SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN A POST 9-11 DESERT
Second offering of manna via Fritz Springmeier
The life of Christ has some lessons for us today.
Why did Judas Iscariot betray Christ? He was the only Judean among the 12
chosen disciples, and considered the best educated. He became the group's
banker, and it was clear from an incident prior to Jesus' arrest he lacked the
ability to view things spiritually, but perceived things from a material
standpoint. Considering that Judas held this deficiency, it is not wild to
propose that he became disillusioned with Christ's lack of aggressiveness at
the height of his popularity to seize power as a king and to work with other
powerful groups of the day. Jesus (actually Yeshua) was on a spiritual mission
to save the world spiritually, Judas only saw his own frustrations that Yeshua
was not the fulfillment of the great leader his educated mind expected. It's
obvious that Judas had to have an element of disillusionment with Yeshua ben
Joseph (Jesus) because he betrayed Yeshua for an insignificant amount of
money. As a educated wheeler dealer with money, he most certainly was not
impressed with the amount he was paid to betray a popular friend (in fact he
threw it away with disgust like a teenager tosses away a penny today); but
there doesn't seem to have been any bargaining to get more. He was
disillusioned; Yeshua had not fulfilled his expectations. The second thoughts
he had later also indicate his sellout was an act in the heat of the moment,
precipitated by something. What are our expectations of Christ today? I have
met my share of disillusioned "ex-Christians" who didn't get their
expectations met.
A young man came to my house and ranted and raved about how Christ and God had
betrayed him. He was angry with God. His expectations of God Almighty had not
been met. It was difficult to get in a word edgewise during his 30-minute
tirade, but finally after patiently listening to his rage, I managed to ask a
question? I ask, "Did you give your life to Christ?" "Well, yes." "If you
sincerely gave your life to Yahweh and Christ to do with as they please, how
can you be upset at what they did with it?", I softly asked. Then while
looking him in the eyes, I managed to slip in a few words of warning, "Being
angry with God is a very dangerous thing. It will cost you your life."
Within a short time this angry man's anger had cost him his life. He pulled
into the parking lot of Fred Meyer's store. At this point, the truck ahead of
him upset him, so he began to scream. He scared the two people in the truck.
They took off and he jumped out and grabbed hold of their tire mounted on the
back, while continuing to scream. Further frightened by this raving stranger,
the driver sped up and took a sharp turn. The result was the tire came off, my
raving angry young man landed on his head, his head ballooned to several times
its normal size, and he passed on into eternity to meet his Creator who he so
despised.
What are our expectations of Almighty God? Go to the ocean and see its
vastness my dear reader and then while the ocean rumbles and the waves cascade
onto the zillions of pieces of sand of the shore, throw all your expectations
of God into the vast ocean, and leave them there. What is the Creator of this
Universe, if He isn't vaster than our puny understandings and our puny
expectations? How dare we call Him our God, and "Almighty God" at that if we
don't give Him the authority to do whatever He pleases?
There was another man who was angry with Almighty God. His name was Cain. Cain
had worked hard and brought the fruits of his hard work to God as a sacrifice.
Like Judas he wasn't able to see spiritually. God repeatedly revealed to His
prophets that He simply doesn't need anything we can give Him. He doesn't need
buildings, He doesn't need our works, and He doesn't need our money. He wanted
blood sacrifices from people before the time of Christ, because it pictured
the enormous sacrifice He himself was willing to provide mankind to pay our
debt to Him. The issue around Cain and Abel's sacrifice was not a material
issue, it was a spiritual issue. Here again spiritual shortsightedness caused
a man to die. Here again the unfulfilled expectation that God would accept his
sacrifice caused rage. Cain in his rage went and murdered Abel. And here is
where we hear those infamous words, "AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?"
A spirit of murder is behind those words. "Am I my brother's keeper?" We hear
the same kind of words still being said thousands of years later. One of the
first minor concentration camps (if not the very first) that Patton's 4th
armored division captured was near the village of Ohrdruf. Patton ordered all
30 of the citizens of the town to come and personally view the disgusting
concentration camp. Again we see people with the attitude of "Am I my
brother's keeper?" But the spirit of murder behind that attitude to turn away
from helping our fellow man wasn't done yet. When the mayor of the town and
his wife went home, in guilt they hung themselves like Judas Iscariot.
Let me clarify something, the German government had portrayed certain people
as internal terrorists who were trying to destroy Germany, and Jews were one
of primary groups labeled "sneaky destructive terrorists." But people with a
godly conscience knew better.
And now I am warning my fellow Americans. You can look at what is going on in
this nation NOW, or you can look at the victims of the concentration camps
later. I am ashamed that my fellow Americans are turning their backs on what
is happening to real Patriots and God fearing Christians in this nation.
When Bush signed the "tough Anti-terrorism" bill that goes light years beyond
anything needed to fight terrorism, and strips Americans of their fragile
reservoir of civil liberties, you know what Americans were saying? Oh that
Anti-terrorism bill only affects foreign terrorists. Reportedly this is what
CNN told them.
While Americans wave their made-in-China American flags, what has happened to
many godly ministers and churches in this nation? They have been shut down,
and their ministers arrested. This has been going on for two decades now, and
other churches, just like Cain and the German people in Nazi Germany, have
turned their backs and not looked. No they do not want to be their brother's
keeper. No they do not want to see the spiritual war that is going on. As
long as they have a big plush 501(c)(3) government-approved
corporation-of-the-state church they are relatively content.
A true deliverance ministry is what the saint called the Good Samaritan did on
the road to Damascus. It certainly wasn't what the great religious leaders
did. No they had their own agenda. They turned their back on the pain and
suffering of their fellow man, just like the churches are ignoring the
government's persecution of people today.
Love thy neighbor as thyself. One of the unique attributes of Christ's
ministry is that he healed the lepers of his day. (cf. Lk. 7:22) People
didn't even want to associate with such people. But helping the lepers was
more than a sign of Yeshua being the Christ. Christ then asked his followers
to also go out and heal these undesirable people. (MT 10:8)
While there were individuals who helped my wife and I through our suffering of
government persecution this year, not one church recognized what had happened.
While individual Christians did help us, (for which our heavenly Father will
remember that love) the largest help that we received was not from Christians.
Can you understand that? Individuals who are not even Christians (yes those
despised Samaritans) stooped down to help us, while many Christians walked by.
(I have to interject, only God knows who really gave the most, some may have
given their widow's mite.)
