what is otherwise in plain sight.

Please consider The Signs of the Times.

THE MONTH OF NISAN

Nisan 10 / April 4, 2020 (Began at sunset on April 3):

When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all 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 said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER;’ but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” [Matthew 21:10-13]

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]

And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF?’” [Matthew 21:14-16]

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another,

“Because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. [Luke 19:41-48] [1]

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WAKING THE DEAD: THE DOOR

Mar 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

silhouette photo of person holding door knob

The Door is not a concept. It is not one more Christian ethereal unreality pontificated upon by dead men in the guise of the living. The Door is real. Until one actually enters it, he is asleep to spiritual reality.

CONSTANT TOTAL AMAZEMENT

“My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement.” [1]

This is how Christians should be and would otherwise be if the Lord had His way, but most are asleep and spend their lives sleeping. They even sleep at church. Almost everybody there, in most churches, is asleep. Some are even literally asleep (drool alert).

This is an amazing thing. The greatest Man who ever lived. The greatest story ever told. Reams of historical records of His great exploits and accomplishments. No Man anywhere close to His greatness in the history of the world.

And yet they sleep.

Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory… [Luke 9:32]

And there it is.

DEAD CHRISTIANITY

It is the Lazarus Syndrome. Most of Christianity is dead. It is Lazarus all wrapped up in grave clothes, bound and sleeping in a cold dark tomb. The people who promote this are making a mockery of real Christianity. They are dead Lazarus supporters.

Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” [John 11:21]

“Lord, if You were here our church would not be dead.”

But what is the Lord to do when faithless disobedient dead Christians insist on barring the Door?

And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets;’ and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ [Luke 13:23-27]

The Christian willing dead are evildoers. Those who sponsor and insist upon dead Christianity violate everything the Lord is about. They transform Him into something He never was. This false form of the Lord they created is a perfect example of an absolute violation of the Second Commandment. They have created a god to suit themselves, one which will never convict them of their unashamed sins.

THE DOOR

So Jesus 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 will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me…” [John 10:7-14] [2]

It is impossible to be shown the Door, enter it, find pasture, gain abundant life, and also be spiritually dead. No one sleeps in His presence but will instead be as lively as the day is long and try to tell the whole world about his great fortune. Such people were rescued from a pointless existence in a graveyard. They found the secret of life.

Why then, do most Christians sleep?

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PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (4-Part Series)

Mar 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. [2 Timothy 1:7 KJV]

March 12, 2020: PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (Part 1)

The Lord Jesus came to save His people. But many of His people had already sold out to their religious leaders. They did this in part because they were deathly afraid of them…

March 12, 2020: PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (Part 2)

Regarding the sinning priest problem, some argue that the Catholic Church is not actually as guilty as claimed, in that such episodes are only rare sporadic events. This is simply more window-washing to minimize the charges…

March 13, 2020: PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (Part 3)

It all started in Babylon during the Captivity in roughly 600 BC. It continued to develop over the next four centuries. It came to its full fruition with the emerging Pharisee Party two centuries before the Lord…

March 14, 2020: PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (Part 4)

What I have presented with this four-part series goes beyond surface truth. There is a parable at work here revealing destructive forces. For the few who have ventured thus far, you are ahead of the curve…

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PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (Part 2)

Mar 12

Posted by RJ Dawson

Regarding the sinning priest problem, some argue that the Catholic Church is not actually as guilty as claimed, in that such episodes are only rare sporadic events. This is simply more window-washing to minimize the charges.

It appears that way because it was hidden and much of it remained hidden. Much of it is still hidden. But it’s been going on forever. And for forever they were never caught. They were never caught because it was part of an inner culture. It was part of the deep inner workings separated from public view and oversight. Those who knew were afraid to say anything. Catholics and the general public were never the wiser until victims of abuse began talking. Other victims of abuse had undoubtedly talked in the past but their voices were suppressed. It was not until enough victims of abuse began coming forth that the issue was finally addressed officially. Many Catholics were absolutely shocked. Some spoke out quite forcibly. Most Catholics said very little and would rather the entire issue went away. It was embarrassing.

THE LORD JESUS IS ON RECORD OF KNOWING HOW TO CLEAN HOUSE

But the fact remains that some insiders always knew about it but did nothing about it. They simply covered it up. The cause was never addressed. The house was never cleaned. The corruption was too widespread. It would cause a disruption. They were afraid. When the news was revealed the process began to deal with it and corrective measures were applied. Whether they have worked or are working is a different issue, but the Catholic Church should be commended for the attempt to right a wrong.

Yet, Catholics were taken advantage of and their absolute support with no questions asked was taken for granted. The Catholic clergy knows full well that most Catholics will always remain Catholics no matter what happens. They know this in part because they are well aware of the excellent success rate of their Catholic indoctrination program, which they have been masters at for centuries, and which starts upon the impressionable minds of very young children. So making quick priest transfers to new venues where the people are none the wiser solved two problems at once: The bad guy is gone but still works for us elsewhere.

It is interesting that by comparison, however, you don’t hear as much about the same problem in mainline Protestantism. Could this be due to a possible lowering of standards?

Whatever the case, there is no doubt that everyone knows who wields the power. A minister’s job (and for many that is all it is) and his very life is dependent upon upper management, unless he or she is part of an organization in which church members vote for prospective preachers, in which case he or she is controlled by them instead, because if they can vote you in they can also vote you out. Either way, including in Catholicism, the minister’s salary comes from above and he or she had better play by the rules, which, in essence, means to do what they say. This upper handedness and subtle fear mongering is even extended to the congregation, but rather than career and salary being used to keep one in line, it is the church member’s credibility and reputation. No one wants to be perceived as a deviant or become a social pariah. This is in part why all church and ministry organizations have bylaws. Again, they must protect the enterprise and the enterprise depends on everyone fulfilling their duty.

They create the doctrinal statement they live by, which may extend to book length, and then force all members to toe the mark. If changes to the doctrinal statement happen along the way, including radical changes, it is up to the membership to get in line with the new rules. Some may not like the new rules, however, but are powerless to stop their acceptance. Their only choice is to vote with their feet, though most don’t. The rules and rule changes often descend from on high though some Christian organizations involve a limited vote.

Regarding the selection of church leaders, most churches remain in the dark ages and grant their congregations no voice. These are not democracies. For example, when it comes to selecting a new Catholic pope, the highest ecclesiastical office on the planet, the voting is extremely limited to a small group within the College of Cardinals, which, as of December 2019, consisted of only 223 members. The inner group allowed to vote comprises an even smaller number of cardinals and its members are called the cardinal electors. As of last October there were 128 cardinal electors though there have never been more than 120 during any previous conclave that selected a pope.

These electors are appointed by the pope.

The new pope is almost always a cardinal.

This means that as of October 2019 there are only 129 men in absolute rule over an organization of a billion members worldwide.

The Pope appoints the voters.

The voters choose the Pope.

This is the definition of a top-of-the-pyramid controlling clique.

So again, the hierarchies of Christian organizations, whether Catholic or Protestant or Pentecostal or whatever, know that most of their powerless members will always go along with whatever they pronounce. How is this different from a cult?

It is the very antithesis of the Lord’s real Community in which every single member is an equal, the only difference being spiritual maturity level.

PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (PART 1)

PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (PART 3)

PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (PART 4)

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PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (Part 1)

Mar 12

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus came to save His people. But many of His people had already sold out to their religious leaders. They did this in part because they were deathly afraid of them.

Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. [John 12:42-43]

Christians more concerned about their church social credibility than serving the Lord Jesus express a faithless fearfulness. At the heart of their infidelity is a refusal to fully submit to the Lord and real discipleship. The origin of their fear is usually traced back to the people in charge. They are the ones who make the rules, one of which is submission to their authority. Yet they subject themselves to no effective accountability. The laity, on the other hand, has little or no authority in most churches and thus represents a lower class. The members thereof must submit to the leadership to be in good standing.

This is similar to a two-tiered justice system in which the elite are shielded from liability. If one is a member in good standing of the higher-ups club, one gets away with anything. If not, one is on one’s own and is vulnerable. And if such a one refuses to obey the Lord, one had better suck up to a substitute leadership group for his own protection and livelihood.

NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATIONS

In this regard, we often see the professional clergy, the upper class ruling over the lower class, projecting the same status. They create a ruling clique and defend it. They institute complex initiation inclusion protocols. They authorize unifying doctrinal statements. They stick together. They never deviate from the script. They go to bat for one another, which is one of the highly desired perks of the profession. This results in career advancement and security. They also protect one another from justice when that need is required. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Roman Catholic hierarchy protecting sinful priests, Protestant officials of most stripes doing the same for their respective ministers who stray into the same sins or others, or the bigwigs in Christian television who never reveal the underhanded goings on in that field of ministry. It’s a shame too, because many Catholic priests, Protestant ministers, and Christian television personalities do not engage in such secret sins.

But the sin just as big is refusing to reveal what would otherwise be the bigger sins. And those who engage in this practice do it for one reason only: Fear. They must protect themselves. They must protect the brand. They must protect the reputation of the enterprise. They must also protect the cash flow. I remember watching Christian television probably a couple decades back and there it was, once again, like so many times before. A Christian television personality caught in serious sin was right back on the air doing his thing. He had repented of his sin, you see. And he was way too valuable to leave off the air.

Remember, it is often the case that the most successful ministers are the greater money magnets. Rather than serve the living God and operate through the power of His Holy Spirit, they operate through the power of worldly wealth and unregenerate flesh, both of which attract demonic influence.

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (PART 2)

PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (PART 3)

PHARISEE CONTROL TACTICS: THE SPIRIT OF FEAR (PART 4)

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ENTERTAINING ANGELS UNAWARE

Mar 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

BlogPic3920

I remember one time, in my first year or so as a new believer, a bunch of us went downtown early one night to do some street witnessing. These occasions were always fun. You never knew what might happen.

We would break up in a few groups with a plan to get back together in a central area later on. I had done a lot of witnessing in those early days but downtown was always a special time. It was all cold turkey with no set plan, meeting people you never knew. The city was very large but thanks to a thriving tourist trade you didn’t have to watch your every step. It had a small town feel and the downtown area had a long and eventful history. People were generally friendly and laid back. The areas we frequented were well lit and maintained, and not all that crowded.

We walked the streets, handed out tracts, and talked to whoever may listen or wish to carry on a conversation, and attempted to tell them about the Lord. You always had to find the proper balance and recognize open doors. One time, a brother and I were walking up a street and noticed a couple of sailors in uniform stopped at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change. The guy on the right was smoking a cigarette. I approached him and, handing him a tract, said “God wants you to have this.” He looked right at me, got really angry, tossed his cigarette down, and replied, “You can keep your God…” I apparently struck a nerve. This often happens when sharing the Gospel in such a raw manner. One never knows what emotions may come to the surface when innocently touching a past experience or memory. God gets blamed for a lot for things He had nothing to do with.

Later on we all gathered back together at the preplanned meeting area on an active street. Someone might have brought a guitar. We used the term “edified” quite a lot back then. It was a spiritually edifying experience to hang out with your friends who had the Lord in common and enjoyed His work. Everyone was having a great time. We would share stories of the night’s events.

At one point I walked by myself a short ways to a busy corner bus stop. There was a bus parked on the side street with the engine running getting ready to load up. I thought I might try to talk to a few of the people milling around. After just arriving at the spot, I saw in my peripheral vision someone walking toward the bus in my direction. He seemed to appear out of nowhere. As he came into view I turned to face him, hoping to get a word in as he walked up. He was a relatively tall distinguished man dressed well in a light-colored tailored suit. His appearance was different somehow. There was a look about him. I approached, handed him a tract, and told him why I was there. He listened politely, his face never changing expression. Then, in answer to me, he kind of looked off into the distance and said, “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to look into that.” He turned and walked off, getting lost in the crowd. I never saw him again.

Right away, I was struck by what he said because it reminded me of the following verse:

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. [1Peter 1:12]

And this:

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. [Hebrews 13:2 KJV][1]

On those downtown streets years ago, in the midst of a curious occurrence, I believed I had just met my first angel.

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Tags: Angels, Discipleship, Evangelization and Witnessing, Gospel, Lord Jesus, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church

THE END OF THE AGE—IN PROPHECY [Part 3]

Mar 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

Blog Pic 3.3.20

**It is called The Olivet Prophecy. In response to the questions of His disciples about the End of the Age, the Lord Jesus clearly revealed the signs to watch for that some of them would live to see.**

DAYS OF VENGEANCE

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.” [Luke 21:20-22]

A likely majority of Christians have been subjected to false interpretations of Bible prophecy. There is much confusion and misunderstanding. Most believers get lost in all the detail. But in reality, it is not the Word of God that is to blame, especially in regard to the Last Days prophecies made by the Lord Jesus. Many of His teachings have been taken out of context. Many have been misapplied. Thus, it is not His prophetic content or manner of teaching that is causing the lack of comprehension. It is dealing with the inaccurate interpretations that conflict with the truth.

Truth and error do not mix. Error does not add up. The light of truth exposes dark things and reveals inaccuracies. When one is able to identify error, as tares in a wheat field or masquerading goats at a sheep party, and thus eliminate it from the equation, the truth stands out. It comes out of hiding, so to speak. The truth suddenly becomes visible right there in front of us. And we think, it was always there but for some reason I couldn’t see it. We don’t know such truth exists. We are thus blinded by error because we do not perceive it as such. Sometimes we think error is truth.

How can this happen to Christians who otherwise dwell in the light of the Lord? Where does the obfuscation come from? Many Christians spend their lives in states of cognitive dissonance trying to make sense of the competing doctrinal factoids in their heads in an impossible effort at connecting dots and joining contrary puzzle pieces together. We take it for granted that we have the truth on any given subject but rarely or never subject it to the proper testing as the Lord said we must. Much of this arises from whatever Christian cultural arrangement we belong to. The following is an example:

When I wrote my series on Mary Highly Favored this past December, I included her genealogy from the Gospel of Luke. I noted that her father’s name was Eli or Heli, depending on the translation (See Luke 3:23). In talking to someone about this I was taken somewhat to task over it because the person insisted that Mary’s parents were Joachim and Anna.

I said that was only tradition. And the New Testament does not actually mention Mary’s mother.

It did not matter what I said from that point forward because this person would not consider the truth. The scary thing about it was that the truth in the Word of God was rejected and a mere apocryphal traditional error which is strongly ensconced in that Christian denomination was accepted. If this attitude is applied to the entire Word of God such people could be hopelessly indoctrinated against various truths in favor of the erroneous teachings of their denominational beliefs regarding anything the Scriptures teach.

It is the same with Bible prophecy. Once a person has chosen to believe a particular interpretation and puts stock in it the odds of seeing it differently greatly diminish. But becoming convinced of something we believe to be true does not make it so. It is in part why the Lord has blessed us with His Word. There must be a final appeal to authority and that authority is the Lord Jesus and the written record we have of His teachings. His Word must be the final arbiter.

And His Word always dovetails together. The same way it works with Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah, all the prophetic content in the New Testament about the Last Days comes together into a single comprehensible whole. Of course, since we are dealing with several different books of the Bible which were originally not written by their respective authors as chapters in a single publication (though the Lord meant it exactly that way through His inspiration), it is up to us to do the research and also receive His revelation.

THE OLIVET PROPHECY

In this light, therefore, for those who want the truth of the matter, the Lord’s Olivet Prophecy exists in all three synoptic gospels. These accounts are easily accessible, relatively short, and quite clear. What the Lord prophesies is not all that difficult to understand especially in light of later history, which records exactly what happened up to the final conflagration in 70 AD. You can find the Lord’s prophecies of The End of the Age in the following passages:

The Gospel of Matthew: Chapters 24 and Chapter 25

The Gospel of Mark: Chapter 13

The Gospel of Luke: Chapter 21

Keep in mind that there are no New Testament accounts of what eventually happened regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. But there certainly are NT accounts written in the 60s AD immediately prior to that time. There are other accounts also, such as those in Paul’s letters written within one to two decades of the end that also clearly point to it as a fast approaching future of prophetic fulfillment.

The Lord left no one unaware. He warned His disciples of what was coming and also gave the specific time frame. He said it would come to pass in their generation and some of them would live to see it. Why would He otherwise warn them? Why did He tell them the specific signs to look for unless He knew some of them would be there and must know when to head for the hills? They were also responsible for telling their children and relations so they too would be prepared. Also, they must not only prepare at the time of the end but gear up for it over the duration of the final forty years from the Lord’s time until it happened. They would have to persevere.

It was not an easy thing to know your entire nation, capital city, and beloved temple would one day soon cease to exist through a horrendous conflagration in which millions of one’s fellow citizens would perish. This is how they did it:

“By your endurance you will gain your lives.” [Luke 21:19] [1]

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Biblical Prophecy, End Times, Jerusalem, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, Mount of Olives, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Signs Of The Times

THE END OF THE AGE—IN PROPHECY [Part 2]

Mar 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

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The early Christians of the New Testament era believed they were living in the Last Days. They believed the prophetic events thereof were being fulfilled in their generation.

They learned this initially from the Lord, of course. He made it clear in the following passage:

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” [Matthew 24:32-34]

He referred to this generation in many passages. He was consistent in describing it as the most evil generation in the history of national Israel. He also said it was the last one:

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 23:33-36]

THE TIME FRAME OF THE FINAL GENERATION

It began with the birth of the Lord. It lasted approximately 70 years. According to Scripture, an average human lifespan was 70 (Psalm 90:10). An average generation in general terms was 40 years. The Lord began His ministry at 30 years of age. Jerusalem was overrun and the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. The final generation officially began with the Lord’s ministry.

This approximate 40 year period included both the first generation of the Lord’s expanding worldwide spiritual Community and the final generation of collapsing national Israel.

These two overlapped. The principle participants on both sides were descendants of Abraham. At first, Christianity was seen by the world as a Jewish sect. This was because there were no Gentiles in the Lord’s Community for at least about seven years. It was composed strictly of Israelites. One might thus refer to the spiritual battle of that time as family oriented internecine warfare.

The spiritual war broke out first. The unbelieving Jews were the chief persecutors of the early Church. They were essentially the only persecutors until ten years into the time of Nero the Roman emperor. Nero came to power in 54 AD. He replaced Claudius who was emperor from 41-54. The early believers flourished during the time of Claudius who believed all peoples in the empire should be allowed to practice their religion. Things changed somewhat with Nero in the early going, persecution grew steadily worse due to anti-Christian influence in his court, and then went into overdrive in 64 AD when he falsely blamed the Christians for the great fire of Rome that summer. Many believed he was covering up his own crimes and the Christians were easy targets and scapegoats.

Meanwhile, things in Jerusalem grew progressively worse. The Zealot uprising eventually overtook all voices of relative reason. The great revolt began in the summer of 66. Jews were fighting Jews. The instability and increasing infighting centered on Jerusalem grew so great Rome had no choice but to eventually intervene in an effort to keep the peace and stem the outbreak of greater war. It was all beginning to happen at that time just as the Lord had prophesied and as the apostles had taught in the intervening 40 year period. Great numbers of believers had faced ongoing intense persecution from their unbelieving brethren who were bound and determined to use every weapon in their arsenal to stomp out the Christian upstarts who, in their darkened view, were making a mockery of their religion and heritage. Their hate was intense and continued growing exponentially.

DESCRIPTIONS AND JUDGMENT OF THE FINAL GENERATION

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [Matthew 12:38-40]

“The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” [Matthew 12:41]

“The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” [Matthew 12:42]

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came;’ and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” [Matthew 12:43-45][1]

In the approximate 70 year period beginning with the Lord’s birth, a time when all was in relatively good order, the demonic presence within the religious and political controllers began manifesting steadily and eventually increased eightfold, in a violent hate-filled massive counter response to a loving God bringing abundant life to His hurting people.

The chosen chose Him.

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Biblical Prophecy, Christian Persecution, End Times, Jerusalem, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Signs Of The Times

THE END OF THE AGE—IN PROPHECY [Part 1]

Feb 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

The prophet Daniel pointed to it. John the Immerser said it was approaching quickly. The Lord Jesus gave the final warning.

In 70 AD the end came. Jerusalem was decimated. The Second Temple was destroyed. This was exactly as the Lord prophesied forty years before:

“For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” [Luke 19:43-44]

Many still do not recognize that time of visitation. The Lord warned repeatedly that destruction was nigh, that the people must repent and turn back to Him or lose everything. But not only did they not recognize the times, they refused to honor their Messiah who came to save them. Everything would have been different if they did, but it was not to be. They had reached the point of no return. Though their national sin had not yet reached its complete fullness during the Lord’s time, it was almost there. The nation itself was essentially lost but many who were part of the nation heard the Word. They got the big idea. These were ones who comprised the last days Remnant of the Hebrew people who remained true to God. They recognized God when He arrived. They honored their Messiah. They understood the times. They knew it was the final generation.

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” [Mark 13:28-30]

THE ANCIENT PRECEDENT

During the time of Abraham, roughly nineteen centuries before the time of the Lord’s ministry, there was a Canaanite tribe known as the Amorites. These were an iniquitous people. They were direct descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, the son of Noah. God told Abraham (Abram), right after his legendary meeting with Melchizedek, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Salem which would later become Jerusalem, that his descendents would be “strangers in a strange land” but would eventually return after four centuries to this land of promise. In the meantime the Canaanite tribes would become increasingly more evil. The Amorites were especially identified as such:

“Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” [Genesis 15:16]

God was invoking a spiritual principle. Sin is progressive. The Amorites were wicked and would continue growing more depraved over time. There was no check on this process. Degeneration had already begun and nothing would stop it. It was the will of the people. There may be some who escape but the nation itself was doomed. It was only a matter of time until the iniquity of the Amorite was complete.

Centuries later, after the Exodus from Egypt, we discover their fate. As noted in the Book of Numbers, the nation of Israel was traveling back to their date with destiny but the journey came to a standstill, having been blocked by the land of the Amorites. Israel sent messengers and asked Sihon, the Amorite king, for permission to pass through his land. He refused. He later decided to gather his forces, seek out Israel, and go on the attack.

Then Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was Jazer. [Numbers 21:24]

This was the end of the Amorite kingdom. Yet, the influence of the Amorites remained. Regarding their destruction and the later final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, there is the undying voice of the prophet speaking forth a connection and a clue:

“Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem, “Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.”’ [Ezekiel 16:2-3]

THE END OF THE ISRAELITE KINGDOM

Of course, the Israelites had no official kingdom since the destruction of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, in 586 BC when the Judaic line of kings ceased. They were ruled over by others after their return from Babylon—Persians, Greeks, and Romans—with a brief time of independence under the Maccabees. The Northern Kingdom of Israel, comprised of ten of the twelve tribes, had ceased to exist 750 years before the time of the Lord. What was left of the nation was the Roman province of Judaea which had already been absorbed into the larger province of Syria. It was a far cry from what had once been. Looking at it from an overall historical perspective, Israel had been degenerating ever since the death of King David in 970 BC. If you want to know why, read the Old Testament. It’s all there: An ongoing succession of rebelliousness and disobedience toward God, the very One who saved them from certain destruction through miraculous means and then ongoing saving and assisting after countless screw-ups and betrayals.

But again, during all this there remained a holy Remnant dedicated to the Lord that remained true to Him and faithful. God was never left without a witness. The genealogical line of the Lord Jesus always remained intact. The ongoing experiment of having a people for His own namesake in a world of evil, treacherous nations that hated Him must prevail. There were times when the percentage of good was almost tapped out. The prophet Elijah pretty much thought it was all over in his time until hearing from the Lord that it wasn’t quite as bad as he thought (though still exceptionally sordid), in that a relatively decent-sized Remant remained:

And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way… I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.” [1Kings 19:13-15, 18][1]

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Biblical Prophecy, End Times, Jerusalem, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Real Temple, The Signs Of The Times

IMPRECISE PROPHETS AND ILL-DEFINED PROPHECIES: WHAT ABOUT THE NEW COVENANT MODEL?

Feb 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

They rarely get specific. Their forecasts are open-ended. An uttered word here or there or a noteworthy phrase may qualify as fulfillment and might be used for that purpose. Sound familiar?

MAKING THE GRADE

Have you ever wondered why certain prophetic ministers have such high credibility ratings regardless of dubious track records? One may think it’s because they are right often enough or were right when it mattered, in that they made an impact at a key time or key event. One may think it’s a matter of perception, in that they have the mere appearance of being right. Or it could be that they reported the future before it happened but something intervened afterwards and changed the outcome. Sometimes some of these ministers actually do get it right but not without explanations of how and why or why certain words and phrases actually denoted this or that. “See? Don’t you understand?” But when perusing the “prophecy” again one notices that some of the things claimed as prophecy were quite a stretch. Oh, so THAT’S what you meant. Okay…

The main reason these ministers are accepted as such and honored appropriately is largely for the same reason most ministers gain credibility: (1) They have managed to successfully establish a brand in that they have convinced enough people that they are what they say they are and also have the backing of other ministers or ministerial groups to enforce that supposition. (2) They are perceived as perfectly genuine due to the outer trappings of “legitimate ministry” such as utilizing a church building or “ministry center” from which they minister, belonging to a certified minister group, preacher union, or denominational hierarchy, and also have an ongoing ministry income (oftentimes quite large) which supposedly proves God’s blessing and endorsement. (3) Few people ever bother to grade their pronouncements or keep track of them to see if what they said actually came to pass.

Regardless, once a prophetic minister establishes perceived credibility, it’s just a matter of staying in the public eye and continue doing whatever one may be doing and put forth as good an appearance as possible. The followers they capture become convinced such ministers are for real but most often for other reasons. They may like their outward appearance and “ministerial manner” but fail to recognize the impact of the surface level of such. They may notice an upscale wardrobe but have no idea how much money and work went into it. They like what appears to be a genial quality but do not understand that some of it is a mere put-on utilized for the sake of connecting with an audience. Remember, image is everything. And besides, how can so many followers be wrong?

HOW TO TELL THE REAL FROM THE UNREAL

Though it has been overly used and has lost much of its effectiveness, the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” remains an effective question in sorting out legitimacy because it puts the spotlight on Him where it should be. It forces a comparison between His manner of doing things and those of Christian ministers who claim to be sent by Him. Are they teaching what the Lord Jesus taught? Are they doing what He did? Do their prophecies actually dovetail with the Word of God? Since most people who identify as Christians have never read the New Testament (much less studied it), it will be difficult to apply the preceding questions. This means they have no frame of reference when attempting to discover legitimacy. Due to their ignorance they are easily fooled. Due to personal pride they hate being told they lack the means for making correct identifications or properly differentiating the real from the counterfeit.

But know this: Those ministers who depend on outward adornments to prove legitimacy are deceptive. Some use fairly innocuous means that go beyond simply being well-groomed, which, concerning the latter, everyone should engage in or strive for within one’s means. But as ministers they must appear as somehow better, you see? Other ministers go beyond this, however, and dress themselves up in clergy clothing to the degree that everyone knows they are clergy. They must have the whole lot because their lack of spiritual credentials is such that looking the part must override actually doing the part. They are much better at appearing to function spiritually than actually functioning spiritually. And then, beyond these people, you have those ultra-clergyites who wrap themselves up in the most ostentatious and ridiculous sheep’s clothing imaginable. They transition from clergy clothing to a clergy costume. They traipse around like the religious actors they are, largely letting their masquerading outfits and all-encompassing symbology do the talking for them. (What Would Jesus Do?) Well, for starters, He wouldn’t dress like THAT.

We can see then, that the more one puts on the act, the more one has something to hide. The more one tries to convince others of one’s legitimacy, the more one is most likely illegitimate.

Regarding actual New Covenant ministerial credentials, here’s what the apostle Paul wrote:

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. [1Corinthians 2:1-5] [1]

Returning to our subject then, do prophetic ministers ever admit it when they’re wrong? Do they ever admit that the overall context of their messages, often filled with unspecific renderings or assertions which could be applied somewhat universally, actually proves they don’t really get it very clear very often, or that “what they see” is largely inapplicable regarding meaningful particulars? Are their messages so open-ended that timing does not apply?

As I wrote in a previous post, the entire overall “last days” prophecy theme of the 1960s and 70s prophecy teachers and book authors was WRONG. See if you can find a record of any single one of them ever admitting it. Some of them continued with the same spiel beyond that time and even into the present, but have been forced to change major aspects of their content because what they had originally prophesied failed and could never happen. They had to keep making a living, you see. They had to keep donations coming in and sell books. They had to keep up appearances. For that they needed their fake exterior and faux content. And by the way, where are the real prophets exposing the fake ones? What happened to them?

THEY WERE REAL BECAUSE THEY WERE RIGHT

Again, the Lord Jesus is our perfect example. Most Christians do not understand that He was also a prophet. He was and remains the greatest Prophet. Read His prophecies and see what happened later on. You can also look to John the Immerser. He was also a great prophet. He told it exactly as he was shown and got it perfectly correct. There were also prophets in the early Community of the Lord throughout the New Testament period.

For example, there was a prophet named Agabus who is mentioned twice in the Book of Acts. The historical record states that he made two brief, direct, and unambiguous prophecies on separate occasions about specific future events, both of which came to pass just as he said:

Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. [Acts 11:27-28]

As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” [Acts 21:10-11]

Beyond these, there were the powerfully anointed OT prophets whose dedication and accuracy was legendary. You will notice by their lifestyle and outward appearance that they were all essentially the same. They had to make it on their own. They could not get by through simply gaining the endorsement of a ministry school or preacher group, or possessing a denominational stamp of approval. The enemy was a constant threat and often included their own rulers and fellow citizens. To the world at large their name was mud. They suffered. They did without. They were REJECTED and often hated. The Word of God burned within their hearts and they had to prophesy no matter the cost. They never gave up or gave in.

And rather than cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance, the real prophets would have otherwise required actual surgery to repair their appearance. Thus, it was never carefully crafted outer images or ill-defined prophecies that exemplified their authenticity.

It was battle scars and truth.

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Tags: Biblical Prophecy, Book of Acts, Christian Persecution, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: HIDDEN PROPHECY AND THE SIGN OF JONAH

Feb 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

Blog Pic 012918

Dear Readers: Due to several cataclysmic events of “Biblical Proportions” taking place throughout the world at present, and the UK’s recent Brexit from the EU, many Christians are of a mind that we are in the last of the “last days.” The evidence is unconvincing, however, and by itself is nothing more than an oft-repeated narrative.

For those of you who are old enough to have been taken in by the false pronouncements of so many prophecy teachers back in the 1970s and 80s, the following article I wrote two years ago will clear up a few things and expose the overall sham for what it was. Those people were relentless in their incessant insistence that the Rapture and the Great Tribulation and the End of the World were just around the corner and essentially imminent. They were wrong.

But not just wrong. They were absolutely positively wrong and ended up with egg all over their faces and leisure suits. Yet they learned to wear the egg very well. This is what happens when you become convinced of a false narrative or buy into it with much cash and careers and your entire reputation rests upon it. It works great for a while as long as there are enough willing dupes but then crashes and burns spectacularly in the end.

Whoever continues to push this false narrative upon yet another unsuspecting generation truly does not have a correct grasp of actual New Testament prophetic content. It is up to every believer in the Lord Jesus to do as He taught, therefore, and:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. [2Timothy 2:15]

I highly encourage you to read the following article. It contains historic content regarding the founding of the original European Common Market and how it was utilized by prophecy teachers. Also, please read the comments. You will be blessed and likely enlightened. Some of you contributed, as did my friend Richard in the UK who also reblogged it. Anyone interested in Biblical prophecy or the current prophetic movement should add this post to their understanding of the present. They will gain greater insight toward the truth and a better understanding of both disinformation and incorrect interpretations so that what happened in the past may at last be seen for the trickery it was.

Remember, the Lord Jesus said deception would be so thick even the very elect would be fooled without His direct intervention.

Blessings to you. Here’s the link:

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: HIDDEN PROPHECY AND THE SIGN OF JONAH

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Tags: Biblical Prophecy, Deception, False Prophecy, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Truth, Unreal Christianity

2019 REAL CHRISTIANITY ANNUAL REVIEW AND SUMMARY: ALL POSTS

Dec 30

Posted by RJ Dawson

Blog Pic 12.29.19

2019 was a year of warning. The enemy, brimming with confidence, showed his hand. I did my best to keep you posted. As we head into the future, your life as a Christian will be more challenging.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

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.

Regarding trends, 2019 was the year when the attacks on the First Amendment went into overdrive. There are anti-American forces in America that will do anything they can, legal or not, to eliminate Constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. For example, there are presently very powerful and extremely well-funded forces making their greatest push yet to declare the New Testament “hate speech” with the purpose of eventually eliminating it. While this may sound impossible or even ridiculous to you at present, the people who perpetrate it are relentless and have been going at it for a long time. If you’ve never heard of this movement, like everything else, I suggest you immediately do your own research. You will be shocked. This is only one of many efforts attacking fundamental rights and the liberty to obey the Lord Jesus without concern of reprisal.

Real Christianity is under attack like never before. Christian persecution is rapidly advancing in the world and is now manifesting very powerfully in America. Most ministers and churches never talk about this. It proves they are either ignorant and unaware or remain a big part of the problem. The Lord does not appreciate Judases, money-firsters, and those who water down His powerful Word for social acceptance, and American Christianity is saturated with these at present. Believe me, it will only get worse.

2020 will mark a time when you as a Christian will have to make hard choices on whether or not you will continue following the Lord and honor Him first or kowtow to the culture, including unreal Christianity. Great temptation to back off and to compromise is coming. While this temptation has always existed and is why most of what is referred to as Christianity is merely a faux form thereof, the heat is currently being turned up to its highest levels yet. For Christian organizations who have already succumbed to money and the sinful culture, some of which I hope are deceived, their presence will continue to influence others to follow suit.

Do not take this warning lightly. I predicted in my book, Real Christianity, writing almost a quarter century ago, and seeing it before then, that great Christian persecution was coming to America. Those who remember that time also remember that such an idea appeared impossible, but everything I wrote then has been coming to pass. This has happened and continues to happen for one central reason: Many American Christians have betrayed the Lord for a fake “easy’ Christianity. Unreal Christianity has become the default and official form. This adds pressure to real Christians and allows for “Christians” persecuting Christians. It permits an unholy hybrid in which fake monetary Christianity and geopolitical economic interests join forces. Both of these have a common enemy.

WE ARE WINNING

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. [Proverbs 18:10]

So be encouraged. The Lord never leaves His people without the means to stand and continue on. He is always faithful. He always provides. There remains a very powerful spiritual kingdom on the planet where righteousness dwells in which we can have safety and support. We remain in the early part of a coming Great Awakening. It is based on Truth that will bring forth a powerful revelation of the Lord Jesus and His actual teachings along with His Light shining everywhere else. This means lies, misinformation, and disinformation are being exposed for what they are. The lies that hide the truth are being torn away. It will no longer be possible for these to remain hidden and includes exposing the perpetrators, some of which are fake and/or compromised Christian “leaders.”

And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” [Mark 4:21-23] [1]

It is vital that we all grow closer to the Lord than ever before. What follows are links to every post I made in 2019 starting in January. There’s a lot of good writing here to further your Biblical knowledge and current events awareness. Take note of the titles.

Blessings to you.

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, First Amendment, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Freedom, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD

Oct 30

Posted by RJ Dawson

A Christian can determine how much love and respect he has for the Lord Jesus by whether or not he actually believes this statement and is willing to apply it.

And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” [Matthew 19:26]

Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” [Mark 10:27]

But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” [Luke 18:27]

I KNOW GOD LOVES ME ‘CAUSE I’M RICH

Many Jews of the Lord’s time believed prosperity was a sign of God’s approval. The Sadducees were certainly well off. The Pharisees were lovers of money. Accordingly, those without such prosperity, though otherwise hard workers and sincere commandment keepers, were undoubtedly looked upon by more than a few as essentially forsaken or rejected of God. They were seen, even among themselves, as somehow falling short due to some unknown inexpressible inherent weakness. They likely believed that God knew something about them or their character that excluded them from His greater blessings.

This is why the Lord’s disciples were shocked at His teaching regarding the rich:

And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” [Matthew 19:23-25]

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

There is a man referred to in Scripture as “the rich young ruler.” But don’t go searching for this particular collection of terms because you will not find it. It does not exist. The phrase appears nowhere in the New Testament. It is actually a descriptive compilation using separate single words from three different passages in three different gospel accounts which were later conformed into a whole, likely by preachers and Bible expositors.

In the gospel of Matthew, this individual is referred to directly as “someone” and “the young man.” He is referred to by implication as “a rich man.” In the Matthew narrative it says he was one who owned much property. In Mark he is called “a man” and by implication “wealthy” and “a rich man.” Mark also says he was one who owned much property. In Luke the man is referred to as a “ruler” and by implication “wealthy” and “a rich man.” He is also said in the narrative to be extremely rich.

So here we see an overall synopsis of a nameless historical character who unknowingly in his time provided a teaching example for all time. He became the subject of an object lesson that is still used today to present an eternal truth relative to everyone: Will we trade what we consider riches for a walk with the Lord? Will we take the chance? Will we risk everything? Those who do have satisfied themselves, at least to some degree, that all things truly are possible with God. In other words,

They know that whatever they must surrender of this world to make the transformation to spiritual life simply does not matter and they would do it anyway regardless of what their new future may be.

They know what the Lord has done in bringing them into the light and adopting them as His children, and that their life has changed dramatically for the better.

They know as well that the Lord will provide spiritual riches far more valuable than whatever they surrendered.

They also know He will bless them with compensation of a material or monetary nature necessary for sustaining one’s life in this world.

(As an illustration, I will quote George Bailey from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, when he finds out that Clarence the angel has no money: “Ah, well, it comes in pretty handy down here, bub!”)

The English word “ruler” is from the Greek word archon. Generally, this is one who has rule over others in either the religious or civil realms. The members of the Sanhedrin or synagogue officials were referred to as archons, as were civil magistrates and judges. Beyond these there were also men of wealth and influence known by this term. Scripture is not definitive on what kind of ruler the young man was but it appears clear that he had inherited great wealth from his father who must have been a significant individual. Hence, the young archon felt responsible not only for what he possessed and his own reputation but that of his father as well, who had undoubtedly worked very hard to attain his possessions and place in life.

Yet we also know that this “rich young ruler” had spiritual things on his mind. Something had been nagging at him. From his demeanor there was no doubt he respected his father but he also had little or no input into the creation of the wealth he now possessed. He was grateful but he wanted something more. He knew there must be more. He had heard about this new prophet called Jesus and made it a point to address Him when he discovered the Lord was near.

In the narrative we find that the man was raised well in that he knew the Law of Moses and kept it from his youth. Why could he not be satisfied? He was rich, a man of honor, from a good family, and respected the commandments of God. Why would he ever ask the following question: “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). Had he not already fulfilled what the Law required? There is something missing here, and it is indicative of a person who is dutiful and respectful of God, his family tradition, and his culture, but is otherwise empty on the inside. His spirit is crying out for more, for spiritual sustenance, and his heart for something beyond the wealth of material and social benefits.

When I was a young man my friends and I, though not Christians at the time or familiar with Scripture, would discuss such topics as wealth and social structure. We were raised on the lower end of middle class. We were not against wealth necessarily but could certainly see the adverse effect it had on people. In general, people with money appeared arrogant. They saw themselves as better than others. I was on a spiritual quest then and was searching for truth. Consequently, I was not as concerned with giving myself over to the acquisition of wealth and position. We worked. We earned money. But it wasn’t an obsession. I knew there had to be more. We talked about the concept of either owning stuff or stuff owning us.

The Lord understood right away what the problem was. This is what that young man so long ago was going through. In his heart of hearts he wanted to follow the Lord. But with all of his wealth, obligations, and upper class authority over others he knew he could not. The simple solution then, was for him to just get rid of all his stuff, surrender his social status, and quit living for this temporary world. These things were holding him back! They were keeping him from going where he wanted to go and being what he wanted to be.

“One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” [Luke 18:22]

Think about that. Would you rather have the world’s temporary treasure or treasure in heaven? If you lived back then and were given a direct invitation from THE LORD JESUS to come and follow Him and hang out with them and do all the fun stuff they were doing, would you do it? Could anything possibly be better?

But the wealthy young archon could not. He couldn’t do it. And this is the test.

EXCUSES AD INFINITUM

“He would have to give up everything!” And I answer that by saying that everyone who comes to the Lord has to give up everything. And whatever one must surrender is relative to one’s station in life. There is always a great cost because one must give his or her entire heart.

“But what about making up for all one has surrendered or lost!” Well, I say, the Lord makes provision for that. He said as much in the same passages:

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” [Matthew 19:29]

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” [Mark 10:29-30]

And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” [Luke 18:29-30] [1]

If the young man had actually done it, if he had chucked it all in and threw in his lot with the Lord, the Lord would certainly have taken care of him. The cries of his heart would have been answered. Whatever he needed concerning the good things of this world the Lord would have given him. He would be rid of the monetary, family, and social obligations keeping him from a higher call. He would have activated his faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord. This in turn would have opened up a door to an entirely new life previously thought to be something that did not or could not ever exist. He would have entered into the glorious kingdom of heaven on earth. His heart would have been filled to overflowing with pure joy. Most importantly, he would have had a King who loved him.

And he would have seen that all things are indeed possible with God.

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Tags: All Things Are Possible With God, Discipleship, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Money, New Covenant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Great Awakening

UNREAL CHRISTIANITY MAKES THE TRUTH IRRELEVANT

Oct 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

“You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.” [Mark 7:9]

“Your tradition” is any Christian belief or teaching that is not found within the teachings of the Lord Jesus. Some of these should be obvious. The reason they are not is because the Christians espousing and believing such are either Biblically illiterate or have been indoctrinated with a false teaching.

Those who put the Lord Jesus first and are true disciples actually read and study His teachings. They become very familiar with them. They do their best to follow them and obey the Lord. If a Christian refuses to do this or is too lazy to do it, he or she is not a real Christian or at least will not be one for long. If such people remain churchgoers or insist on their particular brand they will end up being deceived the same way the followers of the Pharisees were deceived.

It was the Pharisees and scribes that the Lord was addressing in the preceding Scripture. These people were evil. They showed it by their actions. They absolutely hated the Lord and everything He stood for. They hounded Him constantly and did everything they could to destroy His reputation. They lied about Him always.

Unreal Christianity does exactly the same thing. Its members create a Jesus they feel comfortable with, one that suits them, according to their own limited understanding. This Jesus is not the real Jesus. It is only a figment of their imagination. The proponents of Unreal Christianity refuse to honor His pure teachings because they could never carry out their real reason for existence otherwise. They do not want to follow and serve the Lord Jesus; they want to be followed and served.

That’s why they created a mass laity underclass and keep it subverted to their will. They gain their monetary and social support from this class. They do it through indoctrinating (brainwashing) their followers away from the Lord’s truth and toward their own impure teachings. They use fear, especially the fear of social exclusion. Because they are dealing with spiritually lazy people it is not so difficult to keep them dumbed-down. Some of their followers may be well-versed in their own denominational teachings but that only furthers their Biblical illiteracy.

Why? Because the substitution of impure teachings makes them oblivious of the Lord’s real teachings. Or they are taught that the Lord’s real teachings are actually heresy and steer their followers away from them. There are millions of Christians who have thus been taught to hate the real teachings of the Lord.

Regarding any particular issue, one cannot believe truth and untruth at the same time. Regarding a collection of beliefs, the percentage of false teachings and interpretations one holds is directly proportional to the lack of truth they hold. If one fills one’s brain with untruth there will be little left for truth. Another corollary is thus: The more one accepts that which is not true but only appears that way, the less one has a desire for truth. When people are no longer hungry for truth they will not seek it. Whatever then is left in their head is what they believe and what they believe is false though they think it’s true.

It’s called deception. The Pharisees were masters at deceiving people. So are the Christian Pharisees. They have a different motivation. They put money and social standing above the Lord. They are also excellent liars.

“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 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. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.” [John 8:43-45][1]

THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT AGENDA

Though their followers would be shocked if they could shake themselves from their zombie status and see their leaders and churches for what they actually are, this rarely happens. Not only that, they don’t want it to happen. They often run from the truth. They cover their ears. The truth is far too upsetting. They would have to acknowledge their deception and admit their wrongheadedness. They would have to realign their lives. Such an occurrence is far too much for them to accept. Their pride can’t handle it. They would rather maintain their fake lives, stay socially connected, and keep the money coming in. Thus, actually following the Lord is out of the question. Following Him in some convoluted false manner is preferable. They are not actually following Him or obeying Him but convince themselves that they are. Where’s the proof? How can they deny Him and also obey Him?

The early followers of the Lord Jesus teach us how it is done. What they believed is what we are supposed to believe. What they did is what we are supposed to do.

However, the beliefs and practices of the Lord’s early Community are different from those of pretty much every Christian denomination. It is why one rarely or never sees the results the early Christians had within these compromised organizations. Their rejection of truth makes the truth irrelevant.

As we say in Texas, most are mere drugstore cowboys. They are all hat and no cattle.

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Tags: Christian Denominations, Christian Pharisees, Clergy-Laity Division, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Tradition of the Pharisees

REVEALING THE FATHER’S NAME

Oct 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” [John 5:43-44]

IF HE CALLS HIMSELF A CHRISTIAN AND ENDS UP IN HELL IT’S HIS OWN FAULT

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THE FUTURE IS NOW: FROM PREDICTED CHURCH DECLINE TO THE PREDICTED GREAT AWAKENING

Feb 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

**I began the early research of Real Christianity, The Nature of the Church, in 1992. The Lord told me then what the future would be. That future is now coming to pass.**

Mine was a voice that got it right. The book is a record from the past correctly foreseeing the future. Though soundly rejected at the time, including by the leadership of my own fellowship that I was dutifully supporting per the Lord’s will, the Lord revealed to me why the disintegration of traditional Christianity in America would not only continue but accelerate. If you’re into prophecy and possibly followed the major prophecy teachers of that time who never saw the Great Awakening coming, the following passage from my book may interest you. It was originally drafted almost twenty-five years ago:

“If the ruling clergy class has been mandated by Jesus to be the movers and shakers of His teachings in this country, it has apparently messed up. Whatever guilt they do carry they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge, which makes correction impossible. This is why God is removing them—they refuse to act wholly on His behalf. And if you don’t think this is true, that they’re becoming history, check the stats. Their numbers are dwindling in this country, while the numbers of “nobodies” who simply want to do God’s will are rising dramatically. Will America be saved? No. But when certain people get out of the way and other people mature en masse, hundreds of thousands of hungry souls will find salvation, and America’s greatest great awakening will take place.” [1]

There has been tremendous transformation, much Christian turmoil, and great spiritual warfare over the last quarter century. Many never understood the long term goal or supported it and preferred a dying status quo. This always happens in the early stages of reform and correction. Because there remain many disaffected Christians with dubious resumes and axes to grind, and by which people may judge yours truly, I am listing the following aspects of my overall profile to demonstrate a solid career church attendance and participation record, not to crow about accomplishments but to illustrate my dedication and faithfulness to the Lord. I spent many years as a dutiful church-going Christian attending untold numbers of church services and related assemblies. I bought into the program. I honored authority. I gave it my best. You might say I paid my dues. At one time or another I participated in pretty much every church-related and non-church related volunteer (non-paying) ministry task there was, including the following:

Extensive street witnessing
Wide-ranging personal evangelism and counseling
Church follow up and visitor chauffeuring
Sunday School recruiting director and bus driver
Church seasonal program participant (multiple)
Church seasonal program carpenter and set builder
Church building remodeling
Church property maintenance
Usher (church and major offsite productions)
Church softball coach and team builder
Church services recording engineer
Choir
Post service prayer counselor and altar worker
Pulpit preacher
Group Bible Study teacher
Home Group leader
House church creator and director
And much more

I also engaged in extensive personal Bible study, reading, and research, becoming familiar not only with Scripture but also secular and historical knowledge relating to Scripture for use in witnessing and teaching. As I grew more knowledgeable I inevitably began discovering the differences between how churches and ministries were conducting themselves in relation to how our spiritual forebears did things in the beginning of the Lord’s Community. These differences fell into three principle categories: (1) Church Doctrine, (2) Church Format, (3) Ministerial Authority.

Though some Christians reach the point I did, most of these apparently come to the conclusion that the departure from original norms was justified, most likely due to their investment in church culture and an unwillingness to attempt reform. I did the opposite. I believed in and fully supported the original teachings of the Lord and the apostles. And though I tried to maintain excellent relations with church authority (a notoriously challenging endeavor) and most often succeeded, I began attempting dialogue on the many new issues I discovered. Most ministers would acknowledge the differences of course, but never go beyond any elementary attempt to apply correctives. Most never did anything. Because I had to tell what I knew and teach what the Lord taught me, open ministry doors began to close. I had to find another venue. This is when I began to write. Long before I wrote my first book I wrote many notes and detailed Bible studies, and recorded extensive research. I had to get what I knew on paper. It was a lonely pursuit but was such as it had to be.

I continually discovered that ministers in general were not interested in anything non-relatable to their personal beliefs, doctrinal statements, and church formats. Nor were they interested in greater truth or returning to our roots if it meant anything related to actual change. Most saw such reform efforts as entirely inappropriate at best and that they bordered on rebellion or heresy. Their attitude was often based on a fear of personal disruption and inevitable church problems. They insisted everyone in the congregation must buy into the program and remain in that place to assure church success, or something substantial, including their job, may suffer. I also discovered that the majority of church goers simply do not care about reform or doings things God’s way. Most Christians prefer to remain relatively spiritually unaware and allow their chosen leaders and authority figures to do their work for them. Many remain statically fixed on the teachings of mainline theologians and authors of the past or become swayed by flashy speakers and writers of the present. They end up trusting them instead of the Lord Jesus and often never progress beyond an elementary level. They are thus exceptionally easy to manipulate and make real revival impossible.

This is in part why the Lord began telling me what would eventually happen to such churches and ministries in America. He began showing me the future. I tried my best to warn people. Few ever listened. Thus, what has happened to churches since, and it has only been a quarter century, has come to pass exactly as I was shown way back then, and even before that. The latest statistics, seemingly unbelievable as they are, are such that approximately 6,000 to 10,000 churches in America are dying each year on average. That’s about 100-150 per week.

The above author cites no research but another quite reputable source, Church Leadership, claims that 4000 churches were dying annually in 2007. That was an average of 77 per week. If those trends held it would certainly account for 100-150 closures per week at present. Because the majority of traditional Christians in the past never progressed, noticed the trends, or heeded the warnings, but instead fought off any reform effort as if it was the enemy, most of their venues were unprepared for the vast American cultural change that began emerging about thirty years ago.

THE LAST BECOME FIRST

They also didn’t understand that a powerful new group, very small in numbers at the time, was being formed by the Lord to usher in a new generation of reform in order to bring His full teachings to the fore. This group was composed largely of unconnected individuals who suffered various levels of persecution by their own brothers, much like the patriarch Joseph. The traditionalists also did not care that the new emerging generation of younger people wanted more than simply being told to come to church, to sit in church, to stay quiet in church, to go along with the church program with no questions asked, to participate only superficially in church, and to pay church tithes to support something they couldn’t wrap their heart around. Many of us in the prior generation did all that for many years but never received the full benefits we were striving for. We trusted in and respected an authority that ultimately proved itself to be cowardly and non-spiritually responsive. The next generation, however, had less church influence and were largely never indoctrinated to stoically accept things as they were and dutifully comply with a set-up that did little or nothing for their heart.

This is in part why America now has an extremely large population of people with no religious affiliation. It is also why the long-standing American church tradition is fading rapidly. Traditional churches have no answer for this. Their programs no longer work. Many churches have become infested with cultural rot yet still refuse the Biblical directive. Many others have tried ever more watered-down programs but those don’t work either. Such efforts are actually going in the opposite direction.

THE RISE OF THE NEVER CHURCH CULTURE

The young religiously unaffiliated Americans are categorized as the nones. According to the following article, Exodus: Why Americans are Leaving Religion—and Why they’re Unlikely to Come Back, in 1991, the year before the Lord called on me to begin my first book, the nones represented a mere 6% of the American population. In 1972 it represented 5%. There was a slight rise in the 1980s. Thus, in the 19 year period of 1972 to 1991, this small religiously unaffiliated subsection of the American populace ranged only from 5%-8% and stayed relatively stable. It was not until 1993 that the nones began an upward track on the graph. By 1996 their numbers had shot up to 12%, doubling its population of only five years before. This marked 1992 as the year of demarcation, the very year I began my book. This was not a coincidence. It was the year that American Christianity began changing dramatically.

According to the quoted source, the nones increased to 14% in 1998 and remained stable until 2004. But then it promptly rocketed rapidly upward, ballooning to a whopping 25% by 2016. After only 24 years since the pivotal year of 1992, their number had astonishingly grown fourfold. This is the same time period that churches in general engaged in a rapid die off. There is presently no end in sight to this phenomenon and any applied remedy of the present is for the most part too late. This changing church landscape is an obvious fast-happening disaster for those who wrongly decided years ago to stay in spiritual Egypt or the Sinai. Currently, the religiously unaffiliated represent almost one in four Americans. The church world is now suffering major loss with no cure yet it still obstinately refuses to change and get in line with what the Lord wants to do. Because they have been rejecting the corrective for decades, they don’t have a clue how to stop the process and their destruction continues.

Most continue to blame it on the sinful culture, a ridiculous notion that only proves their ineffectiveness, irrelevance, and spiritual laziness. They obviously don’t know what the early believers faced regarding a sinful societal culture or they simply refuse to acknowledge it. The Roman Empire world of the first century was such that most church-going Americans, if transported in time, would be shocked to their core at what they saw. It was a thoroughly lost and wicked culture reveling in gross idolatry. But the early Church thrived anyway against powerful odds. The gist is that the Lord can do anything, anywhere, and wants to. He wants people free from sin and spiritual bondage! It seems that His greatest effort, however, is simply trying to find people who will honor Him and join His cause. Most of those who refer to themselves as Christians in some form or another simply refuse to obey and follow Him. They invent their own low wattage Christian hybrids and substitute these for the real thing.

WHAT ABOUT REAL CHRISTIANITY?

Conversely, remember that small, persecuted, obscure, and rejected group that existed a quarter century ago? Well, with this group something quite different has happened. As dead churches died off it has grown exponentially. Churches may be shutting down by 150 per week on average but real Christians have gone in the opposite direction. Real Christianity is on the rise. For those paying attention who are close to the Lord, this is obvious. Though most of these real believers are effectively invisible, their effect is not. It reminds me of unseen, unknown prayer warriors who do their work in obscurity. The non-believing American culture has certainly gone in the tank and grows more sickeningly depraved every day due to no checks on its behavior, but these people are now losing the cultural battle. They had the world by the tail until about two or three years ago but now their paradigm is suffering major cracks and is on a downward slide. They are also beginning the inevitable historical process of destroying one another.

Thus, a new American culture is emerging, based on the old ways, the ancient paths, and the foundations fought for and won in a righteous revolutionary battle 240 years ago. Real Christians are returning to their roots, following the Lord in big numbers and are undoubtedly affecting the culture in a positive way. It is a movement based on discovering, establishing, and standing up for the truth. These people are meeting and advancing in the same style as their early forebears—behind the scenes, in small non-descript venues of any number of forms and variety, and also through the greatest invention and change agent in human history—the internet. The World Wide Web is directly comparable with the advent of the Gutenberg Printing Press of circa 1450. That remarkable invention dramatically changed the world and ushered in the modern period. It allowed for an immense increase of knowledge and communication which led to the Protestant Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment. What happened then is happening now but on a much larger scale. The world is waking up.

I encourage all of you to stay faithful and strong. These times are largely unprecedented and we are greatly blessed to be alive and involved in whatever work the Lord has called us to do.

