It is a well known fact that the church is often referred to as the "Body of Christ." But with the word "church" being seen as a building where people go to worship God, how do we define the "Body of Christ?" If He has a body on earth, how has it come into being? And how do we identify it? What is unique about it? If it is actually the body of the living and all-powerful Christ, how does it function in the earth? Is there a false body of Christ? What is the difference between the true and the false? As we often say, the Bible has the answer.

There are many passages quoted throughout this article. Please read them all. It is so easy to skip over some we recognize as having read many times, and we think we know what they say. But to hear what the Lord is saying to us today, let us take time to read every word.

What Christ's body is not

How many are there who consider themselves a part of the Body of Christ? How many of the countless denominations and sects believe they are the called and chosen, seeing themselves as the Lord's elite because they have the truth? The Lord's body is not fractured, as we will discover here. It is not made up of throngs of people who go chasing after the signs and wonders or emotionally charged ministers who appeal to their itching ears. Of such ministers, Peter said, "For, uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage." (2 Peter 2:18-19 RV) And of those who have followed these false teachers, Peter then said, "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first."

Would the Lord have had Peter and others speak so clearly about false teachers and their followers if He considered them to be true members of His Body? Do we think it doesn't grieve Him to see what is happening more so today than at any other time? If they choose to follow others and to follow their own fleshly desires in the name of Christianity, they are choosing not to be a part of His Body–while at the same time, they believe they are.

Most of those who believe they are born again Christians own and read a Bible. This would include the false teachers and false prophets, expounding with great eloquence their manipulative but deceiving messages from God's Word.

By "Bible" we don't mean any one particular version; they have all been influenced by the bias of the translators who try to make 'good English' composition out of old language words. Add to that the interpretation of the mind of flesh, and a Bible can mean almost anything one desires.

The true Bible is the God-breathed words that were heard by the scribes of old, and now, thousands of years later, only the Spirit of God can reveal the truth of the written word. Without Him, our minds of flesh will too easily see the Bible as a book of rules by which to live.

For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is removed in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:14b-16 EMTV

The same can be said for reading the New Testament–if one believes he is born again but remains flesh because of a false conversion at the hands of those proclaiming a false gospel. Or maybe he/she has become hardened to the voice of the Spirit, having once known His presence, and now sees the Bible only through eyes of flesh. That kind of thing will cause us to become judgmental and dogmatic–anything but Christ-likeness.

This is but a sampling of what Christ's body is not. So, let's look at . . .

How the Body of Christ came into being

All true believers in Christ Jesus, who have been born again [anew], become a part of the Body of Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus, "Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.'" (John 3:3b; 6-7) Paul spoke of the same when he said, "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) We must include Paul's words to those at Rome. "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans 8:9)

Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about seeing the kingdom of God, that it cannot be, until and unless a man is born anew. With the new birth, an amazing thing transpires! "And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God would come, he [Jesus] answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God comes not with observation [Greek: 'ocular evidence']: neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you'." (Luke 17:20-21)

Jesus Christ comes by His Spirit to dwell in us! He is the Head and we are His Body. It is His kingdom, and He reigns! He cares for and nourishes us, as we see in Paul's words to the Ephesians.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the ekklesia: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the ekklesia. ~ Ephesians 5:28-32 (paraphrased with Greek meanings)

To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; whom we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect [Greek: 'complete'] in Christ Jesus; ~ Colossians 1:27-28 EMTV

The Greek word for "mystery" is defined, by Thayer, as "a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding." In every verse in the New Testament where mystery occurs, we see it has the same meaning. Two such verses are these, which refer to the mystery of godliness and the mystery of iniquity.

2. "For the mystery of lawlessness [Greek: 'wickedness'] is already at work; only He who now restrains will continue until one comes out of the midst." (2 Thessalonians 2:7 EMTV)

The phrase "received up in glory" is more accurately translated in the ASV. The KJV used the word "into", which is incorrect, and suggests that glory is a place. This has led to songs being written and beliefs being held that glory is another name for heaven. The Greek definition for in is "a fixed position/a relation of rest."

So when Jesus prayed for His own, He said, "And the glory [Greek: 'glory, as very apparent'] which You have given to Me, I have given to them, so that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; so that they may be perfected in unity, and so that the world may know that You have sent Me, and You loved them just as You loved Me." (John 17:22-23 EMTV)

In a day when so many are feverishly trying to please God through efforts of self, which really only impress others, this is what the Lord desires of us:

Therefore, brothers, I exhort you through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable [Greek: 'logical'] service. And do not fashion yourselves after this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and well pleasing and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself too highly, beyond what you should think, but to think soberly, as God has imparted to each one a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ~ Romans 12:1-5 EMTV

After presenting our bodies a living sacrifice and allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way in us, Paul's advice in this passage is fitting.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. ~ Colossians 3:1-3 EMTV

We must look closely at the very next verse. " When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested [Greek: 'be rendered apparent'] in glory. (Colossians 3:4 RV) "In glory" does not mean in heaven. The same word meanings for "manifest" (appear) and "in" glory, as we covered earlier, apply here as well. Now let's look at Paul's words spoken immediately following the previously quoted passage where he tells of the veil being lifted.

