“The LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants
of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or
knowledge of God in the land. By
swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon
bloodshed. Therefore the land will
mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the
field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken
away.” (Hosea 4:1-3).
Year 2004 began with
an intense debate about the teaching of values in education in
As one might have
expected, advocates of both public and private education went to the parapets,
each extolling the virtues of their kind of education. A day later, the same newspaper wrote:
“Australia is
moving towards a national charter for values education after federal and state
ministers agreed that going to school is “as much about building character” as
learning academic skills. A draft
values education framework will be sent to school principals “to guide debate
in this important area” ahead of a national forum on April 28 – 29 in
Melbourne, a spokesman for the federal Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, said
yesterday.
The Values
Education Study, released in November, was commissioned by Dr Nelson and was
supported by all state education ministers.
It found confusion in schools
about what constituted values and said research showed that a partnership
between schools and parents could help reinforce attributes as tolerance,
social justice, inclusion, and freedom.”
Pardon? Reinforce attributes as tolerance, social
justice, inclusion, and freedom? Have we
reached the stage in which our people need ‘attributes’ that totalitarian
regimes deny to their peoples?
The next day, in a
nationally televised current affairs program by
Three days later,
again in a nationally broadcast program, the Prime Minister himself was asked
about the values he complained public schools were not teaching. It was his chance to set the record straight,
but he too prevaricated and changed the subject. He spoke of the need for ‘cooperation‘
between parents and educators in deciding
the values that all schools ought to teach.
Now isn’t that
extraordinary? People complain that schools
do not teach values, yet when asked about them, they change the subject and
invoke the need to ‘explore’ ‘cooperate’ and ‘decide’ on the values that schools ought to teach. In other words, we are going to invent the
wheel once again.
After two thousand
years of Christianity you’d think that people would instinctively know the
values that make for good character.
Isn’t this what religion is supposed to be all about? It only shows what happens when religion is
relegated to the back burner: the entire society is thrown into confusion about
the values it ought to live by.
One of the best
commentaries on the merits of public versus private education came from a local
community newspaper.
“Prime Minister
John Howard sparked a debate over schools last weekend when he suggested
parents were shying away from public schools because they had become “too
politically correct” and “values neutral”. In the days that followed there was
an angry and justifiable backlash from teachers and parents. Many people would argue the only positive
result of Mr Howard’s comments was it put the issue at the forefront of public
debate.
How is it possible
to be too politically correct? The
Macquarie Dictionary defines correctness as “conformity to current beliefs
about correctness in language and behaviour with regard to policies on sexism,
racism, ageism, etc.” Aren’t these the values children should learn? Private schools do not have a monopoly on
values.
According to NSW
Education Minister Andrew Refshauge, public schools
strive to impart values such as inclusiveness, tolerance, diversity, striving
for academic excellence, democracy and a “fair go”.
Why is it almost 40
per cent of teenagers attend private secondary schools and one in three
children do not go to a public school? It is a misconception a child will get a
better education solely because he or she attends a private school, but it is
something increasing numbers of parents including the Prime Minister appear to
believe.
Many seem to think
private schools have higher academic results, but the 2004 HSC results clearly
show seven of the 10 performing schools were State schools.
Better discipline
is often given as a reason why parents send their children to non-government
schools. But private schools cannot be
judged to have better discipline simply because they can more easily expel
troublesome students or they have a stricter uniform code. Government schools turn out many fine
well-rounded young adults who go on to make productive and honourable contribution
to society.” (
The State Education
Minister touched somewhat on the values schools should ‘impart’, but even his
list is not definitive.
Going back to the
Federal Minister’s Report on Vales in Education, one may be tempted to ask what
is wrong with the ‘attributes’ of ‘tolerance, social justice, inclusion, and
freedom’ that he listed? Nothing wrong,
except that these are the very ‘attributes’ that Canadian and American Courts
have invoked to demand the legalisation of homosexual marriages. It is the kind of ‘attributes’ feminist and
homosexual lobbies have used from the beginning of their campaign all over the
world.
Politicians do not
make statements they know are going to be controversial unless they have a
certain aim in mind and want to channel the discussion in a certain
direction. Can you see where this whole
debate is heading and what purpose it serves?
Can you see the mire and stupor into which the whole world has
fallen? And see how easily these lobbies
have entrapped both the Education Minister and the Prime Minister? After declaring these to be desirable
attributes for character building they cannot now turn back and repudiate them. And the mass media has fallen headlong for
this trap too.
Our politicians
know the storm that the notion of homosexual marriage has caused in
When we discovered
that our leader was listed among the wicked spirits that came up on the River
Euphrates from the East, we were greatly surprised (‘Another End Time Prophecy
Unveiled’, in TCH 12). Not any more.
God know people’s minds, hearts and intentions, better than we do. He does not condemn them for freeing the
people of Iraq from tyranny, which the United Nations should have done long
ago, but for delivering them the ‘freedoms’ that they do not want or need.
It is an
extraordinary fact that it should be the Liberal Party, the party of lawyers,
that is being used as a Trojan Horse by homosexual lobbies to introduce their
agenda into public life, not the Labour Party, which is more sympathetic to its
cause.
So what are the
values that every child should be taught in school, and every parent should teach
at home? We will come to them shortly,
but first let us look at what we wrote as early as 1995. We pick up the story at one of Jesus’ lessons
to His disciples about His return to this earth and the end of this age.
Mat
24:3 “Now as He
sat on the
Mat
24:4 And Jesus
answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.
Mat
24:5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will
deceive many. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.
Mat
24:6 See that you are not troubled; for
all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat
24:7 "For nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines,
Mat
24:8 pestilences, and earthquakes in
various places." All these are the
beginning of sorrows. "Then they
Mat
24:9 will deliver you up to tribulation
and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
Mat
24:10 "And then many will be
offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Mat
24:11 "Then many false prophets
will rise up and deceive many.
Mat
24:12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of
many will grow cold.
Mat
24:13 "But he who endures to the
end shall be saved. "And this
gospel of the kingdom
Mat
24:14 will be preached in all the world
as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Mat
24:32 "Now learn this parable from
the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth
Mat
24:33 leaves, you know that summer is
near. "So you also, when you see
all these things, know that it is near; at
Mat
24:34 the doors! "Assuredly, I say
to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take
place.
Mat
24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass
away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Mat
24:36 "But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Mat
24:37 "But as the days of Noah
were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
“How
could the world be taken by surprise by these events, as it was taken by the
flood of Noah, if everyone is aware of the work of the two witnesses? Something
isn’t right. Could it be that we have
been sold another fib by those who tell us to keep our eyes on
Rev
11:3 "And I will give power to my
two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days,
Rev
11:4 clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the
Rev
11:5 earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire
proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if
Rev
11:6 anyone wants to harm them, he must
be killed in this manner. These have power
to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they
have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all
plagues, as often as they desire.
Rev
11:7 When they finish their testimony,
the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them,
“Did you notice that the word “
The
word “
Heb
6:4 “For it is impossible for those who
were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have
Heb
6:5 become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age
Heb
6:6 to come, if they fall away, to renew
them again to repentance, since they
crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
“Those
who have fallen away after they have “tested the good word of God... crucify again for themselves the Son of God”. They could be anywhere in the world, not just
in
“There
are a number of such cities around the world, but we can’t speak about
them. We can, however, speak of the city
of which we have first hand experience, from where we have been sending these
magazines to the world, and that is
“Our
readers would know about the homosexual festival called “Gay and Lesbian Mardi
Grass” which takes place in this city annually, and of which we have written in
the past. It is an open display of
vulgarity and obscenity that would make any decent person sick just by watching
it. This is only one aspect of a wide
range of homosexual activities that take place in this city all year
round.
“Regarding
idolatry,
“As
for those who crucify Christ, all our leaders – political, religious and
academic – have done it. The political
leaders have done it by turning this State from Christianity to paganism. The official religion of
“Earlier
this year we had an election in this State.
The Coalition government, formed by the Liberal and National Parties,
lost the election. That is the good
news. This was the government that gave
“The
bad news is that Labor Party won the election.
