CHRISTIAN OBLIGATION

                                        CHRISTIAN OBLIGATION

    There are many good, honest people in America, and they include all races and religions. Christians do not have a monopoly on Godly things. Unfortunately, the fact is that Christians don't seem or act as though they know the directions given by their leader. Christ told us to "Follow Me." To follow Him, we need to learn and practice His  teaching in the gospels---Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Readers may be tired of my repeating this directive over and over. This is the same tried and true method we use to teach and train people from infancy through adulthood. The method is tried and true, but people develop personal interests that sometimes take them far away from being Christ-like. Being a Christian is more than a claim of belief or life style. It's long past the time to examine what's happened to the claim, "I have the Christian faith!"

    When you examine their Christian faith, you sometimes see their reason for the claim is based simply on their desires, backed by their

misunderstanding or ignorance of scripture. When I point out their claim is not scriptural, they usually reply that it is and it's in the bible. I can and do give the scripture to show them wrong, but they insist their claim is valid because "it's in the bible." They are never able to find the proof of their claim, but they never admit they are wrong. There are certain things and passages in scripture that are open to interpretation, but nothing Christ taught can be used in any way  except as He taught. That puts the entire foundation of Christianity in just the four books of gospel. The Old Testament and Epistles are important, but provide mostly an introduction and correctional material for Christians. 

    Although Christians are told over and over they are living under  grace, and not the Law, they frequently go back to the Law or go to one of the Epistles for a rule to seemingly make their denomination more Godly than others. Of course, this separates the believers and negates the idea of brothers and sisters. The egos of humans must die if the person is to be Christ-like. Unfortunately, all these rules taken from the Old Testament or Epistles may or may not be part of your Christian direction. Christ did not discard the Law given to Moses and Israel. He did not discard the Old Testament. He frequently quoted scripture. In Matt. 22:37-40, He gave Christians their marching orders, no more, no less. "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as yourself. On THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS hang all the law and the prophets."

    Pretty simple, isn't it? Why do professing Christians bring all the other subjects into discussion and disagreement? Usually it's because the person has DECIDED he/she has the correct idea, and everyone else must agree. Ignorance abounds, and usually the individual's mind is set in stone. Look back at Matt. 22:37, where Christ separates your devotion into three parts: heart, soul and mind. These people with a set in stone attitude ignore the fact they are following their carnal mind, not the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Controlling the carnal mind is the soft spot Satan uses to destroy your salvation. When he encourages you to continue your misguided interpretation of  scripture, you are off the Christian path, the only Way to join Christ in eternity. Be certain you understand scripture before you start lecturing others.

    When someone talks to me about a subject, and quickly establishes the fact he/she is of the Christian faith, I immediately see a red flag waving. Usually it's a controversial subject, and I expect the person will not change his/her MIND because facts don't support the person's conclusion. You see that word MIND, because controlling the carnal mind can only happen when the Holy Spirit is present to help you. When you mention their subject was not mentioned by Christ in His teaching, the only answer is, "It's in the bible." They try to criss cross various verses such as "thou shalt not kill," to support their carnal interpretation. Christ never taught to hurt or kill. However, God knew the nature of man, and had an ARMY. He still has that army, and Christ will lead it back to earth at the culmination of tribulation.

    You see, you have to be careful in putting together various scriptures.

Joshua 5:13-15 and chapter 6 introduce God's commander in chief of God's army. God's army will come to earth with Christ as the leader, as

we learn in Revelation. Humans were used to establish order on earth, but it isn't working. Angels will accompany Christ. A denomination that doesn't support humans to serve as soldiers claims they won't kill other humans because that would be killing brothers and sisters. Israel

established  the land given them by God through military action. The enemy were not brothers and sisters in religion or anything else. How

can Christ's army be compatible with this interpretation? It seems to be a modern interpretation of the "conscientious objector."

    We see several denominations claiming the Sabbath must be observed on Saturday, while others claim it must be on Sunday. The

truth, according to Christ, is found in Mark 2:27. "The Sabbath was made

for man; and not man for the Sabbath." Verses 25 and 26 tell how David

was permitted to violate the law. Reading on after verse 27, you see healing may take place at any time on any day. The original purpose

of the Saturday Sabbath was to insure man would take one day of rest so he could worship God. How could a real Christian miss this simple instruction? The error is common with church elders and officials.

