Is it not dreadful?

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[2013 revisited. This is an essay that sat around for ten years]. Listening to some people talk can be a serious challenge to serenity. One can actually peer through the gloom of their repetitions, overlook the jarring tones of some voices, look past their vulgarities, see through their technical language, salvage their broken sentences, ignore the many toes in their mouths, to see the play-acting that sometimes passes for more than a few of the 21st century’s profundities. Is it not dreadful though that both professional and non-professional people expect to be heard without delivering reliable information to the waiting audience? Listening can provide a sense of how deep a thought process is and, if you haven’t noticed, it can be a journey into incredible and dreadful contradictions.

A lot of people in the marketplace of ideas and social life find themselves either dancing to the popular or common tunes or playing the music. Whoever does not dance is not normal. If you start singing and dancing people assume that you aspire to be rich, powerful, and privileged, and oppressive. Upward mobility seems to have become the main criteria for evaluation. Is it not dreadful that the poor and the vulnerable are exploited by almost everyone with a sceptre?

Is it not even more dreadful that in the smaller audiences – the schools, the churches, the synagogues, the corporate boardrooms – that a whole lot of corrupt and perverted opinions pass for truth? There seems to be a collective blindness about the standards that have lasted for millennia. If the trend continues unchecked we can expect the worst to happen. The worst could very well be that the values we cherish become the trash we’ve always secretly dreaded.

Is it not dreadful that the news is dominated by bombs in ancient nations? No bombs, no headlines. You have to be in an ancient culture to make it, make disgusting attacks on children and women, deny human rights to those in your care, and have a steady stream of violent deaths. People say they appreciate the core values of the US and the UK, but amid the democratic and security arrangements by the twin-sisters of pride and folly the path to a nuclear winter in Asia is being paved with nuclear bombs in the hands of misogynist and xenophobic regimes.

Is it not dreadful that the US people are supposedly supporting India’s hungry, while India is pushing the limits of discrimination with its millennia of caste exclusions, in addition to building its nuclear weapon capabilities? Is it not dreadful that the only bombs in Canada are the mountains of verbal barbs in a cross-border tussle, which the southern neighbour sees as mole-hills. Competing with Aboriginals in North and South America is a losing proposition. There is no chance of modern religious or national upstarts (e.g. Islam, various Christian-isms, Canada, the United States, Pakistan) ever finding a productive role on the stage of being any more frighteningly dreadful.

“Shields up” against the customary stream of blah, blah, and blah. Dreadfully boring politics and religion and yes, scientific cooperation among deadly enemies. How deadly can the gods of science be? How alluring are the spoils of scientific exploration of the micro world!

How incredibly daft does one need to be to believe that sworn enemies, like Jews and Iranians, allies like Britons and Americans, can cooperate over the building of a scientific tool, but have failed to agree on where their people should live and worship.

Is it not dreadful that people all over the globe are playing the tolerance game while the beneficiaries outnumber the benefits. Is it not dreadful that a new nationalism and patriotism will take the place of magnanimity and hospitality? What we say today is just as dreadful as what we are about to become: animals that say nothing except mindless cliches and empty slogans.

Lies from the Dead

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Has anyone noticed a rise in the number of TV shows featuring a peek into other-worldly scenarios.  We are learning as a result a great deal about people who can see the future, people who cannot die, and people who straddle the world of being alive and dead.  This trend is not merely entertainment.  While we are accustomed to blurring the lines of creativity and reality the lines of human existence do not have that much room.  Merging the poles of human existence is far more disturbing than one sees at first.  If you have never thought about some of the realities of life and death now is a good time to begin, because an unprecedented campaign of deception is underway, and it is no less damaging than the onslaught in the Garden of Eden. The proposition was that humans can disobey God, because humans are not really going to die as God had threatened.   Today the lie is that God cannot put humans to death, because humans are immortal. Even if we thought that God was our respect for the stability of what our ancestors passed on to us as “get a grip and hang on” we have to admit that an immortal that cannot hang on traditions is neither immortal nor wise.

