Tag: Christianity

“Simply Jesus”/ Prophetic Poetry

Path Without End

20190824_141511 “Simply Jesus”

His words were simple: “Follow Me.”

A love for simplicity.

Trappings, trappings all around! Fig leaves, fig leaves on the ground!

Trapped in the trappings of our modern ways!

Complexity of Christianity!

What happened to His simple words?

Shed the fig leaves to the ground!

Scatter the money all around!

Throw the programs to the wind!

Make things simple once again!

Come Holy Spirit, fix my heart.

Where is the simplicity? For this certainly is not.

Trappings of complexity. Trappings of Christianity.

Come out my people.

Come to the still waters, my green pastures, my paths of righteousness.

My simple ways.

“Follow Me.”

My peace.

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“Adam & Eve & shades of grey” #2

Path Without End

8e4e89f2frevolution2017_png.0 This would seem to be a mock photo of what they wanted to do, and temporarily had permission to do. R-Evolution. Is it time for Eve to lead? Will the female goddesses rise over the male gods? Will Ashtoreth lead Baal? Will Gaia lead Uranus? Will Adam and Eve lose another garden? Will life for Christians in America become a jungle of survival as it did for Adam and Eve on that day they lost the garden? Or do we go silent? No longer testify of Christ? Lay down our Sword and surrender? Become ashamed of our Lord, and His Word?

How can the church stand if the Bible falls? How can the Bible defend itself against accusations of sexism and genderism? Will our faith and our beliefs still be protected by our Constitution? Or is the day coming when Socialism takes over and a so called “hate crime” has more clout than a man’s faith? What happens when the word of Gaia is more accepted than the Word of God?

What will happen is, the “true” will be proven, the church will be purified, the fake will drift away as surely as a morning fog lifts. As the grey leaves, so will the false Christians, because when all things become black and white, the grey can no longer hide you. The church will be real again, but only through much fire and testing. It will involve great suffering. Then the power of God will show up again. Gaia/ Mother Earth will be judged and REPLACED. The real Creator of all will create again!

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (Rev.21:1-2)

But were not there yet. We’re more like here. This would be a trademark of Gaia. > > “They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God CREATED instead of the CREATOR HIMSELF, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.” (Romans 1:25-26a)

The scriptures go on to speak about homosexuality and burning in lust for each other. Dark minds knowing no shame. Gaia will not have the shame Eve had, as she worships Mother Earth, claiming her to be creator of all.

“At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.” (Gen. 3:7)

There is a fire in that picture above. I must admit, I’m not looking forward to the purifying fires of persecution, but I am preparing for it, and I’m not talking about a “bug-out” site. My treasure is my soul and my God. There will be those God will use in a mighty way during this time. How can we prepare?

Can this flood be pushed back for another time? Only if the church can get back to the standard, and I’m not seeing it. Politics may buy us a little time, but politics is not the answer.

“When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” (Isa. 59:19b)

God looks for a man to stand in the gap, but when no man can be found, when the church no longer is able to hold that standard, then God Himself will need to show up. Can we get back to the standard? Is there a new wine flowing and a new wine skin? I pray there is!

When God spoke to Gideon, the first thing he had him do was tear down the altar of Baal at his father’s house, and also cut down the wooden image representing Baal’s wife, Asherah, a Canaanite goddess! She has gone by many names down through time, but she has never gone away! And she is here today in a big way!

The gods of fertility were always about power, riches, and sex! There were temple prostitutes for men to worship the gods through having sex. Baal was connected to sun worship and prosperity…abundance! How much love of money and prosperity is in the church? And there was the sacrifice of children! How many abortions take place every day in this country? How many in the church? God sees it all!

“Furthermore He said to me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.” (Ezek.8:6)

The whole of chapter 8 is about these idols in the temple! Tammuz is mentioned. Worship of the sun is mentioned. He declares they do this in the dark, in secret, and they think God does not see them! But God sees all and he has seen the condition of our temples today, our very bodies that have become the temple of God!

And so…by another strange coincidence…there are these “Burning Man” festivals in Black Rock Nevada, out in the desert, where many thousands attend for one week, and basically it looks like a lot of New Age, and Gaia, and some people not wearing much clothes, and they also build a temple (of sorts), and they close the festival by burning the temple and the statue representing the man. There are plenty of videos you can google on all this.