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 EMTV

Those words in bold print tell us what the true Body of Christ should look like.

It is only by the Spirit of the Lord that the real Body of Christ is visible. And the fruit of that same Spirit will be evidence of His presence–not just one attribute (if we could call it that), but ALL. All fruit of the Holy Spirit is seen in a true member of Christ's body. What do we see in that mirror? Are we being transformed into His image from glory to glory? What fruit is evident to those around us?

The living body

The Body of Christ is a living organism. As Head of the body, Jesus Christ is the Life source. His Spirit is the Power by which the Body functions. There are no divisions–only unity in the faith. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all." (Ephesians 4:4-6 EMTV)

There is no need for elaboration on many of the passages quoted. Even with our English language and its deficiencies in translating from the old languages, the message is very clear. This one, for example, needs no comment.

For just as the body is one and has many parts, but all the parts of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and we were all given to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one part but many. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

And the passage goes on to speak of the functions of the various parts of the human body, then continues on with. . .

But now God has set the parts, each one of them, in the body just as He desired. And if all parts were one part, where would be the body? But now indeed there are many parts, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." But to a greater degree the parts of the body which seem weaker are necessary. And the parts of the body which we consider to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater propriety. But our presentable parts have no need. But God united the body, giving greater honor to the part being inferior, lest there be divisions in the body, but the parts care the same for one another. And if one part suffers, all the parts suffer together; or if one part is honored, all the parts rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:18-27 EMTV

This passage describes the function of some parts of Christ's Body:

And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, which is the head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. ~ Ephesians 4:11-16 RV

A few more thoughts

Is life then a bed of roses where we experience nothing but wonderful things? Do we walk in prosperity and health as described by the word of faith crowd? Was Jesus loved by everyone? Was He respected by those in authority? No, we know He wasn't; He was persecuted and viciously beaten before He died on the Cross. Do we have a right to expect anything better? "Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12 RV) "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. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." (Romans 8:18-19)

But we have this treasure in clay vessels, so that the extraordinary character of the power may be of God and not of us; in everything being oppressed, yet not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that also the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body. For we who are living are always handed over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:7-11

The true Body of Christ practices daily the giving over of self to the crucifying power of the resurrected and living Christ. Their whole desire is for Him to be manifested in them, so that they are being changed from glory to glory.

The false body of Christ is taken up with the things of this life, being watchful to always follow the rules of the Bible, which they are comfortable with. It may be that the ones they are not comfortable with, they will apply to others with whom they don't agree. This admonition to the true Body may well be describing them and their actions.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or of a new moon or of sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. Let no one rule against you, desiring to do so in false humility and in worship of the angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, in vain being puffed up by his carnal mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, supported and joined together by joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God. If you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you submit to regulations–"Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch," things are all for corruption with the using, according to the commands and teaching of men? These things indeed have a reputation of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and severity on the body, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. ~ Colossians 2:16-23 EMTV

The false body of Christ are those who seek to follow signs and wonders, as though Christ is here or there. This is where so much deception has crept in. Too many "signs and wonders" are the lying ones of which Paul spoke in 2 Thessalonians 2:9. Jesus said that signs will follow those who have fully put their trust in Him. Why is that? Because He dwells in them, and it is His work!

We must aspire to walk in perfect oneness with Christ, emptied of self and humbly submitted to the Holy Spirit. What a glorious sight Christ's Body is, as He is manifested in her! When she is looked upon by those in the world, all that will be seen is Jesus. There will be no question as to her identity.

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“…As a part of my truth quest I began doing a lot of reading on the different “holiness” strains of Christendom to get a better handle on why so many read the same bible so differently.”

Why? This is a really good question, that the “organized Church” cannot answer. Of course, they each try by stating that the others are wrong and that they alone hold the correct answer. Is there an answer? Yes, I believe there is, but at the same time I believe that it is not a general answer, but an answer that only a few will discover, and it has to do with faith, and it the same answer to why so many in that day will say, “Lord, Lord,…” and the Lord says, “be gone from me I never knew you.” Faith is the answer, and many have a misguided view of what it is.

Identifying the Problem

Over the past five or six years, this thing called the “Church” has been of particular interest to me. In the past I assumed that the familiar thing that I have seen on nearly every corner in America was the “Church,” as presented in the Bible. I have assumed that this was true even though the only Church that it remotely resembles is the latter day Church mentioned in the Book of Revelation, “the Church of the Laodicean’s.” Should this resemblance be alarming?  Yes, absolutely, if we are at all interested in truth. This fact came as a startling revelation to me, and has become the prominent compelling force behind my re-examination of all things pertaining to the Church and truth.

Jesus makes a couple of statements, actually a statement and a question, that became sticking point for me on this new road of discovery. There have been many revelations since then, but initially my eyes were opened to the seemingly vast numbers of Christians in America, and the world, and that it conflicts with the Bible declaration of smallness. Any person truly concerned about salvation will want to think and pray earnestly about the ramifications of the following statements: Jesus said,

1.    Matt 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many (Christians) who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
2.    Luke 18:8 “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

This does not in any way point to, or allude to, an end day Church that is busting out at the seams, or walking in truth. Wouldn’t you agree something is amiss here? This should cause us to ask some very straight questions of ourselves, and those appointed to lead us, the, supposedly, enlightened ones.

