A Letter of Love...part two

I sure hope my relative doesn't mind me sharing bits of the letters that flowed between the two of us. I did not ask permission to share this. I'm pretty sure...but not positive...they won't mind. Most of what I am sharing is what I wrote so I figure I should be in the clear. If not I will beg forgiveness later.

In the same letter that my relative wrote of the 'tablet' of the heart, they also asked if I might could pick out a random verse from Luke. Do they have any idea what they asked? That's like asking someone to go to the beach and pick just a single grain of sand. Or to pick just one leaf off a tree. I could have just picked a verse, any verse, I suppose but that's not what I did. I told my husband I was going to have to read the whole book of Luke to figure out what I wanted to share. I didn't wind up doing that but I did do some reading in Luke. I also discovered it was impossible to give just one verse and although I narrowed it down to two of my choosing and one of my husbands I could not, in the end, give just one passage. I am sure if I had actually read Luke all the way through again I would have had many more passages to share.

The first one I shared was Luke 12:15-20:

 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

I recommended my relative keep reading after that because 'That whole passage is good." I didn't elaborate much on it there although I did so later.

"I told my husband you wanted me to give you a passage from Luke. He suggested Luke 11:11-13."

What father among you, if his son asks for[a] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

I think this must be one of my husbands favorite verses. He uses it as the support for the evilness of people. If Romans 9 falls into my favor for the explanation of how some are predestined to reprobation then this one falls into my husbands favor on showing that all of mankind is evil. 

This is where I began to elaborate in my letter. To explain. To point to the things that stand out to me. 

"In those verses note how Jesus says 'you being evil'. He is speaking of the condition of all mankind before God. We are evil in His sight. It's only through being born again (by God's choosing us and giving us His salvation-you have not chosen me but I have chosen you)That we lose our evil condition before God).

In the first set of verses I gave you, I like them because they are a reminder that our life here is short, fleeting. Here and gone in what seems like an instant. Life is but a vapor. A flower quickly fading. Scripture tells us that yesterday is gone and we are not promised tomorrow. Today is all we have. The day and hour of our death is already appointed. God has given us so many moments on earth and no more. As Grandmother used to tell me, "When it's your time to die, it's your time to die. You can't change it. If you would have died in a car accident but you stay home that day an airplane will fall out of the sky and land on you." I used to be afraid of airplanes falling on me...

I also like Luke 10:21-22:

 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[a] 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 Ahh...so much said in only two short verses. The little children spoken of aren't kids but God's people-the called out ones. The 'you have not chosen me but I have chosen you' ones. And here we see that these things (Scripture, Christ, the story of God, His creation, His people, His plan) have been 'hidden' from 'the wise and understanding' or smart, educated people, and 'revealed' or shown to the 'little children'. Elsewhere Scripture talks of how earthly knowledge leads to death (hell) and Godly wisdom leads to Christ (heaven). 

And now I've given you much more than you asked for. You wanted a verse from Luke. I gave you three and study notes too."

There is nothing special in any of what I wrote and there is everything special in what I wrote. I am not sharing it here because of any great revelation or because I was learning as I wrote, I am only sharing it because I already wrote it and it sounded like it would make a good blog post.

A letter of love

I have a beloved relative that I have been exchanging letters with for the sole purpose of sharing more of our lives with each other. This modern world we live in gives us so many opportunities to talk to one another, most of them done through an electronic screen that often sums what we want to say into a few short sentences or even just a mere handful of words. Now, we can even reply with nothing more than a digital thumbs up sign. Where has our communication gone? What has happened to our speech patterns? And what has become of our relationships with far off people that get short, electronic comments in between phone calls?

So I set out to remedy this situation with at least one person. In doing so I have been blessed beyond measure. I look forward to receiving my relatives letters. Seeing the envelope mixed in with all the junk mail and bills makes me smile and brightens my day long before I begin to read the letter.

I am no artist, although my relative is, but we both have begun to add a bit of cheer to our letters through drawings on them. I must admit I get the better end of this deal because my drawings leave a lot to be desired. My relatives on the other hand are great.