Adam has made a lot of mistakes and Eve is ready to have her turn. Adam has been very violent and dominant, and Eve is ready to have her turn. But in the eyes of Gaia, Christianity is a male dominant evil sexist and hater who stands in the way of her rise to a one world religion.

As I look at the tea leaves before us…if the church does not get back to the standard… the Green Movement will grow stronger and stronger… Socialism will grow stronger and stronger… Gaia worship will grow stronger and stronger…the rise of woman will grow stronger and stronger… homosexuality will grow stronger and stronger…violence will increase around the globe and truth and justice will fall in the streets. Only the truth of the violent will be heard, and the church in America will finally learn what real persecution is...because we dropped the standard…denied the power…grieved the Holy Spirit to the point of judgement!

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Eve is a true believer. her cause is righteous! There will be no reasoning with her.

“Yinney” Chapter 27

Path Without End

6000317729_e6e3d2bb13_b Bubba was stunned. “He fulfilled it,” he kept repeating over and over. No one had answered this before. At least not in a way that made any sense. Most had told him it was a progression God was taking man through, like a learning curve. When man failed to succeed in the first covenant, then God provided a better one. But this sloth was saying it was God’s plan all along! It was God’s plan for man to fail and God to fulfill? God said man would fail and then he fulfills? God did not replace the Old Covenant? It was perfect as it was? It was godly, of God, not a mistake?

Yinney added more at just the right time, “Not only did man fail over and over again, but he needed to fail, so he would finally realize he could never save himself. And even today people still believe they can be good enough and earn heaven. It is a salvation by works, not by love and grace. Even with all the evidence of the Old Testament records, and the history of human nature, man still thinks if his good out weighs his bad, he goes to heaven, but that is not the real problem. The real problem is, how can a person ever get rid of a single sin, except to be forgiven, by God? If you only sinned once in your whole life, how could that sin ever be gone?”

Yinney continued, “The question is not about how to be good enough, because we already know the answer is that we cannot! But the real question is, how do we have our sins forgiven and cast away into forgetfulness? How do we get free from even a single sin? Will prayer do it? Will a prayer wheel do it? Only God can decide if we are forgiven, and he decides the ground rules for that forgiveness. And that is what God made available to man, by faith in Christ, when he fulfilled the Old Covenant for us, and ushered in the New Covenant of faith and grace.”

Bubba was silent for a while before finally speaking again. “Your words are very profound,” he said. “I have always been interested in the prophetic. Can you give me an example of how you say, it was prophesied from the beginning that God would fulfill?”

“Oh yes!” Yinney almost shouted in his excitement. “I’ll give you two at the very beginning. So of course these will be Old Testament scriptures. As you know, the Hebrews say it all started with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, when they disobeyed God and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now they were no longer in a state of innocence, but had to be accountable for their sins. But God immediately begins to prophesy his future salvation when he is passing judgement, and they are about to be exiled from the garden.”

“When speaking to the snake, in Genesis 3:15, God tells the future when he says: ‘And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her off spring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.’ God speaks of a child to come, ‘He’; and ‘He’ will strike your head. Later prophecies even state ‘He’ will be a descendant of King David! And will be born in Bethlehem. It’s very specific.”

“I am aware that Jesus was known as the son of David,” Bubba acknowledged.

Another excellent historical event according to the Hebrews, is when God comes to their forefather, Abraham, and he tells Abraham they will enter into a Covenant, and he is to make the preparations. This is all recorded in Genesis 15. It starts in verse 9.

So Abraham makes all the preparations. Several animals was to be sacrificed and laid open for the ritual, a blood covenant. The strongest of covenants. But in verse 11, vultures begin trying to attack the carcasses and Abraham is fighting them off as he waits on God to appear! But in verse 12 we read the sun was going down and Abraham fell into a deep sleep! And a terrifying darkness came down over him! Had the Covenant depended on Abraham’s strength and ability to do good, it would have totally failed! Abraham believed, but he was weak in his flesh. So when God shows up he begins prophesying the future of the nation that will be born of him, Israel. And Abraham woke up in time to see a smoking firepot, and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. Jesus stood in that place for mankind, not Abraham. That’s verse 17.”

“Abraham would continue to have both failures and successes. The nation of Israel, and the descendants of Abraham, would continue to have both failures and successes. But in the appointed time, the prophesied Messiah himself was born, and he did not fail. He fulfilled the Old Covenant we continually fail, and he ushered in forgiveness of sin, and grace through his blood. Not the blood of animals. They could never pay for sin, but the blood of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ.”

