I have heard people say they do not need to go to church to worship God. I would not argue that point. I have also heard many reasons why church attendance is lacking in the lives of some. It is sad, but true, that many of us have been raised to view church attendance as a religious requirement, as part of our duty as a Christian. Yet the purpose of the church goes much deeper. It is not for our need alone, but also for the needs of others, that we come together. We come together to encourage, edify, and enable one another as Christians. As such, we gain from our time together what we need to face the world as Christians. It is a selfish heart that wants nothing to do with “church people.” And though a person can worship God without going to church, it is doubtful the person who has no use for church is truly worshipping God at all. The difference lies in what, or whom, we serve. We must stop living our lives for ourselves, and follow Jesus´ example by living our lives for others–including the people of the church.

written by Randy Chambers
http://reflections.daybyday.org

When any spiritual and/or political leader crosses into thinking and portraying an image that he or she has abilities or ultimate answers to life’s problems by the system his or her governing civil authority there is tendency for such a person to deify him/herself together with the governing authority.  This trend creates leaders who poise to the people as though having god-like abilities to solve all problems.  They begin acting as though they are GOD.  In such human society, true liberty loses meaning as lawlessness increases.  The citizenry under the liberal leadership with this mentality start to abdicate personal responsibility the false think that the government will do all things for the people because the leaders become like gods.  During the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation, Emperor Dumician had declared himself God or the Lord over Rome, to equate himself with the Greek Pantheon of gods!  In so doing, his leadership took on the nature of the beast the Bible talks about in the Book of Revelation.  The beastly enemy of Witnesses bases in any effort of any worldly systems working against the effort of the establishment of the Kingdom of God, Jesus came to announce.

The government becomes a beast to the witness of the Bible.  The biblical beast is a surrogate of the dragon who is a fallen Cherub, Satan, he Devil.  In the Bible, the beast gets power from the dragon to attempt to buffet and silence the Witness by trying to stop him or her from keeping the Word (DeVar or Debar: Strong: 1697 from 1696), and Commandments of GOD (entoley or Mitzvah)[1] as well the testimony (marturia: Strong: 3141) of Jesus (Revelation 1:2, 9), which is the spirit of prophecy.  (Revelation 19:1).  When they think that they have succeeded, they brag about it openly, dancing in the streets.  Such was the “State of the Union” of the Roman Empire, at the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation.  We see this very trend of thoughtfulness increasing unashamedly in our leaders in America today!  They are the direct result of forgetting the true GOD, as He introduced Himself in the Scriptures and consequent manifestations.

Biblical Christianity is not that you simply have faith in GOD but that you keep His Word, you keep His Commandments, you keep the testimony of Jesus, and you walk in unity of the Holy Ghost, not loving your life until death.  Men and women who love GOD according to the Scriptures have done just that, to obey the LORD Jesus’ teaching on what it takes to have eternal life, in Matthew 19:16-21: This is what it is be of faith and accounted together with Jesus as the protégée of Abraham.

To accounted is to have fellowship, and to have fellowship is to be in partnership with GOD.  The word Accounted as used in the New Testament, like in Galatians 3:6, is translated from the Greek, logitzomai (Strong: 3049) carry the same meaning as term Fellowship, which is translated from the Greek, Koivwvia (Koinonia).  These words evoke only the sense of being Partners (Greek from koivwvos: Koinonos: Strong: 2844) with GOD over a business venture in which an inventory is taken of the words spoken, for results.  David uses the term accounted from Hebrew caphar = sawfar: Strong: 5608) in Psalms 22:30, which means, to keep score with recorded numbers.  The venture is building the Kingdom of GOD on earth, after the Fall, Adam’s fall, and at the end of the Book, Numbers are given of those who are counted worthy.  English Missionaries to Africa, in late1800s, carried their luggage in wooden coffins because they expected to die while on these missionary journeys, and the majority did not come home alive: They bore their crosses faithfully and I believe they are accounted to the household of faith with Abraham.

Being of faith means is being in Fellowship with GOD.  The Apostle Paul utilized the term fellowship, in Philippians three times to remind the church the three elements of partnership that GOD’s witnesses operate.  This church was born from Paul and Silus’ imprisonment there after he was beaten and cast into prison.  The two witnesses sung praises and King Jesus opened the door of the prison, joined them  in prison, removing the fetters off the feet of the two Witnesses.  The Jailer believed on the Name of Jesus and his whole household became people of the Way: They became partners  with Paul and Silus in the business of proclaiming the Kingdom of GOD.

A prophecy was given in the midst of the Azusa Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, between 1906 and 1911.  That prophecy stated that a time will come when there will be, in the Church, three notable trends, namely, an:

          Over emphasis on Praise to GOD people no longer seek and pray to

            Over emphasis on the Gifts of the Spirit rather than the Lordship of Jesus

            Over emphasis on the Glory (Prosperity or Power) rather than Righteousness & Holiness

How the Church progresses in these last days will depend on how much the pulpit message brings to the true biblical understanding of who GOD’s people really are, what the mission of the Church is, and what it takes to overcome and become the “Overcomers” of the beast of our day, in absolute terms.  The beast is usually the agent of the dragon, the Book of Revelation talks about.

