DIMMING OF CHRISTIANITY

                                                 DIMMING OF CHRISTIANITY

    The Gospel is the Good News, and I would prefer to write all the nice little
inspirational stories we can find in many Christian publications. The sad truth
is our "accepted" faith is spiraling backwards to the time of John the Baptist.
Remember him? Let's look at Matt. 3:1-3. "In those days John the Baptist
came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand! For this is he who was spoken of by the
prophet Isaiah, saying: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare
the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.'"

    You doubt my word, protesting Christians are witnessing, quoting scripture,
sending missionaries, tithing and doing all the good things Christians are
supposed to do. It's the evil heathens and followers of Satan who are taking
people down the wrong path. You, my friend, have been reading instead of
studying and listening instead of reasoning. You are not on John the Baptist's
wavelength. He urged everyone to REPENT. That means to examine yourself
and the life you are living to discover your mistakes. 

    The vast majority of Americans who say they are Christians are so pleased
with themselves and their righteousness it drips from their words and is full of
holes large enough to be mistaken for Swiss cheese. As a door-to-door cult
member smugly told me, "I have the truth!" Friends, he didn't have the truth.
He only had some scattered verses of scripture, and didn't come close to any
understanding of the Gospel. He wouldn't discuss scripture with me even though
he knew I was a minister. Without any formal education in scripture, he knew it
all.

    As a minister, I love to discuss scripture and things of the Lord with people.
It is painful to me to find so many "Christians" that know it all and can't wait to
enlighten me about the path they truly believe is the one John the Baptist is
preaching. I'm fully aware you are going to drop my message as soon as you
read things you don't like. I sort of know how John felt.

    Before I begin scolding, I want to tell you what someone else has said about
the state of Christianity. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary, told the New York Times, the church people are getting
their message out, but the moral landscape has changed. He was commenting
on the results of our presidential election. Christians are surprised that their
candidate lost. God must have made a mistake. He didn't answer their prayer.

    This is the end of America? That's what I hear from disappointed people who 
did not really examine the issues brought forth by the losing candidate and his
other presidential hopefuls. Each told us about "their" personal connection with
God, who wanted them to be president. If you took the time to research their
background, you may have wondered what that connection could be. You may
say the winner isn't even a Christian or a bonafide citizen. How a pretender
could get past the thousands of opposition lawyers to even run for the office
is a mystery. His Christian commitment is not for us to judge, as is the case for
his opponents. Matt. 7:1 tells us "Judge not, that you be not judged."

    So...only God knows who is really committed to Christ. I am not supporting
the winner of the election, as you may have concluded. I am pointing out that
nearly all the candidates claimed a connection to Jesus Christ and God. They
intimated they were the person God wanted to get the job. Obviously they all
had the wrong number. To make a quick "spell check" as to the correctness
of their claim, you only need to research their background and what comes
forth from their mouth. You say they all lied, including the winner. Very true, but
you also need to weigh the points they made issues to vote for or against.

    If you continue to read the book of Matthew, or the other Gospel books, you
will discover the TRUE message of Christ. I heard very little of Christ's teaching
in the comments and claims of the church people who say they are conservatives.
And, I heard lots of derogatory comments about "doubtful" church people who
were not conservatives. The nicer comments were Liberals, rather than libs,
dimocrats, demorats, Communists, queers, etc., etc. So, to be a Christian, one
had to be a conservative. Friends, to be a Christian, one has to fully commit to
Jesus Christ as Savior. The next step is to study scripture--especially Christ's
teaching--and, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, put His teaching into the
guidance of your life.

    Whether you're a conservative, liberal, Muslim or anything else, Christ taught
the correct principles of God--the Ten Commandments, and don't forget Christ
added an Eleventh Commandment. Christ made the points of the Commandments
clear in parables if you take the time and effort to really study what He said. You
should note there is NOTHING in His teaching that includes nastiness or cheating.
There is nothing to encourage greed, nothing to champion material wealth and
nothing to encourage oppressing anyone who genuinely needs help. Would you
consider the Good Samaritan a "sucker" for helping the beaten and injured man?
Or would you call the injured man a "leach" or "victim" that feeds off fellow citizens?
Look at the Word  of God, the teaching of Christ, if you want to claim you're one
of Christ's followers.

