Wednesday, September 30, 2015

This week's Bible study will be 1st Thessalonians chapter five

Preparing Ourselves For the Day of the Lord
[1st Thessalonians chapter 5]



When I closed out 1st Thessalonians chapter four last week, you no doubt recall my interpretation that we are to be living each day of our lives as if it will be our last. I cannot overemphasize this important truth, nor is it possible to diminish its importance. God is watching everything we do and listening to everything we say, and for a man like myself being in a position of Christian leadership, I am held to a higher standard by the Lord, because what applies to church members applies to me twice as much. Plus, as our Lord's return for his church continues to get ever closer, I fervently hope that others will follow my example and be continually readying themselves for His coming. And this, my dear readers, is a goal worth attaining at any time. It is at this point that Paul takes up where he left off, starting at the beginning of chapter five.



Now, brothers, about times and dates we need not write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying 'Peace and Safety', destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 1-11, NIV)



Paul paints a vivid picture of the coming of the Lord. Of course, one might ask if this is pertaining to the rapture of the church, or to the Lord's triumphant return three and a half years later (see the Book of Daniel chapter 12, etc). If you are one of those who has studied the rapture, the tribulation and the signs that we are living in the end times (never mind what you may have seen on TV or at the movies), then it is essential that we understand what Paul meant here. When he wrote, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”, I believe this warning was meant primarily for the Church. Be ready, watch and pray that we receive purification from the Holy Spirit, so that as members of the Bride of Christ we may be found “without spot or blemish”.



While people are saying 'Peace and Safety', destruction will come on them suddenly...”. According to prophecy, before the Antichrist can come to power, World War 3 will have to occur first (also known as the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel 39 and 39). There will also have been a series of natural disasters that will have occurred by this point in time (I don't have time to explain that part in detail, so please bear with me). People will be clamoring globally to be free to live in peace, and to be safe from natural disasters; “... and they will not escape” can be translated into modern English as saying, “Total destruction will overpower them without warning, and they won't stand a chance”. Nobody knows exactly what this means since all those other events have not yet occurred, and speculation would be counterproductive. All I can tell you is that the Antichrist will be in power for a total of seven years, and that one of his first acts will be to negotiate the peace treaty that ends World War 3. All the countries involved will adhere to this peace agreement for three and a half years. At that point the Antichrist will do something that breaks that same peace deal while elevating himself to something supposedly equivalent to God, as if there were such a thing. It is at this point that the persecution of Christians will greatly increase, and this will be happening in the US as well. This will be the “acid test” for all of those who identify themselves as being Christians. Either we take the mark of the beast and worship the Antichrist as god here on earth, or we refuse and continue to worship Jesus as the Son of God in heaven. Those who do worship Jesus will find themselves being martyred by the forces of the Antichrist. A time is coming when our Christianity will cost us our life. What will you choose? To quote the prophet Jeremiah, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”. Since the Lord died on the cross for my sins, I would not have any problem returning the favor, knowing that like himself, he will raise me from the dead to eternal life. We should all be willing to do the same.



But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” Remember who we are in Christ! We are the adopted sons and daughters of the Most High God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We were bought at a very steep price, one that no man would be willing to pay. We were adopted as sons and daughters of Jesus our Kinsman Redeemer, making all of us Jewish by adoption (see Romans 8: 15-17 or Galatians 4: 4-7, among others). We don't belong to the night and we never did, we were born for the day and for the light from our very conception. “Let's be alert and self-controlled”, Paul wrote. You won't be ready to meet the Lord at the rapture if you're in bed sleeping off a hangover, or after playing video games all night long. As I have said before, it's time for us all to get our priorities straight. Jesus first, worship him first and always give him top priority in your daily living and you'll find yourself living with an internal peace that was neither present nor possible before. I'm speaking from experience, and if God can do this for me then he can do so for you too. But we must ask Him first. Sitting around waiting for God to give any of us a hand-out will accomplish nothing, unless one considers wasting time an accomplishment. I most definitely don't!



God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up...”. I will sum this up in one sentence – we're not here to be on the receiving end of the tribulation that Jesus spoke about, but rather we will be protected from it if only we remain faithful to his Word. “If you love me”, Jesus said, “keep my commandments”. Jesus died so that we may have eternal life with him in heaven, a new dwelling place that we have not yet seen. Obeying His commandments is the second prerequisite, believing that he is the Son of God is the first. Having written that, let's conclude our study starting at verse twelve.



Now we ask you brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (1st Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 12-28, NIV)



Respect the value of hard work, Paul is saying, and especially those who do so. Dirty hands and sweat can turn an otherwise boring day into a really fun one. This is especially true of the younger men and women who are still able-bodied enough to do so (unfortunately, that is no longer the case with me). Hard physical work is dignified provided that it is done constructively. “Warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” Build each other up, don't tear each other down! Make the idle people either get off their butts and get to work or move on and stop standing in the way. It is written in the law of Moses, “If a man will not work he shall not eat”. Yet by the same token we are commanded to “be patient with everyone”. Give the slower people a chance to catch up. Better yet, why not donate your time and tutor a few to help them along? Now that would be in keeping with the Holy Spirit of Christ! 
 


