IGNORANCE.....
THE DEADLY REFUGE
PART FOURThe
folly of choosing Ignorance as a Refuge
in the 21st Century
By Steve Van Nattan
HAVE
YOU READ:
PART
ONE: FIRST THOUGHTS
PART
TWO: SEVEN REASONS TO STAY SIMPLE
PART
THREE: HOW SHALL WE THEN GET KNOWLEDGE?
PART
FOUR: LIFE AND SOCIAL ISSUES RACE Knowing
too much leads to worthless bias, and knowing too little leads to offense. Why? When
you know too much about racial issues, you are tempted to see yourself as a "woke"
expert, and experts on racial issues are always a nuisance. You are tempted to
nanny and nag people about their racial attitudes, and people you nag will not
be made more like Jesus..... they will despise you. When
you know too little about racial and
cultural issues, you can easily offend people of other races than yours, and you
are a bad testimony for Christ.  George
Middleton was a missionary to Eritrea back when it was part of Ethiopia. When
he first arrived on the field, his family was sent to language school to learn
Amheric. One of the requirements for the students was to spend time visiting around
the streets of the town around the school. So, after a limited time of study,
he took his two kids and went walking in the streets. George had also been a missionary
in other nations, and he said he had a policy of learning the local word for "maybe"
so that, if asked a question he did not understand, he could answer the question
without committing himself to anything. Up to the moment he said his plan always
worked out.
As
George walked along in the town of Debre Birhan with his kids, he passed some
older women sitting in the doorway of their home. After greeting George, one of
the woman asked him a question in Amheric, and George could not understand the
question with his limited language knowledge. So, George said the Amheric word
for "maybe"- "minalbat". Instead of avoiding trouble, the
women fell out and roared with laughter. George realized his magic answer had
not worked this time. When he got back to the school compound, he asked the language
teacher what the woman had asked him because he had memorized her question. The
language teacher roared with laughter also, and she told him what they asked him
was, "Are those your children?" "Maybe"
was the wrong answer. George
had a classic moment of simply not having enough knowledge. His ignorance did
not shelter him from trouble. George went on to become fluent in Amheric as you
might guess. Thus,
ignorance is going to make you problems and embarrassment sooner of later. To
learn more about George Middleton, GO
HERE.
GENDER-
LGBT- PLUS Some
of the knowledge about gender issues is filthy and shocking. What sodomites do
with each other could make you vomit if it were all told. There are facts about
evil that simply ought not to be passed on, and if you can avoid learning the
details, your mental health will be better. But,
it is useful to know what the gender heretics claim. The reason is that you need
to watch for the buzz words of sodomites and gender mutilators in order to catch
them in your kids' conversation. The
problem with social evil, and how much we need to know about it, is a matter of
moderation. Learn enough to be informed in order too avoid the folly of approving
of something evil. But, do not become fixated with diving deep into evil. Sodomites
have a public relations trick they use to clean up their image. One
sodomite and his partner had an older lady next door whom they pampered and helped
in many ways. The lady was totally charmed. I had reason to talk with her one
time, and she told me, "what nice young men those men are." She clearly
had no idea what the sin of sodomy was, and she had become a public relations
asset (which sodomites refer to as a "Queen Bee") for sodomites by telling
people in the community her sweet thoughts about the men. Ignorance was the key
to her gullibility. When
you hide the evil of sodomy, or transgender propaganda, from your kids, they will
be easy targets for school teachers and change agents in the gender war. You have
no choice in this spiritual and moral battle..... get knowledge, join the war,
or watch your kids be suckered into it. Matthew
26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak. Fathers,
you need to be proactive with your boys, and your wife with your daughters. When
my boys reached an age where I knew they could be hearing chatter in the streets
about sodomy, I sat them down, and I painted a complete and gruesome picture of
sodomy for them. I told them some of the most disgusting things sodomites do to
one another, and they became visibly sick. It is a blasted fool of a father who
decides to be fair minded toward sodomy with regard to his sons. In the old days
in Texas, that father would have been horse whipped. Your wife needs to do the
same thing with your daughters. A father cannot do this and stay decent with his
daughter. A
word here to pastors: Are you watching, as Jesus commanded the disciples in the
text above? Your prayer meeting is a great thing, but are you teaching your people
to watch? When
I was pastoring churches I had what I called my "Wolf File." It was
a file folder into which I dropped articles from news magazines and from my exchanges
with local people. I also wrote notes to myself describing evils I was seeing
in our area and the whole nation. I took this file to the pulpit on Sunday evening
before the sermon. I would tell the people the things I had found, and I asked
them to give me back Bible verses that answered the evil. This really caught on,
and after the people got used to it, they would cut articles out of news papers
and magazines for me to add to the "wolf file." Even our teens got into
the thing. My reward was to see my church friends become eager to inform themselves
and identify subtle evil devices of Satan in life as they experienced it. In fact,
I soon found that certain members were even more discerning than I was on certain
issues of evil. SIDE
THOUGHT:
The question I have for you pastors is this..... Are you threatened
when one of your men becomes more talented at catching Satan's devices faster
than you do? Do you believe you must be the master of every spiritual gift in
your assembly? Are you a Pope, or are you a partner in the battle?
But,
you will never have savvy saints, informed in the devices of Satan, if you do
not lead by example and make a serious effort to inform yourself. CAUTION-
You may have noted the "Plus" which I added in the title to LGBT. Pastor
Dusty Brian at Trinity Baptist in Austin, Texas put me onto this. We must all
brace ourselves, for the perverted culture, as it evolves on down the road, will
be adding more and more filth to their club. You can simply plan on it..... pedophilia
will soon be promoted as a civil rights issue. Bestiality will be next. Polygamy
will come along. The mind of man has more potential to imagine new evil devices
than Satan himself, that is, if we take the King James Bible literally. Jeremiah
17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it? And,
we have been warned that the human heart would get worse and worst with time: 2
Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and
being deceived. There
is one last caution I must add. It is possible to become so engrossed, with especially
sexual perversion, that we slip into lust as we review the evil presented by the
world. The Internet is especially deadly in this regard. We must inform ourselves
of the evils of the culture as it changes in order to see attacks coming against
the Lord's sheep. But, remember the old Appalachian wisdom..... When
you wrestle with a hog in the mud, you end up filthy, and the hog loves it.
Sodomites
in particular get great joy out of combat with a Bible believer.