    Mr. Mohler also had this to say about the conservative church people movement.
They got their message out, and it was obviously understood. Among the leading
issues were abortion, same sex marriage, gay lifestyles and fiscal responsibility.
Mr. Mohler was correct in stating the moral landscape has changed. Part of that
change is the understanding that theocracies have never worked because mankind
cannot handle total control. God told Samuel in 8:7 that the people rejected Him as
leader, not Samuel as God's personal contact to the people. Most church people
know as little about scripture as history. Don't want another history moment? Here's
your Thanksgiving history moment: The Pilgrims came to America to gain religious
freedom. When they got here they established their "freedom of religion" church.
Within minutes, they set non scriptural rules and regulations that included locking
people in stocks, trying them for witchcraft, burning at the stake, and other free
choice matters. It was so bad, Roger Williams left and established a more friendly
church in what is now Connecticut. You may want to look up the Inquisition.

    Did the voters reject the issues put forth by conservatives and church people?
Before you conclude that is the case, you need to listen to the understanding other
people have of the issues. I don't favor abortion and I don't favor murder. Just this
week as I write this, a pregnant woman in Ireland died because she was refused an
abortion. She was in the midst of a miscarriage and in her 17th week. She died of
blood poisoning. Ireland's constitution bans abortion. So...the fetus died. If you know
scripture, you know the baby-to-be went to heaven. (Didn't know that? Didn't know
where that scripture is? Don't want to know?) We don't know if the woman was saved,
so we don't know her whereabouts. Oh yes! The woman died! She didn't have to die
from a relatively common medical condition. She was denied treatment. She was
MURDERED by a church rule. 

    This incident is one of the reasons people did not "buy" into the zealous campaign
issues and set in cement interpretations of scripture by candidates and their supporters
who obviously need to do some study. You see, not all abortions are murder of an
innocent fetus or baby. Not aborting may be murder. This is not to mention you deny
other children the woman may already have and the husband's need for her alive.
Feel better now that you understand the full meaning of abortion?

    Another major issue was contraception. Some candidates were seemingly frothing
at the mouth about contraception. Amusing that these were mostly males. I agree that
abortion shouldn't be a means for contraception. I disagree that all women should be
controlled by the decisions of others, especially men who frequently shirk any
responsibilities of their actions. It seemed several candidates were obsessed with sexual
issues, including the medical invasion of privacy. If all conception must be documented,
and all carried through, who is going to provide for and pay for the medical people
required, the record keeping, the support of all the babies and their mothers? In the
ministry we see many cases of extreme hardship and need with women and children
abandoned by fathers. I'm not quoting scripture here. This is real life. You need to
have some common sense AND study of Christ's teaching. 

    Church people of several political leanings agree that gay lifestyles are sins. They
are only one sin, and are included in the Ten Commandments. Some people believe
this is the "worst" sin, perhaps because scripture lists it as something God hates.
All sins are equally "worst". If you single one out, that is also a sin. You're guilty. All
sins except one are forgivable. Check Matt. 12:31 under "unpardonable sin". You don't
"beat" or "fence out" gay or suspected gay children as some pastors preached. It's
difficult for me to believe someone would preach this from the pulpit, but it happened.

     I'm also not in favor of same sex marriage. However, you miss the possibility that
two people of the same sex are just best friends, not sexual partners. They are truly
soul mates. It's tragic that some traditionally married people are not best friends. 
There would be fewer divorces. Same sex marriage for the purpose of sex is wrong,
and cannot be justified. That is scriptural. Certain civil rights should be given where
same sex is platonic, not sexual. It's even constitutional. Some apparent sexually
obsessed people even claim friendships such as David and Jonathan had were sexual.

    The biggest difference in issues was perhaps the obsession with money. I'm not
speaking of fiscal responsibility, but the definition of words such as entitlement, victims,
leaches and lazy. The percentage of citizens who don't want fiscal responsibility is very
small. The burden for building a bridge is the need for building material. The burden
for balancing the budget is the need for money. It is also the need for wisdom on the
part of those who decide what and how money is spent. Most congressmen and officials
use ear marks. Most of these are very wasteful.

    You pay bills with money. You live by eating and drinking. Do you think you could pay
your bills by quitting eating and drinking? That's what fiscal conservatives believe. By
not spending money for certain things, we can pay our bills. I have searched the Gospels
over and over, and I haven't found any such directive by Christ. Christ was never
concerned about the well-being of those with money. In fact, friends, He was very
concerned about those who had money. Look at Matt. 6:19, Matt 19:16-22, Matt. 21:13,
Matt. 25:14-30 (pay attention,especially to verse 26), and Luke 19:11-27. In this last
reference, do you understand Christ is talking about how money is used for political
control?