“ ...always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.” Sometimes I think the secular world understands this better than modern churches do today. Immediately after recent natural disasters here in America, there were armies on volunteers that descended on these devastated areas and helped clean up, doing whatever needed to be done. What surprised me was when I found out that up to half of these volunteers don't bother going to church. Yet they understood the command and answered the calling that God obviously put on them. “Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” Let the Holy Spirit always be in control of everyone, every life, in every situation and in all circumstances. Check out everything you see, hear or read to determine its value, or the lack thereof. Put problem people completely out of your life if that's what it takes to get free from negative influences and all forms of evil. Hold on to the good and simply let everything else go. Such timeless wisdom!



May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” Paul closes out by replaying that theme of being found holy and blameless before the Lord, with the understanding that this is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No one can do this by themselves, but only through complete reliance on the Holy Spirit can such a noble goal as this be achieved. The key is in the last sentence, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” Total reliance on Christ will enable him to cause us to be holy, pure and blameless in the sight of God. Instead of being self-reliant as we are in most situations, we are to step aside and let Christ do the work, not for us but through us as we become willing conduits for his unequaled Spiritual power. That is the ultimate meaning of unity through Christ. Next week, we'll start on 2nd Thessalonians. Shalom!

Monday, September 28, 2015

The 4 blood moons, the Shemitah, and rabbi Jonathan Cahn: separating fact from fiction

Shemitah 2015: The Year of Release and
Coming Judgment For America?
By Rev. Paul J. Bern



Much is being made currently regarding the timing of the four blood moons, the Jewish Shemitah year, and the rise and fall of America's economy, military, and federal government. The first blood moon occurred on April 15th, 2014, the second on October 18th of last year, and the third on April the 4th of this year. The fourth and final one will occur this coming week on Monday, September 28th. This upcoming week, as the end of the Hebrew calendar draws to a close at the end of September, speculation is practically running wild as to what the near future will hold for the entire world, particularly for the US, Israel, Russia, China and the entire Middle East. First, let me say I doubt that a comet or a meteor will strike the Earth anytime soon, so you all can stop worrying about that. The fact of the matter is that if a real meteor or comet were about to strike the planet, it would be visible to the naked eye since it would be so (theoretically) close by now, well within the orbit of Mars. So I'm only going to write about pertinent information regarding End Times prophecy, and it all revolves around the conjunction of the Jewish and Western calendars, combined with current events in the Middle East.



The Sabbatical year, or Shemitah in Hebrew, provides a year of rest for the farmer and the land, since God commanded that no agricultural activity occur during the seventh year: Six years you shall sow your land and gather its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow.” (Exodus 23:10-11) Rarely have modern Israeli farmers observed the Shemitah, due to the loss of income they would incur by leaving their fields uncultivated for one year. In the period when Kings ruled in Israel, disobedience to the Sabbatical laws brought Divine punishment. Israel’s 70 years in Babylonian captivity were, in part, due to the failure of the Jews to observe the Shemitah for 70 years. (2 Chronicles 36:20-23) An additional feature of the law waives all outstanding or personal debts between Jews (Deuteronomy 15:1-2) However, the Jewish Talmud disallows loan amnesty related to the Shemitah, except when the agricultural rules are also observed. But the Israeli government and Jewish religious leaders are hoping to reverse that historical trend. The Israeli government has reportedly set aside 29 million dollars (US) to encourage local farmers to honor the Biblical mandate to let their fields lie “fallow” for one out of seven years. The bulk of the appropriated funds will be used to support farmers who will suffer loss of income, but who nevertheless, choose to keep the Shemitah, allowing their fields to lie fallow in obedience to God’s law. Despite the government’s assistance , problems surrounding the observance of the sabbatical year are complex, and involve Jewish legal issues and opinions on how best to adhere to the command without negatively affecting the income of farmers who follow the Sabbatical law and to protect the fragile agricultural economy. 
 


The current Shemitah (meaning, to release) began September 25, 2014, on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Another small portion of the budget will be used for the special ceremony that marks the end of the Shemitah: At the end of each seven years…on the festival of Sukkot, after the year of release, in the place He (God) will choose, you must read this Torah before all Israel, so that they will be able to hear it.” (Deuteronomy 31:10) That ceremony will take place at the Western Wall, in Jerusalem, during the Sukkot holiday on September 27th (at sundown) until October 4th, and next year in 2016 from October 16th (at sundown) until the 23rd.



Many non-Jews first learned about the significance of the Shemitah year while reading the best-selling book, “The Harbinger”, by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn. In “The Harbinger”, Rabbi Cahn reveals that the two greatest financial calamities in American history occurred on successive Shemitah years following the 9/11 Islamist terror attacks on the US. September 17, 2001, six days after the 9/11 attacks, the stock market re-opened and suffered the greatest point loss in its history, to that date. The market dropped 700 points, or 7% in one day. In response, the Federal Reserve slashed the nation’s interest rates, ushering in a period of economic devastation for the US. Seven years later, September 29, 2008, would prove to be even worse! The days leading up to September 29 saw the government bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two largest mortgage companies in the US, in a bid to prevent the collapse of the two. Shortly thereafter Lehmann Brothers, once considered the pinnacle of financial firms, reported losses of 45% and filed bankruptcy rather than accept a government bailout. The Stock market dropped 777.7 points or 7%, wiping out all gains of the past seven years. Thus making it the largest ever one day drop in the US stock market history! What followed was an implosion of the US and world economies, from which we have yet to recover. 
 


