JESUS CHRIST, Liar or the Truth? How Do Immigrants respond?

 JESUS CHRIST, Liar or the Truth? How Do Immigrants respond?  Kelly Durant

The scholars of history face us with one of these conclusions about Jesus: He was a liar, an imposter, or He really was the Son of God! And if He is the Son of God then he actually does bring forgiveness, Salvation, and eternal life!

What proves He was who He was? Think about this posture proposed by some intellectuals: All of today’s existing religions and philosophies cannot do us any good unless they can instruct us on how to overcome death!

Since philosophers and historians offer little consolation or solutions to the perplexities of life, scientists would like to have you believe that they are the ultimate answer. They hope to be able to conquer death by reemplanting into our human cells the part that wears out as stated in article in Time Magazine a few years ago. I interpret them to be proud dreamers hoping to gain praise and worship from man and be recognized as the Gods and the saviors of humanity! But they do not deliver answers, most new medicines create so many side effects all is nullified.

These secular humanist types have made themselves enemies of Christians because they use people as property such as they research done from the cells of aborted babies. Christians who oppose the abuse of life are usually labeled as the stupid narrow-minded idiots in the way of progress! When Christians defend the truth, we go against the world and against what is abusive and morally wrong,

I John 4: 5-6 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

It is more and more unpopular to claim that Jesus is the truth and the Son of God! Academia today has become institutionalized as more politically correct agendas are taught for secular indoctrination and testing than what is taught for the basics of reading, writing, and math. Many foreigners that transfer here from other countries are often about one to two grade levels above the American standards because they are learning more the basics and less about how one should think in most other countries.

One of the things kids are taught in school is that you cannot proclaim your faith publicly. The truth is there are many children from Christian homes in schools but if they write a homework paper on Jesus, or witness about him in class, they are ignored, silenced, or punished. I think many get confused. Is not this the land of freedom and opportunity? But when it comes to the Christian faith (other ones seem to be respected?!), society wants to put the Christian into a box and tell him or her that you must have your faith expression only in a church!

But those of us who have Jesus and eternal life have a debt to those around us; we must share Jesus with everyone, despite persecution and its unpopularity!

Hispanics and many other new immigrants have a high esteem for Jesus Christ! In their countries tourists can see pictures of Him in stores and on the buses, why not here?

But what frequently happens when a Hispanic immigrates into the American society? For one, they know they are on a quest of survival here.  New immigrants always feel intimidated; they feel they don’t want to call attention to themselves by being critical of the society. Travelers and immigrants always contemplate the good and the bad and compare it continuously with what one grew up with. You observe wrong things but you don’t know how to offer help to others ot accept a better way of doing things.

In the U.S.A, Hispanics, and other immigrants are often shocked by the absence of faith in the society! Personally, I believe God wants to use Hispanics immigrants greatly to get this culture back to where it needs to be spiritually. Hispanics must always stand up for Jesus! Jesus said that if “We deny Him, He will deny us”! In the schools Hispanics can be bold and witness their faith and get away with it! At work too!

People here expect others to have a love for their own customs and like Jesus said that no prophet is accepted in his own country amongst his own people, this implies that one outside of his or her country can influence others greatly! Americans will listen more to another person from another land share his faith than he or she will listen to another. Americans amongst themselves expects others to be conformed to the current secular humanist worldview. I am counting on the passion of the new immigrants to not only edify themselves while here but also positively impact the society with their faith.

Was Jesus was a liar or not? Jesus identified Satan to be the father of lies but Satan would have the world believe that Jesus is the liar. The question is who is the real liar? If a person does not accept Jesus and obey and honor Him, then in effect that person makes Jesus a liar by not reverencing Him as who He is, the Son of God! Many Jewish people today claim Jesus lied in being the Son of God, and they deny the fact that Jesus rose from the grave. The proof of Jesus not being a liar is in the many prophecies he stated that came true such as the destruction of the Temple of Herod.

The main supernatural prophecy He made was that he claimed he would rise out of the grave and He did! There are many aberrant groups or religious sects that I have learned about that make Jesus out to be only a teacher, or guru, or something else. Those of that persuasion promote a lie and deny His supernatural uniqueness.  But Jesus could not have made it clearer when He said: I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. In Him is the only truth, and anything that is not in Him and his truth, is a lie!

Let’s examine and see if Jesus was an imposter. I will never forget one time years ago when I made friends with a young Brazilian guy. When I spoke to him about Jesus, he started telling me that I was wrong and confused, that he grew up knowing that Jesus was an imposter. Did I hear right, an imposter? He explained that Jesus wanted to be worshiped saying He was the Son of God and that He said and did things to fool people, but that Satan is the true Created son of God who controls everything!? Jesus, he explained, came to imitate Satan and so Jesus therefore is an imitator!

I was speechless for a moment. I could not reason with that guy. His mind was made up and He did not want anything else. Like the phrase that says, most people’s minds are like cement, all mixed up and permently set. But at least I did my part and offered him the truth that Jesus is the Son of God.

There actually are people out there that believe Jesus was an imposter. Some try to deny that He ever existed but there is plenty of secular evidence that proves otherwise! For example the great Roman historian Josephus: He describes Jesus well, and he describes the destruction of Jerusalem & Herod's temple, the one Jesus said would be torn down stone by stone which occurred in 70 AD. His historical accounts will turn your stomach over all the violence employed by the Romans.

Jesus said, I and my Father are One. The difference between Jesus and Satan is that Jesus obeyed God and wanted to bring worship to God while in turn Satan wanted to be like God, he wants to usurp authority and be worshiped!

It is a personal decision for you or I chose to believe if Jesus was truthful and that He did rise from the dead or not! The proof is that every one of his 11 surviving followers gave up their lives to be martyrs, dying a cruel death for their love for Him.

Would they do that for an imposter, a con man, or liar?  The world empire of Rome converted to Christianity because Jesus is truth.  Throughout the past 2000 years Jesus has received attention like no other man in History, with hundreds of millions of followers with millions of buildings of worship around the world. His followers have received and still receive harsh persecution and yet remain faithful. From this evidence we must conclude the following:

Jesus was the Son of God and He is the truth. He liberates us from liars and oppressors. He is the Truth and the Life! If you pray to Him, read His words, and just accepts as I did, you will be surprised at how many unexplained good things happen to you!

Commitment: A Disappearing Animal!

Commitment: A Disappearing Animal                                              Kelly Durant 8-24-14

2 Samuel 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

2. There is a sad story in one of the old classic novels about a couple crazy in love with each other. These older teens were always together, happy as can be, and engaged to be married. Everything seemed to be perfect, but it was not. One day John started seeing black dots that would not go away. He went to the ophthalmologist and he told him he was losing his sight and that he would be totally blind in about six months. He was heartbroken and went to tell Mary his sad news hoping to be comforted. He said, “I love you and we have no secrets” so he told her about his eyes.  But instead of her hand gripping his harder instead she let go and she was silent. He asked, ”What’s wrong? Talk to me!” After a minute of silence she said, “Well this is goodbye, I hope your life goes well, I could never marry a blind man!”

