Not Another Rant About Context???

Here I am AGAIN repeating what I have said before – but the problem will not go away.


The most frustrating Christian practices I continually see is the use of bible quotes out of context to support a favoured doctrine. Most times this is done the context CLEARLY gives no validity for using the quote in that particular way.

We’ve all done it.

And we are all prone to doing it – often with memory verses that come to mind when we want to support what we are saying.

Maybe its time for honest, for integrity. At least it is if we genuinely want to know and promote the truth.

Before applying a “text” for a chosen purpose make sure that it is REALLY supporting the point without the need to stretch or force meaning into the “text” that was never intended.
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illustration credit "Open Bible by Petr Kratochvil

Conspiracy and Ideological Sleight of Hand.

Last night I listened to an audio recording that claimed information had been gained from some high level government sources warning of the downfall of the American dollar. (I think March this year was mentioned as the time of trouble).

The dollar's downfall is supposed to be a major step towards a one world currency. While I was thinking about this I realised that a one world currency is NOT on the way. If we are waiting for one to come we are probably waiting in vain, we are too late.

We ALREADY have a one world currency - but we don't realise it because our different nations still use different notes and coins on a daily basis. But the thing behind those notes and coins is the REAL currency, the electronic data that makes up the world's financial system.

I have suspicions about the "high level sources" that have leaked this information about the dollar's downfall. In the last week I have also heard reports of other "reliable government sources" leaking information about other things - such as ufos, alien technology and treaties with alien beings... I have also heard (again with reference to a government source) that the extreme weather around the world is caused by a "weather weapon".

Rather than these sources leaking reliable, truthful data to prepare the world for great changes ahead, there is perhaps something else going on - our gullibility is being put to the test and our attention is being distracted. The question is - what are the distractions designed to stop us from seeing?

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illustration from here: dollars

Desire to Believe

The Desire to Believe and the Way it Shapes Perception.
(Christians Don't Lie part 3)


In my article about Ghosts, I started with some personal experiences. Here I continue my thoughts on the topic, but will widen the perspective to include some related issues.

I had an interest in strange phenomena from my childhood. I think it started with UFOs. I grew up during the “space race” and like many young boys at the time I became fascinated with the space programme. Around the same time UFOs were getting a lot of publicity with many parts of England experiencing a “UFO flap”.

Somewhere along the way my interest broadened to include other unexplained things. It was an interest I kept well into adulthood and I read a great deal over the years about UFOs, the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts, and anything else that defied rational explanation. I strongly believed there was something beyond our everyday world and I was so willing to believe that I never considered that any of the things I read might be less than truthful. Why would anyone make these things up? I was beyond trusting, I was totally gullible. I believed some of the wildest claims.

Even after becoming a Christian in my teens I managed to keep one foot in each camp – without seeing any contradiction between the two. Somehow I kept things separated in my mind. My main concession was to attribute experiences of ghosts, aliens and other aspects of “the unexplained” to demonic activity. That conclusion was even supported by some UFO writers who didn’t have a Christian bias. Jacques Vallee, John Keel and Whitley Streiber all made comparisons between UFO activity and folkloric accounts of demons – suggesting that UFOs were a modern day way of interpreting what previous generations had seen as spiritual entities: fairies demons, angels etc.

Those non-religious writers confirmed my own conclusions. But they were conclusions based on the assumption that the reports of experiences were trustworthy. Here I would like to stress an important point. Note the change in emphasis at the beginning of this paragraph, from “experiences” to “reports of experiences”.

My own understanding began to change slowly. Perhaps this started with my personal UFO encounter.
One morning I was driving to work. The road followed the shores of a lake so there was a clear view across the water with an open unobstructed sky. I saw something above me, coming across from the lake. I glanced up and saw it was a very strange, clearly mechanical object. It had a narrow, elongated hourglass-like shape. After my brief sight of the object I turned my attention back to the road and then looked up again for a second look. This time everything became clear. The object turned and revealed itself to be a common light plane. My initial view of it had been from an unusual angle and my mind hadn’t correctly processed what I saw.

This experience reminded me of a UFO report I’d read a few years earlier. I think it came from a book called The Flying Saucerers by Arthur Shuttlewood. Shuttlewood was a prominent figure in the 1960s UFO “flap” that helped spark my childhood interest. In that book he wrote of an experience where a UFO approached him, changed into a plane when it was overhead, and then after passing turned back into a UFO. I think the similarity to my experience is easy to see – the big difference being the degree to which each observer (myself/Shuttlewood) was willing to continue believing an extraordinary conclusion even when faced with clear evidence for a very ordinary explanation.
I can only wonder what the results of my own experience may have been if I hadn’t taken that second look to see that the object was only a plane, if that first glimpse had remained as the only “fact” to build my conclusions upon.

Around the same time as my “UFO” experience, I was introduced to a new concept related to UFOs, one that I didn’t come to understand until many years later. I had written to a well known British UFO expert and had mentioned a series of iconic UFO sightings. In her reply she referred to those sightings as mostly “media hype”, it was a concept that I later realised could be extended to other reported experiences of anomalous phenomena. And I had to consider the extent of which our knowledge and understanding of those phenomena is totally dependant on the quality and veracity of the information we receive.

Another eye-opening encounter I had was with the writings of Jim Schnabel. His book Round in Circles rescued me from any remaining gullibility. The book was about crop circles, but instead of merely investigating the circles himself, he also spent time with the major players in crop circle research – the ones who provide US with the reports about all of the various formations found (mainly) around southern England. He clearly showed how public understanding of the crop circles was formed by the information being fed to them by investigators who were often far from objective in their reporting. Schnabel gave the example of a crude circle he had personally created being announced as “genuine” – even though his own muddy footprints were clearly evident across the circle
Not surprisingly Schnabel was accused of being an agent of CIA disinformation by those who refused to be swayed from their belief.

Basically, people believe what they want to believe. They are not swayed by evidence. They do not even consider evidence. They will merely collect and refer to stories that seemingly support what they believe, no matter how dubious those accounts may be. And Christians aren’t immune to this. We are often too quick to swallow the same kind of stories, but instead of seeing spirits of the dead, or alien spacecraft we interpret these things as demonic manifestations. Effectively we give “credit” to demons when in most cases credit is definitely not due.
Before we think of attributing a reported experience to demonic manifestation, we should be certain that the experience was a reality and not a misperception, a misunderstanding or even a lie. Through being too credulous in accepting everything as valid, we can effectively undermine the evidence and acceptance of those experiences that ARE genuine.

"God of Love part 5", teaching from David Pawson

"God of Love part 4", teaching from David Pawson

"God of Love part 3" teaching from David Pawson

"God of Love part 2" teaching from David Pawson

"God of Love part 1" teaching from David Pawson

Audios not videos.

A few things I've learned

I have learned these things from interaction on Christian forums:

1) Relativism rules! – Everyone seems to have his/her own truth and we are expected to tolerate everyone’s right to determine truth. (However, that tolerance is not extended to those who deny that truth is relative).

2) If you insist a biblical foundation is required for what we believe, and if you question someone’s right to their own truth, you are a Pharisee.

3) Some things are just too hard and cause too much strife so we are better off avoiding them.

4) Play the Word vs Spirit game, taking the side of the Spirit if you want to appear REALLY free in the spirit (unlike those dogmatic Pharisees).

5) Promote sound teaching and someone will take offense or will contradict it.


I have learned these things in my own relationship with the Lord – through allowing the Holy Spirit to teach me from His word.

1) Doctrine reliant on selective proof texts is highly questionable

2) Scripture is not a book of doctrine – it is a biography, a history, a love story all centred on God and His relationship with mankind, culminating in Him presenting His Son with a pure bride, after which they GENUINELY live happily ever after.

3) Before I can understand a single verse, a single chapter, a single book from the bible, I need at least a basic understanding of the whole bible and how each part fits together.

4) ALL doctrinal disputes would be resolved if EVERYONE looked at what scripture ACTUALLY says in context rather than trying to reinterpret parts of scripture to support a desired belief.

