THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT - BEGINNING IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN

Post written and posted by Jean-Louis.

What is the New Age Movement (NAM for short)? What are its beliefs?
The NAM does not consist of a single group of people and is not identified by a single set of beliefs or source book like the Bible. Rather, it is a network of organizations that are independent and yet bound together by anti-Biblical religious beliefs. Some of these beliefs are:
1. Monism: the belief that everything flows out from one divine energy. All is one.
2. Pantheism: the belief that God is all and all is God, including nature and mankind.
3. Reincarnation and Karma: explaining good and evil.
4. Universal religion: all religions are just alternate paths to the same goal.
5. Personal transformation: a mystic or psychic experience that will usually result in a shift from an “old world” belief system to the realization of the “New Age” belief system.
6. Planetary vision: the belief that the earth possesses a life in and of itself. New Agers are attempting to realize the notion of a “mother earth” or “Gaia” whose children are assimilated into a religio-socio-political consciousness. They believe that a shift of political power that emphasizes the environment (pollution, acid rain, etc.) will help bring about this planetary consciousness.
7. New Age eschatology: the belief that a coming world leader or avatar will usher in the New Age. (For a more thorough study , see Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, George A. Mather and Larry A. Nichols)

In Eccl. 1:9 Solomon stated that, “ There is nothing new under the sun.” The New Age ideas are old, but repackaged in a deceiving look of updated and more sophisticated vocabulary.
With New Age philosophy, Satan is using the same temptation that he used in the Garden of Eden: the promise of “hidden knowledge” that will make people be “like God”.

PRINCIPLE: DO NOT ENTER INTO A DIALOGUE WITH SATAN.
• What does God say? In Gen 2:16, “ The Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” It means that they were alive and immortal before eating of the fruit.

• What does Satan say? In Gen 3:1, first, Satan plants a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind by hissing sweetly, “ Did God really say, “ You must not eat from any tree in the garden.” Eve should have stopped him right there, rebuked him with the Word of God like Jesus and run away like Joseph. Then, openly contradicting the word of God, he asserts in verse 4, ” You will not surely die… for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened.”
• Were their eyes closed before? Certainly not.

Then, Satan further states in the same verse, ” You will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• Weren’t they like God already? In which way? Gen 1:27 declares, "So God created man in his own image.”
• Didn´t they already know good? Absolutely! They knew God as Creator, Father, Provider, Teacher, Master Gardener, to name a few of the ways God related to them. They knew Him whose “ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights.” James I: 16.
• Did they know evil? No. They had not yet met the father of lies.

So, before the fall, they saw and knew only the good there was, God their father, their creator, the person whose nature and character are absolute, pure and eternal goodness and the source of all that is good according to Gen 1:31 which says that, “God saw all that he had made and it was very good.” Consequently, the only knowledge that they could gain or acquire was that of a deadly and confusing mixture of good and evil. They fell from the free state of God-consciousness to the state of enslavement that is Self-consciousness which carried to its extreme logical conclusion leads to Self-Realization, the state of having and experiencing the fullness of self in all its ugly rebellion and defiant independence from God and being like its original, perfect model and example, Satan himself. “The acorn doesn´t fall far from the tree”!

It doesn´t get any clearer than this. 
Examine these statement about the nature and practice of Kriya Yoga and see if you can find any similarity between the first temptation in the garden of Eden. 

 This is the primary meaning of Kriya. The involuntary movements caused by the repeated practice of this technique are just the symptoms and results of a deeper involvement with things forbidden by God.  

Kriya Technique Source http://kriya-yoga.com/english/what_is.htm "The teaching of Kriya Yoga is done gradually. It is sectioned into six stages referred to as First Kriya, Second Kriya and so on. The beginner starts with First Kriya. First Kriya is the root, the very foundation which allows for progress through the spiritual path for followers of any religion. It gives access to knowledge of the body, of the Soul and the chakras. It allows for comprehension of the gross body, the astral body and the causal body. Later, after having practized regularly over a period of time and achieved the necessary demanding level of mastery, one can receive second Kriya, and thus progress towards the higher Kriya levels. Describing Kriya Yoga in words has little meaning. A person may truly understand only through practice. If you wish to know what an apple is, a simple description is not enough. Take the fruit, touch it, taste it, then you will really and immediately understand what an apple is. The same goes for Kriya Yoga." The Ultimate Goal The constant practice of iswara pranidhana (practice of breath control in every moment) gives the siddhi (perfection) of samadhi. The incoming breath is î - power, outgoing breath is ra - light, sva - yourself, is between these two. isvara gives life and will fill yourself.  Iswara pranidhana  means that by constantly observing the breath which enters and leaves the body, through practice one will come to the formless state. Then you remain in the divine light enabling yourself to achieve constant nirvana or liberation in your life time. As Jesus Christ said in the Bible: "You can’t see, feel or realize God, but you can be". To learn more about Kriya yoga click on the link below
See more

  
Notice that Satan says: Not if you eat, but when you eat. As if it were understood that they were going to do it, that it was only a matter of time. Satan always presents an alluring picture to us, the undeniable pleasure of sin before we discover the very high price we have to pay later for disobeying God.

• Was the fruit really good or did it appear pleasing to Eve’s eyes? Gen 3:6.
• How did she know that it was desirable for gaining wisdom? Satan told her.
All she knew about the fruit is what Satan told her, and what she could see with her own eyes. Satan could not give them anything that they didn’t have before the fall, except the knowledge of evil, the disease of sin, the curse of the ensuing fall of all mankind and his destructive, demonic wisdom.

He lied to them - but was it a total lie?
• What truth was mixed with the lie?
• Was it true that they were going to know evil? Yes.

Eccl 10:8 states: “He who digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoever breaks a hedge, a snake shall bite him.” (NKJV)
If we are on Satan’s territory, he defines the terms, the rules. We don’t. When he says “you will know”, he doesn’t mean “you will have information about evil, some data to store in your computer memory so that when you see evil you’ll run away from it.”.
Knowing evil on Satan’s terms involves participation, just as knowing God involves participation in His life, His works and the lives of His people.
Satan meant you will know or experience evil in your mind, soul, and body. And in that he was right and true.
• What does God say about wisdom? Prov 2:6 declares: “It is He who gives wisdom.” Wisdom is not just having knowledge of evil, as Satan said.
Isaiah 11:2 -3 says this about the Lord Jesus: “And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear.” (NAS)

PRINCIPLE: WHEN YOU ARE NOT SURE OF AN IDEA, AN ACTIVITY, STRETCH THE POSSIBILITY OF INVOLVEMENT TO ITS CONCLUSION.
There are 2 trees in the beginning: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
• 2 kinds of fruits. One gives life, the other death.
• 2 kinds of choices - one right, one wrong
• 2 persons:
1. God, our Father who loves us, wants the best for our lives.
2. Satan, who is a liar from the beginning, and who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to take us away from God and His blessings, he wants to take us out of commission instead of being a part of the Great Commission.

The New Age fruit that is so desirable is a change in consciousness through various methods, means, techniques that will cause one to look at God, the universe and oneself, in a different way.
Look at Psalm 1., this psalm gives us the general principle of the progression in involvement with sin: walking, standing, sitting. In the case of drugs, it also includes lying down and flying out of one’s mind.

