Preacher in a Nutshell

PREACHER
IN A
NUTSHELL
BY: Donald R. Gozdowski



Due to the graphic nature of this writing
reader discretion is advised.
PREFACE
Print Date: December 12, 2005

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE INTERNATIONAL NERSION, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

PREACHER IN A NUTSHELL, Copyright 2002 by Donald R. Gozdowski. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information contact:
Holy Toledo Publishing, 3142 Franklin Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43608.
E-mail www.donnyg@buckeye-express.com

To add readability, Scripture reference locations will be placed at corresponding endnote. Some exceptions to this format will be employed.

The use of the term “Christian, Christianity, Believer, etc.” Will be used in the broad sense of the word. All main stream Christian religions will be under this umbrella unless otherwise noted.

















Due to the graphic nature of this writing
reader discretion is advised.
INDEX

Dedication
The Nazi Mind of man
False Teachers, the Messiah Complex, and Me
In Search of Wisdom
No Excuses
Evolution
Atheists and Agnostics
Church of Christ
The Five Fingers of faith
What Must I do to be Saved
The falling Away
In the Belly of the Beast
Conclusion
DEDICATION
Everyone that shares a love for reading, anyone who considers themselves a rapacious or simply and avid reader, share I believe, a secret dream or common desire; that of writing the “Great American Novel.” Well this ain’t it.
When I tell people who know me well that, “I’m working on a book,” I am as often as not greeted with a look of surprise; I'm not the intellectual type. When I am greeted with that look of disbelief, I like to follow up by saying, “And when I’m done with that one I may read another.”
This attempt at authorship may never fly. The only bookshelf this manuscript is likely ever rest upon may be my own. I’m fine with that; my daughter, Donielle, may cherish it long after I’m gone. With that in mind, I dedicate this book to her. May she know that her father loved his God. That he considered it an honor to be a servant of God, struggled with sin and never turned his back on the cross of Christ; followed the bloody trail to Calvary.
May this knowledge give her strength of character, courage to live, and to love. May she realize that she too must work out her own salvation with fear and trembling. To think for herself and follow the truth wherever it leads.
If by chance my genius is recognized by the world, to God be the glory. Come along now friends; let us journey together while I show you visions from this divine comedy of my life, this comedy of errors. Allow me to share with you some insights I have gained while savoring this bittersweet feast we simply call life.
THE NAZI MIND OF MAN
I considered giving this book the title, “The Nazi Mind of Man.” To ambiguous I feared. That title would lend itself to be easily misunderstood. People may have judged this book by its cover and jumped to the conclusion this book is about WWII; which it is not.
Let’s face it, what comes to mind when you read the words, “The Nazi Mind of Man?” Perhaps you thought of Adolph Hitler enticing his followers with visions of utopia. This master manipulator stroking the pride of the German people with talk of “The Master Race.” Remember how the entire nation pledged their loyalty to this madman with the “Zig-hiel” of the German salute. Your imagination may have brought to life a mental image of SS Troops, the Jack Booted Gestapo police marching in military precision.
The Title “The Nazi Mind of Man” would have been misapplied. This book could just as easily been titled, “The Taliban Mind of Man.” This mindset, this Nazi/Taliban mind of man as I have come to define it is an all too common human trait.
Examples of it stare at us from the murky, shadowy realm of history, both resent and ancient. In recent time you may recall the demonic trap sprung on Mr. James Bryd Jr.
Mr. Bryd was chained to the bumper of a pickup truck and unmercifully dragged to a torturous death. Parts of his body littered a dirt road leading to a country church. The reason he was murdered - he was black.
White Supremacists, John William King, was sentenced to life in prison for this atrocious crime.
On April 19, 1995, a young misguided patriot by the name of Timothy McVeigh. Exasperated by government bureaucratic madness; lashed out by detonating a rental truck filled will explosives. Mr. McVeigh was sentenced to death for bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, 19 of them children. He was executed June 11, 1999.
Theodore Kaczynski, one time a Professor of mathematics at Harvard University, is now commonly known as the Unabomber. Mr. Kaczynski sent well-crafted homemade bombs through the mail, usually to other college professors. Mr. Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 during his killing spree, which lasted from 1978 until his capture in 1996. The ideology that drove this man appears foolish, but then all madness does. Mr. Kaczynski viewed technology as a society destroying influence and attempted to spark a revolution against it.
In essence Mr. Kaczynski blackmailed the New York Times. In order to stop the bombings the Board of Directors agreed to his demand and printed his 30,000-word manifesto.
This demand placed upon the New York Times proved to be Mr. Kaczynski’s downfall. Mr. Kaczynski’s brother recognized some phraseology and figures of speech unique to his brother and called the FBI.
Mr. Kaczynski was arrested April 4, 1996 and was sentenced to life in prison on January 1, 1998.
Most recent as of this writing, the indescribable horror of the World Trade Center disaster. Two hijacked jet liners, like jackhammers from hell; slammed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Killing thousands and starting a war. September 11, 2001, a day that will register on the continuum of human history as a dark day of evil.
In more distant past, the World Wars, Civil Wars, Ethic wars, the Crusades, Witch Hunts. The lynching, the fire bombings, the attempted genocide’s. The lists of crimes against humanity, by humanity, drags on far too long to list even a small fraction of them here.
What do those who pursue this type of activity have in common? “The Nazi Mind.” What I mean by that is simply this... people who think they are exactly right, when in fact they are exactly wrong.
Ironically I have great respect for those with this zealous Nazi mind set. They usually mean well, in their own twisted way they are trying to make the world a better place. If only we could destroy all the Jews, or Blacks, or Christians, or Americans or whomever else they choose to direct their hatred towards. Men obsessed with a passion to create the master race, or something equally absurd are willing to destroy anything or anybody that stands in their way. I can respect and appreciate their white-hot yet misguided passion.
Unfortunately, not only White Supremacists, Skinheads and Terrorists possess this Nazi mind-set. These groups take it to the extreme to be sure. Think for a moment of all the suicide cults we have witnessed in recent years.
Jonestown Guyana, November 18, 1978, a mass suicide orchestrated by Jim Jones, founder and leader of the “People’s Temple”. Mr. Jones led his followers, 914 souls, 276 of them children, to their graves by what is best described as a lethal communion service.
Rancho Santa Fe, California, Marshell Applewhite was the Guru of the “Heaven‘s Gate” cult. Mr. Applewhite convinced his followers that an alien spacecraft was coming in the wake of the Hale-Bopp comet. In order to ride to glory they needed to shed their human bodies so the aliens would be able to whisk their spirits off to the Promised Land. Thirty-eight souls followed him in suicide.
Whoever said, “Truth is stranger than fiction” was right on the money; you couldn’t make this stuff up.
Waco, Texas, February 28, 1993. David Koresh, a cult leader and self-proclaimed prophet, led his followers in a fifty-one day standoff with the United States government at the “Branch Dividian” compound.
While trying to end this siege, government officials accidentally started a fire. Strong winds that day quickly turned the old wooded framed structure into a blazing inferno. 81 dead, 17 of them children.
These are just a few examples to set the tone for our discussion. “We are the chosen ones,” they all claim, “Join us and save yourselves.” Most are harmless, except to their own members.
The Nazi mind of man does not end with those consumed with hatred for others, or those who are mentally and spiritually deranged. The Nazi mind permeates to the very core of human nature. It infiltrates the prim and proper country club, to people that have more money than they can spend in ten lifetimes.
These people dress to the nines, build luxurious homes, all the while others in our human family are cold and homeless, sick and hungry. These suffering people are not a continent away, as if that were an excuse, but are often within a few miles of the opulent homes of the wealthy. Remember our Lord’s teaching about the rich man with that annoying beggar at his gate. Many wealthy people have earned their money by the blood, sweat, toil and tears of the “laborers in the field.” Some rich people are extremely generous, God bless them. Others are like a rose in a toilet... oblivious to its impending doom.
That harmless church on the corner, “We have God’s blessing, were right the rest of the world is wrong.” The political, religious and judicial leaders. Men and women, who were not appointed but campaigned for their office. Most public officials won their position by mud slinging, always standing on their morals.
People, who from my experience with them don’t know or can’t decide if they are humble servants of God and community, defenders of truth and justice or stand-up comedians. Far to many of them should be wearing rubber noses and floppy shoes.
We need to realize of first importance that, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Since our fight is not against flesh and blood we need to grasp the fact that we cannot fight a spiritual war with bullets and bombs. The weapons in our arsenal are, prayer and fasting, truth and love.
We need to realize, and realize it sooner than later I pray, that we sin because we are sinners, we are not sinners because we sin. It’s our nature, the Nazi mind of man. Some may call it “original sin.” Who do you think has been tried, convicted and condemned for Crucifying Jesus, the Messiah, and Son of God? That be us friends, that be us.
Realize also, that Jesus died for all the sins, of all the people that ever drew a breath on this planet. From the most contemptible, despicable son of a bitch you can think of, to the Lilly-white, squeaky clean life of the socialite.
The fear of God that needs to come into play here is the fact that Jesus did not suffer in proportion to our sins. He suffered, bleed and died the same for all of us. The most despicable crime every committed was committed by our human family, when we took Jesus, the only begotten Son of God and murdered Him by nailing Him to a tree. We are all guilty of that, and will all be held accountable.
The Psalmist David understood this: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” The Prophet Jeremiah carried this burden: “O Lord, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers, we have indeed sinned against you.” King Solomon had a handle on it: “Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? Isaiah the Prophet knew it, “Woe to me!” He cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD almighty.”
