Seek the Welfare of the City, Part 1

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: We've moved our blog to ARC-News-blog.blogspot.com.

So starting with with our 23 Oct. 2021 issue, we will post our new blog articles of our e-newsletter to the www.Agape-Restoration-Society.org/ARC-News website. You have likely noticed that for the last several months, we've been including more and more news items about caring for disabled and elderly people, the right to life of both unborn babies, the infirm, and the elderly, as well as about the right to freedom of religious expression in socialist-materialist societies worldwide.

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Seek the Welfare of the City, Part 1

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Where does the concept of "philanthropy" come from? Where did we get the idea of erecting hospitals, orphanages, homes for the elderly and infirm? Today we might think that these institutions were created by billionaires who made their money off railroads, steel mills or the stock market, or perhaps the government dreamed them up. But the historical fact is that these institutions for the public well-being were created during the one-thousand-year-long Byzantine Christian Empire. Only later did these ideas take root in Western Europe, and from there to the rest of the world.

When the people of Israel were carried away into Babylonian captivity because they had forsaken the Lord, many of them thought they should form their own closed cultural group to preserve their ethnic identity, having as little to do as possible with Babylon. But the prophet Jeremiah told them - "Seek the welfare of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its welfare you shall have welfare. ...For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope for your future. You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. I will be found of you, says the Lord, and I will return you from captivity". (Jer. 29:7, 11-14)

Thus the idea of seeking the welfare or well-being of society at large seeped from the Jewish nation to surrounding nations such as Babylon, Greece and Rome, but those nations limited such social programs to "their own kind," not sharing their wealth with other tribes and peoples. It took Christ's Great Commission to "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations" before this idea of sharing one's well-being with others - even one's enemies - could take root.

For the first three hundred years Christians were "in captivity" of frequent persecutions, but still reached out in love to those around them. Why? Because Christ Himself was and is the great Philanthropos, the "Lover of Mankind." This divine love for mankind enables us to perform genuine philanthropy:

"The philanthropy of man is theologically grounded in the philanthropy of God. Although God is completely unknown in His nature, He becomes known through His revelation to mankind and in history as philanthropic and merciful. The philanthropy of God is apparent, among other signs, in the nature of man, in his destiny, and in his place in creation. Only man is created 'according to the image and likeness of God' (Gen. 1:26). Only he exists as a person who comes into communion with God. Only man has as his destiny an eternal progress, through a process of inner purification and sanctification, towards the attainment of the divine likeness." (Miltiadis Vantsos and Marina Kiroudi, "An Orthodox View of Philanthropy and Church Diaconia," Christian Bioethics, 13:251–268, 2007, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, p. 253)

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Falling Backward or Falling Forward?

We've all taken a fall sometime in our lives, but there's a wrong way and a right way to fall, so it's important to know how to do it right.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

The wrong way to fall is to fall backward: "For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame" (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Here the author, most likely St. Paul, is telling about those who fall backward into denying Christ, which was not only a very real problem in the first century, but also today as conservative Christians face ridicule, banning, and "cancel culture" even from relatives and close friends. However, Paul shines a ray of hope: "But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this" (v. 9).

There are some Christians who believe that they could never fall away. They quote 1 Corinthians 10:13 – "No temptation has taken you but such as man can bear. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." But they fail to notice the preceding verse – "Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall.

If this weren't enough, there are several other Scripture texts warning us not to fall backward, among them 1 Timothy 4:1 – "But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons." I could continue with such texts, but now let's consider the right way to fall. We certainly don't like the experience, but we can and should learn from it. In Isaiah 44:18-22 we read –

"They don't know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can't see; and their hearts, that they can't understand. None calls to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it: and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you; you are my servant: Israel, you shall not be forgotten by Me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return to Me; for I have redeemed you."

Isaiah is describing how people slip and fall into worshipping a false god, something made by our own hands, in this case made out of wood. The nation of Israel often fell into idolatry, worshipping wooden or metal or stone images. Isaiah shows how foolish it is to fall into idolatry: you can use wood to heat, bake, and cook with, but to worship a chunk of wood, metal, or stone is foolish: these materials were created for us to use in our daily lives, not to worship them.