ABORTION Abortion
is all about murder. It is very clear from the Word of God that an unborn baby
is a person and known to God, it would seem, from long before conception. Jeremiah
1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee
in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified
thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Isaiah
49:5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to
bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious
in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. Man
was created to recreate, and God is a full participant in this process. Ephesians
1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love: Once
I decide to believe that every Word of God is true and inspired, I cannot find
any way to justify killing an unborn baby. Now,
is God sovereign in all the affairs of man? If so, then God allows the wicked
to kill their babies. Why would God do this? We have no direct Scripture to tell
us why God allows any sort of murder. God does give man the free will, as free
as humans can be, to choose to kill unborn babies. But, God also did nothing to
stop the killing of 1.5 million Iraqis and Afghanis by the US Military. What
is God doing by allowing this? God
has chosen these babies to be among the elect who he takes to him in the second
resurrection. Some Reformed theologians claim that it is impossible for God to
have mercy on murdered babies. David's son by Bath Sheba died as judgment by God
of David's sin. Here is a clear text, if taken without the interference of John
Calvin, which shows that babies that die go to Heaven. 2
Samuel 12:18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And
the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said,
Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken
unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is
dead?
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that
the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead?
And they said, He is dead.
20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed,
and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the
LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they
set bread before him, and he did eat.
21 Then said his servants unto him,
What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child,
while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said,
Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?
23
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall
go to him, but he shall not return to me. If
David's baby died and went to Hell, David is in Hell right now. He said, under
inspiration, that he would go to his baby who died. All
that is left is to settle the question of whether this applies to the babies of
the unconverted. David was a child of God. Some Reformed bigots would claim that
the baby was allowed into the covenant of God because David was a child of God.
There is NOWHERE in the Bible that says God only has mercy on the babies of Bible
believers. God had mercy on the babies in Nineveh when their unsaved parents repented,
and he told Jonah it was simply because he did not hold the babies guilty. If
God wants to do that, no Reformed theologian can stop him. So,
I went through all that to say this..... When God allows a baby to be aborted,
he is saving that baby from eternity in Hell. God knows the mother or parents,
and the baby may have little or no chance to ever hear the Gospel and be converted.
God may also know that the father is a pedophile or will lead the child into crime,
and God decides to make sure that does not happen. Thus,
what is implied here is that every abortion is sending another soul to Heaven.
If you can stop an abortion, you have stopped a murder, but if you cannot stop
it, let it go. God wins in the end. For
this reason, a Bible believer should not make a life calling of stopping abortion.
When we immerse ourselves in all the legal and emotional battles around abortion,
we are not on target. We are called to preach the Gospel to every creature. This
means that if you prevent an abortion, but you make no attempt to later get the
mother and the new baby to Sunday School, you are a servant of the devil. You
have made certain that a baby will be born, live his life, and go to Hell. That
mother would have been better off to have never been around you. You do not give
a damn about her soul or the baby. You only want to win another kudo from your
friends for stopping an abortion.
MORALITY
DEAD END Stop
trying to clean up the world.  The
classic case, in the waste of spiritual energy trying to clean up the devil's
acre, was Prohibition in the USA from 1920 to 1933. Alcoholic drinks were banned
in the whole country, and it was the best thing to happen to the liquor trade.
It simply moved from organized companies into the Appalachian Mountains and cellars
all over New York City. It was called moonshine and bathtub gin.
The
thing was finally abandoned when it became clear that it was not stopping sinners
from sinning. Ranger
Red Zwernemann is about to destroy another moonshine operation. The
latest version of this home made sin is METH
Labs where Methamphetamines are made from common ingredients. We lived in
Roane County in Tennessee. We were told that our county had the most METH Labs
of any county in the USA. Our county also had 90 Baptist churches and a population
of 53,000. The churches were not failing..... the flesh and the devil were simply
doing what comes naturally. Only the Gospel will ever stop their problem in that
county. If
you want to change the morals of the town you live in, preach Christ and his Gospel.
Only the Holy Spirit has the power to change sinners. Another
area in which pastors waste a lot of time is promoting racial harmony. Only the
salt of the earth, that is, born again Christians, and their New Testament ethic,
can change racists into decent people. Again, preach Christ, not integration.
We must
not miss dress codes. I was sitting in a car with another man waiting for someone
to come out of WalMart, and a young lady in very little clothing walked into the
store. The other man with me started raging on these half naked women. Right,
the nature of sinners is they want to take off their clothes and seduce one another.
Again, if you don't like it, stop preaching against hot pants and tattoos, and
preach Jesus Christ. In fact, when a preacher wastes the time of the Hotly Spirit
preaching on "Baptist standards," I have found that, all too often,
that preacher is more than distracted by the lust of the flesh. We
don't have time to list all the issues in the culture in which Christians waste
their lives fighting. If you want to preach on moral issues, follow the plan the
Messiah will use in his coming Kingdom: Ezekiel
44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane,
and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 And in controversy
they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments:
and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall
hallow my sabbaths. Teach
the difference between holy things and things of the world, make judgment, and
move on. Stop parking your pulpit and life in a combat zone the devil owns at
this time. Teach the saints, not the Philistines, moral principles and how to
make their own wise choices. Stop making rules for them. When you leave, they
will go right back to their old ways. Mature saints have been taught to do their
own thinking about standards. And,
for the record, Baptists are not the only Christians who have a problem in this
area. It runs through all Christian groups that take a conservative stand for
Christ. Someone
reading here will be offended, thinking their crusade against cultural and social
evil is noble in the eyes of God. I will suggest three rules in this regard: 1.
Ask for change when you are present. Never launch a war on any sinner. Colossians
4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know
how ye ought to answer every man. 2.
If you don't like to eat in a place that serves liquor, go to one that does not.
Duh. I feel absurd having to tell intelligent people that, but some of you out
there waste a lot of bile bellyaching about what you don't like in the world. 3.
The idol is nothing..... 1
Corinthians 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered
in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that
there is none other God but one.
5 For though there be that are called gods,
whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
6
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in
him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. In
the supermarket I shop at, they have Halal chicken for Muslims. Now, I could get
my nose out of joint and rage at the market for pandering to Islam. But instead,
I buy the Halal chicken because they claim it is free of food additives and antibiotics.
Allah is nothing. Islam is nothing, so God told me to eat the chicken if I choose
to. Furthermore, the Halal chicken is much less expensive than the organic option. There
are some things in the culture that are no temptation to me. They are background
noise morally or spiritually, so if they cannot be ignored, I go elsewhere. When
I go to Elena's Mexican Restaurant, I ask the waitress to change the music to
Mariachi instead of Romantico. Elena has a standing arrangement that I get Mariachi.
Sometimes you can make a thing go away that offends you if you ask politely, and
suggest an alternative. Many worldly people will change something if you give
them another option. Why Mariachi? Answer: It has always got a clean lyric plot.