Yes there were Christians who didn't want to get dirty helping us. We had been
branded "terrorists" by the government-media consortium. (Don't misunderstand
me. It was not that any real proof against us was ever shown or stated, but
there were lots of "We believe they were linked to blah blah blah.We found
hate literature that is linked to blah blah, which is we believe is linked to
blah blah blah.." Never mind they gave the public no clue why a researcher
like myself might have all kinds of things in my vast library including
something politically incorrect. Never mind that a few politically incorrect
items --branded "hate literature"-- were seized from the middle of a vast
collection of love literature.) Obviously some people thought: "Can't help a
terrorist", even when they knew in both their hearts and minds that we were
not terrorists.
God gives people the right to make those kind of decisions. Don't get me
wrong. I'm not saying they don't have a right to be prudent. Even if they go
beyond that fine line between prudence to where they neglect their brother,
God still gives them that liberty to make that bad choice. But I'm using my
own case as an example of how the World Order can slander someone as an evil
terrorist without any proof and then that person's brothers-in-Christ are
afraid to associate with them, lest they be painted by the same slanderous
brush. It's the fear of "guilt by association", the same fear that caused
Peter to deny Christ. And some of these people who turn a blind eye will
regret not standing up for their brothers, when the World Order comes after
them, and there is no one left to help them. But more likely God will give
them the free will to decide not to help, and I will too, but I am warning
everyone that the day will come when they will face the consequences, just
like that German couple at Ohrdruf.
Yes, walk on by Americans and Christian Americans. Turn your back on the
persecution and the persecuted. No, you are not your brother's keeper. No,
don't dirty your hands and reputations. But mark my words, history will repeat
itself. There will come a time when all of you will get to face the results
of your negligence and it will be too late.
This manna was shared Oct. 28. Lord willing, I will continue to share more
later.
Second offering of manna via Fritz Springmeier
The life of Christ has some lessons for us today.
Why did Judas Iscariot betray Christ? He was the only Judean among the 12
chosen disciples, and considered the best educated. He became the group's
banker, and it was clear from an incident prior to Jesus' arrest he lacked the
ability to view things spiritually, but perceived things from a material
standpoint. Considering that Judas held this deficiency, it is not wild to
propose that he became disillusioned with Christ's lack of aggressiveness at
the height of his popularity to seize power as a king and to work with other
powerful groups of the day. Jesus (actually Yeshua) was on a spiritual mission
to save the world spiritually, Judas only saw his own frustrations that Yeshua
was not the fulfillment of the great leader his educated mind expected. It's
obvious that Judas had to have an element of disillusionment with Yeshua ben
Joseph (Jesus) because he betrayed Yeshua for an insignificant amount of
money. As a educated wheeler dealer with money, he most certainly was not
impressed with the amount he was paid to betray a popular friend (in fact he
threw it away with disgust like a teenager tosses away a penny today); but
there doesn't seem to have been any bargaining to get more. He was
disillusioned; Yeshua had not fulfilled his expectations. The second thoughts
he had later also indicate his sellout was an act in the heat of the moment,
precipitated by something. What are our expectations of Christ today? I have
met my share of disillusioned "ex-Christians" who didn't get their
expectations met.
A young man came to my house and ranted and raved about how Christ and God had
betrayed him. He was angry with God. His expectations of God Almighty had not
been met. It was difficult to get in a word edgewise during his 30-minute
tirade, but finally after patiently listening to his rage, I managed to ask a
question? I ask, "Did you give your life to Christ?" "Well, yes." "If you
sincerely gave your life to Yahweh and Christ to do with as they please, how
can you be upset at what they did with it?", I softly asked. Then while
looking him in the eyes, I managed to slip in a few words of warning, "Being
angry with God is a very dangerous thing. It will cost you your life."
Within a short time this angry man's anger had cost him his life. He pulled
into the parking lot of Fred Meyer's store. At this point, the truck ahead of
him upset him, so he began to scream. He scared the two people in the truck.
They took off and he jumped out and grabbed hold of their tire mounted on the
back, while continuing to scream. Further frightened by this raving stranger,
the driver sped up and took a sharp turn. The result was the tire came off, my
raving angry young man landed on his head, his head ballooned to several times
its normal size, and he passed on into eternity to meet his Creator who he so
despised.
What are our expectations of Almighty God? Go to the ocean and see its
vastness my dear reader and then while the ocean rumbles and the waves cascade
onto the zillions of pieces of sand of the shore, throw all your expectations
of God into the vast ocean, and leave them there. What is the Creator of this
Universe, if He isn't vaster than our puny understandings and our puny
expectations? How dare we call Him our God, and "Almighty God" at that if we
don't give Him the authority to do whatever He pleases?
There was another man who was angry with Almighty God. His name was Cain. Cain
had worked hard and brought the fruits of his hard work to God as a sacrifice.
Like Judas he wasn't able to see spiritually. God repeatedly revealed to His
prophets that He simply doesn't need anything we can give Him. He doesn't need
buildings, He doesn't need our works, and He doesn't need our money. He wanted
blood sacrifices from people before the time of Christ, because it pictured
the enormous sacrifice He himself was willing to provide mankind to pay our
debt to Him. The issue around Cain and Abel's sacrifice was not a material
issue, it was a spiritual issue. Here again spiritual shortsightedness caused
a man to die. Here again the unfulfilled expectation that God would accept his
sacrifice caused rage. Cain in his rage went and murdered Abel. And here is
where we hear those infamous words, "AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?"
A spirit of murder is behind those words. "Am I my brother's keeper?" We hear
the same kind of words still being said thousands of years later. One of the
first minor concentration camps (if not the very first) that Patton's 4th
armored division captured was near the village of Ohrdruf. Patton ordered all
30 of the citizens of the town to come and personally view the disgusting
concentration camp. Again we see people with the attitude of "Am I my
brother's keeper?" But the spirit of murder behind that attitude to turn away
from helping our fellow man wasn't done yet. When the mayor of the town and
his wife went home, in guilt they hung themselves like Judas Iscariot.
Let me clarify something, the German government had portrayed certain people
as internal terrorists who were trying to destroy Germany, and Jews were one
of primary groups labeled "sneaky destructive terrorists." But people with a
godly conscience knew better.
And now I am warning my fellow Americans. You can look at what is going on in
this nation NOW, or you can look at the victims of the concentration camps
later. I am ashamed that my fellow Americans are turning their backs on what
is happening to real Patriots and God fearing Christians in this nation.
When Bush signed the "tough Anti-terrorism" bill that goes light years beyond
anything needed to fight terrorism, and strips Americans of their fragile
reservoir of civil liberties, you know what Americans were saying? Oh that
Anti-terrorism bill only affects foreign terrorists. Reportedly this is what
CNN told them.
