Relationships: Do Unto Others As...

Relationships: Do Unto Others As...                          by Kelly Durant 1-25-15

Luke 6:31

31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

2.      I recall not long ago I saw a true life detective TV show about man and woman who had been married for over 30 years. The man had become increasingly deaf through the years and used a hearing and he liked to watch TV and was lazy in his old age. When ever the wife would start talking to him he would just turn down the hearing aid and not pay any attention to her.  

      Obviously this was a great frustration for her but she got so frustrated she decided she could not take the relationship any more. She did something terrible and started putting poison in his food. When he ended up in the emergency room dying she had to confess what she had done!

    What a terrible example of not maintaining a good relationship, would you not agree?

    Life is all about relationships! You have one with your spouse, one with your children, one with your parents, one with your brothers and sisters, one with your boss, one with your church, and most importantly one with God!

     We all deal with dozens of people in different ways all day long.

Love can easily turn to hate and then hate can become acts of violence!

3.     What we will look at is our selves today and may God help you to judge how we are BEHAVING in society we must ask ourselves. What reactions are we provoking? We may see ourselves a certain way, but God and others may see us different.

Jesus said;  Luke 6:31

31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

     The reality of life is that everyone of us are sinners living with blindness to our own mistakes and we may not even be aware of what we are doing to other men or women close to us. We usually are denying the offenses we are doing against our spouses, our children, to others, or even worse against God.

    

     God will allow us in heaven or allow us to slide to hell by judging the relationship we had with Jesus Christ! And how sincere we were in our love for Him will be reflected in how kind or how cruel we were with others around us!

4.    Relationships are everything! Only with good communication, sincere dedication, and with supernatural love will any human being be able to have relationships that last.

    Jesus words imply to us that if we are want others to treat us well, we should be the first to show the example of treating them well, as we heard, “ And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”

   

 In relationships we see applied the law of “you reap what you sew”. If you sew love, you reap love, if you sew indifference, you reap indifference, hate, or even wrath! That is what happened to the man who ignored his wife! People who stop listening to others are usually filled with pride and pride comes before a fall!

 5.   And there is the reality that those that resist God’s love, those that refuse to come and learn about Christ, those that refuse to be living the Christian life and have a relationship with God, are people that are provoking God’s wrath. We all inherently perceive the ominous truth that God does have an eternal punishment for those who are evil, unloving, rebellious, violent, and cruel who do not want to know of His ways!

     The first thing to keep in mind is that God wants us take care of our relationship with Him and if we do all other relationships usually just fall into place. Some people do not treat God as they want to be treated and then they wonder why God let’s them down and why so many things happen to them. God wants our worship, time, loyalty, and faithfulness! Ask your self, am I giving Him that in the measure that I should?                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

     If you are seeking to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love others as your self, if you are worshipping God in fellowship as we are commanded to do it, if you are giving your time talent, and treasure for his use, then your relationship with God will be healthy! You know when it is healthy and when it is not.

     A healthy relationship with God will set you up to have all your other relationships healthy too! It is as simple as that!

6.     For good relationships with anyone in life what we need to practice is what God demands from us and that is to manifest our love, dedication, and time

(with God time =prayer) and time= communication, and absolute faithfulness.

     Remember you or I can love intensely someone but we must never worship them as worship must only be reserved for God and Jesus Christ! God over time always removes idols, or anything that is before him.

    We can get inspired to worship God anywhere! Have you ever been in your car and a beautiful sunrise (or sunset) comes up and you are in awe of God’s beauty? Or in the car, have you ever sang along with a praise song on the radio? God wants your attention and inspiration; treat Him as you would treat someone riding in your car! 

    But there are always some people who do not obey God, or they are rebellious to God and they do not practice this simple law “that we should do to others as we would have them do unto us.”

      Some people only move their tongue for hours because they only want relationships in order to be able to use people (maybe you) for their own desires, to get something carnal or material. How worthless and shallow is this kind of relationship!

7.   When I was about 16 it was the custom to give Valentine cards in the classrooms to all the girls (or boys if you were a girl) and we would make new friends and ask others out on dates. After a few dates I discovered there were some girls that only wanted you to give them stuff and invite them to dinner, but in the end you find out they really don’t even like you! There was no intention of love and faithfulness, just a taking advantage to get to get out of the house on your expense. We all learn early in life there are good relationships and bad ones! Let’s get rid of the bad relationships, the people close to you who do not love God and do not treat others as their selves. For the love of your own self-protection, listen to that soft inner voice of God and get bad people out of your life today!

    Probably most everyone here has been used and abused by someone in their past; you were used by someone pretending to love you or be your friend. God, the same as us does not appreciate abusive relationships.  Harmful relationships with deceit in the core are of Satan they are an imitation of what appears real but was not, the opposite of what Jesus taught!

