Religion And Me

Every single person in this world has a belief system. When he aligns his beliefs with that of a group, he joins a religion. Each one of us has values, has goals, and has beliefs. Some people believe in one God, some people believe in no god, and some people believe in many gods. Whatever it is, that person holds to his beliefs. Beliefs are influenced by many factors.

In choosing a religion, you are faced with  your own beliefs-  does the culture and practices of this belief system suit me? Is the god of this religion someone whom I believe in? Every one of us is different and some people choose a religion because of its environment. The people who you gather with, the systems, the rituals, the laws, the customs, etc.  are something you can identify with and something you want to be a part of.

Each one of us has a different idea of "god" - what he is, what he isn't. Even atheists know what kind of god they do not believe in.  Each one of us as a personal "god" that we believe in, hold to, talk to, identify with. This god essential serves our needs and becomes something uniquely ours.

So today I am talking about this individual "god" that serves us, this religion that forms the backbone of our lives, what really is it? It is really *me*. Religion is something that I choose, that is convenient to me, that suits me. I like the community. I like its customs. I subscribe to concept of this deity. In the end, for each and every one of us.

Even the most sacrificial of observances yields benefits to us - the glories of other men. Religion is something of the flesh, where one may excel above others and lord other others, controlling them. Worship of a deity yields prosperity, blessing, etc. that would profit or exalt us in way.

Religion is something of the flesh. It can be exploited by the flesh for selfish purposes. Pride works its way into our hearts. Arrogance, and identification with what you believe to be right above what others believe to be right.

All men have beliefs and all the beliefs of man are inevitably selfish in nature. All the worship of man is really worship of self. Man creates a god in his own image to serve himself - a god or religion or belief system that suits him, justifies his lifestyle, enhances the satisfaction of his soul, or feeds his curiosity for the intangible. Religion feeds the soul - the cravings of the emotions, intellect, or will.

Religion serves me and it all about me.

But let us consider God apart from religion. Let us consider a Supremacy above us, unknown to us, and eternal. God is incumbered by man, man's selfish desires, the soul of men, the beliefs of men, and the religions of man. God is above all our religion. God does not belong to our religion. God does not belong to me. No man can have the sole monopoly of God.

God is free from us. God is wholly other, and eternal. Thus the immortal God is not restricted by the boxes of mortal man and his comfortable religion. Without you, and whether you like it or not, God exists and has power over everything.

Just imagine that concept - that there is a supreme authority above and beyond, greater than you, far more knowleageable than you, whole perspective covers all time, all matter, all space, and who can see through everything. Imagine that God can take in the universe at a glance and at the same time see everything about us - our thoughts, our motives, our intentions - and judges them according to what He believes is right. And because He is so powerful,  He is the one who decides what is right and what is wrong, and He decides right and wrong by His own perfect nature.

 Such a God is not concerned about man's culture and religion. I believe that we cannot claim God nor can we ever presume anything in His presence. Man is so small and so insignificant. His life is like a short burst that appears that vanishes away.

We cannot claim to know God. We cannot know God, unless He reveals Himself to us. We cannot discover God. We cannot touch God. But He can make Himself known to us.

Unless God chooses to encounter us, unless God chooses to make Himself known to us, we are very well ignorant. But no man has an excuse to be ignorant, because the invisible attributes, a revelation of God, is very present to us through nature. And without God, we cannot exist. We can live in ignorance of God, and in that sense without God, but truly without God we cannot live. God commands our attention because He controls what we cannot control - for example the weather.

God sees through all the hypocrisy of man's piety and selfishness of man's devotion. He's just not looking for men to deify him through a religion, men who offer chants, praises, songs or prayers of incense to him. He's looking for men who would serve Him and not themselves.

When I encountered God, I knew that He was a God who, though He owes nothing to men, went 100% out of his way for man. And I knew that this was the God who demands our 100%. God doesn't want our religion. He just wants us to do what He says, and it's really for our good.

God does not and never will fit into our belief systems, our culture, and our religion. We cannot develop a religion around God nor can we claim  Him as our exclusive God - that makes God subservient to us. Nothing we can claim of God nor expect of God except what He says and His promises, and His Word is very good (in the legal sense). And we have no right to demand God's promises but it for Him to make.

I don't seek God for me. I don't create a "god" to serve me. God exists very  well without me. There's really nothing in this following of God for me all at - not even the praises of men. God breaks our mindsets and challenges our expectation. God upsets our life. God makes demands, demands that make no sense to us and cannot be reconciled with any religion because religion is convenient. All religion is worship of convenience and all worship is a worship of self. The "god" in all religion is really "me".

God is not convenient at all. God does not suit me, and is not easily understood by me. God is God, above me.

A "god" that I can prove is an idol. God, however, needs no one to prove Him.

Sanctified by the Commandments?

While studying the traditional tephillim in the Siddur Ashkenaz I noticed most prayers, especially those prayed when performing a mitzvah, say, taking challah or washing hands, usually begin as such:

"baruch attah Adonai, elokeinu melech haolam, asher kideshannu bemitzvotav {insert mitzvah}"

I can understand "Blessed art Thou, HaShem our God, Master of the universe, but how do I theologically understand the "Sanctification by Commandments" concept? Is that biblical? Now just because it sounds foreign and alien doesn't mean it's not biblical.

