Jesus didn't fit the mold

Luke 7:31"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32"They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' 33"For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'…

John was the square peg that would not fix into the round hole of the religious.  His edges were too sharp.  He just didn't fix in.  He asked the religious: Who warned you to come?  He told the King you can't have your brother's wife!

We like everything easy.  We are a spoiled generation.  The Word said we are the "Lukewarms".  No sharp edged for us.  Give us a "smooth message", preacher.  Dont disturb my spiritual slumber.  Knock it off with those sharp edges and get with our program.  

I once heard an old saying that has stuck with me for a long time:  Determine which way the crowd is going and go the opposite direction.  I have often used that in life's decisions.  

We are to not be men pleasers.  The Word says we are to be salty.  We have a distinct flavor about us that keeps flesh from rotting.  If we have lost our saltiness we are good for nothing but to be thrown out.

The Word says we are to be lights that cannot be hid.  And the purpose of light is to show men their evil deeds.  Everything that does make manifest is light.  Because men's deeds are evil they hate the light.  We have become a square peg with sharp edges to them.

The Word say beware if all men speak good about you.  See the crowd and go the other way.  This word from Paul pretty much sums up on one sentence what I have been trying to say all morning!

"Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant." 
- Galatians 1:10 NLT

Be blessed, Billy and Jan

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Let's see if I have this right?

Paul rebuked the Church for their divisions, so we have denominations.

Jesus said no lording over the people of God, so we have Popes, Bishops, Pastors.

Jesus said we need not go to Jerusalem nor the mountains in order to worship, so we teach we must go to the church building to worship.

God said He does not live in houses made with hands, so we build it and  call it God's House.

Paul said he that is dead is freed from the Law, so we pay tithes under a hybrid NT Law  (part old part new) .

Jesus said go and sin no more, so we go and sin some more!

Paul said to remember the poor, and we build crystal cathedrals.

Paul said if they only have a "form of godliness"  turn away, so we ordain homosexuals.

Jesus said to buy of Him gold tried, eye salve, and white apparel,  so we buy radio and TV time, Lear Jets, mansions, lands, buildings padded pews, stained glass.

Paul said some think gain is godly, so we call it the "prosperity gospel" of "name it and claim it", pay to get, give to get, etc. 

Jesus said: Will you make My Father's House a market place?, so we sell, books, tapes, CD, DVD, Cassettes and lunches.

Paul said I have worked with my own hands to provide for my own needs and of those that are with me.  We fleece the sheep.

Jesus said, He that believes and baptized shall be saved, so we say he that believes "exactly like we do" shall be saved.

Which of us has it exactly right?  Not one, no not one!  Why then do we insist people believe the exact doctrine/dogma of our denomination to be saved?  In many ways we ourselves are in complete error when compared to the Word of God.  (see above in case you forgot)

Now we have become the blind guides! 

Be blessed, Billy and Jan 

Unto us a child is born unto us a son is given

Unto us a child is born unto us a son is given....

There are a couple things that we do know about His birth. Number one is that He was not born in the winter because the Word says the shepherds were in the fields with their flocks.  Secondly we know that He was not born in the center of "organized religion", Jerusalem.   

There is no place on the earth more religious than Jerusalem.  Here the Christians all have the roots of their religion along with the Jews and of course the Muslims. All are laying claim to Jerusalem as the mother of their religion.  Every one in the world lays claim to their religious birth place as Jerusalem and Jerusalem is the center of their religious activities, except for one.

It should be a curious fact for us to observe that He was not born in the center of religious activity.  He did not ride in on fiery chariots in the same manner as Elijah left out.   He did not come from a royal linage of High Priest or human kings.  He was not herald  from the street corners of Jerusalem: "the King is born".  

It has always amazed me that when someone claims to be a believer in Yeshua he is automatically labeled "religious".  Being a believer and being religious are as far apart as night and day.  I have spent the last few days expressing the historical origins of our modern day religious traditions and I want to assure you that all believers are NOT steeped in religion.  You need not be religious to be a believer.

Seems to me the God in His Wisdom made a startling revelation to us in the birth of Jesus.   In stead of the Son being born in the center of world's religion, in Jerusalem, He was born 6 miles south of "organized religion" in a tiny town called Bethlehem.  Bless God in His Wisdom! 

Paul talked to us in Hebrews about the necessity of us going to Him "outside the camp" (organized religion) and  The Book of Revelations warns us to come out of Her (Secret Babylon) and be not a partakers of Her sins.  Coupled with the fact that Jesus was not born in Jerusalem,  what is God trying to say to us?

Seems the handwriting is on the wall and there for all who have eyes to see.  The finger of God has taught us that being a believer does not make us "religious".  Some of us live 6 miles south of religion.

Be blessed, Billy and Jan 

Found Faithful

Found Faithful

Abram, later Abraham, was called of God to separate from his land, home and family and to follow God to a new living way.  He was found faithful in that he obeyed.

Our question as Christians is not are we religious but are we true followers?  There are many roads in life and many seem to be the right road, but that was never the question with God.  The question has always been: will you leave all and follow Me?  

Abraham left father and mother and struck out in search of a city with foundation.   He never found that city in his mortal life but that did not deter his determination to be a follower of God.  He was found faithful.

We live in an age of the "lukewarms",  where following is never the question but where sitting more accurately describes us.   Our lives should not be consumed with brick and mortar but with a Living Experience of God.  