Setting the Stage

First, let’s set the stage. There are a few things we should give heed to concerning this place we call our home.

▸    Remember, we live in a fallen world. Look at, and listen to, your surroundings; this is obviously true: cursing, foulness, rape, murder,  pillage, greed, envy, pride and deceit are all the currency of this kingdom.
▸    The ruler of this world is not Jesus, His Father, or the Holy Spirit, it is Satan. Satan is the prince and power of the air, and has been given this world as his kingdom. All that you see and hear is the product of his rule. Satan makes the rules, sets the policies and guidelines by which man is regulated, and men everywhere obey them, and, oh, by the way, he is a liar. 1John 2:16-17.
▸    Human beings are a deceived race of people. If the Bible makes one thing perfectly clear it is that ALL of mankind are born blind, and without the gift of sight, and stumble around in the dark. Men are in the dark and would not know the truth if it stood right in front of them. We have been tricked and we are deceived, and we prefer it that way: John 3:19, Jer. 5:31, Gen 6:5, Pr. 6:12-14, Isa. 59:1-16.
▸    God’s ways are not man’s ways. That is a simple enough statement, but why then, in every aspect of the organized church, do we see building and organization that have the fingerprints of men all over them? It doesn’t look supernatural, it looks very natural, very common, and very human. Isa. 55:8-9, 58:1-3; Prov. 21:8; Ex. 20:20; Ezek.. 18:24-30; Ps. 81:11-14.
▸    Man is a religious creature. Man, inherently, desires truth, happiness, and peace, but virtually ignores what the Bible says concerning achieving it. Man seeks these things through selfish motives and wrong doing, through compliance to the world’s rules, or the corruption of goodness, through self-worship, and idol worship, but man’s motivation is always evil, a product of: weakness, pride, selfishness, and lust.

This is the stage on which this whole thing we call “doing church” or “church growth” is played out. The Bible declares, that to men living on this planet, under these circumstances, there is a way that appears to be right to his limit capacity to reason and see clearly, but that “way” is a lie and the way of death, Pr. 14:12. All of the institutional religions of men, including the organized church of Christianity, are based, to some degree, on the wholesale deception of mankind, man trying to please his god through form, ritual, and acts of the will. If the ritualistic religions of the world, including Christianity, are the true earmarks of an omnipotent god then he is no more powerful or creative than any industrious man. What mankind has done, through these acts, is to declare that he no longer needs the God of the Bible, that he is able to finish in the flesh what was began in the Spirit, Gal 3:3. Mankind has effectively declared that he is as powerful as God. He has declared that he is God, by proxy, persons authorized to act in God’s behalf, because he hangs a cross around his neck, is called by a designated title, or sings a certain kind of song, or does good deeds, or prays, or studies the Bible, or a thousand other things, including church planting and building. He assumes he is saved, but he assumes too much. He says he has faith without ever understanding or obeying the dictates of the real God, or understanding the characters acting out their roles on the stage of life in this world. Christianity, and all its sects, have become just another religion searching for a purpose and a meaning to life, not really caring about truth, but anything that offers personal peace and happiness, and the real God says that they love it that way, Jer. 5:31, Isa. 56:10-12, Isa. 30:10, Rom. 1:24-25. Think about it, if God’s ways are not man’s ways, why does all of Christendom look like a production of man? Could it be that God was wrong, and God’s ways do look like man’s ways after all? Or, could it be that man is deceived and simply does things the way man does things, like men, and that the building of the “church” has been taken out of the hands of God so that men can make sense of the operation of the Church, Gen.11:2-4? The same thing has happened over and over through history and God has rejected man’s way to build, and He has cursed it. The Jews never learned from the many times God showed mercy, and always returned to something they themselves could build and manage. This is the play that is continually re-played, and that men never learn from, and the stage is now strewn with all the failed gimmicks, and useless programs of men pursuing God. Doesn’t the Bible say matter-of-factly that “unless the Lord builds the house it is built in vain” Ps. 127:1, and that it is the Lord Himself that adds to the Church those who are being saved, Acts 2:46-47?  But, today we have lords many, all building their own way, just like the Jews. This is the never ending story of mans failure to please God. The church today is built on business plans, accounting principles, and marketing devices, by men each doing whatever is right in his own eyes, and the measure of their success is the visible representation of an organization and a building, Isa. 5:21, Jdg. 17:6, Jdg. 21:25, Gen 11:2-4.

This has not answered the question of why there are so many “belief” systems that are all called “Christian” and claim to follow Christ. I will answer that question in the next post. There is an answer; if there isn’t then even Christ would be a deceiver, and that is not possible. But, the answer may be very different than what you imagine, so stay with me.

In an effort to keep things tidy I’m going to stop till the next installment, besides I have the flu and I’m getting tired.

