My wife and INow I have to wonder, it we are all related because we are all human beings, why is there so much hatred in our world. The truth is that we human beings, especially those of us in the so-called “United” States of America, have forgotten our truth, and are replacing it with a lie. Our nation was formed based upon Judeo Christian beliefs and structures. This is something that our Socialist members of society, hate and want to remove from our society and our history as they try to rewrite our history. Was slavery really the start of our nation? In some places, yes it was a part of the nation, because it was part of British society and was imported into our Southern states where the agrarian society had its roots. Was slavery a good thing, no it was not then and it is not today either, yet in many Muslim nations slavery is a part of life.
I would posit that as we move further away from God in our society, then we will find ourselves in a no morality society. Once we remove God from the equation, we also remove the moral laws which have formed our nation, and which have ended slavery, as well as the second class citizenry of Women. There are still those that believe that color, and sex are contributing factors for elimination. Yes I hear the argument, our President keeps pushing it, White Supremacy is the root of all evil in our nation. I hate to tell him but he is white, and is the highest elected official in this nation, you could say he is a White Supremacy President. I heard him tell a man of color that if he did not vote for Joe Biden, he wasn’t Black. I would say that was a racist statement made by a white supremacist.
Let us look at our society through the lens of scripture:
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”
(Romans 12:9-16)
That was written 2000 years ago by the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome. There is also something else written closer to 5000 years ago by a man named Moses.
“And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:1-17) Both Quotations are from the English Standard Version of the Bible.
I have made the last part of the Commandments bold because these are what our laws, our morality is really based upon. The first of the commandments are also important, but we have already forgotten the Sabbath day, it is just another day for our nation, not holy or even special. I hear people all the time using the Lord’s name in vain ways. If you notice one thing about the sabbath day, it was also for the servants as well as those who were strangers in the land and even the livestock was to rest on that day.
Honor your father and your mother, I am aware that there are some households where this is a difficult thing but I see children cursing their parents, no honor even though the parents are working to make their home one of love and concern for all persons. This is what these kids have been taught in school, and in some cases by their friends this is not a good thing. Now comes the rest of the commandments, “You Shall Not Murder” That is a really hard thing in our society since we have killed over 63 million babies in the time since Roe V Wade was decided by the Supreme Court. No wonder we also see that respect for human life is becoming a lost respect. Murder rates are through the roof in many states, we see even police and fire being shot and killed.
Next You shall not commit adultery, in other words if you are married, you don’t go looking for pleasure in other places. I cannot imagine why if you are married you would want to commit adulterous acts, yet it seems to be the norm in many households these days. This next one should be a no brainier, yet You shall not steal is another one that is gone out the window. Theft is something that is rampant in our society, of course we have criminals who steal, however, now we have District Attorney’s who refuse to prosecute, and, judges who release murderers and rapists. We also have theft on a daily basis. You work for a company, and you decide that you need some paper clips at home, you take a box home with you, that is theft, not only paper clips, but reams of paper, and other items.
You shall not bear false witness against you neighbor, how many times have you repeated something you heard. Maybe against a neighbor, or a co-worker or someone who you didn’t even know. Every time you repeat a piece of gossip, you are bearing false witness against that person or group of persons. You shall not covet (lust) your neighbors house, wife, female worker, livestock, or anything that is your neighbor’s. False Witness, Covetousness, these are really things that are a part of society. We find rich people who will destroy someone so they can take their business from them. We see everyday, people who will say or do anything to get money even if it means lying about what your neighbor did. You see we will lie, steal and even kill to get our way. This is our Godless society, and I wonder if we are too far gone in our lust for power, money, fame, and, sex, for even a great awakening to change the movement away from God into total immorality, and, we become our own god and make our own rules.
That is what is happening in our society, I look at what is happening in Washington DC, there is a fence around the Capital Building, you as a citizen cannot even get in to see your representative, all because of the lie of White Supremacy. I still have not seen any proof of this, I am white and I am not rich, I am not anything other than a person who has no control over the color of my skin, yet because of being white I am to be hated by people of “color”. This is how we are abandoning God in our nation, we need to replace this nonsense about our history, with the truth about slavery about Jim Crow and about Japanese citizens in concentration camps in WW II. We also need to see the other side of these things, we used to be able to study and learn and grow into productive citizens, but no longer is this so at least in many states in our nation. Our children are being taught to hate themselves because of the color of their skin. This is one thing none of us can control, and yet it is becoming a hateful thing.
I believe with all my heart and soul, that God is grieved over our nation. A nation that has been blessed by our God for centuries and yet here we are throwing away our history and more importantly our God, because both are inconvenient to our lust for power, for money, for sexual immorality. I wonder how much longer our God is going to deal with us, and I mean not destroy our nation. History tells us that God punished Israel many times and finally exiled them for 2000 years before finally bringing them back to the land, the Promised Land, and, which they still do not have all that God promised to Abraham.
It is my prayer, that our nation will awaken to the truth, will once again follow our Lord God and rid ourselves of the sin that permeates our society today.