The Book of Revelation is a great summary of the whole story of the Bible, about how the Seed of the Woman promised in Genesis 3, bruises the Serpent’s head, in he end.  After Jesus Christ faithfully demonstrated His mission on earth, He was conquered and killed.  GOD raised Him from the dead, according to the Scriptures.  He is called “the faithful Witness, and the “first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5).  The word Witness is from the Greek word martus, transliterated into English as martyr.  The term means, one judicially bearing a record hence a legal witness, subject to die for sworn testimony.  Testimony is another word from the Greek word marturia, the same Greek root martureo (Strong: 3140), that the word martus is derived.  A martyr is one killed for being a proof producer as the evidence to prove his statements, hence a Witness.  The duty of “Disciple”, which term Jesus used to refer to those He called but were described as the People of “the Way”, in the Acts of Apostles by the Jews (Acts 9:2; 18:25, 26; 19:9, 23; 23:4), and having been “first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26), is to be Witnesses (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8), not “Soul winners”.  Peter said, “We are witnesses of these things”.  Hebrews 12:1 writes that “we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses”.

When He was raised from the dead, Jesus commissioned His Disciples to go into the whole world to preach the gospel to every creature, making disciples of nations.  First, the message of the gospel Jesus preached from the very beginning to the end of His earthly life was about the Kingdom of GOD (Matthew 4:17; Acts 1:1-4) was what to be preached.  Second, the Disciples were to be Witnesses of all the things about Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of GOD on earth now and not yet (Luke 24:48).  Third, the Disciples were to teach those who believe, to observe all things whatsoever Jesus had commanded them (Matthew 28:20).  In so doing, they are making war with the dragon (Revelation 12:17) because they keep the commandments of GOD and have the testimony of Jesus.  He had told them that those who loved Him ought to keep His commandments.  His first commandment that related to the great commission was that they should terry in Jerusalem until they become endured with power from the promised Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4, 7-8).   The Holy Spirit empowers the Church to restrain the beast, and not to speak in tongues to prove that one is spirit filled!

It is important to note that the theme of “two witness” is consistent in the Scripture regarding overcoming.  Moses’ two witnesses were Caleb and Joshua; Zechariah’s two witnesses were Zerubabel and Joshua; and Jesus’ two witnesses were Moses and Elijah.  The Book of Revelation cites the LORD speaking, through John, to seven Churches.  Five had blemishes, and two were commended for faithfulness: they were somewhat faithful Witnesses.  The main problem of the other five Churches came from notable threefold strategic weaponry of the beast, namely, Persecution, Assimilation, and Deception.  I call this the PAD that continues to be the Church’s problem to this day.

I have decided to title this message, The Dead Living One With His Living Dead Ones because I am talking about the triumph of the Witnesses of Jesus the Christ, the faithful dead living one.  The Disciples or people of the Way, or true Christians ought to overcome all three components of the diabolical PAD, as demonstrated by the true witness, Jesus, the LORD.  He held true to the Word, (DeVar or Debar), the Commandments of GOD, (entoley or Mitzvah⁾ and His own testimony of being the faithful Witness (martus), a martyr (marturia) by death on Calvary Cross.

I believe that the Founders of America did not aim at establishing a Christian Nation.  They aimed at restraining the government system that was to rule them to become the beast they saw in the English governing they had left to cross the Ocean.  They believed in the biblical GOD, and established a justice system following Jedeo Christian moral ethic that honors and respect human value and worth.  To them, religion referred only to Christianity.  To the Founders, America was more than a nation.  It was a world of living, an idea of ideals with humane moral ethic that respects human value and worth.  The men and women were Church people who established restraints to government.  They were aware that government has the potential to become the physical tool of the spiritual beast.  They understood that the Church is the bulwark of GOD’s truth, true liberty and the seat of the Creator, who alone is the absolute governor of the Universe.  Contemporary America is returning to the vomit of Europe the Founding Fathers shed blood to eradicate.  She cannot easily become LORD over other Nations, neither can she be one more nation with unknown gods, let alone to be like Pax Romana Greece, a nation with the Greek Pantheon of gods.  Alas, the American Church has fallen victim to the beast’s PAD.  When we hear people called reverends spew hate and cursing of one’s nation from the pulpit, when political leaders get away unchallenged with false claims that America is simply a Nation of Christians, Muslims, Atheists, Homosexuals, etc, etc, and not a Christian Nation, you know that the die is cast and rigor mortis has set!

Liberal theology has been assimilated into all denominations of the Church in America, and the time for GOD’s glory filled revival is at hand.  I cannot wait to tell you that the time is coming when the beast and its agents working for the dragon think that they have killed the witnesses in America and are dancing over their dead bodies on the city streets and prisons, and all over a sudden the witnesses rise up into heaven—the rapture, then the wondering of what has happened, and later all eyes seeing my Saviour, my Lord, the true and faithful witness descending with the martyrs, the Dead Living Ones, to reign and rule with Him for one thousand years!  To the question of Revelation 6:17, “Who shall be able to stand?”  The answer is in the verses telling us about those John the Revelator saw under the Throne: 144,000, plus a multitude that no man can number:  They died in tribulation.  The term tribulation found five times in Revelation relates four times to witnesses or martyrs, and only one time to the dragon and his agent beast including the agents of the beast found in Revelation 21:8. 