New Age techniques produce the same effect without the help of drugs and deceives people into believing that they have had a spiritual encounter with the source of life. It produces in the adept or devotee a sense of superior self-righteousness due to a false sense of their own purity as they compare themselves to the drug addict or drug user. 

However, they have fallen into the bigger trap of Satan which has them bound in their pride which is the first step to anybody’s downfall and destruction.
Look at Gal 6:7: “ Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

If you are asked to accept a new idea or participate in a questionable activity and have any doubt in your heart that it is right remember Romans 14:23 which says: “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

As Christians, if we want to know, we can study, and apply the word of life. Deuteronomy 29:29 says: “The secret things belong to the LORD but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

In the beginning there were 2 trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At the end in Rev 22:2: “on each side of the river stood the tree of life.” In the end there is only one tree, the tree of Life. Only one God, only truth, only the righteous.

When it comes to something seemingly new, we have to ask ourselves 2 questions:
1. Where does this come from, what is the source of the information?(The seed, the root)
2. Where does it lead? (the branches and the fruit)

• FIRST STEP: Be informed. Ask your parents, your youth group leader, your Pastor, an older Christian or anybody spiritually mature enough in this area who can answer your questions or direct your inquiry to someone knowledgeable. If you want information, don’t read directly from the New Age authors. There is plenty of material written on the New Age and cults by people that have been involved, have come out and given their testimonies. You can trust the word of a burnt person who tells you that fire burns.
Don’t assume that you are different, that you know better, that you are smarter than the next person. Here is a warning to us from Israel’s history. I Cor 10:1. “(Do not be idolaters…be careful that you don’t fall.)”

• SECOND STEP: Look at the fruit. This is the hardest test of all, because a lot of New Age people seem to be very calm, peace loving, well organized, caring individuals who use their personal resources and energy to promote what they believe are positive changes in themselves, their environment, and society. These may seem good, but they are done in ignorance and rebellion against our Creator, who has His own good plans for bringing peace and light to the world. And they don’t address the real problem with our world - sin.

Remember, these persons however well intentioned and highly motivated are deceived. They have allowed themselves to believe the lie of Satan that “wisdom” is a tool to acquire “god-power”, when such hidden wisdom is really a trap. Unfortunately, in the eyes of God they are like Eve and Adam, as responsible for their sin as is their leader or teacher.

In Matt 7:15-20, Jesus warns his disciples with these words: “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.” (NKJV)

John 16:1. Right after chapter 14 and 15 about the coming of the Holy Spirit of truth, abiding in the vine, the inability to do anything without Him, the command to love each other and to bear fruit, our Lord Jesus warns: "all this I have told you so that you will not go astray".

Then, there is the temptation to “be open-minded”, rather than “intolerant” of these “alternative religions”. Aren’t we supposed to explore and discover? Here is a good analogy: 
"Let’s say you live in a house and it’s summertime. You want to breathe fresh air, so you open the window. What happens? You get fresh air, but along with it, you get dust, pollen, and bugs. The proper thing to do is to put a screen on the window." ( Source: heard in a talk given by Greg Laurie)

The word of God acts as a screen that rejects all the impurities, corrupt thoughts, lies, and false teaching that invade our minds, but for that screen to be effective in our lives, we have to study, understand, believe, know and practice what the Word of God says in obedience to our Lord´s command. Psalm 119:9,11: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.”

Finally, It is my prayer that, “Your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus-Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Phil. 1:9-11.

Jean-Louis

Winter 1989. Shared at The St.Giles Presbyterian Church’s Youth Group.
Revised and shared in Hendersonville, N.C. Winter 1997 for the 1st. Baptist Church Youth Group.

PROPHECY ON FAST FORWARD

Prophecy On Fast Forward



Last Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilence in various places and fearful events and great signs from Heaven. (Luke 21:10-11)

Wow! Do things seem to be heating up or what? Earthquakes and a tsunami causing nuclear meltdown in Japan, a new war in Libya, (where the US curiously finds itself edging toward fighting on the same side with al Qaeda and Hezbollah) serious civil disorder throughout the Moslem Middle East, the Palestinians preparing to unilaterally declare statehood in September with growing European and UN support, and Israel threatening to take some unspecified unilateral action of their own if that happens. The rockets and missiles are flying into Israel again, and there’s talk in Israel of another Gaza invasion, perhaps as early as this spring.
A video recently released from Iran showed officials there announcing that this is just what’s supposed to happen right before al Mahdi arrives. According to Islamic prophecies, this so-called Islamic anti-Christ will return to Earth during a time of great chaos to restore peace and reorganize the world under an Islamic Caliphate. 7 years later the world will be judged.
In the US, the congress is heading for an economic showdown that could result in temporarily shutting off revenue to the government. Food and fuel prices are rising aggressively, and Walmart’s CEO has confirmed that the price of clothing and other essentials is sure to follow. Housing sales are at the lowest levels ever recorded and 2011 promises to set a new record for foreclosures. Personal wealth is down almost 25% from 3 years ago, most Americans are living week to week, and record numbers of capable people are unable to find full time employment consistent with their skills. One out of seven Americans is already enrolled in the food stamp program due to their inability to purchase sufficient food without help and experts say the trend of increasing prices and actual shortages will continue for years.
The 50 states, which by law have to balance their budgets every year, are finding it more and more difficult to do so. It is now believed that many of them knowingly agreed to wage and benefits packages for employee unions that they’d eventually be unable to pay, and that situations like the one in Wisconsin will soon become more numerous. Other states are finding it impossible to continue extending benefits to illegal aliens that were designed to help American citizens.
The policies of the man we elected by a wide majority just two years ago seem to be designed to confiscate the wealth of most Americans and put an end to America’s super power status by eliminating what little value our currency still has. More and more experts are warning us to be prepared for the hyper-inflation that’s sure to come when the rest of the world decides to stop lending us the money we need to fund our deficits. Already 70% of it is coming out of thin air, courtesy of the Federal reserve.
The claim that the protestors in the Middle East are only seeking western style democracy is pure fiction. They’re protesting against the same economic conditions that will soon prevail in the US. The result here will be the same as there, and it’s not far off. According to competent observers, protests against food shortages and rising unemployment will begin to erupt in the US by this time next year, if not sooner.
What’s most amazing to me is the fact that so many people from all over the political and religious spectrum are looking for this year or next to bring events that will change things forever. Whether it’s the Islamic Caliphate, a New World Order, the Age of Aquarius, the rapture of the Church, or whatever, these viewpoints all foresee rough times in the months ahead but promise a happy ending for their followers.
What Does The Bible Say?
Of course, the Bible tells us that only the Church has a right to be excited about the future. That’s because the worse things get in the world, the closer we are to being relocated to our permanent home.
On this issue we have the promise of One who cannot lie and has a 6,000 year track record of predicting and fulfilling prophecy without a single miss. This is a claim no other so called deity can make.
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19)
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.(Isaiah 46:10)
This is one of God’s signature statements in the Bible and He’s backed it up with His own performance.
I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. (Isaiah 48:3)
He did this to prove to Israel and to us that He is who He claims to be. But some will say, “That’s all in the past. What about the future?”
His response is in Isaiah 48:6. “You have heard all these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.”
If He staked His reputation on accuracy and honesty in the Old Testament, would He do any different in the New? Hebrews 13:8 says He’s the same, yesterday, today and forever. And what has He promised us about the signs that the End of the Age is upon us?
Speaking of the conditions I described at the beginning of this article our Lord said, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)
The end times signs are warnings to the unbelieving world that God’s patience is at an end and judgment is coming. But for us they’re signals that we’re about to begin a new life filled with joy and excitement we can’t begin to imagine. It will surely be a little rocky in the process, but we have to remember that even though birth pangs make both mother and baby uncomfortable, they end in the joyful beginning of a new life. It wasn’t by accident the the Lord referred to the signs of the times in that way. Since our new life is not on Earth, that means the beginning of the End Times signs He mentioned indicates we’ll be leaving soon.
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (John 14:2-3).
The most reliable indicator that Jesus is coming back for us is that He left. And notice He didn’t say He was coming here to be with us where we are, as would be the case if He had the Second Coming in mind. He said He was coming to take us there to be with Him where He is. He was referring to the rapture.
I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. (Rev. 3:8,10)
The Greek word translated from literally means “out of” or “away from”. It includes time, place and cause. He’s going to remove us from the time and place of the hour of trial because we’re not the cause of it.
This same Greek word is used in Revelation 7:14 where an elder tells John that the multitude he has seen before the Throne of God in Heaven is made up of people who have come out of the Great Tribulation. Since the Great Tribulation doesn’t begin until Rev. 13, some have been confused by this. Understanding that the Greek word translated out of means to be removed from both the time and place of the event being referenced eliminates the confusion.
In effect the elder is saying they’ve come to heaven before the Great Tribulation begins. They missed the rapture, which will have happened a few chapters earlier, so they’re not part of the Church. They are post-church believers who will have lost their lives during the seal judgments (Rev. 6:8)
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown (Rev. 3:11).
I think the crown He’s referring to here is the crown of righteousness that will be awarded to those who long for His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8). He’s saying, “Don’t lose heart. I promised I’d come for you and I will.”
There are lots of other Biblical proofs of the Pre-Trib rapture and I’ve written about them many times in the past. My goal here was just to highlight some of the promises Jesus made to us Himself and to re-enforce our belief that based on past performance, our faith in these promises is justified beyond any doubt.
Therefore, we have no reason to fear the difficult days ahead and there’s no justification for uncertainty about the future, because our destiny is guaranteed by God Himself. It is He who makes us stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor. 1:21-22). We have His promise on that. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.

