As we move on in Luke 10:16, Jesus tells His disciples that anyone who accepts the message, accepts Him and anyone rejecting the disciple, is rejecting Christ Himself. I pause to think how wonderful and forgiving our God is, as I recall all of the times I rejected His word before accepting it.
When the disciples returned to see Jesus, they were pretty happy to report that when they encountered demons during their travels, the demon’s obeyed their commands. Jesus responded by telling them that, as His followers, they had the power over the enemy and they were impervious to the bite and sting of scorpions and snakes. He went on to say that this power comes in league with a believer’s citizenship in heaven.
Growing up Catholic in southern California tempered one’s view of Pentecostal religious activity. In the word’s of my dad, “those people are crazy”. He was just referring to standard “holy roller” activities like singing loudly, raising hands in praise and speaking in tongues. Snake handling in a religious service would have sent him over the edge.
Some folks take these words of Luke and Mark 16:18 literally and make snakes and poisons part of their worship services. I have included a recent newspaper article that reports a story about the death of a snake handling pastor in 1998, It said;
One of the prominent leaders of snake-handling churches in the Southeast died Oct. 3 after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a church service at the Rock House Holiness Church in rural northeastern Alabama. John Wayne “Punkin” Brown Jr., of Parrottsville, Tenn., was preaching with his own 3-foot-long timber rattler in hand when the reptile sank one fang into his finger.
According to a Knoxville News-Sentinel report, eyewitnesses from the congregation said that after being bitten, the 34-year-old evangelist “emerged from behind the pulpit, stepped down onto the church floor and toppled over.” Church officials immediately phoned for a medical team, but Brown died just 10 minutes after being bitten. Some members of Brown’s family have offered that his death may have been the result of a heart attack.
Brown, who began handling snakes in worship services at age 17, had been bitten 22 other times before the fatal bite. Three years ago, his wife, Melinda, died after being also bitten by a timber rattler during a church service at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus’ Name Church in Middlesboro, Ky.
According to the News-Sentinel report, “It is a misdemeanor in Tennessee and Kentucky to endanger others with a deadly animal in a church service.”
Those espousing the snake-handling religion base their belief on the often-disputed concluding verses of the 16th chapter of Mark’s gospel.
I have included an link to a web page that tells more of the story of religious snake handling at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0407_030407_snakehandlers.html. It
tells a unique story about Christian churches that make snake handling part of their religious services. I have edited some of the information and offer a partial report. To read the whole website just paste or click on the link that I have featured above.
Serpent handling is always controversial and in many areas illegal, yet it shows no signs of disappearing from its traditional home in Appalachia, the mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States stretching from Georgia to Pennsylvania.
The practice began in the early 1900s. Its popularity has waxed and waned through the years. According to Ralph Hood, a professor of social psychology and the psychology of religion at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, serpent handling is currently at a fairly low ebb of popularity. Such fluctuations are characteristic of a faith that persists throughout Appalachia.
The perception that communities that practice serpent-handling church services are poor, isolated rural areas is simply no longer accurate, according to Hood.
"Historically that's where it emerged, but that's no longer the case," said Hood. "Some of these churches are near cities like Atlanta, Georgia, or Middlesboro, Kentucky—and the middle Appalachian region itself is less rural than it used to be. Serpent handling is no longer restricted to miners."
While a number of churches with small congregations around a dozen members survive throughout the heart of Appalachia, the faith is also practiced in adjacent states of Ohio and Alabama.
What is it that inspires these worshipers to handle poisonous snakes? Like other Christian fundamentalists, serpent handlers' beliefs are rooted in a literal interpretation of the scriptures.
These activities don't dominate services, but play a limited role within more traditional worship. "In almost all serpent-handling churches, they don't handle them all the time. They usually don't even handle them every Sunday," Burton explained.
Tom Burton, a professor emeritus at East Tennessee State University, has attended many snake-handling services and studied the practice for over 30 years. He's the author of Serpent Handling Believers, an authoritative study of the belief. Burton says that much of what goes on at such churches would be familiar to other Christians. "If you were there when they were not taking up serpents, or even during other parts of a service where they did, it would be like many other Pentecostal groups," he explained. "There is singing, preaching, laying on of hands, praying, testifying, and that sort of thing. It's kind of an expressive church service where people freely share emotions, a very participatory service like most Pentecostal services."
But those anointed by the Holy Spirit answer the calling by taking up the deadly reptiles or by drinking poisons. Burton said: "Only certain individuals commonly handle serpents, and it goes without saying that they warn people: 'If you're not directed by the Holy Ghost to do this, you'd better not.'"
While few outsiders are drawn to the dangerous and controversial practice, Ralph Hood predicts that it's future is assured. "Since the beginning people have been predicting that it will disappear, but as long as there is Appalachia there will be handlers," he explained. "It's an integral part of Appalachian tradition and it's not going to fade away."
These believers are in a minority in the American Christian church and if I show up at church this week and Pastor Jim is dancing with a Cobra, I will know that he took the word of God literally like my brothers and sisters do in some of the southern churches of this great country.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Final Thoughts on Luke 10:13 - 15
Sidon (Greek form of the Phoenician "Zidon") was located in the narrow plain running along the Mediterranean Sea, less than 20 miles north of Tyre. Like most Phoenician cities, it was built on a promontory facing an island, which sheltered its fleet from storms and served as a refuge during military incursions from the interior. Sidon was the third great Phoenician city-state, rivaling Byblos and Tyre as a naval power. Together, the three cities symbolized Phoenician maritime prominence. In early times Sidon was more influential that Tyre. This view is confirmed by "Sidonians" being used as the generic name for the Phoenicians or Canaanites in the Bible. However, by the 9th century BC, it had become a dependency of Tyre.
When Sidon, like the other cities of Phoenicia, fell under Roman domination, it continued to mint its own silver coins. The Romans also built a theater and other major monuments in the city. Later, it became famous for its glassware and purple-dye industries. Located about fifty miles northwest of Nazareth it is the most northern city mentioned in connection with Christ's journeys.
After Jesus left "the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon," he apparently headed southeast through the territory of Herod Philip. He took this rather circuitous route to avoid entering Galilee, controlled by Philip's half-brother, Herod Antipas, who, according to the Gospels, had taken a hostile attitude toward Jesus:
As we live our lives, we can judge others as being far worse then us in their sinful actions. But, when God looks at sin, He says that all sin offends Him. The people of Korazin and Bethsaida probably thought that compared to sinful cities like Tyre and Sidon, their polite refusal of God’s plan for salvation was certainly a mild rebuke in comparison and would deserve little, if any attention from a judgmental God.
When Sidon, like the other cities of Phoenicia, fell under Roman domination, it continued to mint its own silver coins. The Romans also built a theater and other major monuments in the city. Later, it became famous for its glassware and purple-dye industries. Located about fifty miles northwest of Nazareth it is the most northern city mentioned in connection with Christ's journeys.
After Jesus left "the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon," he apparently headed southeast through the territory of Herod Philip. He took this rather circuitous route to avoid entering Galilee, controlled by Philip's half-brother, Herod Antipas, who, according to the Gospels, had taken a hostile attitude toward Jesus:
As we live our lives, we can judge others as being far worse then us in their sinful actions. But, when God looks at sin, He says that all sin offends Him. The people of Korazin and Bethsaida probably thought that compared to sinful cities like Tyre and Sidon, their polite refusal of God’s plan for salvation was certainly a mild rebuke in comparison and would deserve little, if any attention from a judgmental God.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Alexander the Great and Jesus Connection
In Luke 10:13, Jesus tells the citizens of the towns of Korazin and Bethsaida that they are in big trouble. Korazin is located about three miles from the sea of Galilee and was part of, along with Bethsaida and Capernaum, was part of an area known as the “orthodox triangle”. These towns were primarily inhabited by devout Jews. Jesus focused His ministry in this geographical area and the reason that He spoke so passionately about the fate of these towns was because He worked many miracles there and was ignored for the effort. Jesus tells these folks that if the miracles had been witnessed by the residents of Tyre or Sidon, they would have been appreciated more.The irony in this is that the people of Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum considered the towns of Tyre and Sidon to be very sinful compared to their religious communities.
I have included an article written by A. Ralph Johnson on the subject of the cities of Tyre and Sidon. It is featured here in it’s entirety and includes contact information for Mr. Johnson at the end of the article.
TYRE, THE CITY CAST INTO THE SEA
by A. Ralph Johnson
Throughout history, God has dealt with many cities, and a number of these have had their destiny foretold. Babylon was to end up totally uninhabited where even the Arabian would not pitch his tents (Isa. 13:19-20). Egypt was to become a "base kingdom" (Ezek. 14:15), which to this day it is. Rome, the fourth great empire of Daniel, was to remain until the coming of Christ (Dan. 7:17, 21-26). The city of the Edomites, Petra (or Seir) was to become perpetually desolate (Ezek 35). Jerusalem was to be destroyed, its inhabitants scattered into all nations, and be trodden down by the Gentiles "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:20-24). Just as predicted, it has been under Gentile occupation until 1967.
It is a powerful confirmation of the hand of God that these predictions were made centuries before the events were completely fulfilled, each in its distinctive way. One of the most extraordinary of these is the Tyre, the city that was to be cast into the sea.
Tyre was actually two cities, a large mainland city on the shore of the Mediterranean, about 20 miles south of its sister city, Sidon, and a smaller island fortress about half a mile from the mainland. The island was about half a mile wide and three-fourths mile long. Because of the necessity of fresh water, area for agriculture and raising animals, fuel, and space for growth, the mainland city, was the larger. The island fortress was primarily for refuge. The main city and port were on the mainland. It is obvious that the timber and other items of trade were not first ferried out to the island and then shipped to distant ports. Likewise, imports were obviously not first shipped to the island and then ferried to the mainland to do commerce with surrounding cities.
During the time of Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre, helped with supplies to build the temple (1Chron. 22:4). However, over the years, an alienation developed between the two peoples.
About 870 BC Joel writes,
Joel 3:4 Yea, and what are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head. 5 Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly precious things, 6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye may remove them far from their border; 7 behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head; 8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
About 784 BC Amos warned:
Amos 1:9 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole people to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant: 10 but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
Isaiah, before 700 BC foretold that Tyre would be "laid waste" (Isa. 23:1). Tyre would be "forgotten for 70 years" (Isa. 23:15), and afterwards would "play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world." Thus we see that the destruction and length of the period under the rule of Babylon was prophesied long before the fulfillment.