Imagine, so in love, yet so selfish and uncommitted! What an illustration to describe many situations today! Maybe someone close to you is being uncommitted and selfish! This type of lack of love and commitment from those close to us is what is killing us all inside. It disrupts us spiritually and consequently sickens us physically! A personal experience; my wife and I became very disillusioned with people when working with the deaf community.  Our oldest son Paul was born deaf and in Bolivia and Colombia we worked closely with the deaf schools and teachers to learn sign language which we used later to minister to other deaf sharing Jesus interpreting the messages and songs to everyone. It was a special time raising our son Paul; many extra hours of our day were spent on transporting and studying with him. We met with other parents and we were saddened to learn about how most deaf children are abandoned and raised by a single parent.

Our commitment to Paul was rewarded as he grew up to study hard, marry, and work 2 jobs to support his family of 2 sons ages 9 and 10! He is a responsible father and husband, shares his Christian faith all the time with his deaf friends, and he also likes to be funny and have fun! What peace we have to know that today he lives well! Parents that abandons an impaired child are criminal in my books and they are miss out on the blessings of seeing their own blood become prosperous and blessed! Deaf or impaired children (with autism, etc.) are not the difficult people, it is the parents! More than half of the parents abandon home when they find out that they have an impaired child as they do not want the responsibility and commitment of raising them! Only about 1 in every 4 parents ever learn sign language! In general I am expressing my disillusionment with the cruelty of people not committed to their own families, mates and children. How can you not be helping and giving a child the time and physical support needed? Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

3. This lack of dedication is also a parallel to the lack of spiritual commitment many people have in relation to obeying God; of not living a life pure committed and obedient to the Word of God! Their pleasures of sin come first! Abandonment and divorce is not just a statistic for the deaf community alone, but it is also about the same number in this country for the general populous, Christian or non-Christian, healthy or special.  If a person in love has only have a 50/50 chance of keeping the one they love, then a majority of the people today do not even want to bother with any commitment of getting married! In the end it is this undeserved privilege of non-commitment that presets families and relationships up for failure. If you are building a house you need to put some cement of faith and values underneath it to have a lasting foundation, right? If not, for sure it will fall and fail due to a lack of having a supernatural strength that overrides all human values of selfishness, inadequacy, and non-commitment.

Commitment involves loyalty and trust and this is something from God that money cannot buy! How many rich and famous stars get a love for a while only to discover later that this love wants to divorce and take millions?  Not even money can make people be committed and loyal until death do them part! So many people selfishly leave one for another for their own personal interests, so what outcomes do we observe? The uncommitted live their lives criminal as serial heartbreakers stealing away the life of another and murdering another’s inspiration and motive to live! Why is there no heart? Because they have no fear of God, consequences, hell or of nothing and they are of the father the devil and his works they will do as Jesus expressed here in John…

John 10: 10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. What people always forget is you reap what you sew, and usually these faithless uncommitted people end up all alone abandoned because no one cares for them as they did not care for anyone else except own their selves! A person may have fans, money, and fame, but when dead they will face judgment for not loving others as Jesus taught and reap the eternal consequences of the damage done! But to the contrary, a Christian does not want to “gain the whole world and lose his soul”!

4. The entire Bible is full of examples of loyal committed people and of the betrayal of uncommitted people. There are many stories of those who misplaced their trust or commitments. Samson and Delilah always come to mind. He was loyal to God for a long time, but then when he revealed his secret, he transferred his commitment from God to Delilah, and then the consequences were horribly severe! She was never loyal or committed to him! She never knew nor wanted to know our Jehovah God of love, nor knew what true love is. She was only persistent to know his secret to take away his power! Maybe he thought it would be the loving thing to do to share his secret, what harm could be done as lovers share all. But his misplaced commitment to her was horribly recompensed by being enslaved to her cruel pagan Philistine people who blinded him and mocked him. Samson lost his commitment to God and lost everything as a result!

Maybe it is time everyone took a long look at their commitments to those closest to them and determine if they are in God’s plan or not. Many times we spend so much time and energy on people (even those in our own family) that will never do anything for God, for us, or for anyone! Exactly who gets your dedication and takes up all your time? Are your commitments worth the investment? We answer to God for where our lives got invested and if any fruit became of it.

Basically everyone suffers in families, in the workplace, and in churches when certain people display the indifferent, uncommitted, and loyal to other things attitude.  When no one wants to be responsible for the daily operations of the Kingdom of God, then chaos ensues and the blame games begin. Commitment to God implies that each person takes on the role of a leader giving attention to all things so each group and ministry prospers and doesn’t just disappear. Basically our society has become infected with the selfish Delilah types who demand-their-benefits, rights, and power because they identify with pagan people live from plunder. Where are the tell-me-my-responsibilities types? The rapid decline in our quality-of-life is painfully felt in corrupt corporations, local authorities, and even in churches. The uncommitted people are dividing us! What has happened to our pride as noble human beings? Where is our commitment to God and family instead of to our individual selfish vanity?

5. Back to 2 Sam. 24:24, the focus today is on King David who was totally committed to God! He did make some horrible mistakes and had many ups and downs but he always repented and accepted his punishments and stayed committed to God.  The Psalms have been and still are a comfort to multi-millions because they were produced from David’s heart that was totally in love with God!  David esteemed his relationship with God as the most important thing in his life! David had an amazing commitment to expressing his feelings to God! When you are committed to God people notice your passion! You do loving acts of kindness, create inspiration, and possibly write down amazing inspired things!

Reflect on this piece of the verse of today, “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing”. What is the context? David was getting a gift and he could have sacrificed the gift to God as he got it, but as we know a gift is something you get for free. In the old times under the Priesthood covenant in order to please God it was necessary to sacrifice something that made you feel some pain inside; it had to cost you something! For example, you did not just take any old lamb from your flock to the Levite Priest to sacrifice; you took him the best one you had without any flaws!

So the point is God is our Father, the Almighty,  the all-powerful Being who created us, whose presence invokes fear and respect, cannot be pleased with anyone trying to appease Him with something cheap not involving sacrifice! He deserves the best, and when we serve God, or give to God, we must give Him the best of what we have! What we sacrifice needs to cost us substantially, as it cost David. Some people want to give only what they want to give to God and church and then they want to get back. But being responsible and committed means you always show up to your commitments and when you can’t, you call on the Captains or someone to let them know you can’t make it! It’s like having a restaurant and having to tell people that today there will be no rice because the rice cook did not tell anyone they were not coming! It should never be like this but it is because few people take their commitments with God serious!