While Americans wave their made-in-China American flags, what has happened to
many godly ministers and churches in this nation? They have been shut down,
and their ministers arrested. This has been going on for two decades now, and
other churches, just like Cain and the German people in Nazi Germany, have
turned their backs and not looked. No they do not want to be their brother's
keeper. No they do not want to see the spiritual war that is going on. As
long as they have a big plush 501(c)(3) government-approved
corporation-of-the-state church they are relatively content.
A true deliverance ministry is what the saint called the Good Samaritan did on
the road to Damascus. It certainly wasn't what the great religious leaders
did. No they had their own agenda. They turned their back on the pain and
suffering of their fellow man, just like the churches are ignoring the
government's persecution of people today.
Love thy neighbor as thyself. One of the unique attributes of Christ's
ministry is that he healed the lepers of his day. (cf. Lk. 7:22) People
didn't even want to associate with such people. But helping the lepers was
more than a sign of Yeshua being the Christ. Christ then asked his followers
to also go out and heal these undesirable people. (MT 10:8)
While there were individuals who helped my wife and I through our suffering of
government persecution this year, not one church recognized what had happened.
While individual Christians did help us, (for which our heavenly Father will
remember that love) the largest help that we received was not from Christians.
Can you understand that? Individuals who are not even Christians (yes those
despised Samaritans) stooped down to help us, while many Christians walked by.
(I have to interject, only God knows who really gave the most, some may have
given their widow's mite.)
Yes there were Christians who didn't want to get dirty helping us. We had been
branded "terrorists" by the government-media consortium. (Don't misunderstand
me. It was not that any real proof against us was ever shown or stated, but
there were lots of "We believe they were linked to blah blah blah.We found
hate literature that is linked to blah blah, which is we believe is linked to
blah blah blah.." Never mind they gave the public no clue why a researcher
like myself might have all kinds of things in my vast library including
something politically incorrect. Never mind that a few politically incorrect
items --branded "hate literature"-- were seized from the middle of a vast
collection of love literature.) Obviously some people thought: "Can't help a
terrorist", even when they knew in both their hearts and minds that we were
not terrorists.
God gives people the right to make those kind of decisions. Don't get me
wrong. I'm not saying they don't have a right to be prudent. Even if they go
beyond that fine line between prudence to where they neglect their brother,
God still gives them that liberty to make that bad choice. But I'm using my
own case as an example of how the World Order can slander someone as an evil
terrorist without any proof and then that person's brothers-in-Christ are
afraid to associate with them, lest they be painted by the same slanderous
brush. It's the fear of "guilt by association", the same fear that caused
Peter to deny Christ. And some of these people who turn a blind eye will
regret not standing up for their brothers, when the World Order comes after
them, and there is no one left to help them. But more likely God will give
them the free will to decide not to help, and I will too, but I am warning
everyone that the day will come when they will face the consequences, just
like that German couple at Ohrdruf.
Yes, walk on by Americans and Christian Americans. Turn your back on the
persecution and the persecuted. No, you are not your brother's keeper. No,
don't dirty your hands and reputations. But mark my words, history will repeat
itself. There will come a time when all of you will get to face the results
of your negligence and it will be too late.
This manna was shared Oct. 28. Lord willing, I will continue to share more
later.
_______________
Spiritual Manna for spiritual warfare during the post 9-11 spiritual desert Manna message no. 4, Oct. 29, 2001
Message titled "Do you feel hopeless? Good." offered by Fritz Springmeier
Have you given up hope? That may be a good thing. An earlier Christian, who
faced another New World Order, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, said that our hopes have
to die for us to have real hope. If you've lost hope, you may be ahead of lots
of other people. Lots of people don't realize that our hopes evolve. For
instance, we displayed hope as an infant by crying and reaching toward our
mother's breast. But, our hopes changed as the years changed. By and large,
most of us developed lots of false hopes. Until we discard hoping for the
wrong things and putting our hopes in false things, we can't progress to what
we need to hope in. If you have given up hope, you may be at the best place to
begin to have a better hope. The manna I offer you will not be some
intellectual or religious pie in the sky, for hope is not an intellectual
treatise but an affair of the heart.
Many of us have already heard the minister tell us that mankind's suffering
is the result of sin, and that free will means God has given us all the chance
to rebel and get ourselves into deep trouble. Thanks, God. And we're to
patiently wait 'til heaven and hell sort the record out. All this feels
academic when life gives us a rude jolt and suddenly dumps us into the middle
of some deep suffering. And then we ask, Why?
Hey, that's what Christ did too. He cried out, Why? "My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?" If you feel this way, try going out into the garden and
getting some perspective on life. (I don't mean eating worms, I mean
gardening.) Christ however was hanging on a cross and didn't have that luxury.
A black minister gave a sermon (one of the best I've ever heard) about the
despair of the crucifixion, and hope. Leave it to a descendent of slaves to
know about hope. Anyway, the punch line (refrain) in his talk was "It's
Friday, but Sunday's coming." He'd describe a batch of overwhelming problems
and then he'd refrain, "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming." His powerful
melodious punch line has always stuck with me.
The Word of God talks about people who are rich and need nothing, and people
who are well and don't need medical attention; they are self-satisfied. (LK
6:24, 5:31) The educated can be so full of learning & information; they don't
feel like they need anything spiritual. Like an overstuffed diner after a wild
feast, they're satisfied. No room and no need for faith. No consolation needed
by these money & information rich people. They have what I call the
consolation prize (if you'll pardon my pun). Even those with "consolation
prizes" suffer failed hope (expectations). Just the divorce rate of all these
marriages which were supposed to be "for better or worse, sickness or health,
'til death do us part", tells us that there is an abundance of failed hopes.
Yet even after failure people may not discard their false hopes for better
ones.
Our failed hopes drain us of energy and happiness. Isn't that interesting.
Perhaps we lose a wife, or a job, and all these religious clichés don't seem
to inspire much hope. Our belief systems fail us as the world confronts us
with insanity and suffering. All seems lost. Nothing seems to help. We lose
our hope, and become depressed and apathetic. We develop insomnia, stress
headaches, and depression as if to remind ourselves of our failure in not just
having "faith". A dark gloomy shadow seems to follow us.
One of the biggest reasons people don't accept Christ is that they have no
hope. One of the biggest reasons people (both inside & outside the churches)
don't want to hear about the New World Order and its incoming tyrannical
global dictatorship is that they don't have hope. To say it more accurately,
most of them have hope, they just have hope in the wrong things. Allow me to
explain. A common example of a false hope is that we hope to live without
stress. Churchgoers love this one. Let's keep everything nice & soft & cozy
in life. We must always be nice, because niceness results in more niceness.