Like EL CASCABEL (Little Bells). And
when I ask for the music change, virtually everyone in the place is pleased. A
Gringo actually likes our fiery Mexican music.
When
you have stepped into the world, and you made your moderation known, and you left
with people smiling, I am sure your Father in Heaven is also smiling. If the world
refuses to make changes after you politely ask, LEAVE. Do not throw a fit to display
your Pharisaical piety. No one benefits from that, and Jesus Christ had quite
enough of that during his life on earth.
POLITICS
AND PATRIOTISM If
you are immersed in politics, you have traded the knowledge of Christ for the
knowledge of mongrel humanity. You also will have formed loyalties which are vested
in the propaganda of politicians, and 99% of them are not zealous Christians.
You have heard them talk about God, and they may even wave a Bible around, but
their heart and soul is given to a political system. Samuel
Johnson said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." I agree
with him. Nowhere in the Bible are you called to be patriotic. Obey Caesar, yes.....
help him get into power, NO. If
you are bringing politics and patriotism into your church and pulpit and home,
there is only one reason..... you are lazy as a Missouri sow. You are a well without
water. You have traded the precious truths of the Word of God for the US Constitution
and political intrigue. AND, many of the sheep will love it. The people in the
pew will love anything you feed them if it does not convict them of sin. AND,
preacher, you know it. That is why you do it. You don't have to really plow deep
for a sermon on politics and patriotism. Just gather a lot of anecdotes of Ronald
Reagan and the founding fathers, and you have a sermon. Exalt the latest "MAGA"
candidate, and the saints will love it as they starve for real food. I
must say the following as charitably as possible, preacher,,,,,"You are a
devilish rebel if you are not feeding sheep." Do
not tell me about voting. That is not your job. Nowhere in the New Testament are
you told to convince the saints how to vote. Indeed, God hates Democracy. Check
out the image of Daniel. The cheap iron ends in the last disastrous empire in
human history. The world's perfect empire will be a monarchy. The Messiah will
not be a Prime Minister. The
worst aspect of the political distraction is all the time you spend chasing down
political intrigue and promoting candidates. That is time you could have spent
visiting a God fearing widow or studying to show thyself approved unto God. Instead,
you are approved by Senators and Representatives as they flatter you for promoting
their career. My
wife and I joined the Republican Club in Barstow, California while I was pastoring
a church nearby. At first, it seemed like a place to meet people for the cause
of Christ. But, as time went on, we became bothered with the immoral concepts
in some Republican policies. We met a member who was truly born again, and it
resulted in an addition to our church and a chance to preach the Gospel to a member
of that family who was not born again. But, one evening, the guest speaker was
a member of the California State Legislature who was running for reelection. His
platform was to block a bill being discussed in the legislature. The bill would
have changed the tax deduction for losses on property that the owner did not live
on. Only the place where he lived could generate a tax deduction. The
reason the Democrats wanted the tax changing bill was because rich lawyers and
doctors in Beverty Hills and Hollywood would buy up ranches in our area, hire
a caretaker, and tell him to keep the ranch neat and functioning, but to make
sure he ran it at a loss. The care taker would keep the alfalfa fields producing,
but he would sell the alfalfa at a loss. The result was that the ranch produced
a huge tax deduction for the owner. The result was that serious farmers were having
to lower their price per bale in order to sell their crop. A number were near
bankruptcy because of this. In the San Juaquin Valley, big corporate ranches were
doing the same thing in the millions of dollars range. This made me sick because,
right there in front of the legislator, as he was speaking, sat our farmer friend
who was going broke because the the tax deduction provision. Also, attending our
church were a couple who were caretakers for just such a legal tax scam. We
realized that the Republican Party was made up of just as wicked men as the Democratic
Party. Since that experience, we have had nothing to do with politics, and I almost
never vote for any reason. The American democracy has become run through with
wicked and immoral schemes. Go ahead and learn all the ways and means of the political
world, but it will all be wood, hay, and stubble when you stand before Christ
at the judgment of your works. 1
Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest:
for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's
work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet
so as by fire. The
meaning here is that, since you are born again, God will not be able to let you
into Heaven and your eternal reward with him, until all your works are burned
completely up. No one will walk into Heaven after having wasted his life getting
worthless knowledge and using it to do worthless things. It would look like God
was OK with your waste of your life. Poof..... all gone..... no good memories
or Christian victory, though you will barely be saved. NEITHER
JESUS NOR THE APOSTLES WOULD HAVE DONE THIS
HERE IS THE ULTIMATE BLASPHEMY.....
SINGING BATTLE SONGS OF THE US MILITARY
IN CHURCH
Exalting war makers in the church is extremely perilous because
all wars have both noble and evil motives by the national leaders. If you saw
a German Lutheran church having a patriotic service during the Nazi era and Adolph
Hitler, you would be enraged. What makes you think God is an American? How can
you possibly speak on his behalf and exalt American wars and wave the flag in
a church worship service? The American flag now stands for a nation which guarantees
the right of women to kill their babies. The flag stands for the right of sodomites
to go to public schools and indoctrinate children in sodomy. The
war making exalted in this service did not include the War of 1812, the last war
when America was actually attacked. All recent wars, from WW I to the present,
were not in response to attacks on America that justified killing millions of
people elsewhere in the world. America has become a war making nation, and our
present leaders, almost 100%, jump at every new opportunity to send American soldiers
to get themselves killed far away. History tells us that nations become nonstop
war makers because they are on the verge of collapse, and they need causes to
divert the attention of the citizens from the pathetic condition of the central
government. The most blasphemous part of this service is when they sing US Military
fight songs. Can you see Jesus singing along with them? If so, you are a sick
puppy, my friend. Question:
It is estimated that the US Military killed 1.5 million innocent civilians and
children in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is called "collateral damage."
Do you really believe American soldiers were defending your freedom by killing
those innocent people? In
the church I pastored in Michigan, the people were relieved when I took down the
American flag from the front of the church. I took down the Christian flag also
because it is almost a carbon copy of a Roman Catholic crusader's flag. Stop
waving the flag, and wave the King James Bible.
EDUCATION
AND VOCATION The
wise learn during their youth that school and college are not the whole world
of knowledge. Proverbs
18:15 The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh
knowledge. If
ignorance is a deadly refuge, then it is clear that the path of life will be a
constant school preparing us for the future. Learning
more than one skill. It
was my objective that my sons would learn more than one vocational skill. A man
who knows only one way to make a living is in deep trouble when that vocation
goes into decline. This can happen because of recession, or it can happen when
a vocation goes into decline by being replaced by technological progress. So,
any wise young man will be learning more than one job skill. WC
grew up helping his father, a farm animal veterinarian, take care of animals.