I really want to drive this point home. Don’t doubt its veracity, it needs to drop you to your knees like a sucker punch from Mike Tyson. If you miss this truth you may, like so many do, gain comfort by thinking, “I’m not the best, but I’m not the worst either.” An easy trap to fall into, and one we all need to guard against. Comparing yourself to the Osama bin Laden’s and Adolph Hitler’s of the world we all look pretty good.
Man’s judgment is not God’s judgment. In this sin sick and depraved world it is far to easy to become like the Pharisee, who prayed about himself, ‘God I think you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers. This man acting as though God should Stand up and sing, “How great Thou Art,”-- to him. While a sinner stood at a distance, would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This is the man that went home justified.
You may argue, but I’m not a bad person, I’m really not. Says who? Jesus did not only die for our sins. He did not suffer in proportion to our sins. He was executed by torture in our place. It should have been you there on the cross, it should have been me. “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” The Prophet Isaiah is speaking here about a women’s soiled sanitary napkin.
We sin because we are sinners, we are not sinners because we sin. It’s what we are, accept it. Any recovery program will teach you the first thing you need to do is admit you’ve got a problem. We have a problem friends, and it’s a whopper. No one gets out of here alive. Then the judgment.
We sin because we are sinners, we are not sinners because we sin. Don’t blow by this truth. Understanding this was most profitable for me, the puzzling questions of theology, the study of God began to fall into place. Unfortunately I learned it late in my Christian walk. Until you get a understanding of it you will not be able to fully enjoy your relationship with God. And worse you will open yourself up to a whole slue of misery.
I believe it is forgone conclusion that people that have been “born again,” desire to live a sinless life, that’s understood. Wanting to be sinless and actually being sinless are worlds apart.
Are you really so delusional as to think you are sinless. Christ-like in all your thoughts, words and actions. You either think very little of Christ or are very much full of yourself. Besides the idea of the “List” as I call it; you know the list, the one some preachers beat people over the head with. Don’t drink, don’t dance, don’t chew tabacca, [sic] and don’t kiss girls that do.
I’m not trying to make light of being good little boys and girls, it’s important. But is not the whole issue on judgment day.
The judgment scene as described in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 records it this way. In this account Jesus does not pull out a ledger and tally up your sins. He is more concerned with sins of omission than with sins of commission.
I was hungry He said, you did not give me anything to eat. I was thirsty you did not give me anything to drink. I was stranger and you did not invite me in. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and you did not nurse me. I was in prison and you did not visit me.
As you can plainly see “the list” does not even come into play. The righteous requirements of the law are met in the Blood of Christ. We will not qualify for forgiveness because of some righteous lifestyle we imagine ourselves to have lived. The arrogance!
Sins of commission are sins of the flesh, sins that Christ can easily forgive. Especially if they were done in weakness and not rebellion. Sins of omission on the other hand point to your character. The who, and the what, that make up the essence of your being. Not rules, but relationship.
Consider the parable of the Good Samaritan as told by Jesus. “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you any extra expense you may have.’
Notice the character, the class, of the Good Samaritan. He did these things because of his nature, not to earn favor with God. The priest and the Levite were to busy doing God’s work to do God’s will. So heavenly minded they were of no earthly good.
Late one evening when leaving work I met a homeless man who didn’t even have shoes on his feet. I gave him my shoes and went home in my stocking feet. That was certainly one of my more noble deeds. Opps, I just lost any reward I might have gotten in heaven. “Be careful,” Jesus warned, “not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in Heaven.” That’s okay, I didn’t do it for a reward, I did it because the man needed a pair of shoes. The Good Samaritan did what he did because it needed doing.
It truly is more blessed to give than to receive. Even under the best of care the shoes I gave that man would long age have found there way to the city dump. Yet I still find joy when I recall walking in the house and hearing my wife exclaim, “Where’s your shoes?” Radical Christianity - what a concept
Okay then, let’s jump back into the deep end of the pool. We sin because we are sinners, we are not sinners because we sin. If you don’t get this truth you may…
Compare yourself to other men and think your on solid ground and have no need of forgiveness. It is easy to think good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell. Wrong! Saved people go to heaven, unsaved people do not, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
When you think in terms of good and bad, instead of saved and unsaved salvation becomes weak and diluted. One church as good as the next. One man’s teaching as valid as any other’s. Salvation becomes a human standard.
You may compare yourself to other men and think you not okay, and are too bad to be forgiven. You look for that line in the sand and try to determine where you fit on the continuum of human depravity. You will end up looking down on some and looking up to others.
God does not judge us on a "curve." If you think He does, and you think you are in the fatty part of that curve you will live with a false sense of salvation.
Do not confuse “Religiosity,” with “Christianity.” Religiosity is akin to climbing the corporate ladder, set yourself apart by dress or lifestyle. Act pious.
Remember, no matter how well you bluff, eventually you will have to lay your cards on the table.
FALSE TEACHERS, THE MESSIAH COMPLEX, AND ME
Would we recognize Jesus as the Messiah if he came today? No, I think not. Human nature being what it is, we would crucify Jesus as surely today as we did two thousand years ago.
During my tenure as a pastoral counselor at a non-denominational inner city homeless shelter, I had the fascinating opportunity to counsel men who possessed the “Messiah Complex.” This mental condition, in the strict sense, as you may have guessed, is a belief that you are indeed the Messiah.
You may be surprised to learn just what a common phenomenon this is. I surely was. For the sake of clarity in my counseling practice I use the term “Messiah Complex” to classify a broader range of mind sets. Anyone that has lost their spiritual equilibrium, off balance, off center. I will use that broader definition in this writing as well.
No preacher worth his salt has not run into some tortured soul who thinks for one reason or another they have committed the “unpardonable sin.”
Here are a few examples that stand out in my memory:
One of my clients believed he was demon possessed and wanted me to perform an exorcism on him. My mind immediately flashed to the movie the “Exorcist,” which very graphically depicts a little girl possessed by a demon. One of the top ten horror movies of all time to be sure.
When this tormented soul requested that I do an exorcism on him, I, with tongue planted firmly in cheek told him, “you will need to see a Catholic priest for that.”
This poor child of God, with a pained trusting look on his face gently said, “okay.” I’m not proud of that friends. This guy looked to me as a man of God and asked me for help. He asked me for help, and I blew him off.
If I ever have that experience again I will do something. I will at the very least anoint him with oil, if only for the placebo effect anointing him with oil may have.
Another fella, a fascinating individual who loved Christ dearly; not a Bible scholar, but knew Scripture as well as I do. This man was in deep bitterness of soul, living in spiritual distress because he thought he was the anti-Christ or the “Beast” spoken of in the book of Revelation. In Revelation Chapter 13, Verse 18 we read, “this calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is a man’s number. His number is 666.”
This verse is shrouded in mystery; no one knows for certain who or what this puzzle refers to. The intelligentsia community has been trying to pin this vision on someone since St. John first penned it. Fingers have pointed to Adolph Hitler, Ronald Reagan, and Mussolini, along with a host of others.
My client acquired this fear simply because the last three digits of his social security number were “666.” Foolish? Yes, I think so, but his fear and anguish was very real and not very funny.
This man, a student of the Bible as I’ve said, actually aspired at one time to become a minister. Because of his desire to preach the Gospel 2nd Corinthians 11:14, which reads, “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light,” compounded and added merit in his mind to his Social Security 666 fear. He magnified every sin and misapplied this and other Scripture to his own particular circumstance.
What amazed me about this guy was his lack of concern about the fiery pit of hell, I wouldn’t say he relished the idea mind you, but that’s not what really seemed to bother him. He was heartbroken and dejected because he thought God did not love him. Like the agony of a heartbroken teenager his pain was acute. I think of this guy often. If I go to hell, I’ll just serve God there seemed to be his attitude. What an inspiration, “Hay God, here’s some Agape love right back at ya.” What faith!
Still another man that opened some avenues of thought for me. I can’t honestly say this man came to me for counsel, he already knew everything. This man confided in me that he is one of the two prophets referred to in Scripture, again in the book of Revelation. He was referring to Revelation 11:3 which reads, “I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” Here too Scripture does not clearly identify these characters.
This man came to the shelter after spending fourteen years in prison. His cell-mate by the way was the other prophet spoken of in the quotation above. This man certainly had a strong personality, he could be considered charismatic, lucid and… unfortunately he was serious.
He was charismatic enough to have a cult following. His “flock” meets at his mobile home in a trailer park. Mind boggling isn’t it? This ex-con with L-O-V-E tattooed across the knuckles of his left hand; H-A-T-E tattooed across the knuckles of his right has a cult following. This stuff never ceases to amaze me.
I have always lived under the premise that if God calls you to preach the Gospel you would have to be a fool to stoop along the way to become a king. Most preachers I know do not take their position lightly, and they understand what an awesome responsibility they have.
When the fear of God comes on you as just a “common” preacher it is enough to scare the begeebers out of ya. Can you imagine what a heady thing it must be to believe you are a major player in God’s design. A mile marker along the stormy path. A servant chosen by God to usher in the last days, to sound the trumpet, to issue a warning - be ready. No wonder false prophets go loopy.
I did not take the client in question seriously, but I had to ask myself, how would we recognize an end time prophet. It’s easy to spot false teachers, especially after they leave a flood of corpses in their wake.
False prophets almost without fail twist Scripture and believe some part of it is written directly to them or about them. They often twist the meaning of the highly symbolic book of Revelation to suite their purpose. They also have a propensity to pick “rapture dates.” They are often charismatic, silver tongue devils.