Several monkeys started clapping as Yinney spoke those final words. They had been so transfixed by the story, that when the exciting conclusion was spoken, they were moved to applaud.

“It is a wonderful story,” Bubba said, “But we are not convinced of ‘soul’. We seek a Nirvana where the cycle of fleshly cravings and earthly pain is finally broken. We are no longer born again and again to go through this same cycle, because we have finally let go of all selfness, no permanent self. We successfully attain the Eight-fold path, and this earthly cycle finally ends.”

“Yes,” Yinney said. “Christianity is the only faith where salvation, or heaven, or Nirvana, is based not on our works. It is based on our faith and God’s love. You have your own form of perfection you strive for, and if you’re finally good enough, the cycle will finally end. You receive your release. Do you think you can ever be good enough, Bubba?”

Bubba countered with, “Do you think you can ever love enough?”

“No,” Yinney plainly stated. “I no longer have a sin debt, but I have a love debt I can never repay, and that is why I am so grateful to my God for a salvation of grace. The only faith of its kind.”

Yinney and Bubba talked well into the night before finally retiring. They did so in a fellowship of mutual respect. Only time would tell if Bubba would ever decide that perhaps it was true, he would never be good enough. And perhaps this God of grace and love would speak to him too.

Ecuadorian Howler Monkey 4

“Yinney” – Chapter 26

Path Without End

maxresdefault “What does your Hebrew Book teach about karma?” Bubba asked. And so it began, fellowship / communion around the discussion of faith, spirit, soul; things of an unseen and eternal nature.

“May we first pray for light?” Yinney asked.

“Light?” Bubba repeated as a question. The other monkeys hanging around looked up at the sky and light bleeding through the trees and scratched their heads.

“Yes, light,” Yinney repeated. “The first words God revealed himself by in the Hebrew scriptures was, ‘Let there be light.’ We seek enlightenment, do we not? God reveals himself as a God who gives light, but we should ask of him.”

The small congregation of monkeys looked at each other and shrugging their shoulders, decided that made sense.

“Oh, that kind of light!” Bubba said with enthusiasm. “Yes! Please do.”

Everyone bowed their heads and Yinney began. A hush fell over the area as he prayed a few simple words, “Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, according to your will as expressed in your very first words to us, ‘Let there be light.’ Amen.”

Everyone opened their eyes. Bubba spoke. “That is very interesting,” he said. “I never gave it much thought, but that ‘is’ God’s first written verbal words according to your ancient texts.”

“Yes… it is. What do you suppose that means?” Yinney asked.

Bubba was not slow to answer, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but as I recall, according to the Hebrews, God was creating everything, so he created the lights.”

“Yes,” Yinney confirmed, “But do you suppose that is the only kind of light God was referring to? Our Father is the God of all lights. Including the light of knowledge; to know and understand. Ignorance is a form of darkness and poverty. Our God wasted no time in revealing himself as the giver of light, not darkness.”

Hhmmm, that is very good. I like that,” Bubba said. “I had not thought of it before, that God might choose his first words in Genesis very carefully, realizing he could reveal himself at that moment in a very significant way.”

“Exactly,” Yinney agreed. “But I like your question about karma, because I have always been amazed how many people in all faiths believe in this spiritual principal. My faith also believes in ’cause and effect’. Do unto others as you would have done to you. In our ancient writings it is spoken of as ‘reaping what you sow’.  It is a spiritual law, much like the physical law of gravity, it automatically works, and is no respecter of persons. It shows no partiality. The rich will fall as quickly as the poor, and the predator as heavily as the leaf-eater.”

“Indeed, indeed,” Bubba said before quoting: “And here they say that a person consists of desires, and as his desire, so is his will; and as his will, so is his deed; and whatever deed he does, that he will reap.”

“Very well said,” Yinney complimented and Bubba smiled. “Good actions equals good karma, the Buddha says, correct?”

“Correct,” Bubba affirmed.

“So if there is good and bad intentions and actions, then does that not suggest there must be some form of right and wrong, moral ethics, personal judgement, a conscience, a sin and righteousness?” After dropping such a large question, Yinney slowly began reaching for his cup again, and the monkey with a watch started the stop-watch to time the action.

“Yes. We agree there is definitely right and wrong. Such as right intention, right speech, and right livelihood.”