04-02-11

Movie excerpts: The Coming (of the Mahdi) is Upon Us

Joël Rosenberg's comments about the film.

The film, The Coming Is Near, was brought to the attention of the West by Reza Khalili, a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps member who became a double agent for the CIA working against Iran in the 1980s. It explains how the current wars and revolutions in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and elsewhere throughout the Middle East and North Africa are signs consistent with Shia Islamic End Times teaching that the Twelfth Imam (or Mahdi) and Jesus will soon appear on earth to usher in the destruction of Israel, the establishment of an Islamic caliphate (kingdom), and the end of days. As I write about in The Twelfth Imam and Inside The Revolution, Shia Muslims are convinced that Jesus will come as a deputy to the Mahdi and force all Jews and Christians to either convert to Islam or die.
Why is this new film significant? I see several reasons:
The film has attracted international attention through reports by the Christian Broadcasting Network, the Drudge Report, and other media outlets — this is good because it is further helping people around the world to understand what the current Iranian regime believes and why it is so dangerous.
The film has been screened and approved at the highest levels of Iranian government, providing further confirmation that the Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad believe their eschatology is being vindicated and thus emboldening them to continue pursuing nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles.

The film is being screened throughout Iran for military officers and soldiers as well as for paramilitary units, suggesting that Iran’s leaders are trying to prepare their forces for a rapidly approaching genocidal war against Israel, the U.S. and the West and to encourage them not to fear because Shia Muslims are on the winning side of history.
The film is being translated from Farsi (the language of Iran) to Arabic, suggesting that it will soon be shown and distributed throughout the broader Middle East and North Africa to prepare other Muslims — Sunni and Shia – for a genocidal war with Israel and the West.
The film is full of false teaching (the Twelfth Imam is not the true Messiah, cannot save mankind and will not set up a global Islamic kingdom), delivered by false teachers (Iranian clerics), who follow a false religion (Islam), but it is useful in that it is further evidence that our Lord Jesus Christ was absolutely correct when He warned His disciples in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 that “false messiahs” and “false prophets” will come in the last days before Christ’s own return. Indeed, while we can’t know for certain that a false Islamic messiah known as the Twelfth Imam is actually coming soon, we must recognize that this is possible, would be a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, would create much deception in the world, and would need to be countered with great courage and wisdom by faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
The film is full of evil, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-Christian teaching, but it is serving one particularly good function: it is beginning to accelerate and intensify an on-going conversation among Muslims and Jews throughout the world who are asking, “Who is the Messiah? When will He come? What signs will precede His coming? How shall we recognize Him when He comes? And how shall we live differently in light of His soon arrival?”
The film, in my view, should immediately lead to Christian ministries producing films and TV programs explaining what the Bible says about the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how to both prepare for His return and live lives of holiness, prayer, evangelism, discipleship and church planting in view of Christ Jesus’ coming. Followers of Jesus Christ should be ready and willing to answer people’s questions from the Scriptures, and teach other believers how to answer these questions from the Bible, as well. One of the ministry leaders I spoke to who is responsible for broadcasting and webcasting programs that are seen by hundreds of thousands of Iranian and Arab Muslims and Christians throughout North Africa and the Middle East has already committed to having his staff make the Second Coming of Jesus Christ a new and important theme of their programming in the weeks and months ahead.
Please pray that many Christian leaders around the world will see this as an important moment to teach Bible truths in love and with great courage, that Jesus of Nazareth is the only true Messiah and the Savior of the world, and that He is coming back soon. As Jesus Himself said in John 14:1-3 and 6, ”Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also….I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

INTERCESSÃO

“Abram-se, ô portais

Abram-se ô portas antigas

para que o Rei da glória entre.

Quem é o Rei da glória?

O SENHOR forte e valente,

O SENHOR valente nas guerras.

Quem é esse Rei da glória?

O SENHOR dos Exércitos;

Ele é o Rei da glória”!

O Senhor Jesus Cristo é a luz do mundo.
No ministerio que Ele tem nos dado à uns com aos outros e ao mundo, Ele tem escolhido, tem chamado alguns no corpo de crentes (Pastores, Presbitros, Diaconos e Obreiros) e tem derramado dons para que sejam luzes fortes, altas, farois e luzes de porto situada à entrada e ao redor do porto, luzes verdes e vermelhas de trâfego) visíveis à todos que vem dentro do alcance dos seus feixes de luz.

Eles espalham a luz em figuras largas de forma que quando entramos e saimos nos podemos ver com claridade a destinação, a direção e a posição relativa de nossos barcos e o que fica diretamente em nosso caminho.

