We
will review all the rabbit foot superstitions of world religions, and then we
will look into your religion and mine to see what superstitions we also have.
Superstition
Defined:
A
belief, not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, that future events
may be influenced by one's behavior in some magical or mystical way.
Good
luck charms are ancient and universal to humanity. While Americans carry a rabbit
foot, Africans wear a piece of sea shell in which resides the spirit of their
ancestor. Finding a four leafed clover is said to bring good luck. The Chinese
are soaked in luck, even in the after dinner cookie. Catholics make crosses of
the palm branches from Palm Sunday (above photo) and carry these crosses for good
luck.
Some
people "knock on wood" to protect themselves from the consequences of
something they just said. This is thought to come from the Germans who believed
gods lived in trees, and knocking on wood invoked the protection or mercy of the
gods.
The
whole concept of good luck is based in the human tendency to distrust the powers
that be, whether they are family, society, government, God, or even one's self.
Thus, people want some fetish, or spoken magic word, which will give them good
fortune.
Good
luck can be in the form of a charm or talisman, or it can be in a gesture, like
that of Steven Colbert at the right crossing his fingers, or it can be spoken,
such as "Gesundheit" in response to a sneeze. This is said by Germans
who long ago believed you could sneeze your spirit out, so the word spoken prevented
your spirit from leaving. The origin of the neck tie is in France where it was
believed that it would frighten off evil spirits.
Bad
luck is also an issue, and it fits this study. It is bad luck to walk under a
ladder. This is not an issue of luck but of common sense. Ladders can fall on
you. Breaking a mirror can bring seven years of bad luck. A black cat crossing
one's path will bring bad luck. Opening an umbrella inside the home brings bad
luck. In Africa, if an owl lands on the roof of a home, the people may move out
or even burn down the house. In other cultures, owls are good luck. Ironically,
owls are very good neighbors. They eat rats and mice and snakes.
I
find in my own life that I have a few charms and fetishes. They are not evil,
but they can ruin my day if they are not there. If I lose my comb, it destroys
my peace of mind every time I put my hand into my pocket. The dumb thing costs
ten cents, and I have a drawer full of combs at home. And, I cannot tolerate a
comb that is any other color than black. Sissies and feminazis carry colored combs.
My wife offers me her spare comb, and it is pink. Ugh. So, to lose the comb in
my pocket seems like the ultimate in irresponsibility. Am I being a bit supestitious?
Even
worse, is if I lose my pocket knife. My Dad gave my my first pocket knife when
I was a kid, and he expected me to have it on meall the time. If I lose it, I
wander around the house bumping into walls, desperate to get it back. And again,
I have other knives ready to take its place, but the lost one is the only one
that really counts.
When
we traveled to Australia I was told that pocket knives are identified with criminals,
and an American coming through customs with a pocket knife may be on his way to
kill the Prime Minister. Never mind that their law allows them to carry knives
if the blade is five inches long or less. I was admonished not to bring it. So,
while in Australia, I felt nearly naked without my knife. No real man in Texas
would go forth without a pocket knife. So are my comb and knife fetishes? Perhaps.
I need to decide if I can live a happy life without them.
Then
there is one all you do-it-youselfers will understand. You are working on some
machine, and you open your tool box, and the half inch socket for your 3/8s drive
is not there. Panic in Jerusalem! Where is it? I know, my son borrowed it, and
did not return it. Or, did I leave it in the garden shed when I was fixing something?
That sort of thing can ruin my day. Are my tools for repairing things, or are
they fetishes that tell me my life is all in order and copasetic?
If
you asked me if I believe in back luck and good luck, I would tell you that I
do not and quote a Bible verse to prove it. But, if you hang around me long enough,
you will probably be able to fault me in some way about letting things define
the moment. And, I am willing to bet good money I could catch you at it too.
A
Bible believer cannot claim he trusts in Christ in all things and still observe
any of these good luck or bad luck notions. If you find a bargain on the thirteenth
floor of a condominium, grab it. I have heard of Christians refusing to accept
mail box number 666 because it might associate them with the Mark of the Beast
in the End Times. The number 666 is not intrinsically evil in and of itself. If
you get a license plate with 666 on it, put it on your car. You will get all kinds
of comments, and you can turn those comments to the Gospel.
Romans
8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.
With
a promise like that, you have NO business trying to improve the results of living
this life by adding fetishes or observing superstitious actions. Good luck charms
and fetishes are used by people who dread the future. Dread and fear of the future
is increasing exponentially as YouTube is used by various self-proclaimed experts
on the future. So, you will find more and more of your associates trying to charm
their future into the background.
The
opposite of good luck devices or words would be hexes which cause people trouble.
They are devised by one's enemies. They also come with special words or fetishes,
but we will not deal with that here. Go to my WITCHCRAFT
section fo that.
HISTORY
OF THE RABBIT FOOT FETISH
The
belief in North American folklore may originate in the system of African American
folk magic known as "Voodoo". A number of strictures attached to the rabbit foot
charm are:
First,
not any foot from a rabbit will do: it is the left hind foot of a rabbit that
is useful as a charm.
Second,
not any left hind foot of a rabbit will do; the rabbit must have been shot or
otherwise captured in a cemetery.
Third,
at least according to some sources, not any left hind foot of a rabbit shot in
a cemetery will do: the phase of the moon is also important. Some authorities
say that the rabbit must be taken in the full moon, while others hold instead
that the rabbit must be taken in the new moon. Some sources say instead that the
rabbit must be taken on a Friday, or a rainy Friday, or Friday the 13th. Some
sources say that the rabbit should be shot with a silver bullet, while others
say that the foot must be cut off while the rabbit is still alive.
So,
what we have here is a mixture of common superstition and witchcraft. The lesson
is clear- having charms or talismen in our lives is blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit. It also shows that we are willing to get some help from the spirit world
of which Satan is the ruler.
Isaiah
30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk
ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Psalms
75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the
south. 7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
You
cannot improve on God's plan for your life. He will do with you just exactly as
he pleases. If you do not like his plan for your life, talk to him about it.
We
will now look at religions, cults, and even Fundamentalists who have fetishes
and good luck charms in their churches and lives.
RELIGIONS,
CULTS, AND ISMS THAT HAVE RABBIT FOOT PRINCIPLES
Roman
Catholics - - -The
story of Saint Christopher is very revealing as to Catholic gullibility. Old Chris
became a convert to Christianity. He was over seven feet tall. He asked a monk
what he could do to serve Christ. The monk told him to fast and pray. Chris loved
his biscuits and gravy every morning, so he asked for an alternative assignment.
The monk told Chris that because he was a tall and massive dude, he should help
people cross a nearby river where many people drowned trying to cross.
Well,
that fit Chris's persona well, and he started carrying people across the river.
A child asked to be carried across, and Chris did so. But, the child got enormously
heavy part way across, and Chris nearly lost control. He asked the child why he
was so heavy. The child replied: "You had on your shoulders not only the whole
world but Him who made it. I am (TA DA, ye gullible ones) Christ your king, whom
you are serving by this work." The child then vanished.
Well,
the Pope thought this story would fit well with the Medieval superstitious people
of the era, and St. Christopher was declared a saint to whom travelers could pray.
This caught on, and by 1950 every other car in America had a St. Christopher image
dangling from the rear view mirror or glued to the dash board.
When
Pope Paul VI revised the Roman Missal in 1969, nearly every day of the calendar
celebrated a feast day of a saint. Mindful of this saintly saturation, he decided
to remove some of the lesser saints from the calendar, as well as eliminate feasts
that did not have enough historical credibility. St. Christopher’s feast day (July
25th) was one of these causalities.
So,
Chris is no longer up there in top place, and Catholics no longer use his image
much because of his demotion. It is hard to be a saint in the Roman Church and
avoid being iced by some meddling Pope.Catholics
have many other good luck and superstitious talisman and relics they cling to.
Perhaps the most powerful are the candles. There is the presence light over the
altar that is never allowed to go out. Then, a Catholic can buy a candle and light
in the church house to gain some good luck in Heaven. There are also candles to
light at home and in grottoes along the roadside. I saw many such grottoes in
Arizona, and I left Gospel tracts for Catholics there. Catholics also purchase
statues of Mary, Jesus, and the saints and place them in their gardens and homes
in the hope that God will approve and bless their home. This is all pure superstition
and is absolutely not found in the early church as described in the New Testament
of the Bible.
I
had a piano tuning customer who was Italian and had a business in Nogales, Arizona.
He told me one day that he used to have no faith or religion. His wife was Catholic,
but he had told her that religion required too much faith to believe in. His wife
convinced him to visit a holy Catholic shrine in Argentina dedicated to "Our
Lady of the Roses." While praying at that shrine he absolutely swore that
he smelled the roses, which was what the shrine was famous for. This alleged miracle
convinced him to become a Catholic, and he was very zealous when I knew him. This
means that his whole faith was based, not in the works of Jesus Christ for sinners,
but in the sniff of roses he got in Argentina. Very likely, some priest dumped
a bottle of rose perfume upwind of the shrine every morning.