Personally I have never heard one of them answer a question with the words, “I don’t know.” They have answers to the most profound, complex theological questions the human mind can pose.
Of course the best protection against false teachers has always been and always will be the truth. Simply compare their teaching to that of the Word of God. Remember these guys are sharp and you can’t compare their teaching if you don’t have a clue about what their talking about.
Trust no one, question everything. This advice is consistent with how you should approach any Minister, Preacher or Priest. Teachers on any subject, and especially when your eternal destiny hinges on what they teach and your response towards that teaching. I will never tell you something I cannot back-up with Scripture. Still you need to decide if I’m on the mark or not.
So you have decided to read the Bible, good for you, a courageous and bold moved in our culture. Now things can get a little dicey. The Bible like no other book needs to be viewed and understood in a number of different ways. You need to mediate and give some thought to the cultural mood at the time it was written. What was the political, economic and social atmosphere at the time.
Symbolism needs to be grasped. For instance Jesus said, “I am the vine you are the branches.” Jesus is not literally a grape vine and we are not literally branches. You understand that right? Symbolism.
The Bible must also be studied contextually. You cannot take an isolated teaching out of context and expect to derive the meaning God meant it to have.
Unfortunately the Bible must also be approached with logic and common sense. I say unfortunately because I find common sense to be anything but common. Common sense - a classic oxymoron. Right up there with Military Intelligence and Holy War.
In addition you must prayerfully, meditatively, respectfully, reverently conduct your approach to Scripture.
This is where I believe preachers come into play. Compare Bible study to learning a musical instrument. You can pick up a musical instrument or a Bible and be self taught. Most people would agree that it’s better to get some pointers, especially at the beginning. The responsibility ultimately rests on your shoulders. “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.”
We got off track, let’s get back to the question at hand. How would we recognize a spokesman sent from God? Someone sent to usher in the last days. “Literally hundreds of people claim to have received messages directly from God - or from spacemen, angels, ‘spirit guides,’ or other superhuman entities.”
How will we know him? Are we expecting Einstein, Copernicus, Nostadomis, Aristotle or maybe to the other end of the spectrum, Shemp of the Three Stooges. What would his message be? What similarities would he have to other God ordained prophets?
Would he be a Bible scholar, Fluent in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic; the original language of Scripture? Perhaps, I wouldn’t expect an ignorant rube, but the world is full of Bible scholars, great minds, educated minds. Brilliant men who can barely agree on what time of day it is, not to mention what men and women need to do to be saved.
If all it took was intelligence all we need do is go to the Mensa Society, an organization whose only requirement for membership is an I.Q. of 200 or above. We could go there, find the biggest egg-head and instruct him to study Scripture. With this reasoning we could assume he would soon discover the truth.
Why wouldn’t that work? Because it is equally important, if not more so, that a Prophet, Minister, Preacher, Priest, lay-person, anyone and everyone know the Author as well as the Book. I do believe a latter day prophet would be a deep thinker, a theologian, a death bed philosopher of sorts.
Would he have a tongue of gold, the greatest orator of all time? Again perhaps, but remember, Moses stuttered. God always chooses weak vessels. It is His power and might that needs to shine through, not some man’s talent. “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” From the list of men I metaphorically suggested earlier my guess would have to be Shemp. “God has always saved men through the foolishness of preaching.”
What other similarities might he share with prophets of old? Let me interject here briefly the Biblical definition of “Prophet.” What they are not are men whose every word is a prediction of things to come. If that were the case all he would need is a 900 number and a tongue thick with an Jamaican accent.
What I mean by the term “prophet”, and I think Scripture will back me up, is someone whose message and style is unorthodox and grating to many religious and political leaders of his day. Outspoken, someone who makes political and religious leaders uneasy. Prophets stand alone and suffer persecution.
Would he be a sinner? Yes, without a doubt, all men that have ever lived, with the exception of Jesus of course, have been sinners. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
There are many people who will defend themselves as being sinless. They are so full of crap I could scream. Now is that anyway for a preacher to talk? Why not? Jesus let people have it with both barrels. Don’t take my word for it, read the 23rd Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. I can picture Jesus with this steely gaze, reading the riot act to the teachers of the law and Pharisees. “Woe to you, you hypocrites” He bellowed, “You blind guides! You blind fools! You are full of hypocrisy and wickedness! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matthew 23:ff - condensed) Wow! I’m glad I wasn’t at the receiving end of that tongue lashing.
Jesus didn’t hate anyone, and neither do I. Besides, I think my transparency is one of my endearing qualities with God.
Where did the artists of years gone by ever get the idea to depict Jesus as some limp-wrested, effeminate, ninety-eight pound weakling. No photograph of Jesus exist. We are certain of that since He lived prior to the invention of photography. It strikes me as odd however that no reliable charcoal drawing can be viewed, or that no marble, wood or clay stature exists. In other words we don’t have any idea what Jesus looked like. Not that it matters but we do have some clues from Scripture.
His lifestyle suggests he was physically healthy. A carpenter by trade. No power tools of course, all work done with primitive hand tools and muscle. The lifestyle Jesus embraced during His ministry; walking long distances over rocky, foreboding terrain. Sleeping in the elements. These things coupled with the punishment He endured during and prior the crucifixion all point to a strong healthy man.
Jesus going ballistic on the money changers in the Temple without being stopped or apprehended is an added indication that Jesus was no Tiny Tim looking dude flashing a peace sign and tiptoeing through the tulips.
Isaiah the Prophet paints a word picture of an average looking man at best. “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”
So instead of picturing a girlie-man looking guy like some artisans do. Envision Jesus with His face sun baked and leathery, laugh lines carved deep into the sockets that carried those magnificent eyes. The wisdom of the ages traced deep into the furrow
of His brow. A smile that could light up a room, crooked teeth and all. And that nose, Lord have mercy that nose, that big beautiful Jewish honker. Jimmy Durante eat your heart out. Now that ladies and gentlemen is one handsome man.
Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins. I find it interesting that both Jesus and John were fond of the term “brood of vipers, hypocrites.” I can picture in my minds see, Jesus and John as little tikes playing with their building blocks. Their mothers not far away discussing world events. Mary, mother of Jesus calling King Herod a snake, John’s mom responding, “There’s a whole brood of vipers down there at city hall, nothing but hypocrites.”
It’s a sobering experience to witness your child use an expression that is common to you, whether that expression is good, bad or indifferent. The point is Jesus and John used the same phraseology, and they picked it up somewhere.
An end-time spokesmen for God will not concern himself with being politically correct, and I doubt he will ever be given the “Diplomat of the Year Award.”
Jesus standing mute before Pontius Pilate is a delight to behold, and cracks me up. From the Gospel of John we read, “do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate asked Jesus. “Don’t you realize I have the power to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You have no power over me, in fact if you knew who you were fuckin’ with you’d shit in your pants” (John 19:10-11, paraphrase mine).
Remember were dealing with spiritual warfare. Truth verses error, good verses bad, right verses wrong. Jesus was gentle with truth seekers and sinners, but ragged on phonies.
Don’t expect someone with a new teaching, or revelation as if from God. From the Apostle John we read, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in the book. And if anyone takes away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
The Apostle Paul to the Church at Galatia wrote, “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let him be eternally condemned!”
Finally don’t expect distinguishing dress, whether fancy robes or clerical collars, men who set themselves apart, in a spiritual sense, don’t get it, they just don’t get it. Run! “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize.” Unless their distinguishing dress happens to be sack-cloth and ashes they have nothing to say that I would want to hear, period.
Whoever comes down the pike will be a man of peace, not war. A man of love, not hate. But don’t confuse gentleness with truth: Marshell Applewhite was like a huggable puppy. And don’t confuse harshness with lies; Jesus was harsh at times.
You know, come to think of it, he will likely be a man a lot like me;-)
IN SEARCH OF WISDOM
What is wisdom, how is it found and how do you recognize it? Questions like these are best approached in the negative, in other words first determine what wisdom is not. A major stumbling block in the United States is that we confuse education with wisdom. They are two separate and distinct entities.
The Holy Writ mentions time and again that, “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Wisdom, biblically speaking, is the most precious item found on earth. Its importance cannot be overstated.
“Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom. Though it cost you all you have, get understanding.” “Wisdom is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire can compare with her.” “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver.!”
I could go on and on, but you get the point. Wisdom is precious. Search out wisdom so you may understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault. And it will be given him.”
We begin our pursuit of wisdom the same way Jesus did, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” As this verse indicates wisdom is not some sudden infusion. Your not one day a blooming idiot and the next astute in your understanding of life’s mysteries.
A person admiring a sculpture of an Angel, carved by Michael Angelo asked him, “How do you do it.” Michael Angelo replied, “It’s simple, I just chip away anything that’s not an angel.” Treat your pursuit of wisdom in the same way, there is an infinite amount of information we can digest. Most offer little in way of spiritual nutrients. You will even find some that is poisonous. So what do we do with this vast amount of knowledge at our disposal. Simple, just chip away anything that’s not true.
At first big chunks could be cut away. Evolution… whack that off. Traditions of men… gotta go. Astrology… see ya. Continue to chisel away falsehood and foolishness.
Now nearing the core, you break out your polishing stone and begin fine tuning you gift. Character defects that do not bring happiness to you, or honor to God need to be filed off. Now this priceless gem you wouldn’t trade for the world needs only be maintained, polished and protected.
I don’t want to leave you with the impression that I think I’m wise. That I’ve somehow discovered some wisdom hidden from the world yet revealed to little ol’ me. My motivating philosophy in life has always been, :”Lead with your chin.” How wise is that?