    Be aware of these situations, where someone is abusing and taking advantage of your kindness just because you are a relative or a friend. Some people even go from church to church looking for dumb (their view) Christians that they can take advantage of and get money from through some shady business. And we shouldn’t we have mercy on the homeless ones, or poor immigrants who end up losing everything due to then being a victim to someone’s thievery and trickery!  False relationships deeply wound one’s spirit!

  

 8.   And what happens when a con gets conned?  I have seen they get upset enough to want to kill when it come back to them! Everyone has to hear about it for weeks when one of these types of people gets a taste of their own medicine! The mirror of truth is blinding painful when it reflects back and one is paid with the same kind of unkind deeds! I recall one person at a Corps that worked for a telemarketing firm and he would get people to say, “Yes” three times on the phone. Would you like to win a free TV? Yes! Would you like a better cable service? Yes! Would you say yes to a cheaper service? Yes! But then after the cable service agreement was explained by him if he got a “No” it did not matter as they charged the person anyway. How? Because he said that by law we can bill a person if they say, “yes” 3 times! Later this same poor guy lost his house to foreclosure due to the person who sold it to him did a fraudulent loan! Life is a boomerang, it seems what people do always comes back to them! It boomerangs!

   So we have the standard to live by and ask yourself, would I want to have someone do to me what I am doing to this person? If the answer is “No” then repeat, ask forgiveness, and correct the situation to be right, and “sin no more” as Jesus told the prostitute, “Go and sin no more!” Do not do to others as you would not have them do to you! Ask them forgiveness today to break the cycle of abuse fueling more abuse!

   Regina and I have had to learn lots of forgiveness, thankfulness an appreciation.

To give an example, there have been times when she has worked a long time make a dinner that is special, and I have come home full of things in my head, sat down, ate it, and got up and started working on something. I realized I was rude and that I should go back and ask forgiveness and show thankfulness and appreciation. We need to notice what others do for us! They say one of the principle complaints of people that divorce is that they do not feel appreciated! It takes effort to show love but remember it takes more energy to have to make up for not loving!

9.     If you want to be treated better in your relationships then love God more and teach others to love God! If you want love, faithfulness, dedication, communication and time from someone, then practice these things at home and bring your loved ones to church where they can learn more about these things that only God can offer!

     God is love and the more God in your life the more love there will be in all the relationships around you!

But love implies patience; others may not treat you back with love even though you love!

Did that matter to Jesus?  NO! He gave His life anyway!

1 Cor 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 10.    The only way to have a good relationship with your spouse, your family, and with others is to practice what is the essence of the whole Bible teaches and that is to live and practice love. Love is equal to the “doing to others, as what you want them to do to you”! Dedication, communication, faithfulness all will appear automatic if you have these principles first as the rudder of your life!

    If you are guilty of not maintaining correctly your relationship with God, come forward and pray and change that today! You are affecting others negatively! If you are guilty of not treating others as you treat yourself, then come forward today and pray and ask forgiveness today! Break the cycle of reaping bad things because you are sewing bad things!

   Don’t risk anything bad happening without having your relationship with God and with those around you in order and flowing with love!

Race and Perceptions: Love All As Jesus Did!

Race and Perceptions: Love All As Jesus Did!                                               by Kelly Durant   1-18-15

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles

2. Have you heard the story of the little girl about age 5 that got her aunt to let her go to the mall to buy panties for her mom? The girl had saved up her coins and had over $10 and she told the clerk she wanted a pair of panties. The clerk said, “Well what is her size?” The girl answered, “I don’t know that but she is the prettiest women in the world!” The clerk thought that according to that commend for sure she was a medium size. The next day the mom went back to the mall to exchange them for extra-large!

Did you get the point? How you perceive a person determines the beauty you will see in them! Race, size, origin, none of that matters! I have preached about race and culture dozens of times and each time I like to bring some new insight on the subject. Again we will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and thank God for his defense of the abused and the progress that has been made since the 1960s, which many of us still remember! The new movie “Selma” shares a lot of insight on the subject of what Dr MLK and marginalized people had to deal with in that time period, but remember any movie will always fail to capture the full truth of the good or the bad.

I wish people would learn from history, at least from our recent history! Most people will tell you what I hate to hear and that is, “I hate history!” The problem is, if we as a people are not familiar with all of what has happened in our past, it is very probable we will have to repeat the same horrific mistakes! Who knows what race or people will suffer next! And warn others: the injustice of a people group in past history never justifies giving anyone a righteous cause to be cruel or vengeful to someone currently living who had nothing to do with it. Jesus taught us to break the cycle of revenge over offenses with forgiveness. (Forgive 70xs7!) It’s hard but not impossible!  It’s only Jesus (through us) that heals hearts and restores the souls of the wounded.

3. Today let’s look at how we perceive races and people groups different from our own. To begin with, how do you perceive yourself or those similar to you? I recall ever since I was toddler I hated getting burnt by the sun! After 2 hours I would burn and hurt all over and glow red and later peel layers and layers of skin.  My perception was that to be darker skinned would have been better for me! Do you have an issue with your own skin color? Your hair? God made each of us with distinct challenges, amen? Praise God for life! And for differences! 