One
of the most aggravating issues for Martin Luther was the statues and superstition
in the Roman Church. Even today, Lutheran churches will often make a big point
of having nothing in their church which hints of superstition in religion. My
friend, "Father" Ruiz hated to see his Catholic church members praying
before statues. He felt it was pure superstition. He also removed the huge crucifix
hanging from the ceiling over the altar and replaced it with an empty cross. Some
Catholic priests see the false religion in their superstitions and hate it, but
they fear rocking the boat, so they just groan and refrain from doing something
about it.
There
is a warning here to Baptist pastors, and other Bible believing pastors, to determine
if there is a reverence, by the members, for ANYTHING hanging around their church
house. Where they find the spirit of superstition in the people, faithful pastors
will remove or change these things. That huge map with all the missionaries on
it in the foyer..... does it make you feel like a really zealous church? Could
you live without it? If not, it is a talisman and a fetish, nothing more, and
it also probably fills you with pride to think of the great number of missionaries
you support for $20 a month. Bah. I have heard many stories of missionaries that
travel among such churches who actually live in North Carolina instead of Mexico,
and they have their mail forwarded to them from Guadalajara. If Jesus had not
forbid me to say, "Thou fool," I would be tempted, pastor. So instead,
I will say, "Thou sucker."
Jains-
- -This religion
is derived from Hinduism, and their highest spiritual requirement is non-violence.
If you are a mugger in India, your favorite target will be a Jain. He will not
fight back under any circumstances. Jains also carry a wooden bowl which they
use to beg. Rather than work, they expect other people to support them. Sounds
a lot like Benny Hinn and Joel Osteen with an Eastern touch. Jains also carry
around a small broom with which to sweep bugs off the path so that they will not
ever take the life of a bug. The bowl and little broom become fetishes by which
these pathetic people identify themselves.
So,
don't laugh too soon. What religious things do you carry around to help you feel
close to God? If you forget your Bible when you go somewhere, do you feel less
safe, or do you imagine you lost some points with God? Hmmmm
Maybe
you are a Baptist Jain after all.
Sikhs-
- -A Sikh, according
to Article I of the Sikh Rehat Maryada (the Sikh code of conduct), is "any human
being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak
to Guru Gobind Singh; Guru Granth Sahib; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the
baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru".
What
do you think about that..... Sikh Baptists? Well, to be one you must add to the
Bible the Japji, which is the sayings of Guru Nanak. Sikhs are very open minded
to the teachings of Jesus and imagine he is simply another guru worthy of consideration.
Thus, until a Sikh abandons the five Ks below, including removing the turban,
he cannot be considered truly born again.
So,
Sikhs have a real problem. But further, you must observe five objects or customs
on or about you when you go forth into the world. You must observe the five Ks:
Kesh:
Uncut hair, usually tied or woven upward and wrapped in a Dastar or turban on
top of the head Kanga: A wooden comb, usually worn under a Dastar Kachera:
Cotton undergarments, historically appropriate in battle due to increased mobility
when compared to a dhoti. Worn by both sexes, the kachera is a symbol of chastity.
Kara: An iron bracelet, a weapon and a symbol of eternity Kirpan: An iron
dagger in different sizes. In the UK Sikhs can wear a small dagger, but in the
Punjab they might wear a traditional curved sword from one to three feet in length.
Sikhism
is actually a kin to Islam in that it is the only monotheistic religion in India.
Witnessing the Gospel to a Sikh is easier than to a Hindu because they do not
believe in reincarnation. Guru Nanak went to Mecca because he was told he would
find god there. He ended up offending the Muslims by sleeping with his feet pointing
to the stone Kaaba. He told the Muslims to lift up his body and arrange him so
he was pleasing to Allah. When the Muslims did this, the Kaaba moved around and
stayed south of Nanak's feet. This proved to him that his religion was superior
to Islam, and he promptly went home to India.
The
striking look of a hefty Sikh man (they tend to all be stout looking), especially
in the military, is that of a noble looking man. But, that turban and beard, along
with the other three Ks, are fetishes which make him right with the gods. Because
Guru Nanak was a peace loving religious leader and a monotheist, the Sikhs are
the people of India with the best ethics. They are much to be desired as employees
over the Hindus and Muslims. They are also, for some reason, much brighter at
taking instructions and inventing ways of work performance on their own. But,
they are hard to win to Christ because they are happy to have Jesus as another
guru, not as God the exclusive Savior.
Hindus-
- -A Hindu cannot
worship any of his gods unless a lingham is present at his worship center. The
picture of a god is there, and the incense, but the lingham, that is a must. And,
what is the lingham? It is the penis of Shiva. The story of how Shiva got his
penis cut off is typical Hindu porn, which is what all their gods are about. Shiva
was hustling the wives of several other gods long ago, and those gods came home
and caught him. So, they cut off his penis as punishment. That sure is one solution
to adultery, but what a wretched story of this Hindu god's history. Why they need
this fetish in their worship is beyond me. I suspect fertility is involved, as
is common in many fetish based religions.
Hindus,
like Roman Catholics, also have magic prayer fire. They buy candles or incense
and light them in their homes. The odor of the incense gives them security. It
is a classic religious fetish.
You
may imagine that this lingham fetish of Hinduism has virtually nothing to do with
you. If you are a Lutheran, you are wrong. In about 1998 Pope John Paul II sent
an order to all Catholic priests and orders in India. They were told that, in
the spirit of ecumenism, they were to add various Hindu symbols to the Mass, including
placing a lingham on the altar during the Mass. All the Catholic orders in India
obeyed and did this. Thus, the penis of Shiva was added to the altars of the Catholic
Church in India.
Now,
you Lutherans, and other dim bulb denominations, who have recently joined in ecumenical
union with the Roman Catholic Church, are participating with the Whore of Rome
in exalting phallic worship with Christianity. This is the stupidity of ecumenism.
You Lutherans have totally filthied yourselves, and you are blasphemers of Christ.
If you do not leave the Lutheran Church, we must assume you were never born again,
and you will burn in Hell for your slap in the face of Jesus Christ.
For
the record, I learned of this blasphemy of Pope John Paul II in India from a priest
in a missionary order which ran several orphanages in India. His order refused
to put any Hindu imagery into the Mass, the Pope John Paul II excommunicated his
whole order lock stock and barrel. Then the slimy Pope asked the order to keep
running the orphanages because he had no one else to do it. This is the kind of
chicken excrement we have from the Popes of Rome.
Buddhists-
- -Buddhists
have their talisman rabbit foot religious trinkets. They will always have a fat
Buddha sitting in the room. They also use their prayer wheels. Some are a hand
held device with a drum and a weight that they use to make the drum spin round
and round. Each time the drum spins a prayer goes up to Heaven. Who is listening
in Heaven is a mystery because Buddhists do not believe there is a god over all
things. Buddhists will also spin prayer wheels like the ones in the photo with
the same hope of sending prayers spinning into Nirvana. Buddhists have many more
fetishes in their religion, but this gives us enough to see that they are mere
pagans. There is nothing sophisticated about Buddhism, as some Anglo Saxon converts
will tell you.
Mormons-
- -Mormons have
a number of rabbit foot fetishes. They are required to wear a particular Mormon
made type of underwear, especially when being baptized and married. Darrel and
Sandra Tanner, who left the Mormon Church in the 1960s, have exposed many Mormon
superstitions. They tell of the temple ritual before baptism and marriage in which
the Mormon leading men wash down the bodies of the male candidate. Special attention
is given to washing the private parts of the man, the bishops taking special pleasure
in rubbing the man's penis and testicles. The women washing down a candidate for
baptism take the same sensual pleasure in washing the woman's private parts. Mormonism
was founded in the sexual lust of Joseph Smith resulting in polygamy, and in modern
times, in sexual perversion.
Mormons
also have a fetish relationship with their two year supply of emergency food.
Preparedness is not a bad idea, and Mormons are very vain, and show obvious spiritual
security, in their dehydrated food, beans, and wheat. I have seen bags of corn
and wheat lining the halls of Mormon homes where I have visited.
The
obvious use of magic in the origins of Mormonism are seen in the tale of Joseph
Smith wandering into the woods in up state New York and finding a set of golden
plates. The Angel Moroni gave him some magic spectacles, and Smith was able to
read the plates and deliver the message of Mormonism to his followers. Some might
argue that his search for “magic” never ended, that the “golden plates” which
he translated by use of seer stones in a hat were an extension of the same search.
Joseph Smith also admitted that he searched for gold by using magic. Much of Mormon
ritual is derived from Freemasonry which is loaded with fetishes of all sorts.
