Is a Hegelian dichotomy developing in Protestant America?

“Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Prov. 30:5,6).

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4).

“[We] have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2Cor. 4:2-4).

“In general, a single proposition cannot be treated in a vacuum. It must be contrasted (opposed with) another element to achieve meaning. However, thinking of things in terms of dichotomies (black and white thinking) is very limiting. To escape the constraints of analyzing everything through the lens of binary opposition, one must take a step back and respond to both simultaneously (synthesize).

As the Hegelian dialectic is an aesthetic fundamentally bent on usurping binaries in favor of trichotomies, it is a numerology based upon the number 3. Which isn’t to say it isn’t useful or that it’s somehow impoverished. Indeed, quite the opposite.” http://wiki.c2.com/?HegelianDialectic

The Hegelian dialectic can be summed up by the following formula: thesis + anti-thesis = synthesis. In this post I’m addressing the Hegelian dialectic thesis-antithesis approach to faith in order to see where today’s development may take us concerning the issues of faith in the Bible and in the God of the Bible.

There is no way to find truth, God, and the Lord Jesus through the aesthetic of Hegelian dialectic. “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1Cor. 1:19-25).

Satan is the mastermind of the dialectic form of argument. “The angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon [destroying angel], but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon [destroyer]” (Rev. 9:11) uses dialectics to destroy the whole world. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:9). And he has a lot of help from the other angels who excel in intellectual strength, for where there is a multitude of counselors there is wisdom—and in this case, wisdom to deceive.

Satan chooses an error that is partially true. For example, let’s compare pure truth to 12 o’clock, and Satan’s falsehood then to be 3 o’clock. (His goal is a full 6 o’clock perdition, but he never starts there. He finds a half-truth comfortable to the “Bible believers”, and works his way to their total faith in falsehood.) Then in order to double his catch of souls, he creates another falsehood that is equally far from the pure truth (but not diametrically opposed to pure truth, as the 3 o’clock error also was). But that new error is diametrically opposed to the old 3 o’clock error, and is at 9 o’clock. The devil moves almost half of the world to join him at the old righteous, conservative 3 o’clock departure from the truth, and the other almost half of the world to join him at the new heathen, liberal 9 o’clock departure from pure truth.

Then the mastermind of evil re-educates each camp in their particular new truth so that they are completely convinced that they have the latest, greatest path to life. As they are re-educated they increasingly view the other camp as falling off the edge of the world into perdition, and in great need of evangelizing, conversion, and rehabilitation. The right camp will destroy the world with legalistic, fundamental religious traditions, and the left camp will destroy the world with lawlessness, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The right camp will destroy the world in causing a gulf between the super-rich and the super-poor, and foment wars against the enemies of religion; and the left camp will destroy the world by enabling the “lazy four- and five-generation welfare recipients”, and encourage the godless enemies of fundamentalist religion.

Soon enough, both camps are involved in legislating their particular path to life and enforcing the laws that they have designed, each forcing the other camp to bow to “the truth” as they see it. Each camp is very angry at the other camp for being in apostasy from the “original truth”, as each camp views the truth at the founding of the group be it the original Constitution, original religion, societal roots, organization, etc. Eventually, their nation is divided on each issue, and at each others’ throat. The people are not united and society is ready to cave in as civil strife ends with a nation in ruins.

“When our nation, in its legislative councils, shall enact laws to bind the consciences of men in regard to their religious privileges, enforcing Sunday observance, and bringing oppressive power to bear against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath, the law of God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land, and national apostasy will be followed by national ruin.--7BC 977 (1888).  {LDE 133.5} 

     It is at the time of the national apostasy when, acting on the policy of Satan, the rulers of the land will rank themselves on the side of the man of sin. It is then the measure of guilt is full. The national apostasy is the signal for national ruin.--2SM 373 (1891).  {LDE 134.1} 

     Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the state.  This national apostasy will speedily be followed by national ruin.--RH June 15, 1897.  {LDE 134.2} 

     When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state.  There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.--Ev 235 (1899).  {LDE 134.3} 

     When the state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the institutions of the church--then will Protestant America have formed an image to the papacy, and there will be a national apostasy which will end only in national ruin.--7BC 976 (1910).” Last Day Events, p. 134.

A formerly strong nation is ruined. And they all went down satisfied that to be martyrs for their truth.

Yet, Jesus is the truth and the way to life. “Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1Cor. 1:30).

He is “the Word of life” (1Jn. 1:1). He is “wisdom” and “prudence” (Prov. 8:12). He “find[s] out knowledge of witty inventions” (Prov. 8:12). For any nation founded upon to His wisdom of self-sacrificing love and to depart from that eternal foundation is to end in national ruin. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34). It matters not if the nation is not yet diametrically opposed to self-sacrificing love, and is not yet completely lawless and sunken in perdition and hedonism, or completely tyrannical in extreme fundamentalist morality. If they depart only one degree from Christ’s example and Law, over time they separate more and more from His Law and eventually they will be murders and involved in every kind of extortion, corruption, and vice.

The kings of northern kingdom of Israel were perfect examples of this. When each, indignant in his own righteousness, destroyed the previous dynasty that had corrupted the people, the new dynasty brought the people to a new low in corruption. The religion was never touched. Basic Baal worship always remained in place and intact. The true religion of Jehovah was never mentioned for deliberation over and repentance toward; a reformation to self-sacrificing love was never made an option for the nation. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jer. 5:31). The sin-loving people and leaders alike could never consider self-sacrifice or self-denial. Rather, self-exaltation, self-indulgence, self-salvation remained the national, official sacred cows. Therefore, in His providence, the Lord had to destroy them.

So today, what are we seeing in this Protestant nation? A small departure from the Reformation biblical foundation that, over the years, has magnified its departure from truth, little by little deviating more and more from the Christ’s call to self-sacrificing love. And the results are movements to legislate for a religious state in order to forestall the painful judgments of God that are obviously soon to break upon the whole nation. Prophetic pollsters are popping up to foment such a bold movement.