This party has been described by a Member of Parliament as the
homosexual party. One of the first acts
of Parliament, signed by the new Premier, enshrined into legislation the
“right” of gay couples to be regarded as families. Then on
“The “right” of homosexuals to marry
and adopt children? Who gave them this
“right”, the United Nations? The Creator says that this is not “right” but
wrong, so wrong that they will pay with their lives for it. Unfortunately, other people suffer as a
result of their abominations too. Our
leaders would never accept that the current disastrous draught, the
astronomical national debt, the unemployment, the epidemic of youth suicides,
the decay of cities and many other social evils, have anything to do with their
policies, their attitude to, and especially their legislation on,
homosexuality.
“First,
it was the law against homosexual “vilification”. Then gay couples received the ‘right’ to be
regarded as normal families. Now, our highest office demands that homosexuals
have the ‘right to marry’ and adopt children too. What next?
Are they going to pass a law that everyone become a homosexual? Thank God they won’t have time for that.
“Those who want children
should exercise their ‘right’ to conceive and rear children, not adopt them
after other people have labored with them, then inculcate them with their vile
ideas. All those ‘rights’ are being
granted to homosexuals while Christians are being denied the right to speak
against such abominations and against the offensive vulgarities that pass as
cultural events in this city. This is
how our political leaders ‘crucify again’ for themselves the Son of
God.” (“Would The Real Witnesses Please
Stand Up”, The Christian Herald No 5).
The expressed
desire of our Governor General in 1995 has been overtaken by events in the
If you get the
impression that this ‘exploration’ is nothing more than the back door by which
they can introduce more un-Christian, anti-God, concepts and laws, you are not
wrong.
The efforts of the
homosexual lobby has shifted from the United Nations and the Courts, which they
have largely conquered, to the churches, some of which are still opposing their
practices. Now do you think that they
want to become priests and ministers because they love the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and want to preach righteousness, truth and holiness? Or rather because they want to neutralise and
silence this institution too. Churches
and religious institutions are still allowed to speak on this matter, and
condemn homosexuality without penalty,
but not for long. The United
Nations will see to that.
“The U. N. Human Rights Commission is
scheduled to meet March 15 to April 25 in
“IGLHRC
[the San-Francisco-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission]
called last April's introduction of the resolution by
“At the 2003 session,
“Last year's resolution, according to
the IGLHRC, had the support of
“The resolution, IGLHRC
asserted . . . would "provide activists with another tool to hold states
accountable to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered]
people."
However, some opponents contend the
remedy proposed by the resolution will have worse societal implications than
the alleged disease, "homophobia." "It is highly likely that
gay-rights advocates will use this resolution, if it passes, to advance their
agenda to legalize gay marriage and to create hate-crimes legislation,"
contended A. Scott Loveless, associate professor of law at the
"In their quest to legitimize
homosexuality, many of these countries have actually limited some of our most
fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech," Loveless said.
In
The draft resolution presented last
year by
Isn’t it extraordinary? It was a Muslim nation,
American evangelists never tire
telling their followers that Islam is a religion of the Devil. We are not quite sure that that is how the
Almighty sees it. When we pointed out that
Islam is as much a religion of Abraham as is Judaism and Christianity, each
with its own role and purpose, we received some of the most virulent criticism
ever. They forget that individual acts
of suicidal madness, by the kind of minorities that all religions have, do not
invalidate the basic tenets of a religion.
They have also forgotten what God had told Abraham about Ishmael, his
son by Hagar, who became the father of the Arabs and of Islam.
These are the words of God, of the
Holy Spirit, not of the Devil. Those who say otherwise commit an unpardonable
sin.
The Americans would never admit that the
Almighty would allow the kind of devastation they suffered on
It should not be left to Muslim
nations to oppose resolutions on homosexuality at the United Nations, for they
are an insult not only to them, but to true Christians and to the whole
civilized world. If a foreign body
imposes such abominable resolutions upon any nation, it should be mercilessly
thrown out of the country without delay, and never be heard of again.
Rumours have it that the United
Nations considers moving its headquarters to
Ishmael was a mirror mage of Jacob,
each with twelve princes, but on opposite sides of the fence. Isn’t this what is evident in the world at
present: a wild man, with wild descendants, against the whole world, and the
world against them?
Those American ‘evangelists’, blinded
by their hatred of Islam, betray their own ignorance of the Scriptures by
failing to see the hand of God and prophecy at work in their own nation.
These then are the ‘freedoms’ that
our political leaders would like to ‘impart’ to our students, freedoms that the
United Nations regard as ‘the birthright of all human beings’. Of course, the United Nations was there when
God created the first human beings and heard Him say, ‘your fundamental
birthright freedom’ is to debauch yourselves with all sorts sexual
perversions? They have forgotten the
lessons of history and what happened to those who abandoned themselves to these
kind of ‘freedoms’.
Over the years, we have not spared
other religions either, making our voice heard in their lands too. Yet, we have
never had a word of condemnation from these people, only from Christians, and
from the Jews.
Our message to the people of the
world is that they are God’s people too, only that they follow a wrong path and
worship wrong gods, just as Christians did before they turned to Jesus
Christ.
1 Cor 8:5 “For even if there are so-called gods,
whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many
1 Cor 8:6 lords), yet for us there is one God, the
Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord
1 Cor 8:7 Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,
and through whom we live. However, there
is not in everyone that knowledge;
What then are the values that create
good character, which all peoples should teach to their children?
For thousands of years, the God-given
standard that has formed the back bone of western civilisation until it started
falling apart under the onslaught of modernism, was the Ten Commandments. It is from
this standard that all other character building values proceed – diligence, honesty, respect for the law,
honour for the elders, charity, humility, love, and faith. These are the forgotten values in our
society today.
You cannot have
‘attributes’ outside these parameters.
You cannot ‘tolerate’ law breakers, you cannot ‘include’ deviant,
anti-social, elements, you cannot have ‘social justice’ by justifying the
unjustifiable, and you cannot have ‘freedom’ without responsibility, freedom
beyond the limits of decency and common sense.
The Judeo-Christian
Scriptures have proven over and over again that they are divinely inspired and
provide the best practical solutions for true character building. The problem
is that religion today suffers from a massive crisis of credibility.
Since the beginning
of time, religion has played a crucial role in education and in people’s lives,
but with the advent of modernity this is no longer the case. In the last couple of centuries religion has
been continuously undermined and subjected to attack from what has wrongly been
called science and enlightenment. The
great educational institutions of our time are no longer centres of discovery
and honest quest for truth, but hotbeds of radicalism, negativity, dissent, and
ridicule.
Years ago, I was
overjoyed when a top Anglican school in
Teachers careers in those
schools are determined by exam outcomes.
Parents, who pay exorbitant sums of money for their children’s
education, want to see tangible results.
Character is not as easily measured as are curriculum subjects. Any wonder that so many good students end up
as unscrupulous, greedy, professionals.
They lack moral education, and true character building values. No subject teaches these values, not even
scripture lessons.
Even the Priest,
who was taking religious instruction classes, would not touch creationist
materials that extolled biblical values.
Being a librarian, I had the chance to observe him at work. His lessons were a joke to say the
least. He had a horrendous time
controlling his classes and motivating students to take him seriously. He was paying the price for his own
convictions, for he was an evolutionist too.
Students did not expect that from him.
They respect a man of conviction who stands up for his principles, not
one who vacillates between two positions that are incompatible with each other.
I don’t think he
had proper teaching qualifications either, for his lessons were unstructured
and poorly prepared. For all intents and purposes, he did not quite seem to
know what he was talking about either.
Students are not stupid; you can fool them once or twice, but if they
perceive that you keep going before them without much of an idea what you are
going to talk about, they tear you to pieces.
Heaven help you after that, because even a school management with the
strictest code of discipline can’t help you anymore.
It is wrong to assume
that a preacher is naturally a good teacher too. A class full of students is not a church
congregation that listens quietly to nonsense for an hour or so, then thanks
the preacher for it.
The Bible tells us
that there are many people in the world who ought to do anything but preach
Scriptures.
Rom 16:18 “For those who are such do not serve our Lord
Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech
deceive the hearts of the simple.”
For two thousand
years impostors and incompetent hypocrites have wreaked havoc with the
Christian Gospel, giving people a sour taste of what religion is all about. The
Apostles saw it coming and warned their followers about it in the strongest
terms. That is why they spoke of the need for a restoration of all things
before the return of Jesus Christ.