The witnesses or martyrs, who are those holding on to the testimony of Jesus will stand up, go up and come back with to reign with Jesus Christ because they followed the example of the true and faithful Witness, Jesus the Christ:

They were faithful

          They kept the Word, God’s Commandments, and the testimony of Jesus

          They were conquered and killed and they stood up and were resurrected

          They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony

          They loved not their life unto death:  They were sealed and will never die.

Amen.

“In God We Trust” on our money was coined during the Civil War in 1863.   “…under God…” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance during the Cold War in 1954, not to mention some legislative and military chaplains and ceremonial days of thanksgiving.  Nevertheless, American “Enlightenment free thinker” mentality precedents on diplomacy and constitutional thought has far reaching ramifications that can adversely affect America permanently.  Consider the following perceptions, in the context of The Constitution of the United States of America, and religion.  Religion, at the time referred to Christianity and nothing else.  Islam and other modern religions were not part of consideration of the Founders of America.

The Constitution of the United States of America:

The First Amendment sates: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... ”

Article VI states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust in the United States.”

Perplexing Perceptions

The word Perplexity, as used in the Bible, in reference to finding an answer to a prevailing predicament or calamity, means, “No Way Out; Without Solutions; Without Means; Without Resolution“.  If you have no reason to be concerned about the direction America as a nation is going, here is one reason:  One man in position of authority can fail to think through what was democratically defined and uses personal reasons and partisan politics to harm America, unnecessarily unknowingly, be it Patriotic Conservative, Leftist Liberal Progressive, or simply Maverick [stupid] ought to be a matter of concern to anyone who knows true liberty!!!

The Second President John Adams and the Treaty of Tripoli:  This most striking  Treaty was entered in by U.S. diplomat Joel Barlow, an Enlightenment freethinker, and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1797. Article 11.  It states: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility [sic], of Mussulmen [Muslims]; and, as the said States never have entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”  BAD.

George Washington in a letter:  The letter was to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island in 1790 wrote: “The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy — a policy worthy of imitation.  All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support … May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants — while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”  FAIR.

John Tyler, the tenth President, in an 1843 wrote a letter which stated: “The United States have adventured upon a great and noble experiment, which is believed to have been hazarded in the absence of all previous precedent — that of total separation of Church and State.  No religious establishment by law exists among us.  The conscience is left free from all restraint and each is permitted to worship his Maker after his own judgment.  The offices of the Government are open alike to all.  No tithes are levied to support an established Hierarchy, nor is the fallible judgment of man set up as the sure and infallible creed of faith.  The Mohammedan, if he will to come among us would have the privilege guaranteed to him by the constitution to worship according to the Koran; and the East Indian might erect a shrine to Brahma, if it so pleased him. Such is the spirit of toleration inculcated by our political Institutions.” MISLEADING.

Mubarak Hussein M. Obama, the   forty forth President, on April 6, 2009, in Turkey, explained: “One of the great strengths of the United States is … we have a very large Christian population — we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation.  We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values…Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart.  It got hijacked. Part of it is because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us.”  Hmmmm, I wonder about the Christian Liberal Left?  I guess the President did not think about Rev. Wright of the President’s spiritual nurturing Church, the United Church of Christ!  Had Obama said anywhere that because of a large number of Muslims America is a Muslim Nation but not a Christian nation with its very large Christian population?   He actually said, “…one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.  And so there’s got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples.”  He  normally is an individual who burns both sides of his candle at once!   WRONG.

John McCain the Politician’s preference stated thus:  “But, no, I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles … personally, I prefer someone who I know has a solid grounding in my faith.  But that doesn’t mean that I’m sure that someone who is a Muslim would not make a good president.  I don’t say that we would rule out under any circumstances someone of a different faith. I just would — I just feel that that’s an important part of our qualifications to lead.”  MAVERICK.

Perplexity!  What Do You Think?

The influence of this world is very powerful. It can hold us in its grip. It can enslave us and keep us captive to its will. It can convince us of its own importance, making itself out to be more real to us than God. Wisdom cries out to us, desiring to guide us to the Truth. The truth is that the things of God are real and lasting, and the things of this world are passing. And yet we are consumed by this world, the cares of this life, the pursuit of personal happiness, and more. Day after day we invest time and energy into making a life in this world. And the longer we continue doing so, the more we become like those in the world around us. We think as they do. We live as they do. We seek the same material things, the same successes, and the same pleasures. Our thinking, that is to be transformed to the likeness of Christ´s, clings instead to the patterns of worldly thought. We believe in faith and miracles as long as they are subject to common sense and practicality. The influence of this world is very powerful. It can hold us in its grip. How much hold does it have on you?

written by Randy Chambers
http://reflections.daybyday.org