Blogging Jesus

What is the Gospel?

2009-11-09T09:19:00.001-05:00

If you ask most Christians “What is the Gospel?” They will say, “Jesus died for my sins and by placing my faith in him as my Lord, and Savior, I am saved, and will go to heaven when I die.” This is the modern Gospel, but is it the Gospel Jesus taught? The Gospel that Jesus taught was very different. He said conform your life to the message I am speaking, and obey my commandments and you will have Zoe life now, and Zoe, life in the father’s Kingdom in the age to come. Zoe life means an unending spirit life.

The modern Gospel stresses “faith”, but the Jesus Gospel was about “doing the truth”.

Just before he left the earth, Jesus (Yahshuah) told his followers to go and teach everything that he had commanded them. “The Gospel” contains commands, parables, narration, and at times the opinions of the Gospel writers. Yahshuah’s Gospel is not found in the Old Testament. It is only found in the four Gospels. The other 23 books of the New Testament are about the Gospel, but they are not “the Gospel”. They are the works of well intentioned men, but they often contradict the words of Jesus and should not be taught as “the Gospel of Jesus.”

Inerrant

2009-09-17T10:53:00.003-04:00

Lately I was wondering why people say the Bible is inerrant. I exchanged some emails with Robert Hommel and he says it means in the original manuscripts of the Bible there were no errors. But he quickly adds, we no longer have the original manuscripts.

The automatic question is "If we do not have the originals how can we say for certaint that there were no errors? To be honest all we can say is we don't know for certain."

In some churches and seminaries you must confess that you believe the orignals were without errors. Some even accuse me of not being a Christian if I won't state it is true. How can I say a manuscript is without error if I can't see for myself.

What I can see is that no two copies of any of the multiple books found in the Dead Sea caches are identical and some vary widely from eachother. Those are the oldest MSS we have, but they do not inspire one towards inerrancy.

In the final analysis, I say our faith must not be based on the written word but by experiencing first hand the fruits that come from following Yah and Yahshuah.

He said Luk 21:17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

If people don't hate you wherever you go to proclaim the Gospel, then you are not proclaiming the right gospel.

Swords and Fire

2009-09-09T13:26:00.003-04:00

A Blogger in Australia thinks as Christians we are to reorganize the kingdom of the world with swords and fire and side with the poor. He thinks Christians who preach peace are siding with empire and supporting opprssive policial regimes.

As a Christian who preaches peace I contend that I am a threat to empire and I do not side with it but work non-violently against it at all times.

I ask the Australian how can we use swords and fire and still obey the command of Jesus to be as harmless as doves?

The Logos

2009-08-26T17:56:00.001-04:00

The Logos

I believe the most important word in the Gospels is Logos.The best way to understand it is to see how the Gospel writers used it in context. I am deliberately not looking at John 1:1 for now because I want to see if all the other verses are in accord, then John 1:1 must be an exception.

Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my Logos, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life

Joh 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my Logos: and the word Logos which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

Luk 8:21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the Logos of God, and do it.

Luk 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my Logos, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

Joh 15:20 Remember the Logos that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my Logos, they will keep yours also.

Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my Logos abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my Logos: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 12:47 And if any man hear my Logos, and believe it not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my Logos , hath one that judgeth him: the Logos that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

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

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my Logos.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my Logos hath no place in you.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my Logos, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Joh 5:47 But if ye believe not his (Moses’) writings, how shall ye believe my Logos ?

Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my Logos shall not pass away.

Luk 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my Logos (words), and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: a wise person who built a house upon a rock foundation

Mat 13:18 "Listen, then, and learn what the parable of the sower means. Those who hear the logos of the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them. The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who receive the logos gladly as soon as they hear it. But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the logos, they give up at once. The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear the logos; but the worries about this life and the love for riches choke the message, and they don't bear fruit. And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the logos and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred, others sixty, and others thirty." (Mt. 13:18-23)

So far I see these things

· Jesus said the logos was Yahweh’s words.
· The logos is words that are spoken and heard.
· Some reject the words, they refuse to hear or make a place in their hearts for them.
· The would-be-followers accept them and begin doing what they said to do.
· However many who start well, cease doing them and fall by the wayside.
· Nevertheless, those who accept the words and continue doing them have eternal life now.
· Jesus differentiated between the Logos and himself. He said some will reject him and also the logos and that he would not judge them on the Judgment day but the logos would judge them.