Steve Blackwell

Brian McLaren is so bold to indulge God’s patience and to presume upon His mercy as he maligns the “apple of His eye” Zech 2:8 “For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye:”

Brian praises Greg Barrett for stomping on Israel, and is then encouraged to write a series of supporting articles on the same subject, so stay tuned.

Greg Barrett tells the inconvenient truth … on Israel and Palestine

Brian McLaren…

I’m working on an important series of posts on the subject … hopefully they’ll be ready to share in the next week or two.

There is only one Christianity and it ain’t emergence or Emergent, neither is it Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, or any other sect. Following Christ is to be a Christian, and for the most part they all have it wrong, but their “labels” at least lets us know what to expect from them. With out labels it is very hard to nail anything down, everything becomes silly putty in their hands. They can believe one thing one day and the opposite the next day, or nothing at all, or both, it is the freedom of an anarchist, both lawless and rebellious.
Tony doesn’t like labels because he says,

“they seem to us (emergence types) convenient ways of boxing someone in. . . .”

when he would much rather be a moving target. This statement is just smoke or camouflage. Liars, cheats, and scoundrels hate labels because they identify who and what they are. Sit at a poker table in Vegas and try and identify the pros. Those professionals hate labels too. They want to look like tourist; they look harmless and innocent, but they are wolves, there to separate you from your bankroll. Hang a label on these pros and the table will empty; at least the smart ones would leave. The first rule of poker is that you never play against someone better than you. But, most people think that the game is just a matter of luck anyway, much like religion. They never pay attention to the “tells” that identify or label a person as a shark or a false teacher, who are both classified as wolves.

Do you see how “labels” can be counter productive to vandals who want to separate you from your valuables? Labels identify people and things, and keep us safe in the world. Thieves, cheats, marketers, card sharks, and false teachers and preachers know this. Subterfuge, misrepresentation, deception, pretense, and dramatics are all the tools of those who fear exposure and labels. At the poker table the pro will likely advertise his stupidity and ineptitude by playing fast and loose, and present themselves as something they’re not. He’ll look like a sap to the vacationer who thinks he’ll be an easy touch. Then the truth comes, when it is too late, and the pro has that monster hand he was waiting for, and the real “sucker” is revealed. This is called “advertising” in the world of poker, and is used with great effect. Marketers advertise also and generally try and trick you into believing something about their product that isn’t true: cars, clothes, cologne, alcohol, you name it, they are nearly all deceptions, lies, and illusions. They allow you to think that there is value where none exist. Your identifying of these lies would permit you to stick a “label” on them and classify their tactics as dangerous and deceptive.

What that poker player is saying by his not saying anything and putting on a show, by his dress and by his actions, is that “you need not worry about me, I am harmless, just relax and have some fun, and please don’t label me.” I believe Tony Jones is saying much the same thing by presenting labels as a bad thing. He says that labels box people in, and I say they protect people. He cannot live by his own philosophy. Does Tony label people? Isn’t Pentecostal a label? Do labels inform us and protect us? Would Tony take a bottle from his medicine cabinet without consulting the “label?” Would anyone? Did Jesus label people and things? Jesus said “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees…. How is it that ye do not understand that I spake not to you concerning bread…? Then understood they how that he bade [them] not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Mt 16:6,11-12 Was Jesus putting these teachers in a box? Did He label them? You bet He did, and for our good, for our protection. He identified the threat and stuck a label on it, and expects us to heed the danger.

People who have nothing to hide do not fear labels. Labels are markers and road signs and warnings, to direct the wayfaring man or woman to safety.

Beware of the smoke and slight of hand of the religious magicians, for they will cheat you out of much more than money, they will steal your very soul, and will leave you only this world in which to take refuge.

Tony says at the beginning of that article, “Getting one’s arms around the emergent church is no mean feat. . . .” I think this could be interpreted as

“there’s no way to understand what we’re doing, so don’t try.”

A liberal is more magician than theologian, and their slight of hand can make truth disappear in a flash and reappear as something else all together different. Only another of their dark trade, or the Berean sort, really knows that a heist has taken place; others stand in awe that what they have always wanted their Christianity to be anyway, has magically appeared out of thin air.

There was a “disenfranchisement of GenX evangelicals in the 1990s”

as Tony rightly states, but actually the disenfranchisement started earlier than that, it was really a phenomena of the Boomers. In the sixties there was great disrespect and questioning of anything that presented itself with an air of truth, or established order, and thus occurred the legendary  “generation gap”. The Gen X’ers like their mothers and fathers before them, were able to detect the lies and falsehood of their predecessors, but were unable to discover the truth that had been trampled under foot, and consequently they reached out to the magicians to work their magic, and make all the bad stuff go away. It didn’t work then and it is not working now.  The false teaching of sex, drugs, and revolution that the Boomers turned to for answers is no different than the false teachers (liberals) that the disenfranchised Gen X’ers are turning to today. Granted, the established Christian order that exist today and in the ‘90′s is full of hypocrisies and pretense, but at least there is a foundation of truth that underlies the rubble and junk hiding the heart of what Jesus means in His Word.