For a long time I
wondered how such people could preach from the Bible on Sundays, then teach
students during the week that the story of creation is a myth and the book of
Genesis is not to be taken seriously.
And they still wonder that when children grow up they do not believe in
God and would have nothing to do with the church.
Many of the
problems in today’s education can be traced directly to the intrusive
government legislation that forbids any kind of corporal punishment. They say that they do it for the good of the
children, but evidence is mounting that children brought up without discipline
become adults without discipline too.
No corporal
punishment, no rote learning, no speaking harshly to students, no external
examinations, no lowering the students’ self-esteem, nothing that might
incommode our ‘little angels’. The problem
is, we are not dealing with ‘little angels’, but with many intrinsically
disruptive elements that do not know the meaning of discipline anymore.
After a few years
in private education, I moved to a public school that was more easily
accessible for me. That school
introduced a laudable program of 20 minutes quiet reading for all students
first thing in the morning. I had year
11 in the library’s instruction room.
That was supposed to be a more disciplined and diligent class, as all
senior student classes are supposed to be.
Yet even in that class there was a group of four students who did their
best to live up to their fame as bullies and trouble makers. After trying every method at my disposal to
quiet them down, without success, I wrote a memo to the Deputy Principal, who
was in charge of discipline in the school, inviting him to come down to the
library to discuss their case with me, or tell me when I could go and discuss
it with him in his office. He did not
answer me; he knew their case very well, and that nothing more could be done
with them short of expelling them. But expelling students from a school does
not look good on the school administration record, and so they let the staff
grapple with unruly students the best they can.
However, I did not
give up for I could see the disruption they were causing to other
students. I wrote two more memos, and
when the Deputy Principal still did not answer me, I expelled them from the
library and sent them to the Principal to deal with them. It was only then that the Deputy Principal
reluctantly made his way to the library.
A heated discussion followed. His
point was that we had to do everything in our power to keep them in school,
‘because we could not throw senior students out in the street’. And my point was that not only were they not
getting any benefit out of it, but were causing major inconvenience to other
students. I pointed out that we were not
a correctional institution to deal with perennially recalcitrant juveniles, but
an educational one with responsibility to the majority of students and to
parents who expect the best possible education for their children. In the end I had to accept his viewpoint, for
he was my superior, but he promised to have a serious discussion with them warning
them that unless they changed, their behaviour would not be tolerated much
longer.
Whether he did that
or not, I do not know, but what I do know is that a few days later, during a
school social occasion for our senior students, they got into a major brawl
with some strangers. One of our good students who went to their help, was
stubbed and killed on the spot. Two of
the bad ones ended up in hospital fighting for their life. They survived, but that was the end of their
association with our school. Far too
late in my opinion.
Somehow, the school
administration and the Education Department managed to keep the whole incident
out of media headlines. No school wants
to see its name associated with that kind of record. They made my life miserable after that,
undermining my position whenever they could and wanting me out of the school,
mindful of the fact that if my attempts to have those incorrigible juveniles
dealt with earlier had come to light they may well have been held criminally
responsible for the death of that good and innocent boy. They were a time bomb ready to explode
anytime; and it did. But the school’s
interest and the administration’s record demanded that they be kept in school
at all costs. And the costs turned out
to be very high indeed. Fortunately, my
association with that school did not last long after that. Unfortunately, it came for the wrong
reason: a car accident caused by another
irresponsible youth, who did not respect traffic laws, caused me severe
injuries that forced me into an early retirement.
There would have
been no room in private schools for those students, and there should have been
no room for them in public schools either.
But they were in school because the current educational guidelines work in
their favour. Teachers who want to
advance their career are judged among other things on their ability to deal
with unruly students. Rather than have
their record spoiled, when nothing else works, they let the rascals rule the
roost in the class. And so, public
education gets a bad mark, and other students suffer as a result of it.
As a
Teacher/Librarian, who did not care for further career advancement I could
afford to be firm with them, but other teachers put up with it, always hoping
that the next year would bring them better students.
The problem comes
mainly from the inane notion that all children must stay in high school until
late teens. For many of them school is
nothing but a drudge and a vexation of spirit, and so it is for anyone who has
to deal with them.
So what should be
done about it? Apprenticeships, that’s
what! Every qualified tradesman should
have a helper, an apprentice who in the beginning would receive a certain
remuneration from the Government.
The Government
provides substantial amounts of money to families for the upkeep of their
children, as they should, and to schools for their education. Part of this money should be split between
tradesmen and apprentices in the early days, until apprentices become
productive and self supporting.
Everyone would benefit from such a scheme, and would spare the schools
from having to work as baby sitters, or correctional institutions, for students
that have no reason to be there.
Less than a quarter
of high school students go on to university.
And for that, all children must be subjected to trudging education that
leaves little mark on them. Just think
how much you remember of your high school studies, and whether you would not
remember just as much if those studies were more judiciously spread out and
combined with practical work.
The push for
university education for everyone and everything helps neither society, nor
individuals who have no stomach for it.
It merely reinforces the misplaced concept that education to be worth
anything must be at the university level.
The school of life
and practical training still offer the best education for the vast majority of
people. Just think how many people you
know who have no university education and yet have done very well in life and
are pleasure to deal with. And just the
same, how many people you know with university education whom you wish you had
never met. If you have never met such a
person, happy are you. Pray to God that
you stay that way and that you’ll never have to put your foot in a Court of Law
for example.
When Labour was in
Government at the Federal level, they took nursing education from hospitals and
put it into universities. Then they had
to invent a new position, nurses’ help, to deal with what the nurses used to do
before. The result is that the country
has a chronic shortage of nurses.
Universities are
conservative institutions. Because they
operate on fixed budgets, they cannot expand and shrink at will according to
the market principle of supply and demand.
They cannot expand quickly enough when there is a certain shortage in
the labour market, then close down departments and lay off staff when that
demand has been fulfilled or diminished.
That is why hospitals and other institutions that can take care of their
own needs, must be allowed to do so on the basis of well established,
verifiable, national guidelines and standards, and not be subjected to the
whims of politicians and bureaucrats that more often than not have little idea
of what they are talking about.
Most children are
not meant for, and do not care for, university education. They would benefit infinitely more from
practical training that could start as early as the end of their primary
school, or elementary school as it is more commonly called in
At the end of
primary school, all education should be two streamed: one stream for
academically inclined students, and another for those
that love practical training. Sport
should play a bigger role in both streams, but more so in the latter. Basic subjects such as Literature, History,
Geography, Mathematics, Science, Physics and Chemistry, should be staple menus
for all students, each stream however with its own emphasis and degree of
complexity. In the practical training
stream, these subjects should be gradually reduced until they take no more than
two days per week.
This, however, is
considered elitist education, and in a world gone mad on egalitarism
it is unlikely that the powers that be would consider such a scheme. One of the arguments against it is that
students are too young to take life long decisions at that early stage. But opportunities for further education
should not stop there. Further education
through evening or correspondence courses should be available throughout life.
At the end of my
elementary school, I undertook three years vocational training that qualified
me as electrician. Then I completed my
high school through evening classes while working as a tradesman. I was aiming towards electrical engineering
at university when my life took a radical turn.
I escaped from communist
More than a decade
passed, and although I felt well versed in Scriptures and history, I did not
rush to do anything with my knowledge, always thinking that if God wanted me to
do something with it He would provide the opportunity. And He did, but not in the manner or the time
that I expected. Originally, I thought
that my knowledge and experience would be harnessed thorough an existing
church. But rather than making use of my
knowledge and cooperating with me in enlightening the world on the malaise that
was destroying churches worldwide – lack of Scriptural knowledge – I found
myself on a collision course with these same churches. In desperation, I began an independent work
by publishing The Christian Herald. I
produced the first seven editions on evenings, weekends and school vacations
while working as a Teacher/Librarian.
Then I had the accident that forced me into an early retirement. Since then, I managed to maintain the rate of
one edition per year while convalescing at home. It so happened that the Internet came into
vogue at about the same time. Without
the Internet I would have had to give up on this work, for I would not have
been able to carry out the almost interminable research work that some of the
articles required.
