Tag Archives: gospel

Follow Up to Article on Isolation and Greed

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First page of the Gospel of Mark, by Sargis Pi...

First page of the Gospel of Mark, by Sargis Pitsak, a Medieval Armenian scribe and miniaturist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Behold! A rather lengthy preface:

I wrote an article about isolation and greed.  And I am sure it is of value.  But I had added what follows.  The Lord showed me that what you are about to read should not accompany that article about desire.  This addition is harsh.  I will warn you of that.  Being a man, however, I feel it necessary to post this.  There is jail for criminals.  And the court system necessary to put them there is not kind and cuddly.  In this same fashion I present this for those who would ridicule the message about greed and desire.  I am obviously compelled to agree with the Lord in His wisdom.  It is His perfect right to divide what belongs among men from what is God’s.  Men are allowed to have words among themselves about what is right.

I say what follows as a man who will stand judgment just like the rest of you.  It is meant to shock. It is meant as an alarm to a heavy sleeper.  It is loud and does not pull any punches in the war against foolishness.  It is a very concentrated warning to the proud.  In my mind (perhaps the only valid place for such a message) it mirrors the messages which brought America to its knees in the early part of last century.  Truth is often so very unwelcome among us.  And this rings more true among the proud.

This message is not the kind, loving, and cuddly message that a father might give his dear child.  It is more like that message a judge might give just before rendering the sentence to a criminal.  I am not any man’s judge.  But I do feel compelled to offer this helpful tool in the rehabilitation of those who think they are beyond the Gospel’s reach.  That is to say, those who think they are better than everyone else and who do not need to learn about the restraint of greed or desire.

I suppose the Lord decided to leave this message apart from the other because such foolish men would not likely read it anyway.  And there is no need to shrink the heart’s faith of those who are striving to obey the Gospel of Christ Jesus.  On that note, it is likely a waste of time to post this.  But I feel the urge to scratch an itch.  Maybe that’s all this is.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the real ending to the post about greed:

Now, I know, there are some seriously hard-nosed people who will laugh at this message.  They will mock its author because they will say, “He just gives up because he can’t compete in the real world.”  Do you who laugh really think there is no message for you in this?  Do you think words can’t be produced and strung together so as to penetrate your hardened heart?  Do you think I had finished the message without considering what applies to you?  Prepare yourself and I will have a word presented for your sake:

Look at you.  Take a good look at who you really are.  You are like a driver on the interstate who wants to be first.  Look at how utterly foolish that concept is.  Were you the first one to ever drive on the finished road?  And you want to be first at what?  The construction crews even beat you to your perceived proper place in society.   You destroy the desires of others because you consider yourself to be more important.  You foolish man or woman!  You live in a world, which you call the “real world”, as one who travels where millions have gone before you, all the while thinking you are the only one who has ever gone this way.  Look at how foolish and wickedly stupid that idea is.  Yet you mock me because I say that being first is an utterly worthless and destructive endeavor, it is less than nothing.  Look at yourself for a change.  It will be like a fire if you have the guts to do it.  That fire already consumes you and you do not notice.  You rot like a dead pig in the hot sun.  And you can’t smell the stench of your ways.  Yet you mock what is true.

I am harsh with you because, if you inhabit that mocking attitude, you deserve harsh treatment.  The “REAL WORLD” is in eternity.  And eternity is now, as it has already been established in this message.  Yet you mock.  If stupid needs to be defined, I just did.  I would wager such people think that God will gladly receive them because they were strong enough to endure anything that stood against their desire.  Foolishness!  You endure against the Holy God of all eternity for the sake of your sinful and selfish desires!  And, rest assured, He will call you to account for that attitude and those actions.

You are the ones who wake in the morning, carry out your day, and plot on your bed, so that you will be “first” in your “real world”.  You consider anyone who defies your stupidity as a fool.  All the more then, you add to your self-made plight.  Selfishness is pure vanity.  Vanity is less than nothing; it is destructive, completely worthless; a drought of value.  It is worthless dribble from the slobbering mouth of a man who cannot tell the truth from a lie.  Harshness is what you deal to yourself.  I am only like a bird in a tree, chirping, singing what is true regardless the perception of the receiver.  You do not hear truth because your ears are filled with the song of “ME”.  And you chide this man for telling you the truth!  So be it.  Either listen to what has been spoken or continue in your way.  What is that to me?  It will be something to you.

