Religion, Endtimes, Madness:

I have just returned from a psyche ward of a hospital, visiting and praying with someone who believes he is the anti-Christ and Christ. He is talking about demons, the devil, the beast, judgment, performance, fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, condemnation, sin, Revelation, 144000, hell…and being beyond grace.

It is very sad to see a wonderful person–kind, loving and generous– in such a state. Please pray for our friend.

When I have talked with people struggling with mental/spiritual issues in mental hospitals, on the streets, in churches and homes; they are often talking about these very religious and end-times topics–in a constant loop, which can seem almost unstoppable. These people are usually full of fear–thinking that they have committed the unpardonable sin–along with guilt and shame. They are obsessed with religious darkness.

Many sufferers have been feed by a system of religion by professors, teachers, pastors, youtubers, facebookers, tweeters, bloggers, who will never admit that their teachings are causing the problem. Many of these pundits will blame the devil and the victim for the situation, or conveniently ignore it. The teachers may have escaped the madness and torment themselves, but they are culpable for tormenting and destroying countless numbers of people’s view of God and themselves.

I believe Jesus saw what the religious teachers of His generation were doing with these types of teachings and says about them, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin” (Luke 17:1-2).

Jesus is warning the Pharisees and teachers of the law (and their modern Christian followers) that the effect of their teaching far from leading people away from sin through fear and judgment, were leading them into sin and despair. And if anyone will be held accountable in a judgment, it is not the ‘sinner’ but their teachers and judges.

If there are any in need of repentance, those in greatest need of it are these teachers. Jesus is calling them to share the good news to Abba’s children and stop the dark teachings about the devil and hell, which are in fact from the darkness. Darkness glorifies itself not the Light.

If you are listening to these teachers. I ask you to ask the Holy Spirit to teach you about who Abba Father and Jesus are and who you are.

If you is focusing teachings on the eschatology of judgment and wrath, please for God’s sake, ask the Holy Spirit whether what you are sharing is presenting Father God as Jesus did.

Eschatology (teaching about the end-times) is not separated from the gospel (good news).

Let the suffering children come to Jesus and Abba and do not prevent them from coming with fear, guilt and condemnation.
Let them see that God is love. Let Abba’s children know this and that they are unconditionally loved–this will change their lives and bring it into agreement with what Jesus has already done for them.

 

The Vengeance and Wrath of God?

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:19-21)

The vengeance and wrath of God is not as humans think of these qualities and actions. God is not a hypocrite, asking humans to do something that He would not do, feed and give to those in need of grace, provision and love. His vengeance and wrath is always higher than human legalistic, elitist and exclusivitic vengeance and wrath.

This can be a difficult message to receive. Some will go on believing that God is angry and they will fear this God. Some will look to their works (law keeping or faith) to save them from this angry God. In turn, they believe that others are still under the anger of God because these others do not keep the law or have faith the way they day. They will go on creating more enemies of their God, further hardening the hearts of others, who already believe that they are the enemies of God. This is not the true God, but the god of children lost in the nightmare of their darkened imaginations of what they suppose wrath to be.

Jesus shows us the vengeance and wrath of God, passionately loving those who claim to be His enemies, overcoming evil with good. Jesus poured out the Father’s vengeance and wrath from the cross, forgiving those who killed Him. God’s wrath (Greek, “Orge”) is His passion, overwhelming anything that would oppose His love.

God’s wrath and vengeance looks like His life by His Spirit being poured out on His enemies and filling them. He raises His “enemies”–everyone who thought they were children of anger–to be seated with Him in Jesus Christ in the heavenly places to show the immeasurable richness of His mercy, grace and love (Ephesians 2: 1-10). He did this for all, when we were powerless, dead enemies; He reconciled all the ungodly and reconciled them to Himself–made us all one with and in Himself (Romans 5: 1-11). He did not do this for some of His enemies, the ones with less sins than others. He did it for all, from the least to the greatest–like Saul of Tarsus.

