Saturday...

Today is going to be quite a Saturday. I have been spending much time this week watching Free Speech TV, BBC, and other truthful, non commercial news sources that show the horrors of what is going on in IRAQ. Did you know that the Iraqi death toll is now over 700,000 people? That’s genocide. Well, there is much more to be said, but I’m saving all of that for my Next book, which has now become the complete focus for my summer projects. I know, I said I had all of those other projects to do, and I still do, but this has to come first. It has become quite obvious that the social justice that only Christianity can bring about must be exposed for the truth that it is. Jesus wasn’t just the savior of the world, but also a bringer of great social change. The early Christians had a phrase called PAX ROMANA (it wasn’t theirs exclusively). This literally means Roman Peace. There was a period in history, from about 27BC to 180AD in which there was minimal expansion of the Roman Empire, and relative peace in the area. The Christians believed that this was due to the Birth of Christ, and the prayers of the saints. That is roughly 200 years of peace. There is much more to be said in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Romana about it, although, after reading it, I think that it is a little skewed. I’m sure that Caesar Augustus would say that he started a political trend that brought the peace. It is always a matter of perspective. I happen to believe in the whole Pax Romana thing myself. I think that the most powerful force on this earth is the will of Christ, who, in the Glory of God has the ultimate authority in all things. IF we, as Christians set ourselves against the dark forces of this world, we would surely make an impact. I do think that the fear of persecution is so strong that there are few who are willing to make radical changes. This must change. This must pass before us and never come back again. I think, speaking from my own corruptible heart that we are too much in love with this world. Our love for our lives, and the lives of those of us we love, is so strong, that we are not willing to sacrifice them for the sake of the Cross of Christ. We are not raising our children to understand that they may very well be in a world that will kill them for their faith. As this Autocracy that we live in continues to grow, and the police state that we live in now becomes more and more evident to the public, the stronger stance we as Christians will have to take against it. We cannot let our freedom of expression to preach God’s truth, to live God’s will, and to share God’s faith with others, to be taken away. I read an article, that there is a bill in congress that either is coming up, or currently being debated, that says preaching from the pulpit that homosexuality is sin, will be considered a hate crime, and thus against the law. Regardless of how you feel about homosexuality, preaching that sodomy is sin is a matter of faith. I understand the stand point. If Christians get to say that sodomy is sin, the KKK will be able to say the bible indorses slavery, because Paul taught how to be a better slave--But our ability to express our relgion, based on the bible, in this country should not be taken away, especially since our Christian solution to the issue is to pray and love all people, no matter what sin they have in their lives--Although this is a total leap for biblical purest, it still could be made a case. So, it seems, that someday, one of my books, or essays, or articles, may put me in jail. So be it; but am I raising the my daughter to understand these things? I hope so. She does understand what happened to other Christians in other parts of the world in other times throughout history. Right now I am not forcing it upon her that she will grow up and be killed for her faith, but this is not far from where we are at now. You say that isn’t the case? Well, not more than 60 years from now, several types of Christians were being stuffed in ovens, along with others of ancestral faiths for not denouncing their God. In fact, JW’s were the forerunners for persecution in Germany, and this country at the same time. JW’s were being lynched, castrated, and physically abused by people in this country, just for their faith and their lack of willingness to go to war. IN THIS COUNTRY! Don’t think that as fascism grows our rights as Christians will not disappear. Oh, don’t be deceived. There are Church of Christ preachers that think that George Bush is an honest man. It is this kind of simplistic, inexcusable naiveté that will bring about our heaviest persecution. The lack of spiritual discernment of some, will indeed bring about persecution for those who maintain their divine obligations. It is simply whether or not we conform. I ask myself, what have I already conformed to that I don’t have the right perspective about that is leading me down a wrong path. Several months ago, I had started asking my spirits Father to show me “Truth”, and not perception, in not so many words. I started asking that HE open my eyes to what is really going on this world, and what it is that I need to be praying for (paraphrasing, I do not remember the exact words it was that I prayed on that day I started). I have become overwhelmed by what I have been shown. It has all come so quick and straight up, that sometimes I need to dumb down and watch Disney channel with my daughter so as to give my mind and heart a break. I can’t imagine what is going to happen when all those orphans in Iraq, who had to watch their parent being blown to bits in front of their faces, are going to do when they grow up. They will be haters of this country. They will experience, and are now experiencing, vast amounts of PTSD, ADHD, Depression, and out right psychotic rage. I feel heart broken for all those people.

Don’t get me wrong, yes, I feel heart broken for all the children who have lost parents in this country too. In fact, I feel the same for all children around the world. I think that we forget to love the people of the world, especially when we are at “war” with them, regardless of the wars legality.

I digress: I am spending this day fully focused on my new book. I am just editing and revising J&M16. There is stuff in there that I want to get rid of, and there is stuff in there that needs some tweaking. Since I started asking God for truth, my focus has changed. I realize that Christians can make significant changes in this world. Not just in prayer, our most powerful weapon, but also in passive non-resistance to the workings of this world. Our only resistance to the evils of this world is merely to draw closer to Christ. For so many years, I have worked hard inside my heart and mind to say that there is a gap between the “world” and the “kingdom of God” (aka the church), but now I see that we as Christians must be in the world, but not of the world. This earth must be a foreign land to us. This world must be a place that we don’t fit in, in order to gain our greatest hope of joining God eternal. We must learn not to love this world. We must learn not to love this life more than we love Christ (John 17!)