Jeremiah, in the forth year of Jehoiakim about 600 BC, warned that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Tyre (Jer. 25:9, 22). Tyre, like Jerusalem, was to lay waste for 70 years (Jer. 25:11-12). Thus we see that the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar was never intended to end Tyre’s existence. Rather, Jeremiah prophesied that Tyre would serve Nebuchadnezzar (27:3, 6-7). Mainland Tyre fell after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
The reasons for this judgment were:
Jer. 25:3. "…I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. (Note: We could apply this complaint of God to the church in America and in our own lives today.)
4 And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear,) 5 saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore; 6 and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt. 8 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not heard my words…"
Ezekiel 26:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste: 3 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up.
Ezekiel 28:1 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art man, and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God; --
Ezekiel 28:6 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God, 7 therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. 8 They shall bring thee down to the pit; and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain, in the heart of the seas.
Nebuchadnezzar was able to break down the walls of the mainland city but was unable to conquer the citadel on the island. He laid siege for thirteen years, and it seems that when they finally submitted, it was mostly a treaty agreement to live under the authority of the Babylonians. Ezekiel, at the end of a thirteen year siege , indicated Nebuchadnezzar had been able to gain little of their wealth (Ezek. 26:7-14; 29:17-18).
Ezek. 29:18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.
Nehemiah, who wrote AFTER the 70 years captivity, had problems with the men of Tyre who brought things and sold them on the Sabbath, contrary to the Law (Neh. 13:16).
It is interesting that the final fulfillment of casting the city into the sea was accomplished by the Greeks, to whom Tyre had sold Israelites as slaves (Joel 3:6).
Our primary focus here is on the prophecies in Ezekiel, chapter 26.
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
Notice that the prophecy indicates that Tyre was not to end with Nebuchadnezzar. "Many nations" were to come up against her, like sea waves rolling in one after another.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. 5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations. 6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
There are four parts to this.
These "nations" would destroy her walls and break down her towers. That was done repeatedly over the centuries.
The dust would be scraped from her and she would be made like the top of a rock upon which fishermen would spread their nets in the midst of the sea. This literally took place when Alexander the Great destroyed the mainland city and dumped it into the sea to build a causeway out to the island to conquer it in 332 BC.
It was to become a spoil to the nations. Various nations forced it to pay tribute.
Her "daughters which are in the field" (probably referring to nearby towns) would be slain by the sword.
7 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. 8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. 9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. 11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
Skeptics have claimed that this never happened because the island citadel was never conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. However, it is clear that Nebuchadnezzar’s role was never meant to include destruction of the island fortress. It says that he would make a fort against her, and cast up a mount against her…and set engines of war against her walls, and that by reason of the abundance of his horses, dust would cover her, and the walls would shake at the noise of the horsemen, and the wheels of the chariots when he entered their gates. Since the island was more than a half mile from shore, this obviously was not intended to refer to it. You don’t cast up mounts or raise dust riding horses and chariots in the sea. The island city did not even have room enough for such a large number of horsemen and chariots to enter her gates, if they could have ridden through the half mile of water.
The lone question they raise here is that if Nebuchadnezzar’s failed to conquer the island city, how could his horses have tread down "all thy streets"? The answer is rather obvious. He trod down all of the streets of the city his horses were predicted to tread down – the mainland city.
12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
The prophecy had begun, speaking of the nations rolling against Tyre like the waves of the sea, and how she would be scooped like the top of a rock. Then it singled out Nebuchadnezzar, as one of those nations, indicating the role he would play. In verse twelve, it returns to talking about "they" –the nations.
13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
Here it cites the same prediction as in verse 5, with a few additional specifics. Skeptics zero in on the statement that it would be "built no more." The problem is that it is claimed that Tyre was repeatedly referred to as a city through the centuries. At the time of Jesus, Tyre and Sidon were visited by Jesus. Even today, there is town called "Sour" (Tyre).
There are several possible explanations but it seems to me that the simplest is that he has reference to the casting of the rubble into the ocean. Normally, after destruction the stones and timbers were used to rebuild the city. This was not to be the case here.
It may also be observed that the island town (now a peninsula) is not the same as the mainland city, spoken of in our passage. Even today there is no city built on the original site of mainland Tyre.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. 17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! 18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure. 19 For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
Some attempts have been made to claim the prophecy failed because verse 19 says he would bring the deep upon her. It is argued that the area was never covered with water. Of course, this is nonsense. The "deep" was brought upon the city when it was cast into the sea and covered by the waters.
20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; 21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.
Likewise, verse 21 is attempted to be used to show that the prophecy failed because we know the site of Tyre. Again, it appears to me that it is just speaking of the city being lost in the sea.
Conclusion
Regardless of suppositions made to discredit the Bible, the prophecy is so clear and the fulfillment so unique as to be a marvelous support for inspiration. How would the prophet know to pick this particular city, among several along the coast, to predict that it would be dumped into the sea, which was fulfilled 250 years later by Alexander the Great, when he scooped up the rubble to build a causeway out to the island? Incredibly shrewd "guess" to say the least. Even Sidon, Tyre’s sister city on the coast a few miles north, did not receive such a prophecy. Nor was it nor any other city ever so prophesied or recorded as being cast into the sea. By any fair consideration, this was indeed remarkable.
A. Ralph Johnson is an elder in the Glen Acres Church of Christ in Seattle, Washington. He may be reached at aralphj@msn.com. More of Ralph's articles may be found in the free section of The Preacher's Study
I have included an article written by A. Ralph Johnson on the subject of the cities of Tyre and Sidon. It is featured here in it’s entirety and includes contact information for Mr. Johnson at the end of the article.
TYRE, THE CITY CAST INTO THE SEA
by A. Ralph Johnson
Throughout history, God has dealt with many cities, and a number of these have had their destiny foretold. Babylon was to end up totally uninhabited where even the Arabian would not pitch his tents (Isa. 13:19-20). Egypt was to become a "base kingdom" (Ezek. 14:15), which to this day it is. Rome, the fourth great empire of Daniel, was to remain until the coming of Christ (Dan. 7:17, 21-26). The city of the Edomites, Petra (or Seir) was to become perpetually desolate (Ezek 35). Jerusalem was to be destroyed, its inhabitants scattered into all nations, and be trodden down by the Gentiles "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:20-24). Just as predicted, it has been under Gentile occupation until 1967.
It is a powerful confirmation of the hand of God that these predictions were made centuries before the events were completely fulfilled, each in its distinctive way. One of the most extraordinary of these is the Tyre, the city that was to be cast into the sea.
Tyre was actually two cities, a large mainland city on the shore of the Mediterranean, about 20 miles south of its sister city, Sidon, and a smaller island fortress about half a mile from the mainland. The island was about half a mile wide and three-fourths mile long. Because of the necessity of fresh water, area for agriculture and raising animals, fuel, and space for growth, the mainland city, was the larger. The island fortress was primarily for refuge. The main city and port were on the mainland. It is obvious that the timber and other items of trade were not first ferried out to the island and then shipped to distant ports. Likewise, imports were obviously not first shipped to the island and then ferried to the mainland to do commerce with surrounding cities.
During the time of Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre, helped with supplies to build the temple (1Chron. 22:4). However, over the years, an alienation developed between the two peoples.
About 870 BC Joel writes,
Joel 3:4 Yea, and what are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head. 5 Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly precious things, 6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye may remove them far from their border; 7 behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head; 8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
About 784 BC Amos warned:
Amos 1:9 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole people to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant: 10 but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
Isaiah, before 700 BC foretold that Tyre would be "laid waste" (Isa. 23:1). Tyre would be "forgotten for 70 years" (Isa. 23:15), and afterwards would "play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world." Thus we see that the destruction and length of the period under the rule of Babylon was prophesied long before the fulfillment.
Jeremiah, in the forth year of Jehoiakim about 600 BC, warned that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Tyre (Jer. 25:9, 22). Tyre, like Jerusalem, was to lay waste for 70 years (Jer. 25:11-12). Thus we see that the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar was never intended to end Tyre’s existence. Rather, Jeremiah prophesied that Tyre would serve Nebuchadnezzar (27:3, 6-7). Mainland Tyre fell after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
The reasons for this judgment were:
Jer. 25:3. "…I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. (Note: We could apply this complaint of God to the church in America and in our own lives today.)
4 And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear,) 5 saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore; 6 and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt. 8 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not heard my words…"
Ezekiel 26:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste: 3 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up.
Ezekiel 28:1 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art man, and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God; --
Ezekiel 28:6 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God, 7 therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. 8 They shall bring thee down to the pit; and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain, in the heart of the seas.
Nebuchadnezzar was able to break down the walls of the mainland city but was unable to conquer the citadel on the island. He laid siege for thirteen years, and it seems that when they finally submitted, it was mostly a treaty agreement to live under the authority of the Babylonians. Ezekiel, at the end of a thirteen year siege , indicated Nebuchadnezzar had been able to gain little of their wealth (Ezek. 26:7-14; 29:17-18).
Ezek. 29:18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.
Nehemiah, who wrote AFTER the 70 years captivity, had problems with the men of Tyre who brought things and sold them on the Sabbath, contrary to the Law (Neh. 13:16).
It is interesting that the final fulfillment of casting the city into the sea was accomplished by the Greeks, to whom Tyre had sold Israelites as slaves (Joel 3:6).
Our primary focus here is on the prophecies in Ezekiel, chapter 26.
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
Notice that the prophecy indicates that Tyre was not to end with Nebuchadnezzar. "Many nations" were to come up against her, like sea waves rolling in one after another.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. 5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations. 6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
There are four parts to this.
These "nations" would destroy her walls and break down her towers. That was done repeatedly over the centuries.
The dust would be scraped from her and she would be made like the top of a rock upon which fishermen would spread their nets in the midst of the sea. This literally took place when Alexander the Great destroyed the mainland city and dumped it into the sea to build a causeway out to the island to conquer it in 332 BC.
It was to become a spoil to the nations. Various nations forced it to pay tribute.
Her "daughters which are in the field" (probably referring to nearby towns) would be slain by the sword.
7 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. 8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. 9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. 11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
Skeptics have claimed that this never happened because the island citadel was never conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. However, it is clear that Nebuchadnezzar’s role was never meant to include destruction of the island fortress. It says that he would make a fort against her, and cast up a mount against her…and set engines of war against her walls, and that by reason of the abundance of his horses, dust would cover her, and the walls would shake at the noise of the horsemen, and the wheels of the chariots when he entered their gates. Since the island was more than a half mile from shore, this obviously was not intended to refer to it. You don’t cast up mounts or raise dust riding horses and chariots in the sea. The island city did not even have room enough for such a large number of horsemen and chariots to enter her gates, if they could have ridden through the half mile of water.
The lone question they raise here is that if Nebuchadnezzar’s failed to conquer the island city, how could his horses have tread down "all thy streets"? The answer is rather obvious. He trod down all of the streets of the city his horses were predicted to tread down – the mainland city.