What think ye?

2012 Hoax

2009-06-13T11:42:00.003-04:00

For those of you expecting the world to end in 2012 come back here on 2013 and listen to me say I told you so.

It is so preposterous to think that if God would not reveal the date to Jesus or the angels, he would reeal it to a tribe of blood -thirsty Cannibals living in the jungles of Mexico.

The world will not end in 2012. Mark my word.

Baal Shem and Baal Shem Tov

2009-03-09T00:11:00.005-04:00

Thanks to Sean for pointing out that I had named Baal Shem Tov as the rabbi connected to the Hebrew version of Matthew. The correct author is Ibn Shaprut. Baal Shem means "master of the name" and is used to refer to rabbis who perform miracles.

The man who authored the Hebrew Matthew lived in 1330 and his gospel is often called Shem Tov the "Good Name."

It is a pretty serious error on my part to confuse these two men as many people believe the Baal Shem Tov was and is the Messiah. He was born in Poland/Russia Aug. 27th 1700-1770. He is known as the father of the joyful Jewish sect called the Hasidics, from the word hesed (piety/mercy/love).

Now you can see why my error is so serious and I am glad Sean pointed this error out to me so I can correct it.

I believe in the truth wherever I find it. I must say that the Hebrew copy that is connected to Ibn Shaprut 1380 in Spain disagrees in many places with our English Matthew, but any serious student of Gospel manuscripts, should read it.

Save me from the Missionaries

2009-01-03T10:45:00.002-05:00

Over Christmas, 2008, I went to The Dominican Republic in the Caribbean to visit some friends who are independent, self-appointed missionaries. They have been there two years and spent the first year traveling the country with their 2 year old boy looking for the right place to begin their mission. During that year they lived with several missionaries and were very disturbed by what they saw and heard.

They said all the missionaries live in huge houses and drive new cars, or trucks and live lives far above the level of the Dominican people. This led to a deep discussion about how to do missions.

We began with Yahshuah command, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations." (Matthew 28:19). That is the mission and it seems pretty straight forward. Missionaries are to teach. They are teachers. But what are they to teach? Math, science, political science, urban planning, Kung-Fu?

Yahshuah said, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:20)

Did he say teach them all things that Paul taught? No. Did he say teach the book of the Revelation? No. Did he say teach the whole Bible? No. He said teach the things that he taught while he preached in the highways and byways and streets of Israel.

Did he say the focus of missions is to build schools? No, but that's what missionaries do. Did he say to build clinics? No, but that's what missionaries do? Did he say to build roads? No, but that's what missionaries do. Did he say to buy land and erect meeting halls and have church services and take tithes and offerings from the people and raise funds? No, but that's what missionaries are best at. Did he say to teach people to fish, develop coops, start businesses, get micro loans, improve their agricultural techniques, purify their drinking water, improve sanitation practices, form Republics and choose democracy, or socialism etc. etc. No.

The reason that missionaries get involved in all of the above things that they shouldn't be involved in, is because they do not understand the basic gospel of Yahshuah. In Greece, in the third century, the Greek Christians decided the man Yahshuah was God. That led them to move away from the Gospel as found in the 4 books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and to misconceive that every word in the whole Bible came from Yahshuah's mouth. That meant they were required to go forth and teach everything in the Bible. That meant Christianity became wedded to the old Judaism that Yahshuah had come to terminate. Christianity became hobbled with Jewish ideas of prosperity and social welfare and Justice programs and Zoroastrian ideas of eternal torments in hell.. That also meant that Christianity became hobbled with the communal ideas found in the book of Acts and the bizarre millenialism found in the book of the Revelation. It was further mishaped by the substitutionary bloody atonement theory put forth by Paul which tied in with the cult of Milthraism as found among the Roman soldiers . In other words Christianity became a freakish cult of guilt ridden, fear mongering, welfare working, police-loving and soldier-loving community developers, politicians, and doomsday whackos.