I am however wise enough to know what matters in life. The wise man always has the hour of his death before his eyes. Conduct yourself as you’ll wish, from your death bed, you would have. WARNING: be careful what you ask for, wisdom cannot be bought, but the lessons can be costly.
Explain eternity. Easy enough to understand that time never ends, the clock keeps ticking, time marches on. Now understand, if you can, that you can go back in time just as far as you can go forward. And God was there in the beginning. When Moses asked God, “who should I tell Pharaoh sent me.” God said, tell him “I AM” sent you.
Contemplate nothingness, or infinity. I love the Star Trek movies, when they hit “Warp Speed,” or enter a “Black Hole,” jettison at the speed of light to the other side of the universe and are still no where near the end, or near the beginning.
What is your life? “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” A missionary friend from New Delia expresses it well. With the Gandhi like accent of India he says, “Life is like a bubble on the eternal ocean of time… pop your gone.”
I cannot wax so poetically, philosophically quaint, but here’s mine anyway, “Yesterday I had pimples, today I have wrinkles.” Tony Compolo, a well known Christian author has one similar, his analogy is, “as soon as my skin cleared up my hair fell out.” You get the point, time flies.
“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
What excuse will a man be able to offer God? “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
President Abraham Lincoln said, “No man has a right to consider himself educated until he has read the Bible.” He also said, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is of more value than a college education.”
Obviously a man who thought highly of Scripture. He is right on the money, I agree wholeheartedly with both these statements.
If you read three chapters of the Bible each day, and read five on Sunday you will have read through the Bible in one year. From cover to cover, Old and New Testaments. Hardly a major sacrifice. Yet how many people will go to their deathbeds without even a cursory knowledge of God’s Word. No excuses.
EVOLUTION
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Chapter one, verse one of the Bible. The ten boldest words ever spoken. A mind boggling stumbling block for many. What evolutionists fail to realize, or refuse to acknowledge is that believers, “creationists,” did not put their brains in neutral while reaching their conclusion about the existence of God. I want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And yes I can handle the truth, thank you very much.
You will find the theory of evolution does not stand up under close scrutiny. The theory actually contradicts and refutes itself. By definition evolution implies that things will get better and better. Grow stronger, live longer. That is not the case. Yes, we have added a few years to our longevity, but that is due in large part to health care and nutrition, not evolution. In addition only true in the industrial world. Half the children born in third world countries die before they reach the age of five.
Morally, the human family is as bankrupt as ever, if not more so. Spiritually speaking, “evil men and impostors will go from bad to worst.”
Evolutionists seem to think if they add enough zeros to any given number it will explain everything. Many people will swallow hook, line and sinker some theory, taught by an evolutionist Guru. They don’t bat an eye when he says two hundred billion years ago this happened or that happened. The same people that will believe that will balk at the historical fact a man named Jesus lived a mere two thousand years ago. It is called the theory of evolution, not the science of evolution for a reason.
ATHEIST AND AGNOSTICS
An atheist is a person who believes there exists positive evidence there is no God. An agnostic is one who believes there is insufficient evidence to prove or disprove the existence or non-existence of God.
If you fall into either of these categories - atheist or agnostic - thank you for reading this, I’m honored. Relax I’m not going to yell at you. Believe it or not I feel a closer kinship to you than I do to many in the religious community. I think you are closer to becoming a believer than you might imagine.
I don’t personally know any staunch atheist, but I do have some agnostic friends who I think very highly of. I get the impression from them that they are not so much opposed to the idea of God, as they are to the idea of “organized religion,” and the foolishness thereof. I don’t blame anyone who chooses to distance themselves from formal religious communities. So called religious leaders have deserved most of the mockery they received over the years.
When you consider the crimes committed in the name of religion by those claiming to be religious, those claiming to have a “special” relationship with God. I don’t fault anyone for not wanting any part of it.
I remember in my youth the Everly Brothers wrote a song called, “Wake Up Little Suzy.” The long and short of it is this; “the movie wasn’t so hot, it didn’t have much of a plot, they fell asleep, their goose was cooked, their reputation were shot. What would they tell her Mama, what would they tell her Pa, what would they tell her friends when they say ou-la-la.”
Some in the religious community were upset by this song, foaming at the mouth as they tend to do, because of the sexual implications in this song. Can you believe it? The only “crime” these fictional children are guilty of is falling asleep at the movies and breaking curfew. Why I remember this so vividly I don’t know.
The Beatles were thought to be the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by some. John Lennon’s poor choice of words caused an uproar of major proportions when he said, “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ.”
Foolishness like this coupled with televangelists taking prostitutes to hotel rooms or embezzling funds from their supporters. Examples of the famous, the now infamous preachers, as well as local clergy that have made tragic errors in judgment are endless. We are sinners, this is not about that. A man should step down from the pulpit when he is struggling with a sin that will give the church a black-eye when he is found out, but sadly as you know, that is often not the case.
I can understand why an outsider looking in wouldn’t want any part of it. Do me a favor, go to your front door and turn your porch light on, go ahead I’ll wait… You back? Okay, what did you see? Bugs, yes of course, bugs. Jesus said, I am the light of the world,” and what does a light do? It attracts bugs.
Seriously now, understand that due to its nature, religion will attract some, shall we say, “colorful characters.” Those struggling emotionally, the mentally ill. Jesus delighted in this. Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit said, “I praise you father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”
The little children spoken of here are the humble of heart. The wise and learned spoken of are the arrogant, people so full of themselves there is no room for, or need of, God.
Give religion another go my agnostic friend. The church could use an inquiring, questioning mind like yours. Prove me, try me, test me is God’s invitation to you. I AM saith the Lord.
There have been men throughout history who have set out to disprove the Bible. Their intentions were good; going to do humanity a big favor. Prove once and for all the Bible is false, full of lies and contradictions. Help mankind move beyond this religious nonsense and superstition.
Do you know what they got for their troubles? Fried with a lighting bolt? No, no, God is bigger than that. What they got for their trouble was converted. That’s right converted, the more they researched and studied the more convinced they became that indeed the Bible is without error.
But is it from God? Is God for real, and if so, does He take a personal interest in my life. Jesus tells us not to be afraid, God is the ultimate overprotective parent, “the very hairs of your head are numbered.”
The love of God, who can fathom? “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not sent His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
John 3:16, arguable the most widely know and perhaps least understood verse in Scripture. Any attempt to probe the infinite depth of God’s love is a task suited only for eternal contemplation.
Only recently have I begun to enjoy/bemoan a deeper appreciation of God’s love for humanity. From the vantage point of my minds eye, while watching Jesus writhing in pain on the instrument of torture know as the crucifix, hearing Him cry out to God, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” According to Scripture, He cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.
According to Scripture the curtain was torn in two, symbolizing the acceptance of the Gentile or “common man.” Access into the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary, direct contact with God, no middle man required.
For years, decades even, I just assumed the curtain was torn, the rocks split and darkness fell over the land because of God’s wrath. Although that may have played a part, I now believe it was a small part, a very small part.
Think of the times God really did show His wrath. The Ten Plagues of Egypt. The Red Sea slaughter of Pharaoh’s Army. Sodom and Gomorra. The Tower of Babel, to name just a few.
Now go to Calvary, our omnipotent God has just witnessed His only begotten Son mocked, spit upon, beaten, tortured and murdered, and all He did was tear a curtain in two and kick a few rocks around. No way, if God would have visited Jerusalem with His wrath that day they would still be picking up the pieces; a nuclear wasteland, nothing but dust.
That incident now represents to me the rending of God’s heart. This mighty heart of God, with a love as vast as the universe He created, has just has His heart ripped in two by my sins. My sins, often committed with no more forethought or concern than I would give in shoeing a stray dog out of my yard. Sins I often gloried in, and even bragged about. I’ve got to tell you friends, when this belief hit home I balled like a baby. We often think of the pain Christ endured, but seldom reflect upon the price God the Father paid and how much He suffered.
Assuming you are His child, God loves you with what is known as Agape love. Greek for unconditional love. Let me explain it this way. There is nothing my daughter could do that would make me stop loving her. That fact stands as an unmovable truth in the universe. Could she do something I would be disappointed in? Of course. Could I become angry with her? Yes.
She could also do something I would be extremely proud of, and we could get along splendidly every day of our lives. But I could never love her less, or love he more for that matter. I love her, period.
For God so loved the world that… he’s like the father in the maternity ward looking down at her newly born baby girl. Have you ever seen those guys? Chest pushed out, bursting at the seams with pride and joy. Love so intense their practically glowing, it’s like their radioactive, you’re tempted to roast marshmallows on them. You would think they just went through labor the way their carry on, “Oh, look at those little fingers!” “Look at those little toes! Oh coochie-coochie-coo.” God loves His daughters like that.
Or the father at the little league game, jumping up and down shouting, “That’s my boy, that’s my boy!” The guy next to him sarcastically says, “Your boy just struck out!” “I don’t care, that’s my boy, don’t you understand, that’s my boy!” That’s how God loves His sons.
That’s why the angels in heaven rejoice when a sinner repents. They love to see God giddy with joy. If heaven were a democracy and not a theocracy, if angels had a vote in other words, I think we would be playing a different ball game right now.
Prove the existence of God you demand. Well I can’t, at least I can’t prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I cannot bring you proof of God on a silver platter and say, “here He is, now believe.” However the existence of God beyond any reasonable doubt is fairly easy for the discerning mind, the open mind, the unprejudiced mind to grasp. First look to Scripture, our owners manual. Look to the wonders of the universe, and finally study human nature.