6. In the Salvation Army we always emphasize serving, and holy living, but what is it? It means that as each of us are willing to sacrifice our sin, selfishness, and indulgences for a clean life washed with God’s word so we are disciplined to be an example to others. It means being committed to God by being free from the enslaving sins that use to control all our mind’s thoughts and actions,  and we start refocusing all our thoughts and actions on God’s will from moment to moment. We get the help of the Holy Spirit to be guided on how to please and serve God when we ask for it.  This is why prayer is important; it is to express our needs and weaknesses to God, but prayer also is for you and I to hear from God for strength to discern what to be committed to discerning if we are obeying God as we should.

David spent a few weeks’ worth of wages on some oxen or animals to sacrifice for God, but how are you and I going to prove to God we are sacrificial and committed? Today it is not with animal sacrifices but it needs to be some kind of a sacrifice. One way is to donate a tithe to the Lord, and try Him to see if He will bless you or not! Mal.3:10   People that make financial commitments to God’s work seem to always prosper in life and haven’t you and I have seen these blessings be reaped over and over? But this is only the material.

An important way to prove your commitment to God is spiritually by putting prayer and Bible study into your daily schedule. Wake up 20 minutes earlier, or give up a TV show; do something to fit in the feeding of your spirit because only by doing it daily will you grow spiritually. You would never think of only eating one day a week, right? You would get thin and starve, and the same it is with feeding your spirit.  Sunday is just a feast day, your meals should be daily with you and Jesus!

7. So how can we get ourselves and others to be more committed and be more blessed from God? Each person (you) must be an example and chose their own commitment to God within their capacity! Do you know how commitments work? They are like the hog and chicken agreeing they want to support the church with a fundraising breakfast. The chicken all excited says, “We will supply the ham and egg breakfast!” The pig suddenly looks frightened and the chicken asks, “What’s wrong?” The pig responds, “Well, for you it is a donation from your day to day life, but for me it means a total sacrifice”! Many times the pigs chosen disappear!

Many people avoid God and churches as they don’t feel ready to be committed fearing that God will want everything from them! It is true, God wants to use as much as you will let Him! But every person has a different calling and capacity. God calls some to be like the hen, and He calls others to sacrifice everything like the pig. What God expects from you is between you and Him and deep inside you know what to give. But how you give or perform duties affects everyone!

Luke 9:23-24 And he (Jesus) said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

8. The only thing about church is quite often people do not sacrifice much at all for it and then they get frustrated thinking it is the pastor or somebody’s fault when something is lacking or the problems appear but the reality is it could be they who are failing God to fill a needed position! In a typical church the uncommitted people arrive late, rarely donate or give anything, and rarely commit to help with anything. Often they do not even listen to the sermon! Raise your hand if you can repeat the last 4 words of what I said…(look around) you see! Can you say ? Wake yourself and others up! We are here to progress and mature spiritually but that depends on you hearing, growing, and committing!

People forget that just because one does not see God in person, does not mean that He does not know all your thoughts, words, attitudes, commitments, and actions!    2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

A commitment is in the end a sacrifice that costs you! All places in this life demand everything from you! In college the football guy with a scholarship trains day and night and he cannot only give half of himself on the field or in class or he is kicked out. The person employed cannot work half the time or half-hearted or he/she loses the job. Concerning God’s work, what is sad is seeing people who are not doing much for God but they are only dedicated to things of their own survival or pleasure. Is it not unfair that in the church some people do not want to dedicate even just a few extra hours? What is wrong? We should have not 10 people show up prepared to do their duties, but all 50 Soldiers should be in service to do the best we can!

9. Many people do not listen to what is going on, or pay attention to God’s leadings, or even ask how to help! God wants to use everyone’s passions, talents, time, and treasure for his glory. Ninety-nine people may walk through the front door but only one will ask, “Who waters the flowers?” And if the answer is no one, what do you think God wants that person asking to do? To water the flowers! Do you see how this works?

What you commit to God will most likely be an area that only you are aware of that needs attention. When you feel critical or bothered, or see something is not getting attended to, what does that mean? It means you may be the one getting the call to be committed to doing that task since God spoke to you about it! But please stay faithful at it! Don’t do 2 weeks and quit!

And being committed to God does not mean you are sitting around waiting for the Captains or leaders to appoint you a job, it means that you see a job that needs to be done and you confirm it is okay for you to just do it! I know how we all think; in our minds we calculate the scope of the job and then think, oh no, this will cost me an extra 3 hours this week! Well, no matter what it costs you, do it and see how you good you feel! Those who give and serve always reap the satisfaction of seeing the job getting done and they get to share in the pride and glory of it!

Are you ready to give until it hurts? Probably not, but God will give you the strength! Are you willing to let your commitments cost you something? You must sew to reap! Just give in and trust God! In life are you committed to your family and loved ones as you should be? Serving God means serving your family to learn about the Bible and how to serve Him no matter how hard it is to get from here to there!

10. Don’t run away from your responsibilities as many do in life! Those that quit never get to share the in the final glory! There is a lack of leadership being manifested across the nation in all places, in offices of authority, and sadly in the church as well. Due to this many people suffer and tasks are not getting done. Step up to the plate if you want God’s eyes on you!

Make of yourself a person useful to God and others! Be like that animal that gets sacrificed on the altar! Don’t be like a pig that wants to run and disappear!  A child must depend on others for food and needs when growing up, but when he or she is an adult, then they are expected to feed not only their selves, but those of their family as well. A leader serves those in need not just in the church, but in the local community as well; all for the glory of God! Don’t brag when you do something either. Matthew 6:3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth

Do you feel frustrated with yourself because you have never committed very much to God? Tired of your self being half-hearted? Can you as David say, “Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing”? Come and let’s pray for the Holy Spirit to empower you for the task God has for you to do! Jesus, the Corps and the community need you! Just sign a blank piece of paper (or in our case a Local Leader one) and let God fill in the tasks He has for you to do! 

The Increasing Poverty, What to Do?

The Increasing Poverty, What to Do?                                               By Kelly Durant 8-17-14

Proverbs 19:1 Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Matthew 26:11 “For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always”.

2. I believe I have already told you this story about a rich man that decided to help a homeless man. He thought if he cleaned him up, fed him and gave him a chance for a job so his life would turn around. He brought him home, chose some fine clothes for him and said, “Go ahead, take a shower and then come to dinner.” The man came to dinner and ate a big steak and during the meal the rich man noticed that there was still that smell of rank body odor. He asked the man, “You did enjoy the shower, right?” He replied, “Yes.” Then he asked the homeless man, “What did you do with your old clothes?” He then replied, “Oh thank you for the new suit but I thought it would be a pity to throw away my old clothes so I put them on under this new suit!”

