When Will You Ever Be Happy? Is Criticism Necessary?

When Will You Ever Be Happy?             By Kelly Durant    4-29-12

Matthew 11:18-20

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

 Once a man and his son were walking to the market with their donkey.  A countryman noticed that the donkey was walking alongside them and laughed, “You fools, what is a donkey for but to ride upon?!”

So, the man decided to put his son on the donkey and they went on their way. A little while later they passed a group of men. One of them said, "See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides."

The man then ordered the boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women. One of them said to the other, "Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along."

The man didn't know what to do at first. He thought and thought and finally decided to put his son up in front of him on the donkey.

Soon they reached the town. There too the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The man stopped and asked them what they were scoffing at. The people said, "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey?"

The man and the boy got off. They had to think of what to do all over again. At last they had an idea. They took a long pole and tied the donkey's feet to it. Then they raised the pole to their shoulders and carried the donkey upside down. 

They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to the market bridge. The donkey accidentally got one of his feet loose and kicking out, caused the boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle that followed, the poor donkey, with his forelegs tied together, fell over the bridge and drowned.

When you try to please everybody, you won't please anybody. Oh, the Critics!

Some people are never happy with anything in life! Actually, we can conclude by the way some people complain about things that they would not even be happy in heaven!

Imagine someone in heaven trying to rebuke Jesus and his leadership ways.  Do you think God will tolerate opinions, criticisms with carnal reasoning in heaven over his kindness to sinners?  No! So why do some think we should tolerate it here on earth? God will purge out all our sin of discontentment if we will just let Him! Critical dry grumpy people don’t have much of the good fruit of the spirit!

Did you notice how in Jesus’ time some people had such audacity, such disrespect, such rebellion that they would criticize Jesus actions?  The verses show Jesus getting criticism from others for loving inclusively all people, even sinners.

V. 18 They said, “John had a demon”, why since he was holy and good? John the Baptist represented the law and people did not want to have to obey the law in a way that included repenting from being bad. They just wanted to do rituals and hope to buy God’s appeasement. John had the old law, but he was offering something new, a way to make it up with God, a public baptism to symbolize a new start with God and a repentance to obey the law better from then on. 

No one could do all the requirements of the law so John was preaching, “Start over, just declare publicly that you are a sinner, that you can never be perfect and repent by a washing of the spirit (by water)for God’s kingdom is here.  

You would think many people would have been happy right then with a new chance? But John was strict, he required that the people be holy and live the sacrificial holy lifestyle, one of self-control, no drinking of alcohol and partying and having fun, no eating for pleasure either; a total submission to the law in a holy vow of sacrifice.  This was radical conservatism with high demand.

But did his preaching work and get people to live holy lives? It did with some, but it did not make happy the majority. The people wanted an alternative.

Now let’s consider Jesus’ way which was different. Remember Jesus never baptized others with water! He got baptized so that heaven would open so to others it would be revealed that John’s ministry had ended at that point. 

John, the most holy man on earth, but honored and worshipped Jesus as Holy and he declared to worship Him now as He would baptize you with the Holy Spirit! That is our symbol of the Salvation Army flag, the fire baptism of the Holy Spirit!

So contrary to John you would think that Jesus would have become widely accepted and praised after everyone met Him since he was a people person, a socializer, a party-er, and not a hermit in the desert but one who would share the food & drink with any sinner.  His first miracle was making wine from water!

So, Jesus was not demanding a water baptism, nor a strict following of the law. But did he get so popular with the simplicity of a gospel? He just loved people and said to, “repent and sin no more” and “love God and your neighbor as yourself”!

No! Jesus was criticized too! John was harsh and strict and they said he had a demon! Now that is quite a heavy insult for a holy man! Jesus is merciful to bad people and requires no rituals, just a repentance, and no one was happy with that either! They labeled him dirty (and having a demon too) for having dirty friends and a drunk for sharing meals with sinners! For sure they laughed and had fun! 

So, what is God’s lesson? Nothing makes most people happy! Neither the strict condemning types, nor the fun loving love the sinner types! We hear ignorant opinions all the time against good people in the news and within the churches

Unhappy people always want an excuse as to why they are not happy with you and not submit to authority, and this includes God’s ordained authority. People of this complainy nature never admit they are wrong; they always point the finger to the authority to say it is wrong. But they will be surprised in the final judgment!

Think back, in Jesus time it must have been like today, some people must have sincerely repented and never gone back to their old sins and were saved and content. Others who were just following the group, did the baptism just to be in with the crowd. The baptism gave them a warm feeling for a week or more but then went back to being their same old sinful behavior. It was the same then as it is today! With harshness or with mercy some people always remain discontent!

Criticisms always abound in the church.  People may talk, the Captain is too nice, he lets people do whatever they want.  I will admit, it is true, I am a “yes man” but I do say “no” to things obviously wrong. I do say “yes” to include all kinds of people to participate in anything we can offer.  I was a sinner once and know the rejected feeling. I just want all sinners to convert by knowing we love them. 

Let’s give a chance to the new ones, I want to give chances to drunks as William Booth did, and even more chances again with the hope that each person will and grow in their faith in Jesus. But people behind your back will always talk trash. They may be angry at me that I would waste my time with a person they despise. But Jesus rejected only the condemning hypocrites, and never the sinners! 