12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
The prophecy had begun, speaking of the nations rolling against Tyre like the waves of the sea, and how she would be scooped like the top of a rock. Then it singled out Nebuchadnezzar, as one of those nations, indicating the role he would play. In verse twelve, it returns to talking about "they" –the nations.
13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
Here it cites the same prediction as in verse 5, with a few additional specifics. Skeptics zero in on the statement that it would be "built no more." The problem is that it is claimed that Tyre was repeatedly referred to as a city through the centuries. At the time of Jesus, Tyre and Sidon were visited by Jesus. Even today, there is town called "Sour" (Tyre).
There are several possible explanations but it seems to me that the simplest is that he has reference to the casting of the rubble into the ocean. Normally, after destruction the stones and timbers were used to rebuild the city. This was not to be the case here.
It may also be observed that the island town (now a peninsula) is not the same as the mainland city, spoken of in our passage. Even today there is no city built on the original site of mainland Tyre.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. 17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! 18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure. 19 For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
Some attempts have been made to claim the prophecy failed because verse 19 says he would bring the deep upon her. It is argued that the area was never covered with water. Of course, this is nonsense. The "deep" was brought upon the city when it was cast into the sea and covered by the waters.
20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; 21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.
Likewise, verse 21 is attempted to be used to show that the prophecy failed because we know the site of Tyre. Again, it appears to me that it is just speaking of the city being lost in the sea.
Conclusion
Regardless of suppositions made to discredit the Bible, the prophecy is so clear and the fulfillment so unique as to be a marvelous support for inspiration. How would the prophet know to pick this particular city, among several along the coast, to predict that it would be dumped into the sea, which was fulfilled 250 years later by Alexander the Great, when he scooped up the rubble to build a causeway out to the island? Incredibly shrewd "guess" to say the least. Even Sidon, Tyre’s sister city on the coast a few miles north, did not receive such a prophecy. Nor was it nor any other city ever so prophesied or recorded as being cast into the sea. By any fair consideration, this was indeed remarkable.
A. Ralph Johnson is an elder in the Glen Acres Church of Christ in Seattle, Washington. He may be reached at aralphj@msn.com. More of Ralph's articles may be found in the free section of The Preacher's Study
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Compared to you, I'm a saint
Jesus continues in Luke 10:8 telling His disciples to eat what is put before them when a town welcomes them. This must have been very tough on followers who held themselves to Jewish dietary laws. They were told to heal the sick, saying the words “the kingdom of God is upon you” in the healing process. If a town was to reject them, Jesus told them to wipe the dust off their feet and pronounce a sentence of doom upon the people and the errant town itself. Jesus also points out that such a town will be no better off then the town of Sodom will be on judgement day because of their rejection. When we apply this same principal and logic in our own life, we can point out that we aren’t murderers, we don’t hold up convenience stores and the things that we do are so minor compared to the really bad people and we hope that God will grade on a curve, not individually. We are fools to believe that we can escape that same dooming sentence today while go about our luke warm brand of American Christianity.
To test what I say against your church reality, think about the last time your church had a healing service? Most pastors would give you the “stink eye” if you were to suggest such a thing. Our American church would rather not alienate non believers or upset their more refined members of the church. When is the last time that you placed your hands on someone and prayed for their healing? How often do you rebuke all sickness and illness in your own body and purge the devil and his minions from your life while you promote your personal health? How often do we tell God that we accept His many blessings and promise to use our good health for the advancement of His kingdom? Speaking for myself, not enough.
To test what I say against your church reality, think about the last time your church had a healing service? Most pastors would give you the “stink eye” if you were to suggest such a thing. Our American church would rather not alienate non believers or upset their more refined members of the church. When is the last time that you placed your hands on someone and prayed for their healing? How often do you rebuke all sickness and illness in your own body and purge the devil and his minions from your life while you promote your personal health? How often do we tell God that we accept His many blessings and promise to use our good health for the advancement of His kingdom? Speaking for myself, not enough.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Blessed Coming and Going
Luke continues in Chapter 10, verse 5 that Jesus tells His disciples to enter a home and give it their blessing and if the inhabitants of the home are worthy, the blessing will remain and if they are not, the blessing would return to the disciple. The disciple was told to accept the hospitality of those who provided it on the basis of compensation for work done.
The definition of a blessing, featured in Webster’s dictionary from the year 1828, is as follows:
A blessing..…to pronounce a wish of happiness onto someone, or to set apart for holy purposes, to praise or glorify God or the Lord Jesus Christ, to speak God’s goodness to one another.
In the Bible, a blessing is depicted as a mark of God’s relationship with a person or nation. When a person or group is blessed, it is a sign of God’s grace upon them and perhaps even presence among them. To be blessed means that a person or people take part in God’s plans for the world and humanity.
God spoke a blessing over Abraham that affects every believer today. This is one of the first examples of a blessing in the Bible. Notice a blessing is a spoken utterance, just as a curse is also spoken. A blessing starts with words. It is real, it is tangible, it even carries visible substance.
It is interesting to note that everything in the garden of Eden was available to Adam and Eve if they did one thing – obey. When they disobeyed, a great curse came upon all mankind to every color, nation, creed, or religion. Obeying God’s Word without fail will always bring blessings. Notice each of the following blessings in Deuteronomy hinge upon hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
The blessings that the disciples brought into a household were real, based on the word of God and had (and have) consequences when they are rejected. I don’t know about you, but when I read the word of God and He tells me that I am blessed coming and going, that makes me feel pretty good and confident.
The definition of a blessing, featured in Webster’s dictionary from the year 1828, is as follows:
A blessing..…to pronounce a wish of happiness onto someone, or to set apart for holy purposes, to praise or glorify God or the Lord Jesus Christ, to speak God’s goodness to one another.
In the Bible, a blessing is depicted as a mark of God’s relationship with a person or nation. When a person or group is blessed, it is a sign of God’s grace upon them and perhaps even presence among them. To be blessed means that a person or people take part in God’s plans for the world and humanity.
God spoke a blessing over Abraham that affects every believer today. This is one of the first examples of a blessing in the Bible. Notice a blessing is a spoken utterance, just as a curse is also spoken. A blessing starts with words. It is real, it is tangible, it even carries visible substance.
It is interesting to note that everything in the garden of Eden was available to Adam and Eve if they did one thing – obey. When they disobeyed, a great curse came upon all mankind to every color, nation, creed, or religion. Obeying God’s Word without fail will always bring blessings. Notice each of the following blessings in Deuteronomy hinge upon hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
The blessings that the disciples brought into a household were real, based on the word of God and had (and have) consequences when they are rejected. I don’t know about you, but when I read the word of God and He tells me that I am blessed coming and going, that makes me feel pretty good and confident.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Lambs Among Wolves
As we continue in Luke, chapter 10:3, Jesus tells His disciples that they are being sent as lambs among wolves and they are to take no extra provisions or stop to greet others on the road.
An example of how this works in today’s political environment can be found in this press release from November, 2004. I have reprinted the complete press release and included the contact information at the bottom if you are interested in knowing more about this organization.
PRESS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference
November 12, 2004
FLASH NEWS from COMPASS DIRECT
Global News from the Frontlines
Summary:
HO CHI MINH CITY, November 12 (Compass) — The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City handed out harsh sentences to six Vietnamese Mennonite church workers in a four-hour trial which ended at noon today. Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and five colleagues were charged with "resisting officers of the law while doing their duty" in connection with a March 2 incident involving two undercover government operatives. The court sentenced Quang, general secretary of the Vietnam Mennonite Church, to three years in prison. Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach received a two-year sentence. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Miss Le Thi Hong Lien and church elder Nguyen Hieu Nghia received sentences ranging from nine to 12 months. A Vietnamese lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said, "On the basis of the legal issues and the realties of the case, we affirm that Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and his fellow workers are not criminals guilty of the charges brought against them."
Harsh Sentences for Vietnamese Mennonites
Church workers face prison terms of nine months to three years.
Special to Compass Direct
HO CHI MINH CITY, November 12 (Compass) — The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City handed out harsh sentences to six Vietnamese Mennonite church workers in a four-hour trial which ended at noon today.
Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and five other evangelists and workers, all arrested between March 2 and June 30, have been jailed on charges of "resisting officers of the law while doing their duty" in connection with an incident involving two undercover government operatives.
The court sentenced Quang, general secretary of the Vietnam Mennonite Church, to three years in prison. Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach received a two-year sentence.
Evangelists Nguyen Thanh Phuong and Nguyen Thanh Nhan were sentenced to 12 and nine months respectively. Miss Le Thi Hong Lien, a church worker, received a 12-month sentence and church elder Nguyen Hieu Nghia was sentenced to nine months.
Quang and his associates confronted the undercover officers on March 2 outside the gate of the Mennonite church, which houses the denomination’s offices and serves as the Quang residence. The Mennonites say the two agents had harassed and physically abused church workers who visited the building.
The undercover officers tried to flee on a motorcycle but fell. Within 30 minutes, dozens of officers from district police Special Unit 113 and other security forces were dispatched to the scene. Armed with guns and electric cattle prods, they seized church elder Nghia and took him to the local police station.
When Thach, Phuong and Nhan went to the local police station to inquire about Nghia, authorities took the trio into custody. Christian leaders later learned that police officers took turns kicking Thach in the chest, stomach and groin, beating him until he passed out. They also beat Nhan into unconsciousness before charging the detainees with resisting police officers. (See Compass Direct, "Vietnamese Evangelists Severely Beaten in Police Custody," March 8, 2004.)
Sources inside Vietnam believe one or more of the four church workers may have cracked under torture and provided "evidence" to arrest Quang, who was taken into custody on June 8. Arresting officers ransacked his home at that time and seized personal papers, legal documents, money, computers and files which they used to incriminate the outspoken human rights activist. (See Compass Direct, "Vietnam Police Arrest Nguyen Hong Quang," June 10, 2004.)
Only seven family members were allowed inside the courtroom today to witness the trial. They were Mrs. Nguyen Hong Quang, the fathers of Thach and Lien, Phuong’s mother and wife, and the mother and younger sister of brothers Nhan and Nghia.
A number of Western countries asked to send diplomats to observe the trial and some foreign news reporters hoped to observe the proceedings, but permission to do so was denied.
Lawyers Tran Vu Hai of Hanoi and Bui Duc Truong of Saigon defended the accused. They plan to appeal the decision to the next and only higher level of appeal: the People’s Supreme Court. The lawyers only had a few days to prepare for the trial.
An estimated 300 well-armed police officers guarded the court area, outnumbering approximately 200 Christians who came to give moral support to their friends. Although the court had announced that the trial would be public, all observers were confined to the outdoor courtyard during the proceedings.