    I come now to probably the worst teaching in the gospels, and a favorite of Satan. It is found in Acts 10:9-48. We need to understand why Simon Peter had the vision concerning foods in Acts 10:9-16. This is one Christian principle that people seriously refuse to consider, and it's the most important direction from God except the path to salvation. Peter was told in the vision that all food created by God was clean,  which cancelled the Jewish law. Peter was told that nothing created by God was Common. Folks, this was God's direction that opened the door for Gentiles (non Jews) to join Israel, and to receive Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. Read all the above verses. If you are not a Jew, you only have the opportunity to be a Christian through God's direction in these verses. You were considered Common before, but now you are eligible to receive eternal life. The foods you eat have nothing to do with being one of Christ's own. You may consider it  to be more healthy, but it has nothing to do with salvation or your spiritual eligibility. Read the bible, and understand Acts 10:9-48. By now, I suspect this information about food has me trapped because the quoted passages are not from Christ and the four gospels.

    You are correct in that identification, but let's see if Christ EVER  gave us CLEAR directions about food. Turn to Matt. 15:11. "Not what  goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." If you paid attention to Christ's activities in the gospels, you would see Christ accepted invitations from people to eat with them. He took criticism for this because some of the hosts and guests were not considered acceptable by strict Jews. He gave us the supporting scripture for Peter's vision about commonness. Do you think God created anything inferior? The food issue effectively accomplishes two goals for Satan. It takes believers' minds off the real Christian issues, and separates people by food choice. What people eat may be their healthy choice, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity. Don't be a divider.

    If you don't study scripture, it is quite easy to be led down the road to errant teaching and the trap of passing on misinformation, which, of course, is a sin. I have only mentioned three examples of wrong teaching. When you accept these errors, you are following your carnal mind. All is not lost, however. The only unpardonable sin is failure to accept the power of the Holy Spirit. This is essential for Christians. I ponder how unsaved people can act so much like a Christian is supposed to behave. I know individuals who have not accepted Christ's offer of salvation, but follow His teaching. They are the  exhibit of GOODNESS all of us should be. They tell me they believe that being an honest and compassionate person is their goal. They do a wonderful job of illustrating this. 

    Perhaps some people fail to match the acceptance of salvation with the obligation or responsibility of the agreement. There's more to actually being a Christian than "having faith." Go to James 4:14-26. You need to read this collection of verses to fully understand what Christian faith really is. You can claim faith in anything, but if that faith is real, it will be evident through works. Your control of your carnal mind will enable you to show compassion and do good things for others. You will learn what true sacrifice is. Your works must meet the standard of Christ's teaching. We go back to the four gospels again. Don't be all talk. Let your good works do the talking. Many professing Christians are not meeting their obligation. Perhaps that's why some good people haven't accepted Christ's offer.

Rev. Walbear

MOTHER'S DAY

                                                                   MOTHER'S DAY

    Where have all the flowers gone? Why are there just empty chairs? Today is Mother's Day, a special day for families to gather together and

show their respect and appreciation for their mother. Oh! I see! There, in that house, a large group of people gathered at a table straining with the burden of a feast. But, in this house, there's just a woman sitting alone, gazing out the window. Now I see a family in that up- scale restaurant digging into turkey dinners. There's a lot of laughter and joy. Wait! I hear crying! There's a young woman and her daughter in a bare bones apartment. They're eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The little girl is trying to comfort her mother. "Why are you crying, mommy? Do you hurt?" she asks.

    "No, darling," she answers wiping her eyes. "I'm crying tears of joy because I have you with me," the young mothers responds. "It's a big, cold world out there, and we're blessed to be together." The two of them

are the only family members. The mother's only close relative still living

is an older brother she hasn't seen in several years. The little girl's father

left them alone so long ago she doesn't remember him. This Mother's Day

is especially bleak because the neighbor who baby sat moved away, and

there is no one to baby sit while mother works. Of course that's not a

problem because mother lost her minimum wage job just in time for her

special day.

   

    The scene shifts, and we see a dozen people laughing and eating a

sumptuous combination of food around a large table. The elderly woman

buzzing around the table is obviously enjoying her role as the matriarch

of the family, making certain everyone will be stuffed. She has been at work for hours preparing this feast, and won't realize how tired she is until everyone is finished eating. It is a labor of love. Her husband,  children and grand children are the source of contentment and the joy of family.

    Nearby in a church basement, an older lady sits at one of several tables with other people being served a Mother's Day dinner. These  people aren't accompanied by anyone because they don't have family and live alone. They can only remember when family used to be there. As in real life, these brief sketches of the holiday dinner illustrate the wide disparity mothers face. Women in many countries may experience hardships and discrimination. But, in America, things are different, right? If you believe this, you are either a bigot or have your head buried in the sand.