“The famous pollster, Gallup, released a poll in which it said that more Americans now believe that the Bible is a book of fables and history than those who believe it’s the literal Word of God and even fewer than a third of Christians say it’s to be taken literally. The poll follows another posted by Gallup that says that Christians are accepting of immorality more than ever.

‘Over the past three decades, Americans’ view of the Bible as the literal Word of God has been declining, while their view that the Bible is a collection of fables, myths and history recorded by man has been increasing,’ Gallup said.

Only 24 percent in total, said the Bible is ‘the actual Word of God, and is to be taken literally, word for word.’ A slightly higher 26 percent said that the Bible is ‘a book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.’

Another 47 percent said they believe the Bible is ‘inspired by God, [but] not all to be taken literally.’ Gallup said it was the first time in its four-decade observations that biblical literalism has not surpassed biblical skepticism.

Belief in the Bible as the literal Word of God was lowest among young adults aged 18- to 29-year-olds, with 12 percent supporting such a view, and highest among the 50- to 64-year-olds, at 31 percent. College graduate students were also less likely than those with some college and those with no college to take the Bible literally.
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When it comes to Christians, Gallup recorded that 30 percent in total agree that the Bible is the literal Word of God, 54 percent said that it was inspired by God, and 14 percent offered that it was a book of fables.

 ‘Americans in all age groups still largely accept the Bible as a Holy document, but most of these downplay God’s direct role in it. That could mean people are more willing than in the past to believe it is open to interpretation — if man, not God, wrote the Bible, more can be questioned,’ Gallup said.

The poll showed that 10 percent of respondents had read none of the Bible at all; 13 percent only a few sentences; 30 percent several passages or stories; 15 percent at least half the Bible; 12 percent almost all of it, and only 20 percent said that they had read the entire Bible… ‘Even among worship attendees less than half read the Bible daily. The only time most Americans hear from the Bible is when someone else is reading it.’

‘It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book of good moral instruction, to be heeded so far as is consistent with the spirit of the times and our position in the world; it is another thing to regard it as it really is—the word of the living God, the word that is our life, the word that is to mold our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God’s word as anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those who profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism and infidelity in the youth.’ Education, page 260.”

But, the hedonistic, secular left are bolstering themselves and digging in for a long battle against the conservative, Republican religious right. The secular half are already advancing their revolution of atheistic hedonism in order to keep off balance the religious half of the nation so that they remain unable to raise enough public awareness for the political power to overthrow those evil, secular, Democratic heathens. The “of-the-devil” liberals feel snug as a smug bug in a rug in their political majority, but they don’t know the Daniel 11 prophecy regarding the moral, religious King of the North, who builds up a force that comes against the arrogant, agnostic, and anti-faith King of the South, and bowls right over him. And the heretical King of the South is never seen again.

Since nature and revelation alike testify of God’s infinitely wise creative power and love, the atheistic secularists cannot see nature correctly. Science’s conclusions are off-base, skewed from disregarding all the evidences that point to a Creator. How can they have correct scientific truth if they are denying the geologic table’s evidence that the fossils must have settled in layers as receding world-wide waters would lay them down? They have dismissed whole trees vertically spanning many feet of geologic strata that must equate to the biblical Noaic flood. It is evidence that tears down the preposterous notion that trees could take billions of years to fossilize in a non-catastrophic settling of space dust upon Earth, which should have decomposed like every other tree does in the world today, and more so, even quicker in that moist, swampy, fertile world of the prehistoric past?

But, let not the religious creationist glory in his religiosity. The religious right want everyone to believe the Bible as it reads—that is, as they see the Bible reads. Yet, they are way off from the truth of the Bible. They don’t understand how the Bible communicates its pure truth. They are not at 12 o’clock, but at 3 o’clock.

They have made Christ’s metaphorical language literal, and His literal language metaphorical. Case in point, Job and Lazarus. Job says that when a man dies, he goes into the grave until resurrection. Until then his children mourn at his gravesite, but he does not know that they are.

“But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands.” (Job 14:10-15).

“Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” (Job 14:20,21).

“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:25-27).

But, the Protestants today want to believe Rome’s lie that the righteous dead go straight to heaven, and the non-righteous dead go to purgatory for a century of burning and penance, or go immediately to hell when they die, there to burn forever. Countless souls have been driven to insanity at the tyrannical injustice of the so-called god of love to whom they felt indebted to serve. He died for them because of their 70 years of sin. And now they must serve this arbitrary god of inequity, (also spelled iniquity), even though they actually hate him. (And they should hate him, because he is the devil.)

So, in order to be in keeping with their Bible which they have twisted in order to keep in step with Rome, they must use a parable of Christ’s to prove that the dead go straight to their reward—the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:19-31).

Since Job contradicts this parable, (even though both speak of the grave as painful to the flesh and mournful to the soul, albeit with completely different meanings) and since the Protestants refuse to give up the Roman falsehoods, they cling to the Catholic doctrine that Job is an allegory, and not real at all. None of it was true, therefore, none of its words are truth. Job’s hope in the resurrection was all a lie. There is no biblical resurrection (see Daniel 12:1,2; Matthew 24:30; John 5:25,28,29; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), because everyone goes straight to heaven, if they were good enough. But, of course all the wicked people like Nero go straight to hell.

The Protestants have forgotten that the Son of God, who inspired the whole Bible, was a master riddler. A greater than Samson and Solomon was here. He always had a truth to communicate, but not always in a literal format. He told the Canaanite woman that she was a dog. He told Moses that He was going to destroy Israel and start a new nation with Moses. He sent the lying spirit of Satan to tell Ahab what he wanted to hear, convincing him that God would be with the king in battle, which caused his death. The Spirit of truth inspired men to write that God tempted David to number Israel, and the same Spirit also had it written that it was Satan who had tempted David.

