The Races of Man

Genesis 1:26-28, Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the face of the earth.”

What is discussed in different parts of the world is always interesting to me. I have often noted that I have a theological paradigm. Others do, as well, and sometimes what is important to me is not to them, and vice versa. This is easily settled with the acknowledgment that each of us is only one thread in the tapestry of Christian life, and together we are, in fact, a body. Oneness does not come from agreeing on what we believe but in agreeing on Him in whom we trust, Christ. The topic of race seems to turn up everywhere, though there is a huge difference between the racism practiced in most countries—where one geographical group considers itself superior to another—and the racism that sees another people group as less human or even nonhuman. I suppose there is an element of racism that came with the Tower of Babel as men separated into language groups. The pride of man came to the forefront, and instead of seeing the wickedness that caused the separation, man began to boast in the separation and view his people in his language group as superior; this would easily transfer to include his “race.” Race has caused many wars; however, the majority of these wars did not stem from seeing others as not actually being human. This is my problem with evolution, since some races unavoidably are seen as “links” to the superior race, the survival of the fittest! The earlier diagrams from the Theory of Evolution are disturbing. I suppose that in some way the Tower of Babel introduced an aspect of segregation, but it did not introduce the concept of dehumanizing man. That task has been left to the wicked around the world that do it in a variety of ways. I am asked, “What do you think of interracial marriage?” What a question! First, I would want to know the purpose of the question and whether affirmation or denial is desired from the answer. Some, in their flesh, have a vested interest in a negative or a positive response. To these I really have nothing to say, for it is not what they are doing but the why that will condemn them. Amen. Presently I am thinking of some very big-hearted believers in other countries that have asked the question in humility, honesty, and sincerity. On the other hand, the argument most often hidden behind by those that dehumanize humans is that God separated the races at the Tower of Babel, one of the sons of Noah was cursed, or Cain was given a mark after he killed his brother. This is actually even believed by many in Africa. While the Biblical events are all true, none has a single thing to do with dehumanizing people. Then there is a parallel drawn from nature in the suggestion that birds and fish stay within their “kind,” and so people naturally segregate, and so on. Back to creation, God created man, singular, and He created fish and birds, plural. Within the fish of the sea, God put within them a boundary, and the same is true of all the birds of the air; if not, the uniqueness of the ocean and the skies would be at risk. In that spirit, Paul states that there are different kinds of flesh. I Corinthians 15:38, 39, “But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.” The flesh of animals (many KINDS) is different than the flesh of man (singular, in that it is one KIND). I agree with a point an African was making, a rather simple one. Each kind of fish was to remain within its kind. Man, too, is to remain within his kind, and his kind is human, notwithstanding some differences within mankind that are easily understood considering the dispersion of man after the expulsion from the garden, the flood, isolation, migration, and recessive and dominant genes within man. These are only differences in appearance within the group of man. Man is man, and man can only marry within his kind. (Of course, this excludes the notion of homosexual “marriage,” which is not marriage, since the two cannot become one.) When man, who might appear different from someone of his own kind, marries, there is nothing in Scripture against that. Romans 2:10,11, “but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” Interracial marriage is not up for debate. However, there is something else that is not up for debate that should be, and that is the impropriety of scientists who break the commandment of God by mixing “kinds” in the laboratory. The mule is not a created being but a result of two different created beings, and he is therefore forbidden.

 

Life On Earth, Part I

Revelation 4:21, And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first  things have passed away.”

This passage is often used to keep the believer hanging on in all of life’s struggles. “One day this will all be over; you will be in heaven for eternity.” However, I see it a different way. Humans get to experience mourning, crying and pain; those “negatives” are especially for us, and they are essential to revealing our need and driving us to the Lord. In mourning, crying, and pain, we discover the “God of all comfort.” David said that it was good that he was distressed, for it brought him to a deeper revelation of God, the Father. This life is our only opportunity to discover God’s care, compassion, grace, mercy, and love within the context of our being in need. We are only human one time, and there is no reincarnation. “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). For me, to say that there will be no more mourning or pain encourages me in my experiences on earth.