Well, this is a perfect illustration of how hard it is to bring about a mental change the lives of those that are accustomed to living poor! Selfishness and possessiveness is the same with the rich or the poor, of not letting go when needed! I have been reading many articles on poverty lately as it has always concerned me how to help people live a life more in peace, blessed and not so stressed about money and the things in life. Currently there is a 47% group of people in the U.S. that get financial aid. For every one person working, one is paying higher taxes to cover for the poverty or welfare of the other one not working! Take note that when 70% of the population went to church in the 70’s, there was a lot fewer people in poverty (less than 12%), so the decline in the material wealth is connected with the decline of the spiritual and mental. I think all of us as Christians want to help others to live more blessed in life, and Christians in general usually ascend to a higher wealth class than others just from living right and helping!

The dynamic of too many poor has created a dangerous resentment in our society, and making it worse poverty is politicized to make people believe that their poverty is a product of a certain political party, or due to racism, sexism, and whatever “ism” you want to label. The blame of poverty seems to never fall back on the person themselves being responsible for their own actions, so what is to blame? According to most research groups the individual carries the largest part of the blame for their own rich or poor condition but it is a hard fact that the governing laws and community conditions do create the stifling box within which the person has to function.   

3. So people wonder about Jesus words; what did He mean by this statement… Matthew 26:11 “For ye have the poor always with you; (but me ye have not always)”. Does this imply there will never be a cure the poverty problem?  The poor we still have with us, about 5 billion! But Jesus was not cruelly putting it within a context of God loving to see people in suffering and poverty, but rather He was emphasizing the reign of evil systems and that of personal responsibility. It is a human provoked condition that due to the sin in this world is not going away fast enough. God loves the poor and they have a place in heaven; Jesus described beggar Lazarus having had dogs lick his sores as going on to rest with Father Abraham whereas the rich man who gave him crumbs to eat on earth went on to hell. Luke 16:19-26.

The situation has always been this: people, not God, create poverty! Always when we explore issues we must include all other examples, and where do we find another example of Jesus referring to someone destitute and poor? With the prodigal son! What provoked his poverty? He was rich so what caused him to lose it all? One simple answer, sin! All the partying, all the rebellion, all the wastefulness drove him to eating the same food as the pigs! His fault, right?

Some poverty is unavoidable though being provoked by outside conditions and it is not always a result of the direct action of the person: these other impoverishing disasters may include war, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, a terminal sickness, or a corrupt anti-god government or mafia rule exploiting the local people, etc.  

4, So what’s your attitude towards the poor? Do you judge all the poor as guilty sinners unworthy of your attention because they should be responsible and pay for their own sins? Hatred is described in Proverbs 14:20 “The poor is hated even of his own neighbor: but the rich hath many friends”. Many people I have met will never help the poor not because of their race but rather because of their own personal issues of pride. People that grew up around poverty often avoid the poor because the poor remind them of their past of which they are embarrassed! Many people avoid their families when they have money!

Prosperous arrogant indifferent people will pay a big price for being uncompassionate!  Warn others of this verse… Proverbs 21:13 “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.” All Christians have the mission to help others in their need despite their sins or what opinion exists of the person. We really will never know the whole story of their life and only God is the judge! An unforeseen event could happen to you or to anyone of us one day! So ‘judge not, so you be not judged’, calamity could happen to you.

So here are some of the factors identified that are producing poverty covered so far:

A. we are born in a broken world with broken mentalities so poverty continues,

B. it is brought on by individuals who live in sinful wasteful lifestyles,

C. it continues not sufficiently alleviated due to the uncompassionate and judgmental people,

D. it is brought on by major disasters or crisis,

E. and it may be the product of the greed or political agenda of the governing authorities.  

5. These are a few of the many factors that could explain why the ever increasing poverty is all around us in every city. So how are we as loving compassionate Christians going to deal with the issues involving poverty?  What can you do as an individual to help another individual who is hurting? Well, first start with our own self and attitude and actions. Proverbs 11:24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. Generous people always seem to have friends as we reap what we sew.

Are you sufficiently empathetic to those suffering around you? How do we keep the commandment above all commandments?   Luke 10:27 And he answering said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” If all people started caring for those around them with a love like this then there would be a revolution and it would solve all the world’s problems, financially and spiritually! It is always more blessed to give than to receive!

6. Let’s deal with each issue one by one. The first issue is the one of a mentality stuck in the rut of poverty, an enslaving attitude of defeat and discouragement that one will never escape out of the underclass. But faith in God is the solution to everything! Jesus brings a change of heart, then a renovation of the mind and attitude. We count on the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit to bring about all the needed changes! It is a process to learn to prosper in all ways!

People who claim God’s promises get answers! Here is a good one…Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Good success and prosperity comes from obeying God! The mental hurdle to overcome is to believe that God wants you living blessed!

7. The next issue, how can we deal with people who become poor due to their lifestyle of sin? What are the consequences provoked by personal irresponsibility? Laziness can sure provoke a lack of funds! Poverty comes to those involved in a life of addiction to drugs or alcohol or gambling. Poverty comes from credit abuse with an addiction to materialism buying what one cannot afford. Sin always involves selfishness which produces wastefulness by not applying the money where it should go. I have known of cases where a person gets an expensive tattoo spending the rent money thinking someone else should pay for it, and some people get plastic surgery just for pride and vanity while disregarding the impending needs of the home and kids. ! A lot of poverty exists because people have uncontrollable selfish appetites for a sin that consumes away most all of their personal resources leaving nothing for basic needs.

Another sin preventing God’s blessings could be that of living in a lifestyle of a perverted sin that offends God. People may try to justify that their sin that it is legal by man’s law but that does not make it right with God! Also, people who verbally and physically abuse their mates and children invite a curse on their own selves as well.  Living cursed without God’s blessing brings on the consequences of poverty and a punishment. The solution is to reverse everything about one’s life in repentance with a total change to a blessed life by clean living and a holy lifestyle!

When thinking of those disobedient and degrading into poverty we are reminded of the Israelites in Egypt. First, Abraham and his family of 11 escaped famine and poverty to the land of prosperity, Egypt. Take note of this interesting factor; to escape poverty from a disaster you may be forced to relocate! Joseph, Abraham’s son thought to be dead, had become a prince and he saved the family and provided for them and they started out rich again. But over time, over several hundreds of years their descendants became poor due to their sin and slavery under the Egyptians until God called Moses to lead them to the rich Promised Land. Rich to poor and back again is the cycle of families and people depending on how they are obeying or disobeying God! 

8. Now let’s explore compassion for the poor. Historically around the world, what has been the means of support for a poor, blind, or disabled person? Begging! In most all societies beggars are often able to survive, even though they live poor, by the coins that compassionate people throw in their cups. The more developed Western Christian societies however took it a step further and they created foundations and non-profits to provide a better life for those less fortunate. Proverbs 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. The USA historically has been an example of generosity.

