scottythecomic's whimsical rantings

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1John 4:1).

False prophets and teachers are no stranger to Christianity.  They proliferated in the times of the Old Testament and even moreso now. In fact, those with Godly discernment have surely read some here on the blogs. So how to we spot these cults and false teachers?

Aside from being indwelled with the Holy Spirit one can't. While it is certainly true that some cults are obviously errant in their teaching (and thus recognizable) those same unbelievers may believe that very thing of others who are in line with God's word.

Here then are some means whereby one may ascertain whether they have run upon a cult.

1. Most cults typically have someone at the top, that is, a leader. This person is often charismatic and wields such power (both real and ostensible) that cult members dare not speak out against him or her.

2. The aforementioned leader and his lieutenants will shun those who don't believe, including family members and friends. Too, they often highly encourage members of the cult to assemble with those of like "faith." It is highly likely that they will claim some "hidden" message or new revelation to entice the unknowing.

3. The charismatic leader is ever at work seeking total control. This may be sly and unassuming or be direct and assaultive. Invariably the person will be asked and/or required to donate sums of money and time to the "cause"  for their best interest.

4. Sometimes very well versed in the Bible (albeit errantly and without proper exegesis) the leader will "brainwash" the congregation into his/her belief system, often with long Bible studies or teaching sessions. Too, he will provide his flock with answers to questions from others concerning their cultic or errant beliefs. At the heart of this teaching lies a demon who dilutes the truth, proffers a lie, and deceives.

5. Eventually the flock become mere drones and cease to think for themselves. The irony here is that few would recognize themselves in this position. False teachers often claim extraordinary powers of healing, prophecy and other false signs and wonders. They may make bold claims of lineage or ancestry.

6. Cult members begin to and finally do lose activities, proclivities and pleasures that formerely were part of their lives. These may include sports, clubs and/or activities that they derived pleasure and fun from. Old friends will be replaced with new friends from within the cult.

7.  Also, at times some (but certainly not all) members may adopt a certain dress code, diet and daily routine on behest of their leader. In addition, once they have been ingrained with the doctrine of the cult (its teachings) they will be sent out on recruitment missions in person or on blogs and forums.

So who can we trust? The Bible provides the answer. ""Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD" (Jeremiah 17:5).

And too: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart  and lean not on your own understanding;   in all your ways acknowledge him,  and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

My heart is literally breaking as I write this blog. My tears for my friend Richard fall for him. His murder has reminded me that I failed him in that I didn't ever tell him about Christ my Savior and therefore don't know if he knew Him.  I cry for that, too.  But you my friends and blog enemies or foes don't have to remain in the dark, if indeed you are.

In that archaic yet timely book that so few take the time to examine, we find the salvation of mankind early on in Genesis.  As a refresher, the word Genesis literally translates to beginnings or, in the beginning. As such, the book, written by God’s inspired servant, Moses, details the beginnings of all things that concern humans as God reveals Himself to mankind.

One of these myriad topics is salvation. Salvation in the Biblical sense means to be delivered from and, in our case, that deliverance is from the curse of sin brought upon mankind as a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

In Genesis 3:19-20 a lot of people are prone to hastily read and thus overlook God’s provision to all humanity after Adam’s profession of faith.  Verse 19 reads, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  This is an expression of faith in God by Adam, believing God’s word previously in 1:28. Too, it is an expression of faith in that Adam was aware that God had promised death for disobedience, yet trusted in God’s deliverance and the future.

Therefore, in verse 20 God inspired Moses to write of His provision for their disobedience thus: “And for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”  This is a provision of God to atone for man’s disobedience – a life for a life.  Sacrifice was made through the blood of animals; setting a precedent that God’s provision alone would save mankind. That Provision was His Son, Christ Jesus.

The Scriptures attest that salvation is found in none other than Jesus, God’s Son. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

And again,  “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-5).

We cannot do anything to merit God’s favor. Even the faith needed to believe in Him is supplied. It is a gift. If I give you a wad of money, what do you have to do to make it yours?  You have to receive it. In the same manner, God offers His priceless gift of eternal life free, by His grace and His supplied faith.

