Since method and religion is exactly the same thing, then why do so many believe that being religious is merit towards God; it simply is not.

The word religion in Greek is threskeia, from the root word threskos, which means: demonstrative i.e. pious. Many hang that label on themselves, that is religious, and think it to be a positive handle, but what methods could man do to win favor with God? How can doing the same things over and over and over bring us any closer to our Lord? If this was going to happen, don’t you think with all the years of man doing it, that we would begin to see a positive change in mankind? This ain’t happening.

Folks, it’s not about joining some group that meets every week, or these silly routines that many are taught to follow, or believing in a certain doctrine that every street corner with a steeple processes, or any other of the many man-made criteria’s that these so called leaders place on us; it certainly is not; our life is about having a relationship with our Heavenly father, and His beautiful son Jesus. All that God yearns for is a intimate relationship with each of us. Therefore, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; religion is a hindrance to having that personal relationship with God.

Many are caught up in ‘Their Ministry’, but somehow forget that their goal is not about themselves, not about gathering followers, or trying to make money for their personal cause with the collection plate; and when we get our eyes off ourselves we can then see that God reins supreme.

Mans’ ideas are exactly that; they are the ideologies of the carnal mind, and won’t bring a single soul to the wonderful LIFE that God has prepared for us today. We don’t have to fit in, or measure up, or earn our keep, we are already His.

For those of you that have settled in with a religious mode, or those of you that have spent a lifetime in the world of religious activity, will find some type of comfort with the unity of these brands of playing church, but, will also find it difficult in allowing your relationship with God to prosper to the level of His REST.  I have found that religion has been a hindrance to a fulfilling relationship with our Lord, because methods seem to go around the same circles over and over again.

The formulas that man invented when he decided to place his carnal offerings into a system, and then call it ‘church’, was the beginning of the end, at least to what God had set up through His son Jesus.  The Church, (Ekklesia), is a called out person or people, one that has turned from this world of rituals, habits, man made doctrines, and a sense of belonging to a system that is the creation of fleshly man.  When God spoke in Revelations 18:4 and said to “come out of her My people”, He was speaking to Babylon, which is any system that is the invention of man, which certainly this ‘thing called church’ is.

At the risk of editorializing; when our priority is on folks with great jobs, those that can sing with talent, have an ability to hold the attention of an audience, the rich and famous, or any other number of skills that this world has called vital, then we have ceased to please God at the expense of pleasing ourselves.  When we think that education, medicine, strength to climb high places, or even thinking that our mind can carry us through, places us again in that Babylonian spirit, thus furthering each from the REST of God.  The REST has been placed in every man, in his heart; but to find that REST, the world and all its’ so called glory, has to be shut out.

We really are caught betwixt and between, caught between two worlds; one hand tell us one thing, and the other hand saying something completely different.  “You must choose this day whom you shall follow.”  The Love of God we can never get away from, but the Life of God in each is another story.

This world, and I’m speaking of this three dimensional life, has promoted itself as having all the answers that man needs. Stand up straight, get educated, get a good job, have manners greater than a badger and so on, and all you’ll ever reap is a life filled with joy and happiness. This, of course, is non-sense. It is true that this world will give us all it has, all the peace and prosperity that it has to give; BUT, this world and all its so called glory, owns no more than the senses, and these dimensions, and have nothing to do with the true man within.

This thing called ‘church’ has promoted the exact same ideas, and the evidence of what really has been going on is shouted from the roof top. With all their doctrines, rituals, public displays, organizations and committees, and great wealth that they have achieved, has done nothing to alleviate the weakness of man to anything other than their own status. If these religious corporations were working, and man was being truly fulfilled, why is it that their attendance is dropping, and people continue to hurt inside? When one preaches through the flesh, prays to consume it on his flesh, sees the scriptures as a violent weapon to bring us into control, and speaks only from the traditions of carnal man, it has no other choice than to fail. If the world had it, I’m sure it would give it; but it don’t; but one man hung on the cross two thousand years ago does.

I spoke in the March 25th blog (below this one), about Pharisees, the external man in each of us, and how carnal man likes to be seen in public as upright, gives alms to be seen, makes long prayer, and stands by the literal values of their religion, but on the inside are full of dead man’s bone. They will never elevate a single life unless it’s for their own benefit.

