Searching for the Truth in the King James Bible;
Finding it, and passing it on to you.

EDITOR:
Steve Van Nattan

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RABBIT FOOT RELIGION

By Steve Van Nattan

We will review all the rabbit foot superstitions of world religions, and then we will look into your religion and mine to see what superstitions we also have.

The whole concept of good luck is based in the human tendency to distrust the powers that be, whether they are family, society, government, God, or even one's self. Thus, people want some fetish, or spoken magic word, which will give them good fortune.

The belief in North American folklore may originate in the system of African American folk magic known as "Voodoo". A number of strictures attached to the rabbit foot charm are:

First, not any foot from a rabbit will do: it is the left hind foot of a rabbit that is useful as a charm.

Second, not any left hind foot of a rabbit will do; the rabbit must have been shot or otherwise captured in a cemetery.

Third, at least according to some sources, not any left hind foot of a rabbit shot in a cemetery will do: the phase of the moon is also important. Some authorities say that the rabbit must be taken in the full moon, while others hold instead that the rabbit must be taken in the new moon. Some sources say instead that the rabbit must be taken on a Friday, or a rainy Friday, or Friday the 13th. Some sources say that the rabbit should be shot with a silver bullet, while others say that the foot must be cut off while the rabbit is still alive.

So, what we have here is a mixture of common superstition and witchcraft. The lesson is clear- having charms or talismen in our lives is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It also shows that we are willing to get some help from the spirit world of which Satan is the ruler.

Isaiah 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Psalms 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

You cannot improve on God's plan for your life. He will do with you just exactly as he pleases. If you do not like his plan for your life, talk to him about it.

We will now look at religions, cults, and even Fundamentalists who have fetishes and good luck charms in their churches and lives.

Roman Catholics - - - The story of Saint Christopher is very revealing as to Catholic gullibility. Old Chris became a convert to Christianity. He was over seven feet tall. He asked a monk what he could do to serve Christ. The monk told him to fast and pray. Chris loved his biscuits and gravy every morning, so he asked for an alternative assignment. The monk told Chris that because he was a tall and massive dude, he should help people cross a nearby river where many people drowned trying to cross.

Well, that fit Chris's persona well, and he started carrying people across the river. A child asked to be carried across, and Chris did so. But, the child got enormously heavy part way across, and Chris nearly lost control. He asked the child why he was so heavy. The child replied: "You had on your shoulders not only the whole world but Him who made it. I am (TA DA, ye gullible ones) Christ your king, whom you are serving by this work." The child then vanished.

Well, the Pope thought this story would fit well with the Medieval superstitious people of the era, and St. Christopher was declared a saint to whom travelers could pray. This caught on, and by 1950 every other car in America had a St. Christopher image dangling from the rear view mirror or glued to the dash board.

HERE IS A GREGORIAN CHANT EXALTING THE PLASTIC JESUS The plastic Jesus is now taking the place of Saint Christopher, and here is why.

When Pope Paul VI revised the Roman Missal in 1969, nearly every day of the calendar celebrated a feast day of a saint. Mindful of this saintly saturation, he decided to remove some of the lesser saints from the calendar, as well as eliminate feasts that did not have enough historical credibility. St. Christopher’s feast day (July 25th) was one of these causalities.

So, Chris is no longer up there in top place, and Catholics no longer use his image much because of his demotion. It is hard to be a saint in the Roman Church and avoid being iced by some meddling Pope.Catholics have many other good luck and superstitious talisman and relics they cling to. Perhaps the most powerful are the candles. There is the presence light over the altar that is never allowed to go out. Then, a Catholic can buy a candle and light in the church house to gain some good luck in Heaven. There are also candles to light at home and in grottoes along the roadside. I saw many such grottoes in Arizona, and I left Gospel tracts for Catholics there. Catholics also purchase statues of Mary, Jesus, and the saints and place them in their gardens and homes in the hope that God will approve and bless their home. This is all pure superstition and is absolutely not found in the early church as described in the New Testament of the Bible.

I had a piano tuning customer who was Italian and had a business in Nogales, Arizona. He told me one day that he used to have no faith or religion. His wife was Catholic, but he had told her that religion required too much faith to believe in. His wife convinced him to visit a holy Catholic shrine in Argentina dedicated to "Our Lady of the Roses." While praying at that shrine he absolutely swore that he smelled the roses, which was what the shrine was famous for. This alleged miracle convinced him to become a Catholic, and he was very zealous when I knew him. This means that his whole faith was based, not in the works of Jesus Christ for sinners, but in the sniff of roses he got in Argentina. Very likely, some priest dumped a bottle of rose perfume upwind of the shrine every morning.

One of the most aggravating issues for Martin Luther was the statues and superstition in the Roman Church. Even today, Lutheran churches will often make a big point of having nothing in their church which hints of superstition in religion. My friend, "Father" Ruiz hated to see his Catholic church members praying before statues. He felt it was pure superstition. He also removed the huge crucifix hanging from the ceiling over the altar and replaced it with an empty cross. Some Catholic priests see the false religion in their superstitions and hate it, but they fear rocking the boat, so they just groan and refrain from doing something about it.

There is a warning here to Baptist pastors, and other Bible believing pastors, to determine if there is a reverence, by the members, for ANYTHING hanging around their church house. Where they find the spirit of superstition in the people, faithful pastors will remove or change these things. That huge map with all the missionaries on it in the foyer..... does it make you feel like a really zealous church? Could you live without it? If not, it is a talisman and a fetish, nothing more, and it also probably fills you with pride to think of the great number of missionaries you support for $20 a month. Bah. I have heard many stories of missionaries that travel among such churches who actually live in North Carolina instead of Mexico, and they have their mail forwarded to them from Guadalajara. If Jesus had not forbid me to say, "Thou fool," I would be tempted, pastor. So instead, I will say, "Thou sucker."

MORE ON THE ROMAN CATHOLIC WHORE OF ROME AT THIS JOURNAL

 

Jains- - - This religion is derived from Hinduism, and their highest spiritual requirement is non-violence. If you are a mugger in India, your favorite target will be a Jain. He will not fight back under any circumstances. Jains also carry a wooden bowl which they use to beg. Rather than work, they expect other people to support them. Sounds a lot like Benny Hinn and Joel Osteen with an Eastern touch. Jains also carry around a small broom with which to sweep bugs off the path so that they will not ever take the life of a bug. The bowl and little broom become fetishes by which these pathetic people identify themselves.

So, don't laugh too soon. What religious things do you carry around to help you feel close to God? If you forget your Bible when you go somewhere, do you feel less safe, or do you imagine you lost some points with God? Hmmmm

Maybe you are a Baptist Jain after all.

 

Sikhs- - - A Sikh, according to Article I of the Sikh Rehat Maryada (the Sikh code of conduct), is "any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh; Guru Granth Sahib; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru".

What do you think about that..... Sikh Baptists? Well, to be one you must add to the Bible the Japji, which is the sayings of Guru Nanak. Sikhs are very open minded to the teachings of Jesus and imagine he is simply another guru worthy of consideration. Thus, until a Sikh abandons the five Ks below, including removing the turban, he cannot be considered truly born again.

So, Sikhs have a real problem. But further, you must observe five objects or customs on or about you when you go forth into the world. You must observe the five Ks:

Kesh: Uncut hair, usually tied or woven upward and wrapped in a Dastar or turban on top of the head
Kanga: A wooden comb, usually worn under a Dastar
Kachera: Cotton undergarments, historically appropriate in battle due to increased mobility when compared to a dhoti. Worn by both sexes, the kachera is a symbol of chastity.
Kara: An iron bracelet, a weapon and a symbol of eternity
Kirpan: An iron dagger in different sizes. In the UK Sikhs can wear a small dagger, but in the Punjab they might wear a traditional curved sword from one to three feet in length.

Sikhism is actually a kin to Islam in that it is the only monotheistic religion in India. Witnessing the Gospel to a Sikh is easier than to a Hindu because they do not believe in reincarnation. Guru Nanak went to Mecca because he was told he would find god there. He ended up offending the Muslims by sleeping with his feet pointing to the stone Kaaba. He told the Muslims to lift up his body and arrange him so he was pleasing to Allah. When the Muslims did this, the Kaaba moved around and stayed south of Nanak's feet. This proved to him that his religion was superior to Islam, and he promptly went home to India.

