Hi there, good friend. I've been asked to release my report on the after
effects from the little situation that occurred in the Garden of Eden.
You know, the fiasco where Satan conned Eve into stealing fruit
from the forbidden tree. I can't disclose my name, because I'm an
undercover operator of the Angel Ethic Council.
I was patrolling the area of the Garden of Eden that fateful day when Satan
showed up disguised as a serpent. He knew Eve was naive, and saw
his chance to--what else?--raise hell. Eve was near the Tree of Life, and
Satan struck up a conversation with her. She didn't realize a serpent
was talking to her because he strongly suggested the fruit of
that tree was out of the world. He wasn't lying, either. However, Eve was
absolutely enthralled to think of something new and exciting, and sort
of reacted like a shopper at a big sale. With his encouragement, she
picked the fruit and took a big bite. It was even better than the serpent
described. She was really excited.
Just
then, Adam showed up. The serpent beat a hasty retreat. His job was
done.
Adam saw that Eve was very excited, and he asked her what was going
on. She said she had just tasted the best flavor ever. Adam askedher
what she was eating. She replied, fruit from the tree. Adam yelled, we
aren't supposed to eat that fruit. Why did you do that? Eve said the serpent
told her it was good. He also said it was God's private stock, and He
wanted it all for Himself. Try it, Eve said. It's the greatest. Adam saw
that Eve wasn't dead, so he took a bite. It appeared they had gotten away
with disobedience.
Eve's look of excitement changed abruptly to one of confusion. Are you feeling
okay? she asked Adam. He said yes. Why do you ask? She said I never
noticed you look different than me. Adam nodded in agreement, and
said, you're right. You do look different. We better get something to cover
our differences before God notices.
Too late. God was strolling in the garden. Adam and Eve tried to hide behind
some bushes. Of course God knows and sees all, so there was no way
they could fool Him. He asked why they were trying to hide. They saidthey
wanted to cover themselves. God was very disappointed when He told
them He knew they disobeyed and ate fruit from the tree. Now I haveto
punish you and you surely will die. He said Eve would suffer pangs of childbirth
and always be battling the serpent, who would forever crawl on his
belly. Adam would be of corruptible seed, and would now be the leader
of the woman. The woman was foolish and did not question the word
of a stranger or discuss things with Adam. Adam accepted Eve's explanation
and suggestion without giving the matter due consideration. Adam
would get the chance to redeem his folly through testing of his leadership
of the woman and family. They would be forever banned from
the garden.
Adam was sad to leave the garden, but looked forward with anticipation to
being an outright leader instead of a partner with a helpmate. Eve accepted
her sentence, now realizing her mistake. She now had a master. Now we fast forward several years and find that the couple has discovered the
fine points of their body differences. It was so much fun and felt so good, until
Eve gave birth to a couple of boys. The boys were not much alike, and the
couple had difficulty raising them. Cain was headstrong, while Abel was
very obedient. One day Cain, in a fit of rage, killed Abel. God showed up and
accosted Adam and Eve. God told them He was very disappointed with
them again. You have not trained your boys properly, and now one has
committed murder. Adam, you have shirked responsibility, and no longer
are worthy to be the leader, God declared. Henceforth, leadership shall
be shared according to the abilities of each of you.
God gave humans the ability to make choices, and many of them simply accepted
this freedom by deciding issues and situations in the easiest way
and to their specific advantage. Instead of studying or doing appropriate research,
they went along with empty-headed loud mouths. They took the easy
path, and paid no heed to Christ's warning in Matt. 7:13-14. "Enter by the
narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction,
and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate
and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find
it."
There are many types of people in Christianity, in other faiths, and with no
faith or religion. Christians must be followers of Christ and heed His teaching,
or they are frauds. This is serious, friends, because God will lower
the boom on frauds. Those that purpose to teach His Word are held
to a higher standard. God is not mocked. Satan will take care of you if God
rejects you.
Returning to Adam and Eve, we see that virtually all faiths have accepted God's
placement of man as the head of a woman and family. This works out really
well for men. They don't have to prove any capability for leadership. In
fact, all they have to do is to be born. Yet, without woman, they can't be born.