The Beatitudes
In the gospel of Matthew Jesus delivered a teaching on the Mount. It is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, but the lessons were given to the disciples. Note what the first 2 verses say:
Mat 5:1-2 NKJV “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. (2) Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:”
This is clearly a teaching not a sermon, and the teaching was for his disciples, not for those who were not followers of Jesus. We shall look today at the teachings beginning in verse 3. Mat 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jerome one of the Fathers of the Church died around 420 BCE (aka AD) said this about this verse: Jerome: This is what we read elsewhere: “He shall save the humble in spirit.” Poor in spirit is to be willing to give up all our earthly self to serve God. Poor in spirit is to have humility, as Christ was humble. Humility in this context is not to say, fearful of power, but rather confident in faith.
Webster of Dictionary fame gave this explanation of humility: “In ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one’s own worth. In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one’s own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will.”
Humility is a virtue, and a willingness to give of oneself to further the Kingdom of God in the world. This is a difficult thing to understand, primarily because, we live in a world where it is ME first and “devil take the hindmost”. So God tells us in this first of the beatitudes, that those who are poor in spirit, humble, receive the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us understand that Narcissism leads to that wide highway to hell, while virtue leads one to the narrow path to heaven.
The second of the beatitudes is: Mat 5:4 NKJV “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”
We are not talking here about the loss of a loved one or other human reasons for mourning such as, not getting that raise, not getting that promotion. Here we are talking about hurting because God is hurting. We who follow Jesus Christ come to know that pain suffered by our God as the world goes away from God and into greater and greater sin. We mourn for those souls who are lost to evil, that includes those who murder, rape, torture because they think it is what their own inner voice tells them to do. We mourn too for those who are driven into poverty by actions of others, or by the government making law without knowing or even thinking about the consequences of their action. So we mourn unrepentant sinner, one who thinks that their sin is OK and no one will care. Personally I shudder every time I hear the refrain, “my actions did not hurt anyone so it is OK.” The very idea of a victimless crime is a sin that leads one straight to hell. How can something be a crime, if there is no victim? Adultery when learned of, harms those who loved the adulterer and thought they were loved in return. Drug or alcohol addiction harms the entire family of the one addicted. Sin always has victims, the sinner thinks it is OK, but someone gets hurt by the activity of the other. So we Christians mourn for the sin in the world that hurts God and people, and we pray for that sin to be finally repented of before it is too late.
The next of the beatitudes is: Mat 5:5 NKJV “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.” Turning to Webster again: “Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding; given to forbearance under injuries.” We are talking here about people who are aware of who they are, and whose they are, they humble, peaceful even in the face of adversity, and yet, lions when it comes to standing for what God says is right. Meek does not connote weakness, but rather an inner strength that comes from complete trust in God, total faith in the presence of God with us.
Knowing that when Jesus returns to bring us home, we shall inherit the earth as His people, of course an earth that has been reborn, cleansed and made new by the hand of God. That is the promise here, we shall inherit the earth.
The next of the beatitudes is: Mat 5:6 NKJV “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” What do we mean by righteousness when we talk about it in this context. The Bible tells us that there are none righteous, no not one, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 tells us this. This verse tells us that those who hunger and thirst for true righteousness, those who work at being true to the gospel, whose lives are lived in truth, honesty, grace, love, those who truly seek to live holy lives shall be filled.
All Christians the Bible teaches are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and all are seen by God as righteous because God sees Christ when he looks upon us, for His blood spilled at Calvary, has bathed our souls and cleansed us and made us into new people. Now that is not something that happens all at once, but when you come to Jesus Christ, confess your sin, and ask forgiveness, you receive that which is His. Cleansing by the Holy Spirit, and forgiveness of your sins. You have begun a journey toward complete spiritual wholeness. If you truly work to understand the truth, hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ in your life, you will then find that peace and joy in the Lord, and will one day receive that which you seek, or as the scripture says, “you will be filled.”
Our next beatitude is Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” What does this mean? What is it to be merciful, do you save an enemy instead of killing him on the battlefield? Do you offer alms to the poor, and maybe help someone you see in need? Is this the mercy the Lord is talking about? It is I believe even more than that, it is compassion toward others, it is caring for others before yourself. A number of years ago, I was on my way to a very important meeting and was running a bit late. I saw a man and his family on the side of the road, they had broken down in their RV and needed help. I was going too fast to stop, but knew I had to, so I got off at the next exit, turned across the highway and went back to where they were. I took the man into town and to a dealer so he could get the part he needed and then brought him back to the RV. I just knew that I was going to be late for the meeting but I also knew I had done the right thing.
I think also of Francis of Assisi who gave up his inheritance, to serve God, as well as Mother Theresa who did the same and worked for many years in the poorest areas of Calcutta to help the poor. These are the merciful, and these are those who are doing what they know that Jesus would do. They too have obtained the compassion of God upon themselves, and have shared that compassion with others.
Augustine had this to say in regard to the verse above:
Augustine: Hear what follows: “Blessed are the compassionate, for God will have compassion on them.” Do this, and it will be done to you. Do it in regard to another that it might be done in regard to you. For you may overflow yet remain in need. You may overflow with temporal things but remain in need of eternal life. You hear the voice of a beggar, but before God you are yourself a beggar. Someone is begging from you, while you yourself are begging. As you treat your beggar, so will God treat his. You who are empty are being filled. Out of your fullness fill an empty person in need, so that your own emptiness may be again filled by the fullness of God. Sermon 53.5.
