THE
GREAT PUMPKIN IS RISING THE VIRUS OF SUPERSTITION
By
Steve Van Nattan
This
is a study in superstition as found in Christian people and organizations
FETISH:
DEFINITION
An
inanimate object worshiped or reverenced for its supposed magical powers or because
it is considered to be inhabited by a spirit. Most fetishes have a religious or
spiritual context or history. Some fetishes are believed to mediate, or connect
with, the gods.
For
purposes of this article, a fetish can also be any inanimate object or belief
(superstition) which is used for good luck or to be safe. This includes people
who are believed to radiate virtue or safety.
Let
me explain. There is absolutely no difference in carrying a rabbit's foot for
good luck and saying "God bless you" to someone who just sneezed. The
"God bless you" derives from the superstition in Germany that a person
can actually sneeze their soul out and lose their soul. By blessing them, in the
name of God, you are said to be making sure their soul stays in them. In this
article we are not talking about what your intentions are. We are talking about
what your superstitions mean. By keeping your superstitions, you are sending signals
of approval to unsaved people who really believe in those superstitions. You are
also sending messages to devils in the vicinity that you are living on superstition,
not by faith in Christ. Clinging to fetishes, and good luck/bad luck notions,
you are denying that God is sovereign in your life.
Matthew
12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned.
When
I was in about tenth grade, my family traveled from the USA to Africa by way of
London, England. We had several days lay over in London, and we saw the sights
and visited Windsor Castle. The Queen would have had us in for tea I am sure,
but she was busy being a crowned head at Buckingham Palace. It is a great responsibility
to keep the imperial crown polished and free of dust and carpet mites, I might
add.
One day
we went to see Madame Tussaud's Wax Works.
We saw the wax images of Winston Churchill, Hitler, Eisenhower, and a lot of other
famous people of history. The part that thrilled me in my morbid youthful mindset
was the basement Chamber of Horrors. Jack the Ripper and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde
were there, and many implements of mahem and murder were sitting around the walls.
The rest of
this article is the Chamber of Horrors of Christendom. Here you will find the
black side of many Christians who have allowed superstition and hockus pockus
to be part of their life. You may even find something here that YOU need to deal
with in order to get right with your God.
THE
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The
Roman Catholic Church is the worst offender in Christendom when it comes to superstition.
This is because the Roman Church, back in the 400s, took the internalizing nature
of Christian truth out of the believer, and they replaced it with external form
and ritual. This at once lent itself to superstitious and silly rituals and beliefs.
Years
ago, before Pope John Paul II demoted him, Saint Christopher was glued to the
dash of every car driven by a Roman Catholic. The idea was that old Chris would
see them through traffic without a fender bender. It turned out that Saint Christopher
never existed, and the Pope pitched him out of the saintly lineup. So, for hundreds
of years, Catholics were not protected by anything but the mercy of God. How terrifying.
In
any Catholic home you will see images of pictures of Mary, Jesus, or the Pope.
Some have the Vatican on the wall. These images are not there as reminders of
happy memories. They are there as good luck charms.
When
a Catholic walks or drives past the front of a Catholic church, they will cross
themselves. This is not out of a desire to be righteous. It is pure superstition
because inside the church, up behind the altar, in a cubby hole called a tabernacle,
in a pretty metal box called a pyx, are the left over wafers used in last Sunday's
Mass. If there are wafers, called "hosts," left over after the Mass,
they are still considered to be the "verily and truly" bodyof Jesus.
So, when passing a Catholic church, these poor demented fools cross themselves
because their left over Jesus is inside that church. That is a close to Jesus
as any Catholic ever gets, and if you do not give them the Gospel, friend, they
will burn in Hell because they are lost.
Baptists
have Jack in the Box, and Catholics have Jesus in a box.
BAPTIST
FETISHES
We
have all been in an annual business meeting of a Baptist church. Often, there
is tension as two people give two different opinions on some topic. I have seen
the chairman of the meeting have to get rough and demand order where order had
gone south. I have seen issues brought up, and some patriarch will stop the nasty
discussion by moving to "table the motion," which then causes the battle
to lapse until the next business meeting. This gives everyone three months to
wage a war of hate, rage, and gossip in the House of God.
So,
what do these fake Christian Baptists do at the end of their wretched business
meeting? They pray and ask God to bless the mess they made and get glory out of
it. Once in a rare moment, the one praying will say, "Lord, if we have offended
you in any way in this meeting, please forgive us of this." Bah. The jerk
KNOWS he and his mob have offended God by using democracy and Robert's Rules of
Order to try to force God to accept their will instead of finding his will by
fasting and prayer.
This
is pure superstition. The idea of calling on God, after a blasted cat fight, is
blasphemy. It is no different than carrying a rabbit foot for good luck.
Another
fetish or charm in Baptist churches is in a well known hymn they sing.
A
LITTLE TALK WITH JESUS This
is a classic example of the rubbish Bill Gaither has puked out onto the Lord's
Church.
In
the chorus, you have two talismen mentioned..... "a little prayer wheel
turning" and "a little fire is burning."
The
prayer wheel is from Nepal and other Buddhist nations where prayer wheels are
used to spin by the worshippers and allegedly send prayers to the gods. The little
fire is from Hinduism in India. The author of the hymn may not have even been
born again. How could he grab these two charms from Satanic religions and associate
them with Jesus?
If
you sing this song in your church, you are singing Satanic words, at least at
that particular moment, and the devil is laughing his head off at you.
We
have another issue to talk about..... Baptist preachers and their charms.
The
first one that comes to mind is this rank superstitious practice of commissioning
a cabinet maker to make you an exact duplicate of Charles Spurgeon's pulpit.
Why?
What happens if I stand behind that pulpit with a Bible in front of me? Do I get
a special unction and divine shove into the world of Spurgeon's verbosity and
elocution? Am I a better preacher if I stand in that pulpit? If you have one of
these, or your pastor has one, it is nothing but a charm or fetish, just as the
chicken bones are a fetish of the witch doctor in the Congo.
Also,
do you have a photo of Jack Hyles or Peter Ruckman on the wall of your office?
What does that mean? Is your office and study more sanctified because Hyles gazes
down on you? Do you imagine that the Holy Ghost gives you special help because
you pledge allegiance to Jack Hyles? It is a fetish. And, those "100% for
Hyles" pins that you and your men wear are pagan charms. There is NO spiritual
power that falls on any of you because of your little lapel pins.