Ghosts

How do ghosts fit into a biblical view of reality?

On one of my other blogs I questioned the possibility of an authentic Christian ghost story. The article was partly of a review of a book I’d recently read (see here: review ).

Within that article I mentioned I’d had some “ghostly” encounters of my own without giving a lot of detail.

The first happened in my Sydney home. One morning I’d been getting ready for work when I saw a shadowy figure on the other side of the room where the dining room merged into a hallway leading to the front door. It was only a momentary glimpse and apart from feeling slightly startled I thought little more of it, until later that day.

In the afternoon, my wife and I were sitting at the dining table when she saw someone/something standing behind me – in exactly the same place as the figure in my experience. Again it was only a momentary glimpse.
She told me what she had seen and it was only then that I told her what I had seen earlier that day.
Despite the strangeness of the experience, there was no fear associated with it, neither then or any other time while we lived there. We were merely curious.

On another occasion we were on holiday and staying at a motel in Tamworth, NSW. We were there for two nights. At 1.00am on the first night I woke up and saw that the bed was surrounded by several human shaped shadowy figures. Even though the room was dark, the standby light on the TV cast enough light to give definition to the figures around me. I lay there watching them for some time until eventually I fell asleep again. In the morning I more or less dismissed the experience as a trick of my half-asleep brain.
Then the next night a sudden sound, a sharp rap woke me. I looked at the clock and saw it was again 1.00am (exactly the same time I’d woken the previous night) and this time I saw a single figure near the bed; it seemed to have a bottle in its hand which it raised up to drink from, tipping its head back in the process.

The next morning I told my wife of both experiences and she was annoyed that I hadn’t woken her to let her see what was happening. Again, like the time at home, I felt no fear from the experiences.

The question that arises from this is what was really going on? What did we see? Were they disembodied spirits caught between the physical world and the afterlife? Were they demons masquerading as something else? Or were they merely tricks of the mind, misperceptions or the result of over active imaginations.

How often do we think we’ve seen something but soon dismiss it as a misunderstanding? We see the hunched figure in the corner of a darkened room – only to turn on the light and find it is a coat, a wayward curtain, or a piece of furniture. Also interrupted sleep can bring us into a semi-woken state in which we think we are more alert than we actually are and we find our real surroundings becoming part of dream-like experiences.

But despite these mundane solutions, some reported experiences can’t be so easily explained away. Are they all hoaxes or did something out of the ordinary really happen?

No matter what the experiences may infer, no matter what theories seem to fit the situation. The only conclusions a Christian can draw are those compatible with God’s revelation in scripture. (to be continued later...)

“When in Rome” and Irresistable Grace, by Kevin Jackson

I recently saw the film When in Rome but I failed to see the parallel with Calvinist doctrine that Kevin Jackson brings out in the inspired article here:

http://wesleyanarminian.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/when-in-rome-and-irresistable-grace/

Thanks Kevin for sharing that inspired insight.
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CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT!!!

The importance of scriptural context can’t be stressed enough. So often we jump to conclusions and make interpretations of a particular verse without taking into account what the surrounding context is saying. This can lead us to a totally different understanding to the one intended by the writer.

Today I came across a very clear example of this in the comments section of another blog.

The writer was trying to prove that baptism was only a symbolic act and he quoted 1 Peter 3:21 “this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.”

“Woa!” the writer says – “Peter emphasises the symbolic nature of water baptism…”.

Woa! I say – what about context? What is being presented as the symbol? Is it baptism or is it something else?

Let’s look at the context – let’s look at the preceding verse.

20…God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also…

Here we can see a totally different meaning to the one the comment writer proposed. It is not the waters of baptism that are being presented as the symbol; it is the water of the flood that is being presented as symbolising the waters of baptism.

A TOTALLY different meaning arises out of a CONTEXTUAL reading of the text.

I have seen this happening over and over again.

I have found myself doing the same thing, but now I have learned to be cautious whenever a verse comes to mind.

I stop and check it again.
Are my thoughts consistent with the overall context?

Don’t be lazy about it.
Don’t take the risk of deceiving yourself and others.

Can You be a Saved Sinner? by Latter Days Ministry

An interesting and challenging article.

Sin is Past

Can You Be A "Saved" Sinner?


http://thelatterdays.blogspot.com/2010/12/sin-is-past.html




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Responsibility for the Jewish Condition by Fred London

I wanted to share the following that I received from Fred London, a friend who is a Jewish believer in Jesus who was involved with the “Messianic Jewish Movement” in its early days but is now “on the outside”.
I always benefit from the perspective his experience gives, but most importantly I benefit from the way he insists we would see things through the truth of scripture.
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Responsibility for the Jewish Condition

There is no question that for most of the last 2,000 years, the predominantly Gentile church has been primarily engaged in provocation rather than the Biblical mandate expressed by Paul to "provoke the Jews to a spiritual jealousy." Yes, to a significant degree, it has contributed to a hardening of Jewish hearts to the Gospel. Having said that, though, it may, and continuing to be, a valid negative influence upon Jewish openness to the Gospel, it is, ultimately, no excuse for their rejection of the Gospel. We are all "without excuse." It is Christ, Himself, who is a "rock of offense," a stone of stumbling." "For when you search for Me with all your heart, then you will find Me."

Moreover, it is also true that much of this rejection is due to a religious self-righteousness of which Paul speaks of in Romans 10:2-3 by the Orthodox Jewish community and ranging to a general indifference or humanism not unlike Gentile unbelievers by non-religious Jews. The bottom line has always been, and will forever be, "But, who do you say that I am?" That is the ultimate question, which demands the ultimate answer. That is the literal heart of the matter. Not unlike much of the "new and improved" Emergent Church, in my opinion, much of the Messianic Jewish Movement has also bought into the philosophy of "Maybe if they like us, they'll like our Jesus, too?" So there is plenty of culpability to go around.

I have been on the "inside" for many years and on the "outside" for many years. Although one can certainly draw from those experiences in deepening their understanding of the dynamics involved, they can only be validated by applying them to the truth of Scripture, which is "able to discern between soul and spirit." And, if rightly applied, is able to trump any soulish bias related to personal experience, something I always endeavor to apply in my own Biblically-related inquiries. Although I may not always hit the mark, I at least know where to aim, and therefore, in that regard, I myself am without excuse.

David Pawson: “Between Death and Resurrection”

David Pawson , 10 part series on Revelation and a 2 part teaching, “Between Death and Resurrection”

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=528




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Dave Daubenmire -- How Great is That Darkness

Quotes from Dave Daubenmire:

Most Christians are not. Not really disciples of Jesus that is.

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Everyone wants to “follow Jesus” until they find out where He is going… He is heading to a Cross… and He asks you to take up yours and follow Him. This flies in the face of popular Christianity and its “felt needs”…

See the full article here:

Dave Daubenmire -- How Great is That Darkness

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Rain or Repentance?

Eastern Australia has recently suffered a ten year drought.

4 ½ years ago I moved from Sydney to a country town 4 hours to the west. In church there was regular prayer for rain. Living in the country where farmer’s livelihoods are dependant on suitable climatic conditions it is very easy to empathise with that desire for rain. Without the rain their crops will fail, they get no income. Many have given up. Many have been forced from repossessed farms, driven into debt by years without a saleable crop.

One high profile Christian minister led nationwide prayer meetings to seek the Lord for rain. When the rain did come after one of his meetings, credit was taken for the breaking of the drought through prayer.

It is the natural thing to pray for the nation’s situation to be resolved through reliable rainfall. But while that is the “natural thing” was it the RIGHT thing to do?

Would the drought being broken bring people closer to God? Or would restored comfort mean increased complacency?

Over the last year the drought finally came to an end. Dams that had fallen to frighteningly low levels were filling. A few months ago a local dam was below 4% capacity. In recent weeks it rose to almost 60%.
Farmers were confident of their best crops ever.

Until two weeks ago!