Bible students need to be careful how they interpret the Bible. “Gallup recorded that 30 percent [were] in total agree[ment] that the Bible is the literal Word of God”. What does this mean, “literal”? Do they mean that we should read the Bible just as it is, without comparing scripture with scripture? The only way to know the truth about Jesus’ apparent insult to the Canaanite woman was not to take Him literally, but to truly know Jesus as a person. Otherwise, even to this day, we should call all Palestinians dogs and should ignore them (and even give the smug, self-righteous nod to slaughter them in this devilish war on terror). We should say that there is no salvation for the Palestinians, “for salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22). You have to know the Inspirer of the Bible to understand the Bible. But, the Protestant world cannot understand “the Spirit of Christ” (1Pet. 1:11), “even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him.” (John 14:17).

“And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40). The disciple did see the Spirit of truth in Jesus. “But ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:21-23).

The hard language by the Spirit of truth comes from the Law of God, which the Protestants aborted 170 years ago. Therefore, without strong conviction of sin, they have needed nothing from the Bible that would drive them to desperately study it. The fourth trumpet caused their enlightenment to be extinguished. When their light went out the Bible became a mystery to them. They never could uncover the falsehoods of Rome, and now they are completely set up for the fullness of the delusion that God has sent them since 1844—the secret rapture. The Protestant world is primed and ready for the impersonation of Christ by Satan. “As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come….” Great Controversy, p. 624.

“Cursed be the man what trusteth in man.” (Jer. 17:5).

An overview of my new book

I wrote a post on Monday, December 08, 2014. The title was, The Seven Trumpets and The Investigative Judgment. It was a brief overview of my recent book. I had hoped the book would come out soon after that blog post. I submitted the manuscript a couple days before Christmas 2014, but it took another two years before the book was truly ready for publishing. Each time I looked at it after submission I could not publish it like it was. So, after much editing and moving whole paragraphs and sections of chapters around (and continued extra costs), the book came out a couple of weeks ago.

So I want to give another brief overview in case anyone out there might want to read the book. It is in print now, and soon will come out in e-book form.

So, without further adieu…

Introduction

Revelation chapter 4 through 11 form the core storyline of the book of Revelation. The chapters that follow chapter 11 are brought in to expand and to add more details. The seals and trumpets are not optional to understand Revelation, they form the vital center of the last book of the Bible.

Chapter 1: Revelation chapter 4

The throne of God before sin began. The praises to God concern creation only, and no mention is made of a Redeemer.

Chapter 2: Revelation chapter 5

Sudden change in the angelic atmosphere of heaven. It’s the same picture of the throne of God, except God has a book (scroll) sealed up so tightly that only the crucifixion of Christ could open it. This book is the great controversy, the accusations against God and the issues over God’s Law. God is on trial. Has He been the proper leader? Has His government offered the best for the greatest happiness of the kingdom.

Chapter 3: Revelation chapter 6

The Lamb takes the seals off of the book, one at a time. Before the 7th seal is removed we see a scene of Christ’s second coming. This was not the actual return of Christ—it was the global Advent movement of the 1830s and early ‘40s. But, the people were not ready for His coming. Before He can return, His people must be sealed. The sealing will be the necessary preparation for the day of His visitation of judgments.

Chapter 4: Revelation chapter 7

This chapter introduces the sealing. That is such a major issue that it puts unsealing the sealed book pageant on pause to explain who will stand when the Lamb comes and who will run in abject fear. The answer is: Whoever gets the seal in the conscience will go with Jesus and leave this doomed world. And this chapter gives the first picture of how happily the great controversy will end.

Chapter 5: Revelation chapter 8

After the chapter 7 intermission, we need to come back to where we were when the 6th seal closed. So, the Lamb removes the 7th seal. The sanctuary scene that follows is connected with the 7th seal. Since the 6th seal ended and the seal of God is shown ascending from the east in 1844, then, chapter 8 picks up after the foretaste of all the happy celebration throughout eternity. Silence divides the chapter 7 intermission from the sanctuary scene; it separates the previous rejoicing at the end of the controversy from the solemn events to follow in order to set up a new mindset in the reader. It is a reminder that our celebration is promised, but not yet ours to have. We are the church militant that must first endure the rigors of the trumpet dangers yet to come. Through a special dispensation of faith by an abundant gift of His Spirit, Jesus gives us a way of escape in the Latter Rain, so that we are able to endure the great time of trouble.

The Angel High Priest is in the Holy Place, ready to enter the Most Holy. But, first He casts His censer to the earth and the 1st trumpet blows. We can say that the 1st trumpet is connected with the previous sanctuary scene because the contents of the censer and His blood are what fall from the sky onto the earth during the 1st trumpet. The contents damage “the third part” of the trees and all the fields of grain. This signified God’s overthrow of the denominations and the worst of the Protestants, which rejected the plain truth of the blessed hope of Jesus’ return. The Bible often compares people to trees and grain.

The 2nd trumpet blew and Mt. Sinai is quenched showing the churches’ abrogating the Law of God. Now most of the Protestants had no protection from Satan’s spells.

So, the 3rd trumpet blew and Satan is seen poisoning their hearts and minds, their whole way of viewing this world and the providences of God. Faith, true, genuine faith is gone from every American who remained in the new lawless Protestantism. Now that God is fictionalized by their rejection of His Law, this world is all that most of them can live for.

The 4th trumpet blew and the Sunday churches went totally dark spiritually, as institutions. But, the door of heaven was still open to them individually. Scriptures show that the darkened spheres of light symbolize that the Bible is no longer understood by Protestantism, and its central importance is lost. Now that Protestant America has lost its only resource for a spiritual compass in God’s word, an angel flies alarming the world of the three woes that come with the last three trumpets.