Okay, this one becomes real simple for me. In the Torah, God gives Noach the Noachide law for all families, but later on gives the Children of Israel laws, laws which define them as a covenant people and a separater. "Asher kideshanu bemitzvotav", "You who sanctify us by your commandments", refers to HaShem who set apart the Children of Israel from all the other peoples of the earth by giving them the Torah and its Mitzvot. "Sanctify" means to set apart. God chose them and set them apart to be a people wholly for him. He gave them laws and ways to live that separated them from all other peoples.

Okay, but how does this apply to me? Well, we believe in sanctification in the sense of perfection, as a work of God perfecting us. But we believe in the "light and darkness" concept of separation, holiness, and setting apart.

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
(1Jn 2:3-6 KJV)

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
(Mat 5:14-19 KJV)

Mussar

I'm trying to understand what mussar means for me, not only as a student of the Bible, Torah, Mishnah, etc. but as a disciple who will not only know God's Word but live it and pass it on.

I first went to the Proverbs of Melech Shlomo to learn what mussar is.

For us in our journey of redemption and righteousness, mussar is the chastening and discipline and instruction in righteousness. And as Paul/Shaul taught his disciple, summarizing the principle of mussar, 

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
(2Ti 3:16 KJV)

The word "mussar" means instruction, correction, discipline, chastening, etc. Fools despise and reject instruction. They prefer to be proud, ignorant, arrogant, and they hate enlightenment. They hate looking beyond their own selfish wants. Wise men, however, hear and heed correction.

The fear of Hashem is the beginning of wisdom and instruction (mussar). Divrei Torah teaches, reproves, corrects, and instructs in righteousness. God uses the mussar of father and the torah of our mother to teach us, and we must heed them. We must hear and heed mussar, instruction and correction that builds us up and perfects us. We must confront our weaknesses and listen when others tell us of our blind spots. In this way our character is built.

Mussar  also means disciplines, the spiritual discipline of studying Torah and ethics, to learn principles of Godly character, righteous ethics, and learning integrity, selflessness, and through that learning, dealing with the issues of the heart. Through studying mussar we identify areas of weaknesses and needs in our life. Through studying mussar, Ethics of our Fathers and the Ways of the Righteous, we grow. We learn responsibility - for our actions. We study the workings of God's creation and work on our relationships with God and with others also. 

In Judaism, character qualities are spiritual qualities - to be spiritual is to be selfless, loving, humble, mature, joyful etc. Spiritual qualities are Godly qualities - that we may be godly and like God.

Through the Messiah we have been given to partake of the divine nature. 

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Adonenu Yeshua the Messiah.
(2Pe 1:3-8 KJV)


Let us remember to do works of tzedekah and heeds the words of mussar both from studying God's Word, from the righteous who walked before us and our parents. God rewards men according to their deeds- we must patiently continue to do good and seek for glory, honor, and immortality (eternal life). The goodness of God (chasdo HaShem) leads us to repentence, to make teshuvah.

And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.
(Rom 2:3-11 KJV)

And finally, remember that instruction = chastening and chastening = instruction.

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
(Heb 12:5-15 KJV)

Myself and Others

“Nor for me, but for God, and not just for God but for God all”

We in the Messiah have the liberty to do all things in the will of God. We are not restricted in that way, that we cannot eat this or that, or cannot do this or that. We have full and complete freedom to live righteously and in living righteously, to eat all things except food offered to idols and blood.

Let us examine: 1Corinthians 10:23-33 KJV

But we are heavily restricted. What is lawful, what we can do, is not always the best thing to do. We aren’t free to live our lives without the consideration of others. We aren’t free to live a hedonistic life of pleasure. What restricts us is others. It’s funny, because that’s a real important restriction. In sin and in himself, man naturally only cares for himself. The Messiah has set us free from serving only ourselves.

He Himself came to serve other, not to be served. His entire existence on this earth had nothing in it for him, no glory, no enjoyment. He did it entirely for the glory of the Father and for us. He considered us. Let us not be selfish then, and only consider ourselves, but follow in His example of giving our rights, our existence, our time, our choices, over to God and consequently limiting ourselves by others.

Rule #1: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” You may be free to do all things but you are not required to live hedonistically. You may be free to do all things, but you must consider whether they are beneficial, edifying, useful, encouraging, etc. to others. In other words, “Consider others better than yourself”.

 Rule #2: “Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.” We must come to a point that our first consideration is not me, but others. It natural, for example, standing at a table of food, to take plenty of what I like, and perhaps unconsciously leaving nothing for others of what they like. We cannot seek our own. That is not God’s way. If that was God’s way the Messiah would never have come.

Rule #3: “Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.  If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.”

“But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?”

For the sake of your conscience, don’t ask questions but simply “eat what is set before you”(Luke 10:8) However it is not only your own conscience you must consider, but others’ also. Yes, even the “ridiculous” scruples of others must be allowed to control us, after all, to us it no longer matters. We are limited by others. You must consider the peace of mind and conscience of other people. You may not exercise your full rights to liberty. Here we come to the final rule:

Rule #4: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.”

We can be exceedingly obnoxious, proud, boastful, and self-serving. That is not the way. We must take care to offend no one. It is better than for you not to preach the gospel or profess to be a follower of the Messiah if you turn people away from the gospel and from Jesus through your selfishness.