In less than two weeks there have been record rainfalls. Major dams can’t cope and are now spilling excessive water into rivers. Flooding is extensive. The combination of rain and floods has destroyed much of the “best crop ever”.

Why? Is this the answer to prayer against drought?

While considering this situation a clear phrase came to my mind:

Rain without repentance.

In prayer should we be put earthly comfort first or should we take a more eternal viewpoint? What does this nation (and others) really need?

Rain or repentance?


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James 5:17-18 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
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Photo from here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/08/3087667.htm?site=westernplains§ion=news&date=(none)

David Pawson: ICEJ Recordings 2010

More David Pawson sermons. These are from an ICEJ Conference held in the UK, June 2010.

To listen follow this link:

http://www.billingefamilychurch.org/media_icej.htm

To download right click on the following links and select "save target as".

Who is Entitled to Jerusalem?

http://www.billingefamilychurch.org/media/sermons/icej/2010/download.php?file=040610_david_pawson.mp3

Jerusalem and Israel in Galatians

http://www.billingefamilychurch.org/media/sermons/icej/2010/download.php?file=j050610_david_pawson.mp3



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Christmas?

Christmas is nearly here again and another year is almost over.
Recently I've seen a lot of anti-Christmas articles written by Christians. I'm not sure whether that's because general Christian attitudes are changing or maybe it's just the kind of Christian company I keep.

Here is a link to an article I posted 5 years ago.

http://onefiles.blogspot.com/2005/12/word-for-christmas-and-beyond.html

Goodness separates many from God.

[This is a part repetition/part expansion of my previous post]

We have been led to believe that sin has separated mankind from God – but that is not always the case.
Man’s goodness can be a greater hindrance than his sin.

Acknowledgement of sin can lead to repentance and a desire for forgiveness, but a man’s good deeds often blind him to his need. Surely his good deeds will outweigh those times everyone goes through, where the rules are bent or where behaviour is known to fall short. A few sinful acts will be overlooked when more good deeds are done – won’t they?
Surely keeping more commandments than are broken would give a pass mark (6 out of the 10; or 307 out of the 613 of the Mosaic Law)?

One of the more widely held theological doctrines is that of man’s “Total Depravity” – describing the innate condition which separates man from God. It’s a term I don’t like because it conveys a false impression. The word “total” speaks of fullness, completion, an UTTER state that can't be increased. The term “total depravity”: therefore conveys and impression that ALL men are equally depraved to the full capacity: that ALL men could not be worse than they are.

That is clearly NOT the case. Some men ARE worse than others. Not all are Hitlers, Stalins or Pol Pots. To portray mankind as ALL being equally and fully depraved is a misrepresentation.
How would an unsaved person who is “good” in human terms respond to being putting in the same “TOTAL” category as Hitler? Could they accept that judgement?

NO, because they can see it is not true. Therefore, what is likely to be their response to the offer of cleansing and forgiveness through Jesus?
They won’t see the need!

The thing separating man from God is NOT “total depravity” – it is PARTIAL depravity or SUFFICIENT depravity. To a God who demands perfection, a person does not need to be TOTALLY depraved to miss the mark. The slightest blemish of character will be enough to spoil the perfection required. It doesn’t need the breaking of all commandments or even a majority of them for a person to fall short of God’s standard. Break one and you’ve broken the whole law.
ALL men are sufficiently sinful (depraved) to separate them from God.

There is NOTHING mankind can do to earn or deserve any favour from God. ALL of mankind has fallen short of His perfect standard, with the exception of one man – Jesus. And it is through HIM and HIS righteousness (not our own) through HIS fulfilment of the law (not our own) that relationship with God has been made possible.
It is through trusting HIM instead of ourselves, trusting what HE did instead of what we do, that we will be accepted by God

Total Depravity?

to•tal   /ˈtoʊtl/

1. constituting or comprising the whole; entire; whole: the total expenditure.
2. of or pertaining to the whole of something: the total effect of a play.
3. complete in extent or degree; absolute; unqualified; utter: a total failure.
4. involving all aspects, elements, participants, resources, etc.; unqualified; all-out: total war.

From:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/total


I will always have a problem with the non-biblical terminology of "total depravity" because its theological application does not really mean TOTAL.

Total means there as absolutely no room for anything further to be added - it is complete and utter in its extent. Man's depravity is no where near "total", there is room for worse. Not everyone turns out to be a Hitler, a Stalin or a Pol Pot.

The problem with unsaved man's condition is not so much "depravity". A far greater problem is that area of "goodness" within and displayed by most of us that allows room for self-righteousness.

Having some good traits (NOT being totally depraved) obscures the destructiveness of the bad and allows us to feel justified within ourselves. To many people it is their “goodness” that keeps them separated them from God because they see no need for a saviour.

Reference to the “total depravity” of man is a stumbling block to the unsaved. Despite recognising and admitting their faults, most can also see that they are not as depraved in behaviour or attitude as they could be: that their depravity is not total and therefore such a claim is a lie.

Man’s unsaved state is NOT due to total depravity, it is due to PARTIAL depravity – when God requires absolute perfection, it only takes the smallest blemish for us to fail His standard.

Oil Depletion, Israel and the Nations

The world will run out of oil around 100 years before replacement energy sources are available if oil use and development of new fuels continue at the current pace, a US study warns.

Full article here:
OIL Depletion

My comments:

What is partly HIDDEN in the article referenced above is the expected oil depletion date of 2054. Less than 44 years away.
And that year is stated to reflect a more “optimistic date” – which means oil is expected to run out well before then.

People are often most concerned about oil as a fuel and their immediate concerns are usually related to the COST of fuel.

But oil derivatives are essential components of modern food and material production. Our lives are dominated by products manufactured from oil. Many chemical based products rely on oil for components.

We should not live with the illusion that the end of oil production is a problem for the future, maybe beyond our lifetime. Reducing oil availability in the near future will cause greater problems than its eventual disappearance.

I guess we realise that the majority of oil comes from the Middle East – from countries that are strongly anti-Israel.
As the oil situation becomes increasingly dire, there will be more pressure placed on nations who have historically supported Israel. Oil supply will likely be affected depending on a country’s relationship with Israel.

Israel will increasingly be seen as a threat to world peace and security and will come under increasing pressure from the rest of the world to compromise on Arab demands. The nations of the world will be pressured into opposing Israel to maintain their supply of oil.

Ultimately the anti-Israel sentiment could lead to military threats from an oil hungry world. This is merely one scenario based on current world events and the status of world resources which has the potential to lead to the fulfilment of prophecy.

Is it coincidence that an anti-Israel, Arab world has most of the world’s oil resources? Is it coincidence that scripture lists these nations as a prominent part of an aggressive movement against Israel in the latter days? Is it likely that decreasing oil supply will give oil producing nations greater influence over the other nations of the world and their policies regarding Israel?

Auschwitz Album

Auschwitz Album




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David Ryser

One of the most visited posts on this blog relates to an article by David Ryser . The article was sent to me through Andrew Strom’s email newsletter.

I have now been given a link to the source of the article on Dr Ryser’s own blog.


http://catchthewindministries.blogspot.com/2009/03/lover-or-prostitute-question-that.html




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SECURE FOUNDATIONS

At work we have an Occupational Health and Safety noticeboard where information about workplace safety can be posted. Occasionally there will be photos of actual cases of incredible carelessness (even stupidity) that put people’s lives at risk.

An example would be someone standing on a ladder balanced on a chair that they have placed on a table – all in the attempt to reach a height beyond the capability of the ladder.

This thoughtless approach and attitude brings to mind the way some people approach their relationship with Jesus.

The ladder in the above example lacks stability. It is not placed on the required foundation, and it is a danger to anyone who climbs it.

There are foundations to the Christian life. They are specifically mentioned together in Hebrews 6 and separately elsewhere. They provide the basics of Christian faith, a secure anchor point. Yet how often do arguments arise about their necessity?

Some people seem intent on seeing how few of the foundational things they need? Is baptism really necessary? What about repentance? Surely it’s enough to merely believe?