You might think, "Yes, that was back then, thousands of years ago: we're more civilized today!" Are we really? Many people worship their houses – a bunch of wooden boards fancied up with nails and paint. Other people worship their cars, TVs, or computers (how much time and money do they spend on them?), and still others worship the stone statue they imagine of themselves – how they will become rich or famous and make a mark in world history.

But in the last two sentences of the above quote, Isaiah says there is a solution to falling into such foolishness: the Lord formed us to serve Him, not wood or metal or stone. He is ready and willing to blot out our foolish transgressions and sins if we will simply return to Him. This is falling forward into the merciful and loving arms of the Lord.

The Lord Jesus also talked about stumbling and falling. He said it's impossible to avoid because we're human, prone to slip up and stumble –

"He said to the disciples, 'It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, "I repent," you shall forgive him'" (Luke 17:1-4).

We must realize that when we stumble and slip, it has repurcussions on others, especially our children and those who are weak in the faith. Our getting angry, being greedy, falling into sexual sin, etc. sets an example for them. Even if we do something that for us is innocent, like eating meat offered to idols or drinking wine (Romans 14:20-22), it can cause others to fall into sin if their conscience is weak.

The second point in the above quote is if we're on the receiving end of someone's sin: speak gently but firmly to that person about it and be ready to forgive, don't harbor anger, resentment, or hurt in your heart – that will hurt you more than it hurts him!

Remember what Christ taught us in the Lord's Prayer – "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." God is ready and willing to forgive, but only if we also are ready to forgive.

Like the Apostle Paul, we haven't arrived yet but we must keep pressing forward – "Brothers, I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!

(Linked to Hosken-News of 25 Sep. 2021.)

 

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Is Jesus God, Or Not?

A basic premise of Islam, modern communism, and today's secular humanism is that Jesus was a myth, or merely a good man, a great moral teacher, or perhaps even a prophet, but not God Incarnate. Islam teaches that He was a prophet, even born of a virgin, but a fundamental confession of Islam is "Allah is one, and he has no son," thus denying the Trinity and the deity of Jesus Christ.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

Where did this idea or ideology come from? It came from the pit of hell: the Apostle John's first letter states – "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already" (1 John 4:1-3).

Thus we should understand that the Antichrist ideology is not necessarily against morality, against religion, or even against Jesus so much as it is against the fact that He is "God Incarnate, born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man" as we confess in the Nicene Creed. Thus, it is a central doctrine of genuine Christianity. As the Apostle John wrote – "many false prophets have gone out into the world." Many pseudo-Christians, starting with the heretic Arius and continuing with Islam (a direct descendant of Arianism), Theism, Deism, and cults such as Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses all deny the unique deity of Christ. Leaving behind the religious factor, we are faced with the secular state – separation of church and state – and thus allowing Christ-denying secular ideologies to take control of the educational systems all around the world. This programs the next generation to not believe in Christ's deity.

The result is that if you search the Internet for the phrase "Is Jesus God, Or Not?" – you will find an overwhelming majority of sources claiming that Jesus was a myth or a mere man, even some claiming He was married to Mary Magdaline and fathered two children, or "theologians" such as Bart Ehrman who wrote How Man Became God. What does being the majority opinion prove? We have come to believe that the majority is more correct, truer, or better than the minority. But actually, it only proves that the majority is bigger than the minority, that's all.

Another aspect of secularism is the notion that all religions teach basically the same thing: a morality that is rewarded by some kind of deity, sometimes with an eternity in heaven, at other times with health and happiness on earth. This is relativism, that all religions are equally true. After all, we have freedom of religion, don't we? Not quite: the Apostle Paul wrote – "And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved" (1 Corinthians 11:19). In other words, allowing for differences in doctrines should be so that the teachers of true doctrines will be approved. The goal of religious freedom is not relativism, but the search for truth.

All humans are created in the image and likeness of God and in that sense we are "of God" and God is the Father. But Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father. Scripture texts that state we are children of God are clarified by other Bible texts that state we are adopted children of God, sons and daughters of Abraham by adoption. Only Jesus Christ was begotten of the Father before all time.

"Freedom of belief" has today morphed into "freedom of choice" – a woman is free to choose whether to have an abortion or not, a man can freely choose to marry another man, or "become a woman" through hormone therapy or surgery (even though every cell in his body still has an "X" and a "Y" chromosome, making him a male), or a woman "become a man." But stangely, the notion of being free to choose doesn't apply to homosexuals who claim they were "born that way" having no choice in the matter, they are predestined to be that way.