Look at it this way, O.J. Simpson got away with murder, I believe that. I also know the jury did the right think in acquitting him. Under our system of justice, the jury did what had to be done. O.J.’s defense team established “reasonable doubt.” They did not say little green men came down on a space ship and murdered his former wife Nicole, and her friend Mark Goldman. That would be unreasonable.
The defense team did however point to a bigoted cop, in a city known for racial intolerance. In addition they presented gloves from the murder scene that did not fit the defendant. Reasonable doubt established.
If I were to point to over 300 prophesies of Scripture that were fulfilled in the person of Jesus. If I point to the wonders of creation. If I point to the evil in mankind. If I point out all these things and you still choose not to believe, it would be your conclusion that is unreasonable, not my presentation.
May as well stay with the rock and roll music format. Devils music as the religious watchdog groups have called it. Pete Townsend from the British Rock Band the “Who,” wrote a song titled “The Seeker.” The song begins, “I’ve looked under chairs, I’ve looked under tables, I’ve tried to find the key to fifty million fables.” For this discussion I want us to consider the lyrical stanza that reads; “I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked the Beatles, I asked Timothy Leary but he couldn’t help me either. They call me the seeker, I’ve been searching low and high.”
I have not talked to Mr. Townsend but I assume he, or the character of his song, if in fact they are not one in the same, is seeking truth. The meaning of life. He asked the great poets of our time; Bob Dylan and the Beatles, even sought enlightenment from mind expanding drugs. Timothy Leary was a noted proponent of L.S.D. usage. But the hero of the song in question could not find the answers he was looking for.
Seeking truth, seeking a deeper meaning in life is nothing new. People look to astrology. The occult in the form of palm reading and Tarot Cards. Transcontinental Meditation was in vogue for a time. “Let’s find a Guru - surely someone must have the answers to life’s mysteries.”
The baby boomer generation of the 1960’s, of which I am a member, really thought we were on the cutting edge of a new world order. Peace and love were the mantra’s of the day. So naïve, we actually thought were onto something mew, and that the things mentioned above coupled with philosophy and psychology were the vehicles that would lead the world to harmony. None of these things were new of course. We gave them new names and thought we were wise.
The so-called sexual revolution is a prime example; why you would have thought we invented sex the way we carried on. “There is nothing new under the sun.” People have been getting their mojo working since Adam first told Eve, “Stand back honey I don’t know how big this thing is gonna get.”
On my first read through the Bible I was surprised to see verses like, “Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.”
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their sexual perversions. The free spirited hippies of the 60’s seemed to believe we were the first to shed sexual inhibitions. Until we entered the picture sex was done only for procreation and then only in the “missionary position.” I was dumbfounded to learn there were actually temple prostitutes in the time of Christ.
Children of the 60’s, dust off your love beads, polish up your peace symbols. Let’s do it right this time. Strive for maturity in Christ, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”
The same song has a refrain that reads, “I have morals but I don’t know how or why.” The “how” of this question is easy. Your environment. Thankful you should be if you had loving parents, guardians and mentors that steered you down the right track. The “why” is actually just as easy to answer. The Bible.
Without the Bible there would be no such thing as morality, righteousness, virtue, ethics, godliness. These things point to a higher source of creation. A standard. Certainly we could and probable would have civil laws against certain acts. Murder, rape and robbery for instance. Without such laws we would be barbarians. Might would make right. Without the Bible however murder would not be morally wrong, nothing would be morally wrong. There would be no such thing as sin.
The song ends with the statement, “I won’t get to get what I want I’m after till the day I die.” Sad but true for many. But also unnecessary, the bible holds the key to the fifty million fables the seeker was seeking. The Bible does not answer every question you could possible ask. But it does hold the answer to every question you should ask.
Many will invent speculative questions and hypothetical situations. “Why does God do this or that?” There are many questions that cannot be answered this side of the grave. My job as a preacher is not to tell you what God thinks, as if I could, but rather what the Bible says.
How’s this for a brain teaser, “Can God make a rock so big that even he cannot lift it?” I could answer that question, but I won’t. People that ask that type of question are not seeking the truth, they are playing “stump the Preacher.” They mistakenly assume that God can do anything. There are at least two things I know of according to Scripture that God cannot do. He cannot lie, and he cannot deny himself.
I have often described the Bible as the owners manual for Homo Sapiens. The owners manual for a car does not answer every question you could ask about a car. The glove box type owners manual would be virtually worthless to a mechanic. A mechanic needs to know gear ratios, compression ratios, torque sequence and a hundred other things that are not written in the owners manual of a car. They are not written because we do not need to know them, we need only know how to operate safely in order to get from point “A” to point “B.”
For this discussion point “A” is planet Earth, point “B” is heaven.




















THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
This writing is not an attempt to proselytize every other Christian religion, other flavors as I’m know to diplomatically call them. This writing is a call for reformation. Make no mistake about it, our mission, should we decide to accept it, is to win the world for Christ. “Every knee should bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.” We cannot hope to win the world for Christ until we got on the same page.
This is a plea for purity in worship. A call for “Primitive Christianity.” To walk the ancient path is the only safe path to trod. Since it is the only safe path, by way of default becomes the only wise path.
I like the term “Primitive Christianity,” but it can be easily misunderstood, so let me explain it another way. Trace your heritage , your spiritual roots. Travel back in time to the day of Pentecost, the day the Church of Christ was born.
Remove from your worship any element that originated in the mind of man. Anything born of ego, born of pride. No matter how well intentioned your founders may have been, no matter how godly they may have seemed. They had no authority. Trace your religious ancestry from the day of Penecost, see where you got off track and correct it. When all else fails read the directions. Speak where the Bible speaks, remain silent where the Bible is silent.
American’s are extremely tradition oriented, everything from Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the Super Bowl, the 4th of July, as well as countless local and national holidays. Anniversaries are touted for their longevity. Silver, Golden and Diamond anniversaries are trumpeted with great fanfare and celebration. All well and good, nothing inherently wrong with tradition, unless were dealing with worship.
We cannot, we dare not, begin a religious tradition on a whim. It is written by the Prophet Isaiah: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to traditions of men.” False teaching works magic, like yeast in bread dough.
Jesus laid the foundation for his Church. He owns the Church, He purchased Her with His blood. According to Scripture the Church represents the Bride of Christ. Would you paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa? If you did you would be a vandal. You have no authority, no right.
Leonardo DaVinci created that famous portrait the way he wanted her to look. He is the only man in all of creation that has the right to change her. The Church came from the mind of Christ. Do you dare try to make her better?
Seek the truth, embrace the truth. Dig for it like diamonds, mine for it like gold.
Jesus is the crown of creation, the focal point in history. In the grand scheme of things, what happened on the hill of Calvary some two thousand years ago is the only thing that matters. Everything else must be judged in relationship to that moment in time. The only thing that adds value to you as a human being is the fact that Jesus died for you.

A baseball can be purchased for less then ten dollars at any sporting goods store in the country. Let that same baseball be hit out of the park by Mark McGwire for a record breaking home run and it is suddenly worth millions. Christ gives you life value, nothing else.
A few weeks after the World Trade Center bombings all the school children in the United States said the pledge of Allegiance at the same time, untold millions in four time zones. I liked that, it was very cool.
Now picture if you can. Christians united in doctrine, not agreeing to disagree, but united. Standing on the rock solid foundation of Scripture and Scripture only. Picture us with synchronized watches, video linked perhaps, singing together, “How Great Thou Art,” singing soldiers Of Christ Arise.” One voice, crying out to God for His blessing.
I’m telling you friends I believe that would turn His head. God would stand up and take notice. He would be pleased we put forth that much effort to honor and worship Him. And in addition fulfill the prayer of Jesus for unity.
God would be impressed. How odd we always try to impress God by building something out of brick and mortar, stain glass windows and statures. We build massive cathedrals, and do it all for a God who does not dwell in a house made with human hands. Then we stand back and grin like the butcher’s bulldog, oblivious to our arrogance.
King Solomon expressed it well, “But will God dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built.”
I may not agree with your religious stance, or interpretation of Scripture, but I will defend to the death you right to hold it. I am not suggesting in any way, shape, or form we institute some form of government sanctioned religion. I love America. I love America the same way God loves His children, warts and all. Where else could you write a book like this one? With no repercussions to follow, freedom.
The wave of patriotism that swept over our country after the September 11th. Attack was a good thing, a great thing even. As a baby boomer and Vietnam era Vet, I know many men who had the same patriotic upbringing I did. Our dads were heroes, almost every male adult in out lives fought the “Red Menace.” Listening to the older men in out lives romanticizing their war stories. Even if they only served as a supply clerk in New Jersey they were heroes.
Memorial Day parades were massive. Weaned on war movies, the only person tougher than John Wayne was our dad. So when our country said they needed us we were proud to go and do our patriotic chore, and were quickly caught up in a political quagmire called Vietnam. Veterans came home to an icy welcome at best.
Reports of veterans walking through airports being spit on and called baby killers echoed through the veteran community. I didn’t even serve in Vietnam, but that didn’t stop some hippy-freak from mocking me with the Bozo salute while saying, “Hello there General.”
Let me reiterate, I love this country. Like most Americans I got flag happy after the September 11th. Attack. I put a flag on my motorcycle, even put on my drum kit so every time I crash the cymbal I let freedom ring. I just cannot help but notice every time some young warrior comes home to a heroes welcome, Vietnam Vets get it stuck in the ass yet again.
I’m not throwing a “pity party” for Vietnam Veterans, never did we expect nor would we have wanted a ticker tape parade, but somewhere between that and spittle running down our faces might have been nice. A pat on the back, a firm handshake, and a heartfelt thank-you would have made a world of difference.
