Life of Christ: John 9

God's revelation is alive. Where it impinges on this world, it brings life and light. This living light cuts a path through darkness to set men free. The leaders of Jesus' day had constructed a logical framework which precluded such self-evident truth. Convinced Jesus had blasphemed God under their frame of reference, they were still unable to harm Him. It matters not how firm, clear and well-established any human understanding may be, whether under Judaism or any other philosophical tradition. If it makes no room for God's living revelation, it's broken.

A popular debate among rabbis of Jesus' day was whether an unborn soul could transgress the Law of Moses. The question arose over a false assumption, rather pagan in nature, which held human disabilities resulted directly from some unconscious or unconfessed sin. Jesus noted it was not a matter of fault, but of grace. That is, it's a wonder we all don't roast in Hell. God grants us an opportunity to see His grace, each in varying ways. This man would find grace in being made to see, but the path of grace included him showing that grace to others. The work of God is to show His glory.

Jesus, by His very presence in the world, brought God's glory to life as never before. In passing, Jesus warns His disciples a time will come when He won't be in the world. He would die and be in the grave. It would be a time of darkness, and there were things which needed to be finished before that day. One of those things was yet another chance for the Jewish leaders to see the failure of their logical structure, for it could not account for everything.

Most beggars would be near the Temple, so we aren't surprised Jesus came past this man. Making a disgusting little paste of spittle and dirt, Jesus put it on the man's eyes. Then He told the man to find his way to a pool at the lower end of Hezekiah's Tunnel. It was located some distance from the Temple, down at the end of the Zion ridge line just before it dropped into the Hinnom Valley. There he was to rinse off the paste. Jesus could have done it any other way He liked, but this man had a mission to bring God's glory to life. Upon completing the instructions, the man climbed up from the pool able to see for the first time in his life. It's hard to imagine the wonder and excitement as he made his way back toward the Temple.

Everyone who knew the man was stunned. There is no record of any previous miracles where one born blind was healed. It was prophesied, but with the double meaning of opening spiritual eyes, as well. Some just found it too hard to swallow. The man knew the name of Jesus, but had not seen Him yet, and Jesus had probably moved aside so events could take their course. The man told the story, and his friends and relatives knew it was important to inform the Pharisees, teachers of the Law.

By the twisted reasoning of the Hellenized Pharisees, making clay on the Sabbath, even so tiny an amount, was a gross violation. Healing was also considered work, illegal on the Sabbath. Jesus told the man to walk more than a Sabbath journey. So deeply concerned by the threat to their systematic structure of law, this required some drastic action, though the meeting seemed rather informal. Completely ignoring this all-too-obvious sign from God, they insisted Jesus must have sinned. The formerly blind man was not too impressed by their reasoning. The Jewish leaders conducted an extensive investigation, even to the point of calling the man's parents to make sure this man had been born blind. Of course, these people had been forewarned, anyone saying anything good about Jesus would face legal sanction from the Sanhedrin. Just saying He was the Messiah could get folks kicked out of their synagogue, which included the necessity of the whole community ostracizing them like Samaritans.

As the debate wore on, with the majority clearly locked into a closed mindset on this question, there came a point where the man showed impatience. Jesus could not possibly be doing God's work, but the leaders couldn't say it was the Devil's. The man pointed out it had to be one or the other according to their own teaching, and giving sight to a man born blind was clearly not the work of evil. The only answer the leaders had was arrogance and personal attack on the man. I'm sure at that point, the man considered ostracism from that bunch a small loss.

The man's first Kingdom mission was completed. Jesus went to meet Him, disobeying the inherent order to ostracize the man. Surely the man would have recognized the voice of the One who healed him, at the minimum a prophet of God. When asked about embracing the Messiah, the man asked Jesus to point Him out, because surely He knew. Jesus said the man now saw Him, the one speaking to him. Without hesitation, the man proclaimed Jesus his Messiah.

Jesus remarked loud enough for those around Him to hear, how this whole episode symbolized His purpose on earth. Using standard Hebraic figures of speech, He told how He came to bring justice. It was only just those who saw spiritually could also see physically, while those who had working eyes and dead spirits should be shown as blind. The Pharisees hovering nearby retorted sarcastically, wondering if Jesus thought they were blind, meaning ignorant. Jesus replied, if they were simply ignorant, they would not be blamed for making trouble for this man. Instead, they insisted they were the ones who truly understood what God required; they were "the light of the world." By claiming that, they took upon themselves the burden of responsibility for all the failures of the Nation of Israel to fulfill their mission from God.

Noah and Rights

Quick review: For the Christian, most issues in this world are divided between Covenant of Christ and Covenant of Noah. When we evaluate what is, or is proposed, we must see things on both levels. Far, far too often we see Christians mixing the categories, and the solutions they propose are surely mistaken.

Further, under Noah there is a clear difference between civil law issues and purely social concerns. We know God never intended a civil government meddle in social issues. When society seeks to bring in civil government on social issues, it is sin. Both because they bring the sword where it does not belong, and because it represents a refusal to take responsibility for the messy job of getting directly involved.

Within this frame of reference, be aware there are multiple efforts to disarm the citizens of the US. The BATFE has already been trying to shutdown the best local arms dealers by bureaucratic niggling and picking on paperwork and trying to find any excuse. There are attempts to require changes in the way ammunition is handled and sold, making it essentially impossible to obtain. Several legislative attempts are at work already, and if that's not enough, we are probably dangerously close to someone declaring a Constitutional Convention is called. Be sure a ConCon in the current circumstances would be the same elitist tyrants we now have in Congress, and you can kiss the Bill of Rights goodbye.

However, all is not lost. There are several states would stand up and fight both and ConCon and any attack on the 2nd Amendment. Whole state governments would simply refuse to play along, setting up a confrontation we cannot imagine. I'm sure the figures in state governments involved aren't sure what they'll do.

It is a good and right understanding under Noah our basic rights are granted by God. The first ten amendments to the US Constitution represent the First ConCon's attempt to recognize those rights, by putting them into law. This is now a minority understanding. The vast majority of those currently armed would probably accept the assertion rights are a matter of legislation, not a higher law from God. I would honestly expect if personally owned firearms were somehow outlawed, the majority of owners would surrender them.

What's left is for believers to decide for themselves what the Spirit commands at every turn. Should you feel compelled to surrender your rights, that is your business, but it's not necessary under the general requirements of Noah. If you feel compelled to resist, you are fully compliant with Noah, and possibly with the Spirit.

Do not doubt the time will come when you will have to choose, very soon.

What Do We Call "Not-News"?

As a change of pace today I decided to cruise the various Christian-oriented news sites.

The first thing we see are several really large ministries in a financial bind, like the rest of the world. Some are easy to figure, such as Crystal Cathedral, a major entertainment business masquerading as a church. A handful of monster Charismatic churches are in that category. Others have probably outlived their mission. We aren't quick enough to recognize when a tool of the Kingdom is broken, worn out, no longer serving any purpose. Some will do fine if they just shut down the extravagant things and stick with what they do right. A huge number simply need to repent of their materialism.

As usual, a big collection of stories are included simply as moral object lessons. This or that godless politician is in trouble, some celebrity blasphemer got killed, another one got saved, and that one needs to put some clothes on and go back to church. Then we have the heart-rending photos and stories begging you to donate to this or that mission program, which program pays a pretty fat salary to some guy to sit in a nice office, living in a fine home above it, so s/he can "evangelize." Some actually live among the people they serve. But you can't tell unless you actually visit some of the foreign mission fields, since most of the ads won't tell you the whole story.

Way too many of these sites would never offer a mission opportunity I'm wishing I could take: going to Gaza to help rebuild. They are too busy ranting about the pitiful few weapons fired from Gaza into empty scrub and rocks on the Israeli side of the border. I know a thing or two about civil engineering, and I'd be glad to go into Gaza and help out. Since they don't even get enough food and medicine, it might be better if we just get that smuggled in right now. Nothing shames Israel. The same could be said of the Christian Zionists here. You'd never catch them talking about missions to evangelize Muslims in Gaza.

Maybe it's just a simple matter there's really not anything new, so it's not really news. God help us.

Isaiah 31

Even today, we sing the words in some of our songs:

I will sing unto the Lord,
For He has triumphed gloriously;
The horse and rider thrown into the sea!

It calls to mind the celebration at the Reed Sea Crossing, when the Nation of Israel walked across on dry ground, but the cavalry of Pharaoh drowned when the waters returned to the sea bed. How could they forget?

Yet, forget they had indeed, for now the political party favoring alliance with Egypt trumpeted what a mighty army Pharaoh could field against Assyria. The same God who drowned the pride of the Nile could handle a few Assyrians, too. Since Judah will not trust God, He would see to it the Egyptians would be smashed again, and those relying on Egypt would fall with her.

In ancient times, when lions roamed that part of the world, they would often take a single sheep from the flock. Usually the critter was not dead right away, just injured. Several shepherds would band together against a common threat and chase down the lion now burdened with a living sheep. At some point, it would either be cornered or get tired and stop. The shepherds would do their best to yell and make noise to scare the lion away from its prey. Only the most determined would actually dare to physically threaten a lion.

God said He would be like a lion. He would defend His own honor like a lion determined to keep its prey. Neither Egypt's mass of chariots nor Assyria's sea of infantrymen would cower Him, any more than a bunch of wimpy shepherds yelling at a lion. Those who clung to God by symbolically clinging to His Temple in Zion would be safe from an enemy hardly capable of more than empty threats.

Or consider how a group of mother birds would defend their nesting ground. They attack from all directions, seeming to come out of nowhere, harassing so fiercely almost no creature would risk it for just a few eggs or nestling chicks. The Assyrians would never know what hit them. Isaiah uses the term "passing over" -- the same word for the annual celebration of Passover, or Sparing. Again, He reminds them of His power displayed in the one event which gave Israel her identity. Just because that was seven hundred years before was no reason to think God had changed.

Isaiah prophesies what would happen during the siege to come. The city would remember whence they came, would purge their city of idols, and call on God in sorrow and repentance. Upon the wings of that revival, the Assyrian army would fall in the night. Not by any human hands, not by the swords wielded by soldiers, but of God's own hands. So devastating would God's attack be, the young squires and shield bearers would surrender themselves to slavery under Judah.

Indeed, the nobles would hie themselves back to their home forts, and hide behind the walls. The mere sight of Judah's royal battle ensign would cause them to quake in fear. This is the God who symbolically made His home in the Temple on Mount Zion. Were they truly seeking Jehovah, Assyria need never come in the first place.

Updated: Bordering Reality

I realized my original understanding of things had changed since I first composed my article, Bordering Reality. It justified a revision. For those of you who wonder at my thinking on world government conspiracies, here's your chance.

Persecuted Church: Power Versus Purity

In our continuing review of Wurmbrand's Underground Saints, he notes doctrinal purity is hard to find among persecuted Christians. It seems a paradox: In a world where Bibles are hard enough to find, never mind other instructional materials in faith, that faith is nonetheless never more powerful in producing martyrs.

In my own experience, those with the best education are often weakest in faith. By that, I mean these are the people who least understand that indefinable pull of the Spirit, and are least prepared to obey it. It's not to say you have to drop your faith when you reach for that PhD, but the trend is so pronounced it's become a byword.

It should surprise no one who reads my stuff I lay the blame on the fundamental assumptions of our education process. That is, the classical liberal arts approach, not the garbled nonsense of modern academia, which is quite a bit worse. No, the classical approach tends to pay only lip-service to the notion there are things which the human mind cannot fathom. The whole approach is pushing hard to fathom everything, and dismiss what cannot be measured and explained.

Nor would anyone be surprised when I point out things labeled "orthodoxy" as heresy. We all would do that to some degree. Unlike most within the organized and institutional churches of today, I do not mean that as an accusation justifying ejecting someone from the organization, but ejecting the organization from its throne. It is not lost on me I am in defiance of almost every mainstream religious organization, and many more not so mainstream. While I have often presented what I hope represents an educated explanation of that defiance, I am hardly interested in building a new organization around my stance.

Rather, I am seeking to prepare hearts and minds for a coming time of persecution. I do so by pointing out what I believe Scripture declares really matters, which I find far different from what is promoted in religious institutions. Lacking the formal training of such institutions, Wurmbrand's saints manage to spread the gospel which changes lives and frees them from the sin of this world. Much of what we have "learned" stands in the way of such an adaptation. The questions in my own mind arose when I found a jarring disconnect between the religion I learned at a Christian college and faith required to face what little trouble I saw even then.