Now, why am I
telling you these things? To show you
that with all the twists and turns that my life had taken, and the physical,
psychological, and emotional pain that I endured, and still do, there are few
people in the world that would be happier than I am. I have the right relationship with My Maker,
I know where I stand, what I do, and where I go, which is what few other people
could honestly say.
That is why a
decision taken at the age of 13 or 14 is not the end of the road as far as
one’s career and happiness are concerned.
Indeed, I am convinced that getting work experience and practical
training for some years after primary school, is the best possible outcome for
students of that age. It would teach
them valuable skills and the value of honest work, it would give them the
satisfaction of earning their own upkeep and would lessen the burden on
families; and it would be a lot less costly for the Government too.
Let those who aim
to become doctors, teachers, lawyers and the like, take the academic stream,
but let others who like working with their own hands not be castigated for not
getting a university degree for it.
God certainly does
not do that. He extols the virtues of
honest diligent work in whatever field.
Luke 10:7 "The labourer is worthy of his wages.”
Prov.
Eccl. 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your
might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where
you are going.”
Eccl.
The value of one’s
life is not measured by its length, but by its quality. And that quality is measured by the provision
one makes for eternity, for peace and tranquillity of mind, and the degree of
spiritual union with God.
Jesus Christ was
only thirty three years old when His life came to a violent end, yet He left us
an example and a legacy that changed the world. There is no better ideal or example that
anyone can have than that of Jesus Christ.
That ideal begins at home with proper parental upbringing that involves
a degree of corporal punishment if needed.
Prov.
Prov.
Prov 29:15 “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child
left to himself brings shame to his mother.”
Prov.
Prov.
Prov. 22:6 “Train up a
child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Prov. 15:5 “A fool despises his father's instruction,
But he who receives correction is prudent.”
Psa. 119:67 “Before I was afflicted
I went astray, But now I keep Your word.”
Psa. 119:71 “It is good for me that
I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.”
Psa. 119:75 “I know, O LORD, that
Your judgments are right, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.”
These days, it is
alright to imbue children with chemicals that affect their minds in order to
subdue them, turning some into virtual zombies, but it is illegal to touch the
little angels’ bottoms or palms for misbehaviour. That is Satan’s way – destroying the mind and
the soul in order to preserve the body,
the very opposite of God’s way – sacrificing the body in order to save
the mind and the soul.
Rom 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service. And do not be
conformed to this world, but be
Rom 12:2 transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Heb 12:7 “If you endure chastening, God deals with you
as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?”
He who overcomes will reap the rewards of salvation,
not he who has no discipline and no control over his impulses.
Some children
certainly need medical attention, and who wouldn’t after growing up on the kind
of deficient diet that is common today, but most suffer from lack of firmness,
from being spoiled, from not being disciplined in the right manner, at the
right time. Worst offenders are
parents, who expect teachers to recover what they had neglected in their
children’s early formative years.
At least a quarter
of the Bible is about putting the body through agony in order that the soul may
reach ecstasy. A life-long quest for
betterment is best exemplified by the Scriptures that referred to Jesus
Christ.
Heb 10:5 “Therefore, when
He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not
desire,
Heb 10:7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come; In the
volume of the book it is written of Me; To do Your will, O
Heb 10:8 God.’ "Previously saying,
"Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did
not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the
law), then He said, "Behold,
Heb 10:9 I have come to do Your will, O God." He
takes away the first that He may establish the second.
Human beings have
but one choice: to become Jesus’ friend, or His enemy; to stand by Him, or
become His footstool.
The wise of this
world have turned the purpose of life on its head. They destroy the soul and preserve the body
because this life is all they know about.
They have blocked their minds to spiritual enlightenment because they do
not believe in God and in His salvation, and then condition children to think
in the same way. This ‘wisdom’ dominates
our educational institutions to their core.
And they wonder that children grow up aimlessly, and society is in such
a chaotic state.
Today’s children
grow up in a highly unnatural and unhealthy environment. After spending most of their waking hours in
front of one screen or another, they cannot relate to each other and are unable
to appreciate the beauty and wonders of the natural world. The story of the
Should people
wonder then that the western world finds itself in the midst of a youth
suicidal epidemic? (At lest they do not take other innocent lives with them as
do their Islamic counterparts). Nobody
seems to know why, or what to do about it.
It never crosses their mind that what they offer children, the world in
which they grow, the valueless education they receive, is not good for
them. It leaves them empty and desirous
for spiritual fulfilment which they cannot find in this materialist world.
You think that
leaders would have learned the lesson by now that there is no substitute for
spiritual fulfilment, that material things, good food, and fashionable clothes,
do not provide lasting satisfaction. If
they did, wealthy people would be the happiest, yet their rate of suicide is
higher than that of the average people.
When I was young,
in
Prov.
Prov.
Prov.
Prov.
Prov. 5:1 “My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend
your ear to my understanding,
Prov. 5:2 That you may preserve discretion, And your
lips may keep knowledge.
Prov. 5:3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is smoother than oil;
Prov. 5:4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Prov. 5:5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold
of hell.
Prov. 5:6 Lest you ponder her path of life; Her ways
are unstable; You do not know them.”
Prov. 5:7 “Therefore hear me now, my children, And do
not depart from the words of my mouth.
Prov. 5:8 Remove your way far from her, And do not go
near the door of her house,
Prov. 5:9 Lest you give your honor to others, And
your years to the cruel one;
Prov.
Prov.
Prov. 5:12 And say: "How I have hated
instruction, And my heart despised correction!”
Prov. 5:13 “I have not obeyed the voice of my
teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
Prov. 5:14 I was on the verge of total ruin, In
the midst of the assembly and congregation."
Prov. 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern, And
running water from your own well.
Prov. 5:16 Should your fountains be dispersed
abroad, Streams of water in the streets?
Prov. 5:17 Let them be only your own, And not for
strangers with you.
Prov. 5:18 Let your fountain be blessed, And
rejoice with the wife of your youth.”
Prov. 5:19 “As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her
love.
Prov. 5:20 For why should you, my son, be
enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a
seductress?
Prov. 5:21 For the ways of man are before the
eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths.
Prov. 5:22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked
man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
Prov. 5:23 He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.”
Prov. 9:13 “A foolish woman is clamorous; She is
simple, and knows nothing.
Prov. 9:14 For she sits at the door of her house,
On a seat by the highest places of the city,
Prov. 9:15 To call to those who pass by, Who go
straight on their way:
Prov. 9:16 "Whoever is simple, let him turn
in here"; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
Prov. 9:17 "Stolen water is sweet, And bread
eaten in secret is pleasant."
Prov. 9:18 But he does not know that the dead are
there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.”
Children, as much as
adults, need spiritual fulfilment. The
values that our heavenly Father enshrined for us in the Bible produce not only
true character and peace of mind, but guarantee eternal life as well.
Psa 119:9 “How can a young man cleanse his way? By
taking heed according to Your word.
Psa 119:10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh,
let me not wander from Your commandments!
Psa 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I
might not sin against You!
Psa 119:12 Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your
statutes!”
Psa 119:93 “I will never forget Your precepts, For by
them You have given me life.”
Psa 119:97 “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation
all the day.
Psa 119:98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser
than my enemies; For they are ever with me.
Psa 119:99 I have more understanding than all my
teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.
Psa 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, Because
I keep Your precepts.”
Psa 119:104 “Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore
I hate every false way.”
Psa 119:115 “Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will
keep the commandments of my God!”
Psa 119:119 “You put away all the wicked of the earth
like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies.”
Psa 119:21 “You rebuke the proud; the cursed, Who stray
from Your commandments.”
Psa 119:126 “It is time for You to act, O LORD, For they
have regarded Your law as void.
Psa 119:127 Therefore I love Your commandments More than
gold, yes, than fine gold!”
Psa 119:137 “Righteous are You, O LORD, And upright are
Your judgments.”
Psa 119:142 “Your righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness, And Your law is truth.”
Psa 119:160 “The entirety of Your word is truth, And
every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”
Psa 119:176 “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek
Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.”
Psa 120:1 “In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He
heard me.
Psa 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips And
from a deceitful tongue.”
Psa 119:163 “I hate and abhor lying,
But I love Your law.
Psa 119:164 Seven times a day I
praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
Psa 119:165 Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to
stumble.
Psa 119:166 LORD, I hope for Your salvation, And I do Your commandments.”