When
you tell Jack Hyles', or Peter Ruckman's, sermon illustrations, do you imagine
that there is some sort of special power in those stories? You are a lazy lecher
if you cannot come up with fresh parables from everyday life last week. Hyles'
stories are nothing more than charms and fetishes you add to your preaching by
which you imagine that great things will happen if you tell Hyles' stories.
The
Bible. So, you are King James Version only..... great. But, do you insist that
the actual words of Jesus be in red? Why? Does the red ink make Jesus more than
he is made to be in the Gospel account? What you are doing is what superstitious
scribes in the ancient Orthodox Church did when they used red ink for the names
of God and Mary. This is another fetish trick. The red ink implies that the black
ink texts are inferior, and YOU KNOW that some of the members of you church think
that.
Is
the Bible manuscript at the left more reliable because it has red letters for
very sacred words? Hey, you pious fanatic, does your Bible have sacred magic pictures
on every page? If not, you are falling behind in sanctification.
Do
you insist that the spine of your KJV have five ribs? How does that authenticate
the Word of God?
I
once went to a preachers gathering at which a conference on the King James Bible
was going to be planned. The pastor in charge wanted my input for some reason.
I arrived a bit late, and the men were warming up with boisterous chattering,
as men do.
When
I sat down at the table, I placed my big brown Bible in front of me. I did not
notice, but all the preachers looked carefully at the spine of my Bible, and,
what do you know, there were NO ribs. Those preachers all went completely silent.
They refused to talk about anything serious until my heretical Bible was resolved.
I soon figured out what the trouble was. Then, one of the pastors made some sort
of comment on some off topic issue. I thought of a verse in Galatians that fit
his comment, and I opened my Bible and read the verse. They realized I actually
had a KJV after all, and everyone suddenly got busy talking shop again. It was
a KJV with notes by Bullinger included, and it was not printed in Cambridge. But,
they gave me a pass and let me stay to pray.
I
was a victim of a bunch of fetish keepers. These are the boys who will not touch
a Bible if the word "soap" is not spelled "sope." The KJV
Bible could be unchanged in every other way, but the Holy Ghost does not bless
soap, he only blesses sope. These again, are fetishes men cling to in order to
feel safe in the dark.
Gospel
tracts can become a fetish.
When
you meet someone in the market place, and you could speak to them and maybe talk
to them about Jesus, and if instead you hand them a tract, you are using that
tract as a fetish to pay God off for not being willing to speak for Christ.
I
have heard of people who hand out thousands of tracts, and they often speak about
their prowess when "tracting." This can be nothing but a ritual very
much like a Catholic priest sprinkling holy water around wherever he goes. Your
holy water is tracts. It would be infinitely more useful if you asked God to help
you target your tracts, and ALWAYS SAY SOMETHING KIND AND THOUGHTFUL TO CAUSE
THE PERSON TO WANT TO READ THE TRACT.
I
had put tracts in my shirt pocket before leaving home. I asked the Lord to help
me get them to the right people. I never carry huge numbers of tracts. I carry
a few and target them. I also try to get some conversation going before I hand
a person a tract. When I give it to them, I might say, "This is a tract I
got recently. Would you read it please and tell me what you think of it next time
I am here?" This causes them to believe they are doing me a favor. I do try
to remember to ask what they thought when I come by later.
I
was in the checkout line at the grocery store, and I pulled my last tract out
of my pocket. It was a Chick Publishing tract with a story line of a little girl
who was sexually abused by her father. The father got saved, and he promised to
never hurt his daughter again. The cashier was a teen age girl. I decided the
tract could cause her to be offended if she happened to have been abused herself.
Then, the Lord helped me. I told her that I had a tract about child sexual abuse,
and I asked her if she knew anyone who might need to read it. She at once said
she had a friend who needed help badly, and eagerly took the tract. If you just
throw a tract down on the counter and flee, you are handing out tracts out of
pure superstition. As if, God is impressed by you lazy zeal. Your tracts are nothing
but your fetishes. If you want any reward in Heaven, you are going to have to
get your brain in gear and talk about Jesus, not just throw tracts.
1
Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
ANABAPTIST
HEXES
The
Amish are very superstitious, while they consider themselves the most pure example
in the world of Christian righteousness.
The
barn at the right has hexes on it. These all have meanings, and some of them are
degraded. The deluded Amish believe the hexes have power to make their life better
or deliver them from evil.
This
is no different than the African who puts a clay pot on the peak of the grass
roof of his house for devils to live in so they will not enter the house.
Do
you have anything in your home, car, or work place that represents good luck to
you? If so, you are a heathen and trusting in something other than God to take
care of you.
REFORMED
CHURCH FETISHES
In
the 1780s, a Dutch Reformed pastor named Solomon Froeligh was sent to a local
church that was having a war in their church over some fine point of doctrine.
Froeligh
settled in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1786, where he attempted to unite a long-divided
congregation. It was an uneasy union, and when lightning struck the church and
cracked the stone over the door that was inscribed "Union makes strength", the
superstitious congregation formally divided.
Froeligh
remained with the "independence" faction and was instrumental in creating a new
denomination, which came to be called the True Reformed Dutch Church, uniting
other groups similarly separated from the Dutch Reformed Church.
Froeligh
was called before the DRC Synod in 1822, where he was suspended for secession
and "contempt of ecclesiastical authority". In response to this, he wrote and
published Reasons Assigned by a Number of Ministers, Elders, and Deacons for
Declaring Themselves the True Reformed Dutch Church in the United States.
North
Church, the faction that remained Reformed, began construction of a new building
in 1823. Froeligh specified that the new building have a steeple 20 feet higher
than South Church.
When
we talk about Reformed Churches, we are including Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican,
and Presbyterian, as well as Reformed Baptists.
The
most powerful fetishes in the Reformed Churches are their confessions. Each one
has a confession better than the others, of course. This confession is the absolute
authority in all matters of faith and practice, and they NEVER change it, no matter
what false teaching it may have. This confession is just as authoritative as the
Bible, not officially, but most certainly in actual practice. When you join a
local Reformed church, you must swear allegiance to their confession and covenant,
or you will be rejected. These confessions are nothing but talismans to keep the
Church safe before God. Their covenants are just as wicked. They are a legal document
which you swear to which is the basis for later excommunicating you if you wander
too far off the narrow way. The fools see no contradiction with the Covenant Jesus
died on the Cross to validate on Calvary. What blasphemy.