By faith take God at His word. “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the tongue confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

Many errantly confuse categories by working for their salvation, which, as evidence adamantly affirms, cannot be attained. In the next look at Biblical salvation, we will look at the dichotomy between salvation and future reward(s).

There was a point in my life where I was homeless for approximately six months.  That the stigma of bum, beggar or transient could be applied to me so quickly helped me to see the struggles that others went through and gave me a more profound understanding of homelessness.  Here then is my story in brief.

1984. Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson, Van Halen, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Tina Turner were hot on the music scene.  My apartment with attached garage was also hot, both destroyed by faulty electrical wiring and a fire. I lost everything. I had no insurance. Without a job I was forced to the streets after a 2-day stay at the Salvation Army. I lost my job as there was no public transportation to get me to and from work.

With what remaining money I had I bought some beer and get hammered.  With family passed on, I had nothing to fall back on. I found myself at the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Only I wasn't there checking in, I was at the end of the runway in a wooded section, between some railroad tracks and a man made canala place I'fd found to drown my sorrows.  The runway was a mere 2 stone throws away and when the aircraft landed, you could see the eyes of the passengers staring out.  I passed out drunk.

When I awoke very early in the morning it was to an approaching storm.  Quickly I used my military survival training  and I rigged a temporary shelter so as to keep warm and dry.  I scouted out the area and found a store a mile away.  I also found a temporary work place but they'd hired all the workers for that particular day. I resolved to return. And thus began a six month stay in the woods of West Palm Beach, Florida, and a slow climb out of those woods. 

I found a broken shovel and, after having found a slight clearing in the woods between the canal and the tracks, began to dig.  I dug a hole approximately 4.5 feet deep, 7 feet long, and 6 feet wide.  It took me all day long.  My hands were blistered raw. Using things I had found in a nearby dumping area, I managed to snag two 4 by 8 sheets of used plywood, a 2 by 10 by 12 and various other things.  The 12 footer was used as my beam to support by roof, the plywood sheets. Atop this I laid some visqueen, then camoflauged it all with the brushes, plants and things around the site. I used my shirt to wrap my bleeding hands so I could keep digging.

On the inside of my bomb shelter, I placed 2 U-Haul quilts that had been discarded, that is, after washing them in the canal and drying them in the sun. They were my inside walls.  This kept the sand in my bed to a bare minimum.  For an entrance I dug a "slide in" on one of the sides, using 2 old shelves as my chute.  My new home took me nearly 2 days to complete.  Using a hook and line I'd found discarded, I caught fish to eat and roasted them over an open fire.  I slept exhausted both nights.

Then I went to work at a Day Labor place. Monday through Friday I worked 10 hours a day or more doing the jobs people say American's won't do...for a mere $3.35 an hour.  I poured cement columns, dug ditches, hauled trash, worked for Burt Reynolds, cut brush, dug footers by hand, demolished a hospital, roofed a building, picked up trash, cleaned out grease traps, landscaped yards and businesses - and did whatever it was that needed to be done.  I worked like the proverbial dog but I kept my goal in sight: a car and an apartment.

I met a lot of other homeless people along the way.  Most were alcoholic or drug addicts, and a few were what people commonly refer to as mentally ill.  Still more were victims of divorce or tragedies like mine. I befriended many, even going to AA meetings with a couple in order to try to help them.  Finally, I invited 2 guys to my camp to share what I had.  By then I'd rolled a big old electrical cable reel in and used it as my dining room table. Lawn chairs circled it. A campfire with grill was nearby.  Fresh water was stored in gallon plastic jugs.  I'd built an outhouse some 150' away. For showers, I'd hike a half mile up to the main road and shower behind a Burger King inside an enclosed dumpster fence. They had hot water.  I washed my clothes at the nearby laundromat.

The two men I shared my place with told others. Soon we had 25 people, both men and women staying there. I was head bum.  I buried my cash where no one knew about it, steadily saving what I could of the mere $30 a day I cleared after taxes.  Once I was robbed by two people and, in an effort to save the $25 and groceries I'd just bought, fought my attackers.  They won when 2 more piled on me and I lost it all.  The cops did catch two of them later that night but I refused to press charges.