And so the letters flow between our homes, both of us writing as time allows. In one letter from this relative I was asked several things that left me answering in what was almost a blog post on paper. I have decided to share a bit of that here.

In my relatives letter I was told how they read a Bible verse that spoke of "tablet'' and their mind went to the electronic form of tablet first.

Here is my response:

"I smiled at the 'tablet' of your heart. Modern life has conditioned us to see certain words in ways they were never meant. Just as a tablet is now a handheld computer type device therefore we no longer see 'tablet' as the rock slabs they once were, nor can we imagine our hearts as a tablet.

Church is another word that our modern lives have conditioned us to see in a way Scripture never meant. Do you know church wasn't even in the original writings of the Bible? Where we read 'church' today, the word that used to be in Scripture is Ekklessia. Ekklessia meant- the called out ones. It doesn't refer to a building and it doesn't refer to a group of people led by a preacher. Verses that tell us to do things with or for the 'church' are literally saying to do them for the called out ones. Scripture says 'wide is the path that leads to destruction, narrow is the gate and few be that find it' to heaven. All these 'chruches' promote the idea that the Bible speaks of 'church' when it does not. It speaks of 'the called out ones'. I know most 'church' people will say the 'church' isn't the building, the people are. That's true in a sense, but that's not what the Bible talks about either. The 'called out ones' means those that belong to Christ. In John 6:37 Christ says, "all that the Father (God) gives me will come to me' and they won't be cast out. Those are the 'called out ones', the ones God gave to Christ. Those are the true definition of 'church'. They aren't people that chose Jesus and go to an organized meeting place. They are people that God chose- the people that were called out from among them, them being the rest of the world. In John 15:16 Jesus said, "You have not chosen me but I have chosen you". When the Bible speaks of 'church', it speaks of Ekklessia, 'church' is a man made term added to Scripture to support the organized 'church' rule in the 1500's, before that 'church' did not exist in Scripture. So the Bible talks of 'church' meaning 'the called out ones', people that were chosen by God to belong to Christ and 'few be that find it'. Not masses of people in 'church' buildings promoting something the Bible does not mean."

Let me add a quick note in here to say that this relative loves 'church' and I was walking on thin ice in writing this. I probably shouldn't have written it. I didn't mean to write it. It just sort of happened. Sometimes my fingers write things my brain doesn't think I should. It's kind of the equivalent of opening my mouth and sticking my foot in.

I should probably admit that I had to add a disclaimer on this letter. It went like this:

"P.S. If you talk to your preacher or Bible study teacher about any of the Bible study topics I went over (or ever go over) they will tell you I am wrong. Their beliefs are quite a bit different than mine. You can test what I say by the Bible. It's all in the Bible."

There is more in this letter that I will be sharing but I will leave all that for later as it's on a different topic and I think it best if I write it out in different posts.

The teachings of men, part 23....What are they teaching us now?

While I was in the throes of writing on the teachings of men I came across an article on preachers and how they are to be embraced. At about the same time something astonishing, shocking, and not the least surprising made national news.

Those two things flowed together for me like two creeks coming together to make a river. I read one article and saw just how far the 'church' system has gone to gain control of the minds of those that live within that system. I read the other one and saw exactly what the result is when any system has so much power that it can use it's own rules (or teachings) to wipe out all objections to what it does.

The first article I read was titled 'Private accusations against your pastor is a sin'. I almost gave the link to the article here but after giving it more thought I have opted not to do so. It is not my intent to tear apart what someone else says, nor is it my intent to give anyone that may read this a target for them to tear into should they be opposed to what this person wrote. Rather than giving that link I am going to give a brief summary of what the article said, as if the title isn't enough to clue you in.

The gist of the whole thing is that one should never speak badly in any way about their preacher as that is a sin. There were examples given and bits of Scripture cited but the entire point was to tell the readers that should they speak badly against their preacher they are in grave error and are in fact sinning.