Do you know that a lot of times we established Christians become obnoxious and judgmental? We immediately see how others are wrong, others are in bondage, other are ignorant, and we turn people away from the gospel. We see idol-worshippers and mock them for worshipping Satan. We see Jews and mock them for being Pharisees. We scoff, we offend others by being culturally insensitive, we preach the gospel with such arrogance and such little actual care for others. We just want to be right, to prove others are wrong, to intimidate, to flaunt our liberty. Paul was just the opposite. 

Is God glorified if I choose to eat this and not that? Is God glorified because I choose to wear blue instead of yellow? Is God glorified because I observe such and such? Nothing inherent in these activities glorifies God. God doesn’t need your "glory".  You cannot understand the first statement without the second, namely, that you are to glorify God before others, namely Jews, Gentiles, and fellow disciples.The name of God is to glorified among the nations when they see your righteousness.

We must take exceeding care indeed to offend no one, because we are supposed to preach only one offense and that is the cross. To marr the offense and work of the cross through our own prejudice, insentivities, or selfish pride is to present a mutilated gospel. In fact, when we interact with others, we must be nothing short of the cross and nothing more than the cross. We must be to others the exact representation of the gospel. In that way we must glorify God before others.  

What did God give you freedom for? So you can be selfish? So you can live for yourself? So you can kill yourself through hedonistic living? No! So you can save others too! The right attitude is that because God has given deliverance to you, you should long that others be delivered from death too.

Please all men in all things if you must to bring to Christ. What else matters? My right to this, my right to that? Lay you your individual subjectivities, your rights, your preferences, lay them all down. Seek not for your own comfort but the comfort of those not saved. Seek not for your own “reward in heaven” but leave it to the Father. Let yourself be limited by others. Show complete deference, humility, meekness, and longsuffering towards and especially towards those who least deserve it or even those who have the selfish boldness to demand it. Let others be selfish as long as you are not, so that they may be saved and God may be glorified in their eyes and through their salvation. Be a quiet lamb, led to the slaughter, put to death by wolves because it is for the salvation of the ravenous beasts that you are slaughtered.

Nevertheless it doesn’t mean we must partake of, condone, or allow others to hurt others or to sin. Of course not! The meek lamb is also the righteous lamb.

Let us rewind a bit and read chapter 9 of 1^st Corinthians:

1. We have much freedom and much opportunity, but we can choose not to use this power, just in case it should hinder the gospel. Paul is not even talking about abusing rights. He is talking about what is  rightful and lawful, but which he has chosen not to demand just in case it is unedifying. He used none of these opportunities.
2.   Make the gospel of Christ without charge. “Freely receive, freely give”. Give without expecting anything in return.
3.   Paul preaches the gospel out of necessity. He’s not in it to gain any glory or earthly recognition or earthly retribution for himself. His reward and contentment alone is found in the preaching of the gospel itself.
4.  We are free from all men let am completely willing to be servant of all so that as many can be saved as possible.
5. Be temperate in all things; be self-controlled; bring your body under subjection.
6. Reach out absolutely for the unsaved. You may have to throw aside everything “Christian” and “traditional” and familiar to you to reach the Jews. In fact, to reach the Jews, you have to throw everything out of your comfort box and take only one offense, that is the cross, and that is the gospel. To reach those in Asia in Africa you have to throw away everything “English” and “Western” and “Civilized” and “European” and learn to speak only one language (love) and teach only one message (the cross).  Ultimate love is the cross and the cross is where all selfishness ends. Love is where all selfishness ends. There is no religion, no rhetoric, no rules, to the cross, only love. Love, and a  life laid down for the lost. And we call others to this cross. Christ did not go on the cross to be the giver of love to everyone, and everyone the receivers. No! He calls His disciples to go the cross, to be transformed also into a giver of love and a vessel of love and a body of love and not only dispense love and grace but to call many more to this life-transforming cross that yields all yet demands us to yield all.

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1Co 9:1-27 KJV)

The Words of Joel, Retold in Prose

Great destruction has come upon God’s land and the people are swallowed up by the enemy, who ruthlessly and violently strips and devours, frothing at its lips in hysterical sadistic pleasure.

The temple is desolate; the fields are a wasteland. There is no growth, no grain totend, thresh, or harvest for the nourishment of the children because the seeds shrivel out in the ground and dry out before they can begin to germinate. There are no grapes that blossom in season and to be treaded for the rejoicing of the people. There are no olives budding on the trees, no plucking and pressing of olives to make the fragrant oil. The herds of once flourishing cattle and sheep now starve for want of food in restless groaning. Everywhere you turn, you see broken-down barns, homes in ruins, the people restless, wandering, hungry, and bereaved.

It’s a sign from God. Everywhere that everyone goes, the message is there, from the farmer to the priest, from the vinedresser to the merchant, from the prophet to the mother at home – life has come to a dreadful standstill and the future is torn from their grasp.

“Sure joy has withered away from the sons of men”. (Joel 1:12c)

God has withheld even the offerings of the temple. The priests, the ministers, what ought they to do?

And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him: 'I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; if My people, upon whom My name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’ (2Ch 7:12-14 JPS)

God through the enemy has commanded nationwide attention.  Now God through His appointed prophet speaks:

1)      The priests are to dress in sackcloth, lament and wail, fasting, day and night

2)      The priests are to assembly the elders and the people at the house of God and cry out to God.