While the faith I teach does require some intellect, it's only so as a matter of moving away from the vast pile of stuff which passes for Christian faith today. In that massive mound of stuff can be found many nuggets of truth, so I don't dismiss it wholesale. Still, we have much digging ahead of us. The most pure nuggets are not those which require formal intellect, but simply embracing the Living Christ. I find those who haven't burdened their minds with that pile are quicker to find the nuggets of faith I hold forth.

By standard definition, I am a heretic. I contend where I stand is the solid rock of faith. Time and circumstance are about the shake the world, and the faith of many will fail. I face that test with confidence it will only result in greater clarity of power and purpose.

Send Prayer Requests

The economy is unraveling. I'm reading and hearing how bad it's getting for people. It hurts to watch. It should.

Today my parents and I discussed what "Plan B" was. We share rental payments for our large mobile home, and all of us get our income from various government offices. My wife is paid by a local school district, essentially the State of Oklahoma. My parents and I get our retirement income from the federal government. We know there is a very high likelihood those government checks will stop, or will become worthless. Our Plan B means finding other ways to support ourselves.

Each of us occasionally do things for which people offer us money, but we don't always take it. We try to remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit on such matters, because money isn't important in the Kingdom. The first part of Plan B is prayer, something we began long ago as we saw this coming. The second part is being wide open and ready to follow where God leads as we seek to keep our testimony before the world. Our opportunity to show His way in troubled times is bigger than we'll ever know. We intend to make the most of it.

Some of you are already in your Plan B, or maybe C or D. I want to hear from you, not just sob stories, but prayer requests. Just praying for nameless, faceless figures out there in the world, with generalized sorrows, is not the Kingdom way. If you read this blog, and feel our prayers with you might serve a purpose, let us know.

Life of Christ: John 8

Here John highlights the failure of human judgment to grasp the fullness of God's magisterial prerogative. It was as if the Jewish leaders felt compelled to protect the Law from encroachments, never quite willing to see they were sinners, too.

We can be sure Jesus had a faithful supporter living either in Bethphage or in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. When visiting Jerusalem, it was where Jesus stayed at night. The Feast of Tabernacles included one more ritual that evening, the day was treated as a high Sabbath. Jesus began the day early by teaching somewhere on the Temple grounds. The Jewish leaders were determined to at least discredit Jesus, if not find cause to have Him arrested. They interrupted His teaching session by dragging some woman before Him.

There was a pretense of honoring Jesus by asking His sage advice, in presenting a criminal case. The woman had been caught in the act of adultery, they all said, presenting the legally required witnesses to her crime. Would Jesus uphold the Law of Moses, and incite the crowd to break Roman Law? Or would He rule for clemency, and justify the Sanhedrin's condemnation of Him? By squatting down to write in the dust which the wind had carried onto the stone floor of the Temple terrace, Jesus symbolized He did not recognize their authority to judge Him. Their shenanigans were petty enough He should simply ignore them.

They persisted, and He tired of the game. The qualification for carrying out the sentence they sought was being sinless. We can suppose the elders were wise enough to realize they had been trapped themselves, and left quickly. Since they had committed the woman to His custody, they left her standing with Jesus. After a time, the zeal of the younger members died out from lack of support by their elders, and they left, as well. The crowd must have watched with little comment as Jesus squatted on the floor, doodling in the dust. Eventually, He looked up. His question emphasized whether anyone felt pure enough to condemn her. She said there were none. Jesus, being the only one qualified to throw that first stone, chose instead to act with mercy. Nothing minimized her sin, but emphasized the sinfulness of all. He had no sentence to declare against her, only that she should turn away from her sins.

Sin was darkness. It was in the Court of Women where, during the feast several huge, multi-flame oil lamps were lit. Jesus pointed out the tall lamp stands, declaring He was the light of all nations, a theme connected with that celebration. His teaching would pull people out of sin's darkness into the light of truth, the light of God's justice.

Harping on something Jesus had said on a previous occasion, the Jewish leaders noted He was presenting a witness unacceptable in any court, since He was testifying on His own behalf. There was no supporting witness. Jesus pointed out there was no other witness there on His par, no one capable of impeaching His witness, either. Since the case was above their jurisdiction, they certainly had no standing to accuse Him. They were operating from human logic, incapable of evaluating eternal matters. So while they were quick to condemn anything which didn't suit them, Jesus was not in the business of judging anyone. Were He to take up any judgments, it would be eternally accurate, since it would merely reflect the justice of the One True Judge.

Two Judges from Heaven could easily overrule the entire Sanhedrin. That they could not perceive the Father's justice in the words and actions of Jesus was proof they didn't know His Father. By now, they surely knew that Joseph was dead, and had heard scurrilous claims Jesus was illegitimate. With bitter humor they asked Him to produce His "father." Jesus ignored their smirking and told them they were completely out of their league. What they knew about fleshly matters had no bearing on eternal things. It was here John notes this conversation took place in the foyer of the Treasury, which had its entrance in the Court of Women. They knew all about gold, but nothing about the rich treasures of grace.

Jesus reminded them He belonged to a higher jurisdiction. While He would die sinless and return to Heaven, they would die still clinging to their sins, and never see Heaven. By now they are only a little closer to the truth, for they wondered if He planned to commit suicide. It showed the spiritual poverty of their minds. He bluntly told them He was from Heaven, but they belonged wholly to his world. They would leave everything they had in this world when they died, standing before God naked and condemned. Those who were truly favored by God would have embraced Jesus' teaching, for He was "I AM."

The leaders played dumb, prodding Him to say more precisely what He meant. Jesus had not changed His teaching from the start of His ministry. It was the same thing God had been saying all along since the dawn of creation. The only problem was their discernment. Were they ready to listen, He would have filled their hearts with clarity they lacked, correcting all their misapprehensions, because it all came from the Source. The one defining moment would be on the Cross, when the truth of the matter would burn undeniably in their souls. They would realize Jesus had simply obeyed His Father in all things, always under His watchful eye.

Something in His speaking began to sway some of these Jewish leaders. It was compelling. Jesus raised a challenge to their human pride. He described how those who committed themselves to His teaching would be His followers, finding a fresh liberty in His truth. They huffed about being children of Abraham, legitimate heirs to the Land and the Promise. How could He speak of them as slaves, in need of manumission? They made the mistake of thinking bloodline was the whole issue, but Jesus was referring to eternal things. If a man obeys sin, that is his master. Slaves are property of the household, but the heir is the household. They could be bought out of their slavery to sin, and made part of an eternal household where there would be no slaves.

Being a blood descendant of Abraham does not make one an heir to Abraham's blessings. His true legacy was faith, not property. If all they had was lineal physical inheritance, they had nothing. From an empty heart of nothing, they issued a death warrant for Jesus. They could do that because His teaching never found root in their souls. His teaching was learned from His Heavenly Father, and their actions were learned from their father. They insisted again it was what they had inherited from Abraham. Jesus noted they were hardly acting in the faith of Abraham. The death warrant still stood on a man who spoke the truth from God, something Abraham would never have done. They would have to claim some other father.

This was a bit much for them, since it was like saying they were children of Ishmael, who did not inherit any part of Abraham's promises. Indeed, they were the true sons of God. Again, there was that dig about Jesus and His questionable birth. Jesus said it didn't matter how He got His fleshly body -- He came directly from God. Their complete lack of God's mercy and love shows they had no real claim on Him. They lacked spiritual ears, so spiritual talk was unintelligible to them. Their conduct and demands were too obviously that of Satan. The nature of Satan is murderous hatred, an aversion to truth, and their behavior was closer to that than to Abraham or God. They had no moral standing to accuse Jesus of sin, because they wallowed in their own sin. If they were people of God, they would embrace Jesus' words.

They denounced Jesus as a Samaritan, someone unfit to speak of God. Further, He must be possessed of a demon. Jesus responded demons would not feel comfortable where God is glorified. Since they were slandering Jesus, they were actually slandering God. Maybe the demons would have been more comfortable in them. It was not as if their bitter accusations hurt Jesus' feelings, since He sought only to please His Father. That being the case, anyone who embraced Jesus' teaching would avoid death, and live eternally. As always, the leaders failed to grasp the spiritual meaning, and reminded Him Abraham died, the prophets died, and Jesus was also just a man, so how could He keep anyone from avoiding that fate? What sort of arrogance was this?

If Jesus were simply making wild boasts, they should have ignored Him long ago. Obviously, His claims had some backing, so they were forced to deal with Him. That backing came from God Almighty, the same God they claimed as their own. Obviously they didn't know anything about this God. Yet, if Jesus denied God on their terms, He would be the same kind of liars they were. So let them hear the Word of God: Their "father" Abraham looked forward to the promise of Jesus coming. When the time in Heaven came for that day Jesus was to be born, Abraham rejoiced. The leaders wondered how a man younger than all of them could claim to have seen Abraham's face, since none of them had lived that long. Jesus reminded them one more time, He was "I AM."

This time, they finally caught on to what it meant -- He was the Son of God. They began reaching for stones, to do for Him what they would have done to the adulteress. But it was not yet His time, so He simply disappeared from their sight, and walked out of the Temple grounds. In the process, He walked right through the crowd of Jewish leaders who had gathered around Him. It as a symbol of their spiritual blindness.

Tribulation Report #025: Fuzzy Borders

The line separating between one thing and another is not always clear. Those who have been watching the immigration issue here in the US, particularly of Mexicans coming here, are aware the border between us and Mexico is almost meaningless. It does no good to rant in favor of open or closed borders, since you and I will never be heard. It is not a matter whether TPTB want them open or closed, but to note they benefit from the existence of a problem, and more, from the existence of controversy.

Surely a part of what brings some Mexicans here is the drug business which spans both countries. They supply cheaply what we consume, be it labor or drugs. Meanwhile, our social services are more lucrative for them. So lucrative, in fact, as they decline into unfunded mandates impossible to maintain, it's still better here than there.

That's because the bigger problem with drug cartels across our southern border is the wanton death and destruction which attends them. The fuzzy line between government and drug cartel is almost invisible. Thus, the fuzzy line between law and vigilantism is also starting to disappear.

A fundamental principle of the Social Sciences: The difference between official government and de facto government is frequently not discussed by those most affected by it. To the degree an entity projects power and gains control over some element of human existence, it is a de facto government: gangs, corporations, churches, mobs, etc. We know the wisest and most successful government is the one which observes the practical limits of its ability to project force and maintain control. We also know they never stop reaching for more control until they are broken. That they are all broken is inevitable, whether it be soon or late.

The picture painted of Mexico is government over the people for the benefit of drug cartels. The drug cartels could easily exclude most citizens from their affairs by minding their business, but it just won't happen. Ambition never dies. So the drug cartels act as parasites, and are very near to crippling their host. The host is about ready to fight back, chiefly by ignoring official government, and taking eye for an eye, as it were. Even if the vigilante groups are hopelessly outmatched, and even if they know they are hopeless outmatched, the alternative to fighting and failing has actually become worse.

This pattern will be repeated elsewhere. Not simply as a matter of the drug trade, there is a broad failure by government to maintain order. Here in the US we have a complex situation where governments are starved for funds, even while they scramble for more forms of revenue taken by force. Yet the supply is decreasing, so the level of force will rise. This means encouraging official police forces to become more violent at lower thresholds of provocation. Meanwhile, actual control of genuine criminal threats will decline. Some of those criminal threats will organize and become de facto government, much more than is already so. At some point, we can expect vigilante groups to arise, and who knows which they will consider their primary threat, either official or unofficial governments, or both.

None of this is particularly new. The difference is the underlying foundation of civil order is going to crumble in very short order. As long as they have bread and circuses, the masses are placid. The bread and circuses are going away; hungry and bored citizens are a serious danger to any government, official or otherwise.

The Saints of God will tribulate, and will find a way to spread the gospel because they take such things into account.

Update: A primary example of two governments fighting a turf war within the same borders -- Microsoft versus US Senate:

CWmike writes, "US Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) told Microsoft this week that US citizens should get priority over H-1B visa holders as the software vendor moves forward on its plan to cut 5,000 jobs. 'These work visa programs were never intended to allow a company to retain foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American workers, when that company cuts jobs during an economic downturn,' Grassley wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The letter asked Microsoft to detail the types of jobs that will be eliminated and how those cuts will affect the company's H-1B workers." Reader theodp adds, "On Friday, Microsoft coincidentally announced it would postpone construction of a planned $500 million data center in Grassley's home state of Iowa, although work on data centers in Chicago and Dublin will continue."