“The Eight-Fold Path,” Yinney stated. “I have always loved the way Buddhism describes that path. I must confess, I’m very impressed with what the Buddha was able to discern in a time period before the Covenant of Christ. In a time when even God’s chosen people were living by God-given laws and rules.”

“Yes, the Ten Commandments,” Bubba acknowledged. “But why did God change his mind? Why did he need to replace his first covenant? Did he mess up? Did he make a mistake? Why did he have to make a better way if the first way was from an all-knowing and perfect God?”

The cup had finally reached Yinney’s lips even as three monkeys were now gathered around the monkey with the watch. They intently watched, expecting Yinney to drink, but no, first he made a comment, as the seconds quickly added up. Was Yinney about to set a new record they wondered?

“Ohhh, such a great question, Bubba! I look forward to answering that!” But then he began to sip his juice. Yes, conversation with a sloth required great patience, but as a Buddhist, Bubba had patience and viewed this as a good test of his mastery.

Now the monkeys were getting very excited indeed, as it appeared Yinney was going to set a new record. His previous longest “cup from saucer to lips and back again motion” was coming up fast, and the cup had not left his lips yet! The Howlers could not help themselves as they got so excited and began howling loudly!

Yes indeed a new record was set! The cup finally landed softly on the saucer and the monkey hit the stop button. Such clapping and applause as never was heard erupted in the trees. Yinney did not seem to pay any attention, but Bubba knew what his friends were doing and simply smiled the whole time.

“The simple answer is,” Yinney began, “but oh so deep…” then he paused. Again a hush fell over the ever growing group.

“Yes…” he said again, before continuing, “Let me first say this. Our modern religion seems to have lost its way in the shallow and complex. We complicate everything, but that was not Jesus way, and neither is it mine. We have no desire for the shallow and complex, but we love the simple and deep.” Then he paused again, looking in Bubba’s eyes to see if there was understanding. Bubba was smiling.

“And so…” he continued, “the simple answer to your question, but oh so deep, is…he did not replace his first covenant. He fulfilled it! And from the beginning, he set the first covenant ‘knowing’, and ‘prophesying’, he would be the one to fulfill it, thereby ushering in his ultimate gift to man, just as planned all along. And the enemy of our soul, the most evil predator of all, never saw it coming!”

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This story brought to you by and property of : Fellowship of the White Path.

“Path Without End”

“Yinney” – Chapter 16

Path Without End

Bradypus “In this Fellowship we celebrate the beauty and wisdom of slow, because we are all about gardens, not jungles,” Yinney explained. “Our Lord loves a pleasant garden. There is peace in a garden, not strife, not worldly ways. The world is a jungle. We do not copy the world. We are a refuge from that rat race. Peace be unto you, our Lord loved to say.”

It was another day of teaching and he was explaining to the three macaws, Lu-Lu, Me-Me, and Jo-Jo, that he was about to go out on three day trips to spread the word of his 7th Day Tree. “However,” he explained, “this will be done very slowly. Fast growth is not what we seek. Weeds love fast. Weeds love speed. Weeds will overcome a garden very quickly and choke it out. People make the mistake of seeking fast growth. They see it as a sign of success, but how can you develop leaders for small groups that quickly? Leaders you know well enough to set in a position of leadership? How can you get to know your people very well so quickly? There is no depth! Depth requires time. True relationships require time.”

“Every garden needs constant weeding. There will be those we send away with an invitation to come back if they decide they want to share ‘fellowship’. It’s all about communion, fellowship, family, community. If someone cannot fellowship without causing contention, then they have not found the right garden for them. They might not even be looking for a garden. The jungle may be in them. The predator may be in them. We are not of the predator ways. Satan is the predator; our Lord a Shepherd and Gardner. Satan thought he could over throw and steal what God has slow grown, His Kingdom. But he found out different, because God is not only a Shepherd and Gardner, but also the ONE TRUE GOD.”

“The scriptures say, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the House of the Lord. Church for many has simply become more stress added to an already stressful life. It’s another “Do List”, with all kinds of programs you’re expected to fulfill if you are a good Christian. But what we need is true fellowship with family. We need to ‘feel at home’. A safe place we can find opportunity to share our deepest feelings and thoughts. A place to be excited about our walk with God. A place to relax and enjoy. There must be true communion, or Church is failing to be Church, because Church is failing to be family… God’s family.”

“In a world rushing faster and faster every day, in this Fellowship, we choose to promote the beauty of slow, a way of peace, the growing of an inner garden in you.” And with that, Yinney smiled and opened the floor for conversation.