The second mistake I see is the word go. Yahshuah said go and teach all nations. There is everything nomadic in the word go. The teachers should always be on the move, not sinking roots, not building houses, or meeting halls, not organizing hierarchies.

The modern model of missions is this; a Christian from a rich country raises support and moves to a poor country where he is immediately seen as a wealthy foreigner. He has cargo, lots of it. He buys a large plot of land, begins inviting the desparately poor to meetings. They come because they reason that if they accept this rich foreigner's relgion they too will have cargo.

Meanwhle the rich foreigner builds a mansion of sorts, has new cars and begins to prosper mightily. Meanwhile the cargo hungry convert gets little of the cargo, grows disillusioned and become an enemy of the rich missionary. The missionary experiences persecution and is firmly convinced it's because he is doing God's will.

I think Yahshuah chose poor fisherman to be his missionaries for a reason. He wanted them to travel light and fast teaching where ever they found a teachable moment in the street, at a farm, one on one, or as the need for more space became necessary it would be provided. They were not to come as wealthy foreigners. They were not to meddle with the social fabric, they were not trained medical doctors, they were bearers of the greatest gift of all the teachings of Yahshuah.

Stop Praying Like That

2008-12-20T12:10:00.007-05:00

I was taught to pray for every little thing in my life because I was told, "God cares about every hair on my head and therefore wants to be involved in my every need, and shower me with blessings." The problem is God did not give me my every need, or shower me with blessings. In fact on a scale of 1-100 I'd say I was scoring in the low teens.

As I got older, during prayer time at church, I discovered that the more people you got praying for you. the more your chances increased. Many churches had prayer trees so that members would call people all over the country and all over the world to get them praying for you. I thought of God as the great distibutor in the sky and when he had enough requests in to bless me, he would do it. But even with a whole team praying for me, when I measured my blessings, they were still in the low teens. I even tried fasting, and tithing, but they didn't improve my score.

A preacher told me, " to get what you want, write it on a piece of paper in exact detail and keep the paper by your bed and read it oput loud every day and night for ten days and then burn the paper and soon your prayer wpould be answered. Didn't work.

As a Catholic we were taught to memorize prayers and repeat them over and over. We had rosaries and we were told that if we said the roasary everyday all our pryers would be answered. I took about 20 minutes a day and for a few years our family would kneel in a circle at home and say the 25 Hail Marys, the five Glory Be prayers and the Our Father (the Lord's prayer. This had no affect either on my low score.

I'll admit, I had a lot of guilt about my prayer life. "Maybe, I thought, " I should pray longer, add more fasting, and wear out my knees". I tried getting up an hour earlier and praying in a special closet I fixed up as a prayer room. Usually after ten minutes, I would fall asleep. I had a miserable prayer life.

When I grew old, I am now 65, and limited my Bible study down to just the words of Yahshuah, the answer opened up to me.

Yahshuah did not intend for us to bring a wish list to the father. Yahshuah was surrounded by people obsessed with prayer methods -bad prayer methods, involving pagentry and sacrifices (as if blood pleased God) and self mutilations, fastings, tithes and offering (bribes) and every trick to get stuff from God.

In one fell swoop Yahshuah ended it all, He said go into your private room and pray alone. That ended all the pagentry, rituals, and group pestering of the Father.

Next, he ended the prayer list. He said the only physical need you could pray for is daily bread. You must not come with a list of requests. Father knows what you need, and if it is truly necessary, and you are 100% seeking his Kingdom, He will provide a means for you to receive it.