Where does this idea of predestination come from? In the early Church there was much debate over predestination versus freedom of the will. St. Augustine accepted St. Jerome's translation of the New Testament from Greek into Latin as "the Gospel truth." But there was one little problem, one little pronoun that was mistranslated: Romans 5:12 in the Latin Vulgate reads: "Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, [for] in him all sinned." The word "for" is a supplied word, not in the original Greek text, but it was supplied in order to make sense, in Jereome's thinking, to link Adam's sin to all mankind's sinful nature, in other words, "Because sin entered the world through Adam, therefore all are condemned to be sinners and deserving God's wrathful judgment." From this viewpoint, Augustine developed his doctrine of man's inherited guilt and total depravity, predestination by God's sovereign will, and Christ's limited atonement of only "the elect."

That "one little pronoun" was "that" – mistranslated as "him" – just two letters in Greek that indicates it is the neuter pronoun "that" and not the male pronoun "him" – but Jerome didn't know the difference and Augustine knew even less Greek than Jerome. Romans 5:12 should read – "Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, in that all sinned." So this verse connects the penalty of Adam's sin, death, not sin itself, as what was passed on to all men "in that" or because we all have sinned. This shifts the responsibility from Adam (or from God Who created Adam) or the devil ("the devil made me do it") to each and every one of us. We have moral freedom and with this freedom comes moral responsibility. We are not predestined to sin, God is not some judgmental ogre in heaven that willy-nilly chooses "the elect," a few to go to heaven and the rest – the vast majority of humanity – to be damned to eternal hell fire.

No, God is love, He is all-loving and all-merciful. "God so loved the whole world that He sent His only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him might be saved and have everlasting life" (John 3:16). He "wants all mankind to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people" (Titus 2:11). We all have freedom of the will, we must choose to receive Him. With freedom comes the responsibility to make right choices. "Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!

(Linked to Hosken-News of 12 Sep. 2021.)

 

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Holiness or Hellishness?

In his blog article "ON HATING MY NEIGHBOR’S HOLINESS, HATING GOD, AND HELL," Derek Rishmawy describes how, when a person hates and envies another person because of that neighbor's striving toward holiness, he is actually hating God Who is the source of all holiness, and thus descends into the pit of a self-imposed hell.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

The Church teaches that "God is everywhere and fills all things" – the Lord Jesus, God incarnate, even descending into hell for us. So the hater is stuck forever in the presence of the God Whom he hates. By quoting Charnock's Existence and Attributes of God, the above article emphasizes – "The purity of God is contemned, in hating and scoffing at the holiness which is in a creature. Whoever looks upon the holiness of a creature as an unlovely thing, can have no good opinion of the amiableness of Divine purity."

What is God's holiness like? Remember when Moses saw the burning bush and the Lord said to him – "Take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground!" And on Mount Sinai, the Lord revealed Himself in a dark cloud, thunder and lightning, telling the Israelites to purify themselves and keep back from the mountain so they wouldn't be killed by the Lord's holiness. A radio preacher recently said that God's holiness is even more than the near-total purity of the air in a semiconductor factory he visited: the workers must pass through a long building to get cleaner and cleaner, then don protective suits, not to protect themselves but to protect the semiconductors from them! We need the germs in the air to live, for our digestion and our immune systems to function. And the water used to clean the semiconductors is so pure that if we were to drink it, it would kill us because alll of the minerals have been removed, so it would rob our bodies of the minerals we need to live. That's real purity!

The two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, were struck dead when they presumed to touch the Ark of the Covenant (Leviticus ch. 10). Remember when Aaron and Miriam complained against Moses (Numbers ch. 12) and the Lord rebuked them by causing leprosy to appear on Miriam. Recall the rebellion in the wilderness against Moses, when Korah, a Levite, protested against Moses' leadership (Numbers ch. 16): the earth opened up and swallowed 250 men. In both cases, their complaints were that they were just as holy as Moses, but this simply isn't true: there are degrees of holiness and degrees of what a person is permitted to do. Levites, even the sons of Aaron, were not allowed to approach the Ark of the Covenant, only a specially chosen priest could do that.