    The issue of social security and going broke with social security is claiming that
money is an entitlement is a total lie. That money represents a portion of salary paid
to workers. It belongs to them just as the cash in your wallet is yours. For many, that
is their 40lK or other retirement account. People pay into medicare.
That is not an entitlement, either. There are some people who are unable to work,
and they receive a social security supplement. Some who receive this do so
fraudulently. We can't paint all recipients as frauds. Unemployment recipients were
also included as lazy entitlement people. Do you know a person has to have current
work history and pay records to be eligible to receive this money? It is money paid
by the worker and employer while he works. Again, it is his money.

    It was claimed nearly half the citizens think they are victims and they don't pay
taxes. There are federal income taxes, state income taxes, municipal taxes, county
taxes, excise taxes, school taxes, property taxes, worker privilege taxes and sales
taxes. Even welfare people pay some of these taxes. The little people who may not
pay federal income taxes run out of money from the other taxes before they get to
the federal income tax. They (especially families with children) actually pay a
disproportionate amount of taxes just through normal everyday taxes. Listing nearly
half the citizens as non tax paying leaches is a lie, and further ignores the importance
of workers who do the more menial jobs so the "more professional" workers can do
their jobs.

    It wouldn't be so terrible, if those who bemoan the lost election only read Christ's
teaching and the Gospels and discovered why their election was lost. None of the
issues in this message put forth by the conservatives were Godly messages. The
election outcome should stimulate people who neglected to understand Christ's
teaching and instead listened to man's way of doing things.

    The church people who have talked to me all have said they couldn't believe their
candidate lost. Now America will go down and be destroyed. Not One of them gave any
thought about God's role in the election. None considered Obama was God's choice, 
and their reasoning was Satan controlled the election. None considered they were
totally unscriptural in that reasoning, because they are then confessing that God IS
 not omnipotent, and Satan has free reign. They may have accepted Christ as
Savior, but God is subservient to Satan. In conclusion, they must believe America
is doomed. There is no hope. They won't follow the leader God chose. By this decision,
they will insure the fall of America.

    The lure of money and the willingness to accept misleading rhetoric have brought
many professing Christians to the cliff of disaster. If you are a victim of this gloom and
doom thinking, you are a professing Christian, not a committed Christian. Satan knows
divide and conquer works, and the lack of truth makes the conquest quite easy. No
matter who won the presidency, it was under God's control. He still rules the universe
and your life. Better get used to it, and correct your course.

    If you believe God is supreme, you must believe America can escape the terror of
end time and destruction. However, you must also believe you must follow the leader
God selected. I was told by someone they would vote for a conservative because they
represented family values. Those subverted values resulted in the murder of a woman
in Ireland. Part of the campaign myth was that non conservatives don't have morals, and
that still persists among many church goers. 

    Satan is the representative of evil and darkness, according to scripture. If issues and
rules are disregarded, they are subject to legitimate doubt. The talk is of transparency.
Yet, we saw only one year's federal tax return for the losing candidate who refused to
make any other returns public. This was bad enough, but he has a great deal of money
in off shore banks--not in America. This raises a very strong suspicion about honesty.
It is also ridiculous that poor people have to furnish their tax records to receive any type
of assistance money such as the aid for winter fuel. If conservatives are so fiscally
conscientious, why didn't they demand the tax returns? Why do the poor, who are supposed
to provide the cushion at the bottom of the cliff, have to prove they're in need when it's
obvious they are poor? How many of this "lower" class have worked their entire life and
performed the grunt work (janitors, waiters, military people, cleaners, etc.?) Much of the
wealthy people's money comes from investments--it is "earned" on paper only, not with
sweat and callouses. They have freedom, the use of highways, communications and
other services. They also enjoy an elite lifestyle. Do they want the poor to sacrifice even
more while they've already collected $129,000 in each of the last 12 years in a tax break?
It is easy to understand Christ's teaching in Matt. 19:24, "And again I say to you, it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom
of God."