HERE
IS A HYMN THAT ANSWERS THIS FETISH TOM FOOLERY "My faith has found
a resting place, not in device nor creed." Eliza E. Hewitt, bless her Presbyterian
heart, did not trust in the Westminster Confession for her security. Why can't
these Reformed leaders see that their creed sends thousands to Hell. I am 100%
convinced that there are thousands of members in Reformed churches who trust in
their confession, creed, and confirmation instead of Jesus Christ, for their salvation.
I say this because I have seen and heard it with my own eyes and ears from Reformed
people. What a horror to burn in Hell for eternity with the powerless words of
John Calvin and John Knox wringing in their ears.
The
true Church of Jesus Christ had a confession from the first days of the Church
in Galilee. It is the Galileean Petrine Confession of 32 AD:
John
6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal
life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of
the living God.
Any
"authoritative" confession other than Verse 69 above is blasphemy. It
supplants the Bible as the formal and God-given confession of the Church. If you
are leaning on the broken reed of a church confession, you are slapping God's
face for giving you his Word as the final authority. Your confession is nothing
but tossing the chicken bones in the Congo. You have added to the Word of God,
and for that you will go to Hell.
Revelation
22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this
book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book
of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book.
Is
it time for you to burn your fetishes?
CHARISMATIC
FETISHES
The
Mormons have their sacred blessed underwear they are required to wear, and Charismatics
have their prayer cloths. The Mormon gospel is, change your underwear, and God
is forced to give you eternal life and your own personal universe. Pentecostals
would laugh at this Mormon superstition, but they cling to their prayer cloth.
Healing
cloths and kneeling mats
Morris
Cerulo sends out prayer clothes with Bible verses on them.
1.
The Bible does not say this was Paul's idea. The items from his work place mending
tents may have been stolen, and God simply had mercy on the victims because of
their faith. If you want to really duplicate this today, you will have to steal
a pair of Morris Cerullos's cover alls, rip them up, and distribute the pieces.
The problem here is that Cerullo probably does nothing with his own hands to survive
in this life except count money.
2.
Paul had Apostolic power that we do not have today. Tongues, prophecy, and revelatory
knowledge passed away back when the whole canon of the Bible was finished. Divine
healing also is not seen today in the way in which Jesus and Paul healed people.
These were signs God gave the Jews to prove that Jesus was the Messiah.
1
Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
Today,
the Holy Spirit gives wisdom so that the Gentiles can receive the Gospel. Our
age does not get signs. If you cannot believe the Gospel, and trust in Jesus to
sustain your life, without him sending you a fetish to tuck under your shirt,
you cannot be born again. Read that again please. Your gullible superstition may
well take you straight to Hell.
So,
the prayer cloth is a cheap shoddy way for the faith healer to trade a bit of
magic charm cloth for a donation. And, there are thousands of Charismatic suckers
who go for it. And, they are not healed. The cloth ends up in the top dresser
drawer with their rabbit's foot they inherited from grandma.
As
to prayer rugs, I got an offer in the mail from a faith healer to get a prayer
rug. I sent off for it because I wanted to see what they were doing. A large piece
of paper came with lots of printing on it and Bible verses used out of context
to prove a prayer rug was God's special way to heal me. It had two images at the
bottom where I was supposed to place my knees when praying. I have seen many rugs,
but a piece of cheap paper is not much of a rug as I see it. It is filed away
in my heresy file in the garage.
Faith
healers almost all send out anointing oil to any sucker who will go for it. This
oil is claimed to be prayer over and comes with massive power to heal anything
wrong with you. Some of the healing oil is claimed to have been blessed by the
faith healer on his last trip to Israel.
This
is nothing but fetishism at its worst. The idea that a man of God can mass produce
packets of oil and mail them to people he does not know or care about is preposterous.
For me, he would get a lot more good will from me if he sent a packet of hot sauce.
James
5:14 is the Bible verse they use to claim this is a Christian practice.
James
5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And
the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and
if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Here
are the problems with the exegesis of the faith healers:
1.
The prayer was not done over the oil in order to make it magical in power. The
prayer was over the sick person.
2.
The praying was not done by a wandering faith healer. It was done by the elders,
leaders, of the local church. The sick did not have to send off the some faith
healer to ship them the oil. This is a 100% local church ministry, not a money
raising scheme for Paul to buy himself a new camel and home in Boca Raton, Florida,
or a ranch in Arizona.
3.
The oil was not put into little bottles and carried all over the Middle East like
a magic charm.
4.
"The prayer of faith will heal the sick," not the oil. Why is the oil
included? This is not anything Jesus did during his ministry. If healing required
anointing with oil as a mystical practice, Jesus would have done it. So, this
oil is very likely being used as medicine, as is still very common in the Middle
East. The oil may also have had herbal essences added. The oil was not used to
raise the dead. It was given before the person recovered. There is NO way your
favorite faith healer can prove that the oil mentioned in the James text was anything
more than a form of medication. This also implies that we should not renounce
the use of medicine if we have faith. The Apostle Luke was a medical doctor, and
Paul's comments imply that Luke medicated Paul at times. Both olive oil and coconut
oil have been found to improve health when rubbed on the body. Save yourself the
donation cash to the faith healer, and buy some coconut oil online, and rub it
on. You will be a well lubricated Pentecostal.
5.
Verse 15 implies that sin was often the reason for the sickness. You will never
hear a faith healer invite the sick to confess their sins in order to be healed.
Once
again, this is 100% a case of tossing the chicken bones in the Congo.
Prosperity
doctrine
"It's
God's will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It's God's will for
you to pay your bills and not be in debt." Joel Osteen
The
problem with this statement is that it is not in the Bible. God the Son was born
in poverty, and he chose middle to low income men to be his disciples. And, his
disciples did not get rich during the three and one half years they were with
Jesus. Nor did they get rich later when they were Apostles.
2
Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might
be rich.
The
problem with the prosperity Gospel is that it plays on the mind set of the average
America who has been thoroughly propagandized by commercial messages on TV and
in all advertising. The message is, "You deserve better things and a better
life." This is also the message of politicians, especially Democrat Liberals.
Bernie Sanders is the very epitome of greed for more.
Ricado
Mantalban, in the 1970s, told us, "You deserve a Cordoba." Now, I thought
he was onto something useful there, so I eagerly waited for him to drive up in
my new Cordoba, but he never did. He retired and moved to Mexico to start a school
for acting. I guess he needed the cash to buy my new Cordoba. I hated to see him
forego retirement and start a whole new career just to pay for my Cordoba. Sadly,
I have had to settle for two used Lincolns, a Dodge van, and now a Buick. Oh well,
maybe later. Don't feel bad about it, Ricardo, no hard feelings from me.