I live with myself having the fame of loving people and being flexible and being a lover of strange cultures and an accepter of the extreme humble, of the rejected people. This is how Jesus has used me for 36 years now! It is my personality to encourage and love even the sinners who are abusers of my generosity. I am not ignorant, I know when people are using or abuse me. But returning love back, isn’t this what Jesus implied referring to putting coals of fire on a person’s head?

Forgive me for using myself as an example, but I have heard people judge me dozens of times, ‘Oh, he is a soft leader and needs, what we need is someone to come in and put their fist down and put all the people in their place!’ Really?  The mentality of everyone needs to get-it-socked-to-them always backfires. It is God’s fist that will come down on the ones who are the grumpiest making all the noise with their unsolicited opinions! Corrections first should be for the ones unjustifiably critical! Critics speak up to try to impose their influence excusing their bad self! 

Matthew 7:2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Well, you may have had “no to everything” leaders in the past and I am certain it was unpleasant, (I know I hate it!) and what if you have to live with that leadership style in the future? I pray you never do have to suffer under the small-minded dictator type. Already in politics, and in our jobs, and in the world, we get enough of the power trippers already. “No” people are impossible wanting all control!! 

The sad reality is in the world most churches I have seen have pastors who are the dictator types controlling everything as a one man show, telling everyone what to do, and often this is to serve their personal needs. This is an injustice of oppression amongst Christians. False start up churches that are not representing Jesus’ love but a legalism of their own device for their own prosperity! Their abuse needs to be denounced and their churches abandoned.

Observe that the critical types, the harsh disciplinarian types usually have few followers of them in Christ.  They usually are avoided and for good reason. After all, who wants friendship, advice, and instruction from someone they know is not loving and merciful? Being overly strict breaks the spirit and even can cause many to stumble in their Christian Walk. People who say “No” to everyone, never listening to councils represent the old way made obsolete by Jesus!

I have served many times in my life under legalistic leaders that say “No” to everything and I can witness they usually have little or no fruit for Christ! What is better, “yes” leaders or “no” leaders? What is needed is the wisdom to know when to apply the yes or the no, but for a leader to be always be difficult and problematic just because a few people need some stronger rules applied is wrong as the majority of people and the sinners deserve mercy and love.

“So wisdom is justified by her children.” (vs 20)  What it amounts to, and always remember this, when people should be under conviction to change their hearts by the leader’s message yet they refuse, they will then excuse their selves and then pass criticism on to the leader! They tear down to build their selves up!

They excuse, “There are others who criticize, the leader is the bad one!”  These unhappy ones did it to John and to Jesus! The ones with demons accused the righteous ones of having demons! How this futile judging and excuses! Confront others: Let’s talk about how bad you are for always being unhappy for a change!

There are some people who all their lives have been seeing everything wrong in everybody else, always harshly criticizing leaders and others. Like criticizing a person on a unicycle that they move back and forth too much to stay up when they have never tried it and if they did, they would fall and hit their head! Critical people make up excuses for their pride, lack of repentance, and change! Notice that critical people over time always criticize all leaders and everyone around them! They are gossiping to you now, then they will gossip about you later!

Whether the leader is like John or Jesus, hard or soft, whether he is demanding the people do things for their selves or he does them for them, it does not matter. The discontent critic will always justify their selves and find fault in the other person and never find faults within their own selves. People with no personal peace with God always bring conflict!

Expose the critics in your homelife amongst your own family as well! The truly holy and loving people who often do the most good are quite often attacked the most and made fun of the most by others as the gullible ones doing favors. The critical ones are really the bad ones though as they accuse the good ones of being stupid, impossible, or evil a demon! It is like Cain and Able, the bad one hates the fact that the other one (brother) is authentically good and they want to pull you down to their level!   

Do you have the conviction to just be happy in Jesus now? Pray to stop the habit of having the unhappy critical attitude. Do something positive, don’t just run your mouth, get involved and help fix it! Show mercy & love as Jesus did over & over!

Will you accept the authority of Jesus leadership style of love and mercy and of doing good to sinners without the criticisms? Many of you here have a true love from God in your hearts and have proof of this love and made many friends, while others who often have sour comments seem to not have many friends. Ask yourself; am I critical of too many things? Am I harsh always wanting to see others punished? Pray and ask God to help you to be merciful as you want mercy, loving as you want love, and submissive to authority as you desire respect as well. 

The Church: Attack or Retreat? Lessons from the Past

The Church: Attack or Retreat?  Lessons from the Past            Kelly Durant 3-3-13

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.   

2. Many times we have heard jokes about St. Peter being at the gate of heaven asking questions of those that arrive in order to be allowed into heaven. The premise of these jokes is that Peter decides who gets in and who doesn’t because he holds the keys to heaven and hell. This is a false idea that has been coined for a long time.  All we need to do is look at Revelation to know that it is Jesus who holds the keys of heaven and hell. Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. He also says he gives eternal life in John 10:28. 

The verse of today is quite a loaded verse. I could focus in on Peter, or I could focus in on the rock, or what is the church. Or I could highlight how heaven prevails against hell or I could focus in on the gates of hell. Let’s focus first on the gates of hell but just to clear a few things up, Jesus is the rock (the cornerstone as described in Romans 9:31-33) and it is Jesus who has the keys to heaven and hell, not Peter. Keys to the kingdom implies some authority but not totally.

3. In verse 19 Jesus gave to Peter authority to bring into God’s kingdom souls, to preach and win converts forever, but he was not given authority over who governs the eternal death in hell of souls, or who has eternal life. Peter is not heaven and hell’s gate keeper, Jesus is!