    We're talking about honesty, Christian belief and God. We're also talking social justice,
because that's what God and Christ teach. Notice I said "teach". That's because the
information Christ gave us is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Do not forget
Heb. 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." He knew you could
be diverted from the Word of God by human emotions, and money and greed would be 
even a bigger diversion than love. That's why He gave us the Eleventh Commandment,
Matt.22:39. "And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." You shall 
love the Lord (verse 37) is the great commandment, and (verse 40), all the law and prophets
hang on these two commandments. If you truly love the Lord and Jesus Christ, you will
give a great deal of thought to verse 39, and drop your commitment to jealousy, greed,
and money.

Rev. Walbear

ZIG ZAGGING

                                               ZIG ZAGGING

    The zigs have been zagging, and I'm not referring to lightning strikes.
The sharp strikes are polarized all right, from positive to negative or vice
versa. I'm not the only one feeling the shock, but all of Christianity should
wake up to reality. There are a huge number of professing Christians out
there who do not believe the bible! Yes, they believe they can receive
eternal salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior for eternal
life. But, they refuse to believe much of the bible!

     How can that be, you ask? Well, it's worse than I could imagine. I thought
it was pretty bad when some denominations undertook rewriting some of the
Christian bible to suit their denominational agenda. After all, we are fully
warned in Revelation 22;18 and 19. We can't add or take away from the words
of the bible or God will separate us individually from His Book of Life. No
picking or choosing. Either you are a Christian following the Word of God,
or you are just a talking Christian.

    Why am I so upset? Because I hear so many professing Christians claim
God is not in charge of our universe. He is not in control. Satan is running
some programs of destruction and mayhem. God is not in control. Since God
created everything and has His master plan, I'm at a loss to understand how
He could not be in control of His master plan? I realize we are not capable of
understanding His plan, but we should have intelligence enough to consider
facts from the bible to reach at least a sensible conclusion.

    If God is not in control, we can forget about prophecy, the end time, and all
aspects of the very Word of God. Of course, if you are so smart (not intelligent)
as to know more than God and Christ, your predictions of the future must
obviously be more accurate. However, I'm going to pass up this opportunity,
and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and Christ to determine what's going
on and exactly what the bible says.

    The apostasy has been flourishing through many successful attempts to
lead professing Christians astray. Rewriting scripture, introducing joint worship
with other faiths that deny Christ's deity and salvation, and misguided biblical
teachers who create cults to fulfill their agenda, are only a few of the procedures now making substantial inroads to corrupt the Word of God. That these methods are so successful indicates many professing Christians are too lazy to study scripture and too willing to listen to emotional ploys by apostate leaders.

    If you do not believe God is in charge, you must not believe the very opening chapters of Genesis, the first book of the bible. Didn't he create everything? How about Jesus Christ? Isn't He the reason we can have eternal life? Didn't Christ tell us God is the Father of everything? Didn't God direct the very happenings that provided salvation for any who accepted His Son? Didn't God give mankind the choice of right or wrong? Is God in control, or do you believe He has abdicated the throne to Satan? Do you believe He is directing the end time?

    I haven't quoted scripture yet except to tell you to read the first few chapters of Genesis. Now, I want you to look at the Book of Job. The lesson we're going to get from this book is not just Job's obedience, but the realization that God is ALWAYS in control. He gave Satan the opportunity to make Job's life a living hell. Job was a man among men, just as the prophets and apostles were. Few of us could survive a test such as that. Oh, yes...here's that word I've been using in the recent prophecy messages. Job underwent a TEST. Could you pass such a test?

    God, in His mercy, does not give us tests we can't pass if we really have a
commitment to Christ and welcome the direction and instruction of the Holy
Spirit. If we fail the test or tests, we do not have a legitimate commitment to our Savior. We are only a professing Christian--not the real thing. Unfortunately, professing Christians are much louder than the real thing, and tend to lead the unschooled and inexperienced Christians astray.

     Note, please, Job1:12,"And the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold , all that he has
is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.'" Satan immediately went to work and destroyed Job's material wealth (he lost his money--you know all his assets), and his children. Yet Job worshipped God and accepted the fact that God was in control. In chapter two, you see that Satan moved right on, this time attacking Job's health. When it was suggested Job give up and die, he responded, "Shall we accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity ?" (2:10)

    Job's three friends then arrive to try and comfort him. Job deplores his birth,
reflecting on how much easier it would be not to have been born to experience this terrible suffering. (As an aside, carefully consider Job 3:16-19. This may be study information concerning abortion.) Now Job discovers by his friends' words what some preachers tell people in their congregations--they are suffering because of sins or lack of faith. This may sometimes be true, but is frequently used as a fast fix for a misunderstood situation. The friends tell him he must have sinned and needed correction.