POSTSCRIPT

For those of you reading this, especially my faithful readers, please be informed that a spiritual attack against this site is apparently in process. I started this blog in May of 2011. Readership grew steadily. 2018 was a record year. January of 2019 was a record for that month. Then something happened which caused the site to become somewhat invisible as confirmed by some of you.

In general, Christian reform efforts are always opposed by the status quo and I have been personally quite familiar with this over many years. Yet the Lord is always faithful. Real Christianity, The Nature of the Church has had a decided impact on those who heard the message and supported it but was otherwise rejected by the majority. I could tell you some seriously shocking stories of underhanded efforts by so-called Christians, but this is nothing new. It is par for the course. My first book was far ahead of its time but the message inherent within it is timeless and remains fresh, especially now. It is thus a message for today and can assist in sorting out what has happened in the transformation of American Christianity over the last quarter century. For more information you can go to my author page here. I ask only for your prayers. There is much work to be done. Thank you and be blessed.

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Tags: America, American Churches, Christian Pharisees, Church, Dead Churches, Lord Jesus, Prophecy, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Rebellion, The Great Awakening

POWER OF THE STEEPLE, BY THE STEEPLE, AND FOR THE STEEPLE

Dec 3

Posted by RJ Dawson

The framers of the United States Constitution fully understood that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They had first-hand knowledge of the consequences that result from the abuse of power.

It is for this reason that they devised a form of government that greatly diluted authority. They installed checks and balances within the framework of the Constitution in order to arrest the corrupting ability of absolute power. The founding fathers were very aware from their knowledge of past governments and their present circumstances that great abuses resulted from a one-man show.

Only Jesus is sovereign.[1] Everyone else is clearly inferior and subordinate to Him, whether they acknowledge it or not. The gap between Jesus, the Lord God of all Creation, and the entity most like Him is so vast it would be impossible to calculate. The only chance which humanity has to experience and continue in fellowship with Him is through applying the sacrifice of His sinless tabernacle to themselves, as a substitutionary death, which in turn gives life.

The Lord stated that no one has greater love than the one who surrenders his own life for the lives of his friends.[2] A kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil (in death) in order to bring forth new life.[3] Accepting His life-giving death is the only way that mankind can be reconciled to Him. Once reconciled to God, a person can become “godlike,”[4] but only through the introduction of the Spirit of Jesus into his being.[5]

[1] Matthew 28:18

[2] John 15:13

[3] John 12:24

[4] John 10:34-38, Psalm 82

[5] Romans 8:9-10

LINK: Exactly eight years ago, in late August of 2010, the Lord spoke to me very clearly: “WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A NATIONAL GREAT AWAKENING.”

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Tags: American Revolution, Christian Pharisees, Clergy-Laity Division, False Religious Authority, Lord Jesus, Protestant Reformation, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, United States Constitution, Unreal Christianity

WAIT. WHAT? Foiled By a Loose Cannon

Dec 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

Many years ago I was working as the lead carpenter on a residential job in a relatively upscale section of a large city. The homeowners were a respected middle-aged couple. He was a professor at a local university. She was from England. The state governor lived nearby.

The professor was a good guy, relatively happy, and bookish. Because of his job he was rarely home and I never talked to him much. She had a strong English accent, a proper manner, and was well educated. It was one of the reasons we had good conversations. I was relatively well-read and knowledgeable of the classics.

Due to the way I was motivated as a witness for the Lord, I had slowly begun to talk to her during breaks about spiritual things and we eventually had some limited conversations about Christianity. They were Christians, of the Protestant variety. I had an idea to invite them to church like I did with so many people I witnessed to, but I figured it would be a difficult thing to accomplish in their case.

I was going to a large Spirit-filled church at that time. It was known by one visiting teacher who spoke there on occasion as “The Church of What’s Happening Now.” It had gone through a big growth phase a few years earlier and had been transformed from a small old-school Pentecostal church to an innovative and wonderful place due to a large influx of newly born again university students and younger people. Many of these were set free to use their youthful expertise to make some powerful positive changes. It was a great place to be.

The day came when I suggested we get to know each other’s Christian traditions better by actually attending each other’s churches. She was open to the idea. It took a long time to get to this point. I was always one to move slowly because I knew how the enemy could disrupt a good plan at a moment’s notice. She asked her husband about it. And what a joy it was when she told me they were agreeable. I was just a young carpenter on a job site and they were up there in the social ranks. I could not help but see the hand of God.

We agreed to go to their church first. My wife and I met them there. I cannot remember the denomination, but it was one of those upscale places where everything was relatively quiet and low key amidst high-end adornment and a very traditional setting. The place was very tastefully decorated.

The service was somewhat monotonous compared to what I preferred and was used to. There was certainly no moving of the Spirit of God. It was intellectually-based. But my wife and I were thoroughly polite. The older couple liked us. Afterwards, as I recall, we shared a small meal on site and got to know each other a little better. There were smiles all around. I appreciated their wonderful attitude and the way they embraced a young couple interested in finding common Christian ground.

It might have been the next week when they were to reciprocate and visit our church. My wife was in the choir so it would be just me in the pew. It turned out her husband the professor couldn’t make it. Maybe he didn’t want to. This was, as everyone knew, a large Spirit-filled Pentecostal church pretty much on the very opposite end of the spectrum from their much more traditional format. I’m sure it must have invoked some difficulty for them.

I met her out in the vestibule and she was polite and smiling, and somewhat upbeat. I believe she really was interested even though the place was never something she would choose on her own. Again, she was from England, was used to a high church format, and moved in some high circles. It was so cool that this was actually happening.

Though I greatly appreciated Spirit-filled gatherings, I confess that I had also developed an embarrassment of Pentecostal excess. This was the early 1980s. I was still connected to some very old school Pentecostal people and traditions, some of which were really silly, and some even a tad dark. There was a thread of redneckism to be dealt with. There was also an anti-intellectual element. It is certainly true that many Pentecostals came from the other side of the tracks and were not necessarily very well educated. But I can also honestly say that I had never met more warm, fun, and engaging people. Most were open to the Lord and were willing to do whatever He required, reputations be damned.

So there we were, standing in the pews while the choir sang. It was a tremendous choir. So much about this place was so far ahead of the curve. It set the tone for many churches across the country. Long before the word “progressive” was appropriated and used for other purposes, I used to refer to this place as “Progressive Pentecost.” Many great things happened there. There was an openness to many fields of study. It was composed of all ages and races, a truly open and colorblind church.

I can’t remember exactly what happened next. It seems it was still in the early part of the service. We were all standing. I remember I had worked so hard to get this lady to visit. She trusted me. I had always shown her the grace of God. I was certainly concerned that some excessive thing might happen that would turn her off but was never prepared for what did happen. I was trying so hard to be low-key and normal, maybe a hard thing to do in a full blown Pentecostal service among many hundreds of people. To affect this attitude in my attempt to be cool and not a religious redneck, I happened to have my hands in my slacks pockets as I stood there. I was really hoping that she would be touched by the Spirit of God and had been silently praying.

In the midst of a little commotion on the platform the preacher suddenly grabbed a microphone and started speaking to the crowd. There was a move of the Spirit and I think he was trying to get everyone’s mind on God and to pay attention. Of course, I would think everyone WAS paying attention. We could all feel the Spirit of God. Everyone was respectful and obeying protocol. But rather than let the Lord wash over us and bless us with some peace and His presence, the preacher, as he was wont to do, had to take over.

Completely messing up a good thing, he actually started to berate people. He’s walking quickly across the platform and pointing out individuals and then back to the other side, his eyes going from those closest to those toward the back. Everyone was on eggshells. This happened way too much but because of our respect for the proceedings we all thought it was God, that God was anointing him to go off like that. I learned later that was not the case. I got older. I grew spiritually. I eventually figured out that this anointed man of God who did so many wonderful things had a tendency to turn into a complete nutcase on occasion.

Now, most of us do this. Sometimes we are very tired. We do not get enough sleep. The pressures of life can be very strong. We lose our tempers. We prove our humanity. But in the course of a church service when people really need the Lord, it should never happen or should at least be rare.

As he was raising his voice and pointing people out I began to get seriously embarrassed for my visitor. I was afraid this would happen. But I never expected what did happen. Why? –Because I had obeyed the Lord and was guided by Him to bring this classy friend of mine to church in hopes of her growing in the Lord, being introduced to something new and great, and possibly getting filled with the Holy Spirit!

The preacher’s crazy eyes fell on me. He pounced. I couldn’t believe it. “Get your hands out of your pockets!” Wait. What? He had no clue whatsoever what the Lord was up to with my visitor or what I was attempting to accomplish.

Right away she told me she had to leave. She saw him looking at her also and was shaken. She wasn’t waiting around. She had to get out of there. Still smiling, she began to exit the pew. I followed her out. We talked briefly at the doors but it did no good. She was leaving.

The entire witness was ruined. All the prayer, effort, and work was wasted. A wonderful opportunity went right down the drain. Right at the finish line.

There are so many stories like this. The lack of accountability among the preacher ranks has always been the chief reason why such things happen. It is why the Lord always appointed several elders in the early churches and NEVER a single “pastor.” And such sordid behavior is certainly not contained to Pentecostal churches. It happens everywhere, in all denominations, and is continually reinforced and rarely challenged. There are far too many blowhards who do and say whatever they feel like and next to no one in the churches has the guts to speak correctively. Everyone knows what will happen if they do.

Perhaps we are now in a time when that can change.

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Accountability, Christianity, Church, Evangelization and Witnessing, Lord Jesus, Pentecostal, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Protestant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church

REAL RELATIONSHIP: The Redemption (4)

Nov 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

“Some church leaders speak of “covenant,” but their actions toward those they are supposedly in covenant with often show they are completely ignorant of its true meaning.”

In Part 1, we discussed the Revelation of Real Relationship. In Part 2, we discussed the ongoing Restoration. In Part 3, we discussed the Revolution in American Christianity coming forth in these early days of the Great Awakening.

In this Part 4 conclusion, we continue the narrative from my book Real Christianity by discussing the ramifications of reform, the counter fight against it, and Redemption.

I encourage everyone to read this entire series. In contains both a guide for current reform and the prior instructional evidence for successful reformation to date.

We are all growing ever-more hungry for spiritual reality in our Christian effort and experience, especially in the realm of community and our relations with one another. The Good News is that much progress has taken place and continues. Your work matters and is having an effect. The Lord Jesus is winning.

REAL RELATIONSHIP

Dual-natured Christianity added a whole new dimension to spiritual battle. To show how bewitching this evil spirit can be, many of those who dissented and began great movements away from centralized captivity and toward freedom often built their own version of the way things ought to be and guarded it like a junkyard dog.

As an illustration, imagine draining the water out of one massive dammed-up lake into several smaller dammed-up lakes. Then, drain those lakes by building more dammed-up reservoirs. Eventually, one would arrive at thousands upon thousands of small, dammed-up bodies of water. The lesson here is that Jesus is not interested so much in man-made lakes as He is in naturally flowing rivers and streams.

Is it really all that difficult, therefore, to see why Christianity is much less than what it should be? If some pastors treated their family in the indifferent manner they do their flock, they would probably no longer have a family.

Why such a harsh statement? Congregation turnover, for one reason. It is something that completely escapes our notice the more populous the church happens to be. There are exceptions to every rule, yet the larger the church, the greater the turnover. There are obviously demographics at work in all churches, meaning that a percentage of the congregation will be fluid. Yet, some churches have almost complete housecleaning every five to ten years. Church leadership thinks this is due to people either moving on into ministry, backsliding into oblivion, or refusing to commit to their program, meaning that any fault, in their view, lies largely with the congregants.

Some church leaders speak of “covenant,” but their actions toward those they are supposedly in covenant with often show they are completely ignorant of its true meaning. God has put up with manifest garbage from His own people throughout history, yet He continues to hold to the terms of His covenant with Abraham because it is an everlasting covenant. From the perspective of Christian leaders immersed in centralized authority, a covenant of that sort is just plain silly and is only referred to in the abstract. They know they cannot maintain control according to the terms of such an agreement and therefore reject it outright. Their public discourse leads one to believe that they support the Abrahamic covenant unequivocally, but this is not really the case. If it were, they wouldn’t be fighting to maintain control over their people or vying to gain even greater dominion by seeking more converts over which they might rule.

If God’s people are to grow, they must be free. By God’s grace, some manage to do this within the system. For others, the only real freedom and maturity they acquire arrives after they exit, stage right.

TIME TO MOSEY

Actually, a great exodus began about thirty to forty years ago. Today, the fruit of this search for freedom within Christendom exists virtually everywhere. In large metropolitan areas, in small towns, in suburbia—thousands of non-denominational fellowships have sprung up with no affiliation with any central authority. This means there are no bureaucrats, no mission boards, no paid resident clergy, and no faceless masses yearning for freedom and real growth in the Lord. Right? Well, we only wish.

We have, in this latest movement, carried less of Egypt with us than in the past, but still too much to promote true spiritual freedom. If anything, we are more fractured than before. Instead of having one, or a few centers of religious authority, we now have scads of mini-kingdoms and assorted loose groupings based on former denominational ties. Of course, the majors came through it all basically intact, although many had to compromise their doctrines, liturgies, and stands on issues in order to keep their membership rolls at an operational level.

So, even though progress is being made, we’ve still not come up with the fortitude to rid ourselves of the clutches of carnality, worldliness, and pride. Christendom must continue, therefore, through the blistering sands of the Sinai on its long and winding trek to the promised land, in order to eventually eliminate those who are hell-bent on making and maintaining golden calves. [1]

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Tags: Christian Community, Christianity, Church, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Relationship, The Great Awakening

REAL RELATIONSHIP: The Revolution (3)

Nov 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

“We can follow orders, we can send directives through the chain of command, we can organize massive shows of religious pomp and promote great Broadway hits, such as Charismania!, but this only means we are unified in purpose.”

In Part 1, we discussed the Revelation of Real Relationship. In Part 2, we discussed the ongoing Restoration. In Part 3, we continue the narrative from my book Real Christianity by discussing the Revolution in American Christianity presently coming forth in these early days of the Great Awakening:

REAL RELATIONSHIP

The partitioning of Christianity into clergy and laity began with the introduction of the professional minister. The distinction must be drawn between those who minister because it is a job and those who do it because they have a passion to walk in their calling.

Professionalism promotes rank, and rank promotes division. Yet the present members of the institutional clergy, like their forefathers, continue to insist that rank can coexist with unity. What they call unity is nothing more than communication between ranks brought on by forced submission to a dominant hierarchy.

However, communication between ranks will never result in spiritual unity among ranks. We can follow orders, we can send directives through the chain of command, we can organize massive shows of religious pomp and promote great Broadway hits, such as Charismania!, but this only means we are unified in purpose. It does not mean our spirits are knit together in real relationship and true Christian love.

It used to be that traveling shows had to keep traveling in order to escape from those they duped. But the level of deception has now become so great that many of these road shows have settled down in our cities and towns and are perceived as being quite respectable. The reason most of the duped remain duped stems from the fact that the standard which early Christianity once represented has been suctioned out and cut on until it is no longer recognizable and in too many instances, rejected outright. Instead of walking tall as the body of Christ, we are all too often mere church mice, thoroughly intimidated by a system and structure that has no real community or love between members.

What causes such intimidation? Why are there no opposing viewpoints? Is dissension evil even when those in power are wrong? There is no doubt that centralized authority is to be blamed in part since it causes individuals to feel insignificant and irrelevant in relation to the whole and powerless to change anything. Such power-over-the-people dogma flies in the face of that which Christianity is supposed to be.

Yet God doesn’t leave us without the possibility of deliverance. Some of the blame, therefore, must fall squarely on the backs of those latent ministers who could make a difference but disregard their calling, opting instead to weakly blend into a directionless, homogenized mass.

When the people of God take their ease instead of taking up their cross, they become subject to something or someone other than the Lord. This causes a false servitude to an improper party, and thus, a fear of breaking ranks with said party. The spirit behind the cause of such behavior has no respect or honor for individuals.

Yes, we are supposed to be a body. Yes, we are supposed to be a team. Yes, we are supposed to be a family. But these entities are strong not only because of their unity but also because of the strength of their individual members. If the individual members are spiritually weak but the unifying force is strong, the whole can only be strong temporarily, if at all, and absolutely spiritually impotent for the long term, though it remain unified through coercion, fear, or cultural tradition.

There are reams of historical data reaching back throughout the history of Christianity to support this fact. Centralized authority is only supposed to be a temporary fix designed to bring an entity back on course. When it is institutionalized, it feeds on those it rules over, instead of assisting and serving the common good.

When such authority gains control, it will not only feed on its subject class, it will also confiscate the children’s bread. This stunts the children’s growth and keeps them in a perpetually immature state. As an example, look at the sea of “lay” people which make up most of our congregations. Far too many are clueless concerning their role in the Lord’s body. Almost all are underdeveloped and dependent upon the clergy. Many are in fear, and the great majority are thoroughly overwhelmed by the centralized power which keeps them from developing into what God wants and needs them to be.

Why? Because to buck central authority is to invite its wrath. Centralized authority is heavily control-oriented and dictatorial. For a lone individual or small group to stand against it takes much strength. In the Church, it takes obedience to the Lord and much anointing. Indeed, the very history of the Lord’s Qahal is constructed with the building blocks of dissent against the raw power of inhumane religious impostors bent on maintaining their stolen authority. In the early days of the Church, her religious enemies were thoroughly pagan. But they eventually became “Christianized.” [1]

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Tags: Christian Community, Christianity, Church, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of Called-Out Ones, Discipleship, False Religious Authority, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Relationship, The Great Awakening

REAL RELATIONSHIP: The Restoration (2)

Nov 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

“In the beginning, spiritual relationship came naturally. Nobody had to come up with a program to promote relationship between members…”

In Part 1, we discussed the Revelation of Real Relationship. In Part 2, we continue the narrative from my book Real Christianity by discussing the Restoration:

REAL RELATIONSHIP

In the beginning, spiritual relationship came naturally. Nobody had to come up with a program to promote relationship between members. The early believers understood that the relational purity they each came to possess upon their new-birth experience was instantaneous. For example, when a baby is born, that child becomes an immediate member of its family. The baby’s family relationships result from the birth, not from trying to create them at a future date. It is the same in the Church. Relationship is a byproduct of joining the community.

It doesn’t exist properly in many churches that have attempted to establish it, however, and this denotes a problem. It could be a problem of immaturity and lack of proper spiritual insight, or it could indicate a problem of resistance against God. Real Christianity has real relationship. Unreal Christianity has little bona fide spiritual relationship between members but only a substitute or inferior form thereof. Such unreal relationship creates no unity or intimacy among members. Thus, the quiet discord that exists beneath the surface in most churches is due to neglect or rejection of that which brings unity. When individual members of the same church never establish relationship, spiritual unity is victimized, and true fellowship is not possible.

It’s jarring to think that what the early church once was is what we in the present are trying to become. Sadly, there was a point in history when the early community of saints which brought light to millions began to have less effect on a dark world. They were faced with mass conversions to a state religion which was Christian in name only and, thus, were increasingly perceived as heretics by the unreal brethren and as world aliens to everyone else. The real believers had become the spat upon and rejected scum of the earth. Wherever they went, they were truly strangers in a strange land.

The Qahal [1] of the latter portion of the church age met a parallel historical point, though in reverse, a few centuries ago. By the early 1900s, restoration reached a new level and has been steadily increasing since. We are now at another fork in the road. One way leads toward our destiny; the other way embarks on yet another endless circle. This juncture marks the point of no return for those who decline to follow the Lord into the next and possibly final transition. The very narrow way which the Church is pressing through at this writing is forcing her to abandon excess weight and baggage, as well as those elements which might have assisted her in the past but are now only slowing her down. One of these elements is class division. It must be left on the entry side of the eye of this present needle. [2]

[1] Qahal is the Hebrew equivalent for “Church,” and is the word most likely used by Jesus.

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REAL RELATIONSHIP: The Revelation (1)

Nov 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

“There is a reason people have problems in their attempt to minister together. The chief obstacle which has been in the way for the greater portion of the church age is still in the way…”

I have written extensively on this subject. My book, Real Christianity, delves deeply into the issue. I have taught many Bible Studies on the topic.

Though the following excerpt from the book is relatively brief, it presents the historical and Biblical essence of Real Relationship and helps every believer to discover how it positively affects his or her Christian experience and discipleship.

Speaking of which, I highly recommend buying my book. It has received excellent reviews. Its pages are loaded with truth that reveals this application of the Lord’s teachings, the Divide and Conquer tactic against it, and so many other methods of the enemy that strive to limit and even stop the progress of the Lord’s real Community by eliminating real spiritual relationship, both with the Lord and with one another.

Thank you and be blessed:

REAL RELATIONSHIP

There is a reason people have problems in their attempt to minister together. The chief obstacle which has been in the way for the greater portion of the church age is still in the way. We exist in the midst of a major revelation, which Christendom has repeatedly failed to apply properly. This attests to its freshness. That it had to come by revelation shows the depths of our collective naiveté. Of course, many in the pew saw the need for it long before the pulpiteers, but were powerless, in their estimation, to do anything significant about establishing it since it seemed to be in opposition to the status quo. Indeed, the ruling clergy is threatened by it and has therefore tried to water it down or channel it in a “safe” direction. But such puny attempts by even punier autocrats will never succeed against the will of God.

What is this major revelation? Put simply, it is real relationship. Its fundamental hindrance is the clergy-laity division which was firmly established by the fourth century A.D. Remember, the Church, or Qahal, [1] which Jesus initiated was a community—the community of called-out ones. In the early days, there were no class distinctions or divisions—everyone participated in a meaningful, fulfilling way. At present, though we might try, we will never arrive at real relationship church-wide, until we do away with the clergy-laity split. [2]

Many churches have attempted to incorporate spiritual relationship between members into their objectives, and most of them think they have succeeded. This reveals at least a small amount of religious pride which must be eliminated as well. The clergy can attach any label it desires to a thing, but labeling is often as far as it gets. Those who have made great starts in the heat of great opposition, on the other hand, should be commended for their stand and supported for stepping out. In takes more time than we think, however, before real relationship is established within a group, and those who have begun the process must press on. When we at last lay to rest the evil root which causes division in the Church, we will have:

1. True recognition of each and every one of God’s people

2. A revelation of the inestimable worth of each member of the congregation

3. The utilization of this worth toward the building of real community

4. The functioning of every person in the Church according to his God-ordained purpose within his destined ministerial calling

5. The maturing of the Church into an organic ministering fellowship (the body of Messiah) with any number of horizontal relationships between members, yet only one direct vertical relationship—that between each member and the Lord Jesus [3]

[1] Qahal is the Hebrew equivalent for “Church,” and is the word most likely used by Jesus.

[2] The word “Laity” originates from the New Testament Greek word laos (lah-’os). It is defined as a people group, whether socio-political, socio-religious, or cultural-ethnic. It generally refers to the “common people,” as a crowd, a populace, or a nation. It is also used as the people of God. When used in the latter sense, it means all of the people collectively. It is easy to see how the meaning of this word was corrupted when class division entered Christianity.

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COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (and the Inevitable Fork in the Road)

Sep 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

The majority lives in a fallen world. It is a world largely constructed by people separated from the Creator, most of whom have no desire to know Him, much less honor Him. This is especially true of many people who have managed to acquire great wealth and power.

This fact presents an always interesting conundrum for those who choose to acknowledge the paradox of wealthy holders of great power who refuse to honor the Creator while living in very mortal bodies which will one day cease to exist. Yes, they hold great power now. They are incredibly wealthy. The current world of man has been created according to their will and blueprint, and most inhabitants of the planet are so caught up in mere survival they have no time or ability to consider such knowledge.

We assume the world is what it is according to a much higher benevolent power. But this is simply not true. The world of mankind has the devil as its author, in association with sinful, fallen humans, much more than it has anything to do with the Creator.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

Cognitive Dissonance is defined as “psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously.” [1]

In other words, truth and untruth are both believed as truth at the same time, which causes discord in one’s cognition or ability to understand until one can distinguish between the two. It means primarily that a person has accepted an untruth as a truth and had believed in something that is not true as though it were, and are thus conflicted when presented with actual truth. Since both untruth and truth can never comfortably exist together in a sound mind, one or the other must eventually be rejected. Indeed, accepted reality is reality until someone shines a light on darkness, and reveals accepted darkness and untruth for what it is.

Most will reject newly-presented actual truth since they have lived according to a false belief system or set of false beliefs their entire life and find it far too challenging and uncomfortable to walk away from them. The untruth has incorporated itself throughout their being and has long since been given life through willing and passive acceptance. For the most part it has never been properly challenged. Since no one has spiritual truth until they are presented with it at some point in their life, people unconsciously appropriate belief systems that are not true though they believe them to be. It is their belief in that which is false that makes it true to them. It is their acceptance of the unreal that makes it real to them.

Those hungry for spiritual truth do not have this problem. They had only accepted untruth because it had been foisted upon them somehow but know it fails to satisfy. Because they strive for total heart and soul satisfaction and a true answer to their hunger, they never cease their pursuit of truth until they come in contact with it. When they are presented with it they find it relatively easy to rid themselves of all untruth regardless of what it costs them personally. This is why the Lord is much more able to lead spiritually hungry people to His Truth and to Himself.

SAY WHAT?

The Lord tells us the truth, and because the truth He tells is so shocking and so apart from mankind’s false world views it is usually instantly rejected by most. It is too uncomfortable. What He says seems too far-fetched and simply cannot be right. It flies in the face of one’s accepted reality. It goes against one’s culture. One does not want to become a deviant within his or her group.

For the world of man, this response is perceived as appropriate, because, again, the world of man is composed for the most part by lovers of it and those who reject the Creator who are openly rebellious toward Him. It makes no sense for them to accept the Lord Jesus or consider His teachings. They would have to make wholesale changes in every part of their falsely constructed lives to integrate His teachings and they find the whole idea completely asinine.

“But you will die one day, sooner than you think, and will have to account for your life.” This they soundly reject because it is the only intelligent and reasonable thing to do. They cannot fathom any wholesale changes in their life that might compromise or remove their great power and wealth.

“One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” [Luke 18:22-24] [2]

This young archon was certainly not one of the world’s richest and powerful men, though he possessed incredible worldly wealth. Let’s say someone tried to tell him, “Hey, your money is only so good for so long. It is currently losing value. It can never be translated into the next world. You trust in it way too much. This is actually destroying you. You are putting your faith in an adulterous mistress that will turn on you in a second. It is only a matter of time. You do not possess it. It possesses you.” Well, he would see that he had come suddenly to a very distinct fork in the road, because these are two competing, polar-opposite ideas. He would be forced to choose one or the other. And even though he cannot reject the obvious facts he was just presented with, the odds are almost 100% that he would make no change.

Why? Because the fake world he lives in is comfortable and though he knows it can never last forever he would rather have comfort now than risk it all on possible comfort in a possible next world. Many people never consider such opportunities at redemption and therefore stay deceived about the nature of reality and life. It is not until they die (that is, until the very temporary house of clay they currently live in wears out or is damaged sufficiently in some way) that they are confronted with the actual truth. Most are and will be shocked. And it will be too late.

So, the few great power brokers who have most of the wealth of this world never change a thing regarding their own eternity and continue to put their faith in the fairy tale that they will somehow live forever and/or get away with all their personal sin and the destruction and pain they caused so many in the gaining of their wealth and power. And there will be a special place in hell for them. It is their choice.

But for those who actually believe what the Creator teaches, and applies it wholesale, they discover everything He said is absolutely true and their formerly blind eyes are opened. They see what they had never seen before or could ever see. By trusting and obeying the Lord Jesus, they become aware of the deception they were formerly blinded by and are set free. They then see this fallen world of mankind for what it actually is. They exit the world at the inevitable fork in the road and enter the kingdom.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” [John 14:6]

If you feel confused, uninformed or not properly informed, or cognitively conflicted regarding truth, and are not sure what course to take to remedy the situation, I suggest you first begin growing closer to the Lord. His light will shine upon the areas that have need of it and in time He will fill the voids with His truth.

Onward.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Christianity, Cognitive Dissonance, Deception, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Truth

ANTI-DISCIPLESHIP: The Problem of Willful Immaturity

Jul 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus commanded us to be excellent disciples. We must be fully trained. The majority of Christians refuse this command. Most Christians are willfully immature.

“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” [Luke 6:40]

IGNORANCE IS BLINDNESS

Some people have very low IQs. Their intelligence level is not their fault. There are low IQ people in the world who have achieved masterfully. I believe the Lord is proud of them. I believe the Lord is proud of anyone who overcomes against great odds to achieve great things. He taught many times in His parables on this theme. He implied clearly that it is never about what a person may start out with but what a person achieves even though the odds are stacked against success.

Most such people do not achieve, of course, which only makes those who do stand out all the more in showing what is actually possible.

Some people start well but are shut down repeatedly by circumstances not under their control. But they refuse to stay shut down. They get back up, are knocked down, get back up, then something comes against them from out in left field and knocks them down again. They think a minute, get their bearings, refuse to be defeated, and get right back up. They start to figure out that as long as they get back up and go at it again they have a chance. But they also start to see that every time they get back up after the enemy tries to destroy them that the enemy has less power.

It is the same with disciples of the Lord Jesus. These are the real Christians. They take the Lord’s commands and instructions seriously. They are thanked for their great desire to do right by God by being attacked all the more. And for those who know and have been through it, the very worst attacks are those by friends.

Why do some Christians act like first-class asses? Why are some Christians filled with so much hate? There are reasons, you know. Here’s one of them:

“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? [Matthew 23:29-33]

This exact dynamic has been playing out for a very long time among Christian adherents though most of it has gone unacknowledged or is completely unseen. It is unseen due to ignorance. Many Christians are ignorant because they refuse to obey the Lord and do their proper work. When Christians refuse to be real disciples they become ignorant of spiritual things. This ignorance creates a wall. The wall shields them from the truth. They can’t see it. They become blind to truth. Then they act out on what they know, which is not much, and attempt to defend their place of ignorance and laziness, which is not defendable. Then they resort to anger and hate to defend themselves. Thus they become not only all the more stupid but all the more close-minded and hateful.

We know what happens with human inbreeding. We know that inbreeding causes problems and if it is not stopped the problems grow worse over time. The people thereof become more prone to mutations and disease. Inbreeding is not healthy.

The same thing happens with Christian denominations and churches. If there is no free flow of the Holy Spirit, no new ideas, knowledge, or new applications, no cross-pollination, and especially no emphasis on obeying and following the Lord and walking in real discipleship, the people thereof will grow spiritually stupid and ignorant of the Word of God. They become stagnant. They become inbred. They see their little place as the entire world. They see everyone else as inferior. This inbred condition causes a distrust and hatred of all things and all people unlike themselves. There is only one solution for this terrible condition and dreaded disease:

READ THE WORD OF GOD. STUDY INTENTLY THE PURE TEACHINGS OF THE LORD JESUS. DO THIS ON YOUR OWN. LET IT BE STRICTLY BETWEEN YOU AND THE LORD JESUS.

Anyone who refuses to read the Word of God is deceived. Let me repeat: ANYONE WHO REFUSES TO READ THE WORD OF GOD IS DECEIVED. PERIOD.

They are spiritually blind. It is not possible to see without the one who is able to heal blind eyes and grant sight. It is especially problematic when Christians are thus blind. It is most problematic when Christian leaders are blind. Sadly, there’s a bunch of them. Christian Pharisees are everywhere, hidden in plain sight.

And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? [Luke 6:39] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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DEFINING SIN: The New “Evil is Good-Good is Evil” Paradigm (1)

Jul 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

Medical doctors are trained to diagnose the cause of a physical problem and administer the proper care toward returning a patient to good health. Defining the problem is often not so difficult though some cases can be tricky. With the help of support staff and any number of devices, however, they most often come to the correct conclusion regarding the cause.

It is usually the case that the illness or injury is caused by the patient, directly or indirectly, either by a bad diet, bad decisions, negative lifestyle choices, or reckless and irresponsible behavior. We know there are always correct choices available that greatly limit the odds of poor health. Patients rarely make this connection, however, and refer to fate or predisposition (“it runs in the family,” for example). Also, illnesses and disease often do not manifest until years down the road. The cause and effect is thus not perceived. People often get sick based on wrong choices in the past.

The human body, though, is amazingly resilient and responsive to the proper treatment. For example, rather than pollute the body by eating garbage thinly disguised as food or drinking tap water loaded with chlorine and other chemicals, one can begin drinking purified water and eating real food packed with the necessary nutrients that not only supply energy but greatly build up the immune system to successfully win the fight against sickness and disease and allow for optimum health.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. [1Corinthins 9:24]

SIN IS RUNNING RAMPANT

Sin is a powerful disease, far worse than any other. It has reached epidemic proportions in America. Rather than attack its spread and seek the only cure, however, the deadly disease has instead been embraced. Many strains of the disease have been reclassified wrongly as benign. In an unbelievably counterintuitive manner, sin in general has moved far beyond the toleration stage and is presently entering the stage of popular acceptance. Since the only cure has been rejected by the most influential and powerful among us, sin is seen as inevitable and many who previously resisted have weakly given up the fight and surrendered to both its causes and effects.

In a wrongheaded effort to be socially acceptable (liked), and to not appear as old fashioned preachers of the pure Word of God, the majority of Christian ministers in America no longer preach about sin. They don’t feel comfortable doing so and are easily embarrassed by unbelievers who question their motives. They know what the hot button issues are and would rather not take a chance on sacrificing themselves or their ministries. So they make it nice and keep it low key. They smile a lot. They dance all around the obvious. They do not want to offend. They attempt an impossible “classy” method of ministry that totally fails against the ugliness of evil. They reject striving for the spiritual success of others, derived only from properly applying the real Gospel, for other forms of personal success.

This has never been the Lord’s way. He addressed sin directly. He loves us enough to tell us the truth. He always makes a perfect diagnosis and follows it up with a perfect cure. His entire mission is to bring salvation from sin.

How can He do this unless He teaches that sin must be rejected? Therefore, any so-called minister who refuses to properly address sin and define it so people can discover what’s causing the problem and receive the cure is a phony.

There are presently millions of Christians in America who believe wholeheartedly that what used to be clearly defined as blatant sin is no longer sin at all. They have shifted their priorities. They have fully joined the world. It is obvious that their major influence is no longer the Lord or His Word. Many others have adopted causes and created organizations with unbelievers that are completely removed from the scope of New Covenant ministry. These Christians, many of whom are very influential Christian leaders, have essentially rewritten the Word of God. They have joined the enemy. They have no excuse.

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” [John 15:22] [1]

IS MURDER A SIN?

Most Christians still believe murder is a sin, for example, unless it involves killing defenseless babies. Then, for many, it is okay. War deaths of any definition are considered by most Christians to be justifiable, though most are ignorant of actual causes and motives of wars. But like every other sin being accepted these days as not sin at all, there will probably come a time soon when even murder will not be characterized as sin, though this is largely already the case.

In fact, government leaders the world over have justified murder in all forms as acceptable under their own guidelines. Many have long since appropriated the necessary cold heart and indifferent attitude toward killing. To easily prove this, it has been generally estimated by many statisticians and authors that in the last century, from the year 1900 to the year 2000, approximately 200 million people were murdered through the direct efforts of the leaders of legitimate, recognized governments. For perspective, 200 million is about two-thirds of the entire population of the United States. Based on these statistics, it appears as though the perpetrators of these killings do not believe murder is a sin.

YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME

You see, the problem people have with accepting the reality of sin is that they must also accept a higher law and a higher authority to pronounce, define, and render penalties with reference to law violations. People in general do not like such restrictions on their chosen behaviors, because it demands responsibility. It demands accountability for one’s illicit actions. And as this world grows darker, the lovers of darkness desire ever-greater control, not only for the allowing of their own sinful behavior but that of society in general. Part of that control involves rewriting the rule book on:

(1) Good and Evil

(2) Right and Wrong

(3) Acceptable Behavior and Aberrant Behavior

(4) What will be Allowed or Opposed

Because they have rejected the Lord Jesus they must also reject His Word. They end up in the only remaining logical place of such rebellion: They must overturn His entire curriculum, turn everything upside down and backwards, and thus redefine good as evil and evil as good.

The one thing they oppose the most is real Christianity. The one Person they oppose the most is the Lord Jesus. So anyone who actually joins up with the Lord wholeheartedly according to His directive and methods, and believes and teaches the real Gospel, will also be the subject of their wrath. This is already happening, of course, right here in what used to be free America, as anti-Christian hate is presently rising precipitously.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Christianity, Good and Evil, Lord Jesus, Murder, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin, Ten Commandments, The Great Awakening

THE PEOPLE! United Kingdom Exiting the European Union

Jun 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

In an incredible come from behind win, the British people have achieved the greatest victory for nationhood in the last quarter century.

Not since the fall of the Berlin Wall has something this far-reaching and dramatic taken place, proving at once that great solidarity and a stiff upper lip in the face of arrogance and unrelenting fear tactics can bring down a giant.

How ironic that the losing Prime Minister is named David.

I had just posted an article on Wednesday, the day before the British vote on Thursday, regarding the 2016 Presidential Election in the United States entitled The People vs. The Establishment. In the article I stated that the central theme of the election this November was a battle between the entrenched elites and the American people in general who have been dictated to, patronized, misinformed, shut out, disrespected, taken full advantage of, and taken for granted. I had noted the anger of the American electorate in a post last August, Prophetic Words from Last November and the First Republican Debate, and in another post in March of this year, The American Political Climate is Fixing to Blow Sky High, I predicted the eventual nominees.

The same spirit was present in the UK but in the beginning the big boys never thought a British move out of the European Union had any real chance. But as the day of the referendum approached the Leave camp actually gained a good lead. Then, in reaction to the polls, the EU forces began pulling out all the stops. On came the lies and fear tactics. It worked. The polls became much closer.

The early returns showed a clear Remain victory, but as the day progressed, and into the evening, the tide began turning. In the end it was announced, in a great shock to the entire world, that Leave had won. The UK had professed its independence and would be leaving the European Union. There would be a British Exit. Here’s an informative link from the BBC regarding the regional vote: EU Referendum: The Result in Maps and Charts

This was a huge and humiliating loss to the world’s financial and government elites. It conveys to the rest of the world that there is hope for the common man, independent nations, responsive governments, and certainly great hope for America.

So as I watched the network news the next evening, expecting to hear at least some semblance of congratulations, it was all negative, proving that the MSM is carrying water for the big boys. Rather than speak of a great victory for the British people, they reported on the unbelievable shock of defeat. But believe me, this was no defeat for anyone but Goliath.

Unprecedented change is upon us and will continue throughout the year.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

SEE ALSO (PROPHETIC CONTENT!):

FIELD OF DREAMS? REGARDING THE AMERICAN VOTER AND THE 2014 ELECTION

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Tags: America, Brexit, Christianity, European Union, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Trump, United Kingdom, We the People

THE PEOPLE vs. THE ESTABLISHMENT: Defining the 2016 Presidential Election

Jun 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

ARISE, SHINE

The world is changing before our eyes but the majority still sleeps. There comes a point when one must acknowledge that sleepers continue sleeping not because they need any more rest but because they have thrown the alarm clock out the window.

Truth is the alarm clock. Establishment purveyors have barred it from the premises. They have chosen their respective versions of shallow, sleepy time reality for all under their care and are thus causing many to miss the boat. Noah’s Ark is floating off. You know the rest. (“Hey Noah! Wait up!”)

Keep in mind that many who end up very hot and bothered will end up that way for the same reason so many Pharisees did.

WHITEWASHED TOMBS

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

What the Lord is saying here is that it was relatively simple to fool simple-minded people who are taught to strain out gnats but swallow camels. The current PROBLEM, however, is so big it has expanded way beyond the proverbial elephant in the room everyone there refuses to acknowledge.

It is no longer a mere elephant. It is a DINOSAUR. It is the biggest and baddest dinosaur that ever existed and it exists right in front of everyone and most people cannot see it, refuse to see it, don’t want to see it, and force themselves to be blind so they will never have any chance of seeing it. It is therefore hidden in plain sight. Why are so many Christians in America so willingly blind and asleep?

THE GREAT AWAKENING

But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” [Ephesians 5:13]

We are in the midst of a powerful awakening in this country but as always, it is often the “Christians” who see it last. I remember many years ago when I first noticed this phenomenon. It came through music. I noticed very few if any innovative Christian musicians and writers back then. Christian music would never change until secular music changed. When secular music developed different styles the Christians would copy it. When it went off in a different direction the Christian music would go off in that same direction. These people were obviously not following the Lord but the world.

Why were they not more innovative and creative? It was largely because they were being told by the industry what was acceptable. They had also been raised in such a way that they took their cue from church leadership instead of reaching a place of maturity to think on their own. Whether they were naturally innovative or not, they could never be innovative because they were trained to be the opposite.

This is why the Lord was so against the Pharisees: They had made everything illegal except what they allowed, and everything they allowed was what kept them in power.

Sound familiar?

The coming presidential election in America is completely and absolutely unprecedented. This has never happened before in American history. So don’t be fooled. This is not about the usual.

It is NOT about Republican/Democrat.

It is NOT about Liberal/Conservative.

It is NOT about the usual opposites playing against one another. This game was started by those in power long ago to keep Americans fighting among themselves and against one another instead of fighting against the evil elite in power. It is why the evil elite have been so successful in gaining power and wealth and keeping power and wealth, and why Americans in general have surrendered and gone to sleep.

But a few refused to keep sleeping and have managed over the last few decades to begin waking others up. As a result many ARE waking up and are beginning to see the real battle and the one driving the battle against them. People are seeing that the establishment is not only corrupt but can be defeated.

Americans are finally beginning to see the devil.

Satan is being exposed.

THE WHITEWASH IS COMING OFF

No, this election is not about the usual Divide and Conquer strategy. The paradigm has changed completely. This coming election is just another sign of what is really going on in America. It is a symptom of the Great Awakening. Therefore, the 2016 Presidential Election is only about one thing:

THE PEOPLE vs. THE ESTABLISHMENT

This exact phenomenon happened in the first century. The Lord Jesus was not pro-Pharisee. He was not pro-Sadducee. He was not pro-Herodian. He was not pro-Zealot. He was not even pro-Essene.

HE WAS PRO-KINGDOM OF GOD! And His kingdom is all about love and freedom. It is about liberty. It is about salvation. It is about getting out of spiritual prisons. It is about human beings being released from the debilitating effects of sin and spiritual slavery. It is about having a powerful King who is also a loving Father, instead of being ruled by evil people who are sold out to the devil.

Keep in mind that the Lord is never restricted by humans. He will even use humans that look completely unacceptable. What else is He going to do? Who wants to step up first and say, “Hey! Use me because I am most acceptable and perfect!”?

The reality is such that such people have been claiming this for centuries, yet they are nothing but whitewashed tombs. The people the Lord actually works through know what they are, have accepted their humble status, and are humble to the core. They NEVER seek the glory due only to the Lord, but they will certainly step into the spotlight if the Lord directs them to.

The Lord was in the spotlight. Peter was. Paul was. All the apostles were. The 120 on the Day of Pentecost were. But they were not in the spotlight because they chose it or thought they were worthy of it. They were in the spotlight because the Lord Jesus put them in it. They didn’t want it but willingly complied. This is in part what made them worthy of it.

THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST

It is about being a Servant. The Pharisees and many Christian leaders of today are not servants at all but spotlight-seekers. It is no different in Washington D.C. There may be a few who are for real but the majority are sellouts. They have sold their souls to the devil for money and power. Americans are sick and tired of it. But they have been sick and tired of it forever.

That’s why what is transpiring now in politics is an extension of sorts of the spiritual Great Awakening. Real Christians in America are also sick and tired of Christian Pharisees and Christian Sudducees and Christian Herodians and Christian Zealots and Christian Essenes in power running many churches and ministries. It is an obvious sign that as these Christian pretenders have gained so much power and most of the leadership positions that the country has sunk deeper into oblivion with no apparent cure.

Now, there has always been a Christian witness. There have always been good things getting done. There have always been people being born into the kingdom and doing good work for the Lord. But if we relate our current times to those of the first century, we see many parallels. We see a nation that had become the most corrupt in its history. And we also see a movement that began toward light but in great need of a Leader right when the Leader showed up! The few people who wanted light and salvation recognized Him. A huge unprecedented spiritual movement began in that nation long ago that had NEVER happened before. A few saw it coming right before the Lord Jesus arrived and tried to step into His place but they each came to nothing.

The movement was all about The People vs. The Establishment because almost everyone in power of any kind had become corrupted and they were spreading the corruption to all the people. The Lord Jesus was driving the movement then just as He is now. That He must use human beings is a simple necessity. The apostle Paul was being used in a very powerful way but the man kept talking about his shortcomings and fallibility. His humanness did not disallow his use. God can and will use anybody if their heart is right.

It is time for all real Christians to wake up and get with the Lord’s program. We live in an unprecedented time. No one must be revered above the Lord Jesus or it will stop the flow of His Spirit and direction. But everyone, not just an elite few, must know they are worthy because He has made us worthy. Each of us can be used and must be used. Our forebears of long ago were used mightily and destroyed dinosaurs. So will we:

“Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” [Luke 8:8] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

PROPHETIC WORDS FROM LAST NOVEMBER AND THE FIRST REPUBLICAN DEBATE (8/6/15)

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Tags: America, Brexit, Christianity, Jesus, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Trump, Washington DC, We the People

SHOUT TO THE LORD

Jun 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

If you claim to be a Christian and your voice is not being heard, the odds are good that your words have been censored. Your voice has been silenced. Your speech has been imprisoned.

The first thing the Lord Jesus does with new disciples is free their speech. He encourages people to talk. He did this in His ministry.

In fact, He chose the freeing of voices as the principal sign of Pentecost.

Whenever you read a passage in the Gospels about the Lord healing a mute person, it is a sign for all—a Miracle Parable—that reveals His intention to free the voices of His people. The mute people in the Gospels were not only real people in real time, they were also parabolic types of muted people throughout time—those whose voices have been shut down—those whose speaking has been disallowed.

Now that you know this, look at the real meaning in the following:

They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him.

Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” [Mark 7:32-37]

YOU ARE WORTHY

First Amendment rights do not apply in many churches. If one’s mode of Christian congregating disallows for communication and spiritual edification through the use of EVERYONE’S voice, then that mode contains a serious flaw. It is a flaw that results in spiritual problems for the congregation as a whole, because it silences whoever has the anointing of God to speak and be heard but cannot, due only to man-made religious conventions that oppose the will of God.

It is no secret that the majority of Christian congregation methods disallow anyone from talking except the chosen few—the very few chosen few. We all know this is true. Christians have been conditioned to keep silent in the churches.

Yet the Lord Jesus says:

“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” [Matthew 10:27]

(“Just don’t say it in church, okay?”)

One of the reasons Christian blogs have exploded on the internet within the last five or ten years is because many if not most of these Christians had nowhere else to speak. Most were never allowed to speak in church or even in Bible studies. Our entire framework of Christian meetings and congregational gatherings has only ever allowed for the voice of the one percent, which results in religious control rather than free expression, and the consequent dumbing-down of the great majority.

The greatest evil, however, perpetrated by those who buy into this anti-God system that silences the voices of 99% of all Christians, is making them feel completely unworthy, and thus unworthy of speaking.

SUPERFLUOUS STAGE PLAYERS

The Lord jumped all over the Pharisees’ case and kept telling them they were nothing but a bunch of evil actors (hypocrites) pretending to be something they were not who gained and kept control over the masses of people by transforming everything into a stage play with themselves as the only participants, and certainly as the only ones with speaking parts.

So what do many later Christians do? And what do the Christian elite of the present do? They transform everything into a stage play with themselves as the only primary participants, and certainly as the only ones with speaking parts.

In fact, if one were to remove the stages, platforms, and dual-class seating arrangements which always separate the chosen few occupying their positions of control from everyone else, making real fellowship impossible by forcing the 99 out of 100 to focus on the backs of everyone’s head instead of their faces, there would be little “Christianity” left in America. Almost everyone has been conditioned over long decades and even centuries to adopt these strange formats which were never used as fellowship formats by the Lord Jesus or the early community of believers.

EVERYONE PARTICIPATES

Yes, whenever the Lord spoke to large numbers of people, all were focused on Him. But whenever He taught His disciples, He sat down among them in a rough circle using an open and organic format, so they could all see one another as well. This format greatly aids in the development of koinonia in which each person is allowed to contribute and thus develop spiritually as a real disciple. Using one’s voice allows one to mature.

Thus, what they had was dynamic. Everyone was part of the process. Everyone had a voice and was allowed to use it. Real Christianity thus exploded fast and the Gospel traveled fast and MILLIONS ended up in the kingdom of the Lord relatively fast. It happened that way because everyone was being used of God instead of the mere “chosen few” who demand control and their own authority much more than the spiritual interactivity arising from koinonia.

Those real Christians were allowed to use everything they had for the Lord, especially their voice.

So there’s your clue: If you are not allowed to speak in your Christian meeting, it is most likely not the Lord Jesus holding you back. He wants you involved. Your input is needed. Nothing can replace your voice.

COME ALIVE: THIS IS THE JESUS GENERATION

From this we know it is not the enemy from without that is holding back the Great Awakening, since the Lord has given His people power over such enemies. The real enemy is much closer to home. The real enemy is the power vested in compromised Christian leaders and all those who support them in forcing their own personal agendas in part through silencing the voices of millions of believers, and making them what is essentially a quiet collective supporting without question those in control, and rendering all potential Pentecosts absolutely impossible.

IT IS OFTEN THE PEOPLE CONTROLLING THE STAGE, PULPITS, SPOTLIGHTS, MICROPHONES, AND TV CAMERAS WHO DISALLOW THE VOICES OF EVERYONE ELSE.

It is obvious they consider themselves as the only ones worthy and everyone else as unworthy.

“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” [John 7:18] [1]

In order to be the Lord’s celebrity one must be an anti-celebrity.

This is why the Lord often has to do something outside the scope of ultra-organized religion to get anything done. It is why John the Immerser stayed out in the wilderness. It is the only way to overcome the control of the religious leaders with only their own interests and enterprises at heart and not the Lord’s or those of the majority of the people. Whenever such controllers are in authority it inevitably shuts everyone else out, other than, of course, their hand-picked, sold-out, “safe” ones who only speak what they are allowed to speak. Indeed, that which is allowed by them to be spoken is often not of the Holy Spirit, which proves further the deadness of most church services and why the Lord Jesus is not in charge.

Before they silenced the majority’s voice, they silenced His voice.

So again, the Lord’s model for His lively, spiritually-healthy, vibrant, organic Community and also for Great Awakenings involves first the opening of deaf ears and the removing of tongue impediments so that every single one of His people can “begin speaking plainly” as did the mute man, and “speaking the mighty deeds of God,” as did all of those in the Upper Room.

And since all Great Awakenings begin with Great Repentance, one of the first things everyone must do is repent for allowing their great power of speech to be silenced and not made available for the Lord’s use.

SHOUT TO THE LORD

Real Christianity involves ALL of His children and ALL of their voices.

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: “BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” [Luke 19:37-40]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Christianity, Freedom of Speech, Jesus, Lord Jesus, Pentecost, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Shout To The Lord, Speech, The Great Awakening, The Voice of God

CHANGES OF A LIFETIME

Jun 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

The world is going to hell. And even though any Biblically-literate Christian knows this, based on any number of many prophecies and references in the Holy Word of God, there is still a giant disconnect in actual application to our present.

We say it. We hear it. We read it. But it sounds so strange when somebody actually MEANS it. It sounds scary as Hades when we actually hook up the wires and smell the ozone and see the flash and it all hits us at once.

THE LORD MEANS IT. HE IS SERIOUS. THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING.

It is no dream, but a nightmare, one of yooge proportions.

The world is going to hell.

In my lifetime I have seen the greatest changes in the moral sphere that America has ever seen. I used to think about my grandfather who was in his late teens when the Wright Brothers took off and left the earth for a few seconds on a windswept beach, having put their bicycle-building and repairing expertise toward flying in the sky instead of riding streets. Their impossible act led to a jet engine a few decades later which my grandfather saw at about fifty, and then, in his mid-eighties he actually saw men go to the moon. In one lifetime my grandfather, a range-rider and cowboy, saw all of this.

And what have I seen? I have seen a time when there used to be loving moral families with fathers and mothers and children who took care of one another and stayed together and loved first and sacrificed and had happy times though not much money because they understood love and respected it and were blessed. And now innocent little children are being taught that there is no such thing as mommies or daddies or boys or girls and there are no gender standards whatsoever and the only thing this will do is further screw everyone up to the point that confusion reaches an apex of undefinable proportions. “What am I?” “That’s for you to decide.” “But I don’t know!” “That’s your problem.”

The world is going to hell. Because it keeps listening to so-called experts who specialize in channeling the devil and all the devil wants to do is the opposite of the Lord, and the Lord is GOOD and HOLY and PURE and GREAT and LOVING and KIND and PERFECT and all He wants for us is the best. But we live in a world going to hell…

People of the present think things have just recently taken a turn for the worse but our own Supreme Court went totally reprobate OVER 43 YEARS AGO.

In 1971 the blues rock band Ten Years After had a song called “I’d Love To Change the World.” I can guarantee you they weren’t conservative Republicans or church-goers. The opening lyrics to the song said it all:

Everywhere is freaks and hairies

Dykes and fairies

Tell me where is sanity…

I’d love to change the world

But I don’t know what to do

So I’ll leave it up to you… [1]

The world had certainly gone nuts by that time which means the world in our time has gone stark raving mad. And the inmates running the asylum are convinced of their own morality which is the actual opposite of real morality and with every new wave of unbelievable demonic dogma foisted upon us there is heard the distant strains of ancient words echoing forth to those who still have ears to hear:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink,

Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust;

For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. [Isaiah 5:20-24]

WHY DID GOD SEND PROPHETS? What else could He do when both the civil AND religious authorities joined up with the devil? What else could He do when He could find so few to stand up for Truth and Love and the Lord’s Holy Way?

The prophets knew their ultimate fates and their deaths proved exactly what they were speaking out about—that the authorities who used to be good a lifetime ago have now gone bad and have sold themselves out like cheap prostitutes to the highest bidder.

The only chance left is the same chance there always was, though He used to be honored much more than today.

My grandfather grew up with horses and buckboards and lived to see a moonshot in a single lifetime.

I, on the other hand, have lived to see the world shot.

But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. [2 Timothy 3:13]

My advice is stand with the Lord Jesus. Be bold. Preach the Word. Fight the good fight of faith. Be a light in the darkness. Answer hate with love. Don’t back down.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. [Ephesians 6:10] [1]

The Lord’s kingdom is forever.

But the world is going to hell.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Biblical Prophecy, Heaven and Hell, Immoral, Isaiah, Jesus, Lord Jesus, Moral, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, You're Going To Hell!

WHERE IS THE LOVE? Identifying Christian Pharisees

May 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:34-35]

How does one identify a real Christian Pharisee? Like their spiritual forebears of the first century, a Christian Pharisee is initially known primarily by one thing. And this one thing is both an indicator of such a person’s heart, as it is at the core of his or her being, but is also on the immediate surface, and often boils forward to said surface in a rapid flash which defies any possibility of impulse control.

The first indicator of a real Christian Pharisee is therefore no secret whatsoever in that it reveals itself without restraint in all its unchecked fleshly power as it rises quickly for the kill in response to any perceived sleight or lack of absolute respect demanded by such a one for otherwise arbitrary reasons.