Rabbi Cahn did not speculate on what might transpire in the US economy at the end of the Shemitah year ending this year. As of this writing, nothing has occurred at all. But, God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Meaning, God's timing doesn't necessarily correspond with ours. While Rabbi Cahn acknowledges that the US is not under the Mosaic Law, he asserts that the Shemitah can still serve as a sign of judgment on a nation that has rejected God. It is also of interest to note that the celebration of the end of this Shemitah year will occur on Sukkot, September 28, 2015, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. On that same day (local time), the fourth and final in the series of the 2014-2015 “Blood Moon” tetrad will occur, according to NASA. Jewish history reveals an intriguing correlation between the tetrad of total lunar eclipses and the Feast Days. What does this convergence of events portend for the future? The answers remain to be seen, but we do well to Be on the watch!” (Luke 21:36) Watch and pray!

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

This week's Bible study will be 1st Thessalonians chapter 4

Living Our Lives For God
[1st Thessalonians chapter 4]



Last week when we left off at the end of chapter three of 1st Thessalonians, we found the apostle Paul exhorting and motivating the early Church for Christ's return. Paul wrote “may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus... strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” We can't strengthen our hearts on our own, or at least not in a Spiritual sense. In the professional world, people who are considered to be self-motivated or self-starters are valued for their work ethic. But the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of Jesus can do this in our place while doing a perfect job every time. The key is to yield to Him as we voluntarily step aside and allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through each one of us. But doing so involves humbling oneself, and not everyone is good at that. I can still remember having issues like that when I was a much younger man. But over the years, the Lord taught me that truly humbling oneself involves setting aside personal pride, vanity, conceit and pretentiousness, and making sure our feet are planted on solid ground. Otherwise we would be committing an act that is tantamount to opposition to God by glorifying ourselves. And anybody who is opposed to God, or who is too egocentric to recognize anyone else in their lives greater than themselves, is fighting a losing battle. You can't fight God. Nobody can, and we were never meant to. King Solomon, the son of King David, said it best in the book of Proverbs: “God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble”. On that note, let's plunge into today's study beginning at verse one.



Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. “1 Thessalonians 4, verses 1-8, NIV)



Live for Jesus more and more each day. What perfect advice this is! How do we make ourselves more honorable and holy in God's sight? We yield to Jesus, putting him in charge. Think of it as being similar to going on a long road trip with Christ. Normally on a long road trip we would take a companion to share the driving and for conversation. But if we take a road trip with Jesus Christ, we leave all the driving up to him. Remember that only one can occupy the driver's seat at a time. So, if you find your self having a little difficulty because you're not used to surrendering control to another, just remember that Jesus isn't like all those other people who hurt you, who used or abused you, or who were mean and unfair towards you. He's the Son of God, and so he is incapable of hurting you. He always has your best interests at heart, especially when it seems like no one else does.



“Each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable... “. This is really only common sense stuff, and all of us should know better when it comes to controlling our own bodies. Don't party 'till you puke, don't smoke “crack” or “meth”, not to mention so-called “synthetic marijuana”, don't inhale powdery substances, don't stick needles in your arms (or wherever), and don't drive your car at twice the posted speed limit! Not unless you want to find yourself standing before Jesus trying to explain why you got to heaven 30, 40 or even 50 years early. Those individuals will be lucky to get to stay at all! Here's another way for us to control our own bodies: Abstain from sexual promiscuity. If your sex drive is driving you nuts, don't worry, it happens all the time. Go find a husband or a wife to love and care for instead. Lots of people have a big problem with this. I don't wish to offend anyone, but too much sex, especially with the wrong people, can literally kill you. Or, if it's someone else's spouse and you get caught by you-know-who, you can get yourself killed instantly. Let's exercise some sensibilities in this regard, remembering that God is watching everything we do and listening to everything we say. Not in a snooping or intrusive sort of way, but more like a caring parent raising a child. “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” Never reject God, but yield to his Holy Spirit instead. It's always in our best interest to do so. Don't worry, God has already seen to that. And do not be apprehensive about it. “Fear not”, or “don't be afraid”, depending on which translation you read; that's what Jesus said repeatedly in all four gospels. And if he said it, then it has more value than silver, gold, or even diamonds. With that in mind, let's continue at verse 9.



Now about brotherly love we do not need to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you might not be dependent on anybody.” (1 Thessalonians 4, verses 9-12, NIV)



“Love your neighbor as yourself”, that's what Jesus commanded all of us to do. If we're not doing it, or if we are doing this for some but not for others, we're not doing our jobs as practicing Christians. Being in church on Sunday morning makes us no more of a Christian than being in a driveway or parking lot makes us a motor vehicle. But Paul commended the Thessalonian church for perfecting this practice. Here is a measurement for our own faith: Is God commending you for being an unconditionally loving person? Is your church? What about your family or your co-workers? Do they see us that way? “Work out your own salvation”, Paul wrote, “with fear and trembling before the Lord”. We are to busy ourselves by making as significant a contribution as we can. These are people who never tire of doing good, whether they get any recognition or not. By staying busy and staying out of other people's business, we are to be practiced at being independent, as Paul wrote, “so that you might not be dependent on anybody.” Dependency is the opposite of self-sufficiency. Dependent people may well need the assistance of others. But there are other dependent people are live their lives this way by choice, and it is a most unfortunate choice. They never learn self-sufficiency, whereas self-sufficient persons stand – not alone, but right beside Christ who intercedes to the Father on our behalf. Aspire to Spiritual self-sufficiency, depending only on Christ, and he will see you through anything, and that includes any deficiencies we may have, such as financial ones. There are a host of other examples of this, but I will treat that as a sermon topic sometime in the near future. For right now let's conclude today's study beginning at verse 13.



Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13-18, NIV)



This final paragraph of chapter four has generated much controversy over the centuries, primarily over whether this passage of Scripture should be taken literally or not. First, the phrase “We believe that Jesus died and rose again” is the focal point of all Christian belief and all manner of faith. In worldly terms, this part of Christianity is non-negotiable – period, no if's, and's or buts. Either you believe in Jesus or you don't, there is no middle ground. And for those who believe, Paul wrote, “...we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.” Here Paul is saying that those persons who are still alive at the time of Jesus' return still won't get to meet him first. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven … and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Those who have already passed will get to meet Jesus first, this verse makes that abundantly clear. This makes sense to me because those who have already had to experience physical death should be the first ones in line, with those who are still physically alive coming right after that. So those who have already died will indeed rise from the dead just as Jesus did 2,000 years ago, and this will come with the “rapture” of the church. The word “rapture” is actually not scriptural, but much of the details Paul wrote about, I think, most definitely are. I can't say for sure how any of this is going to unfold. I have prayed about it but God has not answered that prayer. But I can definitely tell you that it is going to happen in the near future, at the very least well before the latter part of this decade, and it will happen very suddenly and without warning.



After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” Could this have been just a figure of speech, “meet the Lord in the air”? Or could this have been a metaphor for death and the dying process? Or, as many say today, will we suddenly find ourselves soaring through the sky without warning? Or will this experience be one that defies explanation from any human point of view? One thing I am sure of, and that is that I am going to live every day that I have left on this earth as if it were going to be my last! That's the one standard that we can take home with us today as you all read this. Make yourselves ready to be taken up by Jesus at all times. Or even if you're not sure whether you really believe in Jesus or not, live each day as if it were going to be your last! Because on any given night when you lay down in your bed, you could wake up in either heaven or hell. The choices are ours to make, and God has cheerfully given us that choice. Choose Jesus, choose eternal life, and make today your best day ever. That's the way to live for Christ.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

This was the week when America found out just how bad its public schools have become

American Public Schools = Social Injustice:
High School Engineering Prodigy Suspended For Being Too Intelligent
by Rev. Paul J. Bern



Social and economic injustice are my two pet peeves when it comes to life within these United States, and that's exactly what has transpired this past week. On this past Monday, September 14th, Irving Texas high school student Ahmed Mohamed brought to school a clock that he was proud to have made on his own, and found himself arrested for what police initially – and falsely – said was a hoax bomb. But by mid-week, his face and name were splashed across traditional and social media, and he'd received thousands of tweets and Facebook posts of encouragement. President Barack Obama invited him to the White House and praised his love of science. Leaders at Reddit and Twitter offered him internships. Google executives said they were reserving Ahmed a spot at their weekend science fair and MIT asked him to visit the campus. The hash tags #IStandWithAhmed and #EngineersForAhmed have garnered hundreds of thousands of posts and tweets.



In an interview late Wednesday with MSNBC's Chris Hayes, Ahmed said he was pulled out of class at MacArthur High School by his principal and five police officers and taken to a room where he was questioned for about an hour and a half. At one point he asked the adults if he could call his parents. “They told me 'No, you can't call your parents,'" Ahmed said. "'You're in the middle of an interrogation at the moment.'” They asked me a couple of times, 'Is it a bomb?' and I answered a couple of times, 'It's a clock.'" "I felt like I was a criminal," the teenager said. "I felt like I was a terrorist. I felt like all the names I was called. Just because of my race and my religion," he said, adding that when he walked into the room where he was questioned, an officer reclined in a chair and remarked, 'That's who I thought it was.' I took it to mean he was pointing at me for what I am, my race," the freshman explained. Mohamed, who immigrated to the United States from Sudan, and who is Muslim, believes that he was targeted because of his brown skin color and his religion. His father is still furious that the school didn't contact him right away to tell him his son had been arrested. Instead, he first learned of what happened when police called him. His father told CNN he rushed to the station and saw his son surrounded by five police and he was handcuffed. The school later suspended Ahmed for three days, his father said. Mohamed said his son was at first embarrassed by what happened, but then was lifted and emboldened by the widespread support he has received. “I was scared at the moment, but now I feel really happy," the young prodigy later told CNN. "I'm getting all this support from all over the world. And the support isn't just for me but for everyone who has been through this. I will fight for you if you can't stand up for yourself."



Irving police had held onto the clock as evidence, but on Thursday, they told CNN that it's ready for Ahmed to pick it up. Asked what his plans for the future are, he told GMA, "That clock was part of my future." Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne defended the school district and police. “I do not fault the school or the police for looking into what they saw as a potential threat," she said in a statement. They all followed procedures, she said. A spokeswoman for the Irving Independent School District said that the way the teen's experience has been described in media reports is "unbalanced." She declined to explain why, citing the need to protect a student's privacy, but said more details would be revealed if the family gives written permission to discuss the incident. 
 