What is spoken in the message about greed stands firm.  All your railing will not change one iota of truth.  I have some serious advice for you.  Perhaps I should say God has a message of advice for you.  Shut your slobbering mouth for a while.  Straighten your lips from a smile to a look of serious consideration.  Allow your ears to stop the song of “Me”.  Look around you and consider that you were born when you were.  You were never first!  And you will never be the last!  Nothing is available to you in which you can claim any ownership of “first”.  You will be lumped together with all humanity when God judges us.  And you will stand in that crowd of billions all alone, waiting your turn to give account of yourself.  Even in that place you will not be first.  All your strivings will amount to horror as you realize what you have done with the life God gave you, and now demands an accounting of.  And you laugh at me?

Do you still laugh?  Then have your fill.  Laugh and mock at these things.  Laugh till you vomit.  Enjoy yourself with the trash you hold so dear.  Again, what is that to me?  You have been warned (If, indeed, you had just enough unselfishness to read to this point).

Isolation and Greed

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Isolation (2005 film)

Isolation (2005 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Politics has to do with the things of man.  The meaning comes from the Greek word “Polis”, which means city.  For where there is a city there are people.  And where there are people there are the things of people.  Someone has to govern for the sake of survival.  And why do people need a governor?  We need a governor because of our greed.

As an example: We put governors on engines so that the user won’t exceed a certain use of the engine.  And this usually has to do with speed, though the governor on a lawn mower engine is to limit its rpm so that the materials used in building the engine won’t be caused harm from too much friction or vibration.

I hate politics, because I hate greed.  But what am I to do?   There is even politics between one man and God.  He is my governor, if you will.  He limits us all, individually, according to His wisdom so that we won’t destroy ourselves or others because of our greed.  He even limits the ungodly and the sinner, in full sight of God and man.

In considering this today, I came to a startling understanding.  You could punish me by putting me in a crowd of people for 30 years.  Others would be punished by isolation.  But I fear I would thrive there.  Interactions with others, are always filled with greed, no matter how much each of us desires to be rid of it.  One wants this, another wants that.   And, before they are even aware, a friction is born between them.  Greed is going to be a given as long as we have things to own.  And this is why I hate crowds.  The more people gathering in one spot the more possibility for friction between them.

The only way this friction of greed can be limited is if there is no end to the resources and each person has exactly what they want.  Greed cannot exist if there is no desire.  But where, on earth, will you find such a place?  The only place on earth where greed can be killed is by loving isolation and poverty of the things that others desire.  This is why I have come to love isolation. And this is the reason I own very few things.  The more isolation the less friction. The less isolation there is, more is the potential for friction.  In a crowd the potential for friction between people grows exponentially with the number in the crowd.  Why do the police learn riot control?

Most people will read this and think to themselves, “Poor man, he doesn’t know the value of friends and loved ones.”  I will tell you, that’s simply not true.  I do know the value of friends and loved ones.  But the greed born in us, all too often, outweighs the positive potential.  So I have learned that being alone is more to be desired than fame, popularity, or an embrace by those who only love me on the surface.

Is isolation the only answer?  Absolutely not!  Deliverance from greed is the answer.  What we desire is the key.  Do you want to kill greed?  Then allow the Lord to govern your desires.  That’s the ticket out of this mess of a humanity starving for ownership.  Remember what James said about this?

 

“1 Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? 2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.”   (James 4)

 

Even with me, greed enters in.  For I want isolation from the greed of others.  But this is not pure Christianity.  For the message of the Gospel is delivered to everyone.  And isolation does the purpose of the Gospel no good at all.  So I am compelled to endure the greed of myself, and that of others, for the sake of the Lord who calls us all to unity.  Is this plight of humanity uncomfortable?  Absolutely!  But what shall we do?  The fix is not to gain anything and everything  we want.  The fix is to stop wanting what is “best” for ourselves.  In this we end up desiring what is truly best.