The Challenge Of The Orthodox Church
People would not be
caught dead answering questions raised in our magazines, right? Right! Except when truth cuts too close to the bone
and the wound is too painful to be ignored.
As the Scriptures say:
We were not
a little amused to find that the Romanian Orthodox Church took it upon itself
to challenge us on our writings. We were amused because as a church that bases
itself mostly on tradition, we thought it would be the last to challenge us on
the Scriptures, which we consider to be our strength. Nevertheless it did it, and we are only too
happy to answer it. Let us begin at the
very beginning by establishing what the doctrines of salvation are. This I where we find them.
Heb 6:1
“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let
us go on to perfection, not laying
again the foundation of repentance
from dead works and of faith toward
God,
Heb
6:2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection
of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb
6:3 And this we will do if God permits.”
Did you get
them? The seven doctrines emphasized
here are: repentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection, eternal
judgment, and perfection. Perfection is
mentioned first, but by right it is the last, as the statement, ‘let us go on
to’ clearly indicates.
Now how
many of these doctrines does the Orthodox Church preach and practice? None!
At least none in the manner proscribed by the Scriptures, the manner
taught by the Apostles of Jesus Christ in the early Churches of God. Repentance, baptism and laying on of hands
are outward expressions of one’s faith, an indication of a mature desire to
change one’s life according to God’s will. Resurrection, judgment and
perfection are prerogatives that come from God at the judgment time.
Since these
doctrines are foreign to the Orthodox Church, which ones does it preach and
practice? Infant baptism, immortality of
the soul, judgment after death instead of after resurrection, and going to heaven
or to hell immediately after judgment.
None of these things are in the Scriptures, and none are part of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, the Apostles of Jesus Christ spoke
very strongly against any departure form the right Gospel.
Gal
1:6 “I marvel that you are turning away
so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different
Gal
1:7 gospel, which is not another; but
there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of
Gal
1:8 Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel to you than what we have
Gal
1:9 preached to you, let him be
accursed. As we have said before, so now
I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have
received, let him be accursed. For do I
now persuade men, or God?
Those who preached a different gospel were to be
accursed, not once, but twice. Now does
the Orthodox Church take note of this curse?
Neither this, nor any other Church, has received the commission to
depart from the Gospel taught by the Apostles, and preach its own gospel. Jesus Christ Himself gave a strong warning
against those who would dare to do so.
Where then
do mainstream churches draw their doctrines from? Mainly from the pagan ancient Egyptian
religion which introduced the notion of an underworld and judgment after
death. Jesus Christ and His Apostles
preached judgment after resurrection, and entering the Kingdom of God of the
living, not of the dead. Some people may
well say, ‘judgment after death, or judgment after resurrection, what’s the
difference, it is still a judgment, isn’t it?’
Well, the difference is that one cannot judge dead people. The God of Jesus Christ is the God of the
living, not the God of the dead.
God does
not judge dead people. He resurrects them first, then looks at their record and
determines whether they are worthy of eternal life in His Kingdom, or eternal
damnation in a Lake of Fire. Only the
memory will remain of those who have been destroyed in the Lake of Fire as a
remembrance of what happened to those who have defied God and never
repented.
The notion
of purification in purgatory after death, is nothing
but a fallacy. It was never part of the Bible, either in the Old, or in the New
Testaments. It was precisely to distance
people from such noxious beliefs that God brought a new religion to the world
which He gave to a chosen people. The
Israelites were supposed to be an example to the world, but instead they made a
mess of it. So God chose a new people,
and made a New Covenant with people chosen from many nations.
Unfortunately,
the Christians made a mess of it too, having taken to the world an entirely
different gospel than the one given by Jesus Christ and His Apostles, one that
Rome preached when it took over Christendom.
It is this religion that mainstream churches are still preaching today,
the Orthodox Church among them, not the one given by Jesus Christ.
The people
of ancient Israel found their neighbor’s religions more tempting because it
contained tangible idols which they could see and touch, whereas God’s religion
required belief and worship of an invisible God.
Now
although Rome imposed its will on Christendom in the fourth century, the first
idolatrous images appeared in the churches only about the eighth century. From
then on churches competed with each other in the display of idols. Those that claim to represent Jesus Christ
have no resemblance whatsoever with the real Man, let alone with the risen
Christ. What they are presenting to the
world these days are nothing but caricatures of Him, both in images and in
their teaching about Him. For even on
the cross He was not a defeated or heartbroken man as they would have you
believe. What do these words tell you?
Who do you
think needed more pity, the Man who thundered those lucid words, or those who
were swarming, weeping or rejoicing around Him? A few minutes later, He turned
to God and said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do”
(Luke 23:34). Are these the words of a
defeated and broken man? Why then does
the Orthodox Church continue to present a lifeless image as a Savior? The risen Christ CANNOT be represented by
anything human beings can do, and they should stop trying to do it. Here is an image of the glorious Christ. Let them represent Him that way if they
can.
We hope
those who have been portraying Christ as a lifeless image are ashamed of
themselves. The Orthodox Church should
never forget what the Second Commandment says, for that was valid for all
times, not only for the Old Testament, for God does not change, and Jesus
Christ was God.
Exo 20:4 "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;
Exo 20:5 you shall not bow down to them nor 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 fourth generations of those who hate
Me,
Exo 20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who
love Me and keep My commandments.”
Mal 3:6
"For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not
consumed, O sons of Jacob.”
Mat 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with
child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is
translated, "God with us."
John 1:1 “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
God Himself
says, do not try to represent Me, only imagine Me according to the description that
I give you of Me, for it is not possible for you to represent Me in My
glory. We cannot even see Him, let aloes
represent Him.
Exo 33:20 “But He
said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."
And the LORD said,
Exo 33:21 "Here
is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. "So it shall be, while My glory passes
by,
Exo 33:22 that I
will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I
pass by.
Exo 33:23
"Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My
face shall not be seen."
And if that
is not enough, here are more injunctions against idolatry.
Psa 97:7 “Let all be put to shame who serve carved
images, Who boast of idols.”
Psa 106:34 “They
did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the LORD had commanded them,
Psa 106:35 But
they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works;
Psa 106:36 They
served their idols, Which became a snare to them.”
Psa 115:3 “But our
God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
Psa 115:4 Their
idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands.
Psa 115:5 They
have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see;
Psa 115:6 They
have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell;
Psa 115:7 They
have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor
do they mutter
Psa 115:8 through
their throat. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.”
Those who
make idols, and those who worship them, are like their idols. Unless they turn
to the living God while they have a chance, they are doomed forever.
When the
people of Samaria turned back to the pagan religion of Egypt, and embraced the
idolatrous religion of their Canaanite neighbors, God became tired of
correcting them and let them to their own devises. They lost the protection of
God, their identity, and were taken into captivity. They were thought to have vanished from
History, but recent discoveries identified them as being none other than the
people of old Europe. (See TCH 10).
How extraordinary that the two nations of Israel, Judea and Samaria, should end
up representing the Old and the New Testaments respectively. How did the Samaritans lose their identity? By abandoning the sign that identified them,
the sign of the Sabbath, and embracing the sign of ancient Egypt, the sign of
the Sun, Sunday.
Exo 31:13 "Speak also to the children of
Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me
and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who
sanctifies you.
Exo 31:14 'You shall keep the Sabbath,
therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to
death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among
his people.
Exo 31:15 'Work
shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the
LORD. Whoever
Exo 31:16 does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall
surely be put to death.' Therefore the
children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout
their generations as a perpetual covenant.
Exo 31:17 'It is a
sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD
made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was
refreshed.'"
Now what
day is Jesus Christ expecting his followers to observe when He returns? Not Sunday, for sure.
Mat
24:20 "And pray that your flight
may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.”
That flight
will take place at the very end, just prior to His return. Those who claim to be Christians, must
observe the day that identifies them as the people of God. Does the Orthodox Church observe that
sign? You know the answer. Now notice what will happen shortly after
that flight.
Mat
24:29 "Immediately after the
tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give
its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will
be shaken.
Mat
24:30 "Then the sign of the Son of
Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and
they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory.