These people make me think of the man on that ladder: seeing how little contact he can have with a solid foundation without falling. Some even try to test things further, rocking the ladder to one side until it is balancing on one leg only.

The True Israel of God: recommended article

There is an insightful and recommended article here:

The True Israel of God

It discusses God’s relationship with Israel as revealed through scripture, compared to God’s relationship with Israel according to man.

Where we stand on this issue depends on who we believe and who we follow: God and His word or man and apostate theology.

Dead sea scrolls to be made accessible online

According to the following reports, the Dead Sea scrolls are to be made accessible online.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/israel-to-put-dead-sea-scrolls-online-20101020-16sow.html


http://www.theadvocate.com.au/news/world/world/general/dead-sea-scrolls-will-be-available-online/1974908.aspx



Yesterday I posted these links on a Christian forum and was amazed at some of the negative comments and how much suspicion was expressed regarding the scrolls.

Some saw them as a Roman Catholic conspiracy. Others saw them as a collection of false gospels.

So many ill informed views.

See also:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5irDsAlVqP9dA1_S-QrVlBYBNPcjw?docId=CNG.08a017b8b3490d607576c0b079e7359e.5a1

Christians and Conspiracy

Recently on a Christian forum I have received a little flak because I questioned some of the “conspiracy theory” claims being made.
Too often some of the world’s wildest conspiracy speculation is swallowed by Christians because it “fits” with their ideas about end time events.


Before we fall for (and even worse) promote unsubstantiated speculation here are some facts that need to be considered:

1) Extreme claims need to be substantiated with much more than rumour and/or baseless “facts”.

2) It is up to the maker of extreme claims to provide EVIDENCE and not merely pass on what they have heard/read..

3) Christians should AVOID promoting wild and baseless speculation. It does nothing for our credibility.

4) The previous three points are saying the same thing: Christians should be FAR MORE diligent than the world with regard to extreme claims because we follow Jesus who IS the truth. The "truth" we promote reflects the Jesus we follow.

David Pawson Sermon Links (part 2)

I found some more recordings of David Pawson's recent ministry. These are from South Africa, recorded in August-September 2010.

I know nothing about the group providing the recordings so this link is not any kind of endorsement of the site. But I am grateful to them for making Mr Pawson's ministry available.

So far I have listened to "How and Why to Read Your Bible part 1". This gives very good teaching on the need to approach the bible with context in mind. He makes the point that the bible is not a book. It is a LIBRARY of books - each of which needs to be considered according to its genre and according to the reason for it being written. For example, each of the four gospels was written with a specific readership in mind and the epistles were each written to address particular situations within the church.

I also listened to: "Tue 31 08 2010 Session 3", in which Mr Pawson gives a brief testimony and then starts to address the problems with the doctrines of both "Sovereign Grace" and "Free Grace". The latter is apparently addressed in the next session (which at time of posting I have not heard).

More David Pawson mp3 sermons





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Divisions and Heresies

Why does God allow false teachers, false prophets and other deceivers to remain? Why doesn’t he deal with the problem of false teaching and remove its effect from the church and the world?

I think an answer is indicated in both Deuteronomy 13 and 1 Corinthians 11.

In the latter reference Paul writes:

“… when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.”(ESV)

While the term “divisions” or its synonyms seem to be most commonly used across various translations, the KJV uses the term “heresies” which has much stronger implications in the Christian mind.
But while the ideas of “divisions” and “heresies” are seen mostly in negative terms, Paul highlights a positive outcome resulting from their presence – that is to bring to recognition those who are genuine.

Other translations state this positive outcome in different terms. The NIV puts it this way:

“…there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval”.

It seems there is something about the existence of divisions/heresies/factions that brings to light those who are genuine, those who have God’s approval and distinguishes them from others who are clearly not genuine and lack God’s approval.

I see a link here with a warning God gives in Deuteronomy 13.

“If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (gods you have not known) ‘and let us worship them,’ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Here it is clearly stated that false prophets are used as a test of a person’s love for God. There is a choice to be made whenever we come across a teacher, a prophet, a teaching, a sign or a miracle. Are they from God or are they leading us astray?
No matter how genuine they may seem, the ultimate test is whether we are being directed towards GOD or towards something else. The One True God or an imitation.
When there are divisions that call for a choice of path to be taken, how do we determine which (if any) direction leads to God?

Would it be wrong to suggest that God given us the needed direction in His word? That we should test everything and everyone according to His revelation given in scripture?

I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
(Psalm 119: 104-105)

Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
(2 Timothy 2:14-16 NIV)

I can see that “divisions” help determine those who have God’s approval and bring to light those who are genuine in two ways. Firstly those who put aside God’s word to follow man’s ideas (either their own or those of favoured teachers) are separated from those who give priority to God and His revelation.

The second relates to the way division is handled. Do we allow the differences to lead us into quarrelling and ungodly chatter?

It is in the second that I see myself needing the most help.

"Why I am no longer a Calvinist" by Dr Tim Pierce

Here is a recommended article by Dr Tim Pierce.
It is part 4 in a series he has been writing. Parts 1 to 3 can also be found on his blog.

With this article he intends to: "begin addressing the primary elements of Calvinism, commonly identified as the 5 points of Calvinism".

Why I am no longer a Calvinist




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"A Simple Method of Study"

On a Christian forum I was recently asked if I could recommend “a simple method of study. Here is the answer I gave. Some of this is a repetition of what I’ve written elsewhere on this blog:

A simple method of study I would recommend is to read scripture with prayer for understanding.

Avoid grabbing bits of scripture from here and there and trying to make sense of it. Scripture is not an unrelated collection of doctrinal facts that can be applied in isolation. It is an unfolding revelation of God’s relationship with His creation – mankind in particular.

Get a basic knowledge of how scripture fits together and how this revelation flows from Genesis to Revelation. My own understanding increased significantly when I finally understood how the different parts of scripture related to each other.
And a very important point is to not neglect the “Old Testament”. So often the impression is given that it isn’t as important as the “New” – but without the “Old” our understanding of God and His new covenant will be seriously lacking.

This obviously takes time and there’s no quick and easy way. It is often our impatience that leads us to turn to others for answers and makes us susceptible to accepting their word in place of scripture.

I don’t dismiss the importance of teaching from Spirit-led teachers but it’s not always easy to find teachers who ARE led by the Spirit. The majority of teachers we come across are merely passing on what they have learned from their church or seminary and they teach church doctrine instead of God’s word.

A Spirit led teacher does not merely pass on what he has learned from others. A Spirit led teacher is one who has received revelation himself through a personal encounter with the word and the Holy Spirit.

A Spirit led teacher will also GENUINELY encourage us to search the scriptures for ourselves. This is not only a safeguard for us – it also holds the teacher to account and provides a safeguard for him, reducing the chance of him leading us astray.

The Moral Problem of Determinism and Free Will.

If God allows man to sin and lets sinful man go unpunished, there is a problem.
If God ordained man’s sin and then punished man for what God Himself had ordained – THAT is a far bigger problem.

However, if God gave man the freedom of moral choice, making man responsible for his own sin – and if God then provided a way for man to be free of the penalty of his sin by taking that sin and its punishment upon Himself. That is not a problem – that is GRACE.

"Will Jews be expelled again from their Land?" by Reggie Kelly

Will Jews be expelled again from their Land?

Below is a link to a long but very interesting article about the return of Israel to their land and how it relates to the second coming of Messiah.

The article is by Reggie Kelly, a close friend of Art Katz.
Art Katz’s understanding of Israel’s future received a lot of opposition, particularly from Messianic believers in Israel.
While many see only good things ahead for the Jews and Israel, Katz understood there are still some very disturbing things to come.

After reading and listening to a lot of ideas about Israel I have come across two major, contradictory viewpoints from those who DO recognise that Israel as a nation has a future in God’s purposes.

One sees the restoration of Israel and the increasing number of Jews turning to Messiah as the forerunner of worldwide revival.

