Month: March 2018

Youth Power Yesterday’s Promise

eejoseph

If one is my age in 2018 and watching the Youth of America rise up to cry for the sanctity of their lives you have to find a context to make the most of the turn of events. Take 20, 30, 40, or 50 years off your age today and you will find that you are part of a generation that tried to turn its heart to the ancestors, to the parents, and you will also have seen the demise of a youth movement. Many were crushed by the current world-ruling powers. That is why we need a context to the joy of seeing the rise of a generation that challenges the previous generation with a vision of the future.
If the children’s hearts are going to be turned to their parents’ and vice versa something new has to be in the making.

A DREAMER AWAKES JUST IN TIME.

Dreams die hard and the assassination of a dreamer does not mean that a community will prevail against the dreamer’s message. Delaying the impact of youthful voices was devastating in New Testament times. Old folks are dreamers who cling to the past. The older generation of Jewish people who returned under Cyrus’ decree wept when they saw the rebuilt temple while the younger people were full of joy. Americans are among the biggest dreamers of modern times. The American War of Independence and the founding fathers who dared to say no to British colonialism are testament to both youth (men not yet middle-aged) and the spirit of invention. Both commodities have been frittered away in the quest for superiority and lost in the mountains of merchandise. It is highly unlikely that the US constitution gets amended even though it is the only way to have an effect on attitudes and behaviour that are killing

The future is not illusion

A GREAT SHOUT
Ezra 3:11
And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

Ezra 3:12
But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy,

DISTINGUISHING THE JOY FROM THE WEEPING

Ezra 3:13
so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

The elders had seen Solomon’s temple and this 2nd temple was not much to look at. The province of Judah in the 6th century B.C. was not going to be Israel-Judah 2.0. There would be neither prophet nor king until the appearance of John the Baptist and Jesus.
The American revolution is about to leap into preparation for the beast. Let’s be clear about one thing. The Beast (the leader of the coming world-ruling alliance) will not stand for chaos and the current Administration in the United States is one example (of both rogue and prince), an aberration that will distinguish the chaff from the wheat. The order which was envisioned by the founding fathers must come back into place so that the way will be prepared for the Beast to gather all nations under its hegemony in opposition to the king Yeshua.

While an American revolutionled by young people is highly unlikely this is an opportunity of seismic proportions. While the success of any revolution is limited.we can expect a wide range of course corrections, violence will mar the declared peace, oppression will greet the poor, and tas usual, the young morph to elders.

Messiah not Moses

eejoseph

Here is the long expected attempt by lost Jews to persist in following Moses while posing as disciples of Yeshua. It comes from yashanet

http://www.yashanet.com/studies/matstudy/mat3b.htm

The most reliable way to get to the meaning of Biblical text is to read in the extant language. In the case of the New Testament that is Greek. There never was a Hebrew world. People read the Septuagint.

The corruption of New Testament studies has begun in earnest and this essay proves it. Trying to impose Hebrew anything on the Gospel and returning to Moses is like the silly slogan make America great again.

First things ought to occupy our time, not this crass propaganda about Jewish priority. It would seem that Judaism is about to have another shameful accident.

The Greek New Testament does not need Hebrew scholarship. These mercenaries should just drop their pants and go! The world needs Yeshua not Judah.

Now and Then We Zig and Zag

eejoseph

The days when we are allowed to come before God with corruptible things are over. Gold, silver, pots and pans, animal blood, food and drink belong to yesterday.

The human body is one of those corruptible things. It is a living sacrifice for witness and service. Christ’s body, in contrast, was a priceless and spotless sacrifice.

Jews can say with certainty that they’re first. Muslims cannot. They can only claim to be the revision of ancient revelation, often taken from cunningly devised myths and traditions, and taken to abominable and terrifying levels. Christ was first to preach the gospel.

Hebrews 2:3 says so.

how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

The gospel cannot change.

Our works, no matter how noble, do not erase our debt of gratitude for the grace that rescued us and keeps us anchored in God.

How did we become a temple for the Holy Spirit in the first place? Did Paul, who introduced the body as temple, not know that the exercise and diet were gospel? Were they really or is the health and diet movement a 19th century invention?

