Soul Trap. Wayne Sr. Stewart
worse with each and every passing day, is why. This, even despite two thousand years of the church ramming New Testament “gospel truth” down our throats as a feel-good, heal-all, panacea. And, if you tell me that all we have to do to fix the problem is adhere to the teachings of Jesus as written in the Bible…
The spiritual discord for which I make reference is the same as to what you will find within the Amish community (to include their offshoot the Mennonites,) in that, through the vehicle that is their religion they shun everything the modern world has to offer. Why? Because of 1 John 2:15, is why. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any [person] loves the world, the love of [God] is not in him. 16 For all that [exists] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of the Father, but of the world. 17 But the world passes away, [along with] the lusts thereof: but he [or she] that does the will of God [will live] forever.”
However, you should know that the Amish don’t exactly shun everything the outside world has to offer. They have, and do use, electricity, hot and cold running water, power tools, farm equipment and implements, radios, and even take rides to Wal-mart aboard internally combusted vehicles every so often. Not to mention, the marvels of modern medicine and hospitals equipped with the latest and greatest. Although the Amish claim citizenship with the United States of America the same as all bona fide citizens do, they do little to honor it. As an example, they refuse to serve on a jury because of Matthew 7:1. This being where Jesus said: “Judge not, lest you be judged.” (Where local municipalities would hold you and I accountable for such a choice, even if we quoted from said verse, they receive a pass in the form of a “get out of jail free” card.)
The Amish also refuse to serve in the military yet enjoy all the liberties and benefits that millions of others have sacrificed for. They also refuse to educate their children beyond the eighth grade because they know that, if they do, they wise up to their antiquated ways. Yet, the Amish are but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to assassinating the goose of loyal citizenship, while pardoning the floundering gander that is a relic of a religious construct. But hey! That old-world handcrafted hutch that retails for $1295.99 at the major retailers is only $750.00. And oh look—matching wall units too! (I know. But talk about having your spiritual cake and eating too, if only because of that worldly, almighty dollar that their secluded society; and just like any other society; revolves around. And if there is any truth to 1 John 2:15, then even they should know that money is the root of all evil. Let’s call it a vehicle that turns all inroads, into floodgates.)
Please understand that it’s not my intention to single out the Amish or their kissing cousin the Mennonites—not even hand-grenade close! Instead, I hold them out as examples regarding idiosyncrasies found within ALL religions. Believe me when I tell you that every last religion on this planet harbors its own internal foibles. It’s just that some are more notable than others.
Perhaps I should be addressing those people who, through the culmination of their faith, put everything into the hands of God: even the sad and corrupt state of worldly affairs. I address you specifically because, what are we to do with the truism that God helps those, who help themselves? And never was a fig tree riper for the picking, than the one set before us here and now. Otherwise, we can always watch in religious indignation as humanity hurls itself towards the event horizon of the great abyss, believing it all to be part of some grander plan. Worse comes to worse, we could just pitch a fit over it. You know, like the son of God did regarding that fig tree incident of his.
Ah huh.
Now, concerning what Jesus said in Mark 10:17 and 18 about no one being good but God Almighty, to include him, and how it becomes necessary for his father to prune him of his “imperfections” from time to time (see again, the admission of St. John 15:2: especially as it relates to him being violent, disorderly, unruly, uncontrolled, uncontained, lawless, mutinous and even rebellious,) I give you Matthew 7:17. This being where he further said of it, albeit for edification: “Every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 [Every tree that brings forth corruption…is cut down and set ablaze.] 20 Wherefore by their fruits you will know them.”
What was it again, that Jesus said of himself concerning trees of corruption that bear evil fruit? Oh! That’s right. It was Mark 10:18 where he publicly stated: “Why do you, call me good? None is good but God.”!
Ah yes, grasshopper. Suddenly, the light of enlightenment burning at the base of your brain begins to glow a bit more intensely. Watch out though because, next thing you know, an unruly child is tugging unmercifully at your sleeve. And its got questions: lots and lots of thorny, sticky, and yes troubling if not unseemly questions. Even if that means having to reach out and pry open our hankies for a more detailed examination. I know, and let me guess: “Ewe!” Right? But then, uncovering religious truths of this nature can be that way. This, after all, is the spiritual fortitude required of us on a heretofore-unimaginable scale.
Be that as it may, it’s about Jesus saying no one is good but God, that garners our attention here. Why? Because of the verse that binds this dynamic duo at the hip, is why. See again, Isaiah 45:5, as wrought for elucidation. That being where the Almighty declared: “I am the Lord, there is none else. There is no other God besides me…7…I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, as well as disease, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”
And, with that proof I promised you not too long ago: it all depends on the one we feed. However, I would be remiss if I did not advise you, in that, everything you are going to learn in this book is the revolutionary truth, so help me, and nothing but the immutable truth. Even insidious truths like those found in I John 1:5. “This then, is the message which we have heard…and declare unto you that God is light. That in him is no darkness at all.”
I agree. I John 1:5 seems harmless enough. But then; and this is the important part; this is how the deception empowers itself. All because I John 1:5 is a one-verse-wonder that no one bothers to demand any more of, only to label their apathy “faith.” And yes. There are many such verses like this in the Bible, all ascribed with the same lack of spiritual indifference. Nonetheless; and lest we fall victim to the same failings that entangle this world with slithering tentacles of spiritual unrest; we need to be more insisting of it: even if that insistence demands resolve. Otherwise, we become part of the problem.
Look, that’s a harsh truth to bear I know, but know that it goes even deeper than that. In fact, it goes much, much deeper. Let’s call this particular profundity an ill-defined rabbit hole from within the margins of life for which we cast our faith in the form of a proxy, and hope for the best as it gropes its way around in the dark searching for what we know not because even if it found it we would have no way of knowing what we were looking at. Not to mention, we didn’t even know we were looking for it in the first place. That’s just the way it is, when striving after the wind. But then, everyone knows there is no new thing under the sun. Right? (See Ecclesiastes 1:9.)
Truth is, by perpetuating the problem verses the solution concerning religion and its inherent failings, we commit our children, your children, the world’s children, to a tenuous future. After all, if it were not for spiritual maturation, we would still be sacrificing human life to appease the gods. And you know we would. What was it again, that Einstein said about this? Oh! That’s right. It was, “The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.”
Eureka!
But let us return to the hidden message of I John 1:5, in that, it says there is no darkness whatsoever in God. Why? Because of the discovery of St. John 3:19, is why. “This then, is the condemnation. That men love darkness…[why?] because their deeds are evil.”
So what, exactly, does the overall message inherent within these passages have to do with anything. Right? I thought the same thing myself at one time. This particular hiccup happens because the Bible is only letting you in on part of the story. And even then, it’s only that part “they” want you knowing. And now