Same lie, different perspective.  Death and life are opposites; they do not meet.  God made man a living being (a nephesh hayyah), an earthy entity, not spiritual, and confirmed mortal. At best humans keep in tow the vision that we have the capacity to emulate soaring eagles.   And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.  1 Cor. 15:45

Man is not a spiritual being, and he will not be anything different from what he was made in Eden until the day when Christ transforms the mortal and corruptible. Perhaps we do not see a certain crumbling foothold in believing that immortals were deceived and died in consequence.

47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:47-49

There are different types of bodies: celestial, terrestrial, stellar, lunar, etc. Difference can be discerned in the resurrection.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Hear what Paul says about this trail of our present into the future.  It even rebukes the “born-again” propaganda, for we see here that adoption is achieved when the body is redeemed, at the time when the creature is delivered from the bondage of corruption

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)  or the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)  or the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (Romans 8:20)  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of ourbody. (Romans 8:23)

Games we play with reality

Who is it that has died, that is, was declared lifeless?  Who was not gathered to his ancestors, and who was not buried in the ground or the ancestral or traditional place and manner?  Even our Lord was confirmed dead and was buried so that his generation would have no sign but the sign of his resurrection.

Chasing miracles to go mega

But we have to ask “Which part of from the dead do people not get? When we realize that healing a few sick, exorcising demons, and prophesying are not big deals all that is left is the resurrection. Any story we can come up with to show the measure of our fellowship with God is likely to be eclipsed by the resurrection of the dead.

All the people who have died are in their graves.

The dead await resurrection.  Did someone hold a pistol to the heads of Christians and tell them that they have to believe that the dead fly off either to be with Christ or start burning forever?   Well you might not realize it but it is a cardinal belief of evangelical Christianity that believers die-and-go-to-heaven. They drill it into the convert as part of of the life-giving gospel. A person is not likely to be baptized if they do not subscribe to that belief. Is it not setting a poor example for God to conduct his greatest act by overriding the elements of procreation, pinning salvation to an act of stepping outside of his personal attributes? The Lord vindicates himself by taking those steps to make our transformation attractive and possible.

Gone for broke, death from life

Exactly what is being transformed in the present age?   Minds and attitudes

Exactly what will be transformed at the end of age?  Bodies.

They’re not all the same, and neither in heaven nor hell

5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, John 5:28 
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5:29

Once they come back from the dead, run. We should expect a person who has seen the two pages of human experience to be in possession of the ripest discernment of the meaning of our journey. There is not, in any reputable journal, a single ancient Israelite hero who has seen Sheol and has given Israel a transforming commandment, statute, or judgment. It seems that seeking clarity from the dead, clarity about the dead, and life without death is a doomed venture.

New generation of hypocrites

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Former governor George Bush was a thunderous old boy. Former governor Haley will be a thunderous old girl. Sharing the stage with John Hagee should send shivers up the spine of everyone who discerns what is good, does justice, loves kindness, and walks humbly with God. (Micah 6:8, NASB)

Invertebrate leadership

Where was the light of this new GOP star when 45 and the Congressional Republicans plotted and executed an insurrection? Where was Nikki Haley’s voice as the MAGA Republicans gut and demolish democracy did nothing to end – yes, end – the racist banking and real estate industries’ terrorism of Black and Brown people? Her record is a fireman’s record: reporting for duty at the station. Her association with John Hagee leads to the long overdue exposure of the popular support by Christians for the state of Israel as a flawed supremacist last hurrah. Some people have no spine and inserting the rebar of fine speeches of national pride will not prevail as the present truth. No-one gets away with nice talk and miracles to cover an abomination.

Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:22-23

Let all the nations currently crumbling under the rubble of their religious and cultural pride be a warning against the new brood of vipers.

Leaves are not inconsequential

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Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

Matthew 21:18-19

We may want to conclude on the basis of the Matthew 21 episode with the fig tree that leaves are inconsequential, that they do not matter to God, but they do.

God’s trees are known by both fruit and leaves

“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” (Psalms 1:3, NASB)

The disciples of Yahweh are plants, incessantly in touch with lifegiving water. When will we be a tree in this arrangement?  Is there anyone in this position? First, let us admit that the following five characteristics define the happy or blessed person.