Tony Jones, Brian McLaren, and all their liberal buddies, are akin to those who raise the price of medicine when a shortage hits, or try to pass off  placebos for the real thing as a psychological pacifier. There is a crisis in the “Truth” department today, but the price that most are willing to pay for the fake is far higher than they will be able to endure. A “half truth” whether it comes from the left or the right is still a lie. There is a desperate shortage of truth today, and it is likened to a famine in the book of Amos 8:11

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”

We are in the midst of that famine and real food is in short supply. Where there is a shortage, of any kind, there will be those who will take advantage of, and rob, the weak and the ignorant.

Like the sixties, the young were the weak and the ignorant. They wanted change so badly that drugs and sex were the natural answer, and even if it didn’t work, at least it felt good. Tony Jones, Brian McLaren, and a whole score of new liberals have devised an answer from the old corn husk of liberal theology, that look appealing during a famine, but could not nourish a pig when the truth thrived in its heyday. But, today the old hucksters are back at it, and they have a hungry following. The appeal to the young, to have truth their way, is too much for the starving to resist, and we will yet see the results of such a choice made in desperation.

More on this subject next week. . . .

Adversity in the Lord

I write things, not because I have all the answers, or that I am living up to the standard that God has set before me, but because I must know the truth and I need to hear the truth.

“What should be our attitude in adversity?” I say this because I need to hear it, because adversity comes home, eventually to every Christian’s doorstep, even mine. At these times it does no good to rant and rave and curse the day you were born; it’s at these times that we need understanding and wisdom to push forward for the Lord.

“In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them;

In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them

all the days of old.” Isa 63:9

First of all, we are Christian and we recognize and accept that affliction is something we must take for granted. This is something that goes without saying, but in the midst of suffering we don’t want to think about all those lessons on how it is to be handled; we just want it to pass. The word of God takes note of the fact that the Lord’s people do suffer adversity and that their adversity is known to Him; it is under His eye. Unless Satan has some legitimate claim on you due to some sin left uncovered, then nothing is wrong about it, it is the common experience of all of God’s children.

In this verse Israel is seen in the wilderness; what was the adversity of the Israelite’s here? They had many. Their life was a life of wilderness wandering and their trials were plenty.

To begin with they were shut out and separated from all that was going on in the world, what the world had, and what the world was doing. The things that the world was doing, and had, to give them pleasure and satisfaction was cut off from them. That form of suffering hit them right between the eyes and came home to them many times in the fact that they had left Egypt where those things could to be had in abundance. Their hearts would return there often, remembering “the onions and the garlic” and all the other things. They missed those things terribly and returned, in there minds, over and over again. “If only we could go back for a little while,” “I would die for a fresh cut onion right now.” Going back to Egypt in their minds became a pastime for them, a miserable form of recreation that only brought suffering. Egypt had a plan, a form, and regularity to it, something that could be counted on. In the desert you never knew what to expect from one day to the next; you didn’t even know if you would be alive much less be hungry or thirsty; it was completely unpredictable. It was all a life of trust and faith, and faith means adversity often enough. Adversity narrows down the options and creates dependence and opens up windows to see God’s fullness. This is the way it was for the Israelites. This is the way it is for the Lord’s people; He cuts you off, closes you in, narrows your focus; this is adversity; this is suffering when viewed against the world. The Lord’s people can not do or have what they please. It was a weaning process, a weaning away from the deceptions of the flesh life and the world.

There are times like that in our lives, when we have been cut off, restricted to some path chosen for us to walk in, a path with no options but to trust and rest, or rebel. There are days when the dark clouds settle in so fast and we are caught completely off guard and we wonder if we will survive much less have joy. All them things we’ve heard of great Christian moments seem so far out of reach for us now and we begin to wonder if the Lord is against us, why all this “straitness” (as in a difficult road) and distress. This is not the bountifulness or graciousness of the Lord; God is not being good to me; this is not the kind of life that is at the center of all those sermons I have listened to all these years. The enemy is pressing the attack, trying to take ground; Satan is laying siege to our hearts and mind. He wants the Lord to be our enemy. The whole story of our life with the Lord begins to take a nasty turn and we feel abandoned, His promise broken. We start to see the Lord as hard, the Christian life as hard. The whole thing is being twisted to present our Father as evil by Evil itself.

“In all their affliction He was afflicted…” So, what is the word saying? It is saying this. In all that adversity, straitness, narrowness, and suffering, the Lord was not against them. Whatever it may have looked like, the Lord was not against them. Well, if that is the case then we have to look for another answer; there must be another explanation. If the Lord is not against us in all these adversities, what is the reason?

So, if the Lord is not against us in these things that cause us illness and hardship and mental anguish then He must be for us, and all those things are for our benefit and ultimate joy. The Lord knows us so well in the life of the flesh and knows that we have to be pressed, narrowed, and emptied so that we can be filled. The Lord is seeing beyond the circumstances to a richness that we are not yet able to comprehend.

I could go directly from here into a discussion on deception, because there is a link. I won’t do that, but I will say that that life in the flesh, desiring those things that are attractive to the natural man is that soil which is fertile for the seeds of deception. Our attempt to waylay God and rob Him of His goodness toward us by extricating ourselves from adversity is itself a deception and directs us away from the path which must be traveled toward a death which produces no fruit.