God has given us a sound mind, a heart to receive, an inner man, (spiritual man), and we have every privilege to be joint heirs with Christ; but we must worship in spirit, for God is Spirit. It says in Revelation eighteen to come out of her my people. Babylon has fallen, and will continue to fall, but God’s people will not perish that place their trust in Him, and not that of these man-made religions.

We’ve taken everything this world has to offer, and it still hasn’t changed a single life towards true Meaning, and has proven itself to be of little spiritual value. But if man wants a relationship with the Father instead of the ‘church’, and desires that Place that each can rest, then we will heed the words of that great prophet: “Let my people go,” and be set free into His (God’s) LIFE.

In the Gospels the Pharisees were a religious sect that held to the literal understanding of truth, they made long prayer in public to be seen, gave alms for the reward of their peers, and held fast to the letter of the law. I understand that these were actual people, but for God to tell us about them has but little value; except, when we understand that there is a Pharisee in each one of us. This Pharisee in us looks at the things of God from a self serving attitude, from the carnal fleshly ‘reward and punishment’ system, seeing only that which the five sense can grasp. But, for those that want more from their relationship with God, these same parables give us a hint as to what is in the way.

The parable in Luke five is about new and old wineskins. “No one puts new wine into old wineskins…But new wine must be put into new wine skins.”

In the days of old it was no different than that of today; the religion of man ruled, the methods of the carnal flesh reined, the literal understanding of the teachings of God was all that was grasped; thus man was perishing and Christ had to come and save us from ourselves. If we view this parable as nothing more than a lesson on how to preserve wine, as the surface value indicates, then we also have missed a deeper understanding of God’s teachings. If we see only with earthly eyes, if we hear thru earthly ears, and we continue to think through our carnal brain, then nothing more than the ‘reward and punishment’ system, and a literal violent acknowledgement of truth can ever be comprehended. But, if one repents, that is to change the way he thinks, throw away the old wineskin, allowing God’s Spirit to transform each from within, then Christ’s new teaching has a new wineskin unto which to pour His new Wine. A man must be emptied of this man-made religion, these misinformed teachings from these corporations called ‘church’, and turn from our ways, change the way we views things, (repent), and humble ourselves, then God will heal our land, (our very person), and pour His Wine into our now new wineskin.

Religion doesn’t work, it never has, for if it did, then why would this new wine burst the old wineskin. Those that hold to the traditions of man don’t immediately desire new, saying that the old wine is better.  I hope we know better.

I’d like to look at the first miracle of Jesus’ ministry when He turned water into wine,: John chapter 2. I will only touch, (because of space), on this subject, but will attempt to open up a deeper meaning hidden in these scriptures. Hopefully, looking at this marriage in Cana of Galilee, we can see that God has hidden a more valuable message than the surface of it can produce. This is when His mother, (the earthly side of Jesus), said; “they have no wine.” and Jesus replied back by saying; “Woman, what have I to do with you?”

We are then told that after the Jew’s manner of purification, six stone pots were filled with water to the brim, and Jesus turned the water in them into wine. Although this is an abbreviated look at this miracle/parable, we can see, hopefully, that God has placed an outer meaning, (literally spoken about), an also an inner meaning, (one of a higher level).

Althrough the scriptures God has hidden His mysteries of a deeper relationship with Him for those that truly seek to know Him in a greater depth than that of the surface values spoken about literally. We all, for the most part, have been taught the earthly level, that of stone, of the scriptures by those that only understand their lower meaning, thus leaving many starved for the fulfilling TRUTH.

Stone represents the earthly value of truth, a literal meaning that can be abstracted from looking no more than on the surface. The commandments were written in stone, and have a far deeper meaning than to just not kill, or not steal, or to not commit adultery, and so on. We can kill by slander, steal by misrepresenting, or commit adultery in our heart, or by worshipping the things lower than that of God, which are all things.

Water is represented in scriptures as Truth, a deeper Truth than that of the stone value that can be taken literally, thus it was told to the servants to fill the six clay pots to the brim with water. All this happening as Jesus’ ministry was being transformed after the death of John the Baptist, and after the temptations from being in the wilderness for forty days and nights, and telling us that the “law was until John, but now is Grace.” Stone and water is represented many times in the Bible, such as when Moses was told to strike the stone, and later to speak to it, thus bringing forth the water to save their, Israel’s, lives. A stone, which had to be removed, covered the well in which Jacob was to feed his sheep. Therefore we can see that, in each case, and many more such cases, that stone was the catalyst to bring forth water; That the literal values of TRUTH begin on the surface, (stone), and with a desire to go farther, deeper, can fill us with a TRUTH of much greater value, (water), that comes from within; and by the husband of the vineyard can be turned into wine.