Everything is nice, nice, nice-- nice and fuzzy. No don't be frank, don't
resolve issues, be nice and keep all of our conversation nice & fluffy, only
on the surface. Small talk spoken here. It reminds me of British high society,
which typically muddles through their problems. That's not just my opinion; I
heard it from one of their own. People, it's fine in some situations to be
nice, but when we have problems, it's time to be frank and resolve them. Let
that false hope to live without stress evaporate, and then try to be genuine
like Christ. One spin off from that "everything-nice" false hope is that
people try to get by with hidden messages, and soon everyone's personal
comments are laced with arsenic. No one trusts anyone anymore, and a bigger
mess is created. People, sometimes it pays to say what you mean. I don't mean
to be mean. I mean add sincerity to your tactfulness.
Other false hopes include: a. We must always win. (Let's just give ourselves
the freedom to fail, which is living in reality.) b. We will never be angry.
(Righteous indignation is good, & honest anger may get some real issues out on
the table.) c. We will never be weak. (So we must pretend to be strong.)
People let these false hopes die. We want our money to buy security & joy, and
we're ready to blame others including God if we don't get it. (Plus our
problems may not have arrived in a day nor leave that quickly.)
"O.K. Fritz, you seem to know so much, what do we have hope in? You say
don't trust money, but I tried God and it didn't get me anywhere."
People, let God be God. God is really not in the business of doing logically
impossible things such as creating square circles. Our expectations are
generally unrealistic. We are like the blind man who has been blind since
birth and then as an adult we have a cataract operation and receive our
eyesight. What are we really seeing? However, if you choose to be angry at
Him, I doubt if it's going to hurt His feelings. I know that we Americans feel
our personal suffering is unfair. We have been taught to "name it and claim
it" with our modern health & wealth gospel. We want to be happy and loved. We
want unblemished heroes that match John Wayne and Superman at their best. But
wishes are not hope, they're magical occultism. Greed is not hope. Passive
patience is not hope. Hope is when the tree grows toward the sun. Hope is not
the absence of everything we dislike, hope is that which sees what is possible
in the midst of a bad situation. Hope actually grows out of sorrow, pain and
injustice. Look at a tree in the forest, there is no justice as plants fight
each other for space and nutrients, but the tree grows towards the sun because
it has hope. Nature is full of hope. If you have sorrow, pain and injustice in
your life rejoice there is hope that you can have hope!
I grew up among the pungent smells of Katmandu, where people had a short
life expectancy and everyday I saw people inflicted with diseases we never see
in America. Our experiences in suffering don't prepare us for what many of the
world patiently accept with a smile. Even though this is true, when our
mothers tried to tell us about starving children in Biafra or whatever, it
didn't instill us with hope. "Mike, eat your lima beans, children in Africa
are starving." No, someone else's suffering didn't give me hope.
Because the World Order doesn't have real hope, they try to amuse us with
pseudo hopes such as casinos, lotteries, utopian philosophies, futurism (a
Satanic panacea-"Come the revolution comrade we'll all be in paradise." Or
"We'll conquer space." Or "We'll have a war on poverty.") Some accept life
with stoic Que-sara-sara fatalism. But this is not hope.
Yet many of the world just don't want to believe in God: "Heck, Santa Claus
seems to have outgiven this distant Creator, & Santa turned out to be a big
disillusion for middle class kids."-- Wait a minute; Dark is a meaningless
word to a blind man. Because we are not totally spiritually blind, we can all
talk about injustice. We can see evil. We all deep deep down know that the
only thing that makes sense is good & evil exist, & God vs. evil exists, or
else why do we care about injustice? Why does man seek to worship? on and on
we could go. If our desperation exceeds our anger we call upon Him.
Just for a moment let's try and see things as well as we can from God's
perspective. His invisible attributes are visible and always have been in the
world (Rom. 1:19f), but his best creation, man, is in rebellion and seldom
takes notice of Him. If you've ever been a parent who stayed up in anguish
waiting for a late teenager, you can imagine just a little of the
longsuffering God has gone through waiting for us to come home to Him. In His
infinite wisdom, He knew it was worthwhile to sacrifice Christ to pay our debt
of sin, so it wasn't really a gamble, as we'd gamble at a slot machine, but
still, what if no one had sought redemption in Christ? His sacrifice would
have been a vain worthless gamble turned nightmare. The point is that God is
also longsuffering, and since he has to put up with all of humanity, I'm sure
He's suffered more than I have. His longsuffering lost patience with His
chosen people, and He forbid his best prophet Jeremiah to even pray for them.
(Jer. 7:16, 11:14, 14:11) But He lets us know throughout history that sin is
not out of control. Even though time marches on, and suffering seems to
increase, and the World Order grows fonder and fonder of death (especially
ours), & its web of structures gets stronger, and it's evil New World odor
stench gets worse, God is still in control. I know we think He's walked away
and left us alone. What a childish thought. It reminds me of the disciples
fishing near Galilee. A storm is sinking their boat and Christ is sleeping
with what appears to be no concern for their suffering. All of a sudden he
calms the storm and then relaxes again. (MK 4:36)
Christ was warned that Lazarus was dying. Please come now immediately. Christ
waited. When he arrived they nicely complained, if you'd been here my brother
wouldn't have died. (Cf. Jn. 11:21, 32) Christ had deliberately delayed to
show "the glory of God". He raised stinky old dead Lazarus from the dead.
What do I make from all the suffering during the bloody 20th century's wars?
What it proves is simply that we've built lethal weapons of mass destruction.
What do you expect if you drop an atom bomb on Hiroshima-that God is going
defuse the thing? What arrogance we have. The first book (oldest) of the Bible
(Job) warns us that the innocent suffer. He may not remove suffering, but
He'll at least give us joy & grace in it.
We're so busy complaining about life (& hope), we don't realize that having
hope is not the problem. Hope gives strength and it motivates. We grow toward
our hopes like the tree. We just need to get past our silly immature hopes,
and our Amway motivational speeches, and see why so many wonderful men of
faith went through everything Satan could throw at them, retained
inspirational hope and still rejoiced. (Cf. Acts 5:41, & Job)
Let's get real, people. Let's not try to fly through life with false hopes.
Let's discover what men of faith like Abraham had that allowed them to take
life as it comes.