So what's wrong with our schools? Why did this latest episode between student and faculty occur? I contend that all this is happening to our children by design in order to make sure that the majority of us are programmed to be workers of all different types, so that every need of our current capitalist economic system (not to mention the numerous personal needs of wealthy business owners and their lobbyists, plus corporate CEO’s and their immediate families) can be met. Clearly our school systems are being managed this way by design in order to perpetuate our current hierarchical and authoritarian management structures within both government and the workplace. What the elitists don't tell you is what happens to those who don’t seem to fit into our glorified capitalist economic system. They usually wind up as prisoners, mental patients or homeless, although there are rare exceptions. They are those whose teachers and parents gave up on them, which eventually teaches these hapless individuals to give up on themselves. Many are those who are labeled as “learning disabled” (whatever that is), people demolished by our rigged capitalist system in a way that starts when these pitiful souls were still very young. These so-called “failing” students are sent to ruin by those in positions of power and authority who love to micro-manage people’s lives just for sport. Unable to cope with being labeled as poor students early on, and with no one to rescue them, they crawl through life, wrecked by warped senses of self-esteem that condemn them to failure, filled with rage, until many of them become institutionalized one way or another. And all this crap happens because some corporate bigwig somewhere was afraid they wouldn’t be able to make enough of a profit from them, and that is brutal mass exploitation by any definition. It's a gross human rights violation! Instead, I think it's far better to define ourselves as Americans by how we treat our least fortunate citizens. In that regard I would say we have some improving to do.



Our American public school system is so inferior that it requires total replacement with a digitized system of Internet-based computer learning to bring it up to 21st century speed. This issue is about nothing less than the fundamental right to unrestricted public education from the cradle to the gravestone at little or no cost. What are today’s children subjected to instead of quality education, you may ask? As I write this, on average an American child is neglected or abused every 36 seconds, born into poverty every 41 seconds, and born without health insurance every 59 seconds. These same children are killed by gunfire once every three hours, while yet another hungry, innocent baby is born to a new teenage mother every 60 seconds. Shall we pass judgment on these disadvantaged children as is often the case today, citing so-called “moral” reasons in order to limit their chances of success? Or will we write off these at-risk children as inferior, or as being “not worth the effort”, as is so popular among certain religious conservatives and other bigots? Before you answer any of these questions, let me introduce you to someone who knows what is wrong with education in America. In 1991, a gentleman by the name of John Taylor Gatto won the New York State Teacher of the Year award. His now-famous, even legendary response was to quit, terminating a 30-year career. In a guest column written later in the Wall Street Journal, Gatto said he “didn’t want to hurt kids anymore”. Let me quote briefly. “I’ve come slowly to understand what it is I really teach: a curriculum of confusion, class position, arbitrary justice, vulgarity, rudeness, disrespect for privacy, indifference to quality, and utter dependency. I've been teaching kids how to fit into a world I don’t want to live in. Just because your kids are being schooled doesn’t mean they’re being educated. Schooling is given or imposed, but an education is taken by the student. The child is 90 percent sovereign in it. The kid should be the director of his/her life.” Now that's what I call radical!



“There’s a genius in every child”, Mr. Gatto continued, “but it hardly ever regrows once it’s stomped out. Schools turn out incomplete people, people that have to be connected to some other source of meaning because they can’t generate meaning from the inside. Schooling as it exists isn’t nearly the most efficient way if you want mental development, and it’s a catastrophe if you want moral development…The mass of kids learn, quite deliberately, to be bored. There’s a reason for that. The truth is that bored people detach from their minds and connect with their appetites. They’re desperately searching for something to put in their mouths, or to kiss, or to throw rocks at, or to kill. Bored people aren’t serious competition. They don’t gather together and form organizations to overthrow the leadership. They’re seeking some kind of solace and relief from their boredom, so they become the most dependable customers of all.” Is the school system, then, designed to produce formulaic, obedient, predictable, dumbed-down, conformist consumers and workers and, more nefariously, to discourage dissent? If this all sounds conspiratorial, turn to history. Here’s three samples of what was being written down about education over a hundred years ago:



The raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products, manufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry”. Ellwood P. Cubberly, dean of school of education, Stanford University, 1905.



We want one class of persons to have a liberal education, and we want another class of persons, a very much larger class, of necessity, to forgo the privileges of a liberal education and to fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.” Woodrow Wilson, from an address to the New York City High School Teachers Association, January 9, 1909



Somewhere between the ages of 11 and 15, the average child begins to suffer from an intellectual atrophy, the paralysis of curiosity and the suspension of the power to observe. The trouble I should judge to lie with the schools.” Thomas Edison, circa 1900



Just why is it that we warehouse our children in cell-block-style classrooms five days a week for twelve years, force-feed them a standardized diet of what we think they need to learn, and move it all along with boredom, bells, and tests? Who came up with this system of forced confinement learning? Has it just devolved into easy daycare? No, in that case the school boards simply did away with recess so no one could accuse them of that. I understand kids learn things in school, they get to socialize, and get a needed break from their parents. But much of a child’s time in school is squandered, and worse, the process itself has some ill effects. Is school a waste, or even a theft, of childhood? What are the real skills that actually get us through life? Self-confidence, strong character, free and independent thought, autonomy, a passion for learning and enrichment – are these things being taught or stifled in school? The fact that we tell students what they need to learn rather than allowing them to direct their own study, doesn't this derail a child’s natural ability to think for him or herself – one of the main skills necessary for survival? The American approach to education is so full of anomalies; horrible diet, too many prescribed drugs, and corporate penetration of the sacred learning environment, are three that I can think of. Kids are looked at as corporate targets. They’re being taught math with Hershey’s kisses and M&M’s. It’s in the textbooks! While there was absolutely no conspiracy to do this, there is a completely uninhibited sense of the mission of the school as virtually having nothing to do with education and a tremendous amount to do with the management of populations. The US public school system is not a repairable engine because it’s doing what it’s supposed to do. It is an engine of restraint and restriction and management. No one in authority wants to fix it because they think it’s working just fine.



