Merry Christmas America

It's time for my annual Christmas message.

Ever since Jesus came back to life and ascended back into heaven, every generation of Christians has warned of His imminent return and the subsequent judgment to come. (Unlike winter and spring, Jesus went out like a lamb but will come back like a lion. Think of the oddly named Battle Hymn of the Republic: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;" )

We've been waiting and warning for 2000 years now. Maybe you think we're "crying 'Wolf!'"? (See 2 peter 3:4) But certainly every day is closer to the Last Day, by definition. It seems to me, in my short life, that the world, or at least America, is becoming more and more lawless/godless, a requirement for judgment. Globally, in the U.S. neither our Legislative, Executive or Judicial branch obey our own laws. It's getting more blatant. No one blushes (is ashamed) anymore. Same comment with local politics, as I've been forced to intimately observe these past few years. (Maybe it's always been this bad but the Internet is shedding light on the corruption now? Still, the sea change in the past few years (since Clinton?) is that, when caught, no one is ashamed anymore but rather is defiant.)

We're already suffering the consequences of a godless society: "Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path." Isaiah 3:12. We've had women in power for quite some time. (Even in the churches.) Now we have a child President.

More telling, homosexuality is becoming more prevalent, blatant and "protected," throughout the world. Remember what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. They served as an example for what's to come. It seems the predicted earthquakes have started. Famines and pestilence are next. (Not to mention North and South Korea - "wars and rumors of wars.")

It sure seems like ours is the generation since we now have the technology so that events predicted long ago in the last book of the Bible don't sound like science fiction anymore. (Implantable chips for the coming cashless society and webcams to watch the bodies of the two witnesses as they lie in the street. See Rev 13:16-17 and Rev 9:10-11 respectively.) If I'm right, there will be a great apostasy of so-called "christians," which, in my own little world, seems to have already started. And the Muslims haven't come yet to accelerate the process!

So here are some selected Bible verses for religious Americans to consider as you ostensibly celebrate the birth of God come in the flesh this December 25th. As they pertain to this blog, they are a sign of the times. "Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted." (Habakkuk 1:4)

You probably saw the cute (but faked?) youtube video of the Christmas Food Court Flash Mob singing the Hallelujah Chorus? This was the year that Americans fought back against political correctness and insisted it was "Merry CHRISTmas," not "Happy Holidays." Sounds great, huh? But "'You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" Matthew 15:7-9

[Strictly speaking, Jesus was talking to the Jews of His day. But can't this apply to the religious in our country today? Consider: God says, and every mom knows, it's a baby in the womb. No mom ever says "The 'fetus' kicked." Even little girls know it's a baby in there. And yet our Supreme Court teaches and rules it's okay to murder unborn babies. And we do. I don't see how we can escape judgment.]

"'Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it." Numbers 35:33And, "See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer." Isaiah 26:21

Or consider marriage vows before God. God says, "... what [I have] joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:6). So people-most hypocritically, religious people-marry and make their vows before God in churches. But they break their vows to God in a court of law (ironically, testifying under oath, "so help me God") and divorce because men teach and rule that they can. And, because, like murdering their babies, they want to.

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry." 1 Sam 15:22-23 "The man (or woman) who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:4

"... when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8

"Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years." Amos 4:4 (Sarcasm. Yes, God is sometimes sarcastic.)

Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." Some Pharisees (American 'christians') who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.'" John 9:39

"Then he told me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy. Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.'" Rev 22:10-12 10

Well, in light of that last passage, I won't preach to you. If you're vile, so be it. It's your choice. I'll simply repeat Jesus's question to you: "What good will it be for a man (or woman) if he/she gains the whole world, yet forfeits his/her soul?" (Matt 16:26)

May the Lord reward you according to what you have done. And He will.

Merry Christmas?

Should I wish you a "Merry CHRISTmas?"

Since it's Christmas time and since I'm a Christian Evangelist, please humor me while I "preach" a little. (I'll be surprised if anyone is reading this during the holidays. But if you're the one, maybe God brought you here for a reason?)

Seemingly off topic, although on a long tangent, not really. For it's the true Christian who is commanded to seek justice. And that's what these blogs are ultimately about as we focus on the judiciary. Judiciary > Judges > Justice. Get it?

Not often. A wry comment on American inJustice.

And it's kind of ironic, since Judge Mary Hamm said I don't have a 1st Amendment right to speak like this.

So, overlooking the trivial things, that Jesus wasn't born on December 25, let alone in December (too cold), and ignoring that Christ-mass has its origins in pagan rituals and that there's no mention in the Bible of the early church celebrating the Christ's birth (rather, He commanded we should celebrate His death until He comes), should I wish you a Merry Christmas?