That we should view this as MS taking a swipe at Grassley is too obvious. MS is acting as a de facto government entity over the employment of thousands of H-1B workers, never mind your philosophical orientation over the question itself. The issue is the size and concentration of power in the hands of MS.

TPTB: Watch Closely Their Handprints

It's a spiritual principle you can often look back over your experiences and detect the fingerprints of God's grace. Most often this is because we are tracking back from a blessing we did not expect. As we age, there should be an accumulation of such recognition which makes it easier to face the next trial with assurance. The song says, "O Most High; those who know You trust You..."

It's not so radically different when applied to other powers not quite visible to our eyes. It's not enough to simply note Satan is at work in the earth, but quite instructive to see what his servants do. When we examine the foul oppressions of this age, we realize there is a connection between the various governments, cooperating in ways not always apparent until something scandalous leaks out. An example would be the now-banned practice of Extraordinary Rendition, where POWs of the US would be transported to CIA facilities in countries where the prisoners would be tortured under lax laws or lax enforcement. Discovering the degree to which the various countries cooperated with our CIA indicates a kind of partnership not otherwise obvious.

Taking such revelations together with others of a similar nature, we find the simplest explanation is a class of governing folks who seldom face the limelight. My preferred nickname is "The Powers That Be" (TPTB). It matters not what we call them, we can pretty easily discern a generalized profile of sorts:

• They aren't elected. While their official positions vary, they seem to serve across multiple administrations of both parties.


• Those positions are always just below the consciousness of all but the most devoted political junkies. Yet they seem to actually control what's going on.


• It stands to reason most of them serve in positions wrapped in secrecy, such as CIA, NSA, FBI, State Department, Defense Department, etc.


• Way too many of them appear to have dual citizenship, too.


• They never seem to lack for funding, and no amount of reform affects their positions. Indeed, it appears they could easily survive unscathed a genuine armed revolt.


• Most importantly: Their agenda is seldom what would seem obvious from what affiliations they do have.

In other words, a critical element in the deception is making us think they care about things which are only a smoke screen. We get all riled up about this or that policy change, and while these almost-nameless persons seem to advocate these various policies, they seem unfazed when a new elected staff comes in and changes those policies.

That President Obama is permitted to order Guantanamo closed, Extraordinary Renditions and torture ended, and other sane policy changes should indicate to use TPTB weren't really concerned about such things. We should keep our eyes, not so much on front page policy decisions, but on trends in actual broad government behavior, to discern what these folks are up to behind the scenes. There will be a huge raft of ugly things coming out of Obama's administration, but they will be founded on preparatory actions taken during the Bush Administration, and before. The hysterical political rhetoric is just a smoke screen to the real agenda, one which is far more deadly than anyone wants to admit.

Keep your eyes on all the small liberties of life which ebb away, little by little. Each step was justified by some horrific threat, a threat which never existed, except in the minds of those who weren't really paying attention. The transfer of prerogative from citizens to government is a natural trend in human society, but it's the sorts of control which government swallows where TPTB tip their hands. Even then, it may be only the form of things, not the substance. We are in for a rough ride, and it's getting rougher by the day, rather like the frog boiling slowly in the pot.

We don't jump out by leaving the country, because TPTB are everywhere. I doubt this is the End of Time coming up, so much as it's just another historical pendulum swing toward grand central oppression, eventually falling apart and many hundreds of thousands dying as equally evil forces of revolt seek to break apart that evil central power. No, we jump out of the pot by deciding none of this really matters in the long run. We should start from the assumption this fallen world is really not worth much, and nothing of great importance happens here on the far side of the Cross.

It will all End sooner or later, but even that is not our concern. Wise as serpents, harmless as doves, we see it all as an opportunity to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we know what is going on, we can more easily discern God's leading in this Kingdom enterprise.

Update: Perhaps I overstated President Obama's orders regarding Gunatanamo and CIA renditions. However, it does not change my thesis.

Meta: Computer Maintenance

Not much to post tonight because I'm busy working on the system. I had to switch over to the Mac for the evening to finish this post. No worries, it's just something I have to take care of this evening.

Meanwhile, I had an opportunity to work on a neighbor's computer. She had some ancient MacAfee junk, a few viruses, and too much spyware. Some of it was the kind of stuff which takes advantage of the fears and misunderstandings of people who aren't too savvy. I hate Windows for being so wide open to this garbage.

Anyway, I got her some new AV and anti-spyware from companies I trust and she should be alright. I haven't done a clean up like that in a while.

Contemplating Mortality

We are mortal. I was reminded of that today when I got word an acquaintance has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal cancer. Not the mere fact of our mortality, but the place it holds in our calculations how we should serve the Kingdom.

I'm proud of my fitness level. While there are factors hindering my efforts -- bad knees, an arthritic hip, chronic soreness in shoulders and elbows -- I find by most measures I'm still far above the average, even if we include humans ten years younger. Some of my good health is the vestigial effects of doing things which caused those injuries I cite, by trying to hard to push my body to the limits in years past. Some of it just darn good inheritance, such as naturally low cholesterol, a high tolerance for some kinds of pain, etc. I'm blessed with a pretty good physical condition.

All of this takes a back seat to my calling. When something I do for Christ, some urging of the Spirit, interrupts my scheduled work-out plans, I am reminded it doesn't necessarily rate that high on the Kingdom scale. It's just a tool, not a goal unto itself. So I often pray for the Lord to reveal to me what place it holds in His eyes. I keep it under review, not because it looms large, but because the issue of such transient things remains an open question. How do I make the most of His blessings without making them demi-gods, tying up too many resources needed elsewhere?

It's not a matter of pride to say I've faced Death more than I want to recall. Insofar is there is a place in the Kingdom for being proud of something, I am proud of the results of having walked away unscathed. I'm not fearless, but less fearful. I'm not obsessed with preserving what's left of my health when I know it has to end some time, sooner or later. I suppose there's something to be said for it ending in the proverbial blaze of glory while I'm still fit and strong, but even that has limits. Until the Lord reveals to me the specific manner of my death, it's hard to nail down just what I should do.

Even then, chances are high I would manage it poorly, so it's likely best I don't know. If the cost of this or that decision about my health rises too high against something more important to the Kingdom, then I accept the cost and set aside the health concern. I don't know about you and your calling, but this is something which can't be worked out in any detail for me, once and for all today. Worldly wisdom just does not apply. So I take my vitamins, keep an eye on what I eat and drink, but only so I am aware of what the Kingdom requires. In the end, I have to trust God to work out the details I could never know in the first place. I don't thrust a challenge in His face, demanding He do a miracle if He wants to keep me alive. I simply defer to His daily management, knowing this is something which is His concern first.

In the Kingdom of Heaven, death is just a circumstance.

Facts in Dispute Might Miss the Point

We saw in the lesson on John 7 Jesus did not fight to clarify misapprehensions about Him. That is, He didn't bother to correct the false assumption He was born in Galilee. He didn't tell folks He was born in Bethlehem. He didn't explain He was a part of the old royal household.

While it's possible He avoided that to prevent giving the Jewish leadership any more apprehensions about a political uprising, it seems more likely He knew it didn't matter whether the crowds of visitors, nor the residents of Jerusalem, nor the Jewish leadership knew the facts. They didn't understand the Spirit, so the facts could not help them.We find in this a useful lesson.

Too often we have a reflex to clear our names, as it were, to clarify a misunderstanding. We worry how we appear, instead of remembering the crowds said Jesus was crazy (had a demon) because He couldn't prove the Sanhedrin had issued a death warrant for Him. It's one thing to present proper footnotes for factual assertions when that's the point of the communication at hand, but altogether another thing when the point is the gospel.

Josh McDowell wrote a couple of famous books about evidence, which to this day are still remembered by Christians who read them. However, virtually no one in the secular community remembers them. They helped believers because it gave us the factual basis for what our spirits told us was true. They didn't appear to offer much help in changing the bias of the lost world about that truth. In a certain sense, it's as if they were never written. It's as if Josh had never engaged that team of atheists and agnostics in academic debate, beat them into a corner, because so far as anyone knows, none have ever professed Christ afterward.

Paul struggled on Mars Hill to clarify the truth of the gospel message on the academic level of the PhDs there. A few believed, but most did not. While it wasn't wasted effort for the sake of those few, we know Paul said of that event, "I determined from that time to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified" in the sense of what he taught and how he preached. He repudiated the method of making sense, of clarifying the facts. He should have stuck with simply telling the story, and how we all deserve Hell because we have sinned.

It's not to say the facts don't matter, but they matter far less than the one thing no one can dispute: Your changing life is your greatest testimony. It is our walk of faith, displaying a commitment to things we often can't explain, which is the ultimate evidence. To know Christ crucified is to be with Him on the Cross, to know beyond all doubt we are nothing, and deserve His death for ourselves and more. It is to know the power to embrace death in the flesh because the Spirit matters so much more.

Train your mind. Stop chasing down the facts, correcting every false idea, unless you know in your spirit this is the one best way to present the gospel. It won't happen that often. De-emphasize that. Instead, keep your eyes on the message, your calling.

Prayer Request: Transportation

Our old Isuzu Pickup is terminal. It barely runs and far too many things are broken or breaking. The cost of restoration is greater than replacement. We have a friend who intends to poke at the dead carcass a bit, but we have little hope for it.

We currently have a loaner vehicle. This is rather important, since my wife lacks my hardiness. She can't jump on a bike and ride off to work some 5 miles over hill and dale. I doubt she'd make a quarter mile. We are praying the Lord move someone to offer a spare vehicle for sale, accepting such payments as we could make.

By now, readers should realize I would not consider taking out a loan from lending institutions, but would gladly pay interest to an individual, someone who agrees to operate Scripturally. Debt is not the issue, because I've always paid up.

Until such time as none of us can afford to drive here in the US, we see the need to own at least one working motor vehicle. Pray with us to wait patiently for the hand of God to reveal His plans.

Life of Christ: John 7

Having in essence driven away the bulk of His entourage who could not gain a spiritual understanding, Jesus begins to drive the wedge of confusion deeper. While He does offer explanations up to a certain point, He seems unconcerned that most of His audience never gets His message. Again, John shows the ultimate truth of things cannot make sense to those spiritually dead.

Jesus entered a time in His ministry when it was necessary to reduce His exposure. For some months, He spent more time with the Twelve in private settings. He avoided Judea altogether, because there was a warrant for His arrest there, which didn't apply in Galilee. In the run up to the Feast of Tabernacles -- eight days celebrating the period of nomadic wandering when God hardened Israel before the Conquest -- Jesus' younger brothers harassed Him about gaining publicity. They didn't understand because they didn't believe. Perhaps if He made a grand entrance at Tabernacles, He could win back His herd of followers. For them, it was a matter of worldly wisdom, assuming Jesus was engaging in politics.

His answer was probably somewhat cryptic to their ears. For Jesus, the moment of greatest publicity was the moment of death. It was not yet time for that, but they had no such mission. They could come and go as they pleased, as they were not wanted by the Sanhedrin. Since they were compliant with the world's ways, they were in no danger from the world. That same world hated Jesus because His message to world was how deeply all men needed redemption from sin. This was part of what had put a price on His head, so He would perhaps show up later to avoid publicity. In those times, traveling to Jerusalem for the various feasts was unhurried, an opportunity to visit with friends and family. Were He to go up with His family, news would travel fast and He would surely be arrested and executed.

Some days later, He did travel privately. The Jewish leaders had posted spies everywhere, believing He could not avoid showing up at such an important event. We have to understand there are three main groups in the eyes of these leaders. They were themselves the blessed of Israel, those favored by God as evidenced by their power and wealth, plus their education. The Jerusalem residents were worldly wise, cynical, and seldom regarded as nice people. The rest of the Nation were poor benighted fools, obliged to show up at the ritual celebrations, but regarded by the urbanites as bumpkins, and by the leaders as accursed and ignorant. This last group was engaged in some debate over whether Jesus was a good guy or a deceiver. But they were sure of one thing: The Jewish leaders were questioning anyone they heard talking too loudly about Jesus.