The United States has produced the most generous, compassionate, giving people on earth! According to the NCCS Table Wizard, there are currently over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States! That is 335 billion dollars helping others every year! (The sad contrast is our government wastes an estimated 600 billion dollars per year!) Other countries with a population of far fewer compassionate Christians respectively have far fewer organizations serving those suffering. In all South America the orphanages, the blind schools, The Salvation Army, and most charities depend on money from the U.S. or abroad to subsidize their operations! I have been to 200 hundred of these places and I know what they need!

So basically compassionate people, being mostly prosperous Christians in the United States, have been the ones to sustain a bulk of all of the help to the poor in the world! But still in the USA there are evil cities that have a record of not being very compassionate in their giving and you can google that and notice that they are the cities with the worst sin issues. Sadly in general more and more people are becoming less giving and less compassionate as faith declines. Some people think it is the government’s job to provide for the poor but if up to half the money is getting wasted in administration fees, not the cause, why continue? Doesn’t the Government pay billions of dollars in bonuses to their own of their own political party in these jobs in the name of helping the poor? Has any government lately proven to be effective being clean from corruption? No! The tax payers should voice that the non-profits should run all the social services since government waste is at an all-time high!  

9. Instant poverty takes over after a disaster or any kind! I have seen this dozens of times and served near thousands of homes reduced to rubble after a tornado, flood, or some type of disaster. Imagine your whole life’s work being lost in only 10 minutes or in just a few hours! Then the distressed person has to find a shelter to live in a few weeks and start all over! Also, earthquakes, fires, a theft, and civil unrest will cause all things to be lost. People always wonder about why God let’s things happen in certain places to certain people and we will not know why until we are in heaven. There is always a purpose, but in the meantime shouldn’t we all serve in the Salvation Army (or with somebody) to alleviate the suffering when it happens?

What many of us may forget to factor in are life changing crisis such as a divorce, a death, or a terrible illness as these can also provoke a personal disaster that reduces one to poverty.  The loss of a house mortgage or a job loss always brings about further problems. Many people have gone through personal disasters and these can provoke a lethargic depression and more complications taking one away from normal productive duties reducing income.

So in the end, everyone seems to go through some type of trial in life similar to that of Job in the Bible. Trails in this fallen, broken world full of sin are inevitable! God wants us to strengthen our faith and look to Him.  1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:  In the end God wants us healthy, wealthy, and wise! For the righteous, like Job, God does restore what gets lost after the passing of the test!

10. And on the last point, this world is filled with devils and many empires of evil oppressing all people in every land! Ecclesiastes 5:8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they. God will one day judge all the oppressors of the poor, who have made their selves powerful and rich from exploiting them!  

The systems of today are set up for the rich to get richer and the poor poorer no matter the name of the system “ism”. This has been happening even more over the past century in all countries. Excessive taxation, fines, extortions, bribes, unfair wages, and oppressions of all kinds plague all government systems! How sad for the ones who get rich as they lose it all when they die!  Luke 18:24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God”! Instead of helping the poor as Jesus wanted this rich young ruler to do, he selfishly hoarded it only to lose it and heaven in the end!

There is no point in mentioning all the evil systems in this country as everyone is aware of them, the drug trade, sex trade, the exploitation of labor, pornography, gambling, mafia extortions, and on and on. The government is involved in evil trades as well such as arms sales, targeted taxations, etc, and all of these added together is money equal to trillions! God knows Christians denounce all of these evil practices which shift money away from the poor inducing more poverty and this is why they get persecuted and silenced! Christians are hated for being honest, moral, and bold to speak up! Corrupt unrepentant sinners hate truth and light because it slows or stops their evil agendas!

11. So how are we to live in this world? Happiness is an attitude! Just for the fact we are together here means you have connections and a Christian family that love you and will help you when in need! Some poor precious people I have known in Bolivia and elsewhere seem to laugh more and be more happy than the people here in the USA with more money! Many people here have riches by illusion as they don’t really own anything because they owe it all on their credit! These next verses can guide us, to understand we are not poor…

Proverbs 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

Proverbs 13:7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches

Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.

Proverbs 30:8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

We must face the fact that with all the sin in the world, there will always be poverty! No government or charity money will ever fix it or make wealthier the lifestyle of someone that participates in evil things never getting satisfied!  We all should always be willing to help others in their need! Remember how Jesus touched Zacchaeus? Luke 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. What a revolution that would cause if all rich people did what he did! The 1 %rs who are the politicians and company owners could redistribute trillions to the billions if they got touched by Jesus! Some companies actually do pay fair wages while others are just evil exploiters. However, I know not many rich share in this type of utopian dream so the systems of the rich vs the poor will still reign until Jesus returns!  We have a big job to keep on serving those in poverty and in need in the meantime! The poor we will have with us always!   

The last thought, we should never judge any person when they are in a poor condition because that could be one of us one day! God expects all Christians to live holy honest lives being prudent, frugal, and generous to help God’s work and others in need! We are spiritually guided that wealth is so much more than money!  God’s blessings and riches are on the faithful and holy forever in heaven! Claim his promises!  1 Chronicles 29:12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.  Trust God for his supply and no matter if you are in the fat cows era or in the thin cows era, you will always be alright and protected by Him! Ask Jesus in your heart if you haven’t yet, and if something spoke to you, let it change you so you live more blessed!

Comfort: Give It & Take It!

Comfort:  Give It & Take It!                                                   By Kelly Durant 8-10-14

Romans 1:11-12 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

2. How many of you have ever heard the story about the person in the mental hospital that bangs their head on the wall and they do it off and on all day? The professionals and doctors decided to go in the cell and interview the crazy man, “Why do you bang your head on the wall?” The man looks at them dumbfounded and answered, “Don’t you know? Because it feels so good when I stop!”

Believe it or not, this pattern of seeking pain, then relief, is a reality for many people in this life who live without a connection to the Lord! People live on a treadmill of up and down because they have never known real love, healing, and comfort from God! I have known people who seem to thrive in life, not on encouragement and comfort, but thrive on discouragement! They seem to be energized running from one crisis to the next just to get attention!

Real life examples: I have dealt with a dozen or more people in my past who from week to week always have a life and death emergency crisis and they say, “Oh, pastor you must help me right now! I don’t have my rent money this week!” Then next week they’ll tell me someone robbed them, then the next week a car hit them, then after that they have to move and no one is there to help them, so I am expected to answer the call! My stomach use to turn when I would hear these words opening words on the phone, “Oh pastor, you don’t know what happened to me now!” That phrase meant I was going to be interrupted and busy doing something unplanned for. I am not complaining about serving others, this is what I am here for, but my concern is how do we fix this situation that certain people have so many problems non-stop and seem energized living in the crisis mode? They need an extra dosage of comfort!