So,
whatever the prosperity preachers tell you that you deserve..... whatever they
tell you God owes you as a pay back for faith in Jesus Christ, THAT thing or "need"
is your fetish toy which you use to justify stomping your feet and demanding that
God give you treats. You are not a victorious Christian..... you are a two year
old brat yelling at God- "Gimme what I want."
MIXTURE
OF PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN
The
most notorious mixture of paganism and Christianity is Haiti. The Catholic priests,
hundreds of years ago, let the Haitians keep their witchcraft if they would add
in Mary. This has made for a very wicked nation which Satan heavily controls.
But,
what about our good godly Christian custom of Christmas? The Catholic Encyclopedia
plainly admits that the Catholic Church put the birth of Jesus at the winter solstice
on purpose with no evidence that Jesus was born then. The reason was that the
pagans were in the cities worshipping at the shrines of the pagan goddess and
child, and the Catholic leaders wanted to keep the pagans in town a couple more
days to go to Mass and leave a few farthings in the collection box.
These
many years later millions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on the day
the heathen celebrated the birth of the baby god of Babylon, or the version currently
in place. Jesus has inherited the role of a pagan child god, and most of you love
every moment of it. The Christmas story is in the Bible for sure, but you will
not like this one:
Ezekiel
8:13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations
that they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S
house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet
again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. 16 And he brought
me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple
of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men,
with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east;
and they worshipped the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said unto me, Hast
thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they
commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land
with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the
branch to their nose. 18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall
not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud
voice, yet will I not hear them.
The
women in Verse 14 were weeping on the summer solstice when the child god died
and went to Hell. He stayed there until the winter solstice when he was reborn,
and that is what the 25 men were looking for in Verse 16 as they watched for the
sun to come up a bit earlier, which was the solstice moment. The Jews had adapted
to this, and God was showing Ezekiel how utterly pagan the Jews had become. And,
do you do the same thing and celebrate the winter solstice and claim you are honoring
Jesus? That is like the Hebrews in the wilderness when they made a golden calf
and place the ark of the covenant in front of it to try to sanctify their pagan
naked dancing.
Christmas
is a time of pagan fetishes by the dozens which Christians put up in their homes
and observe while they pretend to be doing Jesus a favor. It is easily the most
blasphemous thing found in the Christian community in the present day. And, the
Pilgrims would have tarred and feathered you if you had done that back in their
day. Also, the early church paid virtually no attention to the birth of Jesus.
They only celebrated the day of the resurrection of Jesus, and then, not on one
day a year. They observed "the Lord's Day" every Sunday.
This
is only a tiny part of the story of mixture of pagan and Christian at Christmas.
For a more complete story, go to my journal page on Christmas
There
are times when Bible believers do things that are calculated to coerce God into
showing mercy or being impressed. This is nothing but smoke and mirrors, and God
will thrash you for it. You are making a fetish out of your life choices in the
hope that God will hold off his judgment.
Crosses
and other body hardware
When
a woman wears a dress that plunges to China and shows an abundance of cleavage,
and when she also wears a pendant with a cross on it down between her breasts,
SHE IS A WHORE. Lady, you are not putting God off the trail as to your motives.
You are on the make, and you are a church house hustler. In fact, God might show
more mercy on you if you left the cross out of it.
Also,
when a young man unbuttons his shirt half way down to display his manly chest,
and when he adds a pendant with a cross, the same rule applies. He is hustling
whores and trying to use a little Jesus to disguise his filthy tricks. If you
have no hair on your chest, Bubba, button up your shirt. You are not manly.
Also,
that cross hanging on the wall in your home, is it a plain wooden cross, or is
it a fancy deco cross with scroll work and decorations? If it is the deco version,
it is a piece of rubbish. Jesus' cross was not pretty, my friend. Also, what is
the point? Are you trying to announce that this is a Christian home, or does that
cross go with the huge Bible on the coffee table you never open and read? If so,
that cross and the big Bible are just fetishes to charm God and make him think
you are pious and spiritual.
And,
the biggest farce is that you believe this works. Like, God is a dumb old uncle
that can be conned by your tricks. You are really looking for some hot chastening,
friend.
Hyles
on merits and demerits.
I
have a sermon on cassette in which Jack Hyles teaches that Christians have merits
and demerits, sort of like we had in boarding school when I was a kid. The demerits
are given for not making your bed or for keeping your light on after lights out.
The merits are credits given for good behavior which cancels out demerits. Hyles
actually tried to prove from the Bible that God will show mercy to a man who does
grievous sins if that men also wins many souls to Christ. His Bible text was the
life of Samson, and he claimed that God gave Samson one last change to do great
things when he pulled the temple of the Philistine down and killed them and himself.
So, if you get enough merits, you will get to end your life in the miserable model
of Samson.
I
had the impression that Hyles was trying to prove that God canceled his sexual
sins out because he allegedly won 300 people a week to Christ. I worked the math
of the hours in a day, and after all the necessary issues of life, he would have
had 45 minutes to win each soul. This does not factor in the time to witness to
those who rejected the Gospel. Jack Hyles was a crass liar and sham. His message
of merits and demerits made a fetish or rabbit's foot out of soul winning. This
is one of the most blasphemous messages I ever heard an alleged Christian preach.
God became a senile idiot who could be conned by our tricks. We
are the gully gully man of Cairo, Egypt shifting the cups around on the table
fooling God.
You
CANNOT charm God out of judging or chastening you by doing abundance of good works.
Galatians
6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap.
Hosea
8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind:
Is
Jack Hyles your model of a magic man who makes your sermons powerful by just the
mention of his name, but especially if you duplicate his sermon instead of doing
your own Bible study? If so, you are fraud, preacher, and you will burn in Hell
for joining his Satanic Mafia.
Jack
Hyles also had a portrait of his mother on the wall of his office, and he said
that before he walked out the door to the pulpit, he prayed to his mother to asked
Jesus to help him to preach. This convinces me that Hyles may well have been a
Jesuit plant whose assignment was to lead Baptists astray. He certainly did well,
that is, if my assessment is correct. His mother was his fetish and mediatrix.
All
you need to plant in a garden is one seed of Bermuda grass, and one day the whole
garden will be covered by that grass. God notices every good work you do, but
that does not cause him to go blind to the evil you do.