He also got into competition rifle marksmanship. As life changed for him, he was
able to be paid to teach sniper shooting to the Israeli Defense Force. M
got his first job as a grounds keeper for a cemetery. He then learned computer
technology, and finally, he learned to build top quality fishing rods. At
thirteen Thomas Edison took a job as a newsboy, selling newspapers and candy on
the local railroad that ran through Port Huron to Detroit. He seems to have spent
much of his free time reading scientific, and technical books, and also had the
opportunity at this time to learn how to operate a telegraph. By the time he was
sixteen, Edison was proficient enough to work as a telegrapher full time. The
development of the telegraph was the first step in the communication revolution,
and the telegraph industry expanded rapidly in the second half of the 19th century.
This rapid growth gave Edison and others like him a chance to travel, see the
country, and gain experience. Edison worked in a number of cities throughout the
United States before arriving in Boston in 1868. Here Edison began to change his
profession from telegrapher to inventor. He received his first patent on an electric
vote recorder, a device intended for use by elected bodies such as Congress to
speed the voting process. This invention was a commercial failure. Edison resolved
that in the future he would only invent things that he was certain the public
would want. Edison
had very little formal education as a child, attending school only for a few months.
He was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, but was always a
very curious child and taught himself much by reading on his own. This belief
in self-improvement remained throughout his life. Any
job learned well is a form of insurance against hard times later. A man who knows
nothing but deep sea fishing for tuna will one day, long before he wants to retire,
lose the physical stamina to work on tuna boats in violent weather. If he has
no other vocational skill to fall back on, he may find himself in poverty.
Learning
from older adults In
past cultures in Europe, Asia, America, and Africa, boys were obsessed with the
day when they were allowed to sit with the older men and listen to them spin yarns.
Every yarn is a lesson in survival and prosperity. Old men tell how they overcame
life's obstacles, and they tell about their failures. Modern culture, in almost
all nations of the world today, has changed. Old people are put away, or they
are left to sit alone. Japan has a government program that finds and commissions
old artists and craftsmen, giving them a government pension, to keep their skills
alive and teach young men to carry them on. In
Patagonia, Arizona, lived a Hispanic man in his nineties who had made bull whips
all his life. The ones he made were braided through their full length of the whip
and properly tapered. I was told that no one in that part of Arizona knew another
man who still made bull whips the old way. Local men started begging him to find
a young man to teach the secrets. The old Mexican never let anyone see him making
a whip, always working behind closed doors. The last I heard, he had found another
Hispanic kid who was very bright, and the old man was teaching him the secrets
of the trade. Old
ways and old skills are seldom found in books and online. You must go find the
old men who have those skills, and you must ask to be taught. My
daughter Mary did a survey of older woman whom she knew. She asked them how often
they were asked questions about life and spiritual issues by younger women. The
only ones who said they had been asked such questions were pastor's wives and
woman who were Bible teachers. Young women in the Lord's Church seem to have walked
away from the aged women whom they could ask about life and godliness. Titus
2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not
false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they
may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands,
that the word of God be not blasphemed.
My
experience I
grew up on the missionfield with a Dad who was a master improvisor, a builder,
and a perfectionist mechanic. He made sure, all along the way, to give me tasks
in the work he was doing. I later learned radio theory and built my own short-wave
radio. During college I took a Christian Education major. This resulted in my
teaching in a Bible Institute in Michigan and later going to Africa where I was
Headmaster of a pastor's training school. After the years in Africa, I pastored
four small churches in the USA. Like the Apostle Paul, who was a tent mender on
the side, I got into substitute teaching in public schools for added income. Later,
as the pay for substitute teachers became poor, a lady in a church I pastored
handed me a set of piano tuning tools and a correspondence course in piano tuning.
I found a mentor nearby to guide me, and that turned into a 35 years career as
a piano tuner while also pastoring churches. All
of my life history had everything to do with the will of God. I do not recall
following my dream. That is a warm fuzzy thing to tell a young person, but life
simply does not run along pre-planned paths. But, God gave me a Dad who encouraged
me to learn new skills and be inventive. He took me to see men at work, and his
friends were all a lot like him. If a boy or girl is regularly encouraged to learn
new skills while growing up, they will survive later. If Daddy and Mommy let them
play all the way through childhood and the teen years, they will probably have
serious problems finding their way through life. They simply will not have the
knowledge base that can be turned into survival skills later. Ignorance is NOT
bliss. By
the way, I decided in 1995 to write a tutorial in piano tuning and repair for
beginners and people who wanted to repair their own piano. Because piano tuning
has remained a guild type profession, in which tuners never tell their secrets,
my book was a case of swimming upstream. My two sons, giving me priceless advice,
told me to post it on the Web free, and sell the parts and tools online to do
the work. I opened my web store in 1995. The business was a niche with only one
man competing with me worldwide. That is the way God gets involved in your life,
and when you had a Dad who pushed you to learn. The sale of the business paid
for our home in Texas with no mortgage, and I had no retirement plan because of
the vocation of being a pastor of small churches. God was in this whole story
from top to bottom, but, again, I had a Dad to send me down the road from day
one. Are
you giving your kids a knowledge base with which to survive the rest of their
life?
College
versus Apprenticeship Is
apprenticeship a form of ignorance? Is it second best? The modern attitude toward
apprenticeship is that it is for losers who could not make good enough grades
to go to college. OR, their parents were too poor to send them to college. Long
ago, the only way into a vocation was by apprenticeship, and when the man finally
mastered the craft, he was invited to join the guild for that trade. A guild member
was one of the most elite men in the community in old Europe. The only guild left
in the world, that I know of, is the piano tuners guild. And, you have to prove
you are a master of the craft to be inducted. We
saw that Thomas Edison had no formal education. And, his inventions were passably
the most powerful force in the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. And, just up
the road from Thomas Edison's work place was Henry Ford, Edison's good friend.
Ford invented the assembly line and secured his place in history and a prosperous
life. Wilbur
and Orvile Wright ran a bicycle shop, and they decided to make a flying machine.
They had to rewrite the whole known aeronautical statistical tables because their
first airplane would not fly, and they realized the tables were wrong. They had
an eighth grade education in math. Mike
Rowe- MIKE TELLS YOU HOW TO PREPARE A KID
TO FAIL LATER IN LIFE. If
you decide for apprenticeship, be sure it is a vocation you can still do in old
age. Piano tuning, which the Lord arranged for me, turned out to be a vocation
I could do long after most men retire. Being a lineman is a noble and rewarding
profession, but the day you cannot climb a power pole anymore, that is the day
you are our of work. Beware of the advice to "follow your dream." Be
sure the dream will have a happy ending.