If one believes one is an “enemy” of God and doesn’t want to receive this love and oneness, it seems like hot coals on their heads rather than fiery tongues of fire. The wine of joy can seem like the grapes of wrath, and the heaven can seem like hell. They cannot see then light of eternal life in Jesus Christ, but remain in the darkness and illusion of their own self condemnation.  This is the condition for many “believers” and “unbelievers” now, because they do not believe the fullness of the gospel.

The Light of Jesus shows us that our thirst of wrath, vengeance, justice, indictment, punishment and blood has been quenched by His own blood. His vengeance and wrath is unchanging love that frees and restores the blinded, the lame, the brokenhearted, the oppressed, the wicked, the disobedient and the dead.

Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit always overcomes evil with good for all.

Blessings in Jesus

The Gospel of Forgiven-ness

I was reading an English essay on the subject of forgiveness by one of my students. He started writing about Jesus, and it was very rare that I have students cite Jesus in this English class at a secular community college.

You would think that I would be excited to see a student writing about the Love of my life, Jesus. But as I read, I was saddened–deeply saddened. This student is a graduate of a bible college of one of the largest evangelical denominations in the world. What saddened me was that he graduated without understanding the gospel.

In the essay, the student stated that Christianity teaches Jesus provides an ultimatum to people: unless you forgive you will not be forgiven and will not qualify for heaven (Matthew 6:15).

Then the student went on to write that this truth is also taught in the major religions. He also talked about the golden rule, doing unto others as you would have them do to you, which some refer to as karma.

I put a response to this student and, now, to anyone else Christian or not, who has never heard the gospel.

The gospel is not forgiveness, i.e. if you forgive, then God will forgive you. The gospel is forgiven-ness, i.e. God has already forgiven you in Christ, now that you are free you can extend that same forgiven-ness to others.  Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit have already forgiven everyone of everything, not based on anyone’s forgiveness, repentance, deeds, faith or anything else. They did this overflowing from Their graceful love. They did it out of who They are.

It may seem like a contradiction for Jesus to say, “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6: 15) and then for Paul–a follower of Jesus–to say these statements:

“And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).

“Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:13).

“and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

So which is it, karma (if you do this, you get that) or grace (God has done this for you already before you did that, whether it was good or bad)?

We must understand that Jesus was teaching the Jews up to the point of the complete fulfillment of the law on the cross. He was driving them to see the extreme that they would have to go to in order to full fill their karma driven do-it-yourself religion (see Mt. 5:21-48). He was showing their need for the Messiah, Saviour, Jesus.

Jesus fulfilled forgiveness on the cross for all of us, specifically when we were dead in our sins and trespasses. At that point, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

I have talked with Christians of many different denominations that believe that the gospel is merely of forgiveness, i.e. if you forgive, then God will forgive you. Many of these same people have told me of their struggle to forgive others–sometimes doing it out of fear, “If I don’t forgive, I am going to hell!”  The issue is their view of God.  They believe God is withholding something from them, conditional on their actions. They become like full of contradictions.  They perform to get something from God.  And they become the image and likeness of their view of God and highest value, withholding forgiveness until others act in a forgiving or repentant manner.

This is Christians simply worshiping, the universal god of karma.  All the world’s religions can boast a common golden rule, but also can boast the universal breaking of it. There is always an escape clause–these people, my enemies, are not forgiven by God because they do not forgive.

The gospel is not merely, forgiveness.  The gospel is forgiven-ness.  God has forgiven you and everyone else of everything, so how can you or anyone not extend it to everyone else.

The Christian God did not merely give forgiveness, He for-gave it. What does this mean, He for-gave it?  He gave this be-FORe creation, in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20, Revelation 13:8).  God for-gave us before we were born.  God forgave us, because that is who Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit is, the Forgiver. God did, does and will do what/who He is–I Am who I Am, the Forgiver!

If this is your first time reading or hearing the gospel, simply give thanks to Abba Father, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit for this gift of forgiven-ness. Then enjoy your forgiven-ness and others forgiven-ness with you.

All is forgiven all!

Teaching Healing?

Is it always God’s will to be healed? Can healing be taught? People often have questions related to divine healing. To answer these, let’s see them in a divine and human context.