The striking look of a hefty Sikh man (they tend to all be stout looking), especially in the military, is that of a noble looking man. But, that turban and beard, along with the other three Ks, are fetishes which make him right with the gods. Because Guru Nanak was a peace loving religious leader and a monotheist, the Sikhs are the people of India with the best ethics. They are much to be desired as employees over the Hindus and Muslims. They are also, for some reason, much brighter at taking instructions and inventing ways of work performance on their own. But, they are hard to win to Christ because they are happy to have Jesus as another guru, not as God the exclusive Savior.

 

Hindus- - - A Hindu cannot worship any of his gods unless a lingham is present at his worship center. The picture of a god is there, and the incense, but the lingham, that is a must. And, what is the lingham? It is the penis of Shiva. The story of how Shiva got his penis cut off is typical Hindu porn, which is what all their gods are about. Shiva was hustling the wives of several other gods long ago, and those gods came home and caught him. So, they cut off his penis as punishment. That sure is one solution to adultery, but what a wretched story of this Hindu god's history. Why they need this fetish in their worship is beyond me. I suspect fertility is involved, as is common in many fetish based religions.

Hindus, like Roman Catholics, also have magic prayer fire. They buy candles or incense and light them in their homes. The odor of the incense gives them security. It is a classic religious fetish.

You may imagine that this lingham fetish of Hinduism has virtually nothing to do with you. If you are a Lutheran, you are wrong. In about 1998 Pope John Paul II sent an order to all Catholic priests and orders in India. They were told that, in the spirit of ecumenism, they were to add various Hindu symbols to the Mass, including placing a lingham on the altar during the Mass. All the Catholic orders in India obeyed and did this. Thus, the penis of Shiva was added to the altars of the Catholic Church in India.

Now, you Lutherans, and other dim bulb denominations, who have recently joined in ecumenical union with the Roman Catholic Church, are participating with the Whore of Rome in exalting phallic worship with Christianity. This is the stupidity of ecumenism. You Lutherans have totally filthied yourselves, and you are blasphemers of Christ. If you do not leave the Lutheran Church, we must assume you were never born again, and you will burn in Hell for your slap in the face of Jesus Christ.

For the record, I learned of this blasphemy of Pope John Paul II in India from a priest in a missionary order which ran several orphanages in India. His order refused to put any Hindu imagery into the Mass, the Pope John Paul II excommunicated his whole order lock stock and barrel. Then the slimy Pope asked the order to keep running the orphanages because he had no one else to do it. This is the kind of chicken excrement we have from the Popes of Rome.

MORE ON HINDUISM AT THIS JOURNAL

 

Buddhists- - - Buddhists have their talisman rabbit foot religious trinkets. They will always have a fat Buddha sitting in the room. They also use their prayer wheels. Some are a hand held device with a drum and a weight that they use to make the drum spin round and round. Each time the drum spins a prayer goes up to Heaven. Who is listening in Heaven is a mystery because Buddhists do not believe there is a god over all things. Buddhists will also spin prayer wheels like the ones in the photo with the same hope of sending prayers spinning into Nirvana. Buddhists have many more fetishes in their religion, but this gives us enough to see that they are mere pagans. There is nothing sophisticated about Buddhism, as some Anglo Saxon converts will tell you.

MORE ON BUDDHISM AT THIS JOURNAL

 

Mormons- - - Mormons have a number of rabbit foot fetishes. They are required to wear a particular Mormon made type of underwear, especially when being baptized and married. Darrel and Sandra Tanner, who left the Mormon Church in the 1960s, have exposed many Mormon superstitions. They tell of the temple ritual before baptism and marriage in which the Mormon leading men wash down the bodies of the male candidate. Special attention is given to washing the private parts of the man, the bishops taking special pleasure in rubbing the man's penis and testicles. The women washing down a candidate for baptism take the same sensual pleasure in washing the woman's private parts. Mormonism was founded in the sexual lust of Joseph Smith resulting in polygamy, and in modern times, in sexual perversion.

VIDEO ABOUT THE MAGIC UNDERWEAR

Mormons also have a fetish relationship with their two year supply of emergency food. Preparedness is not a bad idea, and Mormons are very vain, and show obvious spiritual security, in their dehydrated food, beans, and wheat. I have seen bags of corn and wheat lining the halls of Mormon homes where I have visited.

The obvious use of magic in the origins of Mormonism are seen in the tale of Joseph Smith wandering into the woods in up state New York and finding a set of golden plates. The Angel Moroni gave him some magic spectacles, and Smith was able to read the plates and deliver the message of Mormonism to his followers. Some might argue that his search for “magic” never ended, that the “golden plates” which he translated by use of seer stones in a hat were an extension of the same search. Joseph Smith also admitted that he searched for gold by using magic. Much of Mormon ritual is derived from Freemasonry which is loaded with fetishes of all sorts.

Mormons believe in magic objects that belong to their spiritual patriarchs. Here is one story:

The account can be found in the 1848 Millennial Star, which published a letter from John Albiston, a native Mormon elder in England, recounting many miraculous healings. Among them were several healings elicited by the use of his cane: "While I was looking about me one day, I left my stick at the brothers in Old Swinford; the brother and father-in-law worked together as nailors, and the young man had a deep cut in his hand, caused by a piece of iron with which he had been at work. He went to my stick and rubbed his hand against it, and the wound immediately closed. Both father-in-law and mother-in-law were witnesses to this healing. The old man and woman had each wounds; they took the stick and rubbed, and were healed,—so there were three healed in that house, one after another."

Another fetish I have seen in many Mormon homes is a picture of a Mormon temple. The preferred temple, of course, is the one in Salt Lake City, Utah, but there are several other temples now around the world. Mormons will go to the temple to visit, but only after being interviewed to make sure they are right with God. They will then get their photograph taken standing in front of the temple and hang that on the wall of their home. This is very much like Muslims who have made the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Muslims will change the entrance to their home and shop to an archway, thus signifying they are a Haji Muslim. The Mormon photos of temples in their home are the same sort of superstitious fetish.

So, you can see that Mormons have fetishes all throughout their religion.

MORE ON MORMONISM AT THIS JOURNAL

 

Islam- - - Muslims are terrified of dying outside the Middle East. They believe they lose some points with Allah if they are buried in a foreign land. They will even save their fingernail clippings and carry them back to toss on the ground back in the Middle East. That is superstition at its worst. Beads, birds feathers, rams' horns and other objects are believed to be able to drive away evil spirits, summon good spirits and protect their owners from various troubles and misfortunes. These charms may be in the form of an eye, heart, snake head, small shells or scarab beetles.

Muslims also carry a talisman with them in many parts of the Islamic world. See talisman at the right. These fetishes are containers with a slip of paper with a chapter of the Koran on it. They carry this for protection and good luck.

Muslims are terrified of the Evil Eye. If someone complements their baby and says it is very lovely, they will object and say their baby is ugly. This is because they believe devils will kill the baby or possess it because they hear that it is a good looking baby. Many Muslims wear charms to fend off the Evil Eye. Evil eye amulets are not just worn by superstitious villagers. A Turkish geologist told Associated Press, her evil eye key chain absorbed evil powers and projected her from the envy of a friend who had “jealously” praised her beauty. Evil eye amulets are not just worn by superstitious villagers. They are also worn by doctors, engineers and scientists. A Turkish geologist told AP, her evil eye key chain absorbed evil powers and projected her from the envy of a friend who had “jealously” and praised her beauty.

Also, in parts of the Islamic world there is the practice of "cutting the Koran." A Koran is printed with markings in the margin on nearly every page. These markings are like tarot cards to other cultures. The Muslim will go to an Imam who has one of these Korans, and the Imam will let the Koran drop open at random. He will then tell the Muslim seeker his fortune using the markings in the margin. This has absolutely nothing to do with the meaning of the text on the pages that open. It is pure witchcraft.

Mohammed himself was very superstitious. He actually gave instruction, which he claimed was from Allah, on how many stones to use to wipe your bottom. Using the wrong number would bring the wrath of Allah. He told his followers that the devil slept in their nose when they were asleep at night, and he told them to blow their nose at once when they woke up in the morning. Mohammed believed he had his own personal devil which possessed him at times named Dajjal. He did all sorts of rituals to fend off Dajjal.

In Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World, Marika Sardar wrote: “Because of the popularity of astrology in the medieval period, it became common to decorate objects with personifications of the planets and the Zodiac constellations. This reflected the belief that objects with astrological decoration had talismanic powers—that is, they were capable of influencing the occult power of the planets and stars, and thus protected the owner from sickness, bad luck, or defeat. Source: Sardar, Marika. Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World.

“Many other religious narratives also carry talismanic powers. The story of the miracle of the seven sleepers of Ephesus (ashab al-kahf, or "people of the cave") (35.64.3; 2003.241), which is the subject of a chapter in the Qur'an (Surat al-Kahf), has particular powers for many Muslims. The act of reciting the story of the seven Christian men and their dog Qitmir who, fleeing persecution by the emperor Decius (r. 249–51 A.D.), found a cave and slept for several hundred years, protects the reader from harm, just as the seven sleepers and their dog were protected all those years."

All over Asia and Africa, tribes who converted to Islam, even hundreds of years ago, combined their old superstitions with Islam and make pagan hybrids which are powerfully binding. The leaders of Islam make no effort to stop this pagan mixture. One is reminded of the Jesuits in Haiti who encouraged the Haitians to mix Voodoo and Makumba cults with Mary and Saint worship.

MORE ON ISLAM IN STEVE'S ONLINE BOOK ON ISLAM

Seventh Day Adventists - - - Do you get a holy rush out of eating a weenie made of soy and bean sprouts? Witness the Veja-Links wieners at the right. Do you have cans of Swiss steak in your cupboard which is made of carrots and plant protein? If you do, you must be a Seventh Day Adventist. Oh say, but aren't you holy. And nary a drop of coffee has touched your lips since you joined the cult of Ellen G White. And, of course, you do not meet to worship on Sunday. That is the Mark of the Beast according to your plagiarizing prophetess who added her writings to the Bible in violation of Revelation 22:18-19.

These are all your fetishes which are nothing but good luck charms that set you apart from defective Christians. And, your preachers make this abundantly clear in their preaching. Your legal system is just as wicked as the legal system the Pharisees of Jesus' day used to subject the Jewish people to their cult of law. And, what is the result? Jesus told you in his words to the Pharisees:

Mark 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

You are not more holy than other Christians by keeping your SDA laws. You are a wretched offense to other Christians. By your legal system you have driven thousands of Christians away from you because they see right through you and avoid you. So, you lose their fellowship. In the 1970s The SDA denomination tried to deal with the fact that other Christians on the narrow way avoided them. In a convention discussion period, an old patriarch of the SDA denomination stood and admonished the people that the only way the SDA would ever be accepted into fellowship by other Bible believers would be if they stopped giving Ellen G White's writing the same authority as the Bible. And, what was the response? The SDA leadership excommunicated the old brother.

If your legal fetish laws are essential to your being right with God and going to Heaven, you are lost and on your way to Hell. There is only one way anyone is made right with God.

Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
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.

Any fetish rule you add to the above standard for salvation is a fetish law that damns you to Hell. What will you do with your fetish laws?

Hebrews 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

So, eat your soy fetish weenies. Piously reject the rest of the Christian fellowship of believers for meeting on Sunday. In Hell you will not have us for fellowship when you need us the most.

MORE ON SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISM AT THIS JOURNAL

 

Reformed churches - - - The fetishes of the Reformed Churches are the Westminster Confession, the Heidelburg Confession, the Belgique Confession, and the London Baptist Confession of 1689. The last one is of the Reformed Baptists. These confessions are fetishes which Reformed people hold dear to their heart because they each define a different branch of the Reformed Movement and prove that each one is superior to the other. They all also cling to Calvin's Institutes, a three volume set of legal documents compiled by a loser lawyer defining what God can and cannot do without the permission from the Reformed Church. I have met Reformed people who could quote Calvin verbatim, but they did not know three Bible texts they could quote.

If you are a Reformed Christian I need to tell you that you are an ignorant fool for founding your faith on the Confession of your church. The faith once delivered is founded in Jesus Christ and the Word of God PLUS NOTHING. The day you add a man-made document of essential documents to define your faith, that is the day you will start on the way to Hell, not Heaven.

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.

For adding your Confession as a binding document to define your faith, you will receive all the plagues of the prophecy of the Revelation to John. You have the wrong John, my friend. You have a fetish as damning as the golden calf of Sinai or the wooden voodoo doll of a Haitian witch doctor in Port au Prince.

MORE ON THE ERRORS OF THE REFORMED MOVEMENT AT THIS JOURNAL

 

Amish
and Mennonites- - - Living under law is not the way of the Bible believer today. But, some believers (?) refuse to abandon legal Christianity. Are you one of them? The photo shows the results of trying to live in the horse and buggy in law keeping in modern time as a law to allegedly please God and become holy.

Three kids were killed, and six were badly injured when the buggy was hit by a truck in Sheridan, Michigan. The Amish have been stuck in the 1500s as to dress standards and as to machinery. They will not use modern mechanical farm equipment, and their homes a intentionally kept looking like clap board houses. All this is determined by their leaders to make them right with God. Well, those three kids would still be here if the father had bought a Ford.

There are consequences to making a fetish of law in the church. The Amish also put hex symbols on their barns to ward off evil spirits. This is a total reversal of their laws of living holy. By posting those hexes, they are denying their God can protect them. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

The Mennonites have their heritage as the Amish in the same Anabaptist leaders of the 1500s. The Mennonites, the Old Order ones, require bonnets on their women at all times. This is because they are applying the rule by the Apostle Paul that women have their head covered. The problem is, they do not read ALL Paul had to say about how women have their head covered.

1 Corinthians 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

All Amish and Mennonite women let their hair grow long. So, they have the same covering attached from the day Eve was created. But, they prefer their bonnet. It is a fetish which makes them feel more holy than women in other Christian denominations.

So, you Baptists are chuckling at these superstitions and fetish laws, right? Tell me, do you feel more holy Sunday morning in a three piece suit? Do all the men in your church have to wear a coat and tie to be right with God? Bah. You are no different with your fetish holy rags. What about your dress code? Do you make a fetish of pants never touching the legs of your wife of daughters? I have heard you preachers brag that way myself. Your Baptist Standards are nothing but a Pharisaical legal system just like the Amish have.

YOU NEED TO READ MY ARTICLE ON BAPTIST STANDARDS

 

CONCLUSION ON CULTS AND OTHER RELIGIONS

All heresies, and all world religions beside Christianity, are prone to superstition, and superstition leads to the use of fetishes and talisman good luck charms. The heathen in Africa were totally steeped in this world of magic, but we have seen that the most advanced and allegedly civilized religions and cults also have their lust for magic. The terrifying thing is that many mainline Christians are deep into superstition, and I have found superstition in the ways of Fundamental Bible believers also. We now move on to, "let a man examine himself....."

CHARISMATIC RABBIT FOOT RELIGION

I went bowling with some young adults from our church and another nearby church. Afterward, we went to Bob's Restaurant for snacks. People were ordering gooy desserts and ice cream floats. I had ordered a malt. One young lady, before we ordered, asked me a question. She was from a Charismatic church which had a lot of the unusually superstitious notions about the power of God. She said, "Pastor, some friends and I were eating out, and we ordered rich desserts. One of the girls prayed for us, and she said, 'We bind the calories in these desserts in the name of Jesus.' Is it possible to bind the calories in food pastor?"

I quoted her the verse, James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. I suggested that asking God to bind calories in a dessert, when we know what the right thing to do is, sounds like playing a trick on God when we know what we should have done in the first place. She agreed. I then asked another young man from a Charismatic church to pray for the food. He took the Bible literally and said, "Lord we thank you for these rich gooey desserts and all the good calories in them." The girl also took the Bible literally. She ordered a plate of carrots and vegetables. She was trying to lose weight.

Another superstition among Charismatics is the prayer circle where they believe they gain more power from God by joining hands when they pray. There is no such teaching in the Bible. Stop it. MORE ON CIRCLES IN CHURCH

The next thing to deal with is all the laying on of hands. Some of this is done laying hands on the head and praying. Other times, the hands are on other parts of the body, and I have heard some tales of some very sensual tricks being done under color of laying on of hands. The Bible does mention laying on of hands when Paul and Barnabas were sent out to preach, but much of what we see today in this custom is pure superstition. The one laying hands on is often seen as having some extra reservoir of power up his sleeve which he can administer by his hands. That is a lot of superstition.