  • He does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
  • He does not stand in the path of sinners,
  • He does not sit in the seat of scoffers!
  • He delights is in the law of the Lord
  • He meditates in Yahweh’s law day and night.

Surely the tree description must apply. The prophetic literature uses the vineyard and tree analogy effectively. From Jeremiah we receive “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.” (17:8). Isaiah’s 5th chapter describes God’s people, the house of Israel and the men of Judah, as a failed vineyard,

“For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.”

Isaiah 5:7

The withered fig tree is a parable of untimely fruitless ness. Leaves are great but fruit are better, and the movie is about Judah, out of time and out of divine favour. Yeshua’s church never becomes a withered tree. Her faith assures her of victory.

Who might I be?

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When God raises the curtain our senses get challenged.  Current fantasy trends allow people to whitewash the tombs of their evil desires with extreme possibility thinking.  One quasi-pastor has people saying that they are whatever scripture says they are, mostly the healed, the tycoon, the king, the prophet, the priest, the judge, the warrior.  It is rare for a person to jump into a story as anyone beside the hero.  Like the idiot 45th president of the United States most people see no value in any discomfort or adversity.  45 could look at the late John McCain and say that he prefers heroes who were not captured.  The only way for scripture to make sense to us or be useful is for us to enter the story,  The encounter of Moses at the burning bush contains several entities: the angel, the Lord, the bush, the fire  and Moses. Who might I be?

“The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.”

Exodus 3:2, NASB

This I gotta see

“So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”

Exodus 3:3, NASB

Moses felt compelled to investigate the sight.  It filled him with wonder, and there is no indication that he drew a lesson from the sight.  The conversation that ensued contains references to the Hebrew people suffering in Egypt, Moses’ mission to Egypt, and encounters with Pharaoh. But there is no explanation of the meaning of the burning bush.  The reader of Moses’account has to provide the elements of meaning. While Moses ends up leading the people out of Egypt he does not get to enter the promised land.  Still noone chooses to be Pharoah, the Egyptians or the oppressed people, and few people actually dare to want to be the Lord’s servant Moses.

Who I gotta be

We put a lot of distance between ourselves and the avowed hero of all the biblical narratives.  God, who is despised, rejected, betrayed and associated with useless idols, goes to great lengths to maintain relations with the people who are the agents of his varied interventions. People do not want to be like God.  Even Christians increasingly can be found denouncing the lifestyle of  Christ. Holiness like God’s, merciful and without sin, homeless like Yeshua, providing rain and sunshine to the just and unjust, raising the dead and touching lepers, are clearly not popular priorities.

The next generation of vipers

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February 8, 2023 was a good day.  The wingless birds of prey in Canada and the United States are bouncing on the pogosticks of misinformation hoping that people will mistake their motions for flight.  Goodness gracious, what did you expect from a professional adult woman, who grew up in the Christian church, and spent the first years of the 45th president fabricating for him daily before the Press?  I did not waste my time listening to that chunk of coal fantasizing about being a diamond.  Whatever the Arkansas governor had to say as a response to President Biden’s State of the Union speech had to be hatched in the same web of lies that has 33% of the American population ensared.  Racist, nationalist, quasi-Christian morality gets no spotlight except in the lairs of Herodian foxes and  the white-washed tombs of homicidal rulers.

“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.”

Matthew 23:27

“Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Luke 13:35

The Pharisee and Sadducee will not go away

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7, NASB)

We see, as clearly as John the Baptist, the poverty of mind that defined the zealots of his times   There was no cold war in the Judea of New Testament times.   Scribes,  Sadducees, elders and ruling priests conducted a hot war for the full three and a half years of Yeshua’s public life.  John sees the Pharisees as doing the same thing; pretending to be responding to God’s voice and sharing- relishing – their descent from Abraham (Matthew 3:7-9) but violating the law to maintain their influence over the people.  The zealots are still around, replicated all over the globe.