Jesus never failed to heal. He never withheld healing from anyone. He only did what He saw his Father doing. He never said sickness was the the will of His Father. He never gave excuses. He healed everyone of everything. He also gave His followers, who believe in Him, the same power and authority to do as He did. He gave them the same Holy Spirit that He has and made them Sons of His Father.

It is amazing with all the examples of healings and miracles in the New Testament that Jesus did not give any specific teachings on healing. It is no wonder then that apostles, following Jesus, never taught or wrote any long paragraphs in their epistles specifically on healing. Sure, there are some brief passages but no long explanations.

We may wonder why there is this lack of teaching on healing in the New Testament, especially when there are so many long theological writings and teachings in the modern church.

Jesus, the apostles and the early church walked in the power of God. As Paul writes, “and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God….For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (1 Cor. 2:4-5, 4:20). Jesus, Paul, the apostles, and the early church did not talk so much about healing and miracles, they did them. Sure, they mentioned what happened. But they they did not have to give any theoretical explanations behind the healings.

In the centuries after the early church, miracles and healings happened but they became less common place, especially as the church became institutionalized and it became domesticated and theoretical. The miraculous was usually the work of some distant saint. More common place was the suffering of the saints. The lack of healing and the excess of sickness in Christendom caused many writings which explained that suffering is God’s will and that the miraculous was for the gifted few holy ones.

This put most Christians are in a deep slumber when it comes to a belief in and a demonstration of God’s power. They may say that they believe in God’s power, but it is theoretical, historical and/or occasional.

In the last hundred years, the industry writing and teaching on healing is largely a reaction against the centuries of misteaching on the subject.

Teaching on healing can be helpful to wake people out of the slumber. But even better is an experience of the love and glory of Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

People do not need so much coaching on how to heal as they do need to experience that healing is natural. They need a shock to the system to see that they have believed lies about who God is and who they are in Him. When people wake up to see that Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit is love and that they are made in God’s image and likeness, they will see that love cannot stop expressing itself in peace and goodness in others’ lives.

If you doubt that healing is for today please checkout some videos on Youtube by Todd White, Curry Blake, 0Pete Cabrera, Thomas Fischer, Jason Chin, Jose Coelho, Rafael Garcia or myself (Eric Wilding   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLyJEsQUK0A). Keep an open mind that these are just ordinary people being healed–often people who have just met these ordinary believers seconds before.

If you are wanting to heal the sick, sure, read a book or two. And watch some videos on Youtube. But the danger is that people can become stuck in the theory or in watching others heal in Jesus’ name.

More importantly, look to Jesus. See how everything that He does is easy. It does not take long prayers or begging and pleading for the Father to heal. Jesus simply tells the sickness to go and/or tells the person to do something that he/she could not do before.

Once you see, then go out and do the same, believing that all things are possible for the one who believes. If you don’t have immediate success, keep believing and going in love.

If you feel that you need further instruction, I believe it is not in the area of healing itself but in who God (Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit) is and who you are in Christ. They and you are more awesome than you know. Go deeper into intimacy with Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit and then it will be easy to go and love others in the name of Jesus…

The Church of Sadomasochism

We are about to venture into a very dark place. As we go there, we are not denouncing people, but shining the marvellous light and love of the Father, Son and Spirit. We are descending into the hell of some Christian theologies for their harrowing.

We believe that this is the most serious of issues—not merely to be correct for orthodoxy’s sake—because the theology that is embedded in many Christians’ heads is not Christian at all and is an enemy to the gospel. It unintentionally seeks to undo the life and work of Jesus, revealing who the Father truly is.

This article follows the purpose of Jesus’ life, “to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:79).

S&M

The culture of religion is one of Sadomasochism (S&M): the pleasure of inflicting or submitting to abuse and pain.  

In this culture, the master of perversion, the enemy/satan, desires for others to submit to his abuse and enjoy perpetrating it on others.

The enemy is delusional, thinking he is god. And his smear campaign includes painting his own attributes onto the face of his enemy, God. The devil’s greatest delight is to portray God as the Master Sadomasochists.

In the Christian religion, a propaganda tool of divine Sadomasochism is the Penal Substitution Theory of Atonement (PSTA).

