There Can Be No Resurrection Without a Crucifixion

Cross Posted from A Newt One with gracious permission from Sonlit Knight.

NOTE TO OUR READERS: CURRENT DAILY POSTS FOLLOW BELOW THIS SPECIAL GOOD FRIDAY PIECE. SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LATEST POSTS!

“Eloi, Eloi Lama Sabachtani“ Those are the words my Lord cried out in anguish, from the Cross. “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”

The words reverberated through time and space, for they were words cried out to God, from God. This is not contradiction, this is paradox. For in this solemn and sacred mystery is the very meaning of life.

The passion and death of Our Lord is the defining and central theme to all of the fallen age of man. So much so His words ring out in the Prophetic words of the Psalmist. It’s Psalm 22– the one just before the one everybody knows.

Here is part of it….

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, but find no rest.

Yet thou art holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In thee our fathers trusted; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. To thee they cried, and were saved; in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed. But I am a worm, and no man; scorned by men, and despised by the people.

All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads;

“He committed his cause to the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet thou art he who took me from the womb; thou didst keep me safe upon my mother’s breasts.

Upon thee was I cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help.

The Sorrowful Mysteries are 5 particular events drawn from the narrative of Christ’s Passion, that make up part of a Catholic devotional known as the Rosary. In praying the Rosary’s Sorrowful Mysteries, Catholics attempt to meditate on and delve into the depth of these sacred and sorrowful events and what they mean to believers.

I believe that many pious Christians have not truly contemplated the deeper purpose of Christ’s suffering and death and as a consequence come to a distorted interpretation of life, suffering, death and salvation.

Many good and decent people believe that Christ died to give you salvation, like someone might give you a candy bar. He did not. Salvation is indeed a free gift; you cannot earn or merit. However, it is not a singular act but a process with which you must cooperate. Again, this is not contradiction, this is paradox. If you doubt that a profession of faith alone is insufficient for salvation you need only read the admonishing words of James (Chapter 2), wherein he says:

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? [17] So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

[18] But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder.

[20] Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?

[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, [23] and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. [24] You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

This is very difficult to grasp but I admonish you to persist. For in the unraveling of this mystery is the very secret of the meaning of salvation and life. It is a very tough nut to crack, this apparent contradiction between salvation by faith and salvation by works. For as clearly as James appears to come down on one side, Paul appears to come down on the other…

Ephesians 2

[5] even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), [6] and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God — [9] not because of works, lest any man should boast.

Once again, paradox is at work. For though it was Moses’ staff that turned the Nile red with blood, it was not Moses who did it. Though it was Trumpets of Joshua’s band that brought down the walls of Jericho, it is not Joshua who did it. Though the Virgin Mary brought forth the I Am Himself, it was not by Mary’s doing that this miracle was brought forth.

So what of these sorrowful mysteries I mentioned? In them is found the answer. For if salvation is of faith through works, how can anyone be saved? When the disciples asked this very question…..

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Jesus excels at making the impossible possible…..even putting salvation within the reach of sinful men. For a human being cannot achieve salvation by human acts, only by Divine acts. How can a human being accomplish Divine acts??? He can only do so because He who was both human and Divine, sanctified the human act and made it Divine.

Jesus was not baptised because He needed to be. He was baptised to take a human act- being immersed in water- and attaching a Divine action to it. Now, through Baptism, we can receive sanctifying Grace. Before, you would only get wet.

Jesus did not pray the Our Father merely because it sounded good. By simply voicing it, it became the Word of God. All throughout the New Testament, we see evidence of purely human actions that now have Divine value.

Here are but a few….

Matthew 10:42
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Luke 24:50
When He had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up his hands and blessed them.

Acts 8:17
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 26-29
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is My blood of the [b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

Time after time, what appear to be simple human acts performed by human beings have a supernatural component fused to them because these acts were sanctified and made holy by the God-Man.

The Bible tells us that He was like us in all things except sin. Why? Have you ever thought about this? Did God, the Omniscient One, need to experience life as a human being to understand it? Hardly.