Can the following (Exodus 15:26) be a global recipe for a healthy population?

And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

The Sinai covenant produced neither physical fitness nor spiritual rightness. There is much to be said for the discipline of prohibited tasting and touching and there certain justice for crossing the material lines of food, drink, personal interaction, ritual processes, priestly ministry.

All is vanity but some things are deliberately futile. Vanity – emptiness – is not an indication of active sin.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Romans 8:19-20

Empty spots in life are the bedrock of hope. Zigging and zagging are natural to all creatures. Since none our ancestors, physical or spiritual, have fully complied with rudiments of the world let’s be content to zig and zag our way with patience, full of hope.

No-destination Education

eejoseph

The world is full of it.
Books.
Videos.
Hours of one way speeches by leaders in every field…do not amount to much.

Saying something is God’s word because it is in the Bible is killing people. Take that infernal whopper about forgiveness with law as boss and righteousness as a human product. People actually swear it’s true. Forgiveness is neither a lottery nor collateral.

Saying something is God’s word because it is in your favourite book is deceiving people, especially that demonic doctrine about how badly people need the moon for light during the daytime.

We’ve been going to school that is all recess! The world’s peace and health will never be secured by any 21st century video, a 19th, 18th, 17th, or 16th century manuscript.

Hitching a ride on those wagons with the “blessing” label hardly help with growth and maturity. In fact no feedback is allowed in many so-called information sessions: sermons, motivational talks, study sessions, and yes, the videos and shares riddled with maxims, wisdom, Bible verses and advice.

At this rate we have lost sight of justice rolling down like a river and the knowledge of (intimacy with) God like terran oceans, because much of what is being drilled into young minds has no eternal value. It’s all going nowhere quite quickly.

The Beat of the Christian Beast’s Heart

eejoseph

Since Nebchadnezzar’s decree – that all men should worship the God of the Hebrew people – there has not been a genuine attempt by any nation to identify itself as disciple and worshipper of the true God. Israel’s venture to do so with the best of legislation and instruction seems not to have been received as credible evidence of the futility of claiming to be a religious nation. Therein lies the tension between godliness and beastliness.

The British Prime Minister recently acknowledged the Christian foundation of the British state. Not a peep was heard in the media. Religious nations are an amazing sign of dullness. Corporate entities are beasts: all levels of government and church are included. They have neither the capacity nor commitment to care as humans do. As much as the church or any other corporate entity can adjust its course its decisions are not the result of the dynamics that move human beings. It is rare for an entity to resolve anything without votes or discussion. Animals on the other hand are programmed – may we never accept instinct as the normal – wired to survive. Humans are wired to build and protect families and that difference illustrates the beat of the Christian beast’s heart.
How many polls will the news media use to gather public opinion about whether Britons see their nation as a Christian stronghold or not? Not many, if any, because they would rather broadcast the outrage of celebrities and editorial opinion which we know to be amoral, anti – monarchy and supportive of esoteric knowledge.
Such a decree could alienate some of Cameron’s own supporters, including those who agree with his decision to break with the Church of England by supporting gay-marriage. The Christian heritage has given birth to two entities: one a beast, the other a female figure. The tendency to syncretize everything in the name of diversity and pluralism often makes it difficult and even risky to distinguish the beastly dimensions of the Judeo-Christian alliances from the Church.

Amid the various identifications of the beast the straight line from Babylon to Europe is treated as a if it did not exist. One only has to take note of who are the competing powers on earth’s political, economic, and religious battlefields. Iraq (Babylon), Iran (Persia), Greece, Rome, Brussels (The EU, and Russia (Rosh, Gog and Magog).

Not long from now, all of these nations that are championing rights and freedoms will gang up on the conscientious objectors to a world government that deifies humanity and tramples on the foundations of society laid millennia ago, before a single kingdom or city state was established. What we have received from our ancestors, wherever we live on this planet, is a tradition of family. It is the human thing.