The worst superstition I have seen in Charismatic churches and ministries is in the distribution, often for a large donation, of prayer clothes, anointing oil, shofars, and lucky charms of various sorts. This is pure witchcraft in the church. There is no such thing in the Bible. One exception was the Apostle Paul's work apron when he was mending tents. People would take it and pray for the sick, and they were healed. This was during the era of the Apostles when special miracles were happening. We now have only the Gospel to administer power to people, along with prayer in the Holy Spirit.

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

HERE IS BISHOP EDDIE LONG MAKING ANOINTING OIL- Please notice that he is using the Old Testament recipe of the law of Moses for the Jews. This old dispensation of legal requirements was null and void as Jesus died and rose from the grave. Any oil used in the New Testament was not from the recipe of Moses because it was a sin punishable by death for anyone to make this oil other than the High Priests. Eddie Long is not a High Priest. He is a fake preacher playing tricks. His verbose applications have NO basis from the Bible. It is all from his imagination and is a lot of Voodoo and Hoodoo.

Also, Charismatic Christians are taught to use magic words to gain power and coerce God into blessing them. This is often called "Name it and Claim it". They learn to speak magic words, and they believe God has to jump and perform for them like a circus animal. Another verbal blasphemy in Charismania is the use of the magic name Shakhina for the Glory of God or the power of the Holy Spirit. Shakhina was a pagan deity in ancient Sumer before the days of Moses. Shakhina is not a word found in the Hebrew Bible. LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS BLASPHEMY HERE.

Charismatic Christians need to stop this folly of seeking after physical extensions of the power of God. You also need to stop claiming everything used in your church, or by you, is "anointed." The guitar is anointed, the microphone is anointed, the pie is anointed, and the cat is anointed. This makes mockery of the Holy Ghost who gives his power only to certain people to speak, or sing, or behave in a godly way. What comes forth under the genuine power of the Holy Ghost is what is anointed, not the sound system and the Fender Amplifier. All the claims of anointing seem to me to be someone's way of giving legitimacy to something that just happened which was highly suspect. There is also the haunting flavor of magic in all this "anointing." This superstitious anointing in Charismania is exactly what the witch doctors do in Africa when they dedicate some trinket or object to Satan.

Are you living in the power of God, or are you tossing the chicken bones? Is your church being driven into African style divination?

HERE IS A WRETCHED EXAMPLE OF MIXING LUCKY FETISHES WITH "THE ANOINTING"
This gives the wicked cause to mock at foolish Christian suckers who go for this stuff.

HERE IS THE HERETICAL LUST IN THE BELIEVER WHICH DRIVES CHARISMATIC INSANITY

HOW IS TOSSING THE BONES DIFFERENT FROM YOUR FORTUNE TELLING PASTOR?

NEVER ALLOW ANYONE TO LAY HANDS ON YOU
As much as you may find a fetish power in this practice, you could end up possessed of devils.

 

Black American churches- - - In Africa, especially about one hundred years ago, the mentally ill were thought to have special spiritual powers and contact with the spirit world. They were pampered and used in devil worship. Here is a mentally ill woman preaching in the Church of God in Christ, a Charismatic denomination in the Black community. This is the making of an insane person into a fetish used to get in contact with God. Notice the sale of a prayer shawl to her followers. This is pure fetishism, and it is in the model of Africa. Much of the retrogression in African American churches seems to take them back to African paganism. WITNESS THIS HARLEM SHAKE DEVIL DANCE IN A BLACK CHURCH

Into the modern backslidden Black churches creeps Voodoo from Haiti and other African pagan rituals. Many such Black Christians have fetishes in their homes that they believe give them power over evil or power to influence other people. All the wailing and shouting and stomping feet in White and Black Charismatic churches is a fetish. It is full of affect and a competitive spirit to see who can produce the biggest show of frenzy. This fetish is known as "the anointing". It is not the Holy Spirit who is doing the anointing..... it is the flesh or the devil.

READ MORE ABOUT CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT PAGANISM AND HERESY AT THIS JOURNAL

FUNDAMENTAL BIBLE CHURCH AND BAPTIST RABBIT FOOT RELIGION

Icons at the church house: Do your have a cross hanging up at the front of you church house meeting area above the pulpit? Why? Does that cross make your building into a holy temple? Let me remind you please that the holy temple of the Church Age is the believer in Christ, not your real estate. And, while the cross of Christ was exalted in the teaching of the New Testament, the Apostles never said a word, nor showed by their actions, that physical crosses of images were to be added to the Church's persons or places of fellowship.

You see full well what the physical fetishizing of the cross and certain saints does to bury the Roman Catholic Church under a mountain of superstition and ritualism. Why are you still carting crosses around like the Pope of Rome? If your life and words will not establish your testimony to the world to show Christ in you, then no fetishes you wear, carry, or plant on the walls will do the work of soul winning.

If you took the cross down from inside your church house, and if your people, AND YOU, felt less holy and less worthy to worship God, you are a superstitious Baptist witch doctor not much different from the "father" down the street at Our Lady of the Immaculate Consumption.

Patriotism and Politics: Also, why do you put the American flag up on the platform, and the crusader flag of the Roman Whore also? Are you hoping to win the approval of sinners if you mix patriotism with the Gospel? What would you have thought, during the era of the Soviet Union, if the Fundamental Baptists of Russia had been waving the Communist flag in their services? That American flag is a fetish you use to give the impression that Jesus Christ and his Gospel are best presented with a large dose of patriotism. The day may come soon when you will be forced to choose between American patriotism and Jesus Christ. What will you do with your fetish flag then?

I also need to ask you if your faith is in Jesus Christ or Donald Trump. Oh, you say, "God made sure Trump was elected in order to rescue America and the US Constitution." Really, you did not know that God raised Trump to the Presidency..... are you that much of a biblical illiterate? Here is who elects all Presidents, kings, tyrants, and dictators:

Daniel 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

What some of you Fundamental Baptists need is a small dose of Calvinism right about now.

God WANTED President Barak Obama to be President, and he WANTED Donald Trump to be President. He will depose Trump the day God is done with him. I believe the reason God lifted up Trump to rule America was to see if American Christians could still tell that he, God, is in control.

So, has Trump become you good luck charm? Are you depending on Trump to save America and bring you into green pastures? You fool. This day thy soul shall be required of thee. You have no idea who is in charge as you cling to your rabbit foot from Trump Towers.

Donald Trump is exceedingly rich, but his wealth is all tied up in real estate. What God wants you to consider is this: Is Trump his own man? He is your rabbit foot, so this is a very offensive question, right?

The fact is, Trump is nearly one billion dollars in debt. And, you think God and Trump are taking good care of you, right? Trump is OWNED by his creditors, and some of them are in foreign nations, possibly Russia and China. All of them can have agendas which Trump could offend, and you are a fool if you think his creditors would not jerk his leash and demand he change course. Years ago, when his whole empire was on the verge of disaster and bankruptcy Trump's creditors got together and decided to save him because they had a better chance of getting their return on investment back if he did not have to declare bankruptcy. Trump absolutely owes these people a favor, and they want him to succeed. This means that Trump's creditors are your savior, not Trump, and not Jesus. Is it time you stop talking about Trump saving anything, let alone America? God may have chosen Trump to finally get America into a war that will result in the nation being totally trashed in a nuclear holocaust. Are you willing to let God do that? You preachers, do you have a sermon ready for the Sunday after the USA collapses because of Trump's folly?

Also, are you one of these idiots who keeps talking about the US Constitution saving America from tyranny. God can arrange for you and America to come under a tyrant who is declared to be 100% Constitutional. No human document can save you from terror or tyranny. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?

Do I sound angry and wrathful? Well, when I hear so many Christians claiming President Trump is the savior of America at the appointment of God, I AM mad. God has raised up and taken down every leader in world history, and for his own reasons. You have NO idea why God raised up Donald Trump. And, I will stay mad and raging as long as you, or any other Christian, tells me Trump will save America. Trump will be lucky if he saves Trump Towers. You, sir, need to stop clinging to your damned rabbit foot. Try clinging to the Lion of Judah for a change.

But, let us consider some other fetishes found in Fundamental Bible believing homes and churches.

Coffee Table Books and Magazines: Bill Gothard's big red book, Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts, sat on thousands of coffee tables in living rooms around America for many years. Some idiots still have the book in plain view as their fetish of luck in raising their kids.

