A Move Toward Unity; A Right Way and A Wrong.

Can we agree that the Judeo-Christian community is anything but living out the unity to which we were called to live?  What has led to the disharmony we see today?  Is Christ really that hard to miss in the prophecies of the Old Testament?  Was God really creating an entirely new religion?  How have we become what we have become?  And what are our chances of becoming what we were called to be?

If we would look back and see that the “reformation” movement had major theological flaws, what could be done at this point to set the Protestant faiths back onto a proper course?  Would Catholicism open up its heart to embrace the correction?  Is there a course that God could use in a more powerful way as He attempts to lead the Jewish people into embracing Jesus as the promised Messiah?  Has the protestant reformation made the concept of such a theologically driven correction impossible?  Are Judaism, Catholicism, and Christianity too far apart to ever be reconciled?  Is the unity that Jesus prayed for an impossible dream?

You see, there are two directions we can go in our quest to answer these questions.  We can either move more toward the world, or further from it.  Right now the Judeo-Christian communities are in the midst of an identity crisis.  Who do we want to be?  Do we want to be like the world, living like the world, and feeling secure in our relationship with God through our good works and demonstration of love through a coexistent agenda?  Or, do we want to look as different from the world as possible, feeling secure in our relationship with God based on our faith in Him and His ways?

Are we capable of seeing how it is possible to show love, extend love, and meet people where they are, while still not embracing what they embrace?  We must see that there are two opposing forces that are attempting to draw us to the unity discussed in this blog.  The first is Satan as he is attempting to lead us to what would appear to be the easy way.  The second is God who is trying to lead us in the direction that appears to be impossible.

We are in the midst of another great transition in God’s plan for redeeming this world from the death of sin.  He is in the process of bringing us back into the unity for which we were called to live and the world is pushing us to live in unity with how they want to live.  God’s people will become divided as the battle between these opposing forces wages on.  Fortunately, this is not the first time this has happened.  Through the historical record we are given confirmation and understanding as to which side we must choose to stand.

In 331 BC Alexander the Great began his campaign to conquer the areas of the Middle East from Persia.  As he gained control of areas his political mentality would be to “encourage” the people to embrace the Greek-Macedonian philosophy of life.  Scholars have named this process “Hellenism”.   After Alexander’s death, Israel came under the control of Syria-Mesopotamia for the next 200 years.  This system of governance used financial and political incentives to negotiate cooperation with the elite members of the conquered lands.  As such, those that were willing to become sufficiently Hellenized had great potential for political gain.  As time progressed, more and more of the religious identity was lost under the influence of the Hellenistic agenda.  In 167 BC Antiochus IV Epiphanes along with the Hellenized ruling elite moved to convert the Temple into a pagan shrine and eradicate distinct Jewish practices.  As recorded in 1Maccabee 1:41-50, anyone who was not willing to “make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they would forget the law and change all the ordinances” would be put to death.  Fortunately, a priest by the name of Mattathias and his five sons led a guerilla-style revolt against the Syrian forces.  With God’s help, they were victorious and were able to purify and rededicate the Temple.  This victory is what the festival of Chanukah is all about.

As I watch what is happening in the church I can’t help seeing these same patters playing out today.  Based on history I already know where it will lead us.  Every day the Judeo-Christian populace is becoming more and more Hellenized to the world around us.  We are being pressured into moving away from our identity in God, His ways, and His Truths.  Just like before, God is waiting for His remnant to stand up, come together, and drop our own attachments to the world and come together in the form for which we were called to be.

Earlier in this blog I said that there are two ways to go about bringing unity to God’s people.  The first is to move closer to the ways of the world.  This is appears to be the easy way.  It lacks courage, and denies our identity as His people.  The second takes courage.  It holds onto our identity in Him, and it is willing to risk everything for the purpose of showing His true face to the very people that are attacking us for not becoming like them.

This second group is the true elites of God.  They have been the ones who have carried His flag through the great transformations in His redemptive plan for this world.  They are the ones who have trusted Him, trusted in His ways, and have been willing to fight for the right to live in harmony with the way of life that He calls His Word.  The early disciples were these kinds of people as they fought intense persecution as the opposing religious leaders attempted to lead them into the same political agendas for which they participated.

The church is going to be torn in half over this issue.  The wheat will choose God’s ways and the tares will chose the worlds.  It really is that simple.  The time of being lukewarm is over.  God is forcing our hand.  So given the choice what will you choose?  Do you have the courage to stand up and fight for your right to live God’s ways, to hold onto His Word, and to embrace His identity over the ways of the world?  I pray that you do and that you allow the story of Mattathias and his five sons to give you the faith to know that when we are on God’s side, anything is possible.