Jo-Jo was the first, “Your words are like cool water in a parched earth. You do not know what it is like to be a bird. You have always been a sloth. But ‘slow’ does not come easy for me. We birds have fast metabolisms. We eat constantly and burn food quickly. Our hearts race. Our movements are sudden and quick. But your words help me find balance. Your words quinch a thirst in my soul. I know there is a proper speed for me in which I too can walk as one with my Lord, in a garden, not this jungle we are surrounded by.”

“Here, here!” Lu-Lu and Me-Me both agreed with everything Jo-Jo said. Time was forgotten as the small group relaxed in the 7th Day Tree, shared some drinks and snacks, and talked about the goodness of God well into the afternoon. Anyone could come and go as they pleased. Me-Me was first to leave saying she had a family thing. But the fellowship continued no matter where they were. One in Spirit, one in God.

Lurking down below, Jag stared at the small group above. Of course, the macaws meant little to him, but he wondered when that sloth moved in? And when he would poo? His belly gnawed while he watched from a dark spot. Making note of the sloth and his tree, hunger finally moved him on. Something was going to die today, because his desire would be satisfied no matter what.

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Actions, or just more words?

Path Without End

20180829_171204 My wife and I watched a Christian movie the other day: “God’s Not Dead 3” – “A Light in the Darkness”. Another very good movie. I’ve enjoyed all 3 so far. But from my personal perspective, with the things God has spoke to me about and changes that have occurred, because of such new knowledge I’m now responsible for, I must say there was one thing that bugged me, and I see it so very pervasive in American Christianity. We talk big, but our actions don’t follow, and sometimes, perhaps even most times, our actions actually contradict the words we have so boldly spoken!

So what’s the deal? Do we not see we are actually sabotaging the very message we have worked so hard to send forth? Is the message of God or not? I just spent 3 weeks listening to 3 messages a Pastor preached to his Church. I was put onto these messages because a friend knew I was very into the subject of “The Early Church”, and his Pastor had just preached a message about getting back to the start, and did some teaching on the early church. So he let me know, and I began listening.

The Pastor began by saying there is a movement “out there” of people leaving the church because it is not “perfect enough”. It has problems, and these folks say they want to get back closer to the early church. Then he began explaining how Christianity is not a “Church building”. The people are the Church. He wanted to make sure his people were not hung up on the “building”, of which they have a very nice one, and plenty of debt with it.

He said the church is not perfect because it is a place for the sick to come. It’s like a spiritual hospital. This is true, but to that I say, just because the church takes care of sick people, that is not an excuse for the church to be sick! Are we giving them what they really need? In some cases yes, but in many, no.

Anyway, sounded like he opened a big subject, (which it is), the early church fathers, and I thought sure he was beginning a series. He preached very hard about revival and getting back to what the church “ecclesia” means. However, rather than continue this very vital message that most the church is ignorant concerning, he dropped the subject like a hot potato and followed it with two weeks of sermons about people “struggling” with their Christian faith! (Whaaat?) What kind of menu is this?

Not only that, but the one message he did preach, taught nothing new, had no real depth concerning the church Jesus started, and even taught that Constantine was a Christian! He made it sound like a Christian Roman Emperor heard the will of God and that is how we left home churches and moved into large buildings! He made it sound like there was no debate or concern, and it was the natural leading of God, and all was perfectly well! Nothing is further from the truth!

There was no educating his people of how Constantine lived as an unsaved man who should not have influenced the church, nor of any debate concerning these big changes after 300 years of small group ministries! His people walked out completely uneducated concerning getting back to the beginning, which was what he said in the beginning about his message.

(And my friend seemed unconcerned about this very misleading message. All he did was make excuses, and probably regretted making me aware. Evidently, like most people, this was not any serious problem to him. This is my perception of the conversation we had. What else can I surmise from his lack of concern? As far as I know, he still does not read the articles I write, in which if he were concerned, he could easily verify if I have a point, or not? Please let me know, friend, if you’re reading, so I know you’re taking anything I have said seriously enough to at least investigate?)