To a person with the ability to actually think, it doesn't seem remotely reasonable
that your birth sex should make you a master. This was/is man's way of
establishing inherited kingdoms. We see how that has worked out. It's
astonishing for a pastor to learn from men in congregations and other pastors
that women don't belong in leadership positions. Both the Old and New
Testaments tell about women in leadership positions. It seems men are
terrified they may have to become followers and stop discriminating against
the mothers of society.
Go to Genesis, and note how Adam quickly shifted blame for eating fruit of the
tree of life to Eve. Gen3:12, "The woman whom You gave to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I ate." Worse yet, Adam was actually including
God as partly to blame for giving Adam a woman. Now I think of our
politicians and pastors, and wonder why they give men a free ride in
leadership. It's not women who send our men and women off to war.Women
aren't even supposed to have physical and mental control of their own
bodies. Why aren't men held accountable for abortions? The fetus is half
theirs, so why aren't they accountable? In fact, if they are supposed to be
the head (master) of the family, how is it they simply walk away from
the family they created, frequently without spending a penny to support
this abandoned family? Am I supposed to believe a JUST and compassionate
God wanted women to always take the blame, as Adam was
quick to do with Eve? Why wasn't man enough to "man up" and simply confess
to God, "I did eat fruit of the tree?" God already knew what happened.
Nobody fools God.
Scripture tells us the world will go down, and the people I see identified as the
culprits are almost exclusively men, including Satan. Adam started the
blame game, and our "good ole boys" and now some next generation offspring
think they can finish what their forefathers failed to do. Women did
get the vote, and slaves were emancipated. But now these fearful leaders
are trying to return us to those discriminating days of yesteryear. And,
fear they should, because God is just and compassionate, and He will
take steps to prevent the final suffering and horror leaders will impose to try
and achieve their goal. What is their goal? The same as Satan's, total control
and the riches of the world as Satan tempted Jesus.
Friends, don't be misled by false promises and proclamations based only on
theory and hot air. Read Matt. 4:4, "It is written, Man shall not live bybread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God". Note that
bread has two meanings here. One is actual food, and the other is slang
for money. Now please go to Matt. 4:8-10. "Again, the devil took Him up on
an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the
world and their glory, and he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if
You will fall down and worship me'. Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with
you Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him
only you shall serve."'
The study of God's Word is being very shortchanged in America, and it seems
Christians have very little understanding of scripture. I see church after
church seemingly unaware of Christ's directions. The people are enjoying
"church" and ignoring not only the lessons of history, but the actual
words of Christ. Fun and games nor ignorance will fulfill your commitment
to Christ. Don't be one of those who will hear Christ in Matt.
7:21-23 (23) "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness."'
Sometimes I get carried away with how the Holy Spirit tells me stories to use in messages, and this is one time I chuckled myself awake. Strange way to get messages, but it's nice not to always hear bombs going off or the rattle of machine guns. I would really rather not write the super serious messages about Christianity because I am a person of humor. Before undergoing surgery, I was in top form in the prep area. So much so that the nurses asked if I could stay awhile to bring some cheer in serious situations. I really had no choice because my surgery was scheduled and I certainly didn't want to spend more time there. Now that I have digressed, on to the information about the Dumb Cluck Society.
I haven't heard this term much recently, but it used to be an old stand-by for people describing totally idiotic explanations. It's more interesting to know how and why the term came about. This is for real, folks, from someone (me) who experienced the actual term. No, it wasn't me. It is really a chicken. When I was in the military, lots of my friends didn't believe some of my agricultural (farm) stories. I had good grammar and diction which usually didn't accompany a farmer. That was because of my work in the news media, but they didn't know that. The real farm boys knew I was the real deal, however, and frequently went along with some of my embellished "rural stories" to the chagrin of the city guys. Again I digress. I'm really writing about genuine, serious Christianity. Remember, God counted humor among His many talents. After all, He made you!