Here's what all this boils down to. If anyone were to release all the genius that is pent up in any human being, we’d have a hard time maintaining the current economic system. This terrifies the people in charge, from the White House on down, as well it should! So no, they don’t want to ‘fix’ schools! Consider standardized testing, for example. From school principals to parents to students, the most common complaint that I get about the US public education system from a human rights standpoint is regarding the emphasis on tests, like the Regents exams and Sat's, which many believe only serve to reinforce the class system. Curricula are routinely shoved aside to focus on training students in rote memorization, how to take and do well on tests. It’s all data-driven. They don’t give a rat's ass about individual needs! You or your kids must either pass these standardized tests or you don’t get your diplomas. It’s a corporate mentality. There’s no debate about it any more because they don’t allow it!!


In a report released by the US Department of Education in late September 2003, it was lamented that too few Americans were going to college. The report showed a huge gap between what students say they want, and what they actually do. When students enter high school, 91% say they plan to go to college, according to this federally funded report. But, by the time those same students are 19 years old, 30 out of every 100 who entered ninth grade have fallen behind or dropped out, and only 38 of the 70 who earned high school diplomas enroll in college. The United States, once first in the world in college participation leading to a bachelor’s degree, now ranks 11th. While the proportion of degree-seekers has stagnated in the US, other industrial nations, such as Canada, have invested more in their systems of higher education and vocational training. It is apparently no longer true that each succeeding generation of Americans will be better educated than the one that preceded it. 
 


The real truth is that the needs of America’s job market are changing so rapidly that a system of continuous Internet-based education for America’s entire work force and their children, one whose curriculum can be edited at will, and one that can be accessed from any Internet connection, will be essential to maintaining and enhancing the standard of living for 21st century Americans. Going to college and getting a four year degree doesn’t work like it used to, mainly because the vocation that one may be training oneself to perform may be off-shored or right-sized to the third world for only pennies on the dollar within four years or less from today. On the other hand, various accredited courses dedicated to relatively short-term Internet-based vocational education where American workers and their children can get a new degree, diploma or professional certification in only months instead of years will be far more useful than the antiquated educational system that we are all currently stuck with. Workers and managers both need to have an ongoing and continuous national education system available to them at will, so that they may compete on a global scale for jobs in the global economy of the 21st century.



Liberal education being equally and unconditionally available to everyone causes all citizens to become peers and equals, with little or no social distinction between incomes, classes and occupations. Formal or vocational education that becomes equally available to all at nominal cost via the Internet eliminates social, class and economic barriers that have existed for centuries. Unconditional social and economic equality in the 21st century includes the death of hierarchy and bureaucracy as we have known them, with the added benefit of putting the final nail in the coffin of dictatorship. With every US citizen being able to obtain advanced education repeatedly and at will regardless of economic status, the need for close employee supervision and for tiered company management within large bureaucracies will fade into history. It will be a brave new world, that's for sure!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

This week's BIble study will be 1st Thessalonians chapter 3

Persecution of Christianity Is On Our Horizon
[1st Thessalonians chapter three]



When we left off last week, we had just finished chapter two of 1st Thessalonians. In it and our study of Paul's letters to the early churches, we found the apostle Paul commenting at length about the ongoing persecution of the followers of Christ that was happening as these words were being written. Today as we move on to chapter three Paul continues his commentary on the ongoing persecution of the early church. Paul's words continue to resonate to this day, as we will soon see. So let's kick off today's study of chapter three beginning with verse one.



So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.” (1st Thessalonians 3, verses 1-5, NIV)



In the first verse, we can see one thing the apostles knew that has long since been forgotten by modern workers – they knew when to take a break! “So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens”. They faced persecution and much personal hardship as they spread the Gospel throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean coastal areas. They dedicated their lives – and no doubt frequently had their own lives and personal safety threatened. Contrast this with today's financial idolatry (sorry, all you workaholics), where putting in lots of overtime at work (assuming you're lucky enough to have a job) has become the norm rather than the exception. There are many who are buried under a mountain of debt for two main reasons. The first is medical debt, and the other is student loans, and I view them separately from the type of person I'm about to describe. Sometimes people are heavily in debt due to living beyond their means. They are the ones who say, “I can't afford it because I might miss a house payment or a car payment or whatever”, but therein lies the core issue. If many of those people weren't living in twice as much house as they can afford, or if they weren't driving around in a car or truck with a monthly payment that's twice as much as what they spend on groceries – if they were a lot more practical (not to mention being a lot less covetous), they wouldn't be having the difficulties they are experiencing (I am excluding any readers who are either long-term unemployed or retired from this train of thought). Remember what the Bible says in Genesis chapter one, “And on the seventh day God rested...” . So rest and recreation are ordained by God, and we were never meant to work seven days a week. It's no wonder that people are having heart attacks and strokes in their 30's and even their 20's. Having said all that, let's move on to another verse.