The Church needs these type of folks, to lead the way to true living of the gospel so that all of us may follow the example of these and of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have mercy and you will receive mercy.
Next is Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” What a blessed promise this is, to see God face to face, all you need is a pure heart. That is a difficult task, that of having a pure heart, that having lived in Christ for such a long time as Paul, or as David that you can sense evil and avoid it like the plague. I am reminded of King David as he wrote in Psalm 51:7-10 NKJV “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (8) Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. (9) Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
There is also Stephen who was stoned to death for being a solid citizen of the Kingdom of God. In the book of Acts the 7th Chapter we find in verse 59 “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” and verse 60, Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.”
Are you ready to act as these have acted, yes King David was not a perfect man, yet he was called a man after God’s own heart. He sinned, as do all of us who are finite beings, simply because we are men and women, not God, but we can be people after God’s own heart. Searching for God’s own heart, seeking to be as much as any of us can ever be, like Jesus for that is the way to God’s own heart. Yet the scriptures also tell us that you cannot see God and live, so how do we see God while still in our finite bodies? We see God in the realm of the Spirit, we meet with Him in our prayers and in our actions. When we leave this finite life, and begin the rest of our eternity, we then shall indeed see God, not partially but face to face.
What do you think of these things? As a Christian do you live in the manner that Christ has pointed out in these beatitudes? If not are you striving for these ways of living?
I read a piece today about a man in Tunisia who had converted to Christianity, he was beheaded and the video was shown all over the middle east. I also read an article today in WND online that spoke about crucifixions in Egypt of enemies of the state and some Christians. Of course there are daily bombings that kill women and children, Syria of course is the one in the headlines. However there are those who strap bombs to their bodies and go into a mosque of a rival faction and blow themselves up killing whoever they can. Also there are some who will do that on a church on Sunday morning as well.
Hatred is a terrible thing, it destroys lives, not only those who are killed or maimed but also the one who blew up the bomb themselves. I know that the Mullahs say that that man will be a hero and Allah will give them a bunch of virgins to care for them in heaven. Being a Christian I have to say, I believe that that man will not get to paradise, but rather to hell and I pray that there will be a change in those who hate so much that they will send others to death. Of course if they would just do it themselves, we would soon see an end since there would not be any of these haters left after they blow themselves up. However, it doesn’t happen that way, and so we have to pray for the Lord to move through that part of the world and work on those souls that they may be changed from hate to love. That is after all one thing we can do as Christian people, pray for those who hate you, that God might work in their lives to change their hearts and bring them into the family.
One other thing I would say, Jesus spoke about all of this long before there were Muslims, in Matthew the 5th Chapter we read this: Mat 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Mat 5:11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”
I do pray for the Middle East, China, North Korea and other places like India and Pakistan. There is such hatred in these places for Christians, Moslems and other groups. I also pray for those in our nation who have acted out of hate for other groups, I am always appalled when I see those horrible signs that say that God hates _________ fill in the name. God does not hate, God sent His own self in the form of Jesus Christ to make atonement for sin. If God loves his creation that much, how can we be filled with hate for anyone. I can hate the actions that people take, but I cannot hate people I pray for their souls instead.
Hatred is a terrible thing, but love conquers even death!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Army, COBOL, God, Introduction, politics
I have decided to begin this blog simply because like many others I am tired of all the yelling and lying in the political arena as well as in the world around us. I am just a person, nothing special about me, but, I must admit that I do remember a much simpler world than the one we live in now.
I truly love my ability to communicate, and to carry on conversation with people through the internet. I have worked with computers since the 1970’s, started out with a build it yourself kit from Sinclair. Chicklet keyboard and all of 8 k of memory, but it worked and I loved it. Have built many others since, and was a COBOL programmer as well in the 1980’s. Now I just build websites and that is enough fun for me.
I have 12 years of military experience in the US Army, and 20 years of Church work behind me, as well as working on Wall St. and driving cabs. I was even a pizza chef and a Breakfast and Lunch cook at a restaurant for a while. Very diverse background, grew up in an integrated neighborhood, and was appalled at the problems I found when I got out into the real world. Racism was a reality in the 60’s and 70’s, and even in the 90’s. Shocked me and hurt my soul to see it. It is an ignorant way to live, hating others because they are different. I know that we are living in a world that is dangerous, that there are people out there who hate who we are and want to kill us and destroy our way of life, but that does not mean that all of those folks from that part of the world are a part of that hatred. We all live on a small globe, in the overall scheme of things, this planet is quite small and insignificant when you consider the cosmos and it’s immense size and beauty. It would be nice if we could learn to live as neighbors rather than as enemies. Jesus said it in his teaching: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we would try living in that way, we would not be hurting each other, we would be helping each other to live well and to prosper.
Well, I have rambled enough for now, I hope you will read my stuff and maybe even find some words of wisdom in it all. For now, may you have a wonderful and blessed day.
John
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