bible

“Everything is a spirit” is dangerous hype

eejoseph, , , ,

Blaming a demon for sickness, moral failure, spiritual lethargy, blindness to God’s way, financial and professional mediocrity is a cop out.  It may sound cute, and may work for the benefit of those who like to conduct exorcisms, to blame every problem on a spirit.  There is no easy proof the demons cause sickness, moral failure spiritual lethargy, blindness to God’s way financially professional mediocrity. Almost all of the shortcomings of the human race begin with the individual. You don’t need a demon to tell you if I hit your neighbor. When you have prophets like Moses and scribes like Ezra telling you that God wants you to do it, who needs a demon? Blame a spirit for everything and every  Christian is the active victim of an opposing spirit, and there being only one divine Spirit, then the other spirit must be demons.  Play that game and enjoy your repeated catastrophic tumbles

Why are demons so prevalent among redeemed people

The only places where demons get elevated attention are the places where demons have prevailed to snare people with unique doctrines.  The doctrines so named in the Bible are not many, but they are a rude awakening to the careless.  Here are four from 1 Timothy 4:2-3.

  • speaking lies in hypocrisy
  • having their conscience seared with a hot iron
  • forbidding to marry
  • commanding to abstain from meats (foods)

When were the movements of religious practitioners ever free from errors

  • hypocritical lies are inevitable when people try to claim perfection
  • People burn out their consciences and conflate good and bad
  • Irrelevand and discredited racial and tribal purity become a priority
  • discrimination over food is a symptom of juvenile sensuality

We might ask which of the movements – reform or revival – is not the victim of deception that results in one of the four malfunctions of 1 Timothy 4. This is a question that mamy will refuse to answer, either because they are so mired in error, or embarassment prevents the leaders from acknowledging deadly errors. What spirit could possibly have moved people to habitually lie hypocritically, burn their consciences, forbid marriage, and demand dietary scruples?

Deadly imitation of powerful Christians

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Acts 19:13

Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. Acts 19:14 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” Acts 19:15

And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Acts 19:16

Abyssal rabbit hole

If what GOD has not given is to be understood as a particular sprint then by all means what he has given is to understood as particular spirits, namely, (1) a spirit of power (2) a spirit of love (3) a spirit of mental discipline

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7, NASB

It ought to render you sleepless

eejoseph, , , ,

It does not occur to all the supremely endowed colonial and religious movements that it is a crime and utterly immoral to occupy land in God’s name, disenfranchise any part of the population, slander foreigners,  allow the abuse of  children, bully a superpower to fund terrorism, to flip the terrorist label over onto people who resist an illegal occupation and a crime to use a veto to shield criminals from accountability at the United Nations.

Conveniently there’s no 11th commandment that outlaws racism and bigotry

Being strictly textual, the United States and Israel can do whatever works to affirm their right to kneel on the necks of citizens and loudly proclaim the right to affirm themselves as law and order reformers.  What a load of hogwash!  That Israel has violated the rules of war and occupation in plain sight for seven decades does not give people pause is not surprising.  Perhaps people are pausing now that Israel is having to face the music over its superior defence systems, open discrimination,  corrupt leadership, and excessive sectarianism.  There may well be a political party for every territorial and theological interest.  The Holy Land is one of the last places one would expect to find violations of both human rights and humanitarian conventions. What would Moses say, if anything?

God’s law is not shelter from philanthropy and the pursuit of justice

Listen carefully and you will hear certain groups placing themselves beyond the reach of international law as if there was no single human race, no single planet of which we are caretakers.  We Christians can be charged with pie-in-the-sky fantasies but you will not find us denying our humanity, because in the final verdict of the divine tribunal every person relies on divine mercy, and many religious people will be decisively silenced by the conscientious conduct of non-religious people getting God’s approval. Justice for religious people will always be tainted by tribalism and self-interest.

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

John 5:45

Gratefully our passions are in check when we see opportunites to look down our noses at our fellow-citizens. We are not interested in indicting, condemning and destroying anyone. We are certain that Christ and Moses part ways in this arena. Injustice can be disguised as righteous indignation but God is neither mocked nor deceived,