Then why? Why did Jesus need to come to us, be baptised, work, learn, teach, pray, fast, minister, empathize, experience fear and rejection and grief and suffer and die a horrible death? Did He do all these things so that we would not have to?

Not so! The Bible definately does not teach that. In fact, it teaches the opposite!

For, while Jesus was baptised, learned, taught, prayed, fasted, ministered, empathized, experienced fear and rejection and grief and suffered and died, He admonished each and every one of us that we would-to greater or lessor degree- experience each of these things.

This is where the so-called “prosperity gospel” preachers get it so wrong. “Follow Jesus” they say, “and you will know only joy and peace”.

Jesus promised something very different. Jesus promised that the price of following Him was a Cross that you would have to carry. Jesus promised that you would be hated and reviled by mankind and that you would have to live a life that shunned the pleasures of this world. In short, Jesus promised that suffering would come to those who believed and that only those who endured to the end would be saved.

Well….that doesn’t sound like much fun! It certainly is difficult to reconcile with the idea of a God who came to earth to suffer and die, as a free gift of salvation. It almost sounds like a contradiction. It almost sounds like God is going back on His word. It almost sounds like God is cruel. Why would God desire the very followers He Redeemed at an incalculable price and who accepted Him, suffer needlessly at the hands of the very ones who rejected Him?

To understand, you must re-orient your thinking and understanding of who Jesus was and what He did for you. He did not suffer so that you would not have to suffer. For if He did some very special people to me were seriously short changed. Jesus again did not suffer for the purpose of eliminating suffering from your life.

Jesus suffered to sanctify suffering itself and make it holy so that even that which the devil intends for evil can be used for good. Once again, the sheer depth of God is explored within the mystery of paradox. For it is right and just and logical that we would attempt to avoid suffering, yet suffering, if it must come, is not in vain. For even that which hurts us, can help us.

Is it God’s will that we suffer? hardly. It’s the devil’s will. The passion of Christ and the five sacred mysteries that explore it teach us the very thing Satan uses to destroy you can be used by God to save you.

This is the answer, to that age-old question of why God sometimes allows (passive) horrible things to happen to people. This is the question that I have wrestled with every bit as much as you. For I have seen unimaginable evil in my life on both the public and private level and cried out those words……

“My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me!?”

The same words. Listen to me. The same words King David cried out. The same words the Savior cried out. For God in His unfathomable mercy experienced the perception of His own rejection and the sorrow of isolation even as He saw all and knew all.

The inexpressible mystery of paradox.

Jesus did not forsake you, little one, though it seems so painfully clear that He did. Where was He in your suffering? Right in the middle of it.

When you pleaded with God to protect you from the thing you were so fearful of, He was on His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane sweating blood and pleading that the cup be taken from Him.

While you were being taunted and ridiculed and made to feel small, insignificant and worthless, He was before the tribunal of Pilate being spit upon, kicked, mocked and crowned with thorns.

While you suffered horrible pain unjustly, He was there, being scourged and crucified.

As you have gone through life carrying a burden, He was carrying His cross.

Many believers don’t want to talk of these things, preferring to concentrate only on the Resurrection.

Many of my Christian friends point out (and rightly so) the suffering and death is completely powerless without the Resurrection. Point conceded.

Do not forget, however, what magnifies the Light and power of the Resurrection is the sheer darkness from which it rose. The disciples had placed all their faith in a Savior only to watch him arrested for crimes He wasn’t capable of committing, subjected to a gruesome, horrific torture and murder and laid in a tomb.

Everything they believed was destroyed, everything they hoped for was obliterated…or so they thought.

The power of the Resurrection is even the most horrible darkness can be followed by the Light of the Son. This life will eventually bring misery and death to each of us. For every possession you have will be lost and every relationship you have will be brought to an end. No level of power or money can buy you another second when the Angel of Death comes to call upon you.

This is just reality. Do not despair. Do not give up. For those who have accumulated great fortune in this world, age and death are only that much more painful a separation.

Do not assume the suffering that has been visited upon you means God doesn’t love you.