As Don Williams said in one of his songs:  I dont believe that God waits only for those who congregate.

Let us leave off the traditions of our fathers (leave father and mother and lands) and follow the Spiritual leading of God in the the Land of Promise (the Spirit-led life). 

Be blessed, Billy and Jan 

Not Pastor like you think

New International Version
And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 1 Cor 12:28

I might draw your attention to the fact "pastor" was not mentioned.  Opps! God did not give to the church what we call "pastor", but rather He gave to us the work of shepherding to a group of men in any assembly that so desired it and qualified for that position.  The position was that of an elder and not a "little king".  The position was plural and not singular. It was a group of men who was appointed by other men whose function in the assembly was to feed the sheep, tend for them, watch for their safety.  It was a servant's position and not one of a ruler!

We have created of our own "pastor" by making a entire system from a word found only once in the New Testament.  Our modern pastor role is more patterned like the role of a papal priest than a Book of Acts elder.  Shame on us for not reading with understanding.   

Let me say, if you get the top wrong the all that follows will be wrong also.  If the cornerstone of our faith is built upon the wrong layout then the whole building will be structured wrong.  Skewed! 

The modern pattern of our "pastor and church" is completely out of balance with the pattern given us by the Book of Acts apostles.   They met house to house, breaking bread (for a meal), continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and in fellowship.   They did not build little priestly kingdoms for themselves to rule over.  It was not more about money and control than helping the poor and the widow.  It was not based upon the vanity of belonging but about the sacrifice of self!

If the pattern is wrong then the building is wrong.  Some still think God will reform Babylon but let me echo the voices of those gone before me:  God will not reform Babylon but will call His people out.  Out of darkness into light.  Out of bondage into liberty.  Out of Egypt into Israel.  Out of slavery into Promise Land.   Come out of Her, My People, and be not a partaker of Her sins.  Rev 18:4

Be blessed, Billy and Jan 

What Every Christian Should Know About Paying Tithes

The following things all modern Christians should know about tithes or paying tithes:

1. Tithes were only paid to the Levites.

2. Tithes were only paid to the Levites when Israel was in their own land.

3. Only farmers and herdsmen paid the tithe.

4. The poor were exempted from the tithe.  The 10th animal that passed under the rod, so a man with only 3 animals paid nothing.

5.  The tithe was never paid in money.

6.  Abraham only paid tithe one time on the spoils of of one war and not one cent of his own money.

7.  Modern Israel does NOT pay the tithe today, because there is no Levite to receive it.  The Jew is smarter about the tithe than most Christians.

8.  Not one example exists where tithes were paid or collected by the Book of Acts Church.

9.  Modern tithe paying in Christian church is disportionately a greater burden to the poor.   A man who only earns $1,000 per month suffers more than a man who earns $10,000 per mon by being taxed 1/10.

10. A dead man is freed from the Law of the Tithe and we died in Christ.  We are free and not under bondage of the tithe.

11. Tithing did not come to the Christian Church until 700 years after Calvary.

12.  The New Testament Church is admonished to remember the poor, orphans and widows and no mention of the Church paying tithes is recorded in the entire New Testament.

13.  If a pastor receives the tithe in money according to the Law of Moses then he violates the Law of the Tithe as only a Levite is commission by God to receive the tithe.

14.  Malachi 3:6 is taken out of context.  The New Testament Christian does not buy a blessing by paying tithes.  We are blessed in Jesus because of Grace not buying a blessing.

15.  Jesus never asked for nor received a tithe.  He was from the tribe of Judah not Levite.

The modern practice of taxing the people of God under the burden of the so called "tithe" is not Biblical nor correctly dividing the Word of Truth, but is a perversion of the Good News.  Remember the "poor" does not mean the "poor pastor".

We sit as slaves in the land of plenty

Nehemiah 9: 36 “So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! We are slaves here in this good land.  37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our livestock. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.”

This passage is Nehemiah's prayer and yet speaks to us today.  We sit as slaves in the Land of Plenty while our kings pile up lush riches while exercising power over us.  

Let me explain:  It should be abundantly clear to us that we do not walk in the fullness of spiritual maturity.  We are sitting as slaves under the kings/ pastors who live lush plush lives at the expense of the poor.  Slaves in the land of plenty.  They exercise authority over us and all that we own by taxing us unfairly.  How, you say?

There is a system of tithe paying in the modern church that is unjust to the poor.  The kings get richer while at the same time increasing the suffering of the poor.

  We are required to give a 10th of our income to the king.  That is fine for the rich man but unjust when it comes to the poor man.  Under the Law of Moses the poor were exempt from the tax of the tithe but not so at Big Church.

If a man only makes $1,000 per month and is required to pay $100 to the king then he is unfairly taxed compared to the man who makes $10,000 and is taxed $1,000. The poor man must try to live off $900 per month compared to the the rich man who is forced to live off $9,000 per month.  Where is the justice in that?

Under Moses Law it was every 10th animal that passed under the rod.  So a man with only 3 sheep paid no tax.  

We sit as slaves in the land of plenty while our kings have million dollar salaries, live in mansions and fly around in private jets, wearing $1,000 suits.  The sad thing is that we support that with a slave mentality.  We go, we sit, we pay.  We serve them at their pleasure and are in great misery. 

The Messenger