I pray that this blog has been inspirational, eye opening, and has challenged you to see life in a new way.  I pray that you have a blessed week and that God blesses the work of your hands.  Amen.

The Last Shout

How cool.  I just realized that this will be the seventh blog in this series and I have already named it "The last shout".  I just feel like there is something really appropriate here.

For those of you who have not been following, on February 9, 2016 we started a series that was designed to help God's people learn how to "hear" Him through what He is communicating through His physical interactions with us.  The following week we went into a little more detail and ended with a challenge to the readers to bring up things that are happening in the world and to discuss together how God might be attempting to communicate to us through these things.

The following Sunday we had an evangelist teacher by the name of Pat Schatzline as a guest speaker at our church.  He addressed all of the primary issues in a message called "God's 16 shouts for 2016".  Since that time this blog series has been dedicated to breaking down the specifics of that message.  We have discovered how God gave Pat not just His proposed blessings that are set to fall upon our nation, but He also provide Pat with the conditions for those blessings.  Even deeper within the message is how God is using the very brokenness, sickness, addictions, perversion, and immorality of this world to point us to the very things that He wants us (His people) to repent of and what we are to turn toward.  Today we are going to discuss the final three aspects of the message.

Continuing from where we left off:

The first of these final messages is that God will surprise us with something "major" during the US presidential election.  One of the scriptures quoted in the blog that started this series was:

 [Isaiah 3:4 NASB]  And I will make mere lads their princes, and capricious children will rule over them.

Isn't it amazing that the message that God gave Pat ends by addressing the very issue that the first blog brought up.  The point is, if His people seek to have spiritual leaders who feed us false teachings, tickle our ears, and tell us what we want to hear, God will listen and put those people over us.  If this is who we ask to lead our Sunday morning services He will not stop there, He will continue by putting the same kinds of people over every aspect of our government, judicial systems, businesses, and every other aspect of society.

We can't argue that we want society to bend their knee to "God's standards" six days a week and then ask our pastors and teachers to bend their knees to "Satan's standards" on Sunday.  When we seek truth, God will give us leaders that will lead us to truth.  Until then, He will give us leaders that give us exactly what our hearts truly desire.  God’s direction with this “major event” hinges on God’s people standing up to the leaders of our churches and our temples and telling them that we want to be held accountable to the whole counsel of God and that we want to be taught the meat of the scriptures.  God will give us the leaders we choose.  It is that simple.

This leads us into the final two aspects of what God showed Pat.  Pat saw that the "global (financial) market will continue to grow increasingly unstable." and that  "His shout will not be heard by all, but only by those whom have made themselves attentive to His ear!". 

These two notions may seem a bit unrelated but in truth they are incredibly related to one another.  As the financial markets become more unstable so too will the faith of those who are not as well rooted as they think they are.  When God starts taking away our idols we will have two choices; we will either focus on our idols of luxury, comfort, good food, vacations, and the lives we have known, or we will keep our eyes focused on God.  We simply cannot watch both at the same time.

This image reminds me of Lot's wife as they were leaving Sodom.  God was leading them away from their past, their old lives of sin, and their old ways.  God was leading them into the unknown, into something new, and something filled with promise.  Lot's wife was too consumed by what she was leaving and could not help but look back.  She was turned into a statue of salt.  We simply can't watch where God is leading us while mourning over what He is delivering us from.

God showed Pat that when the financial markets become unstable there will be those righteous people who remain financially strong and in their righteousness will use their financial strength to bless the churches that are continuing to grow in the direction established through the earlier aspects of the message.  For the churches that have not bent their knee, readjusted their compass headings, and turned their hearts, minds, souls, and strength toward the true ways of God, there will be no future.  The money will not flow, and the people will turn away.

We have to understand that if people are attending churches that are promising a pre-tribulation rapture, health, wealth, and prosperity for God's people, and having their ears tickled, those people will not be prepared to look where God is leading them.  They will fall away and their churches will fall with them.  For those people who have remained steadfast on what is true, demanded that their leaders and teachers preach the whole Gospel message, and seek the deeper meanings of the scriptures there will be peace, comfort, and power.

God is about to turn things upside down.  The churches that have watered down the scriptures for the purpose of numbers who will keep them financially strong will become insolvent.  At the same time, the churches that have continued to trust God, preached His Word, and who have been responsible disciples over the members they have been entrusted with will flourish.  This is a message that every church leader, teacher, and administrative body needs to hear, pay attention to, and respond to in an appropriate manner.

I pray that you are one of the few who will watch, observe, and hear.  I pray that you will allow God to communicate with you through the circumstances of life and that you allow Him to grow your understandings in such a way that you always feel His presence and hear His voice as you travel about your days.  Amen.