It would be easy to show that the Lord was for the Israelites every step of their journey through the wilderness, but you say “they rebelled and therefore He was turned to be their enemy.” They rebelled, that is the difference. We can have adversity and not rebel. God will not tolerate rebellion; He is the enemy of rebellion. But, even then, it is said of Him that “…He remembered….” Even when He had to be their adversary because of rebellion the end of the matter was that “he remembered,” Moses, “He remembered that we are dust.”

The Lord knows our soulish hearts and loves us. He knows that we must build a history of overcoming troubles, even if it takes forty years in a desert (or thirty three years in my case). He knows that we need to be trained to conquer difficulty, danger, and misfortune in the natural man so we can learn to walk in the hidden man, the man of the spirit. To walk in the spirit is to accept hardship and suffering and to live life on the other side of Jordan where we confidently follow the Captain of the Lords Host into Spiritual wars and bask in the victories of faithfulness and trust.

The final word, which is never really the final word, is this. For the majority of us, and especially me on this particular day, while our hearts are thinking of the Lord, and we find our way strait, troubled, heavy, closing in on us, demanding that our flesh take some kind of action; when the way ahead is dark, the fog is thick, and the path is cut off before us, remember, the Lord is not against us; it means just the opposite. The Lord is in the process of enlarging our borders and preparing a feast in the presence of our enemies. The Lord is after much more than getting a better life here, in the flesh. What ever we gain here we gain nothing. So, if we pray for more of the Lord we must pass through narrow places, difficult places, and come to adversity, because the Lord is for us, not against us.

“In all their affliction He was afflicted…”

Steve Blackwell

The Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas tries his hand at an answer, but fails to answer why God allows such extensive suffering? He Says:

“It is similarly irresponsible for anyone to second-guess God’s redemptive purpose or explain what He is doing through an individual disaster, such as the Haitian earthquake. To try and do so would be to twist the dagger in the backs of people who are hurting.”

“Where was God during this tragedy? The same place He was 2,000 years ago when His Son died. Was God in control? Of course He was. Why did He allow it? I don’t have a clue. He has not revealed His purpose.”

Well, if he doesn’t know I would suggest he find another line of work because the passage he quotes gives the answer, “Repent, or you shall likewise perish.”

“God is ultimately responsible for the earthquake in Haiti and has a reason that is beyond our ability, trapped in time, to understand or comprehend. But it would be theological ignorance coupled with absolute arrogance to try and interpret God’s actions as a judgment against a particular person or nation.”

Thank you Dr. Robert Jeffress, for keeping us in the dark. At least Pat Robertson was honest. It appears to me that Dr. Jeffress is trying hard to be religious by preaching a nice five point sermonette and never getting to the point of sin; but of course that may offend someone.

Elizabeth McAlister, Associate Professor of Religion, Wesleyan University says:

“Vodouists in the Haitian diaspora are praying on their knees today, just as Catholics and Protestants are. Why did this devastating earthquake have to happen in Haiti. . . ?  In Vodou most ritual is about finding balance, putting yourself into equilibrium with the spirits, with your family, and with yourself. In Haiti things are way out of balance. We might say that spirits of death have launched a coup d’état.”

My friend and colleague, the artist, educator, and priest of the spirits, Erol Josué, has been praying and crying in Brooklyn. Through Twitter, Facebook, and his cell phone he has learned of at least twenty dead friends in several Port-au-Prince congregations. He told me today that for him, as a spirit-worker, this event is both scientific and symbolic. This is indeed a natural disaster for Josué. But the land in Haiti is a person, he said. We consider it a woman, our mother. “Haïti Chérie,” as the well-known ballad goes. She wants to know, ‘who will make me beautiful, put clothes on me, and take care of my children?’ When you mistreat her, and uproot her trees, when you give her too much responsibility, she is like a woman with cancer. The tumor metastasizes, and explodes.

For Erol Josué, the earthquake was mother nature, the land of Haiti, rising up to defend herself against the erosion, deforestation, and environmental devastation that have been ongoing for the last few decades. Said the famous painter and Vodou priest André Pierre, “The first magician is God who created people with his own hands from the dust of the earth. No one lives of the flesh. Everyone lives of the spirit.” We humans live in the material world, and other spirits–called lwa, or mystères, “mysteries”–dwell in the unseen realm. God created the spirits to help govern humanity and the natural world.

Others, who may read this and disagree with great force, will not necessarily share it. But Vodou works through spiritual revelation, and this is the revelation Erol gives me today. Vodou has no single spokesperson and no inerrant text. It has God, the angels, and the spirits in the unseen realm.

O.K., now were getting somewhere, NOT! Obviously Ms McAlister belongs in the Emerging New Age camp of Post Modern Christianity. Can you believe these words coming out of the mouth of a “Christian”? These are those who condemn the straight talk of judgment on sin and sinners. Jeremiah would no doubt be left in the well to die, if he had to depend on Ms McAlister.; no, Ms McAlister would have been among those who put Jeremiah into the well (see Jeremiah 38).

It may be prudent to look at the writing of another person, one Silvianus c424, known for his “plain dealing” with sinners, during the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire, when the collapse was being blamed on the Christians.