Também Ele tem abençoado outros para estar mais enfocados, mais flexíveis feixes de luz tal como uma sonda (endoscópio) de fibra ótica equipada com luz que um cirurgião usa para examinar o interior do corpo humano. O propósito deste instrumento é facilitar o diagnóstico da natureza, da condição e da posição da parte fraca o doente que precisa de atenção para que o corpo inteiro seja forte e capaz de funcionar como o Senhor Jesus, o grande médico desja que ele devia funcionar.

Em contraste com o ministerio altamente visível das luzes do porto e dos farois, o ministerio dos intensemente focados feixes de luz fica escondido, ainda esta preciso e importante.
Uma das razões pela qual o Pai nos levantou como uma casa de orações individual e corporalmente é que, assim que levantamos à Éle a parte doente ou ferida que o Espirito Santo nos revela, “Éle a limpará tendo-a purificado pelo lavar da agua mediante a palavra, e para apresentá-la a si mesmo como igreja gloriosa, sem mancha, nem ruga ou coisa semelhante , mas santa e inculpável”. 

Também Ele retirará as manchas (cirurgia espiritual) e as curará para que sua luz brilhar mais luminosa e intensamente dentro de nos e assim causar a manisfestação da sua gloria en nosso meio.

Oramos com fervor para que Sua luz possa acresentar em brilho em nossos Pastores, e outros líderes, em cada crente para que sua esfera de influencia possa alcançar mais no território das trevas que o inimigo tem em nossas comunidades. “Assim brilhe a luz de vocês diante dos homens para que vejam as suas boas obras e glorifiquem ao Pai de vocês que está nos céus”.

Jean-Louis.

Earthquakes from a biblical, historical perspective

Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

– Luke 17:29-31
When evening comes, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red," and in the morning, "Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast." You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
– Matthew 16:1-3

Elsewhere, Jesus told us that among the signs of his return would be earthquakes. But the primary analogy that Jesus used to describe the last days earthquakes were birth contractions, which we all know are universally characterized by a progressive increase in both frequency and intensity:

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
– Matthew 24:7-8
And once more, the ultimate result of the return of Jesus will be a massive earthquake that literally transforms the topography of Jerusalem and devastates the whole earth:

On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
– Zechariah 14:4
Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.
– Revelation 16:18

Read more: Japan today, Jerusalem tomorrow http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=274761#ixzz1IxlBmzNc
USGS Earthquake Data
The most up-to-date, accurate and relevant data from the USGS, (United States Geological Survey):
National Geophysical Data Center

1 AD to 1000: 15 earthquakes 7.0 or higher (NGDC)
(One every 66 years)
1000 to 1800: 114 7.0 or higher (NGDC)
(One every 7 years)
1800 to 1900: 115 7.0 or higher (NGDC)
(One every 10 months)
(1935 Richter Scale invented)
1900 to 1980: 774 7.0 or higher (NGDC)
(One every 37 days)
United States Geological Survey
1980 to 2000: 255 earthquakes 7.0 or higher (USGS /NEIC)
(One every 28 days)
2000 to 2008: 127 earthquakes 7.0 or higher (USGS / NEIC)
(One every 26 days)
2009: 17 earthquakes 7.0 or higher (USGS / NEIC)
(One every 21 days)
2010: 20 earthquakes 7.0 or higher (USGS / NEIC)
(One every 18 days)
2011: 6 earthquakes 7.0 or higher in 3 months (USGS / NEIC)
(One every 15 days).
I have no question that the scoffers will scoff at this information, but the numbers don't lie. In fact, based on the undeniable patterns, on March 4, six days before the earthquake in Japan, Pastor Cecil sent me the following e-mail
Prediction: The longest amount of time last year that the earth went without a major (7.0 or greater) earthquake was 57 days. We haven't had a major earthquake since January 18th of this year. As of today, we stand at 45 days without a major quake. I am predicting a major (7.0 or greater) earthquake BEFORE Wednesday, March 17th. … my prediction is that there will be a major earthquake sometime within the next week!

Sadly, even within the church, there will be those who claim that this information means absolutely nothing and that Christians should pay no attention. But for the majority of believers out there who take Jesus' words at face value, who are watching the specific signs that Jesus spoke of, the evidence is all there. The contractions are increasing in both intensity and frequency. I believe there is a birth on the horizon.

Excerpt from an article by Joel Richardson in World Net Daily.

MULTICULTURALISME ET ISLAM EN FRANCE.

VOICI LES FAITS. A VOUS DE JUGER.
HERE ARE THE FACTS. JUDGE FOR YOURSELF.

MIDDLE EAST CHAOS PART II

Middle East Events from J.R. Church on Vimeo.

CHAOS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Chaos in the Middle East from J.R. Church on Vimeo.

Evangélico Walter Williams é entrevistado pela revista Veja

Walter Williams

Posted: 12 Mar 2011 03:05 AM PST

Evangélico Walter Williams é entrevistado pela revista Veja

Texto de Reinado Azevedo

Um negro contra cotas e contra as leis que proíbem a discriminação! Sua crença: individualismo, escola de qualidade, igualdade perante a lei e liberdade de expressão

Walter Williams

Walter Williams é negro, tem 74 anos e dá aula de economia na Universidade George Mason, na Virginia. Já foi engraxate e carregador de taco de golfe. Na juventude, chegou a preferir o radical Malcom X ao pacifista Martins Luther King. Williams está convencido: quem vence o racismo é o mercado, não a política de cotas. Num momento em que o assistencialismo, no Brasil, virou uma categoria de pensamento incontrastável e em que se dá a isso o nome de “redistribuição de renda”, vocês precisam ler a entrevista que ele concedeu a André Petry, publicada nas páginas amarelas da VEJA desta semana. Como todos nós, o economista tem as suas convicções, mas, antes de mais nada, tem alguns números um tanto desconcertantes sobre o tal “estado de bem-estar social”.

Williams se considera um libertário e é um crítico ácido da interferência do Estado na vida dos indivíduos. O indivíduo, diga-se, está no centro de suas preocupações. Ah, sim: ele acha que Barack Obama acabará “sendo ruim para os negros”. Por quê? Porque “seu governo, na melhor das hipóteses, será um desastre igual ao de Jimmy Carter”. Abaixo, reproduzo trechos da entrevista, em que se encontram frases como estas:

- AVANÇO DOS NEGROS - “Os negros, em geral, estão muito melhor agora do que há meio século. Mas os negros mais pobres estão pior.”

- ESTADO E FAMÍLIA - “Há anos, os Estados Unidos subsidiam a desintegração familiar”.

- MÃE SOLTEIRA PREMIADA - “Antes, uma menina grávida era uma vergonha para a família. Hoje, o estado de bem-estar social premia esse comportamento. O resultado é que, nos anos da minha adolescência, entre 13% e 15% das crianças negras eram filhas de mãe solteira. Agora, são 70%.”

- SALÁRIO MÍNIMO - “O salário mínimo, que as pessoas consideram uma conquista para os mais desprotegidos, é uma tragédia para os pobres. Deve-se ao salário mínimo o fim de empregos úteis para os pobres.”

- AÇÕES AFIRMATIVAS - “O ritmo do progresso dos negros entre as décadas de 40 e 60 foi maior do que entre as décadas de 60 e 80.”

- COTAS RACIAIS NO BRASIL - “A melhor coisa que os brasileiros poderiam fazer é garantir educação de qualidade. Cotas raciais no Brasil, um país mais miscigenado que os Estados Unidos, são um despropósito.”