Here it is: CHRISTIAN PHARISEES ARE EXTREMELY AND VERY EASILY OFFENDED AND ARE WILLING TO FIGHT ANYONE ANYTIME ANYWHERE AT THE DROP OF A HAT TO PROTECT AND HONOR THEMSELVES AND THE BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS THEY HAVE BOUGHT INTO AND SOLD OUT TO WITH NO REGARD WHATSOEVER FOR THE GOLDEN RULE OR HONORING THE LORD JESUS.

They refuse to engage in any rational dialogue in the sense of arriving at greater truth because they believe they already possess all truth. They refuse and deflect any form of possible persecution by always beating the other person to said persecution and thus becoming the epitome of the persecutor. Their method is one of insistence that they are right, have always been right, and will always be right, and insist that anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe can just as soon go straight to hell.

They believe with all their hearts that they have captured and possess the very top of the pyramid, that they are superior to all, and that all others must comply with their religion or belief system and every part of it, both in dogma and practice, or be remanded to a state of total rejection.

They then project this attitude upon the “god” of their choosing and insist that “god”, their god, is absolutely on their side and only on their side and is also against the same people they are against. They will go to any lengths to destroy anyone who even slightly touches their massive sacred cows and golden calves as if simple murder is nowhere close to being good enough and doesn’t do proper justice to the immense offense perpetrated upon them.

This very thing happened to the real God, the only God, the God of all Creation, when He showed up here as one of us, as a human being, to save us and set us free. Of course, they couldn’t touch Him until He willingly laid down His life on our behalf. Once He made Himself vulnerable, however, His enemies wasted no time in inflicting upon Him the very worst they could offer and if they had the opportunity they would have tortured Him and murdered Him many times over.

It’s right there in your Gospels. It’s all over the New Testament. It’s infused throughout Christian history. It is why the real saints of the Lord always took it on the chin while doing the real work of the Lord and teaching the real Gospel. The incredible and completely unjustified persecution against them identified them as real disciples who acted out of love and for the truth, and it also perfectly identified the haters who would always rather gossip, slander, libel, and defame, and even murder, maim, destroy, and generally go stark raving nuts in defense of their evil hearts and ungodly agendas.

“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” [Matthew 23:33] [1]

LOVE IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails… [1Corinthians 13:4-8]

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. [Romans 13:8-10]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Apostle Paul, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Love, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, Unreal Christianity

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE: The Fig Tree (Part 5)

May 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE FIG TREE

On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. [Mark 11:12-14]

Why did the Lord curse the fig tree? The narrative said it was not the season for figs.

Actually, a fig tree produced fruit three times a year. In about April, which was the time the Lord saw the tree in question, every healthy fig tree would bear what are known as “early figs,” also known as “unripe” or “untimely” figs. These immature figs were very small, were edible, though certainly not comparable to the full fruit which would come later, and most fell to the ground with the wind. They appeared as the first leaves appeared on the tree.

In about June, the first mature figs appeared, the first actual crop, and were said to grow out of the “old wood,” or the shoots from the prior year.

In August or so, the final crop of figs came forth, from the “new wood,” or new shoots of the present year.

From this we know that if a tree will be fruitful and not barren, it will send forth fruit roughly at the same time, or very shortly thereafter, as it sends forth its first leaves, though the first fruit is a far cry from what will come later. The Lord Jesus knew, therefore, that because the tree He came upon already had leaves but no “early figs,” it would never produce any figs.

Keep in mind also that He was hungry, that He saw the tree “at a distance,” that He had to put time and effort into reaching it, and that He expected to find food. This is obviously indicative of His long journey to visit and rescue His beloved people.

ISRAEL

As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.”

And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.” [Mark 11:20-23] [1]

Mountains are associated with spiritual high places, places of great power. The little that was left of the Jewish nation in the first century had long since been subverted by a political association between the religious leaders and Rome. This was especially true of the Sadducees who had no belief in spiritual things whatsoever, not even the resurrection. It was also true of Annas and Caiphas, the High Priest. They were living only for this world, had achieved great wealth and power, and had joined “the mountain,” represented by the great earthly power of the Roman Empire.

The fig tree was representative of the Israel of that time, which made an outward show of national legitimacy and religiosity, but was actually fruitless and spiritually barren. It is the same today.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

FURTHER PROOF:

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (Part 1)

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (Part 2)

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (Part 3)

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Deception, Figs, Hidden Agenda, Israel, Jerusalem, Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Roman Empire

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (Part 4)

May 12

Posted by RJ Dawson

Tonight at sunset marks the beginning of Iyyar 5 on the Hebrew calendar. It was on this date in 1948 that the modern state of Israel was created. Iyyar 5 corresponded then to May 14 on the Gregorian calendar.

The modern state of Israel was created by non-believers—among the movers and shakers was not a single believer in the Lord Jesus. In fact, many were atheists, including the first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who was also a lifelong Communist/Marxist/Socialist and admirer of Lenin.

Among unbelieving Jews, no actual descendent of Abraham is historically more rejected, hated, or despised than the Lord Jesus, who continues to be viewed as a false Messiah and evil interloper.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. [John 1:10-11]

Abraham was the first to be called a Hebrew. The Hebrews descended from Abraham. Abraham had descended from Shem, one of the three sons of Noah. Noah had descended from Adam.

The Lord Jesus—YeHoshua HaMashiach—descended from Adam, through Noah, through Noah’s son Shem, through Abraham, through Abraham’s son Isaac, through Isaac’s son Jacob, and through Jacob’s son Judah. He also descended through King David. Hence, the “Son of David” is the rightful and final heir to the throne—the King of kings and Lord of lords:

These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” [Revelation 17:14]

Here we see that the CHOSEN PEOPLE are those who are with the Lord Jesus.

In fact, the New Testament refers to REAL CHRISTIANS as the CHOSEN PEOPLE at least 16 times.

Therefore, in order to qualify as one of the chosen people, one must be CALLED BY, CHOSEN OF, and FAITHFUL TO the Lord Jesus.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” [Matthew 22:14]

Those who are called and chosen by the Lord Jesus MUST ALSO BE FAITHFUL to the Lord Jesus or there is no covenant with Him.

The Kingdom of the Lord Jesus is His Kingdom. There is no other. He is the only King. It is His community. His community is comprised of all those who are chosen by Him. He is the only one who chooses the members. Anyone can apply for membership, but applying for membership in no way proves chosen status. One must not only apply, one must be chosen. And the Lord Jesus is the only one who does the calling and choosing.

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.” [John 15:16-17]

This is what the members of His real community look like:

Regarding these real chosen people of the Lord’s community, one cannot be faithful to the Lord Jesus or one another without loving one another. The faithfulness to and love of the Lord Jesus is that which creates an ongoing covenant with Him. Loving one another in the Lord’s community is that which creates an ongoing covenant with one another.

Therefore, it is impossible to be a member of the CHOSEN PEOPLE if one rejects and refuses to honor the Lord Jesus as Messiah, Lord, King, and “God with us.”

Without acknowledging the Lord Jesus as God, there is no possible covenant with Him:

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. [1John 2:22-23]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

FURTHER PROOF:

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (Part 1)

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (Part 2)

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (Part 3)

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Abraham, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Israel, Lord Jesus, Messiah, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Father, The Son, Yehoshua HaMashiach

Happy Fifth Birthday, Real Christianity!

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

I created this site five years ago in anticipation of the Great Awakening in America. The Lord Jesus revealed to me a few decades ago what the future of America would be, but much more than that, what the future of American Christianity would be.

Although there have been many people who received similar reports, there have been relatively few who have received reports from the Lord concerning the changing nature of Christianity in America, how it happened, how it would continue to happen, what to prepare for, and how to get back to the original—Real Christianity.

There was so much information coming in. I had been telling people for years just exactly what I was seeing but most paid little attention. I had always been curious, since my incredible born-again experience, why so few Christians cared so little about spiritual reality and actual New Testament truth. I saw that most Christians were on a closed-minded routine track and were well-conditioned to reject anything that didn’t line up with their chosen beliefs and church practices.

It was no different in the first century.

I reached a point in which I had to start recording all that the Lord was showing me. I am not claiming to be anything more than what I am, but I discovered long ago that the Lord blessed me with the ability to see things. Right after I was born again I had an insatiable desire to read the Word of God and could not read fast enough. I even spent my lunch hours at work reading the Word. I worked very hard, but for little pay, and couldn’t afford much. I lived in small apartments. I had no television. There was no internet.

I was given a small paperback Bible by a friend who had also been gloriously saved a few months before. Later, with my hard-earned cash, I bought a new Thompson Chain Reference Bible and a Strong’s exhaustive concordance. A friend gave me a large paperback, the complete works of Josephus, for Christmas. I was on my way.

As the years passed I began spending all my free time reading and doing in-depth research. I had my job in which I earned money, but I also had my real job, my vocation, that which drove me and motivated me. It was what the Lord called me to do.

It was my desire to be a preacher, as that was the only possible ministry choice back then. I preached some, taught Bible studies, and did a ton of witnessing. I had yet to understand that the great majority of the Lord’s ministers are not the one’s in pulpits, however. I didn’t realize that my desire to be a minister had already been achieved, but because I was not an official minister, I was not respected as one, even among my own friends. That was a hard lesson to learn.

I never stopped. I have been loyal to the Lord all these years.

As I said, the time came when I was receiving so much information from the Lord Jesus, including by revelation, which can only be received directly and not through reading or study, and had gained so much knowledge, that I had to do something with it.

I told a very good friend one day, “Someday I’m going to write a book and call it Real Christianity.” Well, for those of you who have not written a book, I can tell you that it is very hard work, especially the kind of book I would write. Everything had to be footnoted and supported with facts. Everything had to line up with the Word of God. It was, however, a true labor of love.

I eventually achieved the dream. The book was no small read and contained about 330 pages. It was extremely well-written and documented. I expected big things, that I would get the word out. But to my great disillusionment, my book was not received. In fact, it was largely rejected.

Now, I knew this was only because of one reason. It was the same reason that so much of what I had shared in the past was not received. People just could not see what I could see. I was almost always ahead of the curve and most of the time WAY ahead of the curve. I spent so much time and effort working toward the gaining of truth, at my own expense, that I left most people behind. I did have some friends, of course, who also saw some of what I saw, and we were accountable to one another. I knew what I had was real. Nevertheless, I continued to attempt to gain official legitimacy for my work. I was never afraid of anyone on the planet challenging me on what I learned. That was not the problem.

The problem was trying to get other Christians to get it, to see it, to want it, to get engaged, to wake up, to break out of dead traditional molds, and to have a real love for the real truth.

When I completed the book, before it was printed, I made a very handsome copy and presented it to my church. I had been a faithful, tithe-giving, official member of this church for almost six years. I had a great reputation. I got along great with the pastor and elders. One of the elders was assigned to look over the book and get back to me. I had been believing all along that this would help birth me into ministry, at long last. I had proven to be a faithful servant on all accounts. We were giving large amounts of money to the Lord through the church. And I was doing so much work regarding writing and research in addition to my job…

They rejected it. The elder assigned to read it suddenly turned on me. The news spread fast. In a short time, after all my faith, hope, and very hard work, I was suddenly trashed and rejected. This man destroyed the Golden Rule. I found out yet again, even in doing things so well and in establishing an extremely good record over many years that Christians will turn on you in a heartbeat. This man, an otherwise very good guy, was no Berean. It is the same with many Christians. In case you’re wondering, the spiritual dynamic of which I speak works this way:

The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.

But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. [Acts 17:10-13] [1]

The Lord had me stay in that church for almost another year. I remained a good guy. But it was obvious that the leadership had changed their tone toward me. I kept tithing (large amounts). I stayed faithful. They grew more and more distant. I kept thinking, “If only you would read this book with an open heart toward God with a good attitude. If only you would be noble-minded and eager for truth…”

But they refused. The time came, after the Lord gave them much time and opportunity, again, almost a year, that the Lord told me it was time to leave. I heard this very clearly. I left on the best terms possible but because I had become relatively invisible due to their rejection and cold-heartedness, it was a quiet exit.

That was many years ago, of course. Since I started this site I have discovered that many of you have had similar experiences if not the exact one. I have received an absolute ton of support here, but lately, that support is waning. This is why:

I keep putting more and more very deep and solid Biblical truths on this site and it causes a falling away simply because of the same dynamic above. Yet, this is what the Lord called me to do. Because I have worked so hard over the years, have done so much research, have prayed, fasted, attended a million church services, and have written extensively, I have gained the fruit of my labors. I have received much insight, revelation, and knowledge. I have put it all to the test, and have also been thoroughly tested. I have seen the future.

But when I show the future, it looks very different from the present and is usually rejected. There have been umpteen times when what I present is rejected, but when someone else presents exactly the same thing it is accepted. Many people finally see what I see years later, and accept it, but they curiously continue to give me no credit. (This is a completely different spiritual dynamic!) The main thing, of course, is that the Lord Jesus gets ALL the credit. Suffice it to say that all real Christians, however, will be able to relate to His sufferings. Just give it time.

For those of you who are still with me and support me, I have a request. I could use your help. I have made my book extremely easy to buy. It is available in E-Book format for about $10. The print book is available for a little more. Just click the icons on this site. It is how you can help me financially.

I never ask for money. I do not take donations. I never have, except on extremely rare occasions. I work for a living. The oil field, in which I had been working, is pretty much dried up. Many people are hurting and are without jobs. I have returned to construction, but a past injury has recently flared up and makes it a tad bit of a challenge, although I have been working through it and will continue. I also mow yards.

If this causes you to lose respect for me there is nothing I can do about that. I remain a genuine minister of the Gospel. It is my calling and is why I’m on the planet. Most genuine ministers operate the same way. I continue to write and post as I am able. The Lord is GOOD and He sustains me. I am blessed.

The time will come when all real Christians will be in heaven but for right now there is much work to be done! I work to earn money not just for survival but primarily to support the ministry the Lord has called me to do. I am the only one supporting it financially. Thanks to all of you who read and who have bought the book. I appreciate it. I request your prayers. If anyone may have a clue regarding how I can do a better job of getting the word out and honoring the Lord Jesus, please let me know. All of us have our own individual challenges but I know the Lord will see us through.

May each of you, my dear readers, be blessed super abundantly and grow ever-closer to the Lord Jesus. He did it all for you. Thank you for the last five years.

Onward.

PLEASE NOTE:

You can locate every article prior to this year through the above Article Archives tab, organized both by category and calendar year.

There is also the Reader Favorites tab right next to it listing links to the 30 most popular articles.

On the top left is the Author/Book tab which gives a brief description of the book this blog is named after, as well as many comments.

All 2016 posts are in the Latest Articles—Feed Your Spirit column to the left (scroll up/down).

If you’re interested in gaining some perspective regarding the last five years, I’ve included links to each prior anniversary, as follows:

Happy First Birthday, Real Christianity (5/10/12)

Happy Second Birthday, Real Christianity (5/10/13)

Real Christianity: Three and Free (5/10/14)

Happy Fourth Birthday, Real Christianity! (5/10/15)

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: America, Christianity, Disciples, Faith, Gospel, Great Awakening, Lord Jesus, Love, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Truth

FIFTH COLUMN CHRISTIANS: How the devil Created Unreal Christianity

May 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

“FIFTH COLUMN”: Clandestine group or faction of subversive agents who attempt to undermine a nation’s solidarity by any means at their disposal.

“A cardinal technique of the fifth column is the infiltration of sympathizers into the entire fabric of the nation under attack and, particularly, into positions of policy decision and national defense. From such key posts, fifth-column activists exploit the fears of a people by spreading rumours and misinformation, as well as by employing the more standard techniques of espionage and sabotage.” [1]

THE JERK WHO STARTED IT ALL

The devil is the original jerk.

A jerk, in this sense, with a wide inclusion of corresponding names and titles denoting derivative evil and subversive activities, is someone driven to do all in his or her power to mess up a good thing.

The Garden, east of Eden, built by the Lord God, was absolutely perfect.

Adam, the first human, created by the Lord God, was also absolutely perfect.

And Eve, wonderful Eve, the first woman, also created by the Lord God, was not only absolutely perfect but the crown of creation. With all due respect to Adam, there was no possible better created being than Eve. After the Lord God made her He was done. He saved His best for last.

But of course, the devil had to come along and screw it all up. (The devil is such a rotten little reprobate.) He lives to destroy, to rottenize everything he touches, and to do all is his power to transform the perfectly moral and beautiful into gross immorality and ugliness.

The sad thing about this idiot is that he possesses such a powerful ability to lie and cheat and deceive that EVERYBODY ends up listening to all his sorry tripe and most obey him their entire lives with no recourse or ability to stop.

THE ONLY CURE:

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. [John 1:11-13]

THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

Adam listened and at first he told the devil to bug off. Adam remained loyal to the Lord God.

Eve listened and at first she fought him. She quoted the Word of God. But the devil kept on in his sly and slimy manner and started making sense to her. Adam was nowhere around. The devil isolated her and caught her on her own. She had never been taught directly by the Lord God but by Adam. Thus, the devil simply attacked her husband’s credibility in order to attack the credibility of the Lord God.

Interestingly enough, Eve began to listen:

“Maybe Adam got it wrong…”

“How do I really know that Adam learned everything he taught me from the Lord God?”

“Maybe this alternative picture the devil is painting in the real reality…”

The devil encouraged her to use her human eyes, her human understanding, and her human imagination. The forbidden fruit suddenly looked good to her, both to her eyes as a thing of beauty and also for food. She also fell for the lie that eating the fruit would make her wise and that she would replace the Lord God. She would be equal to the Lord God. SHE would be the Lord God.

The original fifth columnist gained his first convert.

ADAM’S EVENTUAL FAILURE

What the hell happened to Adam? Why did he no longer resist sin and temptation?

He had successfully defeated the pukey little devil on every other occasion. He was never fooled by his lies before. His education by the Lord God in spiritual things had been perfect.

Why did he not resist his wife’s manipulation?

If you can answer this question you will know how Christianity in general has been almost completely subverted and transformed into something completely different from the original, WHICH IS PERFECT.

The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” [Genesis 3:12] [2]

And with that the devil made his second convert.

Since that time the devil has managed to create many more converts. There are more unreal Christians on the planet than real ones. The faux bros have listened to the devil’s suggestions and eaten the forbidden fruit.

Unreal Christians have never undergone required heart circumcision as per the Lord’s commands, but have certainly succumbed to backbone removal.

Could it be because many of the people you see in pulpits are nothing but undercover Christian Fifth Columnists blinded by the devil and won over to his cause?

It certainly appears that they and their congregations have all fallen into their respective pits.

“FIFTH COLUMN:” Clandestine group or faction of subversive agents who attempt to undermine a nation’s (Christian group’s) solidarity by any means at their disposal.

“A cardinal technique of the fifth column is the infiltration of sympathizers into the entire fabric of the nation (Christian group) under attack and, particularly, into positions of policy decision and national (Christian group) defense. From such key posts, fifth-column activists exploit the fears of a people by spreading rumours and misinformation (false doctrines and teachings), as well as by employing the more standard techniques of espionage and sabotage (lies and deception).” [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

DEFEATING THE RULER OF THIS WORLD: Christian Heroes and Villains

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Tags: Deception, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, One World Religion, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, The Presence of the devil, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Unreal Christianity

DEFEATING THE RULER OF THIS WORLD: Christian Heroes and Villains

Apr 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

**We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. [1John 5:19]**

WARNING

The apostle John said the entire world lies in wickedness and is under the power and authority of the devil. Because I would think that “professing Christians” are not anti-John, I would think that “professing Christians” would agree with him.

But most do not. This falls under the heading the Lord referenced when He said that some people honor Him with their lips but actually refuse to obey Him. Unless one is under a deceptive trance, most likely a trance of the religious variety, one must agree that one of the main problems the Lord has is convincing “professing Christians” to actually obey Him.

REJECTING TRUTH IS A SIN!

On the other hand, if a “professing Christian” is otherwise under a deceptive trance, he simply cannot obey Him because he does not have “eyes to see” or “ears to hear.” And this is obviously why most of that which is perceived as “Christianity” is not the real thing. It simply can’t be the real thing, (1) Because it looks nothing like the Lord’s original, and (2) Because no one within it actually obeys Him.

This is what churches should look like:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” [John 14:12]

Therefore, the problem is not that the Lord cannot get His own people to obey Him, it is that most of those who refer to themselves as Christians are not really Christians. How can they be if they do not obey the Lord? They are certainly not doing the works that He did.

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” [Luke 6:46]

Of course, the Lord said they can’t obey, or actually do not obey by their own choice, because they only act on what they know, which means they simply cannot “see.” How can anyone act on what they do not see?

THE BIGGER PROBLEM

So it appears that the bigger problem, the problem for unreal Christians that is bigger than their rebellion, disobedience, living in sin, or insisting on believing things the Lord never taught, is the problem of perception—they are spiritually blind.

Now, this is not said to cause offense, but is a simple statement of fact.

One wonders how Christians can read the Gospel accounts and not see that the Lord continually made statements about the spiritual blindness of His own people. These statements have obviously not had the intended impact upon Christians in general. Most Christians must think that yes, the great majority of the Hebrew people, from the late Patriarchal Age until the first century AD, could certainly be spiritually blind, deaf, deceived, and compromised by sin, but certainly not us.

The facts, of course, are not that the Lord said His own people were especially more prone to rebellion against Him and thus to spiritual blindness than others, but that ALL people the world over are prone to rebellion against Him and thus to spiritual blindness.

In other words, it’s not a Jewish problem, it’s a human problem.

THE RULER OF THIS WORLD

This takes us back to the very powerful statement that John made about who really runs this world and how the power of this evil entity has essentially blinded the entire world to the Truth:

We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. [1John 5:19]

From the very clear perspective of the early first-century Community of the Lord Jesus, they saw themselves as us against the world, especially since this perspective was confirmed by none other than John. The early Christians—the real Christians—knew that there were only two master kingdoms on the planet: The righteous Kingdom of the Lord Jesus and the evil kingdom of the devil, the god of this world.

The apostle Paul confirmed this truth—the fact that the devil runs the entire world and everyone other than real Christians support the devil, most completely unaware—and Paul completely agreed with John’s statement by writing the following:

The Lord Jesus also referred to the devil as the ruler of this world. The devil was ruling the world at the time of the Lord’s temptation. But the Lord, when speaking of His coming crucifixion, said this:

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” [John 12:31]

What He meant by this is that the devil would be defeated at the cross and all the devil’s garbage would, at the crucifixion, begin to be cleaned out of the world. Therefore the real Gospel has two main objectives while this cleaning out process proceeds:

(1) The salvation of souls—rescuing people from the devil’s kingdom, his control, and the power of sin—and transferring them to the Lord’s Kingdom.

(2) Taking authority back from the devil for the Lord Jesus, the only real King, through the power of His Name.

Paul said the Gospel is veiled to those who are perishing because the devil has blinded their minds. Now think about that. How is it possible that one cannot see the BRIGHTEST LIGHT in the entire Universe? It can only be due to spiritual blindness of the worst kind.

A VERY THICK GARMENT

The word “veiled” in the above passage is from the Greek word kalupto. This word appears 8 times in the entire New Testament. It appears 4 times in the Gospels. It is translated as (1) cover, (2) covers, (3) covered, (4) concealed, and (5) veiled.

Based on these definitions, the veil or covering that causes the blindness must be very, very thick, as the ultimate blackout curtain. The real Gospel (there’s only one) is hidden to everyone not in the Kingdom due to a very thick covering. What is this covering?

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” [John 9:39-41] [1]

In this passage the pure teachings of the Lord Jesus also perfectly agree with the two passages written by John and Paul, especially, of course, since He’s the one who taught John and Paul. The Lord also paints a picture of only two kinds of people in the world:

First of all, before seeing “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,” EVERYONE is blind. EVERYONE. But the Lord said He came so that some will be healed of their spiritual blindness, “that those who do not see may see.” These are people who will readily accept the Good News and will repent of their sins, since it is their sin which causes their spiritual blindness.

The other kind of people in the world comprises those who will never be healed of their spiritual blindness simply because they refuse to admit they have any sin. They reject the only cure. They insist they are righteous without the real Gospel. Their “no Gospel” righteousness, in the eyes of God, however, is characterized by the following:

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. [Isaiah 64:6]

If you want to gain more insight regarding this spiritual phenomenon, you can read the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John, from which I quoted earlier. It is a perfect allegory created by the Lord in the three dimensional world with an actual blind man who was made to see. The Lord Jesus was teaching a lesson, and for those who can see, He taught it perfectly. He showed how we can be healed of our spiritual blindness by having our sin removed.

Our sin is exactly as a filthy garment that covers our spiritual eyes.

Now perhaps you can see how the devil has blinded the entire world, and how there is only one cure for this blindness. In the same way he tempted the Lord in the effort to get Him to sin, without success of course, he tempts us.

He knows that if he can get us to sin he can make us spiritually blind.

This is why we must always do our best to obey the Lord’s actual teachings. They are designed to rescue us from the sin that blinds us, give us eyes to see and ears to hear, bring us to full spiritual health, and empower us to defeat the enemy through His indwelling Holy Spirit and the power of His Name.

FAKEWORLD

Anything and everything outside the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus on this planet is nothing but a façade, an illusion, and a powerful deception. The devil is a liar, and everything He says and creates is a lie. It is not real. Other than those in the Lord’s Kingdom, the devil is fooling EVERYONE.

This is why the Lord said that those who refuse to repent of their sin and stop sinning can never be healed of their blindness. This is especially true of those who have been deceived by some form of religion. As long as they stay under the power of their religion they will always be made to believe a lie. They will always respond to the illusion. They will always obey the devil, even though they are unaware of it.

Therefore, in the final analysis regarding the purpose of this article, the majority of “professing Christians” are also blind simply because they refuse the real Gospel and they believe in something that masquerades as the real Gospel. The fake gospel, in all its many forms, does not have “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” Whenever it is applied to the blind man of John 9, the blind man stays blind. He might have the same willingness to honor God, but because he chooses a powerless unreal gospel, he stays blind and he stays in his sin. Many churches are filled with such people.

This is the main problem, of course, with all the devil’s fake gospel forms—they actually do nothing at all about sin. People who choose fake gospels may think they are delivered from the power of sin but they keep denying the proof that repeatedly shows up in their lives that they have not been delivered, in that they have little or no resistance to sin: They keep sinning. Uncontrollably.

As a result, they have created a false form of righteousness which includes sin. They insist they are righteous, though the fruits of repentance do not exist in their lives. Their spiritual blindness makes it impossible for them to obey the Lord.

And instead of defeating the ruler of this world, they have joined him.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Casting Out Demons in the Name of Jesus, Devil's kingdom, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, ruler of this world, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, The Disease of Sin, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Presence of the devil

“CHURCHIANITY? WE HAVE A PROBLEM” Supporting Old Wineskins Means Rejecting New Wine

Apr 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

**You don’t find it in traditional “church.” You don’t find it in pretty much any form of ultra-organized Christianity, that is, that which is organized by man.**

If people are the central planners, central organizers, central leaders, and central motivators, then the Lord Jesus is not.

And that’s the PROBLEM. It’s why you never see real, lasting revival in such places.

It’s why those in some places, in the effort to at least appear spiritual, have given themselves over to pure emotionalism because they simply do not have the real thing. They’ve substituted mere human virtue, emotional good feeling, and shallow spirituality, and have made these the priority. They want everyone to be comfortable, which means they also, by forced option, want people to be comfortable in their sin. No one in these places wants to say anything against their “church” because they cherish it as their support group, strengthening gym, and bless-me club. How then can it ever improve spiritually?

No one wants to say anything or even feel anything against the leaders thereof because it makes them feel uncomfortable. If there was some sort of legitimate process toward solutions, like in the early church, people would have a viable outlet, but as it is, the most anyone can ever do is keep to themselves anything that doesn’t agree with the status quo.

NO ONE WHO HAS SOLD OUT TO ANY OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS WANTS TO BE THOUGHT OF AS A DEVIANT OR SOCIAL PARIAH, AND THUS THEY ALL FOCUS ON FITTING IN RATHER THAN SPEAKING OUT FOR THE LORD, WHEN SPEAKING OUT IS CALLED FOR. THE SILENCE INFLICTED UPON THEM INDICATES THAT THOSE IN CHARGE ARE PERFECTLY FINE WITH THE SET UP.

Of course, it takes the real anointing of the Holy Spirit to speak out. To stand up. To see what the problem is. To bring into the light what the problem is. And to actually give real solutions to fix the problem.

But very few in these places really want to fix the problem regardless of what they say or do because it will involve what I just wrote of above, and no one wants to be that guy.

Well, here’s a news flash: Over the last thirty years or so the Lord Jesus has been pouring out His Spirit and His anointing and His Truth and many, many individuals have been strengthened and anointed and encouraged to OBEY the Lord Jesus in order to do His will, and not the will of others who have decided to take His place.

These anointed individuals are loving and kind and wonderful people, yet each and every one of them eventually found walls and closed doors and closed minds and hard attitudes and were forced out.

THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED TO THE LORD JESUS.

But why? —Because He did the same thing that all these other anointed real believers have been doing. He refused to go along with the false religion the religious controllers of His time were pushing. He was sent to preach the one real Gospel. He would teach nothing else.

Of course, all the people who could no longer stay in a place in which the Lord Jesus was not in full control were either silenced or forced to leave, and it caused the light in such places to dim and many lights have eventually gone out completely. The same thing happened when the Lord left the synagogues.

When He walked in He was a BRIGHT LIGHT that exposed all corruption and everything false. When He walked out the place returned to its state of darkness. THE LIGHT WAS REJECTED. DARKNESS WAS ACCEPTED. They felt more comfortable in darkness. They didn’t appreciate the Lord exposing them for what they really were. They hated feeling convicted and rather than repent and get rid of their sin they got rid of Him.

And it was all in the effort to maintain a compromised or dead status quo and keep the people in charge who were in charge, exactly as it is today.

The believers who have traditionally been forced out did not want to be “in charge.” They wanted the Lord Jesus to be in charge! And they all knew that if He was in charge the same things that happened in His historical ministry would happen there. But the powers that be almost always nix this because they simply do not understand the truth nor do they want it. Most really believe in what they are doing and think their places are just fine and even great exactly as they are. Many are deceived.

Here’s another news flash: The compromising of American churches didn’t just happen because the members grew cold, it happened due to a secret organized agenda that most members know nothing about. The general members didn’t cause it, but they have agreed with it.

NEW WINE AND NEW WINESKINS

But what goes on in the vast majority of these places, again, looks nothing like the Book of Acts. Even though there are a few people who remain “loyal” to their establishments while also seeking a great outpouring from the Lord, they don’t understand that they keep trying to force the Lord’s NEW WINE into old wineskins!

When push comes to shove they refuse to allow for the Lord’s NEW WINESKINS and continue to honor, support, and remain loyal to the OLD. Such old wineskins can never allow for the very thing they seek, but again, getting rid of the same old same old is anathema to these people. They have therefore chosen the old wine over the NEW WINE.

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’” [Luke 5:37-39]

How do we know someone else is standing in the Lord’s place? How do we know that someone else is in charge? How do we know that someone else is deciding on policy, on what will be taught, on what doctrines will be allowed, what people must believe, and on which “ministers” can speak?

Simple: Next to nothing in these places actually looks like the ministry of the Lord Jesus or that which happened in the early church. Some give forth the appearance. Most do not. And the members thereof have grown satisfied in dry deserts and dusty creek beds and empty lakes and waterless oceans. There’s no water in their swimming pools and yet everyone is acting like there is. That’s weird. But not so much if everyone there is doing it.

So there’s your PROBLEM. It was the same problem the Old Testament prophets faced. It was the same problem John the Immerser faced. It was the same problem the Lord Jesus faced. And it was the same problem the original apostles of the Lord faced. You either joined ‘em or you fought ‘em. Most fought ‘em.

IT’S WHY THEY WERE ALL MARTYRS.

Today, church members in general don’t want to be martyrs. They don’t want to be anything close to a martyr. They are satisfied that the Lord Jesus is not in charge, that His Holy Spirit is not welcome, that they have no powerful outpourings, and that they are bound by teachings and doctrines that are not His.

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron… [1Timothy 4:1-2] [1]

THERE IS A SOLUTION

It doesn’t have to be this way. But anyone who knows and has done the research and has studied revivals in detail KNOWS why they happen and why they end. They happen because enough people greatly desire as top priority the Lord’s Truth, the Lord’s control, and the Lord’s spiritual outpouring, exactly as that which happened in Acts 2. These saints of God make great demands upon themselves to achieve this end. They have to fight through so many other Christians thinking they are idiots and malcontents. They must have great courage and must persevere against great odds. THIS is how revivals happen. And when enough of these people are successful and are able to fight off all enemies, most especially religious enemies, GREAT AWAKENINGS happen. Amen!

But revivals end when the human religious controllers manage to fight back and take control once again. When they wrest control back from the Lord, the same old spiritual deadness ensues. They destroy the NEW WINESKINS and rebuild the old.

REVIVAL ANYONE?

Here is the Lord’s guarantee for all of who really want the best: The 120 people in the Upper Room were all in one accord. Each and everyone knew the Lord Jesus must be in charge, must be honored 100%, and must be allowed to do whatever He wanted to do. They were all surrendered to Him and His Truth and His entire curriculum. They LOVED Him with all their hearts. And though tens of thousands followed the Lord in His ministry, only 120 were willing to go all the way to the Lord’s fullness and toward complete obedience.

As a result it was the 120 who were blessed with Pentecost!

If any group of people, or church congregation, or members of a ministry do exactly as the 120 did, the guarantee is that the same outpouring will happen for them.

All of this means it is our choice. The Lord forces no one. That’s in part why most churches are dead and compromised and filled with false doctrines. These places are the antithesis of spiritual health. Though they may look great on the outside, to the eye, and though that is exactly what many of them strive for, all it does is serve as a deceptive shiny wrapper on the far less than optimum spirituality within.

So again, any group anywhere can change their tune and get right with God, but this will never happen until they finally acknowledge that they have a problem.

SUCCESS!

Some churches and groups have done this! They have proven it. Some are proving it right now. But we are still in the early stages.

Always keep in mind that the real Christians of the early community of the Lord actually defeated the Roman Empire in its evil battle against them. If that doesn’t prove the Lord’s power and ability, what does? Rome was the greatest empire the world had ever known until the present empire being built up all around us. The same kind of war is beginning to come forth.

However, our early forebears fought a spiritual war against demonic entities. They fought the devil but loved the people.

And the kind of love they showed, and it’s best characteristic, and its greatest example was illustrated perfectly by the Lord’s suffering and death on the cross.

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” [John 15:13]

This is our challenge.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, American Churches, Book of Acts, Christian Persecution, Day of Pentecost, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

REAL REVIVAL, REAL WORSHIP, AND REAL DECEPTION

Apr 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

I could hardly believe what I was seeing. The revival director was bent over on the floor of the stage on his hands and knees kissing another man’s feet—a clergyman. And he stayed there and kept at it. As far down to the floor as one can get. Kissing his feet.

And I thought, he probably means well. He probably thinks he’s doing the right thing, a good thing.

But here’s the problem, and it’s a BIG one:

For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” [Romans 14:11]

In this passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, the apostle quotes from the writings of the prophet Isaiah, whom the Lord is speaking through:

“Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, who carry about their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save.

“Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.

“I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.” [Isaiah 45:20-23]

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he quotes from this passage yet again, this time identifying the God who spoke by the mouth of Isaiah over 700 years before. Paul also reveals the actual Name of God in its fullest revelation—the Name which is above every name:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:5-11]

Though our current English translations claim that Paul said Jesus Christ is “Lord,” in the original letter he used the word Adonai, which is what the Hebrew teachers used as a substitute word for YHWH. Therefore, when Paul said the Lord Jesus is Adonai, he was saying the Lord Jesus is YHWH.

This is key, because the same identifying dynamic occurs in the Isaiah passage, in which the word “LORD” is translated from the Hebrew Adonai, which was a written substitute for the name YHWH.

The Name of Jesus is the English rendering of the Hebrew Yehoshua, which means “YHWH-Salvation.” And what this clearly signifies is that the YHWH Isaiah refers to is the same Person that Paul is referring to when it comes to every knee bowing down.

Also, it must be noted that the apostles refused worship toward themselves, claiming correctly to be mere men, though mere men with the power of the Lord. This point is proven well when Peter met Cornelius for the first time. Cornelius had great respect for Peter and when he first met him he bowed down to the floor and began to worship him:

When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” [Acts 10:25-26]

The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, always accepted such worship. Actual worship in its original meaning involved the act of bowing down, bending the knees, and actually becoming prostrate before the object of one’s worship. It is why Cornelius acted the way he did. It was often used to show extreme respect for other human beings in positions of authority. Indeed, if people did not show the proper worship and great respect they could lose their lives. Such was the power of kings and especially the Roman emperors.

But, of course, Peter absolutely refused any such worship. No one would ever be bowing down to him, bending his knees before him, laying prostrate before him, or kissing his feet. To do this to another human being is an abomination before the Lord.

Again, as Peter very clearly stated, and one can know he stated it with much emphasis:

“Stand up; I too am just a man.”

Now hear this, other than toward the Lord Jesus:

Real Christians are NEVER to worship another human being.

Real Christians are NEVER to bow down to another human being.

Real Christians are NEVER to bow their knees to anything or anyone other than the Lord Jesus.

Real Christians are NEVER to kiss anyone’s ring.

AND REAL CHRISTIANS ARE NEVER TO KISS ANYONE’S FEET.

All of these are very clear forms of worship and to worship another human being is an abomination. All human beings are sinful and require the shed blood of their perfect sinless Savior, so even one who is cleansed from sin has no right whatsoever to accept worship, based on their former condition. Any human being who actually accepts such worship, as opposed to the apostle Peter who absolutely refused, is placing himself in the place of God. This has not, however, stopped certain clergymen from actually insisting they are substitutes for God and demand that they must stand in His place.

NO ONE STANDS IN THE PLACE OF THE LORD JESUS.

That is why it was so disconcerting and shocking to see a fairly well-known “minister” laying prostrate at the feet of another man, a religious leader, worshiping him and kissing his feet, while the other man made no attempt to stop him, but stood there and accepted it as if he was worthy.

This alone proves it was a compromised, deceptive “revival” though there were many other proofs.

This event happened very recently. As is my policy, I don’t name names. But it happened. Search for it. Look it up. Of course, in one particular Christian denomination there is a head guy who has always accepted such worship. And this has always been an abomination before the Lord. Yet, this has not stopped some very well-known and powerful American ministers from recently meeting with Him and honoring Him anyway. Whether or not they are personally deceived, they are certainly engaging in deception. Why do they honor a mere man whose office has historically mandated that the one sitting on the throne is a substitute for the Lord Jesus in the earth?

THE LORD JESUS IS THE ONLY KING.

THE LORD JESUS IS THE ONLY ONE WORTHY OF WORSHIP.

WHOEVER ELSE ACCEPTS WORSHIP IS OF THE SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST.

The real revival—the real Great Awakening—will come forth in great power the more the Lord Jesus, and only the Lord Jesus, is worshipped in Spirit and in Truth. It will come forth with no clergy icons and fake ministers clogging up the process and accepting great undue respect and honor. It will come when there are no stages and platform thrones when only a few high brows are at the top hogging all the attention while the great masses are gathered below worshipping them. It will come when we do exactly as did the 120 did in the Upper Room.

This is exactly how the first Great Awakening happened in the first century. There were no “churches” then and such buildings would not even officially exist for three hundred years. There was no high clergy class taking authority over a low laity class filled with the nameless and powerless then. Even those with the great power of the Lord who were filled with his Holy Spirit knew they were mere men and women and refused any form of worship or undue respect whatsoever.

But boy, have things changed. If you want to know the one reason we DON’T have great revival, that’s it—the worship of people who have taken the place of God.

During the REAL Azusa Street Revival of 1906, William Seymour, the primary director in a sense, spent much of his time in services on his face before the Lord Jesus or with his head in a shoe box! That’s how they all acted at that time in that place in the beginning. The love and presence of the Lord was so extremely powerful that everyone there knew who the Boss was. No one dared accept any glory for themselves. There was absolutely no pride, especially religious pride. It was an extremely humble setting. There was NO platform or stage. There was NO pulpit. They were all as self-effacing and humble as could possibly be. They surrendered EVERYTHING to the Lord Jesus.

The revival ended when they took it all back.

THE REAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE LORD’S RESURRECTION

The real anniversary of the Lord’s resurrection took place the morning of April 25. On the Hebrew calendar, which is an actual lunar-solar calendar lined up with celestial events, it is Nisan 17. Most Christians missed it completely and even refused to acknowledge it.

Nevertheless, pay close notice to what the Lord’s disciples did when they saw the Lord Jesus after He rose from the dead. It you want real revival it makes all the difference in the world:

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” [Matthew 28:1-10] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, Day of Pentecost, Idol Worship, Jesus is God, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Revival, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Worship

Everybody Must Get Stoned: Reaping the Reward of Spiritual Attack

Apr 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

I remember in my late teens I became a big fan of Walt Whitman, the 19^th century poet. The man pretty much invented what became known as “free verse.” He called his poems songs. Some were very long, as if he were writing poems as prose. I am currently writing from memory, as something is telling me not to spoil it by looking up the actual poems, etc, and to simply write what I recall. Maybe it will give this post a closer and more intimate feel.

But there was a poem he wrote called something like When I Heard the Learned Astronomer. Walt Whitman was at a lecture. Remember, this was about 150 years ago. The gist of the poem was about this astute scientist droning on about the intricacies of the Universe and his calculations and a bunch of intellectual claptrap, while Whitman finally had enough and was thinking, “Man, how can you take all the beauty and wonder of the crystal clear night skies, and the bright stars, and planets, and the moon…

There is a big and bright full moon hanging in the sky as I write this, and it defies intellectual introspection, and I think the Creator wants us to just appreciate it, and wonder, and not have our simple minds all clouded over and crammed with relatively useless mathematical garbage about the moon, and simply appreciate the celestial glory…

This is what Whitman ended up saying in that particular poem he wrote so long ago. Again, I haven’t read it in what must be decades, but I saw the full moon tonight. I went outside for a while a few minutes ago and was bathed in its light. And I saw the clear sky, and the stars. And I thought about what Whitman was trying to say…

We do the same things as Christians in preaching or teaching the Lord’s Gospel, or whatever it is that we do. We have a tendency, and I am certainly guilty, of focusing on the intellectual, and the spiritual math, and the exact word studies. Now, all of this is quite necessary and the Lord blessed me with the anointing to do this many moons ago, and I do it, and I love it. But I am trying to reach a balance with this post…

You see, spiritual things often cannot be diagrammed and spelled out and made sense of, and are often the epitome of the counterintuitive. This is especially true of spiritual warfare and attacks which many times come by complete surprise and out of the blue. Would that we could set up war plans like military planners and know our enemy to the point that we know what’s coming, but this is rarely the case. Spiritual attacks usually come out of nowhere and the only real defense is staying as close as possible to the Lord so we will at least be strong enough to take the hit.

The point here is that sometimes the devil’s a snake. At other times he smells blood like a shark and rushes in for the kill. Often, after having to undergo this kind of stuff, it makes you think, “What the hell?” Then we remember the Lord, and his original twelve, and all the other disciples from that time, and the early community of the Lord in Jerusalem and throughout an evil world and the undeserved pain they all had to suffer. And we can relate. We’re therefore fortunate to be able to relate.

[Incidentally, the Last Days plan is beginning to accelerate, and a relatively quick rise of great hatred for real Christians in America is starting. Be prepared. As I wrote in Real Christianity twenty years ago, bloody persecution is coming to this country. Most did not believe it then. Most Christians are still so out of touch they still don’t believe it, or perceive it. But again, be prepared.]

As James wrote (pretty sure it was James, or John—remember, I’m not doing my usual checking and ultra-editing and whatnot, I’m just writing my thoughts as they occur), he wrote something about real Christians getting blamed for things they are not guilty of, and suffering undeservedly, and saying it is a good thing. He taught that it was spiritually good for us to get slammed for no good reason, but only because a devil got stirred up and saw an opening and attacked. In other words, the very essence of persecution is being hated without a cause.

The Lord said this about Himself. He taught it, that it was something His disciples would go through. He also taught that there would be times when such slamming happens when no one who should will back you, or come to your rescue, or fight back for you on your behalf, but just kind of stay uninvolved. I know there are some of you reading this who can relate. Sometimes the spiritual attack is so severe and so unwarranted our brothers and sisters and friends keep their distance. Again, it happened to the Lord many times. In His greatest time of need His friends were nowhere to be found. Most people had decided He was guilty and was merely getting what He deserved.

One time, after a particular teaching, many of His followers walked out on Him, and He said to those who remained, “Will you leave Me too?”

Imagine that. This is God we’re talking about. Again, I know some of you reading this can relate. You know what it’s like to be left on your own, wounded, to fend for yourself. Of course, we’re not alone. We’re never alone. The Lord is there, especially in those kinds of times. But it’s still hard. It’s the kind of thing that drives one to the ground.

I remember a former pastor, long ago, preaching about this. He was talking about a pain so great but you can’t confront anybody. You can’t fight back. The devil is pouring it on. He was talking about falling to the floor in prayer in his bedroom, and managing to crawl into the closet, and crawling way back there in the back, all the way back to the hunting boots, and crying out to God.

It happens. It’s the nature of spiritual battle. But joy comes in the morning. Or maybe a few days later. Or something. But if we handle it right the Lord always works it out. It makes no sense in the natural, just like some egghead drawing circles and mathematical formulas on a chalkboard does absolutely no justice to the wonders of the night sky.

By the way, though the great masses of traditional Christianity have already celebrated their “Easter” almost a month ago, we are presently on the eve of Passover. We crossed over the Jordan River on Monday. It is also Nisan 14, the time on the Lord’s calendar of His passion—His undeserved suffering—and His crucifixion. He paid the price. He never retaliated. He let them slam Him.

And this year He is once again doing it alone, since, as I said, the vast majority of Christians jumped the gun last month because they’re following a meaningless Gregorian calendar invented by an egghead theologian who ironically invented an anti-celestial calendar that has no bearing on what’s going on in the sky or the Spirit.

The Lord’s undeserved suffering puts things in proper spiritual perspective. Everything He did He did for our benefit, even for the times when we must share in His suffering with suffering of our own. Such times are great opportunities for gaining spiritual ground and reaping rewards. His own death proves this. There could be no glorious resurrection otherwise.

And because He rose again to new life so will you, and so will I, and so will we all—those of us who count ourselves as His real disciples and live to tell about it, even if we die in the process.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Christian Persecution, Discipleship, Embracing Suffering, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Hebrew Month of Nisan, The Sacrifice Lamb, Unreal Christianity

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

Apr 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

Every year I always look forward to a particular anniversary—The Crossing of the Jordan River. The spiritual implications of this date are off the charts. Every real Christian should be paying absolutely close attention to this time, both in one’s personal walk with the Lord Jesus, but also to that which He is doing for His community in general. This has everything to do with the Great Awakening.

I believe the implications of the Jordan River Crossing are especially pronounced this year. Please pray and seek the Lord so you can be in tune with what He has planned.

The anniversary of the Crossing of the Jordan River is Nisan 10 on the Hebrew calendar, which occurs this Monday, April 18, 2016.

“Okay Joshua. Listen up. It’s time to take the Promised Land.”

“Cool. Hey look! There it is!”

“Yep.”

“But…”

“What’s the problem?”

“Uh, Sir? Look at all those people!”

The land was filled with dirty rotten Canaanites. They were everywhere. These were the most vile people on the planet. The Lord had often said that judgment must wait until the fullness of sin arrived. It certainly looked like that now. The Canaanites were all engaging in the filthiest, dirtiest, most evil practices ever known to mankind. What can be fairly certain is that when the Lord uses His own people to bring judgment against evil people, the evil people in question have without doubt reached the place of ultimate sinfulness.

“Those people look really, really evil, Lord. And powerful. Are you sure about this?”

“Sure about what?”

“About going in there!”

“What are you talking about? It’s your land. Go in there and take it. I promised it to you didn’t I? And I always keep my Word.”

“Well thanks for the promise and the land but I didn’t know it was going to be crawling with those guys! Those are some bad people, Lord!”

“Hold the phone, little man. Weren’t you and Caleb saying forty years ago you wanted to take the land way back then? And those other wimps said, ‘Oh no! We look like little grasshoppers next to those giants! We’ll get creamed!’ But you said, ‘Back off you pansies! We can do this!’ So what’s the problem now?”

“I don’t know, Lord. It just looks like there’s millions more and they’re all over the place and this is gonna be a lot tougher than I thought…”

“Well why in the world do you think I’ve been telling you to be strong all this time? I’ve been telling you this over and over. Look Joshua, you’re the strongest and most courageous leader I’ve got. Don’t chicken out now.”

“Um, I’m not being chicken but just thinking it’s going to be a lot harder than I thought…”

“So does that change things? What else are you going to do? You want to go back to Egypt like all those dead Judases wanted to do?”

“No Sir!”

“You want to rot out there in the Sinai? That place is spritually dead and is good for pretty much nothing except making you guys strong and yearn for your real land. You can’t go back there.”

“No Sir.”

“So what’s the problem? Are you going to let a few million depraved sin-filled evil little Canaanite squatters keep your land? Are you going to just let them rip you off? Well? What do you say, boy? Those demon-possessed jerks are sitting on YOUR land eating crops from YOUR fields living in houses made on YOUR property from YOUR building materials. Are you just going to let that go on? What else are you going to do? Where else can you go? There IS no other place.”

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND. THIS LAND IS MY LAND. FROM CALIFORNIA TO THE NEW YORK ISLAND. FROM THE REDWOOD FORESTS TO THE GULF STREAM WATERS. THIS LAND WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME. [1]

“Then how did all those all those evil people get there?”

“Because they’re lying cheating sinning arrogant evil hell-bound squatters beyond redemption and all those compromising Unreal Christians made a deal with the devil and instead of stopping them joined up with them. All those pretenders and rip-off artists and squatters on YOUR land think everything belongs to them. They don’t deserve it, they don’t take care of it, they are not responsible, they have no integrity, they are rebellious against Me, and they corrupt everything they touch. They have ripped off my children to get everything they have and they will never stop until they ARE stopped. Now, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE YOUR PROMISED LAND?

“Yes Sir!”

“Then take it. NOW.”

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

“Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

“Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:1-9] [2]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, Casting Out Demons in the Name of Jesus, Joshua and Caleb, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Conquest of the Promised Land, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

The American Political Climate is Fixing to Blow Sky High

Mar 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

Dear Readers, I have been very busy as of late and have not been able to post, yet I feel that with the limited time I have I need to post something about the current political situation in America.

First of all, some of you may recall that I wrote a post last summer about the current political atmosphere, and that Americans are in general very, very angry with elected politicians: Prophetic Words from Last November and the First Republican Debate. It is a must read.

This is especially true among Republican voters, who were fit to be tied after their elected representatives completely caved to the Democrats and essentially lied about everything they promised during the election of 2014. It had been building up even before that, of course. But Republican voters turned out en masse in November of 2014 which resulted in a landslide and a great increase in the House of Representatives.

Then, those Republicans who were elected with such an incredible mandate blew it all and squandered it away, like some nitwit who can’t handle winning a big lottery.

Strangely enough, though, even Democrats have taken on a very powerful angry edge. It is no surprise to anyone who pays attention that the hate index within the American Left has been rising precipitously, as well as the outright un-American attacks on the freedoms granted by the Bill of Rights. There is no way in the history of the world that Bernie Sanders, for example, would be having the success he is having now if it was not for this particular time and political climate. He has no chance, of course, but he is doing very well and much better than expected. Hillary might make a great decision to choose him as her running mate. Why? Because a vast squadron of young 20 and 30-somethings have thrown in with Bernie to an incredible degree, and even though they do not appreciate Hillary, they will support her if Bernie is her running mate.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump has obviously tapped into what Republican voters are angry about with regard to career politicians and a non-responsive Washington, though I do not think he had any idea in the beginning that things would have worked out this well for him. Barring a comet striking Earth or some other very weird situation, Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination, which will set up a cage match between him and Hillary.

There is always the very slight chance that Hillary may be indicted, but I don’t believe it. The Republican establishment in general is already on record saying that it will support Hillary if Trump is the nominee. Someone of Hillary’s stature has been and will continue to be protected.

What does any of this have to do with Real Christianity?

For starters, the Great Awakening is obviously also happening in the political sphere. Last Friday I told someone that this year has great parallels to 1968. Since then I have heard the same thing from many pundits. I will not get any credit for this but I saw it before they did. What happened in Chicago last week at the almost Trump rally was eerily similar to what happened at the Democrat Convention in Chicago in 1968. Look it up. The anger of Americans is beginning to spill forth like Niagara, and many otherwise collected people are choosing off and are willing to fight. The emotional tone is ratcheting up into the Stratosphere. And we’ve only just begun.

Again, these days have been building for decades. The great majority of Americans feel totally left out, taken for granted, taken advantage of, and cheated by their own clueless government. They know Washington no longer cares about them or the country whatsoever and is only using them for their own purposes.

What to do? As real Christians, we must remember that times such as this are really no surprise. In fact, I and so many others have been predicting this for years. For the young ones, however, those with no strong knowledge of or experience with past political events going back beyond thirty years, this all looks new and they are in danger of being deceived and deceived greatly. I would caution everyone, especially Christians, to not get too caught up in the rhetoric and strong emotional overtones of these political times, largely because the country has already been divided to the point that this election could destroy American goodwill and unity forever.

There is never any place for such hate, but there are millions who have already bought into the hate mode to the point that they may not recover. And whatever anyone thinks about Christianity we do know this: In essence, the teachings of the Lord Jesus are 100% about love. Therefore, regardless of what may be at stake in this election, Americans in general and Christians especially must put love first. Love the Lord and love each other. The young people back in 1968 were saying exactly the same thing. But they got a rude awakening when their idealism was shattered by hate, hate, and more hate.

If you have become a hater, I strongly suggest you get rid of that attitude post haste and become a lover. That’s what the Lord Jesus is—a Lover. He loved so much He gave His life for us all. No one can top that. Being a Lover means being a Giver and also a Forgiver. Following the perfect example of the Lord creates a loving atmosphere, a loving supportive community, and a great deterrent to the hate, violence, and vitriol of this fallen world.

Though it might sound silly in these powerfully emotional political times, love is still the answer, but it must be fought for, especially now.

Love, Love, Love. Love the Lord. Love your neighbor. Stay true to the pure teachings of the greatest One who ever lived.

Love ALWAYS works.

“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” [Matthew 24:10-14] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, Christian Persecution, Lord Jesus, Political Corruption, Political Freedom, Political Theater, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening

Catholics Speaking in Tongues! The Spirit-Filled Movement of the 1960s

Feb 21

Posted by RJ Dawson

In light of the fact that the Pope was recently in the news again and let everyone know what it means to be a real Christian, there is a powerful anniversary for Roman Catholics that he should have paid attention to that gives one a much better indication.

The Catholic Charismatic movement is now 49 years old. It was in early 1967 when the Spirit-filled movement reached Catholics in a major way.

The movement had started among denominational Christianity around 1960. All of the sudden, Christians of many Protestant denominations began getting baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues, exactly as it happened in the Book of Acts.

THEY SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES

Many were skeptical of the movement but the movement continued unabated. If you want to read a good introductory book of that early time, I suggest They Speak with Other Tongues by John Sherrill. John Sherrill also wrote The Cross and the Switchblade with David Wilkerson.

Sherrill was indeed one of the skeptics. Early on, he thought the entire phenomenon of speaking with other tongues to be a farce. But as he yielded to the Lord Jesus and continued seeking, he found actual proof that he was wrong.