Do blonds really have more fun or are they just more dumb? Why do we all want to be blond? Hair chemicals are a multibillion dollar industry! Cosmetics and plastic surgery is a multibillion dollar industry! In the end, maybe if everyone would racially intermarry more, the lights with the darks, the world’s people could all have their dream of having olive skinned kids with blue or green eyes like in Brazil. Some global futurists predict that within a few hundred years we will see the trend of the extremes of skin color contrasts mellowing into uniform brown with so many current inter racial marriages. That is if humanity is still here! 

Often dark ones want to be lighter, and most of us are never fully happy with our bodies but God made us with challenges to keep us humble and we must learn to give thanks. It is of Satan that we get discouraged and perceive our own selves as ugly. It is of Satan if we perceive others as ugly as well. It is wrong for anyone to mistakenly harbor the perception that they are superior and have the right to discriminate against another person over color or race. It is good judgment though to size up how the different people groups perceive things, to know how they think, so you can know how to help them accept the good news of the gospel of Jesus! Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

4. Can we apply intelligence to our perception of people in dealing with their peculiar behaviors without discriminating against them? Yes! Referring to the verses of today, a person who would not put Paul’s comments in context might conclude he is speaking ill of the Jews and the Greeks. Is it discrimination to point out a fault of someone, even of someone not of your race? It is not! It is simply being realistic! The problem today is everyone is living in denial of everyone’s faults for fear of offending someone. If people get offended or not should not concern us; the matter is to help make people be aware of all the different ways people sin.

The overall message is Paul is chipping away at the walls of pride, manifested in different ways by different people groups, in order to wake them up so they have a chance at recognizing their errors and accepting how God sees them so they can the salvation of Jesus. There is a difference between presenting something in order to help and in doing it with the motive just to offend. Before a person accepts Jesus into their lives as the savior of their souls, they must start recognizing their personal issues keeping them blind to their faults, preventing the acceptance of a God’s Son whose love heals cultural wounds. Recognition of sins invokes the need for a remedy, and Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, or atonement, for all humanity. The different issues are spiritual and mental, and they are culturally stereotypically identifiable.

The Jews issue was that they wanted supernatural signs and evidence of the proof of the Messiahship of Jesus.  Jesus himself addressed this issue of the Jews demanding signs (even despite his many miracles),  Matthew 12:38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The ultimate “sign” or proof of Jesus was in His death because after 3 days He resurrected. You either accept it believing, or you reject it! No matter your race, intelligence, or creed, Jesus is either your cornerstone or He is your stumbling block!

5. Now, let’s cover the problem that the Greeks thought that they were so wise and intelligent that Jesus’ message seemed to be too simplistic:  they perceived it as foolishness. They were basically so arrogant with their intelligence that they could not accept anything new of a different paradigm presented to them by anyone outside of their culture. Do you know of some people like that? They think they know it all and they listen to no one? That is in all cultures and races, right? Know-it-alls are in our families, governments, and even in churches as well! May God break down pride that makes fools out of so many as they harm and destroy!

I see the Greek pride and ‘I am above you’ mentality alive amongst Americans today! I have felt as you have many times the condescending vibes of those who are educated who look down on you or me as inferior for our faith, race, or economic status.  I will add I have a problem with the higher education system of this country with all its pomp as in Harvard and Yale. They began as colleges for Christian education and now they are the antithesis of it! They charge those who can borrow it up to $50,000 per year to study in their aging classrooms under their arrogant overpaid professors that are in the essence of their philosophy Gnostics, atheists, or communists. Are even 2% Christian in these places?  Satan has taken over the education system imposing ridiculous postures! We should join the old chorus, “We don’t need your education”, because it is building mental walls of prejudice in young pliable putty minds shutting out truth.

Only a fool denies the existence of a creator God who has a plan and purpose for those He created. Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. Only a fool will think they are intelligent beyond God’s wisdom and reject Jesus message because they are so highly intelligent and educated. Even Einstein admitted he did not know an iota of anything!

6. Today the politically correct crowd has sold us the impossible formula concerning race and how they want us to perceive certain people in society; you are condemned as being judgmental and racist if you comment anything factual and unpleasant about certain groups, yet hypocritically it is okay to mock those out of favor with the powerful ones in the government, media, or in academia. In particular those of the Christian faith are demonized as ignorant fools amongst the elitists and supposedly higher classes. Jesus philosophy of love, as being as harmless as a dove, of being ‘a fool for Christ sake’ does not sit well with the cruel demons in power in high positions who as wolves scheme how to pit one group against another with propaganda, violence, and then arms sales to add fuel to the fire. The goal of Jesus was the unity of all races (as we know is in heaven, Rev.7:9 ) and the goal of Satan is the division of all races and people provoking hatred, war, and the destruction of God’s beauty in all created life.