Chapter 6: Revelation chapter 9

The 5th trumpet blew. God looses Satan to ransack Protestantism and bring it and the world it that has blessed into subjection to the powers of hell. Every Protestant not being sealed, especially in Protestant America, is tormented with the same vexation of spirit that Solomon and King Saul experienced when they apostatized from the Lord. Moses forewarned of this for the whole nation in his curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, 29. Specifically, Deuteronomy 29:18-22 speaks to this 5th trumpet, as does Revelation 14:9-11. In fact, the 3rd angel’s message is all about the 5th and 6th trumpet plagues; the components of those two trumpets make up the message of the 3rd angel of Revelation 14—the torment and desolation of soul that comes from not getting to know Jesus and not taking God seriously, preparing for His judgment and final return.

The ancient false religion that caused such havoc to Israel was Baal worship. But, Baal worship was simply one face of thousands of false religions around the ancient and modern world, all spawned from Babylon. It is a religion that dares to approach God with the worshipers’ own contrived repentance and holiness. The modern counterpart of this is Spiritual Formation. In Spiritual Formation the reproofs of the Law, which bring us to need a Savior from sin, are set aside. Before Christ can be a Savior, He must be a Prince who wields His glittering sword. God will have it no other way. But, Satan, stepping in between God and His people, offers a more comfortable redemption, without the messy humbling which God requires. By peace and flattery he has destroyed many from the days of Cain, and now he is doing the same in the Advent movement. We are repeating the history of Israel at Baal-peor, and many Adventists are falling for it, including many of our leaders. This is the message of the 3rd angel and it speaks of the 5th and 6th trumpet plagues.

The language of the 3rd angel’s message comes from the 5th and 6th trumpets—another reason to believe that the trumpets happen during the heaven-ordained Advent movement and investigative judgment that precede the antitypical Day of atonement.

It only makes sense that all the trumpets should blow during the Advent movement, since the typical feast of trumpets was connected with the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary. There is a time period with the 5th trumpet—5 prophetic months, 150 years. I realize Ellen White made it seem to say that there would be no more time prophecies after 1844. I believe she only communicated what Jesus wanted her to give us at the time. If we had known we would be here for 150 years we would have apostatized into pagan celebration a long time ago.

One thing is very clear, Revelation 9:4 (the 5th trumpet) and 7:3 (1844) are unarguably speaking of the same thing—the seal of God in the forehead. So, my conclusion is that Revelation 7:3 introduces the sealing, and 9:4 explains how it is received. Sr. White wrote volumes on every other subject, while she wrote almost nothing about the trumpets, because Jesus gave her no light on the trumpets. The time must wait until the prophecy was over before its meaning would come to light. That time has arrived. I believe that the 5th trumpet began as we were hammering out our fundamental beliefs in the Sabbath conferences. In 1849, the California Gold Rush altered the face of Protestant America. In 1999, 150 years later, another gold rush occurred—the stock market gold rush of the late 90’s. These two events are the bookends for the 5th trumpet.

In between those years technology exponentially developed and drew the world-loving Protestant multitudes permanently away from God and His Law. And that separation has tormented them like Jesus was on the cross because His Father had left Him. During those 5 prophetic months, the Spirit of God had been leaving Protestant America and Satan had been moving in to fill the void. Largely through the earthly agencies of Rome and her Jesuit masters of deception temptations have stolen all the freedom and happiness that the original Reformers gave Protestant Americans. The Jesuits and the Vatican are the locusts of the 5th trumpet (they are called “the beast” in Revelation 11). Satan, propelling them across the land, is the black smoke.

The 6th trumpet blew. Now that Americans have departed from God and lived on His promised land of refuge without a single thought of Him, He allows for their complete possession by the god they love so much. As the 10 tribes of Israel lived for Baal for 200 years until the Lord vomited them out of His land, so is He doing to Protestantism today. Soon, and very soon, Protestantism’s old enemy of the Dark Ages will have conquered this nation by filling the leading offices of their CIA, FBI, NSA, FDA, FEMA, AMA, Jesuit controlled media, Federal Reserve banking system, and three branches of the U.S. Government. I won’t be surprised if the Vatican initiates the official desolation of free America as Protestantism is ended. By a united, official declaration and documentation, the union of church and state will happens at Protestantism’s 500 anniversary— Halloween 2017.

In the 6th trumpet, the locusts can do what they were forbidden to do during the 5th trumpet, that is, “kill” the soul. All of their torment until 1999 came from the work of separating the people from the one true God of their Reformation fathers. Now that the denominations are fully separated from the God of the Bible, they commit the unpardonable sin and become a persecuting nation. This explains the unjust destruction of Muslims based on the phony premise that Islamists caused the black flag operation of 9/11. All the evidence of 9/11 points to specially placed and protected individuals within American government agencies, who choreographed 9/11 under the purview of Rome. (Dan. 8:12).

9/11 has set the stage for the coming tribulation of all nations. We are in the very end of time. God has just about finished His scattering of the power of the holy people (Dan. 12:7).

When the 7th trumpet will blow, the 3rd woe will mean total world domination by Satan and his filling every heart with his mean anger. Then, the few who took God and His Law and His redemption seriously will stand out from the demon-controlled crowds. Everyone who played off the Spirit of Prophecy as unneeded during the 5th and 6th trumpets God will require it of them in the 7th trumpet.

Chapter 7: Revelation chapter 10

This chapter begins to show glory at the end of the long, dark, distressing tunnel. It opens during the unconscionable desolations by the conscienceless world of the 6th trumpet. Christ is seen clothed with a cloud of incense and glory. The little sealed book (scroll) which He took from His Father in Revelation chapter 5 is now opened after the trumpets have done their work of scattering the power of faith in His Protestant people (which includes the SDAs, as seen in Revelation 11). Christ roars like a lion because His forbearing work as Lamb is finished and it’s time to judge the world, and to end the controversy. With infinite thunder, God agrees with His Son.

So, He swears by His Father that the delay of the 6th seal is completed—the sealing is almost finished—and He can finally come in power and glory. But, first He will give humanity one last opportunity to be saved, as He gave the antediluvian world. He commands John to eat the book of the great controversy and to “prophesy again.” But, if we use scripture to interpret scripture, then this is not speaking of the Millerite Great Disappointment of 1844; it is speaking of an event within the final chapter of the seal/trumpet chronology.