Home
schooling Home
schooling is all about control. Do you want Caesar to educate your children in
the ways of the world and Atheism, or do you want God in control. If you want
God in control, YOU are his school teacher. Either take hold, and learn to teach,
or watch the world gobble up your kid's mind and morals. It is a lot worse now
than in your day, and you know very well how the public school tried to destroy
your faith in God and the moral truth of the Bible. Of
course, you can make sure to never attend a school board meeting, and avoid talk
about what is going on in your kids' public school, and you will be at peace in
your tower of ignorance. And, you may end up with a transgender kid or a kid who
decides the Bible is a lot of legends. Proverbs
22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not
depart from it. Your
choice.
 Learning
as Adventure
There
is just about nothing left to discover, that is, unless you own a rocket launching
company and can be first to land on Mars. But, there is still a rush to be had
in climbing to the top of Mount Whitney and discover it for yourself. And, what
you learn may have been learned by someone else before you, but when you see it
for yourself, you will at at least be one of the few..... the few that went to
the trouble of doing it again. When
Bob Capen and I climbed the volcano in Kenya named Mount Longonot, along with
a group of other students, we both decided walking around the rim of the volcano
would be old stuff, so we climbed down into the volcano and walked across the
floor of the volcano. It was inactive of course, so we were in no danger. But,
we learned all sorts of things that very few people before us had learned because
the easy thing is to walk around the rim of the volcano. What
can we take away from this? Answer: When you go forth to an adventure, break some
rules of logic, and see what you can find that may have been overlooked. If
you home school, you should plan field trips to learning opportunities. When you
home school, you have only one to three kids in school usually, and there are
places you can go that public schools cannot because their numbers are too large. If
your kids are in public school, and they do not any longer do field trips, make
a fuss, and demand that they start them again. If they will not do field trips,
do them yourself for your kids. When something really unusual turns up in your
area, get the family into the car, and go see what is happening. We had a hot
air balloon land about a quarter mile from our home in Michigan, so we took the
kids to see how they land one of those balloons. Also, in Arizona the Country
Magazine draft horse hitch was crossing America, and they stopped in a town
nearby. We went and saw it and stayed for the presentation they did for the public.
The sense
of wonder needed in order to learn by adventure has to be taught into kids. And,
Dad and Mom are the ones who must do this. Many man long ago did not follow the
safe paths, and they had amazing experiences. One old Texan would go out in the
woods to relieve himself from time to time. He dug a hole, defecated in it, and
covered it like a cat. He felt he needed to simply do some things the hard way.
And, he was a well known author and taught in the University of Texas. When
I was growing up in Africa, my parents let me explore the area we lived in without
many limitations. I also hiked into the forests around our boarding school in
the Highlands of Kenya. One of the most troubling aspects of old age is the limitation
of health issues which prevent adventure and exploration. If you are going to
enlarge your mind with adventure, do not put it off. The
most deadly inhibition of the spirit of adventure today is technology. Surfing
the web is not adventure the way hiking through a forest is. It is very telling
that some of the most powerful and rich moguls of the technology world, the very
ones who invented that world, will not let their kids have a cell phone or watch
TV. They clearly know something they are not telling us. It
is a sad thing to meet an adult who never had any adventures when he was a kid.
It is a ministry to a kid with a small world to make sure he gets to go on adventures.
Kids from poor homes seldom get to see the startling things in nature and the
world around them. See if you can include such a kid in your family adventures
from time to time. I am not talking about Disney Land. I am talking about a hike
in the Smoky Mountains, pier fishing in the ocean, or a visit to the home of a
retired missionary who is full of stories. Jim
Otis was a Cherokee Indian who lived in Missouri and worked as a welder of steel
in buildings. We were invited to stay with them while I spoke at his church. I
got him to talking, and he loved to spin yarns about the old days and ways. He
had a smoke house to bar-b-que, and he fired up and cooked up a mess of chicken
and ribs for us. Then, we sat up until two in the morning talking about old days
he had seen. I just kept asking questions, and Jim kept talking. These sort of
people are priceless.
Learning
from doing dirty jobs and inconvenient deeds of kindness MIKE
ROWE TALKS ABOUT DIRTY JOBS AND HOW THEY CHANGED HIS WORLD VIEW. When
we leave our safe zone and go to do some dirty job for someone, we learn about
their world. We learn about ourselves also. What do I assume about this world
and life that is totally wrong? We find the answer by giving of ourselves. The
ultimate dirty job had to be dying the horrible death of crucifixion on Calvary.
That is the dirty job Jesus did for you and me. He took all of our sin and guilt
on himself. What did he learn? Does that sound blasphemous..... is there anything
Jesus, as God the Son, did not know? Here is the Bible answer: Hebrews
5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him; He
learned obedience. If Jesus had to go to Calvary to totally understand about sin
and my guilt, what does that tell me about being a good learner? Do
you give to those in need? Not much? Well, maybe this will help:
End
video When
we give to others, and when we participate in their life in some way, we learn
things that cannot be learned any other way. Think about Jesus and his miracles.
He did not send miracles to people remotely. Jesus walked through Galilee, and
then he helped people, he fed them, he healed them, and he raised them from the
dead. Every thing about Jesus was personal, from him to the people in need. And,
Jesus spent time in the homes of people. He was accused of being the friend of
publicans and sinners. Have
you gained knowledge by doing nasty jobs for other people? I hope so.
Beware
of deciding what your children will be I
have heard many tales of parents who decided to give their child to God to be
a missionary or pastor. I am all for you giving your child to God, but when you
decide what God can do with your child, you are way out of line. In this modern
sin sick world, you ought to be delighted if your child becomes a dedicated servant
of God, no matter what career they one day choose. There
are many stories of pastors or missionaries who went down the road to destiny
to please Dad and Mom, and they ended up selling insurance. And, that is probably
what God wanted for them in the first place. There is nothing more priceless than
a born again insurance salesman who always gets the best policy for every one
he helps. And, he does his best to get the insurance company to pay the best payout
possible after a house burns or a car is wrecked. I knew such a man, and people
loved him for his integrity. You
do not know what God wants your child to be later in life. Simply teach them faith
in Christ, and do everything possible to keep them learning and mentally growing. My
Dad never told me he expected me to be a missionary or pastor like him. My Dad
had one main rule of life to me: Ecclesiastes
9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no
work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
The
devil hates everything I just wrote Satan
loves the socialists and Democrats of America because, any babies that survive
their abortion clinics, they teach to sit on their butt and harvest cash off of
the tax base. If you do not want to have a kid who hangs around the house and
works the socialist system in America for a free ride, get him to learning, and
expect him to perform. I
am not talking about raising a rabid Capitalist who will skin every victim he
can to make a profit. I am talking about what the Apostle Paul told the saints
at Thessalonica: 2
Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that
if any would not work, neither should he eat. I
am also not telling you to raise a proud kid who will not accept help from another
Christian when he is in serious trouble due to the course of living a responsible
life. I also severely warn you against withholding help from the poor and homeless.