The world continues to be run by cruel paranoid psychopaths as it was in Jesus day. They count on manipulating their own and others with selective double standard applications of the law and rules. They purchase souls by lavishing their admirers with illicit income from corruption and perversions of total debauchery. But the people free from being under their thumb is a disturbing group, the true pure Christians who speak truth! They hate them because they cannot manipulate them with their lies. They are protected by the Holy Spirit’s truth. Those who are righteous seek to expose all things evil with the truth to free the oppressed! It is war!   

Many Christians, as we teach in the Salvation Army, love inclusively all people and races but the world does not return the same love back but rather mockery and hate. In the rest of the non-Christian world Christians are jailed, enslaved, tortured and even killed and this occurs daily in most Muslim and Communist nations covering Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Basically 3/5ths of the world’s nations where the gospel of Jesus has not influenced the culture they mercilessly practice racism, sexism, discrimination, and their human rights violations are off the charts! Racism, slavery, oppression, exploitation and evil within the cultures of the world should be our focus so we can free and save them with the gospel of Jesus!

7. Some non-Christians in the western hemisphere boast of their love to all without discrimination. Beware! If you trust in the love of the world you will always get betrayed! Follow political leaders, almost all of them get stabbed in the back! If the average pagan really loves everyone then why is there no love for those who support Biblical values?

Recently conservative Christian groups in the U.S. are put on black lists by the government and military as being potential home grown terrorists while no evidence confirms that these groups are engaged in any of these activities?  How evident it is that discrimination against those of faith is practiced undisputed while hypocritically discrimination over age, race, sex, or sex orientation by any person in the U.S. A. is fined and prosecuted for the monetary gain of ruling officials.    

As Christians we follow Biblical teachings which teach us to even “love our enemies” and it is evident that Jesus and Paul loved everyone inclusively standing up for those not of their own race and creed, right? Paul spent a majority of His time writing to the Greeks and gentiles in order to convince them of the gospel. Jesus exalted the Good Samaritan (Jews and Samaritans hated each other) as one being favored by God for loving and caring for another while the uncompassionate Jew was exposed as Godless. Are you and I defending those who obey God no matter the race or place they are from? Loyalty to your own people stops when disobedience to God takes place!

8. When we discuss people groups from a Biblical perspective it seems the underlying issue is not the race, skin color, tribe or the geographic region they are from, but rather the person’s faults which are in a big way influenced by the misconceptions of what is important in life as defined by the culture group they are a part of. You cannot change your race, but you can change your faith, attitudes, and deeds to be in line with God’s will!

What defines a culture? The most influential part of a culture is their belief system. As covered in the verses some people want signs and some want wisdom, but the general problem in common is the stubborn arrogant pride of man and his rejection of God and God’s Son.  The people of every culture should painstakingly examine themselves and change what has been wrong for centuries.  Only those led by God and the Holy Spirit can identify what is wrong because they walk in purity and not in confusion and darkness.

Only when people finally perceive their selves (their culture) as God does can they change their erroneous mentality and habits. Wouldn’t it be great if people no longer needed to see signs as relevant to faith? Jesus resurrection is enough! The image of the virgin Mary on the mirror windows on a building in Clearwater , FL, as seen a dozen years ago, no longer fuels their faith. Thousands did a pilgrimage there to honor the apparition, but what does this tell you about the people who follow these things? Superstitions are still alive and well not just abroad but here in the USA! Don’t look for signs!

9. The problem is our American culture has become excessively materialistic, obsessively vain, and flesh oriented. (see I John 2:16-17) Aren’t you tired of plastic surgery commercials, tired of hearing about the addictions and scandals of the rich and famous?  We are witnessing a concerted barrage of music, movies, books, and news medias aimed at fueling people’s animal instincts and pride! If you want a gift from God ask him for discernment: this will give you a higher consciousness and a wider perception of who you are and what errors of your culture rule in you, and you will see who the people are around you for what they really are! Also, keep in mind the perception we may have of anything is often concluded by surface observations and negative news communications.

The conclusion is we should ask God for the ability to size up cultures and see the good, the bad, and the ugly as God sees it. All Christians are empowered to love any people group even though they sin in some way we dislike, even though they may be racist towards us, and bad in every way we perceive. Ask this, what was God’s perception of you before you accepted Christ?

In the end it does not matter what so much what we perceive concerning others because what matters is that we perceive the love that God has for every single one of them (and for you and me)! 1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us (all people): and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Dr. MLK spoke many wise things concerning God’s values and we should learn from them. “I have decided to stick with love, hate is too great a burden to bear!” The truth is the gospel of eternal life through Jesus is for anyone who will accept it, and how are other people groups going to know what it is unless they see us practicing it without discrimination in truth and in deed? John 3:16. God loves all the world’s people, and you?  

We Speak As One...Keep the Unity!