THE EIGHTH BOOK

1. I think, nay, I am certain, that the great length of my argument will arouse distaste in many, especially since it upbraids our vicious lives. For most men wish praise, and no one enjoys censure. Worse than this, however evil a man is, however profligate, he would rather be falsely praised than rightly reproved, and prefers to be deceived by the mockery of false praise than healed by the most salutary admonitions. Since this is true, what are we to do? Must we accede to the will of wicked men? Or if they wish even empty praise conferred on them, is it fitting to proffer silly and meaningless eulogies? Surely we must consider that, as men of honor should not mock even those who wish to make themselves ridiculous, so they should not laud in lying phrases those who yearn to be adorned by praise, however false.  We must not take into account the preferences of individuals, but rather what is fitting for us to say, especially since the prophet said: “Woe unto them that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

We must by every means hold fast to the truth, so that what a thing is in fact, it may also be in words, and those that contain sweetness be called sweet, and those that contain bitterness, bitter.

You say, however, that he does not bid, but merely permits us to endure them. Suppose we grant this point, still I ask how far he is from ordering what he permits? For he who knows we endure such woes and can prevent our suffering them, proves beyond a doubt that we ought to endure whatever he permits. From this it is manifest that his acquiescence is part of his judgment, and that we are enduring a sentence from heaven. As all things, are subject to sacred authority and the will of God rules everything, whatever evils and whatever punishments we bear daily are the censure of his divine hand, which censure, indeed, we constantly arouse and kindle by our sins. We kindle the fire of the celestial wrath and arouse the flames by which we are burned, so that the words of the prophet may rightly be used against us as often as we endure such ills: “Make your way into the flames of the fire that you have kindled.” From this we see that according to the sacred sentence each sinner is preparing for himself the suffering that he endures.  From this we see that according to the sacred sentence each sinner is preparing for himself the suffering that he endures. None of our misfortunes can be imputed to God; we are the authors of our own misery. For God is gracious and merciful and, as the Scripture says, he wishes no one to perish or be injured. So whatever is done against us is done by our own actions; there is nothing more cruel to us than ourselves; we, I say, are torturing ourselves even against God’s will.

2. Since I have already spoken at length of the unchastity of Africa, let me now briefly discuss its blasphemies, for the paganism of the majority has had no interruption. They have indeed confined within their own walls their native crime, by which of course I mean that “Celestial” demon of the Africans, to which I suppose the pagans of old gave so fair-sounding a title in order that having no divinity it should at least have a name, and lacking any virtue derived from actual power should gain honor from its designation. Who among them has not been initiated into the worship of that idol? Who has not been dedicated to it by his very family and birth? I am not speaking now of men who are pagans as much by profession and name as in their way of life, and whose name indicates their heathen error. Paganism is certainly more tolerable and less evil in men avowedly pagan; the more deadly peril lies in the fact that many who have made their vows to Christ continue to give their real devotion to idols. For did not those who were called Christians turn from the worship of Christ to that of the “Celestial deity,” or—which is far worse—worship her even before they paid their devotions to him? Who among them did not cross the Lord’s threshold redolent of the odor of demoniacal sacrifices and go up to the altar of Christ reeking with the foulness of very demons, so that it would be less monstrous not to come at all to the Lord’s temple than to come in such a fashion? For a Christian who does not come to church is guilty of neglect, but one who comes in such a way is guilty of sacrilege. It is less difficult to atone for failure to honor God than for direct insult to him. So we see that any who have acted thus have not given honor to God, but have taken it away from him. They have even in a way given the attention due to the church of God to an idol, because that to which priority is accorded gains in honor from that which is relegated to second place. See then the faith of the Africans, and especially of the noblest among them! See what their religion and their Christianity have been! It was in scorn of Christ that men called them Christians. Though the apostle cries: “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of devils,” it was not enough for them to drink the cup of the Lord with the cup of devils, but they must take the latter first. It was not enough for them to match the table of devils with the Lord’s table, unless they came to the temple of God fresh from the worship of infamous superstitions and breathed on the holy altars of Christ the foul miasma of the diabolical spirit itself.

_____________________________

It is blatantly well-defined by now that the Haitian Nation exist in great sin and that a call to repentance should be the clear and plain message, a message delivered with bread in hand, but a message Plain, and Clear, that their repentance is a prerequisite to their healing.

Steve Blackwell

For an interesting article on the history of Haiti and their problems read Government Of The Devil, By The Devil, And For The Devil by Tom Barrett.