If you do this, you will have a stingy brat for a kid later. But,
the honor of working and providing for one's family, and not being short handed
to the needy, is the second most important thing a kid can learn right after he
learns to put his faith in Jesus Christ for his salvation. Remember,
you were saved on Calvary by a man who started his life out in a carpenter's home.
As the oldest son of Joseph and Mary, Jesus would have been very busy helping
with the family business. And, the Pharisees made every possible accusation they
could against Jesus, but you never read where a Pharisee said, "He may be
an OK Rabbi, but he sure makes a lousy chair." Jesus
was a diligent son, and he grew humanly in wisdom. Luke
2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
 Memorization
Do
not be intimidated by Bible teachers who shame you for not memorizing enough Scripture.
When you were a child, memorizing probably came easily, but you are an adult now,
and memorizing will be much harder. Of course, anything you memorize will be there
in your memory for instant reference. And,
if you want to win souls, you will need to be able to quote enough Bible texts
on salvation to lead someone to Christ. But even here, it is always a lot more
powerful to have a Bible handy and let the person you are witnessing to read it
for himself. This gives authority to what you tell them. All
my life I had trouble memorizing. I have learned that knowing where to find the
evidence is just as useful as memorizing in most instances. My suggestion to you
is to know where the knowledge and facts are, and make sure you can get to them.
In the age of technology there is very little excuse for not having the facts.
We now have Google, and if you learn how to use key words cleverly, you can find
just about any fact you need. Even Bible verses can be found on Google if you
know some key words in the verse. The only caveat is that the Internet has its
lunatic fringe, and what they post is total rubbish. When
you are in a gathering where someone present has a fantastic memory, and they
can quote Bible verses with the reference for every topic under discussion, do
not be intimidate. But, take a cue from them. You need to learn how to find your
way to verses in the bible that you too can use. D
L Moody, the famous evangelist, at the and of his days, started carrying a Bible
concordance. Someone asked him why, and he told them that he had lost his ability
to quote Bible verses like he once did. So, he carried a concordance so that he
could find a verse in the Bible when it was needed to answer a question. That
is exactly what Einstein was talking about in the quote above. When
I study a Bible topic, or a social of historic issue, I try to find used books
on line that I can read, but also to keep them on hand to go back to and refresh
my memory of the facts. You can find countless used books online at Book Finder
and Gutenburg Press. If
you are home schooling, or even just as part of child rearing, I suggest you include
Bible memorization in your family. You could give incentives by rewarding your
kids for reaching goals. The Word of God stored in the long term memory can be
a great comfort throughout life. The Holy Spirit can use these memorized texts
to guide your kids all throughout their lives. Deuteronomy
6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this
day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto
thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,
and on thy gates. Psalms
119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. George
Tuinstra was a long time pastor and Bible teacher in Bible churches in Michigan.
When he was very old, he lost his memory. In the end, his wife or kids would start
reading Ephesians from the first verse out loud. George would pick it up and recite
from memory the whole book of Ephesians. What a blessing to his family that, when
he was younger, he filled his mind with the Bible instead of CNN, Fox News, or
even Louis L'Amour and cowboy stories. I
also caution you about Contemporary Christian Music. If you lost your memory in
old age, what might you be singing all day long? Are you singing sloppy agape
songs that have little or no doctrine?
CHURCH
LIFE One
man has said, "We need to beware of knowing enough about a subject to be
sure we are right, but not knowing enough about that subject to realize that we
are wrong." The
three doctors who bled George Washington three times knew the well established
medical necessity for bleeding the patient, but they did not know enough to realize
that they were wrong. In fact, they probably bled him to death because they robbed
him of his white blood cells to fight off the severe cold he had. Now,
let us review two refuges where slow belly Christians escape from getting knowledge.
There are many more such refuges where believers hide from knowledge, but these
two are classic. Example
one of the refuge of ignorance- the Baptist Heritage So,
preacher, you went to Bible college, and your brilliant professor told you about
the Red Trail of Blood, and there have always been Baptists since the day of John
the Baptist, right? Well, John the Baptist was not in the Church Age. He was executed
about twenty years before the Church was established on the Day of Pentecost.
And, you also did not notice that there are about 900 years with no Baptists in
the Trail of Blood. And, you failed to notice that the first mention of Baptists,
in Church History (the history that predates your professor by 500 years), was
in 1609. Here is the short version of that beginning from the BBC History page
online. The
roots of the Baptist movement date back to the sixteenth century and the post-Reformation
period, although the first Baptist congregation appeared in 1609 in Holland. It
was here that the Church of England minister, John Smyth, performed a radical
and scandalous act of baptizing himself by pouring water on his head. He than
baptized his fellow reformer, Thomas Helwys and other members of the congregation.
Smyth
and Helwys had left England for Holland in 1607 after being persecuted for wanting
to purify the Church of England of all traces of Roman Catholicism. Both Smyth
and Helwys had joined a group of 'Separatists' in Gainsborough in 1606. Their
three core beliefs went on to shape later Baptists. They
were: The Bible, not church tradition or religious creed, was the guide in all
matters of faith and practice. The
church should be made up of believers only, not all people born in the local parish.
The church
should be governed by those believers, not by hierarchical figures like bishops.
Before
1609 there were NO Baptists any where on earth. Your professor grabbed various
sound Bible teachers in Church history, and he turned them into Baptists by saying,
"They were Baptists. They just didn't know it yet." And, you wonder
why your assembly does not attract some intellectual men like the Apostle Paul
did. It is because you are a jack boot, full of yourself, and very short on knowledge.
Your Baptist myth reminds me of the Texas longhorn cattle..... they are all about
two points and a lot of bull in between. You
have chosen that position because you are either too timid to really do the study
of history, or you are terrified of the Baptist Mafia of light weight scholars.
Disagree with them, and you will not be in the hall of fame one day. You will
be shunned, and you will have to live satisfied with knowing you are finally well
informed, and you will die that way. A great bishop from Crown College or Tennessee
Temple will never stand over you grave and declare that you were a brilliant success
in the Baptist movement. Now,
let us be clear..... fleeing to the refuge of denominational heritage is not exclusively
a Baptist fault. The same thing is done by Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, Pentecostals,
Church of God, Charismania, and many other denominations. People devote themselves
to their denominational heritage, and they get the idea that they are done learning.