So the Christian's striving toward holiness is a relative thing: we can never in this life attain perfect holiness and purity, but we can try. The saints are saints because they realize how sinful they were and still are. When Christ was transfigured on the mountain, He revealed His glory and holiness to the three apostles as much as they could bear it. And because St. Paul learned of this, he wrote to the church in Rome – "Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1-2). That word "transformed" is exactly the same word in Greek as "transfigured" – we as believers should be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29).

As the Apostle John, who witnessed Christ's transfiguration, wrote – "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when He is revealed, we will be like Him; for we will see Him just as He is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as He is pure". We cannot fathom the perfect purity and holiness of Christ our God, but we have the firm hope and confidence that when we see Him, we will be made like Him.

God is perfectly holy, in contrast to the Christian's only striving toward holiness by struggling against the lusts of the flesh and spirit. If the above is what holiness is like, then what is hellishness like? St. Paul wrote – "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. ...Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, gluttony, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:16 & 19-21).

According to the Church Fathers, the last vice listed above, gluttony, is actually the "gateway drug" leading to all the other sins of the flesh: after all, as the tired excuse goes, we all need to eat, don't we? But that's not the right question: the real problem is not knowing when to stop eating, while we are still hungry because the sensation of being full lags behind actually having eaten enough. So giving into the vice of gluttony leads to satisfying the other lusts of the flesh... including sexual immorality, hatred, and jealousy. We hate others who are holier and purer than ourselves precisely because we are jealous of them.

Claiming to be smarter than Christians, able to outsmart even God, to have "science" on their side (actually, it is the ideology of "scientism" – the belief that science can explain everything and can cure all diseases that we bring upon ourselves), people who hate God descend into hellishness, as St. Paul writes –

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers" (Romans 1:22-29).

There we find the same ideas as in the article we quoted at the outset: envying and slandering one's neighbor because he or she is holier and purer. Today we are experiencing "Cancel Culture" in which people who willingly indulge the lusts of the flesh actually project their guilt onto those whom they hate, calling them "haters" and "bigots." But what will be the consequences of such "vile passions"? Again, St. Paul writes –

"Or don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything. 'Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,' but God will destroy both it and them. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body" (1 Corinthians 6:9-13).

Those who claim to have the law on their side so they can satisfy their bellies and live according to their fleshly lusts – again, slanderers are listed right along with adulterers, male prostitutes, and homosexuals – will not inherit the Kingdom of God. St. Paul repeats this idea in his letter to the Ephesians (5:3-5) – "But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints [holy ones]; nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate; but rather giving of thanks. Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God."

Coveting, i.e. to be envious of what another person has, is essentially idolatry, putting one's own envy and hatred ahead of God. To be on the journey to become saints, however, is to forsake and forswear those sins of the mind and the flesh, and then "Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or ungodly like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal" (Hebrews 12:14-16). Esau indulged the fleshly lust of gluttony and thus sold his birthright. Let us take heed, so that we do not sell out to our passions!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!

(Linked to Hosken-News of 28 Aug. 2021.)

 

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The Law of God, or the Law of Moloch?

In his Part 5 of a six-part series of articles, "Reviewing Sapiens: An Evolutionary Deconstruction of Human Rights," Casey Luskin reviews the best-selling book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by evolutionary biologist and atheist Yuval Noah Harari.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

You can start at Part 1 of this series of articles, Luskin's New Review Series – Yuval Noah Harari’s book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and from there you can follow the links to each successive article. Why bring this up in my e-newsletter and blog that is devoted to people with disabilities and the plight of Christians in socialist countries? It's because the root cause of these ills is the lack of belief in God that results in a lack of love for one's neighbor. In Part 5, Luskin hits this nail right on the head.

