By this time many of you have sat at dinner tables, discussing the past years with precious loved ones. And, some parent may have just received the shocking news that their child’s way of perceiving Christianity has changed. In a different home, parents might be hearing that their child called Jesus by the name of Yeshua.

A few homes might even hear that their children no longer believe in Christmas.
So, if I am allowed to enter the conversation, please let me speak in all of these discussions.

First of all, any out of balance doctrine is an error, and any teaching that makes one superior over another, where nobody is saved except their ethnicity or religious group, is an error.  Christ taught us that humility is the only way.

(Amplified Bible – AMP)
⁵ “Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the gentle [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will inherit the earth.Matthew 5:5

πραύς praús; fem. praeía, neut. praú, adj. Meek, mild, gentle (Matt. 5:5; 21:5; 1 Pet. 3:4; Sept.: Job 24:4; Ps. 37:11; Zech. 9:9). See praútēs (G4240), meekness, and praótēs (G4236), meekness, mildness, forbearance, for a full discussion of the meaning.

(KJV)

(Amplified Bible – AMP)
⁶ “Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.
⁷ “Blessed [content, sheltered by God’s promises] are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
⁸ “Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God. Matthew 5:6-8  (Amplified Bible – AMP)

“Pure in heart”
καθαρός katharós; fem. kathará, neut. katharón, adj. Clean, pure, clear, in a natural sense unsoiled, unalloyed.

 Remarkably, the message hasn’t changed; everyone who preaches the Word of God must declare the awe and reverence of God. The Bible is not only a book about Adonai (God of Abraham, Issac, Moses); the Bible is the WORD of GOD. And the nation who makes God the center of their existence is blessed.  But the nation who pushes Adonai aside and go after materialism, or idolatry by worshipping other gods shall experience the passive wrath of our Lord.

What is the passive wrath of God?  It’s when weather phenomenon cost is so high that your nation borrows money to pay for the collateral damage. Raging fires destroy a community the size of a small state.  America has experienced eleven disasters in 2017; each one costing over a billion dollars. Furthermore, the totals are not in yet and wildfires are still burning in California.

The problem is that too many messages have been lost from the world’s pulpits. We have become convinced that the Gospel is now all about love and grace, which usually encourages people to remain as they are without spiritual conversion or transformation.  Just like in the natural, misdirected children will soon push boundary limits; spiritually rebellious members of a society will push the moral norms of a nation.  The Word of God is our instructions for eternal life.

So, what is the Gospel or God’s message to mankind?

The book of Revelations is the testimony of Jesus Christ, and how He warns the earth’s inhabitants of encroaching idolatry as the world is continually being seduced by the ancient enemies of Adonai.

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to preach to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people; ⁷ and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God [with awe and reverence], and give Him glory [and honor and praise in worship], because the hour of His judgment has come; [with all your heart] worship Him who created the heaven and the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Revelation 14:6-7

Demon spirits do not distinguish between what one may be saying is a Christmas tree or another person who may be calling it a Pagan altar of worship.  Demons recognize symbols as a signal of invitation. Occult spirits are very careful in not exposing their plots to sabotage the pulpits, teaching God’s  people to commit high treason by sitting around Pagan altars.

(Amplified Bible – AMP)
²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; ²¹ and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries (drugs, intoxications) nor of their [sexual] immorality nor of their thefts.
Revelation 9:20-21

So, let me shock most of you by sharing an old testimony. I have been in the room when demon spirits were conjured, by chanting and using a little altar. Occult spirits were attracted by words, special objects, and mystical symbols. Demon spirits conjugated around items they were familiar with, such as Pagan feasts or ceremonies. I was shocked at how little effort went into conjuring Spirits.

A candle, a prayer, and a chant and suddenly this thing appeared.  She only had a small candle, but the candle was blessed with incantations to invoke spiritual beings.

As the young lady continued to chant, a shadowy figure appeared on the other side of her little altar. I called for her to stop chanting because this hideous thing was in the room. She finally stopped. I shared with her that while she was chanting something appeared in front of her.  I thought this information would scare her, but instead, she seemed to be entertained by the experience and said that sometimes the thing carried her around the room. Okay, I immediately realized that this was a date gone bad. I should have run for the door, but I thought I should tell her about what I knew about the Bible concerning the realm of darkness.  She asked me, “What did the Bible tell you?” Unfortunately, I had to admit that I didn’t have anything to tell her because I had not read the Bible either.  But, I knew deep inside that what she was doing was not right.