 Matt 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

4. Peter, and every Christian, has some measure of control over their future in heaven, so that if you bind your sins and live holy on earth, you retain that eternally in heaven. Or if loose and free yourself from sins, when you die, you keep that state of freedom forever. Your role in helping another do the same is your part of bringing on the kingdom of heaven.  Basically, it is Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Peter’s nickname was Petras; he was as stubborn as a rock at times but also a good student. He had just affirmed that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus with a play of words then makes it clear that God’s people would have a rock foundation for the church, and symbolically Jesus was referred to Himself. Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone. Peter is a rock, but not “the” rock.

5. Jesus example of how the church should be governed was of one in that is in action, one that goes on the attack. In other words hell would be shaking in their boots from all the souls being won for God because of the blitz tactics of the disciples travelling from town to town preaching the “good news” and then escaping on to preach some more somewhere else. 

The idea that Jesus had was that hell would be shaking scared of the Christians message being preached in the world to the lost souls who would gladly trade God’s kingdom over the gates of hell but instead today we have many churches shaking scared feeling they are under attack.  They have their doors closed tight not letting in any new members for fear that Satan is going to corrupt them! Christians afraid of the world are happy just to be inside their comfortable rooms on Sunday but the church is not intended to be a barricade of defense; the church must be a front line of offensive in the battle front! Peter won 5,000 not in a building but in the city!

6. Now I want to bring in some geographical information to supplement the historical cultural context of this profound statement from our Lord Jesus that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” To understand this better, return to verse 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

7. Where was Jesus preaching? At Caesarea Philippi. When we were in the area of Caesarea Philippi in Israel we went just a couple of miles outside the city to an area called the Grotto of Pan. It is an opening to a cave that had the official name of “The Gates of Hell.”  Beginning in the 3rd century B.C., human sacrifices, in particular young virgins, were cast into the cave as offerings to the god Greek god Pan.  The victims were thrown into the cave and they would fall into a drop off inside where they would die crashing on the rocks below inside and then their blood would flow out in the river stream in front. Horrible the practices of these people, right?

This large cave that was the center of pagan worship in the region and Pan, the half-man half-goat god of fright and he was honored in this Satanic manner. He was often depicted playing the flute.  In English we get the "panic" from pan, and of course taking the life of innocents does invoke fear and panic. This town just down the road was known as Panias in antiquity but the name changed in the Arabic language to its modern day name of Banias. 

8. Now that I described the area for you, and the customary horrible practices of the people of that region, do you see why Jesus chose the words “Gates of Hell?” He may have been preaching to his disciples very close to that cave, just right outside the city even speaking at the very moment they were practicing their horrific satanic rituals. 

The gates of hell are open wide as Jesus stated before, yet narrow is the path that leads to eternal life. If we do not take seriously the destruction of people’s bodies and souls from the erroneous things they worship, then we will never appreciate what salvation, and eternal life, truly means. Jesus gave his disciples, and that applies to all his followers, authority to “storm the forts of darkness and bring them down.” (as we sing in the Salvation Army)

9. It is our task as Christians to expose the evil in the community and those who bring the gates of hell to us and our children! Those who steal and commit fraud, that do  crime in gangs, those who practice witchcraft, or sell drugs, or porn, or pimping prostitutes, these followers of Satan should be angry at us because we are exposing them and preaching Jesus converting the souls of their victims! We must keep on with our prayer marches and evangelism, it is our job! We must keep the attack up! The gates of hell should be trembling! 

10. The way this spiritual war works is that either the good is on the attack and winning, or the evil is carrying out the attacks and defeating the good. One is on the offensive, and the other is on the defensive. It is our job to be on the offensive. Sadly, we have seen this country fall into a state of remission; Christians are being corralled into their churches and told to practice their own faith privately without bothering anyone else. Christians as well are made fun of by the media as ignorant radicals! The lies, deceptions, and attacks on Christians are at an all-time high by the liberal press, the liberal colleges, and the liberal government.  

I do not want us to ever be guilty of hiding our faith, of knowing to do good but then be sinning by not doing it! More than ever we must be prepared with an answer to reply to whoever attacks us over our faith.

11. Jesus knew that no one could win a defensive war! When the Jews mixed with the Romans in pre-Jesus time in Israel, they later started taking over to the point that the Jews responded defensively too late. They could not do an offensive attack so they closed their selves in in Jerusalem and they barely survived for 2 years until finally the Romans broke in and killed most of them and destroyed the Great Temple that Herod built. Solomon’s temple was destroyed several centuries earlier and now a second time they lose their magnificent temple.

12. Do you recall how Jesus said that no one stone would be left? Matthew 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. That prophecy happened in 70 AD. That was when all of Jerusalem was burned to the ground by the Romans and the Jews in Israel were scattered all over every continent. This was the great diaspora or the dispersing of the Jews throughout all the continents. Only loose stones are there today.

13.But a few Jews and their families escaped in the region and they fled to a high plateau fortress constructed by Herod called Masada and barricaded their selves inside. This was easy to do because there was only one way up and that was by a winding stairway about 20 stories high. How many of you know this story as told by Josephus the historian?

14. Then what happened? Again the Roman pride could not permit any one to rebel and get away with it so Flavius Silva marched from Rome with a regiment of men they and camped out for 3 years at the bottom of the cliff while his army built a ramp and a tower in order to invade the city in 70 AD. The people survived on pigeons and stored grains but when they knew the Romans would come they took a drastic decision the night before the invasion was sure to happen. 