So as I anxiously awaited his next messages, I was greatly disappointed, because I cannot see that his actions in any way support what came out of his mouth that day. Except he put that personal slant to his message because he really does still want big building ministry. His church will not function without a big expensive building. He really is not interested in getting back to the “start”. That was a message of empty words, followed by two messages of struggling with your faith. No thanks. Not the kind of food my spirit is hungry for. But that’s just me. For all those who crave such spiritual food, there are plenty of places to find it. There is no lacking of these messages. This is not the spiritual food we are starving for, as if a famine in the land. But there is a famine!

So, as I was saying, my wife and I watched “God’s Not Dead 3”, and as you probably now realize if you have seen the movie, you know where I’m going. They did such a good job of revealing a serious problem. I mean, that Pastor was really stuck inside the box! He could not seem to envision how many ways true Christianity could invade that campus. It’s like water! If people are on fire for God, it cannot be stopped! It does not need a building! It targets hearts! It needs tables of fellowship! But he was stuck in the same thinking God seems to be shinning a spotlight on!

This seems to be the message of the hour! So many people are seeing it, saying it, preaching it, even making movies of it, but how many are actually DOING IT? I hear their words, but the words are instantly swept away by their actions! They do not mean what they say! Their living in a virtual reality! Nice words, great movie, but you fail to follow through! They ease their conscience with great words, and then go right back to the same stinking thinking! Do they think they have done their job? Do they think they have obeyed God? Do they think they have alerted their people, and been a good shepherd? Do as I say, not as I do?

In our last article we talked about the visitations of Christ in the garden, and how he came to his 3 disciples; Peter, James, and John. He expected them to pass on the words of his visitation, but they simply fell back to sleep. Are we doing any better? Perhaps we are passing on the word before we fall back to sleep.

After the great climax of the show, when the Preacher finally realizes how far off base he has gotten in his representation of the meek and lowly Christ, he makes a great speech to everyone about how Christianity is not a “building”, but almost the next thing you see, and the way the movie ends, the Preacher turns over the first spadeful of dirt to build the new building! Wow. I’m sorry. Like I said, I enjoy these shows, but does no one see how stuck we are in this box? We are so blind to it that we do not even see when we completely contradict the message we have worked so hard to preach! All that work “undone” in a moment! And Satan laughs the whole time, thinking how easy these people are.

I turned over several spadefuls of dirt this week, because my Teepee continues slowly growing, is debt free, and I try to match my actions to my words. I am now putting in a wall and door! The small group atmosphere in this place is awesome! Getting stronger every day! By next summer this spiritual get-away, this prayer garden, this school in the wilderness, should be ready. It has not been easy, but no matter how slow it has been, my actions are in harmony with my words. And maybe…just maybe….there will be a people who see the truth of that… and they will come hungry for food to make a soul strong in the Lord…so there is not so much spiritual struggle in God’s body. Is the body of Christ unhealthy? Is it sick? Why so much struggle? It ought not be so!

As I said before, just because the church helps sick people, is no excuse for the church to be sick! This Pastor accuses others of leaving the church because it is not perfect, but then spends the next two weeks preaching messages confirming the problem! Am I the only one who sees confusion here? God is not the author of confusion!

Yes, we RESIST the devil. We war against him! But we are strong in the Lord! Our faith is strong, not doubting and struggling! God has not given us a spirit of fear! Oddly enough, this place to build healthy souls has also made my body strong and healthy as I have dug in dirt, chopped wood, drank water from a deep fresh well, and built this Tipi. Everything seems to confirm and be in harmony. We are not confused in our simplicity. We do not function as a business, nor do we have the stress of such operations. I simply want to move with God, and stay under his shadow. Here’s a couple more pictures.

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I’m afraid all the hard work wore Shadow out. Supervision is a tough job.

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“A Christmas 2 Hour Delay”

Path Without End

I don’t know what came over me?

Well, I guess I do know, but would anyone believe it?

It’s the Friday before Christmas, and all through the town, not a single person was waiting as they rushed all around! Gas stations were jumping and traffic lights too, as all through the city people moved! They fled from their boredom and raced into freedom with one thought in mind! Can I possibly get home in time?

Well…nice try, but enough of that. I actually left my house just ahead of rush in hopes of getting a haircut I badly needed. So I go to my usual Great Clips only to discover one poor woman frantically cutting hair. She actually had to leave her customer to greet me at the counter! I saw five people setting and one in the chair, while the poor lady left cutting the hair! To my attention she hurried, as the old man’s hair stood all a flurry! Oops, there I go again. Sorry.