The other view (as seen by Art Katz) is not so optimistic about the immediate future. He saw another exile from the land during the great tribulation/ time of Jacob’s trouble. This period would be relatively brief (3 ½ years) and would end with the return of Jesus, when HE would bring His people back to their land, from which they would never again be uprooted.

For some time I have understood there will be a period in history that will eclipse the horrors of the holocaust. Through the ministry of Art Katz, and also articles like the one below, I have been encouraged that I have not been on the wrong prophetic track.

There is a lot in this article to consider and many supporting references to thoroughly check.

http://the.mysteryofisrael.org/2010/08/28/will-jews-be-expelled-again-from-their-land/

Responsibility With Teaching

For some time now I have been trying to encourage people not to rely so much on man’s teaching. I have stated that all disagreement and division within the church is caused through adopting the teaching of one man above the teaching of another. The only division caused by the truth comes through the exposing of error: the dividing of darkness from light.

There is an urgent need for Christians to accept responsibility. We have the scriptures and we have the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be our teacher. God has provided everything we need to guide us and to keep us in the truth. We need to trust His Spirit to teach us His word instead of putting our primary (and often only) trust in man’s teachings.

When I’ve written about this before a common response has been to point out that teachers are included in the ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers.*)

There clearly is a God given place for GENUINE teachers.
Genuine teachers not only lead us to understanding in areas where we are lacking, they also train us to search the scriptures for ourselves, thereby decreasing our reliance upon their ministry.

Any teacher who promotes ideas contrary to scripture is not a God given teacher.

Any teacher who makes him or herself above question is not a God given teacher.

Any teacher who makes sure students remain reliant upon him/her is not a God given teacher.

Too often laziness encourages us to rely on teachers more than we should, to the extent that we don’t keep THEM accountable for what they teach. By holding them accountable, not only are we guarding our selves – we are showing true love to the teacher, helping THEM stay on the right path with their doctrine and teaching.
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*Ironically, many who readily cling to teachers are equally ready to dismiss any present day reality of the first two ministries in that list

God’s Truth Not Man’s Opinion

Two forms of replacement theology which favour man’s opinion above biblical revelation. (1. The church has replaced Israel, 2. Scripture has replaced Spiritual gifts)
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In an earlier post, here, I linked to a sermon about Romans 9-11. That sermon helped me to understand why replacement theology gained such a strong foothold in the church.

For most of the church’s history Israel as a distinct and recognisable nation had been erased from the world map. So what understanding could be brought to the NT references to Israel, and in particular Paul’s strong statements that God had not and would not forsake Israel?
Israel was no more – so was Paul mistaken? Was scripture wrong?

It’s not surprising that a different approach to understanding scripture was seen as necessary. Ambiguous hints could be found that might suggest that the position of Israel had been taken over by the church. So references to Israel were seen as being symbolic instead of literal and the church was seen as the NEW or SPIRITUAL Israel.

That was perhaps the most logical position to take…
…until 1948, when Israel again appeared on the map.

Not everyone had accepted the idea of the church replacing Israel. Some remained faithful to a literal reading of scripture and expected Jews to return to the land of their ancestors. They trusted the word of biblical prophecy instead of geographical and political appearances.

Why is it that today, over 60 years after the return of Israel, the majority of the church still rejects the literal word of scripture regarding Israel? That literal word prophesied both the exile of Israel to all the nations, and also the return of Israel to the land of their ancestors.

They still reject it because they prefer the theology and reasoning of men above the clear word of scripture. Loved traditions are hard to abandon. This example also shows how much man prefers to base his beliefs on his own observations and his own reasoning rather than on the revelation of the word of God.

A similar thing can be seen with regard to Spiritual gifts, in particular those mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians. Wide sections of the church deny the relevance of those gifts. They say the gifts were made redundant by the compiling of the scriptures. They even quote Paul:

“But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.”

Their explanation is based on the assumption that “when perfection comes” refers to the coming of the scriptures – and therefore scripture has replaced Spiritual gifts within the church.

How can such a leap of logic take place and be so widely accepted?
The foundation of this assumption comes from a very tenuous inference projected into the phrase “when perfection comes”. It is a case of looking for something that can be MADE to support the already held conclusion that Spiritual gifts no longer exist.

Again it’s a matter of looking at the world around us and basing theology upon what is seen and interpreting scripture to support that view, instead of accepting scripture as written and seeking answers about why our experience doesn’t match scripture’s clearest meaning.

The process goes like this:

Example 1: The bible speaks about Israel and God’s continued faithfulness to Israel – but Israel no longer existed, so the church must have replaced Israel.

Example 2: Spiritual gifts are missing from the church, so they obvious no longer exist.

The final step in both of these examples is to find parts of scripture that can be interpreted in a way that supports the favoured conclusions.

The question arising out of all of this is: Do we REALLY rely on the revelation given in scripture and interpret our world and experience according to what God has revealed?

Or do we insist on interpreting the world and scripture according to our experience and what we can see?

Israel, is to Blame!!!

I’m reading a history of the 1967 Six day war, during which Israel regained control of Jerusalem. I’m only a short way into the book but I’ve learned enough to see how little things have changed over the last 43 years regarding anti-Israel propaganda.

The media today (and also many in the "church") have clearly taken a leaf out of the Soviet book:

…the hypocrisy of the rulers of the USSR, who permit themselves to mock at human intelligence when they put the blame on Israel. Every child in the street knows that the [1967] crisis is due to Nasser [President of Egypt] and he himself admits it. Yet [the soviet representative] at the UN, and his masters in the Kremlin, denounce the “aggression” of Israel. Nasser mobilises military forces and sends them to Sinai. Nasser entrusts the frontier to Shukeiry’s gangs . Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran. And Moscow yells that Israel is to blame…

From Mission Survival ed. R Bondy, O Zmora & R Bashan.

It’s MY blog and I’ll rant if I want to!

What happens when a respected “Rabbi” takes offense at having his disobedience indirectly mentioned in the comment section of his blog?

Of course, as expected, he deletes the offending comment. Then he sends a personal email strongly conveying his displeasure.

Now what rudeness of mine sparked this response?

The gentile born “rabbi”, in justifying his choice to convert to Judaism (AFTER professing faith in Messiah) pointed to the legitimacy of conversion for those with a “healthy sense of identity and a persistent desire to belong to the people of Israel”.

I’m not sure when “healthy sense of identity” and persistent desire” were valid reasons to contravene clearly stated prohibitions written by the apostle Paul*. Can those reasons be used to excuse all of our disobedience? Is persistent desire a legitimate reason for giving in to any temptation?

What exactly caused the offense?
I made a blunt comparison.

I mentioned a person I know who was born male. However this person has a sense of identity with and a persistent desire to be female. As a result he has been living as a woman and intends to “convert” through a “sex-change” operation.
Does this person’s “sense of identity” (which he would consider healthy) and his “persistent desire” legitimize HIS conversion?

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* From the apostle Paul:

Gal 5:2
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

And

1 Cor 7:18
Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised

One New Man and the Gospel of a Jewish Messiah.

Paul writes of Jew and gentile believers in Messiah now being “one new man” – but the unity expressed in that description is not always being demonstrated.

As a gentile believer in a Jewish Messiah I need to consider my relationship with the Jewish people, especially those who have also recognised their Messiah. I need to consider the GENTILE side of the relationship and how I as a gentile believer can see the unity of “one new man” becoming a present day reality with true unity in Messiah between Jewish and gentile believer.

In the first years of the early church Paul went to great lengths for it to be seen that God accepted gentile believers AS gentiles and that we did not need to become Jews to be in relationship with Him.

However, when gentiles became the dominant authority within the church the same attitude was not taken with Jews who came to faith in Messiah. The church went to great lengths to disenfranchise Jewish believers, replacing the feasts of the Lord with alternative feast days adopted from pagan traditions; demanding they worship on Sunday instead of the Sabbath; and requiring change to their diet.