Mormons
believe in magic objects that belong to their spiritual patriarchs. Here is one
story:
The
account can be found in the 1848 Millennial Star, which published a letter
from John Albiston, a native Mormon elder in England, recounting many miraculous
healings. Among them were several healings elicited by the use of his cane: "While
I was looking about me one day, I left my stick at the brothers in Old Swinford;
the brother and father-in-law worked together as nailors, and the young man had
a deep cut in his hand, caused by a piece of iron with which he had been at work.
He went to my stick and rubbed his hand against it, and the wound immediately
closed. Both father-in-law and mother-in-law were witnesses to this healing. The
old man and woman had each wounds; they took the stick and rubbed, and were healed,—so
there were three healed in that house, one after another."
Another
fetish I have seen in many Mormon homes is a picture of a Mormon temple. The preferred
temple, of course, is the one in Salt Lake City, Utah, but there are several other
temples now around the world. Mormons will go to the temple to visit, but only
after being interviewed to make sure they are right with God. They will then get
their photograph taken standing in front of the temple and hang that on the wall
of their home. This is very much like Muslims who have made the Hajj (pilgrimage
to Mecca). Muslims will change the entrance to their home and shop to an archway,
thus signifying they are a Haji Muslim. The Mormon photos of temples in their
home are the same sort of superstitious fetish.
So,
you can see that Mormons have fetishes all throughout their religion.
Islam-
- -Muslims are
terrified of dying outside the Middle East. They believe they lose some points
with Allah if they are buried in a foreign land. They will even save their fingernail
clippings and carry them back to toss on the ground back in the Middle East. That
is superstition at its worst. Beads, birds feathers, rams' horns and other objects
are believed to be able to drive away evil spirits, summon good spirits and protect
their owners from various troubles and misfortunes. These charms may be in the
form of an eye, heart, snake head, small shells or scarab beetles.
Muslims
also carry a talisman with them in many parts of the Islamic world. See talisman
at the right. These fetishes are containers with a slip of paper with a chapter
of the Koran on it. They carry this for protection and good luck.
Muslims
are terrified of the Evil Eye. If someone complements their baby and says it is
very lovely, they will object and say their baby is ugly. This is because they
believe devils will kill the baby or possess it because they hear that it is a
good looking baby. Many Muslims wear charms to fend off the Evil Eye. Evil eye
amulets are not just worn by superstitious villagers. A Turkish geologist told
Associated Press, her evil eye key chain absorbed evil powers and projected her
from the envy of a friend who had “jealously” praised her beauty. Evil eye amulets
are not just worn by superstitious villagers. They are also worn by doctors, engineers
and scientists. A Turkish geologist told AP, her evil eye key chain absorbed evil
powers and projected her from the envy of a friend who had “jealously” and praised
her beauty.
Also,
in parts of the Islamic world there is the practice of "cutting the Koran."
A Koran is printed with markings in the margin on nearly every page. These markings
are like tarot cards to other cultures. The Muslim will go to an Imam who has
one of these Korans, and the Imam will let the Koran drop open at random. He will
then tell the Muslim seeker his fortune using the markings in the margin. This
has absolutely nothing to do with the meaning of the text on the pages that open.
It is pure witchcraft.
Mohammed
himself was very superstitious. He actually gave instruction, which he claimed
was from Allah, on how many stones to use to wipe your bottom. Using the wrong
number would bring the wrath of Allah. He told his followers that the devil slept
in their nose when they were asleep at night, and he told them to blow their nose
at once when they woke up in the morning. Mohammed believed he had his own personal
devil which possessed him at times named Dajjal. He did all sorts of rituals to
fend off Dajjal.
In
Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World, Marika Sardar wrote:
“Because of the popularity of astrology in the medieval period, it became common
to decorate objects with personifications of the planets and the Zodiac constellations.
This reflected the belief that objects with astrological decoration had talismanic
powers—that is, they were capable of influencing the occult power of the planets
and stars, and thus protected the owner from sickness, bad luck, or defeat. Source:
Sardar, Marika. Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World.
“Many
other religious narratives also carry talismanic powers. The story of the miracle
of the seven sleepers of Ephesus (ashab al-kahf, or "people of the cave") (35.64.3;
2003.241), which is the subject of a chapter in the Qur'an (Surat al-Kahf), has
particular powers for many Muslims. The act of reciting the story of the seven
Christian men and their dog Qitmir who, fleeing persecution by the emperor Decius
(r. 249–51 A.D.), found a cave and slept for several hundred years, protects the
reader from harm, just as the seven sleepers and their dog were protected all
those years."
All
over Asia and Africa, tribes who converted to Islam, even hundreds of years ago,
combined their old superstitions with Islam and make pagan hybrids which are powerfully
binding. The leaders of Islam make no effort to stop this pagan mixture. One is
reminded of the Jesuits in Haiti who encouraged the Haitians to mix Voodoo and
Makumba cults with Mary and Saint worship.
Seventh
Day Adventists - - -Do
you get a holy rush out of eating a weenie made of soy and bean sprouts? Witness
the Veja-Links wieners at the right. Do you have cans of Swiss steak in your cupboard
which is made of carrots and plant protein? If you do, you must be a Seventh Day
Adventist. Oh say, but aren't you holy. And nary a drop of coffee has touched
your lips since you joined the cult of Ellen G White. And, of course, you do not
meet to worship on Sunday. That is the Mark of the Beast according to your plagiarizing
prophetess who added her writings to the Bible in violation of Revelation 22:18-19.
These
are all your fetishes which are nothing but good luck charms that set you apart
from defective Christians. And, your preachers make this abundantly clear in their
preaching. Your legal system is just as wicked as the legal system the Pharisees
of Jesus' day used to subject the Jewish people to their cult of law. And, what
is the result? Jesus told you in his words to the Pharisees:
Mark
7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites,
as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is
far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the
tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things
ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God,
that ye may keep your own tradition.
Mark
7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have
delivered: and many such like things do ye.
You
are not more holy than other Christians by keeping your SDA laws. You are a wretched
offense to other Christians. By your legal system you have driven thousands of
Christians away from you because they see right through you and avoid you. So,
you lose their fellowship. In the 1970s The SDA denomination tried to deal with
the fact that other Christians on the narrow way avoided them. In a convention
discussion period, an old patriarch of the SDA denomination stood and admonished
the people that the only way the SDA would ever be accepted into fellowship by
other Bible believers would be if they stopped giving Ellen G White's writing
the same authority as the Bible. And, what was the response? The SDA leadership
excommunicated the old brother.
If
your legal fetish laws are essential to your being right with God and going to
Heaven, you are lost and on your way to Hell. There is only one way anyone is
made right with God.
Romans
10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:
that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Any
fetish rule you add to the above standard for salvation is a fetish law that damns
you to Hell. What will you do with your fetish laws?
Hebrews
9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not
yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9 Which
was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices,
that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances,
imposed on them until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ being come an
high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
So,
eat your soy fetish weenies. Piously reject the rest of the Christian fellowship
of believers for meeting on Sunday. In Hell you will not have us for fellowship
when you need us the most.
Reformed
churches - - -The
fetishes of the Reformed Churches are the Westminster Confession, the Heidelburg
Confession, the Belgique Confession, and the London Baptist Confession of 1689.
The last one is of the Reformed Baptists. These confessions are fetishes which
Reformed people hold dear to their heart because they each define a different
branch of the Reformed Movement and prove that each one is superior to the other.
They all also cling to Calvin's Institutes, a three volume set of legal documents
compiled by a loser lawyer defining what God can and cannot do without the permission
from the Reformed Church. I have met Reformed people who could quote Calvin verbatim,
but they did not know three Bible texts they could quote.
If
you are a Reformed Christian I need to tell you that you are an ignorant fool
for founding your faith on the Confession of your church. The faith once delivered
is founded in Jesus Christ and the Word of God PLUS NOTHING. The day you add a
man-made document of essential documents to define your faith, that is the day
you will start on the way to Hell, not Heaven.
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.
For
adding your Confession as a binding document to define your faith, you will receive
all the plagues of the prophecy of the Revelation to John. You have the wrong
John, my friend. You have a fetish as damning as the golden calf of Sinai or the
wooden voodoo doll of a Haitian witch doctor in Port au Prince.
Amish
and Mennonites- - - Living
under law is not the way of the Bible believer today. But, some believers (?)
refuse to abandon legal Christianity. Are you one of them? The photo shows the
results of trying to live in the horse and buggy in law keeping in modern time
as a law to allegedly please God and become holy.
Three
kids were killed, and six were badly injured when the buggy was hit by a truck
in Sheridan, Michigan. The Amish have been stuck in the 1500s as to dress standards
and as to machinery. They will not use modern mechanical farm equipment, and their
homes a intentionally kept looking like clap board houses. All this is determined
by their leaders to make them right with God. Well, those three kids would still
be here if the father had bought a Ford.
There
are consequences to making a fetish of law in the church. The Amish also put hex
symbols on their barns to ward off evil spirits. This is a total reversal of their
laws of living holy. By posting those hexes, they are denying their God can protect
them. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, Mark
7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have
delivered: and many such like things do ye.