“Unto Thee, O LORD, do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath set ablaze all the trees of the field. Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto Thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”

(Joe 1:19-20 JPS)

The day of Hashem’s judgment is preceded by a great blowing of the trumpet. Panic and alarm sweeps over the mountains and the people tremble in anticipation of the fearful unknown. They look to the sky and there is no light; only the dark clouds hang in the sky in gloomy foreboding.

An army comes, a devouring, violent, merciless army that advance in rigid ranks. They sweep over the land, over the people. Before them stands the Garden of Eden, upon whom their approaching shadows fall, and behind them, the flourishing land is a desolate wilderness. Leaping, burning, raging – they are strong.

The peoples’ faces drain or color and they writhe, they scream; but strength leaves them. Weak, outnumbered, overpowered.

The voice of HaShem booms overhead. The hills tremble and the sky goes dark.

“Strong is the One who executes His Word. For the day of HaShem is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?”

The judgment of a wrathful and betrayed God whose power is unequaled has fallen on the land. He can excuse their abysmal behavior no more and can delay retribution no more. God’s wrath has reached the boiling point and His patience has run out.  

And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him: 'I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; if My people, upon whom My name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’ (2Ch 7:12-14 JPS)

Yet at this very moment of doom and just as the people are about to receive their well-deserved due, God unexpectedly extends mercy. He pleads with His people, though He need not. He reasons with them; He commands them. As the shadow of impending execution of just punishment falls on the people God suddenly appears and holds judgment back. He stands between them and judgment.

The people see a ray of light. They see God, giving them one, last, chance. This is the ultimatum.

They now see God as the one who commands, who is in utter control. “If only,” we hear God’s heart saying, “they would turn back to me, even at this very last hour, this very last moment. If only they would plead with me to turn my anger away. If only they would return completely to me, if only they would turn to Me!”

“I am gracious. I am merciful. I am patience itself! I am slow to anger. I relent from doing harm.”

Who knows? What is the harm of crying out to God? Maybe, He would relent! It’s very possible. He may even bless us!

Go quickly, you people, you priests! Stop all that you’re doing. Just weep. Just beg God to spare His people, for His own sake, for the sake of His name, for the sake of His reputation among the other nations.

Surely, it is promised that if you so turn to God, if you so pester and beleaguer Him sincerely, in great despair, with your entire heart, with one as the people of God, HaShem will arouse in zealous pity for His own people. He will surely speak comfort to you and bless you. He will send the enemy scattering before you in a thousand directions like wounded prey. As they rush towards You, His hand will rise with a blow that will shatter them backwards and dissolve them into nothing but a foul odor.

Now be glad. Do not fear. HaShem has done has done many spectacular things. He is bringing about transformation in the land. Suddenly the pastures spring up with green grass and herbs. The trees begin to bear fruit, the vines produce vintage. It is a time of rejoicing. It is a time of relief, of comfort, of restoration. The rains begin to fall upon the cracked and dried land. Abundance, a multitude of produce awaits in the new barnhouses. God’s overflowing goodness has been poured out over the land and there is great satisfaction.

After the destruction comes restoration.

“You are my people. I am your God; there is no one else. You shall never be put to shame.”

And the people praise His name.

And God pours out His spirit. In Mount Zion the holy mountain of God and in Jerusalem the holy city of God there shall be deliverance.

Speedily God will strike the nations in retaliation for His people. He will judge them swiftly and retain their evil to their own head. The winepress and the vats of God judgment agains the nations who come up against Israel overflow. Everything , the heavens and the earth, will shake terribly and tremble. The sun, the moon, the stars; they grow dark.

But HaShem shelters His people. He is their shelter; He shelters them within Himself. And they know indeed that He is HaShem their God.

(4:17) So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God,

 dwelling in Zion My holy mountain;

then shall Jerusalem be holy,

and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

 (4:18) And it shall come to pass in that day,

that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine,

and the hills shall flow with milk,

and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters;

and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD,

and shall water the valley of Shittim.

(4:19) Egypt shall be a desolation,

 and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness,

for the violence against the children of Judah,

because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

 (4:20) But Judah shall be inhabited for ever,

and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

(4:21) And I will hold as innocent their blood that I have not held as innocent;

and the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

(Joel 3:17-21 JPS)

And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him:

'I have heard thy prayer,

and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice.

If I shut up heaven that there be no rain,

or if I command the locust to devour the land,

 or if I send pestilence among My people;

if My people,

upon whom My name is called,

shall humble themselves,

and pray,

and seek My face,

and turn from their evil ways;

then will I hear from heaven,

and will forgive their sin,

and will heal their land.’
 (2Ch 7:12-14 JPS)

The People Want a King - Corruption and Cultic Leadership

A lot of cults come by the way of making one person the final authority, as infallible as God. The leader or head becomes a “Fuhrer” whose ways are perfect and whose word is law. This is der untergang (the downfall) of that group of people.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

The principle of the “Fuhrer” leadership is unquestioned obedience to an authority who places himself in the position of God. He assumes authority that God never gave him. God did not intend for his people to be ruled by dictators of kings, but by Himself and His Word. 

God alone is infallible. When Israel demanded a King, they were subjecting themselves to a man. When the King was godly, the nation prospered. When the king was evil, the nation turned into idolatry. Everything about that nation – it’s faith on God, its economy, its principles – all rested upon the shoulders of one man, upon his character, his whims, his mercies, his likes and dislikes. 