You made the pilgrimage to a Gothard Seminar, and you want your friends to know that you have been to the Mecca of the Christian world. You have paid your pence to the pimp of cash flow religion. My, my, aren't you an amazing spiritual giant!

THIS IS YOU IN REALITY How much of your "religion" is empty rituals, empty fetishes, and empty mind? Watch the eyes in this video. This is the empty mind of fetish religion.

Never mind that the author of the big red book was Bill Gothard's sodomite brother, and Bill admitted it later. Never mind Bill Gothard has been accused, and is being investigated for, abusing minor girls by the hundreds. Bill is the magic man with the magic formula for a happy family. Bill makes you superior to anyone who has not attended his seminar. Did you ever wonder how a bachelor came to be the expert on how to raise children? So, you went to the seminar, and you inhaled the incense, and you are now clinging to you fetish rabbit foot guru to the bitter end. Could it be that Jesus Christ is outside the door of your home knocking to be let back in? The pagans in Africa had to burn their fetishes before they could be baptized. Maybe you need to burn that big red book to cleanse you soul.

Mike Pearl's book on how to beat babies, To Train Up a Child, is also placed out in the open in many Fundamental Baptist homes as the first and last word on how to beat a baby into submission to the Holy Ghost.

Many a baby, in a Baptist home, has been beat nearly to death, and a couple actually murdered, in the name of the guru Mike Pearl.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BABY BUTCHERS, MIKE AND DEBBIE PEARL

So, is Mike Pearl your rabbit foot? Do you hold him as the final authority and defender of your family?

Let us look at other books or certificates on the wall of your home which exalt your progress through life as a great spiritual giant in the faith. Do you have a baptism certificate on the wall? How about a diploma from a Bible college? Maybe a string of those round medals indicating you have had perfect attendance at Sunday School since 1985? Why are they there? Do you suppose that in your inner soul you would find that you feel more "religious" and more "Babtist" with those trinkets hanging there? If so, you are living on superstition rather than the faith of Jesus Christ.

Any book you pass around instead of the Bible, either to the unsaved or Christian friends, is a fetish and has taken first place as your source of truth and revelation. I do not care who the author is. When you put the words of men above the Word of God, you are a blasphemer.

Let me clear up something right now. If you are sending people to my web journal here as the source of teaching on any topic without helping them examine my teachings with a King James Bible, you are a blasphemer. In no way do I claim to have the inside track on any subject if it distracts the reader from proving all things with the Bible.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. You find the "good" things from the Good Book.

Have you ever heard a Baptist preacher bragging about how many buses he has rolling on Sunday morning picking up kids? How about the preacher who gives you the tally of tracts he has handed out? And, there is the preacher who says, "I have knocked on every door in this city"? These are cheap ugly ways preachers exalt themselves, but worse, when they brag about these numbers and accomplishments, they reveal the fact that they really do live by works, not faith. They know God is not nearly as impressed with them as they would like, so they invite YOU to suck up to them and give them praise by the car load. You are a church house fool if you go around repeating the boasts of your pastor. And, in boasting of their accomplishment, they have totally forfeited their reward in Heaven according to Jesus:

Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Most of you Baptist preachers will stand before God with nothing to show for. You will sputter, "Lord, ask any of my church members, they will tell you all the souls I won, and all the doors I knocked on." Your fetish notches on your gun will go up in the flames of God's holiness as so much wood, hay, and stubble.

T shirts: Could you be faithful to Christ, and be a soul winner, without your T shirt with the click bait message printed on it? Do you feel safer and more pleasing to God by being a walking meme? If so, your motive is pure superstition, not zeal for Christ. You would get more points with God if you would embroider on the seat of your pants, "Kick me, I need to be humbled."

I have heard many preachers bragging, before a preachers' rally, of the numbers who have walked the aisle whom they claim "got saved". I have heard them brag about how many baptisms they did.

I am reminded of Harry Golden, a Jewish satirist, who told of a Rabbi in New York City who had a box on the mantle of his fireplace. In the box were the foreskins of all the Jewish baby boys he had circumcised. Golden said the Rabbi was very proud of the number of boys he had turned into real Jews. How is that different from the Baptist preacher publicly bragging about how many people he "saved" or baptized? These preaches are really doing the same thing a Catholic does when he walks along fingering their rosary beads. This advertises to the masses that they are the real thing.

Consider preachers and Christian leaders and their Ph.D., mail order doctorate, and chairmanships. These men will do anything needed in political Baptist endeavor to win the high seat, and they will keep doing anything needed to keep the high place and win the imprimatur of the men higher up. Their fetish is their titles and accomplishments which they flaunt to the masses and asses who suck up to them.

Many Baptist preachers preach that tithing is the only way to ultimately please God. This is inviting a fetish relationship between the average Christian and the offering plate.

Church sign messages with anything but the Bible on them. Clever witticisms on a church sign ONLY tell the world that you have clever idiots in your church who like to show off their shriveled brains. There is NO promise from God that clever sayings anywhere will bear fruit unto righteousness. Isaiah 55:11

Baptist standards: You have your hair the right length, your hemline is just right, you never appear in church without a coat and tie, and you don't chew tobacco or sip booze. The fact is, there is no more power in your Fundamental Baptist Standards and fetishes than there is in the Buddha sitting cross legged in your favorite Chinese restaurant. If your "religion" is nothing more than rituals, rules, and symbols you gleaned from various Christian colleges, preachers, and Baptist gurus, you are no more saved than a door knob.

I was traveling on a deputation trip to speak in churches about our missionary work in Ethiopia. I stopped at an old hotel in the South of the USA for breakfast. An older lady approached me and asked what I was doing there. I told her I was a missionary on a speaking tour. She at once went off on a tale of various fetishes she had bought from the Congo. She then told me she had bought a cane that had belonged to a witch doctor. She would lean it in the corner with the carved head on top facing into the room. It would stay that way all day, but during the night it would turn around, and the face would be pointed into the corner. She asked me what was happening. I told her there was Satanic power in the thing, and devils were toying with her. I told her to burn the cane to send a message to the devils. She told me she could not do that because the cane was too valuable as a collector's item. I feel certain that something very bad happened to that lady later. She professed faith in God, but she could not leave the devilish fetish behind.

So, preacher, what are your fetishes which validate your life and the time you waste diddling around? No fetish, be it good works, standards, head counts, or icons hanging on the wall, can get you right with God or man. Burn them.

PERSONAL ITEMS, ACTIONS, AND MAGIC WORDS

Prayer: "Thank you heavenly Father for this food, please bless the ladies who cooked it, and help us finish this day to your Glory, and please bless all the missionaries in the world. In Jesus' name, Amen" How many millions of times has this prayer, or a similar one, been prayed in a rush before a meal?

The cure?

"Dear Lord, I praise you for letting me be with my Christian friends today. And, thank you for creating cows so we can have good steaks to eat. Thank you for broccoli and potatoes. Thank you that COSTCO sells this good Bunderburg ginger beer from Australia. But, especially thank you for the pecan pie I saw waiting for later. Thank you for my fantastic wife who has cooked good food for me for all these years. Please do something special for her today, Lord. And, we tend to chatter about politics and rubbish too much, so send the Holy Spirit right now to press us into conversation that Jesus would like if he were here with us. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen." [ For you with an alcohol Baptist standard rabbit foot, ginger beer is not alcoholic. It is like root beer. ] Pray this way in IHOP, and anyone nearby will learn something about prayer, especially any Christians who overhears. Also, you get no special points in Heaven for praying around the world while the food gets cold. That is just showing off, and it is the rabbit foot of a conceited pest.

Bumper stickers, crosses on the wall, and lapel pins:

Tell me, friend, what on earth will an unsaved unchurched sinner get out of the bumper sticker at the right? It will mean absolutely nothing to them. What some of you show offs don't realize is that there are people in this nation who do not even know who God is. They may not have even studied enough World History to know what Romans are, let alone a book of the Bible.

You might as well have a tattoo on your forehead that says, "I am a very spiritual Baptist." And, to blazes with your stupid T shirt with the pointless message on it, especially the one that is half worn out.

And, please, if you must have a bumper sticker on your car, DO NOT put it on your beater station wagon. Trying to speak the truth that way is like putting a "Jesus Saves" sticker on a toilet.