3. All of us confront problems in life, but it is how one handles them that matters! Crisis situations are not the whole problem, how one reacts and handles them determines if matters will calm down or if they will get worse! The reaction of most Christians is to ask for prayer and help from a brother or sister, and this is the way it is supposed to be.  We are supposed to help one another. Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  In other words don’t abuse, but serve, or be served, and with love.

The issue is many people without the Lord in their lives are weak and obsess over things. There are many TV shows on people’s addictions such as drugs or alcohol, or an addiction to hoarding things which is idolatry and materialism, or to eating, or politicians addicted to power, or to botox, or obsessed with music, or to anything actually can become an obsession! People become extreme and crazy to lust and want and get, and to get attention, and why? It is because God’s love and Jesus does not fill their empty hearts so they get crazy trying to get satisfied with something, or just anything! They crave one more bite, one more drink, one more relationship, one more person helping them as a victim and yet nothing soothes the soul!

It is like that old song by the Rolling Stones (a song deemed #1 of the century?!) ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’. When I was about 10 years old I played that miserable song over and over non-stop for hours on a 45 record (making my other crazy!) and I thought to myself, you mean he is a rich and famous rock star and he is not happy? No satisfaction in life?! Well, it is true, people without God, whether rich or poor, are never content, they are always obsessing, stressing, and creating drama if no drama is coming to them! It is a lifestyle! And a stressful one at that!

4. So if we look at the scripture today, Paul in Romans 1 is expressing that no matter how dark this world is, no matter how many horrible sins are taking place around you (see the rest of the chapter), our comfort is in the encouragement and comfort we can give each other and get from God through the Holy Spirit!  Paul mentions “impart a spiritual gift” and what does that mean? Paul wants to empower every believer against the evil ones, problems, and hardships that attack each one of us as a Christian.  

The gifts of the spirit we have learned are in I Cor. 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

So basically, the Word of God encourages and comforts us, it tells us to seek the Spirit and no matter the problem we face, God will make a way for us to get by without us worrying, obsessing, or becoming crazy!  If we are ignorant on matters, God increases our knowledge, if we doubt the faith or need faith for our needs, God will supply it. When we are sick, God will often heal us and even do miracles! God’s Spirit can help us to discern between the true and false, and even help us to learn languages, or understand people speaking in the Spirit.  These are all Spirit gifts we share and they are all done within the context of us helping one another by praying and sharing them, practicing them within our community of brothers & sisters.

5. So why do we have such an abundance of craziness, obsessiveness, and drama in the world today? It is in great part because of the lack of (or rejection of) the knowledge of God (which Romans 1 makes clear), but also according to the verses today, we could conclude it is a lack of us comforting one another in hard times as we should be.  Paul says, “that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me”. Let’s look at comfort a bit deeper.

Paul is clearly saying here that is our faith in Jesus that brings us comfort and we must comfort one another, he wants to give comfort and he wants to receive it. How do you comfort another person? That depends, right? Comfort is a personal thing, you have to be with the person, you must communicate and share the faith together which implies praying, studying, and listening to what that person’s needs are. You may not have the answers to all their needs, but when you pray for them God will answer somehow, right? The biggest problem is many people do not know how to express what their needs are because their life is comprised of carnal things, and not spiritual things. The people ask for the carnal things, rent or bill money, but the greater need they have is spiritual. People do not see that it is their way of life and habits that are impoverishing them. The wounded person must first be healed; soup, soap, and then salvation!

6. God comforts us to be encouraged and consoled but not for us to get comfortable! In carnal people’s ways (Romans 1 describes quite a few!) there is the selfishness factor of some people that they start wanting all your time and attention, or too much comfort. To the contrary, I think none of us get tired of serving a Christian brother or sister because if they are true they will always appreciate it, and they serve you back when you need it! I personally have had to learn a balance to spend the more time with our leaders, planning and doing, instead of too much of my time with people who are always going to keep having one crisis after another!  If I help a person 5 times, then maybe it’s time that I choose a different person to help. But what can we do for the poor, old, single ones with no relatives in this country, and no welfare check?

The frustration is one is always trying to win someone to Christ and you serve them in their crisis, but then they may not even appreciate it! Often people want more and more and are abusive! I have had my kindness interpreted as stupidity a few times! Imagine a person almost homeless, you help them, and then they judge you as a dumb person to invest in them?! As I mentioned before, my commitment is to serve people with love and this implies doing things not very pleasant at times like going to represent them in the courts, helping pay late bills, visiting them in the hospitals, taking them to apply for jobs, and on and on. The factor is, neither you nor I can afford to get discouraged from dealing with the sufferings brought on by someone’s sin! Sin brings pain and when in pain it’s an emergency! Life is like a battlefield and as Christians we are the only soldiers still well enough to go out and rescue the fallen ones!

Remember the 10 lepers that Jesus healed, and only 1 came back to thank Him! The general mission of all of us in life is to preach the gospel and do good matter what and that includes showing God’s love by comforting, healing and  helping ! We cannot focus on ourselves and any reward in this life, we just must simply comfort each other however needed whenever needed! 2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

7. All of this to get you to think about the following, do you know what the greatest human need is? It is to be loved! Everyone is hungry for love, each one of us wants comfort, we all want connectedness and a feeling of belonging! As Christians we have a lot of work to do to be able to have confidence amongst ourselves to build up trust and feel free to confess our weaknesses and needs to one another. Can we trust that the other person will listen, care, pray, and comfort us? We all need comfort in our pain and we should be able to get it!

The problem is the following, those immature in the faith are like little children, they are selfish, they have no consciousness of the needs of others, and they are not aware of their own carnality and abusiveness of what they expect from others. They want to get help and comfort, but they do not give any! They obsess only over their own self! With some you may help them 2 dozen times, but that one day you cannot help them then you suddenly become the bad guy! In the end, our help is for the needy, not the greedy! But we focus on the good ones, some people really do change, and this is our comfort to keep on ministering! The thankful make our day!

Love, which entails comfort should work like this: we as Christians are tapped into God’s system, like a water system that never runs dry and the Holy Spirit fills us and refills us again so we just keep pouring out on others. Those that are empty and receive God’s love get filled up, and if they allow God’s healing, then they become whole, and instead of remaining broken and leaking out the love given them, they retain it, appreciate it, and then after getting full, they too start overflowing on others as well. This is also a way of observing how holiness works, God’s Spirit of purity fills us up until there is no more emptiness and then we overflow on everyone!

8. Referring to whom to comfort, as a pastor I always try to focus in on the neediest persons in the group, the weakest and most vulnerable, the ones suffering most.  A church should be a place where people arrive for love, comfort, and mercy! The mature are here to guide the immature; the strong are here to help the weak without a judgmental attitude. As believers we have all things common and we share with each other so that no one is suffering from a dire need. (Acts 2:44,45) It is the job of all Christians to know how everyone is doing spiritually and materially, and everyone should serve to show love and this brings comfort knowing that all areas are covered in our fellowship!