     These friends are using man's thinking to reason out Job's situation. They do not know of Satan's deal with God. They cannot have the understanding of a situation without the facts. They do know God has control of everything, but not that Job's difficulty is a TEST. It is the ultimate test of commitment. Most of us don't have to face such a difficult test. When we are similarly tested, we go through the same stages as did Job.

    Go to Job 12:7-10. "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this, In whose hand is the life of every living  thing, And the breath of all mankind?" Everything and everyone on earth is under God's control, and seems to know this except rebellious professing Christians.

     They refuse to accept the fact that the election of the president of the United States was in the hands of God. Do you think there is some other power that is greater than God? Or Christ? What bible do you read, not study? Don't you believe this is part of God's plan? Do you think He made a mistake? Do you have a better plan to offer Him? Even Satan is laughing at you.

    It has been sad to listen to Christian leaders bemoan the election because their candidate lost. Did they pray for their desired result? If it didn't happen, why do they suppose God didn't give them a victory? God expects Christians to support His directions. He expects Christians to work for His plan and nothing else. He does not want America to crash, but Satan does. Satan will do everything He can to cause America trouble. Division is a wonderful tool for failure. God is not a politician, and politicians are not gods. If you can't be a cheerful loser, you shouldn't try to be a politician or church leader. Either you accept God's decisions or you are a rebellious Christian who wants your own way. You should, for whatever reason, want God's way.

    If America crashes, it will not be because of a president God chose to lead the nation; it will be because the people are divided and fail to see that the obsession of money has replaced Christ's Eleventh Commandment. If you need to ask what that is, you need to read the Gospels. We need to understand what Christ taught, not what "privileged" people teach. Only a small number of Americans want the "free stuff" conservatives spout about.

    My message that the presidential winner would be God's choice no matter how we voted elicited more comments than any other message. Many professing Christians refused to accept this, simply saying the outcome would lead directly to disaster. My friends, God does not lead to disaster, Satan does. Do you actually believe God would deliberately do something wrong? Are you now going to pray for God to correct His mistake? It's pretty shaky ground to even suggest that God, who gave us our Savior, would make such a gigantic mistake.

    I read a quote of scripture from a person infuriated at non conservatives today that totally indicates the person needs some study time in scripture. The quote is from Jer. 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Isn't this what we want? Too bad the person didn't read the next two verses--this is the problem with most biblical experts, only paying attention to part of the message. Verses 12 and 13 are, "Then you will call upon me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

    Those who have deleted this message will miss these last verses from Jeremiah, which clearly state God will listen to our prayer, and  we must seek Him and find Him. That is the problem for these hate filled professing Christians. They are not seeking Him, they only want Him to fulfill their wishes. If they prayed for the wrong candidate, these verses tell them why he and they lost. I strongly suggest that those wailing the loudest read Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted above the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Rev. Walbear

     

NO MISTAKE---PROPHECY

                                      NO MISTAKE---PROPHECY

    Many things have to happen for the end times prophecy to be fulfilled, and
we are usually impatient with God's timetable. He has infinite time, and we must
try to understand His plan is intricate and all-encompassing. In my previous end-
time message, I stated that God would pick the winner of the presidential contest.
We voted, and I know many Christians are disappointed in the outcome. You
should not be disappointed, because God made the choice. He does not make
mistakes, so if your candidate lost, it is because he was not God's choice. If you
disagree with this, you will probably not agree with this message, and you should
very seriously consider spending more time studying scripture. Who do you 
believe? The Word of God, the teaching of Jesus Christ, or the statements of 
man? 

    Before listening to all the campaign rhetoric of lies on all sides, you must consider
that God is in charge. He is well aware of everything that is said and done, so nobody
is sneaking anything past Him. He knows what He wants for America, and He has made
the call. You should know you can't give Him any orders, and your only Godly choice
is to listen up to 1 Sam. 15:22. "So Samuel said:  Has the Lord as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." If you continue that chapter, you see,
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry."