___________
SPIRITUAL MANNA in the POST 9-11 SPIRITUAL DESERT
No. 11 shared by Fritz Springmeier on Nov. 6, 2001
Titled: Breaking the spell of slavery
We have been conditioned to accept slavery, and many of us do accept it. With
bovine placidity we allow our owners to milk us dry. This manna will give the
news of one large group of people who simply decided to walk away from their
slavery.
There are many creative ways to help break the satanic slavery that grips the
World, and this article will focus on a recent news event that is a positive
example of how people can walk away from their control. I am talking about a
meeting this last weekend in Delhi, India of the untouchables, where they
walked away from the discrimination of Hinduism and became Buddhists and
Christians.
When the Aryans invaded India, they introduced a caste system that is pure
racism, and racism at its worst. I remember when I first moved to Nepal that
our "Twice born" Varna class wealthy Aryan landlord was almost as white
skinned as myself. I don't want to sound critical, after all the lady threw me
a volleyball as a gift when she met me. So what do these Aryans (called "twice
born" in the religious terminology of Hinduism) give the lowest caste?
Certainly not volleyballs. They give them discrimination and servitude free
of charge. That's the poisoned gift they receive from the time they are born
until they die. The Jats (an ancient offshoot of Jewish-Israelite immigration)
is a high caste. (By the way, the Hindi word "jati" means caste). Jats will
have servants walk ahead of them and clear the streets of any untouchables so
they can move through. Reminds me of how our elite uses the secret service and
police to clear their paths.
In the Be Wise As Serpents book, I outlined five major levels of castes: The
Brahmins (the Aryan priesthood), the Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), the
Vaisyas (the skilled trades, merchants and minor officials), the Sudras
(unskilled workers) and the Pariahs (called Harijans, Outcasts, Untouchables,
Dalit, or Scheduled Caste). This basic structure reappears in H.G. Well's book
Utopia, which is based on Plato's Utopia and Bacon's "House of Solomon". The
new names to this caste system would be The Wise Men (the World Directorate),
the Technocrats (the Functional elite originally named by Well's as the Order
of the Samurai), the Skilled Workers, the Common Masses (which includes many
blue collar workers, welfare recipients, and others), and the Pariahs (the
enslaved). My obvious point is that the elite are trying to socially engineer
us toward this caste system, and that is what makes this manna article all the
more apropos.
Allow me to make a few more comments about how life is for the untouchables.
They must do all the work with human wastes, washing, and sweeping. They get
the jobs of killing animals, fishing, or working with the dead bodies. In the
past, if they touched someone from the four Varna groups, they could be beaten
or killed. In some places, the higher castes would not even let the shadow of
an untouchable get close to them. Also in the stricter places the higher
castes do not even want to set eyes on these untouchables so they are forced
to sleep during the day and work at night like ghosts. The Dalits are not
allowed to use the same wells as the higher castes, nor the same stores, nor
the same temples. Guess which caste the police protect? The police seem to
always favor the favored. It's like Orwell's classic Animal Farm, all are
equal, some are just more equal than others.
Fifty years of laws against the caste system in India has not stopped
discrimination, any more than the American Civil War did in this country.
However, over a period of time, as in the United States, discrimination has
slowly dissipated, and yet it is still a powerful force in India, much more
than in the U.S.
On July 13, 1997, thousands of untouchables rioted in the financial hub of
Bombay, and police shot and killed 12 and arrested 2,111. This has been one
response to the discrimination, and we've seen our share of rioting in our
country too.
The Untouchables have some leaders who are trying to lead them to freedom. The
big leader at the moment is Ram Raj. His predecessor was Dr. Ambedkar, a
contemporary of Gandhi. Ram Raj recently got the idea of assembling one
million untouchables in Delhi and then in a mass conversion, having one
million untouchables renounce Hinduism. Like Dr. Ambedkar, he wanted these
untouchables to go ahead and adopt Buddhism.
The Christian leadership of India then met with Dalit leaders on Sept. 7 in
Hyberabad, India and discussed Dalit issues and the upcoming million-person
event that Ram Raj was calling for on Nov. 4, 2001. The Christian churches of
India took a united stand in publicly supporting the freedom of the Dalits,
and promised to help them by building many schools (200 primary schools) and
other projects. A Dalit leader was quoted at the meeting, "The only way for
our people to find freedom from 3,000 years of slavery is to quit Hinduism and
Castism and embrace another faith. Christianity offers hope for us. We would
be happy if our people would become Christians." Ram Raj reconsidered and
decided to include two Christian speakers at his million-person rally. Now
bear in mind, he wanted people to become Buddhists, but he reconsidered and in
the spirit of freedom told his people he would not stand in their way if they
wanted to become Christians and not Buddhists.
The million-person rally was this last weekend.
The idea of the entire caste of untouchables walking away from slavery under
Hinduism is quite a heady concept. Bear in mind, 1 out of 5 people in India is
an untouchable, and India has a billion people. The idea that hundreds of
thousands of untouchables might convert to Christianity in one mass was also a
heady idea. 5,000 Christian pastors in India decided to attend the
million-person rally in order to be on hand for the possible conversion of a
quarter of a million untouchables.
So what happened this last weekend? The government revoked their permit to
use a big stadium only a few days before the event. The organizers had to find
an alternative site, which they did. The press published all kinds of false
information about the event on the radio and television to mislead people, and
even announced the event had been cancelled. They even put up false posters.
(Boy, it seems the controlled media is the same there as here.) Then the
system used the police. The police stopped hundreds of buses from coming into
Delhi, and also detained thousands in the railway system. The Anti-Christian
groups got ready to lambaste and downplay the event-which they did with their
typical false reporting. Of course the government denies that the police
turned thousands away, even though tens of thousands witnessed it. The
controlled media is helping maintain this fiction. In spite of all these
things, at least 100,000 untouchables got to the mass rally and renounced
Hinduism!! The newspapers reported only 2,000 came, but eyewitness and police
reports confirm that it was at least 100,000.
I have seen for myself how the controlled media plays with figures. If a rally
is politically correct the numbers get multiplied, and if it is politically
incorrect they get substantially divided.
100,000 is not 1 million, but 100,000 people renouncing their 3,000 year old
slavery is still a significant event. 100,000 people changed their attitude.
100,000 people took back their free will and free choice. 100,000 people
decided not to allow the control to continue. And what about the ones that
didn't make it to the meeting? Do the authorities really think they can stop
the spirit of freedom in the hearts of over a million Untouchables who wanted
to attend that rally?