Zechariah
1:3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me,
saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
Turn
away from your fetishes, turn to God, and God will turn to you and give you victory.
Keep playing with your Satanic fetishes, and God will turn away from you. It is
your choice, Samson.
For
the record, you can make a fetish of any man. This includes, but is not limited
to, Charles Spurgeon, AW Tozer, CS Lewis, John Calvin, Leonard Ravenshill, Kenneth
Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, John MacArthur, Steve Van Nattan, Charles Stanley,
your pastor, Peter S Ruckman, Lester Roloff, Clarance Sexton, or any other man,
be he godly or a devil. When a man, other than Jesus Christ, becomes your security
blanket, and when everything he teaches becomes sacred to you, you are tossing
the chicken bones in the name of that man. You are NOT a servant of Jesus Christ.
You deserve to be introduced to a live oak tree and a new rope (Texas solution).
If
you happen to believe everything you ever read at this journal is the gospel truth,
I sincerely wish you would click out of here and never come back.
Tattoos
I
grew up in Africa, and it is very well known that, the more pagan and demonic
a tribe is, the more they cut themselves and alter their bodies.
Tattoos
with Christian messages are still a violation of the law of Moses, and there is
no reason to believe that this principle has changed this side of the Cross.
Leviticus
19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any
marks upon you: I am the LORD.
God
does not want to see how you can improve the person he created. He likes what
he made in the Garden of Eden and does not need to see more decorations. Your
tattoos are just as ridiculous as a person taking a big red rose and painting
the Ten Commandments on the pedals or adding perfume to the rose.
There
are markings God is pleased to see.
Galatians
6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of
the Lord Jesus.
The
only marks a Christian might have would be the scars from the whip when you were
flogged for being a Christian. Since that is almost totally absent in the world
today, you simply should have no markings.
Now,
if you were a tattoo bomb before you were born again, that is another situation.
But, you have no business going around and flaunting it. You are not some sort
of special convert because of your folly long ago. Wear long sleeves, especially
when going to church. Don't bother to have the tattoos removed. That makes a mess
I am told. If you have filthy sexual tattoos, find a way to cover them for sure,
or pay to have them removed. Children must not have to deal with that sort of
thing. As to your "rights," you do not have any. None of us have any
rights. We belong to Jesus, and everything we do he has a right to overrule.
Bumper
stickers
I
don't care what the message is on the bumper sticker, if you think God will give
you a pass on your sins because you plaster the rear of your car with Bible messages,
you are wrong. If you want to sanctify your Ford, you would do better to pay some
Catholic priest to sprinkle it with holy water. That would do just as much good,
that is, if those stickers are just religious fetishes. When you are fifteen miles
per hour over the speed limit, you are just as much a sinner as the Freemason
who has his Tubal Cain sticker on the rear of his car. And, when the cop pulls
you over and sees your sanctification glaring out behind he cannot be thinking
pleasant thoughts about Jesus of Nazareth.
Traveling
to Israel
So,
you bought the tour to Israel, and Dr. Wisenheimer from Fuller Seminary was the
guru along with your group. What a blessing you had, and you even got to be baptized
in the Jordan River by guru Wisenheimer, right? So, does this make you special?
Are you now on God's preferred list? If you think so, and if you take every opportunity
to tell everyone around you how wonderful your tour was, you are a Pharisee. Your
specialness is a lot of rubbish, and it has all been reduced to a fetish you cling
to to make you feel closer to God.
Are
you not simply a Christian version of the Muslim who makes a Hajj (pilgrimage)
to Mecca? You should remodel your front door to have an arch like Muslims do after
they do their Hajj.
2
Chronicles 5:2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads
of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem,
to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which
is Zion. 3 Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king
in the feast which was in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel
came; and the Levites took up the ark.
Solomon
called for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in his day. But, the whole purpose was to
worship Jehovah and to restore the ark of the Covenant to the tabernacle. If you
honestly went to Israel only to worship God, good. I am glad you did. But, if
your pilgrimage resulted in ANY amount of vanity over your accomplishment, your
visit to Israel was a fetish event.
Did
you go to Israel to worship God, or did you go to gain the noble status of a pilgrim
back home with your friends.
We
went to Mombasa, Kenya in the off season for a vacation. We stayed in a hotel
on the beach, and the price was cut in half because there were no tourists in
that very hot time of the year. It was January and red hot on the equator. There
was a lady there from Germany, and she did nothing but sun bathe and get a well
done tan in the process. We knew exactly what she was up to. She would go home
to Germany, and when she went to a party, everyone would want to know where she
got the tan. She could then chatter about her wonderful trip to Kenya and appear
to be a globe trotter par excellence.
Is
that you and your trip to Israel? Is this your new religious fetish? You could
have saved a bundle by just hanging an Israeli flag on your wall. There is nothing
more stupid than to bust the bank paying for a trip around the world just to find
a new fetish. You could have at least bought one of those fake clay bowls that
the merchant claimed came from David's kitchen.
THE
UNSPEAKABLE FETISHES
Do
you have a fetish relationship with your body or the image you make of yourself?
This is
a very ugly topic, but here goes..... I will dive straight in.
Do
you, lady, have large breasts which you use to define yourself and get what you
want? If you are short, do you wear a lift bra in order to get your breasts up
into the faces of men? God made you with large breasts, but he did not intend
for you to use them to seduce men, get jobs, and avoid traffic tickets. Your breasts
may well be nothing but a fetish you use to make life easier. And, it all revolves
around how you dress and walk. If you wear high heels, it is because they force
you to walk so that your booty and your bust wag back and forth and invite lust
by men. There is NO other reason to wear high heels. They can ruin your feet.
And, if you choose bras that accentuate your sex appeal, you are behaving like
a whore.
Why?
Because you use your two fetishes to seduce men.
OK,
now the guys..... do you have a handsome look which you accentuate to cause women
to gaze in lust at you? The hair, the square jaw, and the slick suit you wear,
why? The only righteous reason to wear that outfit is if you REALLY want to make
your wife look good when you enter the restaurant or gathering behind her. If
you have the dude image to gratify your own lust for power over people, that is
YOUR fetish. It is wicked.
Then,
there is the man who allows his wife to wear clothes that expose her cleavage
and legs so that when she walks through the door ahead of the man, he gets the
rush out of knowing he has the sexiest wife in the room. His wife's sex appeal
is his good luck charm. We expect this from Hollywood, but I have seen this in
church foyers, and it is wicked.