Comfort is an expression of love and it is shown in many ways: it is a human need! Without natural affection babies have been known to die, so what about people?  Ask yourself right now, do I have the confidence to seek advice and comfort with a brother or sister near me? When is the last time you comforted another person who had a problem, something secret no one could know about?  Seriously, how do you serve others if you are not alleviating their distresses? It should be with acts of service and that is love in action! We need to establish closer relationships amongst ourselves so we have more love and confidence and God gives us our talents and the Holy Spirit to be used and shared.

All of us should do a better job of listening, understanding, and comforting others!  John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.  This love implies that your whole life is wrapped around others!

9. Do you know of anyone suffering or of anyone who gets into crisis often? Do you know of anyone who obsesses over things because they don’t have the peace of God in their heart and they are trying to fill a void?  Someone with no satisfaction with anything?  There is a cure!

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” And this next verse is a promise I have claimed often…

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you”.  Also, with the Holy Spirit anyone can access the gift of having a comforter or obtain the power needed to get through a trial… John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”

10. Despite God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comforting us we still need each other for comfort! We love God but equally as important, we must love our neighbor as ourselves! Comfort may be expressed with encouragement from sharing God’s word, through prayer, through serving or giving or providing in the time of need, through hugging someone who needs it, through loving care and concern, and even just by your presence by being there for them when they need you most! Do you allow yourself to be available? Break down your defensive walls, and connect with people on a human level!

Jesus warned us how it would be in the last days. Matthew 24:12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Ask yourself, am I an indifferent, a self-protecting stagnant water type of Christian? Or do I overflow the Spirit on to others? Do I obsess and worry too much and live in the crisis mode? Or am I one that pours out the love and comfort of the Holy Spirit freely onto others? The formula of God has always been that to receive you must give! People are dying for a lack of love and comfort, so do something!

Do you know of anyone who really does have a need to be comforted? If you do, then just act! Call them, visit them, spend time with them! Don’t worry about how much Bible you know to share; people are comforted just by knowing you care! You are a living Bible representing the Holy Spirit and Jesus to them! Break your old habits, learn to comfort or you will suffer and many others will continue to suffer as well! 

Beware of The Sewers of Sabotage

Beware of The Sewers of Sabotage                                                  by Kelly Durant  8-3-14

Matt 13: 24-30 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

2. We live in a fallen world full of liars and deception! It affects the world’s powers and it affects each of us personally! The truth sets us free but the lie deceives and it produces disillusionment and scars! To make a point I will tell you an uncomfortable joke. There was a manager named Juan, a married man, who got off late for work and decided to invite the secretary out for a few drinks before going home. Here is one more reason why Salvationists are protected for never drinking! They both drank too many and you can imagine the next sin they went to do later that night. Then at midnight the man thought, I have to tell my wife the truth, but he did not want to suffer for the consequences of the truth. So he stopped by a pool hall and shot one time and put chalk on his shirt and went home at 1:00am. The wife at the door was furious and asked him where he had been. He explained about the mistake with the secretary. Then she looked at him, saw the chalk and said, “You liar, you went out drinking and playing pool with your buddies!” He bows his head, and admits it is true; he went to the pool hall!

Well, as is evident here, some people know how to lie using the truth, but these types of premeditated schemers still answer to God for their deeds! Today I advise everyone to exercise extreme caution regarding the discerning of the truth!  Question everything! Some things appear a certain way but are not. Our adversary, the prince of the air (waves), Satan always applies a partial truth so he can deceive with a lie; it is either not the whole truth, or the truth mixed with a falsehood but always with the intent to get an outcome of subversion, sabotage, and destruction. The outcome is for his control, and not for God’s purity and kingdom!

There are two ways to be deceived, one is by rejecting the truth, and the other is in accepting the lie. Either way one is trusting in the wrong sources, either trusting in your own misinformed carnal self or trusting in the blatant deception of another voice. History proves the masses always easily swallow lies! Most people do not want to look out of place, so they blindly obey the liars even though they inwardly know it is wrong. Mega-millions of people like worthless weeds admired despotic murderers in the past like the Neros, Stalins, & Hitlers! Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

3. Today we are looking at the case in the Holy Scriptures of a good hard working man, a man producing food for the community with his field of wheat but he had it ruined by an evil enemy. Did the enemy have a smaller field and he was jealous? Why the hated? The motive doesn’t matter, the enemy only had in mind to destroy the good which this farmer had worked so hard for! It was not totally ruined but it was damaged in such a way that the owner was going to have to do a lot of sorting at harvest time to separate the wheat from the weeds. Those servants close to him him first thought, well, it looks like all is lost, so let’s just root it all up now! First thought was, it is not worth it! But God has us all waiting on that day of reaping! This refers to the final ‘day of judgment’ but more can be gleaned from this parable.

There is something we should all see as disturbing in this example of sabotage. All of us can observe how repeatedly Satan has tried to destroy all of God’s creation, secretly sewing evil and then accusing, it is all bad, now destroy it! Things become bad because of the corruption he causes, not God; but his damage does not render the good as worthless. Satan wants to frustrate God and humanity to get Him and people to just destroy it all! God purged the world of evil once with Noah, and He will reap in the final battle but today we must take into account God’s loving nature and plan. He is not hasty to anger and destruction. Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

God wants to save humanity, not destroy it! Jesus life, death, and resurrection confirms that! 2,014 years affirm all is not lost because a few billions of souls have received Jesus as the Son of God! This does imply, however, that 1/3 of the angels that rebelled in heaven along with the all corrupted evil people on earth will continue to remain lost by their own choice. They will be burned in the end when Hades is cast into the lake of fire because they chose the life of being a worthless fruitless weed sucking nutrients away from the good stalks of wheat. These beings are responsible their selves for choosing Satan’s evil destructive ways, and not God’s way!

4. Jesus teachings have very significant meanings and often they are applicable in multiple ways. Jesus exposed the overall plan of Satan and his followers to damage this world but in the final reaping, God saves the righteous and condemns the corrupt. Every true Christian church is a part of the kingdom of God. If we apply the sabotage example to a church, the story might read like this:

There was a church on the hill in Centerville where the Christians in the neighborhood happily attended. The pastor there was a loving compassionate servant, who obeyed God, and his leaders were excellent examples, and together they did many loving things to serve God and others. The town grew and more and more people started coming to the town and to the church from all over.

But within some of these new members discontentment and corruption came in as some of the new ones were evil and they started to gossip all about how they hated everything and they planned how they could get rid of the pastor and the leaders. The church was in God’s will, but the pastor’s preaching of the truth often hit too close to home and offended embittered souls. So secretly they continued sewing accusatory seeds hoping to take over the church but if they could not get a chance at that, then they were going to try to do a scandal so they could get the destruction of the whole thing.