Jesus alone is the head of the church. No man is the head of the church, or ever was. Neither Peter nor Paul nor James assumed control and complete leadership. Peter was one of the twelve and an apostle. James, not one of the twelve, was an elder, leader, and pillar. Paul founded many churches. None of them assumed for themselves the authority and position of a “Fuhrer”. No one preached the gospel in Peter’s name or went out to do work in for Peter, to accomplish Peter’s goal or mission,  but rather in the name of Christ and for the glory of God. 

When a man or (especially a) woman assumes Fuhrer leadership over the church, something has gone terribly wrong. This is a heresy and a cult. Sometimes this even occurs after the death of a leader, when his subsequent followers venerate him and set out to great things for his name.  

For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

(1Co 1:11-17)

What is the Fuhrerprinzip? How shall we indentify it?

1)      The Fuhrer is seen as a Christ/Messiah-figure

2)      The Fuhrer’s Word is infallible

3)      The Fuhrer’s Word is above written law and the Word of God (Scripture)

4)      All offices, policies, and decisions work towards the exaltation of the Fuhrer’s responsibility

5)      Individuals do not need to read God’s Word or hear from the Holy Spirit, only to listen to the voice of the Fuhrer

6)      Outside teaching and principles, though good and similar, are all not allowed to “pollute” members. They are only allowed to read the Fuhrer’s books and listen to his teachings and counsel. (ie. communism to Hitler’s national socialism, or Hitler’s Mein Kampf). The only true and pure teaching comes from the Fuhrer.

7)      The Fuhrer is the highest living authority – he is the living law

8)      All members are in complete obedience to the Fuhrer, to the point where they fail to take responsibility for right and wrong actions. They are coerced into doing wrong by the Fuhrer.

This kind of “authority” does not work!  

The people who follow such as a leader and establish him are fickle. They are the ones who exalt the leader and place him in this power. This is not the will of God but the will of man. 

Followers always want to make their leader into an idol. They idealize leadership. They “long for a king” – they want a physical leader, someone who will speak for them and command them. Human beings tend to insanely idolize men, so that the good and godly man is deified in their eyes. They want a leader they can look up to and be subservient to. 

A real leader knows the limitations of his power. His authority is not given to him by his own greatness, or by the people who acknowledge his greatness, but by God who uses ordinary, simple, men. He must continually remind those under his leadership that he is lacking in many areas and that they have to have personal responsibility before God (and not to him). 

The mis-leader or Fuhrer acts in a criminal way and his followers justify him, whereas true leader is always a disillusion. Man can never idolize him. He refuses to become an idol. He is in that position, that office, not because of his own merits. 

A wife, for example, should not idolize her husband and let him take the place of God in her heart. A wife should not obey a husband because he is perfect, but because God is perfect. The authority of a husband does not hinge on his perfection. He knows that he is imperfect and flawed. The same thing is with parents and children. Parents should not have a perfect “facade” before their children and hold them in subordination. Controlling freaks are often rude, bullies, proud, and consumed in themselves, who refuse to be humble or admit their failings. They refuse to acknowledge any other authority but theirselves. However, all authority is derived from God, therefore a humble and penitent parent or husband is one who truly has his wife/family in submission because he realizes the frailty of his own self.  They obey him not because he absolutely demands obedience or because he is perfect. They respect him because he is humble, open, and honest. He is responsibility to God for the authority God has given him and is a true leader.

Bonhoeffer said that those who yielded to the temptation of worshipping a messianic mis-leader would destroy their future, just as those who worshipped Moloch sacrificed their children.

The Fuhrer principle of leadership is idolatry and sinful. God did not create the “Fuhrer” system, especially not for the church. 

“The fearful danger of the present time … is that … we forget that man stands alone before the ultimate authority and that anyone who lays violent hands on man here is infringing eternal laws and taking upon himself superhuman authority which will eventually crush him; the eternal law that the individual stands alone before God takes fearful vengeance where it is attacked and distorted, thus the leader points to the office but Leader and office together point to that final authority itself, before which Reich or state are but penultimate authorities. Leaders or offices which set themselves up as gods mock God… (The Fuhrer Principle)

While the true God was among us here on the earth, he endured the reproach of those who set themselves up in judgment against him. But when he comes again he will not stand silently before mocking crowds; he will come to judge the living and the dead. At that time, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It is ultimately before God therefore that every Fuhrer; and every follower of every Furher must give an account – not as a leader or a follower but as an individual alone before the ultimate authority – which is God.”

Therefore be very wary about false authority in the church. The church is always ruled by the will of God, and the Will of God is never expressed in the sole image of a man except save Christ. The only head of the church is Jesus. 

There may be a fantastic, godly teacher, preacher, evangelist, apostle, or prophet. However, as Ephesians 4 teaches us, all the gifts bestowed on these men are solely from Christ. Moreover, these gifts are not complete in themselves, but they complement and complete each other. A prophet cannot do a complete work – he has one of many roles and all roles are equally important. Spiritual gifts are not for self-glory or self-exaltation, but rather for the edification of the entire body of Christ. The Word of God is clear that those in authority as servants to those they serve. They are servants who wash feet, ministers and deacons who build up Christ’s body. These giftings enable them to serve, even as Christ came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

 A Fuhrer may dictate his followers’ minute life decisions, pressuring them with his “spirituality”. He mixes personal tastes and opinions with truth and presents them as gospel. He likes a certain style of lingo, culture, protocol, music, dress, hairdo, and all his followers imitate because it tied in with some Scriptural revelation of his own. He models everything on himself.