At the midpoint of the feast, Jesus surprised everyone by taking up His usual teaching place on the Temple grounds. The first thing we notice is the Jewish leaders are stunned by the content of His teaching, since they knew He had not attended any of the rabbinical colleges in Jerusalem, where He would have gotten a letter of graduation, and be listed among the registered rabbis. It was too obvious He knew all about the standard rabbinical stuff. Jesus explained it to them. It was not a matter of achieving anything as a man, but simply passing on the teaching of His Father. People committed in faith to serving God were equipped to recognize God's teaching, and could tell Jesus wasn't just promoting Himself. Most rabbis sought to distinguish themselves by adding to the body of rabbinical lore their own unique intelligence. The whole aim of every rabbi was jockeying for recognition and influence. Instead of petty self-seeking, Jesus was interested solely in promoting His Father's will.

The Jewish leaders made so very much of representing the Law of Moses, but hardly understood it, so hardly obeyed it. They had issued a death warrant for Jesus, completely contrary to the Law. The visiting crowd were not aware of this death warrant, and said Jesus was crazy. However, He carried on His debate with the leaders. He recalled the last sign He performed in the city, healing the crippled man on the Sabbath, and having him carry away his bed. They were all worked up over what they perceived as a rabbi teaching the violation of the Sabbath Law. While circumcision had been around well before Moses, he commanded it be done on the eighth day of life, even if that day was the Sabbath. On this point, they should have realized their perspective on the Sabbath was all wrong. If an infant could receive the sign of the Covenant on the Sabbath, what was wrong with a man reaping the blessings of the Covenant on the Sabbath? Was not the Law all about bringing certain blessings to Israel? How could they look upon a divine gift as sin?

At this point, some of the city folk noticed Him. They knew all about the death warrant, and were surprised the leaders were arguing with Him instead of dragging Him away. Had the leaders changed their minds about Him? The urbanites were pretty sure they had it worked out the Messiah would be some Mystery Man, dropped out of Heaven, whereas this Jesus was known to have a pretty ordinary background. Jesus had a rather strong response to this. He yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. It didn't matter if they knew the history of His flesh. God Almighty was not constrained by their logical barriers, and it was pretty obvious they didn't know much about God. Jesus was His appointed Heir, so He alone understood Him.

This declaration goaded the Jewish leaders into action. However, they were restrained by God, who was not yet ready for His Son to die. Somehow the out of town crowd realized there was something at work keeping them from seizing Him. Some of them believed He was the Messiah simply because no one else could have such power. When talk like this came to the attention of the Pharisee Party, they alerted the Sanhedrin and arranged for Temple Guards to be dispatched. By His words alone, Jesus was able to stop them. He said it was not yet time for that, but soon enough He would be ready to go back to His Father.

Then He said something with a spiritual meaning they could not grasp. In going to the Father, He would be eternal, and eternally beyond their reach, outside their jurisdiction. He had no fear whatsoever, because they could not actually do anything His Father wouldn't authorize. What His Father allowed would certainly not harm His own Son. The Jewish leaders puzzled over this because they lacked any spiritual understanding, thinking only of questions regarding arrest jurisdiction. Meanwhile, they were still unable to arrest Him. So at the end of the feast, which entailed rituals with water, Jesus called out where the worshipers in the Temple could hear Him. Those truly seeking refreshment from God could find it in following Jesus. Embracing Him as the Messiah, as witnessed by the Scriptures, would become themselves sources of that spiritual refreshing.

John explained the meaning for his readers. Jesus was, of course, referring to the presence of the Holy Spirit inside human souls. However, that would be the Spirit of Christ Himself, who had not yet finished His course on earth. Some of the folks in the crowd said the same things as those fed in the wilderness, that Jesus was surely the Prophet. Some even insisted He was the Messiah, but others insisted the Messiah was not supposed to come from Galilee. He would have to be born of David's royal household, assuming this meant literally born in Bethlehem. Jesus did not bother to clarify the matter, that He actually had been born in Bethlehem, and was considered of the royal household.

At any rate, those who wanted to arrest Him never could bring themselves to do it. When the Temple Guards returned, they had nothing to report. Queried why they didn't have Him in custody, all they could say was He spoke like no other man. The Pharisee partisans scolded them for being fooled like the crowds. They didn't see any of the Jewish leaders taking Him seriously, did they? Well, yes, there was one of them who rose to Jesus' defense. Nicodemus, who had interviewed Jesus privately, reminded these men the Law of Moses did not permit a death warrant, but there had to be a fair trial first. The Pharisees snapped at him, implying there was no need for a fair hearing, since not a single prophet had ever come from Galilee. They were wrong of course, since Jonah was a Galilean, but it didn't matter. They suffered from the same harsh prejudices as possessed Jonah, willing to shake their fists in God's face in seeking to have things their way.

Tidbit: How Debt Affects the Mind

We should never lose consciousness of God's ownership of us. One parabolic term we use is "to be indebted" to Him; we owe so much we could never repay. Thus, we accept liability for a kind of obedience which is actually in our best interest, anyway.

When we accept liability from any other entity, we are slaves. Not only is it not in our best interest -- only God is looking out for us -- the slavery interferes with our Kingdom service. We are not free to consider what the Spirit demands via our convictions, but must smother those convictions under some lie to ourselves.

Part of the debtor mentality is a constant, frantically suppressed undercurrent of terror. We have one of the highest debt-to-income ratios in the world, and apparently most of us are two paychecks from the street. Those in power -- governments, employers -- exploit this, to great effect. Frightened people are obedient -- not just physically, but intellectually and emotionally. If your employer tells you to work overtime, and you know that refusing could jeopardize everything you have, then not only do you work the overtime, but you convince yourself that you're doing it voluntarily, out of loyalty to the company; because the alternative is to acknowledge that you are living in terror. Before you know it, you've persuaded yourself that you have a profound emotional attachment to some vast multinational corporation: you've indentured not just your working hours, but your entire thought process. The only people who are capable of either unfettered action or unfettered thought are those who -- either because they're heroically brave, or because they're insane, or because they know themselves to be safe -- are free from fear.

If you haven't taken steps to reduce your financial debt liabilities, the coming months may be more painful than you can bear.

Source and a hat tip to Bruce Schneier.

Babylon: Follow the Money

This post is in keeping with the command to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. That is a nice Hebraic symbol of understanding fully what's going on in the world, but not necessarily for the purpose of taking action, as it is conventionally understood. Rather, it informs prayer and teaches us not to be surprised when sinners oppress and persecute us. Jesus knew full well the Cross was in front of Him. Many of those who truly follow Him today will also see the Cross, as it were. This is an informed choice we make, after being enlightened and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Imagine for a moment you suffer little from national political loyalties, because you recognize yourself as a citizen only of the Kingdom of Heaven. I realize that's a tall order for some, but humor me. So we look upon the ebb and flow of political power and identity with dispassion, realizing the US is doomed on the same basis as any other empire in history. The call of holiness recognizes no human political boundaries, though it is often forced to deal with them. That's because evil does the same thing.

We know evil seeks primarily to frustrate God's efforts to redeem what was lost in the Fall. This world is permanently tainted, and cannot be saved as is, but must be redeemed. So it applies to human hearts as it does to the very fabric of solid matter. Paul approaches a literal description when he describes the Final Redemption as burning up the fundamental matter of the cosmos "with fervent heat" as the path to replacement with a New Heaven and New Earth. We who serve toward that end make no provision for preserving anything of this material world, except as it serves in passing the purpose of the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Darkness does all it can to focus the attention of all mankind on this passing Vale of Sorrow as their only hope. As long as people cling to what cannot last, they can't give attention to things eternal.

This attitude is symbolized in Scripture as Babylon. When all things are reduced to mere matter, what matters is the means to control it. It meets the tests of all three roots of temptation, as the means to satisfying those lusts. Even the purest forms of scientific research can be connected to this fundamental drive to control the tangible world. Naturally, there is this tendency for political power to rest in the hands of those who consciously focus on such controls, as they harness the varied vices of humanity to their wagon.

It then requires no tinfoil hat to consider the ultimate powers of this world are found under the piles of "money" -- placed in quotation marks to emphasize the meaning arising from function, not some concrete technical definition. Whatever serves as a means of exchange is money, and the greatest power of the world is controlling money. Who controls the flow of money controls all the world. With but a little education, one can discover there is a discrete group of people involved in controlling virtually all the money in the world. We can call them "bankers" as long as we realize far, far too many bankers aren't part of this controlling group, only serving it. Indeed, it would appear from reading widely, very few political figures are themselves members of this group, but are agents of it.

The other primary factor in controlling the world is perception, or more precisely, deception. If you believe lies, you render yourself the servant of someone other than God. That most of what people believe is false, at least partially, should be taken for granted by those who seek to be wise as serpents. The best way to put across a deception is simply to hide the truth, because any lie will do. Without a touchstone of truth, there is nothing to which lies can be compared, and every lie at once can be told, knowing every living being without truth will latch onto one lie or another. As long as you are distracted from the truth, O Christian, you are hindered from walking in it, and kept from promoting the Kingdom of Heaven.

Popular nonsense about White Supremacy movements are the means to manipulation, for example:

Given the prominence of federal informant/provocateurs among white supremacist groups it's quite likely that federal seed money is the only thing keeping that movement alive; it's simply too useful an antagonist for the Feds to permit it to die outright.

The point is to raise a bogey man to justify advancing preparations for oppression. You and I know beyond all doubt government cares only for its own prerogatives, and is utterly incapable of actually considering the real needs of those governed. By manipulating a significant portion of popular misconception regarding the mythical threat of White Supremacy, the future ruling regime can justify all manner of oppression, damning the most reasonable dissent as "racism" -- and excusing the most damnable oppressions as "attacking racism." It was the same thing we got when the Neocons first surged to power under Reagan, by attaching every oppression to the push for keeping Israel safe. Thus, any dissent to oppression was easily shot down as "anti-Semitism" and "supporting terrorism." That some of these government agents engaged in this exercise honestly believe it makes no difference; it's still a lie.

These lies are proposed and sold by the real controlling authorities hidden among the banking elite. Here's where your imagination may be tested, because it requires understanding neither the US nor Israel actually matters to these folks. Countries are only tools to get us all worked up and willing to suffer anything to support the wars currently active in the world. The shortest route to plunder is warfare. People are actually pretty lazy about it, requiring a good bit of provocation and pumping to get them in a fighting mood. The heresy of "for God and Nation" is the easiest lie to sell, because it dresses unthinking patriotism in the Robe of Christ, with approximately the same effect as dressing Jesus in Herod's robes while beating Him.

But Jesus knew it was coming, and so should we. When the policies followed by US government eventually destroy the nation, these banking elites will find a way to profit. Meanwhile, they profit by having us follow a policy which feeds both sides of just about every war we've engaged since our national founding. That money is sometimes denied is just another tool, because it is calculated to deliver the proper results. We were manipulated into Vietnam, when the very real desire of Ho Chi Min was merely nationalist, only vaguely colored by "communism" -- a color we falsely made more vivid because we hardly understood Vietnamese culture. As early as the end of WW1, Ho Chi Min begged us to help him persuade the French to loosen up their oppressive grip on his people, and we refused. That policy choice was not in our national interest, but in the interest of non-Americans who sought to profit from the war they knew it would bring. They were invested in the entire mechanism of both sides. In WW2, some of the same names appear on investments in both Nazi Germany and Allied war efforts. Some of them are names in American politics. We should not fool ourselves by taking all this "history" at face value, nor be surprised when it comes our turn to be thrown into the slaughter house of government policy.

Our CIA funded the explosion of crack cocaine sales in the US to fund the Contras. Our CIA created al-Qaeda, and keeps it alive today. Our CIA funded the growth of Hezbollah political power, and helped create Hamas in league with Mossad. Our CIA covertly funded the growth of Muslim fundamentalism in Egypt, even as they trained the Egyptian police in torturing those Muslim fanatics. And so on, making it clear the CIA is a primary agent of these elite banker types. Do you not know they also keep Al Jazeera on the air, and online? Sometimes they'll release a filtered bit of truth through that or some other false front "Muslim Fanatic" voice. Should you possess an actual grasp of all this hidden history, you can sometimes pick out the lies and distortions, but it's easiest just to see what it is they are setting us up to accept, or to react against.