"In his book Sapiens,Yuval Harari is very blunt: “There are no gods in the universe, no nations, no money, no human rights, no laws, and no justice outside the common imagination of human beings” (p. 28). In other words, all of these things are mere 'myths,' imaginary constructs that we have collectively dreamed up in our minds but are not to be found in the "real" material world. There are no gods in the universe, no nations, no money, no human rights, no laws, and no justice outside the common imagination of human beings." (p. 28)

Imagine that! Here is a person claiming to make a true statement, but he doesn't believe in the objective reality of abstract ideas. One could refute his ideas by simply saying that his very ideas are a subjective reality caused by electrical impulses rattling around in his head. In other words, with great moral certainty, Harari proclaims there is no moral authority or truth (except his own): there are no absolutes, and that's the absolute truth. To quote Luskin – "Harari deconstructs the most famous line from the Declaration of Independence. Harari highlights in bold the ideas that become difficult to sustain in a materialist framework:"

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (emphases in Hariri's original)"

If the idea of God and His creating mankind equal and with human rights is just a shared subjective construct that exists only in our collective imagination and that evolve over time, then there is no basis for making claims about rights and justice, but also truth, so Harari's words undermine his own logic – his ideas are only subjective, not objective. Like the Sadducees who accepted only the Torah, the five books of Moses, as their Scripture and did not believe in the afterlife or resurrection that are hinted at by the Old Testament prophets, the only reason to encourage the Jewish people to believe in the Torah would be so the Sadducees could hold onto their positions of power: they were the majority in the Sanhedin and they appointed the High Priest. In a sense, it came down to "the survival of the fittest" just as Harari and other evolutionists believe.

What happens when the majority in a society cease to believe in the afterlife or resurrection? The same thing happens as with the ancient pagan nations – "Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!" as the Apostle Paul wrote about the pagans of his day (1 Cor. 15:32). All that matters for them – and for today's neopagans – is pleasure and power. This explains why the majority today practice sexual immorality, abortion, and euthanasia: there is no objective morality or right to life of the unborn, the weak, or the elderly; only survival and pleasure for the strong.

"Not only do they practice these things, they give approval to others who do the same" (Rom. 1:32) and give disapproval of those people who don't accept this anti-morality by calling it "Community Standards" – the Law of Moloch has replaced the Law of God. Christians who believe what Christ and the Apostles taught and wrote down in Scripture are ridiculed, de-platformed in social media, banned from "civilized" society, and even physically attacked:

"Antifa Attacks Crowds With Babies at Family Prayer Event in Portland, Ore. But Where Were the Police?" In this photo, the people dressed in black are not the police, they're Antifa thugs, who began pepper-spraying children and adults, throwing flash bombs, rotten eggs, and black paint at those praying. These thugs threw the group's audio equipment in the river, stole their food and water, and the Portland police just stood around and did nothing. This riot was totally ignored by the MSM (Main-Stream Media), deep-sixed in the "memory hole" so nobody would know about it.

What are we as Christians going to do about this? How will we stand up for the Law of God and against the Law of Moloch? First, by educating ourselves, by homeschooling our children – the next generation, and by sharing with others the objective truth, the revealed reality, of the Christian worldview.
 
Here are a dozen Christian resources that I've put together over the years (feel free to share them):

The Good News of Yeshua, the Messiah – an online harmony of the four Gospels,
A First-Century View of Yeshua, the Messiah – what does it mean to be a deacon, a servant?
The World English Bible (revised) with your personalized Daily Prayers, Scripture memory system, Notes, and Read Through the Bible in One Year,
On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius of Alexandria, who in the early 4th century put together the canon of the New Testament,
An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith by St. John of Damascus – the first systematic theology of the Christian faith (8th century),
Lots of online Christian literature – hundreds of books and articles, mostly free,
The Social Ministry of the Church to the poor, lame, maimed, and blind,
Agape Restoration Communities where Christians serve one another in love, learn how to live in moderation, and be restored to independence and wholeness,
Hosken News on Christianity in Secularized Countries – fortnightly reporting by Dr. Robert D. Hosken,
Our Homecoming – Robert and Cheryl Hosken's journey to the fullness of the Christian faith,
Discover Original Christianity – an aggregator of resources on Original Christianity, and
Morning Prayers and Readings – our online morning prayers and readings of the lives of the saints and daily Scriptures.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!

In Hosken-News.Blogspot.com, un-comment the next paragraph, then delete the following one:

(Linked to Hosken-News of 14 Aug. 2021.)