Just as the Pope is wrong. He made a false judgment and got called out on it. By the way, there has never been a tongue-talking Roman Catholic Pope that we know of, including the current one. Yet there are perhaps millions of tongue-talking Spirit-filled Catholic Charismatics the world over. I don’t have the space here to go very deep on the subject, but if you are interested, and you should be, there are many books and publications on the topic.

Here is one from 1969: Catholic Pentecostals

The simple fact is that the Lord began pouring out His Spirit on traditional Protestants of almost every denomination in the early 1960s and then began doing the same with Catholics. Priests and nuns were getting Spirit-filled. They were all speaking in tongues. Imagine that.

PENTECOSTAL PIONEERS

It’s hard for me to imagine in one sense because I was raised Catholic. I never saw anything in my circle. It must have been very well hidden. In the defense of those early Pentecostal Catholics, I am sure they had a very fine line to walk.

I left Catholicism while still in high school. Then, about five years later, by the Lord’s great grace, I was blessed with the same experience! Though I found the Lord in a Pentecostal church, I began meeting with Spirit-filled Christians of many traditions. There was a lot of cross-fellowship back then. We visited many Spirit-filled black churches. THAT was fun. Many black people in America had been Spirit-filled for decades and had a rich experience by that time, though many denominational white Christians were just then coming into the experience.

Of course, Pentecostalism also had a rich tradition among predominantly white churches in America long prior to 1960. It didn’t take long with all the cultural shifts in America in the 1960s for whites and blacks to begin worshipping the Lord together, although the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 got that ball rolling.

William Seymour, a black preacher from Texas went to Los Angeles and was promptly kicked out of an early meeting. He then began leading a small group of all colors and cultures that soon exploded into one of the greatest Awakenings in America history. This white and black Christian togetherness is another largely untold story at present, in that real Christianity has been most responsible for bridging racial and cultural divides.

Roman Catholics would seem to never have any acceptance for speaking in tongues, but I also attended many Catholic Charismatic meetings in the 1970s. Some Spirit-filled Catholics left Catholicism but many others stayed. There were so many being Spirit-filled and speaking in tongues that Catholic leadership had quite a dilemma on their hands. They couldn’t do anything whatsoever to stop it so the hierarchy reverted to channeling it in what they thought was a relatively safe direction.

Denominational Protestants did the same. Many Protestant denominational leaders and church pastors did everything in their power to stop the movement. This is all history and again, the record is very clear and available for anyone of you who may wish to inquire further.

No, when the Pope said building protective walls is not Christian, even though the Vatican itself is surrounded by tall protective walls and has been for over a thousand years, he was wrong. He is also wrong to choose against Spirit-filled reality like the majority of Catholics have done, a spiritual dividing wall that the Lord Jesus never sanctioned. Regardless, and knowing the true pioneers will always be a minority, we should pay some honor to those original Spirit-filled, tongue-talking Catholics of 1967 who loved the Lord Jesus so much and wanted everything He had for them that they boldly defied staunch convention and joined the movement.

We should also honor all those Protestants who took it on the chin in the early 60s and did the unthinkable. I know VERY WELL what it is like to be castigated for making the right choice. For those who know, there is no wrath quite like the wrath of stubborn Christians who insist on their dead orthodoxy and man-made beliefs. The Lord often called his own people hard-headed and stiff-necked. It’s all over the Old Testament Scriptures. And it has also been the case among the majority of Protestants and Catholics in this world.

Therefore, it is great to have a historical record, and a very recent one at that, to prove the truth of the Book of Acts experience. It only doesn’t happen for those who don’t want it. Conversely, for all those who do want it, the experience is readily available. The Lord Jesus is ever faithful.

The 1960s Spirit-filled outpouring has been forgotten somewhat, and many Christians have never even heard of it. This shows how bad things have become for many in that they are oblivious to recent spiritual history. Hopefully, the current Great Awakening will continue to shed more light on those times.

I highly recommend to all Christians out there who have never had a real Book of Acts Spirit-filled experience to at least begin reading up on what took place in America in the 1960s. The research will enlighten you.

Again, congratulations to all those Catholics who were Spirit-filled in 1967. Happy Anniversary! And may the Pope join you soon and gain greater understanding of what it means to be a real Christian.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. [Acts 2:4] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Book of Acts, Catholic Church, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Speaking in Tongues, The Great Awakening, Worldwide Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement

Purification by Fire: SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF (4)

Feb 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” [Matthew 3:12]

The grain kernel of wheat is composed of two parts: The inner part that we eat and the inedible outer hull. The inedible part must be separated from the edible part. There are two ways to remove the outer hull: Threshing and Winnowing.

THRESHING

Threshing was used on grains in which the hull was attached tightly to the grain kernel. In the days of our Lord, such covered grains were either soaked in water, or were lightly milled or even pounded upon to loosen the hull in order to remove it. The latter processes often damaged the edible grain.

WINNOWING

However, when dealing with grains in which the hull was relatively loose and light, little or no threshing was required. A winnowing fork was used instead to cast the grain into the air allowing the wind to separate the inedible hulls from the edible grain kernels. The light, papery hulls would float or fly away in the wind while the edible grain fell to the ground to be collected. These light separated inedible hulls are called chaff, a word derived from Middle English.

In both of these methods the unfit for consumption outer hull had to be removed from the grain kernel. Once removed the hull residue (chaff) was burned.

Keep in mind what the Lord Jesus had to go through as the new seed of all creation. He was baptized by John as our example though it was personally unnecessary. And though He had no hard outer hull He underwent the extreme process of hull removal on our behalf.

Both John the Immerser and the Lord Jesus used the rich imagery of hull removal in their preaching as illustrative of the process of salvation. The otherwise soft, warm, and loving human heart, characterized perfectly by the happy innocent hearts of young children, becomes hardened by a life of sin and rebellion against God. In time a hard outer shell forms over the human heart and creates an entirely different human nature from the original.

HEART CIRCUMCISION

This requires what the Lord refers to as heart circumcision:

“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” [Deuteronomy 10:16]

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” [Jeremiah 4:4]

Since human will and free choice must be involved in the process of salvation, the outer hulls of our hearts can only be removed by voluntarily submitting to the process of spiritual threshing or winnowing. For those with very hard hulls the process will be more difficult. For those with lighter papery hulls removal will be less difficult. But in either case, since all have sinned regardless of degree, ALL hearts MUST be circumcised or salvation is not possible. EVERYONE MUST undergo a new birth.

We can see by the very clear illustration of heart circumcision (circle cut) that salvation and new birth (being born again) is actually a reverting back or returning to one’s original created condition. Though real Christians will still have to battle their old nature in this world after undergoing a new birth and receiving real salvation, the new nature takes over and regains authority over the old sin nature.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! [2Corinthians 5:17 NRSV]

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. [John 1:11-13]

“You must be born again.” [John 3:7]

Submitting to heart circumcision is not an easy choice but obviously the best choice anyone could ever possibly make. If we have a hard outer shell on our heart, it is not so fun to subject ourselves to light milling or necessary pounding to remove it. It is also not so fun to be thrown up in the air with a winnowing fork so our old nature can become dust in the wind.

Keep in mind that John the Immerser was sent to soak the nation of Israel in water to loosen its national hull and thereby gain a softening of its national heart prior to the Lord’s ministry. The goal was threefold: (1) Making the national heart receptive to the Lord (2) Gaining national repentance—a wholesale turning away from sin and rebellion against God—and (3) Undergoing a national heart circumcision.

The nation of Israel would thus be divided based on its response to John’s ministry and later the Lord’s. The first camp would include all those who honored John’s and the Lord’s ministry and complied. The second camp would be composed of all those who did not.

The Lord referred to the first camp as being composed of sheep, wheat, and good trees with good fruit—“the blessed of My Father.”

He referred to the second camp as made up of goats, chaff, tares, and bad trees with bad fruit—“accursed ones.”

For all those who refuse the great opportunity of salvation and being included in those returning to the Lord’s original sinless creation, however, something must be done with them.

If it was grain kernels with very hard and stuck fast outer hulls that refused the proper treatment toward removal, such grain would be no good for anything and would certainly not be edible. But even if it was grain with light papery hulls, if winnowing was refused it also would remain inedible.

The only thing to be done with such bad grain that still contained an otherwise edible kernel was throw it in the pile of the inedible chaff that was removed from the good grain.

This is what John meant when he said the following:

In order for the Lord to continue the process of new creation, the following verses illustrate more examples of allegorical entities which must be eliminated through the ultimate means of purification—Fire:

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” [Matthew 3:10]

“The tares are gathered up and burned with fire.” [Matthew 13:40]

“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire.” [Matthew 13:41-42]

“The angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire.” [Matthew 13:49-50]

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones (goats), into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels…” [Matthew 25:41]

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” [John 15:5-6] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Correct Water Baptism, Fire, Heart Circumcision, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Sin, The Great Awakening, Wheat

THE GREAT AWAKENING: Please Pray

Feb 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

Hello friends. I want to take a short break from my current series and tell you all that I greatly appreciate your support. Your ongoing comments and likes contribute to a small community here and it is always enjoyable to see us interact with one another for the sake of the Lord’s truth. You are all a great blessing to me.

Regarding my latest series, Purification By Fire, I especially want to thank Richard Barker and my friends across the pond who contributed so much traffic. Thanks to you all.

I have noticed that many more believers are getting on board with the Great Awakening. Five years ago this was not the case. The Lord spoke very clearly to me in August 2010 that America was in the early stages of a national Great Awakening. Not one person I talked to then, including ministers of the Gospel, saw it or believed it. Much has changed since.

I took the Great Awakening revelation of August 2010 and by the Lord’s anointing turned it into a 340 page book, well-documented, researched, and extensively footnoted. Shortly after finishing that book I began this blog site, which is now approaching 350 articles.

Many are now seeing what the Lord showed me then. There are even so-called official ministers talking about it. This is encouraging but it also exposes many of the fakers as merely latching on to something that came through the hard work and spiritual warfare of so many unrecognized real Christians.

I have continued writing and teaching since, and doing much research, though, like most of you, must earn my own keep. I have not yet been able to publish the book but it is certainly a book that needs to get out there. I would appreciate your prayers toward that end.

In living for the Lord Jesus, we all have our own individual core Christian beliefs and experiences, many of which did not come easy. If there are any two things vitally true about real Christianity that we must all pay more attention to than appears to be called for, however, they are: (1) The ongoing search for greater truth and the exposing of deception, and (2) Spiritual warfare.

Sadly, both of these are traditionally very low priorities in traditional Christianity and are often neglected and rejected entirely. Those who refuse to engage in such are very clearly unclear on the concept. They do not know that the enemy never fights fair and that he must resort to an ongoing agenda of deception, obfuscation, and confusion.

The enemy attempts to transform the great and pure shining light of the Lord’s truth into something indecipherable, irrational, unknowable, and senseless. The enemy also attempts to convince Christians that spiritual warfare is a ridiculous and unnecessary concept totally unsuited to our modern enlightened worldview.

But, my friends, the spiritual facts are actually quite clear: The devil is a liar. His job is to keep people from becoming real Christians and from progressing spiritually once they are. His job is to hide himself and make all those who reveal him and his lies to appear as nitwits. Now, for sure, there are certainly those “Christians” who fit the bill, and when push comes to shove the enemy will highlight such people to prove his point.

For real Christians, however, especially strong veterans who know their enemy, the only chance the enemy has against them is to first do everything in his power to discredit them, and if that doesn’t work, to eliminate them. For historical reference read the Book of Acts. Look at what happened to the Lord Jesus and his original apostles. The first thing the enemy did was destroy their reputations through outright lies and slander. We know the rest. It showcases this truth and puts everything in proper perspective. The devil is a bad guy and can do damage, but “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1John 4:4).

Therefore, the antidote to the enemy’s attempt to discredit and eliminate the good guys is to discredit and eliminate the bad guys. But when I say bad guys I mean the invisible bad guys. We do not fight against people. In fact, the whole point of real Christianity is to save people. The very Name of the Lord Jesus in the original Hebrew—YeHoshua—means YHWH-Salvation. Salvation means “to set free.” He came to set us free. Once we have been set free it is our job to set others free. We do this through the particular ministries the Lord has called each of us to do through the gifts, talents, and anointing He has blessed us with.

Let us remember to fight the inclination against the compromising effects of the enemy’s warfare by taking the fight directly to him and being the offensive force the Lord created us to be. But we must remember that the enemy has gained ground by taking authority in places of protection. When Christians refuse to attack the enemy because they think he cannot possibly be in control in such places he gets a free pass. This is deception at its highest. In other words, unreal Christians have been taught and conditioned to obey and honor people in league with the devil who appear to be legitimate and in league with the Lord.

You will know them by their fruits. Many are in pulpits and places of religious authority. Many of them are not overtly evil but merely powerless and worldly. Rather than submit to the Lord’s full curriculum they have bought into religious counterfeits. Many are deceived, oppose the Lord Jesus, and don’t even know it.

So remember, we must all:

(1) Continue in the ongoing search for truth and the exposing of deception, and

(2) Engage in spiritual warfare.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice…” [John 18:36-37] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Book of Acts, Christian Persecution, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Search For Truth, Unreal Christianity, Yehoshua HaMashiach

Purification by Fire: THE FRUITS OF REPENTANCE (3)

Feb 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” [Matthew 3:10]

The Lord Jesus made it very clear in His teachings that fruitless discipleship is no discipleship. In other words, if there is no spiritual fruit there then there is no discipleship there. Real discipleship bears good fruit. It is impossible for it to not bear good fruit. A good tree always bears good fruit.

As did John the Immerser, the Lord Jesus also said:

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” [Matthew 7:19-20]

He was talking about false prophets. He likened false prophets to ravenous wolves. He said ravenous wolves were bad trees bearing bad fruit:

In comparing sheep to wolves the Lord is comparing good trees to bad trees. Wolves are ravenous. It means they are very hungry and will kill to satiate their hunger. Wolves kill sheep in order to eat sheep. False prophets do the same. They not only rip off the sheep—removing from them all their valuable externals—they will also eat up everything the sheep are composed of—everything that comprises their lives. In the best case scenario they will transform the sheep into trees bearing fruit for the sole benefit of the wolves.

We may call these zombie sheep. They obey their voodoo masters the false prophets. They do not have any critical thinking skills. Their minds are not their own. Their minds have become religionified. They have fallen into a cult, though it may be a “respectable” denomination or world wide organization. Such sheep do not bear good fruit.

Imagine creating such sheep. It sure makes life easy for the wolves. They do whatever the wolves tell them to do, especially when it comes to money, their primary fruit. Take away their primary fruit and they also become worthless to the wolves. They are already of no worth to the Lord. They have rejected Him and His pure Word. Therefore, they will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

The Lord Jesus is THE Good Tree. He bears fruit, and it is always good fruit and only good fruit. It is also always available. All real disciples also bear only good fruit since they are good trees which came from THE Good Tree.

Unreal disciples usually don’t bear any fruit, though some bear bad fruit. The Lord said any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. John said it also. This is pretty self-explanatory, but one thing remains. What, exactly, is good fruit? What is spiritually representative of grapes and figs? Here you go:

“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance…” [Matthew 3:8]

And what is the fruit, or the proof, of repentance?

“Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”

And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.” [Luke 3:8-14] [1]

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Fire, Fruit, Fruit of the Spirit, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Sin, The Great Awakening, Tree of Life

Purification by Fire: NEGLECTING SPIRITUAL HEALTH (2)

Feb 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

FROM PART 1: Much more importantly, most people are walking around in sin, with sin attached to them, with sin stamped on their minds, with sinful souls, and with much sin on their account. But they don’t know it. The sin is not acknowledged. It is unknown to them. The possibility of its presence is refused. But this doesn’t mean it isn’t there…

We live at a time in which people are highly encouraged to have frequent medical checkups. There are also many new checkup procedures not available in the past and instrumentation that is much more sophisticated toward discovering health problems or potential problems. Within certain industries and corporations, medical examinations are required for employment and periodic health screening is required to stay employed.

LARRY BIRD

I just read an article about aging former NBA basketball players. The greatest professional basketball player who ever lived, regarding not only incredible playing ability but also work ethic, hustle, and heart, and a huge contribution toward winning, was, in my studied opinion, Larry Bird.

His impact was such that without him his team would not only not have won, they would have been largely mediocre. He had great teammates. Some are in the Hall of Fame. But there is no question he was always by far the best, and they all knew it. He did everything to win while also playing completely within the rules, including the unwritten rules. He respected the game. He was a winner who often willed his team to win. He always gave the fans their money’s worth.

That is why the following is all the more remarkable. It was discovered through medical testing after his playing career that he had a heart problem. He had the problem most of his life but never talked about it. He had spells that he kept to himself. He came close to buying the farm, apparently, on several occasions.

I prayed for Larry Bird today. He just turned 59 years old. There have been several ex-NBA players who have died around his age, some recently. Some have died much earlier. It has often been due to heart attacks. Larry Bird believes that the former players who are most susceptible are big men like himself (he’s 6’ 9”), who have worked and hustled the hardest. He believes all the very hard work at such an incredible level of play, in addition to great size that makes the heart work harder, greatly increases the chances of a shorter life. That’s why, he says, you don’t see many old big men. Even very tall non-basketball players will die on average sooner simply because of their size. Short men, in reality, will have a decided tendency to live longer.

OUR TOP PRIORITY

I say all this to say that there is a correlation toward today’s overt universal mandatory medical screening and pretty much zero spiritual screening, which means we also live at a time when a person’s physical condition is treated in the opposite manner of one’s spiritual condition.

The same authority figures who desire and demand proper health screening as a top priority generally have no desire whatsoever for proper spiritual screening. This can only be due to placing this life and this realm above the next life, and for many it is because they do not believe in an afterlife. Most people certainly do not respect the Gospel.

This life is so very temporary. The next life is eternal. Living for this life at the expense of the next life will cost a person his soul. Our top priority must always be getting right with God. To that end we must all undergo spiritual checkups beginning with initial repentance. We must deal with our sin and be rid of it. We must stop sinning. The Lord Jesus has given us a way to do this.

Stay tuned. I will break down the following in our next lesson:

“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Eyes To See, Fire, John the Immerser, Light, Light and Darkness, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Sin, The Great Awakening

Purification by Fire: VACATION HOUSE and THE LIGHT SPECTRUM (1)

Feb 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

There was a vacation house out in the woods pretty far from the nearest town. It was located in the middle of a 1200 acre section of private land. There were no restrictions upon its building site or construction, though it was well built. The owner chose the site for its natural settings and views, but he didn’t pay much attention to the topography. He lived a thousand miles away and there were no close neighbors.

One day it began to rain in those woods and the rain didn’t let up for several weeks. The locals had never seen anything like it. Unbeknownst to the vacation house owner, he built his little hideaway in a very old flood plain.

At the height of the rains the flood waters had risen to four feet in the house and remained standing for a few days before slowly receding. The house was knocked slightly off its pier and beam foundation in the beginning which also damaged the framing in several places. This in turn damaged the roof’s integrity and several large leaks had developed allowing rain to pour in.

By the time the owner managed to check on his house several weeks later he was shocked at the damage. It was inundated by black mold. The wood framing had started to rot. Every insect and bug known to man had taken up residence in the house as well as a vast array of critters, including rodents, and even small mammals. The house was still filled with drying mud.

When the man started repairs he discovered that the mold had reached the tops of the walls in places. Even after removing all the wallboard and insulation he saw that the entire structure was affected. The critters had also taken up residence in the attic. Everywhere was mold, rot, and the byproduct of two months of small animals. The odor was overwhelming. It was an absolute mess.

He had no insurance. He checked with his lawyer on local laws. The next day he cleared out a break around the perimeter of the structure and made ready a few hoses from the well. After waiting for a day that had no wind, he set the house on fire and burned it to the ground.

“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” [Matthew 3:10-12] [1]

Today’s lesson begins with a simple truth: Fire removes the disgusting filth of corruption.

Corruption, of course, comes in many forms. There is the actual physical tangible filth that adversely affects the five senses, but there is also intangible corruption. For example, sin is intangible. You cannot see it. But you can certainly see its effects.

Picture a very clean mansion beautifully decorated in which everything is in perfect condition and every appearance, even the clothing of the inhabitants, is perfectly tailored and pleasing to the eye. Then picture the intangible sinful condition of the inhabitants. Picture their evil hearts and machinations, and the gross behavior they engage in behind the scenes.

The Lord Jesus says the intangible is much more real than that which is seen. If one could actually see the unseen corruption in the midst of the perfect and beautiful setting clearly seen with the naked eye, one’s opinion would change.

But most people never see this. Most people simply do not have spiritual eyes. They are very easily swayed by the illusory perception of their five senses.

Please see the following chart and look it over: Electromagnetic Spectrum

As I’ve taught before, the visible light portion of the Electromagnetic Spectrum is an extremely small part of the overall Spectrum. There is much more light that is unseen rather than the very little that is seen. 95% of the entire Universe cannot be perceived by the five senses.

Therefore, whoever bases their beliefs on mere sensory data cannot possibly have the full picture since the vast majority is completely unknown.

To bring this home and make it more visceral, there are people walking around right now with problems in their bodies and they don’t even know it. They go about their daily business as if the problem isn’t there. They cannot see inside their bodies. Imagine that. Something so close to us and so much a part of us and we don’t even know.

Much more importantly, most people are walking around in sin, with sin attached to them, with sin stamped on their minds, with sinful souls, and with much sin on their account. But they don’t know it. The sin is not acknowledged. It is unknown to them. The possibility of its presence is often refused. But this doesn’t mean it isn’t there…

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: Eyes To See, Fire, John the Immerser, Light, Light and Darkness, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Sin, The Great Awakening

JUDAS IN THE PULPIT

Jan 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. [Acts 4:1-3]

Most spiritually intelligent people figure it out after a while. Some see it very quickly. Others need a lot of time. Most, it seems, never see it.

The primary reason for this spiritual blindness is revealed in the preceding passage of Scripture: How did the unbelieving Sadducees and priests come to power and gain control over the people of Israel in the first place? Why did the people let this happen?

It begins with intimidation and trickery. It often ends in force.

The key to success for the bad guys is finding people vulnerable to deception, which is apparently not so difficult a task. People become vulnerable to deception through their own ignorance. People are most often ignorant as the result of their own laziness. Therefore, the spiritually lazy are easily intimidated and deceived because of their own ignorance of spiritual matters, and this creates the perfect opportunity for the bad guys (dressed as good guys) to take control.

This very dynamic just took place again this morning, all across the country. The vast majority of “Christians” still have no clue. They are under a very powerful spell of enchantment.

This dynamic is also, of course, reinforced every election cycle. Lazy, low and no information voters susceptible to gross deception by their own ignorance creates the ongoing opportunity for the elite to gain ever more power and wealth. The Lord told us this would happen. So did the Founding Fathers, if we didn’t stay alert. Well, most of America has not stayed alert. Many voices keep warning. This is good. But it is not yet enough.

However, you better hear this voice. The Lord God is in the process of doing something incredibly great though it still remains off the radar of those with compromised vision. WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A NATIONAL GREAT AWAKENING. There have been many, many attempts to subvert it, to co-opt it, to shanghai it, and to stop it, but they will all fail.

These attempts will succeed, though, in sucking in the unsuspecting and spiritually weak. If you believe yourself to be a real Christian it is absolutely imperative for you to get on board with the Lord Jesus one million percent. You will otherwise fall victim to the opposing side. There must be a concerted effort to break free. Remember, the Lord said the deception would be so powerful even His own disciples would fall for it without staying spiritually strong, informed, and connected to Him.

After being in control for a while the entire process of dominance and submission becomes self-perpetuating. The only thing that can break the religious enchantment and deception upon all those on the inside then, is Great Light from the outside. This is what happened when the Lord Jesus arrived. He exposed the evil workers in charge who had successfully disguised themselves as God’s anointed. They were obviously not anointed. They had no light. They were frauds.

This is why, in the Acts 4 passage above, these frauds went absolutely nuts. Their crazed and fearful behavior was the result of being exposed by the apostle Peter’s message for what they really were and to losing their religious hold over the people. This is what real spiritual Light does. It exposes religious frauds and it frees people from their grip.

But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. [Acts 4:4]

Most Christians of the present, like their ancient Israelite counterparts, have also submitted to the wrong leaders. As a result, they have also become the willing victims and dupes of party line half-truths, misinformation, and pure pulpit propaganda. They do not realize they have been conditioned over the years to always swallow the status quo and do everything they’re told. They have been conditioned to be passive sheep in which the highest virtue is to surrender to total clergy control. Thus, whenever spiritual Light breaks forth, they do all in their power to put it out.

The following are God’s gifts followed by the conditioned response of religious controllers:

(1) God gave you a very strong spirit. Emasculate it!

(2) God gave you an intelligent mind. Dumb it down!

(3) God gave you a voice. Don’t use it!

The formula is thus: Laziness + Ignorance + Speechlessness = Deception = Domination.

If you want a passage of Scripture that perhaps best describes what has become of traditional, institutional Christianity in America, the following pretty much nails it:

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. [Isaiah 53:6]

Every sheep that has gone astray falls into one of two camps: Those who know it and those who don’t.

Those who know it know full well that they are in need of the Good Shepherd.

Those who don’t have been deceived into accepting replacement shepherds. They have been led into a camp that actually opposes the Lord but insist that is not the case. They have become satisfied in their fake pasture.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. [Psalm 23:1-3] [1]

The lush green pastures the Lord would give them have been replaced by the replacement shepherds with disease-causing chemically-fertilized fields of nutrition-empty faux grass.

It looks great but you better not eat it or you will get sick and die.

The Living Water promised by the Lord has been replaced with repackaged sewer water loaded with toxic chlorine and ammonia.

It looks clean but you better not drink it or you will get sick and die.

The false gospel they preach has been redacted and censored exorbitantly so as not to offend (betrayal), to bring in maximum monetary profit (thirty pieces of silver), and to grant power to a tiny religious clique of replacement shepherds (Judases). It is worthless toward gaining real salvation and spiritual life.

It sounds right but you better not believe it or you will get sick and die.

All of this should be obvious. But when “Christians” absolutely refuse to compare the dead and the almost dead Christianity they are associated with to the real Christianity of the Lord Jesus, in order to differentiate the real from the unreal, they have no way of knowing they have been deceived.

For example, there are people who have gotten in trouble with the law because they were playing fast and loose and not respecting the law or acknowledging the penalties of breaking the law. As long as they didn’t get caught they were fine and stayed on course. But when they got caught and the penalties were applied they decided to comply completely so as to get free as soon as possible. If they were put on probation they obeyed the terms of probation. If they were fined they paid it. If they went to jail they became model prisoners, caused no more trouble, worked on paying their debt to society, and eventually got free. Then they never got in trouble again for the rest of their lives. They made the decision to be law-abiding citizens. Their resultant freedom and clear conscience allowed them to make full and virtuous contributions to the life God gave them. They got off the wasted life track and got on the productive life track.

Now, many Christians say they are doing that. But most Christians make lousy comparisons regarding their Christian service. They compare themselves to T-ball players instead of Major League Baseball Hall of Famers.

If a person compares his Christian life to that of the average American churchgoer he will probably feel okay about himself and feel no pressure to improve. But if he compares his Christian life to that of the apostle Peter he will quickly see a giant deficit. And what happens if one compares his life to the life of the Lord Jesus? Uh oh.

Also, why does it never dawn on Christians that most of their so-called shepherds and elders look absolutely NOTHING like the apostle Peter, and certainly not like the Lord Jesus? And why are they accepted anyway?

Here’s why:

If one’s “pastor” is a spiritual compromiser then there is no pressure for anyone else to be anything more. This is why most Christians gauge their spiritual lives by their chosen authority figures. They would rather not have the pressure of conforming to the real curriculum of the Lord Jesus. They don’t want real discipleship. Not only is it too difficult compared to their easy method, the people they hang with would not appreciate it.

Why? Because Christians who live lives of real discipleship put pressure on those who don’t. Making a move to be closer to the Lord and be more effective for Him puts pressure and conviction on those who would rather hang back and live in their fake world with fake grass and fake water. They would much rather submit to a fake shepherd and believe a fake gospel. It’s a lot easier. But it is pure betrayal.

This makes every single one of these “Christians,” especially the ones in the pulpit, a Judas.

Their ends will all be the same.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, Betrayal, Clergy-Laity Division, Judas Iscariot, Light and Darkness, Lord Jesus, Price of Betrayal, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

Reader Comments: January 2016

Jan 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

The following are Comments from the Real Christianity Community from my January 2016 posts. Thanks to all of you for reading and for your support. Please see comment section of each post to meet and greet your neighbors and enjoy some blogosphere fellowship! You can also read my responses. I’ve included embedded post links for your convenience. Be blessed.

From:

HIERARCHY HIRELINGS: How Incompetent Posers Gain Authority (Doh!) :

(1) “This is exactly what I needed this morning and am thankful for the words. I am currently going through a valley in life. Sometimes rugged words like this are what a man needs during a trial.”

(2) “Oh yes. Indeed yes. We have watched a young but arrogant “pastor” destroy a thriving work, which has gone from 100% to about 25% since he came. He was highly recommended, and we believed in him. He rose to the level of his incompetence, and we learned that God’s Word was right when it tells us not to elevate a novice. We’ve moved on, as have 600+ other people. One of the saddest experiences in our lives.”

(3) “Great teaching….strong meat, well seasoned, and not drowned in extravagant but needless sauce. Just right, and so very true. I’ve often thought about the “Peter Principle”. To be sure, we reap what we sow. We ought to at least, to be honest with ourselves. If we didn’t start out that way until the Lord got us by the collar, we need to start now. Very encouraging word for today and every day. Be blessed.”

From:

Overcoming Clergy Dominion: BREAKING FREE (5) :

“‘Religious hybrids,’ an interesting analogy, and food for thought. Kind of weird, thinking about these creatures; one doesn’t know whether to avoid them, or pray for them, or if that doesn’t work, to feel sorry for them. I have noticed that some folks simply don’t want their eyes opened, and they won’t believe even if you tell them the absolute truth. They were born and raised in the system and in the system they will stay….. no matter what LIGHT they are exposed to. However, they should know that whatever Truth they have received, they will be responsible to work out in their lives.”

From:

Defining Fruit: THE PARABLE OF THE TREES :

(1) “This is excellent. People don’t want the Lord to rule in their lives, they want man to rule over them. They don’t want to live by faith in God, but faith in the flesh or human convention. Mankind by its very nature likes to negotiate man with man. We are not here to negotiate with God, but to OBEY HIM. Obedience is a narrow path.”

(2) “Here’s a vision I had 2 years ago that fits in with what you’ve posted here: https://tpuccio.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/when-you-come-together-the-body-of-christ/ ”

From:

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits: WOLVES IN WOOL :

“Even though that excerpt (from Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church ) may be twenty years old it’s the most prophetic utterance I’ve heard lately, and has confirmed itself many times over, just like the truth always does. I’m not trying to flatter with words…I’m just saying. I’ve tried to warn “Christians” of the same thing……few listen, and almost no one understands. Why? Because the cultural and doctrinal traditions, (brainwashing), has seeped so deep into the collective conscience, it goes in one ear and out the other. No ears to hear.”

From:

Divide and Conquer: THE CLERGY-LAITY SPLIT :

(1) “Yes it does sound familiar, and frankly I don’t understand why the churchaholics don’t get it. If I as a relative newbie in churchianity “got it,” then it seems it should be relatively simple for others to as well. I mean, the Lord gave us His instructions in the New Testament with an example to follow. Thanks for the blessing…good stuff!”

(2) “Familiar indeed! At the root of the topic is the Edict of Milan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Milan When the early Church was co-opted in to be given rights from the Roman government. Certain inalienable rights to receive tax free status, rights to own real and personal property (read copy write laws). Subsequent to them agreeing to this type of governmental homogenization the Church in this compromised state began a downward spiral from “Glorious” to sleep walking, sleeping, and finally dead which has been happening globally for quite some time since. Thank God for remnants! It is this Glorious Church which Yeshua returns for and not the ones that harken back to a nationalized mindset based upon a governmental foundation guaranteeing certain inalienable rights based upon co- opted belief systems. This kind of “earth based” non heaven-non kingdom belief system is the very kind responsible for mobilizing the Muslim faith along with hundreds of others in to believing that man can re-establish a government aligned to that as King David once was given. There are two passages of scripture that address that King David’s tent will be re-established but this event is not tied to anything that either a real Christian or a fake one will do through governmental rights derived from these earthly realms.”

(3) “Isaiah 29:9 They are dumbfounded and amazed; they are troubled and stagger; they are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For Yahvah has poured out on them a spirit of deep sleep, and it has closed their eyes, and also the eyes of the prophets and rulers, and the seers, who see the hidden things. 11 And the vision of all is become to them as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is learned saying, Read this, and he says, I cannot; for it is sealed; 12 and the book is given to him who is not learned saying, Read this, and he says, I am not learned. 13 Therefore master said, Since this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their reverence toward me is taught by the precepts and doctrine of men; 14 therefore look, I will proceed to set apart this people by a great wonder, and in a marvelous manner, and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be taken away.”

(4) “This is why Jesus said He hated the work of the Nicolaitans. Nico is ‘over’ and laitans is ‘laity’ so the term means conquerer of laity. Here’s a dream I had about 6 years ago that fits with your posting:

https://tpuccio.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/the-end-of-the-church-as-we-know-it-a-second-dream/ ”

(5) “The world crept into the church and ruined it. Worldly/carnal people love class divisions. You might like to read this book: PAGAN CHRISTIANITY? by Frank Viola and George Barna:

https://hitchhikeamerica.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/pagan-christianity-by-frank-viola-and-george-barna/

“Speaking of Greek words (I know very little Greek), I met a guy named Harris Himes while I was hitchhiking in Montana and he has studied the Greek New Testament for a number of years. He said that the Greek word pisteuo means ‘continuously faithing.’ Rather than say ‘I was saved 20 or 30 years ago’ I think it would be better to say ‘I abide in Christ’ or ‘I believe in Christ’—present tense, not past tense. I told Harris that I have met certain ‘Christians’ who have told me that they were saved many years ago. But their lives did not bear witness with my spirit—they had no witness—they were conformed to the world. So I have always wanted to ask them, ‘So when did you reject Christ’ or ‘Why are you so conformed to the world?’ http://biblehub.com/greek/4100.htm ”

From:

IDENTITY Politics and the Fracturing of America :

(1) “‘United we stand, divided we fall’ is just as true a motto as it ever was. But America is more divided than it ever has been at this critical time. The Lord Jesus said, “A house divided cannot stand.” The household of God, now apostate for the most part, is also more divided than it’s ever been and is crumbling to the ground, except for the true and faithful remnant not part of the well dressed harlot.”

(2) “Although I kind of get where you are coming from, I am somewhat disturbed by your mixing the political system with the belief system. Didn’t Messiah say, ‘My Kingdom is not of this world?’ We are also told, ‘Judgement begins in the house of YHVH.’ Being American is not synonymous with being a believer in Messiah. Our country is not divided because ‘Christians’ are divided, It is divided because its foundation (democratic republic) is anti-God. The founders and proponents of the USA were Deist, Unitarian, Freemason, etc. The principles this nation were founded on which guarantee Christians religious freedom were originally intended to allow the architects of this government to operate unhindered in their anti-YHVH philosophies. Their intent was to create a system where they could freely promote their agendas without state control. The only individual right we are guaranteed as believers of the One True Living God is the right to become the sons of God, members of His household, and citizens of His kingdom.

“I do not believe the US is being judged by God. What I see is the law of sowing and reaping. Consequences of bad choices. The country has become the god. The only national unity under God’s design is the individual parts of the Body of Messiah recognizing their piece of the body and fitting in to become a Kingdom not of this world. Until we get this, there can never be peace – not individual, not corporate, not national.

“The houses, communities, congregations – whatever you call them – that claim the Name of God but usurp His glory, is where He will focus His attention for discipline and judgment. Thank you for bringing the stuff that makes me think.”

(3) “Revelation 3:18: ‘I advise you to buy of me gold refined in the fire, that you may become rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, so that the shame of your nakedness may not be seen; and anoint your eyes with salve, that you may see.’ This is a prayer for those who have suffered from the blinding fog of religious paradigms, doctrines and mindsets.”

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, Christian Community, Clergy-Laity Division, Discipleship, Koinonia, Lord Jesus, Ministry Within Community, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening

HIERARCHY HIRELINGS: How Incompetent Posers Gain Authority (Doh!)

Jan 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.” [John 10:11-13]

THE PETER PRINCIPLE

According to Laurence J. Peter in his best-selling book, The Peter Principle, “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”

This management principle has proven to be absolutely true. It explains everything. It illustrates why we have so many incompetent people in the upper levels of power. It contrasts the real world of cause and effect, risk and reward, and survival of the fittest with the fake world of herds without predators.

Two hunters deep in the woods are suddenly surprised by a very angry bear. They both take off running for their lives, the bear right behind them. One hunter yells to the other, “Do you think we can outrun him?” The other hunter says, “I don’t need to outrun him. I only need to outrun you.”

This is the real world. It is why God created predators. Predators are the eliminators of incompetence in the natural world. Unless you stay sharp and at the top of your game the bear will get you.

This is why incompetent people don’t survive long in real world applications. Many meet a quick end. There is simply no place for ongoing laziness, lack of ability, foolishness, stupidity, and bad decisions. The natural world teaches this. Incompetence is never rewarded or allowed. Natural selection means survival of only the fittest.

In fake world situations, however, the opposite takes place. Rules are written to protect incompetence. Instead of rightfully being killed and eaten by angry bears, incompetent people not only survive, they thrive. Their bad behavior is rewarded. Everybody gets a trophy.

THE BACKYARD WARRIORS PRINCIPLE

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. [1 Corinthians 9:24]

I remember when I was about eleven years old I had a birthday party at my house. We lived in a well-kept suburban working class neighborhood. As part of the birthday fun I set up an intricate obstacle course in the backyard. You had to run around the perimeter of the yard as fast as you could under and through this and over and around that—just a bunch of stuff I found laying around that I transformed into world class athletic equipment. Not bad for a kid. It was pretty cool. I had an old army tarp tied to the chain-link fence at a 45 degree angle that you had to crawl under. There was stuff to jump over, like a strategically located metal trash can. Things like that. You had to run the course while being timed. Whoever completed the course correctly and the fastest was the winner. We probably had some small prize.

The rules were the same for everyone. I invited a bunch of friends over from school and the neighborhood. But someone also invited my young cousin, who was probably about seven or eight. If that wasn’t bad enough I also had an older sister hanging around who was sixteen or so at the time. She had an inordinate desire to lend what amounted to overwhelming assistance to those such as my young cousin who she thought were in great need, as a way to even the playing field. I had a different perspective. I have always been competitive. My concerns about her ruining the competition were soon realized.

Some of us had already run the course. We gave it everything we had. When a kid was out there running around he was completely on his own. It was sink or swim. Figure it out. Don’t miss anything. Show respect for the process. Everybody else was watching making sure he did it right.

Then it was my little cousin’s turn. And what does my older sister do? She starts running the course with him! He appeared to have no clue what to do but probably would have done okay if allowed to run by himself. I still have this mental picture of her leaning over slightly and running off with him with her arm on his shoulder guiding him around. He quickly yielded to her lead. She then decided he only needed to run less than half the layout! And here they come, cutting right through my well constructed obstacle course across the middle of the yard making a total mockery of the game! She’s still right there with her arm on his shoulder, leaning over, telling him what to do while running him back to the start.

We did not appreciate this. Neither I nor my friends said anything. It was an era when kids showed more respect. She meant well. But what a joke. She almost ruined the whole day with that pathetic display.

This is exactly how incompetence thrives.

THE JEREMIAH JOHNSON PRINCIPLE

Again, in the real world only the strongest and wisest survive. America was founded by such people. So was Texas. The few incompetent people out on the frontier were soon dead if they didn’t manage to get back to civilization post haste.

I am reminded of Robert Redford’s character in the movie Jeremiah Johnson, set in the mid 1800s. There was an early scene when he was way up in the frozen Rocky Mountains trying to catch fish by hand in an icy stream. He was soon in the water. There he was in the deep snow and ice splashing around doing his best to catch a fish to stay alive. The scene then switched to an Indian on horseback silently watching. Later in the movie when the same Indian recognized him in a different setting, he told another, “He fishes poorly.”

But Jeremiah Johnson survived and then thrived. He figured out how to stay alive in a killer environment. Though he met friends, nobody held his hand. He overcame all obstacles, including some personal losses that ripped his heart apart. That movie was about the real world and survival.

It is quite the contrast to our present world. Since that time America has largely become a vast, neurotic, socialist nanny state ruled over by bureaucratic incompetents and enablers with selfish agendas in which everybody, regardless of any achievement, gets a little trophy. Many would never be in their positions of authority without some big sister brotherhood opening doors, scripting their work, showing them the way, and refusing to let them stand on their own. It is the complete opposite of survival of the fittest. Because of the ridiculous policy of allowing incompetent idiots to become our “experts” America is going down fast.

Now, before you think I’m stumping for a certain presidential candidate, I’m not. I’ve been saying this for decades. (That dude stole my thunder.) I have watched this contrary agenda develop over several decades. Of course, many people know what’s going on but almost everybody feels powerless to do anything about it. When some charismatic person comes along who says all the right things and claims to have the answers he gains an immediate following.

But it rarely or never works. It’s always just words. Those that actually gain power never follow through. The only thing that does work in such cases is following the lead of someone who actually knows what to do and has a proven track record. Such good guys, however, are currently very few and far between, and are becoming extinct. The bad guys have taken over. The paradigm shift of rewarding evil and eliminating the good is almost complete. It’s why Biblical prophecy says the world would succeed in blowing itself up without the Lord’s end-time intervention. Corrupt doofuses in places of authority are the sole cause.

THE LORD JESUS PRINCIPLE

There is only one Leader who can fix this mess. The reason America is cratering is due only to the rejecting of His leadership. There is no possible way to remove the preserving agent without falling into gross corruption. The more He has been rejected over the last several decades the worse things have become. Though few acknowledge Him, He is the one who holds everything together.

Also, though the Lord Jesus is the best Father, He never spoils His children. Though He is our Shepherd, He is never the enabler of stupidity, laziness, or incompetence. He only rewards those who give it their all. Whoever will do things His way must be absolutely dedicated and must also be in it for the long haul. One will discover that following His lead allows one to grow stronger and wiser, and possess greater ability to overcome and thrive. He prepares us to be the best. His discipleship methods always work. He is a maker of champions.

THE UNREAL CHRISTIANITY PRINCIPLE

The reason the Peter Principle has become a burgeoning reality is because the people in power have rejected the Lord’s proper authority and correct management principles. They have replaced them with bulky, unresponsive, impersonal hierarchies and shallow methodologies that reward morons and punish the strong, independent, honest, and righteous.

GUESS WHAT? THE EXACT THING HAS HAPPENED WITHIN TRADITIONAL AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY.

Pious pinheads and parading shysters have taken over the outward institutional format and are now the tenured cloth men. We know the majority of these guys have no clue how to right our wayward course or have any desire to, largely because they’re the ones who caused it. They’re invested in it. It serves them very well. These sold-out fakers only exist because foolish people keep throwing money in their coffers, which only enables them and their incompetence. Every time the Lord tries to correct them their supporters reward them. These power-tripping Christian “experts” eventually cold shoulder any real Christians in their vicinity, refuse to support them, and badmouth them, in the sinister effort to eliminate those who would rightfully take their job.

But this has always been true. Thus, all real Christians must first learn to survive in this fallen world, then learn to fight, overcome, and thrive within it, AND THEN TAKE OVER. It’s how the Lord does things. It’s exactly how He did it. When He was crucified He looked like the greatest loser that ever lived. Three days later He became the greatest winner of all time. If we would be successful we must follow His lead, trust Him, and do things His way.

This is why the Lord Jesus never coddles His children. He has no use for perpetual babies and whiners. He never hands out participant trophies. He requires us to run the race well without constant enabling. He calls us to follow Him even through the worst spiritual environments that will test us to the nth degree.

THE PAUL PRINCIPLE

For correct spiritual perspective with respect to real discipleship, consider the fact that the apostle Paul once found himself dead under a pile of rocks. He suffered this fate doing exactly what he was called to do. The Lord Jesus did nothing to stop the brutal attack against him—He let Paul get stoned by a bunch of Jewish religious idiots.

But He did bless him with a preview of heaven:

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. [2Corinthians 12:2-4]

That’s pretty cool. And He did bring him back to earth. And He did give Paul supportive friends after he was dragged out of Lystra for dead who stood around him when he suddenly got up:

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. [Acts 14:19-20]

Therefore, it is not that we don’t need help and support from time to time. We obviously should help one another. But such help is usually designed to get us on track or back on track. Both of these should be very few and far between events after our initial discipleship training. After that it’s a matter of running the race well without being hindered or enabled, both of which restrict our mission.

If the Lord has given you honest and competent authority figures at present, be thankful. We need the wisdom of those who have gone before us who have gained the Lord’s wisdom. But in order to be the spiritual success the Lord needs you to be, you must work at becoming a spiritual adult.

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity… [Hebrews 5:13-6:1] [1]

Live the adventure.

Climb the Rockies.

But watch out for rocks.

Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church

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Tags: America, Apostle Paul, Christian Persecution, Discipleship, Hired Hands, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection, Spiritual Maturity, The Good Shepherd

Overcoming Clergy Dominion: BREAKING FREE (5)

Jan 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

The following is an excerpt from Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church:

Like the Wizard of Oz, the ruling class has established a powerful and sometimes fearsome image of itself. Its members have set themselves up as the sacred and the laity as the profane. The laity, if brave enough to seek personal needs, whether a heart, courage, or brains, often do so at the feet of the big boys, who have been enormously successful at promoting their big daddy image for centuries. Of course, the laity receives only religious tokens for the most part, if anything at all. The important thing is image. The great Christian controllers must believe that if the laity perceives them as merely human, and not ultrahuman, it would cause such disillusionment within Christendom that a complete breakdown would take place.

But one man’s breakdown and loss of power is another man’s revolution and recovering of freedom. Ask George Washington. Ask Martin Luther. Ask the Lord Jesus Himself. It was the benefactors of the religious clergy spirit of His time who were so incensed by His radical teachings and so petrified over losing control because of His growing movement that they savagely murdered Him, revealing to all, for all time, their true motivation and character. [1]

Make no mistake about it. When the Lord Jesus arrived on the scene he immediately engaged in spiritual war against powerful forces. The human appendages of such forces had discovered centuries before that great power over large populations could be gained in the realm of religion.

Like the rest of the planet, the ancient nation of Israel also suffered from such demonic interlopers and we have the proof of this religious invasion in the historical accounts of the Old Testament scriptures. Israel had devolved from being the pure people of God to a nation of religious hybrids ruled over by bloodthirsty kings set on complete dominance and an overthrow of God’s rule.

By the first century AD the political kings had long since morphed into religious “kings.” The aforementioned paganistic and syncretized religious practices of ancient Israel had by that time become largely congealed under the banner of Pharisaism which was dominated at the top by those whom the Lord referred to as children of the devil. They did not appreciate His terminology.

Though these evildoers did exactly as the evil Israelite kings before them in taking dominion over the populace for their own benefit, the subjugated people felt powerless to overcome. There are two reasons for this:

(1) The people had accepted their lot with a defeatist attitude and simply surrendered to the dominant controlling clique and its rewriting of the Mosaic Code, as the nation of Israel had formerly fallen under the sway of evil civil leaders.

(2) The people had become enchanted by the ultra-human power of religion and got absolutely lost in deception and darkness, unable to see and absolutely unequipped to fight back.

Then, as now, there was only one cure:

“THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES—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.”

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Matthew 4:15-17] [2]

For those who repented, they were able to overthrow the Wizard of Oz that had them trapped, deceived, and bound by joining up with the Lord Jesus. They received “personal needs, whether a heart, courage, or brains.” His pure LIGHT gave them eyes to see. His great LOVE gave them the support and encouragement they lacked. His POWERFUL Holy Spirit gave them strength to fight. His TRUTH set them free.

For our study, this is the difference between Unreal and Real Christianity.

UNREAL CHRISTIANITY:

(1) The people have accepted their lot with a defeatist attitude and have simply surrendered to the dominant controlling clique and its rewriting of the Gospel, as the nation of Israel had formerly fallen under the sway of evil religious leaders.

(2) The people have become enchanted by the ultra-human power of religion and have gotten absolutely lost in deception and darkness, unable to see and absolutely unequipped to fight back.

REAL CHRISTIANITY:

For those who repented, they have been able to overthrow the Wizard of Oz that had them trapped, deceived, and bound by joining up with the Lord Jesus. They have received “personal needs, whether a heart, courage, or brains.” His pure LIGHT has given them eyes to see. His great LOVE has given them the support and encouragement they lacked. His POWERFUL Holy Spirit has given them strength to fight. His TRUTH has set them free.

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Book of Acts, Christian Pharisees, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

OUTING THE CLERGY SPIRIT (4)

Jan 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’

“But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.” [Luke 22:25-26]

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE WOMAN?

But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. [Judges 9:53]

ENMITY BETWEEN SEEDS

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” [Genesis 3:15]

THE WOMAN AND HER RIGHTFUL HUSBAND

The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” [Genesis 2:22-23]

THE ATTACK OF THE DRAGON

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. [Revelation 12:1-4]

THE RIGHTFUL HUSBAND AND THE INTERLOPER

And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.

And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. [Acts 5:11-18] [1]

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Tags: Book of Acts, Christian Pharisees, Community of the Lord Jesus, False Shepherds, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Seed, The Good Shepherd, Unreal Christianity

Defining “Fruit”: THE PARABLE OF THE TREES (3)

Jan 13

Posted by RJ Dawson

Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’

“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’

“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?’

Finally all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’ The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’” [Judges 9:8-15]

The trees that produce good fruit never reign over other trees. Never. They refuse. It is not in their nature. It is not the will of God.

The nature of good trees is to be what they are as God made them and produce good fruit. Good trees do not produce bad fruit. Good trees only produce good fruit.

Only bad trees reign over other trees. Bad trees produce only bad fruit. Some of their bad fruit is the desire to reign over other trees. Only bad trees reign over other trees.

In the above passage from the Book of Judges, three good trees are mentioned:

The Olive Tree

The Fig Tree

The Grape Vine

One bad tree is mentioned: The Bramble.

The Bramble was a thorn bush. It produced no good fruit. It only produced bad fruit. It produced thorns.

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit.

“For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.” [Luke 6:43-44]

CHRISTIANS RULING OVER CHRISTIANS

Good trees producing good fruit NEVER accept the reign over Christians. Only bad trees producing bad fruit reign over Christians.

This is a very difficult concept to understand for Christians since the majority has always been ruled over by other Christians. It seems no matter how many times the Lord Jesus tells the story most Christians just don’t get it. They insist that they must be ruled over by one of their own.

ABIMELECH

In the above passage from the Book of Judges, the people of Shechem chose Abimelech, The Bramble, as their king.

The name Abimelech literally means, “father is king,” or “Melek (“king”) is father.”

Abimelech was one of Gideon’s 70 sons. In his attempt to become the sole king and rightful heir of his father, he killed every single one of his brothers except one: Jotham escaped.

It was Jotham, the lone survivor, who told the Parable of the Trees.

Abimelech was eventually mortally wounded by a woman who dropped a big rock on his head, crushing it. Yet, so that it would not be said he was killed by a woman, he commanded his armor bearer to run him through with his sword.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE WOMAN?

But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. [Judges 9:53]

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” [Genesis 3:15]

“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.

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Figs, Fruit, Kingdoms At War, Lord Jesus, New Wine into Old Wineskins, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, ruler of this world, The Olive Tree, Unreal Christianity

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits: WOLVES IN WOOL (2)

Jan 12

Posted by RJ Dawson

Real Christianity was originally written twenty years ago. Everything I said then has come true or is in the process of coming true. However, the book remains as fresh as if it was published yesterday.

The reason real Christians still continue to struggle two decades later is not because the enemy has not been identified. It has been. I revealed in the book exactly who the enemy is and who continues to powerfully resist the truth and the consequent spiritual freedom and power the Lord Jesus is bringing forth.

The enemy is not far. In fact, exactly as the Lord Jesus taught, the bad guys are right next to the good guys. The enemy is intermingled among us exactly as all those invisible fallen angels the Lord Jesus saw and outed. He revealed them. They could not hide from Him as they did from everyone else. And as we continue on toward the Great Awakening, both the invisible fallen angels of our time and their “invisible” human counterparts will be increasingly exposed.

You will know them by their fruits.

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” [Matthew 7:15-20] [1]

The following is an excerpt from Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church:

Jesus has always maintained a remnant of true believers within the earth. His Qahal has never ceased to exist.

Though only a small minority compared to the vast collection of Christian adherents in the world, its members continue to honor their Messiah as did the upper-roomers. However, since the Lord’s community has never been concerned with geopolitics, the forced subjugation of people groups, or the writing of very subjective chronicles, it has faded from historical view. Even if this knowledge cannot be satisfactorily documented for the skeptics among us, the fact of the matter is that the characteristics of the first Christian community, the prototype, remain extremely different from most of the churches and church organizations throughout history and modern times, both in practice and doctrine. Christians continue to be tied to structures promoting dual class division and institutional formats which have little to do with real Christianity. Christians have largely rejected the work of their most distant ancestors, and have lost due respect for the truths they taught, and the One who taught them.

Will we continue to be so blind and arrogant that we place the blame for this fact on them, rather than ourselves? They are the ones who built the foundation. They are the ones who paid in blood to set the example which all successive generations were to follow. If their very immature spiritual juniors of the present continue in this vein of quiet mockery and religious complacency, the Unreal Church of the Conformed will grow even larger with greater determination against truth. In fact, the bloody persecution of real Christians will expand from the present hell-holes of this world and will soon go international. Every nation will take part. The greatest enemies of the present day community of called-out ones, however, are not modern Herods and Neros, but modern religionists intent on protecting their turf. And who are these chief persecutors? Who are the new Christian Pharisees? In what form do they exist today? Who are the ones influenced by the same spirit that gave Saul of Tarsus his commission to fight the Church? Such deceived ones are much closer to all of us than we think. Through their resolute and unwavering stand for their chosen form of Christianity, they have allowed themselves to become the very image of the unreal.

Our greatest enemy wears virgin wool. [2]

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Tags: Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Community of the Called-Out Ones, False Prophets, Lord Jesus, Original Christian Community in Jerusalem, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Remnant, Unreal Christianity, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Divide and Conquer: THE CLERGY-LAITY SPLIT (1)

Jan 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

I have written extensively on the subject of the Clergy-Laity Division. My book, Real Christianity, delves deeply into the issue. Though the following excerpt from the book is relatively brief, it presents the historical and Biblical essence of the Clergy-Laity Division in Christianity and helps every believer to discover how it negatively affects his or her Christian experience and discipleship.

Speaking of which, I highly recommend buying the book. It has received excellent reviews. [Please see the above *AUTHOR / BOOK* tab for more information.] Its pages are loaded with truth that reveals this Divide and Conquer tactic and so many other methods of the enemy that strive to limit and even stop the progress of the Lord’s real community.

Thank you and be blessed. From Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church:

By the Middle Ages, the Christian upper class as a whole had grown much more stealthy and clandestine, gained access to greater monetary sources, and amassed more political power than it had probably ever imagined. Eventually, these classes developed titles. You know them today as the clergy and the laity.

