Please remember that you bless us with your presence, and may the Holy Spirit bring you His comfort and His peace. Join us!!!
Zoom Link:
For Study, Prayer and Fellowship - 8:00 AM PDT on 05/31/2025:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82968961343?pwd=LzcwVjJKcWVESDRURlhDcXlNV0JUdz09
Meeting ID: 829 6896 1343
Passcode: 77299ere:
05/31/2025 – Prologue - “If what is right or wrong depends on what each individual feels we are outside the bounds of civilization.” Walter Lippman. “This is the privatization of morality and it is the model built for us by the educated elites who are outstandingly corrupt. When everyone thinks the same, nobody is thinking. Love endures when the lovers love many things together: not merely each other.”
Deal with the Debt: “Give everyone what you owe them …” [Rom. 13:7]; “Let no debt remain outstanding, …” [Rom. 13:8]; “… estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it.” [Luke 14:28] Total debt: $36,913,628,243,501; Annual Interest $1,026,621,634,483; owed to Foreign Entities $9,019,921,307,932 (24.4%). In one week we have added $29,000,000,000 to our debt. Each one of us living in the U.S. must write their Congressional delegation to say that our national debt is not sustainable and a drag on the economy, if it is not so already, and it is their responsibility to act. Write to them every month.
Please allow me to be brutally frank about culture. Culture is an inner and organic action. It can plunge to the depths of our souls; it paves the path of our lives and can be mystical. It is dif-ferent from civilization which can be external and superficial, requiring little participation. Folks may have an ancient, spiritual culture, which to our civilized side, our external side, may look backward. The obverse may also be true. Some folks may stand at the apex of technology and civilization, but in areas of spiritual culture: morality, art, politics, economics; they are under-going utter degradation. If we study those contrasts, we see how significant Christianity is in the history of human culture. (Ferguson’s quote re: Chinese study.) Only Christianity, in the history of the human race, introduced an unseen, new, grace-filled spirit. That is the gift from Jesus, who addressed the souls of all of humanity via [Matt 5:1 – 7:29]. (The ‘Sermon on the Mount.’)
What is more startling is that Jesus brought this message to the Judeo-Roman world, deep in ‘enemy’ territory. An area beset with rational thinking, formalistic rites, animal sacrifices, thirst for worldly power, and a dying religion. This is notfertile ground for an existing culture. A culture in this social setting tends to be on the path to decay and death. The Pharisees learned to manipulate their Roman conquerors, and their appointed leaders, and both were unable to accept the grace-filled teachings of Jesus. They were wedded to the people and traditions of the ‘world’. The very ‘world’ against which Jesus spoke; and the ‘world’ against which all Apostolic writings were directed. At the core is the spirit and sacrificial work of Jesus! Those two messages can not be abrogated by the folks and they are needed to be adopted if we are to become followers of Jesus and to grow into a culture that Jesus created. That truth is ever more needed in today’s society if we are to create a Christian culture. The truth that needs to be constantly preached is that our sins are forgiven via the shed blood of Jesus and we as sinners must repent, because “… the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin.”. [1 John 1:7] Many folks do not want to hear that message in its completeness. If the message of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is not preached in your church one places his/her soul in jeopardy. The message that must be understood is ingrained in the five tenants required to be the Christian church.
Culture, in becoming an inner, organic process, enables every Christian to become a bearer of the spirit noted above because of the grace given to us by the Holy Spirit. There are basic character-istics that Christians should learn, based on Scripture, to discuss by ‘second nature’. This leads us to several eternal truths:
1) “… The kingdom of God is within you.” [Luke 17:21] Thus, the spirit of Christianity is a spirit of ‘internalization.’ We must visualize it as a structure that cannot remain uninhabited. The hidden, the spiritual content determines the worthiness of the external, the physical. The moral state of a person is not judged by his material status, nor how useful he is externally, but by the internal state of his heart and soul. Culture is created because of the sin nature within us; and the reflection of God’s love for us. This means that a soul strengthened in a Christian manner is able to affect a Christian culture around us.
2) “… God is Love.” [1 John 4:8] Jesus preached that love was to be the final evidence that God loved us and is the source of all creativity – including all culture. Culture creates and confirms, it carries with itself an abiding, “yes.” In love, the lover spiritually unites with the be-loved. He abandons part of himself to accept part of the beloved. This makes a new creation, like marriage, the creation of a new life. A thought, moved with love, becomes the power of reason and leads to true knowledge and may be the source of heroic action. We often confuse love and sensuality. When we have sensuality infused with true love we are no longer gripped by lust, but are about to begin the journey into a life guided by the Spirit. A Christian can not believe in a culture without love. Love for God is a source of faith.
3) “… fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. …” [2 Cor. 4:18] The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of contemplation and promises that those who are pure of heart and live in holiness, will see God face to face. The work of faith is a work of free vision. To force faith through violence, fear, or the sword has always remained an anti-Christian temptation. Each person has access to the power of vision. We all have been given this ability; it is what leads to: spiritual growth, scientific breakthrough and numerous works of art. It is this gift that allows us to build a culture that comes from contemplation and remains rooted there. [John 14-17]
4) “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything, I have said to you.” [John 14:26] The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of living creative content , not a form of it. This spirit can not exist in form alone, but it becomes a vessel that contains life, virtue, art, knowledge and righteousness. These are the entirety of a cultural life. All Christians should mistrust works inspired by formalism. (Formalism is an approach that emphasizes, or is more concerned with form (rules), than expressing feelings or meaning - Cambridge Dictionary.) A Christian should seek a life that is organic, mysterious and sacramental. He/She will want to be true, just to be, and not seem to be. He wants to be given freedom, not the constraints of legalism.
5) “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” [Matt. 5:48] The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of perfection. This means we are not to see ourselves as even close to perfection. What we seek is the ability to gaze on the perfection of the divine and to measure all of our earthly actions upon that standard. We should attempt to learn to differentiate what is pleasant, giving satisfaction or usefulness, from that which is truly good. N.B. When we learn this differentiation we will be able to attach ourselves to the more perfect. We should seek to prefer it, to achieve it, to serve it, to preserve it and if necessary, die for it. We know we are not perfect, nor that we have the ability to attain perfection. However, we must respond to that inner need to strive for self-perfection. This leads us to have a vivid experience dealing with our personal sinfulness and deficiencies. We are to condemn ourselves, to repent and be purified. In every deed we should seek to be perfect and to call ourselves to the task. “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self …” [Col. 3:9-10] As we continue to learn this, we can more consistently follow the lead of the Holy Spirit who convicts us! AMEN
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