I asked if she was the only one working? She said, “Yes.” I asked how long the wait? She said, “Two hours.” Wow. I thanked her and quietly left. What to do now? Give up? And then I remembered a place caught my eye! Might as well give it a try! So I dashed to my Civic with bells on my toes and yelled onward to Blitzen, and wished we had snow!

I just can’t help it folks. A-n-y-w-a-y… I drove to this other place, and I never been there before. I had to park out a ways and decided I would nonchalantly walk past their window, casually glancing in as I go, to see if they were busy,…or onward I go!

But there was a man standing outside the store, eyeing me coming, smoking a cigarette, and walking about. As I drew closer he leaned against the wall. As I casually passed the window and saw people galore, I immediately knew I’d pass one more! But the man asked how I was doing, as I tried to pass by. He seemed determined to get a reply. This man who had eyed me all this time.

I said, “I’m doing fine,” smiled and kept walking.

Now this man did not know me from beans in a can, but this total stranger seemed to insist, “Sam I am”. And with only a few feet between us, I past by, he spoke again! Not letting me slide!

“So life is treating you okay, you say?”

My back is turned and I’m on my way, why is this stranger still bidding me stay? Is he really concerned as to who I am, and what’s my jam? Or is this the beginning of an elaborate scam?

I stopped in my tracks, giving a stern glance back! Something hit me! Something came over me! This man who eyed me from the start! I shot back at him this question not kind! “DO I KNOW YOU?”, I sternly asked, and gave him the eye!

I was suddenly on the attack and this has never been my nature. He began his nervous reply.

“No…I’m just trying to spread some Christmas cheer. You know, a little ‘positivity’. Just being friendly.”

I love that word. “P-O-S-I-T-I-V-I-T-Y”. Immediately I knew this man was a snake in the grass, and I was going to nail him.

“Positivity, you say? Well how about spreading the ‘godly’?” I asked.

“What?” he said. “Oh, yeah, of course,” he nervously smiled.

I spoke again, as I turned back in his direction. “So you want to have a conversation? Are you a Christian?” I asked as straightforward as I knew how. I mean, there was no beating around. I didn’t even know who I had become at this point, and I leaned against the wall next to him. Close like a friend, even though we had different skin.

“Well, yes.” he said weakly, and took another puff on his cigarette, glancing away.

“So you’ve accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, and you serve him?” I came right back, strong with the same question, only more pointed.

His answer was weak again, but he said, “Yes.”

And then I said, “I DON’T BELIEVE YOU.” As I looked him right in the eyes.

There was a pause.

He said, “You don’t?” A very nervous, I’m caught, kind of “you don’t?” And again, he kept glancing away, not wanting to look in the eyes, nervously flicking the cigarette.

“No, I don’t.” And I went on. “You want to have a conversation, you say. I didn’t come here looking to talk, but I guess you’re the reason I’m here. But that’s the problem, you see. You don’t really want to know me, or you might have to change.” And then I said, point blank again, “I don’t know what kind of ‘game’ you’re playing, but if I were you, I wouldn’t forget this, ‘conversation’.”

And then I turned and left.

He saw me walk up there. He didn’t know why I came. He didn’t know I checked out that barber shop as I appeared to walk on by towards other stores. So when I turned and left, as far as he knew, I did come there just for him. And I think I did.

From there I drove to another Great Clips and thought I’d give it one more try, but I expected I’d find the same overcrowded condition. Amazingly, I did not. A ten minute wait, and the lady did an excellent job. What a strange chain of events. A two hour delay at one place, led to a nice conversation with a total stranger, and then eventually getting a fine haircut in another place, with no delay. How strange.

I know a spirit of boldness came over me from the Lord. That’s what happened. Why it happened I cannot say, except God was speaking to that man at that time in a powerful way, to call him out on whatever the “game” he played. I hope he considers the strange Christmas Encounter. I hope his “positivity” leads him to a certain “Nativity” where he might really meet the Lord, and give up the games people like to play, for the reality of the true Christmas message.

A Christmas Encounter of a different kind.

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“ARE WE SERIOUS?”

Path Without End

“This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.” (Hebrews 7:15-16 NLT)

Jesus fulfilled the law for us, and disconnected us from the Levitical priesthood, by the fact he was not even a Levite himself, but the instrument of a huge change God was making, and connecting us to a different priesthood after the order of the mystery priest, Melchizedek. The schoolmaster of the law having now done its work, we were ready to graduate to a New Covenant of much greater promises in our High Priest, Christ Jesus.