- LIVRE MERCADO E DISCRIMINAÇÃO - “A melhor forma de permitir que cada um de nós - negro ou branco, homem ou mulher, brasileiro ou japonês - atinja seu potencial é o livre mercado. O livre mercado é o grande inimigo da discriminação”.

- LIBERDADE DE EXPRESSÃO - “É fácil defendê-la quando as pessoas estão dizendo coisas que julgamos positivas e sensatas, mas nosso compromisso com a liberdade de expressão só é realmente posto à prova quando diante de pessoas que dizem coisas que consideramos absolutamente repulsivas”.

- AFRO-AMERICANOS - “Essa expressão é uma idiotice, a começar pelo fato de que nem todos os africanos são negros. Um egípcio nascido nos Estados Unidos é um ‘afro-americano’?”

- ÁFRICA - “A África é um continente povoado por pessoas diferentes entre si. Os vários povos africanos estão tentando se matar uns aos outros há séculos. Nisso a África é idêntica à Europa, que também é um continente, também é povoada por povos distintos que também vêm tentando se matar uns aos outros há séculos”.
Leia mais um pouco da explosiva sensatez de Walter Williams. A íntegra da entrevista está na revista.

Em que aspectos a vida dos negros hoje é pior [nos Estados Unidos]?

Cresci na periferia pobre de Filadélfia entre os anos 40 e 50. Morávamos num conjunto habitacional popular sem grades nas janelas e dormíamos sossegados, sem barulho de tiros nas ruas. Sempre tive emprego, desde os 10 anos de idade. Engraxei sapatos, carreguei tacos no clube de golfe, trabalhei em restaurantes, entreguei correspondência nos feriados de Natal. As crianças negras de hoje que vivem na periferia de Filadélfia não têm essas oportunidades de emprego. No meu próximo livro, “Raça e Economia”, que sai no fim deste mês, mostro que, em 1948, o desemprego entre adolescentes negros era de 9.4%. Entre os brancos, 10.4%. Os negros eram mais ativos no mercado de trabalho. Hoje, nos bairros pobres de negros, por causa da criminalidade, boa parte das lojas e dos mercados fechou as portas. 

Os negros, em geral, estão muito melhor agora do que há meio século. Mas os negros mais pobres estão pior.

O estado de bem-estar social, com toda a variedade de benefícios sociais criados nas últimas décadas, não ajuda a aliviar a situação de pobreza dos negros de hoje?

Há anos, os Estados Unidos subsidiam a desintegração familiar. Quando uma adolescente pobre fica grávida, ela ganha direito a se inscrever em programas habitacionais para morar de graça, recebe vale-alimentação, vale-transporte e uma série de outros benefícios. Antes, uma menina grávida era uma vergonha para a família. Muitas eram mandadas para o Sul, para viver com parentes. Hoje, o estado de bem-estar social premia esse comportamento. O resultado é que nos anos da minha adolescência entre 13% e 15% das crianças negras eram filhas de mãe solteira. Agora, são 70%. O salário mínimo, que as pessoas consideram uma conquista para os mais desprotegidos, é uma tragédia para os pobres. Deve-se ao salário mínimo o fim de empregos úteis para os pobres.

As ações afirmativas e as cotas raciais não ajudaram a promover os negros americanos?

A primeira vez que se usou a ex-pressão “ação afirmativa” foi durante o governo de Richard Nixon [1969-1974]. Os negros naquele tempo já tinham feito avanços tremendos. Um colega tem um estudo que mostra que o ritmo do progresso dos negros entre as décadas de 40 e 60 foi maior do que entre as décadas de 60 e 80. Não se pode atribuir o sucesso dos negros às ações afirmativas.

Num país como o Brasil, onde os negros não avançaram tanto quanto nos Estados Unidos, as ações afirmativas não fazem sentido?

A melhor coisa que os brasileiros poderiam fazer é garantir educação de qualidade. Cotas raciais no Brasil, um país mais miscigenado que os Estados Unidos, são um despropósito. Além disso, forçam uma identificação racial que não faz parte da cultura brasileira. Forçar classificações raciais é um mau caminho. A Fundação Ford é a grande promotora de ações afirmativas por partir da premissa errada de que a realidade desfavorável aos negros é fruto da discriminação. Ninguém desconhece que houve discriminação pesada no passado e há ainda, embora tremendamente atenuada. Mas nem tudo é fruto de discriminação. O fato de que apenas 30% das crianças negras moram em casas com um pai e uma mãe é um problema, mas não resulta da discriminação. A diferença de desempenho acadêmico entre negros e brancos é dramática, mas não vem da discriminação. O baixo número de físicos, químicos ou estatísticos negros nos Estados Unidos não resulta da discriminação, mas da má formação acadêmica, que, por sua vez, também não é produto da discriminação racial.

Qual o meio mais eficaz para promover a igualdade racial?

Primeiro, não existe igualdade racial absoluta, nem ela é desejável. Há diferenças entre negros e brancos, homens e mulheres, e isso não é um problema. O desejável é que todos sejamos iguais perante a lei. Somos iguais perante a lei. Mas diferentes na vida. Nos Estados Unidos, os judeus são 3% da população, mas ganham 35% dos prêmios Nobel. Talvez sejam mais inteligentes, talvez sua cultura premie mais a educação, não interessa. A melhor forma de permitir que cada um de nós - negro ou branco, homem ou mulher, brasileiro ou japonês - atinja seu potencial é o livre mercado. O livre mercado é o grande inimigo da discriminação. Mas, para ter um livre mercado que mereça esse nome, é recomendável eliminar toda lei que discrimina ou proíbe discriminar.

O senhor é contra leis que proíbem a discriminação?

Sou um defensor radical da liberdade individual. A discriminação é indesejável nas instituições financiadas pelo dinheiro do contribuinte. A Universidade George Manson tem dinheiro público. Portanto, não pode discriminar. Uma biblioteca pública, que recebe dinheiro dos impostos pagos pelos cidadãos, não pode discriminar. Mas o resto pode. Um clube campestre, uma escola privada, seja o que for, tem o direito de discriminar. Acredito na liberdade de associação radical. As pessoas devem ser livres para se associar como quiserem.

Inclusive para reorganizar a Ku Klux Klan?

Sim, desde que não saiam matando e linchando pessoas, tudo bem. O verdadeiro teste sobre o nosso grau de adesão à idéia da liberdade de associação não se dá quando aceitamos que as pessoas se associem em torno de idéias com as quais concordamos. O teste real se dá quando aceitamos que se associem em torno de ideais que julgamos repugnantes. O mesmo vale para a liberdade de expressão. É fácil defendê-la quando as pessoas estão dizendo coisas que julgamos positivas e sensatas, mas nosso compromisso com a liberdade de expressão só é realmente posto à prova quando diante de pessoas que dizem coisas que consideramos absolutamente repulsivas.

O senhor exige ser chamado de “afro-americano”?

Essa expressão é uma idiotice, a começar pelo fato de que nem todos os africanos são negros. Um egípcio nascido nos Estados Unidos é um “afro-americano”? A África é um continente, povoado por pessoas diferentes entre si. Os vários povos africanos estão tentando se matar uns aos outros há séculos. Nisso a África é idêntica à Europa, que também é um continente, também é povoada por povos distintos que também vêm tentando se matar uns aos outros há séculos.

