037 Just A Little Reminder

In "Mere Christianity," C. S. Lewis said, "Really great moral teachers never introduce new moralities: 'People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.' The real job of every moral teacher is to keep on bringing us back, time after time, to the old simple principles which we are all so anxious not to see..."

Even so, I'm finding out that the gist of the lessons the Great Master Teacher has been trying to bring home to me for the past months, if not years, was in essence laid down already 2000 years ago. For once, there's the ever returning them of "Without Me ye can do nothing," (John 15:5), and then there is the equally important truth that whatever we do or may think to be accomplishing, without love, it's worth nothing (see 1Corinthians 13).

What makes these old doctrines sound strange is, of course, the sad fact that so few have ever really managed to live them, and it gives religious groups some strange, weird, esoteric or "New Age" slant to be claiming that these ancient values are very well to be expected of us to be put into practice. What's odd to most people about it, is that it's something they cannot achieve by any efforts of their own, but rather, the total "anti-effort:" a letting go of all personal effort (excepting the one to obey), ambition and ulterior motives, and just "let go and let God" do through us what we humanly can't.

Availing ourselves of the same, supernatural power through which every true man or woman of God in both, the Old and New testaments did whatever they accomplished for God, sounds so strange, so weird, so sectarian to us rational thinkers in the age of the peak of man's glorious achievement, where we've constructed machines to do practically every human task for us (except eating, sleeping, making love and going to the toilet... but they're probably working on it), without having relieved one ounce of the suffering humanity has known since its early fall.

It sounds preposterous in modern man's ears that God would be expecting of us to believe in the same child-like simple way that out forefathers did. They had the Holy Spirit, we have television, tanks and cars. They had miracles, we get Pat Robertson and George Bush... aaand, of course, the almighty (?) dollar.

That seems to be the accepted fate of 21^st century humanity, and anyone saying, "You keep your trinkets, your politicians & TV-religion and your money, just give me those good old lasting values from the Bible," strikes the vast majority as outrageous, blasphemous and treacherous. Although it could hardly be deemed so, especially since no one wishing to return to the standard of biblical faith would be blaspheming the true God, only the established religious System, which are as far apart as the Rockefeller church in New York and John the Baptist's coat. And as to who is truly being treacherous, I suppose only time will tell.

Nor can it be said that our modern "do-it-yourself" type of religion has anything really new about it, since it originated with Cain, and has been observed by tower-of-Babel constructors, golden-calf carvers and temple vendors ever since. The old way of truth just sounds so weird and so damnable to us because it still goes against our same old greedy and selfish grind. The Devil doesn't like Jesus any better than he did 2000 years ago, nor do the followers of the one get along any better with the followers of the other.

What has improved, though, is the art of disguise. It's more difficult than ever to tell who's really a real follower of Christ. In fact, without the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit called discernment, it's hopeless.

That's one more reason why we need that supernatural help from above that make us sound so strange, so weird, so esoteric. If you want to look up what other gifts or weapons God equipped His people with in order to combat the Enemy's forces in this world, even back in St. Paul's day, read the 12^th chapter of 1Corinthians. It will lead you right to the most powerful weapon of all, described in a chapter all on its own, and we're right back where we started from: All you need is love, and it's the only thing that matters,and trying to do anything without Love, which is God, is useless... (see,once again, John 15:5).

So, just a little reminder - not as much for anyone out there as for myself - of one of the major lessons the school of life is all about. For without becoming good learners in the first place, we'll never manage to be good teachers...

036 NO NEWS!

Reading the news is like listening to pop radio: every once in a while you’ll read an article that really hits home. But if you decide to “hear” more from the author, you’ll often be disappointed, similarly to when you buy an album by a band just because you liked one of their songs you heard.

If, for example, you’ll read this article by Joseph Farah, you might agree with me & say “right on, Dude!” But if you hop on WorldNetDaily in hopes of finding more such refreshing food for the soul, you might easily be disappointed, if not downright slapped in the face by such stupid headers as: “I ♥ AMERICA': Make Valentine's Day a patriotic holiday!”

In other words: according to WorldNetDaily, the world still consists, primarily, of America. If I were to write any article about what’s really poisonous for our kids, it would be first of all such a blatantly narcistic attitude: “Only what’s from my country, is good! (Forget about the rest of them Hottentots out there!)”

As long as Americans (even half-way serious news writers & would-be journalists) keep acting as if the rest of the world were just some kind of audience to the grand stage of America (the only place where it’s really happenin’), how can they expect to be taken serious by the rest of the world? Of course, they don’t (the rest of the world is just supposed to clap & yell for more, or move to the ranks of the Enemy by failing to do so).