In the near future, it's quite likely the Israeli government will collapse. While some of her leaders are in on the profits of war, as shown by their willingness to slaughter their own citizens via secret funding of "suicide bombers," we see the pretense of defending a State which cannot ever see peace. That is, they talk about wanting their ancestral homeland, nothing more, when they've already taken measures to limit the influx of new citizens when the timing required it for propaganda purposes. A prominent figure today in Israeli politics ordered a boatload of Jewish refugees slaughtered as they came off the boat back during the early years of Israeli statehood. Apparently, this batch was not wealthy enough to serve the greater purpose. While there is a full record of this event, including a frank discussion by the man in charge, it's pretty hard to find online. My point here is not to enrage anyone at Israel, but to highlight the cynicism of her own leaders.

It's likely this business in Gaza is only the start of something far bigger, perhaps even the much feared "WW3". Israeli agents planted a batch of missiles inside Lebanon aimed back south at Israel, and were almost caught in the act. The launcher was hastily abandoned. Match this with talk of re-instituting the draft, the huge arms shipment of 3000 tons from the US to Israel, the noise about IDF troops taking fire from Syrians, and sabre-rattling with Iran -- even if it's just a bunch of noise which produces no action, you know it's all about fattening the pile of money somewhere. So the screws are being tightened on our wallets and our very existence, all justified by a war mostly created by the same people who keep us nervous via the vague threats of terrorism arising from that warfare. So if our own government collapses, even partially, it won't matter to Babylon. There is money to be made selling new toys to police departments, and from selling arms to good ol' boys preparing to resist those police.

Maybe we should consider how we can disengage from the stories sold by Babylon.

To What, Or Whom Do You Belong?

You'd have to read it in the full context yourself, but Wurmbrand relates a clearly fictitious tale of Jesus trying to explain the Solomnic phrase, "Vanity of vanities." In his book, Underground Saints, Wurmbrand points out the need to decide in advance of persecution just where your anchor lies. Jesus takes a disciple out for a hike, then stops for a break and asks the disciple to fetch some water. As the younger man pursues the task, he is distracted, and plunges off into a life of which every man dreams, only to find it was indeed, a dream. That dream ended in a nightmarish fashion to show the man what he was made of, what vanities held him. He discovered he had neglected his Master's calling for something which seemed so good and right, but it was not the Kingdom.

I attempted to cover it myself:

We are ourselves the battleground. That is, the real war is against our own sin nature and we are reclaiming ourselves from Satan's power and use. It is not for you or I to "win" people to Christ; that's a miracle work of grace. Rather, we defeat or own sinful nature so God can use us to reveal Himself. In some way only He understands fully, that revelation of Him is used to change people's hearts. By defeating our fallen selves, these other things take care of themselves....

Who owns your life? Who gives the spouse you marry? Who grants the fertility for children to be born? Who decides then what is sufficient care for their needs? Does it really take a spacious home in the suburbs? Must you have the biggest SUV for driving them around? Does an Ivy League education really fit us for Kingdom service? Funny, there are millions the world over who have none of those things, and God truly lives in them. Stop letting the world tell you what constitutes success, what constitutes responsible living, what constitutes a decent income, or anything else, for that matter.

These things the world seeks, and they will surely pass away. Indeed, some of you may have already had a taste of this. Today is the day to repent, to realize what vanities for which we have invested so very much of our lives. It's one thing to sorrow for your losses, but quite another to thus consider your life finished. If you have all those other things and have not that calling, what you have does not matter. If you have not lost the calling of the Kingdom, you still have everything that matters.

So, what's the matter with you?

Isaiah 30

We are reminded the Covenant of Moses was but an expansion on the Covenant of Noah, as applied in the particular instance of the Nation of Israel. It's provisions offered worldly rewards for a proper worldly performance. God through Moses claimed He was both, the God of the Hebrews, as well as God of all creation, and there was no other god. The Hebrew people were, as a whole, unable to absorb this claim. They came to view Him as a quaint fable of their barbaric past, irrelevant to their modern times. While the requirements of the Law were tied directly to Judah's fortunes, they had during Isaiah's ministry convinced themselves human wisdom was sufficient to bring them national security, prosperity, and glory as a people.

Within the royal counsel was a distinct partisan group which favored alliance with Egypt. This was a continuation of the same bunch who pined to return to the Nile before they ever set foot in the Promised Land. While that generation died in the Wilderness, their poisonous lusts were never forgotten. In the latter Monarchy Period, the royal court of Judah was often overwhelmed by those who were just too sure of their wisdom and maturity, but God calls them smart-aleck kids, seeking to return to slavery. For all the troops Pharaoh may have been able to field, when the day of battle with Assyria came, Egypt would sit it out.

Using the beasts of burden retained for crossing the Negev into the Nile Delta, Isaiah paints a symbol of going to all sorts of trouble and expense for nothing. Dodging all the predators, struggling under the loads of tribute and bribes, Isaiah prophetically refers to Egypt as arrogant and lazy. To insure no one misses the point, God instructs Isaiah to make this a public record of the attitude of Judah's leaders. They are like spoiled brats who would do anything to avoid having to hear any more of the Law, warning the prophets and seers to remain silent, unless they are ready to talk nicely about the planned alliance. If the only talk of God is about obedience to the Law, then He was not to be mentioned again. Their much vaunted wisdom would turn into a wall collapsing suddenly; so badly broken would be their plans, no useful pieces could be salvaged for any purpose.

God pointedly reminds them if they would simply abide by the Law, everything they believed they wanted would be supplied, including making Assyria nothing more than a noisy nuisance. Instead, they spoke of evacuating in Egyptian chariots, presumably while Pharaoh's troops march north to fend of Assyria. Well, they would most certainly flee, and they'll be needing the fastest chariots Egypt can offer. Instead of protecting Judah, God would amplify the Assyrian power. Here we see the ancient symbol of battle failure, when the sense of God's protection was withdrawn, and fear taking over the troops. The only thing left would be scattered outposts here and there. Only by God's own grace and mercy would they survive at all.

This contrasts with what they could have had, and would have again, if they would but obey the Law, and keep the Covenant. Isaiah conjures up the shining image of Jerusalem at peace, prosperous and healthy. They will pass through hard times, indeed, but could recover if they would but choose it. Bring the teachers of the Law back out of retirement. Learn to think in terms of Law, so you won't have to ask, you'll know what you should do. Cleanse your lives of idolatry and react violently when someone tries to bring idols back.

For only in keeping the Law can they expect God to maintain the natural order, with seasonal rains, bountiful crops, strong and plentiful herds and flocks, and sufficient water running off every hill. The whole world would seem a much brighter place. God would heal all their ills and replace their losses. Or, should they prefer, they can wallow in His wrath. God comes to judge sin, and all the nations which ignore His Law for them will be destroyed in their due season. Would Judah prefer to wear the bit and bridle of sin, or would they prefer to see only their enemies so enslaved? It would be so easy for Judah to sit secure, ready to sing the celebration hymns when Assyria falls outside the very gates of Jerusalem. That place would then become a dance floor of victory.

The final image is seeing the wide, flat shadowed field just off the south end of Jerusalem. In ancient times, Canaanites would worship their "King" god, Molech, by tossing their children into the arms of his image built on top of a bronze oven. But when Judah obeys the Lord, the only resemblance to that horrific image would be the fire of God devouring Assyrian troops. Will Judah choose right, so this deliverance comes before the plundering march of Assyria, or after?

Overwhelmed by the Spirit

It's a good thing Wurmbrand does not offer too concrete a definition of "ecstasy" in Underground Saints. The genuine work of the Holy Spirit is beyond words. Rather, he offers a functional definition of leaving yourself behind, that is, your fleshly self, and tasting the delights of Eternity. The writer of Hebrews has his own take:

those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come (Hebrews 6:4-5 MKJV)

The context for that passage discusses how it is impossible to have such a thing and then lose your eternal citizenship. The Holy Spirit is not a temporary resident in human souls. There is no decision man can make to invite Him in; if He comes, He comes as rightful Lord and owner. Were the decision ours, we could not make it (Romans 8). Any other perspective on "free will" is not from God, but from man.

So it is that Wurmbrand notes the full power and craft of communist government torturers were not able to take away the spiritual ecstasy of genuine saints. They called it madness because their science had no means for grappling with it. Indeed, science can pin down a host of clinical effects, but cannot ever touch the thing itself. The Holy Spirit is God Himself, and He remains ever untouchable to those who don't know Him. Yet He is touched by the heart's cry of His own, and touches them with His Spirit to empower the obedience and constancy only they can understand.

The Prison of the Comfort Zone

Now here is an article which challenges a wealth of presumption and assumption.

Very often the analogy has been that a savant is like a computer, but what I do is about as far from what a computer does as you can imagine. This distinction hasn't been made before, because savants haven't been able to articulate how their minds work. I am lucky that the autism I have is mild, and that I was born into a large family and had to learn social skills, so I am able to speak up.

What little talent I possess for writing is the result of having to deal with other people, of having to face a world which makes no room for me voluntarily. I am constantly having to make a conscious effort to reach out to a state of mind which cannot easily follow me through the linkages I see. Because my talent is limited, I sometimes end up with very wordy stuff. Sorry, but that's the best I can do.

Tammet's discussion taps into a common experience for people who don't follow convention. That experience includes facing the resistance, and sometimes outright violent rejection, from people who have adapted to convention. From where I stand, it looks like those conventional folks outnumber the other kind by a huge margin. This numerical difference too often empowers the worst sort of treatment, though I agree a great deal of it is not conscious aggression. Most of the time, it's just a world constructed on assumptions which exclude other possibilities.

By no means do I claim any particular intelligence, and certainly not on the savant level. Rather, what many take to be a disability -- Adult ADD -- is the very cause of what little advantage I do have. As I understand it, my brain fails to maintain some of the links between ideas. While I am able to build and maintain a functional structure for holding ideas, some individual links within the structure break from time to time. In an effort to recover the context and meaning of new ideas, I sometimes miss and create a new link altogether. By the grace of God, I do have some ability to analyze that link to see if it's viable, though not necessarily whether it's correct in the sense of being conventional. It is the softness of the links which give me a higher creativity quotient than more conventional people. It permits me to produce utterly random associations, which may well work, but were not previously considered. It also allows me to come up with some of the most off-the-wall responses when people ask conventional questions.

My advantage in making that entertaining is what saves my sanity. When this sort of randomness gets out of control, it makes me appear borderline psychotic, even to myself. This is a major factor in my on-going battle with depression. Some of those random associations can be downright dangerous, and permits an effect rather like hallucination. Overcoming is not entirely a matter of conscious choice. Whatever the means, it is always the grace of God which prevents me killing myself -- a temptation with which I am familiar.

So I share some things with Tammet in how I experience my world. We expect sinners to have trouble extending the effort to make a place for the oddballs. We rightly condemn Christians who paint oddballs as evil without first discerning the spiritual dynamics. Tammet was steered into a place where his autism was not a hindrance, and he didn't become a threat. Christians can do that consciously. While we rightly observe a great many self-proclaimed oddballs and weirdos are faking it in a search for mere individuation, or maybe just financial gain, there are plenty who haven't received any useful guidance. That guidance has to take into account a much wider consciousness of what God may permit and still not call it "sin."

God does not fit in your box. There is no justification for Christians to equate "different" with "evil." How many Tammets have we lost over the centuries because we chose not to serve God in redeeming them His way?

Jesus Says the Neocons Are Lying

It was my study in John 6 which first made me realize there was something deeply wrong with trying to harmonize faith and reason. The Jewish leaders in the synagogue had reason all worked out, but could not accept the notion Jesus could claim the title Son of God. It was not a failure of their logic, but a failure of logic itself. Jesus says they could not because reason was all they had. It was the same problem with His own entourage. They could easily accept Him as Rabbi, even Prophet of God, but not Son of God. Jesus explained how only those whom the Father touched could accept such truth, for it could not possibly make sense on a human level:

"It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life." (John 6:63, MKJV)

In the context of that passage, this means only the Holy Spirit can give life to a dead human spirit. Nothing the flesh can do will bring that understanding to life. Embracing the teaching of Christ could not be a human decision, not even a decision of Jesus, but only of the Father. There is an eternal, immeasurable gap between those whose spirits are alive and those whose spirits are dead. When Jesus spoke in His parabolic language, it was because intellect cannot construct a framework for ultimate Truth, so human language could not possibly convey the Truth in clinical terms. You can't be literal about spiritual truths; symbolic speech, the use of parables, are the only way. A spirit born can process parables separate from the mind, internalize the truth, then send it back out into the conscious mind as an imperative to serve. While the mind may know that it knows, it cannot possibly formulate how it comes to know. It becomes necessary to use symbols and parables, because that is the language of Spirit on the earth.