In my last post I wrote of how we should embrace Arminians and be grateful for them and their belief systems. I have not changed my stance on that. I still firmly believe it. Their faith system is a gift to every believer out there because they are what makes Christianity acceptable. The elect are still the elect. The Lord will not lose a single soul that belongs to Him. He will save them out of whatever life they live, whatever faith they hold. We should, therefore, embrace and accept every professing believer as if they are one of the elect so long as they show signs of the fruits of the Spirit. And we should be grateful for the restraint their beliefs puts on an evil society.

I firmly believe that. What I don't believe, however, is that every facet of a religion, of any kind, is innocent in their belief. I do not believe that there are not some with deeper motivations. In this case I believe that the man that wrote that article is trying hard to instill the idea that a preacher should never be questioned. To give him credit, he did go into 1 Timothy 5:19, telling the way to go about correcting an elder. The problem is his whole article came across as one should never question their preacher, that preacher knows best.


And it's that mindset, that cult like following, that brainwashing, that gets those in the 'church' into dangerous ground. When one believes that they cannot question or speak against those in authority than who is there to say when the leaders are out of line? Who can and will stand up and say 'this is wrong'?

And when there is no one to say that...??

You get the second thing that prompted much thought on my part and this post. Late this past summer my husband pointed me to a news article about a Methodist 'church' that allowed a homosexual woman to be their pastor. Not only was she allowed into laity but she and her female companion were welcomed openly. This new preacher was very open about her sin filled life and this 'church' welcomed her as their leader.

Now....what happens when a congregation is led to believe that they cannot speak against those in leadership because it is sin? What are the so-called leaders setting their congregation up for? I have attended a 'church' where the leaders were not to be questioned under any circumstances. They ran the place. They ruled the roost. In that particular 'church' it wasn't even the preacher that was in charge, he was just the puppet for those that were in charge, and he was handpicked to make sure he would do exactly what they told him too.

When those in leadership, in any capacity, are believed to be above reproach and no one is allowed to question them...how far can they go?

And what can they teach those under them?

In this case sin is being taught as a good thing. Everyone should welcome and embrace it because...well, because we say it's okay.

The teachings of men has far reaching effects and I firmly believe the Lord allows everything that happens to happen. There is a distinct cause and effect that takes place. That must take place. We usually cannot see the end results. Our view is limited to the here and now and to hindsight. The Lord can see all of time though.

Just as he moves someone to a town so that they can meet their spouse to be, or he marries two people and creates a child from that union...he also moves things within this world to get us to whatever His end goal is.

I do not know why the 'church' must have such control. Maybe it's because without it some of the restraint on it's people would be lessened and they would wreck more havoc, more evil, in this world. Maybe it's because...because...I don't know. There is a reason though.

In this case maybe it's possible that more homosexuality needs to be embraced by the 'church' so that homosexuality, at least to some extent, can be restrained. Just as other sins are restrained through 'church' maybe the Lord will use 'church' to restrain some of the homosexuality that now runs rampant in our society.

I don't know.

All I know is that when I read those two articles, at about the same time, I saw a connection there that made me ponder on it for a very long time. Months actually. And I find myself asking the same question today that I did on the day I read those articles...

What are they teaching us now?

The teachings of men, part 22....The Lord knows who are His.

I almost hesitate to write this. I've learned a great deal in the study of the teachings of men. One of the main things I have learned along the way is that we should not turn to men for any learning on our Lord. Ever.

Yes, I know it's edifying to read another believers writings. I know that sometimes someone can give us insight into Scripture that we seem to be unable to grasp. BUT...what insight do we gain? Do we gain Truth from Scripture or do we gain someone else's understanding of what the Truth in Scripture is?

I have a relative that is deep into the 'church' system. This relative is teaching classes and devoting a great deal of time to their 'church', so much so that they have told me they have little time for anything else.

That does not come as a surprise to me. From experience, it seems to be the nature of 'churches' in general. If someone gives them an inch, in time or money, they demand ten miles. They aren't happy to have you work in the nursery once a month, they want you in there every Sunday and Wednesday night. Oh, and by the way, we're having Bible studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we need you in the nursery then too. And there's the Fall Festival coming up and we will need you in there that night so others can work the festival. And then there's the Thanksgiving banquet and the kitchen people need nursery care, could you possibly work then? How about every Saturday in December so those in the Christmas pageant can practice? Oh, and one more thing? Would you work the nursery on the night of the pageant?