Fonte: Blog Reinaldo Azevedo
Divulgação: www.juliosevero.com

Artigos de Walter Williams traduzidos por Julio Severo:

O socialismo é diabólico

As destrutivas políticas anti-DDT do Ocidente

O racismo de Karl Marx

Os idiotas úteis dos socialistas

Interview with Avi Lipkin

Democracy Doesn't Happen Overnight from J.R. Church on Vimeo.

Waiting for God's Timing

Ex 32:1-10
“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him: “Come, make us a god who will go before us, as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him”.
Obedience not only involves doing the things that God commanded right away, but it also involves waiting on God and His instructions through His spokesman or the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the various means that He has chosen to reveal His will.
This is crucial because the flesh has the tendency to take over with impatience and rash decisions are made against God’s will. Of course, we deceive ourselves by choosing our own sign by which to interpret God’s will. Or we could be deceived by our enemy and falling into the trap of thinking it’s our own thought when in reality it was suggested by the enemy. We then proceed to make things happen in our own strength in order to fulfill our own wishes or desires and when they happen we are so happy and feel so blessed because we feel our prayers have been answered until God opens our eyes to the reality of our condition and the disposition of our hearts.
Of course nothing happens that is out of His sovereign rule, so He will use even our mistakes, our sins, our disobedience to teach us a lesson, discipline us so that we can learn and grow.
The flesh wants to be in control of the situation and inevitably, this attitude and following actions cause men to sin and lead to disobedience. Just take a look at Abraham and Ishmael, and Saul and Samuel.
The children of Israel knew that it was God who performed the miracles leading them out of bondage in Egypt , but they had to blame Moses because they couldn’t wait.
Aaron had no business making a proclamation about a feast. The Lord had told them in Egypt that He would give them instructions about where, when and how they were to worship the LORD.
The irony is that while they were taking matters into their own hands, God was at work giving the instructions to Moses.
The questions to us is: “Are we going to take God at His word and believe what He says even if it means waiting for His delay in answering our prayers or are we going to act in the flesh and bring about the things that we desire thus worshipping the idols of our hearts in disobedience and rebellion against God”?
Most of the time when we are impatient we don’t realize that God in His loving kindness towards us is working on our behalf to bring things and people in our lives, ordering the circumstances to bless us and do us good because He loves us and knows what is best for us.
Jean-Louis.

SAUDADE - NOSTALGIE

Tu me manques
comme la muse
manque au poète,
comme le croissant
manque au café au lait,
un beau matin de fête
comme le frutti
manque au tutti,
Eh bien voilà
il ne manquait
plus que ça!

comme une forêt sans arbres
comme un palais sans marbre
des lèvres sans baisers,
comme hélas
mes bras qui se lassent
de ne pas t’enlacer,

comme un train sans gare
comme un au revoir
sans larmes, sans mouchoir
pour pouvoir les sécher
comme une nostalgie
sans sujet ni objet
sans coucher de soleil
ni de vermeil
le moindre soupçon
pour servir de fond
à ta gracieuse silhouette
qui s’estompe innocemment
dans le grenier des souvenirs
remplissant ma tête

comme un gentil zéphir
dans ce maelstrom menaçant
comme une sourdine
sur une trompette
annonçant l’accalmie,

comme lors d’une tempête de neige
sans flocons d’avoine
sur une nappe fleurie
d’un bouquet de pivoines
au lieu d’un blanc linceul,
au petit déjeuner passé
à bavarder tout seul
dans un monologue
sans écho pour partager
nos souvenirs du temps passé,

sans crainte de se méprendre
sans peur de trop d’émoi
dans le besoin d’apprendre
chacun à se comprendre
sans raison, ni pourquoi

à l’aube du voyage de retour
dont nous avons rêvé, toi et moi
dans le domaine éternel
de notre grand amour.


Jean-Louis. Décembre 2007.

The Cross of Christ and The Christian life

Lessons from the threshing floor

O my threshed people and my afflicted (son) of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I make known to you. (Isaiah 21:10 NASV).

The seasons in the Christian’s life (Brokenness)

My intention in choosing the subject of this message was to provide some understanding into the meaning and purpose of suffering in the Christian life. Since my adolescence, I have reflected on the origin of evil as well as the meaning and purpose of suffering in my life and that of my fellow men. Perhaps, each one of us has pondered the same thing in the midst of unexpected adverse circumstances. This search for answers is valid, but could lead to a horrible frustration reaching a deep state of desperation if we do not find an answer that makes sense. As our pastor told us in last week’s sermon the correct question must not be: “Lord, why do we suffer, but what for? I believe that if we can find the answer to the latter, we will be able to accept all circumstances in our lives with a new positive perspective, knowing that we can trust in our God who loves us, who has a plan for our life and who gives us everything we need to grow in Him.

King David in Psalm 25: 4,5, asked the LORD: Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day”. Further on, the same Psalm declares in verse 14: “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant”. Through much study of the Word of God and through personal experience, I have found satisfactory answers to my quest and have concluded that suffering is a normal part of the Christian life and that it is essential for our growth. This is what I would like to share with you today.

BACKGROUND

In the Bible one of the most important places is Mount Moriah. According to Genesis 22:1-2: “God did prove ( or test) Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah. And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of”.

On the same Mount Moriah stood the city of Jebus, the Jebusite stronghold renamed Jerusalem by King David who conquered it. It is the same site on which King David offered a sacrifice to avert a plague that God sent upon the Israelites because of David’s disobedience when he ordered his captains to take a military census. The Bible relates the event in 2 Samuel 24: 16-25: “So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 And David spake unto Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. 18 ¶ And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 And David went up according to the saying of Gad, as Jehovah commanded. 20 And Araunah looked forth, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar unto that the plague may be stayed from the people. 22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood: 23 all this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, Jehovah thy God accept thee. 24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will verily buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.” Years later, according to 2 Chronicles 3:1, 2: “Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where Jehovah appeared unto David his father, which he made ready in the place that David had appointed, in the threshing-floor of Ornan (or Araunah) the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign”.

Finally, we come to the supreme sacrifice which occurred in the very same place, in Jerusalem, where the unblemished lamb of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus-Christ offered himself to be crucified on the cross as atonement to wash away our sins, obtain forgiveness, salvation and eternal life for those who repent and believe in Him.

INTRODUCTION

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted”. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2).

“Listen and hear my voice; pay attention to what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him in the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one doesn’t go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it. All this comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom".(Isaiah 28:23-29).

I. PREPARING THE GROUND

It is important for a farmer to follow a series of successive steps in preparing the ground in order to ensure a plentiful harvest in the end. Likewise, in our efforts to evangelize, we sow the seed of the Word of God to all who will listen. If we expect to gather a harvest of lasting fruit as a reward of our labor, we have to follow the same plan of action written for us in our instruction manual, the Bible.

According to John 15:14-16, Jesus said to his disciples: “You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you". (RSV).