The
Mennonites have their heritage as the Amish in the same Anabaptist leaders of
the 1500s. The Mennonites, the Old Order ones, require bonnets on their women
at all times. This is because they are applying the rule by the Apostle Paul that
women have their head covered. The problem is, they do not read ALL Paul had to
say about how women have their head covered.
1
Corinthians 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her
hair is given her for a covering.
All
Amish and Mennonite women let their hair grow long. So, they have the same covering
attached from the day Eve was created. But, they prefer their bonnet. It is a
fetish which makes them feel more holy than women in other Christian denominations.
So,
you Baptists are chuckling at these superstitions and fetish laws, right? Tell
me, do you feel more holy Sunday morning in a three piece suit? Do all the men
in your church have to wear a coat and tie to be right with God? Bah. You are
no different with your fetish holy rags. What about your dress code? Do you make
a fetish of pants never touching the legs of your wife of daughters? I have heard
you preachers brag that way myself. Your Baptist Standards are nothing but a Pharisaical
legal system just like the Amish have.
All
heresies, and all world religions beside Christianity, are prone to superstition,
and superstition leads to the use of fetishes and talisman good luck charms. The
heathen in Africa were totally steeped in this world of magic, but we have seen
that the most advanced and allegedly civilized religions and cults also have their
lust for magic. The terrifying thing is that many mainline Christians are deep
into superstition, and I have found superstition in the ways of Fundamental Bible
believers also. We now move on to, "let a man examine himself....."
CHARISMATIC
RABBIT FOOT RELIGION
I
went bowling with some young adults from our church and another nearby church.
Afterward, we went to Bob's Restaurant for snacks. People were ordering gooy desserts
and ice cream floats. I had ordered a malt. One young lady, before we ordered,
asked me a question. She was from a Charismatic church which had a lot of the
unusually superstitious notions about the power of God. She said, "Pastor,
some friends and I were eating out, and we ordered rich desserts. One of the girls
prayed for us, and she said, 'We bind the calories in these desserts in the name
of Jesus.' Is it possible to bind the calories in food pastor?"
I
quoted her the verse, James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. I suggested that asking
God to bind calories in a dessert, when we know what the right thing to do is,
sounds like playing a trick on God when we know what we should have done in the
first place. She agreed. I then asked another young man from a Charismatic church
to pray for the food. He took the Bible literally and said, "Lord we thank
you for these rich gooey desserts and all the good calories in them." The
girl also took the Bible literally. She ordered a plate of carrots and vegetables.
She was trying to lose weight.
Another
superstition among Charismatics is the prayer circle where they believe they gain
more power from God by joining hands when they pray. There is no such teaching
in the Bible. Stop it. MORE ON CIRCLES IN CHURCH
The
next thing to deal with is all the laying on of hands. Some of this is done laying
hands on the head and praying. Other times, the hands are on other parts of the
body, and I have heard some tales of some very sensual tricks being done under
color of laying on of hands. The Bible does mention laying on of hands when Paul
and Barnabas were sent out to preach, but much of what we see today in this custom
is pure superstition. The one laying hands on is often seen as having some extra
reservoir of power up his sleeve which he can administer by his hands. That is
a lot of superstition.
The
worst superstition I have seen in Charismatic churches and ministries is in the
distribution, often for a large donation, of prayer clothes, anointing oil, shofars,
and lucky charms of various sorts. This is pure witchcraft in the church. There
is no such thing in the Bible. One exception was the Apostle Paul's work apron
when he was mending tents. People would take it and pray for the sick, and they
were healed. This was during the era of the Apostles when special miracles were
happening. We now have only the Gospel to administer power to people, along with
prayer in the Holy Spirit.
James
5:14 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
IS BISHOP EDDIE LONG MAKING ANOINTING OIL- Please notice that he is using
the Old Testament recipe of the law of Moses for the Jews. This old dispensation
of legal requirements was null and void as Jesus died and rose from the grave.
Any oil used in the New Testament was not from the recipe of Moses because it
was a sin punishable by death for anyone to make this oil other than the High
Priests. Eddie Long is not a High Priest. He is a fake preacher playing tricks.
His verbose applications have NO basis from the Bible. It is all from his imagination
and is a lot of Voodoo and Hoodoo.
Also,
Charismatic Christians are taught to use magic words to gain power and coerce
God into blessing them. This is often called "Name it and Claim it".
They learn to speak magic words, and they believe God has to jump and perform
for them like a circus animal. Another verbal blasphemy in Charismania is the
use of the magic name Shakhina for the Glory of God or the power of the Holy Spirit.
Shakhina was a pagan deity in ancient Sumer before the days of Moses. Shakhina
is not a word found in the Hebrew Bible. LEARN MORE ABOUT
THIS BLASPHEMY HERE.
Charismatic
Christians need to stop this folly of seeking after physical extensions of the
power of God. You also need to stop claiming everything used in your church, or
by you, is "anointed." The guitar is anointed, the microphone is anointed,
the pie is anointed, and the cat is anointed. This makes mockery of the Holy Ghost
who gives his power only to certain people to speak, or sing, or behave in a godly
way. What comes forth under the genuine power of the Holy Ghost is what is anointed,
not the sound system and the Fender Amplifier. All the claims of anointing seem
to me to be someone's way of giving legitimacy to something that just happened
which was highly suspect. There is also the haunting flavor of magic in all this
"anointing." This superstitious anointing in Charismania is exactly
what the witch doctors do in Africa when they dedicate some trinket or object
to Satan.
Are
you living in the power of God, or are you tossing the chicken bones? Is your
church being driven into African style divination?
Black
American churches- - -In
Africa, especially about one hundred years ago, the mentally ill were thought
to have special spiritual powers and contact with the spirit world. They were
pampered and used in devil worship. Here
is a mentally ill woman preaching in the Church of God in Christ, a Charismatic
denomination in the Black community. This is the making of an insane person into
a fetish used to get in contact with God. Notice the sale of a prayer shawl to
her followers. This is pure fetishism, and it is in the model of Africa. Much
of the retrogression in African American churches seems to take them back to African
paganism. WITNESS THIS HARLEM SHAKE DEVIL
DANCE IN A BLACK CHURCH
Into
the modern backslidden Black churches creeps Voodoo from Haiti and other African
pagan rituals. Many such Black Christians have fetishes in their homes that they
believe give them power over evil or power to influence other people. All the
wailing and shouting and stomping feet in White and Black Charismatic churches
is a fetish. It is full of affect and a competitive spirit to see who can produce
the biggest show of frenzy. This fetish is known as "the anointing".
It is not the Holy Spirit who is doing the anointing..... it is the flesh or the
devil.
FUNDAMENTAL
BIBLE CHURCH AND BAPTIST RABBIT FOOT RELIGION
Icons
at the church house: Do your have a cross hanging up at the front of you
church house meeting area above the pulpit? Why? Does that cross make your building
into a holy temple? Let me remind you please that the holy temple of the Church
Age is the believer in Christ, not your real estate. And, while the cross of Christ
was exalted in the teaching of the New Testament, the Apostles never said a word,
nor showed by their actions, that physical crosses of images were to be added
to the Church's persons or places of fellowship.
You
see full well what the physical fetishizing of the cross and certain saints does
to bury the Roman Catholic Church under a mountain of superstition and ritualism.
Why are you still carting crosses around like the Pope of Rome? If your life and
words will not establish your testimony to the world to show Christ in you, then
no fetishes you wear, carry, or plant on the walls will do the work of soul winning.
If
you took the cross down from inside your church house, and if your people, AND
YOU, felt less holy and less worthy to worship God, you are a superstitious Baptist
witch doctor not much different from the "father" down the street at
Our Lady of the Immaculate Consumption.
Patriotism
and Politics: Also, why do you put the American flag up on the platform,
and the crusader flag of the Roman Whore also? Are you hoping to win the approval
of sinners if you mix patriotism with the Gospel? What would you have thought,
during the era of the Soviet Union, if the Fundamental Baptists of Russia had
been waving the Communist flag in their services? That American flag is a fetish
you use to give the impression that Jesus Christ and his Gospel are best presented
with a large dose of patriotism. The day may come soon when you will be forced
to choose between American patriotism and Jesus Christ. What will you do with
your fetish flag then?
I
also need to ask you if your faith is in Jesus Christ or Donald Trump. Oh, you
say, "God made sure Trump was elected in order to rescue America and the
US Constitution." Really, you did not know that God raised Trump to the Presidency.....
are you that much of a biblical illiterate? Here is who elects all Presidents,
kings, tyrants, and dictators:
Daniel
2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth
up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
What
some of you Fundamental Baptists need is a small dose of Calvinism right about
now.
God
WANTED President Barak Obama to be President, and he WANTED Donald Trump to be
President. He will depose Trump the day God is done with him. I believe the reason
God lifted up Trump to rule America was to see if American Christians could still
tell that he, God, is in control.