Back on the farm in my early years, I experienced farm life to the fullest. One of the things that was necessary that I hated was the slaughtering of animals. I do not make a good Old Testament Jew because I hate shedding blood. Until later years, I hunted and fished. Shooting a pheasant was not distasteful, but it was a "clean" kill, and virtually bloodless. Slaughtering fowls and animals was a vastly different matter. There is always blood, and in beheading chickens, there is the dropping of the axe. I don't know how the Muslims who do the beheading sleep at night. I have now digressed three times, so scripture has been imitated long enough, I'll explain the dumb cluck and how the society was formed and then split into two segments. In the "old" days, chickens were slaughtered by simply taking an axe and chopping the head off at the neck. Sometimes there was an unusual phenomenon when the chickens were killed. They didn't just die; they actually could come off the chopping block and run around. If you ever saw a beheaded chicken run around until it finally died, you would understand the term. Because the headless chicken had no eyes or ears, it couldn't see or hear anything. So, it just ran around for a few minutes and then collapsed. There was no thought process because it had no head, and it was as unsaved people are described in scripture. Go to Matt. 13:11-15. These verses combine Christ's teaching and Isaiah's prophecy given more than 750 years BEFORE Christ. Can there be any doubt about these verses?
Matt. 13:11-15. "He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. (Verse 12 here is the same as Matt. 25:29. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."'
Now, I'm digressing yet a fourth time to ask you to compare the exact wording of verse 12, "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." Christians, including pastors, explain this verse in Matt. 25:29 as referring to money. You see this is wrong. Christ was talking about gifts of the spirit, and in both instances he meant the gift or ability to understand. I know I'm pretty much a lone wolf with my explanation, but Christ's words match Isaiah's perfectly, and Isaiah was speaking about understanding, not money. A Christian's eyes should be on the gifts of the Spirit, not money. No apology for this digression.
Back to the headless chicken. It's very easy to compare the description of the blind and deaf chicken with a person who lacks understanding. And that, friends, takes us to the membership qualifications in the Dumb Cluck Society. When people have a good thing going, everyone wants to be a leader. The Dumb Cluck Society is no different. There is constant contention among the members in both branches, and the best way to describe this activity is to think of brainless, no clue lies and blathering. I'll describe the two branches, and you can decide who belongs where. This is not judging, which is not biblical; it is intelligent consideration of facts and truth.
First, we'll look at the Polled branch of the Dumb Cluck Society. This branch is by far the largest because it includes most people in the world. There is a good sized number in the United States, as well, but they have been placed in this branch by members of the other branch. These are people who are considered intellectually unable to handle education or who choose not to be enlightened. There is a great deal of racism involved in placing people in this branch. These people are just simply known as "dumb." They do not understand Christianity, at least in the eyes of the other branch. You could say this is the branch of the common man. Polled refers to the head and voting.
Now to the elite branch of the Dumb Cluck Society. This is the location of the upper crust professing Christian world. There are some highly educated people in this branch and many who must have bought their college degrees in the Dollar Stores. The former talk and write a great deal, which is mildly irritating. The latter don't write much except through a ghost writer or plagiarizing. They do talk excessively, and frequently in a very loud voice. These are very irritating and create major problems, often with no factual foundation and usually reflecting an opinion of how they believe things should be.
How do we separate these people, and how do we assess their actual Christian commitment. We have what they say and how they follow Christ's teaching to consider before making a decision to believe what they tell us, or to recognize their membership in the Dumb Cluck Society. As always, you can tell a real Christian by their knowledge and use of scripture. We now have among us those who deny the Old Testament has any meaning today. There are those who use single verses of scripture to make a point or who say all of Christ's words are no longer valid. Flee from these pretenders before they get your money and support. A low IQ doesn't mean a person can't be saved, so be careful about placing them in this branch. You don't have to have a high IQ or money to be saved.
The elite branch poses a problem, especially among the wealthy or those very highly educated. Some people get so much education they get confused over man's ability compared to God's. I have a friend who's an engineer who thinks scientists will develop something superior to milk. He apparently thinks God gave us an inferior product. He attends church regularly, is a deacon and teaches Sunday School. He obviously has a problem understanding God's supreme superiority, but otherwise accepts the basic foundation of Christianity. Then, there are highly intelligent people who spend time researching how to prove Christ wasn't really the Son of God, or He was married and went to Egypt, or wasn't born of a virgin, or he was not bodily resurrected, or he did not perform miracles, etc. Finally, we get to those who have wealth, and believe their great intelligence (NOT) brought them wealth, and God only endorsed their effort. The answer to every problem is money, and there's never enough.