Time is not on the side of the viper generation

The people who are not nauseated by the GOP venom are today’s vipers.  The Arkansas governor is a representative of the generation that sees the mass murder of children in their classrooms as unresolvable, immigrants as criminals, women as property of men,  and law and order as the means to advance the monstrous Judeo-Christian priorities of the colonial empires the American Revolution was supposed to have rejected. If you love the truth, facts, shun all cults, and uphold the dignity of all human beings you can expect viper venom to be aimed at you. We will hear the Arkansas governor and her allies for the foreseeable future because the devil is exceedingly angry because his time is running out.

Government goons

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“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.”

1 Peter 2:13-15

“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

These two statements by two of Yeshua’s witnesses, Peter and Paul, represent a drop in the ocean of legislation, instructions and prophecy populating the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament.  It is perhaps less well known that the Lord Jesus Christ insisted that his domain as Lord of all be distinct in the minds of everyone from the domain of civic power, whom he labeled as “Caesar”.  He did this when he was confronted with the question of paying taxes or not.  The right to avoid paying taxes is now an issue in the United States because tax law is being used to slap the wealthy on the back and burden the average taxpayer. The Lord Christ said that people – Jewish people – should tithe, but not “…neglect[ed] the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; …” (Matthew 23:23, NASB)

What Christ taught about government

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed.

Luke 1:52-53

The nature of accountability of governments to people is not discussed by the four evangelists.  The pastors and missionaries do not discuss it.  The most cogent statement about government is left entirely to his mother. It is Mary alone among the witnesses in the New Testament who spoke about the commitment to remove powerful people from power and conversely to put into power humble and meek persons.  That White religious men in the United States are still clinging to power and the privilege of wealth is evidence against which no-one can argue.  Crooked sheriffs, bribe-prone justices, angry, privileged and unprincipled young people are all part of the goon structure that takes, for example, a lie factory like Sarah Huckabee-Sanders and makes her governor. So let the political and priestly dynasties exit without too much protest

Goon production 

High-sounding intentions, especially of bipartisanship, are not a rallying point in a country that proudly calls itself “United”.   Independence of thought is a given in a country where representing diversity is necessary.  Small pockets of people, most the wealthy and the police, are holding their nation hostage with violence, nationalist and insurrectionist demands.  It is happening with ethnic majorities calling the shots, with tiny political parties in Israel, and even nineteen members-elect of the House of Representatives in the United States.   People who have been observing human trends for an extended period of time are aware that the most heinous deeds by people in seats of authority were designed, modeled, given a badge of acceptability, and cheered on by people who we suppose were trained by good citizens, not to mention noble people with spiritual pedigree.  Not even a post-secondary education seems capable of preventing monstrosities like the Florida governor, DeSantis.  What on earth gives an optometrist like Senator Rand Paul the right to attack the scientific processes of viral control?  What makes a pastor think he can ignore what the Biblical texts say and make up doctrines about faith, wealth, and national security.  What light are people collecting when they study the Bible?

Fool’s peace

The goons have no solution to the situation where parents know that a mass murderer is likely to show up at their child’s school, and we have to suspect that what the goons really want is for fewer and fewer people to go to school.  All the world apparently needs is goons bent on savagely repressing the people whose land has been stolen.  Blacks in the United States and Palestinians in Israel have every reason to fear when government flexes its muscle.  Israeli theft of Palestinian land will never pass the smell test, and the administration of Mr. Netanyahu does not deserve the label government, not when the security chief is a known brutal fascist.  An explanation an apology is overdue for a tainted politician to be acclaimed as king of Israel.  The claim  of  an undivided Jerusalem is itself an atrocity, not to mention the futile fantasy of rebuilding a temple on temple mount.  The temple was not twice demolished by hateful foreigners, but by God’s express decree.  Let me reproduce the destiny of Jerusalem and Zion from the pen of the sons of Korah.

His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion More than all the other dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah. I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me; Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ But of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; And the Most High Himself will establish her. The Lord will count when He registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah. Then those who sing as well as those who play the flutes shall say, “All my springs of joy are in you.”

Psalm 87