Drunkenness and fights, even sporadic gunfire entered my camp. I'd been living in that spot for 5.5 months, even surviving a hurricane without so much as getting a drop of rain in my shelter.  It was time to go. One day I collected my stash savings and walked a mile down the street to a motel and treated myself to a night's stay.  The next day I rented an apartment.  The following day I bought a clunker of a car. The 4th day I was hired as a Labor Foreman for a well known construction firm in Palm Beach.

Two weeks later I visted the camp with some food and heard one of the guys had been shot in a drunken argument.  A lot of us sat around shooting the ship and tossing back a few.  I left in my car glad to have a place to go to once again. And I had insurance this go around.  I'd done it, I'd dug mmyself out of the hole.

A month later I was at the beach enjoying some fun with my new girlfriend.  As I showered my feet free of sand, I saw a newspaper lying there on a bench so I picked it up to read. There on the front page of the local section was a picture of my former camp.  The headlines read, "Police Raid Homeless Camp." 

The story went on to discuss the numerous arrests for tresspassing, vagrancy and drug possession.  The guys all blamed the camp's construction on me (which was true) in an attempt to free themselves. When asked where I was, one of them I'll call Bob, said, "He went to work everyday and got hisself up out dese woods."

That's exactly what I did.  And I never took a handout from the state or federal government, albeit I did squat on their land to get myself back on my feet.  This isn't a story about bragging, but about what anyone can do given the determination. Moreover, it is appicable to everyday life's obstacles.

These days, my wife and I delver sandwiches to the homeless about once a month.  I tell the guys that there is a way out, but it's hard work. I wonder how many have got up and out of their "woods"?

<img src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e387/scottlaughs
/woodreel.jpg"width136height164>

I love the stories of Jesus in the Bible.  The gospels were written under inspiration of the Holy Spirit by His beloved, including Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  One story of note I have been drawn to lately is the one which appears in Matthew 9:1-15.

Matthew, one of the disciples of the Christ, was a Jew who originaly wrote for the Jews, testifying of Jesus the Christ as the Son of David, and the Son of Abraham, because He is portrayed as a King.  'Ol Matt portrays Jesus as the Royalty He is.  Matthew himself was a despised tax collector...despised by his own people for ruthless acts and collaboration with the Romans.  And yet he wrote of royalty, of Kingship of the Christ, in humility.

Matthew records for us the story of Jesus and the paralytic, as does Mark (Mk. 2:3-12) and Luke (Lk. 5:18-26).  But Matthew tells it from a different viewpoint if you contrast the three.

As we pick up the story in vs 1 of Chpt. 9, Jesus has just been run out of town on the rails as it were, for causing the demise of a herd of demon possessed pigs to run over a cliff.  The Bible tell us that the entire city came out (8:34) and begged Him to leave. When you affect someone's livelyhood it can bring out the worst in some.  Ever been fired? Evicted? Lost your business? Been laid-off?  I have, and in "those days," I was quick to respond as the people of that city did.

So Jesus split and went into His own city the Bible says. His own city was Capernaum (cf Mt. 4:13) and this is where He was brought the paralyzed man.  Matthew doesn't give us the details like Mark, that is, the big crowds that pressed to see and be healed by Jesus, nor the fact that people cut a hole in the roof of the house to let the paralyzed man down (now that's faith)!  Instead, Matthew cuts to the quick and gives us a glimpse into the power of change.

We hear people want to change. We want to change. We hear the politicians promising change.  In fact, that is the one rallying cry this election.  But all too often, like the politicians, we fail to change a thing under our own power. We want but we do not get. Could it be it's because we rely on the wrong form of power to effect it - self, politicians, psychiatrists, and others?

Jesus saw the man and rather than the customary and expected, "Be healed," He flipped the script.  Indeed, He said to the man, "Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you."

Of course, some of the lawyers and writers (Pharisees and Scribes) started to murmur and said within themselves, "This man blasphemes." But Jesus either saw or knew (or both) their thoughts and, being the honest Man He was, might have agreed with them had He not been God in the flesh (John 1:1-2).

Jesus called them out and asked, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?"

Well, thinking about it, it is much easier to say that one's sins are forgiven,  for who has the proof of that?  Could not anyone say that?  And Jesus, being Omniscient, knew this, thus He said, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, - then he said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."

