Blog | Reproach of Men

Not many wise . . .

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. (I Corinthians 1:26-29)

Back in May, Bloomsbury Auctions sold a letter by Albert Einstein in which Einstein made the comments that he did not believe in God, and such belief was a “childish superstition.” Moreover, Einstein went on to say:

“And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people.”

And:

“As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.” ((Belief in God ‘childish,’ Jews not chosen people: Einstein letter))

Thus Einstein discounted everything that came out of Jewish history in the way knowing about the LORD God and of religious belief.

Why am I not surprised? Plainly, Einstein’s lack of understanding about the LORD and the things that belong to God, is not new. In fact, ever since Cain decided to offer up a sacrifice that he knew was not desired, men have been openly rejecting their Creator, the LORD God. That is precisely why the denial of God is addressed in several places in the Old Testament:

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 14:1-3) (Psalm 53:1-3)

In fact, man’s continual denial of the LORD God brought forth this challenge from the LORD through the prophet Isaiah:

Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you. (Isaiah 41:21-24)

So it is that Einstein was not, and is not the first to deny God, just like he is not the first to misunderstand what the LORD meant in Scripture when He stated that the Jews were His chosen people. Plainly, Einstein missed the statement the LORD made through Moses to the children of Israel concerning how “special” they were:

Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people. (Deuteronomy 9:4-6)

Indeed, the only reason the LORD God favored the Jews was because of Abraham, and the promises the LORD made to Abraham, not because the Jews were somehow morally superior to everyone else.

But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. (Isaiah 41:8-9)

No, Einstein wasn’t completely wrong about the Jews, just totally lacking in understanding as to what being God’s “chosen people” meant. The Jews were chosen simply because they came through the lineage the LORD promised to Abraham, who was the friend of God.

So it is that not many wise are chosen. Indeed, most of the “wise” in this world do exactly what Einstein did — reject the knowledge of God. And thus, it seems that man always needs a reminder of who he is, and who the LORD God is. Einstein is no exception to this, and unfortunately for Albert, right now he has a first hand view of his error.

Twisted to Fit: Pt. V

It should be apparent to any child of God that the Devil has many lies to tell, and he really doesn’t care which one you believe, so long as you fall for one of his lies, and he can then use that to draw you away from ever really knowing the truth, and ever really serving the LORD God rightly and properly. If the Devil can render the believer’s witness and testimony suspect, or nullified, the he has accomplished much of his purpose. If he can get believers to buy into a lie about man’s nature, and thus teach and act counter to the actual working of God, then he has also accomplished as near as he can hope to accomplish in having a believable, willing, albeit ignorant accomplice in his work of subverting the true knowledge of the LORD and His working among men.

Thus, when statements are made like the following, which are contrary to the Scripture, we can know that the Devil is hard at work subverting the Scripture:

But Christianity is in a sad state. In the Church can be found some of the greatest supporters of the state, its leaders, its military, and its wars. Christians who are otherwise good, godly, disciples of Christ often turn into babbling idiots when it comes to the subjects of war, the military, and killing for the state. There is an unholy desire on the part of a great many Christians to legitimize killing in war. There persists the idea among too many Christians that mass killing in war is acceptable, but the killing of one’s neighbor violates the sixth commandment’s prohibition against killing. Christians who wouldn’t think of using the Lord’s name in vain blaspheme God when they make ridiculous statements like “God is pro-war.” Christians who try never to lie do so with boldness when they claim they are pro-life, but refuse to extend their pro-life sentiments to foreigners already out of the womb. . . “

“Christians who claim to have the mind of Christ show that they have lost their mind when they want the full force of government to protect a stem cell, but have no conscience about U.S. soldiers killing for the government.” ((Laurence M. Vance))

The great problem that exists among those who identify themselves as Christian, is not their glorification of war per se. Rather, it is the exact same problem that Christian pacifists and secular “peace activists” have:

They are bereft of the truth of the Scriptures concerning the nature of the LORD’s judgement and what war is really about.

The reason for this is perhaps traced directly back to the ugly nature of man, and what admitting that requires of each and every one of us. In this, Mr. Vance is no exception. Throughout his dissertation on the evils of war, he consistently failed to mention anything about the nature of man, and how that we cannot change that, anymore than a leopard can lose it spots. Like it or not, the Scripture is expressly clear about man’s nature and just how wicked and evil we really are. Moreover, Mr. Vance also failed to express anything about the dual nature of a Christian. In this, the Scripture is also clear that the born-again believer has the nature of Christ in the soul and the old nature of Adam in the flesh. Moreover, these two natures are continually at war one with the other.

Thus, when Mr. Vance declares:

“But Christianity is in a sad state. In the Church can be found some of the greatest supporters of the state, its leaders, its military, and its wars. Christians who are otherwise good, godly, disciples of Christ often turn into babbling idiots when it comes to the subjects of war, the military, and killing for the state.” ((ibid))

He rails against something that is part and parcel to the very nature of the flesh, and must be fought in the born-again child of God by feeding the soul through the word of God. However, his criticism of Christians in general in also misguided in that he draws no distinction about the legitimacy of government in Scripture, and that Christians are supposed to support civil government insofar as that government obeys the laws of God for government. The problem with most Christians is a lack of understanding about their role in civil society and the extent of their involvement in government. While it is nowhere near what some Christians engage in, it is also nowhere near what Laurence Vance is advocating. Thus, the truth is between the extremes advocated by Mr. Vance and those he chastises.

What then is that truth about war and a Christian’s view of war? Simply put, it is this:

War is the normal state of human affairs, and has been ever since Adam’s fall from innocence.

Thus, it is pointless to rail against war and think that somehow man can stop the wars that are engaged in by individuals and government. Moreover, a careful study of Scripture plainly reveals that war is one of the means of judgement used by the LORD God against those nations that exceed the bounds of conduct He has set. This will not change.

Sadly, I can only conclude that Laurence Vance is either entirely ignorant of the truth of Scripture (all the while touting his Theology degree and Christian credentials), or he is using Christianity as a cover for his real agenda, which has nothing to do with actual Christianity, and everything to do with promoting an ideology incompatible with the foundation of the United States.

If Mr. Vance really wanted to change the “war mentality” and serve Christ honestly, we would read and hear a whole lot more of the Gospel from him that what we do. Sadly, like the “Rev.” Jeremiah Wright, “Rev.” Jesse Jackson, “Rev.” Al Sharpton and the “Rev.” Michael “Snuffy” Pfleger, the Gospel is strangely absent. This tells the whole truth of what Laurence Vance is really all about — twisting the Scripture to fit his own agenda.

Able to Post Again

Well, I actually do live. However, between being sick for a solid week and having to take care of other matters, I have been unable to write anything. This also meant I could not post to the blog.

I have two article series to finish, and a host of other things to write about. However, life outside of the internet is far more important, especially since this blog doesn’t get that much traffic. The reason for that is people are not into reading much except short little tidbits anymore. You don’t learn much when that is the case. Moreover, understanding goes down the drain.

That’s okay. The LORD plainly stated it would be like this in the latter days — right before the Great Tribulation occurs. The only thing about that is the LORD’s ‘right before’ is not quite the same timetable as our ‘right before.’ Thus, I can see this as happening anytime from this moment to 100 years from now. However, I really don’t think we will make it another 100 years — not even close.

Anyway, I should be posting more regularly now that I am over being sick and have a better handle on the things that need to be taken care of.