Remember, you cannot have a Resurrection without the Crucifixion. Does this mean that you must be crucified? Heavens no!

It means that you must take up your cross (Matthew 10:38) and unite your sufferings with His (Colossians 1:24). How do you do so? Very simply-by saying and embracing those 4 difficult and powerful words: Thy will be done.

and remembering the sorrow of Friday is fleeting; the Joy of Sunday is everlasting.

Happy Easter!

Also posted at Digg! here and GOP Hub here.

There Can Be No Resurrection Without a Crucifixion

Cross Posted from A Newt One with gracious permission from Sonlit Knight.

NOTE TO OUR READERS: CURRENT DAILY POSTS FOLLOW BELOW THIS SPECIAL GOOD FRIDAY PIECE. SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LATEST POSTS!

“Eloi, Eloi Lama Sabachtani“ Those are the words my Lord cried out in anguish, from the Cross. “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”

The words reverberated through time and space, for they were words cried out to God, from God. This is not contradiction, this is paradox. For in this solemn and sacred mystery is the very meaning of life.

The passion and death of Our Lord is the defining and central theme to all of the fallen age of man. So much so His words ring out in the Prophetic words of the Psalmist. It’s Psalm 22– the one just before the one everybody knows.

Here is part of it….

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, but find no rest.

Yet thou art holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In thee our fathers trusted; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. To thee they cried, and were saved; in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed. But I am a worm, and no man; scorned by men, and despised by the people.

All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads;

“He committed his cause to the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet thou art he who took me from the womb; thou didst keep me safe upon my mother’s breasts.

Upon thee was I cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help.

The Sorrowful Mysteries are 5 particular events drawn from the narrative of Christ’s Passion, that make up part of a Catholic devotional known as the Rosary. In praying the Rosary’s Sorrowful Mysteries, Catholics attempt to meditate on and delve into the depth of these sacred and sorrowful events and what they mean to believers.

I believe that many pious Christians have not truly contemplated the deeper purpose of Christ’s suffering and death and as a consequence come to a distorted interpretation of life, suffering, death and salvation.

Many good and decent people believe that Christ died to give you salvation, like someone might give you a candy bar. He did not. Salvation is indeed a free gift; you cannot earn or merit. However, it is not a singular act but a process with which you must cooperate. Again, this is not contradiction, this is paradox. If you doubt that a profession of faith alone is insufficient for salvation you need only read the admonishing words of James (Chapter 2), wherein he says:

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? [17] So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

[18] But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder.

[20] Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?

[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, [23] and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. [24] You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

This is very difficult to grasp but I admonish you to persist. For in the unraveling of this mystery is the very secret of the meaning of salvation and life. It is a very tough nut to crack, this apparent contradiction between salvation by faith and salvation by works. For as clearly as James appears to come down on one side, Paul appears to come down on the other…

Ephesians 2

[5] even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), [6] and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God — [9] not because of works, lest any man should boast.

Once again, paradox is at work. For though it was Moses’ staff that turned the Nile red with blood, it was not Moses who did it. Though it was Trumpets of Joshua’s band that brought down the walls of Jericho, it is not Joshua who did it. Though the Virgin Mary brought forth the I Am Himself, it was not by Mary’s doing that this miracle was brought forth.

So what of these sorrowful mysteries I mentioned? In them is found the answer. For if salvation is of faith through works, how can anyone be saved? When the disciples asked this very question…..

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Jesus excels at making the impossible possible…..even putting salvation within the reach of sinful men. For a human being cannot achieve salvation by human acts, only by Divine acts. How can a human being accomplish Divine acts??? He can only do so because He who was both human and Divine, sanctified the human act and made it Divine.

Jesus was not baptised because He needed to be. He was baptised to take a human act- being immersed in water- and attaching a Divine action to it. Now, through Baptism, we can receive sanctifying Grace. Before, you would only get wet.

Jesus did not pray the Our Father merely because it sounded good. By simply voicing it, it became the Word of God. All throughout the New Testament, we see evidence of purely human actions that now have Divine value.