The Jewish people had no escape and rather than allowing the children to be slaves, see the women be raped and killed, and the men die by the Roman swords, they all took an oath, as an act of heroism to kill their own selves! There was a mass suicide of 960 people. 

15. This tragedy in history in 73 AD proves a point, that if the enemy can surround you and you cannot fight back, then you might end up with no options like the ones in Masada. This is a sad lesson in history and we, as a Christian church, must keep the offensive going. We need leaders, men and women with conviction to always be ready to defend our faith in Jesus.

The Salvation Army started out as a movement taking the church preaching and literature to the streets seeking to save men’s souls. The offensive method worked! The movement preaching near the bars and brothels grew so fast that it is amazing to consider TSA can be found in most all US cities and in most major cities around the world only 150 years later.

16. The challenge today for each of us is how attacking are you? Do others who are unjust and sinful feel intimidated when you are around? Do others know you will speak up and attack the modern day gates of hell?  It takes conviction and courage, but when we are reminded of all of Satan’s works, how horribly he loves to destroy lives, then you get the conviction to preach His love and salvation like never before.

When a person visits a SA rehab or shelter, as many of you have, you get reminded of how sin destroys people’s lives, you see 30 year olds appear as 60, you see how people lose all to an addiction, a vice, or a sin. That may not be the case for everyone as some people are victims of circumstances beyond their control but to see others suffering does make you wake up. You can see where Satan has attacked and won a victory. It makes you sad, mad, and convicted. 

17. And in India and many other countries the child sex slave trade is alive and real for millions, so the destruction of innocent people in reality continues, but just in a different way from how the Greeks and Romans did it. The SA is active there helping many to escape.

Are you going to stand up for your faith no matter what? If you look closely at the lives of the faithless you will see they always leave behind a trail of pain and destruction. Our mission is to save others from their own destructive selves and from others who like Satan, try to control and manipulate and own souls for their own selfish gain. We free people to live heavenly lives.

Come now and pray for someone you know is oppressed. Pray to become solid like the rock. Pray to go on the attack and never get yourself on the defensive. The more holiness you have the more power from God. When someone makes fun of your Christian faith and attacks you, do what Jesus did to the hypocrites, he attacked them back! Our faith is worth defending! When you compare our church with so many others like I have seen lately, we live a very blessed life!

The War On Jesus: Expose The Hypocrisy of Haters

The War On Jesus: Expose The Hypocrisy of Haters                                 Kelly Durant

Matthew 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

2. How many of you can say, “I love Jesus”? Now imagine a person with a knife or sword on your neck saying, “Say that one more time and you die!” Would you say it again? I pray I would remain faithful and say, “I love Jesus!” because the alternative would be to have to live with your own humiliated wretched soul submitting to another person’s murderous erroneous imposition of who or what they believe god is! (Satan inspires murder!) This life or death decision to renounce or confess Jesus has been the case for countless millions of Christians ever since Jesus came to earth! We never know when this type of horrific persecution may come to our doors, this is why we must rally the troops and let out a “war cry” for Jesus to keep proclaiming righteousness, love, salvation, and God’s will for humanity.

The name of Jesus has power and His name invokes love, healing, or comfort but in the case of demons who hear His name, His name invokes hate, violence, and fear! Some people cannot stand to hear Jesus’ name because it makes them very uncomfortable or offended. When someone is offended or uncomfortable, doesn’t that beg the question as to why? Why are some people offended to hear His name? Doesn’t their premise of prejudice seem absurd, futile, and infantile? 

What could ever be the cause for an offense with the name of Jesus? Why is there a war on Jesus every Christmas and a war on Him throughout the year, year after year? Is hatred and prejudice against Him an idea that one’s parents taught? Why are the so called “tolerant” people not “tolerant” referring to Jesus? It’s very hypocritical, right? Is rejection of Jesus something that other religions teach? If so, why? Or also, is it the fact that Jesus’ Holy name can invoke a feeling of dirtiness and guilt in the soul with sin? But once a soul is clean, the name of Jesus fills the soul with an in indescribable joy! True, right?

3. Let’s look at the scripture today. Jesus makes it clear that the whole world, all the nations, would be persecuting us, the Christians, for proclaiming His name, the name of Jesus, when the time of the end is near (context of the chapter). Persecution, execution, and the murder of Christians started happening ever since the original apostles preached Jesus and these atrocities against humanity and these innocent holy messengers continues on today. Innocent men, women, and children are murdered in horrible fashions, so what does that tell you about the Christ haters? I thank God I will not have hell to pay for killing one of God’s children! “No murderer has eternal life!” I John 3:15

The first persecutions after Jesus presence were carried out by the Jews, Romans, and Greeks. Paul’s answer to them responding to their persecutions and errors of misjudgments is recorded in the New Testament.  Basically the Jews hated Jesus because He was not the Messiah they had hoped for granting to them world dominance. The ruling class Jews at that time instead of being a pure holy people perfected to rule the world were rather an arrogant corrupted breed whose murderous sins were exposed by Jesus. Jesus name represents humility, love, and sacrifice which is everything the Jews did not want anything to do with. They were extreme hypocrites, and they were warned of losing heaven. Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

The Romans and Greeks were extremely proud of their dominating wealth, power, and intelligence as well. They were offended by Jesus’ name and teachings because He represented the opposite of the arrogant values their culture was trying to impose on others. Jesus was simplicity, modesty, and His adoration was not to men or to strange invented gods but rather to the one and only Father God Jehovah. Jesus name represents purity, and the arrogant impure do not want to be reminded of their impurity. Basically Jesus rejecters then and now are hypocrites as they believe they are superior to Him and His followers foolishly believing that they are gods while they actually are inferior nobodies as their non-altruistic actions and selfish indulgent life-style reveals their carnal self-absorbed debauchery. 