A church happens when each members yield his individual rights for the good for the entire body and takes on the image of Christ. A cult happens when each member yields his individuality and becomes one congruous form, taking upon themselves the image of the Fuhrer. Each member yields his individual rights to a man instead of Christ. That man does not yield personal rights nor individuality, is not humble, but rather expands his image over others and abuses rights that never belonged to him.  

If people start quoting a leader incessantly, relying on his reasoning, his revelations, his visions as the foundations of their spiritual life, if this leader becomes worshiped and adulated, if his word takes precedence over Scripture, his interpretation through which his followers read God’s Word, if he is authoritative and controlling, and the fellowship becomes ingrown with his and only his teaching, if he refuses to listen to the council of those around him and relies solely upon himself, something is very wrong. When this happens, he is not a leader but a Fuhrer and he is ripe to wreck destruction akin to that of Hitler himself. This is his personal untergang.

The Church in the World

The Church as a visible community in this world must be the arm of mercy in the face of injustice, love in the face of hate, humility in the face of pride.

We in Christ have liberty, a liberty obtained not by revolution, rebellion, or reformation, but through the cross. The only way to freedom is the cross.

 The world has been confronted by the cross of Jesus Christ - it has already been frontally assaulted. Liberation has been won for slave or free. For us to fight in a physical rebellion or revolution undermines the victory we have in Christ. He has overcome the world! He said that His kingdom is not of this world. If His kingdom were of this world, His servants would fight. If His kingdom were of this world, the cross would have never been necessary. He was not a revolutionary fighting against the injustice, oppression, suppression, or taxation of Rome. 

When we truly understand liberty, then we understand the Cross. Our hope, our LIFE, our desire, our existence, is not of this world nor in this world but solely in Christ - in Him are all things. 

It is not REFORM this world needs. This world is ripe for destruction. To stay in this world for Christians is to be part of it's rough and tumble, yet abide fully in the Body of Christ, Christ manifested in the visible community of the church. Neither revolution nor false submission is the answer. We must bear testimony to the finished defeat of this world through the life of discipleship. Our duty is submit under present authorities, not to harbor resentment against them. 

It does NOT matter what others do, but what WE do. Do what is good without fear of man. We do not act righteously to receive the praises of men, but only to please God. We must refrain from all evil, all rebellion, all malice, etc. We are to live quietly, gently, meekly, peaceably with all men. We are like lambs led to the slaughter. We are free and have nothing to fear. 

Though we preach with meekness and love, the gospel, the Word of God, has the nature to provoke fury in the enemies of the cross. The GOSPEL, the living Word, is what this world NEEDs. We are willing to suffer whatever consequences if we know that we are doing the Will of God and our hearts are not only pleasing to Him, but our actions are exactly as demonstrated and dictated by Him. As Christ is, so we must be in this world. 

(Ideas taken from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship, the chapter The Visible Community)

Contending for the Faith

The epistle of Jude (or Yehudah) is a serious epistle with a serious warning. It is addressed to Disciples of Christ – those who have been called, sanctified, and preserved.

Jude writes an exhortation and a warning. “Contend earnestly for your faith!” Faith must be earnestly preserved. Faith was given once for all and does not change.

The message of Jude (Yehudah) is simple. Deny the FLESH and walk by the SPIRIT of God. Don't give in to lust and immorality - we have been sanctified! Contend earnestly to preserve the truth of God's grace. Trust completely in God, obeying Him - don't give place to unbelief.

We are to defend the faith against those who turn God’s grace into lewdness and are deniers of Christ. It is necessary that we be reminded of destruction that will come upon those who do not believe, God’s punishment of those who rebel, God’s unceasing vengeance upon those who give themselves over to abominable immorality, and God’s curse upon those who speak of things they do not know and reject authority.

God’s wrath has come fully upon:

1)      The Israelites whom God saved out of Egypt but refused to trust Him

2)      The angels who rebelled against God and left their domain

3)      The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who gave themselves over to sexual immorality and sought strange flesh

4)      Dreamers who defiled the flesh, rejected authority, and speak evil of dignitaries, speaking evil of things they do not know.

The Perversion of Grace follows in the way of:

1)      Cain, who slew his brother and did not hold himself responsible, who was a wanderer and stranger on the earth

2)      Balaam, who disregarded God’s commandment in order to gain wealth and honor

3)      Korah, who rebelled against God’s order

Jude is warning against those inside the church who work such evil. They

1)      Feast and are merry, are without fear of God

2)      Serve only themselves, walking according to their beastial desires

3)      Are working for themselves eternal damnation

4)      Are Ungodly sinners

5)      Are grumblers and complainers

6)      Speak swelling and flattering words to gain an advantage with people

7)      Are sensual

8)      Don’t have the Spirit

9)      Cause divisions in the church

What ought we to do?