The Most Negative Man to Ever Live? Jesus!

John 2:24, 25,

“But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

Jesus was never a humanist who believed that man, given enough “education,” would act in the proper manner. Therefore, He was not about broadcasting the suitable information on which man could act. The history of the human race has proven this one thing: man is inhumane, period. Paul echoed the same truth, For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh (Romans 7:18a). This brings us to the point that Jesus did not come to improve man through a system of religion; He came to remove the inner life of Adam (Romans 5) and replace it with His life (Colossians 3:4). He was not all gushy over mankind but rather was negative about man in his present condition. It was not until Pentecost that He would become positive about the second Adam, the new creation, the child of God, for man without Christ is nothing about whom to be optimistic. “The first Adam was of the earth and the second from Heaven, and so we have the earthly and also the heavenly,” says Paul, who had the revelation of what we truly are (I Corinthians 15:40-49). I can be positive about the believer and aloof from the delusions of the unbeliever. Even the great humanitarians display their foolishness with discussions concerning the goodness of man apart from Christ; their words fall flat and lose their appeal in the light of a look at history.

The Dealer

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” 2 Timothy 4:3

As a youth working in the inner city of Chicago, I was always mystified by the drug dealer. He would stand next to an expensive convertible, have on a fur coat and big hat, flash gold teeth, and usually be accompanied by more than one woman dressed to fit the motif. He exuded all the deeds of the flesh. There was always a demeaning air about him as he dealt with those lining up to make their purchases. He had something that they wanted (or had to have, in some cases), and that gave him the upper hand; he could be as rude as he wanted to be. It was vexing to watch the twisted, worn, and toothless come to make their purchases. Even then I knew that a lesser gave way to a greater, and the reason he so despised those pathetic creatures was because he needed them to maintain his lifestyle. Something in him knew that he was lesser and they the greater, and this he disliked. I am seeing something similar that is disturbing today. The “spiritual” dealer is nearly a mirror of the drug dealer. I have heard the sermon on “seed money” so many times from the “spiritual” dealer as he admonishes believers to give and it will come back to them. The “spiritual” dealer may own three twenty-million-dollar homes, a jet, designer clothes, a multitude of luxury cars, and jewelry. This is all justified, because Jesus deserves the best. But Jesus is not living in the houses. Jesus had a robe with no pockets for collecting things; His Kingdom was not of this earth. Yet believers line up to give to such foolishness, even though the “spiritual” dealer talks about his followers with disdain, due to the clear separation between “us and them.” I watched a hidden camera catching the  “spiritual” dealers sweep up the donations, put them in trash bags, laugh, and gad about town on a shopping spree. I have to say that these things are good, because God has permitted them for the revelation of many hearts. In the context of His will, He gives the desire of the heart; and if it is health, wealth, security, and fame, it may be given. However, if the heart’s desire is to know Him in this short life, that also will be given. We are not to peddle or promote ourselves, but Christ. The best way to stay away from a drug dealer is never to let what he has stir something in our flesh. The best way to avoid the “spiritual” dealer is never to let his appearance stir some flesh in us. Finally, we can ask for the grace of God to accomplish, in this life, our never being sidetracked by giving attention to something that surrounds Him, but is not Him.

Satan Never Shuts Up!