Mat
24:31 "And He will send His angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
The angels
of God will be going around the world to gather the elect of God. Now how are they going to identify them? Are they gong to stop and ask every
individual whether he is an elect of God or not? Certainly not! They will be looking for the sign that
identifies the people of God. God can read people’s minds and hearts, and so
can His angels. They will be looking for
the sign of the Sabbath, just as they looked for the sign of the blood on the
door posts that identified the people of Israel when they came out of
Egypt.
Exo 12:11 “'And thus you shall eat it: with a
belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So
you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.
Exo 12:12 'For I will pass through the land of
Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment:
I am the LORD.
Exo 12:13 'Now the blood shall be a sign for you
on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you;
and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of
Egypt.
Exo 12:14 'So this day shall be to you a
memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your
generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.
Exo 12:15 'Seven days you shall eat unleavened
bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever
eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall
be cut off
Exo
Exo
Blood on
the doorposts identified the people of Israel until the sign of the Sabbath
became their new sign.
It is interesting
to note that the blood on the doorposts sign was associated with the Passover,
the Holy Day that Jesus Christ specifically told His disciples to observe in a
particular manner.
The blood
of Jesus Christ, spilled at Passover, represents the New Covenant. Does the
Orthodox Church observe this Holy Day? Its members have hardly ever heard about
it, let alone observe it. They say that this is a Jewish Holy Day, and yet,
this is what Apostle Paul told the members of the Corinthian Church, a Gentile
Church?
Those who
are approved by God must observe the Passover in the manner described here by
Apostle Paul. Those that keep it in an unworthy manner, or not at all, are not
approved by God. And if they are not
approved by God, they have no chance of being saved, no chance of inheriting
eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
When Rome
imposed its will on Christendom, it forced Christians to adopt its beliefs and customs
and forbade them from ‘Judeaizing’ anymore. That
meant that Christians were no longer allowed to practice the doctrines of the
Gospel of salvation and observe the Holy Days that they were accustomed
to. The Romans said that they were
Jewish Holy Days, but just because the Jews observed them it did not make them
Jewish. They were God’s Holy Days, they
were observed by Jesus Christ, by the Apostles, and by the early Churches of
God.
The time
has come for all churches to return to the roots from which they had departed
at that time. Ignorance is no longer justifiable, especially now that this
information is freely available, and people can observe them without hindrance.
This is what this work has been all about: restoring the long lost Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
We have
gone to great lengths and great expense to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and inform people about it. And yet,
those who have been peddling false gospels have had infinitely more success
than we have had. People refuse to
believe that anything good comes freely these days. Well, the Gospel of Jesus Christ does. Those who impose burdens on their followers
do not preach the right Gospel. As Apostle Paul said:
The trials
that precede the return of Jesus Christ, much too obvious in the world at
present, are meant to shake people out of their somnolence and bring them back
to the right path.
Zec
Zec
Zec
Zec
Zec 14:17 And it
shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to
Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no
rain.
Zec
Zec
Now which
Holy Day will survivors of the Great Tribulations from all nations come to
observe at
Now if
people want to go churches that work like neighborhood clubs, it’s fine with
us. It is their privilege. But if they go to church in order to find God and be
saved, then they deserve to be told the truth – what the Gospel of salvation is
all about. This is what we have been
doing from the very beginning, and yet, the Orthodox hierarchy is angry with us
for doing a work that itself should be doing.
That all
people will convert to the religion of Jesus Christ when He makes His
triumphant return there is no doubt. The
Orthodox Church, however, would have a great advantage if it took the
initiative and did so now, for to it, or its Greek predecessors, has been given
the New Testament, not to the church of Rome.
Like the Jews, who have scrupulously preserved the Old Testament for us,
the Greeks have done a marvelous job in preserving the New Testament. The
Orthodox Church therefore ought to preach what it has preserved.
Now there
is a reason why Jesus Christ has restored His Gospel at this particular
junction of world history. At no other time could two people have done this
work and taken that Gospel to the world. This is what prophecy said that it
would happen, and this is what it has happened.
How? Through the means of modern technology.
When we
began this work, we had no idea where it would take us, or that it would put us
at odds with virtually the entire world.
All we wanted was to expose some cases of hypocrisy and blatant
exploitation of believers with false doctrines about tithing and
offerings. As we were preparing to do
that, we expected opposition from some people, but not from the whole
world. It came as a shock to find
ourselves being castigated by the very people we thought would support us. But it was not to be. Wickedness, hypocrisy,
and exploitation of believers are far more widespread than we could have
possibly imagined. In speaking against
it, and against the false doctrines that are being peddled as doctrines of
salvation, we found ourselves doing the work of the two witnesses of the book
of Revelation.
It took us
some time to realize that witnessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to an
unbelieving world did not mean converting the world to it too. Not that we did
not want it, but this world is so deeply steeped in falsehood, people get
disturbed by the truth and would rather not hear about it. Well, hear they
will, because this is our job.
Now we
believe that there may be some lessons for our readers in knowing the evolution
of this work.
Our first
edition was produced on a portable typewriter. It nearly drove us mad, for
every single mistake or alteration required the retyping of the entire
page. When one uses a number of sources
– Bibles, compendiums, historical books, print media, television, etc., as we
did – one needs flexibility, which we did not have then.
We got some
flexibility with the daisy wheel typewriter which we used for our next
edition. We could make minor corrections
to a paragraph without having to retype the whole page.
Then came a
big step forward with the electronic typewriters with which one could edit an
entire page.
Not long after
that came the first computers. We could
write and edit articles of up to twenty pages long – an unbelievable progress
at that time.
Now we
experienced all these changes and advances in technology during the time we
produced our first seven editions. The
pace of progress, however, was speeding up faster than we could keep up with
it.
For then
came the revolution that really changed the world – advanced computers and
desktop publishing. No limit on the size
of articles, or on what one could do with them in terms of editing, style,
format, etc.
Up until
then, we were still using printed versions of Bibles and compendiums, the
backbone of this work. People in a number of libraries in
Then came
the electronic Bibles and encyclopedias, and not long after that, the Internet.
I seldom set my foot in any library after that.
The whole world is at my disposal from my own office.
Now all
these inventions and phenomenal progress occurred in less than two decades. If
these are not miracles, we do not what they could be. Which proves that human beings are still
capable of miracles. Well, miracles or not, one thing is certain, without these
inventions few people would have known about us and about this work. But now we
have reached, and exchanged correspondence, with people from virtually every
corner of the globe, including with some very respectable academics.
Some people
may have thought that we were cold by not engaging in lengthy personal
correspondence with them. Friends, we
simply could not do it. This has been an
almost impossible task for us. Plus we
had to cope with some pretty horrific trials along the way too. What we have done instead, was to provide
people with all the information they needed to work out their own program of
spiritual growth. We are able to
provide, at least for the time being, initial counseling for those who desire
it.
As for the
Orthodox Church, instead of confronting us, it ought to search the Scriptures
to confirm that what we say is true, then take the initiative to correct its
errors and become an example to other churches that need to do the same. It should call a special Council to discuss
these matters, and then make the necessary adjustments to its teachings and
doctrines. It can thus return to the Gospel from which it had departed long
ago.
Earlier
this year, we read an interesting announcement from the Anglican Church. It said that it was reviewing Sunday as a day
of worship because people were no longer using it for that purpose. They did not say what day of the week they
were considering, but what day could serve that purpose better then the
Sabbath? We think this is a roundabout
way of saying we want to return to the day of the Lord, without acknowledging a
debt to those who have been advocating this for a long time. The Orthodox Church could join ranks with
the Anglican Church and return to the Sabbath of the Lord together, for people
in the Orthodox world are not observing Sunday as a day of worship either.
Heb
5:12 “For though by this time you ought
to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the
oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
They need
to start from scratch, from the very beginning, with a fresh call to
repentance, like that of John the Baptist.
Mat 3:1 “In those days
John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
Mat 3:2 and saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Mat
3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by
the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"
When John
the Baptist was no longer on the scene, Jesus Christ continued with exactly the
same message.
Mat
Mat
Mat
Mat
Mat
Mat
John the Baptist
lost his head for the work of God, yet Jesus Christ began His ministry knowing
full well that He too would pay with His life for it. So should we be surprised, or panic, that we
might face a similar prospect? It was
Jesus Christ Himself who told His disciples not to expect a different
treatment.
John
16:2 synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you
will think that he offers God service.”