 

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Our Homecoming

Going on 14 years ago, when my wife and I had decided to become Orthodox Christians, I began writing this essay called "Our Homecoming." It's been updated a few times since then: I added some things, improved the format, and fixed two "dead" links that had new web addresses. You'll notice the latest update is the same day as I'm writing this article. You can read it online and also download it for free as a 26-page PDF.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

Why on earth would an older Evangelical couple who had spent most of their working lives involved in foreign missions decide to become Orthodox Christians? Was it the "Stockholm Syndrome" that some captives experience while being held hostage or as a prisoner? A few people have suggested this syndrome to me. After all, we had been Evangelical missionaries to Russia for 17 years! But such syndromes fade away after several months of freedom, and we had returned to the U.S. in October 2007, becoming Orthodox in December 2008, not in Russia but in the U.S. where Orthodox Christians are less than 1% of the population. And now, after almost 14 years, we're still Orthodox. No, the "Stockholm Syndrome" doesn't fit us.

The word "orthodox" means "right praise" or "true worship" – like when people go to the orthodontist to have their teeth straightened, or to an orthopedic surgeon to have their bone structure corrected. So... what is "true worship" anyway? Allow me to quote just a few paragraphs from the above essay:

In Eph. 4:3-6 we read - "being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all." Many other Bible texts stress the oneness of the Body of Christ. The Eastern Church believes that "one body" means one visible, united Church. In contrast, Paul writes in Gal. 5:20 that "strife... divisions, heresies" are works of the flesh, right along with adultery, murder, drunkenness and gluttony, and he writes, "those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (v. 21). So strife and division are just as serious "mortal" sins as is heresy. When Western toleration is taken to the extreme that all viewpoints are equally acceptable and true, we've crossed the line into approving of theological and moral relativism, strife, divisions and heresies.

In the West, if we disagree with others in church, we often will simply start a new church, denomination or an un-denomination. But because strife and divisions are just as serious sins as heresies, the Eastern Church looks upon "sectarians" who split away from the Church as just as sinful as "heretics" whose doctrines may deny the Trinity (Molokans, United Pentecostal Church, Children of God, Witness Lee movement, etc.), even though they may have fairly orthodox doctrines, or deny the unique God-manhood of Christ (Arianism, Nestorianism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons). And because the tsar or emperor was blessed by the patriarch or pope as the protector of the Church, the clergy could call upon state power to put down both "sectarians" and "heretics." The enforcement of Church teachings with state power gradually diminished in the West after the Protestant Reformation led to Western Europe's population being decimated by decades of religious wars, which finally caused the Austro-Hungarian Emperor to issue an Edict of Toleration. So it may not be such a tragedy that there has never been a Reformation in Russia: it may have been spared decades of religious wars. All of this at least partially explains why there is a lack of western-style "religious toleration" in the former USSR.

Jews, Christians, and Muslims all believe God is one, not many. But which one is the true God? That is our free choice. Religious freedom, however, includes the chance of being wrong. Historically, those who have claimed to know all truth absolutely have tended to force others to accept their beliefs. But ecclesiastical and doctrinal authority should not extend to all of society, only within that religious organization. There should be true religious toleration – but not syncretism – in today's multi-cultural society, because having one state-enforced religious confession brings only superficial unity at the price of insincere belief. True belief can't be forced, or else it leads to unbelief. President Eisenhower, when Americans were deciding to put "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, stated the matter with secular clarity: "Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith – and it doesn't matter which one." No, it matters very much which one is true, but it is not within the domain of the state to tell its citizens which faith is the true one.

So religious toleration in society needs to be carefully framed something like this: "The state upholds freedom of religious belief, confession and practice, and cannot enforce only one or a few religious confessions. This does not mean, however, that the state supports the idea that all belief systems are equally true, that no belief system is ultimately true, or that only unbelief is true." Each person's right to believe does not make wrong beliefs right, rather, the freedom to choose inherently includes the possibility of making wrong choices. But we acknowledge that religion has historically played a leading role in forming society's laws and morals. Laws assume moral standards, so it is impossible to keep religion and morality private, because religious beliefs or the lack of them affect all of human behavior, both public and private. Therefore the state should encourage all citizens, including those with religious beliefs, to participate in the formulation of morals and laws.

Have you ever noticed what Phil. 4:4-7 tells us about Enthusiasm, Efficiency and Effectiveness?

Enthusiasm: Phil. 4:4 – "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, Rejoice!" The word "enthusiasm" comes from Greek "en theos" – "in God." If we try to find happiness in material things or merely human relationships, we will eventually be disappointed. But we can find true happiness, joy, only in God. We need enthusiasm in order to get anything done. Psychologists tell us that without a healthy emotional-volitional condition, people can't make rational decisions: emotionally flat or "labile" people simply flip-flop around: "Should I do this, or maybe that? I don't know, I just can't decide." Only the Lord can give us real joy, "en-theos-iasm," the emotional charge we need to get going in the right direction.