And on, and on, it goes. I do realize that may possibly be a slight exageration and that not everyone works in the nursery but the way the 'church' uses those willing to 'help' is astonishing.

That is what my relative has happily found themselves in the midst of. They started out teaching one class. One class. The next thing they knew they are visiting the sick and elderly in their homes, studying for the two classes they now teach, mentoring others in the Bible and having to study books on the Bible to do so.

When does it end?

And when do men's opinions on Scripture end and Truth reign?

Which is why I hesitate to write this. I have even wondered if my very own blog is not part of the problem and not the solution. I have had to do some deep praying and thinking on this one. Should I keep writing these blog posts? Should I stop? Am I just one more rattling person giving my opinions on Scripture and causing more harm than good?

The conclusion I have finally come to is that I did not start this blog with the intention of teaching anyone anything. I started it with the intention of recording my own learnings and observations where Scripture is concerned so that my husband can share in all my Scripture studies that may take place without him being present.  I still write it for that very purpose.


And so I have decided to continue just as I have been but it is with those thoughts in my head that I sit down to write this post.

As I have stated before I am not against Arminians. I firmly believe we should thank the Lord for them. They keep Christ in the limelight, so to speak, spreading Him far and wide. They have ensured that it is impossible to grow up in America without hearing the name of Jesus. They have taken Christianity from a hated, and death sentence enducing belief, to an accepted and nearly embraced one. The elect are allowed to live out their faith in peace because the professing believers are many and have taken Christianity to the level where no one is out to kill the person that claims Christ.

And in that Arminian system are many evil reprobates that are restrained through the Lord's hand. And what system is it likely He is using. The Arminian Church system.

Thank you, Lord, for this kind favor. For this deeply embraced and held belief system that gives us some restraint in an otherwise viciously evil world.

Those learning false Scripture in a false system may one day find themselves in hell, sent there by a holy God, but they will not find themselves there because they went to a 'church' or because they were Armenian. They will find themselves there because in that time, before the earth was formed, when God picked out His chosen ones, those poor souls were not chosen. They were passed over for some reason known only to the Lord.

We cannot share Jesus and save them as the Arminians believe we can. Nor can we share the Truth of Scripture and save them as some that believe themselves to be the elect think we can. Every soul that will ever be will either be elect or not. There is nothing we can do about it. Arminianism will not send them to hell. Truth will not save them.

They are God's people. Romans 9 says:

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[a] my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,[b] but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel[c] be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
    we would have been like Sodom
    and become like Gomorrah.”

Israel's Unbelief

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness[d] did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

The Lord has made some vessels for glory and some for destruction. We cannot snatch those fit for destruction out of hell simply because we share Scripture with them. We cannot wipe Arminianism out of the world and have the only Gospel given be that of the pure Truth straight from Scripture Gospel. The Lord has allowed the 'come as you are, Jesus loves you' gospel to spread and to convert many to it's beliefs. 

And you know what? 

They are professing a belief in Christ. That's enough for me. I will leave them to their faith and their deeply emotional beliefs. I will embrace them and appreciate them for what they are because they are not responsible for the condition of their soul. The Lord placed them on this earth and He placed them in their beliefs. Maybe they are His. Maybe they are not. I do not know and I do not want to be the one to make that call. 

I can say that if I were picking and choosing who goes to heaven and who does not, I would choose the loving Arminian over the hard hearted 'elect' any day. I would usher those lovingly sharing Jesus into heaven long before I would allow the hateful 'elect' in. But that's just me and I am not the Lord. Thankfully, so.

All I know is that we can't both be right. Either we have free will or it's all God's will. Either we are in control or He is. There is no middle ground for that although I know there are those that believe their is, something about God being all powerful and all controlling using His control to give us the free will to choose Him or to turn away. I do not see it that way. I see free will as being God having no control. He has chosen His people, Ephesians 1, and they are His whether they chose Him or not. 

And somewhere in all that come all the differing belief systems, including the Armenian Christian belief, and all I know to say is...

The Lord knows who are His.