4. There is and always has been a war on Jesus, a war even on just saying His name! But Jesus still has 2 billion followers today because His name has power! In His name miracles do happen, people do get healed, and horrible destructive people get saved and get a complete life change with a new purpose! The Salvation Army’s drug and alcohol rehab centers yearly turn out thousands of transformed men and women freed from their chains of addictions because of the transformative power of Jesus’ name! The evidence of Jesus effect on others cannot be denied! The demons of this world war against Him incessantly! These demons are in high places in society and maybe within your own family!

Consider this as well, how can anyone with sane logic claim that they are offended by the innocent baby Jesus at Christmas or any other time for that matter? How stupid to be afraid and offended by the influence of a baby born in poverty over 2,000 years ago, right? But King Herod was afraid of baby Jesus to the point that he had all the babies in Bethlehem killed! Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. 

Imagine, even right after Jesus is born He is getting persecuted! It is obvious the demonic forces in the world were out to destroy Jesus from the start.  The irony and hypocrisy is that Jesus was honored, worshipped, and supported financially by several kings from faraway lands yet He was almost killed by a king from His own land.

5. Let’s continue on with the hypocrisy present in people who are “offended” by Jesus globally and throughout history. Look at the rise of Communism in the past 100 years; these indoctrinating teachings are specific to hating Christians and Jesus while in general disregarding other world religions. The communists in Russia and China murdered dozens of millions of their own people who were Christian hoping to eliminate Jesus name and His followers. Did they succeed? Obviously not, as millions still exist in their nations despite this war or “religicide”. There is mystical invincible power in Jesus name that people refuse to let go of even in the face of death!

Egomaniac despotic leaders specifically hate Jesus because they look at Him as competition for adoration. How ridiculous for any man to exalt himself as a god to the extreme measure that they want to be worshipped so badly that they give the orders to kill anyone worshipping Jesus and not them. To proclaim God and Jesus above all powers is an obstacle an offence to those who want totalitarian control and adoration. Jealous hypocrite murderers of innocent Jesus worshippers are insanely controlled by demons! 

Satan inspired Communism as the perfect political doctrine to appear to be more compassionate than Jesus and God’s people taking from the rich to give to the poor. God’s design is for Jesus followers to share all things in love as the first disciples did as in Acts 2:44-45. Communism is a violently enforced governance imitating the compassion of God for the poor yet their murderous record of corruption killing over 100 million this past century proves that men without Jesus are a total murderous terrors.

6. What provokes this? “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Hate breeds murder. This part of the verse implies the persecution of those dedicated to Jesus will increase. In other words, the increased division will come between cultures, societies, races, and people, and in particular against those who confess Jesus within these class groups. Families will divide! Matthew 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

To get to this horrible point there must be an obvious increasing climate of intolerance to work up to it getting people to hate one another to the extreme. It seems logical that intolerance, being a conditioned response generated by educational/media/governmental perpetrators with anti-God agendas, are preparing the ground on all levels to finally bring it all to a climax to the level of attacking all Jesus followers. And how hypocritical that the intolerant ones demand tolerance?! This defies logic, common sense, and our inherent desire to give and receive respect implying hypocritical people are very blind in their reasoning! 

We see this hatful conditioned reaction already at work in societies today as it is not acceptable (And who determines what is acceptable?!) and legally tolerable to reject certain groups of people while at the same time it is hypocritically acceptable to hate and even rejoice over the defamation and even murder of certain other ones. Persecuted groups today include the whites, the police, the rich, and Christians. The hypocrisy is that Christians who teach the opposite of hate are hated, those that teach to love your neighbor as yourself are too frequently not loved back, defended, and given refuge! 

7. How is it that Satan and his demons are getting away with the blatant hypocrisy of defending evil ones and persecuting innocent ones through his rulers in high places without getting called out on it by the majority? The majority always get silenced by the minority in power until the pot boils over. Sadly, people ignorant of the Bible are being indoctrinated with the total opposite stances of dozens of the laws and statutes in the Bible.  As Jesus described it, the “blind are leading the blind!” 

People are aggressively subliminally and overtly being indoctrinated by certain sectors of the government, by the mainline liberal universities, by the fake news media sources, and by family members void of logic and reason. The bottom line is to get you in the general populous  to reject Jesus while at the same time embrace absurd political correctness and evil postures which implode societies (secularism). There are many world faiths but most are not invading nations for the pleasure of killing in the name of their god, so why the push to tolerate murderous teachings and practice?! 

We are living in the time that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 10:21 “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.” What a horrible betrayal it is to kill your own blood who sacrificed for you and loved you! This pattern of betrayal runs in cycles under dictatorial rule. It happened under Rome, then under the rule of Medieval Kings, then under Communism and Fascism, and now it is rising again but empowered by religious extremists, terrorists, and specifically Christ-haters.