False accusations: They complained that the preaching was not classy like those in other places, they complained the social programs of helping the poor and giving out food was a bad idea and unfair, and they complained that the doctrine was antiquated and that the church needed everything changed. Their evil seeds grew and more were deceived. We think of the church as for positive reinforcement but some people come to reinforce the negative!

5. So what happened? Little by little about 1/3 of the church left to follow the new self-proclaimed self-anointed pastor that was a new member to the church. This discontent critic won others to follow him, but not by an authentic anointing and ministry, but rather by forming a team that sympathized with his invented complaints, criticisms, and accusations. In other words his religion was founded on a common hate for the good which was working just fine for the majority there. So the pattern is that people with unconverted hearts full of hate, jealousy, and pride always love to see those conserving good values authentic in Jesus suffer from the damage and sabotage. They mess it up and then they accuse the righteous ones as being the ones who messed it up! Recall how Nero burned Rome and then blamed it on the Christians! How evil!

This description sounds like I am talking about politics right? How many military coups does the world need? This pattern repeats in the world: for example, Mayor Somebody in Centerville City may not be doing such a bad job but because someone else wants his power and status they throw dirt at them. Then when everyone sees dirt they then doubt that maybe this good one actually does have some real dirt on. Why? As fallen sinful creatures, it is human nature to be too naive to believe anything bad! Every time someone sews an accusation, a weed, or a dirty comment, we should first examine the source from which it has come. It may or may not be true. The war of good vs. evil, of the lie vs. the truth, is a reality everywhere in everything! Many people have an inordinate appetite for salacious ugly news, be it true or not!

6. I have lived through sabotage several times! At the other church in the other city, most everyone was always happy, a lot for God got done, vast multitudes in the community were helped, and then what happened? New people arrived, and some boasted that they had credentials and theological degrees. So since they were prepared in the Bible the Captain and leaders trusted them to teach Sunday school. But a few months later what happens? The next thing everyone shockingly observes that 1/3 of the church is leaving so they can start another church! What for? The church Corps was not bad, everyone was treated fairly and with love, but evil ones created a deceptive perception that the whole church was bad.

But the only thing authentically bad about the church was these bad people! They were accusers, sabotogers, and weeds! They gained followers and tithers, which was their objective; they wanted unmerited authority without paying the price of studying, sacrificing, and being an authentically holy and good leader. Have you ever wondered how many rogue churches are out there started by evil people like this? There are quite a few! These sabotogers are as sheep thieves but actually they are just gathering goats. Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

7. Now if we apply this parable to a country or nation we could see it in an example like this: There was a land where a people of faith came together to form new communities escaping religious persecution. These people with purified thankful souls developed cities with their bare hands being hard working people and the land soon became famous for its abundance which was produced from the blessings of God and labor of all. These original cities are comparable to the original wheat field.

Then others, who did not respect the faith of the good ones decided they would move in and overtake everything for their selves in parasite fashion, overtaking these cities that they had not built. These evil ones served only their own pride and the god of money bringing in greed and oppression. They sabotaged the once crime free communities with subversions to accomplish their objectives of power and money. They changed those in authority to be ones who would serve them to defend their dirty work with new man-made laws. These laws disarmed people to be able to fight back against all their perversions and debauchery; so then legally, no righteous person could do anything. These evil ones introduced dozens of revenues for destructiveness such as time wasters and empty social causes, alcohol & drug abuse, gambling, sexual immorality, and the exploitation of children and adults, just to name a few! I have even argued with some people who claim that because the USA is corrupted this means that we have no right to ask a Muslim or anyone to accept our way of life while here because we are evil, and that we should accept our defeated status in the world! The presence of evil does not negate the good that still exists. These are the tactics of the aggressive weeds.

Basically haven’t I described the situation of most every city on earth throughout history! In times past many cities started out like wheat fields, with pure and productive people, but then secretively evil ones crept in. Today some people want to claim the evil ones are the Capitalists, while a vast majority of people, after 100,000,000 deaths in this past century’s wars, would argue correctly that evil is more evident in the violence of the Communists and Fascists! Destructive evil is not limited to just evil ideologies; evil is measured by inexcusable offenses against God; by its attacks on the kingdom of God! The peace loving kingdom of Jesus Christ has been under attack ever since day one when Jesus called the 12!

8. The dynamic we experience in the kingdom of God is that we are like wheat and many others are like weeds and we are coexisting side by side. We live in obedience seeking to produce pure sustainable food for the body and soul which feeds ourselves and others, while others as weeds are poisonous and they suck up the nutrients in the soil. Our message is live and let live, while their message is die and make die! Ugly weeds are always discarded or burned because they are worthless. Evil people always know their time of judgment is coming and some repeat and change, but sadly others do not change despite knowing the truth and being shown love.

Psalm 37 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

The war of the pure vs. the impure is more evident than ever! How is it that many people today continue to hate and murder and even do it in the name of a nation, political cause, or for a god? John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. The New Testament message of Jesus is that of salvation to all if they will only choose it and change to the good side!

9. How many of you have ever worked on a farm? I have done some hard labor on farms and I can imagine the extreme frustration a farmer would have to discover an enemy had sewed weeds in the night! God wants to see all people of the earth live in love and peace obeying the teachings of His Son Jesus that lead our spirits into a world of purity, love, and a heaven on earth. But all of God’s plan is temporarily on hold until the harvest time comes when maturity is complete.  If the meantime, we cannot predict the final fruit of anyone, only God knows.

None of us will ever enjoy complete peace on this earth because the enemy’s lies, accusations, and weeds since they are everywhere, corrupting the good and frustrating the kingdom of God and impeding salvation through Jesus. Weeds appear in all places, in the cities, in the workplace, in some churches, and obviously in the powers that be as mentioned in Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places

10. One more last way to interpret this parable is to take it personal, ask yourself, are there any weeds in my spiritual life? Do I need to purge my spirit of anything corrupting me? The final interpretation is that we are all maturing into something, either a wheat stalk giving fruit with grain (souls), or we are maturing into a weed that was toxic to all and producing nothing. John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

But we have hope in these words, John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

I can imagine that each of you have to deal with weeds within your own families, workplace, and in this community. The whole nation is getting a subversive message that the weeds are good! What a lie we are told when commanded to ignore the fact they produce nothing good, that they are not really toxic, that they are useful and can save us from our own ills better than the real food, the wheat. The wheat is that which makes the “bread of Life”! Evil is never good, and good is never evil!

Thank the Lord there will be a final reaping and our reward will follow us for being in God’s will. Our hope is in this promise...Revelation 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Do you know where you will go? In God’s barn, heaven?