It’s often said time heals all wounds, and most Veterans I know have come to grips with it. To be fair this country has made some apologetic gestures in post war years. I don’t know any Vets that are still bitter, but cut us some slack if our hearts are not bursting with patriotic pride. I have lived too long and seen too much to blindly follow and ideology - political or religious.
Don’t misunderstand, we have the God given right to defend ourselves and our families. We’re called Christians, not doormats. “There is a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” The attack of September 11, 2001 is still fresh in my mind as of this writing. Pacifism has its time and place, this ain’t the time this ain’t the place. Even so you can give the “my country right or wrong” mentality to the young. I won’t get fooled again.
THE FIVE FINGERS OF FAITH
The five fingers of faith are: Grace, Faith, Belief, the Blood, and Baptism.
These five form the basis for all main stream Christian religions. While studying various religious factions, trying to keep an open mind. Keeping one eye on the light of Scripture, and the other eye, my good eye, on the fallen state of man. My research vividly documents many similarities among most mainstream Christian groups. Our differences occur when we stress one doctrine of faith over another.
For instance; one group holds “Grace” in a position of prominence, “We are saved by grace,” is the foundation of their teaching. No argument from me, we are saved by grace. “Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”
Another church holds “faith” as the key element of salvation. “We have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I go along with this as well, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
To consider next, closely related to faith, is “belief.” “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Simple straightforward enough.
Our next seeker of the “way” stands on the “blood,” to this group it’s all about the sacrifice. “We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.” “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Our final belief system under consideration is that of Baptism, “and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also.” Another plain, easy to understand teaching about how to enter into a saved relationship with God, a parent child relationship.
I could use dozens if not hundreds of Scripture references to fortify each of these convictions: saved by Grace, Faith, Belief, the Blood, and Baptism. Volumes have been written about each of these doctrines. Used here are just a handful to represent a broad spectrum of these different teachings.
I am not naming names, nor suggesting any given denomination chooses one to the exclusion of all the others. My study suggests, as I’ve already said, one dogma is focused on more than others.
So then, are they all right? Or are they all wrong? Exactly. They are all right and all wrong. The Bible is not meant to be read with a telescope, nor with a microscope. The five elements under discussion are interwoven and inseparable.
Clever fellow that I am, I’ve been know to use my hand as a teaching tool; hence the term “Five Fingers of faith.” Hold out your hand. Now picture your little finger represents grace, your ring finger represents faith. Middle finger belief, your index finger represents the blood, and finally your thumb represents baptism. Any finger can be easily broken when it stands alone, but now make a fist, so then…
WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?
I thought you would never ask. While it is true there is no such thing as a stupid question. Viewed in the light of eternity there are questions more insightful and discerning than others.
God did not leave us in the dark concerning salvation, it is not an enigma, it is not a puzzle, it is not a mystery. God left us with plan, easy to follow instructions. Instructions as easy as ABC:
A. Come to believe
B. Repent and confess
C. Be baptized
Let us reason together and look at each of these items a little more in-depth. Beginning with baptism and working our way back.
If there is any topic I feel thoroughly qualified to discuss from Scripture it is baptism. To frame our discussion succinctly, I believe it is a required ingredient in God’s plan of salvation, others do not, perhaps most do not.
Baptism is an item of contention among Bible students, and it is with great sorrow I must, in good conscience, part company with a large segment of Christendom.
I could easily understand someone’s lack of conviction concerning baptism if the teachings concerning it were buried deep in bowels of Old Testament symbolism. That is not the case however. The teaching about baptism is plain, not hard to understand, and easy to obey.
Suppose for a moment you knew nothing about the Bible, had no preconceived ideas concerning it. One day out of curiosity you picked one up and began reading with only one question in mind. The question, “what must I do to be saved?” Wouldn’t it be nice if that question were asked verbatim and then answered right there in the pages of the Bible, in black and white for everyone to see.
It has been! “Let all Israel be assured of this: God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call.” The question ask, the question answered.
To build your belief system on only four verses of Scripture is foolish, so let’s look at another example. “…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, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also -- not the removal of the dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
I was tempted to use bold print and underline some portions of the previous paragraph, but I’ll let you do it instead, one of those interactive books. Grab a pen or pencil and underline, “only a few people were saved through water,” “this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also.” “It (baptism) saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Hard to explain away. Many men try to exactly that, explain it away. I often need to defend the obvious, and as a preacher I find it very frustrating. I could be spending my time in more glorious pursuits, like preaching for world peace, ending world hunger, poverty and disease.
I suggest you think long and hard before you blow off the teaching about baptism as unnecessary. If for no other reason than it being the Prime Directive for our High Commander, our lord’s final instruction to His Church before His ascension into heaven was. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given mew. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
I worked at a non-denominational inner city homeless shelter for a short while, every flavor of Christianity out city has to offer ministered there. What a great learning experience that was.
The clients obviously offered a great challenge. The mentally ill, the alcoholic and drug addicts, prostitutes. People of all shapes and sizes, hungry, homeless, needing Christ. At this time however I want to talk about the “fruit salad” of Christian Churches that offered their flavor of salvation there.
We are still talking about baptism and I think it’s important we define just what baptism means. We all need to be on the same page concerning the definition of baptism. The word baptism itself is a transliteration. A what? A transliteration, it was brought into the English language without being translated. The word “baptism” means to bury, no argument here among Bible scholars. “Gesund’heit” means God bless you in the German language, baptism means to bury in the Greek tongue, it just does.
So why a transliteration instead of a exact, literal interpretation? Good question. The answer in a word is politics. That’s right politics. In the early 1600’s King James of England commissioned a translation of the Bible into the English language; known as the King James Version, or KJV.
By the time this took place the Catholic Church was baptizing babies, and doing it by pouring, not by the symbolic burial. It seems to me the golden rule prevailed, “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Not wanting to lose their financial backing the translators sold out. They brought the word baptism into the English language un-translated. They could not however change it true meaning, it still means to bury. Nor could they change its place in God’s plan of salvation.
Theologians of all persuasions agree that during the time of Christ, historically speaking, they did indeed baptize adult men and women and did it by total immersion. There is never any disagreement about this historical fact.
As I worked with the various religious groups, my belief about the importance of baptism would ebb and flow. These are good people, law abiding citizens. I would gladly have any one of them as a neighbor. These people are sacrificing time and money to help the less fortunate. Yet the teaching about baptism, which seems so clear to me, is of no concern to them.
Turn of the century missionaries, who served Christ long before super-sonic air travel and e-mail communications, would pack a coffin with as many earthly belongings it could hold and venture off to a dark, pagan, primitive culture. They packed a coffin because they never intended to come home alive, and many didn’t. Men and women like these bring shame to the average self-serving Christian.
These men of faith are my heroes, yet some of them, depending on their denomination did not baptize for the remission of sins. This caused great concern and doubt in my life, and that’s okay. It is not a crime to question you religious stance, to reaffirm and readjust when necessary. Christianity is a thinking man’s religion. Was I making too much of this baptism thing? I tried to get around this issue, over it, under it. I dissected and wrestled with this matter like no other.
The words of Christ would inevitably come to mind. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on judgment day Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
If you are confused by what I mean by “The Nazi Mind of Man,” the quotation above should clarify. People who thought they were exactly right, when in fact they were exactly wrong. Please note the people referred to above were not “evil,” as we would define evil. They were doing church work, and were shocked to be called evildoers.
This above quoted Scripture should make every believer stop dead in his tracts and take stock. So is baptism God’s will for us, is it interwoven into His plan of salvation for us. I say yes, others say no -- your choice.
What makes us think we can stand in error and still be saved? Can a Hindu, Buddhists or Muslin stand secure without Christ? Is an Agnostic philanthropist safe in Christ because of his good Samaritan deeds? Is a law abiding Atheist secure in Christ? How dare we think we can do whatever we want in way of worship, teach whatever we damn well please simply because we tack the name “Christian” onto our error.
My experience with those in opposition to Baptism varied. I’ve been greeted with a condescending patronizing attitude, a wag of the head and a chuck of the tongue, it’s as if their saying, “you poor misguided babe in Christ.”
I’ve seen anger rise in them as they preached, their jaw tightens, their face reddens. They attack the teaching about baptism, as if written in the margin of their Bibles are the words, THEOLOGY WEAK, SHOUT!
None of that bothered me, I have broad shoulders and thick skin. The observation that strengthened my position more than any other is this. Some well know Christian authors are now implying that this teaching about baptism represents a cult. I could kick myself, I should have seen that coming. Surely they have been thinking it for years. Now certain men seem to be tentatively testing the waters to see if this “cult” label will stick. Gentlemen, I strongly urge you to re-think your position on baptism, you don’t want to stand before Christ on judgment day after calling His wife a whore.
Billy Graham in his book “Approaching Hoofbeats: writes this. “After the people heard Peter’s great sermon at Pentecost, ‘they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers what shall we do?’ (Acts 2:37) hen Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gif of the Holy Spirit.” Mr. Graham continues, “We cannot escape the word repent.” (Page 147)
Did you catch that? Do you see it? According to Mr. Graham we cannot escape the word repent, but he amputates the word “Baptized” from his quote, and he does it without a word of explanation.
Anyone that knows me well will tell you that I’m a casual, laid back kind of guy, but when I read something like that, red flags snap in the wind, warning flares light the night sky.
Assuming this book reaches the public many will surely say, “who does this uneducated commoner think he is, calling into question the teaching of a highly respected, world renowned evangelist. Is it really so inconceivable for you to think Mr. Graham could be wrong, he is after all only human.