Let's make an intelligence decision on how we determine the sincerity of a person's commitment to Christ. It only takes a few answers to give us the salvation standing of a person. It's not opinion, if you count just these few answers: Do you believe in the virgin birth of Christ, that the holy Spirit impregnated the virgin Mary? Do you believe Christ is the Son of God, sent to earth by the Father to offer eternal life to anyone who commits? Do you think Christ was just a man, a special teacher or prophet? Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe Christ died on the cross? Do you believe He gave His spirit willingly to God? (It wasn't taken) Do you believe He bodily rose from death to later ascend to heaven? Do you believe angels opened the tomb? Do you believe the Roman guards allowed the body to be stolen? Do you know where His body was taken or where it is now? Do you know why the disciples didn't recognize him right away? Do you know how doubting Thomas could find the nail wounds if the body wasn't really Christ's? That should be enough for a genuine Christian to make a decision.
I'm closing this message by nominating a Cluck of Time. This person actually tore pages out of a bible so he could "rewrite" the four gospels. He wrote his version of scripture, partly because he thought American Indians were too dumb to learn normally. You know what he thought of blacks, although he sired children with a black slave. He did not believe in miracles and removed all from the gospels. He believed Christ was just a man. He removed the story of the resurrection. These FACTS are all recorded in many biographies of the man, who was brilliant in many fields and very wealthy. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States and wrote the Declaration of Independence. That Declaration includes his statement that all men are created equal. He owned and used slaves. Was he a liar? Was he a genuine Christian? Don't believe me--call up Thomas Jefferson on the internet and look at the many books by biographers, historians and his own writing. And this is why, friends, they didn't found a Christian nation.
In this message we will look at the difference between the real subject and the imitation of reality we frequently accept because of clever wordage. We will see the difference between teaching and preaching faiths. The month of February is special to Faith Walk Ministry because it is our anniversary month, and 2015 marks our 30th year of serving our Lord. I want to speak a bit about the ministry because it is appropriately named. To live by faith requires much more than words, and we are here to testify about the need for a personal connection with the Lord. Prayer is the usual mode for communication, but you have to be careful about how you pray. For some people--and I'm addressing Christians--prayer is only a collection of words. It's like making a robocall. There is no heart in the words.
Satan is very aware of this condition, and uses the person's misunderstanding of the personal connection with God to his advantage. Satan has miracle powers, too, and he can grant prayer requests so cunningly that the person doesn't realize who granted the request. This is why it's so damaging to pray by rote. Living by faith is more difficult than it may appear, as some people discover when they have extreme problems. You have to be aware of Satan's powers, or you could be tricked into unknowingly doing his will.
I'll get to the imitation part of the message shortly, but I need to tell a bit about the scope of our operation. No one at Faith Walk receives any salary or pay. They never have and never will. We were a three person dedicated ministry from day one, and now have some wonderful volunteers who assist us as we are long past retirement age (two of us). While much of our time now is spent in counseling and providing food and non financial help locally, our ministry reaches out to an uncounted group of people in many states and several foreign countries. We are able to do this because of the internet. We have developed into a sort of community center here in the countryside of rural New York. Area people know we are here to help, and that doesn't mean just with the Word of God.
We do not receive financial support on a regular basis. Because a majority of the people we serve are poor, they contribute by bringing us food to distribute or things to share. Our ministry is more like the early church in Acts. A few people have stepped up to help us financially now and then by doing something outstanding such as paying the back taxes. However, there is no steady financial support. When local people have a need they know we will help because we have over the years developed rapport with various organizations and agencies. We have found that the carnal world is willing to help sometimes.
It is not unusual to have people show up unexpectedly and stay for a meal. Skeeter (Anita) is a great cook, and can make a delicious meal out of almost nothing. Having an operation like the early church in Acts is very uplifting, because people have to live by faith, not by carnal circumstances. If you have that FAITH, you have peace. God does come through, but He has His own timeline. We must learn patience. We have no pension, and all our savings from working until past retirement age in other fields has been used for the ministry, which includes a rescue animal operation and teaching opportunity through the animals. This is a great reducer for stress.