All of this went a long way to destroying any hope of a genuine “one new man” for more than 1700 years.

During that period it was more like a one-sided man, with very little Jewish representation. Such a “relationship” is like a “marriage” where there is only one “partner”. A husband by himself or a wife by herself is not a true marriage in which TWO become one and yet maintain individual identity and gender.

Gentile believers need to appreciate the truth of a comment I recently saw on a Christian forum:

“Personally I don't believe that God wants Jews to convert to ‘Christianity’ at all; He merely wants them to recognise Yeshua as their Messiah and accept him as their King”

We tend to remain (wilfully) ignorant of the fact that gentiles have been grafted into a JEWISH olive tree and not vice versa. It is THEIR Messiah and THEIR new covenant into which we gentiles have been admitted. And yet gentiles over the ages have done our best to take ownership of that tree and to make the natural, cultivated branches become more like the wild branches.

Jewish people, need to be presented with the Jewish Messiah and HIS gospel and not a gentilised religion which has given the impression of a Jew hating Jesus.

Jews do not need to celebrate Easter instead of Passover. They do not need to abandon the Sabbath and replace it with “Sunday worship”. They don’t need to abandon their diet and start eating pork and shellfish. They don’t need to bow to any gentile religious tradition.

They need to meet their King and bow down to Him.

More Romans 9-11

In a previous post I gave links to sermons about Romans 9-11 by David Pawson. Here is another about the same chapters by Peter Tsukahira.

In the sermon he points out that this generation is the first since Paul’s time that is in a position to understand the situation Paul was addressing in his letter to believers in Rome. We live in a generation that can easily view these chapters literally.

Unfortunately, most Christians today miss the point because of their adherence to historical traditions and theologies. Those traditions were established in a time when the logical approach was to allegorise Paul’s references to Israel because to the natural eye Israel had ceased to exist. Replacement Theology was the result of that allegorical approach.

Romans 9-11

Personally I thought he was heading off track about halfway through by talking about revival around the world, but that was only a brief interruption. Others may not find that section to be a problem.

Observations of an Outsider

I recognise and confess to the fact that the following is based on personal observations of a very small cross section of blogs that I've found. If anyone thinks I've drawn wrong conclusions, I would welcome being pointed in the right direction.

As an outsider I see little difference between what seems to be happening in the Messianic fellowships and what is going on in the “churches”. Considering how recently the current Messianic movement started, they didn’t waste time finding reasons for disagreement. Ironically, in its attempt to provide a Jewish context for expressing faith in their messiah, most of the controversy I’ve noticed in the Messianic blogs I’ve found has been about how Messianic Jews should relate to gentile believers. Some believe there is no room for gentiles in their congregations, that non-Jewish believers should restrict themselves to attending churches and leave Jewish believers to have congregations of their own. Others see there is room for both as long as the context of the fellowship remains authentically Jewish in its expression.

A contributing factor to the problem is the increasing number of gentiles seeking fellowship within a Jewish context. Some Messianic fellowships are reportedly predominantly gentile in membership. I have even read reports that seem to suggest a prominent (gentile born) Messianic teacher has undergone (or at least seriously considered undergoing) conversion to Judaism (with all that entails), to practice his faith as a recognised Messianic Jewish “rabbi”.

Another feature muddying the Messianic waters is a belief being promoted by some non-Jews that they are descendants of the allegedly lost tribes of Israel. This modern day manifestation previously associated with British Israelism and also adopted by Mormons and the late Herbert W Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, has pushed its way into the Messianic movement. Of course, there is no genealogical evidence to indicate the validity of this belief. It is all attributed to “spiritual revelation”. Some Jewish believers see the intrusion of these Israelite wannabes as another example of replacement theology in action.*

The questioning of whether gentile and Jewish believers should fit together in fellowship has its foundations in carnality. There should be no separation. We are one in Him. However, due to the actions of the gentile church for at least 1700 years, a division has been created. The theological error and bigotry of a dominant, apostate, gentile church has helped to further harden Jews against the gospel of THEIR Messiah.

In the present day, when Jews are coming to faith in Messiah in increasing numbers, they are still kept at a distance by the majority of the church through the lie of replacement theology or through an apathetic ignorance regarding God’s purposes for the Jewish people. Centuries of hostility and forced assimilation are difficult to overlook, especially when present day theologies show no real evidence of repentance.
Jewish believers are therefore understandably suspicious in their relationships with gentile believers. I’m sure they want to avoid a repetition of history.

Where does the answer lie?
Scripture reveals that salvation came to the gentile to make Israel jealous.
How would that happen?
Clearly not through hostility and bigotry towards the Jewish people.

But then again, is it likely to happen through gentiles envying the Jew and trying to blend into a Jewish cultural expression?

For gentile believers to succeed in making Israel jealous, their relationship to both Israel and more importantly the God of Israel needs to stand up to God’s expectations instead of being driven by faulty theology and/or misguided sentiment.

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* It was a belief that I had not personally come across before (though I was aware of it. However in the past month I have seen it increasing promoted in a variety of places.

Messianic Disunity

In my reading about Jewish expressions of faith in Messiah I’ve had a look at several blogs. Through those blogs I think I have gained a wider perspective than is possible through reading published books.
Blogs give access to a more ground level reality. Books have to fulfil certain market-driven requirements which include not biting the hand that feeds them.
Bloggers are not subject to such restraints, and while that open ground also gives voice to all kinds of weird and not so wonderful ideas, occasionally it is possible to stumble across something worthwhile and enlightening.

The following article may be of interest to others. It is written by a gentile believer desiring and attempting a more Hebraic approach to his faith. I think his experience highlights the problems that unfortunately maintain the divisions between Jewish and Gentile believers.

http://searchingforthelightonthepath.blogspot.com/2010/07/forked.html

One thing that isn’t addressed in the article is the question of whether ANY of the examined worship styles and fellowship groups is “legitimate” in God’s eyes. Do any of them fulfil the genuine fellowship characteristics of a healthy and united body of believers? Or is it all about favoured form and ritual?

While the article addresses the current situation, scripture describes something totally different. Unity in Messiah still seems a long way off – but perhaps the disunity is nothing that an experience of severe, shared persecution won’t fix.



Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Messianic Meditations: some personal thoughts

I have wanted to write more about the topic I looked at in my two previous (Messianic) articles. There is so much more to cover.

But my reading continues as I try to understand more about the relationship between the church, Jewish (Messianic) believers, and non-Messianic Jews.

I have also sought comment from a Jewish friend and brother who was involved with Messianic Judaism in its early days and in his words he saw “the good, the bad and the ugly” sides of the movement and has not been involved with them for many years, though he maintains His relationship with Jesus.

One of his observations was to compare the Messianic Judaism movement with the emergent church, saying “much of the Messianic Jewish Movement has also bought into the philosophy of maybe if they like us, they'll like our Jesus, too.”

Do the Messianic groups lean too far towards Judaism in their attempt to make the gospel relevant to other Jews? Through a week of looking over Messianic blogs and web pages I could easily conclude that some do.

There is perhaps no less variation of style and belief between the Messianic fellowships than there is among traditional Christian churches. There are a range of expressions from the ritual and liturgy of the “High church”, through to the informality associated with charismatics and house churches.

There is also a broad range of doctrines held, from strict views of “torah keeping” in which gentiles are expected to adhere to “torah” – (Paul’s Galatian letter comes to mind when I come across these) to others who recognise clear differences between requirements for Jewish believers and gentile believers.

Thinking over what I have discovered, from the very brief exposure I’ve had, I see a danger of a maintained division. The gentile church throughout history has treated Jews and even Jewish believers atrociously. Because of that, it would be easy for Messianic fellowships to maintain a distance and go their own way with no interaction with their gentile brothers and sisters. I suspect many are taking that route.