So,
has Trump become you good luck charm? Are you depending on Trump to save America
and bring you into green pastures? You fool. This day thy soul shall be required
of thee. You have no idea who is in charge as you cling to your rabbit foot from
Trump Towers.
Donald
Trump is exceedingly rich, but his wealth is all tied up in real estate. What
God wants you to consider is this: Is Trump his own man? He is your rabbit foot,
so this is a very offensive question, right?
The
fact is, Trump is nearly one billion dollars in debt. And, you think God and Trump
are taking good care of you, right? Trump is OWNED by his creditors, and some
of them are in foreign nations, possibly Russia and China. All of them can have
agendas which Trump could offend, and you are a fool if you think his creditors
would not jerk his leash and demand he change course. Years ago, when his whole
empire was on the verge of disaster and bankruptcy Trump's creditors got together
and decided to save him because they had a better chance of getting their return
on investment back if he did not have to declare bankruptcy. Trump absolutely
owes these people a favor, and they want him to succeed. This means that Trump's
creditors are your savior, not Trump, and not Jesus. Is it time you stop talking
about Trump saving anything, let alone America? God may have chosen Trump to finally
get America into a war that will result in the nation being totally trashed in
a nuclear holocaust. Are you willing to let God do that? You preachers, do you
have a sermon ready for the Sunday after the USA collapses because of Trump's
folly?
Also,
are you one of these idiots who keeps talking about the US Constitution saving
America from tyranny. God can arrange for you and America to come under a tyrant
who is declared to be 100% Constitutional. No human document can save you from
terror or tyranny. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?
Do
I sound angry and wrathful? Well, when I hear so many Christians claiming President
Trump is the savior of America at the appointment of God, I AM mad. God has raised
up and taken down every leader in world history, and for his own reasons. You
have NO idea why God raised up Donald Trump. And, I will stay mad and raging as
long as you, or any other Christian, tells me Trump will save America. Trump will
be lucky if he saves Trump Towers. You, sir, need to stop clinging to your damned
rabbit foot. Try clinging to the Lion of Judah for a change.
But,
let us consider some other fetishes found in Fundamental Bible believing homes
and churches.
Coffee
Table Books and Magazines: Bill Gothard's big red book, Institute in
Basic Youth Conflicts, sat on thousands of coffee tables in living rooms around
America for many years. Some idiots still have the book in plain view as their
fetish of luck in raising their kids.
You
made the pilgrimage to a Gothard Seminar, and you want your friends to know that
you have been to the Mecca of the Christian world. You have paid your pence to
the pimp of cash flow religion. My, my, aren't you an amazing spiritual giant!
THIS
IS YOU IN REALITY How much of your "religion" is empty rituals,
empty fetishes, and empty mind? Watch the eyes in this video. This is the empty
mind of fetish religion.
Never
mind that the author of the big red book was Bill Gothard's sodomite brother,
and Bill admitted it later. Never mind Bill Gothard has been accused, and is being
investigated for, abusing minor girls by the hundreds. Bill is the magic man with
the magic formula for a happy family. Bill makes you superior to anyone who has
not attended his seminar. Did you ever wonder how a bachelor came to be the expert
on how to raise children? So, you went to the seminar, and you inhaled the incense,
and you are now clinging to you fetish rabbit foot guru to the bitter end. Could
it be that Jesus Christ is outside the door of your home knocking to be let back
in? The pagans in Africa had to burn their fetishes before they could be baptized.
Maybe you need to burn that big red book to cleanse you soul.
Mike
Pearl's book on how to beat babies, To Train Up a Child, is also placed
out in the open in many Fundamental Baptist homes as the first and last word on
how to beat a baby into submission to the Holy Ghost.
Many
a baby, in a Baptist home, has been beat nearly to death, and a couple actually
murdered, in the name of the guru Mike Pearl.
So,
is Mike Pearl your rabbit foot? Do you hold him as the final authority and defender
of your family?
Let
us look at other books or certificates on the wall of your home which exalt your
progress through life as a great spiritual giant in the faith. Do you have a baptism
certificate on the wall? How about a diploma from a Bible college? Maybe a string
of those round medals indicating you have had perfect attendance at Sunday School
since 1985? Why are they there? Do you suppose that in your inner soul you would
find that you feel more "religious" and more "Babtist" with
those trinkets hanging there? If so, you are living on superstition rather than
the faith of Jesus Christ.
Any
book you pass around instead of the Bible, either to the unsaved or Christian
friends, is a fetish and has taken first place as your source of truth and revelation.
I do not care who the author is. When you put the words of men above the Word
of God, you are a blasphemer.
Let
me clear up something right now. If you are sending people to my web journal here
as the source of teaching on any topic without helping them examine my teachings
with a King James Bible, you are a blasphemer. In no way do I claim to have the
inside track on any subject if it distracts the reader from proving all things
with the Bible.
1
Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. You
find the "good" things from the Good Book.
Have
you ever heard a Baptist preacher bragging about how many buses he has rolling
on Sunday morning picking up kids? How about the preacher who gives you the tally
of tracts he has handed out? And, there is the preacher who says, "I have
knocked on every door in this city"? These are cheap ugly ways preachers
exalt themselves, but worse, when they brag about these numbers and accomplishments,
they reveal the fact that they really do live by works, not faith. They know God
is not nearly as impressed with them as they would like, so they invite YOU to
suck up to them and give them praise by the car load. You are a church house fool
if you go around repeating the boasts of your pastor. And, in boasting of their
accomplishment, they have totally forfeited their reward in Heaven according to
Jesus:
Matthew
6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise
ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Most
of you Baptist preachers will stand before God with nothing to show for. You will
sputter, "Lord, ask any of my church members, they will tell you all the
souls I won, and all the doors I knocked on." Your fetish notches on your
gun will go up in the flames of God's holiness as so much wood, hay, and stubble.
T
shirts: Could you be
faithful to Christ, and be a soul winner, without your T shirt with the click
bait message printed on it? Do you feel safer and more pleasing to God by being
a walking meme? If so, your motive is pure superstition, not zeal for Christ.
You would get more points with God if you would embroider on the seat of your
pants, "Kick me, I need to be humbled."
I
have heard many preachers bragging, before a preachers' rally, of the numbers
who have walked the aisle whom they claim "got saved". I have heard
them brag about how many baptisms they did.
I
am reminded of Harry Golden, a Jewish satirist, who told of a Rabbi in New York
City who had a box on the mantle of his fireplace. In the box were the foreskins
of all the Jewish baby boys he had circumcised. Golden said the Rabbi was very
proud of the number of boys he had turned into real Jews. How is that different
from the Baptist preacher publicly bragging about how many people he "saved"
or baptized? These preaches are really doing the same thing a Catholic does when
he walks along fingering their rosary beads. This advertises to the masses that
they are the real thing.
Consider
preachers and Christian leaders and their Ph.D., mail order doctorate, and chairmanships.
These men will do anything needed in political Baptist endeavor to win the high
seat, and they will keep doing anything needed to keep the high place and win
the imprimatur of the men higher up. Their fetish is their titles and accomplishments
which they flaunt to the masses and asses who suck up to them.
Many
Baptist preachers preach that tithing is the only way to ultimately please God.
This is inviting a fetish relationship between the average Christian and the offering
plate.
Church
sign messages with anything but the Bible on them. Clever witticisms on a church
sign ONLY tell the world that you have clever idiots in your church who like to
show off their shriveled brains. There is NO promise from God that clever sayings
anywhere will bear fruit unto righteousness. Isaiah 55:11
Baptist
standards: You have
your hair the right length, your hemline is just right, you never appear in church
without a coat and tie, and you don't chew tobacco or sip booze. The fact is,
there is no more power in your Fundamental Baptist Standards and fetishes than
there is in the Buddha sitting cross legged in your favorite Chinese restaurant.
If your "religion" is nothing more than rituals, rules, and symbols
you gleaned from various Christian colleges, preachers, and Baptist gurus, you
are no more saved than a door knob.
I
was traveling on a deputation trip to speak in churches about our missionary work
in Ethiopia. I stopped at an old hotel in the South of the USA for breakfast.
An older lady approached me and asked what I was doing there. I told her I was
a missionary on a speaking tour. She at once went off on a tale of various fetishes
she had bought from the Congo. She then told me she had bought a cane that had
belonged to a witch doctor. She would lean it in the corner with the carved head
on top facing into the room. It would stay that way all day, but during the night
it would turn around, and the face would be pointed into the corner. She asked
me what was happening. I told her there was Satanic power in the thing, and devils
were toying with her. I told her to burn the cane to send a message to the devils.
She told me she could not do that because the cane was too valuable as a collector's
item. I feel certain that something very bad happened to that lady later. She
professed faith in God, but she could not leave the devilish fetish behind.