Story
time. My wife is with the Lord in Heaven now, so I will not embarrass her by telling
this. She sewed a dress up herself that was red and black. It was modest, but
it had the cut and look of a very expensive designer dress. When we went out to
eat, and she wore that dress, I was delighted. Aside from my affection for her,
I knew she looked really good as we entered the restaurant. I did not look around
to see who was looking. I KNEW they were looking. Was the dress sinful? No. Were
my emotions sinful? Yes! That dress represented something to me other than a piece
of clothing, and in that regard, it was a fetish to me. It got left behind at
some point, and it is just possible the Holy Spirit arranged that.
Story
two. There was a preacher in Michigan who had a wife who wore a skin tight shape
hugging red satin dress that was purely an object of lust. The neck line met the
well known Baptist standard, and the hem was near the floor, but the overall effect
was racy in the extreme. Her pastor husband was a great promoter of Baptist Standards,
but he pretended not to see that his wife was being the object of lust by the
men in the church.
How
you dress affects YOU as much as the people around you. I invite you to examine
your dress, walk, and self-image. What are you FEELING about yourself? This applies
to both men and women. Do you just stand on a spot, or do you pose every time
you stand still? Is there something very fake about your image? Is that because
you have become your own fetish, and the sell job you have done on your friends
is not the person God wants you to be?
1
Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if
any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation
of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair,
and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden
man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
Is
your heart your only adornment? Are you ladies noticed only because of your meek
and quiet spirit? I am sure some lady reading here now hates me. These words from
I Peter are totally unlike the spirit of the average woman in the Lord's Church
these days. Nor do Christian men welcome this teaching. Just please do not tell
me that I do not deal with the tough topics.
And,
a last word to you men. If you did not look, those women would probably not dress
that way. This is why Jesus warned men about looking a second time.
Matthew
5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit
adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
2
Samuel 11:2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his
bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a
woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
That
didn't end well. Neither will your eagle shots.
EXORCISM,
WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT
There
is a great load of legend and myth in Christian circles about exorcism or deliverance
from devils. The Charismatic movement, because of its existential theology based
upon what feels good, has added a huge body of false teaching on deliverance.
Indeed, in the process of producing manifestations in their gatherings which are
NOT the work of the Holy Spirit, they have opened the door for devils to manifest.
So, what you have been told about deliverance is probably mostly fake news. I
have come to the conclusion that exorcism is not done by some formula. I have
seen several different actions taken by godly men to bring genuine deliverance
to possessed people.
The
obvious conclusion about modern exorcism is that it is a fetish of pastors in
some churches. It lets them display what appears to be great power of the Holy
Spirit in them. And, pastors are not the only ones. Church members of some churches
will start confronting devils they imagine inhabit the area around them. They
will cast out the devil in the Buick, or the devil in the refrigerator. They will
bind the stop lights because they are late to church. They will even try to bind
other people and take power over them. This is all tossing the chicken bones,
and it is a fetish they use to seem to be superior in spirituality.
We
had a young Ethiopian man in language school in Ethiopia who was a tutor. He also
was very faithful to be involved with the local church at that station. And, he
even attended our English service for the missionaries on Sunday evening, along
with the leader of the local national church. They were both fluent in English.
We assumed he was born again because his spirit was quiet, and his personal life
was clean and open. On the contrary, known only to him, he was possessed of devils.
The reason he worked as a tutor at our language school and attended every possible
service was because the devils in him checked out at the gate for the mission
compound whenever he entered. Our compound was a spiritual oasis to him. Devils
ARE geographical..... I have witnessed this a number of times.
The
possessed young man went stark raving mad one day, and the Christian young men,
and the leader of the local church, heard about it. They also learned that his
family had sent the young man to Addis Ababa, the capital, to the only mental
hospital to have shock treatment. The young men knew from observation that shock
treatment would destroy the man's personality and leave him mentally dull. They
raced to the city and checked him out of the hospital. They took him to the home
of a Christian, and they sat around him on the floor. They did nothing but sing
hymns about Christ and the Blood of Jesus for eight solid hours. Finally, the
devils roared and fled. The man then confessed his faith in Christ. This account
contradicts almost all instructions on exorcism, but it confirms one thing.....
devils hate Jesus Christ and they are revolted by the mention of the Blood of
Jesus.
So,
any exorcism magic method, from some Christian book you bought, is highly suspect.
The protocols of Bob Larson are a lot of hockus pockus and lack any resemblance
to the deliverance ministered by Jesus in his day.
I had the parents of a young man call for help in Yermo, California where I pastored
in the 70s-80s. A deacon and I went to visit him. The mother told me before hand
that the fellow had picked her up and literally threw her across the living room.
She also said the guy had a deck of Tarot cards, and they threw them in the fire
place, and they said the flames shot all the way across the room. So, we knew
we were going to deal with devils. We made one mistake up front. We did not have
warfare prayer going on as we went to the home, and we had a handful of prayer
warriors we could have had on their knees as we went. That is a big mistake. When
we arrived, we talked to the young man, and he had little to say, though he wanted
deliverance. His parents boasted they were “Hard Shell Baptists,” which is Primitive
Baptists from the Appalachian area of the country..... hyper Calvinist. We took
the guy out on the porch to talk to him, quoting Scripture and trying to get a
response to see what he understood about Bible truth. He started breathing like
a gorilla and making animal sounds, very ominous. The deacon asked to leave because
he had a heart issue and was having chest pains. So, we walked to the car. All
the way to the car the young man was raging at us, and we were quoting Bible texts
on the Blood of Jesus, but only in self-defense. A friend of his showed up, and
I got the windows up just as he walked up. He roared and raged at us and pounded
on the window.
I later realized we had no warfare prayer, and I felt stupid. Later, the young
man himself called, and he has gotten violent again, and terrified himself. He
pleaded for help. This time, I told him he needed to come to the church house
the next day, and we would help him. I decided that since devils are territorial
in their thinking, we would help the man on our turf and intimidate the superstitious
devils in him. The next day the Lord laid it on the heart of a missionary couple
my parents age to stop by on their way across the desert. The man, Marion Allen,
was a man of intense prayer and zeal for the power of God. As a kid growing up
in Tanzania and Kenya I had heard this man pray, and I recall having the impression
that Marion was laying on his face before God, holding God by the ankles, and
saying, “I will not leave until you cleanse me and empower me.” When they arrived,
totally unannounced, I nearly went to pieces. God had sent me the prayer warrior.