Police reportedly searched everyone who entered the courtyard and confiscated banners that the Christians intended to display in protest. Many were not allowed through the gate and had to stand outside in the street.
About 100 of the Christians who showed up were Mennonite Montagnard pastors and evangelists who came a great distance from the Central Highlands to support Quang, a leader they highly respect.
Quang and his co-defendants were secreted into the court through a back entrance and removed in the same way to prevent any meeting or sighting between the prisoners and their supporters.
To observers of Vietnam’s record on religious rights, the trial’s outcome indicates that the Communist regime remains impervious to the international attention received by the "Mennonite six," as they have come to be known.
Vietnamese authorities have apparently ignored the November 5 request of 22 leaders of churches belonging to the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship to dismiss the trial and free the workers.
One source told Compass, "The real face and heart of the Communist authorities was revealed in the two days prior to the trial." The source described how authorities ordered Mrs. Quang to a neighborhood public denunciation meeting on Wednesday evening, November 10. She declined the summons to keep an appointment with Lawyer Hai.
The following afternoon, an angry delegation of officials and "community representatives" came to the Quang home to deliver the results of the denunciation session. They told her to immediately cease any worship services on the church premises and to evict students who were living in the building. They then ordered Mrs. Quang to remove the church sign from above the gate. If she did not comply, they said, they would drive her and her three small children from their home.
A Vietnamese lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said about the trial proceedings. "On the basis of the legal issues and the realties of the case, we affirm that the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and his fellow workers are not criminals guilty of the charges brought against them, [which claim] that they used force against persons performing their duty.
"In truth, they are victims of a tyrannical regime that oppresses religion and other human rights. During the recent trial of the three young relatives of Father Ly, the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and his assistants went twice to this same court as the official, legal representatives of the family to defend the victims.
"During the trial today, Pastor Quang and his colleagues again went to the court, this time as victims themselves. Though the two trials are different, the charges are different and the victims are different, they are identical in the shameless way the [authorities] drop heavy sentences on innocent people."
Copyright 2004 Compass Direct
Compass Direct Flash News is distributed as available to raise awareness of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Articles may be reprinted by active subscribers only.
For subscription information, contact:
Compass Direct
P.O. Box 27250
Santa Ana CA 92799-7250
USA
TEL: 949-862-0314
FAX: 949-752-6536
E-mail: info@compassdirect.org
Web site: www.compassdirect.org
MWC News Menu
I am a veteran of the Viet Nam war. I saw limited action while a member of the Marine Corps Combined Action Program in 1968 and 1969. I appreciate my Mennonite Christian brothers and sisters as they emulate the very essence of Luke 10:3.
I am not ashamed for my service to my country and feel that my country failed in its mission during that war. We were there to confront evil and when we allowed small segments of our society (the press, special interest groups and gutless politicians) to undermine our mission and abandon it, millions of people were killed and enslaved in a wave of godless, Marxist, communist regimes. It is the legacy of that political failure that allowed Pol Pot to eliminate generations in Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh with his Chinese masters to enslave his own people to this day and breed the political environment that exists in Viet Nam today.
An example of how this works in today’s political environment can be found in this press release from November, 2004. I have reprinted the complete press release and included the contact information at the bottom if you are interested in knowing more about this organization.
PRESS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference
November 12, 2004
FLASH NEWS from COMPASS DIRECT
Global News from the Frontlines
Summary:
HO CHI MINH CITY, November 12 (Compass) — The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City handed out harsh sentences to six Vietnamese Mennonite church workers in a four-hour trial which ended at noon today. Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and five colleagues were charged with "resisting officers of the law while doing their duty" in connection with a March 2 incident involving two undercover government operatives. The court sentenced Quang, general secretary of the Vietnam Mennonite Church, to three years in prison. Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach received a two-year sentence. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Miss Le Thi Hong Lien and church elder Nguyen Hieu Nghia received sentences ranging from nine to 12 months. A Vietnamese lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said, "On the basis of the legal issues and the realties of the case, we affirm that Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and his fellow workers are not criminals guilty of the charges brought against them."
Harsh Sentences for Vietnamese Mennonites
Church workers face prison terms of nine months to three years.
Special to Compass Direct
HO CHI MINH CITY, November 12 (Compass) — The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City handed out harsh sentences to six Vietnamese Mennonite church workers in a four-hour trial which ended at noon today.
Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and five other evangelists and workers, all arrested between March 2 and June 30, have been jailed on charges of "resisting officers of the law while doing their duty" in connection with an incident involving two undercover government operatives.
The court sentenced Quang, general secretary of the Vietnam Mennonite Church, to three years in prison. Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach received a two-year sentence.
Evangelists Nguyen Thanh Phuong and Nguyen Thanh Nhan were sentenced to 12 and nine months respectively. Miss Le Thi Hong Lien, a church worker, received a 12-month sentence and church elder Nguyen Hieu Nghia was sentenced to nine months.
Quang and his associates confronted the undercover officers on March 2 outside the gate of the Mennonite church, which houses the denomination’s offices and serves as the Quang residence. The Mennonites say the two agents had harassed and physically abused church workers who visited the building.
The undercover officers tried to flee on a motorcycle but fell. Within 30 minutes, dozens of officers from district police Special Unit 113 and other security forces were dispatched to the scene. Armed with guns and electric cattle prods, they seized church elder Nghia and took him to the local police station.
When Thach, Phuong and Nhan went to the local police station to inquire about Nghia, authorities took the trio into custody. Christian leaders later learned that police officers took turns kicking Thach in the chest, stomach and groin, beating him until he passed out. They also beat Nhan into unconsciousness before charging the detainees with resisting police officers. (See Compass Direct, "Vietnamese Evangelists Severely Beaten in Police Custody," March 8, 2004.)
Sources inside Vietnam believe one or more of the four church workers may have cracked under torture and provided "evidence" to arrest Quang, who was taken into custody on June 8. Arresting officers ransacked his home at that time and seized personal papers, legal documents, money, computers and files which they used to incriminate the outspoken human rights activist. (See Compass Direct, "Vietnam Police Arrest Nguyen Hong Quang," June 10, 2004.)
Only seven family members were allowed inside the courtroom today to witness the trial. They were Mrs. Nguyen Hong Quang, the fathers of Thach and Lien, Phuong’s mother and wife, and the mother and younger sister of brothers Nhan and Nghia.
A number of Western countries asked to send diplomats to observe the trial and some foreign news reporters hoped to observe the proceedings, but permission to do so was denied.
Lawyers Tran Vu Hai of Hanoi and Bui Duc Truong of Saigon defended the accused. They plan to appeal the decision to the next and only higher level of appeal: the People’s Supreme Court. The lawyers only had a few days to prepare for the trial.
An estimated 300 well-armed police officers guarded the court area, outnumbering approximately 200 Christians who came to give moral support to their friends. Although the court had announced that the trial would be public, all observers were confined to the outdoor courtyard during the proceedings.
Police reportedly searched everyone who entered the courtyard and confiscated banners that the Christians intended to display in protest. Many were not allowed through the gate and had to stand outside in the street.
About 100 of the Christians who showed up were Mennonite Montagnard pastors and evangelists who came a great distance from the Central Highlands to support Quang, a leader they highly respect.
Quang and his co-defendants were secreted into the court through a back entrance and removed in the same way to prevent any meeting or sighting between the prisoners and their supporters.
To observers of Vietnam’s record on religious rights, the trial’s outcome indicates that the Communist regime remains impervious to the international attention received by the "Mennonite six," as they have come to be known.
Vietnamese authorities have apparently ignored the November 5 request of 22 leaders of churches belonging to the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship to dismiss the trial and free the workers.
One source told Compass, "The real face and heart of the Communist authorities was revealed in the two days prior to the trial." The source described how authorities ordered Mrs. Quang to a neighborhood public denunciation meeting on Wednesday evening, November 10. She declined the summons to keep an appointment with Lawyer Hai.
The following afternoon, an angry delegation of officials and "community representatives" came to the Quang home to deliver the results of the denunciation session. They told her to immediately cease any worship services on the church premises and to evict students who were living in the building. They then ordered Mrs. Quang to remove the church sign from above the gate. If she did not comply, they said, they would drive her and her three small children from their home.
A Vietnamese lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said about the trial proceedings. "On the basis of the legal issues and the realties of the case, we affirm that the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and his fellow workers are not criminals guilty of the charges brought against them, [which claim] that they used force against persons performing their duty.
"In truth, they are victims of a tyrannical regime that oppresses religion and other human rights. During the recent trial of the three young relatives of Father Ly, the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and his assistants went twice to this same court as the official, legal representatives of the family to defend the victims.
"During the trial today, Pastor Quang and his colleagues again went to the court, this time as victims themselves. Though the two trials are different, the charges are different and the victims are different, they are identical in the shameless way the [authorities] drop heavy sentences on innocent people."
Copyright 2004 Compass Direct
Compass Direct Flash News is distributed as available to raise awareness of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Articles may be reprinted by active subscribers only.
For subscription information, contact:
Compass Direct
P.O. Box 27250
Santa Ana CA 92799-7250
USA
TEL: 949-862-0314
FAX: 949-752-6536
E-mail: info@compassdirect.org
Web site: www.compassdirect.org
MWC News Menu
I am a veteran of the Viet Nam war. I saw limited action while a member of the Marine Corps Combined Action Program in 1968 and 1969. I appreciate my Mennonite Christian brothers and sisters as they emulate the very essence of Luke 10:3.
I am not ashamed for my service to my country and feel that my country failed in its mission during that war. We were there to confront evil and when we allowed small segments of our society (the press, special interest groups and gutless politicians) to undermine our mission and abandon it, millions of people were killed and enslaved in a wave of godless, Marxist, communist regimes. It is the legacy of that political failure that allowed Pol Pot to eliminate generations in Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh with his Chinese masters to enslave his own people to this day and breed the political environment that exists in Viet Nam today.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Comparing Messiah's
In chapter ten of the book of Luke, we given real insight into the humanity of Jesus and His deference to the Father. Jesus sent out 36 teams of 2 disciples each to prepare for His planned visit to each particular town. These teams of two disciples must have felt overwhelmed because Jesus tells them that their workload is great and their numbers are few. He tells them to pray to the Father for more help and helpers.
Again, it is interesting that the Son defers to the Father when He tells His minions where additional resources will come from. When I read a history of false prophets, they defer to no one and are always the source of all power and resources.
There is a poem written by Hóng Xiùquán, born in 1814 and died of apparent suicide in 1864. This man believed himself to be the brother of Jesus Christ and a Chinese prophet of God.
Holding the Universe in the hand,
I slay the evil, spare the righteous, and relieve the suffering of the people.
