~ Gen. Jim ~ POW-86322 — 12/17/19
The Holy Bible is the most read book in the world. The authors whose pen, graceful yet painful, illustrated the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God/Son of Man in terms in which even the unlearned can read and pretty much understand. They write of the History, Traditions, Wonders and damnation of the people of God, aka, Jews – both bloodline Jews and spiritual Jews, i.e. the born-again Gentiles. The authors, mainly Paul the apostle, a converted Jew to Christianity – “the Way” -, give account of the trials, tribulations/martyrs of both religious and secular Jews and later, the Gentiles themselves. The writers write of the hopes and hopelessness, the fears and the fearless believers who comprised the early N.T. Ekklesia, i.e. the Church. They wrote about Jesus, Christianity, and Judaism clashing. They wrote about Jesus’ death, by which means all who repent, may be saved from eternal death and hell. They wrote about life beyond the grave, a new world to come, wherein dwells righteousness – and hell, wherein dwells the vanquished souls that did not, would not, receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.
There is an old saying which teaches that you can never know a man until he has walked miles in your shoes (or sandals). All the good qualities and bad ones in the human makeup force their way -eventually- to the surface under the stimulus of privation, persecution and danger. Anyone who has truly obeyed the Spirit’s calling/leading knows this to be true.
There are those who criticize Jesus and His faithful disciples today (as well as yesterday) that have not nor will not walk-the-walk but merely talk-the-talk. There are those who once followed Him but later turned back because the “way” got too demanding AND dangerous.
It was/is my (our) good fortune to be intimately associated in all the changing vicissitudes which constituted and still constitutes loyal service. Dec. 6th, 2019, started our 49th year of service. We, Deborah, my son Joshua, my daughter and others of our extended family have enjoyed so many mercies and persecutions. All this has made the Bible “Come Alive!” to us.
The hardships we’ve had to go through and endure has taken us out of the fairy tale land of Churchianity into the realities of Gospel living. We’ve had to come face-to-face with life-threatening situations too many times to recount just now. We’ve been insulted and assaulted, persecuted and punished, used and abused. In short, “worn and torn” for Jesus’ sake. We’ve had to come face-to-face with the hostile media and the madness of state/co./federal officials… with their fiercest and most astute mentalities, i.e. machinations and incarcerations, their inhospitable and intolerable attitudes. Jesus faced the same. His early disciples faced the same.
The authors of the N.T. never candy-coated the truth – they allowed the “sword to cut & the fire to burn” …the HELL out of the actors and readers.
The truth advanced, nonetheless. It will continue to do so as long as there are soldiers/saints that are not recalcitrant. The truth-of-the-matter is, the TRUTH is inexhaustible, inextinguishable – truth burns like a fire. Just read Heb. 11 –the heroes of faith- the young and tender, the old & grizzled, the male or female, all the faithful had good eulogies written about them. But what about us? Are we worthy to receive such a eulogy?
Above all, Jesus, the Lamb/Lion was/is a beacon of hope to all who gaze upon Him, via, the Scriptures. Neither terror nor hostility can separate us from the love of God. We too can be possessed with the “Jesus Spirit” of wonderful tenderness and sublime sangfroid in the face of the enemy.
Jesus’ heart towards the lost and the poor is well noted in the N.T. gospels. Let us never become as today’s Churchites are -perfectly indifferent to Him and His mission: Take Jesus to All the World!
While many are content with belonging to a picturesque mega Church with all the nice people, singing nice songs, yet in no wise connected to the heart or soul of the Son of God. The sheer spiritual deficiency is telling: the “saints” are more “devilish” than the world … more in love with the splendors of the world than Heaven. But the dog & pony show must go on. So must those of the austere spirit.
Some may think I’m exaggerating about the current spiritual condition of the Church. Well, if we’re to believe the N.T. writings, they were the first to point out all the fakes, flakes and snakes calling themselves “God’s people.” The Jews of old were the precursors.
Either we embrace the Scriptures, or we don’t. What we have calling itself the “Church” today is a prefabricated religious order that has no sword or fire, and a plastic cross that has no conviction power.