"Lord willing.....": Do you say those words often? What do you mean by those words. If you mean that you want to submit your life and actions to the final authority of God, lest he hear you and determine that you are acting in self-will, then the words are righteous. If, by saying, "If the Lord is willing," you mean that you will blame God for your possible bad decisions and careless intentions, you are a blasphemer. You can tell if it is the latter by the words you use when everything went wrong in the end, "Well, it must not have been the Lord's will." Your, "Lord willing", is pure superstition to get ready to pass the buck off on God for your own blunderings and blame God for the mess. Do you even have a God in Heaven? There is no difference between your impudent blasphemy and the "Inshallah" of a Muslim after a train wreck.

FOR MORE ON WORDS WE USE, GO TO THIS ARTICLE IN MY ONLINE JOURNAL

Guns and the First Amendment: If there were no First Amendment to the US Constitution, would God be able to take care of you? Is your gun an added bit of security just in case God is not paying attention to your security?

Guns are a large topic in most Bible believing churches these days. Owning a gun, and even having a permit to carry, is rapidly becoming a security good luck charm to many Americans. It is also becoming a way to show that we stand for the First Amendment. A gun is of no more use to a Bible believer than to get food or to add some defense against criminal attacks.

If you feel more manly, or more safe, packing a gun, you need to examine your motives and your trust in the Lord. If you feel the same way shooting a gun as you do riding a motorcycle, that gun is too much in control.

In no way am I suggesting that carrying a gun is wicked. My, my, I would risk being deported from Texas for that. But, it is very urgent that we decide what a gun tells us about our relationship with Jesus Christ. And, if you feel that having twenty or fifty guns is rational, tell me why please. Unless you are collecting them as an investment plan, or if they are all Kentucky squirrel rifles, your guns are fetishes collected to give you a rush whenever you play with them or show them to your man cave buddies.

As an investment, I would never get myself a huge gun collection. All that is needed for the guns to become worthless is for a Liberal Leftist Government to come to power in the USA and declare all guns illegal. At that point, the collection would become worthless unless I flogged them unlawfully. You could one day find yourself just as "wanted" as a man who collects pot bongs.

Social Media, YouTube, and the Internet: So, here you are, reading an article online again. Which of your kids has not had any time with you in days? Do you spend more time on Facebook than you do with your spouse? Your wedding vow said, "For better or for worse." Are you a worse friend today than you were a year or ten years ago because you have to answer email and chat with loonies in Bangkok, Bogalusa, and Boston?

Then, there is texting. It is a true addiction.

WATCH THIS PLEASE.

Do you text when you are with friends and totally ignore them? Do you lie and tell them you are listening? Do you text when you are with your family? Do you set your cell phone on vibrate when you go to church, or do you turn if off? Do you read text messages and answer them during church services? If so, why has worshipping God become so boring to you?

Cell phones have become God-like, in that, we feel we must respond to them to keep our life together, just as we would if God appeared in person and said, "Hey, Fred, are you doing anything right now? I want to chat with you." If this is you, you are defined by your cell phone world. You would feel terrified to be totally out of touch with that other world for a whole day, right? This is even worse than a rabbit foot, this is a matter of slavery to a power higher (to you) than God himself. If you do not break the spell, you will miss thousands of people over the next few years who are sitting right there next to you in the waiting room or in church.

I was in the waiting room waiting for my wife to see the chiropractor, and in the room was a Mom and her teen age daughter. They were teasing each other and carrying on like I had not seen in years. They clearly more then loved each other..... they LIKED each other. Suddenly the Mom turned and picked up her Cell phone. I was enjoying watching them interact so much that I blurted out, "Off side. Don't you dare get on that thing please." The Mom caught on at once, laughed, and she put the cell phone back, and the two of them started teasing each other about the cell phones. I felt like I had stopped a battle for someone's mind and soul. The woman might have been insulted and told me to shut up, but she at once realized she was breaking off something far more valuable.

I also need to talk about the Internet as a total entity.

PLEASE WATCH THIS.

Do you have to interrupt yourself at work or at school to check email, Drudge, the weather, or any of a million other "urgent" sources? If so you are permanently changing your thought processes. This is why your attention span is terrible, and you cannot even remember the plot of a video you really loved when you saw it.

You will notice I use very short paragraphs in my writing. This is because people cannot read a long paragraph anymore.

The successful Internet sites use paragraphs as short as one sentence all the way through an article. That is for people like YOU who are tempted to click out of an article if the paragraphs are too long. Your Internet addiction is why your pastor's sermons seem longer than they used to. This addiction is also why your work productivity is dropping off. You keep interrupting yourself by rushing to click into cyberspace, and you lose the ability to think complete thoughts and concentrate of a problem for a long period of time.

I am also convinced that the reason Americans' English vocabulary has diminished exponentially is because Internet sites use Dick and Jane English in order to keep readers from having to contemplate meanings. When reading books, people commonly hit a word they do not understand, look away briefly, and figure out what it means by the context. If Internet editors did this with their articles, people would click out of the article rather than take a contemplation break. I find it very provoking to have to dumb down my vocabulary in order to keep your attention. You will notice, if you read here much, that I do use vocabulary at times which is from the rational days of long ago. Winston Churchill said, "The old words are better words, and the old short words are the best words." Cogitate on THAT please. Is the Internet making a dim bulb our of YOU?

What I see daily, especially when visiting with other people, is that very few people have a sense of wonder anymore. They cannot get a rush out of visual candy unless they are watching a YouTube video on "The Ten Worst Airplane Crashes." When is the last time you looked up at the stars? When is the last time you stopped to smell a rose? I will tell you how to tell if you are addicted to the Internet..... Smell the seat of your pants when you undress tonight. That gross smell is from parking your butt on hot vinyl all day.

I rest my case.

And, if you read my journal while your spouse sits in the living room unfulfilled in ANY way, get out of here. Nothing I say is more important than the intimacy you should show your spouse. Go on, you can read the rest of this later. I don't even want you to read this journal if the Internet is a fetish to your distracted mind.

Suggestions:

Get rid of your smart phone, and get a flip phone. They DO still exist. This is because smart phones are designed for addicted people. They nag and nanny you to keep poking the buttons. Texting with a smart phone is very inconvenient. If that fails, try a one week fast of texting.

Shut off all the interruption features that beep and call you back to cyberspace other than real phone calls. Tell your friend that they can only talk to you with their vocal cords.

When people text while you are visiting with them, find a way to either gross them out, or bluntly tell them to go in the another room to text. Do not imagine that you texting will show them how they are. If all else fails, shuck off texting friends. You could also invest in a business card which says, "FINAL NOTICE: I find your texting insulting. If you want me for a friend, never text in my presence again. Thanks, Steve". Addicts will not quit their addiction until they are slapped viciously.

Ask a friend to slap you verbally when he sees you texting in a group of friends. "Hey, jerk, drop your reefer, and join the group again."

MUSIC FETISHES

Southern Gospel Music

Music can be a fetish if a certain kind, or genre, of music is essential to be present to produce peace, excitement, or worship in us or our surroundings.

If you refuse to think with me, and if you refuse to load and listen to the videos linked in this topic, you will not have a clue what I am talking about.

The fetish music of White Christians is Southern Gospel music. This genre was borrowed from the evolution from rag time to stride piano, an invention of James P Johnson in New Orleans in about 1920. Johnson was a genius made the jazz piano more smooth and swinging.

HERE IS JAMES P JOHNSON PLAYING SNOWY MORNING, his first "stride" selection. He somehow sensed that rag time was not moving Whites like it did Blacks, so he introduced what is called a "rolling tenth," and under the finished product the off beat of jazz and rag time was retained. The result SOUNDED LIKE THIS.

DR. ARTHUR D. KEMP MAKES IT VERY CLEAR THAT SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC IS STRAIGHT BOOGIE WOOGIE, THE GENRE OF BOURBON STREET IN NEW ORLEANS. You must listen to this video. For the record, "bumping" is an extreme use of the off beat, and this enhances the sensuality of the music. Which means, this genre goes to the groin. That is why people go into a slump of funk when they hear the opening chords of Southern Gospel Music. If you need this kind of music to "feel good" at church, you are addicted to sexual feelings at the church house. This is a wicked rabbit foot sort of religion. HERE IS SOMETHING GOT A HOLD OF ME sung by the Bill Gaither mob. Please notice how close this SGM song gets to 1950s raw and sensual rock and roll. This music would be very well accepted at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, AND many of these SGM quartets do gigs in Las Vegas regularly..... singing the same words which are blasted to hell by the beat. That is why the drunks and perverts there can enjoy it. Southern Gospel Music never made a sinner into a saint..... NEVER. Now, add the heavy beat from AFRICA DOWNTOWN. Full circle..... back to the jungle. Back to Bourbon Street.