We Speak As One                                                                 by Kelly Durant  1-11-15  2014

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

2. Have you ever gone to cheer on a sports team and once you get inside the stadium you are all hyped but yet let out a cheer for your team only to discover you are sitting on the wrong side? Ha! That happened to me twice going to High School games with my kids when they were teenagers! We had to walk fast to escape to get to the opposite side!

Don’t you like it when you are supported and surrounded by others that are on the same team as you? Of course, right? There is a reality in the world we live in, it is divided into sports teams, nations, religions, languages, music tastes, races, and sadly into different branches of Christianity. At least Christianity only has a few dozen divisions and not 500,000 registered gods as the Hindus in India! Basically all world religions are divided by differences. Why do some kill over these things?

Let’s examine preferences, when you choose a sports team, for example, what is your motivation? Do you choose them because they are the most popular locally or nationally? The most rich?  Or do you analyze the details to deduct who are the most talented and accomplished? Do you support them because your family supports them and you don’t dare go against the flow to support another? What attracts you to “The Heat”, or “The Dolphins” etc. Have you ever asked yourself why you support them? Some support others just because they are underdogs! I root for the humble!

3. I grew up in a home where sports were rarely mentioned, so anyone can like whichever team they choose and it is all alright with me! My subject today however, is not sports, but rather the divided up beliefs and convictions in the world of faith. Here is a good question, can you answer why you follow what you believe in your Christian faith? Is it personal, or just going with the flow of family?

I know most of you here can answer that you have your faith because it is real to you! You had a deep experience with the Lord and you keep on having experiences with God and prayer so it is real to you because you have received answers and experienced the love of God from others! So your faith motivates you to worship and fellowship, am I right? There is point where human logic fails. Our love and convictions are all by faith and we can’t explain them in detail, we just know that our faith works. It is like electricity, you turn it on and it works as an unexplained invisible energy producing light and results with evidence.

I think most Christians are convinced that their faith choice is the best and that they are on the right team with Jesus Christ. When you compare it to other religions that worship with so many strange rituals, superstitions, charismatic figures, and cruel mandates of submission you discover no comparison exists with the love that Christianity offers! Eternal life with Jesus who resurrected is the only way to go, no doubts! The Holy Spirit has touched me thousands of times, making my hair stand, making me breathless, filling my insides with indescribable emotions. And you? At age 20 I tried other religions for a year to compare, and with yoga I meditated for up to 2 hours daily with only a mild relaxation occurring. The conclusion is other religions claim purity by placing so much emphasis on harsh discipline, on the diet, and on mental dominion but all of them are a let down because God’s spirit is not present in their vain practices. Christianity has no comparison at all with all the other religions in the world! You are blessed to not have wasted your time as I did! But sadly today around the world many lost souls are submitting to religions of violence and cruelty.

4. Now let’s dig deeper into the differences that exist in Christianity and why people choose the church they choose. When we think of choices you must first consider the society at large offering the choices. How many choices are legitimate? Why does a majority of a certain type of people choose a certain type of church? Why do smaller churches seem to be more like family and dynamic?  

Christianity is in a free market here and the person of faith can discover, participate in, and support whichever one they deem as best, right? I find that ours (Salvation Army) does the best in serving the needy, so this is principally why I am serving here, for the effectiveness of preaching the gospel with deeds of compassion. We have the perception that in the U.S. A., a presumptuous liberty, that Christianity can be tailor fitted to our likings. Beware of that! But in many countries no church choice options exist except one or two. For example in Russia the Eastern Orthodox Church dominates about 75% of the Christians and the rest are a few Catholics and a few evangelicals!

We can thank God that still today, because others fought for it, there is the liberty permitting interpretational differences allowing different denominations because otherwise the one single power monarchy of a church-state does not offer anyone a favorable alternative. Note from history: the all-powerful authoritarian church has already been tried for centuries; however, it gravely has proven to have missed the mark most of the time in representing a true example of the kingdom of God.

5. We are aware that, ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’. Considering history is always repeating itself, we see waves of dictatorships, then some waves of democracies, and then the pendulum swings back again. It is time we analyze what we are choosing as a society! Are Christian churches going to be able to remain united despite the damaged relationship with the powers that be? We do our best to comply as in Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. But the balance is Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

Here is the forever dual dynamic, Jesus even said it, Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Despite your denomination of choice, you either have loyalty to God and the church, or you are investing it elsewhere. Christians serve in their church where they give their time, money, and loyalty. But the people of the world are always occupied with giving their time, money, and loyalty to someone out there expecting a personal gain in return, such as what is gained within a political party. The real religion of billions of people in the world is the ‘self’ and this creates severe divisions and walls of separations amongst ourselves; this divides nations, churches, and communities. Many people today sadly exalt their own selves as a god, as Satan does, and they live as narcissistic belligerent beasts benefiting no one, abusing everyone around them to achieve their selfish ambitions. These people scatter and confuse and we are fed up. But being turned off by these kinds of people is what produces a thirst for righteousness within us and causes those tired of man’s injustice to his fellow man to discover Jesus’ love and truth!   

