Friday, January 1, 2016

Are We Religious?

Are We Religious?

About 3 years ago I was called into the boss' office. I was told there had been a complainti about me that on a certain date I'd been playing religious music on the bus. I pulled out a USB stick and said I'd been playing what was on it, over 300 songs, all religious. At the conclusion of the meeting the boss said I was allowed to play public broadcast radio, but not my own music on the bus. I proceeded to play what passes as “Christian radio” in this town.

In recent times I have been bothered by certain people who make a habit of saying things like: “I'm not religious, it's about relationship.” or “It's not about religion, but about relationship.”

Religion: “system of faith and worship; human recognition of super human controlling power and esp. of a personal God entitled to obedience, effect of this on conduct etc.”ii

Religious: “Imbued with religion, devout, concerned with religion, scrupulous, conscientious, member of an ecclesiastical order;”ii

In light of the dictionary definitions above and the fact that the behaviour of these people fits the definition of “religious” I say these people, to my way of thinking come too close to denying Christ. Now for some Scriptures.

As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows! "Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my Father in heaven. But those who reject me publicly, I will reject before my Father in heaven.” Mat 10:30-33 Good News Bibleiii

When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' Then I will say to them, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!' Mat 7:22-23 Good News Bible

This seems to make it fairly clear that if Jesus Christ considers denying being religious to be denying him that the consequences will be severe. The people Jesus rejects will be told to get away from him on judgement day.

If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved. The scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed." This includes everyone, because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to him. As the scripture says, "Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved."” Romans 10:9-13 Good News Bible

Okay, the relationship is with God, the Father, the Son & the Spirit. To say that you are not religious when you fit the definition of “religious”, may alienate people who may otherwise join you. In the case of being a follower of Jesus Christ it could mean that people who may have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord could be turned away. Therefore Christians who deny being religious come too close to denying Christ for my liking. 

For further information I recommend reading the Bible.
© Ken Glasgow 2016
This page was written using e-sword, a free downloadable program and Open Office 3.3.0, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

 
i I believe the person involved was killed when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine. I hope I'm wrong because this would bode ill for her eternal well being.
ii Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary, 1984, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia.
iii See also: Luke 12:7-11.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you.

Revenge

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. Matthew 5:38-39

Anybody who takes revenge is not obeying all that Jesus commanded.i Not taking revenge, is not a new concept introduced by Jesus:

"Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them. Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:17-18

David spent a lot of time on the run from king Saul, it would've been natural to want to kill the man who was trying to kill him. On 2 occasions while king Saul was hunting for David, (later to become king David) to kill him, David could have killed Saul but refused to do so. When king Saul was pursuing David to kill him, with 3,000 soldiers he went to the toilet in the cave where David and his men were hiding. David refused to kill Saul.ii Again king Saul was hunting for David with 3,000 soldiers in order to kill him. David took one of his men and sneaked into the camp at night, though the other man wanted to kill Saul David would not allow it but he took the king's spear and water jug before they left.iii On both occasions David refused to kill,iv or allow to be killed,v the man God had chosen as king. In both cases David demonstrated to the king that he had no intention of harming the king and the king went home.

Don't try to get even. Trust the LORD, and he will help you. Proverbs 20:22

That's not as far as it goes:

"If you happen to see your enemy's cow or donkey running loose, take it back to him. If his donkey has fallen under its load, help him get the donkey to its feet again; don't just walk off. Exodus 23:4-5

Syria was at war with Israel. With God's help Elisha captured a large number of Syrians, rather than telling the king of Israel to kill them he said to give them food and drink then send them home.vi

If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink. You will make them burn with shame, and the LORD will reward you.” Proberbs 25:21-22

Whenever a person believes they have been wronged there is a natural urge to seek revenge, Jesus says to do good to those who are bad to us.

