What to Preach

"Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations." Luke 24:47

Enough about me

My goal with this blog was to focus on Yahshuah and not me and my problems.

In reading the Gospels today I noticed Jesus saying I must go to other cities to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. Later he sent out 72 disciples to "Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom".

He also calls it "the logos of life." I notice Paul said he was preaching "the logos of faith."

I think the mainline churches have followed Paul and somewhere along the way the Gospel of the Kingdom has been lost.

Anthony Buzzard of the Atlanta Bible College has brought this more clearly into focus for me and in the coming days, I hope to blog what exactly that Gospel looks like.

Kicked out

Wow,
I was kicked out of two Forums today. The Hannity Religious Forum booted me for asking if you eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus doesn't that make you a Cannibal? I really pushed a crazy button and was being called a foul blasphemer who was spitting on a holy ritual started by Jesus.

The other was a place called Tentmakers Forum. The Administrator, Bernie Kruger said my comments were rambling drivel and implied I was a fool. I was posting my arguments that Paul contradicts Jesus.

This was my last post:

Here’s Paul on Faith:

Rom 12:3 God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

2Th 3:2 for all men have not faith.

Paul taught in Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith;

But according to Galatians 2 it is not our faith that saves us it is the faith of Jesus. His faith.

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.

Gal 2:20 and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.

God in his great Grace does not give us our own faith, but gives us the Faith of Jesus and so we are saved by his Grace. We have no role to play, it is all done for us. That is not the Gospel Jesus taught.

Jesus said the Sowers are sent out to preach [b]the Logos of the Kingdom[/b] (Mat 13:19)

Paul teaches a different Gospel “it is [b]the Logos of Faith, which we preach[/b].” (Rom 10:8)

If, as Paul said, God gives us the faith of Jesus, Jesus knew of no such thing. He said:

Have faith in YHVH. (Mar 11:22)

If God was going to give us his son’s faith Jesus wouldn’t have told us to have it ourselves. In fact he wouldn’t be worried that Peter would lose his faith.

Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

If Jesus expected God to give his faith to all believers why would he be wondering

When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luk 18:8 )

So the Gospel of Paul is: there is nothing you can do, do do, or have to do, God gives Jesus' faith and grace to everyone, but not everyone has faith.

Rom 12:3 “God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”.

2Th 3:2 “for all men have not faith.” And people believe Paul’s muddle message is the word of God.

Jesus taught that obedience must be mixed with faith, and the primary object of our faith is the Father:

"Listen carefully, anyone who hears (obeys) my words and believes in him (my father) who sent me has everlasting life and will not come into damnation but has passed from death to life". (John 5:24)

Jesus did tell us we must believe he is the Messiah.

Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Faith is not a gift in the Gospel of Jesus. The listeners must respond with their own faith mixed with obedience.

Joh 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death.

How Are Sins Removed?

Jesus said much love forgives sins:

Luk 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.
And asking forgive sins

in the Lord's Prayer we are told to ask the father to forgive our sins.

Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins.

And forgiving others forgives sins

Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

In fact if you don't forgive others, no amount of faith, or blood can forgive your sins.

Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Repentance is part of it

Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Repentance means you go to those whom you have offended and try to make things right.

Mat 5:24 first be reconciled to thy brother.

Two things that Jesus specifically told his disciples to preach were repentance and how to remove sins.

Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Do you see any blood so far? Nor do I, but Jesus made one comment at the last supper that has been misunderstood. People have mistaken the finger pointing for the thing pointed at. He held up a cup of (juice/wine) and to paraphrase said the contents of this cup is my blood.

So he is not talking about his blood, but the juice/wine. What is the juice/wine of Jesus? His teaching, his words, his logos, his wisdom. We learn how to remove our sins by doing what he said above.

Wisdom said Pro 9:5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. The blood of Jesus is wisdom. He was never talking about red and white corpuscles.

It is in obeying his words that we remove our own sins. Can we take credit for it? Of course not. We were only doing what our savior told us to do.