Yahshuah never taught like the modern preachers that prayer is a conversation with God. In fact, he warned us to be on guard with people who say, "God told me, or God spoke to me" -false prophets.

Yahshuah warned us not to babble or make long prayers full of repetitions. So much for the rosary and memorizing prayers. God (Yah) apparently is not impressed by the length of our prayers at all.

The Rabbis had made a big business out of praying against the enemies of Israel and Yahshuah turned that on its head. He said to pray "for" your enemies. Since you are to agape -love them, that means you do not pray for justice and vengeance, but pray that the best of everything will come their way. Will that make them nicer to you? Of course not, but it will change you. Now we're getting down to the main reason for praying.

Prayer is actually a time for you to have an attitude adjustment. Yahshuah would spend whole nights in prayer. He was wrestling with his attitude, because he knew that's where sin begins.

To me, prayer is a state of God-awareness. It is somewhat close to Indian meditation where you empty your mind of all desires. You can sit, lie, kneel, or stand, as long as you are focusing on the Father. The Father then becomes like a mirror showing you all the areas of your attitude that need adjusting. Prayer is not about praising God and tellling him how much you love him, prayer is about letting God awareness help you grow to be like him.

What about praying for the sick?

Yahshuah healed thousands of sick people but nowhere did he ever pray for one. If you have the power to heal, do it, but if not, the rest is smoke and no fire. Don't play at healing, you'll only make it worse and damage the sick one's faith. Laying on hands, anointing with oil, speaking in togues and dancing around the sick, does not come from Yahshuah. He never authorized nor practiced those things.

So am I saying don't pray for the sick? Of course not, but pray in the privace of your room, not the sick person's room . What if you yourself are sick? Just pray that the Father's will is done and accept what comes. You don't have to storm the gates of heaven and wrestle God in prayer. Before you speak, he already has answered.

So to understand what Yahshuah taught about prayer, prayer is a time for you to get alone and focus on the father and think about what is in your life that needs to change to make you more like him. Pray for good to befall your enemies, pray for friends and family but in the same way as you prayed for your enemies. Don't pray for material things, but pray that every good comes to them.

Now of course if you think of God as a big judge with a big whip that's how you'll turn out. If you think of him as the welfare department you'll become a social worker. If you think of him as a warrior you'll go get a gun.

If you realize he is a peacemaker who sends loving sun and rain on the good and the bad, then you will become a true child of light in a dark and dangerous world. You'll also send loving rain and sun on the good and the bad equally.

Wow

2008-12-19T09:36:00.022-05:00

I think I am back in. I was locked out for a while but I think it was my own fault. Anyway I am back. What have I been doing? I've been caught between the animal and the angel. The animal wants to overeat and indulge in lust. The angel wants to help others and spread the good news that Yahshuah taught.

To see my angel side, look at the books I've written at
Lulu Publishing http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=21771

I must confess my life has been so peaceful lately that I am feeling a little guilty. Yahshuah promised us persecutions, trials and tribulations and believe me for many years that was my life, but lately it has been very smooth sailing. Perhaps I should just enjoy it while it lasts.

Allon Maxwell's Study on Jesus
Allon Maxwell of Australia has written a very good piece on Jesus which I am posting here:

"11. JESUS IS "THE SON OF GOD" - NOT "GOD THE SON" The first title is used many times in the Bible. The second is never used anywhere in the Bible. Luke 1,32 Son of the Most High Luke 1,35 Son of God Matt. 16,16 You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Luke 3,22 and Matt. 3,17 You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Luke 9,35 This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him.

12. JESUS IS GOD'S SERVANT Matt. 12,18 Behold my servant whom I have chosen. Phil. 2,7 & 8 The form of a servant. John 4,34 My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to do his work. Heb. 10,7 & 9 I come to do your will, O God.

13. JESUS IS INFERIOR TO GOD (a) In authority - John 5,19, John 5,30, John 8,28, John 14,10, 1 Cor. 15,24-28, Matt. 20,23. (b) In knowledge - Matt. 24,36, Mark 13,23, Acts, 1,7.