8. Who are the haters of Jesus today? Many nations contain mega millions of fanatics who hate Jesus!  Here is a web link so you understand the magnitude of those who get crazy violent over hearing the name of Jesus. Christmas is offensive to many, did you know that?  http://www.radixnews.com/2014/11/29/imam-saying-merry-christmas-worse-murder-video/

In this life knowing what we know now of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, purity, and eternal life in this post first Christmas era, we face the fact every soul on earth is offered a chance to accept, love and obey Jesus, or face the alternative which would be to lived cursed with hypocrisy and hate that which continues from now on into forever. Philippians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth 

Matthew 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. The implication is that the accepters of Jesus are blessed yet those who are offended in Jesus live cursed! And take a good look at the haters of Jesus today, they have nothing to be desired or envied. Current theocratic societies impose horrific abuses and have some of the poorest people in the world. Jesus offers all his followers love, respect, purpose, and value, while Jesus haters are just pawns in the machinery of agendas that offer slavery, carnality, oppression, hate, and reprehensible violent actions. Haters are violent disturbed souls, killers whose spirits will be chained in hell forever judged for their deeds. Jude 1. 

9. The Kingdom of God is at war with the kingdoms of darkness of this world! Jesus is the embodiment of all that is good and pure and the mention of His name turns a light on exposing the darkness in the evil, hypocritical, hearts of people.   John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Jesus gave the commandment for us to take to the world his love, salvation, and light to all. Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”.  Christmas is the best time of the year to have opportunity to retell the story of Jesus. What a beautiful story with angels communicating goodwill towards poor men, with a pure virgin giving birth to a humble child, with kings and shepherds worshipping Him, all of them setting the example for all to know for all generations to come. 

This is not offensive, this is beautiful! But some people turn Christmas into an insult to Jesus denying children the Christ in Christmas. Many people teach hatred for Jesus by replacing Him with anything else! 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

10. The world is on a collision course of self-destruction because people are creating war in the spirit and war in the flesh over what offends them! Some people are offended by certain foods, some by certain religions, some by certain politics, but the real sin is to be offended by Jesus! 

Matthew 18:7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! When I learn that my witness of Jesus offends someone do I back down? No! I am changed from being who I was, I cannot deny how Jesus changed me and my resolve to witness His great love in my life! No other person who ever lived accomplished what Jesus did: the conquering of death to bring resurrection to all who believe on Him! I love Jesus for the positive transformation He has given my life! And anyone can have His love and power!  

Don’t worry about offenses in the world, they never end! Worry about offending God by rejecting Jesus, His Son, which is the maximum expression of His love! When you die, will Jesus have been first in your life? John 1:12 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:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The faithful will have a crown of life to rule and reign with Him, but all haters will reap what they have sewn! Come pray and receive Jesus, and then proclaim Him forever! 

    

 

What Christian Soldiers Battle

What Christian Soldiers Battle            Kelly Durant (Re 9-2026)

 

2 Tim 2:3-4 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs, he wants to please his commanding officer.

 

2. In the trench warfare of WWI each side would make long trenches and no one could pass from one side to the other. The reason? Every time someone put their head up to try and run to attack, they would get shot at! The land between ally and enemy trenches was coined, “no man’s land” as no one could be there without getting shot! That is the way our enemy, Satan operates. As long as you stay comfortable in your trench, the enemy doesn’t bother you! But when you come out and go on the attack and get some victories for Jesus, exposing the sins destroying your life and those in the world, then is when he attacks you. Be brave! Know that these attacks come in different ways.

 

As Christians we are God’s soldiers and the only way to fight this war on the evil that would destroy you and others is to be disciplined! What is our discipline? Being faithful one day at a time! This includes daily prayer, the study of the Word of God, obeying it and proclaiming Jesus as the Savior and commander over all souls! Faithfulness is what wins the victories! 

 

3. So, Christian soldiers, when you have a hard time standing for your Commanding Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, remember, when you are weak and can’t seem to get up, then you should kneel! Kneel and get strength from outside yourself! Prayer works! 

 

Remember also you are not in this war alone and there are more than 1 million Salvation Army Soldiers in the world! Plus, statistics reveal there are more than two billion Christians standing up for Jesus too! In this Church Center everyone does pray and we care for each other to win against evil. 

 

I sincerely hope all of you are praying for each other when needed. If you are a friend and a help to someone, be faithful! We must be communicating, and supporting and loving each other and encouraging a friend when they are down, doubtful, or weak. In the same way soldiers watch out for each other in the trenches, you here are all in this one big trench together. The enemy never stops shooting at us so remain strong and courageous, persistent, patient, and keeping your eyes on the victory to come.  

 

4.  The Salvation Army uniform can be taken as symbolic while being in service to Jesus! This unique uniform indicates to the world we are dressed for war against evil; the destruction Satan wants to bring in our lives. Meditate on how Paul compares us to being fighting soldiers.   Eph 6:12-18

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.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 

5. These are the classic verses on being prepared for battle and it was the uniform of the Roman Soldier in Jesus’ time. We must pay attention to these verses and do what it says or we might get a hit in a weak spot and it will take months or years to heal if it doesn’t kill you! Eternal security requires eternal vigilance! Recognize it when negative thoughts come into your head, your battle is spiritual.

 

Picture yourself wearing a uniform in battle. It identifies you as representing the Kingdom of God and note, we are a saving army! We are at war with evil! Just as a firefighter in his uniform is prepared to fight fires, just as a policeman identifies himself as the keeper of the law, we as Christian Soldiers represent the fight for righteousness, holiness, and love serving suffering ones who are our neighbors! Being in the world without a Christian’s protection can get you killed!