Orlando Florida Folk Art Festival

I really wanted to get out over the weekend to do some street evangelism, but every venue I was looking at seemed blocked. Then I got a call from Tina Bucuvalas of the Florida Folk Life Council inviting me to participate in the Florida Folk Art Festival in Orlando.

Orlando has never been open to me. In fact I have been met with hostility more than once. Any way I went and set up a booth and after 4 hours only two elderly ladies had stopped by. I was wondering what I was doing wasting my time there.

Finally I left my booth and set up an easel by Lake Eola where hikers were passing and did get a chance to witness to a few dozen passerbys over the next 6 hours.

The point of this blog is to say that during those 4 down hours I reflected on the use of street paintings to present the Gospel. I think it is a a good way to speak to strangers. But it presents a mixed message.

First, art is a commercial product in and of its nature. It is wall jewelry. I was appalled when I first heard of people making Jesus Jewelry, but religious paintings are no different.

Now granted in my mind, I say I am trying to present a message and not trying to be a painter selling paintings. But in everyone mind who sees me they see a painter selling paintings.

So it is a mixed message. When someone stops to look at my art and I start telling them the gospel, for some of them it may come off as hypocrisy. They say here is a salesman pretending to be a holy Joe. On guy said "Oh is see this is also a way to be a ministry". The key word was "also." It's like saying you are a salesman and "also" a minister.

Then another dynamic enters when someone buys a painting. The money that they spend for wall jewelry could have fed a hungry village, or in someway been spent on something that was not a vanity item.

Instead of presenting a pure gospel, I have created a"dust collectors" things that has to be moved when people move and passed on as part of an inheritance. Will people someday line up to touch one of my paintings for healing? God forbid.

I have already seen that when I paint a message, the viewers often miss the message and come up with their own ideas of what I intended that are even the opposite of what I meant. So once more a mixed message become further mixed.

Kristin Congdon who with Tina Bucuvalas wrote Just Above the Water a book on Florida folk art stopped by the Orlando show and I showed she and her husband David my 3-D paintings and David's first response was "How do you do it?

I told Kristen that this is my major problem with the 3-D paintings. People are so fascinated with the method that they miss the message. The media overpowers the message, so once again what I am trying to do in presenting the message gets mixed, or lost.

All in all , I am coming to see that Street painting is a good way to meet strangers but is not really a good way to present the Gospel. There is too much baggage and commercial tainting involved. I'm ready to chuck it.

The Bride

Jesus (Yahshuah) told three parables about weddings. In none of the parables do his followers appear as his bride.

In two parables believers are the invited guests. In one they are servants waiting at home for their master to return from a wedding.

Sirach says that wisdom will embrace the man who seeks her like a young bride, so the bride is wisdom.

Marcion

An early Christian from 140 AD who could not understand how the jealous war-like God of the Old Testament could be the same as the Loving Father God that Jesus preached. He had a large following. The Marcionites rejected the Old Testament and many of the New Testament books except for the Gospel of Luke and a few of Paul's .

I have continued to wrestle with this same problem.

All of the writings of Marcion and his followers were destroyed, so we don't really know what else he taught but I have for many years wondered if he might be right.

The Lamb Scam

The man who said he was the shepherd of the sheep (Jesus) was made into a sheep by the early writers of the New Testament.

Whoever wrote the book of Hebrews makes him into a bull. And Paul made him into the goat of the atonement.

Why won't anyone take him at his own word? He said he was the faithful shepherd who served as the door for the owner of the sheep (his father -the true shepherd).

He never said I am coming as a lamb to be sacrificed for your sins and my blood will wash them away.

That was not his Gospel.

Rebuilding the Temple

People want to rebuild the temple and re-institute animal sacrifices in Jerusalem. Jesus (Yahshuah) said God does not want sacrifice, he said worship is to be in spirit (not in externals).

When the temple is rebuilt it will be an act of defiance against God and the message delivered by Yahshuah.