The folly
of this is that you are told the source of knowledge in the Word of God, and it
is not your denomination's doctrinal statement or confession of faith. Hosea
4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy
with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge
of God in the land. Proverbs
2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge
of God. Matthew
22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power of God. You
have not found knowledge and wisdom until you find them for yourself from the
Word of God. Also, the facts of history are not always clear. You will have to
do some serious digging on your own to learn the truth. Example
two of a refuge of ignorance- The Bible translation issue So,
in what other ways are we stuck on stupid because we refuse to learn the whole
story? My
Dad sent me a copy of Which Bible by Dr. Otis Fuller a Fundamental Baptist
pastor from Grand Rapids. The book is an early work of the modern era defending
the King James Bible as the only inspired Bible in English. I was skeptical as
I started the book, and then I was hit by Fuller's evidences and references. Finally,
I decided I would see for myself if it was as bad as he claimed. I got out my
Greek study helps, and I went through the Gospel of Matthew in fine detail. I
was horrified at the arrogant groundless changes the New International Version
made. I got half way through the Gospel of Mark, and I threw it down. I was convinced.
As I sat
in my office one night thinking about this, the verses in Revelation 22 hit me: Revelation
22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this
book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book
of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book. The
NIV translators both added and took away from the Word of God. Someone counted
various names of Christ have been removed in 1200 places in the NIV. And, the
Greek text is not the only issue with the new translations. They also mutilate
the Old Testament. For
Numbers 21:14, the King James Bible has, "Wherefore
it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and
in the brooks of Arnon," The
New International Version has, "That is why the Book
of the Wars of the Lord says:. . . 'Zahab[d] in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon.'
" Some
effete snob on the translation committee wanted to show how brilliant he was in
the geography of Israel, so he added all the rubbish that IS NOT in the Hebrew.
And, he deleted the mention of the Red Sea. What arrogance..... adding and taking
away in a single verse. So,
as I sat and contemplated what these men had done, I realized they had both added
and taken away from the Word of God, and most grievously, names of Jesus in many
places. It hit me that these translators are all on their way to the curses in
Revelation 22:18-19. In particular, I had a Bible study commentary written my
Dr. John Walvoord of Dallas Seminary, and it hit me that the man may have a great
confession of faith, but if Jesus was not just blowing the breeze in Revelation
22, John Walvoord was on his way to Hell. In his commentary he virtually mocked
at a couple of passages in the New Testament as uninspired and added later. He
then said he would treat them in the appendix of his commentary to pamper the
literalist bigots. None
of this made me happy long ago as the import of it hit me. It still makes me uncomfortable.
But, if I believe Revelation 22 is inspired of God, I have no choice but to put
anyone who uses any English translation other than the King James Bible, and WHO
KNOWS THE ISSUES, in a category of uncertainty as to their salvation. Are
you avoiding this translation discussion by carefully keeping your distance from
the historic facts? I have met many men, some with PhDs, who make it clear that
they do not want to know. Do
you mock at the Book of Mormon and then read your sermon text from a mutilated
Bible? Please
understand that the critical issue in all of this is the history of the Greek
texts used by the translators. There are two lines of Greek manuscripts that have
come down to us, and virtually all English revisions and translations since around
1900 have used the Gnostic Roman Catholic texts from Alexandria as complied by
Westcott and Hort. The King James Bible, and the Geneva Bible, are the only English
Bibles currently in use that came from the Antioch Greek texts which exalt the
deity of Christ and are not infected by Greek Gnosticism. If you want to know
more, SEND MAIL. I
find it most instructional that the Greek Orthodox Church insists on the King
James Bible when they read the Bible in English. Why? Do those Greeks know something
you don't know? The
New King James Bible claims to use the Antioch Greek texts, but it has been shown
that in many places they clearly change the KJV to come in line with the Alexandrian
Greek texts. They are liars. I
believe these two discussions of historic issues in the Christian Church prove
me right. Failing to finish gathering knowledge results in our blundering along
promoting fables and folly, while seeking knowledge rewards us with finding the
truth. CAVEAT:
Count the cost. You will almost always lose friends and make enemies if you tell
the whole truth. I would be very shocked if my discussion above about the King
James Bible, and other translations, has not lost me a friend who reads here.
But, I have a Friend who is so important to me that I would lose all my friends
in this world in order to one day hear my Friend say, "Well done, thou good
and faithful servant."
THE
GOSPEL When
the Gospel gets complicated, such as John Calvin made it, it is no longer the
Gospel. It is fantasy composed by man. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is exceedingly
simple. Romans
10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed. I
hear preachers get all worked up about the words some professing Christian uses
to describe their conversion. They reject, "I accepted Jesus into my heart"
as theologically incorrect. They mock at, "I asked Jesus to come into my
heart." They choke over, "I believed in Jesus." They want to hear,
"On Jesus." Heaven
and Hell do not turn on prepositions. The words used by a sinner who confesses
his faith in Christ are not nearly as urgent as the intent of his heart. Hebrews
4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The
question is, do you KNOW THE LORD? Some Fundamental Baptist is now cursing me
as a heretic. Well, preacher boy, here is where lost sinners are COMMANDED to
know the Lord. Hebrews
8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them
in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least
to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A
new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old
is ready to vanish away. The
Jews of the coming Kingdom Reign of Christ will all know the Lord and will not
be unsaved and in need of evangelizing. The message of evangelism in the Old Testament
era was in the command, "Know the Lord." If someone tells you, "I
know the Lord," is that enough of an answer? In so far as your need to interrogate
them, YES. You do not have to give an account to God for what that person means
with, "I know the Lord." What you ARE told to do by Jesus, in the future,
is look for fruit unto righteousness. Matthew
7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs
of thistles? So,
when you get a load of theological horse leavings from some high powered preacher
or AHD about the precise words used to respond to the Gospel, do not inhale. Romans
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God: You
are the only one you can be sure of when we are talking about what you believe.
You cannot be 100% sure the person in front of you is born again until you see
the fruit of the Spirit in them. Once you see fruit that clearly was the work
of the Holy Spirit, you are an Arminian devil if you EVER question their salvation
again. If they can lose it, so can you. Heaven
and Hell are not full yet. When they are, you will be taken out of here to the
presence of Jesus, and you will start your journey through eternity. Stop trying
to be the smartest kid on the block. Start listening closer to the Holy Spirit
when you deal with other people. Now,
there is a limit to this discussion. When you ask Billy Bob if he knows the Lord,
and Billy says, "Me and God have an understanding," well, you need to
bear down on that boy a bit and see what that "understanding" really
is. But, stop this insane war with prepositions. RA
Torrey said, "You have not mastered any doctrine in the Bible until you can
explain it to a five year old, and help him understand it." If you imagine
a five year old cannot understand the Gospel and "know the Lord," you
have not mastered the Gospel message yet. Keep trying. You will get it with practice.