1. Plowing with the Word, prayers and tears

First, the farmer must plow the land. His purpose in doing this is to plant, not to plow continually because his final goal is to harvest an abundant crop. (v.23,24). Can we recognize the infinite wisdom of God in this and learn from it? How many times do we have to plow the ground (the heart) with our prayers and come again and again when we see that the ground (the heart) is still hard and dry until we get discouraged and confused because we think God is not answering our prayers. Are we using the sharp edge of the plowshare (the Word of God) which can keep our line straight, which goes before us and shows us the way, which tells us when to start and stop, how far and how deep to plow? Are we so connected to the plow that we can feel when the sharp edge goes over a stone? Or has the Word of God in us lost its sharpness because of disuse, mishandling, or our lack of trust in what He declares such as, “ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it”. (Isaiah 55:11.NIV).

It might be that we have not shed enough tears with our prayers to soften the ground. Remember the tears that our Lord shed over Jerusalem in looking at her during His triumphal entry as He said, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes”. (Luke 19:42) and the sorrow He felt when He declared later on, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not"! (Matthew 23:37).

O, that we might understand the purpose of God in breaking us and pray that the tears that come from the afflictions we suffer (“That we may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” [Phillipians 3:10]) may be used to soften the hard ground to make it receptive to His Word (the seed). Are we crying for our family, our friends, our enemies, our city, our country and the world? If not, let us ask the Father to reveal to us the inclination of His heart toward His wayward children and the world that He created and that He loves.

2. Healing the bitter waters and the unproductive land

In 2 Kings 2:19-22, there is an interesting story about the way God chose to heal a town water supply and the surrounding unproductive land. “ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake”.

Without wrenching these words out of their context, may we find a parallel with our present situation and spiritual condition. Have we blocked the flow of the water of life in us which is supposed to overflow to others, by quenching the Holy Spirit, thus allowing our inner life to become stagnant and polluted while at the same time keeping the trappings and external appearances of religion? Have we like the people at the time of the prophet Isaiah “stored up water in the Lower Pool, counted the buildings in Jerusalem (our city?) and torn down houses (households, families?), and built a reservoir (churches ?) between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, not looking to the One who made it or have regard for the one who planned it long ago. The Lord, the Lord almighty called on that day to weep and to wail…, ” (Isaiah 22:9-12 NIV). (Look up the whole chapter and compare verse 22 with Matthew 16:19, 18:18, John 20:23 and Revelation 3:7-13 for a better understanding of who has and delegates true spiritual authority, to whom and what happens when the leaders become corrupt.

3. New bowl, sacrifice and salt

Back to Kings and the prophet Elisha, let’s consider the Lord’s remedy if we have eyes to see our present situation and are willing to apply God’s Word in order to receive healing. In 2 Kings 2:20 the prophet says: “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it”. Note that the bowl is new. The old bowl will not do. Jesus said in Matthew 9:17 “Neither do men pour new wine into old wine skins”.If the individual Christian is unproductive, the Church is unproductive in the sense that it is not working at full capacity. Remember the sin of Achan that caused the temporary defeat of the children of Israel, but also in contrast remember the love of the Good Shepherd who went to seek the lost sheep. Our Lord is interested in the condition of His flock as a whole, but also in the condition of His individual sheep.

We need to be purified, dedicated to and consecrated by the Lord. We need to present ourselves to the Lord to be cleansed that we may be fit for His service. The new bowl must contain salt. What kind of salt? Jesus in Luke 14:34,35 declares that: “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil, nor for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out”. Look at verse 33 just above what Jesus is saying about the cost of discipleship: “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he cannot be my disciple”.

“Lord Jesus, surely you do not mean relinquishing the right to nurse my own pain and the suffering from the affliction that I have to endure; to know for a season the bitterness and resentment that I feel because of the hurtful actions and words of others, causing my bones to be a source of agony, my heart to burst because of the pain and my mind to know no peace; do I have to give that up also in order to be your disciple? (A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22) “Yes, answers the gentle Savior, that too; in front of sinful men, they bruised my flesh, they beat up my face beyond recognition, they jeered at me, the perfect, sinless Son of God, I could not even see their faces because the blood from my forehead was mixed with the tears that I cried for them, but the Father would not allow their anger, their contempt, their envy, their blind ignorance to break my bones. In the garden when “my soul was overwhelmed to the point of death” and I carried that bitterness for you, the Father did not allow it to break my bones. On the cross even though they mocked me, I drank the bitter cup to the end and finally when they pierced my heart, my Father did not allow them to break my bones. Yes, my son, my daughter, I want you to lay this on the altar, as well as your personal aspirations, your dreams, your goals, your skills and everything else, just as I did in loving, willing submission to my Father, so that you will know my perfect, good and acceptable will for your life”.

(These things happened so that the scriptures would be fulfilled:

“Not one of his bones will be broken”. John 19:36).

In Romans 12:1, Paul exhorts us to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, holy and pleasing to God, as our spiritual act of worship”. Our bodies contain a lot of salt. But you may ask, what does that have to do with plowing, sowing, sacrifice and harvest? In Leviticus 2:13, the Lord told Moses “Season all your grain offering with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; add salt to your offering”. Salt so valuable for its preserving and antiseptic qualities was a symbol of constancy, fidelity and purity and as such was used to typify the eternal nature of the covenant between God and Israel. We have seen above that salt fit for the soil is salt that has retained its saltiness. In Israel, salt was used in a mixture with gypsum, a rock with a bitter taste that served to make plaster to cover the house roofs. That may be what Jesus had in mind when Matthew added to the verse about the salt of the earth, “and be trampled of men” in Matthew 5:13 since a great part of the Israelites’ life was spent on the roof of their houses.

4. Purification through the fire of affliction

However, salt before it can be used, has to go through the process of being made pure. As soon as salt gets in contact with humidity, its inherent absorbing quality, just like a sponge sucking in water, causes it to be polluted by whatever impurity is in the water. Talking about salt again, but this time in the context of people causing believers to sin, Jesus clarifies the issue of purity when He says, “For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltiness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another”. (Mark 9:49-50).

How is the Lord going to make the salt in us pure? Through the fire of affliction. Malachi 3:3 states: “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness”.

Do we have peace with one another? Peace in the body of Christ does not just happen. Paul in Ephesians exhorts us to make every effort to keep unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. We already have unity if we are in Christ, the hard part is to keep it. Isaiah 48:17-18 states, “Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea”. Our Lord Jesus gave us a new commandment, “That ye love one another, as I have loved you”. (John 15:12). I believe that a great deal of what is hindering the work of God in our communities stems from the lack of the bond of peace in the Christians’ relationships, between spouses, parents and children, Christian brothers and sisters and churches of different or same denomination. (Here I am not talking ecumenical unity, but of the unity of the Spirit between true followers of Christ).

Is the water of our city brackish?

Is the relationship among Christians in our city one of love, peace and unity or are we trying to cover up the lack of reality in our lives, the hurts, discord, bitterness and resentment with our Sunday smiles?

Following the example of the prophet Elisha, how could we make the city water that came from the spring (the inner spiritual flow) sweet and the land (our lives) productive again? By letting the Lord cleanse us (the bowl or vessel), and purify the salt in us as we gladly accept the purifying fire of affliction and trials without bitterness. The quickest way for salt to penetrate hard, unproductive soil is to be diluted and poured out on it and that is just what we Christians can do with our tears.