My eyes see through beyond the west, the north, the rivers, and the mountains,
My sounds shake the east, the south, the Sun, and the Moon.
The glorious sword of authority was given by Lord,
Poems and books are evidences that praise Yahweh in front of Him.
Taiping [perfect Peace] unifies the World of Light,
The domineering air will be joyous for myriads of thousand years.
Hóng Xiùquán was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the short-lived "Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping" over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.
On his visit to the city of Guangzhou to take the civil service examinations in 1836, Hong heard a Christian missionary preaching about the religion. While there he received translations and summaries of the Bible written by the Christian missionary Liang Fa. The following year Hong failed the examinations again and apparently suffered a nervous collapse. During his recovery in 1837 he had a number of mystical visions. One involved an old man who complained to Hong about men worshiping demons rather than him. In a second one he saw Confucius being punished for his faithlessness, after which he repented. In yet another he dreamed angels carried him to heaven where he met a man in a black dragon robe with a long golden beard who gave him a sword and a magic seal, and told him to purify China of the demons. Several years later he would interpret this to mean that God the Heavenly Father, whom he identified with Shangdi from the Chinese tradition, and his older brother, Jesus Christ, wanted him to rid the world of demon worship. His friends and family said that after this episode he became authoritative and solemn.
It was not until 7 years later that Hong took the time to carefully examine the religious tracts he had received. In his house Hong burned all Confucian and Buddhist statues and books, and began to preach to his community about his visions. His earliest converts were relatives of his who had also failed their examinations and belonged to the Hakka minority, Feng Yunshan and Hong Rengan. He joined with them to destroy idols in small villages to the ire of local citizens and officials. Hong and his converts' acts were not surprisingly considered sacrilegious and they were persecuted by Confucians who forced them to leave their positions as village tutors. Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan fled the district in 1844, walking some 300 miles to the west to Guangxi, where the large Hakka population was much more willing to receive his teachings. As a symbolic gesture to purge China of Confucianism, he asked for two giant swords, three-chi (about 1 metre) long and nine-jin (about 5.5 kg), called the "demon-slaying swords" (???), to be forged.
By 1850 Hong had between 10,000 and 30,000 followers. The authorities were alarmed at the growing size of the sect and ordered them to disperse. A local force was sent to attack them when they refused, but imperial troops were routed and a deputy magistrate killed. A full-scale attack was launched by the government forces in the first month of 1851. In what came to be known as the Jintian Uprising, after the town of Jintian (now Guiping) where the sect was based. Hong's followers emerged victorious and beheaded the Manchu commander of the government troops.
Hong declared the foundation of the "Heavenly Kingdom of Transcendent Peace" on January 11, 1851.
Despite this evidence of forward planning, Hong and his followers faced immediate challenges. The local Green Standard Army outnumbered them ten to one, and had recruited the help of the river pirates to keep the rebellion contained to Jintian. After a month of preparation the Taipings managed to break through the blockade and fight their way to the town of Yongan (not to be confused with Yong'an), which fell to them on September 25, 1851.
Hong and his troops remained in Yongan for three months, sustained by local landowners who were hostile to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The imperial army regrouped and launched another attack on the Taipings in Yongan. Having run out of gunpowder, Hong's followers fought their way out by sword, and made for the city of Guilin, which they laid siege. However, the fortifications of Guilin proved too secure, and Hong and his followers eventually gave up and set out northwards, towards Hunan. Here, they encountered an elite militia created by a local member of the gentry specifically to put down peasant rebellions. The two forces fought at Soyi Ford on June 10, 1852 where the Taipings were forced into retreat, and 20% of their troops were killed. But in March 1853 Taiping forces managed to take Nanjing and turned it into the capital of their movement.
Hong Xiuquan ruled by making frequent proclamations from his Heavenly Palace, demanding strict compliance with various moral and religious rules. Most trade was suppressed and property socialized. Polygamy was forbidden and men and women were separated, although Hong and other leaders maintained groups of concubines.
Yang Xiuqing was a fellow Taiping leader (the "East King") who had directed successful military campaigns and who often claimed to speak with the voice of God. Hong became increasingly suspicious of Yang's ambitions and his network of spies; in 1856 he had Yang and his family murdered.
Following a failed attempt by the Taiping to take Shanghai in 1860, the Qing forces, aided by Western officers, slowly gained ground.
Some sources say Hong committed suicide by taking poison on June 1, 1864 at the age of 52 after Qing authorities finally gained a decisive military advantage and all hope of maintaining his kingdom was lost. However, in other sources, he was said to have died of illness. Hong Rengan, Hong's cousin said his illness was caused by "eating manna"--a command taken from the Bible that Hong had given to his people as they starved.
He was succeeded by his teenage son, Hong Tianguifu. The Taiping Rebellion was put down by Qing forces later in 1864.
History is full of examples of counterfeit messiah’s and false prophets. The consistent features in their lives are personal revelations that are without biblical foundation, the building of an army of followers who actively engage the government in battle and prolonged war, ever changing rules and religious guidelines originating in the dreams and hallucinations of the leader, murder of the enemies of the prophet and the final fact that after the death of the messiah, you will find that their bodies are still in their grave.
Jesus sends His “army” out into the world armed with only the word of God which He tells us that it will be more than sufficient to meet our needs, encourages His followers to honor government and its leaders because the Father is the one who places them in positions of authority and above all, when you visit His tomb, you will find it empty.
Again, it is interesting that the Son defers to the Father when He tells His minions where additional resources will come from. When I read a history of false prophets, they defer to no one and are always the source of all power and resources.
There is a poem written by Hóng Xiùquán, born in 1814 and died of apparent suicide in 1864. This man believed himself to be the brother of Jesus Christ and a Chinese prophet of God.
Holding the Universe in the hand,
I slay the evil, spare the righteous, and relieve the suffering of the people.
My eyes see through beyond the west, the north, the rivers, and the mountains,
My sounds shake the east, the south, the Sun, and the Moon.
The glorious sword of authority was given by Lord,
Poems and books are evidences that praise Yahweh in front of Him.
Taiping [perfect Peace] unifies the World of Light,
The domineering air will be joyous for myriads of thousand years.
Hóng Xiùquán was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the short-lived "Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping" over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.
On his visit to the city of Guangzhou to take the civil service examinations in 1836, Hong heard a Christian missionary preaching about the religion. While there he received translations and summaries of the Bible written by the Christian missionary Liang Fa. The following year Hong failed the examinations again and apparently suffered a nervous collapse. During his recovery in 1837 he had a number of mystical visions. One involved an old man who complained to Hong about men worshiping demons rather than him. In a second one he saw Confucius being punished for his faithlessness, after which he repented. In yet another he dreamed angels carried him to heaven where he met a man in a black dragon robe with a long golden beard who gave him a sword and a magic seal, and told him to purify China of the demons. Several years later he would interpret this to mean that God the Heavenly Father, whom he identified with Shangdi from the Chinese tradition, and his older brother, Jesus Christ, wanted him to rid the world of demon worship. His friends and family said that after this episode he became authoritative and solemn.
It was not until 7 years later that Hong took the time to carefully examine the religious tracts he had received. In his house Hong burned all Confucian and Buddhist statues and books, and began to preach to his community about his visions. His earliest converts were relatives of his who had also failed their examinations and belonged to the Hakka minority, Feng Yunshan and Hong Rengan. He joined with them to destroy idols in small villages to the ire of local citizens and officials. Hong and his converts' acts were not surprisingly considered sacrilegious and they were persecuted by Confucians who forced them to leave their positions as village tutors. Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan fled the district in 1844, walking some 300 miles to the west to Guangxi, where the large Hakka population was much more willing to receive his teachings. As a symbolic gesture to purge China of Confucianism, he asked for two giant swords, three-chi (about 1 metre) long and nine-jin (about 5.5 kg), called the "demon-slaying swords" (???), to be forged.
By 1850 Hong had between 10,000 and 30,000 followers. The authorities were alarmed at the growing size of the sect and ordered them to disperse. A local force was sent to attack them when they refused, but imperial troops were routed and a deputy magistrate killed. A full-scale attack was launched by the government forces in the first month of 1851. In what came to be known as the Jintian Uprising, after the town of Jintian (now Guiping) where the sect was based. Hong's followers emerged victorious and beheaded the Manchu commander of the government troops.
Hong declared the foundation of the "Heavenly Kingdom of Transcendent Peace" on January 11, 1851.
Despite this evidence of forward planning, Hong and his followers faced immediate challenges. The local Green Standard Army outnumbered them ten to one, and had recruited the help of the river pirates to keep the rebellion contained to Jintian. After a month of preparation the Taipings managed to break through the blockade and fight their way to the town of Yongan (not to be confused with Yong'an), which fell to them on September 25, 1851.
Hong and his troops remained in Yongan for three months, sustained by local landowners who were hostile to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The imperial army regrouped and launched another attack on the Taipings in Yongan. Having run out of gunpowder, Hong's followers fought their way out by sword, and made for the city of Guilin, which they laid siege. However, the fortifications of Guilin proved too secure, and Hong and his followers eventually gave up and set out northwards, towards Hunan. Here, they encountered an elite militia created by a local member of the gentry specifically to put down peasant rebellions. The two forces fought at Soyi Ford on June 10, 1852 where the Taipings were forced into retreat, and 20% of their troops were killed. But in March 1853 Taiping forces managed to take Nanjing and turned it into the capital of their movement.
Hong Xiuquan ruled by making frequent proclamations from his Heavenly Palace, demanding strict compliance with various moral and religious rules. Most trade was suppressed and property socialized. Polygamy was forbidden and men and women were separated, although Hong and other leaders maintained groups of concubines.
Yang Xiuqing was a fellow Taiping leader (the "East King") who had directed successful military campaigns and who often claimed to speak with the voice of God. Hong became increasingly suspicious of Yang's ambitions and his network of spies; in 1856 he had Yang and his family murdered.
Following a failed attempt by the Taiping to take Shanghai in 1860, the Qing forces, aided by Western officers, slowly gained ground.
Some sources say Hong committed suicide by taking poison on June 1, 1864 at the age of 52 after Qing authorities finally gained a decisive military advantage and all hope of maintaining his kingdom was lost. However, in other sources, he was said to have died of illness. Hong Rengan, Hong's cousin said his illness was caused by "eating manna"--a command taken from the Bible that Hong had given to his people as they starved.
He was succeeded by his teenage son, Hong Tianguifu. The Taiping Rebellion was put down by Qing forces later in 1864.
History is full of examples of counterfeit messiah’s and false prophets. The consistent features in their lives are personal revelations that are without biblical foundation, the building of an army of followers who actively engage the government in battle and prolonged war, ever changing rules and religious guidelines originating in the dreams and hallucinations of the leader, murder of the enemies of the prophet and the final fact that after the death of the messiah, you will find that their bodies are still in their grave.