I don’t mean to single out Mr. Graham, there are thousands of men who have hitched their mule to his wagon. I would not be doing any of them a favor by remaining silent.
In addition I hear the voice of another uneducated commoner echoing across time and space saying, “I did not say repent… repent … repent… repent, I said… said… said… said, repent and be…be… be…be, baptized…tized…tized… tized… tized.” (Apostle Peter)
It is one thing to be misunderstood, it happens to me all the time. Usually I accept some responsibility for it. As a communicator it is my responsibility to make myself understood. It is an entirely different matter to be blatantly misquoted.
The road of salvation is narrow according to Jesus, and only a few find it. The pathway has always been plagued with thorns and thistles, traps and snares, enemy attacks and ambush. I wish I could give you a six lane superhighway to travel, one with no stop signs, speed limits, or potholes. There is such a highway, the highway to hell.
I like television shows that have “time travel as there theme. Shows like “Sliders,” where the actors entered a type of vortex and “slid to parallel worlds. “Quantum Leap” was cool, Dr. Sam Becket leaping from life to life doing good deeds. And who hasn’t seen the “Star Trek” crew, step onto the transporter platform. The command “ENERGIZE” is given causing the molecular structure of their bodies to disembowel, only to re-jell at their given destination.
If baptism can be viewed as a type of portal to heaven, a vortex if you will. Then it stands up to logic that it can also be viewed as an escape hatch from hell. It also stands up to reason that Satan will make his last bastion, his last line of defense there. Were on the Titanic friends, this puppy’s going down. The heroic cry has changed from, “women and children first,” to “men lead your families.
A common defense, explanation, loophole, or whatever you want to call it, used by many is this. They claim “baptism is an outward sign of inward grace.” although you may look at it that way I suppose, that doesn’t mean it is not essential. Baptism is in place to wash your sins away, God’s design, not mine.
Circumcision was also an outward sign of inward grace, but more to the point a covenant between God and His children.
In my early twenties I realized the necessity of baptism and when I did wild horses couldn’t have kept me away. That appears to have been the attitude of first century Christians as well. Baptisms were done NOW, not next week, not at a more convenient time, but NOW, at the time of repentance. It is the point of contact with the blood of Christ, when your sins are washed away, anyone that would postpone it doesn’t understand it.
Baptism is not magic, I don’t want to leave you with that impression. Without the other five fingers of faith you will do nothing more than get your hair wet.
I could go on for many more pages concerning this topic, but I want to keep it short, a kind of “in a nutshell” approach. Besides I cannot do your research for you. For what it’s worth, I will offer a suggestion, TRUST NO ONE, QUESTION EVERYTHING. Do what you want, it is after all your eternal destiny.
I promised, if not equal time, than at least a brief discussion of the other elements of salvation. The other five fingers of faith,. We need them all.
GRACE: Grace is getting something you don’t deserve, as in forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Mercy on the other hand is not getting something you do deserve, as in God’s wrath and condemnation. These are the best definitions of grace and mercy I know of, different sides of the same coin I suppose.
Everything hinges on the grace of God, including our six senses. The sense of sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, and my all time favorite, our sense of humor.
It is God’s grace that put color in our eyes, we could see everything in black and white and all shades of gray in between. All of life would be like watching a black and white television, and we would never know he difference. That makes me awestruck and thankful.
It is God’s grace that put the love of music in our ears. God did not need to give us the mathematics of music to enjoy, and here again, we would never know the difference if he did not.
The pleasure of hugging your child. To caress your loved one while the warm glow of a fireplace warms your bodies, God’s grace.
The nourishment we receive from a virtual endless array of foods. Another example of God’s unnecessary blessings. We could chew the cud like cattle. Baked grass, fried grass, steamed grass, grass casserole. Yum-yum. Here yet again we would never know the difference. The grace of God.
The sense of smell is, arguably, the most non-essential of the six senses. But if you have ever had a debilitating crush o a woman and caught a whiff of her perfume as she walked by your glad you got it.
And finally, last but certainly not least, the sense of humor, thank you Jesus. God didn’t have to give us one of these either. We could all be very stoic and stone faced all the time. It truly is a wonder we ever laugh in this cesspool of sin we live in, but we do, thank God we do. God’s grace in action.
Let’s venture off trace for a minute and talk about God’s sense of humor. He has one you know, he has a personality. He has likes and dislikes. People seem to fear the Bible thinking it is a book full of rules and regulations, the wrath of God extolled on every page. Nothing could be further from the truth.
God’s sense of humor is so well refined most people don’t get it. I guess you could call it a dry sense of humor. Even in discipline His humor shines through. Those being disciplines probably don’t think the discipline is very funny, Jonah swallowed by a big fish. Raining frogs on Pharaoh, funny stuff. Saved by grace, yes of course.
I have been blessed with an optimistic outlook on life. I can often see the grace of God where others may see only death, gloom, and destruction. Take for example the Oklahoma City Bombing. Timothy McVeigh was in custody within forty-five minutes of the explosion. Forty-five minutes! Lucky break? No way, the grace of God.
Imagine the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Towers with the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City blast still at large. If people of middle eastern descent think they are being persecuted now, I shudder to think what they would be going through if the Oklahoma City tragedy was still unsolved.
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center could have collapsed the moment those two airplanes hit, but they didn‘t. Thousands escaped because Tower One stood for almost two hours. The second tower hit stood for over an hour. Those in the know claim twenty-five thousand people were able to reach safety during that time. The grace of God.
If God told you to walk around the world on your knees to obtain salvation it would still be a gift of grace. If salvation cost you all you have it would still be salvation by grace.
FAITH: “A man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” It is most assuredly true that you cannot earn your salvation. In the broadest sense Scripture is referring to works of the flesh in an attempt to earn salvation. Things such as, observance of religious traditions that have there origin in the mind of man, not the will of God. Even works of great self-sacrifice such as building a hospital or orphanage. None of these things can save you.
You are saved by faith, not by works in that sense. A distinction must be made between works of flesh in an attempt to earn salvation, and works of obedience, such as being buried with Christ in Baptism. Faith without works is dead.
BELIEF: This is where that annoying little rascal known as common sense needs to come into play. Does it not seem logical to you that if you believe in the historical fact that Jesus lived. If you believe He was crucified, died, and was buried. Believe He rose again the third day to sit at the right hand of the Father. If you believe these things, does it not stand up to logic that you would obey His teachings. “This is love for God: to obey His commands,” “ You believe there is one God, Good! Even the demons believe that -- and shudder.”
BLOOD: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” There is so much to be said about the blood of Christ I don’t know were to begin.
Why did God send Jesus? Why not the Archangel Gabriel; the messenger of glad tidings or the Archangel Michael the messenger of God’s wrath. Michael, I would venture to guess volunteered to come and die instead of Jesus. Michael is one bad umbrae; he makes the U.S. Marines look like Cub Scouts. I can picture Michael pleading with God, “Lord Jehovah send me, please send me, not Your Son, not Jesus, please send me instead.” “Mike, as much as I love you buddy, you just wouldn’t do, you see great love demands a great sacrifice.” Only My Son can supply the ransom love demands.”





THE FALLING AWAY
Fifty percent of converts to Christianity fall away, leave the Church within the first two years of their conversion. That number is consistent, across the board, in all main stream Christian religions. The why of this question varies from person to person, but the two year mark is a clue I think to one major cause.
After conversion the joy of salvation is like a new romance, fresh and exciting. Everyday new wonders to discover, savor and enjoy.
Human frailty is still present, but your world view has changed, it’s all so clear, life makes sense. God is on His thrown and all is right with the world. The sins you once gloried in and even bragged about. The drunkenness perhaps, “I can really hold my liquor.” The womanizing, “What a ladies man.” These things or whatever else got your Mojo working are embarrassing now. “ What benefit did you reap at the time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things lead to death.” “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“In two years I’ll have a handle on this Christian thing.” Seems to be a common thought in new converts. The two year mark comes and goes, sin is still present. Doubt sets in and Satan has a foothold.
Many preachers will all to quickly point to the parable of the sower, the seed parable, the seed in this teaching of Jesus represents the Word of God, and the sower or farmer represents a preacher spreading this seed. “Some people are like seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seeds sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for others things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop -- thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.”
This parable is true in many instances; the Bible says it is. But all to often the brokenhearted leave. Unable to live up to the air of righteousness they perceive in others, they commit spiritual suicide. This self excommunication is a needless loss.
Often an unrealistic air of sinlessness is preached from the pulpit. Preachers need be careful to balance their preaching of righteousness, with an understanding of the human condition and love. Some preachers dangle the feet of their parishioners over the flames of hell. Leaving people in denial of their sin, or pushing the honest and brokenhearted out the door.
Numerous times someone has told me, as soon as I get a handle on this sin or that sin, as soon as I’m good enough I’ll start going to Church. That is only false humility, and akin to saying as soon as I get healthy I’ll go to the hospital. The Church can be and should be likened to a hospital for the spiritually sick, never a country club for the sinless.
The brokenhearted and humble ask, why do I struggle like this with sin, everybody else is doing so good. Don’t bet on it. I know better now, but in my youth it was discouraging. Some sins are oblivious to. Everybody sins, and to be a little sinner is like being a little pregnant.
Every family has a black sheep, if that happens to be you, so be it. Many people come to the cross of Christ with severe mental and emotional burdens few people can understand. The Church needs you, who else can the self-righteous stand in judgment of? If they don’t like it let them leave. They will have to stand at the door with baseball bats to keep me out.
