Opposition and Salvation

Freedom convoy mask lifted

eejoseph

How many more Canadians are ready to assault federal politicians using raw and unvarnished statements, obscenities, and physical intimidation is anyone’s guess.  Those politicians who have been careful to distance themselves from the freedom convoy approach to protest must be recognized as prudent.  The slippery slope of separatist sentiment and intemperate opposition appeared first in the Conservative leader Scheer calling his debate opponent, the then prime minister “a fraud”.  After the conservative-leaning mob’s siege of Ottawa, the face of wrong-headed freedom and opposition fighters is on display.

Beware, Canada, the ides of civic fracture have come

The increase of discriminatory and intolerant behavior sometimes posing as the indifferent expression of free speech will result in a spokesperson arising who will launch a campaign of purifying civic life.  Of highest value will be unity, even when that unity rises from the ashes of tribal and nationalist  strongholds. Conservatives will never convince their constituents that an honourable partnership between individuals (their voting constituents) and corporations is possible.  Corporate interests will always seek bigger barns at the expense of hardworking citizens.

Insurrectionist Canucks?

They will have an even more difficult time covering up their willingness to unseat the Canadian government by means other than the ballot box.  Going for the fall of the government from the first day of parliament is nothing short of disrespect for the Canadian electorate. Heck! Even the iconic conman, Jacob-Israel, has a change of mind and an action plan that reflects his humility and grasp of grace as a global need. Is it too much to ask opposition politicians to take off the mask of “freedom fighter” and help Canadians to enjoy their government? Nobody wants a devoted satan (killer, thief, destroyer) in their house. Sheesh, man, or shush man!

Stop playing games with people’s lives

eejoseph

When a business fails the chances are that the owner survives.  We may miss the service but missing a service during a deadly pandemic is small compared to the loss of a child or family member.   It is almost without humanity that politicians talk about opening for business.   The world is not a shop; it is a home.  Let’s not let the opening of schools be another oops.  It would be nice if kids came back from the dead.  The science of virus spread is not a mystery and neither is the unrestrained wrath of families who keep losing members.

Cash vs Fool’s Gold

Extreme caution, cold calculations, and courageous actions are not the stuff of press releases or public briefings.  Those jurisdictions where coronavirus keeps coming back can be right now tagged for protest and denunciation.  There are morons handling the messaging of covid-19 management.   Thank God, it is not the politicians who decode the data or shape what citizens need to do.  We are seeing, for now, a readiness to spend unlimited amounts from the public purse,  with the stated goal of helping Canadians survive and keep essential businesses alive and safe.  There are people threatening to unseat the common safety and knowledge, parading a fool’s gold love of freedom as preferable to a common experience.  We are going to miss a lot of meaningful experiences that one foolishly seek to recapture and the loss of life is bound to increase.

The right to live in my 2 metre personal space will not be abrogated by people who want to believe that that virus will simply vanish like a miracle or by people who want to keep us living in fear and ignorance.  Among them, we will find , businessmen, politicians, pastors, and many average Joes.

Kingdom Shmingdom

eejoseph

To all the revelation, insight and vision that gets paraded before believers every weekend we give an open ear and a fertile heart, but too often we struggle not to shout out a bold protest and usually end up muttering “Kingdom shmingdom” as a shield against the fatal contamination of demonic doctrine.

Sabbath and law; circumcision and faith

At least a couple of Christian thought groups have figured that they can attract attention to a retired view of God and use that view to impress their audiences that they are in a class by themselves. One prominent retired view proposes that the gospel finds fulfillment in the kingdom of priests (or priestly kingdom). Another marches to the drum of a sabbath-law foundation. These two are shaky and full of holes because they contain the same rebellion against Christ that the allied scribes, elders and chief priests mounted in New Testament times.

There is no fear of God that saves people from sin. If it is the beginning of wisdom it ought to lead to repentance. If it is the door that opens onto life’s square it ought to lead to the one who gives life to the dead.

So distracted

eejoseph

If you ever get the impression that the centre of attention is often at risk of being pushed offscreen by a willing and free minded audience you are not alone.  Sometimes we see this phenomenon and call it “face that hates its nose”, or “prophet without honour at home”.  This is happening with regularity as Christians get exposed to other faiths with comparative practices and beliefs.  The star of the show is Yeshua the Nazarene and avoiding mention of him has become an eyesore and gaping hole in reality.

If the lifestyles and interests of the human family were perfect noone would ever have to grow or change.  That means we can strike a host of cultural and religious traditions that refuse to give up the dross and adopt the gold from the list of noble priorities.

God intervenes for the benefit of the lost and he chooses the younger not the elder, the alien not the inside. He chooses the despised places like Galilee.

In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath–pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel–beth–maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

2 Kings 15:29

We are therefore challenged to look soberly at the rejected people and places if we wish to find God’s priorities. Light is appreciated by darkness. The dark places bring light into sharp focus.

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Isaiah 9:1-2

The early life of Christ, from infancy to 30 years old, is shaped by his residence in Galilee. The peer pressure to reject Him is strong as it was when he was here in the flesh.

We can replace “Yeshua” with “Yahweh” with confidence because both are Shepherd, Light, Saviour, God, and King. What do we do when we have to bring the Shepherd, Saviour and Light into sharp focus in order to appreciate the One who sent (gave) him? We can deny Christ the highest name, the right hand seat in glory, and the distinction of being the only way to God and peace. The result is catastrophic. Nothing works without the Nazarene.