One must note that this split did not take place within the Lord’s Qahal. [1] Jesus never created rank among His children. Class division began in the unreal assembly, and we can trace its origin all the way back to the times of the apostles. As a matter of fact, Paul referred to its propagators as false apostles:

“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.” [2 Corinthians 11:13-15]

A few verses later, Paul wrote of their management practices, especially of the way they exalted themselves over their congregations:

“For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.” [2 Corinthians 11:20]

Keeping in mind the fact that the real community of believers was woven together by love and that they comprised a body, those who submitted to the false apostles were obviously not loved by their leaders, nor were their congregations unified in the Spirit. The word “exalt” in the former verse is from the Greek word epairo (ep-ahee’-ro). It means “to lift up, raise up, or raise on high,” or in other words, to exalt oneself in pride. Jesus instructed His people that the greater leader must be the greater servant and must cloak himself in ever greater amounts of humility. These false apostles did just the opposite, being true to their actual nature.

After many centuries, the clergy-laity division became standard practice even among those church bodies which gained greater access to truth. The division has remained in most churches to date due only to carried-over tradition and an apparent lack of knowledge regarding the Lord’s proper format. [2]

The Divide and Conquer tactic employed by Unreal Christianity was brilliant. As avowed enemies of the Lord Jesus, it put the Christian Pharisees in complete control and regulated 99% of the congregation to wasting away in the pews as ineffectual clergy supporters rather than real disciples of the Lord Jesus:

At the present, due to the entrenched tradition of the clergy-laity division, many Christians never consider the possibility of devoting their lives to God because they have been made to think that God only chooses certain rare holy ones for His work. If this is true, the Lord is breaking His own commandment by judging a good many people as unqualified before they ever get a chance to prove themselves. [See Matthew 7:1]

Ironically, many headstrong individuals or those with improper motives feel all too worthy. Their self-willed attitude would suggest that they usually never hear God’s call at all, but one much more personal. Such high-minded ones see golden opportunities to use religious structures, systems, and especially people to pad their own nest or at least find a niche… [4]

Sound familiar?

[1] Qahal is the Hebrew equivalent for “Church,” and is the word most likely used by Jesus.

[3] This word originates from the New Testament Greek word laos (lah-’os). It is defined as a people group, whether socio-political, socio-religious, or cultural-ethnic. It generally refers to the “common people,” as a crowd, a populace, or a nation. It is also used as the people of God. When used in the latter sense, it means all of the people collectively. It is easy to see how the meaning of this word was corrupted when class division entered Christianity.

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Tags: Christian Community, Christian Pharisees, Clergy, Clergy-Laity Division, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Laity, Lord Jesus, Original Christian Community in Jerusalem, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church

IDENTITY Politics and the Fracturing of America

Jan 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE WORD OF THE YEAR

Dictionary.com has chosen the word Identity as its 2015 word of the year.

Miriam-Webster’s word of the year isn’t a word—it’s a suffix: -ism

The word looked up most often was Socialism.

FRACTURING THE POPULACE

I haven’t done much research on why such words were chosen but their choices are appropriate regarding the further push by several groups toward fracturing the American populace through identity politics.

The accuracy of these choices reflects the ongoing overly selfish attitudes of current agendas and movements, and an ever-growing rejection of practicing the Golden Rule:

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment.

“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:35-40]

SOCIAL SUICIDE

The overwhelming advancing avalanche of ubiquitous social media over the last few years has actually resulted in the very opposite of a cohesive society. Rather than the long-held acceptance of a national American identity in which one is proud of one’s country, America is being destroyed from within through the social suicide of societal conflict and internecine warfare.

Imagine the members of a professional baseball team suddenly turning on one another on the field of play with fights breaking out between individual players of the same squad. Instead of the usual bench-clearing brawl when members of opposing teams fight each other to protect one’s teammates, what is currently taking place in America is the equivalent of teammates fighting one another toward the complete destruction of the team.

The promotion of the individual member over the team constitutes no team and an impossibility of success. While it is true that individual rights are sacred and America is a very diverse country, it does not mean that the interests of the individual must always rule over and rule out the social construct of the nation since such aberrant behavior will only result in the eventual destruction of the society itself. We must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We may all believe different things but must also believe in national unity. And national unity must never be coerced.

THE COMMUNITY OF THE LORD JESUS

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. [Acts 9:31]

The only unity that will survive all attacks against it from both within and without is the community created 2,000 years ago by the Lord Jesus. It is a union based on love and respect for both the Lord first and for one another. It is held together by the Spirit of God. When individual members go beyond their individual mandates, divisions will appear which must be healed. Such healing is always possible through the promotion of the community itself but never against the rights of the individual.

THE COMMUNITY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS IT’S INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

However, this never means that each individual must be coerced into forced compliance and come under strong-armed religious control, since such an agenda will result in the complete ineffectiveness of each person who is called and gifted by the Lord.

There must be balance. There must be harmony. The individual members of the Lord’s community are called to love and serve one another and this necessitates a humble attitude shared by all.

We are currently seeing the opposite of this attitude in America within virtually every segment of society. It obviously includes “Christian” segments, which are often the worst violators. Christian denominations have been some of the worst violators of spiritual community in history and their legacy lives on in the present. Most “Christian” churches are obvious violators of individual spiritual freedom in that they not only coerce everyone to obey their false religious programs but refuse the authority of the Lord Jesus as well. The Lord’s sheep are supposed to follow HIM and real Christians do because they each recognize the Lord Jesus as their Shepherd.

“A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” [John 10:2-5]

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…” [John 10:27]

THOSE MOST GUILTY OF DESTROYING THE LORD’S COMMUNITY

Most “Christians,” however, have chosen other shepherds to follow, and honor them instead of the Lord Jesus. Ultimate blame for the breaking up of the nation can be laid in part on such false and powerless “Christian” religious models with counterfeit leaders which possess only superficial community and which effectively destroy real spiritual unity. Regarding the present fracturing of America, Unreal Christianity has set an excellent example toward that end. Nothing good will come of such social and spiritual unraveling through the promotion and glorification of religious strong men.

Identity politics might have had a somewhat meaningful and necessary beginning forty years ago, but it has resulted at present in nothing more than a ripping apart of the American fabric. It causes governmental force to increase to protect society overall and such government overreach eventually destroys all individual rights. Therefore, there is no doubt that such societal division is being fostered and promoted by elite powers hiding behind the curtain, whose goal is to destroy the abilities and means of free individuals to maintain their individual liberty, strength, and abilities, and who would otherwise create a greater community to overcome their evil machinations.

WHY DO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES LOOK AND ACT LIKE MEGA CHURCH PASTORS?

The strong man is taking over. But this exact dynamic has already taken place among the majority of “Christian” churches and ministries. Think about that when considering the origins and rise of the antichrist.

A slow motion explosion, based on false identity politics, is our current track. It began several years ago with an outbreak of narcissism based on false praise for all, regardless of their lack of meaningful individual accomplishment which would otherwise promote proper praise.

It ends when such recipients of false praise promote one of their own—THE ULTIMATE DESTRUCTIVE NARCISSIST, as has already happened in part and will continue—since they identify with such a one, and thus promote the strong man toward the destruction of society.

Such social engineering never works. Such societies and communities always destroy themselves.

And though the coming antichrist will achieve his long desired One World Government, One World Economy, One World Religion, and One World Everything Else sitting as the god of this orb high atop his pyramid, his evil kingdom won’t last long. Ruin always follows such hubris.

And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” [Luke 10:18] [1]

The seeds of destruction germinate best in the -isms of lies, pride, and me-first identities.

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Tags: America, Christian Community, Christian Denominations, Christian Pharisees, Community of the Called-Out Ones, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Real Identity of Jesus, Unreal Christianity

Is God Three People? JESUS IS UNIFYING HIS COMMUNITY (6)

Dec 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

Dear Readers: Thank you for all your support this year. I believe the content in this current series is indispensible regarding the coming Great Awakening in America. We must all grow closer to the Lord Jesus. He must be exalted in this nation. His real identity must be known. Christian persecution will continue rising in America in 2016 and we must all be prepared. Please help make this current series reach as many believers as possible. Be blessed!

“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM…” [John 8:28 NAB]

Merry Christmas! During this most wonderful time of the year I must extend to you all a prophetic note.

We know the Lord Jesus taught that His community would be united before His return. In actual effect, it has always been united because whoever is united with the Lord is also united with His community by His Spirit. There still remains the process, however, of meeting one another as members. This coming together is happening right now in America, but it is being powerfully opposed.

There are certainly forces against His community, but I must tell you that despite persecution from the world, the world is not the divider of the Lord’s community. When under attack, the Lord’s people rally together to each other’s defense and do whatever must be done to help each other.

We see this playing out perfectly in the Lord’s original community in Jerusalem. They truly represented the spirit of Christmas by their incredible giving and love. Needs were met and everyone was blessed!

Those who destroy community, on the other hand (and you know who they are), have a decided tendency to always shoot their wounded, slander them, and cast them out as worthless in defense of their unholy turf and false agendas. They act out of hate, not love.

RATHER THAN CRUCIFY THEIR FLESH THEY CRUCIFY THE LORD AFRESH.

No, the attempt to divide the Lord’s people has always arisen from within. Who is the opposer?

Unreal Christianity is the responsible party. I could tell you so many stories to prove this, but most of you have your own stories and already know it. Many churches and ministries, due to certain failures, false doctrines, and hidden hateful attitudes are filled with far too many tares, goats, and wolves in sheep’s clothing. It even happened to the Lord, of course.

Judas was one of the Lord’s own, and it is the JUDAS SPIRIT that is often responsible for breaking up everything the Lord God wants to be united.

I will be writing more about this in future posts in order to help you identify what is causing all the problems, but there is one thing you must know before we proceed:

Persecution from without unifies the Lord’s community and makes it strong. Persecution from within destroys it. There are some very evil and sinful people who are masquerading as Christians. They have their own selfish and rebellious agendas. They do these things largely because they pretend to know the Lord Jesus or think they know the Lord Jesus but do not.

And because they do not know the Lord and have no knowledge of His true identity, they have no way of identifying real Christians and thus oppose them, exactly as Judas did.

Be warned.

“They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.” [John 16:2-3] [1]

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Tags: America, Book of Acts, Christian Persecution, Christian Unity, Community of the Lord Jesus, Judas Iscariot, Lord Jesus, Merry Christmas, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Unreal Christianity

The Day of Pentecost

May 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. [Acts 1:13-14]

Every Christian must have a personal Upper Room experience. Pentecost is for every believer. The entirety of the Lord’s ministry in its full extension leads directly to it.

Many voices continue to insist that this experience is no longer available or exists, or that it ended in the first century. This defies a very clear historical record since that time.

It is only the enemy and all who follow him who claim the experience of Pentecost and the actual infilling of the Holy Spirit as clearly illustrated in the Book of Acts is something Christians must shun and refuse to partake of, which gives him the advantage.

The enemy does not want anyone filled with the Spirit of the Lord, because he knows such an experience creates a very powerful disciple who can wreak havoc upon his kingdom. He has thus successfully convinced the vast majority of Christians and Christian leaders throughout history to join him in opposition to the Upper Room experience, so that the vast majority of Christians will be denied the possibility, and therefore keep them spiritually weak and non-equipped to engage in spiritual war against him.

One can only wonder how it is possible that a “Christian” leader can counsel his own flock with the counsel of the enemy. If your spiritual experience has yet to look like the experience of Acts, I strongly suggest you seek the Lord Jesus with all your heart. If you really want this Spirit-infilling, do as our forbears were taught to do. Find your own Upper Room, fast and pray, and ask the Lord Jesus for the exact experience of the early believers. The Lord needs strong, powerful disciples to storm the gates of hell and He has made a way for that to happen.

Today is Sivan 7, the actual Day of Pentecost. It is exactly 50 days from the anniversay of the Lord’s resurrection. Almost 2000 years ago the following is the account of what happened then. May it happen in these days for us all.

We are in the early stages of a national Great Awakening.

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Tags: Book of Acts, Day of Pentecost, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Holy Spirit, Unreal Christianity

Suppression: The Forces of Hell at Work (2)

May 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. [Romans 1:18-20] [1]

“Did you know that people who violate the Golden Rule go to hell?”

“You mean if they violate it willingly and habitually.”

“Yes. In the sense that violating it is part of the code they live by, in that keeping the Golden Rule disallows the possibility of their success in this world by their estimation, and hence keeping such a “mythical” rule is senseless.”

“But that’s the argument of a selfish person.”

“Yes it is, but they don’t acknowledge that, because they see what others call selfishness as one’s required pathway to survival and success.”

“Meaning that looking out for number one is a self-preservation requirement that all intelligent people recognize as a must and as perfectly honorable.”

“Right again, except, again, they are blind to their own selfishness and have written their own rules to benefit themselves, and then codified it as something all right-thinking people should accept.”

“Which is why the Lord Jesus has always had a hard time in first convincing His disciples-to-be to see things the right way, and that selfishness is anathema to brotherly love.”

“Right. Meaning that selfishness and violating the Golden Rule is exactly why Cain killed Abel. Abel was a keeper of the Golden Rule.”

“What does any of this have to do with suppression?”

“The work of the Lord Jesus was suppressed. But guess by whom?”

“By the Pharisees and other religious leaders, primarily.”

“And why?”

“Because they were threatened by Him.”

“But the Lord had no evil intent toward them whatsoever and never violated the Golden Rule regarding them.”

“They were threatened by Him because he exposed their evil hearts.”

“And yet the people in general had always seen those religious leaders as God-sponsored and upright, and for the most part believed in their false religious garbage.”

“And that was because the religious leaders had cornered the market on religion and religious expression, and had created harsh punishments for those who rebelled against them.”

“So people were intimidated.”

“Of course. It’s the way of this fallen sinful world. People set off in life to climb the pyramid of success and invariably come upon junctures in which they must violate their conscience in order to proceed. They compromise. Then they no longer listen to their conscience once success arrives. They build their future on a foundation of moral compromise and violation of God’s commands, and as long as the money keeps rolling in they keep doing what they feel they must in order to maintain their success and achieve greater success.”

“But why don’t they ever think about what comes after this life is over?”

“In too deep. Too late to change. And, of course, they have convinced themselves to believe their own lies. They also find that it is very helpful to hang around people like themselves to keep any possible conviction of their conscience far, far away.”

“But isn’t conviction actually their friend, in that it leads to repentance?”

“One would think so. But once violaters of the Golden Rule taste success and get away with it they no longer perceive the possibility that pay day is coming. Some actually come to believe a reward is coming.”

“The Pharisees?”

“All fake religious leaders. It is why all the false religions of mankind, including the many false forms of Christianity, always end up with the two goals shared by the great evil elites in league with the devil—power and money.”

“So if false religious leaders, including all the ones who appear benign and harmless, and perfectly acceptable, perceive their religious enterprises as threatened, they will fight back against those they perceive as enemies.”

“Yes. They will indeed fight back. And they will demonize all who do not believe as they do. And they will suppress their work. Why else did the Pharisees try to kill the Lord Jesus in the very beginning of His ministry? Why did Roman Catholics over many, many centuries murder perhaps millions of those who they called heretics? Why did so many Protestants kill so many non-Catholic dissenters, engaging in the exact dynamic as the Catholic inquisitors? These were obvious gross violations of the Golden Rule, God’s command.”

“And why don’t the Catholics and Protestants of the present condemn those of their own religions who did this in the past?”

“Because to do that would be admitting guilt. And regardless of fake overtures that appear as apologetic, they can never condemn the past guilty ones properly and correctly without condemning themselves.”

“So they suppress.”

“Yes. They suppress. They treat real Christians with indifference. They hate with a smile. THIS is what you are going to have to see and fight through. Once religious leaders are compromised by money and power, they will fight the very Lord Jesus they claim to serve and suppress the work of His people at all times in order to protect themselves and their faux religious enterprises. In this they have compromised themselves with a false gospel and violate the Golden Rule for the sake of power and money in this world.”

“And condemn themselves to hell.”

“Yes. Though they are blind to it. They have discovered it is very easy to suppress and hopefully eliminate the Lord and His people if they merely violate the Lord’s commandments in the process. They justify their sin as a means of protecting themselves and all they have gained.”

“When they should be hitting the deck in repentance.”

“But people don’t repent when enraged by hate. And they don’t repent for sins they don’t think they have…”

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Tags: Christian Persecution, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, Truth, Unreal Christianity

Suppression: The Forces of Hell at Work (1)

May 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

“I don’t know. I just can’t figure it out.”

“Figure what out?”

“All the effort…”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about all of the effort we put forth. All the work…”

He paused, as if trying to find the energy to go on with a line of thought he had traced out so many times before, that always ended in the same place, a place where nothing made much sense at all.

“We work so hard and it seems we rarely get much done. I’m working twice as hard, three times… But it’s like pulling teeth. There is so much resistance, apparently. There is always such a backlash. It is so hard to figure. Why is there such a fight against our work? The level of vitriol just doesn’t fit.”

His older friend said nothing. He turned from looking at him and stared at the ground, knowing the usual words of counsel would have little effect. After many seconds of silence, a thick silence filled with the proverbial Why’s and Woe’s of his friend and the desire to receive and provide a fitting answer, a word came.

“Suppression.”

“Suppression?”

“Your work is being suppressed.”

The younger man wondered at the idea. Why would anyone want to suppress his work? It wasn’t sinister, or…

“The devil doesn’t like what you’re doing.”

“I know that. That’s no secret. It’s all…”

“You don’t quite understand. The devil has these people…”

The older man was not really all that much older, only about five years, and had taken on the role of older brother to the younger man. He was much wiser and much more knowledgeable of spiritual things, though. He was perhaps thirty years older in that sense and it gave him the aura of being almost a father figure.

“The devil has these people. They are bound to serve him. There are bound to stop you.”

He wondered if he had said too much but quickly discounted that notion, knowing his younger friend had reached a point when he needed a clear answer and strong counsel regarding the fight at hand.

“Evil was here first. It had already staked a claim. We’re contesting that claim. They don’t like that. They see us as attacking them, that we have no right to do what we’re doing. They hate losing…”

“Seems to me they’re winning. They’ve got the whole blasted planet.”

The last words trailed off as the weariness in the young man began to bleed through.

“Why doesn’t God help us more? Why does the fight have to be so strong? I just don’t get it.”

“You don’t get it because you see yourself as playing by the normal rules, that life is fair or should be, and that goodness should win out rather easily, and that evil just can’t be that evil.”

He paused again. Both men stared ahead at something that wasn’t there, the younger man settling into a rare disillusionment, the older waiting for his words to sink in. He stared at the ground, strong, a slightly contorted look on his face, very slight, but showing the gravity of the moment. Many men never get past this moment. They give up though they continue on, no longer believing that the victory they seek will ever really happen to the degree they hope for. They are all in when young and fresh and excited about the future but become slowly bedraggled in their spirit for want of achievement that just won’t come.

“You have to fight through it. You knew it would be hard, but you didn’t realize how hard. And even after trying harder it still didn’t work to your satisfaction. You know that in other pursuits you would have achieved so much more by this time and it bothers you that the work you are attempting appears next to impossible. Especially after you feel you have given it everything you have.”

“Suppression?” The young man thought long and hard and said it again. “Suppression?” My work is being suppressed?”

“Uh, YEAH.”

“Wait. I know that. But not to this degree. I am… I’m just one man. Why is the devil so concerned about what I am doing? I’m nobody special.”

“Well, actually you are, and it actually isn’t about you or your desires. You have signed up with the King of kings and the devil hates the King of kings with a passion no human being knows, and is also deathly afraid of Him, and knows his vast evil kingdom is always hanging on a mere thread regardless of outward appearances.”

Continuing, he said, “Every young buck who wants to change the world and set the world on fire with the Gospel reaches this point where you are presently at, and realizes, shockingly, that it is going to be a lot harder than he ever imagined. It will even come down to fighting for survival. You don’t know what I have suffered to get to where I am, and I spent years trying to figure out why it all had to be so hard, and why it seemed as though God called me to do a job and then disappeared.”

“Yeah…” The younger man’s words trailed off…

[To Be Continued.]

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Tags: Christian Persecution, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, Truth, Unreal Christianity

The Prophetic Word—The Gift of Prophecy

May 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul clearly places special emphasis regarding spiritual gifts on the gift of prophecy.

**It is as if he thinks it is most important. On the face of it, this makes little sense. All of the gifts are obviously important and necessary.**

Perhaps this is one of those teachings of Paul that some so-called Christians like to put in a separate category. You know, the ones they have a problem with because they’re either unwilling to understand or too rebellious to accept.

Let’s review the verse in question:

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. [1 Corinthians 14:1]

Paul certainly has the priorities right. Love must always come first or the ministry process will not work. This has everything to do with putting the Lord first in all things, but also because the Lord is Love, and love never fails.

The second thing he tells the Corinthians is to desire earnestly spiritual gifts. These are actually spirituals, or “spiritual things,” since the word “gifts” does not appear in the original Greek. The Greek word is pneumatikos and is defined as that which is spiritual, or pertaining to the spirit. These pneumatikos are referenced in the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.

There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

(1) For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit,

(2) and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

(3) to another faith by the same Spirit,

(4) and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

(5) and to another the effecting of miracles,

(6) and to another prophecy,

(7) and to another the distinguishing of spirits,

(8) to another various kinds of tongues,

(9) and to another the interpretation of tongues.

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. [1Corinthians 12:1-11]

The nine spirituals listed above are directly connected to the Spirit immersion of Acts Chapter 2. In fact, they are the result, or effect of the Spirit of God working through believers.

In 1 Corinthians 12:6, the Greek word energema is translated in the NASV as “effects,” and in other versions as “operations, working, or activities,” and is explained as spiritual things energized by God for His purposes.

Many people have discounted this direct association primarily as a way to discount the Acts 2 experience since they personally oppose it. But this is grossly incorrect. I say this so people will no longer be deceived by false teaching. Pneumatikos are given by the Lord Jesus to His people for service in the kingdom. One of these is prophecy, and without prophesying, the Prophetic Word would be absent.

The third directive Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 14:1 is to pursue especially the gift of prophesy. I use the term “prophesying” because spiritual energema have to do with function. If they are not being used, they effectively do not exist.

There is the potential for spiritual pride within individuals who believe they possess gifts and are thus worthy of greater honor, and consequently appropriating titles for themselves based on what they think is a resident gift.

However, the gift shows itself by our use of it, or its functionality, not because it is added as a title to a man-made spiritual resume. It is much more correct to state that a person functions in the gift of prophesying rather than that he is a prophet. Yet, it does not mean that a believer cannot be characterized as such if it is obvious that he functions on a regular basis in that particular place of service. This point is more important than one might think due to the desire of so many false prophets within Christianity who are more concerned with their standing among men than before God. They like the high places and open doors that come with titles. They also very much like the money than can be derived from their position.

Real prophets, however, like real apostles, know that serving God according to their calling means that they will be treated the opposite of the false prophets. Paul states several times the perils of true apostolic ministry. It appears oftentimes that the Lord has thrown them into an evil world without much concern for their welfare. The apostles and prophets of the first century suffered greatly in their walk with God though they were very close to Him, leading us to surmise that the “initial” ministries are subject to often greater persecution, just as pioneers have it the hardest compared to later generations. False prophets, particularly those of the present, cannot relate to this and reject the entire idea. The apostles and prophets of the first century often did not know where their next meal was coming from, and that is the way God wanted it.

To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. [1Corinthians 4:9-13]

Does this look like any ministers you know? (They would never allow Paul in most pulpits in America and certainly not on Christian television.)

We must never forget as real disciples that the Lord has chosen for us a walk of faith and obedience. This is characterized as “Go here, do this.” What about the next step, one may wonder? The Lord almost always reveals the next step after a person has completed the prior step. Therefore, being a “prophet” cannot possibly be a static, entitled position associated with high standing among the Christian elite and with popularity among people in general, but one of obedience to God (not man) and functionality.

Again, since there are nine energema, or effects of the Spirit, why would Paul single out prophesying as seemingly the most important?

We must look at the context. He was referring to what was taking place in meetings of believers in first century Corinth. He was simply trying to explain that in open meetings it is better to speak in an understandable way, so that proper communication takes place.

Speaking in tongues is all fine, good, necessary, and scriptural in individual prayer or prayer meetings, or in an open meeting if an interpreter is present (Paul himself wrote in verse eighteen, “I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all.”) Otherwise, it is largely a waste of time for the group as a whole in community meetings when people need to hear from God.

Prophesying, on the other hand, is a Word from God spoken in the language of all, or pretty much all, and subsequently edifies the entire group. Thus, the Prophetic Word is that which is spoken by the inspiration of God and by the power of his Spirit to benefit another, and oftentimes many others.

Moreover, groups of real believers usually contain more than one person who functions in the gift of prophecy, or should, and should thus take turns, though in polite order (see 14:29-32).

The reason for all of this is to allow the Lord to speak to His people. If it is attempted through a way contrary to this model, or if another method is formulated which is actually in opposition to it, it generally means that the Lord Jesus is no longer in charge and has been subverted by false believers who have circumvented His authority. And if the group allows this, they are also guilty partakers.

It should not be difficult, then, for an objective observer to note that traditional Christian church practice, regardless of denomination, is usually much different from that of first-century believers.

This is why, for those who violate Scripture, the Prophetic Word has ceased.

Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. [1 Corinthians 14:39] [1]

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Tags: Apostle Paul, Book of Acts, Day of Pentecost, Gift of Prophecy, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Gifts, The Book of First Corinthians, The Holy Spirit

Happy Fourth Birthday, Real Christianity!

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

The great blessing of this blog is communicating with so many awesome people hard at work for the Lord Jesus! Very encouraging! Thanks to all of you for reading.

Real Christianity is now four years old. I have posted 280 articles.

You can locate every article prior to this year through the above Article Archives tab, organized both by category and calendar year.

There is also the Reader Favorites tab right next to it listing links to the 30 most popular articles.

All 2015 posts are in the Latest Articles—Feed Your Spirit column to the left (scroll down).

On the top left is the About the Book tab which gives a brief description of the book I wrote that this blog is named after, as well as many comments.

Speaking of which, there have been many excellent comments made by you guys through the years, including as of late, which are greatly appreciated. Actual real Christianity involves real community and all of us must communicate what the Lord has put on our hearts. The one rule I have is obey the Golden Rule.

In my recent posts we have discussed the presence of spiritual strongholds and spiritual blindness. Loyalty is a great quality but loyalty to the wrong thing will cut one off from greater truth. One way or the other, for the real Christian and dedicated disciple, the Lord Jesus will eventually strip away everything from one’s knowledge base that is not true. THAT is a painful process. But much more painful is the loss of brothers and sisters who refuse the process.

This dynamic is certainly Biblical. God sent prophets to correct Israel and Israel responded most often by killing them. Yikes. That’s a fine how do you do. We see it in the New Covenant also in the life of Paul, who suffered greatly at the hands of detractors. We apparently must be reminded continuously that all the original apostles except John died violent deaths at the hands of spiritual enemies, and this, of course, happened to the Founder as well. It is apparent they always put truth above togetherness, which is not at all the same thing as New Covenant fellowship, or koinonia.

Perhaps that is why most Christians settle into denominations and/or denominational beliefs and forego the journey into greater truth and a closer walk with the Lord. Perhaps most Christians would rather surround themselves with a congregation of “like-minded” believers. The spiritual frontier is tough, and rejecting the spiritual frontier for a comfortable parlor back east is more socially acceptable. Rejecting an ever greater understanding of the Lord’s real curriculum—the real Word of God—that is not added to and subtracted from by religionists with an opposing agenda is much more comfortable.

And then there is the absolute unwillingness to do the equivalent of what the rich young ruler was supposed to do. The Lord told him to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor and the man refused. So do Christians refuse the fact that they or their leaders, dead or alive, are wrong in some way. They would rather support a false belief and the mere humans who inspired them than scrap it all and learn directly from the Lord Jesus. Why is there this all-consuming need to stay grabbed on to a deteriorating life raft in a stormy sea while continuously rejecting the Lord’s seaworthy ship?

It has been said that the price of freedom is death. Not only will the TRUTH make one free, it will also cause spiritual attacks, some quite severe. It caused the Lord’s death, but praise God He didn’t stay dead, and because He rose again we can all rise again, both in the here and now and forever.

The TRUTH will cause backbiting, slander, gossip, and rejection. It will bring about a strong reaction from evil, unregenerate flesh. The flesh hates the TRUTH and is convicted easily. Most people would rather rage against the TRUTH, fight it, and go to hell than surrender to the Lord.

There are a few well-intentioned Christians who think the receivers of these evil things are somehow responsible or have a screw loose, as they take a purely non-spiritual approach to perceived remedies. Their arrogance is solid, often off the scale, and they are sold out to any number of false diagnoses and relative witch doctor remedies.

“Tell me, Jesus. How does it make it you feel when people hate you? Ahem, ahem… Does it bother you that people think you’re fake? Ahem, ahem…”

But the Lord Jesus stated very clearly that whatever His enemies do to Him they will do to His disciples. It is therefore not the fault of the disciple to be the recipient of evil. It goes with the territory.

It is enlightening to know that the Lord Jesus was and is rejected more than any man. During His time among us He was:

Accused of being an illegitimate child
Accused of being a glutton
Accused of being a drunk
Accused of being crazy, including by His own mother and siblings
Severely second-guessed by none other than John the Immerser
Accused of being demon-possessed
Accused of being a false prophet
Accused of being a false teacher
Accused of being a false messiah
Rejected by everyone, including His own disciples and close apostles
Rejected by the entire religious establishment
Rejected by His nation
Rejected by the world
Killed illegally by demon-possessed religionists whose father was the devil and who did everything in their power to rid the world of Him, including lying, cheating, character-assassination, and threatening Pilate to the point that the otherwise very strong man and Roman leader was reduced to a wimpy sissy completely under their demonic thumb. Their power trumped Roman power. Think about that.

We could go on. The point here is that the devil threw everything he had at the Lord and not only did none of it work and never stopped Him, the Lord actually worked that much harder and fought all the more so that we could all be set free from the evil around us.

He was thinking of you and me.

Regardless of everything against Him, HE WON THE VICTORY.

He never quit, would never quit, and walked right through all the sordid slinging flying garbage and innuendo that came His way to the great disillusionment of His many detractors. They wanted Him STOPPED but could not get the job done and it frustrated and scared them to no end.

Therefore, one of the clear marks of a real Christian must be the same. One must have the same experiences. And one must overcome them all.

We are fighting a spiritual war. If you want the Lord to be proud of you, you must fight. You must go forward. You must attack the enemy. You must overcome. You must do the job He put you here to do. And we will overcome if we do things His way, even in the face of the most vile and disgusting attacks, often at the hands of “friends.”

The Lord found out who His friends were. They were the ones who repented. They were the ones who returned. They were among the relative few who showed up for Pentecost. They were the ones who put their lives on the line.

We are getting closer to a time of Christian persecution in America like this country has never seen. We are also getting closer to the greatest Great Awakening this country has ever seen.

You must remember, though, how things will go. At first, many people will appreciate it. Then, with the advance of greater truth, the resulting conviction, and the lack of desire to repent and accept the TRUTH, they will begin to get miffed. Then, they will do an about face and turn on you like a rabid dog. This process is perfectly captured in the following account:

And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”

And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

“But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. [Luke 4:22-29]

They loved Him and spoke well of Him but moments later tried to kill Him. Go figure. They failed to kill Him then and failed in every other attempt also. They only succeeded in finally murdering Him because He allowed it FOR THE SAKE OF OUR SALVATION.

“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]

At some point, a Christian will have to make this connection and figure it out. Until then, such a one is subjected to deception by false prophets (alive or dead).

Whatever the case, I am most thankful for all of you. We have much to do. May the Lord Jesus bless you abundantly.

Onward.

If you’re interested in gaining some perspective regarding the last four years, I’ve included links to each prior anniversary, as follows. Thanks.

Happy First Birthday, Real Christianity (5/10/12)

Happy Second Birthday, Real Christianity (5/10/13)

Real Christianity: Three and Free (5/10/14)

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Dancing With the Devil

May 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

Why did the Lord Jesus continually warn us about being deceived? Why did He continually command His disciples that if they would be His disciples they must stay very, very close to Him? Why did He command His followers to obey Him, and Him only, and no one else?

The obvious answer, though only obvious to a few, is that the devil is a lying deceiver and hater of the first caliber, and that the only antidote to his lies is Truth, and Truth only comes from the Man who called Himself the Truth.

In other words, without the Truth, you’re on your own.

And since the devil has no need to fight those not against him (the majority of the world), he concentrates his attacks on Christians.

Why is this the case? Simply because the devil won’t waste his time with peripheral people and issues that do not directly affect his central modus operandi—to stop his one and only mortal enemy by attempting to corrupt and hoodwink those who claim to be His followers.

As the Lord Jesus Himself was tempted by the devil, and in a very major way, every Christian will also be tempted by the devil.

But not all Christians will pass the test.

It should be obvious when researching general Christian history that most Christians fail the test. They fail the test the same way Adam and Eve failed the test. They end up serving the devil whether they know it or not. The Lord said you will know them by their fruits. This is why unreal Christians are included among the deceived.

The devil is essentially a keystone predator. He has no natural enemy that can touch him or do him any harm whatsoever, except for one. The devil runs roughshod over this world doing whatever he wants to do, destroying, stealing, and murdering. He was here before we were. He knows the landscape. The apostle Paul called him “the god of this world:”

Consider that statement—the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.

Why? How? And how does he have this power?

It must somehow be according to the will and plan of God.

But consider how far-reaching that power is, that the devil has the ability to blind the minds of EVERYONE who does not believe, including unbelieving “Christians.”

What constitutes an unbeliever?

An unbeliever, from the New Covenant perspective and writings, is anyone who does not honor, trust, and obey the Lord Jesus as one’s sole Master, Rabbi, Shepherd, and Savior. And if one wants a pure description and illustration of real New Covenant believers in action, one must read the Book of Acts.

It is there where one will discover the evidence that constitutes a real believer, the dividing line between believer and unbeliever, and deduce the presence of unbelievers who masquerade as believers, whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [Galatians 6:7-8] [1]

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What Was In The Village?

May 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”

**And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.”**

**Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.**

And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” [Mark 8:22-26] [1]

NOTICE THE FOLLOWING:

1) There was a blind man in Bethsaida

2) He was brought to the Lord Jesus

3) The Lord took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village…

What was in the village?

4) Outside the village, the Lord spat on the blind man’s eyes

5) The Lord then laid His hands on the blind man

6) He asked the blind man if he could see anything

What was in the village?

7) The blind man LOOKED UP and said he SAW men like trees walking around

8) The Lord laid His hands on the man’s eyes and his sight was RESTORED

9) The Lord told the man who was blind to go straight home and DO NOT ENTER THE VILLAGE

What was in the village?

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Be Encouraged (3)

Apr 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

In order for the Lord Jesus to make a reset, a reset must first be made in the life of an individual who desires a reset by that individual and by no one else.

The latter reset, the one by the individual, is a choice. That’s all it is. It is an appeal to the Lord for help. The individual has no power to actually make any changes in the spiritual world to overcome the effects of the material world since he or she is limited to making choices that create change only in the material world.

Until repentance, one is in jail and often does not know it. And with no desire for real repentance one is free to exist without God.

The material world is limited. It is finite. There is only so much a person can do. And when a person is beset with the result of past sins and slavery to sin one has the added bonus of an allegorical albatross around one’s neck and a ball and chain on one’s foot.

Not good.

Some people notice this though maybe only in a foggy sense. They know something is not right. Something doesn’t add up. They exist in the midst of an illusion and false construct and are made to do things that do not satisfy their hearts.

So they search. These are the smart ones. The ones who are not smart decide to simply live for this world.

The smart ones who search must want THE TRUTH whatever the truth happens to be. They are looking for the keys. One must desire the means of escape even if the means is uncomfortable, socially unacceptable, a destroyer of one’s pride, and sure to cause trouble.

So, whoever refuses the above probabilities need go no further…

Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [James 3:4]

This is a very powerful statement. Let’s read it again:

Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [James 3:4]

Did you know this principle applies regardless of group size or official capacity? It applies to an individual just as it applies to governments and ruling institutions.

Quick questions:

Was the Roman Empire an enemy of God?

Can a “church” be a friend of the world?

For further insight and clarification, let’s look at the fourth chapter of James in context:

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us?”

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. [John 4:1-17]

The last verse speaks of a violation of conscience. Everybody has a conscience. No one has an excuse. God judges the heart.

But have you noticed a person has a much greater chance of surrendering to the Lord Jesus if he or she has not already surrendered to a group?

Peer pressure is a killer. A government makes a bad law and everyone obeys it because they are afraid to stand up against it and invite the government’s wrath. Religions have codes that all within them must obey or they will be deemed a slacker and many obey codes and rules they do not agree with simply because they do not want to be characterized as a slacker and lose their standing in the group. People who belong to whatever culture must obey the expectations and ways of that culture or the culture will turn on them.

So we can see very clearly that the Community of the Lord Jesus is obviously made up of people who did not fit elsewhere. It is made up of strong-minded and strong-willed people who love the truth and will stand up for it regardless of personal cost.

And the greatest personal cost is always rejection from the prior group, the members of which are compromised by a lack of love for the truth, a heart with little or no courage, a desire to make it in this world at the expense of the next, a love of money, uncontrolled lust for things material, a desire for social prestige, and weak capitulation to any strongman who demands to rule them.

America, for example, was once a nation of strong individuals. Individualism was the very thing that made this country great. Strong groups are made of strong individuals.

Does anyone wonder how the Lord Jesus was able to stand up against virtually everyone and every group who all saw Him as a malcontent and deviant? Or how the early disciples faced so much persecution willingly without surrender, even to the point of death?

These were strong people. Real Christians are the strongest people on the planet simply because they are the most persecuted. They are hated without a cause. They are seen as deviants. They are culturally unacceptable. They don’t fit anywhere but in the Kingdom of God. They will have no master of any kind whatsoever other than the Lord Jesus. They are sheep of His pasture and no one else’s.

Be encouraged. The Lord is THE ROCK and His children are rocks.

Rock on.

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:10-16] [1]

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Be Encouraged (2)

Apr 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are people in this world who have never done anything wrong other than be a human being prone to sin and yet have suffered terribly. Through no fault of their own or choice made on their own they exist in this world under very challenging circumstances. Some people have suffered horrendous wrongs and have never received even the slightest modicum of justice.

Mature people learn early on that this world is not just. One can delude oneself all day long if that is one’s choice and insist in little kid fashion that all is fair and all is being taken care of and everything will be okay and all will work itself out and I am a good person and on and on.

In reality, however, some people know that evil—great evil—tremendous evil—exists in this world and that they have become its victims to various degrees. Tell an aborted child who just made the trip to heaven that there is no evil or that everything works out in the end. Tell him or her that the choices made by people to tear his or her tiny perfect body apart and end his or her one and only chance at life that justice always prevails.

Tell victims of unjust wars—and 99% of all wars in human history are without doubt unjust and happened only to satisfy powerful people and gain them more wealth and power—that unjust wars do not exist and it’s just your tough luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tell victims of murder, rape, robbery, and the unjust confiscation of their lands, property, money, health, and desire to live after such wanton destruction by people with absolute power and absolutely no heart have destroyed everything they have that justice always prevails.

The fact of the matter is that justice in this world is not blind, is applied selectively, and most people are not selected. The rich and powerful, however, are always selected.

Then remember the very clear teachings of the Lord Jesus:

“In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” [John 16:33]

“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.” [Matthew 24:9]

“For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will.” [Mark 13:19] [1]

The Lord spoke of a tribulation birthing process in which birth pangs will begin and increase exponentially. In other words, the evil present in this world will grow even greater, and even to the point in which it appears nothing, including His own people, will survive.

But lest one believe that tribulation has not always been here, consider what happened to the Lord Jesus—a perfect Man who never did anything wrong. Or consider what happened to His selected apostles and so many of His disciples. They did exactly what He told them to do and suffered as a result. It tells one that evil certainly exists and if one dares to challenge it one will pay. But if one never challenges evil then evil wins without a fight. It has been the victory of evil to merely intimidate and threaten without ever having to carry out such threats in most cases since most people have no courage.

But the Lord told us to be courageous, to receive His courage, and to be encouraged. Despite all the evil present way back then the Lord Jesus won anyway. The early believers won anyway. And we in the present can and will win anyway.

There is nothing the Lord Jesus cannot do but we must always remember that this world in not heaven and it is unjust. The Kingdom of Heaven resides in this world and it is certainly just. It is just because it is run by a just King. It should therefore be obvious that in places where justice does not prevail, the Lord Jesus is not King.

To the extent that the Lord can, since He is limited by our faith and obedience, He can certainly fix things. Here’s how:

(1) Repent of all sin, evil deeds, disobedience, and hate.

(2) Forgive everybody for anything they have ever done no matter how evil.

(3) Love everybody, even your enemies.

(4) Surrender your entire life and everything you possess to the only just King, and pledge yourself to full obedience to Him. His justice will then prevail in your life. Part of this process (though many will reject it), involves a proper water immersion response. And if someone thinks this is not necessary or superfluous I must remind one that the Lord created it, it is all over the Book of Acts, and both the Lord and the early believers thought it was very important. If one can somehow look beyond the surface one will see why.

(5) Allow the Lord Jesus to fill you with His powerful and loving Holy Spirit so you can have power and strength and might to both fight the good fight of faith to the greatest extent using a power not your own but also to be empowered to minister in powerful ways for the benefit of others who have been victims of evil and to be enabled to overcome all things.

The mark of a real Christian is being a selfless agent of God being used to overcome the evil and injustice of this world using any and all means possible and to properly arm oneself with all that may be required in order to set people free.

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Be Encouraged (1)

Apr 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Lord Jesus will return again soon. He will set everything aright.

He brings everything to pass precisely at its time; He also puts eternity in their mind, but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass. [Ecclesiastes 3:11 JPST]

We sometimes find ourselves in the middle of an impossible challenge. Yet, many of us also know that, with God, all things are possible.

Here is the test of our faith:

The Lord God is righteous. He created everything. Mankind has rebelled against God and sinned. Mankind has brought gross corruption to this planet. The corruption continues to grow exponentially. God has never left the planet, but has been outvoted. It does not mean that He does not remain all-powerful or that He cannot act. It merely means that one must choose. One must develop eyes to see. One must know that God cares and has solutions.

But one must also know that because of the extreme interconnectivity of everything on the planet, anything done affects other things unseen, and as is often the case, the “solutions” of sinful rebellious humanity only make things worse.

The people ruling this planet making the biggest decisions affecting the most people are not righteous whatsoever, and are indeed the opposite of righteous. They are in league with the devil. They have agreed with a diabolical covenant that has as its foundation two basic tenets:

(1) The devil is the god of this world and everyone had better recognize it and obey him, and

(2) Those who surrender to him and honor him the most receive the greater benefits.

Hence, if a person is sold on this world instead of the Kingdom of God, if one loves mammon, if one loves imbibing the lusts of sinful flesh, and if one cares little or nothing for a God-given conscience that warns one of illicit behavior and the certain eventual results thereof, then one will end up falling directly into the devil’s trap.

However, because of the nature of the devil’s sly and deceptive game, a person on the wrong path never knows the full extent of a trap being set or that he or she is heading directly for it. It is only afterwards, after one has been trapped and is beset with the terrible effects of the imprisonment thereof, that one recognizes one has been deceived.

It should be obvious, therefore, that the best, most influential, and most successful human agents of the devil are those which appear as the very opposite and are in positions of well-accepted authority. Looking up to them, listening to them, obeying them, and even following them leads one to the very trap we have thus discussed.

You will know these people because they never acknowledge the absolute authority of the Lord Jesus. Never. Not even the so-called Christian religious authorities.

This should open a few eyes but such is a rare event. If the Lord had to actually appear in all His powerful radiance to the murderous, hateful, ultra-religious Phariaical Saul to get his attention, even to the point of knocking the little weasel off his horse and on his backside, what makes everyone else so special? The fact is that the Lord most often has to do the same thing to every one of us to gain our attention and eventual salvation.

Of course, there is no possibility of being deceived by the fake shining agents of the devil if one follows the Lord Jesus, who is God and has revealed Himself as God. Yet, strangely enough, He is not perceived as God, as the one supreme leader of the Universe, even by most Christians, because of the devil’s deceiving influence, and this is why most people never really submit to and exclusively follow the Lord.

It is the rejection of the Lord Jesus that causes the acceptance of false leaders and their false agendas. It is the acceptance of the Lord Jesus as the Master and sole authority of one’s life that causes complete rejection of anyone and everyone else who would stand in His place, especially those within the religious realm, and especially those within the “Christian” religious realm.

Most Christians fail and their lives never come to full fruition simply because they have accepted other leaders as the sole authorities in their lives rather than the Lord.

Those who never fully accept the Lord Jesus do so at their own peril. Until the trap is sprung they never see it coming.

As the apostle Paul recounted his first meeting with the Lord to King Agrippa, he included some incredible words of the Lord Jesus which explain perfectly our world situation and why so many are in absolute darkness, including himself prior to that eventful first meeting:

“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

“And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

‘To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’” [Acts 26:12-18] [1]

If a person has never experienced a great trap-freeing experience as the apostle Paul did—if one has never been born again spiritually—then one remains in the trap, otherwise known as the dominion of Satan.

And one remains deceived by some very influential people who have actually embraced the dominion of Satan because of the earthly benefits they have been granted. For most people, of course, there are few benefits or none at all.

And this explains everything.

In Part 2 we will look further into how the Lord Jesus can fix things, rearrange things, and set things aright in order to bring blessing to His children.

Be encouraged.

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First Day of Spring and Signs in the Sky: The Awakening Advances

Mar 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today, March 20, 2015, is the actual New Years Day.

It’s the first day of spring and begins the season of new life.

It is also a day filled with celestial signs pointing directly to current world events and the American spiritual climate.

Unlike the frozen spiritual tundra of the great white north where snow continues on Friday (see Tuesday’s post), and where Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Charles Finney have long since been effectively rousted from their graves and kicked out of town, there are actually places in America where the Lord Jesus is honored and obeyed.

Regarding the former reference, John WyCliffe (c.1324-1384), the Morning Star of the Reformation and the man who first translated the Bible into English, suffered much persecution in his life but also in death. This may be difficult to fathom but hatred for this man’s work by the Roman Catholic Church was so intense that forty years after his death, his remains were exhumed from his grave, crushed, burned, and scattered in the River Swift.

Has not the same happened to the work and reputations of the men mentioned above? And of course, to the Lord Jesus Himself?

A NEW SEASON

Regarding today, the day is otherwise known as the vernal equinox. On this day the planet levels out in its tilt as it does twice each year—it is the time when the most direct rays of the sun fall on the equator. In March, it signals the end of winter darkness and the beginning of the shift toward ever more direct sunlight for the Northern Hemisphere.

Spring officially arrives at 5:45pm Central Daylight Time on Friday.

But this is only the beginning of the beginning.

There are many other celestial events taking place. Their simultaneous occurrences make this an extremely rare day and portend major change on the cyclical front.

A NEW LUNAR CYCLE

In addition to the first day of spring, March 20^th is also the day of a new moon—the beginning of a new lunar cycle. The new month officially began at 4:36am CDT early Friday morning. It is relatively rare to have a new moon on the same day as the beginning of spring.

Yet, we’re only getting started. These events also signal the beginning of yet another cycle, one which corresponds to dovetailing the sun and moon into a workable calendar:

235 lunar cycles (months of 29.53 days) fit almost exactly into 19 solar cycles (years). This period of 19 years is what some ancient cultures, including the Hebrews, used in their lunar-solar calendars, which incorporate:

(1) 7 years of 13 months (intercalary years) for a total of 91 months, and

(2) 12 years of 12 months totaling 144 months.

These combine for a total of 235 months in an overall 19-year calendar which links the movements of the moon with the movements of the sun. Here’s the math:

365.24220 (days in a solar cycle) x 19 years = 6939.60180 days

29.53059 (days in a lunar cycle) x 235 months = 6939.68865 days

(This is a mere difference of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 4 seconds over the 19 years. Pretty close.)

But wait! There’s more!

FIRST DAY OF THE HEBREW MONTH OF NISAN

Friday, March 20^th is also the first day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar! This is an extremely important day and has great significance in both Hebrew history and in the life of the Lord Jesus.

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.” [Exodus 12:1-2] [1]

Nisan 1 is the first day of the first month of the festival, or ecclesiastical year. Most of the springtime Biblical feasts occur during this month. It was the exact day the tabernacle in the wilderness was first erected. It was also the month when our Lord died and rose from the dead.

[Please see the links following this article regarding the month of Nisan for much more detailed information on the prophetic events of this season.]

A NEW SUPERMOON

Along with these preceding events, the new moon beginning on Friday morning is also a supermoon, meaning that the moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit and must also be either full or new (in this case new and thus completely dark). (When a supermoon is full it appears approximately 15% brighter.)

But wait! There is still more!

A NEW TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

On this same day, March 20, 2015, a total solar eclipse took place as the new supermoon passed directly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking out the Sun’s light. The eclipse began about 3am CDT.

The full eclipse was mostly visible in the northern Atlantic and far northern Europe. It ended over the North Pole. Scotland experienced about a 95% darkening of the Sun, Germany 82%, and Italy about 50%. A partial eclipse was seen in Europe, North Africa, north-central Asia, and the Middle East. The eclipse was not visible in America, however.

How rare is it when a total solar eclipse happens on the first day of spring? It’s relatively very rare, in that the last one to occur happened in the year 1662. That’s 353 years ago. However, there will be other spring equinox-total solar eclipses in the near future, the next one in 19 years and two more, strangely enough, at 19-year intervals in 2034, 2053, and 2072. These are repeating 19-year cyclical events normally happening in sets of four or five.

As it happens, we had a 353-year period from 1662-2015. This will be followed by three 19-year periods in succession, 2015-2034, 2034-2053, and 2053-2072 which also correspond to the 19-year celestial lunar-solar calendars.

FIVE CONCURRENT CELESTIAL SIGNS

The supermoon occurring at the same time as a total solar eclipse is more of a rarity than the spring equinox-total solar eclipse happening concurrently. That all three happen on the same day is exceptionally rare. And when the other events happen as well, with all their individual spiritual portents, this is a rare time indeed and very much worth paying full attention to and praying about, especially regarding the Great Awakening.

Wow. Almost done.

SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE—WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Regarding the number 19, it is the 8^th prime number, and 8 is the Biblical number of resurrection and regeneration, and a new beginning. This is a great number, and a highly spiritual number with regard to spiritual awakenings. Keep in mind that the Lord’s resurrection could only happen after His death, and that spiritual awakenings only happen after much repentance, which is representative of death.

Great Awakenings are always associated with persecution as well.

The number 19, however, rather than the joy of number 8, is a different story. It is associated with rebellion and judgment, as well as spiritual trials and suffering. According to noted Bible scholar E.W. Bullinger, it is a number connected with Eve and Job. Putting these two numbers together at this time when so many rare celestial and spiritual events are occurring only furthers the proof that we are sailing into uncharted seas.

NOW WATCH THIS: Early Friday morning in the pre-dawn darkness, the moon became new, meaning that it was completely blacked out from receiving the light of the Sun.

It then passed in front of the Sun from our viewpoint here on Earth, completely blacking out the light of the Sun.

Associated with these two black-out events will be the last waning hours of the season of winter, a season noted for cold and darkness. Death arrives for the winter of 2014-15 at 5:45pm CDT on Friday evening.

Then, a second later, just as a new morning follows the end of night, the resurrection life of a new season will spring forth! At that point the darkness of the solar eclipse will be history. The moon will start gaining more light on its way to becoming full.

A new Day will dawn, and with it we will cast off the cobwebs and deadness of a long winter’s sleep.

The same will happen in the spiritual world, known very well by our real Christian forebears of the first century, and also by those courageous men mentioned above.

Regardless of cold hearts and unreal brethren, the Awakening advances.

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Tags: America, Beginning of Spring, Lord Jesus, Lunar Cycle, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Resurrection, Solar Eclipse, Supermoon, The Great Awakening, The Hebrew Month of Nisan

The Great Awakening (and Ruined Reputations)

Feb 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

I have noticed, since I removed my former cheery greeting at top left—“Thank You for Visiting. Your Reputation is Ruined,” with the current greeting, “We’re in the Early Stages of a National Great Awakening”—that it may be possible for ruined reputations to be further ruined.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Your thoughts are welcome.

Yet, I remember that day in late August of the year 2010, going on five years ago, when I received afresh that particular revelation. I had just begun writing a paper on the subject. I saw it very clearly. I asked friends what they thought, if they saw any evidence of such an event in the making. I asked friends in ministry. No one saw anything.

But I know what I heard once again, after first hearing it many years before. I wrote about it in Real Christianity, and I recalled so many who had been talking of such for many years and even decades. I was reminded of how the religious people of the Lord’s day missed His arrival completely, and that even His own disciples in the early going had no clue who He was. Even after His death many of them remained clueless for a while. They had to be rigorously shaken out of their slumber and unbelief.

You might want to pay attention to this because the Great Awakening will not come forth through the medium of unreal Christianity. Indeed such will fight it and will fight whoever is for the Lord Jesus and thus against them.

This current Great Awakening is being driven by TRUTH.

The Pharisees of the first century, that is, the organized official front of the most accepted faction of Jewish belief at the time, not only did not see and did not believe, they insisted repeatedly that the Lord was a charlatan and a false prophet. They hated the fact that so many of the people had succumbed to following the crazy man. They also had rejected John the Immerser. In fact, the organized official front of Jewish religious belief at that time rejected anyone and everyone but themselves, and they maintained their power through force and fear.

The Lord Jesus never did this. Never. He also never went out of His way to collect converts through spurious means or attempted to build anything material in which to house them (though He was formerly a carpenter). John the Immerser never did this either. Nor did the Lord’s disciples.

Why?

It should be obvious.

I remember a popular book of about fifty years ago entitled Black Like Me. It was about a white man, a writer, who wanted to find a way to go undercover to see how black people were actually treated by some white people. He decided to burr his hair and dye his skin very dark and pass himself off as a black man. It worked. He went out on the streets as a black man and what he discovered shocked him. Used to being treated well, he was suddenly treated very badly.

This is how it was with the Lord. His “people” praise Him from afar but when they actually meet Him and see what He is really all about He gets treated very badly. As I’ve said often on this site, “Christians” are notorious for this, as were the Pharisees as a group notorious for hating everything about Him. Their problem was that their concept of God did not come close to matching up with the real God, the One who actually showed up among them. They continued to honor the concept—the false image—rather than the real Person.

It is exactly the same with Truth. The Lord Jesus cut right to the heart of the matter concerning truth when He stated very simply but powerfully, “I AM the Truth.”

And He is, of course. And they murdered Him for it, of course.

His reality destroyed His enemies’ false conception of truth.

His teaching destroyed their false teachings and takeoffs on the Torah.

He came to make everything right and set them straight, but the elites rejected Him. They paid no attention to the real truth. They did not want the truth. They hated the truth. They repeatedly found fault with Him and His teachings. They had been overcome and brainwashed by false doctrine.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why they hated Him so—He was destroying not only their false concepts, interpretations, doctrines, dogmas, and organization, but in the end, began threatening their money.

And if there are two things that unreal Christians care about more than anything else, it is (1a) their money, and (1b) their religious reputations, both of which allow for their false organizations, impure teachings, and power to deceive.

Real Christians may do whatever they want, but according to unreal Christians, they must never reveal truth that destroys untruth accepted, worshipped, and honored as truth, and they must never do anything in any way, shape, or form that may appear as an attack on their religious wealth.

Hence, reputation and money are MUST HAVES for the unreal brethren if they are to exist in this world (and they are quite arrogant about it), whereas we have the early historical record that real Christians with NO reputation and NO money turned the world on its left ear and managed to convert the brutal Roman Empire.