1)      Contend earnestly for the faith

2)      Trust God and obey Him

3)      Be aware of and vigilant against the perversion of grace

4)      Confess the Lord boldly

5)      Walk in the will of God and the role He gives us and the work He gives us in the place He sets us

6)      Don’t walk after fleshly lusts and satisfy carnality with immorality

7)      Be humble and don’t speak of things you do not know

8)      Don’t revile or accuse anyone, instead say, “YHWH rebuke you” – therefore countering evil by not exalting our own self and reviling authorities

9)      Don’t be greedy for money

10)   Don’t be rebellious

11)   Serve and Love others

12)   Don’t speak against YHWH

13)   Don’t grumble or complain, but be thankful in all things

14)   Don’t flatter people to manipulate them, but use godly edification

15)   Don’t be a mocker, but speak to edify

16)   Don’t be sensual, but walk by the Spirit

17)   Be a peacemaker, and don’t cause divisions

18)   Build ourselves (the church) up in faith

19)   Pray in the Holy Spirit

20)   Keep ourselves in the Love of God

21)   Look unto Christ’s mercy unto eternal life

22)   Have compassion on sinners. Realize the severity of God’s judgment on sin and seek to save them from the fires of eternal judgment.

23)   Praise the Lord.

is this okay?

Cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, watching movies, etc.? What about thing that are not blatantly immoral? It is okay to eat an entire bag of chips?

Christ says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me". Any indulgence of the flesh is wrong in that sense. Since disciples are called to keep their focus on Christ, glorify God in that they do, present themselves at living sacrifices to do His Will.... you should ask, "Is it the precise will of God to do this... and is it do His glory?" We seek to glorify God by life or by death, in every thing we do and in the way we live.  

It is a SIN to the be selfish and self-indulgent. it is the attitude that counts, and some things are just not done to profit or bless others, but simply to indulge self. Those activities can be discarded.

Engaging Both World and Word in Mortal Combat

We are not to confine God in the confines of religiosity.  We set aside one sacred day and one sacred place where we may meet with Him and bring adoration to Him. Then we go home, and our lives remained unchanged.

God is to come right into our lives. Let Him intrude. Let Him come home. Let Him assume authority over every area of our dealings with fellow man. Let God is brought into every square corner of our lives. Let us let God enter in every square corner of the world. 

Before the world was, His glory was with Christ. And Christ manifested the Name of God to the men God gave Him out of the world. Now that Christ is no longer in the world, but ascended to be with the Father, He has left us, His disciples who have received Him Word, in the world. It is through us that God acts and speaks. He has left us with His very essence – the Word, and it is through the Word that He moves in us and in the world. The disciples have the Word, and they have Christ within them. Repeatedly Christ petitions the Father to keep the disciples, that they may be united with God. The world at large will hate the Word of God and hate those who bear and those who proclaim it. That is to be expected. But those whom God calls out of the world by His Word and gives them Him Word, -these are called out of God, the Ecclesia.

The disciples become a visible community on the earth. Though called out of the world, they remain squarely in the world. Christ prays that God may protect them, not from the world, but from the evil one. Christ has no desire that the disciples be removed from the world. If so, the world no longer will have the Word of God, which it loathes and despises but which it very much needs.

The truth of God continues to sanctify the disciples through the Word. And through their Word, which they preach throughout the world much to the disgust of the world, more will come to believe in Christ. And these too will be united to God. 

The goal and mission of Christ is that the world may believe in Him, that He is sent of God – that they may believe the Word. 

The reason why the disciples are in the world, though they have been called out of it, is to proclaim the Word and bring many to believe in Christ. They exist as Christ exists. Christ longs that the disciples may join Him, where He is in glory, and behold the glory which the Father has given the Son, the love with which the Father loves the Son, the Son the Father, and the Son the disciples.

The disciples are those who have known Christ, and now Christ is in them.

Christ came through Him God might bestow eternal life – the knowledge of God and the Christ sent of God. Christ finished His Work. He called disciples out from the world, taught them and gave them the Word. Then He ascended. And the task of the disciples now is to preach the Word, to call others out from the world into the Word. And the only way this is done is for the disciples to go into every square corner of the world and saturate it with the Word. In the very darkest recesses of the world the disciples are scattered.

One would think they should remain together, that they may have a corner of the world that is purely grounded in the Word, away from sin. But the nature of the sanctity of the Word is that it is holy in the very midst of the unclean world. One reality is that the disciples are very much grounded in present circumstance and reality – the world. Yet the greater reality is that they transcend present circumstances and realities, and they have an eternal perspective and eternal life because of the Word. 

The disciple is not defiled by the world nor entrapped by it because the same Word that called them out of the world, sent them back into it to proclaim Himself, now keeps them and sanctifies them in the very midst of the world. 

Two things will happen then. Firstly, the world will resist the Word, for the Word is antithetical to the world and spells out its destruction. Secondly, and at the same time, many caught in the world will see the beacon of light and grasp out for it, receiving the transforming Word.

The Word goes out into the world through the called-out disciples that it may call out disciples unto itself.

And thus the world will grow increasingly antagonistic against the gospel and at the same time be increasingly saturated with it. The world is fighting a losing battle, a battle that already has been lost, against the Word. The Word has triumphed and ascended. As disciples, we may seem alone and scattered throughout a cold and unfriendly world. But the Word that has triumphed is within us, we need only trust God. Furthermore the more the world fights against the Word, the greater is the victory of the Word, for the evil one knows his time is short.

Is God Imaginary? #1 and #2

Godisimaginary.com seems to think so. Let's look at their "50 proofs" closely.