14. THE AUTHORITY WHICH JESUS HAS IS NOT INHERENT. IT IS GIVEN TO HIM BY HIS FATHER. John 5,23 All are to honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. Phil. 2,9 God has exalted him and bestowed on him the name above every other name. Matt. 28,18 All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. Eph. 1,20-21 The Father made Jesus sit at his right hand far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name.

15. JESUS IS THE TEMPLE OF GOD
There are a number of references which speak about God being in Jesus. These do not mean that Jesus is God, but rather that the man, Jesus, has become atemple in which God lives. John 14,10 The Father who dwells in me does the works. John 2,21 The temple of his body. John 10,38 The Father is in me and I am in the Father. Col. 1,19 In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Col. 2,9 In him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily. These references mean simply that the body of Jesus is the temple of God, in exactly the same way that our bodies also are the temple of God. John 17,21 Even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us. John 17,23 I in them and you in me. John 14,23 We will come to him and make our home with him. 2 Cor. 6,16 We are the temple of the living God. Eph. 3,19 That you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph. 2,22 A dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 1 Cor. 3,16 You are God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in you.

16. JESUS DOES NOT HAVE INHERENT IMMORTALITY. 1 Tim. 6,16 God alone (the Father) has immortality Jesus was mortal. He died Phil. 2,7-8, Heb. 2,14-18 His Father raised him from the dead Acts 3,15 His resurrection resulted in a change from mortality to immortality. Acts 13,34, Rom. 6,9, Rev. 1,18 His immortality is a gift from his Father John 5,26

17. THE FATHER AND THE SON ARE DIFFERENT IN NATURE. Num. 23,19 God is not a man ... nor a son of man (Also 1 Sam 15,29, Hos. 11,9) John 4,24 God is spirit. James 1,13 God cannot be tempted with evil. Although Jesus is the Son of God, in those four things he is different to his Father. Jesus was born a man Phil. 2,7, Heb. 2,14 Jesus is the son of man Luke 19,10, John 8,28 Jesus is still a man Acts 17,31, 1 Tim. 2,5 Jesus is NOT a spirit Luke 24,39 Jesus was tempted Heb. 2,18, Heb. 4,15, Luke 4,1-13 All of these differences show clearly that there is a difference in nature between "the only true God" and His Son.

18. JESUS IS THE WAY TO GOD ..... NOT GOD HIMSELF John 14,6 No one comes to the Father but by me. Heb. 7,25 We draw near to God through Jesus.

19. JESUS IS OUR INTERCESSOR WITH GOD NOT GOD HIMSELF Heb. 7,25 Jesus makes intercession for us. Heb. 8,24 Jesus has entered heaven to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Heb. 9.,14 Christ offered himself to God to purify our consciences from sin

China Visa

2008-05-14T12:27:00.002-04:00

I received my visa to China for July. Yesterday they had a major earthquake not far from where I will be going, so I don't know yet what the situation will be.

I will be teaching English for one month in a summer camp.

I'm hoping to meet some Chinese Christians and visit the Amity printing plant the largest Christian printers in the world.

I'm reading William Barclay's commentaries on the Gospels he has an incredible skill of distilling Yahshuah's words. He seems not to believe in demons nor miracles, but he is by and far the best commentator I've ever read.

Broken Hearts

2008-05-06T10:57:00.001-04:00

If you could hear the sound of breaking hearts around the world everyday like a popping sound. It would sound like a never ending stream of fire crackers.

Dishwashing Machine Theology

2008-05-05T19:15:00.002-04:00

Unregenerated people are like Dish Washing Machines with no soap or water. No matter how much you run the machine the dishes don't get clean.

The word of Jesus are water. He compared his words to living water and says his words clean us.

You still won't get the dishes clean without soap. He compared those who obey his words to wise people who build their houses on rocks.