 

But to achieve this we need (without question) the wisdom of God.  What man can know what is truly best for everyone he meets?  Remember what James said about Godly wisdom?  “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”  (James 1: 5-8)  So I endure the nearness of others for the sake of the Lord who calls to me and for the sake of the others the Lord is also calling.

 

Now, surely there is one or two who will desire to help me over come this problem with humanity.  Perhaps they will desire to come along side me and show me what love is all about.  No thanks.  If you want to help me in this, help yourself.  Lay down your desires and turn to the Lord out of a pure heart.  Then you can be of great help to every person you come into contact with.  That is exactly what I am trying to do every day.  And it is exactly this the Lord commands all men to learn so that they do it.

Consider this:  I’m a truck driver.  All day long I witness people shove their desires in the face of others.  And all this is for the simple sake of getting where they want to be.  If where they find themselves were their only desire, there would be no need for their greedy ways on the highway.  I see it the worst in other truckers.  They are compelled to be in a certain place by a certain time or they might lose their job.  And even when they are not compelled by time constraints, they have taught themselves to react to speed and position on the road with an aggressive attitude.

I have learned (or perhaps I should say, “am learning”) to take my place according to what is best for all.  Some need to be taught to wait.  Some need more room because they will actually become enraged if you block them in.  And some simply aren’t paying attention to their surroundings.  Others are in a sincere hurry but are at the top of their game in controlling their desire, reaction to delay, and attitude. The latter few will receive respect from me.  And they are not hard to notice.  People behind the wheel of steel are a curious lot.  If their actions were done in a steelless environment, blood would flow from fists that fly.  And all this is because of greed.  How utterly foolish!

Perhaps a man thinks that he will rise up in the morning, ask God for wisdom, inhabit that wisdom all the rest of his days, and never again come to the place where he flounders in his desires (the point of this man’s mind is that he thinks he will never again have to talk to God for what he thinks he needs; selfishness).  This is not the case.  For the wisdom of God is given to man as man encounters a need for it.

We eat when we are hungry so that we can continue to do the things necessary.  And we do not eat the same food over and over.  A new plate of food is required for each eating moment.  How is it that we don’t perceive this in the way of God’s gift of wisdom?  Instead, most men will ask for wisdom and consider that what they have just been given is sufficient for every purpose.  That man is like one who sits at breakfast and considers that his plate of eggs, bacon, toast, and milk will last him until the next morning.  And from my experience, you don’t drink milk in the same way as you ingest a piece of bacon.  God has designed us to require what is good on a moment by moment basis.  And it will not be taken out-of-the-way as long as we inhabit this bag of blood, that bag which is so very full of all kinds of greed.

God has granted us eternity.  Eternity is not yesterday.  And eternity is not tomorrow.  Eternity is now.  The very moment your eyes read this next word is eternity.  Eternity is where God IS.  He has been there for eternity and will be in that same place forever.  He demands that we learn to live in that eternity which belongs to Him.  And in living that eternal present, we learn to overcome the desires of the future as well as the regrets of the past.  Understand this.  Because it is in this very understanding that we find release from desire.  Jesus promises to forgive the past and lead us as the future becomes the now.  Our response to that truth becomes our religion.

Gangrene in the Church

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Dry Gangrene with dead toes and visible bone o...

Dry Gangrene with dead toes and visible bone of 85 year old female (left leg). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Gospel of God in Jesus tells us plainly, “Repent or die.”  We stand condemned already, that is to say before we believe the condemnation of God is upon us.  John points this out clearly in chapter three of his Gospel.  But the “repent” part has been shaken off the tree of the Church today by men who have said that God loves us all.  They have used a truth to dispel the urgency of repentance.  The reasons why they have done this are many and quite obvious.  But they have done so in error.  They think they clean the conscience of men by removing the stumbling block of sin from men.  “Let’s get them past the condemning God stuff”, they say.

I am filled with rage that such things have been done.  And the damage it has wrought is apparent in the lack of holiness among God’s people.  I too fell for this lie.  And even now I struggle, from time to time, to maintain a strong standing before the Lord for the lies hidden within my heart because of this foolish gospel.  All day long men speak lies in the name of the Lord.  And as long as we listen to them we too become corrupt with their sweet sins of corruption.