So,
preacher, what are your fetishes which validate your life and the time you waste
diddling around? No fetish, be it good works, standards, head counts, or icons
hanging on the wall, can get you right with God or man. Burn them.
PERSONAL
ITEMS, ACTIONS, AND MAGIC WORDS
Prayer:
"Thank you heavenly Father for this food, please bless the ladies who cooked
it, and help us finish this day to your Glory, and please bless all the missionaries
in the world. In Jesus' name, Amen" How many millions of times has this prayer,
or a similar one, been prayed in a rush before a meal?
The
cure?
"Dear
Lord, I praise you for letting me be with my Christian friends today. And, thank
you for creating cows so we can have good steaks to eat. Thank you for broccoli
and potatoes. Thank you that COSTCO sells this good Bunderburg ginger beer from
Australia. But, especially thank you for the pecan pie I saw waiting for later.
Thank you for my fantastic wife who has cooked good food for me for all these
years. Please do something special for her today, Lord. And, we tend to chatter
about politics and rubbish too much, so send the Holy Spirit right now to press
us into conversation that Jesus would like if he were here with us. I ask this
in Jesus' name, Amen." [ For you with an alcohol Baptist standard rabbit
foot, ginger beer is not alcoholic. It is like root beer. ] Pray this way in IHOP,
and anyone nearby will learn something about prayer, especially any Christians
who overhears. Also, you get no special points in Heaven for praying around the
world while the food gets cold. That is just showing off, and it is the rabbit
foot of a conceited pest.
Bumper
stickers, crosses on the wall, and lapel pins:
Tell
me, friend, what on earth will an unsaved unchurched sinner get out of the bumper
sticker at the right? It will mean absolutely nothing to them. What some of you
show offs don't realize is that there are people in this nation who do not even
know who God is. They may not have even studied enough World History to know what
Romans are, let alone a book of the Bible.
You
might as well have a tattoo on your forehead that says, "I am a very spiritual
Baptist." And, to blazes with your stupid T shirt with the pointless message
on it, especially the one that is half worn out.
And,
please, if you must have a bumper sticker on your car, DO NOT put it on your beater
station wagon. Trying to speak the truth that way is like putting a "Jesus
Saves" sticker on a toilet.
"Lord
willing.....": Do
you say those words often? What do you mean by those words. If you mean that you
want to submit your life and actions to the final authority of God, lest he hear
you and determine that you are acting in self-will, then the words are righteous.
If, by saying, "If the Lord is willing," you mean that you will blame
God for your possible bad decisions and careless intentions, you are a blasphemer.
You can tell if it is the latter by the words you use when everything went wrong
in the end, "Well, it must not have been the Lord's will." Your, "Lord
willing", is pure superstition to get ready to pass the buck off on God for
your own blunderings and blame God for the mess. Do you even have a God in Heaven?
There is no difference between your impudent blasphemy and the "Inshallah"
of a Muslim after a train wreck.
Guns
and the First Amendment:
If there were no First
Amendment to the US Constitution, would God be able to take care of you? Is your
gun an added bit of security just in case God is not paying attention to your
security?
Guns
are a large topic in most Bible believing churches these days. Owning a gun, and
even having a permit to carry, is rapidly becoming a security good luck charm
to many Americans. It is also becoming a way to show that we stand for the First
Amendment. A gun is of no more use to a Bible believer than to get food or to
add some defense against criminal attacks.
If
you feel more manly, or more safe, packing a gun, you need to examine your motives
and your trust in the Lord. If you feel the same way shooting a gun as you do
riding a motorcycle, that gun is too much in control.
In
no way am I suggesting that carrying a gun is wicked. My, my, I would risk being
deported from Texas for that. But, it is very urgent that we decide what a gun
tells us about our relationship with Jesus Christ. And, if you feel that having
twenty or fifty guns is rational, tell me why please. Unless you are collecting
them as an investment plan, or if they are all Kentucky squirrel rifles, your
guns are fetishes collected to give you a rush whenever you play with them or
show them to your man cave buddies.
As
an investment, I would never get myself a huge gun collection. All that is needed
for the guns to become worthless is for a Liberal Leftist Government to come to
power in the USA and declare all guns illegal. At that point, the collection would
become worthless unless I flogged them unlawfully. You could one day find yourself
just as "wanted" as a man who collects pot bongs.
Social
Media, YouTube, and the Internet:
So, here you are, reading an article online again. Which of your kids has not
had any time with you in days? Do you spend more time on Facebook than you do
with your spouse? Your wedding vow said, "For better or for worse."
Are you a worse friend today than you were a year or ten years ago because you
have to answer email and chat with loonies in Bangkok, Bogalusa, and Boston?
Do
you text when you are with friends and totally ignore them? Do you lie and tell
them you are listening? Do you text when you are with your family? Do you set
your cell phone on vibrate when you go to church, or do you turn if off? Do you
read text messages and answer them during church services? If so, why has worshipping
God become so boring to you?
Cell
phones have become God-like, in that, we feel we must respond to them to keep
our life together, just as we would if God appeared in person and said, "Hey,
Fred, are you doing anything right now? I want to chat with you." If this
is you, you are defined by your cell phone world. You would feel terrified to
be totally out of touch with that other world for a whole day, right? This is
even worse than a rabbit foot, this is a matter of slavery to a power higher (to
you) than God himself. If you do not break the spell, you will miss thousands
of people over the next few years who are sitting right there next to you in the
waiting room or in church.
I
was in the waiting room waiting for my wife to see the chiropractor, and in the
room was a Mom and her teen age daughter. They were teasing each other and carrying
on like I had not seen in years. They clearly more then loved each other.....
they LIKED each other. Suddenly the Mom turned and picked up her Cell phone. I
was enjoying watching them interact so much that I blurted out, "Off side.
Don't you dare get on that thing please." The Mom caught on at once, laughed,
and she put the cell phone back, and the two of them started teasing each other
about the cell phones. I felt like I had stopped a battle for someone's mind and
soul. The woman might have been insulted and told me to shut up, but she at once
realized she was breaking off something far more valuable.
I
also need to talk about the Internet as a total entity.
Do
you have to interrupt yourself at work or at school to check email, Drudge, the
weather, or any of a million other "urgent" sources? If so you are permanently
changing your thought processes. This is why your attention span is terrible,
and you cannot even remember the plot of a video you really loved when you saw
it.
You
will notice I use very short paragraphs in my writing. This is because people
cannot read a long paragraph anymore.
The
successful Internet sites use paragraphs as short as one sentence all the way
through an article. That is for people like YOU who are tempted to click out of
an article if the paragraphs are too long. Your Internet addiction is why your
pastor's sermons seem longer than they used to. This addiction is also why your
work productivity is dropping off. You keep interrupting yourself by rushing to
click into cyberspace, and you lose the ability to think complete thoughts and
concentrate of a problem for a long period of time.
I
am also convinced that the reason Americans' English vocabulary has diminished
exponentially is because Internet sites use Dick and Jane English in order to
keep readers from having to contemplate meanings. When reading books, people commonly
hit a word they do not understand, look away briefly, and figure out what it means
by the context. If Internet editors did this with their articles, people would
click out of the article rather than take a contemplation break. I find it very
provoking to have to dumb down my vocabulary in order to keep your attention.
You will notice, if you read here much, that I do use vocabulary at times which
is from the rational days of long ago. Winston Churchill said, "The old words
are better words, and the old short words are the best words." Cogitate on
THAT please. Is the Internet making a dim bulb our of YOU?
What
I see daily, especially when visiting with other people, is that very few people
have a sense of wonder anymore. They cannot get a rush out of visual candy unless
they are watching a YouTube video on "The Ten Worst Airplane Crashes."
When is the last time you looked up at the stars? When is the last time you stopped
to smell a rose? I will tell you how to tell if you are addicted to the Internet.....
Smell the seat of your pants when you undress tonight. That gross smell is from
parking your butt on hot vinyl all day.
I
rest my case.
And,
if you read my journal while your spouse sits in the living room unfulfilled in
ANY way, get out of here. Nothing I say is more important than the intimacy you
should show your spouse. Go on, you can read the rest of this later. I don't even
want you to read this journal if the Internet is a fetish to your distracted mind.
Suggestions:
Get rid
of your smart phone, and get a flip phone. They DO still exist. This is because
smart phones are designed for addicted people. They nag and nanny you to keep
poking the buttons. Texting with a smart phone is very inconvenient. If that fails,
try a one week fast of texting.
Shut
off all the interruption features that beep and call you back to cyberspace other
than real phone calls. Tell your friend that they can only talk to you with their
vocal cords.
When
people text while you are visiting with them, find a way to either gross them
out, or bluntly tell them to go in the another room to text. Do not imagine that
you texting will show them how they are. If all else fails, shuck off texting
friends. You could also invest in a business card which says, "FINAL NOTICE:
I find your texting insulting. If you want me for a friend, never text in my presence
again. Thanks, Steve". Addicts will not quit their addiction until they are
slapped viciously.