The ancient Semitic cultures in general, and Hebrew culture specifically, were by nature somewhat mystical. At least, that's the Western term for symbolic logic, parables and anything which eschews literalism. The label is meant to be dismissive. The closest Western philosophical foundations come is allegory, a sort of one-to-one equivalency not at all typical of Semite cultures. It's a long, sad tale how Judaism drifted from its original Semitic roots, and adopted a bastardized Hellenism. It explains how the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day could not comprehend, much less accept, what He taught. His teaching is the ultimate example of spiritual parabolic expressions of truth which cannot be encapsulated in human speech. His words were not truth in the sense of the discrete words, but His Word was truth in the sense of pointing to something for which words were too weak to carry.

Just saying it that way is often considered blasphemy in Western Evangelical circles. Too often we will hear or read such comments as, "The Bible says what it means, and means what it says." To which I answer, that is blasphemy. I don't pick over the words of such statements, but see through them to the underlying rejection of God's own logic. Those Evangelical comments are built directly on the foundation of Western assumptions about all things. Those Western assumptions demand we allow nothing outside the verifiable concrete reality of this fallen world. Even the very notion of "the ideal" in Western philosophy is limited to what man can construct mentally, notwithstanding the concept "ideal" could be absolute, independent of reality. The whole problem is demanding ideals, somewhere out there beyond the human mind, are inherently static and nonliving. There were attempts in Western philosophical history to escape this, but they are unwieldy, and virtually no one in Western Civilization operates that way. Ultimate Reality in the Western world remains largely a concept of some static something to which we aspire. Western Evangelicals embrace this at some unconscious level, and their concept of God is chained to it. They are unable to operate any other way, because the entire field of academic thought is dominated by this underlying assumption, to the point any departure is regarded as anti-intellectual. They read the Bible through the glasses of rationalist assumptions, and make no room for the Semitic background from which Scripture arose.

This makes the entire Evangelical community ripe for manipulation. First, everyone assumes modern Judaism is the religion of the Old Testament, even though Jesus made it clear it was not. They draw silly pictures of Jesus using modern orthodox rituals, when He clearly criticized the foundation of those rituals as "traditions of men" versus the Word of God. Thus, to the degree modern Israel can be painted as a project of Orthodox Jews, it must be an seen as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Christian Zionism is the result, an unconditional support for the modern State of Israel, regardless how utterly that State rejects Mosaic restraints or modern Western restraints. If this were not bad enough, it also excuses demonizing Muslims.

Anyone can propagandize the facts to create a false history. History is often known as the story told by the winning side. Still, it's not hard for honest minds to realize Islam is not a single entity, any more than Christianity is. Further, it's very easy to prove the majority of Muslims bear little resemblance to the bogey man made of Osama bin Laden. Nor is it hard to prove he was created by the CIA and Mossad, and was still their boy right up to his death. Picking through the complicated story of Islamic history, we find a few tiny activist groups committed to violence as the means to spreading their religion. Further, it's all too easy to realize those few violent groups of fundamentalists were also perverted from the ancient Arabic ways (they are Semites) into a rather Westernized literalism. The original religion of Mohamed was hardly so brutal as popularly portrayed, since he was quite decent with Christians and Jews in the places he conquered. So it is, the modern Muslim fundamentalists are making the same mistakes as Christian fundamentalists, and of Jewish fundamentalists. Each of them has bought into a Westernized perversion of their ancient Semitic cultural assumptions.

Yes, the words of the Koran appear to promote using violence, yet Mohamed himself didn't actually do it that way. Obviously the literal rendering is not accurate. While we in the West may blanch at the descriptions of things he did, it's hardly so vicious as our Western portrayal of "Islamofascism." The best lies are always partially true. Worse, the Western churches are total dupes of secularist Neocons who don't actually believe any of this themselves. Zionism is not their own doctrine, but the cult they promote for the unenlightened masses. They are largely secularist, as is the core leadership of Israel's government. Indeed, the bulk of the elder class of Israel's ruling elite were terrorists themselves early in their careers. They have been caught lying to their own people, and certainly to the whole world. They created Hamas to frustrate the PLO. They used Mossad to promote, fund, and sometimes pretend to be al-Qaeda terrorists. Indeed, it is probably safe to say every modern Muslim terrorism exists solely because of Western funding through clandestine agencies of Western governments. Had these agencies not supported Wahabism, it would still be a tiny minority in Arabia. Had the CIA not sponsored bin Laden and the Taliban (formerly Mujahidin) in Afghanistan to upset the plans of the USSR, there would be no al-Qaeda today. Had we not sent the CIA into Iran to overturn their elected parliamentary government, there would have been no Shah and no revolt. Had we not funded Saddam, he would never have ruled Iraq. So on, so on, ad nauseum.

Should anyone care to dig intelligently into the history of all our enemies today, we would find the vast majority hate us because we meddled in their internal affairs during the past century. We spent billions, and precious little of what our agents did was in their national interest, nor ours. That same thing goes on today. As long as Christians feel it is somehow their duty to pressure governments to kill people they don't even understand, our Savior's Name will be smeared with sins He does not support. To the degree any Muslims wish to take over the West, it is the West which intentionally cultivated that desire, feeding the fire, fanning the flames.

The most sickening part is so many Christians fear this threat because they don't trust God. He alone controls whether any government exists, and for how long, and how it ends. Since no human government wants to understand what's required under the Covenant of Noah, not one of them exists because God likes them. He simply uses them, as He used Assyria and Babylon. America is no different, and our time is about ended. If it falls to Islamic fundamentalists, it will be God who allows it for His own reasons. If not, then it will be some other group, or maybe we'll just do it to ourselves. This is none of our concern, since we are here only to point folks to a Kingdom of Heaven. We speak the truth as Jesus did, knowing the majority can't absorb it because the Lord did not choose them. Did Jesus waste time poking at the Roman government, brutal as it was? No. That was precisely what everyone hoped He would do, until after the Resurrection when they finally understood human politics was simply none of their concern. Sure, they had to work around it, but even execution they endured as a gift from God's hands.

We are not nearly other-worldly enough.

Life of Christ: John 6

John's readers were familiar with the Passover Feast, that it came in the spring. The barley harvest had begun, and hay mowing would start shortly because grazing grasses were at their tallest. By now those readers had tasted the Lord's Supper, and knew it was the Christian replacement of the Passover. Thus, John clearly links the Passover to the teaching on Bread of Life. He contrasts it with the way the worldly mind operates regarding creature comforts. At the same time, he very sharply refines the concept of parabolic teaching as the essence of understanding the Kingdom.

The place is somewhere on the northeast shore of Galilee, which body of water was known by other names, as well. It was mid-March, and Jesus took a retreat with His disciples, sitting atop some small mountain. In the distance a large crowd approached. Jesus asked Philip where they could purchase enough bread to feed such a mob. The question had a spiritual meaning which Jesus would later explain. For now, the disciple choked on the literal meaning, because the cost of feeding that many was far more than was in their treasury. John notes this was a test, since Jesus had already decided how He would handle it. Overhearing the discussion, Andrew jokingly remarked they had what amounted to a snack for one: some flat cakes of bread made from freshly harvested barley, and something pickled, probably rather like sardines. Barley was the bread of poverty, which made it all the more humorous.

Jesus directed the disciples to seat the crowd in an orderly manner. Since the grass was tall and green, this wasn't too bad an idea. The context indicates it was rather like an impromptu theater, and Jesus took center stage. First, He made a point to observe the ritual giving thanks and blessing the Lord's name. Then He passed out the snack, which simply did not run out as He did so. This continued until the entire crowd was satisfied. Typical of Jewish custom, those who served got to keep the remains, enough for each of them to have a day's rations for the morrow. By this time, the day was nearly gone, so that worked out nicely. Sufficient food for the body was not a concern for those who served God in His eternal affairs.

John said this was a giddy, thrill-seeking crowd they fed. These half-remembered a teaching about some great prophet who would come, and surmised Jesus was the man. They began making noises about crowning Him their new king, since He was obviously more fun than the one they had already. Jesus cut them off and climbed back up the mountain. It was dark soon, and His disciples got in the boat to go home. A contrary high wind rose, making the task of rowing nearly impossible, not to mention the waves dangerously high. Jesus simply walked up to the boat over the water, calmed their fears and climbed over the side. The boat, still some ways from Capernaum, was suddenly there. These men who believed and weren't seeking signs and miracles lived the most astounding things the thrill seekers never saw.

The crowd had not gone far from the scene of the mass feeding. The next morning they could see across the water only the disciples' boat at Capernaum. They knew Jesus had not gone aboard, but the darkness and storm surely prevented them seeing Jesus step out from the shore onto the surface of the waves. They were still ready to make Him king, but never found Him. They crowded as many of themselves as they could into some boats which had come over from Tiberias the day before, part of the folks chasing the traveling miracle rabbi. Upon landing at Capernaum, they were puzzled to find Jesus had already gotten home. Maybe He would tell of yet some new miracle.

Jesus had offered them the Bread of Life; they knew only of the barley bread to fill their bellies. The latter was merely a symbol of the former. He warned them to see through the physical, to the spiritual, to realize He was the Messiah as Prince of Heaven, not of any earthly domain. And just what did the Messiah wish them to do? What would eternal work look like? Jesus explained it was all about trusting Him as the voice of God. In their minds, that was a tall order, requiring more than a single afternoon snack. How about something more substantial? Was not manna heavenly bread? Surely it was better than barley pita. Jesus responded Moses was not the source of the manna, and manna was not eternal. Jesus was not claiming equality to Moses, but stood on a higher plane. The heavenly bread is eternal.

Because of the ambiguities of the language, and their inability to perceive on a spiritual level, what they thought they heard was Jesus offering something more tasty than barley or manna, and that would be just dandy. Jesus knew most of them weren't getting it, so dropped a verbal bomb to polarize them -- they would either receive the truth or be driven away. He claimed to be that Bread of Eternal Life, and those who embraced His teaching would never worry about food or drink ever again. They had seen, yet not seen. It was the Father's way to bring spirits to life through the Son's teaching, and these would become inseparable from Jesus. Such a bond was not a matter of Jesus the man, but of the unseen power of the Father. The very presence of Jesus was by that unseen power, seeking those marked for Heaven, for He came down from Heaven. Those who embraced Him by that divine power would die in the flesh, but see the final resurrection of the Redeemed.

This was too much for the Jewish leaders in the crowd. While they understood intellectually Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God, their dead spirits did not accept it. They knew this man was just one of the sons of some fellow whose family was well known, which just did not fit their concept of "Son of God." This man was hardly a heavenly being. Jesus addressed them, warning them not to waste their breath analyzing the question. This was not something men understood enough to discuss, but could only be accepted by those touched by the Father. Those who were made over into eternal beings, with an eternal perspective, operated from an eternal logic. Knowing Jesus was the Son of God came only by the teaching of the Father's Spirit, as prophesied in Isaiah 54:13. Those so touched would not be able to reject Jesus as His Son.

In the darkness of their pedantic minds, they could not hope to understand God's Word. People didn't go sit in some classroom to fulfill such prophecies. Only the Son truly understood the heart of the Father, and only those who embraced Jesus' teaching could grasp eternal things. So Jesus reaffirmed He was the Bread of Life, as a means to expressing the unspeakable truth. Those who ate manna, those who walked in Moses as the final expression of God's revelation, were all dead, and would stay that way. Jesus was a higher revelation, better than mere manna and Moses. Only in parabolic imagery could human minds hear the truth because that was how divine revelation worked. Jesus drove the point home by restating the teaching of the Bread of Life, and how it superseded Mosaic teaching, by mixing in terms repulsive to Jewish traditionalists. His body was the Bread of Life, and only by absorbing His sacrificial death to come would anyone have hope of seeing God in Eternity. This was the price of feeding Bread to the world which Philip had missed previously.

It was obvious to John's readers just how far the Jewish leaders were from any hope of enlightenment. They argued with Jesus over the terminology because they missed the point. So Jesus became more explicit with His symbolic explanation. Only those who could absorb such an explanation would benefit from it. Ultimate truth is polarizing among humans, for it makes its own path, and waking a dead spirit into eternal life forever separated them from the dead. John notes this last debate took place in a synagogue. The Jewish leaders didn't have to hunt Him down, nor slip into the outdoor crowds to hear His message. He brought it straight to them, offering them every chance to get it.