Probably the greater evil let loose on the world than even the pseudo-scientific indoctrinations our kids have to nod to in school in order to get good marks (if you’re smart, you’ll laugh with them about it when they get home) is that “We are the greatest” attitude that’s coming through in virtually every American movie production, TV show, pop song and, alas, news article. With 6 Billion folks on the planet all figuring that they alone are what counts, not even the Antichrist could make matters much worse, as far as our spiritual state goes. In fact, maybe he’s even going to wake some of us up from our self-enchantment & kick some red-white & blue (or whatever other insanely nationalistic & patriotic) butt.

P.S.: And apparently one can tell it as it is, even without all the obligatory flag-waving! Check out this dude:

035 Credit to Whom Credit Is Due

Let's face it: a lot of people are pretty confused, and don't really have a clue what their lives are supposed to be all about. In my opinion, that's not only because a lot of them refuse to acknowledge the One Who put them here in the first place and has promised to guide us with His eyes (providing we'd ever care to look in His direction - see Psalm 32:8), but also because they fail to recognize their enemy in this battle of life.
- A very subtle & smart enemy, certainly, whose greatest trick and surest tactic of victory was to convince most of us that he doesn't even exist. With those he did not manage to get them to swallow that, he uses a different tactic: he claims the credit over practically everything God created:
He has claimed the credit for sex, having people believe that it's a sin, although it's evident that sex is an institution created by God Himself, since it was God, not the Devil, Who spoke when He gave His first commandment to man ever: "Be fruitful and multiply!"
He has claimed the credit for the stars, as if it was he who made them, instead of God, at least one should think so, by the way most Christians are scared stiff of astrology. It's true, we're not supposed to worship the stars, but do you know anybody who does? What most people don't know, is that even the star signs have a godly origin, dating - according to the Jewish historian Josephus - all the way back to Adam or Enoch, and they tell the wonderful story of the gospel ever since mankind began, in every language of every culture (see Ps.19:1-4).
The devil has claimed the credit for the entire invisible, spiritual realm, which is also called the spirit world, although God Himself is a Spirit and the Father of spirits, his angels are supposedly innumerable, and yet most Christians picture Heaven to be some vast empty space run by 3 guys commandeering a few angels, vastly outnumbered by all the evil spirits and demons that make up most of that evil place called the "spirit world." If they would read their Bibles a little more faithfully, they'd find out an entirely different description. What do you think happens to a saved person when they die? What do you think happened to all the millions of saints who have passed on? Are they all sleeping or floating around on a private cloud, playing their harps quietly? Or could it be that God would give them the desires of their hearts to continue to be of service to Him in the eternal Realm, helping Him to win this great battle over the souls of man?
Our souls have gone lost, because we have allowed the devil to cheat us out of them with his lies. We're even afraid of ourselves. In reality, we belong to God, He has called us by our names, and He knows who we are, and He's the One Who can tell us who we are. He can tell us which way to go, and He can tell us a lot about ourselves and our fellow humans, and He has made lots of help available for us, yes, even from that oh so dreaded spirit world! And there's nothing He loves to do more than to make us happy by letting us enjoy the beauty of His creation, including the multiplying business, that some people so self-righteously denounce as something nasty, only to be caught somewhere with their pants down in the company of someone they are certainly not married to, as has happened to some...
Why do we do all that to ourselves? Why don't we give credit to Whom credit is due? Why don't we give the credit to God, along with a whole bunch of thanks, for all the great things He made for us, to help us go through life's battles with a little greater ease, and much more joy and happiness than we sometimes grant ourselves? When are we going to stop giving the devil the credit for everything God has created? When are we going to wake up to what he's really up to? Yes, we're supposed to be sober and vigilant, but most people don't have a clue about the way the enemy of their souls is working. They don't have a clue about how he tries to trick us out of using all the help that God would so willingly give us.
Most Christians don't even believe that God talks anymore. "We've got the Bible now, that says all there is to say." They put out brochures that say that God doesn't talk to people through dreams anymore, because now we've got the Bible. In other words, from the moment St.John put down his pen and wrote the last word of the book of revelation, God shut up and every single dream people have had since has been inspired by the devil.
What baloney.
Well, if that's your religion, if that's the kind of regimentation you need in order to find the kind of love Jesus asked us, no, commanded us to have for God and each other, it's your choice...
I'll be most gladly, happily, vibrantly and ecstatically enjoying a living - real live, talking, moving, acting - interacting, and yes, even - blasphemy of all blasphemies - sexy God. I'll see you in heaven & would be glad to help you make up for all you missed out on in this life!