Ask
a friend to slap you verbally when he sees you texting in a group of friends.
"Hey, jerk, drop your reefer, and join the group again."
MUSIC
FETISHES
Southern
Gospel Music
Music
can be a fetish if a certain kind, or genre, of music is essential to be present
to produce peace, excitement, or worship in us or our surroundings.
If
you refuse to think with me, and if you refuse to load and listen to the videos
linked in this topic, you will not have a clue what I am talking about.
The
fetish music of White Christians is Southern Gospel music. This genre was borrowed
from the evolution from rag time to stride piano, an invention of James P Johnson
in New Orleans in about 1920. Johnson was a genius made the jazz piano more smooth
and swinging.
HERE
IS JAMES P JOHNSON PLAYING SNOWY MORNING, his first "stride" selection.
He somehow sensed that rag time was not moving Whites like it did Blacks, so he
introduced what is called a "rolling tenth," and under the finished
product the off beat of jazz and rag time was retained. The result SOUNDED
LIKE THIS.
DR.
ARTHUR D. KEMP MAKES IT VERY CLEAR THAT SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC IS STRAIGHT BOOGIE
WOOGIE, THE GENRE OF BOURBON STREET IN NEW ORLEANS. You
must listen to this video. For the record, "bumping" is an extreme use
of the off beat, and this enhances the sensuality of the music. Which means, this
genre goes to the groin. That is why people go into a slump of funk when they
hear the opening chords of Southern Gospel Music. If you need this kind of music
to "feel good" at church, you are addicted to sexual feelings at the
church house. This is a wicked rabbit foot sort of religion. HERE
IS SOMETHING GOT A HOLD OF ME sung by the Bill Gaither mob. Please notice
how close this SGM song gets to 1950s raw and sensual rock and roll. This music
would be very well accepted at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, AND many of these
SGM quartets do gigs in Las Vegas regularly..... singing the same words which
are blasted to hell by the beat. That is why the drunks and perverts there can
enjoy it. Southern Gospel Music never made a sinner into a saint..... NEVER. Now,
add the heavy beat from AFRICA DOWNTOWN.
Full circle..... back to the jungle. Back to Bourbon Street.
Sorry.....
I got carried away and ahead of myself, but Dr. Kemp probably showed you, better
than me, what SGM is all about. Back to the evolution of stride music.
The
White folks loved the new stride sound of Jame P. Johnson, and the genre moved
on into the hands of the Big Band leaders like Glenn Miller and Eddie Howard who
orchestrated the sound for the Aragon Ballroom dance floor. THE
ARAGON BALLROOM But, the Stamps Baxter Hymnbook Company saw in stride jazz
a way to liven up church music and own the new genre for marketing purposes. They
published their hymn book in 1924, and to promote it, they sent their quartets
around America to sing free in churches and give them a taste for Southern Gospel.
This was a clear case of taking the power of devilish music and infecting churches
with it.
HERE
IS THE MODERN GENRE OF NEW ORLEANS FOREVER CHANGED BY JAMES P JOHNSON You
usually don't want the lyrics to be sung with the song. They are often very profane
and rugged. Please notice the smooth aspect of stride music. Can a person listen
to this music if it is not trying to be Christian? Answer: yes. If you understand
that it is sensual, and if you and your wife are alone for the evening, this kind
of jazz can lead to a wonderful evening. I don't even care if you dance to it,
but only as long as you only dance with your wife. Just don't bring the ganre
to the church house.
Grab
hold please. This will make someone really mad..... SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC IS FOREPLAY.
The
off beat is the rebel beat in music, it is beyond syncopation and produces a sensual
response, WHETHER IN A DANCE HALL OF IN CHURCH MUSIC. Rebellion is the hall mark
of Southern Gospel Music. It is also addictive. Once a Christian gives his mind
and soul (yes, SGM is soulish) to this beat in church music, he cannot be satisfied
without it. He stops thinking about the words, the music usually has NO Bible
doctrine, and he and his friends go into an emotional sensual frenzy. This is
100% worldly and profane in the Bible use of the word "profane."
HERE
IS SGM FETISH STRIDE PIANO IN A WHITE CHURCH SETTING Classic off beat/rolling
tenth genre to I'M IN THE GLORYLAND WAY. Notice the feel good sensations you have,
and note that you are soon tapping your toe. The shoulders slump, the knees bend
slightly, and the sensual is taking charge. Your soul wants to rock and dance,
not worship God. Please notice: The bass drum is setting the dominant beat of
the music, and the snare drum is doing the off beat.
THE
GLORYLAND WAY SUNG WITH NO STRIDE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. It is not possible
to get the SGM beat going without the stride piano and percussion. This should
be a caution to all church musicians as to which instruments are used and who
plays them, AND to which genre. The most powerful instrument to set up and off
beat is a trap and drum set. To deal with this in Africa, the churches actually
have rules about how drums can be played in church to avoid ALL influence of the
off beat.
SUGGESTION:
When your church wants to sing Red Back Hymnbook (Church of God) hymns, or SGM
classics, sing a Acapulco. It is impossible to jive up a hymn without the instruments.
AND,
HOVIE LISTER, THE MOST FAMOUS SGM STRIDE PIANIST Get Away Jordon by the
Statesman Quartet What a show, what a ham Hovie was. And, catch that rubber
face of Jake Hess. This, folks, is New Orleans beat and would go well in any honky
tonk in West Texas on a Saturday night.
You
may tell me I don't have any right to claim that your lust for Southern Gospel
Music is a fetish. Well, it was for me, and that is why I am a shameless expert
on the topic. I was there in the Long Beach Auditorium when Hovie and the boys
sang Get Away Jordan. Only that night, Big Chief Wetherington, the bass, got right
up and walked on the piano top. Finally, the Holy Spirit got the upper hand in
my rocking jiving soul, and I saw the wretched compromise of mixing New Orleans
jazz with lyrics from the Christian life and the Word of God. I also realized
it was a fetish the day I threw my priceless collection of SGM LPs into a dumpster.
I can still hear the lid of that dumpster clanging shut. The relief in my soul
was so sudden and fierce that it terrified me, and I realized I was breaking off
a fetish power just as strong as any fetish in any African village.
Urban
Black Church Music
Urban
Black Church Music is, like White folks' Southern Gospel Music, dependent on a
musical instrument to provide the foundation and power of the music. That instrument
is the Hammond B-3 organ. The beat is still from New Orleans, and the music is
sensual and runs to the groin and the libido. Wise Christians understand what
I am saying.
THUS,
THE HAMMON B-3 AS PLAYED IN A BLACK URBAN SETTING FOR CHURCH MUSIC Dr.
Gloria Thompson on the organ. Note to her left rear sits a Lesley speaker. Hammond
offered this for the tremolo sound. It is the only tremolo in the world done entirely
physically as a bass and two treble speakers spin physically and make the unique
Hammond sound.
I
will admit that, when I am wanting to kick back and relax, I can enjoy the Hammond
B-3 played this way, but I cannot stand to hear hymns played in this genre. It
is mixing the profane and the holy, and my soul rebels against it.
NOW,
A "PRAISE BREAK," WHICH MEANS TIME FOR SHUCKIN' AND JIVIN' Note
the masterful use of the instruments' to back up the preacher's leading remarks.
This "praise break" notion is the extreme of sensuality in the Black
church. "It don't get better than this, honey. It FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS so good."
The dry cleaners shops love that praise break downtown. Those men's suits smell
like gym socks by the time it is over, and they must be cleaned again.
James
3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
This
sort of thing reminds me of my days growing up in Africa and seeing and hearing
devil dances late at night. I could FEEL the devils in the air as I tried to go
to sleep. LIKE THIS
Finally,
you will wonder if I am hyping the Hammond B-3 as a Black church instrument. Old
electronic organs go very cheap at Goodwill Stores and on Craig's List, but Hammond
B-3s in working condition will go for many thousands of dollars, and they are
usually bought by Black churches. As a piano tuner, I keep my eyes open for one
all the time because I know I can get them going and make a huge profit.
So,
can you see the fetish relationship Black folks have with this music and this
instrument? Every Black church in America craves a Hammond B-3.
So,
do you love the holiness of Jesus Christ enough to shuck off some fetish music
genre or singer you have allowed to become your idol? Do you need to have an old
fashioned fetish burning like the churches in Africa?
PERSONALITY
FETISHES
Preacher
boys from Hyles Anderson College in Indiana are well known for telling Jack Hyles'
personal stories as sermon illustrations. These children-turned-Reverend will
tell those stories as if they happened to them. This shows the man worship that
drives Hyles Anderson College and Hammond First Baptist. Jack Hyles is possibly
the most pervasive case of man worship and clinging to men, as a personality fetish,
in modern times.
In
a "Hyles church" the deacons often wear badges that say, "100%
for Hyles," and if you question them, they run you right back out the door.
The response to any questions about Hyles as a fetish or idol always results in
excommunication.