To this, we were able to add my in-laws who had been in devil possession deliverance
sessions many times in Tanzania where my wife was born to missionaries. They also
knew about warfare prayer. And, I had another man in the church who would go to
his knees when I asked for special prayer and not get up until I phoned that the
crisis was over.
The
prayer warriors went to their knees, and the battle was in array.
When Dale walked into the church building the next day, two deacons were with
me. Dale had an arrogant style of walk a lot like a basketball player, rolling
off of his toes and bobbing up and down. That was GONE, and his personality was
clear as bell. There was NO sign of demonic power present. He was already delivered
of the devils. I believe God knew that my deacon did not need the terror again
because of his heart issues, and God simply shipped the devils off before Dale
arrived. Also, I had asked those praying to stand against the devils directly,
and God honored their prayers. I personally felt inadequate to the moment, but
God did not lose any of his power because of my weakness.
So, again, this deliverance did not fit the book forms and rituals the famous
Amos deliverance boys put in their books. One thing I am sure of is that Jesus
did not have knock down drag out sessions with devils. The most he conversed with
devils was with the demoniac of Gaderra. Otherwise, he ran them off at once. Modern
deliverances often go on for hours or days, and I think the devils love it. One
pastor told me that the only way he could communicate with a devil possessed seeker
was by having Michael the Archangel forcibly shake the man’s head yes or no. Bah.
What rubbish. Michael has nothing else to do but shake heads in Michigan? If you
question these deliverance ministers they will accuse you of limiting God and
lack of faith. I think some of THEM are possessed, and the thing is a game, as
with Catholic priests throwing holy water around and waving crucifixes in the
air.
Video
of Exorcist Bob Larson
Watch
how Bob Larson uses a Catholic crucifix as a charm to chase off devils. There
is NO power in physical crosses or crucifixes. They are nothing but charms and
superstitious talismen. If he succeeds in this alleged deliverance, and the devil
leaves the person, that devil will soon be back in the person because he was not
sent away in the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ. Also, notice how Larson uses
a Bible as a club to bash people instead of reading from the Bible. Can you imagine
Jesus wandering around the hills of Galilee with a Torah scroll beating demon
possessed people with it? Bob Larson seems to be possessed of devils himself.
He is nothing but a church house witch doctor.
When
you "knock on wood" or carry some good luck charm in your pocket, God
is not impressed. Here is Ezekiel, under inspiration, telling Israel what God
thinks of their using charms:
Ezekiel
13:18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all
armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will
ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto
you? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and
for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls
alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? 20
Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith
ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms,
and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
The
pillows were some sort of charm the Jews wore to cause their enemy's soul to leave
their body. What a blasphemous notion. The handfuls of barley and pieces of bread
seem to be charm gestures, like knocking on wood, that the Jews believe could
cause people to die or to stay alive.
If
you have charms around your home, God may very well allow devils to inhabit those
charms and torment you. I have heard a number of stories of people who brought
witch doctor's charms back to the USA from Africa or South America, only to find
their home and lives tormented. Only after they burned the charms did they get
peace. When devils see you do this, they assume you believe in the charm. Devils
cannot read your mind, so when you claim you don't believe in the charm, the devils
don't believe you. Devils figure that if you did not believe in it, you would
not have it there. If you speak the charming words, Satan assumes that you believe
they have mystical power.
A Christian
tourist acquired a carving of a witch doctor from the Ukambani tribal area of
Kenya. He brought it home to the USA, and he had it sitting in his living room.
Similar carvings were available in the capital city of Nairobi, but they were
imitations of the original carvings in the tribal area. What this man had found
was a carving of a witch doctor that was actually used to communicate with devils.
The man had no idea what he had. It was the real thing, which was copied by wood
carvers and sold to tourists. The result was that all sorts of manifestations
started happening in his home, and he was totally in a panic over it. Sometimes
in the night, the carving fell over on its own. But, the man did not destroy the
carving. Somehow, a Christian who was savvy in these things saw the witch doctor
carving in the home, and he told the man it was used in Kenya to call up devils
and cause ugly things to happen to other people. The man burned the witch doctor
carving, and it went up in flames with screams. This ended their ordeal.
When
you dabble with Satanic imagery or devices, the devil thinks you are changing
your allegiance from Jesus Christ to him. Why should he think otherwise? You would
do well to walk around your home and ask the Lord to show you anything with a
suspect heritage. If there is any object that is linked to the demonic, good luck,
or spiritual power, you may not feel affected by it, but any devils visiting your
home will believe you are soft on Satanic issues.
Isaiah
40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over
with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he
hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning
workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not
known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye
not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth
upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent
to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges
of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall
not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also
blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away
as stubble. 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the
Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these
things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by
the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. 27
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD,
and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou
not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the
earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth
strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and
they shall walk, and not faint.
It
is especially necessary to get out your old collection of record albums. Anything
by the Beetles has to go. Led Zeppelin is demonic. The safest thing is to burn
all albums that you know have their origin in rebellion and godless messages.
I
suggest that you apply this to books in your library also. Any book that is heretical,
such as the Book of Mormon, in my library, has the skull and crossbones in felt
pen and the word "POISON" on the fly leaf. I keep these books in order
to learn what heretics believe in the event that I have a chance to witness to
them. Some men feel very pious that they have no such books in their home. Fine,
do what you feel you must, but I need to know my enemy before I go to war with
him. For example, you need to know that a Jehovah's Witness will quote the Bible
a lot, but it will ALWAYS be out of context. The way to get one up on the JW is
to get a copy of "Reasoning
from The Scriptures" published my them, either at Goodwill Store or a
used book source online. But, you must mark it as a Satanic book and keep it away
from children. The link above is to ABE Books. Be very sure you get the book that
is published by Watchtower, not recent books on how to witness to JWs. The book
is small, brown, and has a gold text title on the cover.
The
skull and cross bones is on all my books by C.
S. Lewis.
What
should you do with anything that is suspect in your home?
2
Kings 23:24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the
images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of
Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of
the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house
of the LORD.
"Put
away" did not mean to store in a closet. The Hebrew language means to totally
destroy by fire. King Josiah was having a revival, and it was not complete until
all the good luck charms in the nation were burned.