Freedom is more than an abstract mental concept. It is a spiritual issue. When
Christ left, he sent his Spirit to work in our hearts so that we would want to
be free. And so our hearts cry, "Freedom."
Sources.
My sources include news articles, talks with individuals, my own knowledge
and research of the culture from having been to India and Nepal, a book on the
caste system, and some web sites such as CBN.com.
___________
SPIRITUAL MANNA no. 43,
shared December 24, 2001
"Dealing with differences" by Fritz Springmeier,
"Dealing with differences" by Fritz Springmeier,
Being right, but different, can be lonely. How do we correctly deal with
differences between us? Male & female, tall & short, black & white, north
American or north European & south American, or south European, and doctrinal?
.. Transcend them by godliness. This manna article has some ideas from God's
3 living Words: Christ, the Scriptures, and the Spirit.
Near to the heart of God there is no rich or poor, male or female, black or
white. How then do we get to this point? Love God with all your heart, and
love your neighbor as you love yourself. There are a number of deeper ways to
understand the Golden Rule. For instance, one of the deeper understandings is
to treat people, as they need to be treated. For example, if they are not a
visual person but learn through the sense of hands on touching, then reorient
your verbal pictures to satisfy their learning style. Another example is:
while you might prize tickets to a pro-basketball game, don't think you've
automatically satisfied the golden rule by giving them as a gift. What does
the recipient esteem? The golden rule would eliminate rejection if everyone
would apply it.
When we receive rejection, we often make a withdrawal on our self-worth
(self-image, self-respect). If too much rejection hits at once, it can be
overwhelming with a gnawing feeling that something is wrong with ourselves.
It is especially devastating if the rejection comes from someone we respect,
trust and/or love. I think that rejection is probably linked to our instincts
connected to abandonment.
Cults turn our fear of rejection into vulnerability. They love bomb us. A
Christian tract from around the apostolic times warns that the world will make
their camaraderie (& parties) look like great fun, but warns about being
seduced by the crowd. It says it's better to keep your own company.
Remember, the lives of great men & women show that they all faced rejection
of some kind. Doing what is right can make us rejected. Rejection comes from a
variety of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons people get rejected is
simply because they are different. We are trained from infants to conform, and
many people can't accept something different, they are afraid of differences.
It's their crass neurosis. In an evil world, if you are doing what is right
you will stick out like a sore thumb to the unrighteous. Call it the price tag
for being right. Rejoice that you do stand out as different! Who wants the
approval of a disgustingly evil regime, or the approval of some insulting
snakes?
There are all kinds of petty reasons people will reject you. You are too
large, too small, too fat, too thin, too perfect, another skin color, another
tax bracket, another sex, in a disapproved job, lacking the proper status, or
some other narrow minded petty childish preference. Just look at these little
minded people with your piercing eyes of faith, and remember that your
self-worth comes from your Creator, who sent His only begotten son to die for
you, and who isn't so petty as to reject you. We need to know who we are,
focus ahead, and not on the rejection. If you know that you are right, your
King knows it too, and so the opinions of these petty little minds are nothing
compared to the approval of the King of Kings. Look beyond to your real family
in Christ. The problems of race and gender are too complex to be included in
this manna, but I believe one part of the answer is seeing ourselves "in
Christ".
At times, our feelings overwhelm us with a sense of inadequacy when we
consider our responsibility for the world. We forget God is quite capable of
taking care of the world, & if things happen, obviously He must have had
reasons to allow them to happen. Sometimes problems are allowed to discipline
us, so we might share in His holiness and have fruits of righteousness. At
other times, problems are allowed in God's desperate attempt to humble us, so
that His way is open to help us! God still loves us; if we turn to Him, let's
not reject ourselves. Nor is it a good idea to let the people around us who
reject us make our choices. During stress, people can become passive, & let
the very people who reject them make their choices. Let's not reject
ourselves, or cater to those rejecting us, but rather as God's Word declares
in PHL 3:13,14, let's forget the past, do our jobs, & look forward to the
rewards God wants to bestow upon us.
We must admit that even the best of us tend to evaluate people we meet based
on assumptions learned from past experiences. We often don't have the time,
inclination, energy and opportunity to get to know the real you. Across the
board, people will judge you based on their fundamental needs, foremost their
need to be valued, and then all their other various needs. If they believe
they can trust you to be dependable, caring, competent, then they
subconsciously relax because they anticipate their needs will be fulfilled. In
other words, you can control their first impressions on these things. Humility
is also generally a great bridge builder to others. (Even though the military
trained us at West Point to be belligerent prideful dominating officers, and
the army tries to instill a mindset of pride in its soldiers, two centuries of
comments by American soldiers show they respect officers with humility more
than the prideful.) All of us can customize our behavior to sidestep these
negative impressions. Some people might be surprised that the Word of God
clearly teaches us to take control over the impressions people have about us.
Rather than ignoring people's stereotypes and prejudices, we are called to
take advantage of positive stereotypes as ambassadors for God and the truth.
When someone sees us sincerely smile and perceives us as friendly and happy,
when someone sees us listening and they see us as compassionate, they often
don't consciously notice these perceptions but these perceptions of reality
are stored away in their memories nonetheless. Perhaps by frowning when we are
concentrating and absentmindedly looking away, we are perceived as angry and
dishonest. Whether it is accurate or not, one does get evaluated and judged.
We must forget logic, and simply accept that certain things cause certain
impressions with certain groups of people. Then we must cater to those ways of
thinking, so that we are not rejected out of hand. This is part of following
peace with all men (commanded in Heb. 12:4). The Word teaches us that we are
free in Christ from all men, we serve God. But immediately after that, it
teaches that we should be "all things to all men, that we might by all means
save some."(1 COR 9:19-23) Later, we are told to "please all men..imitate
Christ." We are called upon to act with "all wisdom" (COL 3:16), to be gentle
with all men, to do all things decently, and with all gladness, and with no
complaining, because our appearances are a letter which will be known and read
by all men (cf. 2 COR 3:2, PHIL 2:14, 12:29, et al). Do you know how you come
across to people and why?
In general people will reject us if we are perceived as dishonest, uncaring,
inconsiderate, or unreliable. Many will also reject us if they think we're
prideful. While a small percentage will reject you and me if we are not good
looking or classy, it is very few. (In fact, studies show that if you are
trendy & above your peers, you will be seen as "untrustworthy" by being
different, & "shallow" by placing style over substance, plus some other
negatives. Being trendy is clearly more of a double-edged sword than many
realize.) In other words, those of us who are common ordinary mortals have the
chance to be accepted by most people. There are limitations to how attractive
we can make ourselves, and studies confirm that good-looking people are
considered (perceived as) more trust worthy, so those of us who are not
outwardly attractive need to really develop our inner beauty and honesty so
that it oozes out of us. Even the homeliest of people can still come across as
honest.