MASTER AND SERVANT

At the crucifixion, PSTA divides God into two roles: master and servant. (There is usually no mention of the Holy Spirit in this theory, and no wonder since He is the bond of love, peace and unity in the Godhead). The sadistic father is the master, who gets pleasured or appeased by punishing his son.

Since divine justice, honour and holiness have been offended by human sin, someone must to be punished.

The masochistic son is the servant, who dutifully accepts the suffering and pain inflicted by the hands of his father, specifically for the sake of sinful human beings. The torture may go so far that the father kills his son.

If God is immutable (unchanging) then this Sadomasochism has been going from eternity—the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world—and was merely re-enacted at the crucifixion. Nevertheless, after the cross, the wrathful father is still behind the back of Jesus, temporarily being appeased by the son’s blood.

THY KINGDOM COME, THY S&M BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!

Inevitably, this relationship between God, the father and the son, becomes an archetype/model for divine-human and human-human relations. People become like what they worship.

Through people believing the lie of a sadomasochistic God, the enemy takes further pleasure in inflicting pain in people’s lives.

The S&M religious mindset proclaims that pain, suffering, sickness, humiliation and death are not only necessary but also glorious. They are blessings from God and cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving.

With this mindset, the ‘believer’ has adopted the consciousness of the enemy, simply labelling it Christian.  This keeps people bound by their beliefs to these conditions.

The Sadomasochism continually grows, like a mustard seed blooming into a BDSM (Bondage-Dominance-Submission-SadoMasochism) tree.

The kingdom of BDSM spreads through leadership. As God’s representatives on earth, they may dominate people into submission and keep them in bondage through fear, threats, punishment, guilt, shame, condemnation and exclusion.

Ironically, the followers may take delight in receiving these blessings, “Pastor-Evangelist-Prophet-Apostle X really let us have it this week in his message!  He did not spare the rod.  It was just what I needed. Oh, I can’t wait for more!”  The victims internalize the Sadomasochism, and they continue to beat up themselves and others. The oppressed become oppressors.

THE LOWWAY TO HELL

PSTA logically ends in the popular doctrine of hell.

There is a legal limitation for how long one can be found innocent under the blood of the lamb. After the death of those who continued to sin and did not accept the Punished Substitution (Jesus), the retaliatory God can now step out from behind the back of Jesus and pour out his punitive justice on the wretches. And in some interpretations, the son ultimately becomes fully like his father—a sadist eternally enjoying exacting punishment.

PSTA theology has a description of hell, which is the ultimate BDSM dungeon. Those who refuse to take part in the belief and rituals of the BDSM God and church will go to an ever-burning torture chamber. In this place, God enjoys inflicting torment on the vast majority of humanity through his servants, demons. Here the divinity and hell of PSTA bears little dissimilarity to those of other pagan religions.

REPENTANCE = LOVE, LIFE AND FREEDOM

Many have left the church S&M—or the reformed church of BDSM—trying to find freedom from abuse. They may look elsewhere, like spiritualties, but their embedded views of God and of themselves continue the haunting. Consequently, many who have experienced or observed the horrors of these teachings and practices want nothing to do with what they perceive as God, Jesus or the gospel.

However, the only way to escape this bondage is repentance. But this is not repentance in the sense meant by the church of Sadomasochism—to feel guilty about and focus on our sins, selves and wretchedness. Repentance (Greek, metanoia) means to change our minds about God and ourselves. True repentance is to see God for who He truly is and then to see ourselves for whom He has made us, in His image and likeness.

Possibly, the greatest repentance needed is by those perpetrating the PSTA theologies in the churches of S&M and BDSM.

The delight in giving and receiving abuse, pain and suffering is not the life of Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit. The relationship between the Father and the Son in the Spirit is not sadomasochistic. 

The eternal life of the Trinity is not divided, but united. It is not bondage, but freedom. It is not dominance, but equality. It is not selfishness, but selflessness. It is not terror and fear, but love and life. It is not slavish submission, but familial communion.