Father, according to your Word in Psalm 56:8 your servant David asked you to put his tears in a bottle. May we see your hand in our affliction and accept its purifying purpose for our lives. We, your church, ask you through the power of your Holy Spirit to create in us a pure heart, release our tears that you have collected in these broken vessels and pour them on the dry and hard hearts that they might be softened just as your rain falls on the just and the unjust to soften the earth and causes things to grow.

5. The level ground at the cross

Then, the farmer must level the surface of the ground (v.25), so the seeds will all start germinating at the same level to make sure that the final crop will be as even as possible. We all have to start at Ground Zero,

“at the cross where we first saw the light

and the burden of our hearts rolled away

it was there by faith we received our sight…”

Our Lord Jesus was crucified between the two thieves. But actually the thief that turned to Jesus and cried out to Him for help was himself in the center of the battleground between two attitudes and choices that were represented at Calvary. The first one of bitterness, cynicism, mockery, empty bravado from the thief who rejected the precious gift of life, and the other one of forgiveness, indomitable courage, total acceptance of His Father’s will from the Lord Jesus who is and has the gift of eternal life. The ground was most fertile at the foot of the cross where it had been plowed by the soldier’s shovels who dug the hole and was watered by the blood of the sacrificed pure lamb of God and the water of His tears mixed with the salt contained in His body. The ground was the same, the tears, the blood, the gift equally available to each one of the thieves, but one chose life in forgiveness and the other one death in bitterness. For us, the choice is still the same today. (“Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water” John 19:34).

II. BROKENNESS BY PLANTING

After the ground is ready, the farmer planted wheat in its place (there is a particular soil and a different planting pattern that is best for certain seeds): wheat seeds were planted in lined furrows, apart to insure larger and fuller ears. (v.25). All this knowledge must come from God, the only one capable of teaching men to properly understand the world which He created and the ways in which His creation must work together to bring about His desired purpose. (v.26). Taken from the Christian perspective, it is our Lord who plants us where He wants us. We must grow (toward God) and die (to ourselves) wherever He plants us to produce in the end a fruitful harvest for His purpose and His glory. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:24,25).

III. BROKENNESS BY THRESHING (The natural self)

Threshing occurs to separate the wheat from the chaff. The grain has already been planted, harvested, and now is being prepared in this separation process for yet another necessary step in the life of the grain of wheat. It must be threshed in order to, later on, be ground into flour so that the baker can use it to bake the loaf of bread. The threshing requires a specific instrument for a specific type of grain. Not all grains are threshed in the same manner. “For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cumin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cumin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised.” (King James). Wheat used to be beaten manually to separate it from the chaff and then tossed up in the air so that the wind would carry it away. Nowadays we use mechanical or electric threshers.

Oswald Chambers insightfully perceives that “Individuality is the husk of the personal life… It separates and isolates. The shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering for the protection of the personal life; but individuality must go in order that the personal life may come out and be brought into fellowship with God. The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-assertiveness. The thing in you that will not be reconciled to your brother is your individuality. God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself He cannot.” (See Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, Dec. 11th. On individuality).

God uses circumstances and people to show us what needs to be taken out of our lives as chaff, so He can blow it off and use the kernel of wheat, the good nutritious part to be food for others. But according to Isaiah 28:28, God who is as gracious as He is practical says that “one does not go on threshing it forever”. Thank God, “his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor last a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5).

However, the next step in the process of being broken is also painful, though different. There is an increase in the intensity of the breaking. As an example, compare the two stages in the sorrow of Abraham, first when he had to let go of his son Ishmael with his mother Hagar, and later on when God asked him to sacrifice the son of the promise, Isaac. Anyway, nothing in this world can compare to the grief the Father felt when He had to abandon His beloved son Jesus as He offered Himself as a sacrifice to take our place on the cross as a ransom for our salvation.

IV. BROKENNESS BY GRINDING

Up until now, we had individual grains of wheat from individual stalks that require still a further process before there can be any bread making as such. Verse 28 of Isaiah 28 tells us that: “grain must be ground to make bread”. It is impossible to make bread that stays in one piece with individual kernels. The gluten, sticky substance that holds the loaf together is inherent to the wheat, but the individual grains of wheat have to be ground in order to provide the right consistency and the (glue-like), binding quality that causes the bread to hold together. The flour, ground product, still has everything that was contained in the individual separate grains of wheat, now unrecognizable as kernels because of the transformation process into a workable substance. In the same way, the loaf of bread baked from the flour contains every grain of wheat (minus the chaff) that has been submitted to the processes of grinding, mixing, kneading, rising and finally baking.

Another insight from Oswald Chambers is that “Personality is the characteristic of the spiritual man as individuality is the characteristic of the natural man. Our Lord can never be defined in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of personality. “I and my Father are one”. Personality merges and you only reach your identity when you are merged with another person”. (See Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. Dec. 12th. On Personality).

As Christians we are called to deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily and follow our Lord Jesus and be the servant of all. As out of His great love for us, He laid down His life we, in turn lay our lives down as an expression of love for the benefit of the body of Christ, so that individually and corporately, we will reflect the life and the glory of Christ for the praise of the Father. Paul in I Corinthians 10:16 speaks of the loaf of bread as a symbol for the body of Christ that was broken for us, but also of the Church, His body on earth in these terms, “the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

In all three examples of breaking, plowing the ground, threshing the wheat and grinding the flour, the farmer doing the breaking is using the help of an implement like the sharp edge of the plowshare, or an instrument such as a rod or a grinding wheel. In like manner God, in order to break us will bring into our lives a specific tool of His own choosing, a particular circumstance or person fit for the job. When it happens we have a tendency to look at the instrument and not beyond at our Master-Teacher who is using the instrument for our benefit. Are we able to say at this point, “not my will, but thine be done?” Check what Peter says in I Peter 1:7; I Peter 2:21; and what James says in James 1:2 about trials and testing as they relate to faith, perseverance and maturity.

V. CONCLUSION

Acceptance, willingness and obedience

What is most important is the spirit with which we receive the trials the Lord gives us, and our reaction to the suffering they bring. Let us have the same attitude as David who said in Psalm 16:5,6 “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” We want to live in the blessed presence of our Lord, don’t we? David poses a pertinent question when he asks in Psalm 15: “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? (v.1), He who keeps his oath even when it hurts”(v.4b). We, as disciples, have promised to follow our Lord Jesus no matter what happens, no matter where He takes us. Well, in John 12:26 Jesus says: “Whoever serves me must follow me and wherever I am, my servant will be also.” Is our Lord grieving over the condition of His church and that of the lost people in the world He so dearly loves and died for? If so, we will be grieving with Him and be moved to obedient action directed by the Holy Spirit.

However, my brothers and sisters rejoice, for He also said to His disciples: “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve but your grief will turn to joy”. And then, we can say like David: “You turned my wailing into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” (Psalm 30:11,12) and remember that Psalm 126: 3 declares: “ The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”

Amen “All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom”. (Isaiah 28:29).
Jean-Louis. Thanksgiving day1998. Revised and corrected June 2004.

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Este texto está protegido sob uma Licença Creative Commons. Pode ser copiado, distribuido e exibido para fins nao comerciais, desde que seja dado crédito ao autor. Cite autor Jean-Louis Mondon crie um link para o blog http://mondonjl.blogspot.com/