Have you noticed the church is taken to be as a power unto itself, and the governments are always jealous and in competition with the church’s influence and authority? When the authorities perceive the church is apathetic or quiet concerning their corrupt activities, they usually do not care what activities the church does. But when a government becomes overzealous coercing submission, becoming totalitarian, imposing inconvenient laws just to exercise power, then the church and the righteous people will obviously clash with them. It is then when the government starts seeking to eliminate the competition! Remember John 15:18-21. All denominations must remain united on what is right and what is wrong!

6. So all of this is leading up to a certain question, can a Christian in today’s world of diverse denominations, of diverse political convictions, with diverse stances on controversial issues, with great divides in cultural viewpoints all speak the same thing in the same faith? With some yes, but with some no! Speaking the same thing as mentioned in the verses above is referring to not getting divided into silos of doctrinal differences offered by the teachings of trending famous denominational personalities. I hope you are loving and friendly when you disagree with others, sometimes we make enemies of friends unnecessarily!  

It is simple: A true Christian shares a familiar spirit with another true Christian! But we must reveal truth when a certain so called Christians tries to make you feel stupid if you don’t accept their denomination. Today there are some churches teaching outright heresy. Pseudo-Christians are dangerous!

I Cor. 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? Let’s make it real here in the Corps, what if some of you said I like best how the Captains teach the Bible, then another said, no CSM Pantoja does it better, then another says, Major Lopez is best; all of this kind of talk would be ridiculous, right? Each has a unique style and each is of value! We can improve on our unity. Who will try to talk to someone they usually don’t talk with today?

7. I actually believe we are for the most part on the same page in our church/Corps and we respect each other’s distinct ways of sharing God’s word and we do not have doctrinal divides. This is maturity and this respect for the Holy Scriptures and The Salvation Army beliefs are true and basic. The convictions we have here are in general the same as most all the Christians in the world as well!

When you take it further in comprehending our cohesiveness, our one-mindedness in Christ, there actually is a unique bonding of convictions amongst us. In our case most all of us have lived in other countries and we have experienced certain horrible oppressive political realities that other people are unaware of. We understand and appreciate the same things in life because we all love God appreciating the freedom we have to worship and fellowship. We all want to serve others and win hurting souls to Jesus.  

I am bringing this matter up because in general, you and I will see more and more churches dividing up and separating in this country over internal controversial issues. All of us here are in full agreement with the way the Salvation Army represents the kingdom of God. In general our practice of Christianity is a faith of one in action with compassion serving the poor, and suffering!

8. So what is the problem with divisions? Why are other churches following different teachings and then not having much in common? The answer is simple; it is the trending sins of the culture that blurs their vision! A sin is any practice that separates us from our Holy God and it feeds a person’s pride and thus produces corruption. Sin in the camp does what? It offends God (and people as well), and any church that teaches sin as acceptable would be considered like the Galatian church, bewitched! (Galatians 3:1) We can study that book another day!

Churches divide when they change their doctrines, heed gossip, or get blindsided by someone’s sin creating scandal. The issue at stake is unity and that is relational to how much holiness and purity are being practiced by each individual member. How damaging some so called Christians are to the faith when they persist on accepting trending new marketplace doctrines inciting unnecessary division!

If you and I are living holy lives, in righteousness, sharing the gospel, being obedient, praying and being connected to God’s will then it is natural that over time we will grow in faith and unity in the same mind with the same convictions overcoming the divisive oppressive sins in ourselves and in the world. We all speak the same thing being led by the spirit when we are authentically “in Christ”.

9. There is in the world a general consensus and 2,000 year history as to what right is and wrong is, and what is or what is not Christian practice.  All true Christian churches esteem all general basic Biblical convictions concerning morality, sexuality, the respect for life, etc. As a general rule, we all understand and speak the same thing despite our church affiliation of choice.

Today there is a new threat as a new breed of faithless people are not respecting the Bible as the infallible truth word of God. These opposing powers, be they governing forces, other aggressive religions, or even heretical churches, are condoning behavior we know to be immoral, sinful, and damning to the soul. These crafty ones distort or mock the context of the Holy Scriptures in order to justify their actions and by doing so they contradict the established statutes of God which have been respected for centuries. We live in a day of apostasy. 

These people are not speaking the same thing as what we accept as Christians but instead they have teachers and propagandists telling others what they want to hear. May God give us the discernment and righteousness to expose false propagators! May God give us the bravery to speak up against all kinds of corruption, which produces oppression! Corruption manipulates others and is a form of oppression in the end. Jesus message is for the freeing of the captives!   