ABBA SO LOVED…

Jesus is theology (Theo-Logos: the Word of God). Yet in the Gospels, He never hinted that His Abba (Daddy/Papa) would pour out His wrath on Him. In Acts, the Epistles and Revelation, the apostles are also silent on this issue. The handful of verses used to support PSTA require inference beyond the rules of exegesis (biblical interpretation).

At the cross, the Son was not receiving abuse, wrath and punishment from the Father for our sins.

At the cross, Jesus was revealing the God who loves us despite our sins, who is willing to die for our wrong beliefs about Him, including PSTA.

At the cross, Abba and Holy Spirit were in Jesus Christ not counting our trespasses against us, reconciling us even when we were doing the worst possible act in the universe—killing God and ourselves.

Our Triune God—Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit—were willing to suffer our wrath and abuse toward Them. They exposed and delivered us from our Sadomasochism toward God and others.

At the crucifixion and resurrection, Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit exposed the wrath and lies of the enemy—and defeated him.

Jesus, the good Son, revealed our good Daddy, who loves us more than He loves Himself.

This is our Papa who through His Son and Spirit is united with all His children.

We can absolutely trust and love our Abba, because He is love.

All Saints

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
(Revelation 22:21)
This is the last verse in the Bible. It seems most likely that the last words are significant. Earlier verses in this chapter gave warnings about taking away from or adding to the words of the prophecy. Nevertheless, no one cannot take away from or add to the limitless grace of the Lord Jesus, either by the one’s belief or unbelief.
Some manuscripts record this verse saying “be with all,” others have “…be with you all,” and still others “be with all the saints.”
Of these three readings, which is most difficult theologically for many Christians? The difficult reading is most likely the original text, since other variant readings would not try to create a difficulty but clarify it to be consistent with their theology.
Surely, of the three readings, “the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all” is the most difficult, for it seems to show that His grace is for all people. The other two readings seem to limit that grace to the readers or to the believers/holy ones in Jesus.
But even if the words “with you” or “with all the saints” were added as clarifiers, the irony is that they also may show the limitless grace of Jesus. What if His grace has saved and sanctified all, but especially those who read and believe.
We cannot separate the identity of the Lord Jesus from His acts. There is no separation between who God is and what He does. He is the Lord who rules. He is Saviour who saves. He is Sanctifier who sanctifies. He is not a potential Lord, Saviour and Sanctifier. Jesus Christ was, is and will be all these since He had, has, and will have done all of these for all.
Revelation’s ultimate unveiling is the glorious gospel for all persons. Every sinner has been made a saint, and they may have not known, read, heard, or accepted that the Lord Jesus has done this for and to them by His grace. Some may stubbornly stand outside the gates resisting Jesus’ rule, salvation and sanctification of their lives, but the gates are open and all are invited in to come and drink. The good news of grace ends the Bible: Jesus has done it all for all! Amen!
Blessed All Saints Day–everyone, everyday! Thank You, Jesus!

Halloween in Heaven

As I post this, some may think, ‘Here we go a religious rant, trying to spoil our freedom.’ However, if you know me, I am only about the love of God, which is true freedom.
In all things, we live in love union with Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit. We are seated on Abba’s lap in Christ filled with Holy Spirit in the heavenly places. We see everything from the point of view of heaven and live that life on earth.
I can only speak from mystical union with the Trinity. Here I have not seen the Holy Ghost putting on a white sheet and going around scaring people. Here I have not seen Jesus put on a zombie costume and say “trick or treat.” Here I have not seen Papa decorating his throne with witches, wizards, ghouls and goblins. I have not seen the angels putting on horns and bringing out their pitchforks for the day.
This is not meant to cause a debate, but to speak to our hearts and to live from divine common sense, which is communion sense.
By all means let your children celebrate light, love, joy, peace, wholeness and life. Let them dress up and have fun in the glory. They need to know who they are and where they live. They are always in the community and fellowship with Abba, Jesus and Holy Spirit, the saints, angels and creatures of heaven. Our children are not darkness they are light. This day, as everyday, calls for us to live in wisdom and love, especially as we are in care of Abba’s children.
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:9-14)
“Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:7-11)
We are children of light.
Agape from Abba’s heart!