Efficiency: Phil. 4:5 – "Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." Some modern translations put "gentleness" in place of "moderation" but I firmly believe that "moderation" is the correct translation of the Greek word "epieikes" – simply look at the context, verses 11-13, where Paul writes about living a moderate lifestyle. Moderation or efficiency means to "lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us" (Heb. 12:1), not being overloaded with excess baggage. In order for cars to run efficiently, they should be kept tuned up, but first of all they must be built with a strong enough frame, yet as light as possible in order to get good gas mileage. Similarly, we should keep our bodies in shape, "tuned up" by sufficient rest and the right kind of exercise, but also shed those extra pounds that drag us down, make us tired and inefficient, and eventually cause breakdowns. We should also shed the extra baggage of too many material possessions: each added thing requires time and resources to maintain it, polish it, clean it, etc. Often, "less is more" – having fewer things gives us more time for what is really important: koinonia-fellowship or communion with God and with other people (1 John 1:3-7).

Effectiveness: Phil. 4:6-7 – "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." It's quite possible, you know, to have efficiency without effectiveness. Efficiency is doing things right, but effectiveness is doing the right thing. You've doubtless heard of the husband driving the family on vacation down the wrong highway. He was being very efficient, getting great gas mileage, but was on the wrong road. Being anxious about this, that and the other thing, chasing down every rabbit trail of worry and fear, "What if such-and-such? I'd better take care of it!" – such excessive anxiety, messing around with little secondary details that could just as well be left alone, wastes time and keeps us from doing the main thing, worshiping and serving the Lord. When I was a systems analyst, I learned the rule: "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." How can we avoid the rabbit trails and keep on the main track? "The peace of God... will guard your hearts (emotions) and your thoughts (reason)." The Greek word for "guard" is "phroureo" – "to be a watcher in advance." Like an advance scouting party or a lookout, the Holy Spirit knows in advance, beyond our understanding, what's coming down the road in the future, and He can guard and guide us in making the right decisions, if we listen to His voice and let Him guide us.

Is There One Right Way To Worship?

The right thing, the main thing is worshiping and serving the Lord, so what's the "effective" way, the right way to do that? Let's take a look at James 1:22-25. James, the brother of Jesus, writes, "But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the word, this man will be blessed in what he does." So how do we worship and serve the Lord? By doing what the Lord says, not merely singing hymns, listening to sermons or reading the Bible, but by applying the Word of God to daily life.

The last two verses, 26-27, tell us – "If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." The Russian word for "religion" here is "reverence," which stirred my curiosity: what is the original Greek word? It is threskeia, which means ceremonial service of religion, various observances practiced by the Egyptian priests, such as wearing linen, practicing circumcision, shaving, etc. It is derived from threomai, to mutter forms of prayer, and often when it is used in the NT it often carries a negative connotation, but not always. If our religious habits and rituals, whether praying, fasting, singing hymns, preaching, listening to or reading the Bible, do not lead us into practical ministry to orphans, widows and other needy people and into leading a holy and pure life, that kind of religion is worthless. James apparently got his idea for this text from the Old Testament, Ezek.33:30-33, where the prophet Ezekiel says that people come to hear the words of the Lord simply for entertainment, just like listening to someone sing or play a flute, but they don't do them.

This James was the one who presided at the Council of Jerusalem, when the Apostles and Early Church were debating whether Christians must observe the Law of Moses, see Acts 15:5-21 especially 19-21, where he said, "Therefore my judgment is that we don't trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." So the Gentiles didn't have to observe the whole Law of Moses, just basic morality and cleanliness, but the Jewish Christians could continue to attend the synagogue and practice its religious rituals. The heart of the issue isn't how to or whether to observe religious rituals or not, but to lead a holy and pure life, and as St. Paul adds in his description of this event (Gal. 2:9-10), "to remember the poor."

I hope these few paragraphs whet your appetite so that you'll read the whole essay and maybe even download the PDF to share it with others.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!

(Linked to Hosken-News of 24 July 2021.)