As I have shared, I have not had to face these questions before, concerning what is required to set a proper table for God to show up in a New Testament Church service. I’ve always been just a helper, an assistant, an assistant whose opinion was not usually taken very seriously by those having a Bible College degree hanging on their wall.

Now I have this tipi, and God wants to show up there. I don’t know who he will bring in, but there are already some interested. Suddenly, I’ve got to read our New Covenant for myself and see what “God has said”. Some of it troubles me because our modern Church has ignored these things. So do I ignore them too? I’m beginning to understand my struggle with our modern church.

It is not my plan to ignore anything. Not if I want to set a proper table. I am praying hard for the wisdom of finding the balance of these things, because I believe Adam was just as wrong to tell Eve she could not “touch” the tree, as he would have been had he not warned her at all. Scripture is very plain we should not “add” or “take away from” what God has said.

So the first person I started showing these scriptures to was my wife. At first she did not see why I thought these old scriptures were so important. “Why are you taking these thing so seriously when no one else does?” she asked, obviously annoyed.

However, that was the question needing to be asked! ARE WE SERIOUS ABOUT THE THINGS OF GOD? ARE WE SERIOUS?

If you invited God to show up at your home for supper, would you do your very best to set a proper table for such an important guest?

If you’re starting a Church and going to be a shepherd of people’s soul, a huge influence on their eternity, should we casually ignore, or change anything God has said? And what of all those Pastors out there who are doing that very thing today, in a day scripture says people would heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and unwilling to hear sound doctrine?

In Revelation chapter two, Jesus himself warns two different Churches about the fact they have allowed sinful people to remain in their fellowship. Starting in verse 14 there are some following in the way of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the Children of Israel. He taught them to sin by way of idols and sexual sins. They were also tolerating Nicolaitans among them, who follow the same teaching. Jesus called their toleration: Sin! And called them to repent! Or suffer consequences. Do we ignore such warnings today?

In verse 20 he warns the Church in Thyatira. “You are permitting that woman – that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet – to lead my servants astray.” These are people in two different Churches Jesus was saying if they won’t repent, throw them out! And yet I look around at the worldliness in our modern Churches and I know too much toothpaste is out of the tube! (And the church of Laodecea probably deserves an entire article of its own!)

A personal peeve of mine is Christmas. For my family and I, Christmas has always been about the birth of Christ, but I wish my Church would have educated me on the true history of this materialistic holiday originally being a heathen holiday, mostly worshipping the sun god, but the church interjected the birth of Christ into it to cover up for Christians being involved! Now we struggle to keep Christ in something he was never in to begin with! The paste is already out of the tube! It’s a perfect picture of the Church being swayed by the world even way back then.

I’ve heard of Pastors who completely left large Churches in order to start over with a different understanding of what Church was meant to be. They knew there was no way to change what had already been created. The only answer was a complete start-over.

That question, “Why are you taking this so seriously”, started a conversation between my wife and I that was eye-opening. The question should not be “why”, but “ARE WE” taking God’s written Word seriously? The Word of God is God’s will put in writing. Isn’t that what we pay a Pastor to do, take the Word very seriously, and teach us correctly? Lead us correctly?

There are things our New Covenant in Christ does not say, and yet we are being taught it does. Such things as “kings and priest” rather than “a kingdom of priest”. This is not a small difference. Such things as tithing still being a law, when the truth is Christ saved us from the law and moved us to a “heart / Spirit” relationship. The priesthood has changed! We have a circumcision of the heart! God’s laws written in our hearts, so we are led of the Spirit in our heart, or we are not his at all! The laws are written for those who are “not” his.

Then there are other dangers; dangers actually stated in our new Covenant we are not being told about. These things are contributing to out-of-control lust in God’s church and a divorce rate as high as the heathens! But it’s not serious, right? We want God to show up to our table of plastic silverware, dirty plates, torn table clothes, spilled drinks, and burnt food. Is he really showing up? Or we just enjoying “good feelings”? Emotional manipulation? Positive preaching and success motivation? If your Church is setting a proper table, then I know God is showing up.

I’m sorry if you think I’m being insensitive or unkind in my words. But are we serious? Or just hoping to slide by? God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. I want my tipi to be such a place. Whether it is visited by only a few, or by many, my desire is to set the table for God, not man. If God does not show up, then no one else should either. If no one else shows up, but God does? Hhmmm, now there’s a thought for ya.

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