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. Luke 6:27-29

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your friends, hate your enemies.' But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! Matthew 5:43-46

When Stephen, the first martyr in the early church, was being stoned: “He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, 'Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!' He said this and died.” Acts 7:60vii

Ask God to bless those who persecute you---yes, ask him to bless, not to curse... If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, "I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord." Instead, as the scripture says: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame." Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good. Romans 12:14 & 17-21

When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are insulted, we answer back with kind words. 1Corinthians 4:12b-13a

See that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but at all times make it your aim to do good to one another and to all people. 1 Thessalonians 5:15


Do not pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing; instead, pay back with a blessing, because a blessing is what God promised to give you when he called you. 1Peter 3:9


It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a lie come from his lips. When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge. Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls. 1Peter 2:21-25


When Jesus was crucified, he not only took no revenge but on the cross he said: "Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing."viii

© Ken Glasgow 2014 Last edited 14 March 2021

This page was written using Open Office 3.3.0, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

iSee Matthew 28:18-20 especially verse 20

iiSee 1Samuel 24

iiiSee 1Samuel 26

ivDavid said to his men: "May the LORD keep me from doing any harm to my master, whom the LORD chose as king! I must not harm him in the least, because he is the king chosen by the LORD!" 1Samuel 24:6

vBut David said, 'You must not harm him! The LORD will certainly punish whoever harms his chosen king.' ” 1Samuel 26:9 Good News Bible

viSee 2Kings 6:8-23

viiSee also: Acts 6:8-7:59

viiiLuke 23:34 Good News Bible

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Remarkable speech: Not only Jews & Israel suffer due to hatred of the Jewish nation.