We have
already lost one person as a result of this work. So should we panic and run from it? This is
not an option for those who are called to do the work of God.
Now
although both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ began their missions with a
call to repentance, the first
Apostle
Peter called his contemporaries a ‘perverse generation’. What would he say if he lived today?
His
congregation was a thoroughly Jewish one, but notice what happened later when
he went to the Gentiles.
Acts
11:6 "When I observed it intently
and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts,
Acts
11:7 creeping things, and birds of the
air. "And I heard a voice saying to
me, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.'
Acts
11:8 "But I said, 'Not so, Lord!
For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.'
Acts
11:9 "But the voice answered me
again from heaven, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.'
God granted
repentance to the Gentiles too.
Repentance means life, and lack of it means death. Repentance is closely associated with
faith. A man without faith is a walking
corpse, as a wise man once said.
Now notice
what Jesus Christ told one of His disciples who had an emergency in his
family.
Mat
Mat
Death in
the Orthodox and
There are
people in this world who appear to be alive, but who
are in fact quite dead. Anyone who is
not among the elect of God and member of a true Church falls into that
category. Anyone who follows, practices,
and believes doctrines other than those approved by Jesus Christ is a member of
a congregation of the dead. This is the
time to repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit, so that you too may
join a Church of Jesus Christ, a Congregation of the Living God.
John
6:69 "We have come to believe and
know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
1 Tim
3:15 “I write so that you may know how
you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the
living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
When God
granted repentance to the Gentile, He opened the way for them to become part of
His elect. But for that they need to
repent and undergo the rituals of the
Acts
19:3 And he said to them, "Into
what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's
baptism." Then Paul said,
Acts
19:4 "John indeed baptized with a
baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who
Acts
19:5 would come after him, that is, on
Christ Jesus."When they heard this, they were
baptized in the name of the
Acts
19:6 Lord Jesus. And when Paul
had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke
with tongues and prophesied.”
Apostle
Paul gave them a new baptism and laid his hands on them before they could
receive the Holy Spirit. See how
important it is that people follow the correct doctrines of salvation,
doctrines that come from the Scriptures, not from tradition? In his epistles to Timothy, Apostle Paul
went on to say:
Now how
could Orthodox people, and those of other religions for that matter, be saved
when they never undergo those doctrinal rituals? A Christian is not one who goes to church on
Sundays, but one who has received the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Rom
8:5 “For those who live according to the
flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to
the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Rom
8:6 For to be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom
8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
Rom
8:8 So then, those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. But you are not in
the flesh but in the Spirit,
Rom
8:9 if indeed the Spirit of God dwells
in you. Now if anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
If the
Spirit of Christ is not in you, you are not a son of God and cannot inherit
eternal life. You do not have
immortality in yourself as present day churches wrongly preach. You must qualify for it by first becoming a
member of a true
At one
time, when I was engaged in a discussion with the minister of a certain church who was annoying me with his interpretation of the
Scriptures, I decided to cut the discussion short. So I told him that I was a son of God. He promptly turned his back on me and walked
away.
They think
you are mad when you tell them that you are a son of God, and yet they often
recite the Lord’s Prayer which says,
“Our Father who are in heaven.”
Now if God is our Father, then we are His sons, aren’t we? Or is it alright to recite the Lord’s Prayer
by heart as long as you do not believe it?
Mat
15:7 "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah
prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to Me
Mat
15:8 with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart
is far from Me.
Mat
15:9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"
What about
those Scriptures above? “As many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are sons of God.” Do you believe them? If not, ask yourself why not? I will tell you why not: because you are not
a son of God. Once you receive the Holy
Spirit it is no longer a case of believing it, it is a case of knowing it. You know that you are a son of God, and no
one can take that knowledge away from you.
People can claim to be sons of God, but not God, not the Holy Father
Himself, as a certain individual does.
Even Jesus Christ did not do it, even though He could have done it.
Mat
Isa 8:9 "Be
shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far
countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be
broken in pieces.
Now did the
Jews believe those Scriptures any more than Christians believe them today? It is for this very reason – their lack of belief – that they killed the Son of
God, their Messiah.
Unbelief
has lead to many a people’s downfall.
The Holy Spirit that dwells in people after their conversion grants them
the faith and the strength to stay on the right path from then on. The Scriptures even say that after you
receive the Holy Spirit, it is not you that speaks, but He that dwells in you.
The
Orthodox, the Catholic, and virtually all other Churches urgently need to
reform themselves if they are to save their followers from oblivion. It is not only we who
say that they have been derailed from the right path; the Apostles of Jesus Christ saw this
apostasy coming even in their own time.
3 John 1:9 “I
wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to
have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.
Apostle John was Jesus’ most loved disciple, yet even
he was being isolated from the Church of God, which most likely he set it up or
helped in its establishment. How much
more would they do it these days? And
they still call themselves Churches of God.
Great has been the mystery that has enveloped those Churches from the
very beginning.
2 Tim 3:1 “But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 Tim 3:2 For
men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to
2 Tim 3:3
parents, unthankful, unholy,
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of
good,
2 Tim 3:4
traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God,
2 Tim 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people
turn away!
2 Tim 3:6 For
of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible
women loaded down with
2 Tim 3:7
sins, led away by various
lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Tim 4:2 His
appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke,
2 Tim 4:3
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have
itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
2 Tim 4:4 and
they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
2 Tim 4:5 But
you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Strong words, but unfortunately never more true than
now. We emphasized the fact that the
Holy Scriptures, given by inspiration of God, are able to make one wise, and
that those who continue to live in sin are ‘always learning and never able to
come to the knowledge of the truth.’
Those who preach other than the correct doctrines of salvation fall in
this category.
The Scriptures not only tell us what we must do to be
saved, but how to avoid being derailed from the right path once we embark upon
it. For unlike other religions, which
promise salvation by simple membership, Christianity requires a life long
process of overcoming and perseverance.
Christians have powerful enemies that want to derail them from the true
path.
In other religions, simple manifestations of the
spirit are regarded as signs from God.
Not so in true Christianity.
Christians are supposed to test the spirits and be able to discern the
true and holy from the false and wicked.
1 John 4:1
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether
they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Here is an example of wicked spirits.
1 Ki 22:19
Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the
word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of
heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.” “And the LORD said,
It is clear that even wicked spirits have a role to
play in God’s scheme of things. He is
setting them on the people that depart from His path. Next time you see an apparition, a medium, or
some other sign from beyond, do not run to worship it, but test it by the
standard of the Scriptures, asking yourself what purpose does it serve. Is it beneficial and genuine, or dangerous,
secretive, wicked and costly? Bear in
mind that wicked spirits work through the agency of human beings. The prophets that opposed Micaiah
were human beings, yet they were doing the work of the Devil, allowing demons
to act and speak through them.
Christians must never allow that to happen. They can stay on the right path by always
referring to the Bible. But Bible study
in order to be effective must be accompanied by prayer and meditation.
Christians will always have stumbling blocks set on
their path, but the Holy Spirit will never abandon them.
2 Th 1:3
“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting,
because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all
abounds toward each other,
2 Th 1:4
so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your
patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God,
2 Th 1:7
who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from
heaven with His mighty angels,
2 Th 1:8
in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on
those who do not obey the
2 Th 1:9
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
Without the Holy Spirit, no one can reach the
At birth, people’s brains and hearts are blank like a
video tape that has nothing on it. The
moment one takes the first breath, a recording process begins. God created the world in such a way that all
human beings are supposed to come to a point in life in which they desire more
than just eating, drinking and being merry – an yearning for an innermost
satisfaction of the soul. It is at such
a time that the Spirit of God touches people.
Some people grasp that moment, and perform the necessary changes; others do not. That is why Jesus Christ said that, “many are
called, but few chosen." (Mat
When people repent, are baptized, and receive the Holy
Spirit, the old record is being wiped out, and a new record set in motion. It is this record that determines their fate
at the time of judgment: eternal life in the
Why not try a short test to see if this is so: set
aside one week during which time you will do nothing evil. You will be good, patient, generous,
friendly, and kind to everyone that comes in contact with you. You will be surprised at the power that
emanates from you and how people around you change too. At the end of that week you will most likely
feel better than you have ever felt.