The animals have been a major part of the ministry, serving both youngsters and adults. About half the 100 animals are rescues, and include cattle, horses, peacocks, ducks, chickens, geese, cats, dogs, pigeons and anything else homeless. Since 21 of these are cattle and horses, it requires quite a quantity of feed, not to mention daily care. We work with animal welfare people, but receive very little assistance, and nothing financial-wise. We have a steady stream of visitors to see and sometimes work with an animal or two. We never have to chase a horse or cow to catch them; they show up immediately to see if you have a treat for them.
We have found the animals often are helpful in working with the growing number of people with psychological stress, both military and civilian. For 30 years people have told us what we're doing couldn't be done, and we couldn't operate financially separately. They were wrong because we don't rely on the carnal world's method, which is money. Many churches have run into hard times because money was relied upon rather than FAITH. We need money, too, but rely on the Holy Spirit to move people to contribute to sustain the ministry. Counseling and all our services are done as servants to God, and require no fees. We are praying for God to rise up someone to replace us as we approach more limited ability due to age.
I hope I haven't bored you, but I wanted to point out you can do God's work without any guarantee of financial or other support. This leads directly into the subject headlined at the beginning of this message--Imitation or Words. It has been pointed out by scholars that a well versed (trained) person can teach any subject. This includes any faith and any scripture. When it comes to teaching about any religion, there has to be another connection. The teacher (pastor, professor, etc.) must have a personal connection to God in order to convey the power of that FAITH to the listener. If the pastor or teacher does not have a true personal connection to God, he/she is an imitation and not real. The teacher has to have the power. How can this happen?
We will go directly to I Peter 1:3-5 to see the first requirement to receive the power of God, which Christians refer to as the Holy Spirit. This is a cornerstone of understanding and so important that the only unforgiven sin is denial of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Peter we see, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through FAITH for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
The key here is the word "incorruptible." All mankind has the seed of corruption since all have been born after the fall of Adam and Eve. Christ is the only incorruptible ever. No other religion or FAITH has that cornerstone. Without a cornerstone, there is no building. You must have FAITH in the belief of Jesus Christ and the God of the Jews and Christians. No other FAITH will work spiritually. The God of the Jews and Christians is the only God who has the power of the Holy Spirit to do His work on earth.
Now please turn to 1 Peter 1:22-25, to see the second step necessary for Christ's kingdom. "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ...All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower fall away, But the word of the Lord endures forever." Carnal man is a temporary fixture in the world, and we have Christ's explanation in John 3:1-7.
Christ is speaking here to a Jew named Nicodemus. He was a Jewish leader, probably a member of the Jewish supreme court we know as the Sanhedrin. Because it was not wise for a Jewish judge to meet with Jesus, Nicodemus went to Jesus under cover of darkness. Nicodemus had a burning question and an open mind, which is missing in many of today's Christians. He did not think he knew all truth even though he was well versed in Jewish law. Many Christians could learn from Nicodemus that no one separate church or denomination has ALL the truth and is better than the rest. If you believe that, you are in trouble. You are not listening to the Holy Spirit.
I'm not going to write all of 1 John 3, but will give you the absolute truth in verse 7. You need to read all of 1 John 3, but especially pay attention to verse 7. This is absolutely the cornerstone for salvation. Verse 7: "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again'" Verse 6 reminds us that flesh is born of the flesh and spirit is born of the spirit. If you accept Christ's offer of salvation, and your acceptance is from the heart, you receive the Holy Spirit to guide and assist you. Your acceptance must be absolutely genuine, or you won't receive the Holy Spirit.
Now, back to the title of this message. The Holy Spirit is the power God uses to deliver His Word. I'm not trying to judge anyone, but if the teacher, preacher or pastor have doubts about the basics of any part of Jesus and the Word, he/she will not have the Holy Spirit to guide him/her in their messages or work. They will be no different than a teacher of any other FAITH, who in reality is speaking words that have no power. It will not be the genuine article under God. That does not mean their word can't create happenings--even miracles. But these happenings will not be through the power of the Holy Spirit. You have to be careful who you listen to, and have the knowledge they are the genuine article. Nicodemus assumed a considerable risk by asking Christ for the TRUTH. You may have to take some risk to know whether or not you're hearing an IMITATION or WORDS rather than the genuine truth through the Holy Spirit.
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