Most of the people that clamored about and around Christ came for food or healing. They wanted what beset them "fixed" and were not focused on their biggest problem, the sin in their lives.  The majority of the world today is like this. The hue and cry is for our needs, for food, for shelter, for health care, for change, for something to be done about this and that for which we struggle with.  But where do we seek it?

 Christ Jesus focused on their/our real need - the forgiveness of our sins.  For isn't it sin that impales us and hangs us upon our own makeshift cross of guilt? Is it not sin that causes us to stumble and falter in darkness, unsure of the way? It is sin, and Jesus has the answer - Himself.

The multitudes marveled at Jesus' display of power and thus He went on from there.  This was His encounter with Matthew, the tax collector, the writer of this gospel by his name.  Jesus merely said to Matt, as he probably sat their counting his coins and profit,  "Follow me."   Matt hopped up, left the bucks for the Romans at bay, and followed Him who alone saves.  How many of us are ready to leave our earthly treasure aside and follow Him?  Yeah, that 42" plasma TV gets in the way, doesn't it?  That SUV and the kids soccer practice doesn't give a working mom much time, does it?  Those high school friends won't accept me if I become a Jesus freak or Bible thumper, right?

Later Jesus threw a party for sinners.  Matt, Peter and the others were probably wondering, "How in the heck did I get into this?  I mean, Jesus is a good Guy and all - I've seen His great works of God -  but here we are munchin' out with some hard core sinners! What happens if word gets out that we're doing this? What will our moms say?

Isn't that so like us?  We wonder and worry about what others will say about what we're doing.  We think those things that others do are much worse than those things we have done. We are quick to forgive ourselves of our transgressions while slow to forgive others. I am guilty of this.  In so doing, we are not led of the spirit of God, but by the spirit of this world.  Because of that we don't allow ourselves to be changed, to be "transformed by the renewing of (y)our minds" (Romans12:1-2).

When the Pharisees saw that the disciples of Christ and Jesus eating with sinners, they asked why the Teacher did this.  But Jesus, who sees and hears everything, said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

I like Jesus. I mean, I love Him. And I love sarcasm. That's what he was using here when He spoke to the Pharisees.  Here they were, thinking they were all high and mighty because they knew the law, but Jesus had to point them to the Scriptures they conveniently overlooked (Hosea 6:6).  Jesus was letting the lawyers of the day know that He was the Change they sought, and that He was there for the sick to be healed of their sins.   Sadly, they didn't see this, as they saw themselves as righteous and not in need of healing/change.

How about you?  I know I need a lot of change!  And I know the sooner I let go of self, of the world and the cares of it, I can be further transformed by the renewing of my mind by the Holy Spirit.

You see, we can do little to effect lasting change in and of our own power.  We need a loving Savior Who doesn't punish us when we stumble, but like a loving Father, forgives and remembers no more when we come to Him.  Indeed, "So far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalms 103:12).

This election year, don't count on the change the politicians promise, but rather put your faith in Jesus who will deliver change in you.

Amen.

People, draw nigh and listen to me closely. That's it. A little closer. Now listen.

Islam is not your friend. Muslims are not peaceful as they would have you believe.

Islam is a religion fronted by a demon. It is a violent religion whose goal is worldwide domination by a central Caliphate.

Here is more evidence of their fanaticism, lunacy and Satanic inspired caustic speech.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_re_af/su
dan_british_teacher

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2007/09/
12/beck.pefect.day.part1.cnn

The UK is falling to Islam. Muslims are prsently fighhting wars on 33 fronts in the world and yet the media persists in calling Islam a "religion of peace."

Check out the Global Incident Map - ever updated.

http://www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php

People, we MUST awaken from our slumber of ease and wealth, fight this evil that is Islam, and reclaim good for mankind.

Want the truth about Islam?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=52e_1180375699

Awaken to the evil set about to devour us!

For the naysayers out there, here is more proof of the inerrancy of the Bible.  For centuries critics have disputed this wall that the prophet Nehemiah built and wrote about under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Many have set out to disprove the Bible but it has withstood the test of time and of foolish men, and its truth has blessed mankind for over 2,500 years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_sc/israel
_jerusalem_dig;_ylt=AgOMt78c1AkXis5uocGZygus0NUE>