    There are many references to obedience in scripture, and that's exactly what God
expects. He knows what is best--you surely don't if you don't agree with Him. Now
that we have an elected president, you, as a Christian and follower of Christ, need to
get yourself under control and accept that person as God's choice for America, the 
world, and, most importantly, the end time. He has given us time to return to His ways
and understand scripture many conservatives and church people have ignored. If you
don't, you are not scriptural and your commitment to Christ is highly questionable. You
can't just pick and choose the things you want or desire to do. You must accept God's
direction, because it is not wrong. Fighting God is stubbornness, and, as written in
the above scripture, is iniquity.

    I'm deeply disappointed to hear the vicious comments by conservatives, including
church people, attacking our President. No matter what he does, he is God's selection
to lead America. These "religious" people would be the Israeli priests who wanted to
stop Christ and His followers. It wasn't the Romans who killed Christ, but the religious
zealots--His own countrymen. I may disagree with the President's actions, but I'm not his
judge and neither are you. As individuals we have our own personal problems to take
care of. If you gave my message about prophecy any creditability, you should read on
to discover the next phase of our end times.

    We go directly to scripture for the next "chapter" in our journey. When God is about
to declare His judgment, He always displays infinite mercy to give people the
opportunity to repent and come back to Him. You may believe, especially if you are a
churched Christian, that American Christians have no reason to repent. Those who
believe this are unknowingly caught up in the falling away movement. If you think you
are doing all the "right" things, you probably don't realize you have been misled, and
the reason could well be the church leaders.

    The scripture we turn to is found in some of the most confusing books of the Old
Testament, Kings and Chronicles, They seem repetitive, but they actually give us the
historical facts about His chosen people. Kings gives us the viewpoint of what transpired
from man's point of understanding, while Chronicles gives us God's explanation. History
always points to the future. If you check the tenures of the kings of Israel and Judah,
you will find only Judah had Godly kings through this period. You will also see that those
who were bad were given many years to come to their senses. Manasseh ruled 55 
years, the longest of all. He was not a Godly king, but God gave the people a long time
to change their ways before He passed judgment. God's mercy abounds, but there are
a few things He requires before condemning judgment. Asa ruled 41 years, and a
prophet brought him God's direction.

    Look at 2 Chron.15:1,2. "Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Obed.
And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: 'Hear me, Asa and all Judah and 
Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be
found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." Now, if you continue with
verses three and four, you see that the "religious" problem was that the people had
been without the true God, without a teaching priest and without law. You must consider
this information carefully to apply it to America's current situation. 

    Obviously, if you know anything about scripture, you know worship of the true God
has been and is lacking. We have many, many preachers and nationally recognized
church leaders, but very few actually teach the Word. The easy way is to preach how
to be a "good" person. Unfortunately the easy way is preaching what people want to
hear, not the WHOLE Word of God. If we are Christians, we should be following the
teaching of Christ, not the opinions of a preacher. Many of our preachers are much
like politicians. They study the polls of the church goers, and give the people what
they want to hear. Christians say Christ is their Savior, but they loosely interpret His
instruction to suit their personal opinion and agenda.

     Most Christians believe they are "right on" with the law. However, they run
roughshod over the WHOLE law--the Ten Commandments. They have a priority
order over the importance of each commandment. All are equally important,
friends, You can't pick and choose. Stealing is not worse than lying, and murder
is not worse than adultery. Neither God nor Christ has rescinded any of the Ten
Commandments. ALL are still in effect. That includes the Sabbath Day, which
requires a complete study for understanding. Remember, any sin can be covered
by Christ's shed blood except denial of the Holy Spirit. If you base your judgment
of anyone on any particular commandment, you are subject to judgment for any
and all commandments you break. In other words, you are as guilty and bad as
the person you judged.

    Worship of the true God should be much easier for Christians because of the
New Testament and Christ's teaching. Just the opposite is true. Christians have
chosen to highlight certain of Christ's teaching while ignoring other instructions.
The division within America is because of the "falling away" and the failure of
Christians to study and understand the Word of God. You see, it is Christians
who are falling away, not non Christians. Non Christians do not have the Word
of God to fall away from.

    What we have in America is a division of citizens, with most of the Christian
denominations believing they are God's people as long as they are conservatives.
If you know anything about American history, you will see that we have returned
to 1860, and the civil war era. It is "states' rights" today just as it was then. The
states that seceded from the union did so because they didn't want to follow the
federal rules, including abolition of slavery. Today it's because of national health
care and (again) civil rights of all the people. We have the industrial northeast,
central industrial states and the far west as the former North, and the other central
states joining the original South. 