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.” (Zechariah 3:1)

I remember as a university student taking a cross-country trip with a fellow I barely knew; he was catching a ride with me to a city some distance away. I did not know the fellow had no capacity to shut up, but rather, there appeared to be a random firing in the brain that connected to the tongue. What made it even more frustrating is that he presumed to know everything about nothing in particular. Like the doll that has a string in its chest for a child to pull and hear talking, he prattled, but by pulling his own string. When he did stay on a topic, the longer he talked, the more it sounded like he might know what he was talking about, but I was probably just getting brainwashed. I began to look for a blowhole in the top of his head that enabled him to keep talking without seemingly ever taking a breath. The monologue just went on and on and on. I have only had that experience with one other being, the devil. He never shuts up, never. If he followed Jesus into the wilderness in order to get on a topic and not let up, how much will he do to us? A brother told me one day of the appearance of a demon who spoke to him, and he asked what I thought about that. All I said was: “Do not talk back, because the longer they talk, the more sense they make.” One day a friend sent a letter that really frustrated me. He was judging everything I was doing. I put it aside and refused to answer immediately. For the next two weeks all my thoughts were harsh, critical, driving and condemning toward the brother. Oh, it made me mad. Finally, I got the letter back out and prepared to respond (or, actually, react). I reread his letter only to find that it said nothing of what I had thought it said! It was completely supportive and positive! Satan had twisted the whole meaning of the letter. Satan gets on to our flaws, the things that make us safe for God to work through us, the things that brought us to Christ, and the things of the flesh that do not change apart from abiding; and he harps, and harps, and harps until we are left wondering why God does not just kill us, or we ask God to take our life. He also talks through others; we all have had a share of that. How he loves to play off of our self-life through the offense of another, a failure, a disapproving glance from someone, a criticism, and more. He knows everything about nothing; he is a liar that never shuts up! According to him we are all hypocrites, hopeless, in terrible relationships, and being constantly abused; we are the unhappiest people in the world, surrounded by a world that is conquering us at the whim of wicked men, and more. He never shuts up. He is a liar, the father of lies, and just as a judge grants visitation rights to his children, if we receive a lie, Satan will have the legal right to visit it in us. Once he has gained access to us in that way, he torments us. We must for the sake of our own sanity bring every thought captive to Christ. Christ knew us at our worst and yet chose us. We have been stupid, and yet look at how, because of Jesus, we continue to be blessed. God is nothing like what Satan is attempting to tell us. God has not judged us, wiped us, punished us, or killed people that we love just to see us weep! God is love, and Satan is the liar that never shuts up; he is a noisy being, and those that follow him on the earth are noisy. When all the noise gets to be too much, first of all, do not give the enemy your attention by starting to do battle. Jesus showed us how to handle him by saying, “Lord rebuke you!” That is enough; any more and things will get worse. Second, go to 1 Corinthians 13 and read what Love/God is and let His peace and Truth flood over you. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Romans 16:20).

Recognizing God

Acts 17:24-28, “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”

I am writing to you from Australia, and my age is showing. I forgot my Bible and rely on my electronic Bible in my computer. However, the Gideons continue to be a blessing by putting a Bible in every hotel room; hence, the passage above could be typed out. Over the years, from my personal life experiences to my first world experiences to my Third World experiences, I will forever delight in the sight of a nursing baby. There is nothing like watching the child’s eyes examine the mother as he determines just exactly who this person is that brings such provision, such care, and such love. One day the child realizes it is a very intimate person that has a name; it is not some vague being but a specific individual named Mommy. The young one has a revelation; this heretofore unknown recipient of his gaze now has a name and becomes personalized, and not only is that unknown entity loved, but the baby cannot help but be drawn to his mother. So is the world. God is providing for every single creature; He is loving them, watching over them, listening to them, protecting them, and caring for them. It is the hope of God that in the will of man, he will look up and begin to recognize the one that cares for him. This was Paul’s point in the sermon on the hill in Acts: that God has cared for all of them no matter how pagan, no matter how lost, and no matter how sinful. It is Paul’s desire that they might recognize and call Him by His proper name, Father. In this life there are many situations that God will not fight but use to make us look to Him and discover the One who maintains us. We must point people to the One and continue to point them to the One, no matter how exhausting, in the hope that they might see the One that maintains them.

Only One Faith

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6).