Here are but a few….

Matthew 10:42
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Luke 24:50
When He had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up his hands and blessed them.

Acts 8:17
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 26-29
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is My blood of the [b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

Time after time, what appear to be simple human acts performed by human beings have a supernatural component fused to them because these acts were sanctified and made holy by the God-Man.

The Bible tells us that He was like us in all things except sin. Why? Have you ever thought about this? Did God, the Omniscient One, need to experience life as a human being to understand it? Hardly.

Then why? Why did Jesus need to come to us, be baptised, work, learn, teach, pray, fast, minister, empathize, experience fear and rejection and grief and suffer and die a horrible death? Did He do all these things so that we would not have to?

Not so! The Bible definately does not teach that. In fact, it teaches the opposite!

For, while Jesus was baptised, learned, taught, prayed, fasted, ministered, empathized, experienced fear and rejection and grief and suffered and died, He admonished each and every one of us that we would-to greater or lessor degree- experience each of these things.

This is where the so-called “prosperity gospel” preachers get it so wrong. “Follow Jesus” they say, “and you will know only joy and peace”.

Jesus promised something very different. Jesus promised that the price of following Him was a Cross that you would have to carry. Jesus promised that you would be hated and reviled by mankind and that you would have to live a life that shunned the pleasures of this world. In short, Jesus promised that suffering would come to those who believed and that only those who endured to the end would be saved.

Well….that doesn’t sound like much fun! It certainly is difficult to reconcile with the idea of a God who came to earth to suffer and die, as a free gift of salvation. It almost sounds like a contradiction. It almost sounds like God is going back on His word. It almost sounds like God is cruel. Why would God desire the very followers He Redeemed at an incalculable price and who accepted Him, suffer needlessly at the hands of the very ones who rejected Him?

To understand, you must re-orient your thinking and understanding of who Jesus was and what He did for you. He did not suffer so that you would not have to suffer. For if He did some very special people to me were seriously short changed. Jesus again did not suffer for the purpose of eliminating suffering from your life.

Jesus suffered to sanctify suffering itself and make it holy so that even that which the devil intends for evil can be used for good. Once again, the sheer depth of God is explored within the mystery of paradox. For it is right and just and logical that we would attempt to avoid suffering, yet suffering, if it must come, is not in vain. For even that which hurts us, can help us.

Is it God’s will that we suffer? hardly. It’s the devil’s will. The passion of Christ and the five sacred mysteries that explore it teach us the very thing Satan uses to destroy you can be used by God to save you.

This is the answer, to that age-old question of why God sometimes allows (passive) horrible things to happen to people. This is the question that I have wrestled with every bit as much as you. For I have seen unimaginable evil in my life on both the public and private level and cried out those words……

“My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me!?”

The same words. Listen to me. The same words King David cried out. The same words the Savior cried out. For God in His unfathomable mercy experienced the perception of His own rejection and the sorrow of isolation even as He saw all and knew all.

The inexpressible mystery of paradox.

Jesus did not forsake you, little one, though it seems so painfully clear that He did. Where was He in your suffering? Right in the middle of it.

When you pleaded with God to protect you from the thing you were so fearful of, He was on His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane sweating blood and pleading that the cup be taken from Him.

While you were being taunted and ridiculed and made to feel small, insignificant and worthless, He was before the tribunal of Pilate being spit upon, kicked, mocked and crowned with thorns.

While you suffered horrible pain unjustly, He was there, being scourged and crucified.

As you have gone through life carrying a burden, He was carrying His cross.

Many believers don’t want to talk of these things, preferring to concentrate only on the Resurrection.

Many of my Christian friends point out (and rightly so) the suffering and death is completely powerless without the Resurrection. Point conceded.

Do not forget, however, what magnifies the Light and power of the Resurrection is the sheer darkness from which it rose. The disciples had placed all their faith in a Savior only to watch him arrested for crimes He wasn’t capable of committing, subjected to a gruesome, horrific torture and murder and laid in a tomb.

Everything they believed was destroyed, everything they hoped for was obliterated…or so they thought.