In the end we are to show love and patience to each other in the church and in the community and never allow ourselves to be divided especially by race or creed! We are all on the same Christian team! In heaven there will no longer be any more divisions of denominations as we will all know the absolute truth. So stand firm with other sincere Christians even though not every detail lines up. United we stand, divided we fall! Never forget the enemy is always seeking how to divide us here! Recognize a divisive voice and rebuke it! Do you pray for our unity? The real enemy is out there and practicing much evil! Prayer… 

The Orient Kings: Unusual Observations

The Orient Kings: Unusual Observations                  by Kelly Durant    1-4-15

Matthew 2:1-2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

2. Some of you may be wondering why I bring up the subject of the kings because for most people Christmas already came and went last year. Also the kings are associated with the manger scene, so why bring it up again now? The fact is in Puerto Rico, and in several Latin American countries, the people take a separate special day to celebrate the “Kings Day” on January 6. They even open up presents on that day! The subject of the kings requires investigation. Do you practice the “question everything” mentality? I recommend it! I mentioned that this year we will be reading the New Testament all the way through and if you started reading you read would have read already about these wise men in Matthew chapter 2. Who has read it in the past few days?

I think it is appropriate to point out how the kings, or wise men, actually came sometime after the birth of baby Jesus, and not many people take this into account or investigate very well the entire intrigue around these kings. According to tradition the names of the Magi were Bithisarea, Melichior and Gathaspa. Is this in the Bible? No, it’s not. This is an example of how tradition and writings in Latin centuries later have confused what the truth is.

There are so many elements to Jesus’ birth that it is hard to answer all the questions of what, who, how, where, and when questions with the standard investigative mindset but we can dig deeper. What happened? What we know already is that wise men, or translated more correctly ‘magistrates’ (magi), travelled from far away. Notice we don’t know from how far and they may have been from Europe, Asia, and Africa as tradition suggests, or from only the Iran/Iraq area. But they had a common goal, to worship a new king, baby Jesus, and to give Him gifts, how Interesting right? These men gave up anywhere from 3 months to possibly a year of their lives to travel to follow a light as a bright star that they knew had great significance in announcing the arrival of an important deity. Being from different cultures, where did they all get that collective idea from? That coincidence is very uncanny! It makes you wonder, do we not have modern day spiritual people in tune with one another on what God is doing in the world?

3. First of all notice that nowhere do we find that the wise men were only 3! It is a common idea that 3 represented the original sons of Noah which include the 3 major races on earth, black, brown, and white.  Patterns of 3, as in Orion’s belt, appear often in ancient architecture.   They could have been 5 or 7 or more, but the number of them is not as important as the act of what they all had in common, the interpretation of the celestial light signaling a supernatural event. Where did this premise arise that the stars could announce important events? It is evident all ancient cultures set timelines and even worship according to the stars as early as the great ancient Egyptian empire. Every culture after them followed similar patterns of monitoring the movement of the stars building great structures to mark spring and fall and certain constellations as important.

Notice that Jesus confirms that before his return that we should investigate what would be happening concerning signs in the stars? Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;  Maybe all Christians should be investigating further astrophysics and the signs in the stars as certain unusual patterns  and uncommon events have already occurred in our lifetime. Halley’s comet, the alignment of the planets, many uncommon things have happened in my lifetime. Also, “wandering stars” as in the Book of Jude, or black holes, are a recent discovery which we can learn from: A body either radiates light or darkly consumes it.

Most scholars agree that amongst these kings were one or more of the Zoroastrian kings, which were in power in Persia at the time of Jesus’ birth. King Vishtapa, Ciro's father, had been convinced of the existence of a 3rd and final savior that would come in the world who would battle in the end of the world and defeat evil. Zoroaster said that a great savior would arise in the world, and his name would be Soasyant, which means one who will fulfill righteousness. How amazing that this is the same description of Christ in the Bible! God evidently revealed to several pagan cultures the revelation of the coming Messiah. Here is a premise established, that the wise men were informed of prophecies and were sensitive to observing signs, and they are considered wise because they acted upon them. Now take this personally, how much prophecy of the Bible (of Jesus) do you know, recognize, and act upon? Are you preparing yourself? 

4. Until now we have learned what happened, that the wise men, without knowing anything about each other, being from vastly different lands, all met in Jerusalem in Israel after following a bright star to worship a new born king. These wealthy wise men probably did not speak the same language and they probably had different ideas of what they would find at the end of their journey. So how was their journey? Geographically it is observable that the journey from the Orient, or from anywhere, was through different plains and deserts. They all arrived to an unknown place in Israel where for sure they had never been. Apart from drought and hunger, cold and heat, what else did these men face?

How many of you have ever been robbed while travelling? I have several times in Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, etc. I can tell you some interesting stories sometime later. What is bad is there are people who travel on buses and trains just to see who has money and when they have a target, an innocent traveler, they then pay off the transportation staff to turn a blind eye while they rob a few suitcases of merchandise out the back cargo area! I think we all hate thieves, and disconcertingly some will even murder you if you resist while in the act of robbing!