Another danger would be for both Jewish and Gentile believers to try to bring about the fulfilment of prophecy through their own efforts. I have seen several statements about the salvation of the Jews leading to revival among the gentiles. I have read accounts of a supposed increase in conversions throughout the world since the beginning of the growth in the Messianic movement. One figure stated that approximately 1/5 of the world’s population now confessed Christ as saviour. I would strongly doubt the accuracy of that statistic. Only the broadest and loosest definition of “Christian” would encompass such a number of people today*.

While the increasing numbers of Jews finding salvation through recognition of their Messiah is a reason for celebration. We need to hold to what scripture says to determine the truth of the situation. Does scripture reveal that more Jews will come to Messiah as a result of Jewish believers holding more closely to their Jewish traditions and heritage? Is that what has been foretold by the prophets? Will Jews come into relationship with Jesus apart from gentile believers? While that seems to be a logical possibility and while that seems to be the expectation of many Messianic Jews, that is not what is revealed in scripture.

Paul clearly reveals that “salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous”. The journeys of gentile and Jewish believers are therefore not intended to be separate. What divisions there are between Messianic and gentile believers cannot and will not continue as long as both sets of branches (the natural and the wild) are maintained by the same root. Continued division can only result in the cutting off of the offending branches.


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* This claim is an attempt to show the fulfilment of Paul’s statement regarding the Jews, that “if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring”. The assumption is that their “fullness” has now begun and that the “greater riches” means world revival

Reclaiming Messiah

(Continuing my companion piece to “Messianic Quintet” which began with the article “Hijacking Messiah”.)

In his book Betrayed, Stan Telchin describes how horrified he and his wife (both Jewish) were when their daughter revealed she had found faith in Jesus. He writes “To mention the name of Jesus is awkward enough. To consider Him as the Messiah is to betray our people, to join the enemy and to desecrate the memory of all our ancestors over the last two thousand years”. He continues with the reason for this: “…the knights of the Crusades…descended on Jews with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other. They murdered and raped and pillaged, all in the name of Christianity.”
“Then there was the Inquisition in Spain in 1492, when refusing to convert to Christianity would cost a Jew his life…”

The realities of a 2000 year history of persecution are not easily brushed away. And it is not distant history when we recognise how recently 6,000,000 Jews were added to the number of those murdered in previous vendettas of “Christendom” against the Jews. However Telchin didn’t need to look to history, even recent history, to make the point recalling, at the age of 5 or 6, of being labelled a “Christ-killer”.

Yohanna Chernoff in Born a Jew…Die a Jew reveals another reason Jews have found it difficult to accept the gospel: the fear of losing or forfeiting their cultural identity. What other national group have been required to abandon or hide their cultural roots? Do Americans stop being Americans after coming to faith in Jesus?
Jewish believers faced rejection from two sides – from other Jews who see belief in Jesus as betrayal, “Are you going to become like those people who have been persecuting us for two thousand years?” And from gentile believers, who foster barely disguised anti-Semitism in their expectation that Jews give up their Jewish identity.
This has been expressed most clearly in replacement theology which insists that the Jews are a people rejected by God having been replaced in His affections by the church.

Yohanna Chernoff and her husband Marty were among the recent pioneers of a movement among Jewish believers in which they celebrate their Messiah as Jews. They started one of the earliest successful Messianic Congregations in America, with the mission of taking the gospel to Jewish families and bringing them into an expression of Messianic faith that joyfully embraces its Jewish roots. This mission not only brought opposition from more traditional church groups, it attracted massive protests from orthodox Jewish groups. This story is told in the book Born a Jew…Die a Jew.

Prior to the late 1960s/early 1970s, there were few Jews expressing faith in Jesus the Messiah. This was the time of the “Jesus Movement” through which many young people started to find the Christian message appealing. This influx of young people, often from the hippy community, also affected the new Messianic fellowships. The Chernoffs saw this as the fulfilment of a vision received by Marty which referred to a “ragged righteous remnant”. Their Beth Yeshua (House of Salvation) fellowship gave a spiritual home to many young people searching for truth and was the birth place of Lamb and Kol Simcha, two groups of singers/musicians who introduced popular, Jewish influenced music to the wider church.

While many still insist that God has rejected Israel and replaced them with the church –thought of as “new” or “spiritual” Israel - they cannot honestly deny that a wonderful move of God has begun within the Jewish people. The numbers of Messianic Jewish believers has grown significantly over the last 30-40 years. Even so, while acknowledging this fact, many still insist that there is no future for the people of Israel. And in this insistence there is not only a denial of what is happening around them, there is a wilful denial of what the apostle Paul reveals in his letter to the church in Rome. His words should take away ALL doubt. He categorically states that God has not rejected the Jews, and he is equally categorical when he states that ALL Israel will be saved in the same way that gentile believers have been saved. This will happen after an unspecified number of gentiles have come to faith.

Don Finto’s God’s Promise and the Future of Israel brings an overview of what God has been doing among the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It gives a perspective of the history of Israel and the church, and moves on to the future that both will share together, becoming members of the one family of God. He writes of the important part that Israel plays in God’s future purposes, a future in which the Messiah will return to earth to establish the Kingdom promised throughout countless prophecies in scripture.

Finto believes that the coming of this Kingdom is very near. The re-establishment of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent repossession of Jerusalem as its capital in 1967 are seen as major signs of the imminence of the Kingdom. Could these events be fulfilment of the return of Israel foretold by the old testament prophets: a return from ALL the nations (clearly a different event from the return from ONE nation after the exile to Babylon)? Those prophecies also promise that the people returning to the land of their ancestors will never again be uprooted – again the return from the Babylonian exile does not fulfil that condition considering they WERE uprooted again in 70AD.

Is it coincidence that Jerusalem came under Jewish control and an increase in the number of Jews recognising their Messiah started around the same time?

Hijacking Messiah

On my “literary” blog I will be posting an article called “Messianic Quintet”. It will briefly “review” five books with a common theme that I’ve been reading recently.

Three of the books are autobiographical while the other two offer personal observations of influences that have separated Christianity from its Jewish origins. This article is a companion piece, touching on the historical background of the relationship between Christianity and Israel. Following articles will look at the direction ahead.
This is a complex and potentially controversial issue I hope I’m able to address it with a degree of clarity and not merely add to the misunderstanding. Of course there is no way that the whole matter can be addressed in full and I can only touch the surface.

For the first decades of church history, the Christian faith was predominantly Jewish. It was not considered to be a new religion. Its followers recognised Jesus as “the Messiah”, the King of Israel, whose coming had been prophesied for hundreds of years.

Eventually, the message of the Messiah spread to a non-Jewish audience. The original followers of Jesus then had to decide whether it was necessary for the growing number of gentile followers to convert to Judaism, adopting its laws and traditions in order to be accepted by God.

At a conference in Jerusalem it was recognised that God had accepted gentile believers just as they were and conversion to Judaism was unnecessary (Acts 15)

Moving forward a couple of centuries and the nature of the church had changed significantly. The gentile influence had increased, far outweighing that of Jewish believers.

When the council of Nicea met in 325AD (during which some of the basic Christian beliefs were established as recorded in the Nicene Creed) they excluded all Jewish input. No leader from a Jewish background was invited to attend. It wasn’t long before all influence from Jewish believers was rejected.

The early Jewish leadership of the church saw that gentiles could become followers of Jesus without converting to Judaism, but when gentiles became the dominating influence the same liberty was not extended to Jews. They were expected to desert their Jewish culture and adopt gentile behaviour and lifestyle. It was forgotten that the Jesus at the heart of the church was Himself a Jew who had been proclaimed as King of the Jews.

For the most part of the last 2000 years, Jews have suffered at the hands of those professing to be Christians. “Christian” nations have treated them with scorn and violence, from the Spanish Inquisition, to the Russian Pogroms and of course the Holocaust, during which 1/3 of the world’s Jews was murdered by Hitler’s Nazis. These experiences throughout history contributed to the further hardening of the Jews against the Christian message.