The power of the Resurrection is even the most horrible darkness can be followed by the Light of the Son. This life will eventually bring misery and death to each of us. For every possession you have will be lost and every relationship you have will be brought to an end. No level of power or money can buy you another second when the Angel of Death comes to call upon you.

This is just reality. Do not despair. Do not give up. For those who have accumulated great fortune in this world, age and death are only that much more painful a separation.

Do not assume the suffering that has been visited upon you means God doesn’t love you.

Remember, you cannot have a Resurrection without the Crucifixion. Does this mean that you must be crucified? Heavens no!

It means that you must take up your cross (Matthew 10:38) and unite your sufferings with His (Colossians 1:24). How do you do so? Very simply-by saying and embracing those 4 difficult and powerful words: Thy will be done.

and remembering the sorrow of Friday is fleeting; the Joy of Sunday is everlasting.

Happy Easter!

Also posted at Digg! here and GOP Hub here.

Myth vs Fact-Part 110

Myth	Fact
Islam: Religion of peace.	48:15-16 Those who lagged behind will say, when you set forth to take the spoils, “Allow us to follow you,” They want to change Allah’s Words. Say: “You shall not follow us; thus Allah has said beforehand.” Then they will say: “Nay, you envy us.” Nay, but they understand not except a little.
Tafsir	The Fabricated Excuse offered by Those Who lagged behind and did not participate in Al-Hلudaybiyyah; Allah’s Warning for ThemHypocrites are barred from participating in Jihad Acceptable Reasons for not joining Jihad

HE IS RISEN! God Bless Johnny Hart and his FEARLESSNESS in Proclaiming his Faith!

Today’s offering from Johnny Hart is as thought-provoking as all his Easter offerings. It’s a welcome breath of fresh air for he is fearless in proclaiming his love of Jesus and what Jesus has done for the world. The fact he boldly prints it in a cartoon format allows both adults to ponder and think and children to learn about the Saviour. Too bad the true meanings he portrays fly over the heads of the MSM and the liberals–they could definitely learn something. Maybe that’s what they’re afraid of.

Enjoy and rejoice for JESUS is RISEN!

HE IS RISEN! God Bless Johnny Hart and his FEARLESSNESS in Proclaiming his Faith!

Today’s offering from Johnny Hart is as thought-provoking as all his Easter offerings. It’s a welcome breath of fresh air for he is fearless in proclaiming his love of Jesus and what Jesus has done for the world. The fact he boldly prints it in a cartoon format allows both adults to ponder and think and children to learn about the Saviour. Too bad the true meanings he portrays fly over the heads of the MSM and the liberals–they could definitely learn something. Maybe that’s what they’re afraid of.

Enjoy and rejoice for JESUS is RISEN!

A Progressive God Responds to the War on Christmas

Yesterday I was forwarded a rather long e-mail letter from God, so I thought you just might be interested. If you are reading this, then you will most likely receive it too. I was really disappointed, however, that I wasn’t on God’s initial list of friends, but I guess I should be thankful that the e-mail finally made it into my inbox.

The letter starts out . . .

“Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I wasn’t actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of you’re predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although Ido appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth just, GET ALONG AND LOVEONE ANOTHER. . . .”

The letter goes on to suggest that we all stop worrying about the War on Christmas, and start acting like real Christians by performing acts of Christian love and charity etc. Now who can argue with that? And more to the point, who would dare argue with God???

Well, for starters, how can I be sure that God actually wrote this e-mail? I did notice that there were a few grammatical errors, but perhaps God doesn’t really care much about grammar either or perhaps His secretary was off for the day?

The next question I had was that if God really did write this e-mail, which person of the Trinity was actually involved in the writing? The implication is that it must be Jesus because God is talking about “MY birthday.” We Christians all know that God the Father “Is, Was, and Always Will Be.” God the Father never had a birth date. If Jesus is writing about “My name” and “My birthday”, why didn’t He even once mention His name??? He could have at least signed the letter but HE didn’t.