When do we see any prophesying taking place since Revelation chapter 4? We don’t see any up to Revelation chapter 10. But, we do see it in the next chapter, almost immediately following the command in chapter 10 to prophesy again. We see it in Revelation chapter 11.

Chapter 8: Revelation chapter 11

This chapter ends the seal/trumpet story that is the core of Revelation. The chapter introduces its intent to judge the church by John being given a measuring rod. The church is found guilty of apostasy, except for a very small remnant that defends the truth “in the days of their prophecy” (Rev. 11:6). That very small remnant sweeps through 2,000 years to include the apostles, the church in the wilderness, and the Reformation. The fire of truth shoots out of the mouths of God’s champions and devours the enemies of His gospel. This campaign against Satan continues successfully until 1849 when the hosts of darkness fly out of an opened bottomless pit. Then, the Lord’s witnesses are warred against, later overcome, and eventually cease their prophesying. This point in the lengthy prophecy is where the Revelation 10 scene occurs. Thus, it is time to prophesy again.

Satan cannot immediately kill the Advent movement while Ellen White lives. But, he first makes war (also seen in Rev. 12:17), then he overcomes, and finally he kills the Advent movement. We lay dead in the aisles of the church for a period of time that figuratively expresses judgment on God’s people (Luke 4:25; Jas. 5:17). Then, when God has accomplished our total humbling and all of our self-sufficiency is gone, then He resurrects His two witnesses (a leaner Advent movement), gives them the Latter Rain, and the earth is reaped. This ends the 2nd woe, and the 7th trumpet blows. Total chaos rules the world and the last we see is an empty Most Holy Place in heaven because Christ has left there to come and get His people. The mystery of God’s character of love and fairness, as written in the little book, is finished. His judgment is finished, and He is exonerated by His character perfectly reflected in His children.

This ends the core of Revelation. I hope it wasn’t too hard to follow. The rest of the book of Revelation expands upon the main storyline of chapters 4 through 11.

I’ve heard much about chiasms. That subject all began with the book of Revelation. I’ve looked at charts that show the chiasms of Revelation, and it all seems good. I have yet to analyze the way they stand up next to my view of Revelation. But, as I began with in this blog post, I see Revelation 4 to the end of the book simply as basically two halves of one book. First, we have the 8 chapter core that give a bird’s eye view of the book, such as my overview does for my book. Then, the next 11 chapters give details that must be brought in at the correct places of the core storyline.

This method of writing the Revelation visions seems very simple and wise. Chiasms are a little too complicated for me. But, a simple storyline is what I can handle. Even children can understand the simple core storyline. Of course, the symbology is a deeper subject, and that makes the Bible a challenge for adults. But, I’m thankful that Revelation is much more understandable than most people think because of the way it was laid out by the Spirit of God as a simple story.

I hope you get and read the book.

Thank you for your interest.

My first book completed

I finally finished my first book. It is on Bible prophecy, Revelation in particular. I use Revelation chapters 4 through 11 to explain the whole of Revelation and how current events have been working perfectly to fulfill the trumpet prophecy. Chapters 4 through 11 make up the core of The Revelation that John saw. Then the second half of The Revelation add details to the first half’s satellite overview.

I have brought into Bible prophecy much of what I have learned of the good news of the gospel. If you appreciate my way of expressing the Bible’s good news (and bad news) then you will find them woven into the Revelation message of blessing and curses, its necessary plagues, as well as its healing and sealing. Even though God is Judge, Revelation shows Him “who liveth for ever and ever” accused as unworthy and being judged for His worthiness to lead His eternal kingdom.

I see a different way of viewing the trumpets, with different placements compared to most interpretations, and having different purposes. You will see that I place the seven trumpets beginning on October 22, 1844. They do not begin with the fall of Jerusalem or of the Roman Empire. They are not military campaigns that say nothing about Jesus. Thus, I see that the seven trumpets of Revelation are the anti-type of the Feast of Trumpets that signaled the approaching typical Mosaic Day of Atonement. Therefore, I see the trumpets as Advent Movement-related events that warn us of the coming of Judgment Day, when the Lamb returns sitting on the right hand of Power. The fifth trumpet’s 5 prophetic month time period concludes close to our day, at the end of 1999. Then the sixth trumpet begins in the first quarter of 2000, largely kicked off by 9/11, and soon to come into full swing. I believe that the signing of peace treaties this Halloween between the Church of Rome and the Lutheran Church, thus marking the legal end of the Reformation’s gift of peace to the world, will shift the sixth trumpet fulfillment into third gear of a five-speed eschatological transmission. Then, the last two gears “cometh quickly” (Rev. 11:14), the seventh trumpet and the Day of Judgment/Second Advent of Jesus in unearthly, divine power.

Let me add that my book seeks to reassure everyone that they still have time to make their calling and election sure. But, we must be in earnest now. It’s not all scary; in fact Revelation holds great promises for the people not swept up by all the deceptions on the right hand and the left. I have done my best in the book to lay out the path to have that assurance. I have sought to weave Jesus into everything I have written. To give you a taste, the website for Aspect Books (published by Teach Services, Inc.) lets you read the first 27 pages of the book. The Lord bless you and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace. See you the second Sabbath at the Tree of Life on the far side of the River of Life!

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Burdick+Seven+Trumpets

http://aspectbooks.com/main/details/id/79

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-seven-trumpets-and-the-investigative-judgement-david-d-burdick/1125844018;jsessionid=1AB5806D66EE7242B6BD8DBDD17EED53.prodny_store01-atgap06?ean=9781479605026

Great prophecies fulfilled

Great prophecy fulfilled: The Vatican has Protestantism on the run. Protestant Americans in its Evangelicals are all backing the genius abilities of the Vatican to get them to point the finger of condemnation against the Muslims, rather than their old enemy and the old enemy of the gospel—the Papacy, the Vatican.