Jesus sends His “army” out into the world armed with only the word of God which He tells us that it will be more than sufficient to meet our needs, encourages His followers to honor government and its leaders because the Father is the one who places them in positions of authority and above all, when you visit His tomb, you will find it empty.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Following Christ
As we continue in Luke 9:57, the author details a discussion that Jesus is having with His followers. In response to an invitation to follow Jesus, one man probably got caught up in the moment and did what we all have done in our life and committed without thinking about the consequences. He tells Jesus that he would follow Him anywhere and anytime. In response, Jesus tells him that others have homes and places to rest their heads but that being a follower of Jesus did not guarantee even those basic worldly things.
Jesus had just been rejected by the Samaritan village and knew what fate awaited Him in Jerusalem, so He was literally without a bed or home at this time. Jesus didn’t have to go to Jerusalem, He could have stayed away from His enemies, stayed under the radar and probably would have lived a long life as a carpenter and rabbi, dying of old age instead of being murdered on the cross.
I found an interesting commentary that was written to shed light on this part of the scripture at http://www.bgct.org/TexasBaptists/Document.Doc?&id=1792. This commentary is written on behalf of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and is pretty down to earth in its content. Please
go to the website to read the commentary in full. I have summarized it and added a few of my own ideas.
In regards to having a home while on this earth, Jesus lived with Peter in his home in Capernaum and with Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. When He was told that He was not welcome in the Samaritan village and knew His future fate in Jerusalem, He knew that his earthly accommodations were going to be limited. With this reality in mind, Jesus spoke honestly to His followers regarding where they were going to sleep also, if they followed Him.
In regards to us, following Jesus today, we have to keep our focus on Him and not our worldly possessions. I am grateful for my home and all of the related things that come with it (furniture, family, warmth, comfort, big screen with HD etc...) but if I lost it tomorrow and was sleeping in my car, it wouldn’t change my relationship with Jesus. It is important for us to go where our Savior goes.
Moving on, Luke tells us that another man says that he will follow Jesus after he takes care of some family obligations. During that time period, people would use the excuse that they had to take care of their parents until they died and that because of that excuse, they avoided having a steady job, paying their bills or serving in the military. I had a lot in common with this person because for most of my life I used many lame excuses to avoid following Jesus simply because it was never a convenient time to do so..
The last person that Jesus invited to follow Him tells Him that he needs to say good bye to his family before he could commit. Jesus’s response is stern when He references a farmer with a plow who doesn’t pay attention to what he is doing will do a lousy job. In reference to us, we cannot say that we accept Christ and His salvation and work part time for His kingdom. We can’t say that we know the word of God when we don’t read that word and make it part of our life. We make a weak argument that Christ is in our life if He is not evident in what we do on a personal and business basis. Lastly, if we don’t give generously into His kingdom, we will be like those that reject Him in this book of Luke, missing out on the many blessings that faith in Him provides.
The aforementioned website closes out this subject with a story about Mother Teresa and the subject of servitude.
Mother Teresa was opening a new orphanage in New York City. An impromptu press
conference broke out. Someone shouted the question, “How will you know if this is
successful?” The tiny Albanian nun turned, smiled into the camera’s glare, and said, “I
don’t believe our Lord ever spoke of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love.”
Jesus measures discipleship by obedience. He was born on Christmas so he could die on
Good Friday for you. Your grateful service is the gift he seeks from you this week. He’ll
unwrap your present and put it to good use. What will Jesus receive from you?
Jesus had just been rejected by the Samaritan village and knew what fate awaited Him in Jerusalem, so He was literally without a bed or home at this time. Jesus didn’t have to go to Jerusalem, He could have stayed away from His enemies, stayed under the radar and probably would have lived a long life as a carpenter and rabbi, dying of old age instead of being murdered on the cross.
I found an interesting commentary that was written to shed light on this part of the scripture at http://www.bgct.org/TexasBaptists/Document.Doc?&id=1792. This commentary is written on behalf of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and is pretty down to earth in its content. Please
go to the website to read the commentary in full. I have summarized it and added a few of my own ideas.
In regards to having a home while on this earth, Jesus lived with Peter in his home in Capernaum and with Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. When He was told that He was not welcome in the Samaritan village and knew His future fate in Jerusalem, He knew that his earthly accommodations were going to be limited. With this reality in mind, Jesus spoke honestly to His followers regarding where they were going to sleep also, if they followed Him.
In regards to us, following Jesus today, we have to keep our focus on Him and not our worldly possessions. I am grateful for my home and all of the related things that come with it (furniture, family, warmth, comfort, big screen with HD etc...) but if I lost it tomorrow and was sleeping in my car, it wouldn’t change my relationship with Jesus. It is important for us to go where our Savior goes.
Moving on, Luke tells us that another man says that he will follow Jesus after he takes care of some family obligations. During that time period, people would use the excuse that they had to take care of their parents until they died and that because of that excuse, they avoided having a steady job, paying their bills or serving in the military. I had a lot in common with this person because for most of my life I used many lame excuses to avoid following Jesus simply because it was never a convenient time to do so..
The last person that Jesus invited to follow Him tells Him that he needs to say good bye to his family before he could commit. Jesus’s response is stern when He references a farmer with a plow who doesn’t pay attention to what he is doing will do a lousy job. In reference to us, we cannot say that we accept Christ and His salvation and work part time for His kingdom. We can’t say that we know the word of God when we don’t read that word and make it part of our life. We make a weak argument that Christ is in our life if He is not evident in what we do on a personal and business basis. Lastly, if we don’t give generously into His kingdom, we will be like those that reject Him in this book of Luke, missing out on the many blessings that faith in Him provides.
The aforementioned website closes out this subject with a story about Mother Teresa and the subject of servitude.
Mother Teresa was opening a new orphanage in New York City. An impromptu press
conference broke out. Someone shouted the question, “How will you know if this is
successful?” The tiny Albanian nun turned, smiled into the camera’s glare, and said, “I
don’t believe our Lord ever spoke of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love.”
Jesus measures discipleship by obedience. He was born on Christmas so he could die on
Good Friday for you. Your grateful service is the gift he seeks from you this week. He’ll
unwrap your present and put it to good use. What will Jesus receive from you?
Monday, May 5, 2008
Samaritan Legalism
Moving on in Luke, chapter 9, verse 51, the author denotes an interesting encounter with the Samaritans. In this account, the Samaritans reject a visit from Jesus and turn away His messengers as they attempt to make provisions for that visit. Luke tells us that the people of the village reject Jesus because He is going to eventually go to Jerusalem.
This rejection wasn’t directed at Jesus personally, instead it was because the Samaritans rejected anyone who they saw as a pilgrim going to Jerusalem which they saw as a violation to the Law of Moses. Here is a little background of the Samaritans and their split from mainstream Judaism.
Around the fourth century before Christ, the Samaritans had established a temple at the base of Mount Gerizim, making this location, not Jerusalem, the focus of their spiritual values. Believing that this mountain was the location where Abraham offered Isaac to God, these people who were a fringe group in the north of Israel, made up of foreigners established by the Assyrians, having no prophetic instruction, managed to show one more time how man can establish a fortified bunker of religious legalism.
Some of the tenants of belief that the Samaritans held to included:
1. There is one God, the same God recognized by the Hebrew prophets;
2. Their view of God is the same as the Jewish biblical view of God;
3. The Torah was given by God to Moses;
4. Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, is the one true sanctuary chosen by Israel's God;
5. Many Samaritans believe that at the end of days, the dead will be resurrected by Taheb,
a restorer (possibly a prophet, some say Moses);
6. They possess a belief in Paradise (heaven);
7. The priests are the interpreters of the law and the keepers of tradition; unlike Judaism,
there is no distinction between the priesthood and the scholars;
8. The authority of classical Jewish rabbinical works, the Mishnah, and the Talmuds are
rejected;
9. Samaritans reject Jewish codes of law;
10. They have a significantly different version of the Ten Commandments (the sanctity of
Mt. Gerizim is covered in the tenth Samaritan commandment).
It is ironic that in Matthew 10:5, When instructing his disciples as to how they should spread the word, Jesus tells them not to visit any Samaritan city, but instead go to the 'lost sheep of Israel'. Just like the argument that the apostles had earlier, man is always seemingly trying to prove himself to be the greatest in the kingdom and for their efforts they received rejection from the very Messiah that they and their Jewish kin were waiting for.
This rejection wasn’t directed at Jesus personally, instead it was because the Samaritans rejected anyone who they saw as a pilgrim going to Jerusalem which they saw as a violation to the Law of Moses. Here is a little background of the Samaritans and their split from mainstream Judaism.
Around the fourth century before Christ, the Samaritans had established a temple at the base of Mount Gerizim, making this location, not Jerusalem, the focus of their spiritual values. Believing that this mountain was the location where Abraham offered Isaac to God, these people who were a fringe group in the north of Israel, made up of foreigners established by the Assyrians, having no prophetic instruction, managed to show one more time how man can establish a fortified bunker of religious legalism.
Some of the tenants of belief that the Samaritans held to included:
1. There is one God, the same God recognized by the Hebrew prophets;
2. Their view of God is the same as the Jewish biblical view of God;
3. The Torah was given by God to Moses;
4. Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, is the one true sanctuary chosen by Israel's God;
5. Many Samaritans believe that at the end of days, the dead will be resurrected by Taheb,
a restorer (possibly a prophet, some say Moses);
6. They possess a belief in Paradise (heaven);
7. The priests are the interpreters of the law and the keepers of tradition; unlike Judaism,
there is no distinction between the priesthood and the scholars;
8. The authority of classical Jewish rabbinical works, the Mishnah, and the Talmuds are
rejected;
9. Samaritans reject Jewish codes of law;
10. They have a significantly different version of the Ten Commandments (the sanctity of
Mt. Gerizim is covered in the tenth Samaritan commandment).
It is ironic that in Matthew 10:5, When instructing his disciples as to how they should spread the word, Jesus tells them not to visit any Samaritan city, but instead go to the 'lost sheep of Israel'. Just like the argument that the apostles had earlier, man is always seemingly trying to prove himself to be the greatest in the kingdom and for their efforts they received rejection from the very Messiah that they and their Jewish kin were waiting for.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Casting Out Demons
A big part of being a disciple of Jesus, when He was walking the earth, was faith. We are able to read the whole plan from cover to cover like a book, going to the ending first and working our way back to the beginning. Those, who walked with Jesus must have spent a great deal of time scratching their heads, wondering what He meant to say when He said something that sounded pretty ominous or important.