Wine is the fruit of the vine, and Christ said that He is that vine, and we are the branches. Wine is represented in scriptures as the Kingdom of God that lives within each of us; not the place that lives beyond the wide blue sky, for Jesus said that the Kingdom is within the heart of man. It is, spiritually speaking, that place within each that nothing else matters but the things of God: the most powerful, fruitful, fulfilling, and restful place inward in every man, the deepest of all TRUTHS. We can call this place LIFE, we can call IT the SABBATH, and we can attain IT by seeking a deeper relationship with the King of all kings by allowing the Truth to be turned into WINE.

Jesus said that He was the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE; the stone shows us the Way, the Water shows us the Truth, and the Wine gives us Life. Where will we build our house, in sand, or upon the ROCK? Do we have a thirst for this Water? Will we drink of this Wine, represented as His blood of Life?

These factories called ‘church’ will not teach this evolution of man that God has given each, they can only teach from the stone; the literal meanings. When calling His mother ‘woman’, Jesus walked away from the earthly part of His life, and began His Kingdom message.

How is it that so many think that loving ‘the so called church’ is the same thing as loving God? Let’s just stop a few moments and think: These weekly rituals and the festive holidays, and the pews, choir, stain glass windows, robes, pulpits, steeples, and a whole lot of other stuff is not mentioned in the Bible; nope, not even once. But the institution of this man-made organization insist on continuing with this nonsense.

Luke says, Jesus speaking: “Whosoever falls upon this Stone, (the corner stone which is Christ), will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Man has tried to make his own cornerstone with the establishments of his own hands and head, put a steeple on it, called in as many as would pay homage to their works, charged them a fee, (tithes), and led many into believing that their platform of religion is correct. As the chief priest, scribes, and Pharisees were, so are many today.

It is God, and His son Jesus Christ that all of our attention belongs, for to worship anything above this is idolatry, let’s call it adultery, and is, because of their doctrines, leading many into the mind-set of their ideology of what Christ was establishing on earth; and of course it is NOT. The CHURCH is a people, not a place. We are the Church, a church of many members, fitly joined together, not built by the hands of man on the foundation of sand, but upon His rock, His revelation, it is built upon the faith of knowing Christ as Lord, and no other lord would come before Him.

Jesus showed us that He had to go into the temple and chase the folks out, and overturn their money changers’ tables; saying that you have taken My Fathers house and made it a den of thieves.

I listen, like everybody else, to all the rules and regulations that the ‘religious world’ tries to heap on people with their own man-made versions of what they think God is, and it runs deep inside me with disgust as they parade themselves as the leaders in control of truth.

The subject is again LOVE. We have been taught by the ‘main stream traditional thing called church’ of what love is, that many have been subdued into thinking it’s true; And course it is NOT. WE have been taught that God loves the beautiful and nice and despises the ugly and bad. Since God so Loved the world, (the people in the world), then who is it that is ugly and bad that God doesn’t Love? Since Love covers a multitude of sins, then who is it of the disgraceful that Love doesn’t cover? Since Love is unconditional, then why have so many placed these unreasonable conditions upon folks that don’t adhere to there platforms? Love is not just a thing that can be given and then taken away, a feel good moment, you must earn it to have it thing, or only for those that step to the protocol of these institutions. Love is not a thing, Love is an action, Love is a person, LOVE is another word for GOD.

How can we despise our brother and love God? Why would we try to control our brother with these many rules and regulations before he is accepted into our fold? God doesn’t. So these ‘things’ on just about every street corner come up with many stipulations for their club houses, that many in the world are turned-off by their antics.

Since Love is a person in the form of God, and since we are made in His image, we have then been given the capacity to Love our fellow man; and this is developed through a relationship with Him.

Please, don’t buy into this ‘thing’ that says to love those that follow certain rules, and avoid those that don’t. WE ARE ALL LOVED.

What part of being Loved by God are we having a hard time with?