Our Reformation forefathers would never have done this. Didn’t Islam exist in their day? Yes; Islam began in 632 AD. Hadn’t the Muslims invaded Europe many times during its existence prior to the Reformation? Yes it had; yet our Protestant fathers still called the Church the “Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (Rev. 17:5). Being closer to the period of papal persecution and its age of corruption and deception, our Protestant forefathers’ spiritual discernment was far better and they knew better than their disobedient Protestant descendants that Rome was the truest heir of Babylonian mysteries that desolated the true religion of God through Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Prince Messiah and His apostles.

The Reformation fathers all pointed out the Papacy as the earthly adversary of God seen in Bible prophecy—the woman who rides the beast, the little horns of Daniel 7 and 8, and the vile king of the north/man of sin/Antichrist who began to stand up against Christ in verse 21 of Daniel 11 and finished at the standing up of Michael the great Prince of the covenant and the great time of trouble. It’s the Roman Papacy depicted in Revelation 9 fifth and sixth trumpets. It’s the Roman Papacy seen coming out of the bottomless pit in Revelation 11:7 to lead the world against the protectors and preachers of the righteousness by faith [“not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zech. 4:6)], faithful witnesses who stand before “the God of the earth” (Rev. 11:4; Zech. 4:14). It’s the Roman Papacy who would stand in the holy place pretending to be God’s vicar and stand up against the Law and the gospel. It’s the Roman Papacy that ascends from hell and makes war against these witnesses, the church in the wilderness during the 1,260 year Dark Ages, and against the remnant of their seed after the close of that dark time. And it’s the Roman Papacy that would lead the sin-loving world back into another dark age under the same power of Satan that the Dark Ages had suffered under.

It’s the Roman Papacy in Revelation 13’s Beast power that blasphemed God and made war against the saints of God during the 1260 year period of papal supremacy and then has influenced the Reformation witnesses—the Protestant church—to end their proclamations against the Roman Church and even to heal the wound by the Protestant sword—the Bible sword of the Spirit. It’s the papal Beast that is encouraging the faithful Protestant voices from God to abandon their mission from heaven and to become a Balaam false witness—the false prophet of Revelation 19:20—and to do the same work of corrupting truth and grace that the papal Beast did during the fall of Imperial Rome. It’s the union of Roman and Protestant Evangelicalism, that “eighth Beast” worker of iniquity, which goes into perdition and then, at their Lord’s return in power and glory, is cast into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels, who Jesus spoke of in His first and last parables,

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:15-23).

They both appear to have the fitness for heaven, but they never had the title to heaven. Justification could never be theirs because they walked away from hearing the Law of God that alone convicts and gives the need for a Saviour from sin. The testimony of Jesus was abundantly presented to them through the servant of the Lord, Ellen G. White. His standard was high and she faithfully presented His message as He desired. Against the forces of hell that assailed her, she was a witness against the Protestant church, and her voice and pen gleaned from it all who would be humbled and repentant, forgiven and justified.

“Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in:

Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.

Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink?

When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.

Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:34-40).

The second beast of Revelation 13 is the United States of America—Protestant America—colluding with the religio-political Church of Rome, that would restore the kingdom of Satan in the earth. This collusion began a century and a half ago at the close 1844. But it has gained momentum at the turn of the 20th century and all during that century, so that when the 21st century began at the end of the Revelation fifth trumpet, then the colluding Roman-Protestant Revelation could kick off the sixth trumpet power with the 9/11 black flag, and rapidly drive Republican America and its holy religion of Bible faith into their eternal graves. A handful of Muslims could not coordinate the perpetration of 9/11. But, the Vatican with its army of Jesuits, their network of espionage and intelligence, and their positioning themselves in high places of every government (especially the mightiest nation on earth, the United States), could easily accomplish 9/11.

Today the large work of broadcasting the delusion that Muslims are global enemy #1, avenging upon them their attacks on Christendom in the Old World, and making war to rid the independent Muslim power from the face of the earth, is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy by the union of Vatican and Protestant America, thus forming Christian American. The Vatican-American union is the greatest fulfillment of Bible prophecy and the greatest evidence for trusting the Bible.

Let us rest our faith wholly on the Bible, not only in its prophecies, but in its guidance for peace with God through His provision in His only begotten Son. Let’s be consumed by the word of God as we read it, and let Jesus from His heavenly sanctuary use it to cleanse His earthly temple from its sins. “That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26).

“Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21).

“For…unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6).

“Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the first Begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” (Rev. 1:5).

Weeping for the slain of Protestant America

“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jer. 9:1).

Listen to the almost completed plan to overthrow America, related to us from a discerning man from the 19th century.

When it became evident, in 1851, that my plan of forming a grand colony of Roman Catholic French-speaking people on the prairies of Illinois was to be a success, D’Arcy McGee, then editor of The Freeman’s Journal, official Journal of the Bishop of New York, wrote me to know my views, and immediately determined to put himself at the head of a similar enterprise in behalf of the Irish Roman Catholics. He published several able articles to show that the Irish people, with very few exceptions, were demoralized, degraded and kept poor, around their groggeries, and showed how they would thrive, become respectable and rich, if they could be induced to exchange their grog shops for the fertile lands of the west. Through his influence, a large assembly, principally composed of priests, to which I was invited, met at Buffalo, in the spring of 1852. But what was his disappointment, when he saw that the greatest part of those priests were sent by the Bishops of the United States to oppose and defeat his plans!