I got this as an email from a relative. Another relative added: “Having been fairly close to the South Sudan sufferings for about five years up until 2005, I know the truth of Deng’s report at the Durban Conference.” The message is:
From: 2012/3/22
Sudan - a remarkable address to the recent "Durban Conference" in New York
A REMARKABLE SPEECH.  I HOPE IT WILL GO AROUND THE WORLD.
These are the words of Simon Deng, once a Sudanese slave. He is addressing the Durban Conference in NY.
I want to thank the organizers of this conference, The Perils of Global Intolerance. It is a great honor for me and it is a privilege really to be among today's distinguished speakers.
I came here as a friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I came to protest this Durban conference which is based on a set of lies. It is organized by nations who are themselves are guilty of the worst kind of oppression.
It will not help the victims of racism. It will only isolate and target the Jewish state. It is a tool of the enemies of Israel.
The UN has itself become a tool against Israel. For over 50 years, 82 percent of the UN General Assembly emergency meetings have been about condemning one state - Israel. Hitler couldn't have been made happier!
The Durban Conference is an outrage. All decent people will know that.
But friends, I come here today with a radical idea. I come to tell you that there are peoples who suffer from the UN's anti-Israelism even more than the Israelis. I belong to one of those people.
Please hear me out.
By exaggerating Palestinian suffering, and by blaming the Jews for it, the UN has muffled the cries of those who suffer on a far larger scale.
For over fifty years the indigenous black population of Sudan -- Christians and Muslims alike --- have been the victims of the brutal, racist Arab Muslim regimes in Khartoum.
In South Sudan, my homeland, about 4 million innocent men, women and children were slaughtered from 1955 to 2005. Seven million were ethnically cleansed and they became the largest refugee group since World War II.
The UN is concerned about the so-called Palestinian refugees. They dedicated a separate agency for them, and they are treated with a special privilege.
Meanwhile, my people, ethnically cleansed, murdered and enslaved, are relatively ignored. The UN refuses to tell the world the truth about the real causes of Sudan's conflicts. Who knows really what is happening in Darfur? It is not a "tribal conflict."
It is a conflict rooted in Arab colonialism well known in north Africa. In Darfur, a region in the Western Sudan, everybody is Muslim. Everybody is Muslim because the Arabs invaded the North of Africa and converted the indigenous people to Islam. In the eyes of the Islamists in Khartoum, the Darfuris are not Muslim enough. And the Darfuris do not want to be Arabized.
They love their own African languages and dress and customs. The Arab response is genocide! But nobody at the UN tells the truth about Darfur.
In the Nuba Mountains, another region of Sudan, genocide is taking place as I speak. The Islamist regime in Khartoum is targeting the black Africans - Muslims and Christians. Nobody at the UN has told the truth about the Nuba Mountains.
Do you hear the UN condemn Arab racism against blacks?
What you find on the pages of the New York Times, or in the record of the UN condemnations is 'Israeli crimes' and Palestinian suffering.
My people have been driven off the front pages because of the exaggerations about Palestinian suffering.
What Israel does is portrayed as a Western sin. But the truth is that the real sin happens when the West abandons us: the victims of Arab/Islamic apartheid.
Chattel slavery was practiced for centuries in Sudan. It was revived as a tool of war in the early 90s.
Khartoum declared jihad against my people and this legitimized taking slaves as war booty.
Arab militias were sent to destroy Southern villages and were encouraged to take African women and children as slaves.
We believe that up to 200,000 were kidnapped, brought to the North and sold into slavery.
I am a living proof of this crime against humanity!
I don't like talking about my experience as a slave, but I do it because it is important for the world to know that slavery exists even today.
I was only nine years old when an Arab neighbor named Abdullahi tricked me into following him to a boat. The boat wound up in Northern Sudan where he gave me as a gift to his family. For three and a half years I was their slave going through something that no child should ever go through: brutal beatings and humiliations; working around the clock; sleeping on the ground with animals; eating the family'™s left-overs. During those three years I was unable to say the word 'no.'
All I could say was “yes,” “yes,” “yes.”
The United Nations knew about the enslavement of South Sudanese by the Arabs. Their own staff reported it. It took UNICEF – under pressure from the Jewish –led American Anti-Slavery Group -- sixteen years to acknowledge what was happening. I want to publicly thank my friend Dr. Charles Jacobs for leading the anti-slavery fight.
But the Sudanese government and the Arab League pressured UNICEF, and UNICEF backtracked, and started to criticize those who worked to liberate Sudanese slaves. In 1998, Dr. Gaspar Biro, the courageous UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan who reported on slavery, resigned in protest of the UN's actions.
My friends, today, tens of thousands of black South Sudanese still serve their masters in the North and the UN is silent about that. It would offend the OIC and the Arab League.
As a former slave and a victim of the worst sort of racism, allow me to explain why I think calling Israel a racist state is absolutely absurd and immoral.
I have been to Israel five times visiting the Sudanese refugees. Let me tell you how they ended up there. These are Sudanese who fled Arab racism, hoping to find shelter in Egypt. They were wrong. When Egyptian security forces slaughtered twenty six black refugees in Cairo who were protesting Egyptian racism, the Sudanese realized that the Arab racism is the same in Khartoum or Cairo. They needed shelter and they found it in Israel. Dodging the bullets of the Egyptian border patrols and walking for very long distances, the refugees' only hope was to reach Israel's side of the fence, where they knew they would be safe.
Black Muslims from Darfur chose Israel above all the other Arab-Muslim states of the area. Do you know what this means!!!?? And the Arabs say Israel is racist!!!?
In Israel, black Sudanese, Christian and Muslim were welcomed and treated like human beings. Just go and ask them, like I have done. They told me that compared to the situation in Egypt, Israel is "heaven."
Is Israel a racist state? To my people, the people who know racism – the answer is absolutely not. Israel is a state of people who are the colors of the rainbow. Jews themselves come in all colors, even black. I met with Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Beautiful black Jews.
So, yes … I came here today to tell you that the people who suffer most from the UN anti-Israel policy are not the Israelis but all those people who the UN ignores in order to tell its big lie against Israel: we, the victims of Arab/Muslim abuse: women, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, homosexuals, in the Arab/Muslim world. These are the biggest victims of UN Israel hatred.
Look at the situation of the Copts in Egypt, the Christians in Iraq, and Nigeria, and Iran, the Hindus and Bahais who suffer from Islamic oppression. The Sikhs. We -- a rainbow coalition of victims and targets of Jihadis -- all suffer. We are ignored, we are abandoned. So that the big lie against the Jews can go forward.
In 2005, I visited one of the refugee camps in South Sudan. I met a twelve year old girl who told me about her dream.
In a dream she wanted to go to school to become a doctor. And then, she wanted to visit Israel. I was shocked.
How could this refugee girl who spent most of her life in the North know about Israel? When I asked why she wanted to visit Israel, she said: "This is our people."  I was never able to find an answer to my question.
On January 9 of 2011 South Sudan became an independent state. For South Sudanese, that means continuation of oppression, brutalization, demonization, Islamization, Arabization and enslavement.
In a similar manner, the Arabs continue denying Jews their right for sovereignty in their homeland and the Durban III conference continues denying Israel'™s legitimacy.
As a friend of Israel, I bring you the news that my President, the President of the Republic of South Sudan, Salva Kiir -- publicly stated that the South Sudan Embassy in Israel will be built--- not in Tel Aviv, but in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people.
I also want to assure you that my own new nation, and all of its peoples, will oppose racist forums like the Durban III. We will oppose it by simply continuing to tell the truth! Our truth!
My Jewish friends taught me something that I now want to say with you.
AM YISROEL CHAI !
The people of Israel lives!
Thank you
Please see that this important message is revealed to the entire world!
Shmuel Blumer
Jerusalem Israel
This is a wake- up cry for truth to be made known to the world which has been deceived for far too long because they think it will not happen to them -----until it is too late.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Saudi Arabia, one of the most oppressive nations in the world for Christians.