Don't just be true to others, be true to yourself, and be true to God.
If we do not want to be rejected out of hand, we should be wise in listening
to others and figuring out what they want from us. Once we know what they want
and expect from us, we can demonstrate traits that give them a positive
impression. Missionaries to China had to use wisdom in deciding to become
Chinese to win them to Christ, which if imperfectly done backfired, or to
simply act like Europeans. In the end, the ones who not merely pretended to be
Chinese, but who became "Chinese" overcame many barriers and created a dynamic
Chinese church that survived incredible persecution. Imitation if it appears
to mimic may backfire if it is perceived as manipulation (as in manipulative
flattery), lack of confidence, hypocritical, or insincerity. While it is wise
to mirror people's clothes, speech patterns and mannerisms, it has to be a
natural mirroring with humility, or it may back fire as condescending and
disrespectful.
It's not as hard as one might think to sincerely put our best foot forward.
If you've had spiritual joy from some encounter with God, and some other great
moment, use your memory of that to pull yourself through times that are
difficult. For most of us, we can make it a habit to smile, be encouraging and
good listeners. That will get us past being rejected by people's first
impressions. Yet, we know if we are firm in our resolve to obey God we risk
being different and being rejected. (Yeshua wasn't understood by his parents,
was rejected by Israel and even at times was rejected by his own disciples.)
America worships popularity, and in an evil culture, evil may be popular. But
not being popular is not the same as rejection, although it may be perceived
as such by us. Our pride at times converts the lack of attention we get (due
to our unpopularity, or others' neglect) into our perceptions of rejection.
Having a low profile can have its positives, and can be reframed with humility
to be realized to be a blessing. Pride can be involved in high profiles, &
pride occurs before destruction (PRV 16:18); & the bigger they are, the harder
they fall.
Most of us have worked through the following types of issues: How well do we
fit in with the world and those who attend mainstream churches? To fit in we
may go along with gossip. We may accept the lies of the world that everyone
is doing some immorality, and that we need to do such and such to fit in. Yet,
we are commanded not to do what is morally wrong to fit in. Meanwhile on the
other hand, just because something is morally acceptable to God, does not mean
it is expedient to do. The Word encourages us to curtail our freedoms in
Christ in order to get along with others. In other words, sometimes we have to
unselfishly serve God and accept the rejection that comes. At other times, we
have to unselfishly give up our freedom of action in Christ to get along with
others. All these situations call for unselfish devotion to our Creator. But
the reward from serving God is that we no longer need to worry about
rejection. One man and God is a majority. If you act reliably consistent in
doing the right thing, they will respect that in the long run. Although Rommel
(the Desert Fox of W.W. II's African theater) consistently beat the British,
they came to respect him for consistently doing the right thing, even though
it was costing them casualties.
Enthusiasm and motivation, interpersonal skills, and an awareness of our
emotions will go a long way toward getting us the acceptance we want. So don't
put your ladder of success against the wrong wall. It's amazing that the Word
of God's ancient wisdom protects us from behavior that would create rejection
from sloppy bad impressions. It also teaches us how to transcend the negative
rejection that is bound to come from being right side up in an upside down
world.
Everything may still be upside down in a person's world, and yet they can
still rejoice like Habakkuk, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither
shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields
shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall
be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation."* God has not rejected His people. (*HAB 3:17-18)
differences between us? Male & female, tall & short, black & white, north
American or north European & south American, or south European, and doctrinal?
.. Transcend them by godliness. This manna article has some ideas from God's
3 living Words: Christ, the Scriptures, and the Spirit.
Near to the heart of God there is no rich or poor, male or female, black or
white. How then do we get to this point? Love God with all your heart, and
love your neighbor as you love yourself. There are a number of deeper ways to
understand the Golden Rule. For instance, one of the deeper understandings is
to treat people, as they need to be treated. For example, if they are not a
visual person but learn through the sense of hands on touching, then reorient
your verbal pictures to satisfy their learning style. Another example is:
while you might prize tickets to a pro-basketball game, don't think you've
automatically satisfied the golden rule by giving them as a gift. What does
the recipient esteem? The golden rule would eliminate rejection if everyone
would apply it.
When we receive rejection, we often make a withdrawal on our self-worth
(self-image, self-respect). If too much rejection hits at once, it can be
overwhelming with a gnawing feeling that something is wrong with ourselves.
It is especially devastating if the rejection comes from someone we respect,
trust and/or love. I think that rejection is probably linked to our instincts
connected to abandonment.
Cults turn our fear of rejection into vulnerability. They love bomb us. A
Christian tract from around the apostolic times warns that the world will make
their camaraderie (& parties) look like great fun, but warns about being
seduced by the crowd. It says it's better to keep your own company.
Remember, the lives of great men & women show that they all faced rejection
of some kind. Doing what is right can make us rejected. Rejection comes from a
variety of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons people get rejected is
simply because they are different. We are trained from infants to conform, and
many people can't accept something different, they are afraid of differences.
It's their crass neurosis. In an evil world, if you are doing what is right
you will stick out like a sore thumb to the unrighteous. Call it the price tag
for being right. Rejoice that you do stand out as different! Who wants the
approval of a disgustingly evil regime, or the approval of some insulting
snakes?
There are all kinds of petty reasons people will reject you. You are too
large, too small, too fat, too thin, too perfect, another skin color, another
tax bracket, another sex, in a disapproved job, lacking the proper status, or
some other narrow minded petty childish preference. Just look at these little
minded people with your piercing eyes of faith, and remember that your
self-worth comes from your Creator, who sent His only begotten son to die for
you, and who isn't so petty as to reject you. We need to know who we are,
focus ahead, and not on the rejection. If you know that you are right, your
King knows it too, and so the opinions of these petty little minds are nothing
compared to the approval of the King of Kings. Look beyond to your real family
in Christ. The problems of race and gender are too complex to be included in
this manna, but I believe one part of the answer is seeing ourselves "in
Christ".