He vainly spoke with a burning eloquence for his pet scheme. The majority coldly answered him: “We are determined, like you, to take possession of the United States and rule them; but we cannot do that without acting secretly and with the utmost wisdom. If our plans are known, they will surely be defeated. What does a skillful general do when he wants to conquer a country? Does he scatter his soldiers over the farm lands, and spend their energy and power in ploughing the fields and sowing grain? No! he keeps them well united around his banners, and marches at their head, to the conquest of the strongholds, the rich and powerful cities. The farming countries then submit and become the price of his victory without moving a finger to subdue them. So it is with us. Silently and patiently, we must mass our Roman Catholics in the great cities of the United States, remembering that the vote of a poor journeyman, though he be covered with rags, has as much weight in the scale of power as the millionaire Astor, and that if we have two votes against his one, he will become as powerless as an oyster. Let us then multiply our votes;; let us call our poor but faithful Irish Catholics from every corner of the world, and gather them into the very hearts of those proud citadels which the Yankees are so rapidly building under the names of Washington, New York, Boston, Chicago, Buffalo, Albany, Troy, Cincinnati, ect. Under the shadows of those great cities, the Americans consider themselves a giant and unconquerable race. They look upon the poor Irish Catholic people with supreme contempt, as only fit to dig their canals, sweep their streets and work in their kitchens. Let no one awake those sleeping lions, today. Let up pray God that they may sleep and dream their sweet dreams, a few years more. How sad will their awakening be, when with our out-numbering votes, we will turn them for ever, from every position of honour, power and profit! What will those hypocritical and godless sons and daughters of the fanatical Pilgrim Fathers say, when not a single judge, not a single teacher, not a single policeman, will be elected if he be not a devoted Irish Roman Catholic? What will those so-called giants think of their matchless shrewdness and ability, when not a single Senator or member of congress will be chosen, if he be not submitted to our holy father the Pope! What a sad figure those Protestant Yankees will cut when we will not only elect the President, but fill and command the armies, man the navies and hold the keys of the public treasury? It will then be time for our faithful Irish people to give up their grog shops, in order to become the judges and governors of the land. Then, our poor and humble mechanics will leave their damp ditches and muddy streets, to rule the cities in all their departments, for the stately mansion of Mayor to the more humble, though not less noble position of teacher.

“Then, yes! then, we will rule the United States, and lay them at the feet of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, that he may put an end to their godless system of education, and impious laws of liberty of conscience which are an insult to God and man!”

D’Arcy McGee was left almost alone when the votes were taken. From that, the Catholic priests, with the most admirable ability and success, have gathered their Irish legions into the great cities of the United States, and the American people must be very blind indeed, if they do not see that if they do nothing to prevent it, the day is very near when the Jesuits will rule their country, from the magnificent White House at Washington to the humblest civil and military department of this vast Republic. They are already the masters of New York, Baltimore, Chicago, St. Paul, New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Cincinnati, Albany, Troy, Milwaukee, St. Louis, San Francisco, ect. Yes! San Francisco, the rich, the great queen of the Pacific, is in the hands of the Jesuits!

From the very first days of the discovery of the gold mines of California, the Jesuits had the hopes of becoming masters of those inexhaustible treasures, and they secretly laid their plans, with the most profound ability and success. They saw, at once, that the great majority of the lucky miners, of every creed and nation, were going back home as soon as they had enough to secure an honourable competence to their families. It became then evident, that of those multitudes which the thirst of gold had brought from every corner of the world, not one out of fifty would fix their homes in San Francisco. The Jesuits saw at a glance that if they could persuade the Irish Catholics to settle and remain there, they would soon be the masters and rulers of that golden city whose future is so bright and so great! And that scheme, worked day and night, with the utmost perseverance, has been crowned with perfect success….

The Americans, with few exceptions, do not pay any attention to the dark cloud which is rising at their horizon, from Rome. Though that cloud is filled with rivers of tears and blood, they let it grow and rise without even caring how they will escape from the impending hurricane. Fifty years in the church of Rome, excerpts from chapter 59.

Let us awaken from our day-dreamy hope in a future utopia of liberty and justice for all. Everything that has brought Protestant America comfort and happiness is soon to be swept away. This is because we have abandoned our God and His one true religion of His Bible—Protestantism. Pervasive corruption fills our land, not only outside the churches, but within. Where is the character of Christ seen, as in the days of old by patriarchs and prophets, kings and apostles? Where are the holy men of God today? Where are the watchmen on the walls of Zion, warning the Protestant peoples of the impending crisis described above? When every leader, religious, political, military, financial, is sworn to uphold the self-acclaimed Vicar of Christ, Lord God the Pope, then we will see justice and mercy disappear. Absolute power will engender absolute corruption. In the wake of worldwide abuse of power, happiness will disappear from the earth.

“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” (Rev. 17:8).

Slavery will return on a scale never yet seen. Everyone outspoken against the coming regime, everyone still holding on to the “the old paths, where is the good way” (Jer. 6:16), and everyone clinging to the Ten Commandments in spirit and in truth, will be induced to join the apostasy. If they turn down the offer they will be judged extremist and terroristic, and sentenced to enslavement. If work farms and concentration camps don’t change their minds and hearts, then they will be tortured. And finally, if torture doesn’t force them to join in the world of perdition, they must be exterminated, martyred. Only the elite families will have plenary freedom and food because they serve the papal party.

The Beast of Revelation 11:7 has arisen from the bottomless pit to make war on the remnant of the true church’s people, to overcome them, and to kill their loyalty to the only true religion, Protestantism and Adventism. Our only hope is to look to Christ for His direction from His only Bible.

The word of God is meticulously designed to give us faith in Him. Its historical accounts decorated with parallel dates with other powerful empires, its promotion of righteousness and its faithful warnings against disobedience and wickedness, seeing real, faulty people who Jesus worked with since Adam and Eve, all lead the Bible student to trust in the living God. It all testified of Jesus. Go there and find the Person behind the Bible, the holy One who changed the Bible characters from self-centered sinners to self-forgetful blessings to the world. Their lives all testified to the One who molded their hearts and minds after His image.

Let us return to the original Protestantism—love for the truth as declared from the pages of scripture. Let us abandon the modern religious emotionalism and Spiritual Formation brand of spiritualism. Let us return to the apostolic Christianity and to the greatly needed preparation for Christ soon return in power and glory.