Saudi Arabia.

One of the most oppressive nations in the world for Christians.1 2 3 Either the most or second most oppressive nation for Christians depending on who you believe.1 2
For further information I recommend reading the Bible. I have referred to several English translations of the Bible. A good resource for this, in many languages, is e-sword, a free downloadable program.
© Ken Glasgow 2013
This page was written using Open Office 3, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

1Companjen J & Long J, 2000, Please Pray For Us praying for persecuted Christians in 52 nations, Bethany House, Minneapolis, Minnesota, pages 168-172.
2Anonymous, 2013, #2 Saudi Arabia, World Watch List 2013, http://www.worldwatchlist.org.au/country.cfm?country=saudi-arabia
3Mandryk J, 2010, Operation World the definitive prayer guide to every nation, Biblica Publishing, Colorado Springs Colorado, pages 728-733.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Keeping your word.

Keeping your Word.

"You have also heard that people were told in the past, 'Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.' But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Just say 'Yes' or 'No'---anything else you say comes from the Evil One. Matthew 5:33-37 Good News Bible.


"How terrible for you, blind guides! You teach, 'If someone swears by the Temple, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.' Blind fools! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple which makes the gold holy? You also teach, 'If someone swears by the altar, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gift on the altar, he is bound.' How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy? So then, when a person swears by the altar, he is swearing by it and by all the gifts on it; and when he swears by the Temple, he is swearing by it and by God, who lives there; and when someone swears by heaven, he is swearing by God's throne and by him who sits on it. Matthew 23:16-22 Good News Bible.


It appears, however, from this passage, as well as from the ancient writings of the Jewish rabbins, that while the Jews professedly adhered to the law, they had introduced a number of oaths in common conversation, and oaths which they by no means considered to be binding. For example, they would swear by the temple, by the head, by heaven, by the earth. So long as they kept from swearing by the name Yahweh, and so long as they observed the oaths publicly taken, they seemed to consider all others as allowable, and allowedly broken.”i


Jesus is teaching that every oath carries an appeal to God, whether He is named in it or not.ii


"Never steal, lie, or deceive your neighbor. "Never swear by my name in order to deceive anyone. This dishonors the name of your God. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:11-12, God's Word translation of the Bible.


"Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the LORD your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name. Exodus 20:7, Good News Bible.


It appears that any commitment that one intends not to fulfil is misusing the name of God.


If you didn't make a vow, you would not be guilty. Make sure you do what you said you would do in your vow. You freely chose to make your vow to the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 23:22-23, God's Word translation of the Bible.

I have referred to several English translations of the Bible and commentaries in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2013 Last edited 14 March 2021

This page was written using Open Office 3.3.0, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

iAlbert Barnes' notes on the Bible for Matthew 5:33

iiJamieson Fausset and Brown Commentary notes on Matthew 5:33-37

Friday, January 25, 2013

Jesus taught on divorce and so I'm going to do a post on it.

Divorce.

This is a difficult subject and unpleasant by it's nature. Though I know some people who have been divorced I have no personal experience of it. But Jesus taught on divorce and so I'm going to do a post on it.

Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him by asking, "Does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife for whatever reason he wishes?" Jesus answered, "Haven't you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female? And God said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.'1 So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together." The Pharisees asked him, "Why, then, did Moses give the law for a man to hand his wife a divorce notice and send her away?" Jesus answered, "Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation. I tell you, then, that any man who divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, commits adultery if he marries some other woman." His disciples said to him, "If this is how it is between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry." Jesus answered, "This teaching does not apply to everyone, but only to those to whom God has given it. For there are different reasons why men cannot marry: some, because they were born that way; others, because men made them that way; and others do not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this teaching do so." Matthew 19:3-12 Good News Bible2

According to Jesus, there is only one Scriptural reason or excuse for divorce, if the other partner commits adultery.

When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorce and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she has departed from his house, she goes and becomes another man's; and the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, he who took her to be his wife her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled. For that is hateful before Jehovah. And you shall not cause the land to sin, which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 Modern King James Version

Jesus makes it clearer:

"It was also said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.' But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery3 if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also. Matthew 5:31-32 Good News Bible

The Greek word translated as “unfaithfulness” here is: πορνεία, porneia, pronounced as: por-ni'-ah From πορνεύω, (porneuō, pronounced as: porn-yoo'-o); harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively idolatry: - fornication.4

Other translations of the Bible use different expressions in verse 32 including:

  • except for a matter of sexual sin...” Analytical Literal Translation.

  • unless she has committed some terrible sexual sin...” Contemporary English Version.

  • except for a matter of sexual sin...” English Standard Version.

  • saving for the cause of fornication...” King James Version.

  • The Message adds: “You can't use legal cover to mask a moral failure.”

The LORD says, "If a man divorces his wife, and she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, he cannot take her back again. This would completely defile the land. Isaiah 3:1a Good News Bible


Isaiah and Deuteronomy also make it clear that according to the Scriptures, once divorced there's no remarriage to the same person.

Regardless of whether one has been divorced or not Jesus said: "I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again."

I have referred to several English translations of the Bible and commentaries in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2013 Last edited 14 March 2021

This page was written using Open Office 3.3.0, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

1Then the LORD God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. Then the man said, "At last, here is one of my own kind--- Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. 'Woman' is her name because she was taken out of man." That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. Genesis 2:21-24 Good News Bible

2See also: Mark 10:2-12.

3Jesus makes it clear that causing another to sin is a serious matter, see also: Matthew 18:6-7, Mark 9:42 & Luke 17:1-2

4Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries.

Monday, January 21, 2013

North Korea is first on Open Doors International's “World Watch List”

North Korea.

Updated 21 January 2013
Amnesty called on North Korea, one of the world's most secretive states, to close all political prison camps and to release all prisoners of conscience.”
North Korea is first on Open Doors International's “World Watch List”... Read more...

As always I encourage readers to seek more information by reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2013
This page was written using Open Office 3.3.0, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.