Some people just seem to inhabit a body that just does not want to cooperate, including mine. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. This is not a cop-out, or an attempt to justify my sins. I am responsible.
I believe many people can relate to this frustration, including the Apostle Paul, he wrote: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do. And if I do what o do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord!
“So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” The Apostle Paul also wrote, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners -- of whom I am the worst.” Paul wrote that before he met me; I gotta believe I’m a contender. Everybody should fell that way about themselves.
Life is complicated, God knows that. Every experience you have ever had adds another dimension to your character. Every romance, every heart-break. Your joys, your sorrows. You have celebrated life, you have mourned death. You have repented of wrongs and rebelled against God. You have made friends and acquired enemies. Every time you’ve laughed or cried, all these things and thousands like it are woven into the texture of your personality and the fabric of your life.
If you have ever been raped, mugged or raised in a dysfunctional home. It all adds a piece to the jigsaw puzzle of your life. Why you are what you are, and why you are the way you are. The Freud/Emerson debate could come into play here. Heredity vs. environment.
This is why one of my pet peeves are people that see little window into your life and think they have you all figured out. God knows, I choose to trust him.








IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
It wasn’t until the last time I was in jail as a political prisoner that this verse took on deeper meaning. Until then I blew by it without much thought. Ten days in prison did not concern me; my grandmother can do ten days in prison. Remember though that the book of Revelation is highly symbolic, and this probably refers to an indefinite period of time.
What really opened my eyes however was, “The devil will put some of you in prison.” How do you suppose he will do that? Satan incarnate is not a member of the United States Bar Association. He is not a lawyer. He’s not that bad.
So if he is not a Judge, not a Prosecutor, not a lawyer. Just how will he incarcerate you. He will do it like he has always done it, by influencing those that are in position of power. By influencing judges, teachers of the law and prosecutors. Jesus said… “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” Remember what I told you about the Nazi mind of man? People who think they are exactly right, when in fact they are exactly wrong.
I mentioned in passing that I was a political prisoner. Perhaps that piqued your curiosity. Not much to say really. The United States Government kidnapped my daughter. WHAT! No way, the United States Government does not kidnap children. Don’t bet on it. They took mine. They did not call it that, nor would they ever admit it. They had no legitimate reason to take her from me, but took her anyway. Call it what you will, I call it kidnapping.
Jesus said: “ A man’s enemies will be members of his own household.” The enemy in my case turned out to be my former spouse. I am not angry with the court. They can only form a judgment using the information they are given. Their lack of concern if that information was true or not is another matter. In this child custody battle my former spouse decided to fill the courts with lies.
If I were a Judge in a divorce hearing, with children involved and someone used the court, played the Judge for a fool in other woods. Used the system as a weapon to hurt the other party, instead of working in the best interest of the child, I would be furious. I stood aghast facing a court that was unconcerned with the truth. Appalling.
Truth is not an elusive as lawyers want to make it seem. The judge and I could have gone down to the corner tavern, had a couple beers, and hammered out the truth in a way that would be transparent to all. The judge and the prosecutors must have done exactly that because their minds were made up before I ever walked into court. If they claim otherwise I will call them a liars to their face.
I realized a judicial system by nature needs to be a monopoly. Because of that lawyers, perhaps even more importantly than preachers, need to be men of honor. As I see it lawyers have things so muddled up with red tape, bogged down with an avalanche of paper work, twisted with lies and hypocrisy. And why not, you wouldn’t except them to kill the goose that lays the golden egg would you. And now my former wife and her lawyer are raising my daughter.
I’m sorry if you feel like a captive audience. Using this forum to make disparaging remakes about the mother of my daughter is troubling. I hate this, I really do. The bottom line is this, my former wife would rather have an affair than a family. Painted me a monster so she could save face.
The sad irony is that the court did not do my “X” any favors. All they accomplished was to allow my former wife to paint herself into a corner and left her with a narrow path of escape. She will need to repent to God, apologize to me, and confess to the court that she perjured herself. All things highly unlikely. I could go on in great detail concerning this matter, but for the sake of my daughter I am going to drop this subject like a stone.
Christian persecution will not be overt, at least not initially. I don’t expect you will hear, “you’re under arrest for being a Christian,” in our country any time soon. I suspect it will be subtle, done by stealth. Remember the concept of the Nazi mind, people who think they are exactly right when in fact they are exactly wrong.
The following article was printed in my local newspaper. I re-typed it here in its entirety.
The Toledo Blade: Saturday, October 27,2001
Man sentenced for taking nude photos of 2 boys, fondling 1
A Lucas County Common Pleas Court judge yesterday sentenced a Perrysburg man to 60 days in work-release program fore taking photographs of two boys and fondling one of them.
Scott M. Lauerer, 30, of 12865 Five Point Rd., was sentenced by Judge Charles Wittenburg on an attempted gross sexual imposition conviction.
The judge also ordered electronic monitoring for 60 days and placed Lauerer on community control for four years. Lauerer was ordered classified as a sexual oriented offender, meaning he must register his address annually with the local law enforcement agency for 10 years.
Lauerer took the film containing the nude photographs to the Meijer store in Maumee, where an employee showed the pictures to an off-duty Maumee police officer.
The photographs of the two nude brothers, ages 4 and 2, were taken in Washington Township.
The boys’ mother told police she allowed Lauerer to watch the boys briefly on June 25th. The photographs show Lauerer inappropriately touching the 4 year old.
Lauerer was convicted in Wood County of illegal use of minors in nudity oriented material and for possession of the same nude photographs of the boys.
He was sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Reeve Kelsey to 60 days in the Wood County jail and placed on community control for three years.
EXCUSE ME! This pedophile get 60 days work release, 60 days on an electronic monitor and four years community control for photographing and fondling two little boys.
I get 60 days work release, 30 days in a correctional facility, 75 days electronic monitoring, and five years community control for fighting for my daughter.
I spent well over twenty grand fighting those Nazi bastards trying to get my kid back. Between court costs, fines, bail, missed work. Admittedly I am five thousand dollars behind in child support payments. I made no secret of my refusal to pay. Bear in mind that my daughter was never hungry or in need of anything. I refused to pay out of protest. I will not allow those Nazi minded men to turn me from a “Y” chromosome into a “$” sign.
So they put me in jail and prompted plan “B”, write a book. In fact I’m writing this manuscript while under house arrest. Ain’t that a kick.
My lawyer was more surprised that I at my sentencing. He never saw anyone get jail time when only fine thousand dollars in arrears.
So any number of things must ring true here. One, the court abused its power and made it personal. Those ignorant kidnapping Nazi bastards don’t like my mouth in other words. Two, somebody’s palm got greased by that pedophile or his attorney. Or three, maybe the Judge in question can relate to that pervert; maybe the judge likes little boys too.
You blood sucking maggots, how will you escape being condemned to hell?
I want my kid back!
Did my former wife have the right to divorce me, yes absolutely. You can divorce someone for burning the toast, or for no reason at all for that matter. Did she have a legitimate reason to divorce me, no.
Child custody is another matter. The government cannot just take your child for no reason. My former wife wanted full custody of our daughter because she needs to justify her actions and convince everyone that I’m so awful. So now she has backed herself into a corner and the only way out is for her to repent, apologize and confess.
If anyone from the legal community is reading this and thinks I will allow someone to enter their courtroom, lie about me and cause the government to take my daughter, and with no more than a shrug of my shoulders walk away you are gravely mistaken.
Yes I have visitation, I wish you would stop saying that like it’s your freaken’ mantra, may that comfort you when they take your kid. There is a piece of paper in this world that says I have no right to decide where and how my daughter will be educated, or when and how her health care needs will be met. That ain’t cutting it Jack, I want my kid back.
It is often said, “you can’t fight city hall”, rubbish, that simply is not true. Many people have fought city hall. Timothy McVeigh, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Jesus. The expression is better said, “you can’t beat city hall.”
So if you are going to fight, if you feel strongly enough about your cause, then you must be willing to pay the price, whatever that price might be. “Everyone that wants to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, known as “Doctor Death,” is a propionate of euthanasia, better known as assisted suicide, fought city hall and lost. After assisting over a hundred terminal ill patients die, Gr. Kovorkian forced a showdown with the court by televising a lethal injection he administered to one of his patients. He was eventually sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison. According to media reports he is now whining like a school-girl.
Examples are endless of people who have fought city hall; fought the government. Some with a righteous cause, some not. But if not for those willing to fight government injustice we would all be saying, “long live the Queen,” instead of singing, “Hail to the Chief.”
CONCLUSION
I realize this book is short. I know too that parts of this book will be found crass and offensive by some. That really was not my intent. Nevertheless, I thought a apology might be in order to anyone I may have offended. The problem I encountered is that anyone truly offended will have stopped reading this book long ago. Once you’ve devoured a book cover to cover it’s a little late to become indigent.
So dear friends, thank you so much for taking this short journey with me. I hope you weren’t to disappointed. I told you at the outset not to expect the eloquent passion of Shakespeare, the spiritually uplifting insight of Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Thomas A’ Kempis, or even the story telling expertise of J.D. Salinger or John Steinback. With all the great works of literature at our fingertips, you spent the afternoon with Shemp; I’m humbled.
As I peruse this writing it seems a cross between Martin Luther’s 95 Thesis, and the mad ramblings of Theodore Kaczynski’s Manifesto. As for me, I’m just a Gentile smuck trying to serve his God. So whatever you think of this writing and in turn think of me. I do hope you will walk away and understand this, at very least understand this; under the circumstances and all things considered I intend to play the hand I’ve been dealt.
FINAL THOUGHT: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”