This world is not our home, but we must make the best of it for everyone until Jesus comes

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1Tim.  2:1-4).

“Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” (1Pet. 2:17). 

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” (Ps. 146:3).

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.” (Jer. 17:5,6).

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” (Jer. 17:7,8).

The church’s business in the government and vice versa

The issue of church and state is becoming a big issue, which I believe will grow louder and louder until everyone has to take a stand on it. It won’t be swept under a carpet much longer. In fact, I wager that it will become the number one issue, higher than the economy or war issues. I am looking at it from a different view than you perhaps. First, let me say, I am not for undermining Christianity or the Bible or faith or Christ. I’m sure I didn’t have to say that to you, because you know me better than that, based on my profile.

Lately I see more clearly how the 1st Amendment was written with regard to religion and government. “Congress shall make no law” for or against religion. The churches are accusing the U.S. Supreme Court of undermining the place of Congress in passing down decisions that apparently limit the freedom of religion allowed by the Constitution. A pronouncement by the U.S. Supreme Court can overthrow a particular law passed by Congress and an executive decree by the President. In the phrase of the above Amendment, the Constitution speaks to Congress and to a law specifically, not to the Supreme Court. Does the absence of Constitutional direction toward the highest court give it the freedom to wage war against the church in the place of the legislature?— I believe these to be some of the issues the churches are questioning.

Then there is the phrases “separation of church and state” or “wall of separation” which were coined by Thomas Jefferson, but which are not in the Constitution. As I read the Amendment, a “non-relationship” is to effect religion and government. The two were to be neither friendly nor enemies. This was for the benefit of both─benefiting both includes for the benefit of religion, the church. So why is the church bringing up this issue to the government at all today?─ There seems to be a different issue at stake here.

This is not a new situation. Thomas Jefferson had to deal with an upset clergy in his day over the hands-off position of the government. They wanted the government to recognize religion out of fear that the public would perceive the government as atheistic and antagonistic to religion, and thus encourage irreligion. Some of the Federalists genuinely didn’t want to receive the frown of God who had so graciously helped establish this nation. This may be the stance of many in the churches today, albeit it is “not according to knowledge.” (Rom. 10:2). I say that because the Bible separates church and state. Nevertheless, they want to see some evidence of religion in government history, whether federal, state, or local. They feel it adds credence to the advancement of faith in America. The religious leaders need all the help they can get. “After all, too many people seem to think religion is defunct; but look at our past,” say they, “see how religious our forefathers were!”

But does this describe true American history? Does it correctly describe our nation’s forefathers? Not really. And does it really describe true religion? Not at all. Is true religion helped by government aid or endorsement? Is it hurt by government laws and decisions against it? Does the presence or absence of religious icons posted on government property or in public schools affect anyone’s faith in the eternal purposes of God? I say, Definitely not.

Most Americans are Protestants, if not in faith, in background. The original Protestant protest was against the need for the involvement of non-spiritual organizations in the church. They said the sinner and God have direct communication. Government involvement in the dealings of God and man is neither required nor desired. Unless any approaching party is under conviction of sin and repentant, it needs to vacate the holy ground.

In other words, the Spirit of God is in no way hampered from His work by the lack of symbols and relics and governmental assistance. It “is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.” John 6:63. I don’t mean to sound dogmatic. Please don’t take me that way. But what we all truly want is genuine Christianity. And I believe that you, the reader, want this, even if you have no religious affiliation. I believe that even atheists today want to see a Christianity with real self-sacrifice.

Christianity should endure difficulty, harassment, persecution, and hardship; and accept them without complaint because those Christians carry all their problems to Jesus in prayer and leave them at His feet. What the world needs today is a Christianity which carries a cross that doesn’t turn back; it needs Christians with the faith of John the Baptist who went to his beheading with the simple words of power from Christ, “Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” Matt. 11:6.

The offense of Christ’s cross, His furnace of affliction has always been God’s method for cleansing us. The church of today needs cleansing, right? All throughout sacred history God’s people have almost every time ended up in trouble─(and here might be a sticky subject)─because they had walked away from their God. And until they owned up to it and genuinely repented, a period of trouble ensued. “Have ye forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” Heb. 12:5. Once they repented, then He would raise up a deliverer and save them. But He wouldn’t do it just because they cried. His children had to admit their disrespectful unfaithfulness to Him and turn their face toward Him again. These are His unchanging conditions.

A good question to ask: Has the church backslidden? Does the church need correction? It may be hard to see it because we are in the middle of the consequences of back sliding. But I say, if Protestantism is calling for aid from the state, she left her Husband and Provider a long time ago. We know by the testimony of the four gospels that a great display of religion is not necessarily evidence of consecration to God. Then the bombastic manner of today’s preachers, and specifically religious leaders’ irreverent treatment of the government, contrary to Bible injunctions, marks them as spiritual suspects.

Are we beginning to see similar characteristics today as were seen in the religious leaders who dogged Christ and His disciples for 3 ½ years? Is the church truly examining herself on a continuous basis, as the scriptures directs her to do, to know whether or not she is in the faith, so that when she preaches to others, she is not a castaway? Where is the reformation and renunciation of the world that accompanied conversion in the past? Where is the willingness to lose all for Christ? Where is the cross of Christ; the willingness to suffer quietly and endure as a good soldier of Jesus?

I’m not against a genuine fight of faith. I’m not against regaining lost ground for Christ. But I am against the political methods for Christianity that are used by the churches today. I am for a genuine, renewed spirituality among God’s people. We need true heart conversion and revival. We need a return to the Reformation, when men, women, and children laid down their rights, their possessions and livelihoods and even their lives for the truth. I am sad to say, at this point, that only tribulation can bring all this about. As it is written, “And it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” Rev. 6:11.

This post is not for or against the ACLU or the ACLJ. It’s for a revival in the churches, one that has not been seen since apostolic times.