Sorry..... I got carried away and ahead of myself, but Dr. Kemp probably showed you, better than me, what SGM is all about. Back to the evolution of stride music.

The White folks loved the new stride sound of Jame P. Johnson, and the genre moved on into the hands of the Big Band leaders like Glenn Miller and Eddie Howard who orchestrated the sound for the Aragon Ballroom dance floor. THE ARAGON BALLROOM But, the Stamps Baxter Hymnbook Company saw in stride jazz a way to liven up church music and own the new genre for marketing purposes. They published their hymn book in 1924, and to promote it, they sent their quartets around America to sing free in churches and give them a taste for Southern Gospel. This was a clear case of taking the power of devilish music and infecting churches with it.

HERE IS THE MODERN GENRE OF NEW ORLEANS FOREVER CHANGED BY JAMES P JOHNSON
You usually don't want the lyrics to be sung with the song. They are often very profane and rugged. Please notice the smooth aspect of stride music. Can a person listen to this music if it is not trying to be Christian? Answer: yes. If you understand that it is sensual, and if you and your wife are alone for the evening, this kind of jazz can lead to a wonderful evening. I don't even care if you dance to it, but only as long as you only dance with your wife. Just don't bring the ganre to the church house.

Grab hold please. This will make someone really mad..... SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC IS FOREPLAY.

The off beat is the rebel beat in music, it is beyond syncopation and produces a sensual response, WHETHER IN A DANCE HALL OF IN CHURCH MUSIC. Rebellion is the hall mark of Southern Gospel Music. It is also addictive. Once a Christian gives his mind and soul (yes, SGM is soulish) to this beat in church music, he cannot be satisfied without it. He stops thinking about the words, the music usually has NO Bible doctrine, and he and his friends go into an emotional sensual frenzy. This is 100% worldly and profane in the Bible use of the word "profane."

HERE IS SGM FETISH STRIDE PIANO IN A WHITE CHURCH SETTING
Classic off beat/rolling tenth genre to I'M IN THE GLORYLAND WAY. Notice the feel good sensations you have, and note that you are soon tapping your toe. The shoulders slump, the knees bend slightly, and the sensual is taking charge. Your soul wants to rock and dance, not worship God. Please notice: The bass drum is setting the dominant beat of the music, and the snare drum is doing the off beat.

THE GLORYLAND WAY SUNG WITH NO STRIDE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
It is not possible to get the SGM beat going without the stride piano and percussion. This should be a caution to all church musicians as to which instruments are used and who plays them, AND to which genre. The most powerful instrument to set up and off beat is a trap and drum set. To deal with this in Africa, the churches actually have rules about how drums can be played in church to avoid ALL influence of the off beat.

SUGGESTION: When your church wants to sing Red Back Hymnbook (Church of God) hymns, or SGM classics, sing a Acapulco. It is impossible to jive up a hymn without the instruments.

ANY HYMN CAN BE CONVERTED TO STRIDE
Watch his man's head rock around to the off beat. This music will "move you."

AND, HOVIE LISTER, THE MOST FAMOUS SGM STRIDE PIANIST
Get Away Jordon by the Statesman Quartet
What a show, what a ham Hovie was. And, catch that rubber face of Jake Hess. This, folks, is New Orleans beat and would go well in any honky tonk in West Texas on a Saturday night.

You may tell me I don't have any right to claim that your lust for Southern Gospel Music is a fetish. Well, it was for me, and that is why I am a shameless expert on the topic. I was there in the Long Beach Auditorium when Hovie and the boys sang Get Away Jordan. Only that night, Big Chief Wetherington, the bass, got right up and walked on the piano top. Finally, the Holy Spirit got the upper hand in my rocking jiving soul, and I saw the wretched compromise of mixing New Orleans jazz with lyrics from the Christian life and the Word of God. I also realized it was a fetish the day I threw my priceless collection of SGM LPs into a dumpster. I can still hear the lid of that dumpster clanging shut. The relief in my soul was so sudden and fierce that it terrified me, and I realized I was breaking off a fetish power just as strong as any fetish in any African village.

 

Urban Black Church Music

Urban Black Church Music is, like White folks' Southern Gospel Music, dependent on a musical instrument to provide the foundation and power of the music. That instrument is the Hammond B-3 organ. The beat is still from New Orleans, and the music is sensual and runs to the groin and the libido. Wise Christians understand what I am saying.

THUS, THE HAMMON B-3 AS PLAYED IN A BLACK URBAN SETTING FOR CHURCH MUSIC
Dr. Gloria Thompson on the organ. Note to her left rear sits a Lesley speaker. Hammond offered this for the tremolo sound. It is the only tremolo in the world done entirely physically as a bass and two treble speakers spin physically and make the unique Hammond sound.

I will admit that, when I am wanting to kick back and relax, I can enjoy the Hammond B-3 played this way, but I cannot stand to hear hymns played in this genre. It is mixing the profane and the holy, and my soul rebels against it.

ANOTHER OLD SCHOOL HAMMOND CHURCH ORGAN STYLE
Notice the powerfully sensual use of the off beat snare drum.
FOR A DISCUSSION OF SGM AND THE OFF BEAT SEE MY ARTICLE ON THIS JOURNAL

NOW, A "PRAISE BREAK," WHICH MEANS TIME FOR SHUCKIN' AND JIVIN'
Note the masterful use of the instruments' to back up the preacher's leading remarks. This "praise break" notion is the extreme of sensuality in the Black church. "It don't get better than this, honey. It FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS so good." The dry cleaners shops love that praise break downtown. Those men's suits smell like gym socks by the time it is over, and they must be cleaned again.

James 3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

This sort of thing reminds me of my days growing up in Africa and seeing and hearing devil dances late at night. I could FEEL the devils in the air as I tried to go to sleep. LIKE THIS

Finally, you will wonder if I am hyping the Hammond B-3 as a Black church instrument. Old electronic organs go very cheap at Goodwill Stores and on Craig's List, but Hammond B-3s in working condition will go for many thousands of dollars, and they are usually bought by Black churches. As a piano tuner, I keep my eyes open for one all the time because I know I can get them going and make a huge profit.

So, can you see the fetish relationship Black folks have with this music and this instrument? Every Black church in America craves a Hammond B-3.

FINALLY, A WHITE BOY, JAMES FLOWERS, MIXES STRIDE GENRE AND BLACK CHURCH HAMMOND B-3
New Orleans is still going to church, maybe yours, every Sunday morning around America. Keep clinging to your fetish good feeling, good luck, music. It will make you feet jive and sour your soul. It will also dull your resistance to sexual sin.

So, do you love the holiness of Jesus Christ enough to shuck off some fetish music genre or singer you have allowed to become your idol? Do you need to have an old fashioned fetish burning like the churches in Africa?

PERSONALITY FETISHES

Preacher boys from Hyles Anderson College in Indiana are well known for telling Jack Hyles' personal stories as sermon illustrations. These children-turned-Reverend will tell those stories as if they happened to them. This shows the man worship that drives Hyles Anderson College and Hammond First Baptist. Jack Hyles is possibly the most pervasive case of man worship and clinging to men, as a personality fetish, in modern times.

In a "Hyles church" the deacons often wear badges that say, "100% for Hyles," and if you question them, they run you right back out the door. The response to any questions about Hyles as a fetish or idol always results in excommunication.

There are other men like Lee Roberson, Clarance Sexton, Dr. James Dobson, Bill Gothard, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Mike Pearl, and all of the faith healers in Charismania who are exalted as feel good, and even good luck, leaders. Trinity Broadcast Network is left on 24/7 in many Charismatic homes as if it will secure some higher level of holiness in the home while it is on. What a mongrel fetish that is!