At times, our feelings overwhelm us with a sense of inadequacy when we
consider our responsibility for the world. We forget God is quite capable of
taking care of the world, & if things happen, obviously He must have had
reasons to allow them to happen. Sometimes problems are allowed to discipline
us, so we might share in His holiness and have fruits of righteousness. At
other times, problems are allowed in God's desperate attempt to humble us, so
that His way is open to help us! God still loves us; if we turn to Him, let's
not reject ourselves. Nor is it a good idea to let the people around us who
reject us make our choices. During stress, people can become passive, & let
the very people who reject them make their choices. Let's not reject
ourselves, or cater to those rejecting us, but rather as God's Word declares
in PHL 3:13,14, let's forget the past, do our jobs, & look forward to the
rewards God wants to bestow upon us.
We must admit that even the best of us tend to evaluate people we meet based
on assumptions learned from past experiences. We often don't have the time,
inclination, energy and opportunity to get to know the real you. Across the
board, people will judge you based on their fundamental needs, foremost their
need to be valued, and then all their other various needs. If they believe
they can trust you to be dependable, caring, competent, then they
subconsciously relax because they anticipate their needs will be fulfilled. In
other words, you can control their first impressions on these things. Humility
is also generally a great bridge builder to others. (Even though the military
trained us at West Point to be belligerent prideful dominating officers, and
the army tries to instill a mindset of pride in its soldiers, two centuries of
comments by American soldiers show they respect officers with humility more
than the prideful.) All of us can customize our behavior to sidestep these
negative impressions. Some people might be surprised that the Word of God
clearly teaches us to take control over the impressions people have about us.
Rather than ignoring people's stereotypes and prejudices, we are called to
take advantage of positive stereotypes as ambassadors for God and the truth.
When someone sees us sincerely smile and perceives us as friendly and happy,
when someone sees us listening and they see us as compassionate, they often
don't consciously notice these perceptions but these perceptions of reality
are stored away in their memories nonetheless. Perhaps by frowning when we are
concentrating and absentmindedly looking away, we are perceived as angry and
dishonest. Whether it is accurate or not, one does get evaluated and judged.
We must forget logic, and simply accept that certain things cause certain
impressions with certain groups of people. Then we must cater to those ways of
thinking, so that we are not rejected out of hand. This is part of following
peace with all men (commanded in Heb. 12:4). The Word teaches us that we are
free in Christ from all men, we serve God. But immediately after that, it
teaches that we should be "all things to all men, that we might by all means
save some."(1 COR 9:19-23) Later, we are told to "please all men..imitate
Christ." We are called upon to act with "all wisdom" (COL 3:16), to be gentle
with all men, to do all things decently, and with all gladness, and with no
complaining, because our appearances are a letter which will be known and read
by all men (cf. 2 COR 3:2, PHIL 2:14, 12:29, et al). Do you know how you come
across to people and why?
In general people will reject us if we are perceived as dishonest, uncaring,
inconsiderate, or unreliable. Many will also reject us if they think we're
prideful. While a small percentage will reject you and me if we are not good
looking or classy, it is very few. (In fact, studies show that if you are
trendy & above your peers, you will be seen as "untrustworthy" by being
different, & "shallow" by placing style over substance, plus some other
negatives. Being trendy is clearly more of a double-edged sword than many
realize.) In other words, those of us who are common ordinary mortals have the
chance to be accepted by most people. There are limitations to how attractive
we can make ourselves, and studies confirm that good-looking people are
considered (perceived as) more trust worthy, so those of us who are not
outwardly attractive need to really develop our inner beauty and honesty so
that it oozes out of us. Even the homeliest of people can still come across as
honest.
Don't just be true to others, be true to yourself, and be true to God.
If we do not want to be rejected out of hand, we should be wise in listening
to others and figuring out what they want from us. Once we know what they want
and expect from us, we can demonstrate traits that give them a positive
impression. Missionaries to China had to use wisdom in deciding to become
Chinese to win them to Christ, which if imperfectly done backfired, or to
simply act like Europeans. In the end, the ones who not merely pretended to be
Chinese, but who became "Chinese" overcame many barriers and created a dynamic
Chinese church that survived incredible persecution. Imitation if it appears
to mimic may backfire if it is perceived as manipulation (as in manipulative
flattery), lack of confidence, hypocritical, or insincerity. While it is wise
to mirror people's clothes, speech patterns and mannerisms, it has to be a
natural mirroring with humility, or it may back fire as condescending and
disrespectful.
It's not as hard as one might think to sincerely put our best foot forward.
If you've had spiritual joy from some encounter with God, and some other great
moment, use your memory of that to pull yourself through times that are
difficult. For most of us, we can make it a habit to smile, be encouraging and
good listeners. That will get us past being rejected by people's first
impressions. Yet, we know if we are firm in our resolve to obey God we risk
being different and being rejected. (Yeshua wasn't understood by his parents,
was rejected by Israel and even at times was rejected by his own disciples.)
America worships popularity, and in an evil culture, evil may be popular. But
not being popular is not the same as rejection, although it may be perceived
as such by us. Our pride at times converts the lack of attention we get (due
to our unpopularity, or others' neglect) into our perceptions of rejection.
Having a low profile can have its positives, and can be reframed with humility
to be realized to be a blessing. Pride can be involved in high profiles, &
pride occurs before destruction (PRV 16:18); & the bigger they are, the harder
they fall.
Most of us have worked through the following types of issues: How well do we
fit in with the world and those who attend mainstream churches? To fit in we
may go along with gossip. We may accept the lies of the world that everyone
is doing some immorality, and that we need to do such and such to fit in. Yet,
we are commanded not to do what is morally wrong to fit in. Meanwhile on the
other hand, just because something is morally acceptable to God, does not mean
it is expedient to do. The Word encourages us to curtail our freedoms in
Christ in order to get along with others. In other words, sometimes we have to
unselfishly serve God and accept the rejection that comes. At other times, we
have to unselfishly give up our freedom of action in Christ to get along with
others. All these situations call for unselfish devotion to our Creator. But
the reward from serving God is that we no longer need to worry about
rejection. One man and God is a majority. If you act reliably consistent in
doing the right thing, they will respect that in the long run. Although Rommel
(the Desert Fox of W.W. II's African theater) consistently beat the British,
they came to respect him for consistently doing the right thing, even though
it was costing them casualties.
Enthusiasm and motivation, interpersonal skills, and an awareness of our
emotions will go a long way toward getting us the acceptance we want. So don't
put your ladder of success against the wrong wall. It's amazing that the Word
of God's ancient wisdom protects us from behavior that would create rejection
from sloppy bad impressions. It also teaches us how to transcend the negative
rejection that is bound to come from being right side up in an upside down
world.
Everything may still be upside down in a person's world, and yet they can
still rejoice like Habakkuk, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither
shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields
shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall
be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation."* God has not rejected His people. (*HAB 3:17-18)
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