A lot has happened since that time and Glory to Christ, our risen Savoir, both myself and that young lady are now saved, washed with the blood of Christ and delivered!

My wife added a note that this all happened before she met me.

Because I have seen things like this in real life, the Lord has walked me through many Bible verses regarding spiritual warfare.

Demon spirits are locked away until Judgment, however, behavior or human intervention can open spiritual doors or unlock spiritual keys that could possibly release them for a season.

(MSG)
⁴³ When a defiling evil spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn’t find anyone, ⁴⁴ it says, ‘I’ll go back to my old haunt.’ On return it finds the person spotlessly clean, but vacant. ⁴⁵ It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits more evil than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse off than if he’d never gotten cleaned up in the first place.

Matthew 12:43-45

This Scripture proves that spirit beings seek out places that are or at one time contributory to their existence.

Below, the relief artistry on the side of perhaps a place of worship depicts a man worshiping the tree-god, however, the real demigod Baal manifests behind the worshipper unaware.

There is a lingering behavior of spirits and the strong connection between people, symbols, and objects.

 Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Eventually, we will all mature into Saints ready to do battle against the darkness at hand. Until that time let us serve the Lord with all of our hearts and with all of our minds.  In other words, this holiday season some families may hear shocking religious revelations and radical views against Christianity from loving relatives. Even political views can morph into religious dogma. We must be prepared to have a ready word in season and out of season.

Before coming to faith in Jesus Christ, I was an angry young man with low self-esteem, which is the ideal formula for a person prime for anti-Christian rhetoric. However,  after taking a series of Bible courses, I discovered Christianity was the only faith that had a traceable history back to its origin.  In school, I learned the fascinating details of a war that humans are often unaware.  It is the unseen battles (on our behalf) between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness.

In the beginning, darkness had covered the Earth, and the inhabitants of the world were forced to worship the enemies of the God.  Adonai cut a covenant with Abraham and Moses to discipline the people in the way of the Lord. This covenant (a shadow of the Messiah) unlocked the chains of Hell when the people repented of their idolatry.

 From the Gospel of Matthew to the Book of Revelations the people of God are warned about the enemy’s seduction over men of faith to fraternize with doctrines of devils.

 

 Another interesting fact is those ancient occult religions, which predate the Hebrew’s religion, are present enemies of Jews and Christians today. Pagans worshiped fallen spirits.

(As He did in Biblical times, Adonai is still raising up prophets to teach His people about evil spirits that charm and captivate the minds of their worshipers).

Deuteronomy 18:8-22

9  When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations.

If the reader is unaware of the culture in the days when Deuteronomy was written, allow me to explain that it was a civilization of people who worshipped gods of nature (fallen angels).

When the ancient manuscript uses words comparable to “detestable (repulsive),” when describing the pagan altars of those nations, one could only understand why God abhorred their sacred shrines. Those fallen angels knew how to control mankind’s heart and soul. The best way to manipulate men was to fashion a belief system with beautiful images that seemed harmless but represented the pre-Christian religions of the fallen angels (demigods).

Unlike the Israelites who trusted in the God of Moses to provide seasons with rain and sun for their agriculture, other nations relied on their fertility gods. Altars were set up at places of worship indicated by male and female reproductive organs representing the Pagan Gods Baal and Asherah. The accuracy of detail giving to create human body parts would shock the average foreigner passing through with the images in full view.

The symbols ascribed to the Syrian “Baal” and “Asherah”, were made of solid rock, but sometimes green trees and the circular reef were used to depict the human reproduction organs.

This was a culture where all civilization circled around an agricultural society.  The breeding of animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuel,  medicinal plants and other products were used to sustain and enhance human life.

According to Wikipedia, agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization.

Some non-Christian religions were successful in turning many from the faith by using the strategy of accusing Christians of mixing their faith with the practice of pagans; this approach has been successful in winning millions away from the actual teachings of Jesus Christ. When people search the history and discover what pagans did to worship their demigods, they may assume we are wrong about everything we believe.

For instance, if we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday, why are we mixing a Jewish birthday with pagan paraphernalia?

 Tilling the ground (Gen 2:15; 4:2 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession of the Promised Land, their circumstances favored in the highest degree a remarkable development of this art. Agriculture became indeed the basis of the Mosaic commonwealth.

 Image: forums.thebump.com

A fertility deity is a god or goddess in mythology associated with fertility, pregnancy, and birth. In some cases, these deities are directly associated with sex, and in others, they simply embody related attributes.