It has always been common knowledge that the lone traveler may get robbed in the desolate places and he might even be killed. We learn about this evil behavior of people from Jesus’ teachings on the Good Samaritan. While crossing the deserts in those times, one would have required protection, so these are not just 3 kings, these were several dozens and possibly more than a hundred men collectively travelling with their entourages.  The wise men must have been wealthy to have had enough money to travel from so far away and back because that trip for sure cost them having many servants and many camels carrying water and supplies for their journey. In the deserts or wherever a traveler would need plenty of water and food for weeks on end. And has it ever crossed anyone’s mind that possibly a few of them might have spent most of their life’s savings just on just that journey?

This sacrificial example invokes the question, how much are you prepared to sacrifice for Jesus? Your mission in life may end up costing you a lot materially, your journey following Jesus may even be through a desert becoming a matter of life or death. But dangers and hardships are nothing compared with the eternal glory of having Jesus be a part of your life forever!

5. How these wise men arrived at Jerusalem at the same time to speak to Herod is a mystery of circumstance and timing in itself! Let’s also examine more about the when of the events. These kings did not arrive on the very night of Jesus birth (as most manger scenes portray) but they arrived some time afterwards.

Matt 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.  The fact here is Jesus had already been born and was several months old. Here is another fact, the wise men were able to see the star leading to Bethlehem yet Herod and his so called wise men could not see it because if they could have determined Jesus location, he and his men would have killed Jesus right away. In other words, God hides from evil people His special revelations but reveals them to the seekers.

The wise men escaped not informing Herod of Jesus’ exact location and that provoked the scandal of Herod killing all the babies of Bethlehem up to 2 years old over a jealous tirade. Was Jesus already close to 2 or did Herod wait 2 years? This is not clear. In the meantime Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and probably a few other family helpers traveled out of Israel to Egypt to escape Jesus getting killed. Where did they get travel money from? From the gifts of the wise men of frankincense, myrrh, and gold!  Jesus escaped from his birth place only with the clothes he was wearing as Cubans and multimillions of many immigrants have had to do due to evil oppressive governmental powers. The lesson here is God has a timing for everything in your life, and when events occur requiring your flight and safety, God will provide for you. Ask yourself, am I ready and willing to “go” somewhere today if I were prompted by God? Please be ready!

6. We know the wise men arrived to the very home of Jesus in Bethlehem and then left later. But what did they do while there? Matt 2:11 And when they were come into the house, (not a manger) they saw the young child (how young?) with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

This act of honor and worship for sure provoked quite a lot of talk and gossip in the small town of Bethlehem.  I read once a book on the history of Bolivia and it described Sucre, the nation’s capital, as a hotbed of gossip and intrigue. As expressed by many, where there is a “small town, (you have a) big hell! (Pueblo chico, enfierno grande!), so for sure the wise men’s visit was fuel talk for quite some time afterwards!  The Jews there should have been convinced this was the awaited Messiah confirmed by the worship of those of royalty, but they were pagan royalty. 

These men who were accustomed to people bowing down to them in their countries, were bowing down worshipping Jesus! This proves that no matter how important a person is, no matter how rich, no matter how wise in understanding prophecies or secret knowledge, the pressing need in life of everyone is to recognize and worship Jesus! Do you worship Him?

7.  One more thought, what stories did these kings tell their people when they arrived back home?  That was the event of their life! That was the fulfillment of all their prophecies and messages and it was confirmed by baby Jesus under the star of Bethlehem! The irony is the wise men and kings were not of the Hebrew tribes, which should have been the first ones worshipping and celebrating, but rather these that honored Jesus are classified as from pagan tribes. This confirms what is in John 1: 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Possibly some people in these Orient lands accepted Jesus as the Messiah just from hearing the story of their returned wise men and kings! There have been many signs in the skies since that 2,000 plus years ago appearance, but none of such a magnitude to cause kings to be so obsessed that they travelled with the expectancy to discover a prophecy fulfilled. These magi were not disappointed: it was fulfilled in God’s son, Jesus Christ who reigns over all kingdoms, on earth and in heaven forever and ever!

Will you be wise like the wise men were? Will you observe the signs of the times and study the current prophecies, the ones of Jesus? Will you honor Jesus with your worship? Have you given Jesus a gift, which of is something material but it as well may be something in the way of service to others? If God put some burning mission in your heart like following a star, something like travelling and giving up a large amount of time and provisions for God, would you be willing to do it as dedicatedly as these pagan kings did? They sacrificed their luxurious and comfortable palaces. Those willing to follow where Jesus leads will be honored in heaven, but those who do not believe, will feel shame when they face God after death. They will know then when it is too late that were not as noble and sacrificial as these spiritual wise men. Worship Jesus today and do the mission God has for you! Follow that bright star God is shining in front of you for you to follow! If you don’t know what your mission is, come and pray, God will reveal it to you!