For years I would read the passage in Ephesians and attempt to discern what was the “one faith” of the Christians. I think I had read the passage so many times with a religious pair of glasses that I was missing the context. The “one faith” referred to is not the one faith among the many faiths in the world, but a statement of fact that there is but one faith, and everything else is a religion. The basic difference between faith and religion is that religion’s success will somehow end at the feet of the worshipper, whereas the success of faith ends at the feet of God. Hence, religion is all about man, and faith is all about God. Religious people are not exercising faith in God; just listen to them talk to realize that life for them revolves around their behavior, knowledge, or attitudes. Whether it be the piety of the Buddhist, the meditation of the Hindu, the gyrations of the Voodoo priest, the Law keeper, the candle (or incense) lighter, the kingdom builder, the “cutting edge” preacher, or the doctrinally correct, there exists between them the fellowship of the religious. Among them, too, a great lie is perpetrated that the exercise of their religion somehow either alters the very flesh of man or the plane of flesh on which all men live. Religious people have an appearance of godliness, as described by Paul to Timothy: “For men will be lovers of self . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these.” Religious people define what form the godliness will take, so oddly enough they succeed at their own definition! Honestly, I have no vested interest in stating the obvious, but all religious people are failures. The adherents of humanism–which is one great competitor of faith–continue to take human beings’ less than 1% success at playing God and amplify it in their minds and communications until it looks more like 100%. Any of us could come up with a lengthy list of famous people that have been sainted beyond human recognition. Christians have done the same general distortion through stories and images of believers to the point that they would be unrecognizable to those that actually knew, lived, and worked with them. The saddest thing is that many, upon hearing of the exaggerated portrayal of a spectacular spiritual life, begin a lifelong journey to emulate the Christian, who in reality is non-existent. This imitating leads to the disastrous consequences of “acting religious” as they flesh out phony copies of the exalted. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Religious people, no matter what the religion, have fallen short of the glory of God. It is interesting that religious people will focus on certain aspects of religion that most cannot achieve in order to maintain their “position” in their manmade religion. Amen! There is one faith, and in that one faith God deals with man by putting success at His own feet. He gives an attainable faith, for God’s goal is to bring in as many as possible, while religion’s goal is to be as exclusive as possible. ^“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’”  Paul, seeing the difference between the efforts of man that lead to religion and the work of God that leads to the one faith, rightly says, “Where then is the boasting?” ^“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” Religious people are like shadows that do not exist in the manner in which they would like to portray themselves. If there were one thing I would have changed in my early life as a Christian, it would have been to take all of the religious people and move them to the fringe of my life, keeping Christ in the center. In this one faith, there will be times of discouragement, failure, doubt, bewilderment, rebellious children, loneliness, outbursts of anger, walking in the flesh, and more. There will also be times of unspeakable joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, encouragement, faith that is mountain moving, and unwavering focus. We are unique creatures, half spirit and half flesh. Just as we walk on two legs we must, for now, walk in two realities, that of the flesh and that of the spirit. Religious people seem to want to go through life hopping, either on the leg called flesh and wanting everything that the visible world might offer, or on the leg called spirit, living a life of avoidance of the world. Did you know no revival has ever taken place around a monastery, whether Buddhist or Christian? We must be of the one faith, of those that see this physical world as one in which life with a small “l” will reveal and perfect Life with a capital “L.” The human being is not an accident, but is exactly what God wanted, for the physical must come before the spiritual. This earth, our bodies, our souls, and our spirits have a common goal: the revelation and choice of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Just as we bring a bit of heaven to earth, we will also take a bit of earth with us to heaven. Our minds will not go blank when we enter heaven. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.” When we enter heaven, we will remember and rejoice all the more in the Lamb that was slain.

Complaining? Stop and Enjoy the Lord’s Presence!

The Source of a Decision: Fear or the Loss of Peace

Putting Your Head in the Sand Concerning Others

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