A case in point would be the incident that took place between Luke 9:43 and 9:45. Luke tells us that after the healing of the demon possessed boy, that the crowd was amazed at the mighty power of God and all of the things that Jesus had done up to then, became the point of discussion for the crowd.
The first point that I would like to bring your attention to is the fact that the crowd knew that the healing and miracle powers came from God. This means that Jesus told them about the power coming through Him from the Father. He never claimed to be the originator (as a human) of those powers. The spies employed by the religious leaders either didn’t listen to this part of the message or it was ignored. False prophets before and after eventually claim to be the source of all healing and salvation powers and in time develop a plan to receive worldly treasures, from their subjects, for their efforts. In the case of Jesus, He gave (and gives) to His subjects, and not take from them.
It is in little portions of the scripture like this that we can really realize some basics about who Jesus was and is. If He was a fake Messiah, we would have seen Him take credit for miracles, not defer them to the Father, as He stood before the crowds. He would have demanded the monetary and courtly trappings deserving of the Messiah as outlined in scripture and would have been speaking in immediate terms of kingdom deliverance for Israel. Instead, Jesus defers to the Father and submits to His will, speaks of a kingdom that is not on this earth, shows no desire to tell people what they want to hear and warns them that He will soon be betrayed and killed.
We literally come to a crossroad of faith as we realize that if Jesus is not the Messiah, He was just a crazy person. There just isn’t a middle position here. Either Jesus is the Redeemer or He isn’t. If you take the position that He was crazy, you can rationalize the biblical accounts until you get to the resurrection but before anyone discounts Him as the Redeemer, they better put a lot of thought and study into it because of the gravity of the situation and the consequences to your decision if you are wrong.
Luke tells us that some of the apostles were having a disagreement among themselves as to which of them would be considered the greatest and closest to Jesus. Jesus knew that they were having this discussion and told them that anyone who welcomes a little child in His name, receives Him and that if anyone welcomes Jesus also welcomes the Father who sent Him. He also told them that whoever is the least among them, will be considered the greatest.
The definition of the term “least among them” is certainly relative phrase. People have used the term to qualify vows of poverty while others define it to justify a cloistered existence. In my mind, this term means for us to remain subservient to God in all things and allow Him to place us in society at the financial and social standing that would enhance our effectiveness while we work for His kingdom.
I believe that God can use all of us , if we allow Him to. An example of this comes from a website located at http://www.gospelcenterchurch.org/spurgeon.html. Please go to the website and read what the author writes about one of the greatest Godly workers of modern times, Charles H. Spurgeon.
This mighty man of God used biting humor to make his point from the pulpit. The following is an example :
Once a year, Charles H. Spurgeon preached "for his orphans." At that event, an offering would be received for his orphanage. After one of these meetings a person accosted him with the charge, "Why, Mr. Spurgeon, I thought you preached for souls and not for money!"
Spurgeon replied, "Normally I do preach for souls and not for money. But my orphans can't eat souls and if they did, my brother, it would take at least four the size of yours to give one of them a square meal!"
This “Prince of Preachers” lived from 1835 to 1892 in England. During his life a great deal of change happened in the Christian church. The amazing thing is that all of the movement during this period was a continuation of the discussion between the apostles relating to their position in regards to Christ and their ultimate hierarchal standing in heaven.
Some of the events that happened in America and England during this time period are, as follows:
African Methodist Episcopal Church founded in 1816 by Richard Allen, a freedman who had been the first black Methodist to be ordained as a deacon.
1824 Charles Finney leads revivals from Wilmingham to Boston. The Second Great Awakening is underway.
1833-1841 The Oxford Movement, or the Tractarian Movement, attempts to bring the Church of England closer to Catholicism. Tried to popularize the Via Media. Led by John Henry Newman
1837 Old School/New School controversy splits American Presbyterianism
1843 The Disruption of the church in Scotland
1844 d. Asahel Nettleton, Calvinist leader who opposed Finney's formulaic view of revivalism during the Second Great Awakening
1851 b. B.B.Warfield, Princeton theologian who would defend inerrancy
1854 Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
1857 Finney's Lectures to Professing Christians written to influence the practice of "Christian Perfection"
Origin of Species, 1859, Darwin
1860 Essays and Reviews published. A liberal manifesto by 7 Church of England priests
1861 Spurgeon moves to the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Soon he is preaching to over 6,000 per week
1870 Vatican I, and the declaration of Papal Infallibility when speaking ex cathedra
1870 Fifty year celebration of Friedrich August Tholuck's professorship at Halle. Tholuck was the spiritual father of thousands of students, and mentored Charles Hodge
1874 The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation by Albrecht Ritschl reduces Christianity to a social gospel
1879 John Henry Newman made a Cardinal
1886 Abraham Kuyper leads a major sucession in the Dutch Reformed Church
1886 The Student Volunteer Movement
1898 Kuyper's Stone Lectures urge the development of a Christian worldview encompassing all of life
In this period of great change, from Kierkegaard, Darwin, The Great Awakening and the growth and definition of Roman Catholic doctrine, Spurgeon remained “least among men”, turning down money, title and worldly fame all the while helping to grow and define Christ’s church.
In verse 49 and 50, Luke tells us that the apostle John came to Jesus and reported that he and the other apostles saw someone using the name of Jesus to cast out demons and that they tried to stop him from doing so because he was not part of their group.
Jesus responded, telling John to leave the man alone and that anyone who is not against you, is for you.
Without a doubt, the apostles must have walked away from conversations like this, shaking their heads and thinking, “I can’t do anything right” or “I need a scorecard to keep track of what I can do or not do”. Even though these men walked with Christ everyday, they really didn’t get to know Him and what He wanted from them until after the resurrection of Jesus.
Where Jesus, through the Father, gave us the ability to heal and cast out demons in His name, the modern Christian church has more in common with the apostles view on this subject.
After the “Age of Enlightenment”, a period of time in the late 1700's through much of the 1800's in which the rule of the church and state was questioned and challenged. Casting out of evil spirits diminished and actually became more of a corporate function that was a franchise of the established Christian churches. Part of the reason for this decline was the rise of psychology and the treating of these cases as products of mental illness and not demonic based.
Casting out demons has been part of the belief system of Christianity since its beginning, and exorcism is still a recognized practice of Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox and some Protestant sects. The Church of England also has an official exorcist in each diocese. [2]
After the enlightenment, the practice of exorcism has diminished in its importance to most religious groups and its use has decreased, especially in western society. Generally, in the 20th century its use was found mainly in Eastern Europe and Africa, with some cases gaining media coverage; Anneliese Michel is perhaps the most recent of these. This is due mainly to the study of psychology and the functioning and structure of the human mind. Many of the cases that in the past which were candidates for exorcism are often explained to be the products of mental illness, and are handled as such.
The Roman Catholic church maintains a rigid exorcism ritual exercised by an ordained priest (or higher prelate), with the express permission of the local bishop, and only after a careful examination to exclude the possibility of mental illness.
However in 1973 the movie The Exorcist came out, and the idea of Exorcisms became thrust into the limelight. After its release a very large response came from the public in the United States and Europe, and belief in Demon Possession and Exorcisms found a place in contemporary society. Belief in the validity of the practice became less of a radical idea, and more widespread.[3]
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) enjoined: "Superstition ought not to be confounded with religion, however much their history may be interwoven, nor magic, however white it may be, with a legitimate religious rite." Things listed in the Roman Ritual as being indicators of possible demonic possession include: speaking foreign or ancient languages of which the possessed has no prior knowledge; supernatural abilities and strength; knowledge of hidden or remote things which the possessed has no way of knowing, an aversion to anything holy, profuse blasphemy, or sacrilege.
The Catholic Church revised the Rite of Exorcism in January 1999, although the traditional Rite of Exorcism in Latin is allowed as an option. The act of exorcism is considered to be an incredibly dangerous spiritual task; the ritual assumes that possessed persons retain their free-will, though the demon may hold control over their physical body, and involves prayers, blessings, and invocations with the use of the document Of Exorcisms and Certain Supplications. Other formulas may have been used in the past, such as the Benedictine Vade retro satana. In the modern era, the Catholic Church authorizes exorcism rarely, approaching would-be cases with the presumption that mental or physical illness is in play. In mild cases the Chaplet of Saint Michael should be used.
In 1974, the Church of England set up the "Deliverance Ministry". As part of its creation every diocese in the country was equipped a team trained in both exorcism and psychiatry. According to its representatives most cases brought before it have conventional explanations and actual exorcisms are quite rare, though sometimes blessings are given to people for psychological reasons.
In The Episcopal Church the Book of Occasional Services discusses provision for exorcism; but it does not indicate any specific rite, nor does it establish an office of "exorcist". Diocesan exorcists usually continue in their role when they have retired from all other church duties. Anglican priests may not perform an exorcism without permission from the Diocesan bishop. Is not usually performed unless the bishop and his team of specialists (including a psychiatrist and physician) have approved it.
Some Protestant denominations also recognize possession and exorcism, although the practice is generally less formalized than it is in the Catholic Church. The Methodist Church also has appointed people in place for use in such circumstances. While some denominations perform exorcism very sparingly and cautiously, some may perform it almost routinely, as part of regular religious services (especially Pentecostal denominations).
Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck researched exorcisms (initially in an effort to disprove demonic possession), and claims to have conducted two himself. He concluded that the Christian concept of possession was a genuine phenomenon. He derived diagnostic criteria somewhat different from those used by the Roman Catholic Church. He also claimed to see differences in exorcism procedures and progression. After his experiences and in an attempt to get his research validated he has attempted to get the psychiatric community to add the definition of "Evil" to the DSMIV.
In the less formalized sections of Protestant denominations the ritual can take many forms and belief structures, especially in Charismatic movement. The most common of these is the Deliverance ceremony. This differs from the exorcism ceremony by the fact that the Devil may have gotten a foothold, into a persons life rather than gaining complete control if complete control has been gained a full fledged exorcism is necessary. However a "spirit filled Christian" can not be possessed based on their beliefs. Within this belief structure the reasons for the devil to get a foothold are usually explained to be some sort of deviation from theological doctrine or because of pre-conversion activities (like dealing with the occult).
The method for determining if a person needs a Deliverance is done by having someone present who has the gift of Discernment of Spirits. This is a gift of the Holy Spirit from Cor. 1:12 that allows a person to "sense" in some way an evil presence. While the initial diagnosis is usually uncontested by the congregation, when many people are endowed with this gift in a single congregation results may vary.
A terrific resource for information on a subject such as this is available at the Wikipedia website located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page .
I don’t know about you, but it looks to me that the modern Christian church has ignored the specific words of Jesus in regards to healing and the casting out of demons and should probably take another look at their positions on these matters.