Perhaps God was avoiding any mention of Jesus in order to keep Christians and Non-Christians alike from Christmas-time divisiveness? But that doesn’t ring true. It’s really hard to imagine a God “who sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (John 4:19), not even wanting to mention that fact on his only son’s birthday.

But this letter is hard to figure out, kind of like trying to figure out God. So I’m just not sure. Isn’t it funny that God would remind folks to read John 15: 1 – 8 (“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. . .), tell folks to pray, and to send money to missionaries who would spread his name, but fail to spread His name in this very letter???

And why wouldn’t God want folks to heed Jesus’ own words?

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” (John 14:13)

God made several good suggestions in his e-mail but I was struck by the fact that God had little interest in keeping alive the Christian tradition of Christmas. I would assume from reading this e-mail from God that He’s not at all opposed to secularizing the day.

“Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees.”

That got me to thinking about the importance of tradition – to humans at least. Why should protecting our cherished religious traditions be important to all Americans regardless of our differing faith perspectives?

Oddly enough I found the answer from an Australian – Professor Mark Cooray. Dr. Cooray was once a socialist/progressive activist but he turned from socialism because, “I have come to believe that socialism and progressivism are in practice, as far as human development is concerned, retrogressive philosophies.”

Here’s a quote from a very interesting chapter on Tradition from the book, The Australian Achievement: From Bondage To Freedom by Dr. Mark Cooray.

“The Internationale contains a line “No more tradition’s chains shall bind us.” This is one of the fundamental ideas of socialist/progressivist thinking. Man must be freed from tradition. Reason is to be the guiding light. The devil can cite scripture for his purposes. Reason can often be used to support any position. If men and women are freed from tradition, the experiences of history and the family environment, they can be manipulated and used by ideological and religious leaders, eccentrics and maniacs. If tradition declines, ideologues can mould and influence individuals.”
Source: http://ourcivilisation.com/cooray/btof/chap11.htm

Note: The Internationale is the international song of both Marxist and non-Marxist socialist parties. It was written in French by Eugene Pottier, a woodworker from Lille, after the fall of the Paris Commune of 1871, and set to music by P. Degeyter.
Source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/INTERNAT.html

Now it’s just possible, even plausible, that perhaps God didn’t really write this e-mail letter. And if the devil can cite scripture for his purposes, then who is to say who really wrote the letter? That got me to thinking about “inversion” – the turning of faith or any philosophy inside out.

Now anyone can be susceptible to ideologues who would manipulate faith, and those who are only too willing to overthrow tradition for political correctness are often the most susceptible. The clever part about the inversion of faith is that it is often very subtle. The primary rule of inversion is that the big lie is usually hidden amid much truth. And that big lie is often hidden through the process of expanding definitions and redefining commonly accepted theological truths. We usually call it “revisionism”.

I don’t know who wrote the letter and most likely it was written by someone who has the best of Christian humanistic intentions. I do know that the letter was forwarded to me from one of my liberal/ progressive friends who is a member of a very liberal/progressive Christian denomination. I won’t mention the particular denomination’s name but you can usually tell which Christian denominations have a liberal/progressive bias. They are the denominations with well known old names that are rapidly losing membership due in no small part to the fact that they subtly promote moral equivalency with any faith perspective, and they avoid, at all costs, the mention of sin. The easiest way to spot them is that they quote every Biblical verse devoted to Love but recoil from any passage having to do with the cost of sin. And if you read any of their literature you will find that they have quite neutered the language by never referring to God as “He”. The most extreme of the progressives refer to God as “He/She”.

My friend sent the e-mail on to all of her many church friends and to me because she was afraid that we Americans are “politicizing our God.” But somehow this letter from God feels just like a politicized message especially when God tells us to pray for George.

I do not doubt the sincerity and devout faith of my friend and of most liberal/progressive Christians. But what I do know is that, as Dr. Cooray aptly pointed out concerning the progressives, “they can be manipulated and used by ideological and religious leaders, eccentrics and maniacs.”

If anyone would like me to send them the entire e-mail from “God”, please e-mail me.