Look, even atheists believe there was an historical man named Jesus. We all like to celebrate the birth of babies. But that's not the issue here. It's what you believe about Jesus, who He was, what He came to do, why He died (and where) and if He came back from the dead that's important. Let's take the easiest case first.

If you're Jewish or an atheist (according to God, you're the same in the end), then you don't believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah). You don't believe He is the Savior, the [Passover] "lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." You don't believe He rose from the dead, although your own leaders knew He said He would. So you can't be saved from His wrath (hell) if you don't believe [in] Him. You don't even sacrifice a Passover lamb on Passover today! What sacrifice for sins is left?

While you (the Jews. Not atheists.) are the chosen people and yours are the temple worships and receiving of the Law, as much as I am indebted to you (because your God gave your blessing to this Gentile dog since you rejected Him), I cannot wish you a Merry Christmas if you don't believe in the Christ. You probably don't want me to anyway. We know the ACLU doesn't.

If you're Muslim or Buddhist, you probably believe, inconsistently, that Jesus was a "good man," maybe a prophet from God. But you don't believe He was God. If you're Muslim, you don't believe He rose from the dead, proving He was who He said He was. You do the Jews one better and don't even believe He died on the cross!

Even the Jews acknowledge that no one has found His 'dead' body, which gives some credence to His resurrection from the dead.

You're inconsistent because Jesus Himself claimed to be God in the flesh (Immanuel) who tabernacle'd among us. But if he was mere man, then he couldn't have been a "good man" because he blasphemed, claiming to be God! Even the Jews of His day understood that. They wanted to stone Him for that! To their credit, Muslims in Saudi Arabia today will kill anyone who claims Jesus is God for, to them, as once with the Jews, that appears to be blasphemy.

So really, you Muslims and Buddhists can't believe Jesus was a good man. And you certainly don't believe He died on the cross to take away your sins. If you claim to be enlightened, your sin remains. And sadly, the wages of sin is death.

Not that I'm any better than you. I, at one time, was destined for hell too. But I found the proper remedy for my sin. Someone who would die for me in my place. Not only that, but I decided to obey Him as Lord.

If you're Catholic or Mormon, your problem is more subtle. You believe all the "right" things about Jesus, that he rose from the dead, but you believe in a different jesus than the Jesus of the Bible.

For the Catholic, your jesus is still on the cross! (Look at any Catholic crucifix.) In fact, to your shame, you crucify him over and over again at every mass.

While you say you believe he died for your sins, you don't believe you're going to heaven when you die but rather, you have to work off your sins in Purgatory. (Question: How do you know when you've done enough?) And so you deny they work Jesus did on the cross. Your veneration of Mary, your praying to the dead saints, your priesthood, etc. are all manifestations of having a different jesus, different spirit, different gospel. In fact, your salvation is in "the one true church," not in Christ.

If you're ignorant of all this but seeking Him, God will have mercy on you. Perhaps that's why you're reading this?

If you're Mormon, you also believe in an entirely different jesus than the one in the Bible. Your jesus is only one of many gods, the spirit brother of Lucifer, a polygamist, sealed in the temple who shed his blood in the garden of Gethsemane. For you, as the Apostle Paul said, the message of the cross if foolishness.

Actually, that's a recurring theme here. Neither the Jews, Muslims, Catholics or Mormons understand the message of the cross and some outright deny the cross.

Like the Catholic, your salvation is in your church and your own works. (Again I ask, When do you know you've done enough baptisms for the dead, endowments, answering 'callings,' etc.?) The ultimate blasphemy in Mormonism is that you believe you can become a god someday. Should be interesting when the Muslims take over Salt Lake.

If you're Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, etc., well, you said it, I didn't. We are to be followers of Christ, i.e. Christians. Not followers of the church, or Churchians. (A.k.a. "Churchianity.) You may be busy in your church, and you may love to sing songs on Sunday, but "to obey is better than sacrifice." If you're really a Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, etc. as opposed to a Christian, I fear, as Jesus said, your words will condemn you.

And even if you call yourself a Christian, we know that "not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven." (See Matthew 7:21-23 for the true test and sad end.)

Know that, in the last days "people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:2-5)

So, in the end, as much as I'd like, I can't, in good faith, sincerely wish most of you a Merry Christmas.

Sadly, Jesus said that the road to hell was wide, and many are on it. I was too. You can get off it. I'm probably not as strong in warning you as some of my evangelical brothers, but in my own way, I'm warning to you (in love) to turn off that road. We call it "repenting" - a 180 degree turn from the path of death to the path of life.

I hope you turn. Then next year, if the Lord tarries and we're still here, we will truly be able to wish each other a Merry CHRISTmas.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.