A case in point would be the incident that took place between Luke 9:43 and 9:45. Luke tells us that after the healing of the demon possessed boy, that the crowd was amazed at the mighty power of God and all of the things that Jesus had done up to then, became the point of discussion for the crowd.
The first point that I would like to bring your attention to is the fact that the crowd knew that the healing and miracle powers came from God. This means that Jesus told them about the power coming through Him from the Father. He never claimed to be the originator (as a human) of those powers. The spies employed by the religious leaders either didn’t listen to this part of the message or it was ignored. False prophets before and after eventually claim to be the source of all healing and salvation powers and in time develop a plan to receive worldly treasures, from their subjects, for their efforts. In the case of Jesus, He gave (and gives) to His subjects, and not take from them.
It is in little portions of the scripture like this that we can really realize some basics about who Jesus was and is. If He was a fake Messiah, we would have seen Him take credit for miracles, not defer them to the Father, as He stood before the crowds. He would have demanded the monetary and courtly trappings deserving of the Messiah as outlined in scripture and would have been speaking in immediate terms of kingdom deliverance for Israel. Instead, Jesus defers to the Father and submits to His will, speaks of a kingdom that is not on this earth, shows no desire to tell people what they want to hear and warns them that He will soon be betrayed and killed.
We literally come to a crossroad of faith as we realize that if Jesus is not the Messiah, He was just a crazy person. There just isn’t a middle position here. Either Jesus is the Redeemer or He isn’t. If you take the position that He was crazy, you can rationalize the biblical accounts until you get to the resurrection but before anyone discounts Him as the Redeemer, they better put a lot of thought and study into it because of the gravity of the situation and the consequences to your decision if you are wrong.
Luke tells us that some of the apostles were having a disagreement among themselves as to which of them would be considered the greatest and closest to Jesus. Jesus knew that they were having this discussion and told them that anyone who welcomes a little child in His name, receives Him and that if anyone welcomes Jesus also welcomes the Father who sent Him. He also told them that whoever is the least among them, will be considered the greatest.
The definition of the term “least among them” is certainly relative phrase. People have used the term to qualify vows of poverty while others define it to justify a cloistered existence. In my mind, this term means for us to remain subservient to God in all things and allow Him to place us in society at the financial and social standing that would enhance our effectiveness while we work for His kingdom.
I believe that God can use all of us , if we allow Him to. An example of this comes from a website located at http://www.gospelcenterchurch.org/spurgeon.html. Please go to the website and read what the author writes about one of the greatest Godly workers of modern times, Charles H. Spurgeon.
This mighty man of God used biting humor to make his point from the pulpit. The following is an example :
Once a year, Charles H. Spurgeon preached "for his orphans." At that event, an offering would be received for his orphanage. After one of these meetings a person accosted him with the charge, "Why, Mr. Spurgeon, I thought you preached for souls and not for money!"
Spurgeon replied, "Normally I do preach for souls and not for money. But my orphans can't eat souls and if they did, my brother, it would take at least four the size of yours to give one of them a square meal!"
This “Prince of Preachers” lived from 1835 to 1892 in England. During his life a great deal of change happened in the Christian church. The amazing thing is that all of the movement during this period was a continuation of the discussion between the apostles relating to their position in regards to Christ and their ultimate hierarchal standing in heaven.
Some of the events that happened in America and England during this time period are, as follows:
African Methodist Episcopal Church founded in 1816 by Richard Allen, a freedman who had been the first black Methodist to be ordained as a deacon.
1824 Charles Finney leads revivals from Wilmingham to Boston. The Second Great Awakening is underway.
1833-1841 The Oxford Movement, or the Tractarian Movement, attempts to bring the Church of England closer to Catholicism. Tried to popularize the Via Media. Led by John Henry Newman
1837 Old School/New School controversy splits American Presbyterianism
1843 The Disruption of the church in Scotland
1844 d. Asahel Nettleton, Calvinist leader who opposed Finney's formulaic view of revivalism during the Second Great Awakening
1851 b. B.B.Warfield, Princeton theologian who would defend inerrancy
1854 Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
1857 Finney's Lectures to Professing Christians written to influence the practice of "Christian Perfection"
Origin of Species, 1859, Darwin
1860 Essays and Reviews published. A liberal manifesto by 7 Church of England priests
1861 Spurgeon moves to the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Soon he is preaching to over 6,000 per week
1870 Vatican I, and the declaration of Papal Infallibility when speaking ex cathedra
1870 Fifty year celebration of Friedrich August Tholuck's professorship at Halle. Tholuck was the spiritual father of thousands of students, and mentored Charles Hodge
1874 The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation by Albrecht Ritschl reduces Christianity to a social gospel
1879 John Henry Newman made a Cardinal
1886 Abraham Kuyper leads a major sucession in the Dutch Reformed Church
1886 The Student Volunteer Movement
1898 Kuyper's Stone Lectures urge the development of a Christian worldview encompassing all of life
In this period of great change, from Kierkegaard, Darwin, The Great Awakening and the growth and definition of Roman Catholic doctrine, Spurgeon remained “least among men”, turning down money, title and worldly fame all the while helping to grow and define Christ’s church.
In verse 49 and 50, Luke tells us that the apostle John came to Jesus and reported that he and the other apostles saw someone using the name of Jesus to cast out demons and that they tried to stop him from doing so because he was not part of their group.
Jesus responded, telling John to leave the man alone and that anyone who is not against you, is for you.
Without a doubt, the apostles must have walked away from conversations like this, shaking their heads and thinking, “I can’t do anything right” or “I need a scorecard to keep track of what I can do or not do”. Even though these men walked with Christ everyday, they really didn’t get to know Him and what He wanted from them until after the resurrection of Jesus.
Where Jesus, through the Father, gave us the ability to heal and cast out demons in His name, the modern Christian church has more in common with the apostles view on this subject.
After the “Age of Enlightenment”, a period of time in the late 1700's through much of the 1800's in which the rule of the church and state was questioned and challenged. Casting out of evil spirits diminished and actually became more of a corporate function that was a franchise of the established Christian churches. Part of the reason for this decline was the rise of psychology and the treating of these cases as products of mental illness and not demonic based.
Casting out demons has been part of the belief system of Christianity since its beginning, and exorcism is still a recognized practice of Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox and some Protestant sects. The Church of England also has an official exorcist in each diocese. [2]
After the enlightenment, the practice of exorcism has diminished in its importance to most religious groups and its use has decreased, especially in western society. Generally, in the 20th century its use was found mainly in Eastern Europe and Africa, with some cases gaining media coverage; Anneliese Michel is perhaps the most recent of these. This is due mainly to the study of psychology and the functioning and structure of the human mind. Many of the cases that in the past which were candidates for exorcism are often explained to be the products of mental illness, and are handled as such.
The Roman Catholic church maintains a rigid exorcism ritual exercised by an ordained priest (or higher prelate), with the express permission of the local bishop, and only after a careful examination to exclude the possibility of mental illness.
However in 1973 the movie The Exorcist came out, and the idea of Exorcisms became thrust into the limelight. After its release a very large response came from the public in the United States and Europe, and belief in Demon Possession and Exorcisms found a place in contemporary society. Belief in the validity of the practice became less of a radical idea, and more widespread.[3]
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) enjoined: "Superstition ought not to be confounded with religion, however much their history may be interwoven, nor magic, however white it may be, with a legitimate religious rite." Things listed in the Roman Ritual as being indicators of possible demonic possession include: speaking foreign or ancient languages of which the possessed has no prior knowledge; supernatural abilities and strength; knowledge of hidden or remote things which the possessed has no way of knowing, an aversion to anything holy, profuse blasphemy, or sacrilege.
The Catholic Church revised the Rite of Exorcism in January 1999, although the traditional Rite of Exorcism in Latin is allowed as an option. The act of exorcism is considered to be an incredibly dangerous spiritual task; the ritual assumes that possessed persons retain their free-will, though the demon may hold control over their physical body, and involves prayers, blessings, and invocations with the use of the document Of Exorcisms and Certain Supplications. Other formulas may have been used in the past, such as the Benedictine Vade retro satana. In the modern era, the Catholic Church authorizes exorcism rarely, approaching would-be cases with the presumption that mental or physical illness is in play. In mild cases the Chaplet of Saint Michael should be used.
In 1974, the Church of England set up the "Deliverance Ministry". As part of its creation every diocese in the country was equipped a team trained in both exorcism and psychiatry. According to its representatives most cases brought before it have conventional explanations and actual exorcisms are quite rare, though sometimes blessings are given to people for psychological reasons.
In The Episcopal Church the Book of Occasional Services discusses provision for exorcism; but it does not indicate any specific rite, nor does it establish an office of "exorcist". Diocesan exorcists usually continue in their role when they have retired from all other church duties. Anglican priests may not perform an exorcism without permission from the Diocesan bishop. Is not usually performed unless the bishop and his team of specialists (including a psychiatrist and physician) have approved it.
Some Protestant denominations also recognize possession and exorcism, although the practice is generally less formalized than it is in the Catholic Church. The Methodist Church also has appointed people in place for use in such circumstances. While some denominations perform exorcism very sparingly and cautiously, some may perform it almost routinely, as part of regular religious services (especially Pentecostal denominations).
Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck researched exorcisms (initially in an effort to disprove demonic possession), and claims to have conducted two himself. He concluded that the Christian concept of possession was a genuine phenomenon. He derived diagnostic criteria somewhat different from those used by the Roman Catholic Church. He also claimed to see differences in exorcism procedures and progression. After his experiences and in an attempt to get his research validated he has attempted to get the psychiatric community to add the definition of "Evil" to the DSMIV.
In the less formalized sections of Protestant denominations the ritual can take many forms and belief structures, especially in Charismatic movement. The most common of these is the Deliverance ceremony. This differs from the exorcism ceremony by the fact that the Devil may have gotten a foothold, into a persons life rather than gaining complete control if complete control has been gained a full fledged exorcism is necessary. However a "spirit filled Christian" can not be possessed based on their beliefs. Within this belief structure the reasons for the devil to get a foothold are usually explained to be some sort of deviation from theological doctrine or because of pre-conversion activities (like dealing with the occult).
The method for determining if a person needs a Deliverance is done by having someone present who has the gift of Discernment of Spirits. This is a gift of the Holy Spirit from Cor. 1:12 that allows a person to "sense" in some way an evil presence. While the initial diagnosis is usually uncontested by the congregation, when many people are endowed with this gift in a single congregation results may vary.
A terrific resource for information on a subject such as this is available at the Wikipedia website located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page .
I don’t know about you, but it looks to me that the modern Christian church has ignored the specific words of Jesus in regards to healing and the casting out of demons and should probably take another look at their positions on these matters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)