When
I was growing up in Africa, a new convert to Christ was not allowed to be baptized
or become a church member until they had a fetish burning in their village. My
Dad officiated at one of these, and the old woman having a burning dug charms
out of the ground, pulled them out of the grass thatch of the roof, and took them
off of her body. The last charm was a shell on a string hanging around her neck.
In this shell allegedly lived the spirit of her ancestor, and it was part of her
identity. She removed it, and as a deacon from the church smashed it on a rock,
my Dad said the old woman shook violently. Throughout the burning the church leaders
sang hymns of the Blood of Jesus.
So,
do you, dear lady, have a cross hanging around your neck? Why? Do you feel safer
or right with God with that cross there? If so, it is a charm, and Satan knows
it is not there for any other reason.
Do
you have a Bible laying on the coffee table or on a book stand? Do you feel safer
with that Bible laying there? But, most of all, do you read it every day? If it
just lays there, never being read, it is nothing but a good luck charm.
If
you are going to have a Bible laying in your home, at least open it to Psalm 91
so that any devils hanging around know you are trusting in God to protect you,
not just paper and leather.
Psalms
91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress:
my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare
of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with
his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the
arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;
nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at
thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High,
thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague
come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest
thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and
adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because
he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on
high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will
answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
"Steve,
you are so uncharitable....."
This
article may have been a bit rough on someone reading here. Deal with it. Please
also understand that I do not teach Christian truth to amuse you. The truth ought
to make all of us uncomfortable at times so that we conform to the image of Christ
more and more.
For
the record, I got convicted about something as I was writing this article. I have
a highly decorated brass cross from Ethiopia that I bought when we were missionaries
there. It was made for use in the Coptic Orthodox Church. I had it hanging on
the wall in the living room. I reasoned that it had no sacred meaning to me, just
a curio from Ethiopia. The Holy Spirit thought otherwise, and he caused me to
cringe as I hammered you poor peasants in my pious editorial. It is taken down
and replaced with a landscape painting from Kenya. The brass cross will go into
the trash.
When
the preacher never gets uncomfortable about himself while he is preaching, he
is a fraud. Find another preacher. When a preacher gives altar call after altar
call and never gets down there on his knees with you, he is in the ministry for
the cash flow, not for the glory of God. I am talking about YOU, preacher.
Jeremiah
10:21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore
they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
LINKS:
DISCUSSION
OF A TALISMAN AND AMULET This
is a lot of intellectual rubbish, but it becomes clear that spiritual power is
involved, and that power is not from God.
George
Foreman on the Bible as a good luck charm: In George Foreman’s book, God
in My Corner, the former heavyweight boxing champion writes:
“In
1974, before I went to Africa to fight Mohammed Ali, a friend gave me a Bible
to take along on my trip. He said, ‘George, keep this with you for good luck.’
I believed the Bible was just a shepherd’s handbook, probably because the only
verse I knew was ‘the Lord is my shepherd.’ But I was always looking for luck,
so I carried that Bible with me. I had lucky pennies and good luck charms, so
now I added the ‘lucky’ Bible to my collection of superstitious items. After I
lost the fight, I threw the Bible away. I never even opened it. I thought, the
Bible didn’t help me win, so why do I need it? I thought I’d get power simply
from owning it; I didn’t realize that I needed to read it and believe what it
says. Since then, I’ve come to understand that the Bible is my road map, not my
good luck charm.”
GOD
IS NOT YOUR LUCKY CHARM The relationship you have with God through Jesus
Christ is NOT good luck. This may be what you pastor teaches if he is addicted
to the prosperity Gospel gurus. If so, your pastor is a witch doctor, not a Christian
pastor.
The
word "charms," chosen by the hymn writer, was a poor choice.
The
hymn was written by Thomas Kelly in 1808. The best dictionary to fit the hymn
from Kelly's era is Webster's Dictionary of 1828. Here is Webster on "charm"
based in the usage of that era.
CHARM,
verb transitive
1.
To subdue or control by incantation or secret influence. I will send serpents
among you - which will not be charmed. Jeremiah 8:17. 2. To subdue by secret
power, especially by that which pleases and delights the mind; to allay, or appease.
Music the fiercest grief can charm 3. To give exquisite pleasure to the mind
or senses; to delight. We were charmed with the conversation. The aerial songster
charms us with her melodious notes. 4. To fortify with charms against evil.
I have a charmed life, which must not yield. 5. To make powerful by charms.
6. To summon by incantation. 7. To temper agreeably.
From
the majority of Webster's definitions, we can see that Thomas Kelly had to know
that the contemporary word "charm" was associated largely with the occult
and witchcraft. He used the word in a tongue in cheek way to imply that Jesus
was a charmer, not just a Savior. If you believe Jesus is your witch doctor, keep
singing the hymn. If not, find another word to replace the word "charms"
(EG Moves, Guides, Saves, etc), or just stop singing the hymn. Does your Bible
decide what hymns you sing, or is your hymn book considered to be as infallible
as the Bible?
Four
Bible texts use the word "charm," and the use in every text is Satanic,
not the work of Jesus or God.
Deuteronomy
18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou
shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall
not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through
the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter,
or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard,
or a necromancer.
Psalms
58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be
born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they
are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5 Which will not hearken to
the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
Isaiah
19:3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy
the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and
to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
Jeremiah
8:17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not
be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
SEND
MAIL I edited this article over and over to try to make
it clear what is happening. So, if you have questions, or need clarification of
something, please send mail. I will answer it the best I can.
The
Bible. So, you are King James Version only..... great. But, do you insist that
the actual words of Jesus be in red? Why? Does the red ink make Jesus more than
he is made to be in the Gospel account? What you are doing is what superstitious
scribes in the ancient Orthodox Church did when they used red ink for the names
of God and Mary. This is another fetish trick. The red ink implies that the black
ink texts are inferior, and YOU KNOW that some of the members of you church think
that.
The
most powerful fetishes in the Reformed Churches are their confessions. Each one
has a confession better than the others, of course. This confession is the absolute
authority in all matters of faith and practice, and they NEVER change it, no matter
what false teaching it may have. This confession is just as authoritative as the
Bible, not officially, but most certainly in actual practice. When you join a
local Reformed church, you must swear allegiance to their confession and covenant,
or you will be rejected. These confessions are nothing but talismans to keep the
Church safe before God. Their covenants are just as wicked. They are a legal document
which you swear to which is the basis for later excommunicating you if you wander
too far off the narrow way. The fools see no contradiction with the Covenant Jesus
died on the Cross to validate on Calvary. What blasphemy.