The huge entourage which had followed Jesus around up to this point choked on this teaching. Not so much the symbolism, but the claim of being the Son of God. For many, it was too much Jesus would claim to have come down from Heaven. Would it make it any easier if they got to watch Him literally go back up to Heaven? The human intellect was completely out of its league; only by the mind of God implanted in the soul would people be equipped for eternal things. This teaching of the Bread of Life was a matter of eternal spirits, not of perishable human intellect. Some of them were unable to embrace it. Jesus, as the source of spiritual truth, knew who among the crowd of followers who would embrace the truth, and who would be driven to oppose Him because they could not embrace it. It was not in His control to decide, nor a matter of any other human decision, but something the Father reserved to Himself. God gave birth to living spirits in a few souls as gifts to His Son.

So many of the group left. Looking at the Twelve, Jesus asked if they were next to leave. Where would they go? Peter voiced it well for all of them: How could they depart? No one else had anything to offer on par with Jesus -- eternal truth. Surely He was the Messiah, Son of God. Jesus remarked He had chosen well, even if one of them was a devil. John explained that was a reference to Judas, who was chosen precisely because he would eventually betray Jesus.

The Collapse of Western Civilization, or of the World?

This business of the Mayan Calendar ending in 2012 is finding traction. A lot of dire predictions seem to point two or three years down the road. We already have a raft of economic and political prognostications, and I agree we are in a world of hurt. Given the high level of secrecy* it's hard to know for sure whether some of the predictions aren't merely a political ploy in themselves. Are we really in the path of severe solar storms, or is this just setting us up for some sort of disaster panic? I'm pretty sure the FBI's warning about cybergeddon is a just such a set-up. This skepticism comes from some personal experience with the FBI and other federal law enforcement types, going all the way back to my own forray into law enforcement. I understand all too well the elitist mindset which has taken over the US government, so that even petty bureaucrats have come to despise the common rabble.

However, this one I understand. Not the microbiology, but what lies behind it. Powell notes how good intentions easily do more damage than all the evil plots hatched by men. The evil might well be not so much an attempt to do harm, but the results of careless tinkering simply for profit, such as with Monsanto.

This fact alone has to be profoundly disturbing to anyone who cares about issues of transparency, informed debate and the decision-making process. Monsanto is not particularly interested in developing crops that address the direct needs of poor and hungry small farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The vast bulk of its profits derive from the production of just four crops -- soybeans, maize, cotton and canola -- whose harvests are not generally consumed as food by humans. And yet, Monsanto lobbyists are busy shaping (and weakening) national bio-safety laws all over the world. Who has the greatest incentive to introduce genetically modified organisms into the biosphere without taking the time to truly understand their long-term impact? Who is the least interested in upholding the so-called precautionary principle -- a fundamental part of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which is part of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity?

One need not agree with the underlying religion of Greens to find Monsanto a threat to all human life. You see, Monsanto is operating from the basis of a competing religion. It reflects the spirit of Babylon so roundly condemned in Scripture prophecy.

The world is fallen. Nature is not in its "natural state" as God created it. Some part of us knows this instinctively, as we have been struggling ever since the Fall to find a way back into Eden. Now, we all know the only path to Eden is passing under the Flaming Sword of God's Truth, but the majority of society rejects the necessity of exposing themselves without reservation to Someone they are born fearing, and perhaps hating. We humans generally succeed in pushing out of our minds the message written into our very DNA that we have sinned and rejected God's revelation. Instead, we are nagged beyond understanding that we have somehow lost something, and we are darned sure going to try and get it back. A major element in that "something" we have lost is our ability to control nature -- the basic premise of the occult, among other things. Not just our mastery as those able to overcome the odds and survive, but to force it in detail to follow our dictates in re-creating the Eden we know was the thing for which we were designed.

Throughout human history, we have struggled to remake the world around us to fill some aching need. The part of this we understand is comfort, stimulation, and power to keep it serving our desires. Those desires could be described in any number of ways, but in the case of Monsanto, it's the standard worship of Mammon. The method is what's so heinous, beacuse they don't want to be simply rich, but powerful enough to take absolute control over that portion of human existence which they believe they understand. Actually, that really isn't so different from the Green religion. In the case of Powell's imaginary Green activist seeking to save the world from oil spills, it's still a matter of seeking control on terms which put the activist in the place of God. Monsanto's chase for the triad of lust is pretty obvious, but the environmental activist is no less guilty for appearing to be concerned about the needs of the world. The problem for such people is they are so damnably certain they have the answer, an answer at variance with God's answer, and a certainty which pretends to be Him.

This fallen world cannot be fixed, according to God. That is, the fix He plans for it is complete removal. At some point in our future, the End will come and we have no words for what comes next. Indeed, the very idea of "next" doesn't really fit here, but we have to use something to point the way to an unspeakable truth. The entirety of God's revelation is parabolic in its very nature for that reason. Western Civilization is founded on a rejection of that very thing. It rejects God's Truth because it rejects God's way of revealing it. God said this world really doesn't matter, but that there are things we could do here which would matter, as He measures it. For Western Civilization, the very fundamental assumption is there is nothing outside this world. Struggling to remake it in Eden must always fail. I'm wondering if the flailing death throes of Western Civilization will include the destruction of the whole world. Just what God will consider the final tipping point on initiating the final sequence is not for us to know, but I have to wonder if this would not include our ham-handed diddling with DNA. What horrors await us?

My personal confidence and faith in Christ are enough to carry me through all this as a first-hand witness. My mind recoils, but my spirit rejoices in the desire to see Him finally revealed once and for all.

*Privacy is keeping to yourself things which shouldn't matter to the rest of the world. Secrecy is keeping from people information they should rightly have, because it affects them directly.

Not A Target

So, I'm wondering if I should expect a little visit here from the Air Force or other Pentagon drones.

Not that I'm worried about it. On the one hand, I do write about the US government as evil, in general. I would say that about almost any government in existence today, so I only pick on Uncle Sam because I live in his shadow. However, the whole point is the military of today is not the one I served in, and that one was bad enough. It has utterly failed its duty to "defend the US Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic." The bare facts of reality are against them.

So, too, is the whole expectation under the Covenant of Noah. Of all the branches, I found the Air Force the most dehumanizing as the ultimate example of bureaucratic inflexibility. That's a primary element of Rome's condemnation in Scripture. The Bible is against the US military. Military can be a pretty good thing, and it can be done right. That doesn't happen here.

Finally, the underlying theology leaves them no grounds for defending their actions. There is no room for the Holy Spirit in their calculations, never mind why. Nothing they argue here will make much difference in the face of God's spiritual logic.

Besides, I'm too small to notice. I still think my readership is just about a dozen for the most part.

Adolescence: Gift from Hell

The years of human life between twelve and twenty are not the problem, it's how we view them as a society.

The very concept of adolescence is an innovation in human history, and not at all in our best interest. While modern medicine can identify physiological differences between teens and adults, they cannot find fundamental differences in brain operations. All we think we know about adolescent troubles is the direct result of trying to keep them from their rightful place in adult society.

There are plenty of places in this world where the years of formative education cut off much sooner than in the West, and it does no harm at all. That is, given the majority of any human population gains no real benefit from formal education, particularly compulsory education, after age 13 in terms of fitting them for their place in the world, we should have never set foot on the path to school attendance laws. This is the objective facts, not just some propaganda aimed at liberalizing and letting hooligans loose on the world. To the degree teens are hooligans, it is the direct result of the education system itself.

Further, the churches of our land only aggravate the problem. Having a Youth Program in itself is both insulting and prevents a unity of spirit and community. It's all a part of the pattern of isolating people in more and varied groups and classes. Segregation is not promoted by the Holy Spirit, He who has built His Kingdom on the basis of removing human barriers to fellowship and oneness in Him. Just because you have multiple classes occupying the same building does not mean they are one church.

Just one more way Western Civilization has sown the seeds of self-destruction. Not only is it wrong from a merely pragmatic viewpoint, it becomes an excuse for oppressing huge numbers of humans. That makes it a sin, on both Noahic and Christian levels. Our doom is just.

War Is Always About Profit

In modern times, there is no such thing as a just war. Not a single nation today goes to war for any other reason, though that may not be the motive of those manipulated into declaring a war. However, the reason for the war, regardless of those actually carrying it out, is the profit motive of a certain small group of humans scattered across the face of this planet. You can call them anything you like, but we know they meet from time to time, sometimes agree on their agenda, but always agree to manipulate nations into war, because that's how they all profit and maintain their control.

I'll be honest: My knowledge of what's going on in Palestine is limited. That is, I haven't read Cramer's book, and I haven't had time to examine all the details of political gamesmanship between Israel and the Gaza leadership. I'll probably trust Grigg's judgment before I will most other people on this matter, because of what little I do know.

Mossad is known for sending or buying agents behind enemy lines, firing on and provoking the Israeli military, then watching the fireworks. At some level, I am utterly convinced there is someone in the IDF who knows this is what's going on. I also know beyond all doubt Mossad created Hamas, just as the CIA created Al Qaeda. Both still steer their creations to this day. Everything our government and Israel's government says about their putative enemies is a lie, and they know it is a lie.

That's because Mossad and CIA both serve the members of that "secret" ruling elite, not the actual interests of their sponsoring nations, and certainly not the interests of the citizens they claim to protect. This I know. There has not been, for a great many centuries now, any such thing as a justified war. They have all been provoked with smoke and mirrors by the elite who profit from arms sales and from human misery.

Unlike Will Grigg, I will assert with all the authority of Scripture behind me, and God as my Witness, modern Israel inherits nothing of God's promises to ancient Israel in the Bible. American Christians who support modern Israel are serving Satan, because they share the responsibility for the slaughter of innocent lives on both sides of the conflict in Palestine. They promote the mass deception by which we continue to throw billions of dollars at this conflict. They bear the guilt of bloody hands.

Praying About Tomorrow

I've been praying about what I'll do when the US government can no longer afford my VA pension. It's easy for me to explain what I like doing, mostly messing with computers. I like writing, I enjoy playing with spreadsheets, and tinkering with mail server software, among other things. I'd love to get paid something to install Linux on people's computers, and teach them how to use it.

I rather doubt that sort of work will be abundant when the depression gets a tighter grip on the West. More likely I'll be farming or gardening, fixing anything I may be able to figure out, maybe even hunting and cutting wood.

None of these things cause me fear or dread. The only part about this which saddens me is the strong possibility of losing my Internet readership. The probabilities range high between simply losing to bankruptcy the companies that actually run the Internet, and the high likelihood governments will try to regulate it to death, or simply no longer being able to afford it personally. The other sadness would be losing my opportunity to research so freely.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong about this, but 2009 is shaping up to be a really tough year.

Wurmbrand and Cleansing the Body

Persecution purifies the Church. So says Wurmbrand in Underground Saints.

I don't know anybody who disputes that. When every force on earth opposes the Church, only those who are truly compelled by the Holy Spirit will remain a part of the Church. If you haven't nailed your life to the Cross, persecution will succeed in preventing your participation.

We often give thanks to God for our freedom to worship Him openly, to spread His message, to live by His commands. What puzzles anyone who thinks about it is, whenever the Church is free from government restriction, this invariably works out poorly. That is, sooner or later that tolerance by government becomes the excuse for the saints to go off course. The two are never separate.

There is a symbolism here which far too many people miss. What does it cost to enter the Kingdom? Nothing and everything. That is, you can't pay the price, so nothing you offer is good enough. Yet, if you don't offer everything you have and everything you are to the King, you aren't His. You must go to the Cross, or you cannot enter the Kingdom. So it is in the lower sense. If joining the local church is risky business, it's more likely to mean something eternal has happened. The holiness of the organized churches rises with persecution.

By the same token, if the State approves of your church activities, it is highly unlikely that's because the State is being good.

Life of Christ: John 5

Over the centuries, some parts of the City of Jerusalem had changed dramatically. Names commonly known in ancient times puzzle us today. Sometimes we catch a glimpse in the descriptions of those who saw it, or in the discoveries of archaeology. The northeastern corner of the city became the place where flocks of sheep were brought in during Jesus' time, inspected, then processed for ritual slaughter in the Temple. Near there as a small pool. While the various spellings in many different Scripture texts is bewildering, a good guess is Bethesda, "House of Mercy."