So your obedience is the soap. If you read his words (the red letter ones) often you will have a fresh supply of water.

Keep soaping and you will be like a brand new plate every day.

What to Preach

2008-04-26T09:24:00.001-04:00

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

Enough about me

2008-04-25T18:56:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-21T17:19:00.002-04:00

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?

2008-04-18T11:42:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-13T10:28:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-09T20:51:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-07T19:24:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-04T13:54:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-03T09:23:00.002-04:00

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.

Does Jesus Really Love Everyone?

2008-03-25T10:16:00.005-04:00

Many times I have heard people tell strangers "Jesus loves you."

I accepted the statement without really checking it out. It turns out that whereas the Father loves the whole world, the love of Jesus comes with an "if".

“Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. (Jn.14:23)

“If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love.” (John 15:10)

“He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (Jn.14:21)

So Jesus only loves you If you obey his teachings and love him.

Ekhart Tolle and Jesus and Oprah

2008-03-24T19:09:00.005-04:00

Ekhart Tolle quotes Jesus often and implies that he and Jesus are teaching the same message that all spiritual masters have taught.

Tolle certainly is in the stream of Hindu and Buddhist masters and even 1960s hippie masters. Tolle says consciousness is awakening (he admits to having used LSD) and that the secret to the awakening is to live in the Now.

It was the California Hippie Baba Ram Dass who wrote the book "BE HERE NOW" in the 60s that should get the credit for that idea.

Jesus did teach that anxiety comes from worrying about the future, but he told us to seek the future coming kingdom, and to remain faithful unto the end and to look out for false prophets who would come speaking well of him. Jesus (Yahshuah) was future-centered and told us to go into all the world and when the Gospel was preached to every tribe, he would return.

Tolle denies that the future exists and says every inner voice is an enemy. In fact he recommends what the Buddhists call mindlessness or non-thinking, and just being. "Only when you become fully present are you truly spiritual".

Jesus (Yahshuah) however taught us to listen to the Inner voice of the angel/spirit of Truth who would take up residence in the bodies of the all pure in heart who asked for him.

For Tolle there is no sin. There is nothing that we can do or that can be done to us that can affect our eternal conscious self. Once we realize that the eternal consciousness lies behind or below, our thought life (the enemy), we realize that we are eternal for consciousness (Tolle's God) is eternal and that's who we really are. We are collectively God. Classic Hinduism teaches that we are only drops that collectively make up the ocean called God.

Tolle is a pantheist for he sees God (Consciousness) in everything. Hello Krishna Consciuosness . The Krishnas see Krishna in everything. Everything is Krishna.

Tolle goes so far as to say that the goal of evolution is the expansion of consciousness (a great 60's phrase) and that we actually do not exist. We are only forms that consciousness uses to awaken itself.

For a man who teaches that the future does not exist Tolle is fearful that we are at an evolutionary crisis and if enough of us do not awake to our Consciousness, we will be wiped out as a species. He says that Consciousness will not be wiped out, but may have to find other forms to keep growing.

I must admit the first tapes I heard by Tolle a few years ago, were mesmerizing. He speaks like a dragon. But his idea of spirituality is to not believe in anything. The goal is to be still and silence any voice in your head by living in the mindless now. This is classic Krisnamurti another Hindu writer from the 70s whom I studied in great depth. He used to say for the real to exist we must only learn to observe the present without judging and become aware that we are the unseen observer who is forever at peace and one with everything.

In his Gospel Yahshuah taught that there is a king and a kingdom to be sought with every ounce of our being and we seek it by loving the king and his son and everyone including enemies. It is a narrow, difficult path to walk and by believing that Yahshuah alone is the only source of truth and zealously putting into practice his words, we will find eternal life. We are told to overcome sin in a fight to the death. We are to let our light shine, do good deeds, and teach his Gospel which leads to a spiritual rebirth.

To Tolle spiritual rebirth is when you silence any inner voices and realize you are one with eternal consciousness. Then he says the fate of humanity depends on teaching others to do the same, before it is too late.