For follow-up research see the following sites:

US Department of State Report of Religious Freedom

http://www.cesnur.org/testi/irf/irf_haiti99.html

Haiti – God’s country after a ‘holy invasion’

http://www.jesus.org.uk/dawn/1998/dawn9802.html

Victory Over Voodoo in Haiti

http://www.christian-connection.org/print.php?sid=299

Religious Persecution Intensifies In Haiti

http://www.andyfigueroa.net/haiti.htm

Haiti; Satan’s Stronghold

http://www.raptureme.com/rap16.html

Breaking the Blood Pact

http://www.newdirections.org/index.php/pressroom

Aristide Approves Voodoo as an Official Religion

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/archives/00002966.html

Voodoo  It’s Official in Haiti

http://www.ccgm.org.au/articles/ARTICLE-0070.htm

Aristide Defends Record

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/5060184.htm

ARISTIDE MANSION

http://www.salon.com/news/1999/03/12news.html

Media Research Center http://www.mediaresearch.org/printer/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040302pf.asp

Pearl of the Antille

http://www.rminet.org/retreat_center.htm

Aristide Must Go The Weekly Standard

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/795ywram.asp

Aristide Claims He Was Kidnapped from Haiti

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040306/wl_nm/haiti_aristide_dc_1

Islamic Influences on Haitian Voodoo

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/voodoo/islam.htm

The Challenges Facing Haiti

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/arisfarmplum.htm

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPyyXQN8cG0

Christians who attack Pat are without understanding of the workings of God in the world, and especially in these perilous end days. God has always judged the world and His children for its sins, so what’s the problem with preaching it?

Now, look at the world you live in. What do you see? You see a world decaying before your very eyes; a world of ugly, decaying, death; a world controlled by an unseen force of evil, occupied by a race of beings with a death sentence on them, humans bewitched into believing they see goodness, value and beauty where none exist, only filth; a world about to disappear. The story of Jesus’ love is a story of how the spell has been broken; of how the blinders have been removed, and of how we say thank you. Even those who have no Hope, those who have bought into the Great Lie can see that the world is rapidly accelerating towards self destruction, this is apparent. What they don’t see is the solution. Some of you see the Solution, as I did, but choose to allow the weeds of your life to come in and choke the tender new growth. It is a choice you make, and unfortunately, others are affected by your choices. Because you are weak you think you have an excuse and that God understands your particular set of circumstances, or that you can continue in your weakness for just a few more days. Your “particular” sin will find you out, and then it will be too late, as the sins of Haiti found them out.

In December 2005 the main topic of discussion was the Tsunami tragedy. Both Christian and non-Christian people were confused, and insurance companies were calling it an act-of-God and just leaving it there. People can’t understand how a “good” God would allow 200,000 “innocent” people to die.  Lk. 13:1-9 says everything that needs to be said for those who want the truth. Luke 13:1-9 “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them — do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” It was generally accepted by the Jews of that time, and some today, that if something bad happens to you it is because of sin in your life, in other words if a building falls on you, you must have been very bad. Jesus’ simple answer was, “no, that isn’t true. But, unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” So, Jesus answer to the Tsunami disaster, and the Haiti disaster, is “no, God did not cause this disaster, but He did allow it, and unless you repent you will likewise perish.” The parable that follows sheds much light on the matter. What some will see here is a mean natured God; others will see a God of Mercy. What you discover is that the wrong question is being asked. They, and we, ask “why did God do this or allow this to happen?” By understanding the parable and what Jesus is trying to teach us we understand that the question should be, “Why does a perfectly “just” God tolerate anyone to live, why doesn’t He destroy all mankind, not just a few?” The answer is “MERCY.” In the parable God is the owner of the tree and Jesus is the gardener, who asks for mercy on the tree for a period of time, to try and make the tree fruitful. God is a merciful God who has waited and waited and waited, but He will not wait forever, and He may choose to allow America to suffer likewise.

All this is happening in the world while Americans play dumb and place their hope in the lottery, worship materialism, idolize Hollywood, praise sports, fill their bellies, cheat their friends and neighbors, hate their boss, and commit unfaithful acts of all kinds. And, we do all this thinking we’re perfectly normal, declaring to the mirror on the wall that we’re, “the fairest of them all.” Pornography, mutilation of the body, 4,000,000 dead babies, 50% divorce rate inside the church, all kinds of selfish addictions, mass mental illness, murder, rape, homosexualism, child molestation, and everything evil is on the rise in the “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.” Americans along with many all over the world are under the curse of believing they can live as they want and fix any problem that comes along while they secretly contemplate suicide. They chase the “illusive butterfly of love” and happiness while walking a tightrope over Hell, without a net. We are a country gone mad. Not only can we not catch the, “butterfly of love” it doesn’t even exist, it’s an illusion. There is no love, happiness, or life apart from Jesus. The “American Dream” has become a nightmare.

Heb 3:6-15 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”   See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”
Ps 9:7-10 The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice. The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Rom 2:5-11 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”   To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

Rev 6:15-7:1 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
2 Peter 3:3-10 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Matt 11:20-12:1 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Isa 58:1-12 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,’ and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the accusing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
I have tried to write you a letter of love and desperation. There are only two groups of people: those who are Christian and those who God is calling to become Christians. The Bible says, “You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” If you are unsaved, glorifying God may not sound too exciting, but the truth is that you were created for that purpose.

What has happened in Haiti is horrible, and they need help, but all the liberals and their social gospel (which is no gospel) of only good deeds will fill their bellies just to send them to Hell. They are sinners who desperately need to be saved. This is not just a warning to Haiti, this is warning to the whole world, including the Christian world.

Repent, or you shall likewise perish.

Steve Blackwell