Young people often say that they will get married when
they find the right person. Some of them
do, but quite a large number do not. Of
those that marry, almost half discover that they have not married the ‘right’
person and end up in divorce. The
problem is, more than half of the second marriages are not ‘right’ either and
end up in divorce too.
Now could it be that people expect the other person to
be ‘right’, without thinking whether they themselves are ‘right’? You can only have a lasting marriage if both
partners are ‘right’. But being ‘right’
does not mean being perfect. It only
means being understanding and tolerant towards the shortcomings of the other
person. As Apostle Paul said:
Rom 15:1 “We
then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to
please ourselves.
Rom 15:2 Let
each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even
Christ did not please
Rom 15:3
Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who
reproached You fell on Me."
Rom 15:4 For
whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we
through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
When looking for the right person, make sure that you
yourself are right too. You will find
out how ‘right’ you are by taking our test.
Chances are that you will not be happy with yourself, as it is almost
certain that you will fail a few times before you manage a full week without
shortcomings. You may then be a lot less
judgmental of others, a lot more
tolerant and understanding of them.
You will then be in a much better position to find the ‘right’ person
too. You may even be surprised by how
many people may appear to be right for you then. Do not be surprised to find that God may use
that occasions to touch you and call you to repentance too. You never know what transpires in the
end. Bear in mind that all big things
have a small beginning. In any case, you
will loose nothing, but could find the key to the
Those that come with an old record before God at the
time of judgment, can expect nothing but
damnation. Is your life worth that much
that you would not want to give it up for something that is infinitely better
and more satisfying? Make no mistake
about it, there is a judgment of God that no one can escape.
2 Tim 4:1 “I
charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the
living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.”
God will judge the living and the dead at “His
appearing and His Kingdom.” Whence then
did the Orthodox Church get the idea of judgment after death? While other churches hold similar beliefs,
the Orthodox Church has a greater responsibility for to it has been given the
New Testament. We ask nothing more than
that they honor what they have given us.
Now if judgment occurs at the appearance of Jesus
Christ, what happens to the people when they die. Nothing!
They are asleep, to use the biblical vernacular, or dead and
unconscious, to use a more common one.
When they come to consciousness again, after the resurrection, they will
find themselves facing the judgment of God.
Priests and ministers of religions rush to the bedside
of dying people in order to give them the ‘sacraments’ that ensure their place
in heaven. Pity those that died in wars,
on the seas, in wildernesses, in deserts, etc.
Will they ever go to heaven, or suffer forever in hell because a priest
could not administer last minute sacraments?
This charade has gone on for too long.
It is time to put an end to it, and follow the scriptural way to
salvation. It is not what people do in
the last minute of their life that determines their fate, but what they have
done with the whole of their life. If
they have not repented, changed their life, and created a new record for
themselves, they can have a thousand priests at their bedside, it will not make
an iota of difference.
Rev 22:12
"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give
to every one according to his work.
See that? Jesus
Christ – ‘the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the
Last’, in case you did not know whose work this is – determines people’s fate
according to their work, not according to what the priests do for them at, or
after, death. People cannot begin to
keep the Commandments of God at the last minute of their life so that they may
have the right to the tree of life. They must prove themselves, and bring works
worthy of salvation, over a longer period of time.
Being by someone at such a time, in order to ease the person’s
pain and sense of loss, is worthwhile, but the notion that anyone could be
saved by priestly ‘sacraments’ at the last minute is dangerous, for it lets
people believe that they can postpone their moment of repentance until a more
convenient time.
Who gave ‘sacraments’ to Jesus Christ, to John the
Baptist, to Stephen, to Apostle Paul, to other Apostles, and to the millions of
Christians who died in Jerusalem, in Rome, throughout Europe, and in many other
parts of the world? The word ‘sacrament’
is not even in the Bible, and if it is not in the Bible, it is not
necessary. No addition or deletion is
allowed to what the Bible says under any circumstance.
Tradition has a role to play in Christian life, but
only when it is based on the Scriptures.
The Pharisees of old failed because they followed a human
tradition. Modern day Christian
‘Pharisees’ are doing exactly the same thing.
Mark 7:6
“[Jesus] answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of
you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, But
their heart is far from Me.
Mark 7:7 And in
vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
Mark 7:8
"For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of
men . . .” He said to them,
Mark 7:9 "All too well you reject the commandment of
God, that you may keep your tradition.”
The Romanian Orthodox Church chose an unknown
provincial monk to do its bid in challenging us. We would have liked to answer him point by
point, but we can’t because: 1) it serves little purpose in airing his
banalities, and 2) much of what he said falls under the category of blasphemy,
which we could not repeat even for a critical assessment.
None of the things he said invalidate anything we have
written so far. The question is, how did
he know about us? The answer is found on
the page following his diatribe. A
picture of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarch, in company of the Pope, carried the
following caption:
“As proof of the hope in Christian unity stands the
witness of the first visit by a Pope in an Orthodox country. The great historic event, which took place on
7–
Ooh! “The
spiritual mission of the Romanian people?”
And what exactly might that be?
Are we going to see twenty million Romanian missionaries crisscrossing
the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ under their arm, preaching it to all
and sunder? Well, we better let the
world know what the Romanians have in store for it, for we would not want it to
be taken by surprise by such an earth shattering event, would we?
We just wonder what happened of that mission as far as
other Orthodox countries are concerned?
Why have no other Patriarchs invited the Pope to their lands if his
visit is such a blessing for their peoples?
In particular, why has the Russian Orthodox Church resisted all attempts
by the Polish Pope to visit their land?
This Pope has visited more than one hundred and twenty
countries around the world, but he would gladly have given them all away for
just one visit to
The reason the Russian Orthodox Patriarchs have
resisted it so far is that such a visit would mean an acknowledgement of the Pope’s supremacy over Christendom, a role
they have reserved for themselves ever since Moscow became the centre of the
Orthodox world after the Ottoman hordes conquered Constantinople. Russian Patriarchs consider themselves to be
the true leaders of Christianity by virtue of the fact that it was the Greek
Church that gave the New Testament to the world, not the Church of Rome.
The
In the Scriptures,
Isa 46:12 "Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, Who
are far from righteousness: I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far
off;
Isa 47:3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your
shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, And I will not
Isa 47:4 arbitrate with a man." As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His
name, The Holy One of Israel.
Isa 47:5 "Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O
daughter of the Chaldeans; For you shall no longer be
called The Lady of Kingdoms.
Isa 47:6 I was angry with My people; I have profaned
My inheritance, And given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the
elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
Isa 47:7 And you said, 'I shall be a lady forever,' So
that you did not take these things to heart, Nor remember the latter end of
them.
Isa 47:8 "Therefore hear this now, you who are
given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, 'I am, and there
is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the
loss of children';
Isa 47:9 But these two things shall come to you In a
moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon
you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great
abundance of your enchantments.
Isaiah had a lot more to say about
Jer 50:41 "Behold,
a people shall come from the north,
And a great nation and many kings Shall be raised up from the ends of the
Here are some interesting identifying signs about the
forces that come against
Jer 51:4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, And those thrust through in her streets.
Jer 51:5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his
God, the LORD of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin
This is a long prophecy too, and you can read the rest
of it in the Bible. The ancient Medes,
who together with the Persians, have conquered and destroyed ancient
Can you see why the
The world would be so much better and safer if people
stopped opposing God by devising “road maps” that prevent
Rom 10:3 ignorant of God's
righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted to the
Rom 10:4 righteousness of
God. For Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The Jews would do well to take note of the following
Scriptures too.
Gal 4:2 but is under guardians
and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were
children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
Gal 4:4 But when the fullness of
the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Gal 4:5 to redeem those who were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
Gal 4:6 And because you are sons,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out,
"Abba, Father!"
Gal 4:7 Therefore you are no
longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
Isn’t it remarkable how well the sons of the bondwoman
have been fulfilling their prophetic role of persecuting the sons of free
woman, and how especially well they are doing this job now? Unfortunately, they have gone well beyond
just persecuting them, they are committing mayhem with their penchant for
suicidal homicides. But God sees their
actions and shall reward them accordingly.
Those who choose death, shall be rewarded with death, while those who
choose life, shall be rewarded with life, especially if they repent and turn to
God now while they have their chance.