So, do
YOU know the Lord? There is no greater knowledge you can add to your life. SEND
MAIL, and give me the good news. There
are gospels you should not know any more about than to avoid wasting you time
on them. Learn enough to smell their stench, and learn who teaches them from large
pulpits so you can warn the saints about them. Some
gospels that are not from the Word of God: 1.
Lordship gospel. This heresy teaches that you are not finished getting saved until
you make Jesus Lord of you life. Look here..... no one ever MADE Jesus Lord. He
has always been Lord from eternity past. There is a vast difference between presenting
your body a living sacrifice and making Jesus anything. Furthermore, when taught
like John MacArthur teaches this flaming gospel from Hell, it leaves the saint
uncertain if he ever will be finished getting saved because all saints continue
to struggle against the old nature, as Paul did in Romans 7. If your Gospel does
not preach that, "Romans 8:1 There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit," you are teaching a gospel hatched in the mind
of Satan. 2.
Salvation plus something more. With the church of Christ, the something more is
water baptism. With the Roman Catholic Church it is various works and sacraments.
With many Pentecostals and Charismatics it is speaking in tongues. They may claim
they believe in salvation by faith alone, but their practical theology teaches
salvation by faith PLUS good works. 3.
Salvation by an epiphany. Primitive Baptists teach that you are not saved by responding
to the Gospel presented to you with a view to repentance and speaking verbally
of your faith in Jesus Christ. They teach that one day, while you are thinking
serious thoughts, WHAM, the Holy Ghost hits you with a gospel brick, and you are
saved that instant. You have no will to choose to believe in Christ. If you are
one of the elect, you will get hit by the gospel brick, and that settles it. 4.
Salvation is only certain when you behave like you are saved. This is a Fundamental
Baptist gospel. You are given a list of behaviors that, once you accomplish them,
you are allowed to believe you are born again. Some of these are, be here every
time the doors are open, dress according to your pastor's standards, street preach,
hand out tracts, get a Baptist hair cut, and walk forward at the invitation at
least once a month. And, as Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Many other such
things ye do." The list of acts that prove you are saved is endless. All
Fundamental Baptist preachers will deny this of course, but you can tell they
are lying because, during altar calls, they will say something like, "Why
should I believe you are really saved if you do not _______________." This
is just as much a damned to Hell heresy as any of the others above. 5.
Salvation by destiny. This is the gospel according to John Calvin and almost all
Reformed denominations today. This heresy states that you are elect from eternity
past unto salvation. So, if you never confess faith in Jesus Christ out loud (Romans
10:9-10) do not worry about it. If God elected you, you are born again simply
because you are a sincere member of a Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed, Lutheran,
or Anglican Church, Again, you will hear Reformed pastors deny this, but they
prove they believe it because then never witness to the lost for Christ, and they
seldom preach the Gospel from the pulpit. And, they absolutely never ask a professing
Christian to tell them when they were born again by faith in Jesus Christ. "With
the mouth confession is made unto salvation...." is not required of Reformed
people. They will convince a young woman to not have an abortion, but they will
not go around and pick her and her baby up and take them to Sunday School to hear
the Gospel. The disciples of John Calvin do not believe a saved person must be
eager to speak to the lost about their salvation. 6.
Salvation by inheritance. This is another gospel taught by Reformed denominations.
They teach that if you were born into a family which are Reformed, when your parents
took you to be baptized, you were brought into the covenant with Christ. They
will admit that you are not yet born again until you have been through catechism
and confirmed by church leaders. But, you can coast right through life until you
are about 14 years old when they will tell you it is time to attend a Catechism
class. For this reason, thousands of Reformed young people who have died after
the age of accountability are now burning in Hell. The time to confess Christ
as Savior is as soon as you are old enough to understand you are a sinner and
in need of salvation offered by Christ. 7.
Salvation by tithing and giving. This is taught in many churches by various tricks.
Reformed churches will raise an unsaved man right into the consistory or church
board if he gives huge gifts of cash to the church. He is never asked to give
a verbal confession of faith to any church leader. The cash is far too valuable
to lose by asking him to speak of his salvation. He may not be born again, but
we need the cash. Baptists do the same thing. But, they make a feeble attempt
to cover their heretical posterior by asking the cash giver where he was baptized.
They simply assume that the church he went to last made sure he was really saved.
Then, there are those pastors who simply take the cash and do not care if the
giver is going to Hell. J Frank Norris of Fort Worth, Texas was one of these.
He bought huge expensive crucifixes on a visit to the Vatican, and he made sure
they were certified blessed by the Pope. He then gave them to big time businessmen
in Fort Worth who were all Catholics. Those businessmen then covered Norris with
gold, and he stated that, "If they are going to go to Hell, I might as well
get their money before they go." Again,
under 7. we have the Baptist pastors who say, "If you are not tithing, why
should I believe you are saved?" This causes the members to believe that
they can have assurance of salvation by tithing, which is nowhere taught in the
Bible. There
are many more gospels Satan has foisted onto the Church of the Lord Christ. Sadly,
may people fulfill the provisions of these alien gospels, and they are on their
way to Hell. There is a special damnation for Pastors who teach these heretical
gospels. Galatians
1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Do
you have a pastor who is preaching a gospel that will send both him and YOU to
Hell? HERE
IS THE GOSPEL DIRECTLY FROM THE WORD OF GOD TO YOU
CLICK
FOR PART FIVE LINKS: HERE
IS THE END OF YOUR LIFE IF YOU KEEP HUGGING IGNORANCE TED
TALKS- I strongly suggest that, if you want online time to add knowledge to your
hard drive, search Ted Talks. Some of their topics are disgusting, but they are
famous for finding people to talk about things they have done themselves or researched
seriously. HOW
TO TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE AND MIND FROM SMARTPHONE AND SOCIAL MEDIA THOROUGHLY
CONSCIOUS IGNORANCE
Stuart Firestein talks about identifying what you are
ignorant of with a view to finding knowledge to eliminate that ignorance. Pastors
should watch this. Sir, what are you doing when you teach the Bible to the people?
Are you giving them loads of facts which you expect them to remember? Or, are
you lighting a fire in them to hunger and thirst after righteousness and find
if themselves? If you want a church full of robots, keep loading on the facts.
If you want noble Bereans, who search "to see if these things be true,"
then you must draw them into the fact gathering process. In other words, you must
stop trying to be the center of attention and the brain boss.
SEND
MAIL
BACK
TO THE WAR ROOM BLESSED
QUIETNESS JOURNAL ENTRY PAGE ge
|