We sent Timothy... to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way as you well know.” There is a reason that the apostles sent Timothy that hearkens back to the Book of Acts. Timothy had been trained by, among others such as Paul, Barnabas, who was a much beloved person in the early Church whose name translates as “son of encouragement”. I can practically visualize Timothy as he studied and grew in the Lord and his Word as an eager young apprentice who preached, and later taught as we just read, the Word of God with what must have been great vigor and much enthusiasm. His youthful vitality energized the early Church to the point where he was sent on what may have been his first solo assignment – that is, the strengthening and building up of the Church and the Body of Christ. I can almost hear Paul saying, “Let's send Timothy, he can get those people fired up about their faith as well as any of us can.” But Timothy was also sent to calm the fears of the people regarding their Roman occupiers and their running fight with the Hebrew religious establishment of that time. So, here is a good example for us to follow, that of Timothy who, though he was not one of the original apostles, had equivalent stature with them all the same. Let's pause and reflect on this for a moment: Wouldn't you like to be a Timothy too, or any of the early church leaders for that matter? (Barnabas would be my choice) That's what God is calling us to do – to aspire to be counted among the righteous and worthy in the sight of Almighty God, even as one of the apostles if that were possible. It's time for us to set our sights higher so we may aim for more lofty goals in life and in our walk with Christ. Everyone we meet, or work with or worship with – or not – is a chance for us to be an apostle of Christ too, even if only as a little apostle compared to the original apostles.



Paul continues his train of thought with a hint of apprehension, which was possible even for Paul, when he wrote, “I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless”. I'm not sure how this was originally translated, but I think that when Paul wrote about “the tempter” he was using it as a synonym for fear. There is little debate about the fact that the early church was persecuted extensively, and Paul was understandably concerned that his new converts were being frightened or intimidated by the religious and political (not to mention military) establishment of the first century AD, to the point that he was losing converts to Christianity as fast as he was gaining them. The modern church has a somewhat similar problem in that there are more “Christians” moving around from one church to another, or leaving altogether, than there are new members joining in any given year. I think I know why. It's because these wanderers among the churches are searching for truth tempered with faith, hope and love, and they're having a hard time finding it. The fault for this rests squarely on the shoulders of the pastors and senior leadership of the modern churches of all denominations, particularly the so-called mega-churches where so many people come and go each week that hardly anyone notices who is leaving, which should be taking priority over signing up new members. Maybe these super-churches had best find out who is leaving and why and focus on those people instead. Just a thought, and with that let's conclude today's study.



But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” (1st Thessalonians 3, verses 6-13, NIV)



“... in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.” Notice the contrast between Paul's motivation and his definition of success with that of many modern churches. Despite the persecution and the constant threat to their personal safety, Paul was most encouraged by the growing faith of that congregation. He didn't mention anything about money or prosperity, not to mention his personal safety, which leads me to believe that those things didn't matter much with Paul and his associates. Compare that with many – but not all, thank God – modern churches, particularly those in the Western hemisphere. Paul never told this church or any other that they must donate 10% of their income in order to be considered a true Christian, nor did he tell any church that they must all speak in tongues as evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I know of one TV ministry – I'll decline to name it – that has telethons twice a year asking for donations, and yet they are known to be sitting on somewhere between $30-$60 million in cash (exact figures are not available because they are privately owned and have tax-exempt status). Clearly this is questionable since they already have more money than they can spend, but for now that is all I will say about this.



How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in the presence of our God because of you?” Paul's joy was in watching others grow in the Lord and seeing their faith getting stronger each day. Are we doing this in the churches we attend currently? Do we give our pastors, deacons, bishops and overseers inspiration by continually enlarging our faith? Do we motivate others to reach and pull themselves up to the next level in their walk with Christ? Are we setting a good example for others to follow, or for our youth to look up to? Those who do these things in whatever way works best for them are exercising due diligence in their faith. Those who do not, on the other hand, have their work cut out for them, and especially as the day of our Lord's return draws ever closer. The Bible says the Bride of Christ must be pure and holy, blameless and “without spot or blemish”. It's time for all of us to redouble our efforts towards achieving this goal because we are all running out of time. I'm not saying this to scold anyone, nor to judge them since only God can truly judge. I'm simply doing my job as a pastor as I lead my flock towards righteousness, holiness and purity of heart to the very best of my ability (so help me God).



Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus... strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” Notice that we can't strengthen our hearts on our own, or at least not in a Spiritual sense. Yes, we can psych ourselves up and work ourselves into an emotional frenzy, but that would be operating in the flesh instead of the Spirit. “I can do all things”, Paul wrote elsewhere, “through Christ who strengthens me.” Even Jesus said, “Apart from the Father I can do nothing”. Reliance on God as we come to terms with our own fallibility is what will cause us to become holy and blameless in God's sight. That's the whole point Paul makes as we close today's study – we can't do this by ourselves lest we step out from under God's anointing of his servants both great and small. So let's all join together as a corporate body while we make ourselves blameless and holy – not for each other but for Him who loved us first. Let's all make sure we are among the great number who returns with our dear Lord Jesus at his second coming. Don't get left behind!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Why are churches driving away the same people they should be ministering to?