During the church’s first years, prior to the coining of the term “Christian”, believers in Jesus called their faith and lifestyle “The Way” and considered themselves followers of The Way.
Steve Maltz has used this name in the title of his book How the Church Lost the Way. Throughout the book Maltz demonstrates how the Hebraic influence of the original followers of Jesus was replaced by the influences of Greek philosophy and how the acceptance of Jews within the church was ended.
I mentioned the council of Nicea earlier. Of this Maltz writes:

“…the first great Council of the Christian Church now takes a sinister turn and validates a policy that is going to result in nothing less than persecution, leading to genocide, of the Jewish people for centuries to come.”

This statement relates to an official letter circulated from the Council by the Emperor (and chairman of the Council) Constantine regarding the distancing of “Easter” celebrations from the original celebration of Passover, when Jesus was crucified according to the Jewish calendar.

“…it seemed to everyone a most unworthy thing that we should follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this most holy solemnity, who, polluted wretches, having stained their hands with a nefarious crime, are justly blinded in their minds…Let us therefore have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews.”

Maltz continues, that this was “… the start of a long slide away from the Jewish roots of the faith” and notes that subsequent councils, “threatened excommunication for any Christian celebrating Passover with the Jews…” and “…extended this to all Jewish festivals as well as the Saturday Sabbath”.

In so clearly and categorically rejecting the Jewish origins of faith in the Jewish Messiah, the church did incalculable harm to itself and the integrity of its doctrines and practices. But also it did great harm to the Jew’s relationship with their long awaited King, helping to further harden them against Him and the message He preached.

(see Messianic Quintet

Believers Without Bibles Prosper!

A few times I have it said that many believers in the world don’t have access to bibles and that they often prosper more in their faith than most who do have bibles. The argument continues with reference to those throughout history who were either illiterate, too poor to obtain a bible, or were denied the right to have one by the authorities of their time.
If scripture is so vital to Christian life, how do (and did) those believers make it?

It is ironic that these arguments are usually raised by those who have easy access to multiple bibles who are not likely to find themselves in a position where they never have one.

If we don't have access to a bible and can't get access to a bible then we can not and will not be held accountable for what we don’t have. And I believe the Lord will provide in some way to make up for the lack.

But if we do have access:
“…from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”. (Luke 12:48)

So why and how do those believers prosper in their faith without easy access to scripture?

They are often living in genuine poverty and/or experiencing genuine persecution and have to genuinely trust in the Lord for day to day survival. But bible ownership (especially multiple copy ownership) often comes with relative wealth and freedom from harsh persecution.

While these "benefits" are appreciated the freedom is usually accompanied by countless distractions. These distractions include a lot of "spiritual benefits" such as Christian books & music, TV, Church attendance, preaching etc., which can become substitutes for searching the scriptures for ourselves. Those resources are often given more influence and authority over our doctrine than scripture is - because they are so convenient and easy to take in.

And when we DO go to scripture, if we come across something we can't understand, we have so many resources to which we can refer for understanding. Unfortunately those resources can become substitutes for trusting the Holy Spirit to teach us.
We often prefer to turn to commentaries because we are impatient for answers and the Spirit doesn't always respond to our impatience as quickly as we would like. Unlike the commentary writers, the Holy Spirit knows the truth of EVERYTHING. He also knows our capacity and readiness to learn so He reveals what we need to understand when we are ready to understand it.

And how many people trust in study bibles to give them understanding? And how many of those people find themselves reading the study notes more than they read the actual biblical text? Those are just some thoughts on this issue. It is not due to the presence or absence of a Bible. It is due to the types of society in which Bible ownership is easy, hard or impossible. And most importantly, it is due to the value we REALLY give to scripture. Do we value it enough to actually take it seriously? Do we take it as seriously as those to whom access to the scriptures is a rare privilege?

Scripture Diminished and Downplayed: a continuing concern

Are there false doctrines and deceivers around today?
Of course there are – but how are they recognised and how do we avoid becoming victim to them?

Our foundational defence is scripture, the word of God. One of the first warning signs given that everything is NOT ok, is often the way scripture is treated. Downplay the scriptures, or pick and choose which bits are really inspired, and we open the gate wide for everyone to determine what is right in their own eyes.
We open the gate wide to every deceiving spirit to come (claiming to be the Holy Spirit), whispering all manner of false revelation into our ears.

Unfortunately the denigration of scripture has become common practice among some professing Christians, and open forums and blogs tend to give them a platform to promote their ideas. Usually they dress their message in very spiritual sounding terms in which the Holy Spirit is presented as superseding His inspired word, making scripture almost unnecessary. Why do we need scripture when we have God Himself inside?

Others will make the claim that JESUS is the Living word of God and we should relate to Him and not words on a page (which by implication or even direct statement are dismissed as NOT being the word of God).

The questioning of the nature of scripture is not uncommon. This is especially true of those who have had their faith shaken at some stage, with the realisation that most things they were taught and took for granted were wrong. If everything else was wrong – what about our understanding of what scripture is? Is it really “the word of God”? Was it really inspired by the Holy Spirit? Weren’t the writers fallible men who could make mistakes?

I’ve seen all of these questions, and in the past I asked some of them myself.

But it is ironic that those who try to question the authority of scripture often do so by referring to PARTS of scripture to defend their viewpoint.
A popular quote used for this purpose is:

John 5:39-40
“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

These verses are not diminishing the importance of scripture; they specifically state that the scriptures testify about Jesus! He was NOT criticising the Pharisees for studying the scriptures, He was criticising them for not seeing what was THERE in the scriptures. Like in so many cases today the actual content of scripture was replaced by other things – like tradition and theology.

So often we are too keen to read our doctrines INTO scripture that we blind ourselves to what scripture is actually saying. This practice seems to be ingrained into us, by example, through a lot of preaching within the church. A preacher will base a sermon on a “text”, he will then make several points based around his application of that “text” – and will usually throw in a sampling of other “texts” from around the bible to add extra support for his points.

Most listeners will take it all in without a second thought, with no questions about what has been said. Others will be a little more diligent and will note down the references and check them later for themselves, but in doing so will fail to check the context to see whether the “texts” were being applied correctly. The common attitude is to do nothing more than check whether the references are in scripture or not.
In effect we are not learning what scripture is REALLY saying, we learn what the preacher is telling us that it says. We are also adopting a wrong understanding of how scripture should be handled.

Scripture is NOT a collection of disconnected texts to apply according to personal preference. Scripture is a collection of books that must be addressed according to context to see what those books are saying. No prophecy of scripture is open to private interpretation.
We should be determining what the Spirit was and is saying through the words He inspired men to write?

At one time Jesus said: "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”
And that truth remains – people fall into error because they do not know the scriptures.

So often there has been an obsession with “the power of God” at the expense of the Scriptures, and people run here and there whenever rumours of displays of power are heard. If scripture had been given the same importance as “the power” those people may have become more familiar with what Jesus said:

“…if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.

"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.”

Heeding those warnings about the coming end-times should make everyone wary of running here and there in response to reports of “the anointed one” (the Christ) being in a particular place performing great signs and miracles.
But how can those warnings be heeded if the importance and authority of scripture is ignored or dismissed


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Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
but who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on his law* day and night.
They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
(Psalm 1)

The Blasphemy of Angel worship as portrayed by Hollywood

Where does the glorification of angels lead us?

Giving excessive prominence to angels has become a common thing among the false signs and wonders movement. We saw how Todd Bentley’s obsession with angels had (has!) many deceived.



Now another manifestation of angel “worship” has come to my attention.
I heard about a new film called “Legion”. In this story God has “lost faith” in mankind and determined to destroy them. But the archangel Michael rebels against God and comes to mankind’s aid.

This totally blasphemous perversion places mankind’s salvation in the hands of an angel.
Now which angel would like to have himself portrayed as man’s saviour from an allegedly vindictive and hostile God? Which angel will one day lead a literal army of men in a final (vain) attempt to overcome God’s rule on earth?
Such concepts as that being promoted in this movie show how easily men can be made to accept the possibility of overcoming God with the help of another angel – not Michael as in the movie, but Lucifer, now known as Satan or the devil.