     In over 150 years, there is still the unwillingness of strong minded people to
actually follow the rules of democracy they preach. The reasons are not slavery,
which is no longer popular, but the Christian bible. You must understand, however,
that this biblical reasoning is based on only part of scripture. You should note
in particular, the emphasis is on sexual matters, especially the total control of
women. You should also note the replacement of the Christian cross by the new
idol, the dollar sign.

    During the presidential campaign we heard words like entitlement, people who
don't want to work, people who don't pay federal taxes, although the word federal
was not prominently mentioned. Those of us who paid state and local taxes were
ignored. Those of my relatives and friends who served and were killed or wounded
in World War II and later conflicts who happened to be Democrats have been
overlooked by conservatives, who somehow kept our freedom through their partisan
bravery. 

    Instead of supporting our rightly and legally elected President and Senate, all I
hear are negative comments, continuing juvenile disrespect for the non conservative
leadership, refusal to support any part of the government except the conservatives,
and Christian leadership lamenting the demise of our nation because of liberals in
control. Conservative governors of several states have already stated they would
not abide by FEDERAL Law concerning health care. This has replaced slavery as
the issue of the day. 

    The election  gives Americans the opportunity to self examine their values and turn
from the "only money counts" attitude to the values of how we should live and act
according to Christ's teaching. In Satan's world, money is important, but Christ puts
the perspective of money in the Christian context. He told His disciples to pay the
taxes (Matt.15:24-27). He told them to lay up treasurers in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21).
He warned people about over valuing money by comparing the possibility of a camel
passing through the eye of a needle (Matt. 19:23,24). He told the rich young ruler
that he had to divest himself of riches to teach Christ's message (Matt. 16-22).

    Christ taught much about money, including passages such as Matt. 25:14-29) where
many Christians believe this says it's okay to cheat and steal to make a profit. They
totally overlook the master admitted cheating to make a profit in verse 26. Christ never
taught cheating was okay. Christ overturned the tables and threw money changers out
of the temple (Matt. 21:12,13). You see that Christ knew the pull money would put on men,
and gave many warnings and directions. Money is now America's idol. Those flush with
money don't want to give up any of it. Think this is a political sermon? Think again. Love
of money is rampant in both political parties.

    The problem is that those with little money have no chance to fight the greedy,
selfish people. The conservatives who complain about the small number of people
who look to the government for help don't complain about our excessive foreign aid,
the corporate welfare or the huge tax breaks for those who can afford to pay more
taxes. They don't mind that corporations are now "people", and thus enabled to
finance politicians without limit. God did not create corporations. Any elementary
student can tell the difference between a human individual and a company--except
our politicians. For those who cry about destruction of our Constitution, show me
where our founding fathers provided for a "super" majority that enables a minority
to block action by the majority. 

    The losing political party did not find anything wrong with their candidate's
refusal to disclose his income tax, except for one year. Why would any real American
put investment money in foreign banks? Why all the fuss about the president's
place of birth. The certificate was posted on the internet. Nobody said anything about
the loser's Mexican background or that his family accepted American tax dollars to
get their start in the U.S. The conservatives publicly stated four years ago they would
do their utmost to make our president a one term president, and they did their best.

    Now it's time to consider the past four years, and see that all their efforts were not
blessed by God. The church people led the way to unseat a democratically elected
president, and have refused to embrace any non-conservative fiscal policy. It is the
House of Representatives that spends all the money. Check your Constitution to
get the facts. Christ taught in Matt. 12:25, "But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said 
to them: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city
or house divided against itself will not stand.'" 

    This election shows God's mercy in giving the United States an opportunity to turn
from the obsession with money, the worship of capital bigness, the undisciplined slander
and juvenile name calling, and relegation of the working middle class to poverty with
disrespect. The conservatives, and many of the church people, say the election was not
a mandate for the liberals (also called socialists. communists, rats and other nice
Christian names). They are wrong. The president won both the popular vote and the
electoral college vote. Now it's up to all Americans to pull together and spend four years
rebuilding this nation. It's a very childish attitude to want your own way and hold the
majority of citizens hostage. God has given us the opportunity to change things, but
there will have to be some growing up on the part of many people. This is God's test
for the end time.

Rev. Walbear