The old adage says that if you don’t have it, fake it. Love is one of those actions that is far deeper than this writer can understand, but I do understand that what we’ve been fed as love is far short of the Truth of what it actually is.

Love covers a multitude of sins, is unconditional, is never ending and never fails. So, as we read the following passage from 1 Corinthians let us remember that Love is not just a thing, but a person; God. Love suffers long, and is kind, Love does not envy: Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in Truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

As we ponder the above verses, and look closely at what they truly say, we can see that not only is this what God is teaching us about Love, but also, what He is teaching us about Himself. Why are we taught by the institution that we have to earn Gods’ Love? Why are we taught that unless we deserve His Love we miss out? For God so Loved the world that He gave… So who was in the world that He Loved and gave? ALL OF US. God Loves us all whether we have earned it or not, whether we accept it or not, for Gods’ Love is not just given out to those that have done the ‘right things’, but to all.

This thing that man calls ‘church’ wants their underlings held in their bondage, thus teaching that everyone has to adhere to their special doctrines and return each week for another weekly dose of their man-made rules and regulations; this is not so. God Loves us because He Loves us; God is Love. God is not just an entity that has a lot of Love, He is the entirety of LOVE. How can God so Love the world but not really Love us? What can we do to have Him love us more? NOTHING.

This bunk that’s been taught that we have to be worthy before God gives us His Grace and Love is just that; bunk. There are multitudes of folks that have not come to accept Gods’ Love because of man’s injections of his own versions of the carnal stuff he makes up. When we substitute our carnal ideas to replace those of God, then we get what we have gotten; a sorry counterfeit of what Love truly is.

Our sins have already been forgiven, whether we understand it or not.

This love out there, to many, is not the same thing as the LOVE that God gives to us to give to each other.

To many, being a minister of the Gospel is liken unto some top-brass of one of the many corporations spread across the Americas, a CEO, a president, a title to be worn with anything but humility. Yet, many of our preachers call themselves Reverends, with a capital R, with the desire to be revered as more important than their underlings; to me this is a disgrace.

Yes, being a proclaimer of the Gospel is a wonderful action to be taken, it is an honor to forward Gods’ Kingdom, but it, also, will be done in Love and humility, done with an abased attitude, done as a privilege to praise our Creator and His Son, with as little attention to the proclaimer as possibly. To be revered as one of His very special people was not in the vocabulary of our Christ.

To think that someone, even anyone, would want honor and praise with such a title as calling himself Reverend is contrary to everything I understand about our Lord; all honor, praise, and glory belongs to our God and His son Jesus.

For a man to call himself Reverend is ludicrous, and to those that call him Reverend is almost as bad. We’ve slipped through the many generation of misguided teachings to no more than another corporation that call themselves a so-called-church; Gods’ Church is so much more. Any true honor that man has is there only because God is using him, and to God be the Glory.

I realize how deeply involved folks get over the holidays, and nothing I’m aware of is going to change a jot-or-tittle. It’s the season to feel warm-and-fuzzy, by our giving of so called gifts, and especially receiving them.

In Luke 6:32 & 33 we read; “If you love (give) those who love you, what credit is that to you…” & “if you do good to those that do good to you, what credit is that to you…” Even if we lend or give to those of whom we hope to receive back, what have we done beneficial? Yes, we are to give, and to give freely; to our enemies, those we don’t know, those that can’t pay it back, those that are in need, and I guess it’s okay to give to those that we love as long as we understand that they are not in the same category. The purpose of giving is to help someone in need, not just to feel warm-and-fuzzy inside, or to show-off our taste of material things or because it’s expected or tradition demands it. Nor are we to give to strut before others what we’re doing.

The deepest act of Love (giving) is done in secret, not flaunted nor staged for recognition, but is the act of actually doing something beneficial for the other person with no earthly reward to ourselves.

Greed has taken over this holiday season, and if folks would be honest with themselves we can see how deeply involved we are with this man-made institution, how the pressure from those that don’t care about their relationship with God, has by worldly involvement, vacuumed many into their line of thinking.

Christmas was not celebrated a thousand years ago, and only a few celebrated it two hundred years ago, but because of the big business retailers, it’s a great hoo-doo today. I have written about this more extensively in my books, and may be worth reading about how it all got started.
Ain’t it great to know that God LOVES us anyway?