There
are other men like Lee Roberson, Clarance Sexton, Dr. James Dobson, Bill Gothard,
Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Mike Pearl, and all of the faith healers in Charismania
who are exalted as feel good, and even good luck, leaders. Trinity Broadcast Network
is left on 24/7 in many Charismatic homes as if it will secure some higher level
of holiness in the home while it is on. What a mongrel fetish that is!
Among
King James Bible Only people like me, there is a temptation to make a fetish of
men who defend the KJV like Dr. Peter S Ruckman or Dr. D A Waite. Neither of these
men would have welcomed this distinction, but some KJV defenders will harshly
judge anyone who does not have good words for their personal champion. This means
these men have become fetishes to their followers. One group of men in Michigan
would sit around and smoke and listen to Ruckman tapes. They refused to attend
any local church. This is man worship, and Ruckman, against his wishes, had become
their idol or fetish.
So,
do you talk about Jesus to strangers and coworkers, or do you talk about your
pastor and what a wonderful man he is? Do you invite people to consider the Gospel,
or do you invite them to come to visit your church? It is wicked to exalt men
instead of Jesus, and this is another case of making a fetish of your pastor,
a mere man. The same applies to any speaker or Bible teacher you have heard at
Bible conferences of seminars.
One
more fetish needs discussion. This is the fetish of great theologians or bold
Bible teachers from long ago. Several come to mind which I have heard exalted
by people as touch stones of noble truth. For example, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon,
Billy Sunday, and D L Moody. David Livingston is a fetish man used by missionaries
to instill zeal in people while teaching about missions.
David
Livingston is a classic example of a man who was exalted who absolutely did not
earn that privilege. He was first and foremost an explorer, not an evangelist.
He championed the cause of slaves, which is noble, but only in a social justice
way. He was not much of a soul winner, and he never planted one church in Africa.
He nearly killed himself trying to find the source of the Nile. And, he had a
tryst with an African tribal queen who produced a son he allowed to accompany
him in his exploring. Meanwhile, he totally abandoned his wife and children back
in England against the admonition of Scripture. This is the potential evil of
exalting men as fetishes to inspire us and keep us dedicated. These men had feet
of clay, and one day you may learn your fetish hero lived in deep sin and compromise.
Hebrews
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
When
other men rise to the level of nobility in your estimation, no matter how much
good they have done for Christ, you sin against Christ himself. Keep you eyes
on Jesus, not those famous Amoses in the cloud of witnesses.
WHY ARE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE SO SUPERSTITIOUS?
I
am reading a book written by Brian Fawcett about his father's explorations of
the Amazon basin in about 1911. The title, Col. P H Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett.
Col. Fawcett was commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society of London to survey
the border between eastern Bolivia and western Brazil. The issue was that the
two nations had been struggling with one another for years over where the border
actually was, and they asked the RGS to send an impartial party to do the survey
for them, and Fawcett got the job.
Col.
Fawcett traveled from Peru to Bolivia, and he had to travel over the Andes Mountains
and down rivers in Bolivia and Brazil to reach his work area. He had amazing experiences
which are some of the most extreme things I have ever read, and I am an avid reader
of exploration history. When he reached the town of San Matis in Bolivia, he described
the town as the most wretched he had ever seen. Every man in town boasted of killing
at least one other man, and all men carried guns and knives all the time. A Belgium
employee of an oil company regularly shot Bolivian Indians for sheer sport and
boasted of it openly. Col. Fawcett said that the stories of killing and crime
were horrible, and they often included spiritual devilment. Then, he made the
following observation: "For where human life is not respected, superstition
is the more marked."
Read
that quote again please.
America
and Europe have been the heartland of the Gospel message from about 1550 to 1900.
At the end of that era, rationalism and twisted theology came into vogue, and
gradually, the liberal and heretical versions of Christian theology have moved
on to fan the fires of Christ hatred in the culture and politics. Killing babies,
and death wishes on social media, are the status quo. Half the US population vote
for abortion promoters like Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. Taking life is a
novel and attractive matter to Liberal Democrats in the USA and to Liberals in
Europe. Hillary is the banner bearer of the Democratic Party in spite of the fact
that over 20 people have died on her doorstep, and the FBI is totally disinterested.
Life has become cheap.
Chicago,
in the face of thousands of murders, still prevents its citizens from defending
themselves. The US now has 24/7 massacres in progress in several places by our
Military, and 90% of you reading hear can give a great argument in favor of more
killing around the world. War is now an integral necessity in the American economy
in order for the present system to thrive. While long ago, the US Military was
held responsible for carelessly killing civilians, this plague is now called "collateral
damage," as if they actually calculate how many civilians are acceptable
to massacre.
So,
Col. Fawcett's remark applies. Superstition and spiritualism in the form of Satanism
and Witchcraft will become rampant and is doing so now in America. Christians
will, more and more, be grabbing good luck charms, and taking up magical slogans
and notions, to see them through life safely. While they do this, they sneer at
other Christians who buy a gun and get a permit to carry. So, if you are going
along with this trend to take up superstitious crutches to fend off the terror
to come, you are part of the problem, not the solution.
It
appears that when people live in criminally depressed cultures they look for help
from the unseen world. This is understandable if they do not know Christ. The
question is, do you and I go looking for security from any sources other than
Jesus Christ?
I
believe one of the most suspect cases of rabbit foot response for Christians is
getting buried in the Preparedness mind set. It is one thing to have things put
aside for emergencies, even long term emergencies, but some people spend many
thousands of dollars on every imaginable notion that comes to them from the preparedness
gurus online or in books on the subject. In the end, the hoard of preparedness
treasures can become the security of the believer, while Christ, as it were, is
told to stand back and let us take care of ourselves.
What
are you reacting to in the way of danger and social disorder? Are you searching
for fetishes to keep you secure? Are you wasting your substance on things to prepare
you for events and dangers that you cannot prove exist? Do you have hard documentation
that FEMA actually intends to lock up all Christians in FEMA camps? Are you trusting
Jesus Christ to secure your future, or are you listening to Chicken Little?
HOW
SHALL WE THEN LIVE?
Answer:
It is time to throw away your crutches.
Find
me a religion, even Christendom, and I will prove to you that they have fetishes.
It is always the case that any religion on earth, in all of human history, leaves
its follower lean in spirit. The only thing the leaders can do at that point is
give their followers some good luck charms to help them win the favor of their
lack luster god. It may be as simple as tossing a coin to a beggar to win the
approval of the gods.
Go
downtown today to the red light district. Take a stroll, and over and over, you
will see whores strutting their stuff with a cross hanging around their neck gracing
their cleavage. The world understands the power of superstition, so they add religious
fetishes to their wardrobe and homes.
If
you are in technology, take a walk around the tech center, and in every other
cube you will see a fetish or charm that MUST be there for the techy to feel safe
in his rabid world. They hope somehow that the gods will be pleased and smile
on them as they live for Satan. It is all about Darma canceling out Karma, the
premier doctrine of Hinduism.
None
of these rabbit foot fetishes make you spiritual, none of them keep you safe and
prosperous, and none of them glorify God. They glorify you, and worse, they show
how cheap your Jesus and Gospel really are. When you have to wear or announce
your faith with anything but words spoken about Jesus Christ and the Gospel, you
have NO assurance that God will bless your protocols of security. Indeed, you
bring into question whether or not you even understand what is means to be born
again.
Here
is the Bible on this:
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.
Isaiah
55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing whereto I sent it.
1
Timothy 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather
unto godliness.
Deuteronomy
4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude
of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 The likeness of any beast
that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of
any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 And lest thou lift up
thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them,
which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20
But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even
out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
Finally,
are you not satisfied to let Jesus Christ handle the unseen future for you? Are
you knocking on wood, or some silly equivalent version of that superstition, in
some prayer you pray in the hope that the prayer will work some magic in Heaven?
Do you keep the records of your "Faith Promise" giving every year and
look at those cards and imagine they give you special pull at the Throne of Grace?
If so, you are not living by faith.
Hebrews
11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen.
There
is no magic act, even winning souls and attending church, which can secure you
a better standing with God. The only thing that pleases and impresses God is YOUR
FAITH. Anything you put in place of your faith alone, as you approach God, stinks
in his nostrils.
Hebrews
11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him.
Habakkuk
2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall
live by his faith.
You
were not born with an ounce of good luck, and the day you go to sleep for the
last time and wake up in the arms of Jesus, your life in him will have had NOTHING
to do with luck or any fetishes you carried around in your pocket or heart. There
is NOTHING you can add to your life by your actions.
Colossians
2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete
in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye
are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him
in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation
of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Rudiments
of this world will destroy your faith every time.
I
leave you only two choices now..... Hate me, or burn your fetishes. If you love
Jesus, you will burn your fetishes.
So,
where is your hope?
What
fetish did I miss? You know, the one that came to your mind as you were reading
here. Gotcha, friend. Go burn it.