And currently, there is such a surfeit of wealth and false doctrine one can hardly breathe without offending an unreal Christian. It again brings to mind what the Lord said about rank sinners getting in the door long before the few religious elites who might manage it. Most will not. Ever. They will go to hell offended with their reputations and money intact.

He said the following to the chief priests and elders of the people who questioned His authority while He was teaching in the temple:

“Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.” [Matthew 21:31-32]

This is why the Lord had to up the ante. This is why He took it upon Himself to visit this place directly after having sent so many messengers before Him. They were all killed and rejected. Yes, that’s right. That’s what happened to them. The Lord Jesus said exactly that.

But would the current inhabitants of the nation whose members claimed to be His followers for so many centuries who killed all the prior messengers also kill Him?

People who have no love for the truth have no love for the Lord Jesus, because He is the Truth. But until they actually meet Him and discover who He really is, they will think they love Him. They will think they are serving Him. They really believe they have it right. And because of that they must protect their reputation, their religion, and the money they derive from both, because without these they have nothing at all.

And this is obviously very true. It is why the Lord Jesus demands that we give up all in order to follow Him. We must give up false renditions of His teachings. We must surrender false concepts of His Person. And we must jettison our money and reputations if they keep us from Him.

He is not out to make us poor. Rather, He is out to rid us of anything and everything that keeps us dependent upon such things and from a close Fatherly relationship with Him, and to that end He was willing to give His life and did. He called this the greatest love. All who are not willing to do the same will automatically accept a substitute and counterfeit whether they want to or not.

His early disciples learned this and accepted it. They were at once absolutely and completely rejected by everyone else and it would have been a cold lonely life if the Lord had not also commanded them to love one another and be a family. He commanded them to be a loving community doing whatever they could for one another, but to mostly support one another and accept one another and love one another.

If there is one thing that defines an unreal Christian it is an institutional pronounced lack of this love.

The more one buys into the ultra-organized, clergy-dominated, religious reputation-insisted upon, wealth-oriented, surface-oriented, control-oriented, and dumbing-down of followers-oriented method of the Christian Pharisees, the more likely one will never know the real truth and consequently be in bondage to lies and deception without ever knowing it.

Now, with reference to my former greeting on this site, I knew the second I joined up with the Lord Jesus many years ago that my worldly reputation was shot forever, not that I necessarily even had one then, and I had many people, Christian and non-Christian (but mostly Christian) reminding me of it all the time. Should I restore my former greeting?

Regarding the Great Awakening, we must open our eyes and break out of any restrictive and blinding religious drudgery and routine we may be bogged down in. Some of those I talked to four and a half years ago have since come to agree with me, and claim they are indeed seeing signs. Maybe the signs are subtle. Maybe some are looking for the wrong signs. Maybe some are doing nothing to help bring it forth.

Remember, those who claimed to know God best before He came here two-thousand years ago were the ones who knew Him the least and not at all. They rejected Him outright. Let’s make sure we don’t fall for someone’s false agenda or false narrative, all of which have to do with the maintaining of power and wealth. But I caution all, if you decide to follow the real Jesus—God with us—the unreal among us will let you know post haste that you’re an idiot, even if all you ever do to incur their wrath is decide to never join their club or to leave their club.

But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. [Galatians 2:4]

Oh, and two more things—rather than being packed together like proverbial sardines, real Christians might get used to the social distance incurred upon them because heaven is vast and wide with huge open spaces where no premium is placed upon space restrictions—and real Christians might also get used to the Lord Jesus being in control, in which the first thing He does is grant the freedom to worship and serve Him the right way, the way He placed upon our hearts, which results in a lot of fun and expression, and the freedom to develop into mature disciples never otherwise granted.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. [2Corinthians 3:17] [1]

This is why there is a national Great Awakening in the works. It is His doing not ours. Yet, it is not something He is merely dictating. He is responding to the sincere heartfelt prayers of millions of His people over many decades who desire the truth and spiritual reality. He is pleased that so many have moved on from unfruitful methods, having grown tired from doing things the “right” way but seeing no results, and are determined to live and practice their faith as the originals did—those who turned the blasted world upside down.

He also responded two-thousand years ago, and at that time it was also to the remnant—and the remnant had it tough in the early going just like He did, and just like real Christians do now—but they prevailed and eventually spread the real Gospel all over the planet.

This is our current calling as well. We live in a time of anticipation and hope in which so many have given everything and suffered all things to light the way to this point in history.

Let us hope future generations see us as we see those real and faithful ones who helped bring forth the Great Awakenings of the past.

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Tags: America, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Truth, Unreal Christianity

On the Threshold of Heaven (1)

Feb 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

Currently, in such tough times for so many believers, we must all know that our Lord Jesus is still in charge.

For those who are filled with His Spirit, there is a goodness and brightness in their being, though unacknowledged by many.

The presence of the Lord within them which they experience at present is what the apostle Paul called the earnest of their inheritance.

It is the witness, the pledge, the sign, the guarantee, and even what may be termed the first installment or down payment of His Holy Spirit.

Just as our Lord was the First Fruits, so is His Holy Spirit within real Christians on this planet the first fruits for them of what is to come.

The exact experience of Pentecost is currently available to all, and many millions all across this world have and are experiencing His presence, and it gives them strength and joy and hope until the full arrival of the purchased possession.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. [Romans 8:22-23] [1]

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Tags: Apostle Paul, Book of Acts, Day of Pentecost, First Fruits, Great Awakening, Holy Spirit, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church

If We Love Him We Will Obey Him

Dec 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

For those faithful readers who have read the articles on this blog for a while, you know I must write about what is wrong in order to attempt to illustrate what is right. What the Lord Jesus did during His ministry was right. What His hand-picked men did after Him was right.

The original apostles ushered in real Christianity at the very beginning and spread it throughout the then-known world in faithful adherence to the Founder’s vision.

Some may want to call original Christianity a movement, and it certainly is in a sense. Others may see it as simply one more religion begun by a Man who saw a great need for helping people with a better life.

In reality, however, God had an overall plan from the beginning of Creation and part of that plan involved bringing forth truth and reality. Why? Because the enemy of our souls brought in lies, deception, temptation, and sin. And the very heart of the Lord’s teachings is to set us free from the effects of those evil lies, deception, and sin and bless us with His Truth, Life, and spiritual freedom.

Therefore, it must be the goal of every real Christian to do exactly the same. In this regard, the Lord Jesus made the concept very clear when He stated:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” [John 14:12-18]

In this passage, the Lord mentions the Father, the Son, and the Spirit of Truth, or the Holy Spirit. He then identifies Himself as the Holy Spirit. He also repeats the very message of YHWH in the Old Testament, as when God stated the following at the giving of the Ten Commandments:

Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” [Exodus 20:1-7]

A big part of the Lord’s teaching was properly identifying God and God’s real teachings. Why? Because the Pharisees, predominantly, had so muddied the waters with their own false teachings interspersed somewhat with God’s real teachings.

But the one prevailing evidential component the Lord Jesus used to identify Himself as God and confirm that His teachings were correct as opposed to the false religion of the Pharisees or any other was His operative use of miracles both to help others and confirm that His Word was God’s Word.

In other words, if the miracles, healings, release from demon possession, and other great spiritual works were not there, then neither was He or His real Word.

Now, contrast everything you just read with a typical Sunday morning at your church and tell me both are the same. For most of you, you simply cannot do it. And this reveals that the majority of Christianity in this world, regardless of perceived good hearts and good intentions, is either incorrect or greatly lacking.

And further, if you want to know the central reason for this, it is a matter of authority, in that someone or something else is in charge instead of the Lord Jesus. Again, He stated very clearly the following:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. [John 14:15]

(If you don’t love Me you will not.)

“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” [John 14:11]

(Even if you cannot perceive that Jesus is God, believe Him because of the miracles.)

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’”? [John 14:8-9]

This statement, of course, takes us right back to the Exodus passage. The Lord Jesus would never and did never teach anything against the Father (God/YHWH) or anything in addition to the Father.

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. [Matthew 5:17]

What He did was teach the same curriculum but as a human being among human beings as not only an instructor but as our example.

This is why He said His real disciples would perform just as He did. Anyone who does not is either not a real disciple, a very young or immature disciple, or possibly unclear on the concept. But once “no miracles” Christianity was established and institutionalized it became conventional and real Christianity thus became unconventional, and thus ostracized and maligned, just as first-century Phariseeism maligned the Lord and His teachings.

In other words, if Major League Baseball (the highest league on the planet) was easy, anyone could play it. The fact, however, is that it is very, very difficult and only a fraction of exceptional ballplayers ever get there or play well for an extended time at that level.

Most of that which passes itself off as Christianity is mere T-Ball at best and thus has very little or no impact on this fallen world of sin, which is a terrible thing once one considers the extreme price the Founder paid and the price paid by all real believers throughout history who often gave their lives.

2015 will be a pivotal year. The Great Awakening in America will advance. But already, many who would have otherwise participated cut themselves off due to their disobedience, lack of faith, lack of love, and preference for a different gospel. This had to happen for the purpose of clearing the ranks just as was done in the story of Gideon’s army which was reduced by removing 99%.

Just as the Lord Jesus had tens of thousands of followers during His ministry but only managed to gather 120 for the Upper Room Experience at Pentecost, He does not necessarily need great numbers. He wants great numbers in the sense that He loves and wants everybody. But He can certainly make do with a small team of dedicated members willing to obey all of His commandments. His final team will be just that because He said only a comparative few would find the real Door and complete the real path.

To be a real disciple of the Lord, one must be worthy and willing to accept the challenge. Our Lord paid the greatest price for this very reason. He needs our help. A fallen world is crying out for reality, truth, and salvation.

As His disciples, let us all make a greater effort to exalt the Lord Jesus, put His real Truth on the map through our ministry to others and one another, and illustrate by our spiritual example a pure reflection of His example.

Thank you for reading. Be blessed and Merry Christmas!

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Tags: America, Book of Acts, Christian Pharisees, Deception, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

Religious Slavery (Part 3)

Nov 8

Posted by RJ Dawson

**In Part 2 of this series I raised the prospect of spiritual deafness and blindness arising from an obstinate attitude toward new revelation. As I wrote in Real Christianity,**

As strange as it may seem, what we have to show for two millennia of church history is an overwhelming preponderance of completely unique and separate Christian cultures. Stranger still, most of these are simultaneously and mysteriously united under the umbrella of a single proviso. Though not in fellowship with the other and though each claims to be under the Lord’s dominion, they are actually joined as one in their opposition to His complete rule. In reality, their actions give them the demeanor of the legendary roving bands of the ancient world, seeking pastures for their flocks, fighting those who threaten their turf, ever wondering and searching for greater power and influence, but all the while refusing to be fully obedient to the Lord. Stiff-necked, stubborn, arrogant, clutching their religious robes about them, they set their feet in the concrete of human frailty and fear, unable to trust the God of all creation whose truth could set them free.

As I’ve stated before on many occasions, if you want to get the Lord Jesus angry at you, be religiously stiff-necked. Act as if you know everything. Act as if the truth you possess is all the truth there is. Reject the truth the Lord is trying to reveal because it simply does not fit in with your current belief-system. Obey your religious and denominational leaders first, and consider the Lord further down the list. Act as if your church or denomination is already doctrinally and culturally exactly the way God wants it, or is certainly better than all others. Claim to have God’s truth though completely lacking God’s real love and power.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. [2 Timothy 3:1-7]

Keep in mind that a big part of the Lord’s curriculum is correcting us when we are wrong. He does this by teaching us the truth, even it means showing us the error of our ways. The religiously stiff-necked will always reject such teaching, however. Why? Because it involves conviction. Unreal Christians hate conviction. They don’t want to be convicted. Conviction hurts. It puts one off-balance. It reveals that one is wrong. And it thus demands correction from the one who is wrong.

The Lord Jesus always attempts to do this at first with much grace and love, but that does not deaden the impact. In fact, it sometimes makes it worse. A heart that is circumcised, however, will be able to handle the pain. A tender heart can accept proper rebuke, though tears may well up in one’s eyes and fall, and though one may feel so vulnerable he or she feels there is no cure for such brokenness.

But this is part of washing one’s heart with the Blood of Jesus. It is the process of conforming such a heart to His heart. He created a loving, tender-hearted family. There is only one way to do this. The early believers had this love and were like the Lord. Their love and joy was palpable and honest and forthright. They understood well, however, that the making of a good heart involved pain.

Why otherwise do we think the Lord used circumcision as an exact description of what must take place to one’s heart? Imagine His people long, long ago when they first got word that God required physical circumcision as a vital prerequisite of being right with Him and in fellowship with Him.

And if you think heart circumcision is somehow an easy road and not that big of a deal, believe me, your heart has never been circumcised. Imagine the fact that Abraham was so in love with God and that he so honored God he circumcised himself! That’s pretty high up there on the commitment scale.

Most Christians do not have that kind of commitment. But most Christians are certainly committed to other things that bypass heart circumcision and will be extremely obstinate about it when presented with something that challenges their beliefs.

What did the Lord do when challenged about His beliefs? He simply proved who He was by not only demonstrating great love, forgiveness, and mercy toward all, but also demonstrated that He had spiritual power for good that no one else had. His credentials proved themselves.

The apostle Paul also did this. He agreed with his detractors that he was not much to behold and could not talk so well. Like the Lord Jesus, he was the opposite of what we may call a charismatic figure. He attracted no one to himself by his looks or speaking ability. If one tried to fit him for an expensive tailored suit he would still look pretty bad and probably even more so (“Hey Paul, that suit’s wearin’ you, man.”).

But Paul had a clean heart, a circumcised heart. He had love flowing out of him for others. And for his ultimate credentials, he had the power of God, something the fakers don’t have:

Most Christian pastors/priests/reverends are not like this. This means their hearts have never been circumcised. It means they are not filled with the Spirit of God. It means they are the Christian equivalent of the stiff-necked people God was so incensed against in the Old Testament writings. And this anger of God presented itself yet again in its fullest expression ever when the God of the Old Testament became one of us:

“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.” [Matthew 23:13-15]

“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]

“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 23:33-39] [1]

We all know what happened forty years after these pronouncements were made. What was left of the country God founded ceased to exist forever. The same thing will happen to any person, any church congregation, or even any country that formerly believed the truth and followed the Lord Jesus if they stray into rebellious territory.

But one must always remember that BEFORE the final judgment of Jerusalem/Judea in 66-70 AD, great Life and Light invaded that place. A Great Awakening happened in that place. A tremendous spiritual outpouring took place in that place.

In the exact formerly free location where idiot stiff-necked religionists had gained control and demanded the people conform to religious slavery and a false, dead code, the Life-giving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Messiah blasted upon the scene and hundreds of thousands and perhaps more of Abraham’s descendants received that Life, long before any Gentiles ever did, and it was enough to turn Jerusalem and Judea on its ear.

But that first Great Awakening never stopped the stiff-necked from fighting it or disbelieving it, no matter how obvious was the manifestation of God’s love and power. Why?

Their religion told them it was wrong.

As a terrible historical example and what should be a very frightening possibility for us all, those people went down with the phony evil ship they created unrepentant and hard-hearted to the end.

This is the exact destiny of Unreal Christianity.

So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman. [Galatians 4:31]

Religious Slavery (Part 1)

Religious Slavery (Part 2)

WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A NATIONAL GREAT AWAKENING.

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Tags: America, Apostle Paul, Christian Pharisees, Freedom, Heart Circumcision, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Slavery, Unreal Christianity

The Fix Is In: Delusion Illusion (Part 3)

Jul 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

It’s here.

We have reached a point in time in which technology is so advanced it can not only be used to distort reality to the degree of creating near foolproof false narratives, but can also reveal the deception of existing false narratives.

Some such false narratives have been around awhile. Some of these fake storylines passed off as fact are so far-reaching it would do more than merely shock the vast majorities of those conned by them if revealed for what they actually are, but undoubtedly also cause disruptions on more than mere major scales.

And those in the know know the time is short. Truth is coming forth like never before in history and secrets are being exposed. People are figuring things out. Massive lies are being revealed. Not sure where all this is heading, but as they say down south, somethin’ is fixin’ to happen.

Historians know truth to a greater degree than the average person simply because they do a lot of research. Good historians do more. Great historians find things they are not supposed to find.

Much of history is a fictional narrative based on fact and passed off as authentic. Powerful people have far too much at stake to allow truth to be known as it concerns their less than stellar exploits in exploitation and power and wealth gathering. Real history includes all the hidden plans and conspiracies made in secret by extremely wealthy and powerful people and none of this is part of the historical narrative, except possibly a fraction.

Yet, searchers for truth know such information must exist because of the playing out of historical events. Outside of random events and accidents, everything is planned. We see the result of the plans but almost never see the plans themselves. Some plans appear above board. Most are not. There is far too much going on behind the scenes of which the vast majority is not aware.

An excellent example is found in Outer Space. There are two unknown entities there known as dark energy and dark matter. One can often find the presence of unknown truth the same way scientists “find” dark matter and dark energy—they cannot actually observe these but they can observe the effect they have on what they can observe.

No one knows what these are but we know they are there. Current estimates are that dark energy comprises 68% of the Universe, and dark matter makes up 27%. This means that everything observable by us in the entire Universe only adds up to about 5% of all that is there.

Based on this astounding fact, people should be much more careful about what they perceive as fact, and the beliefs they hold that they think are based on fact, since the odds are huge there is much more truth that exists that they are completely unaware of and most likely will never put forth the effort to discover. And they must consider that forces exist to hide truth and that the world is filled with deception.

Thus, the Delusion Illusion.

As most know, history is written by the victors. Victors have all the power. They can do anything they want, and that includes writing the records. This process had for long centuries been fairly simple because the majority of planet Earth’s inhabitants were illiterate, out of touch, had no power whatsoever to affect real change, had no influence, etc.

This is no longer the case. Information has exploded and is shooting up the exponential curve at great speed. Much that has been locked up in the unknown is now becoming known, and ease of access is also accelerating rapidly. This was prophesied long ago:

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.

“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” [Daniel 12:1-4]

The rich and powerful have always been a very small minority. It had control in its hands. When we think about all the great wars of history, these wars had their distant origins in one king fighting another, though such kings started out in mankind’s history as the biggest or smartest guy within a small group, tribal leaders, the best fighters, and not to be forgotten, the most pathological.

Such were those who had no empathy for others whatsoever, could never feel anyone else’s pain, had no mercy or compassion, and were thus unhindered in using their natural brutality in any way they wanted. They demanded respect. Everyone else backed down, and those who did not were taken out.

Thus, much of “history” is actually composed of the tales of various kingpins attempting to defeat other kingpins and take their stuff. Some invented moral reasons for such as a way to involve their people emotionally. Whatever the case, one can be assured that surface facts are all that remain, and inside skullduggery and internal reasons for appropriating the stuff of others to gain greater power and wealth are largely lost under a smokescreen of deception.

This process has obviously made it into modern times. As technology increased over the last century or so, it became easier for the controllers of technology to control the historical narrative. Much of “reality” became a stage play. Once all the major newspapers were bought up by a few powerful people, the news within the papers became jaundiced toward ends decided upon by the propagandists. For those who objected, it was fairly easy to either create false scandals, blackmail such objectors, remove their income sources by bribing and/or intimidating those in vulnerable positions who would rather play ball, or simply revert to the old tried and true elimination by death of one sort or another.

We have all heard of “palace intrigue.” We know powerful leaders were always on their guard against hostile takeovers. Why did ancient kings have food-tasters and bodyguards and secret police and spies and etc? They obviously knew that the desire for power and wealth was a disease reaching immense proportions on occasion, that they themselves had gained power and wealth through illicit means, and that regardless of how they got where they were someone would attempt to take them out as well and take their stuff. A fairly recent president gained his position through such means and spent the rest of his days in ever growing paranoia for this reason, which only added to his circumspect mental condition.

In past imperial periods, it was often family members and inlaws. They could trust next to no one. Whoever they did trust had to be vetted to the nth degree. The successful remained successful by successfully establishing a palace guard of enough trusted ones that they retained power longer.

History reached a moment, however, when powerful people realized they should put an end to such nonsense since a better way had presented itself. Instead of fighting each other all the time, they saw the wisdom in becoming leagued together for both means of greater protection but mainly as a method of gaining far greater wealth and power and learning to share it.

In other words, a much bigger pie created a much bigger piece of pie for each that they could never achieve on their own. Hence, mankind progressed from mere military control as a single method toward the age of political control, in that kings began ruling among themselves through political means involving sell-out trusted ones and mouthpieces—those who would stand in as faux leaders though controlled by the powerful, who became puppeteers and then created the greatest format of control, to be discussed in future posts.

Thus, the political leaders we see today are not actually leaders but mere marionettes on strings. Regular historians might see this to a degree but largely discount the notion. Great historians, however, can see the strings, can identify the strings, and can trace the strings back to the ones holding the strings and pulling the strings.

And many decades ago, when advancing though early technology became much more fully in their control, they could get away with almost anything and did, since they controlled mass information sources and fused technology with propaganda.

Thus, the great kings who leagued themselves together as one appropriated even more power and wealth and were able to achieve a dream that many ancient ones sought but never gained. Their power is such that they can not only do whatever they wish at any given time toward the final goal, but also possess an extremely malevolent and prodigious ability to deceive, and not just a few, but the entire world.

So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.

I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”

There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

If anyone has an ear, let him hear. [Revelation 12:17-13:9] [1]

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Tags: Beast, Deception, Dragon, Hidden Agenda, Illusion, Lamb of God, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Revived Roman Empire, Unreal Christianity

The Fix Is In: Delusion Illusion (Part 2)

Jul 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

The ministry of John the Immerser was to prepare the way for the ministry of Messiah.

Part of the preparation was preparing hearts.

Part of it was to prepare the spiritual eyes and ears of the people who possessed them, though all were most likely affected by the general blindness of the nation at that time.

“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.

“In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.” [Matthew 13:13-16]

One may wonder why most of the people could not see and hear, and why only a few did. The above passage reveals the answer:

“The heart of this people has become dull.”

The word “dull” is translated from the Greek word pachuno, which is translated into English as “to make thick, to make fat,” and metaphorically, “to make stupid (rendering the soul dull or callous).”

The Hebrew word from the Isaiah passage regarding this sad heart adjective is shaman, and means, “to be fat, make fat, grow fat, or become fat; to show fatness.”

It is variously translated as fat, dull, gross, sluggish, and insensitive, the latter of which appears to be the modern PC definition, which segues from identifying Christians who can’t understand squat no matter how hard one may try to fix their sub-Forrest Gump spiritual IQ with words right on target but extremely offensive—to a nice word which renders such individuals as merely somewhat out of touch with God with no harm done to one’s religious or church social status (or preaching credentials).

The Lord, however, pulled no punches, as did prophets before Him. For whoever may care, it is extremely serious to claim to be a Christian without knowing or wanting God. Just as the Lord said that blind people leading blind people will result in multiple AAA calls to rescue from ditches, so is it the case when preachers with fat hearts lead people with fat hearts. The whole congregation, church building and all, falls into a proverbial ditch, lists to one side, and remains there as a spiritual testament to fat hearts out of touch with God everywhere, while attendance continues by people who make downward adjustments and learn to walk on a slant.

These people cannot see or hear, though they have eyes and ears, and cannot understand, though possessing a mind. It must be noted that their blindness and deafness is, quite strangely, willing. They have closed their eyes and ears by choice. They have also closed their minds. They have willingly chosen to become spiritual dullards with heavy eyelids, sound-deadening headphones, and minds the Lord could not squeeze truth into with the assistance of compressed air or pneumatic tools. Imagine an entire nation of people like this before John the Immerser appeared, topped off with fat-hearted religious leaders who wouldn’t know God if he became a Man and looked them in the face.

It is often the case that our brains are less than lightening fast, but we enjoy those moments when trying to grab hold of something intellectually difficult and actually succeeding, and having a happy “Aha” moment when the tumblers all come together in the correct order and we finally “get it.” Christians with fat hearts never get it, so they build mathematical and verbal formulas they do get, such 1+1=2 (I think) and c-a-t, and then proceed to build their entire religious super structure around such kindergarten principles and easy to understand concepts, thus dumbing-down future generations within that particular Christian culture if said foundational and structural concepts become fully accepted and remain.

This is exactly what the nation of Israel did. The Hebrew prophets, who could see, hear, and understand extremely well (and paid the price for it—both in getting there and staying there), and had the spiritual equivalent of world-class athlete’s hearts, lean and strong with no blockages or cholesterol problems but expressing the epitome of perfect working order with all chambers, valves, and parts pumping and opening and closing like that well-oiled machine we hear so much about with the express result of KNOWING God first and speaking forth His Word second, that all could hear from the Lord On High and thus subvert the devil’s deadening process on the understanding of sinful human beings racked with the ongoing consequence of spiritual disease.

Don’t blame the prophet for having a heart for God,

And for being strong and anointed and doing his job.

The prophets were the cure for blindness and deafness among God’s people, but when the Hebrew priests finally succeeded in killing them off, finishing the job started by the Hebrew kings, principally Solomon, Mr. Fat Heart himself, and took over—priests who had no prophetic abilities and did not know God—the cure ceased to exist for four centuries and the anti-cure did anti-work on the hearts of the people.

Therefore, the nation of Israel did not just become spiritually stupid as by some generational downward drift due to laziness or whatever, but by and through the leading and teaching of those who had no business leading and teaching and were never called by God for that service.

The Pharisees were the later evolutionary product of those Hebrew priests and the very blind men leading the blind people they created that the Lord Jesus was talking about.

Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”

The same, exact, and what should be obvious parallel is playing out today, in that so many Christians over so many decades and even centuries have been led around by the blind though they neither realize nor acknowledge they are blind and refuse to admit their ears simply do not work and their hearts look like a giant sack of potatoes rolling down a hill.

The Greatest Prophet is the cure but the cure is deemed too strong, too powerful, too mean even, and completely inappropriate for our traditional Christian comfort levels and far too much to deal with when one is thoroughly ensconced in a fleshly anti-world of illusion and preoccupied with pride and money and uncrucified flesh and religious standing and social cred that would all and must all dissolve in an encounter with the King—Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1).

The Lord did not mince words in the Matthew 13 passage and expressed perfectly and clearly the fate of the dull at heart.

One can almost hear the prophet Nancy singing, with the end notes heading down the stairs,

These hearts are made for burning

And that’s just what they’ll do

One of these days these hearts

Are gonna burn all over (Gehenna)…

Why did John the Immerser say the following to the nation of Israel?

“You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” [Luke 3:7-9]

Fat hearts cannot produce good fruit.

Good fruit results from the process of repentance.

Repentance allows for closeness to God.

Closeness to God creates lean, athletic, and pure hearts.

Pure hearts break the power of the Delusion Illusion.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” [Matthew 5:8] [1]

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Illusion, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, Prophets, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Unreal Christianity

The Fix Is In: Delusion Illusion (Part 1)

Jul 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

There are professional sports in which it is fairly obvious that the proceedings are a farce. It’s not real. It may look real to some, but it’s actually all a set-up.

Then there are sports in which people swear up and down it can’t possibly be fixed and that everything must be on the up and up.

Maybe some of this attitude comes from the idea that most people may be honest, or that they are simply too ignorant or naïve to understand such sinister possibilities. We may call this being naïve to the point of being willing dupes. If so, it is a fatal naiveté. And by fatal I mean that people have bought into the proceedings to the degree that they can never find their way back out. They have not only been deceived, they have been captured.

Minds can be captured quite easily. Sometimes people suspect they are being played but turn from the idea quickly because the thought is too scary. If such things were true it would mean their life is based in part on falsehood. But shouldn’t they be more scared that it is, and want to do something about it?

Professional boxing has always had a reputation for subterfuge. Organized crime was involved in the sport seemingly from the get-go. It does not mean that all fights were fixed. It would be too obvious. But many were. There was way too much money involved. Good fighters were paid relatively well. Big gates were consistently produced. Promoters knew exactly what to do to get the best crowds. Boxing became an art of deception. To the common man it was just a fight that people paid to see. To promoters, however, it was a way to make some serious money, to separate as many people as possible from the money in their wallets by promising a great event well worth the price of admission.

Whenever money is involved, greed happens. And in the case of sports, it is always much more about entertainment than honesty.

Sports other than boxing et al are seen as impossible to fix. But here’s something to think about: How many sports have rules and officials? And how many of those rules are interpreted by the officials? How many judgment calls are made? When a basketball referee calls a foul is the call always consistent with all calls made by all basketball referees?

One of the most obvious cases of judgment in officiating in which an official is granted much power to interpret the rules involves balls and strikes in baseball. Though some may think all umpires call the same game behind the plate nothing can be farther from the truth. Each umpire has a different strike zone though the rules only allow for one strike zone. The players must learn all the different strike zones possessed by all the different umpires, the same way they must learn all the pitchers and the different pitches they throw. Some umpires call a lower zone and more hitters are called out by strikes a tad below the knee on good days, and sometimes far below the knees. The players are okay with it as long as the ump is consistent. Other umps have a higher zone. Sometimes umpires will give a pitcher a strike though the pitch is off the plate. Veteran pitchers often get calls that rookie pitchers never get and must earn.

What does any of this have to do with game fixing? Simply the fact that a whole lot of interpretation is going on, and when games are called (interpreted), the written rules take a backseat.

Boxing has traditionally had three scorers to call a fight—the referee in the ring and two ringside judges. They award each round to the fighter whom they think did better. If there is no knockout, as is often the case, a boxer wins or loses by the decision of the judges and referee. These judgments are purely interpretative. It is sometimes the case that all three scores are fairly close. Often, though, there are wide discrepancies, which result in split decisions, which mean one judge thought fighter A won, while the other two thought it was fighter B. In the early days, draws were fairly commonplace, meaning neither fighter won.

It would be better that someone was knocked out, because then a clear winner could be declared. But then, are knockouts actually obvious? Of course not. Fighters were often paid to take a dive. Fighters learned early on that if you wanted to make a living you better play by the rules, but I’m referring to the rules behind the rules. Rule number one was to obey whoever was getting you the money.

Most fighters never had a chance at any big paydays or championship fights. Those that did had much more say in the proceedings. There were certainly honest fighters. Not everyone was corrupt. But there was also such a thing as institutional corruption. There was and remains such a thing as business as usual. It becomes traditional. People accept it. They like particular sports enough to look the other way. And the promoters of sports know exactly what the people want and they know exactly how to get the paying customer to fork over the cash.

They know how to jazz up the proceedings. They know how to get peripheral people on board. It used to be that only men and very few women appreciated watching organized sports. The promoters then worked on methods to gain the confidence of the female fan. Sports began being marketed as female friendly and then family friendly. When baseball was the undeniable American pastime, it was certainly family friendly to an extent, but it remained rare in the early days for regular fans to attend games, simply because they often didn’t have the money or the time.

Radio and then television changed all that. In fact, television changed everything.

One would think that entire games and matches being televised and put on film would make it far less likely that arranging outcomes could be possible. Actually though, it is easier to deceive people by putting the show right in front of them than in keeping it hidden. This is the very nature of showmanship. The show has never been reality, but the secret of good showmanship is to make it appear that way.

Movies started out as poor methods of entertainment, but people were so struck by the medium they were not very discriminating. In a relatively short time though, moving pictures or “movies” became so artful and the technology so professional that it was very easy to impress the paying public to pay up to see the show. In reality, movies are a very deceptive exercise in not only giving people what they want but causing them to pay great amounts of cash for the privilege. After a century of moving pictures, next to no one understands what’s really going on in the process, or how whole populations are swayed and deceived by the art and content of the “entertainment.”

In politics, how many times have we heard about the “smoke-filled rooms” in which powerful movers and shakers make decisions that will affect an entire populace? And how many people actually care? The fact of the matter is that political decisions are always decided behind the scenes with the perpetrators knowing they can manipulate the process after the fact, especially by rigging the vote.

Now, at this point many people leave the discussion because they cannot handle the possibility that elections may be fraudulent. However, we certainly know that many elections have been, and some were presidential elections. But these were only the ones later discovered. How many fraudulent elections have never been discovered?

After a while, one begins to notice that much of what is portrayed as legitimate is not legitimate at all, but since people lack total proof or the ability to do anything about it they accept it. Thus, the manipulators behind the scenes continue to get away with their manipulations and even outright lies, since the public at large is either duped, apathetic, or powerless to act. Every now and then, however, someone not only figures it out, but speaks out about it.

And now you know why God made prophets…

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS; To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel. [Luke 1:76-80] [1]

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Tags: Deception, Game-Fixing, Hidden Agenda, Illusion, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, Professional Sports, Prophets, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Unreal Christianity

LOVE Your BROTHER, FIGHT the DEVIL

Jul 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

I wrote my last article here two months ago, on this site’s third anniversary. I am certainly thankful for all of you who read these articles and are blessed by them, but circumstances at that time caused me to wonder about the future of this blog. On prior anniversaries I had received more support.

Dwindling readership and a few other factors allowed for some serious disillusionment. From my perspective I worked very hard at receiving and writing, and writing articles with necessary content to possibly assist us all in seeing the things holding us back, recognizing the presence of the enemy fighting us, perceiving the possible lack of doing the will of God, and possibly the biggest problem—not obeying His Word as we should, which has resulted in subpar efforts in many circles and often a complete failure to achieve spiritual objectives.

Things were going well but then, though some of you remain ever faithful, things began trailing off. I also had to attend to the inevitable practical matters of life and no longer had the time or inclination to write. Thanks for those of you who prayed. Today’s effort might or might not strike any chords, but for the first time since May I’ve felt like writing again.

If there was another way to reveal those harder truths most Christians want no part of without having to engage in spiritual fights, we would certainly attend to it. But the fact remains that Christianity in general is infused with false doctrine on top of false doctrine. Most Christians know this but stop at doing anything about their own personal false doctrines. The Lord Jesus, however, will never stop. He will have a bright shining community one way or the other, devoid of all teachings not His own, thus evoking the picture of the few people who will actually become and remain part of it, rather than the false paradigm of a giant mass of non-disciples.

The reality is that the attempt to apply the real curriculum of the Lord Jesus is not at all easy and never has been. In fact, in a fallen world of sin, pain, rebellion against God and righteousness, and the resultant misery that affects us all, it is the most difficult endeavor one could ever engage in, though also the most rewarding.

It is fraught with heartache. And the worst heartache of all is that which arises from an attack from one’s friends.

The Lord Jesus suffered this more than anyone. All real Christians will suffer it as well. It is part of the deal, you know. Betrayal is a simple but terrible fact always waiting around a dark corner. It is next to impossible to defend yourself against it because it comes at the hands of those you don’t think you should defend yourself against until it is too late.

I remember many years (decades) ago during my rookie year. I had a very powerful born-again experience. I had been valiantly searching for truth for many years prior to that time and when the Lord Jesus led me to Himself within a small fellowship of loving believers, it changed my life forever. It was and remains the best thing that ever happened in my life. I wanted everyone to have what I had been given. I tried telling the world about the great joy in my life and the love of the Lord Jesus that sets us free.

The problem with this approach was that I soon found out that most people, instead of seeing the great change in my life for the better, saw me in a much different light. For whatever reason they were perfectly happy to remain in their sins, refused to consider all I was sharing, could not see and would not see the truth or have any love for it, and remained ensconced in that place far from God where I had also previously been. Only a few listened to or saw my witness.

Sounds a tad judgmental, I know. But I also know God’s patience will not last forever. He has called ALL OF US to repentance and gags at our dirty attempts at righteousness without Him. There is a giant mess that needs cleaning up, He’s the only One who can do it, He will do it in time, and the major part of the Big Clean is removing sin from His Creation. This poses a problem for human beings because sin is not just floating around out there in the ether—it is resident within human beings. And if a human being refuses to engage in the cleansing process with the Lord by first assisting Him in cleansing the sin from his or her own life and person, he or she will be part of that which goes in the great dumpster on fire.

Now, such a statement will evoke great high notes of horror from the self-righteous among us, especially those who are religiously self-righteous, and much more especially from those who are Christian religiously self-righteous. Such people apparently see God as a glowing orb of pure love from which could never come anything negative or judgmental and certainly never toward such lovely caring holy people as themselves.

This is possibly the most disgusting thing about sinful humanity—not only is there a complete lack of recognition of their own sin, there is a complete lack of believing that God would do anything about it in their particular case, because they are so good and if God would ever even think that way about them—demand their repentance that they may be clean and free, as if they must somehow not be so good—well then God can just go stick it in His big giant ear.

It is a very weird thing when people think they are just as righteous or more righteous than God.

For those who have never been enlightened or have no knowledge of the Word of God this is understandable, yet because everyone has a conscience no one is without excuse. For Christians there is especially no excuse. This is why of all people on the planet, the most vile, backbiting, and most likely to betray are fake Christians. Of course, they apparently do not know they are fake, but the fruit of the tree defines the tree.

The hard thing about real Christianity is that we are actually expected by God and even commanded by God to obey His Word. Fake Christians don’t bother with such trivialities.

At the end of my last post two lunar cycles ago I wrote the following:

Regardless of what we believe or how we see things, we must remain polite. We must remain brothers and sisters. We must be family. The Lord said the entire everything hangs on only two commandments, and we must always honor those two and obey them above all else:

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:35-40]

If one reads that post one will see I was writing from the perspective of attempting to obey God and honor His Word, though it is a challenge for all of us. One of the problems I have always faced, however, is having to deal with other Christians who so easily get their panties in a wad over something I may be teaching.

Recently, a fellow believer reblogged one of my posts. One of this person’s readers wrote a comment disparaging my post. The author of the blog wrote a comment defending my post in a very loving and well thought-out manner. The one who had the problem then said he found nothing wrong with the content of the post, but did not like the spirit in which it was delivered…

Go figure.

“Hey Lord Jesus. We know you are from God and we like your teachings but could you please tone it down a little because after all we’re just a bunch of sissy weenies who really only want to suck on religious teets our whole life and have no taste whatsoever for adult food featuring sides of beef and giant filets of wild Alaskan salmon so please give as sugary cereal milk forever and none of these ‘hard sayings.’ Okay?”

Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? {offend: or, scandalize, or, cause you to stumble}

What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. [John 6:60-64 KJV]

Anyway, right after I posted my last article expressing my utmost in teaching what we all must do to please God and get the job done at present to help bring forth the very needed Awakening (but also on my part hoping not to offend religious sensibilities—a virtual impossibility but I do try), I get slammed by a brother who took issue with something I wrote that he did not agree with and who conveniently forgot all about the Golden Rule apparently because it did not apply to him and I was indeed worthy of a personal slam and he was self-anointed to deliver the slam. And as always, I never mention names and in this case never even responded, but that did not stop him from naming mine.

So what do I do? Well, sometimes having the kind of natural human inclinations that would want to grab him by the back of his head, slam his face onto a bar, mash his nose into a bloody mess, and thereby teach him the proper respect the way Augustus McCrae did to that arrogant little San Antonio barkeep in Lonesome Dove, I decided the best thing to do would be to discipline my natural human inclinations in an attempt to honor the Lord and not respond in kind, eat his backhanded attack, take the hit, forgive him, and do the very thing I had also just written about in my last post (which this guy read):

It is never my intention to offend. I only want to reveal truth. But unlike many others, I will not go to war against my brothers. Like many of you, I know what it’s like to get treated like dirt by those who claim to be doing the Lord’s work. I will teach very strongly when the door opens but when it appears fellowship starts taking a hit, it often indicates a time to fall back on first priorities—loving one another regardless of differences. In that light, however, the Lord never compromised the truth. Paul spent much ministry time arguing about the real revelations of Scripture and truth, but did it in love. Both got into serious trouble as a result.

In other words, those who decide to go to war against the Lord Jesus are apparently emboldened because they think He’s merely a wimpy forgiverer-lover who acts like a little girl and would never stand up for Himself. In fact, if the Lord wanted to, in His humanity, He could whip all comers in any kind of fight they may wish to bring Him. Bare-knuckle fisticuffs? He’d clean one’s clock, I’m telling you. He simply chooses not to for the sake of righteousness and a willingness to take a hit without responding in kind, since he knows He’s dealing with confused and/or ignorant no-challenge sissies.

Most “Christians” never think of the Lord in those terms. This is possibly why most “Christians” will end up in hell, because they take God lightly, they take His teachings lightly, they get convicted easily and whine to no end, rebel against Him and any of His disciples who take Him seriously, and refuse to repent if it means admitting they are wrong, even to the point of getting tossed into the fiery dumpster with these guys:

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts. [Revelation 9:20-21]

Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. [Revelation 16:9-11]

In these days of thousands of Christian pulpiteers preaching the devil’s message and taking congregations to hell with them while Christians at large honor their every false word, someone better do a little more than what has been required in the past. Thankfully, the Lord is never surprised by idiots and Judases and always has an ace in the hole in the form of giant spiritual swords to fiercely hack away at sin and devil’s doctrines in high Christian places. He has raised up millions of fearless warriors who comparatively no longer give a flying flip about these sorry little short lives we live, whose minds are on heaven and eternity and achieving the objective, and are willing to go toe to toe with any devil or religious idiot for the sake of obeying their King and doing His work.

For the few of you who are willing, it remains the time to storm the gates.

And for those Christians who are confused, THE DEVIL IS YOUR ENEMY, NOT YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER. DO GOD A FAVOR AND GROW A PAIR, AND FIGHT THE DEVIL IF YOU CAN SOMEHOW MANAGE THE DISCIPLESHIP.

For all you ladies out there in the Lord’s glorious service who never shrink from a fight, my personal thanks to all of you for standing by God and fighting the good fight of faith, often doing far more than your share. It is certainly a fact that Christianity in general is greatly overpopulated by women, but a remnant thereof continues to shame men who shrink from His service or refuse to get off the pew.

“Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” [Proverbs 31:29-31]

Many believe that if one does not work then one must not eat. But the Word also says that if one refuses to fight the enemy, or fights God’s people instead of the enemy, then one must not only not eat, but face judgment.

Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence,[1] which has a great reward. [Hebrews 10:28-35] [2]

[1] Strong’s Concordance: #3954 parrhesia {par-rhay-see’-ah} Meaning: 1) freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech 1a) openly, frankly, i.e without concealment 1b) without ambiguity or circumlocution 1c) without the use of figures and comparisons 2) free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance 3) the deportment by which one becomes conspicuous or secures publicity

RECOMMENDED MUST READ: LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Betrayal, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Yehoshua HaMashiach

Real Christianity: Three and Free

May 10

Posted by RJ Dawson

Hello everyone. It has now been three years since I started this site on May 10, 2011. Thanks to you all for reading, commenting, and subscribing. I also give special thanks to those of you who have been with me from the beginning or thereabouts, and those who reblog my posts on your own sites. I’m not sure, but it could be that your reputation is ruined twice over.

I knew from the beginning that the topics I would write about would not necessarily be popular, so I am thankful for the support this blog has received. Though it may appear sometimes that I just barge right in and begin offending right off the bat, I actually try my best to be as tactful as possible. I’m not necessarily trying to win an argument here, but I must reveal what has been revealed to me. I want you all to know that I do, or have done, a ton of research to support my articles. I work very hard at creating works that support what I know to be true, doing much editing, over and over again, to get each post in the form I feel it deserves (though the inevitable typos slip through anyway).

I have no other agenda than to obey and honor the Lord and present New Covenant and historical truth. I am not trying to support any denomination or denominational beliefs. I don’t have a pastor looking over my shoulder. I attempt to go strictly by what the Lord Jesus reveals through His own teaching, and the teachings of those who were taught by Him directly so long ago.

In that light, no one has it all, all of us are in need of more knowledge and revelation, and all of us probably have some level of teaching that the Lord’s teachings do not support. Therefore, we must not only continue to study to show ourselves approved, but be humble enough to know we don’t know everything, and that some of the stuff we know and think is true is actually incorrect.

The latter presents itself at worst in the behavior of the Pharisees, who thought they had it all down perfect but were actually wrong on most accounts. They were more concerned with winning arguments and with their own religious pride and standing. As are many Christians, they were invested in their beliefs and most of them refused to consider alternatives. The Lord had grown exasperated with their religious redneckism.

Their own Scriptures said they were generally stiffnecked, and it has been my experience over several decades that Christians insist on competing with that stiffnecked attitude. Many Christians refuse to hear anything that might make them feel uncomfortable regarding their chosen path. As a solution, for those humble and wise enough to accept it, I suggest we all present our doctrinal apologetics toward the Lord’s teachings, not the teachings of others.

At best, we look to the Lord’s example of learning, knowing, possessing, and sharing truth. Usually, the only times He got really upset was with the Pharisees and their close-minded, we-know-everything attitude that drove them to kill rather than see the light. Seeing the light demands humility. We must all know at all times that deception surrounds us and is sometimes so powerful and thick we are astonished when we see the light in respect to former beliefs.

As Christians, we are blessed to have the writings of the New Testament. We are blessed to have an actual history book of the early community of the Lord. We know what they believed, what they did, how they lived their lives, and what they taught. And we know they were given miraculous confirmation of all they taught, the same as it was with the Lord. We know they gave it everything they had and put their lives on the line.

In early December of last year, I was blessed with more time and made a concerted effort to work very hard and create as many posts as possible based on what the Lord was downloading at that time. There was a lot on the back burner (many back burners), and I proceeded to write a lot partly in an effort to catch up. It started on December 9 with the first of a two-part article entitled Forced Religious Conformity: Human Graven Images. Within a month I made 7 posts.

But something very interesting happened in early January of this year. I began receiving the nucleus of a long article that regarded a frontier crossing I was embarking on, and one I knew many of you were also.

It began on January 14 when I posted the first of a three-part series called Entering The Miracle Realm.

From that point on I had crossed a threshold into some kind of deeper spiritual zone. Sounds weird, I know, but the article reveals what was happening then. I remember one of you pointed out that something in my posts changed at that particular time (Thanks Susan). I know I was dealing with some serious challenges, one of which was a serious back injury that seemed to come out of nowhere. Such fun happenings were no doubt due, at least in part, to spiritual battle. I also got pretty sick a couple of times, and I rarely ever get sick. Things were going on in the spirit. Ground was being gained. I certainly paid the price for that but it’s all part of the process.

Also, it was at that time that blog activity began picking up. Hits increased somewhat dramatically. Things had dipped quite a bit last November when I had so little time. I managed to get back on par in December. Then, January of this year set a new record. February set a new record. March set a new record. And April of this year stayed right up there.

From January 14 until April 29 I made another 31 posts. This does not include a couple of posts I made in February regarding my son’s motorcycle accident. I had asked for prayer and received a huge response from you all and remain very thankful. He has made a full recovery.

From May 10 of last year until December 9, 2013 I had much less time to write and only managed 18 articles, so that adds up to about 56 posts or so for my third year (but 31 in a recently completed 3½ months!).

Overall, I managed to go over 200 posts for the three years about a month back.

I’m not sure what happened this month but the bottom has fallen out. It could be I am no longer receiving. Part of it involves having less time and being involved with many more practical matters.

But I think the main thing is probably the latest article content. I know I have lost readers that used to like my stuff, no doubt because disagreements arose. As I said before, I try very hard to present the truth I have learned and be tactful about it. I want you all to know, though, that I am constantly reading, doing much research, fact-checking, and trying my best to hear the Lord. This often involves new truth, and that often brings offense. We must remember that the Pharisees (and Christian Pharisees since) gained the religious ascendancy during the Lord’s time and had swayed the people to their perspective. Of course, they never thought it was a mere perspective but absolute truth. We must be careful to not make this our problem. Religious pride is a killer.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. [Psalm 51:17]

I wrote my first book in part dealing with the fact that we have about four million Christian denominations, off-shoots, and even more doctrines that often contradict one another. I always reiterate the point that there is only one Lord Jesus and He teaches only one curriculum. This means the vast majority of Christian teaching is somehow suspect. We must get back to our roots. But in doing that many sacred cows are inevitably revealed for what they are and offense comes.

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

Again, looking to His example, He often taught with great power and authority. At other times He used tact. We must be sensitive to the Lord and one another. The point is to reveal the truth that sets us free. Otherwise, all we are doing is teaching the commandments of men that keep us in bondage.

“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees…” [Luke 12:1] [1]

Keep up all the wonderful work you are doing and keep showing the love of God. Great things are happening! We remain in the early stages of a national Great Awakening. The Lord is in charge.

Later.

PLEASE CONSIDER PURCHASING MY BOOK. THANKS.

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: America, Book of Acts, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, Truth, Yehoshua HaMashiach

Tied To The Whipping Post

Apr 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

For the few people on the planet who go through life as living a fanciful dream with no worries or pain, having all their desires indulged and living in a state of bliss, ignorant or otherwise, good for you.

For everyone else, there’s a reason people sing the blues.

I subscribe to a few blogs that deal with the issue of abuse. The people who author the blog posts therein have been through some bad stuff. Those who read their blogs have a place to go to read of the plight of others and know they are not alone. I consider these people heroes for not being defeated, for rising up as best they can, and for trying to help others find healing and a new life.

The people on this planet who have suffered terrible abuse by others—people who have no concern whatsoever of the great pain they instigate or the tremendous suffering they cause—know that this place we call Earth is not some idyllic wonderland. Their ongoing suffering and the memory of horrific events perpetrated against them tells them every day that we are all surrounded by enemies, acknowledged or not and perceived or not, and such enemies must be dealt with.

This is why all of mankind’s cultures throughout history have created societal laws or a system of laws. Such laws were created as a form of protection, to keep people from engaging in crime against those who do not, and to bring justice against evil people who act out on evil inclinations and desires. Of course, since sin was and remains endemic to all, all had evil inclinations and desires, though not everyone acted upon them. People were still blessed with a conscience to know right from wrong, though many individuals destroyed their conscience through ongoing willful sin with no remorse.

Ever since sin entered the actual idyllic paradise God did originally create, mankind became the enemy of mankind. People could no longer trust one another. Everyone was watching his backside all the time. Thus, families did their best to gather together and remain together, and even grow with the addition of new generations. They did this to create some form of community where the goodness of humanity might exist and prevail. If their law contained the law of love, they were often able to remain bonded and life became better.

For the individual, though, it was pretty rough. And for those singled out for abuse not because they necessarily sinned in some minor way as did everyone else, but because they were seen as deserving of abuse because they were different, they had no recourse toward love and protection.

To relate this to the present day, imagine someone giving their life to the Lord Jesus and thereby violating the family code or leaving the family religion. Though most people living in a pluralistic Western society might not understand the violent reaction often received against such new believers, there are real Christians all over the planet who understand it directly, as they are treated with such vile contempt they are deemed worthy of complete rejection and extermination. Their treatment is based on the laws of the society or religious culture. In other words, had the new believers not violated the laws put in place to protect the members of the society against other beliefs, they would not be treated so harshly.

We see the same reaction in the West, of course, but because we have freedom of religion in places like America, one doesn’t generally get killed for choosing to become a disciple of the Lord. One still receives their share of outright hatred and rejection, however. If they come from a family that professes no certain faith, one that is largely secular in attitude and belief, then the new believer will be seen as an idiot for “getting religion” or “joining a cult.” If the new believer comes from a religious family, it is worse. And if the new disciple comes from a Christian family or group of one sort or another, they will often be treated the worst.

Why? Because religion contains the worst laws. Religious laws are not based on love. They are not based on fairness or justice. They are not based on the best outcomes for individuals. They do not consider the individual. They have little to do with honoring a person’s heart, good intentions, or dreams. And most of all, they have next to nothing to do with assisting an individual in finding his or her place in the Lord.

Perhaps this is why religions love large congregations of submitted “like-minded” people where individuals are perceived as mere faces in the crowd who toe the mark and never question squat.

Unreal Christianity hates the Lord Jesus though it openly avows love and honor toward Him. Because it is counterfeit, the love of the members is counterfeit. Their concern for others is counterfeit. Like other religions in the world that do not take kindly to someone casting aspersions upon it or rejecting it, the members of one of the various forms of Unreal Christianity will only accept you into their group as long as you abide by the laws, precepts, and cultural understandings of their religion. Barring that, one must at least remain one of them in name (which qualifies as a form of honor), though one rarely practices or honors the unique rituals or specific observances and bylaws.

But the worst thing one can ever do is leave and become a real disciple of the Lord. This immediately puts one’s former religion in a bad light. It puts one’s former culture in a bad light. It puts the members thereof in a bad light. And unless a new believer formerly hung out with a bunch of cool people who try real hard to love everybody and never judge anybody, and usually never make a big deal of someone moving on toward whatever they may seek, the new believer cannot help but suffer some form of rejection. It simply goes with the territory. Real Christianity demands a full commitment. By accepting the Lord, one must say adios to any group not subjected to the Lord to which he or she formerly belonged.

If you’re wondering about the title of this article, the Allman Brothers wrote a song called Whipping Post forty-five years ago. The way I felt today reminded me of it.

I saw them perform live in a former life. They were an exceptional band and their music calls to mind a better time when the country was a tad more idealistic. The members did not necessarily live according to Christian morals, and in fact were hell-raisers. But they sure made great music. I quit listening to their stuff a long time ago, but I listened to that song today for the first time in decades.

I can’t be sure, but I think Gregg Allman must have been thinking of the Lord when he wrote it. Either that or he was influenced by someone else. Back then almost everyone still had Biblical knowledge to various degrees from childhood, unlike today. There was a respect for the Lord then, even among sinners. Whipping Post is about a strong man getting his heart destroyed, something many people can relate to.

Returning to the narrative, the whipping post was a further place of the Lord’s suffering toward the ultimate place, before they at last offed Him and got rid of the Man who kept making them feel bad about themselves and their sinister little arrangements, both religious and monetary.

The Lord Jesus had also in effect left His family religion, so to speak, and prophesied of His nation’s destruction rather than come to its defense as a mighty warrior throwing off the Roman oppressors. The ruling religious leaders hated Him for that and deemed Him an anti-Messiah.

Toward that same characterization, He engaged in way too many diatribes against the clergyites of His day and nation who foisted upon the people a fake belief system, but one in which the religious leaders deemed perfect. He exposed them for their complete lack of love and mercy, and their insistence upon religious legalities. He railed against them for putting the people of His nation in religious bondage and forcing them to remain there upon fear of excommunication.

Thus, when they finally got their chance at administering the deadly 39 stripes they exulted in it. Tying the Lord to the whipping post and watching Him get ripped was a turn-on for these idiots. No doubt they exclaimed, “You reap what you so!” and “Serves you right!” and “That’s what you get!” and “We tried to tell you what would happen but you didn’t listen!”

Such hateful rhetoric just adds to the affliction of the abused, as if their innocence and righteousness was the sanction of their suffering. How many abused people are told their maltreatment is their own fault?

The same ill-treatment generally happens to real Christians in one form or another at one time or another. Yet, if a real Christian somehow manages to live life without suffering such things, I am not questioning their standing in the Lord and never will, but there is the question of effect. The New Testament clearly reveals the suffering of saints at the hands of non-disciples of the Lord. Each had their own form of being tied to the whipping post.

Paul had a contract on his life pretty much his whole life after giving His heart to the Lord Jesus. He continually suffered abuse way off the scale. It was as if his enemies believed him to be the worst enemy possible and they must eliminate him at any cost or be eliminated. Maybe they had a point.

We know real Christianity always wins the war though it may suffer loss in various battles, and though it often looks just the opposite at any point in time. Since the lives of individual human beings are infinitesimal in relation to the planet’s history, it is no wonder few can behold the long-term trend of real Christianity’s success. Yet the Lord is a winner, always was and always will be, and will not be judged according to a flawed standard.

It is not about numbers and never has been. If the Lord ends up with three people in heaven He will be happy. He blessed us all with a choice and the choice is ours, not His. He did everything for us that He can possibly do, and honors our free will and individual choices always. This is something mankind’s religions never do. Their protocol always involves force and fear, and trying to cram as many scared and ill-informed people into their paradigm as possible. The leaders thereof then use them and their resources for their own purposes which is all part of creating a religious elite and maintaining its power.