 

Most of all, a Christian soldier represents our Commander and Chief, Jesus Christ! Every day we fight for what is right! Even in heaven we will have a pure white uniform to wear reflecting the light and purity of God! So, a uniform on earth is actually a good practice for wearing one in heaven!

 

6. As you know we do not train to fight with a rifle or a gun, we train to fight the enemy with the sword of the word of God, quoting scripture to the enemy, and after being resisted, the tempter will flee from us! James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We are the rebels, the resistance, the beloved fighters of God!

 

In the verses in Timothy, we see that we are to endure hardships, as the soldiers of the world do, for our Lord Jesus Christ. And when you think about when Paul was writing, the Romans had a very strict code of conduct, and they would march on foot for months carrying heavy metal armor and they suffered many hardships! Much worse than what anyone of us experience! The soldiers of the world get their spirits and bodies broken, but the soldiers of the Lord get their spirits and bodies healed and regenerated!

 

Never despise your time here in the training camp! It is way more less dangerous than what the Soldiers of the world have to endure. 

Today we will cover three basic battles or hardships a Christian Soldier faces; The one with Satan in your head within yourself; the one with those close, your family & friends; and the one with the evil people of the world.

 

7. One of the first attacks, how our accuser and adversary confronts us, is with discouragement in our minds! You and I may be doing good for a while happy with Jesus, just like many that first arrive, but Satan, the tempter, will get into our head and feed any weak one with pride that you deserve better, or attack you over the opposite, over your failures, wounding you with discouragement.  He tells you… look at you, you are a failure or he will say you are powerful and don’t need this, and either extreme of exaltedness or debasement of your self is not of God. 

 

Often you and I are either tempted to think we do not need God since we are so smart, or we are tempted to think that there is no hope in God. It is human to be subject to prideful thoughts or on the flip side to feel abandonment, depression, and rejection! You know very well you are a sinner but hating on yourself, or on anyone else over past sin makes you destructive to yourself and to others! Satan always schemes to destroy and tries to make you confused in your mind, which will make you sick in your spirit, which will make you sick in your body as well! 

 

So how will you get the will to fight from God then? You must yell in your mind and with words when needed, “Get behind me Satan! I claim the blood of Jesus! I resist you in the name of Jesus who liberates me! I am not the man I used to be, I am a new man in God!”

 

 

8. 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

 

You must repeat to Satan, “I am God’s child”! You are God’s now since Jesus died for you to have eternal life! Any sin that you or I may have, Jesus has cleaned us from it! Pray, Jesus, heal my body, mind, and broken heart!

 

So, the first battles with most Christians begins with your own evil self and discouragement; but remember Jesus will get the victory if you’re getting your encouragement from the Word of God, pray and get others to pray with you too, and you let God work as you do your part! 

 

9. Battle two: With others, you will have to be tough with those closest to you, with those people in your life, and with those in your family.

Matt 10:34-36

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother-in-law.

36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

 

When you live as a true Soldier for Jesus Christ, doing what is correct, pure, and Godly, you will get enemies without even trying! In both Regina and my families there are some people that have no desire whatsoever to see us because they know that we love God, and mostly talk about the Bible, and since they love the things of the world more than the spiritual things, they do not want us around them making them feel uncomfortable. In this battle you will lose some friends and family, but you will gain other friends and family that are more helpful and loving than the ones you had before! 

 

This church Corps, and all true churches, are like family! But sometimes there are brothers and sisters who say and do things in their carnal nature, not praying over their words, and they can confuse you if you do not have your eyes on Jesus! Never focus on the words of some weak or ungodly person, focus on the lover of your soul, Jesus!

 

Remember, people may fail you, some soldiers even go AWOL, but Jesus, He is a friend forever! Be prepared to face bad experiences sometimes, it is a part of the battle. But God answers prayers, and blesses those who remain dedicated, pure, loving, and patient!  Those who get off the trail, like the stray sheep, usually get hurt falling in some rocky ditch. Jesus, the shepherd, has pulled you out of the ditch already so stay close to Him.  

 

10. And finally battle number 3, you will have war with the evil people of the world!

When the people who practice sin and do evil see peace and love in your face and eyes, and they witnessed your transformation from a defeated man into an honorable one, it makes them angry and you may get attacked for proving God regenerates us. Remember how the hypocrites wanted to kill Jesus! Some people want to see everybody sour and bitter, and angry at the world like they are! Never go down to their level! Live in peace, turn the other cheek and move on, but don’t let them destroy yourfaithfulness! When needed rebuke them in Jesus’ name! 

 

As Christian soldiers we have contrasting mindsets with those in the world and when we expose them then we are engaging in a spiritual war.

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

 

The evil ones of the world love deception, drugs, addictions, and destructions but..

  We love truth, liberation from dependency, and healing from the past

The evil ones in the world love death, and war, and perversions but…

  We love life, and peace, and children!

The evil ones in the world love exploitation, material wealth and pride but…

We love righteousness and justice for the poor, and we seek spiritual wealth, desiring humility!

The evil ones in the world love to accuse, condemn, hate and create scandal but…

   We love forgiveness, truth, and unity, and as the prostitute was forgiven by Jesus, we just let God’ Spirit take away the condemnation!

 

11.The values of the world, under its evil empires with its anti-Christian news outlets, promote anti-Biblical values constantly! Bottom line, Satan hates Christians with a passion and he is at war with every one of us! There is a very active war of propaganda to destroy all values of purity and love by all means possible. It is by the promotion of the acceptance of perverse sexual behavior, the stripping away of human rights under totalitarian politics, by addictions, sickness, and drugs, and by the demonization of the people of faith. There are continuous lying attacks on good people all the time and it all comes from the evil powers that control behind the scenes. 