Many Modern Churches Are Driving People Away From God
By Rev. Paul J. Bern



It has been my observation for quite some time now that the majority of modern churches (regardless of denomination) who portray themselves as “evangelical” or “seeker friendly”, are unintentionally driving people away while claiming to do the opposite! I've had a long time to consider how to put together a rebuttal to these kinds of churches without making the holier-than-thou folks really upset. After some analysis I have come to the conclusion that it is simply not possible in this case. So instead of pandering to these types of 'Christians', I'm simply going to post and publish the unvarnished truth, warts and all. After all, the Bible does say explicitly in both the Old and New Testaments that “judgment will begin in the house of the Lord.” So have I now appointed myself judge, jury and executioner over these churches? On the contrary, I would be derelict in my duty as a Christian man in a position of leadership if I did not point these things out!



In the first place, there is a whole lot more to the teachings of Christ than simple blind obedience. On the contrary, God wants us all to have a choice, that's why He gave us all the freedom to choose in life. So for a religion to not be intellectually challenging and stimulating is to be contrary to the intentions of God. Secondly, it is equally difficult for any church or minister to proclaim themselves as leaders and visionaries when life is about to be discovered on other planets. Organized religion continues to teach that only man was made in the image and likeness of God, implying that Earth is the only place in the universe where life can exist. When life is finally discovered on another planet in our own solar system, which is inevitable, what will the mainline church denominations do then? As for myself, I would continue worshiping God through Jesus Christ just like always. In fact, I would praise God all the more because He saw fit to populate as many other planets, and many of their moons, as He saw fit. For the universe is the Lord's, and everything in it!



But, chances are that if you are in your 30s and younger, you are not a member of any church. In a single generation, the Christian church dropout rate has increased five-fold. In the past 20 years, the number of American people who say they have no religion has doubled and has now topped 15 percent. Those numbers are concentrated in the under-30 population. The polling data continues to show that a dramatic exit is taking place from American Christian churches. Beyond those numbers, denominations across the board are acknowledging loss of membership, but it is worse than they are reporting. Many churches report numbers based on baptized members, yet actual Sunday morning attendance doesn’t come close to those numbers. Simply put, denominations are no longer a reliable source of their own membership information. The mega-church movement also has flattened, with people leaving as fast as they are recruited. The only real growth among Christians appears to be in the home church movement in which small groups of independent believers gather in a house to worship.



While the polling numbers are in, the debate about the reasons why is only just beginning. When a pollster asks if a person has left the Christian church, the answer usually starts out being answered 'yes' or 'no'. However, when the pollster asks why, the answers become mushy and the numbers lose their significance. Why are people leaving churches so fast? I am not a pollster, but rather an observer of the American religious scene. While I am heavily involved in Christianity as a minister, published author, and with political activism, my impressions are anecdotal and not scientific. I receive personal responses to my blogs, and I carry on conversations with a steady flow of people by e-mail or over the phone. I believe we church people and clergy need to look at ourselves for many of the reasons for the decline in membership. I realize there are some smug and self-righteous Christians everywhere who will take offense at what I write and say. All that notwithstanding, there are three main reasons, as I see it, that people everywhere are abandoning churches and organized religion in droves. Allow me to offer these observations:



[1] Churches are no longer intellectually challenging. More and more of our young people are college-educated and in the future even more must and will accept the challenge of post-high school education. They are thinking people who are expanding the limits of their curiosity and knowledge. Many young people often conclude that they know more than the person in the pulpit and are not willing to accept the church’s rigid catechism, an educational method that teaches the religious questions and the correct answers. As an educational tool, catechism is outdated and provides no challenge to students eager to question and discuss. Ministers must re-establish themselves among the leaders of the intellectual community. It is our responsibility, whether one is a pastor or a janitor or anywhere in between, to LEAD!


[2] Churches are no longer leaders in moral and ethical discussions. Young people from every state in the country have grown weary of churches that cannot get past secondary issues such as homosexuality and abortion. I was once a member of a church for a brief period, until one Sunday in early November when everyone received a flyer with their church bulletin that specified who they should vote for that following Tuesday. The very next week I went and found a better church. To this day, I don't think anyone in that first church I attended has any idea why I left. This was, for me, a glaring example of how utterly clueless some modern Christians can be. Twenty-first century church drop-outs are still very interested in alternatives to the selfish, hedonistic society portrayed on television. Justice is high on their agenda, and they are clearly looking for opportunities for public service. Today's young people want to be involved in solving environmental problems and in peacemaking. By contrast, pizza parties and rock concerts – techniques that have been used to make churches appear more relevant to the young – are not high on the agenda of young people concerned about society’s deep-seated problems. In other words, too many churches are concerned about same-sex marriage when the preacher should be talking about the unacceptability and immorality of the American Empire's global war machine. What about that, ministers?


[3] Churches are no longer visionary. They have remained focused on offering rituals tied to perpetuating theologies that no longer seem relevant to many people, including myself. Churches are no longer significant players in shaping the life of our communities. If ministers and churches will not lay out what the kingdom of God on earth might actually look like, young people will continue to look elsewhere for other models. In that sense, I am less concerned about the young adults who are leaving the churches than the churches they are leaving behind. It's up to us to shepherd the flock. If church leadership doesn't step up to the plate and take some swings, the people they are supposed to be ministering to will go find themselves a better ball game.