Step out of line and see what happens. You could be directed to the nearest whipping post.

Always remember, though, that the Lord survived the post. They killed Him but He didn’t stay dead. And because of the love and power He grants to His children in this world, neither do they stay dead, even if they’re still drawing breath. We know it is not easy, and for some it is very difficult. But there is always the strength made available to get back up, get healed, and live again. It involves using the authority on our part to love our enemies anyway, and forgive them, and pray for them. It requires being filled with the Lord’s strength and love, and an ongoing refreshing of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord forgave His enemies from the cross. He had the same attitude at the post. We must do no less.

“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.” [Luke 6:35] [1]

Hang in there. Be strong. Love everybody. The Lord will see you through.

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Allman Brothers Band, Forgiveness, Lord Jesus, Love, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Scourging of the Lord, Spiritual Abuse, Unreal Christianity, Whipping Post

That They May Add Sin To Sin

Apr 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

THAT THEY MAY ADD SIN TO SIN

“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin; who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!” [Isaiah 30:1-2]

Christian rulers have no doubts about where they stand. With every thread of their being, they know they are right. They know their position is the correct one.

Thus, the clergy spirit is very deceiving. This is how it remains in power. If the Christian ruling class were to display even a hint of uncertainty with regard to its core principles, its foundation would be weakened. Therefore, the clergy recognizes that to admit error is to admit fault. In other words, those who are passively going along with the clergy’s program should never be given an opportunity to consider the possibility that their leaders have been compromised.

Though some believe themselves to be superior, the Scriptures state very clearly that humanity has an exceptionally sorry and rebellious nature:

“All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” [Isaiah 53:6]

This is why many people don’t put any real faith in the Bible—they simply cannot handle the fact that they are inherently sinful. Most of those who have heard the gospel message yet remain in their sins are in strong denial. A lot of these people are “Christian.” Some are “Christian” leaders. These deceived individuals have no effect on the purity and strength of the real Church since they are not yet members. The problem for the body of Christ arises when those who are members fail to ongoingly replenish themselves through the refreshing of the Holy Spirit. This failure leads to a strengthening of the lower nature, which then leads to sin and a loss of contact and fellowship with God. Therefore, the same deception occurring in non-members can occur in real members. When the true becomes weak, it allows the false to grow strong. When people fail God, they give aid and comfort to the enemy.

Is it possible for a Christian to never commit a sin? There are those who seem to think so, but they’re either (1) on drugs, (2) from a different planet, (3) deceived, or (4) prideful, arrogant, and high-minded. (Choose your poison.) Obviously, those in leadership are just as susceptible to sin as those not in leadership. However, according to the convoluted logic which most Christian rulers engage in, it would be better to keep such facts behind closed doors since there is so much potential for scandal.

Those who have chosen to follow man instead of God prefer leaders who are better than they are. They don’t appreciate it when they discover that their leaders have misrepresented themselves. Even if they are aware that their leader is human, they would rather not know what makes him human. Hence, the cover-up. Besides, as far as the clergy is concerned, why confuse the laity over who’s in charge? Why allow the laity to think it could lead?

The reason the sin of the clergy is proportionately rarely revealed is because, as a class, they work to keep it hidden. This is an art, of course. Covering one’s sin goes hand in hand with image building, but the Word states that creating images is also a sin.

In Exodus 20:4–6, the second of the Ten Commandments flatly states:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Even so, the professional clergy class has been very successful in promoting their image of sanctity and sinlessness. That they must sin to cover up their sin doesn’t seem to concern them. The alternative is to be found out and subsequently lose their power and prestige. Of course, these facts are general in scope. There are many members of the clergy who are not trying to hide personal sin. They must be careful, however, to avoid defending and protecting the traditional image of their class. Jesus wore the clothes of a simple working man, yet the majority of professional ministers insist on clerical collars, business suits, ties, fanciful robes, and the like. Why dress in this manner, if not to create a certain image or be recognized as a clergyman?

Though many sins of the clergy have started to leak out as of late, they have been treated as isolated incidents, instead of as the tip of the proverbial iceberg. As is the case with all cover-ups, once leaks begin to flow unchecked, raging currents are sure to come. The professional Christian clergy is like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike, except they’ve used up all their fingers and are running out of toes. This strategy won’t work, just as their halos won’t work at bailing water.

When it comes to the sin of the laity, however, failures and transgressions are treated much differently. Instead of working to keep them concealed, the laity is encouraged by the clergy to bring their sins out into the open. While the clergy remains behind a mysterious wall of piety, the laity is supposed to be transparent. Why this obvious double standard exists, and why it is rarely challenged, attests to the power and scope of the clergy spirit’s subterfuge.

If the laity reveals sin, shortcomings, faults, and so forth, how can their stature ever match the standing of the ones who don’t? In politics, a candidate attempts to compare his strengths with his opponent’s weaknesses while concealing his own weaknesses and refusing to acknowledge his opponent’s strengths. Is it any different in church circles? How can there be true Christian community under these dual class conditions? Are the controllers trying to insure that the controlled remain in a state of submission? Is this why they insist that the laity alone hang out its dirty laundry? Or are they simply trying to enforce the notion that clergy members are somehow closer to God?

The great Christian controllers must believe that if the laity perceives them as merely human, and not ultrahuman, it would cause such disillusionment within Christendom that a complete breakdown would take place. But one man’s breakdown and loss of power is another man’s revolution and recovering of freedom. Ask George Washington. Ask Martin Luther. Ask the Lord Jesus Himself. It was the benefactors of the religious clergy spirit of His time who were so incensed by His radical teachings and so petrified over losing control because of His growing movement that they savagely murdered Him, revealing to all, for all time, their true motivation and character.

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Clergy, Graven Images, Idol Worship, Image is Everything, Laity, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Unreal Christianity, Wizard of Oz

Getting Slammed For Righteousness?

Apr 23

Posted by RJ Dawson

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. [Hebrews 12:1-8]

The one who demonstrates the most courage, who possesses the most backbone, who is willing to stand tall above everyone else for truth and against injustice, lies, and treachery, gets exactly what our Lord Jesus got.

No greater Man has ever lived, and no other man in all of human history had the book thrown at Him like Jesus did. He made powerful enemies.

The psycho religious idiots hated Him and tried to kill Him at every turn. And then the powerful banking and money interests finally had enough, and administered the coup de grace in concert with the religious nuts.

The zealots backed off, betraying the One who would set them free. The majority of His own people betrayed Him as well, considering Him foul, crazy, and cursed of God.

The Lord Jesus, by His great light, love, and shining example, revealed this rotten, sinful, fallen, and dark world for exactly what it is, and also revealed the father of lies who rules it as the “god of this world.”

So if anyone wants reality, real reality, this is it. And it illustrates why most of those who call themselves Christians will never stand tall the way the Lord did. They will never put themselves in harm’s way, they will never learn, believe, and tell the full truth, they will never distance themselves from the love of money, and they will never do the will of God if it also makes them look like a nut, as the Lord looked like a nut to this fallen world.

Therefore, many Christians have adopted a “stay safe” mentality and outlook, preferring the “You Go First” principle of allowing the other guy, the courageous guy, to take the hit so they don’t have to. It’s a wimpy, no testosterone approach that achieves absolutely nothing for God.

Yet the evidence cannot be any more clear: Getting slammed for righteousness is the price paid for being (1) spiritually effective, (2) bringing the proper conviction upon sinners, and (3) hitting the devil between the eyes.

They killed Stephen for acting exactly as his Lord and Savior. Note who it was that killed him.

Then they killed James, one of the Lord’s inner circle. Note who it was that killed him.

Then they tried to kill Peter, the man chosen by the Lord as the key man. Note who it was that tried to kill him.

It started at the top with the Lord. Whoever had the guts to stand tall got it next. And on it continued and continues today. Millions of Christians have been killed since and the killing continues. This fallen world hates real Christians because they represent the greatest threat to the “god of this world” and all those working and living for him.

What happens then, if instead of “Christians” doing the usual and allowing the bravest to step forth and be killed, millions of real Christians all step forth at the same time?

It happened in the first century and in the remaining years of the Roman Empire. It happened during the Great Reformation. It happened during the early Great Awakenings in America. It continues to happen in China. Former Muslims are showing great backbone in Muslim countries in standing up for the Lord. It is happening on a large scale in Africa. In India. In South America. It’s happening everywhere, though is not yet what it will be.

And now it is beginning to happen in America. Christians here are realizing that many have nothing left to lose, and they will not surrender their faith in God. They will not betray their Savior. They will not back down.

That’s why it is happening, why it will continue, and why Christians will win. The enemy will stand down. After the brutalizing and killing of Christians begins, some of those doing the brutalizing and killing will start backing off, seeing the horror of their acts.

Many of the Lord’s own people who had rejected Him later came running to Him in great repentance. They finally saw the truth, and saw Him for who He is. Their eyes were opened.

Let us be thankful that we still have so many law enforcement and government officials in this country who stand up for the founding principles of the nation. Many of them are followers of the Lord. Many of them have good hearts and seek righteousness. They can always be counted on to do what is right.

They counterbalance and bring conviction of conscience to the violaters. Any law enforcement or government official in this country at any level who violates the Law of the land and trashes the Constitution of the United States of America, and rips up the Bill of Rights and stomps it like some idiot anti-American is not worthy to be a law enforcement or government official in this country.

There is never any viable reason to do this. Our Founding Fathers never said anything about the need to violate the law for any greater purpose, or suspend the Constitution, or forcibly remove or deny the rights of the people. Those who do it anyway and get away with it only do it because they are not challenged, or because they are hellbent on enforcing a contrary anti-American agenda.

And again, the only challenging one needs to do is the kind of challenging the Lord did.

And if the only way those in power will see the evil of their ways is by gazing upon the dead bodies of Christians who stood tall for God and truth, then it must be like it has always been before, and will have to be again.

Unless we forget, freedom of conscience, freedom to serve and worship the Lord Jesus, and freedom to live in moral liberty had become nearly eliminated in Europe prior to the founding of America. It had become nearly eliminated by idiot monarchs and fake Christian leaders who would do anything for power and wealth. It necessitated the impossible journey of the Separatists to these shores.

I am hoping that the majority of Americans have not become so cold hearted and weak that they will not rise up against the coming atrocities. But then again, if the daily mutilation and butchering of 55 million innocent and helpless babies doesn’t wake people up to show some mercy and cry a tear or two, maybe nothing will.

But this Great Awakening is happening nonetheless. Those with spiritual backbones will be right in the middle of it, acting just like their Lord, and they will shine at the judgment.

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:1-16] [1]

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Tags: America, Christian Persecution, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Righteousness, Spiritual Backbone, Spiritual Freedom, The Great Awakening

Rejecting The Lord’s Sacrificial Death: Why Are Christians Supporting a Third Temple?

Apr 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.

And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.

And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words. [Matthew 27:33-43]

This abuse has continued unabated for almost 2000 years. The Lord Jesus made a perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind but a particular camp has rejected His salvation from day one. It had always been their desire to continue with business as usual, which involved an endless succession of sacrificial animals.

Many do not take the time to consider what serious blood-letting this animal sacrifice system entailed. Over the course of 1500 years during the sacrificial system, perhaps millions of animals were killed to seemingly pay for the sins of the Hebrew people. Of course, it is taught that these sacrifices were not the actual payment for sins, yet the sacrifices had become legal necessities. It ceased being a moral question and became a legal requirement.

It is generally taught in Christian circles that the sins of the world were actually “rolled forward” by these sacrifices. It is taught that these sacrifices were “types and shadows” of the real sacrifice.

Regardless, all of these sacrificial victims were living, breathing creatures that were routinely slaughtered for religious purposes. After a while, there was no more feeling for these victims. The killings had become so routine and quotidian, it provoked no further feeling of remorse or meaning. Rather than understanding that these animals were somehow paying the price for human sins, which should have provoked great remorse in the benefactors, hearts grew very cold instead, and as the dead animals piled up toward heaven, the nation of Israel was not in the least bit affected.

Christians also seem totally unaffected. Not only are Christians just as cold-hearted regarding this blood-letting practice, they are also quite confused, and there is good reason for it.

On the one hand the Levites were continually pushing the sacrificial system as mandatory and binding. They had no reservations whatsoever regarding the ongoing process and considered it vital and absolutely indispensible.

On the other hand we have this:

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.” [Isaiah 1:11-14]

There seems to be a difference of opinion between the priestly and prophetic voices.

The prophets were telling the priests and the nation that God has no pleasure in the routine religious sacrificing of animals, in that it no longer had any meaning. Of course, no one listened but no one ever listens to prophets, at least not for long. It appears that the prophetic voice does not necessarily exist to bring about the proper change of heart but to merely provide a witness.

The Lord Jesus was telling this story often. In fact, His life was this story.

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. [John 1:11]

So many of His parables were on this theme. He came to shed light and right the course of His people and all He got from them as a national entity was shame and rejection. He warned them what would happen as a result, and in 70AD the nation, the city of Jerusalem, and the great glorious temple of which they could never do without were all utterly destroyed. The destruction that Israel had often wished upon all its neighbors had suddenly come upon them. It is estimated that over a million Jews were killed in the battle against Rome which they provoked.

It did not have to be that way.

“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]

To the end, He taught and practiced a message of love for all, as did all His real disciples. Those who opposed Him, however, practiced a pure doctrine of hatred toward all but their own tiny group.

What kind of people do this? How far from God can a people be who would continually kill the voice of God, even unto killing the Word of God Himself? The answer is apparently pretty far, as far as distance can be, and the spiritual equivalent of from one end of a continuously expanding universe to the other. There was absolutely no agreement whatsoever with anything the Lord Jesus did by the religious rulers of the nation at that time. Nor was there any acknowledgement or love for Him.

Who were these people? Why did they possess so much hatred? Why did the nation of millions allow themselves to be led by these despicable, cruel, and ruthless leaders?

We know that a great many of those who followed the teachings of Moses and the prophets later believed in the Lord Jesus and saw Him as their Messiah. They gave their lives to Him and obeyed His teachings. Some authorities even believe that more Jews believed than disbelieved. All through the Book of Acts we see this playing out—those who refused to believe in the Lord but sticking with their religion, and those who accepted Him wholeheartedly.

By accepting the Lord they never surrendered their status as Jews or Hebrews. The Lord Jesus was a Jew and claimed to the Samaritan woman at the well that salvation is of the Jews. All the original apostles were Jews or Hebrews, be they Galilean or Judean, as was the entire community of the Lord for the first seven to ten years of its existence.

Therefore this is not a Jewish question. The Jewish people did not kill the Lord, but those who DID claimed to be Jews. Peter said the Jews killed the Lord but he himself was a Jew.

After the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, why did these Jews/Hebrews who joined up with the Lord Jesus have no problem with the fact that there was no longer any temple?

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. [Hebrews 9:24-26]

Can it be more clear? How about the following?

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”

After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. [Hebrews 10:1-10]

This obviously means there was no longer any need for the temple and the temple sacrifices.

But guess what? A seeming majority of Christians have somehow come to believe in the necessity of a new temple! Christians are out there preaching that we need to have a new temple and restart the temple sacrifices!

Many Christians have the same mindset as those in the first century who wanted to hasten the Messiah’s arrival by making things happen. Thus, they are in full agreement with non-believing Jews that a new temple must be constructed on the site of the former ones.

They also believe that this must happen because prophecy says it must happen! They even believe that the Lord cannot possibly return until the Third Temple is built!

Now, let me make this as perfectly clear as possible: The Lord Jesus is not in agreement with this as is clearly shown in the previous Scriptural passages. Isaiah and Jeremiah had also prophesied against the entire sacrificial system over 2500 years ago! The author of Hebrews spelled it out perfectly. One must reject a good portion of the New Testament to accept the need for another temple.

Yet, the purveyors of this contrary religious belief will do it anyway. They are doing it anyway. A seeming majority of Christians are fully on board to support the non-believing Jews in building a new temple, and they don’t care a whit if it means starting WWIII in the process!

The New Covenant teaches that the real temple is composed of people, not stone. Christians read these passages all the time but their meaning must continually fly right over their heads. Some other element has entered in which renders ineffective the pure Word of God. This in turn has allowed for a complete contradiction which many Christians have fully accepted with no understanding of why or having the ability to explain it.

Could this be the strong deception the Lord Jesus warned us about?

It is no wonder then that such Christians are often completely confused, and doing things and believing in things that make no sense. They are supporting those who oppose the Lord. They have lost all sense of reference to the events of the first century, or never had any reference to begin with, or have rejected it outright though it has been presented.

For the Lord and His people, there is no need for another temple, because they are the temple.

For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost. [1 Thessalonians 2:14-16] [1]

PLEASE NOTE NEW ARTICLE AT ABOVE HEADER TAB: “BLOOD MOON DECEPTION”

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Tags: Ancient Israel, Animal Sacrifice, Building the Third Temple, Crucifixion of Jesus, Last Days Deception, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Sacrifice Lamb, Yehoshua HaMashiach

The Hebrew Month of Nisan 2014: Atonement and Resurrection (Part 4)

Apr 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

Nisan 14 / April 14, 2014 (Began at sunset on April 13):

Four days after crossing the Jordan River, and exactly forty years after the first Passover in Egypt, the nation of Israel celebrated its first Passover in their new land:

While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. [Joshua 5:10]

They had received this teaching from Moses:

“Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.” [Exodus 12:5-6]

Also on this date, the Lord Jesus became our Sacrifice Lamb:

We know that the Lord Jesus died on the cross at some point after the ninth hour—about 3:30PM.[1] The time was according to the Hebrew manner of reckoning the hours in the day, which began at sunrise. On that particular day, there were actually about 12.5 hours between sunrise and sunset, and sunrise took place sometime between 6:00 and 6:30AM. However, the Gospel accounts do not say the Lord died at exactly the ninth hour, because other events took place after the ninth hour and before His death. It is safe to say He died somewhere between just after the ninth hour and with enough time remaining to bury His body before sunset.

Also, this particular Nisan 14 was a Thursday, not a Friday. It was the fifth day of the week. Five is the Biblical number of Grace. The Lord did not die on a Friday. He died on a Thursday.

Could it be that the Lord’s death was progressive? It certainly appears that the “death angel” passed over the Garden of Gethsemane the night the Lord made His final surrender. At some point that night the sins of the world were placed upon Him. This was a legitimate form of death. There was no protection for the Sacrifice Lamb. It would have cancelled out His purpose. Once sin was placed upon Him, the spotless Lamb became sin on our behalf.[3] He continued “dying” until the next late afternoon when He breathed His last, when full payment was made, and when all was finished.

Nisan 15 / April 15, 2014 (Began at sunset on April 14):

After crossing the Jordan, the nation of Israel ate the produce of the Promised Land for the very first time:

On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. [Joshua 5:11]

This was the first day of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pesach 1, a day of holy assembly, which concluded with Pesach 7, another high holy day on Nisan 21.[4] It was the day after the Lord was slain, the sixth day of the week, and equivalent to our Friday.

Nisan 16 / April 16, 2014 (Began at sunset on April 15):

It was on this day that the manna which God provided for forty years during the wilderness wanderings ceased. From that point forward, Israel would only eat the food of their new land.

Nisan 17 / April 17, 2014 (Began at sunset on April 16):

The Captain of the Lord’s host appeared to Joshua:

Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” The captain of the LORD’S host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. [Joshua 5:13-15]

It was also on Nisan 17 that the events of the week culminated in the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Then, after the weekly Sabbath was over and the night had passed, Sunday morning dawned. This was Nisan 17, or the day of First Fruits, which took place after the Passover Sabbath each year.[5] On the agricultural calendar, it was the beginning of the barley harvest, and our Lord Jesus was the First Fruits, the choicest portion. Imagine the scene, then, as all these days and prophetic events played out perfectly, and imagine the shock and delight of Mary Magdalene at the tomb that morning:

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” [John 20:11-16]

He had been physically dead, just as He said He would be, for three days and three nights:

“For just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [Matthew 12:40]

But on that resurrection morning of Nisan 17, also in keeping with another prophecy, a new Temple was raised by the Lord Jesus Himself that will never be destroyed again:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” [John 2:19][6]

PLEASE NOTE NEW ARTICLE AT ABOVE HEADER TAB: “BLOOD MOON DECEPTION”

[1] Matthew 27:45-50, Mark 15:33-37, Luke 23:44-46

[2] Mark 15:42-47

[3] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[4] Exodus 12:18

[5] Leviticus 23:11, 1 Corinthians 15:20-23

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The Hebrew Month of Nisan 2014: THE TIME OF OUR VISITATION (Part 3)

Apr 12

Posted by RJ Dawson

The Majority never noticed anything. Messianic hope was alive and thriving but most were looking in the wrong place. The people had been deceived by a bunch of silly interpretations of Biblical prophecy over the previous half century—interpretations with an agenda that had next to nothing to do with actual prophecy—that which was delivered by God’s actual prophets.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [2 Timothy 2:15 KJV]

And in our time, as at that time, a point in history arrived when it was too late. Just like in the first century, most Christians of today believe in a very particular sequence of events they firmly believe is actual prophecy, and have no clue they are deceived and deluded. “Official Christianity” in America, that is, the prime movers and shakers that control most Christian wealth, authority, and media (especially television), have adopted what they believe is an orthodox viewpoint of upcoming prophetic events yet are missing it entirely. Because they have supported a false view of Biblical prophetic events, they have brainwashed most believers into believing a false view of Biblical prophetic events.

Real prophecy is certainly coming forth, however, though most Christians are blind to it. The Lord repeatedly warned us of very strong deception. It would be good at this particular point in history to review our beliefs. Perhaps the powerful verses in this post and the following video will help us all to see that which is really happening in “Official Christianity,” and why most within it remain unaware of that which is actually happening in otherwise plain sight.

Please consider the Signs of the Times.

Nisan 10 / April 10, 2014 (Began at sunset on April 9):

When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all 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 said to them, It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER;’ but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” [Matthew 21:10-13]

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]

And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF?’” [Matthew 21:14-16]

“Because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. [Luke 19:41-48] [1]

PLEASE NOTE NEW ARTICLE AT ABOVE HEADER TAB: “BLOOD MOON DECEPTION”

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$$$ Contract With The Devil: No Sellouts In Heaven (Part 2)

Apr 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

“And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” [Mark 4:18-19]

.

The Lord Jesus taught His followers to take on what is essentially a non-wealth credo, to appear to the world as not only credible but perfectly innocent regarding the “deceitfulness of riches.”

If one has this attitude he can then be trusted with money. If one does not he will compromise his morals and attempt to enrich himself, will eventually lose his soul in the process, and possibly take many with him.

For perspective, contrast the Lord Jesus with King Solomon. The latter possessed the land and bound the Lord’s people with exorbitant taxes and slave labor to enrich himself. The Lord did the very opposite, in that He personally supported his disciples financially, including their families, but took next to nothing for Himself. He treated them like kings. He stepped into the low place and afforded them a higher place. Which of these two best reflect Unreal Christianity?

Money in itself is, of course, not evil. It is the love of money and one’s dependence upon it other than the Lord that is evil and bewitching. Not only can the real Christian break this evil power by engaging in the proper attitude and spiritual mindset as taught by the Lord, he can also break the spirit of poverty that might be inflicting him.

Many of the poor are poor because they do not do things God’s way regarding money. But the Lord was voluntarily of low income for a purpose. He had authority over a relatively large amount of ministry income but used next to none of it for Himself. By this example, He teaches us there are times His people must be voluntarily of low income for a purpose also.

We have learned that proper giving actually increases our incomes instead of what would seem to be the opposite. Giving properly with a right heart breaks the spirit of poverty. But much more importantly, proper giving breaks the deceitful and bewitching power of mammonas, the false god of riches and avarice, over us, and gives it no foothold in our lives.

Would that all Christians, Christian ministries, and Christian “churches” practice this truth. That most do not should be obvious. The fact that it is not obvious for many Christians means they are in a state of enchantment brought on by a love of money and the fear that they may not gain it or will lose it. Those who use it improperly not only enrich themselves with God’s money but build monuments to themselves and their false beliefs.

Perhaps this is why the Lord and His original disciples never built “church” buildings or ministry centers or whatever. And perhaps this is why they met in homes or in public places. And perhaps this is why they were ostracized by well-to-do society—a society that looked down on them because they possessed none of the accoutrements of wealth or at least minimal standing in the culture.

And no more evident was this disdain toward them exhibited than by the members in good standing of religious establishments. Presently this disdain descends especially from “Christian” establishments—some of the most judgmental, absconding, condescending, and contemptuous of all.

Let no one ever forget that the Lord was killed by His own, that the apostle Paul received most of his persecution from his own, and that most real Christians throughout history have received the worst of it from their own. And the majority of such persecution was and is due to the persecutors being threatened in a way that involved their wealth, power, religious prestige, and standing in this world.

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” [Luke 16:13]

“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” [Luke 14:33]

At this point, further explanation is demanded. Christianity 101 states that each human being is a sinner in need of the salvation paid for by the Lord through His sacrificial death. For those who accept the Lord’s salvation, they must also accept the fact that He purchased them by His blood. In other words, the Lord Jesus has rightful claim to those who are blessed with the salvation He paid for to set them free. He paid our ticket out of jail. He gives us power over sin. He blesses us with abundant life. This is the most all or nothing transaction possible regarding any human being.

Part of giving our lives to Him involves being willing to walk away from everything we possess. This is what He means by giving up our possessions. In reality, though, this NASB95 translation and others like it are somewhat poor. Check out what the Young’s Literal Translation says:

‘So, then, every one of you who doth not take leave of all that he himself hath, is not able to be my disciple.’ [Luke 14:33]

Now, compare that with The Complete Jewish Bible by David Stern:

“So every one of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has cannot be my talmid.” [Luke 14:33]

Now let’s consider the context. The Lord was explaining that our discipleship must require such single-minded loyalty to Him that we will “hate” our family members by comparison. The Lord, of course, is not telling us to hate. The translation comes off that way, but what he is saying is that not even any family opposition must deter one from his or her discipleship. So, if one is willing to give his entire life, carry his cross, and renounce family and the family religion if need be, walking away from one’s material possessions is not that big a deal.

It is all a question of loyalty to God and a recognition that He owns the title deed to everything, to the entire planet and the universe itself. And He obviously also must have authority over His children.

But Peter still had his house because we know the Lord stayed there. So Peter had not given up his house. But he did give it up for the cause of the Lord and His community. This is the point.

In Acts, when the disciples went “house to house” they had houses to go “house to house” to (Acts 2:46). They were doing this after they sold their property, possessions, and goods (Acts 2:45). What they did when they sold their possessions etc. was give up their extra stuff to those in the community that lacked, and offered their stuff to be shared if need be.

BUT IT WAS ALL VOLUNTARY. IT WAS NOT COERCED. IT WAS NOT SOME AUTHORITATIVE FORCED SOCIALISM.

Those who gave and shared had to do it with a spirit of love and compassion, with no condemnation or judgment for anyone who did not give or share. This was the Lord’s exact attitude. He did not lay guilt trips on people. But He explained that if one were to join His community, he or she must deny self and any individual ownership toward possessions in case the Lord needed those possessions for another, or the money their sale could bring.

Isn’t it obvious that if the Lord calls a person into ministry, and a person surrenders to the Lord for ministry, the Lord Jesus pretty much has authority over that person? How much more then does He have authority over his or her stuff?

Regardless of how plain this truth is, it is almost never applied in “official” churches or ministries, and as a result most Christians have thrown the entire concept right out the window. They won’t touch it with a million-foot pole. This proves official churches are not real communities, but mere collections of disassociated people who share geography weekly. Some good stuff does happen. Some give, and some give a lot. Many share in some way.

Imagine then, how much more could be shared if there was not the monumental expenditures of church buildings and all their related expenses. But that’s another teaching for another time. (See my book!)

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” [Luke 6:43-45]

“For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.

“But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [Luke 12:30-34] [1]

It does seem as though there is a contradiction here. The Lord told His disciples to seek the kingdom first, and all that the world seeks would be given to them. He then tells them to sell their possessions.

Could it be the Lord is telling them to take their restrictive personal ownership out of the equation? Remember, the Lord had need of things that other people owned, and He somehow gained access to those things (He needed money to pay a tax and gained it from a fish).

He needed a colt to ride into Jerusalem upon that someone else owned. He needed an upper room for the Last Supper that someone else owned. He accepted monetary donations from others. If those who owned the possessions He needed did not possess them, the prophesied Biblical events that must take place would never have taken place. Therefore, personal ownership and having title to possessions is necessary, is not wrong or evil in itself, and I do not think He is telling us as a point of doctrine to go sell everything we own, though He might tell that to some, and there might be occasions when we must.

There is a spiritual principle at work here that He wants us to know and use. If a possession owns us, it is not good. If the money we possess possesses us, it is not good. How can we be free in the Lord if we are bound by riches and possessions? How can we serve God if we serve mammon?

Whoever owned the upper room shared it when it was needed for God’s purposes, as did the one who owned the colt. But because they had title, they took care of the possessions for whenever they might be needed. This shows both a complete willingness to share and give, but also the responsibility required to take care of them.

There was a man whom the Lord had blessed, and it was most likely not a financial blessing. He had given this man the Words of Life, and the gentleman was eternally grateful. When the time came that he needed to bless the Lord, this man gave not only of the fullness of his heart, but blessed the Lord with a very expensive possession that he owned and had just built. With his gift, one of the greatest happenings in human history took place. And the really cool thing about it, whether the man knew it would work out that way or not, was that the Lord would end up giving it right back.

His name was Joseph. He owned a tomb…

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Tags: Giving and Sharing, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Personal Possessions, Prosperity Gospel, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Serving MONEY, The Love of Money, Unreal Christianity

$$$ Contract With The Devil: No Sellouts In Heaven (Part 1)

Apr 4

Posted by RJ Dawson

In serving the Lord Jesus, a believer can have no conflict of interest of any kind that would keep him from doing his duty. He must be sold out to the Lord.

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Many, however, are lovers of money and material goods, which often stems from being a lover of self. Lovers of self and money cannot be lovers of the Lord.

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Those who do not love the Lord are not aligned with Him and are consequently defenseless against the forces of evil.

The enemy is a blackmailer. He will always attempt to buy a person’s silence through such a conflict, and he preys on the conflicted for the opening in their armor. Once finding it he begins slipping in the sword of threats and fear.

The two principle ways he does this is through threatening harm to one or one’s loved ones, or threatening one’s income.

Many have been silenced especially by the latter. Everybody has a price. The enemy starts there first. If one is willing to compromise one’s walk with God over fear of losing money the devil never has to go any further—he never has to threaten harm.

Most people are bought off long before they are threatened with physical harm. They cannot fathom losing their job or income over a spiritual or honesty issue, or for possibly taking a stand. This is especially true if it’s a relatively high paying job with perks that took a person much time and effort to acquire. But the same is true on the other end of the scale for those dependent on government welfare or entitlement income. It is obvious that for most people, money is the top priority.

Yet the clear words of the Lord continue to echo forth:

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” [Luke 16:13]

The Lord demonstrated this statement in His own life by living what amounted to a virtual life of poverty. Along with the above statement, He mentioned something else that rarely or never gets mentioned by Christian ministers who buy into the money lie.

I’m certainly not harping on it, but merely acknowledging its presence. He said it for a reason. There’s a spiritual purpose for its existence. It’s in the Gospels. It’s a part of Holy Writ. It must dovetail with all the other statements of the Lord Jesus somehow. And it applies to all disciples:

“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” [Luke 14:33]

The Lord Jesus was threatened with death on numerous occasions, including the very first day of His ministry in Nazareth, but His would-be murderers were never successful. However, at the end of His ministry, when He cleaned out the Temple, those who hated Him had gone ballistic because the Lord attacked their dirty money scheme. This happened simultaneously with the Lord reaching the point where He would lay down His life. This action allowed them to get their hands on Him when their hate was at its depraved zenith. They then relished the fact that they had Him and could inflict upon Him all the pain and misery they had long desired in their hearts.

This juxtaposition of the Lord’s highest demonstrated love and His enemy’s highest demonstrated hate displays itself repeatedly throughout history regarding His people who are called by His Name. Persecution raises its ugly head in the most pronounced manner whenever the dirty money of evil people is threatened. They will do absolutely anything to protect their wealth and the power derived from it.

And this love-hate paradigm is also at its greatest height when the wealth and the means to gain it are in the religious realm.

Hence, the Lord’s ministry reached its zenith when He attacked all the evil wealth-oriented schemes of the House of Annas that had been located within and around the temple complex in Jerusalem. By doing this He was reclaiming His own land that Abraham had initially claimed for Him from the evil Canaanites. The new temple complex had not only been built by Herod, an Idumean and descendant of Esau, it had been stolen by Herod, and the evil House of Annas the High Priest worked in conjunction with him. This cabal also included the Sadduccean Party.

As a result of the Lord’s bold action He was hit with everything the devil had, but only because He made Himself vulnerable by removing His protection in order to fulfill His calling as the Sacrifice Lamb.

There will never be any real physical persecution against Christians until they attack the evil spiritual powers that be on this earth, as the Lord said we must. He said the gates of hell would not prevail against his people. But in the process the devil will strike back, especially when it concerns an attack against his and his people’s ill-gotten wealth.

At those times when the Lord’s people must be vulnerable, as He was, they will be persecuted. But any and all real persecution against His people always results in great spiritual gains. In other words, there must be a price to pay for the spiritual victories and gains that take place, and this distinguishes real Christians from fake ones.

The current Great Awakening in America fits this profile exactly. Though still in the early stages, real Christians are standing forth for the truth and God’s way of doing things, and are consequently standing against the evil which is resident in this country and the world, including the evil machinations of illicit, unconstitutional actions by those in authority, and especially against those using money for evil means.

This is not necessarily a direct assault. It is merely the standing up for what is right that happens to affect those who are not right. If the Lord did not clean out the temple He would have effectively been in agreement with the evil that had become resident there. This is why there are so many millions of compromised Christians. They have chosen to silence their voices and have refused to be used of God to clean up evil precisely because they have chosen to embrace the very evil they should be standing up against.

Many Christians hear this repeatedly and are certainly convicted, but still cannot bring themselves to act. Much of this is because their leaders and churches are also compromised and continually look the other way and make excuses.

And though the evil money masters in this world are forever going about their deceptive, unscrupulous behavior in their lust for wealth, it is only when real Christians attack the evil of serving mammon within Christianity that the devil gets the most riled up.

For example, if the church or ministry one is associated with does not subscribe to the Lord’s proper methods regarding money and remains silent, then one is essentially in agreement with the evil practice that is resident there, no matter how good or proper it may appear.

Those who do speak out know, however, that they will pay a price, and are often branded as malcontents or evil in some way, simply because they speak out as the Lord did.

Many real Christians have spoken out and have been banished in some way or another. It may start with simple indifference, gossip, and exclusion, but it will end in “disfellowship,” a word falsely used by power and wealth controllers within “Christian” establishments who are threatened with being revealed for what they are, and the demonic wealth practices they ascribe to becoming exposed.

And if one wonders what these may be, simply look at the Lord’s example—He never became enriched with “ministry” money. In fact, He made sure He would do the very opposite by going 180 degrees in the opposite direction, even doing things He did not have to do, to make absolutely sure He would set the right example for His people to steer absolutely clear of being taken in by the temptation of loving money.

This is why He made Himself to be of very low income in pocket, yet always having access to whatever He may need. Imagine the freedom, faith, and confidence He had regarding things that normally only money can buy: He could multiply bread and fish, He could tell Peter to go get money out of a fish’s mouth to pay a tax (for both of them), He could acquire a donkey on a moment’s notice for His ride to the temple, and He could even procure an entire upper room when it was necessary.

Consider the following passages and let it build your faith:

When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?” He said, “Yes.”

And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?”

When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.” [Matthew 17:24-27]

Right.

When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” [Matthew 21:1-3]

Okaaay…

And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.”

The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. [Mark 14:13-16] [1]

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Tags: Conflict of Interest, Lord Jesus, Mammon, Prosperity Gospel, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Serving MONEY, Spiritual Blackmail, The Love of Money, Unreal Christianity

Bizarro Christianity—It’s Much Worse Than You Think (Part 2)

Mar 31

Posted by RJ Dawson

Regarding Unreal Christianity and the identification of its various elements, I decided when I first started writing on the subject that I would not name names.

For one thing, there are far too many names. For another, unless one names all, it appears one may be singling out some and not mentioning others. Such an approach could portray a possible bias or improper agenda. Also, we don’t want to fall into the trap of picking the splinter out of our brother’s eye while having a tree trunk stuck in our own.

It is therefore my position that, like anything else, we must each figure it out for ourselves through the Lord’s leading—the Word of God reveals truth—and draw our own conclusions. Otherwise, we run the risk of being uninformed, a willing dupe, or the victim of religious dogma.

The reasoning here is simple and straightforward—we will each face the Lord alone as self-governing individuals at the judgment, so it’s best to live as self-governing individuals in this life. This is exactly what being a disciple of the Lord entails.

Like a complex, drawn-out math problem, we must all understand how we arrived at a particular answer and doctrinal position instead of simply parroting a response, robot-like, and end up believing a sanctioned, authoritative conclusion possibly unsupported by actual fact. If not, we may possess a religious conviction based on prejudice, false assumptions, or cultural preconceived notions.

So even though I don’t name names, it should not be all that difficult to identify the pretenders and their groups once a disciple gains a complete, pure, and impartial knowledge of the Lord’s teachings, and a mature understanding of His Word. Unlike in His time, when the religious shysters were relatively easy to recognize (and the Lord did identify groups), it is much different at present. There are quantum scads of Christian groups, denominations, and cults, major and minor, and they all claim legitimacy. Yet their doctrines often contradict one another. They cannot all be right, but it’s possible they can all be wrong.

Regardless of my position, however, many ministries and individuals do name names, and this might or might not be what the Lord desires. I therefore do not necessarily fault those who do, as it may be by the Lord’s will.

I do admonish each and every one of us, however, to start checking up on things and getting informed, or staying informed, even more than we have been, because the level of deception is rising rapidly like a rocket up the right side of an exponential curve.

Inform yourself. Read and study. You will be amazed at what you find. It is often shocking. Remember what happened in the late 1980’s with all the Christian scandals? It is much worse than that. There is no comparison. Currently, a far-reaching, behind-the-scenes skullduggery, a plot designed to both deceive and control, has infiltrated many Christian circles, impacting the salvation of souls. It has slimed its way in largely unnoticed by millions.

This present wave, like all the others over the last two millennia, has effectively established yet another fake Christian subculture. Its unique thought bomb, detonated high in the atmosphere, has resulted in still more radioactive fallout spreading over the landscape, infecting who it may. Consider this article yet another warning.

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [Jude 1:3-4 KJV]

The establishment of false forms of Christianity, contrary gospels, and acceptance of a “sin in the camp” immorality, deceptively portrayed as “God-approved,” have happened because Christians in general got lazy, ignorant, and complacent. Christians traditionally have been conditioned to obey their authority figures and never question them, even though such a thing is demonic and not at all Biblical. It’s a clear form of idolatry.

As a result, some real Christians became weak and Unreal Christians established a major beachhead of unbelief and disobedience. They did not stay STRONG and AWARE of the enemy. Instead of following the Lord they took a pass, laid down, and chose to hire hirelings and pay them to do their work, many of whom fled spiritually when the wolves showed up.

Currently, such people are a many times worse. Now, if a believer were to express clear Biblical teachings he will often be shot down by such “Christians” who claim the Lord’s teachings are wrong, while their completely unsupportable false doctrines are perceived as correct. Most of the time though, they just close their minds and continue to be led blindly down the path by their chosen blind and diabolical leaders who look exactly like sheep, but are actually wolves in sheep’s clothing. Sound familiar?

False content has also invaded your friendly neighborhood Christian bookstore. Many books are not even Christian. They appear to be Christian. They may be Christian on the surface. But books that are purely Christian simply do not sell so well. If you don’t think this is true I challenge you to research this on your own. You will then understand why the real Christians in this country are getting the Word out without a profit motive.

Many Christian bookstores have been taken over by corporate interests with a money mentality, instead of a Godly motive and purely spiritual initiative. The priority is monetary profit (mammon). Real Christians, conversely, are engaging in ministry for free because it is the only way it can be done properly and effectively, without the compromises based on the pursuit of profit or the seeking and/or protecting of one’s income. Ministering for free is how it was done by the Lord and the originals:

“Freely you received, freely give.” [Matthew 10:8]

But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” [Acts 3:6]

“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.” [Acts 20:33-34]

Incidentally, the reason I attempt to sell a few books is so I can spend more time writing and sharing what the Lord is giving me, and less time working for money. So far, that has not worked out so well. I have given many books away but have learned that most people who get a free book do not read it. We are more likely to read it if we invest in it. I would have been financially better off by never making my work available, but I am compelled to share what I receive. Thus, I have two fulltime jobs. One is doing the work the Lord has called me to do and the other is earning money so I can do the work the Lord has called me to do.

Rather than take donations, I prefer to offer a commodity. I have put in decades of research and work into my books and writings and am currently offering a 330 page book filled with exactly what some need at this time for low cost. I have made it as easily available as possible. Thanks to those of you who have read the book and read my articles. I hope they’re a blessing.

But if I wrote some watered-down stuff and got seriously promoted I would most likely do much better financially. Several best-selling “Christian” books have sold millions recently and have been proven to contain anti-Biblical content, some of it incredibly obvious. This proves my point that many Christians are easily manipulated into untruth and most don’t even know they have been deceived. This is why major promoters don’t want the truth. Neither do any of the major “Christian” institutions.

It’s not necessarily that they can’t handle the truth; it’s that the truth in general does not sell, nor does it fill pews with the necessary backsides and tithe money.

Perhaps this is why the Lord only managed to gather a mere 120 people for the original Upper Room Experience.

Keep in mind, the Lord Jesus was not some podunk rambling rabbi, but GOD. He had preached to tens of thousands at a time. He did every major miracle you can imagine, preached powerfully, taught a perfect and pure message, and then, amazingly, offered Himself up as a perfect sacrifice on our behalf, and ROSE FROM THE DEAD.

AND HE STILL ONLY MANAGED TO CONVINCE A MERE 120 PEOPLE TO GO TO THE UPPER ROOM FOR TEN DAYS AND AWAIT PENTECOST!

That’s astonishing, especially in light of today’s easy-believism.

Today’s marketers could get 120 in five minutes. Many of today’s churches could gather 120 anytime they felt like it, no matter how non-Biblical they are.

But 120 of one is in no way comparable to 120 of another. The Lord’s 120 were solid as a rock, just like Him. They were willing to do anything and follow Him anywhere, which they did. They served as a solid nucleus for a growing community that had the truth and kept it, had the power of God and used it, and had the love of God and expressed it.

THEY TURNED THE ENTIRE BLASTED HEATHEN WORLD UPSIDE DOWN! THEY OVERCAME MURDEROUS AND HOSTILE RELIGIOUS HATERS AND THE WORST AND MOST BRUTAL GOVERNMENT THAT HAD EVER EXISTED ON THE PLANET! THEIR ORIGINAL TINY KINGDOM, WITH NONE OF THE NATURAL ELEMENTS NEEDED FOR KINGDOM BUILDING, OVERCAME THE ROMAN EMPIRE!

Most “Christians” in America can’t even overcome themselves.

Even so, real Christians in America number in the millions. The fact that George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four bizarro world has not arrived completely is due to their presence. The antichrist spirit hates them with a passion. They are the salt and light that keeps him from taking over completely. For these real Christians, no fight is too hard or too impossible. They know they fight alongside the King of kings. They will not be dismayed or defeated. Kill one and a hundred more spring up. They always rise to the occasion. They can do ALL things through Messiah who strengthens them. And they do it with a smile and a good attitude with love in their hearts.

So even though things are worse than we think, THEY ARE ALSO BETTER THAN WE THINK. It is because the Lord Jesus is in charge. It is because He has created a giant worldwide community of people with each individual just like Him in some way, and the entire community pretty much exactly like Him overall.

If others want to join hands with the enemy, compromise the Word, and love money to the point of rejecting the Lord though insisting they have not, they can do what they want and be as deceived as they want. But unless you identify them and stand against them you may be deceived as well.

The mark of a real Christian is standing up for the Lord Jesus no matter the cost, being willing to fight the enemy no matter the level of battle, and submit your reputations to be trashed by ignorant and deceived people while not lashing back with reciprocal hate but returning spiritual love.

Many years ago the first pastor I had made a statement I will never forget. He said he had people come up to him and say they loved him, but might as well of said they hated him because it was obvious such hate was in their heart and on their outward expression. Unreal Christians are notorious for this. It’s called being two-faced. It’s the mark of duplicity. It’s acting one way in one’s presence and ripping him or her to shreds behind their back. It is a total violation of the Lord’s love and teachings.

In the end, the good and bad will be completely separated, but the point must be made that this will not happen automatically at His arrival. The separation of light and darkness has actually been taking place for 2000 years and will culminate at the end when the Lord returns for a spotless community of love with total honor for Him. In the meantime, one better choose the right side with all their heart or one will end up on the wrong side, most likely with a deceived and divided heart.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

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Tags: America, Christian Persecution, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, One World Religion, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

Bizarro Christianity—It’s Much Worse Than You Think (Part 1)

Mar 28

Posted by RJ Dawson

We all know many things are currently very bad in this world. The optimist in me does not like this, but facts are facts.

The world has largely become an accurate reflection of half a century’s worth of mind-altering films, television, and music. The deception is such that the concept of “monkey see-monkey do” programming is rejected outright by its victims, since part of the programming is deceiving people into believing there is no programming at all.

This is why people are doing the most damnable things en masse, things prior generations never did, simply because the programming was not there—unless you belonged to some group, that is, and almost all major groups were in the religious sphere. And in America, almost all the groups were “Christian” of some form or another.

This means there was certainly mass programming going on, but compared to today’s very sophisticated and hyper-effective methods, it was inferior, but remained highly effective at capturing minds and changing thought processes.

It was so effective it became cultural. It was so cultural no one dare leave their religious culture without knowing they may be disowned by the group. People paid a high price to think freely, but most of all, they paid a high price in embracing the real teachings of the Lord Jesus. Breaking free from cultural religious programming most often meant turning away from family and friends forever.

I used to think quite often that we must be supreme optimists and exhibit strong faith if only to keep bad things from happening, to keep things from getting worse, or believe that dire circumstances can somehow be reversed. The reality is that prayer and faith do change things. It is the power of God answering our prayers and honoring our faith. It is how we allow Him to be involved in our lives.

But where there is no faith…

We learn from reading the Word that bad circumstances can be reversed or eliminated. The Lord Jesus states clearly that with Him, all things are possible. So we believe in the impossible, especially as young impressionable saints of God with less life experience. Then, after a few years, we may think, well, maybe I cannot change a bad circumstance no matter how much I pray and believe, but I can comfort those who are going through something really rough and give them a lift. In one sense, this attitude stems from a capitulation to natural reality. In another it may be due to weariness or possibly even frustration. We do know that God doesn’t go around fixing every single lousy thing on the planet, so we may feel powerless regardless of what His Word states.

Whatever the case may be, one thing is certain: If we desire the supernatural power of God to come to bear against a bad circumstance, it will demand our total involvement. The Lord does things in such a way that it will always demand our involvement, and this is only logical. But we cannot wait for the crisis to happen before we get involved with the Lord and attempt His method. In other words, there is a reason for discipleship. If we refuse to get with His program we are on our own, and can only use the assistance of that which humanity can bring without God. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it does not.

To put things into immediate perspective, the original apostles were spiritually worthless at the beginning. It took time for the Lord to teach them. It took time for them to apply His teachings. And even after they graduated from His program, they still needed to receive His powerful Holy Spirit for the service He called them to. Without it, they would only possess mere head knowledge with no power, kind of like a car without gasoline or an electrical appliance without electricity.

We should make this connection, but most Christians do not. That’s why most Christians are like all manner of appliances that may be structurally perfect but have no power source. Without electricity they are exactly the same as being broken beyond repair simply because they will not work. But it always works with the Lord if we submit to Him and do it His way, even if everyone else disbelieves. The original disciples did this, and they obeyed Him all the way to being filled with His Spirit, which gave them the spiritual power to do what He did.

Now, think about something: If the Lord said all things are possible with Him, does it not mean that sometimes the impossible does not happen simply because we do not believe and do not obey Him? And what if the situation calls for 100% faith and spiritual dunamis for the impossible to happen, but we only give 50%? Or 95%? Obviously, these will not be good enough.

We understand this in other areas of life. Try going to work Monday thru Thursday but refuse going on Friday. And try explaining that you did a great job and did all that was required on those four days, and that you should be credited with that regardless of whether you work on Friday. You might get away with it once, but otherwise you will likely lose your job. Is it not the same in serving the Lord? This is the picture of what most “Christianity” has become:

Unreal Christianity is enamored with head knowledge and insists on powerless traditions, and castigates the idea of needing His power to do His work. If this is not the work of the devil nothing is.

Try starting your lawnmower with an empty tank of gas all the while refusing to fill it with gas. That’s pretty dumb. But the Lord tells us we are the lawnmower and His Spirit is the gas. One Christian gets it and shouts, “No wonder!” and proceeds to do whatever the Lord requires to fill up his tank. Another Christian rejects it and says, “Then I’ll get a push mower you bunch of freaks!”

How many times did the Lord teach that we must follow Him with all of our hearts and for the duration? That’s all He ever taught! He never taught anything closely resembling working for Him part time, or believing part time, or obeying Him part time, or working for Him halfheartedly, or giving half our heart (try that with your spouse), or picking and choosing those parts of His curriculum we feel comfortable with. With the Lord Jesus, it is all or nothing. PERIOD.

It is exactly how He lived His life. He taught that this way to live is required for us also, in that our minds and hearts would be made up and we would never be double-minded or express doubt in Him or His methods. He taught that living by faith is a 100% proposition. Otherwise, the enemy will get in, and the enemy will seek to kill, steal, and destroy.

Yet, though pure faith is the first step, it is an act of obedience. We receive salvation by grace through faith. It takes the gift of grace, which we have nothing to do with (God’s unmerited favor), and faith, something that must come from us. It must be followed with consequent acts of obedience, as is illustrated by the original disciples as recorded in the Book of Acts.

They did what they had to do, whatever they had to do, to receive the very Spirit of the Lord into their beings. They remained who they were as individuals, but then walked in the closest of all possible relationships with the Lord. This was a pure covenant partnership, a Father-child relationship, and the demonstration of His Spirit in their lives was evident by the impossible tasks they achieved, as it was with the Lord during His ministry.

Not having this relationship allows the enemy to fill the void. And thus, we have Unreal Christianity, a conglomerate of denominations and sects that refuse the Lord’s full curriculum and thus, its proponents do not possess the pure covenant relationship with the Lord Jesus as did the originals. They have instead substituted counterfeits and have deceived huge numbers who do not put forth the effort to figure it out on their own. This makes them all easy pickings by a very powerful spiritual enemy and his hordes—an enemy much more intelligent but primarily much more spiritually powerful than such false disciples will ever be, especially since they possess no spiritual power at all.

Currently, the enemy is having a field day. Yes, things are bad. Really bad. But things are much worse than you think. Why? Because most people, including most Christians, are only getting part of the story. The closer we get to God, the more we see. Nevertheless, despite their insistence on mere head knowledge (a seminary degree does not empower one to raise the dead), Christians have become so spiritually unintelligent, uninformed, and deceived in this country that major demonic things are happening all around them, and they are not even aware.

Churches and ministries have been taken over by the devil. Big churches. Major denominations. Major ministries. Major charitable ministries. It is really bad. It is so bad that the people running these organizations are not even Christians anymore.

One organization made a deal with the devil a few days ago but just changed course after a backlash they did not anticipate. They found out how much money it would cost them in lost donations. This is a great sign! It shows that there are still some Christians with a backbone to help right the course of the wayward. But this particular wayward organization remains in league with the enemy because they lied about why they reversed course. They continue to prove they are primarily serving money and not serving God, like so many others.

Would that such compromisers get it together. So many of these have been deceived and co-opted by the devil that when confronted by the clear facts, they either lash out or laugh. It is bad. Many supporters of these organizations don’t even know what’s really going on. They are being deceived. They are supporting the devil’s curriculum instead of the Lord’s. This is pure evidence of otherworldly programming upon the leaders who then pass it on to the followers.

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Tags: America, Christian Persecution, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Lord Jesus, One World Religion, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

LOCATING THE LORD’S LOYALTY

Mar 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

. Tower of Babel. Pieter Bruegel. 1563.

Why should God fight for and support a people who advocate for the blatant persecution of His children?

Achieving the Objective in the Face of Adversity

Why should God fight for and support a people who advocate for the gruesome and heartless murder of innocent, defenseless babies and insist their murders stem from rights protected by law?

New York City is the Undisputed Abortion Capital of America

Why should God fight for and support a people who advocate for the filth of pornography, and deem it “political speech” protected by law thus guaranteeing its freedom to corrupt the land?

Sacrificial Love: A Shining Witness

Why should God fight for and support a people who advocate for wicked forms of perversion clearly condemned in Holy Writ upon which the land’s legal system is based?

Duck Dynasty: I Support Phil Robertson

Why should God fight for and support a people who advocate for the ripping off and bankrupting of its own citizens through confiscatory tax policies while large percentages of taxpayer monies are wasted each and every year?

TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY

Why should God fight for and support a people whose voters elect the advocates of all of the above, not just once or twice, but every single time there is a national election without fail?

Duping the Majority: A Foolproof Method of Success (Part 1)

Why should God fight for and support a people whose voters consistently complain about the ones they elect without understanding whatsoever that the ones they elect are in office because they elect them?

Duping the Majority: A Foolproof Method of Success (Part 2)

Why should God fight for and support a people whose seeming majority is either asleep, willingly ignorant, apathetic, or some combination thereof regarding the dire condition of their land, and are growing in numbers and power?

Duping the Majority: A Foolproof Method of Success (Part 3)

Why should God fight for and support a people whose seeming majority rejects Him, His solutions, and His help to their own detriment due to their rebellion against Him and their obvious fondness of sin, disobedience, and selfishness?

The Day of Atonement

Why should God fight for and support a people whose seeming majority of “believers” refuse to trust Him, refuse to teach the real Gospel, refuse to obey His commandments, refuse to surrender to His authority, and refuse to be filled with His Holy Spirit?

Keep Your Lamp Filled With Oil

Why should God fight for and support a people whose seeming majority of “believers” look for solutions to their problems from anywhere and anyone but Him, who refuse to honor Him, never stand up for Him, and never defend Him and His teachings against those who continually dishonor Him?

Cults of Christianity (Part 3)

Why should God fight for and support a people whose land is filled with religious groups that disfellowship and discredit those who attempt to reveal the truth of the Gospel that sets people free, instead of repenting for their phony religious lives and institutions that keep people spiritually dead and in bondage?

New 21st Century Wineskins for American Christianity (Part 1)

New 21st Century Wineskins for American Christianity (Part 2)

Why should God fight for and support a people whose land has become a haven for disingenuous hypocrites in love with money, this world, and prestige and are more Pharisaical than the original Pharisees?

Woe to You, Christian Pharisees!

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Matthew 4:15-17]

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 5:17-20]

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.” [Matthew 13:10-11]

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” [Matthew 16:15-19]

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:36-39]

“Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments, and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

“The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

“God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.

Then Peter answered, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. [Acts 10:30-47]

When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe…

“Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves. And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered. [Acts 28:23-24, 28-31] [1]

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Tags: Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Deception, Hidden Agenda, Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Loyalty, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rejecting God, Unreal Christianity

First Day of Spring: New Life

Mar 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

It is the first day of spring.