#1 and #2 Try Praying and Statistically Analyze Prayer - basically, pray a prayer asking God to heal all the cases of cancer in the world overnight, wake up in the morning, and realize it didn't come to pass. Oh dear, Jesus is lying. He said, "Ask and you shall receive". He doesn't exist?

Does this mean that God does not answer prayers, God does not have the power to answer prayers, or that God does not exist?

They quote several verses, such as,


In Matthew 18:19 Jesus says:

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

In James 5:15-16 the Bible says:

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

In Mark 9:23:

All things are possible to him who believes.

In Luke 1:37:

For with God nothing will be impossible.  

"If you would like additional proof, gather a million faithful believers together into a giant prayer circle. Have them all pray together in Jesus' name that God cures every case of cancer on the planet tomorrow. Pray sincerely, knowing that when God answers this completely heartfelt, unselfish, non-materialistic prayer, it will glorify God and help millions of people in remarkable ways. Now, we certainly have two or more people gathered together, and they have asked in Jesus' name, and we have not one but a million faithful believers who, by definition, have faith and believe. We have fulfilled every one of Jesus' requirements. Will Jesus answer the prayer now? Of course not. Your prayer will go unanswered, in direct defiance to Jesus' promises in the Bible. In fact, if you pray for anything that is impossible, your prayer will always go unanswered.
If you are an intelligent, rational human being, all of the examples mentioned above show you that the God of the Bible is imaginary. The Bible clearly promises that God answers prayers. Yet when we pray, nothing happens (for a complete discussion proving that nothing happens, please see this page). What Jesus says about prayer in the Bible clearly is not true. Therefore, one of two things must be happening:

• God is imaginary.
• God does exist, but he never answers prayers. Unfortunately, God is defined by the Bible to be a prayer-answering being. The contradiction between the reality of God and the definition of God proves that God is imaginary.

In fact, we have ample scientific evidence to demonstrate that the belief in prayer is nothing but pure superstition, as shown in the next proof..."

Basically, it's the "pray to prove God argument".

Here are my points:

1) Sickness, death, and disaster come about because man is in rebellion against God. Man is therefore under the law of death and sickness and has no power over it. The reason bad things happen is because man is rebelling against God, and so God cannot protect him. God keeps true to His nature and to His promises by condemning evil and wickedness. Man only reaps what he sows. If you sow wickedness, you reap death, sickness, and destruction. Hitler is in HELL, not sleeping peacefully away, and so is every man who has done any wrong at all. Sickness is in the world because of sin - one little prayer is not going to change that. Only the salvation, victory, and ressurection of Jesus Christ can.

2) A God that you could prove would be an idol (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). An idol is a creation of man's mind and is subordinate to man. Man is a creation of God and is subordinate to Him. The very "wholly other" and "set-apart" nature of God is unprovable, Just as a baby in the womb cannot prove the existence of his mother, because he is much smaller than the mother, yet is entirely dependent on her, even so we are entirely dependent on God for life itself. He sustains the universe. The mind or eye of man is too small, too insignificant, too subordinate, to comprehend or prove God. If God were not to exist, we would cease to exist. If we would cease to exist, yea, even all the universe cease to exist, God would yet be. That's the whole "idea", if you want to call it that, of God.

3) Elaboration on point 2) - praying to prove God will not work because God is not going to stoop down and prove himself to an arrogant fool. James Chapter 1 says you will only have your request (in this case wisdom) fulfilled by God if you , "...ask in faith, with no doubting". Again James 5, quoted above, says that "The prayer of faith will save the sick." Again also in the verse quoted from John 14:12-14. Christians don't need to pray to God and seek proof of His existence. (Hebrews 11). We need to trust God as who He is and depend on His word. We believe  that all things Invisible, Spiritual and of God are a greater reality than the visible, physical, tangible realm. The nature of faith is a gift from God. The ability to believe and trust in God is given by God. (Ephesians 2).

4) With God nothing is impossible. However, He can be very independent of man. Is God your servant for you to order around? God has a will, a perfect will. He does all things as He desires and as it pleases him? Do you dare to order God around? God does His will, not man's. Prayer is petitioning God, the same as a man covering before a king, begging for something. That's how humble we ought to be in prayer. God hears our prayer, but is our prayer in His will? We can pray lots of things, but are we praying in His will? God answers the prayer of the faithful, of His children, of His disciples, and of those who cry out to Him in distress. God does whatever He likes because all that He does is perfect.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Rom 10:13)

5) God does what  He promises. And He tells His prophets before doing anything. His Word fulfills what He sets out to do. When we tell God to do THIS thing NOW, otherwise we won't believe in Him, this shows how little we know of Him. Again, God never promised to heal all cancer cases overnight. Nor is that in His expressed will or Word. He does, promise, that He is the Healer. In fact, in the Torah with Israel He promised that if they obeyed Him, He would put none of Egypt's diseases on them... if they obeyed Him. We see God smiting people for their sin, even His people, smiting people that they might turn to Him, or healing people for His own glory and acclamation. 

Everything I cry out to God for something, for example, for the electricity or running water to come back, or for the runaway chickens to come home, I beg Him. I don't pray hoping to see proof of His greatness. I believe in His supremacy. And sometimes He does do it, in His own time and way to teach me something, or He does not do it. I cry out to Him, and He hears my voice and acts according to His Own Will. I trust Him that He knows best.

A provable God is an idol. A god that can be proved by the minds of man is a god originating from the minds of man, and that god does not exist.