Among King James Bible Only people like me, there is a temptation to make a fetish of men who defend the KJV like Dr. Peter S Ruckman or Dr. D A Waite. Neither of these men would have welcomed this distinction, but some KJV defenders will harshly judge anyone who does not have good words for their personal champion. This means these men have become fetishes to their followers. One group of men in Michigan would sit around and smoke and listen to Ruckman tapes. They refused to attend any local church. This is man worship, and Ruckman, against his wishes, had become their idol or fetish.

So, do you talk about Jesus to strangers and coworkers, or do you talk about your pastor and what a wonderful man he is? Do you invite people to consider the Gospel, or do you invite them to come to visit your church? It is wicked to exalt men instead of Jesus, and this is another case of making a fetish of your pastor, a mere man. The same applies to any speaker or Bible teacher you have heard at Bible conferences of seminars.

One more fetish needs discussion. This is the fetish of great theologians or bold Bible teachers from long ago. Several come to mind which I have heard exalted by people as touch stones of noble truth. For example, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Sunday, and D L Moody. David Livingston is a fetish man used by missionaries to instill zeal in people while teaching about missions.

David Livingston is a classic example of a man who was exalted who absolutely did not earn that privilege. He was first and foremost an explorer, not an evangelist. He championed the cause of slaves, which is noble, but only in a social justice way. He was not much of a soul winner, and he never planted one church in Africa. He nearly killed himself trying to find the source of the Nile. And, he had a tryst with an African tribal queen who produced a son he allowed to accompany him in his exploring. Meanwhile, he totally abandoned his wife and children back in England against the admonition of Scripture. This is the potential evil of exalting men as fetishes to inspire us and keep us dedicated. These men had feet of clay, and one day you may learn your fetish hero lived in deep sin and compromise.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

When other men rise to the level of nobility in your estimation, no matter how much good they have done for Christ, you sin against Christ himself. Keep you eyes on Jesus, not those famous Amoses in the cloud of witnesses.

WHY ARE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE SO SUPERSTITIOUS?

I am reading a book written by Brian Fawcett about his father's explorations of the Amazon basin in about 1911. The title, Col. P H Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett. Col. Fawcett was commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society of London to survey the border between eastern Bolivia and western Brazil. The issue was that the two nations had been struggling with one another for years over where the border actually was, and they asked the RGS to send an impartial party to do the survey for them, and Fawcett got the job.

Col. Fawcett traveled from Peru to Bolivia, and he had to travel over the Andes Mountains and down rivers in Bolivia and Brazil to reach his work area. He had amazing experiences which are some of the most extreme things I have ever read, and I am an avid reader of exploration history. When he reached the town of San Matis in Bolivia, he described the town as the most wretched he had ever seen. Every man in town boasted of killing at least one other man, and all men carried guns and knives all the time. A Belgium employee of an oil company regularly shot Bolivian Indians for sheer sport and boasted of it openly. Col. Fawcett said that the stories of killing and crime were horrible, and they often included spiritual devilment. Then, he made the following observation: "For where human life is not respected, superstition is the more marked."

Read that quote again please.

America and Europe have been the heartland of the Gospel message from about 1550 to 1900. At the end of that era, rationalism and twisted theology came into vogue, and gradually, the liberal and heretical versions of Christian theology have moved on to fan the fires of Christ hatred in the culture and politics. Killing babies, and death wishes on social media, are the status quo. Half the US population vote for abortion promoters like Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. Taking life is a novel and attractive matter to Liberal Democrats in the USA and to Liberals in Europe. Hillary is the banner bearer of the Democratic Party in spite of the fact that over 20 people have died on her doorstep, and the FBI is totally disinterested. Life has become cheap.

Chicago, in the face of thousands of murders, still prevents its citizens from defending themselves. The US now has 24/7 massacres in progress in several places by our Military, and 90% of you reading hear can give a great argument in favor of more killing around the world. War is now an integral necessity in the American economy in order for the present system to thrive. While long ago, the US Military was held responsible for carelessly killing civilians, this plague is now called "collateral damage," as if they actually calculate how many civilians are acceptable to massacre.

So, Col. Fawcett's remark applies. Superstition and spiritualism in the form of Satanism and Witchcraft will become rampant and is doing so now in America. Christians will, more and more, be grabbing good luck charms, and taking up magical slogans and notions, to see them through life safely. While they do this, they sneer at other Christians who buy a gun and get a permit to carry. So, if you are going along with this trend to take up superstitious crutches to fend off the terror to come, you are part of the problem, not the solution.

It appears that when people live in criminally depressed cultures they look for help from the unseen world. This is understandable if they do not know Christ. The question is, do you and I go looking for security from any sources other than Jesus Christ?

I believe one of the most suspect cases of rabbit foot response for Christians is getting buried in the Preparedness mind set. It is one thing to have things put aside for emergencies, even long term emergencies, but some people spend many thousands of dollars on every imaginable notion that comes to them from the preparedness gurus online or in books on the subject. In the end, the hoard of preparedness treasures can become the security of the believer, while Christ, as it were, is told to stand back and let us take care of ourselves.

What are you reacting to in the way of danger and social disorder? Are you searching for fetishes to keep you secure? Are you wasting your substance on things to prepare you for events and dangers that you cannot prove exist? Do you have hard documentation that FEMA actually intends to lock up all Christians in FEMA camps? Are you trusting Jesus Christ to secure your future, or are you listening to Chicken Little?

 

HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?

Answer: It is time to throw away your crutches.

Find me a religion, even Christendom, and I will prove to you that they have fetishes. It is always the case that any religion on earth, in all of human history, leaves its follower lean in spirit. The only thing the leaders can do at that point is give their followers some good luck charms to help them win the favor of their lack luster god. It may be as simple as tossing a coin to a beggar to win the approval of the gods.

Go downtown today to the red light district. Take a stroll, and over and over, you will see whores strutting their stuff with a cross hanging around their neck gracing their cleavage. The world understands the power of superstition, so they add religious fetishes to their wardrobe and homes.

If you are in technology, take a walk around the tech center, and in every other cube you will see a fetish or charm that MUST be there for the techy to feel safe in his rabid world. They hope somehow that the gods will be pleased and smile on them as they live for Satan. It is all about Darma canceling out Karma, the premier doctrine of Hinduism.

None of these rabbit foot fetishes make you spiritual, none of them keep you safe and prosperous, and none of them glorify God. They glorify you, and worse, they show how cheap your Jesus and Gospel really are. When you have to wear or announce your faith with anything but words spoken about Jesus Christ and the Gospel, you have NO assurance that God will bless your protocols of security. Indeed, you bring into question whether or not you even understand what is means to be born again.

Here is the Bible on this:

1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

1 Timothy 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

Deuteronomy 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

Finally, are you not satisfied to let Jesus Christ handle the unseen future for you? Are you knocking on wood, or some silly equivalent version of that superstition, in some prayer you pray in the hope that the prayer will work some magic in Heaven? Do you keep the records of your "Faith Promise" giving every year and look at those cards and imagine they give you special pull at the Throne of Grace? If so, you are not living by faith.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

There is no magic act, even winning souls and attending church, which can secure you a better standing with God. The only thing that pleases and impresses God is YOUR FAITH. Anything you put in place of your faith alone, as you approach God, stinks in his nostrils.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

You were not born with an ounce of good luck, and the day you go to sleep for the last time and wake up in the arms of Jesus, your life in him will have had NOTHING to do with luck or any fetishes you carried around in your pocket or heart. There is NOTHING you can add to your life by your actions.

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

Rudiments of this world will destroy your faith every time.

I leave you only two choices now..... Hate me, or burn your fetishes. If you love Jesus, you will burn your fetishes.

So, where is your hope?

What fetish did I miss? You know, the one that came to your mind as you were reading here. Gotcha, friend. Go burn it.

LINKS:

TOP TEN SUPERSTITIONS

ORIGIN OF 32 SUPERSTITIONS

MORE HISTORY OF SUPERSTITION

THERE ARE RELIGIOUS ORIGINS TO ALMOST ALL SUPERSTITIONS

THIS IS A LOT OF RUBBISH AND FULL OF MINDLESS SUPERSTITION

SUPERSTITION AND DEMON POSSESSION OF CHILDREN- This is treachery

WHEN THE BIBLE IS ABUSED TO JUSTIFY A FETISH- SNAKE HANDLING

SUPERSTITION IS THE ROAD TO HELL- You better ask yourself if you are living by faith alone.

SEND MAIL What is your situation? Can I help?

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