Families are not a secular or civic invention. Our loved ones are not a cog in the wheels of government. Our traditions of food and drink, of stewardship of our environments, our laughter and labour are divine gifts. Our families are the sacred trust that we keep without much thought, though increasingly building a family that honours the traditions that have persevered over the millennia demands sober thinking. Our procreation stands with the Lord’s promise that Hell’s Gates will not prevail against the church. He provides the armour for each generation and we provide the armour-bearers.

At the centre of our struggles are our children, the next generation. When the elders of any generation seem ready to hand over the reins of government to the youth we can afford to be excited. Old people are dreamers, nothing more, dreaming of being young and (relatively) untarnished. The kind of vision needed to give life to our communities is not given to older adults. Most are sold on the golden bricks of secular power and are in the grips of a merchandising mindset.

The friendship between church and state is a terrifying development especially in a state that claims to be guardians of the mystery of godliness. There are so many secular flavours that the Churches have used to build blind loyalty and uninformed devotion that when the devil-powered beast says “Jump”, the Churches will be the first to say “How high?” The unwary will be taken by the beast’s miraculous powers and the altar of sacrifice will be populated by those who do not love their lives only when death is not in the picture.

The beast offers death to all who are loathe to stuck with faith in God, but Christ offers life to all and loves all.

Life Maintenance as we Travel

eejoseph

While most Christians will tell us that the priority of life is its external character many have not distinguished endless life from divine life. The evangelical focus on going to heaven at death seems like more of a rug under which one can shove the immediate receipt of life than the confidence of a happy future. That we have passed from death to life is not in doubt but many prefer to see the Christian experience as partly our perfect position in Christ and partly a defining performance as less than stellar, which only a few dare try to defend. We are not now immortal, so eternal life, as a present possession, is not immortality.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:14-15

A complaining mindset complication

The details of the bronze serpent episode cannot go much further than the manner or timing. “As” ought to shape our extraction of truth from the Lord’s saying. He means “like this” in our wilderness journey.

The overarching reason for death in the wilderness was unbelief. As surely as God brought Israel to Canaan he will bring us to heavenly Zion despite snakebite and huge casualties.

And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Numbers 21:5-6

Imagine having to look at a snake for relief from its fatal venom that is coursing through your veins.

This episode from Numbers is the background for the famous passage John 3:14-16 and the experience as a paradigm for life maintenance has been poorly appreciated.

Evangelists and teachers of all stripes love to trot out John 3:16 as the salvation call. Salvation from snakebite however is not the same as life from the dead and 3:16 does not address anyone getting life.
The Bronze Serpent in the Wilderness episode does not adress anyone coming back from the dead. Israel was a saved people who were kept alive by unusual means the most arresting of which is right here in the Bronze Serpent episode.

God loved the world thus, he gave his only Son so that anyone who keeps believing in him may keep his grip on divine life.

Coming to Christ and getting salvation happens once, but relief for injuries along the way – the Saviour Raised as a Bronze Serpent – once saved, is a necessity

The one and only Chosen People

eejoseph

In one brief episode Israel passes through the wringer. She finds herself under attack, makes a bold move, conquers a Canaanite king, then she’s discouraged.
The attractiveness of Israel is significantly reduced when we realize that some of these passages of life are difficult to place on the Christian pathway. We do not want to be Israel because that would mean a great many things hostile to repentance and faith.

ATTACK
Numbers 21:1-4

And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

BOLDNESS

And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

CONQUEST

And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

DISCOURAGEMENT

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

Genocide is not a good thing, neither are oaths. We do have wild swings like Israel and there is no point in trying to acquire a bed of roses life. Like Christ, Israel was the face of God, and experienced the valleys and mountains human life. We do too.

Rebellion and Priestcraft

eejoseph

Do you suffer from high priest syndrome?
What is it like?
A. Being in a position to prophesy but is lost through unbelief, as Caiaphas was.

And this spake he *not of himself*: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; John 11:51

B. Declared guiltless (for habitual violation of the law as the priests were) but imposing condemnation on others (as did a harassing Pharisee faction tried to do, causing even Peter an embarrassing disorientation).

But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Galatians 2:14

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