Oprah who calls herself a free-thinking Christian who believes there are many paths to God besides Christianity ( a good major tenet of Hindu thought) is promoting Tolle as her latest spiritual hero.

She and Tolle are co-teaching a ten week internet class to millions. She says she sees nothing incompatible with Tolle's Gospel and Yahshuah's which tells me Opra does not understand Yahshuah's Gospel.

Yahshuah did not teach multiple paths to the father. He said I am the true vine and you are the branches. You must abide only in me. You have only one master-me. You cannot reach the Father by following Opra and Tolle into mindless consciousness. Yahshuah said no one can come to the father except through me.

Tolle had his awakening while contemplating suicide. The voice in his head said, “I cannot live with myself any longer”. He said, "Wait a minute who is it that cannot live with whom? Are there two of me?" Tolle was reborn when he had that schizophrenic awakening. He discovered there was a good Tolle and a bad Tolle living in his body. The bad Tolle was his mind, memories, fears, ambitions- The inner voice (he calls it the ego) that wanted to commit suicide.

The Good Tolle was eternal consciousness, his true self listening to his mind speaking. When he became aware of the bad voice -his mind, he went into a state of just consciousness and the bad Tolle - his mind dissolved. The bad Tolle fled away like mist. The mind (Bad Tolle) continues to try to revive itself, but just by living in the moment and becoming aware of the mind, you can turn it off, quiet it into silence and then you are the good you. The goal is to live longer and longer in the silence of just breathing, touching , seeing eating and viewing all things without passing judgment, that's how you reach the place that he calls the awakening.

He says if everyone awakes, there will be no more wars and the earth will become a utopian paradise.

Quaking for Easter

2008-03-24T15:11:00.004-04:00

I've been visiting a quaker group for about 6 weeks.

They have no leaders, no preachers, no collections, no rituals, or sacred ground, objects,or sacraments. They sit in silence mediating for about an hour. If someone feels inspired to speak, they share what's on their heart. Then they have a finger foods lunch together.

It's very nice to be in silence with a group for an hour. Usually every group I've been in, some loud mouth is up front telling us how to live.

This Easter (I prefer to call it Resurrection Day because Easter was a pagan goddess) after the lunch they had a Bible Study.

I don't like Bible Studies.

I have rarely been in one that didn't have arguments (usually they were arguing with me).

It started off badly as the leader said he was going to assume dominance and when he raised his hand, we had to stop the discussion and move on. Phil objected immediately to this heavy handed approach.

I should have left then, but I didn't.

We were studying Exodus.

The first conflict came when they read the part where Yahweh is mistranslated as saying "I Am what I am". I tried to explain that it was a mistranslation and that Yah's name was Yah or Yahweh and not "I am".

The leaders wife got angry and said you can call him anything you want, and that his name was not important. You can call him love if you want.

Then they read what the world calls the Ten Commandments, I read Deut 10:4 which lists what the Bible calls the "Ten commandments". It ends with number 10 "thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother's milk". The leader and his wife both became unglued and refused to admit that what they were calling the ten commandments is not what the Bible calls the ten commandments.

I left feeling somewhat wounded. So now I am resolved to avoid Bible Studies.

That doesn't mean I will stop studying the Bible. I will just study it alone.

St. Patrick's Day 2008

2008-03-18T14:02:00.004-04:00

I loved St. Patrick when I was a child. When I was in college it became a day when all we Catholic students got falling-down-puking-drunk. I'm not sure when it dawned on me that St.Patrick would be embarrassed and ashamed to see that his day was set aside for drunkenness and debauchery.

I think that was one of the things that started turning me away from the Catholic church.

I used to love St. Patrick's Day as a child, but now that I am an old man, it only fills me with melancholy and shame.

I'm ashamed to have been born Irish and ashamed to have been born a Catholic. There's not much I could do about my biological birth, but I left the Catholic church many years ago. I think Patrick and Jesus would have done the same.