    If America is a Christian nation, people should be following the very clear directions given us by Jesus Christ. Do you watch television, read

newspapers, or listen to the radio? Male political leaders at all levels make women a target for disrespect and slander. What's even more deplorable, many church pastors not only fail to correct this shameful

diatribe; they accept this verbal abuse without commenting about it from the pulpit. That, friends, is a cardinal sin of omission. When you agree with sin, you are sinning. Way too many pastors go way back to Genesis to claim men ONLY may be leaders. It's in the bible, and right there in the very first book. That is the foundation for the Jewish and Christian churches. A bit later in the bible we come to the experience of Moses when God, Himself, gave Moses the Law. Every Christian must understand what the word LAW means. The Jewish people were Chosen to serve as God's priests. They accepted the mission and lived under that Law.

    These Chosen people, like all humans, have the seed of sin, and fell away from God's direction over the span of several generations. It seemed

mankind could not keep God's commandments, and repeatedly had to go through a correctional period. God created mankind with a free will, and mankind can't stay clean. That seed of evil keeps winning, and things get worse and worse. God gave us a perfect correctional example when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to give us precise and clear directions. Christ ushered in the period of GRACE, because mankind could not keep from breaking the Law. 

    NOW, GET THIS STRAIGHT, CHRISTIANS! If you are a Christian, you no

longer are under the Law. You serve under the Grace of God which  consists of Christ's directions in Matt. 22:34-40, and the full four books of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. That does not mean the Old Testament is discarded; it does not mean the Epistles are of no value. Everything in the bible is profitable, we are told. Christ tells us in John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him,'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.'" There are no exceptions. We cannot change God's Word. Since to really be of Christian FAITH, we MUST follow His directions.  In Matt. 22: 34-40, He tells us the most important requirement to be one of His own is to honor and serve the Lord and to love your neighbor. He didn't say to love only your white neighbor or your Christian neighbor.

    Christ's regard and treatment of women is another clear direction that

indicts men. He forgave believing women who had committed adultery.

Jewish leaders wanted to kill them. The adulterous men didn't face judgment. They conveniently forgot the role of women in not only preserving their faith such as Rahab who saved the lives of Israel's spies, but also was in Christ's lineage. They had no regard for Mary, the mother of Christ, nor Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Even the disciples did not give women proper respect until church planting began. It's always been all about men. It was church leaders and men who put Christ on the Cross. The disciples were no where to be found when He went to the Cross. The women were there, and they were prepared to take care of His body after He died. His death led to the disciples becoming real men serving God. The women already had FAITH, and were serving Him.

    But what about the directive in Genesis that place Adam as the leader,

and Eve as the helpmate? Fast forward to Jesus. A woman was chosen by

God to be the mother of His Son. No human man was good enough to be the sire. Christ's disciples gave Christians the guidelines on the rightful place of women in society. Christian men seem to choose to use Ephesians  22:22-24 as the total rule for a relationship. If you continue to read verses 25-31, you will see that it is necessary to spend more words to direct men in how to treat their wives. Verse 32 speaks of a great mystery about the bonding of people with Christ in the church. Man is to be the leader in the human relationship only if he can fulfill the qualifications in the preceding verses. If he cannot, the woman may demonstrate the role required of a leader. There were strong women leaders, even in Israel's history. Check it out in the Old Testament.

    Men not only claim a pass directly to leadership, they try to lead as  though they are a king. Many then act just as God described in 1 Samuel.

Some American leaders, including the church, are using their positions to pass and/or support laws to control many facets of a woman's life. They go to the length of proposing criminal punishment or death. These people

claim to be Christians, and church leaders say NOTHING to correct this stream of slander and physical threat of violence. It's "Happy Mother's Day" to their wives, but for the remainder of women, it's let's control all the worthless sluts and whores. They claim the only thing women have to offer is that they're female.

    Guess what, you fake Christian men, a woman was God's choice to be the mother of His Son. He could choose any human man, but all fell short.

There are sinners among both men and women, but women have not used

men in such a demeaning and hurtful manner. If you make a list of the worst world leaders of all time, you will have a list of men of all colors and nationalities. So, go on American men, give your wife flowers and treat her to a great dinner out, she deserves it and lots more. But, the best Mother's Day gift you could give her is fair and loving treatment of all the

women in America and the world.  Women, take heart, real Christian men

may yet take up arms to give you the respect you deserve. Don't hold your breath, because they are busy enjoying their bully pulpit. There are those of us who see the light, and we wish you a Happy Mother's Day.

Rev. Walbear