There's also some debate about John's explanation of the place. It's hard to make sense of a random act of God's power via an angel stirring the water of the pool, in which only the first to jump in could get well. External sources and mosaics uncovered there point out people certainly believed it, and acted accordingly. Jesus stopped by this place and spotted someone whose faith was alive, in spite of his apparent insurmountable weakness in face of the annual competition to be first in the water. His condition was so long standing, anyone who knew the man could testify this was no made up story, and that's what matters.

God does not yield to human logic. There was nothing fair or just about the random healings of Bethesda. Nor was there any particular fairness in Jesus picking this man out of the crowd gathered there every year. Divine logic remains out of reach, but not for the Son who lives by it. After making sure the man was not using his malady as an excuse to avoid the normal human responsibilities, Jesus told the man to get up. The man obeyed in faith and was healed. He rolled up the mat he had been lying on and walked toward his house. Miracles operate in places of human need, but never simply to meet human need. Miracles come because God needs them to reveal Himself to men.

Jesus knew it was the Sabbath, and knew the rationalist Jewish leaders would fuss at the man carrying his bed. While there was nothing in Moses to outlaw this specifically, the Jews had drifted far away from the reasoning of ancient Hebrews, wrangling over words and meanings which invariably served to maintain their political power and keep peasants in their place. The Sabbath Law was to prevent those in power from working the peasants to death, and to ensure no one had any excuse for not finding one day in seven to honor Him in worship. The Jews used the Sabbath Law as an excuse to oppress. They harassed this fellow about carrying his bed home, hardly much of a physical burden, instead of rejoicing with him and giving God glory for the healing.

Apparently the man was allowed to go on probation, if he revealed in due time who it was exercised authority over him to make him "sin." A short time later, we find the man in the Temple, duly thanking God for the healing, and Jesus encounters him again. The man had not really sinned by the Law, and Jesus certainly exercised God's authority in such matters. His comment to the man in this context was probably almost humorous, advising him to be more careful to stay out of trouble. Any other interpretation would conflict with Jesus' own teaching, denying the common assumptions illness and disabilities were direct punishment for some sin. Thus, the man obeyed Jesus' advice by fulfilling his probation and telling the Jewish leaders who had healed him.

This gave the Jewish leaders a testimony this Jesus wielded the authority of God over illness. There was, however, no room in their hearts for God's grace. They had God all figured out, down the last detail, and any information contrary to that was false, or at least beside the point. Their definition of "work" regarding the Sabbath Law would have caused this man to lose his property, and to miss his chance to meet with God in the Temple -- he would have had to leave his bed, which would surely be stolen, or stay there with it. Jesus confronted the Jewish leadership on their petty and legalistic abuse of the Law. Did they not realize when God "rested" on the Sabbath, He still worked to keep His Creation together by His divine living will? Did they not know God worked every moment since the Fall to call mankind back to Him? If the Father worked, what was wrong with His Son doing the same work of redemption?

So there were two reasons they sought an excuse to have Jesus arrested and executed. First, He dared to question their supremacy in saying what the Law meant. Second, He dared to suggest He was divine. It was one thing for some hair-brained Gentile to say that, or crazy Jewish idiot, but this very popular rabbi said it, threatening to unravel everything they relied on in the world. So Jesus set out the explain to them why they were wrong for rejecting His claim.

Jesus explains the proper way to see this question. His Father was the Lord of Creation. As the heir to that title, it was natural He would operate with the same authority as the Father. They knew the Lord had returned life to dead bodies, and the Son would, too. Questions of life and death were in His hands, in pretty much the same way any king might name his son co-regent, supervising but not interfering, because the son was ready to rule. Failure to respect that Son's authority was failure to respect the Lord Himself.

That authority reached far beyond mere life and death. This Lord ruled over Eternity, and His subjects lived eternally. Embracing the teaching of the Son was to embrace the Father and His divine gift. Though all men are born spiritually dead, some would hear His message and come to spiritual life. The Son has the Father's authority to grant that eternal life, because He was the source of Life itself. And eventually this same Son would settle accounts with all mankind as the Father's proxy Judge. Jesus had that authority because He existed as an extension of the Father. Otherwise, He would be just another man.

Indeed, He made these claims not for Himself alone, but with plenty of external evidence He could not have trumped up as some charlatan. First, there's the witness of the Father by His Holy Spirit. There was also the witness of John the Baptist. Jesus didn't need to be told He was the Son of God, but John's witness was for the nation's benefit. The Jewish leaders had no trouble supporting John's ministry. Then there were all those signs Jesus performed, which could not be explained away.

Yet again, there was the testimony of the Law and Prophets, all of which pointed to Jesus. Since the Jewish leaders no longer understood those writings, and certainly did not understand the God who gave them, they were incapable of finding the truth in them. This, despite spending hours parsing the words, but never hearing the voice of God. Instead, their spirits were dead, and they did not love God Himself. Funny how they honored all these men walking in the fame of their own cleverness, but could never recognize God, nor His Son.

Though vested with His Father's authority to judge all truth and righteousness, there would be no need for Him to judge them. They kept pointing back to the Law of Moses, and by that Law they would stand accused. They never understood Moses, or they would have embraced Jesus as the Son.

Words Cannot Describe

Our commitment in following Christ is the essence of trusting Him; it is the physical proof of His unseen work in us. (Hebrews 11:1 -- Ed's Amplified Paraphrase)

You claim to trust Him. Do you also follow Him? Or do you invest your life in some cultural parody of following Him? Jesus didn't make waves just for kicks. There was a point to it.

His nation had run out of time. Their mission remained buried in the Covenant they no longer understood. You'll notice they had the Law, that it was meant for them, and not for the whole world -- at least, not in the sense of directly applying the Law. The Law was the means to revealing God by showing what commitment to Him would look like in that specific context. It was not "His Will" in the concrete sense of human logical categories, but a symbol of His will. Just as the Tabernacle was but a symbolic copy of His divine courts in Heaven, so the Law of Moses was a symbolic copy of His Eternal Law of Faith.

Problem was, Israel took it all too literally. They took themselves as God's Chosen People too seriously, too. Noah's attitude of hoping the Assyrians in Ninevah would all die and roast in Hell was just about the norm for Israel. You'll notice, though, when he finally got right and went and preached, it was not the Moses he preached, but Jehovah. Not the Torah, but he prophesied of the Almighty they already knew under an older covenant which still applied to them (Noah). To the best we can find in Scripture, that was just about the only time anyone in Israel performed the missionary calling inherent in the statement, "You shall be a kingdom of priests unto Me."

Toward the end, they showed a vast burden of proof they didn't even understand the mere literal application of the Law, must less the symbolic meaning of it. They were too busy parsing every word of the Torah from a cultural bias altogether different from the culture in which that Torah was revealed. Their traditional teaching (the Talmud) clearly reflects a radically different understanding of the world from that of Moses. When Jesus pointed this out to them, they killed Him.

It's not enough to translate the words of the Bible from one language to another; we must grasp the fundamentally different meaning of how people used language when the Bible was written. It's not word or phrase equivalence we need, but spiritual impact equivalence. That spiritual impact must flow from a spiritual understanding, one which is not locked to the apparent meaning of words as discernible to those whose spirit remains dead. The pages of the Bible are nine feet thick, because getting lost in the words, as the Jews of Jesus' day did with the Torah, means missing the meaning behind those words.

It's not as if to say the story of Adam and Eve is a parable, but is transmitted to us in parabolic language. Hebrew language and culture is itself parabolic. Sure, it has a literal meaning, but if that's all you get, you have nothing: Two people running around nude in a private park, talking to a snake. Or you can come away with the burning conviction you are partly responsible for all the death and misery in the world, and that you deserve your share of it. And you wonder every moment of every day just how God could have chosen you for redemption.

The world can understand the story; they are utterly unable to grasp the meaning. Only those whose spirit is born afresh by His Presence -- a presence more real than simply "literal" -- can grasp the truth. Still, every one of us who burn with that living Spirit of God within are going to obey Him. In the process, we cannot avoid doing a whole raft of things which make no sense to those who don't know Him. In the doing of those things which make sense only on the spiritual plane, we operate in the essence or substance of our trust in Him and His revelation. Our dogged insistence in doing these things at all costs shows there is something to us which does not meet the eyes, it defies rational analysis. Not because it's "irrational" but super-rational -- it's above mere human reason.

It's the witness of God's revelation Israel was supposed to offer the whole world. It's the one element of a spiritual story which fired those few successes in Israel's history. From the clear witness of Abel, through Noah and Abraham and every hero of faith in the Old Testament, up through the first martyrs of the New Testament churches. They met Jesus at the Cross, and joined Him on it.

Isaiah 29

It is one thing to walk in the Covenant of Moses, and altogether a different thing to walk in spiritual commitment. The Law of Moses pointed to the higher Law of God. The fundamental spiritual understanding of all things is symbolism. What can be detected by the five senses is not reality, but symbolic of reality. We are trapped in a fallen world, not at all what God had intended. We are in a nightmare, where death reigns, and misery seasons all our lives until death. Just making the most of this life required Israel walking according to the Law. Rising above it required seeing through the Law as a lens to the higher reality.

Judah refused to understand the Law. They had already begun their departure from faithfulness on that level, by resorting to mere human wisdom, not wisdom from the Word. They had become worldly wise, and had placed logical understanding above spiritual perception. Understanding Isaiah's message required a return to the old Hebrew way of looking at things, the spiritual mind, the symbolic logic, the obedience to commands which don't always make sense to human reason. If there was any hope for Judah, it was for them to find their human wisdom an utter failure, and return to Moses. Only there were they in a place to understand the higher, spiritual truth.

We aren't exactly sure what the name Ariel means, whether "Lion" or "Hearth of God." All we need to know here is it serves as a nickname for Jerusalem. They were culturally faithful to the feasts and various celebrations in their yearly cycle, but not faithful to God. They paid no heed to warnings, so it would be a complete surprise when Assyria invades and lays siege to the city. Since they preferred to wallow in the "dust" of mankind's ways, they would find themselves calling out to God from there. He mocks them with the image of a charlatan throwing their voice in the dust, speaking in a husky, whiny whisper.

But the innumerable troops of this dusty hoard will be also like chaff, for in due time they would fail. Just as suddenly they come upon the unsuspecting Jerusalem, the Lord would suddenly destroy Assyria's army. And though Jerusalem will be ragged and desperate as any refugee from multiple natural disasters, they will survive. This will pass as some vivid nightmare.

Why will they pass through this? Because Judah is blind drunk on the thrill of discovering mere human logic. And the Lord had given them over to it, because they refused the warnings of their prophets and seers. They stumble around in spiritual darkness. The Law has become to them a book sealed, for they no longer stand on the ground by which to understand its spiritual nature, it's symbolic logic. They don't have the spiritual authority to see where it leads. Worse, they aren't Hebrews any more. No one can make sense of it even on the level of mere obedience. They practice some religion vaguely resembling the ways of the Law, but there are precious few who have a clue how to read the Word from the spiritual perspective, and make sense of it even on a practical level.

No, they have a new religion, a new and "deeper" understanding via their human reasoning. Their quaint old tribal God wouldn't understand it. Funny, they lose the symbolic logic of understanding the fallen world, but seem to think of their God as a mere symbol. They have perverted the whole thing, turning it upside down. It's like a clay pot insisting its existence is independent of the potter. Did they think of Jehovah and His claims as primitive, the stuff they tell their kids, as we today tell them of the Tooth Fairy? Then let them parse this riddle: Lebanon soon becomes a grain field, then again becomes regarded as a forest. How do you measure fruitfulness? The spiritual fruit of Judah is nothing, and God could easily find a better reception with a bunch of trees; they, at least, know whom is their Creator.

Where the Lord reigns, the deaf will be glad to come and listen to the Word, the blind will turn to His enlightenment. Those who have nothing to lose will celebrate His immeasurable blessings. These will have dismissed human wisdom for a divine spiritual understanding, without which the whole prophecy of Isaiah is a riddle. Those who relish human greatness don't understand at all. They think they are so smart, able to have people thrown in jail for daring to point out their sins publicly. That's not justice; God is justice personified, and His ways define justice.

If Judah could return to the faith of Abraham, that Law of God for which the Law of Moses is but a poor shadow, they would not need to be ashamed before Him. They would look upon great prosperity and know whence it came, from the gracious hand of God. They would repent of their arrogance. Such people are in a position to learn true wisdom, the way the world works, because they would understand how it was designed by its Creator.