I fear the rot of lies has come to the point where the foot needs to be cut off lest it infect the entire body.  The stench of sin wreeks from the injured foot.  And the signs of sickness are unavoidable to the eye. The “Church” is hobbled by a hideous sickness.  What is called the Church today is often simply a polished up secular teaching of psychology.  And the “good” they perceive done by this set of lies has murdered thousands.  They have turned the holy gathering of saints into a happy little club of man.  And I, for one, will have nothing to do with them!

Is it Soup Yet?

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I watched the movie about the Apostle John last night.  And as I suck down on my first cup of coffee I ponder what I take away from the encounter.  Among the things taken from that movie, one item stands out clearly.  There is a people of God who will suffer greatly under the hands which belong to those who worship the beast.  This is why I write.  This is why I pray.  This is why we support and spread the Gospel with vigor.

When I first began to speak for the Lord, it was to simply tell the story in the hopes that others would grasp its meaning to themselves.  But now I see two additional elements.  Now I see the Gospel itself as a defence toward the ungodly; they attack our beliefs and we return with the message of Christ Jesus.  And I see the telling of the story of Christ as a way of encouraging those who struggle to gain a foot hold as they encounter the things which are sure to come because of The Way.

I wonder, am I able to endure what is coming upon the Lord’s people?  I guess the answer is yes.  For He proves to us that He is sufficient for the moment’s cause.  But I am reminded that it is never a bad thing to be prepared for all eventualities.  The lord of flies is after our destruction.  And it is only a matter of time before killing us becomes legal again.  It doesn’t take a prophet to see that society is headed in that way.

Turning, They Tear at One Another

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Now we see the head of the snake poke above the slime of humanity’s ground.  Here he comes folks.  Watch and see that what I have just said will come true.  Man must become more and the Lord become less.  It has been prophesied.  There is a place of war that the Lord has spoken to the rebellion of man.  And the army of rebellion, under the leadership of the anti-christ, must be formed.  It will a Holy war of Royalty against filth.  And the Lord has allowed its formation to begin in our life time.

The Gospel is such a weak noise in the din of human greed now.  Though it has been available, quite readily, they choose to ignore it completely now.  Violence against truth has become the acceptable form of humanity’s love and worship for itself.  Now there is no turning back for them.  The will escalate their hatred for the One who made them.  They will be like pigs in a filthy pen who smell the blood of a cut on one of their own numbers.  And they will turn to tear themselves apart.  As any farmer would tell you, “Stay out of the pig pen till the Lord comes.”

Do Not Let Me Resort to Fear

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In life here there are lies.  There is death, hunger, despair, hatred, false religion, false gods, hopelessness, twisted men who present themselves as if they are “good”.  And the list I could make of what is here would go on for many pages.  Who would read what they can touch with their own fingers?

Yet in this life there is a place of understanding that strips off all that filthy list.  There is a place where a man can know truth and live it.  I know that place!  I know that many will see me type those words and balk, “No man knows truth.”  I tell you I know Him!  And, more importantly, He knows me.

You want freedom from all that detestable list?  Do you want FREEDOM to LIVE?  Pry it from my heart.  Help me testify to what He is.  Ask me.  Press me.  Help me put into words what only the soul can understand with any clarity.

We have lips, graphics, gestures, and body language to communicate.  That’s the limit of our ability.  So how can I hope to tell you what is spoken in a place where these things are NOT the limit?  Take it from me.  Ask until you understand.

God has given the Gospel to men so that men can speak to one another.  It is a humble heart who will lower themselves enough to ask another man.  It is the proud who will restrain their questions before men.  The proud will think that no man can know the truth.  The humble will avail themselves to any possible source of life.  They will seek with all their might.  And if the testimony I give you falters, the meek will understand that I am like them.

We struggle to share what cannot be perceived.  But that inability to perceive it through our senses does not mean it is a lie.  Salvation in Jesus is absolutely real and transforming.  Consider this:  We are in the place of testing.  We are the ones who, for now, can’t see what eternity has seen all along.  We are the ones blind to His presence.  He is not blind to us.

Ask and I will tell you what He has told me.  And I am not the only one.  There are thousands of me.  Ask them.  Press them.  You know who they are.  Make them tell you.  And do not let them resort to fear.