 

Satan exalts everything that is totally diametrically opposed to God’s values insulting Jesus and all Christians. So, take note, a person never wins a defensive war! We all must speak out for God and His love, defending his wise basic principles that produce respect and dignity through the high standards of values fighting for the right! We fight for strength of spirit!

 

The Lord wants absolute love, dedication, and loyalty and His Kingdom! And God is the only One who is worthy of fighting for! The very first commandment is to… Love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind! And love your neighbor as yourself!

 

12. We are all blessed to be representing, as soldiers, Jesus the King of Kings! You have a Commander that is all loving, all forgiving, all-powerful, and he knows where you will best serve Him, and you must serve Him with honor.  You and I must battle the enemy and obey His call! But if we do not choose to be governed by God, then we will end up being governed by some manipulating terrible person or by your own abusive, destructive self! 

 

Just think how many people are stuck on this earth all of their lives as slaves to evil men and not to God! And a slavery to addictions is also a real issue! Satan loves to enslave every person with vices, crimes, temptations and sins, creating a sick body, mind, and spirit! Today we all are given an opportunity to serve the true God like never before and live blessed and free! 

 

We must fight with the truth to free the souls of men and or they will have hell to pay! You have to fight to keep your own soul and body strong in the Lord!   Philippians 2:12

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

You are the chosen ones to represent your Lord in battle, so march forward to the prize of the high calling of God! Prayer…

Hypocrisy! A Consistent Plague in Society

 

Hypocrisy! A Consistent Plague in Society                                 by Kelly Durant   10-11-2012

Matthew 15 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,² Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.³ But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?⁴ For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.⁵ But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;⁶ And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.⁷ Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,⁸ This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.⁹ But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.¹⁰ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand¹¹ Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.¹² Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?¹³ But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.¹⁴ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

 You have been around little kids when they fight, right? I recall a when my kids were little I don’t’ recall whose kids we were with but a big fight started up with tears and anger and screaming. We were discussing the move to Miami. One of the kids, jealous of the other, said, “No, it’s mine! It is not your “ami”, it is “my” “ami”, you shut up it is not yours, it is mine! LOL! The boy did not even know what they were talking about, he just wanted to be sure no one could have it but him! You can’t say “my” because it is mine!

Human nature is terrible! Everyone lives out the injustices of selfishness and hypocrisy repeated over and over in all societies throughout history. Everyone is so fast to attack and defend their miserable little piece of the world and so ready to fight anyone who threatens to take anything away. We must open our eyes to the fact we have an increased hypocrisy affecting our world. Hypocrisy is calling another person evil, selfish, and abusive when the real evil one is the one accusing!

In society all of us observe the hypocritical politicians, abusive bosses, disobedient children, unloving spouses, and compromised preachers. These are people who will suddenly explode and go on a verbal attack on others when they perceive that someone is discovering their schemes. They use their own convincing words to try to win you and anyone over to their way, (and it is their way or the highway) but once you see through them, you then feel taken advantage of, violated, dirty, defiled, and cheated!

How many of you have ever been used or taken advantage of? 

Let’s get into the scripture in Matt. 15. The Pharisees were a religious sect of the Jews, an authority that had set their selves up as the ones who could determine who had sin and who didn’t according to their interpretation of God’s word. They could with the law of God, justify an guilty person, or condemn an innocent one, like the lawyers of today can.  

In this case, Jesus and the disciples are gaining too much attention and admiration for their comfort. They decided they would attack the disciples in front of everyone and show once and for all that Jesus and his dirty band of followers were sinners and nor worthy of anyone’s respect. They wanted to prove how they were violating tradition; something they exalted was as sacred as the law. Their scheme backfired.

What did Jesus prove with his comments about honoring father and mother? He exposed how not washing your hands is not near as bad as the things they practiced! Let’s travel back to the conditions of his time. Back then there is no such thing as a social security check! There is no welfare from the government, there are no Salvation Army shelters caring for the homeless or elderly, it is a survival of the fittest type society. When you got old, sick, or disabled the only solution for you was starvation since you could not work!

The law of God was originally intended to be a solution to man’s injustice to man and there was a provision to help the elderly, it was that of honoring your father and mother. This law implied you would financially take care of them until they passed on. So what were the Pharisees teaching by tradition? That if you wanted to give a one-time gift you could be absolved from this law and be free. Be free from your responsibility for your parents?! How selfish is that!

 It basically was a provision that totally violated the original intent of the law. The law was strict demanding honor. As a matter of fact, anyone caught cursing his parents were put to the death, a penalty by stoning. So, let’s understand it; their traditions allowed for you to go to them, the Pharisees, and declare your gift and then abandon your parents knowing that they might starve to death?  Do you see how this is a thousand times worse than eating without washed hands?

Jesus then reminds them of the hypocrisy in the time of Isaiah, how the ones who should be loving God and others, defending the poor, and providing justice for the people were instead hypocrites providing for their own selfish ambitions of power and goods. 

We must examine our own hearts! We do not want to reap the punishments of the hypocritical Pharisees! Jesus had mercy on all of humanity but he did not have saving words for the hypocrites, only rebukes and judgment! May the Lord help us to expose hypocrisy amongst ourselves, within our own selves, and within our community’s governing bodies. In heaven there will be no hypocrisy so may the Lord help us to rid it within ourselves, amen!