Regardless of the many New Year celebrations that occur on various calendar dates, this is the actual beginning of the New Year in the northern hemisphere.

It has been a long winter, and a very difficult winter for many. Today marks the time to look forward to the inevitable thaw and the bursting forth of new life.

Officially, spring arrived three minutes before noon CDT, almost 1 o’clock on the east coast and 9:57am on the west. The planet leveled out at that exact time. Scientifically speaking, it is the Vernal Equinox, a time when planet Earth completes its tilt back from the southern hemisphere, which just completed summer.

It is a time of perfect balance when the sun shines directly on the equator, and when the southern hemisphere experiences the beginning of autumn. This balancing event thus only happens twice a year, and that briefly.

God created seasons for a reason. The planet tilts on its axis to give the entire planet its fair share of sun and warmth. He does the same with His people in a spiritual sense. Though I am concerned with sounding trite, life actually does consist of ups and downs, mountains and valleys, and the spaces in-between. There are times things for some are going good, while things for others are not so good. For real Christians, it is an opportunity for their good times to be shared with others who may be going through a rough stretch.

A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. [Isaiah 40:3-8]

John the Immerser quoted these words in part when teaching about the ways of the Lord and about that particular point in history. We are currently at the same kind of historical juncture. The idea of equinox is presently before us in the spiritual realm as well. Let us learn the lesson that we all indeed are our brother’s keeper and act according.

…The word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT. EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH; AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.’”

So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

“Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”

And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

“His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” [Luke 3:2-17] [1]

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Tags: Isaiah the Prophet, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, New Life, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Share, Spring, The Great Awakening, Vernal Equinox

Exodus To The Wilderness: The Spirit-Filled Life

Mar 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

“But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces!

“But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.

“This is the one about whom it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’” [Matthew 11:7-10]

As Christianity in America goes, so goes the country.

But instead of changing anything at the source, the majority of Christians in America will remain glued to pews, and blame anything and anyone other than their dead institutions and compromised behavior.

That’s why the only way to do anything and get anything done is by leaving the institutional, traditional, the-same-way-we’ve-always-done-it-formats and silly belief systems that teach contrary, lifeless gospels in direct opposition to what the Lord taught.

Ted Williams was a baseball player, an all-time great. He stated early in his career that his goal in life was to have people say, “There’s goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.” That might sound arrogant, but it wasn’t. It was simply a high goal. And by the end of his career half a century ago and even until today, he is without doubt one of the top three hitters of all time, and arguably the greatest. He set a seemingly impossible goal and actually achieved it.

The Lord gave us an example of who He called the greatest man who ever lived. This man is pretty much the opposite of what a traditional Christian would see as great: He never went to church. He never wore a clergy outfit. He never manned a pulpit. He never went to seminary. He never had any earthly honors.

Instead, he stayed out in the wilderness far from society. He wore animal skins. He stayed alive eating “locusts and wild honey.” He preached and prayed all the live long day. If one would visit, one would have to go far out of his way and be extremely inconvenienced.

But the man had crowds all around him. He was flooded with humanity night and day. People went out there and camped out, staying with him and around him for days on end.

WHY?

It was simply because in the words of John the Immerser, they were hearing something powerful, strong, direct, clear, and devoid of religious garbage. He preached a pure message with ONE purpose in mind—he was there to obey God and please only Him.

The majority of Christian ministers do the opposite. There is a long list of people they must honor and please and the Lord Jesus is nowhere near the top.

John probably set no high goals, but he was without doubt 100% determined to obey God, regardless of all the hate and obstacles thrown his way. Again, the Lord Jesus, God in flesh, called him the greatest up to that time:

“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!” [Matthew 11:11a]

Something tells me that professional churchmen have a different opinion, simply because most are the direct opposite of John.

Imagine the scene. All those people, fed up with the usual synagogue garbage that had no answer whatsoever for the yearning of their hearts and souls, going out to hear John. He gave them something they could get nowhere else. They had been doing everything they were told for years, year after year, and it did not satisfy. What did satisfy?

John told them the truth! HE CONTINUALLY PREACHED TO EACH AND EVERY ONE THAT THEY WERE IN NEED OF REPENTANCE. Repentance and the release that followed was what they lacked. They knew they were sinners, though constant church-goers. They knew they prescribed to all they were taught, but none of it touched their hearts. They wanted someone to tell them the truth, that they were messed up, incomplete, fearful, and weak, and what to do about it. They were not happy with the status quo!

Why did they care so much? BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BE GREAT! They wanted to please God! And they knew they could not please God according to the traditional manner they were taught.

This is much of the reason why a giant exodus from traditional Christianity has taken place over the last few decades. The end result is that traditional Christianity is by and large left with the remainder, those who do NOT have a passion to please God, but to cower at the feet of men. That’s why traditional Christianity in America is a watered-down mess filled with people-pleasers. No one wants to offend. At best, everyone wants to be the nice guy. The end result has become disastrous.

Why was John the greatest? Why was he greater than Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and all the prior prophets? What was so special about John?

For starters, there is nothing in the Biblical record that says John suffered from the same foibles as those other men, great as they were. Noah got drunk. Abraham was chicken and lied about his wife. Moses killed a man. Trumping Moses, David killed a man and stole his wife! These men were no less great for the accomplishments they achieved, but they did not measure up to the standard set by John.

AND JOHN DID IT WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT. The anointing of God rested upon him as it did on many others prior to him, but the indwelling of God’s Spirit would not take place until Pentecost. The Lord Jesus stated this clearly:

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. [John 7:37-39]

Unreal Christianity, however, does not care to receive. For the most part, there is no place for the actual life-changing infilling of the Spirit of the Lord among traditional, institutional Christians for the same reason that all the traditionalists during the Lord’s time really wanted nothing to do with John.

That’s why God put him out in the wilderness. He didn’t want him or his message watered down and compromised. Like Abraham and Moses and other desert dwellers, John the Immerser was out in the wilderness alone with God receiving and preaching a very powerful and clear message. He was sent as a forerunner TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD.

The idiot Pharisees were there, conversely, to fight against and obstruct the way of the Lord.

They took lifeless religious vows—John took a lifelong Nazirite vow.

They appeared on the cover of Clergyman’s Quarterly—John looked like a Caveman.

And those Pharisees and Sadducees bore a striking resemblance to modern day religious Christianity peopled with those who oppose and obstruct the Lord, and are much more intent on protecting their religious turf than obeying God.

Their goal is not to be the greatest. Their goal is not to be like John. And their goal is CERTAINLY not to be like the Lord. Their goal, at best, is to be the greatest Tee Ball players who ever lived.

But for those who are passionate for God, there is more to the story—THERE IS A WAY ANYONE CAN BE GREATER THAN JOHN:

“Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” [John 11:11b]

Please don’t skim over this. The Lord is stating that His people must not only be more righteous than the Pharisees, they must be greater than John the Immerser! Each and every one!

Since this generally blows the minds of religious Christians, they immediately blow it off as an impossibility, or apply some other such nonsense to the idea. In other words, most preachers have it as their goal to not be the greatest, but to make sure they make a living, and if they can, to make a great living. And regardless of what the Lord thinks or that their methods don’t work in any effective spiritual sense as taught by the Lord, religious Christians are stubbornly intent on maintaining their traditional, institutional, dead formats and applications.

“And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” [Matthew 15:3]

“And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” [Matthew 15:6]

“Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” [Mark 7:8]

“You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.” [Mark 7:9]

“…Thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” [Mark 7:13]

THIS is why John attracted crowds out in the wilderness, despite the fact that he had none of the creature comforts religious people must have. There was no shelter unless people brought their own. There was no giant air-conditioned auditorium with padded seats. There was little or no food. There was water, though, good for drinking and staying alive but mostly great for immersing. There was nothing out there that a religious Christian would find tasteful or desirable.

Yet, for those who wanted GOD, it was the jackpot! It was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! And it truly was somewhere over the rainbow, “where skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.” John’s disciples discovered this, and it began the mass exodus away from dead religion in the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and toward the new life ushered in by the Lord.

This is exactly what is happening at this writing in America. Again, it began in America several decades ago, but it is now beginning to come forth. As long as American Christians were comfortable and happy with the status quo it could never happen, and for those in such a state it won’t happen. But for those who want the BEST and to be the GREATEST and to pay any price, it is becoming a reality.

I don’t know how Ted Williams ultimately fared with God. But I know he was the main influence in starting “The Jimmy Fund,” a well-known charity that has since raised about $800 million. He was very often helping child patients, paying their bills, and visiting as anonymously as possible, wanting no publicity. I also know he pretty much achieved his goal of becoming the greatest hitter who ever lived. He did this despite the fact that he lost almost five full seasons while serving in the military during WWII and Korea, and parts of others due to injuries. Had he had those years he would surely have achieved his goal statistically, which already rank among the best.

John the Immerser achieved greatness, and was in fact the greatest. He did exactly as he was called to do in preparing for and announcing the arrival of the long hoped-for Messiah. There was not the slightest bit of compromise in the man, and the evidence of his success, extremely difficult to attain, is obvious. Imagine preparing an entire nation for the Great Light after it had fallen into such darkness…

The Lord Jesus, though, was the absolute greatest of all, no contest, hands down. HE WAS THE GREATEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED. No one else comes remotely close. But guess what? Because He said we could be filled with His very Spirit—

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

“I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU AS ORPHANS; I WILL COME TO YOU.” [John 14:12-18] [1]

The infilling of the Holy Spirit—the Helper—the Spirit of Truth—the Spirit of the Lord Jesus—is the difference maker. It is what allows an otherwise dead, traditional, institutional Christian to become great like the Lord is great. It is what allows a spiritual Ted Williams to become the greatest in the world at whatever the Lord has called that person to do. It is how Peter the fisherman went from being a fearful wimpy man at the Lord’s trial to the great preacher at Pentecost and great apostle for decades after.

For most, the Spirit-filled life is far over the rainbow and it may take a tornado to get there. It is OUT IN THE WILDERNESS. It is in a different place altogether.

A powerful call of REPENTANCE has gone forth, and such an anointing is always the forerunner of such powerful events and new life. Millions have repented, have rejected dead tradition, have journeyed to uncharted territory, and discovered this place where dreams come true—the Miracle Realm—the Kingdom of God on earth, where the Lord Jesus is King and the only King of hearts.

As a result—

WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A NATIONAL GREAT AWAKENING.

To the Wilderness!

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Tags: America, Holy Spirit of Jesus, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Religious Tradition, Ted Williams, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity, Wilderness

Real Christians and the Faux Bros

Mar 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

In my first book, the name of which graces the heading of this blog, I coined the term Unreal Christianity. I also coined the term Unreal Christian(s). When one coins a term one must also define it. The definition is actually uncomplicated and straightforward and is based on the definition of a Real Christian:

“A Real Christian is one whom Jesus is the Lord of his life.”

What about Unreal Christians?

“An Unreal Christian is anyone else.”

**Based on this simple terminology, Real Christianity is defined as that which the Founder taught and practiced. Unreal Christianity is anything else.**

For a further definition, a Real Christian is one who has surrendered his heart and total life to the Lord Jesus, has pledged to honor Him as Lord and God, and has entered into a blood covenant with Him to obey all His commandments and teachings 100% with no reservation whatsoever forever. He has repented of past sins, the sacrifice of the Lord’s life has been applied, and a spiritual circumcision of the heart has been administered. He is born again and has become a new creation as per the Living Word of God.

An Unreal Christian, in contrast, is one who has not accomplished the preceding, but has instead surrendered to a “Christian” culture, a church, a denomination, contrary gospels, counterfeit teachings, false doctrines and dogmas, and honors the leaders and or leader of such groups, living or dead, rather than the Lord Jesus.

This is true regardless of group size, whether it be a massive worldwide body, a denomination, or a local cult. Indeed, cults are not restricted by size or societal acceptance. The terminology simply changes. They’re all cults.

I read an article recently about the very bad behavior of Christians in restaurants following Sunday morning services. Apparently, the majority of waiters are of the very sure empirical reasoning that such Christians are the loudest, rudest, most obnoxious, patronizing, and belittling people on the planet. They call it the church rush. I was also told by a friend a few months back before I read the article that when he managed a restaurant, some of the worst people he ever had in his restaurant were members of a particular large local Christian group (you would probably know them if I named them). My friend did not know that I knew who he was talking about, but I never knew they exhibited such behavior.

In following this clearly marked trail (super highway), there is a reason non-Christians think Christians are vain, arrogant idiots unable to think for themselves. Actually, there are millions of reasons. In fact, if one wanted to write a book on the subject he better be prepared to top War and Peace, The Encyclopedia Britannica, and the entire works of the Library of Congress. It would take a while.

Must I be so honest? I learned it from my Boss! Unreal Christianity is worse than all other religions put together. The Lord saved His most powerful and heart-rending rebukes for the religious fakes who stood in His place and tried to pass themselves off as the real thing. He called them a bunch of lying snakes whose father was the devil. Real Christians must do no less.

Which brings us to a related point: Why do religious people get their panties in a wad so easily? Why do religious people want to fight and kill at the drop of a hat? Why do religious people go to such great lengths to stand up for their false doctrines? There is only one reason: They are absolutely totally convinced they are right. But they identify themselves as wrong by their behavior.

In other words, as the Lord’s top priority, He was not out to win intellectual arguments—He was out to save the world. But He would argue if He must, though, and did. He definitely had a very specific curriculum and He taught it perfectly, but the curriculum was not limited to the mind or the classroom. He lived the curriculum. He demonstrated His teachings. He showed everyone right out in the open that His methods worked. And He did it all as a Servant who loved.

Unreal Christians don’t do this, largely because they cannot, but also because they won’t. They do not possess the love, the power, or the knowledge of the Lord’s real teachings. They are fakes.

The Lord proved the Pharisees were fakes. He continually exposed them for what they were. In turn, their reasoned, loving, well thought-out response was to first disfellowship Him, then lie about Him at every turn, then make Him out to be pure evil, then try to kill Him. And this is what Unreal Christianity has always done, except in places like America where the laws do not permit them to kill and sabotage real believers as they did back in Europe or wherever else. But believe me, they possess enough religious hate and ultra-sensitivity that they would kill if it would not inconvenience their lives.

So they major on the disfellowship part. And THAT, my friends, is why we have four million “Christian” denominations filled with hateful people protecting their turf willing to turn on anyone at any time when their little or giant establishments are threatened or merely perceived to be threatened.

And if the Lord Jesus Himself showed up in their “places of worship” they would treat Him exactly the same, simply because their unreality is contrary to His reality.

“Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’

“Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” [Matthew 25:41-46]

As I have stated so often here, the same evidence that existed in the ministry of the Lord Jesus must exist in the ministries He has granted to His followers. Of course, such ministries are mere extensions of His ministry and there is only one. If the evidence is not there, though, don’t believe the teachings. He said the same thing. (Read the following very carefully):

The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.

“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 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. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

“I and the Father are one.”

The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.

Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”

The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. [John 10:24-39] [1]

The early community of the Lord had such works.

Unreal Christianity does not.

If you don’t see His works, an extension of His love, in your “place of worship” on Sunday morning, something is very wrong.

It indicates the Lord Jesus is not in charge.

It denotes an absence of His presence, authority, and power.

And it points toward yet another establishment of Unreal Christianity—the haunt of the Faux Bros.

“Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve.” [Joshua 24:15]

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Blood Covenant, Book of Acts, Christian Cults, Christian Pharisees, Lord Jesus, Real Christian, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Unreal Christian, Unreal Christianity, Works of God

God’s Friends, Enemies, (and Frenemies)

Mar 12

Posted by RJ Dawson

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If one’s enemies are not the enemies of the Lord Jesus, then one is by default an enemy of the Lord Jesus.

The enemies of the Lord are narcissists at heart. They love themselves more than the Lord. They love the idea of taking life by the horns, and by engaging in their own pursuits. Because they have never surrendered their lives to God, their hearts remain uncircumcised and thus incapable of doing the good the Lord requires. And because of that little problem, they find it no problem to break God’s laws whenever they must to advance their own program.

Many of the most popular and successful people in the world are thus hellbound. They will have their success in the here and now come hell or high water. They will not be stopped. They will lie, cheat, and steal if need be, and give the appearance of forthrightness. These surfacely successful people are the most contemptuous people on the planet and will get their due when the life and health they take for granted fails.

At that point they’ll join that rich guy that treated Lazarus so bad. They will have traded the possibility of eternal life for the eventual fires of hell. Perhaps if they had been taught this at whatever school or church they attended things could have been different. But in the end they will know. They will know without question that they fouled up big time but simply refused to repent.

One wonders why the drive for success in this world is so bewitching. One wonders why some people drive themselves toward success to the point of damning their soul forever. What is it that is so great about the pleasures of this life? Why can’t people see that life is short? Why can’t they see that pursuing the pleasures of this world improperly—the desires of the eyes, the desires of human appetites, and most of all, the desire to make a name for oneself and live by personal pride—results in merely temporary happiness?

For example, consider the great politicians of this country who make it to places of great power. And consider how they had to either cheat to get there or must cheat to remain there. Everyone knows that successful politicians are successful liars, except for very rare exceptions. To politick is to lie. Politics is such that battle is constant, a war of words is always brewing, and people at the top fight like rabid dogs to get their piece of bone. They do it all with a smile and flair, however. It is one of the great wonders of the world.

But perhaps the greatest wonder is how they continue to do it and get away with it year after decade after century, and the public remains seemingly as stupid and gullible as ever.

The strange phenomenon makes perfect sense, though, when one discovers that the voters have their own ulterior motives and agendas. Some refuse to vote their conscience because they don’t want to be thought a fool. This is the biggest kind of fool. Some vote for idiots simply because they themselves are idiots. And some know exactly what they’re doing. The evil people with big smiles they vote into office are exactly like themselves. They are both evil, according to the Lord’s definition of the word, because both have an evil agenda.

Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. [Philippians 3:17-21]

For the unseeing unbelievers, passages of Scripture like the preceding are the stupidest thing they ever heard. In their minds, the obvious crazies are those who risk everything on some invisible pie-in-the-sky nonsense that has no bearing whatsoever on reality. And as long as they remain on an upward track of gaining more, whether it be money or power or fame, they will inevitably remain on that track chasing what appears obvious as a visible, tangible carrot that has yet to fail them thus far.

Like a gambler on a winning streak with no sense to stop, who knows it can’t last, such people continue on in their sold-out state anyway, regardless of warnings, essentially because they are fully invested in their chosen path. The bewitching nature of success presents itself by the lack of any meaningful failures. In other words, probably the best cure for gambling is very early repeated failure.

Which brings up a strange idea. Because the kingdom of God appears upside down and backward, the reality is that this world and its way of conduct is upside down and backward. Which means great success in this life most often means eternity in hell. Which means one is blessed by not having success until one is safely in the kingdom of God, and one’s success is orchestrated by Him.

I mean, the Lord was always talking about some unseen treasure that did not involve the usual counterfeits most people fall for. If one were to follow this extrapolation trail, one would then understand why the Lord lived the kind of life He lived, and taught the kind of discipleship He taught.

But one obviously cannot build big church buildings and great denominations on such discipleship, which means the real gamblers of this world are not the blatant sinners, but pseudo Christians.

The following passage contains more evidence of lying unreal Christians than most can fathom, but it’s all right there. It can all be applied to what I term unreal Christianity, which continually pokes its skinny finger in God’s eye and continues in ongoing, perverse disobedience, regardless of warning. Such passages are disavowed, put aside, neglected, and rejected, and whoever brings them up gets some form of what the Lord got for bringing them up:

“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.

“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. 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.

“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 23:2-13]

Now, surely we do not think the Lord was limiting His teaching here to just the Pharisees of the first century, do we? The shoe fits just as much if not much more on the big foot of fake Christianity, because the very things He said not to do is being done by the majority every Sunday morning. If you don’t believe me, read it again. And again. And keep reading until the deception starts to fall away. It’s all there. And He taught it all for a reason, and it’s a reason we better pay attention to.

Otherwise, we will go into eternity having been convinced we are God’s friends when the opposite is true. Consider the possibility.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. [Hebrews 11:23-27]

Had Moses embraced Egypt he would have become God’s enemy. But he made the decision, like Abraham before him, to leave all and be a friend of God.

“You are My friends if you do what I command you.

“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” [John 15:14-15] [1]

This is truly an astounding statement!

The Lord defines His friends as those who

(1) Do everything He commands, and

(2) Know everything He knows.

Wow. This explains a few things.

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Citizens of Heaven, Enemies of God, Friends of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rich Man and Lazarus, Treasure in Heaven, Unreal Christianity, Worldly Success

The Greatest Love

Feb 22

Posted by RJ Dawson

If a real Christian has anything at all, he or she has a backbone, and will never back down.

Why would a person surrender their very life in exchange for a belief? Why is a belief more important than one’s life? The law of self-preservation dictates that above all things we must protect and defend our greatest possession—our life—against any attack or threat of attack. Yet, real Christians have historically chosen to choose death rather than choose to discard something they believe in.

There must be something more to Christian belief.

If a parent is given a choice to lay down his life or substitute the life of his child, what should be the proper choice? Is it somehow more moral or socially acceptable to choose one over the other? The answer exists in the simple fact that many parents (I would hope every parent), would choose to die and allow their child to live because it is both the obviously correct choice and they would not be able to live with themselves if they chose otherwise. Even though they could protect their life, their life afterwards would no longer be worth living.

And this is the crux of the distinction: One’s life can be devalued and even greatly devalued by making such incorrect choices. Why? Because healthy, sane people have a conscience, and one’s conscience will put forth a prompt reminder than one has chosen incorrectly.

Otherwise, human beings could do whatever sinister thing they may wish and never be bothered by the choice they made. In the natural world, for example, animals make choices that often have bad consequences according to the moral beliefs of humans, but the animals that make the choices don’t seem to be bothered by them. If a wild animal, for example, attacks and injures a child, the wild animal probably has no moral conscience regarding the act, does not get depressed by the act, and will likely repeat the act. This can possibly be attributed to instinct or hunger, but the animal’s choice nevertheless causes an injury to a helpless child, and this cannot be construed as a good thing. So we often deem animals as innocent, in that they don’t know any better, but human animals are a different story.

Therefore, for those who have a conscience in good working order, it will override mere self-preservation, especially when it comes to one’s offspring. Using the natural world as an example once again, even wild animals will protect their offspring with their lives. Many an animal mother will protect her young using whatever extreme measures she deems necessary, and becomes decidedly ferocious in those instances.

But what is in the conscience of a real Christian that causes him to give up his life rather than surrender his beliefs? It is not so much about giving up his beliefs as it is turning his back on his best friend. The Lord Jesus claimed,

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” [John 15:13]

The word “friends” in this usage indicates the most dearly beloved in one’s life. But the absolute most dearly beloved of all people in the life of a real Christian is His Lord and Savior—the One who purchased his life—and the One who first gave His own life to save the ones He considered His most beloved. This is why a real Christian could never surrender his beliefs, because it also means betraying the One who loves him the most.

What good is life without the One who made life possible? For example, the person who betrayed the Lord to those religious authorities who intended to murder Him had been deceived into thinking he was doing the right thing. He did not know his act of betrayal would result in the Lord’s death. In fact, Satan had possessed this man and essentially blinded him and animated him to act against his conscience. And even though we know Judas was a thief, he still had a conscience in good working order, because after his diabolical act, after the devil went out from him, after clear thinking returned, and after he saw what he caused, he immediately killed himself. There was no way he could live with the knowledge on his conscience of what he had done. His life was no longer worth living. It had become greatly cheapened by his terrible choice. Self-preservation went out the window and the only salve for his horror was the opposite.

This knowledge should cause a person to immediately reflect on the great love of the Lord, in that though our conscience does the same thing to us when we sin, and though we deserve all that Judas got in the end,

THE LORD FORGIVES US AND SILENCES OUR CONSCIENCE—OUR CONSCIENCE IS APPEASED BECAUSE A SACRIFICE HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE.

We don’t have to run out and find a tree and a rope, because the Lord had already appropriated a cross!

The Lord Jesus allowed to have happen to Himself what Judas did to himself, and what we should each receive for ourselves. Our conscience convicts us as guilty, but through an act of legitimate repentance on our part, we display a contrite heart and express sorrow for our sin. We hate what we did and never want to do it again. And through this act of knowing we did wrong and being remorseful for it, and because God will not despise a broken and contrite heart, [1] our sin can be washed away by the miraculous cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb.

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. [Hebrews 7:25]

The Lamb of God, through His incredible love and forgiveness, actually acts as a defense attorney on our behalf!

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. [Romans 8:31-34] [2]

This is why so many persecuted Christians the world over always choose to die rather than surrender their beliefs. They know they are loved by God, and they love Him—with all of their heart. He proved His love by giving His life. They prove their love by doing the same.

And it is not as if they are purposely trying to prove their love, as if they had an agenda to display to the world. No, it is simply because Jesus first showed His greatest love for them while they were yet sinners, and He pursued them, and gave His heart to them, and won their hearts, and they loved Him in return with the greatest love and gave their hearts to Him also, and could not possibly do otherwise.

Real Christians would never recant in a million years. They would never turn away from their faith because they would never turn away from their Lord. His life is infinitely more important than their own and they always choose to lay down their own life for His.

The greatest love is funny that way.

[1] Psalm 51:17

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Christ Died For Sinners, Christian Martyrs, Eternal Life, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Salvation, Son of God, The Greatest Love, The Sacrifice Lamb

STAND With Jesus: Shine Your Light

Feb 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

The number of unreal Christians in the world dwarfs the number of real Christians.

**There are only a few who, like the original apostles, leave everything to follow and obey the Lord.**

Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” [Mark 10:28]

These men truly did leave everything. They began an entirely new life based on the teachings of their new Rabbi, whom they were just getting to know. It is exactly the same as that which Abraham did, in that he left everything behind, literally, putting Haran in his rearview mirror forever.

Most people who refer to themselves as Christians never do this. Never. There are honest people among us who don’t follow the Lord at all, but certainly keep their options open rather than claim to follow Him but do not.

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went.

“The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.

“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.” [Matthew 21:28-31]

There was once a city. It was inhabited and taken care of by people of honesty and integrity. No one knew exactly how it began or necessarily when, but the gleam began to lose its shine and some tarnish emerged. Somehow or another, someone and probably a few other someones began to compromise ever so slightly and got away with it. Nobody spoke out or stood against the breach of total honesty. Some appreciated the idea that the heat was off a little so they could relax and maybe engage in some very minor not so good behavior.

The drift continued until one man finally stood against the detour into little white lies and less than the best conduct. No one came to his defense, though some certainly agreed that he was right. Not wanting to leave his home he settled into a lonely existence. Some turned against him for his stand. Some sympathized with him and the stand he made but were too fearful or possessed too little integrity to stand with him. He eventually became ineffective because he raised his voice no more.

After some time had passed another man stood up. He did the same as the first. He noticed that things were going south and longed for the days when things were honest and better. This man was treated the same as the first but worse. Instead of shrinking back, this man stood all the more. He refused to stop speaking against the lies and hypocrisy that had begun to take hold.

He was told to leave. He refused. His family was shunned. His wife and kids were talked about behind their backs in the most evil of ways. Everything began to cave in on this man and he found no respite from the ongoing cold shoulder and personal attack.

For the sake of his wife and children, he left.

Three more people stood against this blatant injustice and one of them was killed. The other two quickly disappeared.

Every time someone stood against the sin of the formerly honest and upright community they were forced to leave. Some just left anyway. Eventually, all the good people who stood up for what was right were gone, which left only the people who had compromised and accepted lives of sin in various degrees. The former high moral code was transformed into a far different code which raised freedom to sin to the top tier. But those living there certainly did not see it that way. They thought their new code was much better and fair.

As the city grew worse, those who had to make a choice whether to grow worse with it or leave made their choices, and most stayed. Of those who stayed, the majority continued to stay even as the code grew worse. Many others, who would never have wanted to live in the city when it was good and honest, moved to the city and felt comfortable there.

Evil was winning.

Every now and then someone stood up against the sin and was either forced out or killed under mysterious circumstances. The remaining populace loved the freedom to sin with no consequence or hindering from those in control.

What was once a righteous city became unrighteous, simply because all the righteous people left or were disposed of, and all those who refused to walk in righteousness 100% were compromised and grew less righteous by the day.

Then the day came when the most evil people of the evil city were chosen as leaders. This made the city grow much more evil that much faster. There was then no control anymore on righting the ship. The city had reached the point of no return.

The inhabitants, however, laughed it up and enjoyed all the fun they were having. The city was riddled with all manner of disease, most notably that of the soul, but was wrapped in the outer adornment of beauty, and looked to the naked eye as a great and wonderful place. A great living could be earned there. The place was popular and prosperous.

Then the inevitable happened. The evil the inhabitants embraced was no longer enough to satisfy in the forms they had engaged in up to that point. They needed something more. They needed greater forms of evil to satisfy their lusts. Because there was no righteous check on behavior, many worse forms of sin were engaged in.

In not too long a time, the outward result of all the sin became evident. The city had created a sinkhole of human depravity. The evil people there who had long since passed the point of reform turned on one another. The population declined. The city became a haunt of dark shadows and foul spirits. There were other evil cities that suffered the exact fate.

Later, when someone did an accounting of all the inhabitants of the original city, from the time it was first formed as a righteous place of light until its final end, he found a stunning statistic. The people who had left the city over the years had brought forth generations of righteous people who lived blessed lives, and these people eventually outnumbered the residents who stayed.

They began as small groups and lone stalwarts, were hated, and run off, but because of their stand for righteousness, God blessed them in new locations. They created many more cities with righteous foundations that remained. Most of this was done in faraway places. The evil people never noticed the small righteous cities in faraway places.

But the righteous people began to notice one another. Though their cities were not only far away but far away from one another, they had no communication for many years, but that began to change. After a while, the people of these small cities discovered that there were many, many righteous people all over the faraway places! They began to engage in true fellowship with one another. Their love for one another progressed to love for everyone in these faraway righteous places.

The curious thing about all of that, though, was even as they began coming together they did it in such a way that it was never really noticed by all the evil people in the evil cities. These righteous cities had grown in secret.

It was then understood that the descendants of the original good guys who stood against evil had grown and spread far and wide because the original righteous seed continued being fruitful. Though those first great righteous ones who took their stand against evil were cast out, their uncompromising righteousness brought forth generations of righteous people. And though the righteous never outnumbered the evil people overall, they possessed much more power to stand against and overcome evil through their love and community.

And all those who had compromised so long ago, even to very small degrees in the beginning, only produced generations of people who compromised further with eventually no hope for redemption.

The moral of the story? Take your stand with the Lord Jesus. You will take some hits. You will be persecuted. Many will think you’re a complete idiot. They will think you joined a cult. They will try to do you physical harm. You will be innocent of charges but thrown in jail. Some of you will even give your lives.

All of these things are mentioned in Scripture. The Lord taught these very truths. He said all these things would happen. He explained it all a long time ago. But He also said that those who take their stand with Him will be the eventual winners. He said, with regard to His people, that the last will be first.

In time, as long as we continue to stand with him in integrity and righteousness, the community of the Lord will grow. Though it will grow off the radar at first, it will eventually be seen by all, and all will wonder at its great numbers and righteous influence, and how it even came to exist.

The Light of His community will outshine the false light of this world, and shine ever brighter forever and ever.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. [Isaiah 9:2]

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. [Isaiah 60:1-3]

“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” [Matthew 10:27]

“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

“And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

‘To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light

‘And from the dominion of satan to God,

‘That they may receive forgiveness of sins

‘And an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’” [Acts 26:12-18] [1]

Posted in Current Events

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Tags: Apostle Peter, Jesus is the Light, Leaving All For The Call, Lord Jesus, No Compromise, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Shine Your Light, Stand With Jesus, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christainity

God is Love

Feb 14

Posted by RJ Dawson

We all probably have different definitions of love. Some have love all around them and do not realize it. Some have none at all.

Life can be cold. Circumstances can be hard and unforgiving. Survivors make the conscious decision to press on regardless. They know they must keep moving or will be swallowed up in pity and despair.

People all over the world are celebrating love today. Those with loved ones and close relationships are blessed, and should take the time to count their blessings. Millions of others are not so fortunate, though, and be it a matter of their own mistakes or the coldness of others, it is not a good place to be.

There is something profound in the heart of people that rarely sees outward expression, and has a distinct timelessness to it, as if we have all lived for thousands of years. It plays out like an ongoing flicker of faded pictures and bright, sunny, and colorful moments, when all was so good and joyful one wore a constant smile and felt filled up and satisfied with an undefined goodness.

But such a thing is always fleeting. I think it is somehow connected to eternity, and to a long ago distant time before sin and evil entered the world, when life was the opposite of carrying around a load of bricks all the time, as if one could almost levitate due to the lightness of being.

How is it that human beings are so resilient?

In answer to our hearts, with regard to the timelessness of our souls, and with great respect for these feelings we have of goodness that once was and that which we long for again, someone has done something none of us could ever do.

We have our great cultural epics and sagas, traditional stories handed down over many centuries that address these particular desires of the human heart that go beyond time and present limitations, and they somehow keep the spark of wonder alive and keep us going.

We have these hopes articulated in popular song every once in a while, and they stand out, as if someone expressed a thought from a different place that turned heads and caused people to stop in their tracks at a notion they know but do not understand. Millions of lyrics float past and then one hits a nerve in our minds. A show, a movie—and there’s that theme again. It is rare and maybe most don’t notice: “Is there a heaven?” “Oh yeah, it’s the place where dreams come true…”

And we hold onto that, and we wait, and we hope, and we try to do our part to get there, and we remember when it was easier to get there and actually be there for seemingly long stretches. For those who are fortunate to have such long stretches last a lifetime they should be overjoyed to the point of helping others get there as well, and many do. There are philanthropists in this world who do great favors for others, giving millions of dollars toward worthy causes, and sometimes anonymously.

That’s the best way to give, you know. Give in such a way that no one knows you are giving. But also, to give in a way that directly helps your fellow man.

This can be harder than it seems. Some will take advantage. Some are not looking for help to get beyond a particular hard place, but an ongoing dole. Some institutions rake in billions of dollars but never actually touch the heart of mankind. Churches and ministries are grossly guilty of this as well. So much giving is going on but mankind remains throttled by bad circumstances, incredible need, and a massive deficit of love.

It is the lack of love that is most glaring but it seems it cannot be answered through our own efforts, at least not anywhere close to the way it must. Many of us do a lot of good things, expecting nothing in return, and do it in a quiet way. And this is very good. But we know we need something more. We need something or someone from beyond this realm.

Everyone knows this, but many shunt it aside as the dream of a child with no bearing on reality. This is a sad thing because it promotes a hard heart and a cynical attitude. It seems most people reach a point where they put such hopes aside, leave them behind, and face the hard facts of life with a dark exterior and a hardened heart.

Indeed there are times we must do difficult things. There are times we must reach way down and somehow find the strength to keep going and complete certain tasks, and go for broke, and step on anything that has to do with sappy qualities like love and hope. It is the picture of a man going headfirst against the raging wind into the teeth of a mighty blizzard.

But one cannot exist this way all the time. One will burn out. The greater qualities of life will die off and shrivel away. Hopes will be dashed and cast away never to be found again.

If someone thinks this is too strong then one needs to connect with people who are going through hell at this very moment and see that it is true. And to show how resilient such people are, one will see that many face great difficulties but decide to soldier on, and the greats somehow do it with a wonderful attitude and a smile. They know that even though their bodies or lives or marriages or families may be broken, they will do their best anyway. These are the ones who face the blizzard with joy, who even take it as a challenge, and who refuse to be defeated.

But they need our help. We all need each other. And once we get to a place where we can dream again, we realize there must be more. There must be a way to build a field of dreams, or get off a lonely island, or get out of the rat race, or off the merry-go-round, or away from constant pain and heartache.

We need someone from way out there somewhere to step into our difficult and often pointless lives and show us the way we know exists but simply cannot find. We need a celestial teacher, a guide, a revealer of how things are done, a mentor to patiently explain things to us who will love us and help us and rescue us and take the time to be with us.

And he said, “I love You, O LORD, my strength.”

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.

The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry.

Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet.

He rode upon a cherub and flew; and He sped upon the wings of the wind… [Psalm 18:1-10]

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment;

Because as He is, so also are we in this world. [1 John 4:16-17] [1]

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Tags: Difficult Circumstances, Giving, God is Love, Humanity, Lord Jesus, Love, Philanthropy, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, Yehoshua HaMashiach

Cut Off At the Pass by the Religious Chucklehead Posse

Sep 25

Posted by RJ Dawson

THE PROPER REPRESENTATION OF JESUS AND BENEFITS THEREOF

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies—presenting all your members and faculties—as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world—this age, fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs. But be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind—by its new ideals and its new attitude—so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn every one among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought—not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance; but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him. [Romans 12:1–3 (Amplified Version)]

There is a connection between the fact that witnessing isn’t easy and the fact that most Christians seem to represent Jesus improperly. When left alone from outside influences, most people will always choose Jesus when given the opportunity. Why? Because Jesus offers life. He offers to remove from a person his or her heavy burden of sin. He offers the ability and strength to be a real disciple. He offers the means toward success and victory according to His will. He gives us the knowledge of our destiny. He gives us purpose and protection. He allows us the honor of being an integral part of His plan in the salvation and edification of others. To sum up, He offers us everything we need as well as our heart’s desire, [1] if it is in our heart to serve Him. The blessings of God, however, are never given to those who refuse to make Him Lord.

In light of all these gifts and benefits, what sort of person would turn his back on Jesus? There are two possibilities: An impervious, dense, obstinate, thickheaded dolt, or a person who is deceived. The former might be construed as a person who is hopelessly deceived, but a better characterization would be a person who loves darkness more than he or she loves light. God gives these people every opportunity at salvation but also allows them the choice of departing this life in sin if that is their desire. The second category is almost the polar opposite from the first in that it involves people who desire to do the right thing but get cut off at the pass by the religious chucklehead posse. These are people who have been taught that their glass is full when it is empty, that the grass is always greener on their side of the fence even though their backyard is dirt, that up is down, joy is pain, bears only use gas station restrooms, the Pope is Episcopalian, and God is out to get them. And the biggest problem of them all? They learned it all in church!

There are certain people who have lived on this planet at some point after Acts Chapter 2, and some who live today, who refer to themselves as followers of the Lord but insist on a higher platform than everyone else. They love the veneration paid to them by their followers. Many of them appear to be humble or put forth the pretense of keeping a low profile, but are essentially hypocrites in this regard.

Though a probable majority of all “Christians” believe in a distinct clergy-laity division, and that some believers must be treated with more respect and honor than other believers, they did not learn either of these from the New Testament. In fact, the opposite is true.

Why is it that certain believers must be called by a title while they themselves do not even honor the Lord Jesus with a title? They call Him by His first name. In fact, the Gospels most often refer to the Lord by His name and rarely a title.

There are some who have made such a name for themselves that an entire movement composed of millions of followers is dedicated to them by name. Of these, perhaps the worst offender is John Calvin, who instituted Calvinism.

We can debate whether or not Calvin’s doctrines were called Calvinism during his life, but this does not really matter. The man created a distinct theology that many others latched on to and believed in, and millions continue to believe in Calvinism do this day.

I prefer to believe in Jesus. And I will insist on believing in His teachings, and attempting to learn and incorporate His teachings, and make the claim that there are no other “Christian” teachings than His. Therefore, we should have no “isms” before the Lord. Whatever Calvin got right, he merely received from God. But if Calvin got everything right, and he certainly did not, he still would have received it all from God, it would all line up perfectly with the teachings of Jesus, and there would thus be no distinction between what he taught and what the Lord taught.

And then John Calvin could properly blend back into the vast collection of believers, lose all the name recognition and distinctiveness of His name above so many names of unknown real believers, and be an actual follower of the Lord Jesus, the possessor of the one and only original and perfectly correct curriculum, and only possible “ism.”

In other words, if God Himself insisted on keeping as low a profile as possible while still getting the job done, and remaining as humble as possible, and as much of a servant as possible, and as self-effacing as possible, where do so-called Christian religious leaders get off in promoting themselves above their brothers and sisters?

We think a lot of the apostle Paul but clearly, the vast majority of Christians would prefer to not have to go through what Paul went through, and thus, do not, and thus, are not as effective or effective at all. The last time I checked, Calvin and Luther and many of their upper level clergyite followers and supporters never faced the sword of martyrdom, while these same people created martyrs in that they had Christian believers killed, or supported their deaths—those who they referred to as heretics. And, of course, Catholic Church leaders wanted Luther and Calvin dead but apparently couldn’t get to them!

Paul, after his conversion, NEVER killed or supported killing anyone for any reason, and certainly not for someone being a “heretic.”

But Paul certainly believed in killing heretics BEFORE his conversion. Think about that when assessing who the real believers are, even if some murderers are venerated as great men of the cloth. The Lord Jesus was seen by great religious men as the greatest heretic of all time. Whoever then does to another what was done to the Lord cannot be a real Christian. Period.

The original apostles never killed “heretics” either. And most of all neither did the Lord Jesus. In fact, HE WAS THE HUNTED. The apostles were the hunted. The real believers were the hunted. And the Lord, His men, and many early believers were the ones killed for their faith, not the ones doing the killing.

Therefore, “Christians” can be divided into two types (See Genesis 4:1-8)—those who kill those who don’t believe correctly, and those who don’t. Those who kill and have killed did not learn it from the Lord’s example. And if they were willing to kill, and are willing to kill—obviously the worst violation of the Lord’s teachings—then everything else they do and teach is completely suspect and I wouldn’t trust them with a lemonade stand.

And He didn’t even mention murder:

“Lord, when did we castigate you as a heretic and kill you?”

“Whenever you have done it to the least of these…”

[1] Psalm 21:2

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: "Christians" Murdering Christians, Calvinism, Catholic, Clergy-Laity Division, John Calvin, Lord Jesus, Martin Luther, Protestant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Yehoshua HaMashiach

CATCH A WAVE! The Rise of Righteousness in America

Aug 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound… [Romans 5:20]

I’ve been telling whoever will listen for many years now that America will have a spiritual awakening. Most people have told me they don’t share my optimism.

I wrote the following passage in the mid 1990’s:

IS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

No country or kingdom of man lasts forever. Only the kingdom of God will continue throughout eternity. The real kingdom has a righteous King. He is a righteous Judge. He speaks righteous Words. And His people are righteous.

And there are millions of such righteous people in America right now. They are not righteous by their own power, but by the grace of God. They have bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus and have honored Him as Lord and God. These people are a force to be reckoned with and they are currently finding their voice. Many have been disfellowshipped from dead churches and organizations that kicked the Lord out as well. Many others simply shook the dust off their feet and followed the Lord to freedom. These real believers have been through much pain and rejection but refused to die. They began forming real communities decades ago largely through a house church movement that swept the country that many organized Christian churches hated and still do.

And now that much healing and restoration has come to millions in God’s kingdom, though the country itself is more screwed up than it has possibly ever been, America is poised to experience what millions have been praying for for a long, long time.

The Great Awakening, though in its early stages, is here.

The proponents of this awakening are largely nobodies who toil in obscurity but toil nonetheless. And they will not be denied. Many have begun their own ministries, however humble, and are having a huge effect.

A well-known politician recently stated that journalists who do not draw a salary are not real journalists. Really? Well that sounds very familiar because clergyites have been saying the same thing for years with regard to what they term legitimate ministry and ministers:

You must be a member in good standing in a local church body.

You must have a license to preach.

You must be sanctioned by a ministerial governing board.

You must be backed by an official church.

You must be formally ordained by an official ministry or minister.

You must be a seminary graduate.

And on and on and on.

In other words, all the so-called real official legitimate ministers who sat around and continued using methods that don’t work or did very little or not nearly enough while America went down the drain—the equivalent of baling water with a bait bucket during a raging 500 year flood—are supposed to be the ones in charge? Haven’t they been in charge? And haven’t they and their dead traditional methods proved that as a general group they have little or no power with God to affect the required and demanded spiritual change?

Why is this so hard to see? If “real” ministers were obeying the Gospel directive and making real disciples that make a real difference than why is the country going to hell? And why does God give us idiots for leaders as a form of judgment? And why is He letting this once great country grovel in the dirt that it has created for itself by rejecting Him? And why do all the so-called legitimate ministers and reverends and priests and pastors have no clue about how to turn things around?

Perhaps it’s because they’ve been wasting and taking for granted the greatest resources the Lord has, and has been using them as little more than bench-warmers, cheerleaders, and primarily financial supporters.

As always, it’s the vast majority, the invisible, the humble people, the people who know exactly what they are—former sinners and derelicts and weaklings saved by God’s grace and empowered by His Spirit—who get most of the actual work done though they be treated condescendingly like children, junior members, replaceable parts, “lay people” (which at its heart is a contemptuous term invented and used by arrogant religious fatheads), and mere nameless faces in the crowd.

But even within clergydom there is a remnant. There are those who may or may not look the part but minister from within nonetheless. They would probably agree with this post, at least in part. God’s salt and light must be everywhere, and the credentialed big boys must have some live wires in their vicinity. (Keep up the good work but watch out for clergy spirits.)

THE WAY UP IS DOWN

“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.

“But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

“Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

The reason so many American churches are so dead and possess so little or no spiritual influence is because they have rejected God’s kingdom and method for entering that kingdom, and have created their own dead counterfeit kingdoms. And the worse thing of all is that not only have they refused to enter the real kingdom, they block those who are trying to get in!

Good luck explaining yourselves at the Judgment.

As a result, honest seekers of the Lord were forced to continue their trek looking for the door to the kingdom, and once the Lord Jesus became their Guide instead of the blind guides, they found the Door! And they grew and matured and came together in underground communities and small fellowships and in time became much stronger and influential than the big boys who rejected them.

They’re still obscure because they’re humble but they’re no longer spiritually weak. Instead, because they have been dining at the table of the Lord, they’re fighting and winning against demons all over the country and acting pretty much like their Lord and Master. But they don’t broadcast it because they don’t promote themselves. Instead, they promote the Lord. And because of this the Lord is bringing forth great victory.

Now, persecution in America will continue and grow. There’s nothing to be done about that. It goes with the territory. But you will see more and more Book of Acts style manifestations of the greatness of God and his ability to set people free, and huge numbers will be saved and added to the Lord’s community. And if you want to thank someone, thank the Lord Jesus first and then thank all the nobodies who quietly go about the work God has called them to with joy and love and spiritual strength.

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.

For, “THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT. HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”

Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. [1 Peter 3:8-16] [1]

We are currently in the greatest time of man’s history regarding the freedom of the press and religion. There are currently millions of writers, journalists, and bloggers in America who write about whatever they want to write about, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of these are Christians. And most are doing it for free. And the impact is massive.

The Digital Revolution and Information Age has opened up more and greater doors for the spread of God’s truth and the Gospel than ever before, and is in no doubt as great a catalyst toward spiritual freedom than the invention of the printing press in 1450, which greatly facilitated the Great Reformation.

Also, as food for thought in these times that try men’s souls (and then some), there would have been no American Revolution if there had not first been the first Great Awakening.

This is a tremendous time to be alive. Make the most of it.

“Put out into the deep water. . .” [Luke 5:4]

Catch a Wave!

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Digital Revolution, Grace Abounding, Information Age, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, The Great Awakening, The Rise of Righteousness in America, Yehoshua HaMashiach

The Image of Deception—Legacy of the Unreal

May 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

The following is an excerpt from Real Christianity, The Nature of the Church:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. [Ephesians 4:4-6] [1]

Each of the principle foundation elements of the first Qahal were counterfeited by the Church of the Reversed. Specifically, Jesus became characterized as someone much less than God. He lost His place of total, absolute dominion. He was no longer honored as King of Kings, except possibly in name only, and there was no spiritual kingdom. Repentance became ritualized, and was replaced by the paying of homage to the new Christian Pharisees and the institution they controlled. Unreal Christian adherents no longer repented to the Lord, did a 180 degree turn toward righteousness, or changed their way of thinking to reflect their new spiritual nature (since no real change had taken place).

The correct water baptism method employed by the first church was corrupted entirely. Candidates were no longer even required to be immersed, for example. Like counterfeit repentance, water baptism evolved into a ritual practice which had much more to do with honoring one’s particular “Christian” culture and traditions rather than honoring the Lord.

In fact, to illustrate the true nature of the woolly wolves, the “name which is above every name”[2] was no longer invoked in baptism, but banned from the process entirely, and the doctrinal truth of the Spirit of Jesus living within believers continued only in a religious, conceptual sense, and was otherwise thoroughly denounced and disestablished. All four doctrinal points taught by the apostles on the first day of the Church morphed into ritualized practices with no spiritual meaning, and the truths from which they morphed were eventually declared heretical. The new Christian melting pot also contained the adulterated forms of fellowship, bread-breaking, and prayer which were presented as legitimate, though hidden behind each was the salivating, snarling visage of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

In the final analysis, we discover that the unreal church possessed little more than the fossilized remains of the practices which turned the world upside down in the first century. As a result, the Lord had little authority over its powerless and non-relational members, and church life became a routine practice with little or no life-changing purpose or ability to minister beyond mere human capabilities. But as in many locations in the world today, the Lord’s persecuted church continued to function just as it had in the beginning. Like the remnant of Israel spoken of by Paul in the book of Romans,[3] Jesus has always maintained a remnant of true believers within the earth. His Qahal has never ceased to exist.

Our greatest enemy wears virgin wool.

[2] Philippians 2:9

[3] Romans 9:27

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Tags: Christian Pharisees, Correct Water Baptism, Counterfeit Religious Traditions, Deception, False Prophets, Lord Jesus, Qahal, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Saul of Tarsus, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Sound Familiar?

Mar 27

Posted by RJ Dawson

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. [Romans 1:1-32] [1]

In these wonderful modern times of bright enlightenment and the disavowing of outdated Christian moral standards, it is good to know we have a record, almost two-thousand years old, which tells us the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The preceding passage from Paul’s letter to the believers at Rome was most likely written in the city of Corinth in early AD 58. Writing in Corinth certainly inspired him with regard to the lack of morals in the place. Corinth was one of the most depraved cities of first century times, if not the most. Laden heavily with sexual immorality, blatant idolatry, and paganism, its sins even invaded the churches in a profound manner, causing Paul to write strong instructions in his letters to the Corinthians and serious rebukes regarding the behavior of some. Can ancient Corinth be compared to modern America? To American “Christians” in general?

Morals are plunging fast. A complete reversal of realities has taken place. The filth of immoral idiots is broadcast all over the airwaves. Our own government has been taken over by money-hungry traitors who have essentially sold their souls to the devil for profit and prestige.

Modern American Christianity has also sold out to the money god, and grows farther away from the teachings of the Lord as each day passes. They refuse to honor Him in heart, and restrict their praise to lip service. They also refuse the reality of the Gospel message, with all its power, strength, and light. The Book of Acts is not seen as a how-to manual, but a mere dusty history book, dead to the reality of the present.

Christians should not bother reading the Book of Acts if they refuse to practice it.

The real community of the Lord still has the answers and power to do anything, face anything, overcome anything, and be victorious over any foe. The hitch for most faux Christians is that it will cost—it will cost you everything. And such a price is far too high.

It’s okay for Messiah Jesus to go to the cross. It’s okay if He is beaten almost beyond recognition. It’s okay if His blood is spilled in preaching the Gospel. It’s okay if Stephen was stoned, if Paul was stoned, if the apostles went through hell, and if foreign believers are currently being persecuted all over the world. But no one may dare to even think about telling American Christians we must possibly go through the same.

We have a corrupt government growing more corrupt every day, and corrupt sell-out churches and ministers who exist to glorify and enrich themselves. American Christianity in general has grown just as material, controlling, and money-grubbing as the world it supposedly seeks to save.

Despite all this, however, there is Good News. Persecution is coming to America. The real Gospel is coming forth. Real Christians are coming forth like we have not seen in a long time. A powerful, mature, unified spiritual effort in the works for decades is about to explode on the scene.

Watch what happens. All those who refuse to obey God will be left behind in their staid, comfortable, sleepy-time, cold-hearted, controlled, regimented, disobedient, material, boring, lifeless, and snooty versions of Christianity. But all those who hear God and obey will continue to experience greater life, truth, miracle power, spiritual joy, and strength. And they will be fought against like never before. Yet, these real believers will not be stopped or denied because they are with the Lord, doing the will of the Lord, have given their whole hearts to the Lord, and will follow Him and obey His commands whatever the cost. They have not only passed through the Red Sea, they have crossed the Jordan River.

The Great Awakening is happening.

The following text is an excerpt from Real Christianity, written way back in the go-go 1990s and published before 9/11, before the Patriot Act, before the disastrous American foreign policy of the last decade, before the dissolution of Fourth Amendment rights, before smart phones, before the exponential rise in our surveillance society, before roughly another 20 million butchered babies in the ongoing and unchallenged slaughter of American innocents, before the crash of 2008 and the devastation of the American economy, before multi-trillions in debt, before the groping madness of the TSA, and before Christians used their right to vote to help elect the very people responsible for all of the above with no apparent remorse:

SLOW TRAIN COMING

When was the last time you saw somebody murdered for Jesus? When was the last time somebody was dragged out of your congregation and executed? When was the last time you saw somebody whose obedience to the Lord caused him to risk his very life rather than submit to the wishes of the enemy? Too radical? Then how does one explain the killing of so many Old Testament prophets, or the violent deaths of the apostles, or the violent persecutions of the early church? Where is the violent persecution of today’s church? Where are followers of Jesus being maimed and murdered today?

Not in America. And why? Is it because America is the land of the free and the home of the brave? Is it because Christians have such firm control of the goings-on in this country that violent, physical persecution could never take place here? Look again. The fact of the matter is that persecution campaigns will come, as a matter of course, when the church in America, like the prophets of old, reaches a pre-determined level of strength, maturity, unity, and spiritual power. It is a given. It is a law. This principle cannot be circumvented, nor should it be. The Church is not only supposed to be loving, kind, and gentle, but also able to kick the corpulent posteriors of demons and take their names. When the church in any geographic area reaches this point of maturity and commitment, the human instrumentalities of the devil will strike back in defense of their turf with violent, bloody persecution.

The church in America has become much too timid and confused about its role in this area. Even those who claim to have prophetic ministries appear somewhat squeamish about upsetting any apple carts (or money-changers’ tables). For the most part, we go to church and are nice and mind our business. We hear the news about the moral strength of America going down the drain and shrug our collective shoulders. As a majority of the population, far too many of those who call themselves Christians in this country are still running around in diapers.

There is, however, a group of Christians on the rise—a group that has grown weary of the toddler section, a group that has long since left the nursery to which they were assigned. A dead church structure is still an impediment, but no longer a jail. These individuals are so committed to Jesus that, like the prophet, they have overcome their fear and apathy and laid everything on the line. They have risen to such spiritual heights that they can see right through the feeble attempts and various losing methods which the business-like old guard uses in an awkward effort at ruling both Christians and Christianity.

The community of saints which Jesus is presently raising up is not independent but fully under His authority. Its members are not nonconformists but merely mature in the Lord. They are fully committed and dedicated to His agenda. Their banner is love, their love is for truth, and their righteousness is a precious blood-bought gift. These are included in the ones who will stand in the gap, who will be hated by all nations for His name’s sake, and who will be misunderstood, reviled, and rejected by the “brethren.” As long as the great silent masses of Christians in America think they can get by without attracting violent, bodily persecution, they will likely do everything in their power to do so. But the Word of the Lord is plain concerning this Laodicean attitude. Those who are neither hot nor cold will be spewed out of the mouth of God. [2]