Today, January 6th... As I woke this morning, the Holy Spirit had presented me the words of the song, David Danced...and so I lay there singing the words over and over... Even when I got up, the words would not leave me...I knew the Spirit of the Lord was guiding me on this important day which has affected me and so many individuals across the nation and, indeed, the world.
This morning, President Biden spoke to our nation, condemning past president Donald Trump and his followers... Those who acted to attack our Capitol exactly one year ago. President Biden referred to the words of the Bible:
The Truth Will Set You Free
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Many have thought that President Biden should have spoken out before today. I don't. Many have had the opportunity to see and hear more about the insurrection. The impact of President Biden's words, therefore, today were exactly what and when they needed to be said! Indeed, more lies from more people are being made. Not only Trump, but nearly all republicans are lying, trying to delete the memory of the Insurrection!
What is truth? Sometimes it is hard to know. When somebody has repeated a lie over and over and over, often it becomes the truth by some listeners--in particular, many now in the republican party, unfortunately.
What has concerned me most about these lies is that they are being accepted by republicans who are supposedly Christian--Evangelical Christians. Recently in a discussion with a friend, I was lamenting the unfortunate division created by Trump followers as incited by him. Now, it seems the word Christian is tainted as...one who lies and turns violent to support their religion as evolved through political party.
In that discussion, I admitted to resenting that I have had to defend myself and my opinions politically...as being a sign that I was not really a Christian since I was against Trump. That is, specifically, if you are a Christian, then you must, apparently, be a republican!!! Further, that I considered myself an Evangelical Christian! Well, I got up this morning and thought about this article and just for my personal benefit, I looked for a definition of "evangelical christian..." You guessed it, there are many different opinions and variations. When I claimed my membership as an Evangelical Christian, it was based upon my recognition of the "full gospel" that Jesus offered to me, both when I was baptized by walter as was done by John the Baptist, and when I was again baptized with The Holy Spirit. To me, accepting the gospel of the Bible is to believe that the gifts of the spirit was given today. Some of you will recall that Jesus spoke when He was near death, that he would leave but He would send the Holy Spirit to us so that we would continue to know His presence.
The republicans have tried to say that it was ANTIFA, not even realizing that ANTIFA is a rallying cry not a body of people...
They had the noose ready for Mike Pence, who was supposed to do what was necessary to ensure the count on January 6th overthrew the election of Biden. Trump had tried to get Pence's participation, but he couldn't.
There were many groups, such as Proud Boys, QAnon, KKK, White Supremacists, that were there... You may remember that in Virginia earlier, a group of white men walked down the streets carrying torches, crying "Jews Will Not Replace Us..."
Trump later said that there were good people on both sides... Specifically, all of those there to speak "against" other Americans who were protesting saw, as later announced after Trump's comment, that the president supported...them!
It was very clear that the Insurrectionists were Trump republicans/followers.
Flags were brought other than the American Flag... The American flag? It was rolled up and used as a bludgeon against the Capitol police.
Those republicans who see him as a person placed by God in His position, have evolved into a cult bowing down before a false prophet... One of the individuals speaking out, in a video, spoke about his father being a leading evangelical at the time of Billy Graham, told about how he had been asked to a meeting where Christian leaders met with Trump. Trump was told to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem...and to put selected Christians with strong beliefs on the Supreme Court...
Trump in turn could do anything he wanted with support...
Trump succeeded in doing both...
You may recall that recently, the State of Texas made new laws about abortion, not just against its availability, but setting citizen against citizens to tell who was involved in ANY WAY with providing abortions and getting a bounty!
The Supreme Court voted to allow it to move forward, wuth strong objections from those who voted against it, calling it a "travesty."
The Supreme Court is NOW a biased body, thanks to Trump and Evangelical Christians...
During my discussion with my friend, she asked me if I was willing to share about my Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I had rarely spoke of it... But I did then and I am now... It all began...
When I was invited by another friend to attend a meeting of the Full Gospel Business Men's Association many, many years ago. I went with my friend, since I was used to attending multiple types of religious group activities. It is nondenominational and allowed all interested people to participate. I understand it evolved out of the Pentecostal fellowship, who believe that the Gifts of the Spirit are available to all and in these times... I enjoyed the meeting and meeting other Christians...some of them spoke in tongue that night...
Jesus spoke out about praying in closets rather than out in public. I've always felt that was relevant to me personally, somewhat of an introvert... So, as many of you will now know about me... I read a book!
During the years when I was first working, I bought and read a lot of books related to Christianity. It was normal for me to buy books about a topic that was important or interesting to me... I don't remember whether I bought the book or somebody gave it to me...
I was used to reading before I was ready to sleep. So, Something More, was my choice that night...
Somewhere along the way, perhaps I was reading about the gifts of the spirit... In any event, I could feel something. My body was growing warm and soon my body was heated from toe to the top of my head...
And I began to speak in tongues...
What I was doing, during the time speaking words I did not actually understand, was...Loving. I was praying for everybody, people I knew, people I didn't know...God had given me the gift of love for all people, I realize, now, even as I write...
God is a God of Love. Read the words of Jesus... Love Thy Neighbor was One of the Ten Commandments...And never, since the word did not exist at that time, did He say Love Only Christians...
For most of my life, which is when I started to work on a large university campus, I've been involved with people from all nations--students and teachers from various countries... Then when I retired, I started to work in publishing books and then doing book reviews, exclusively... I've read books from many different authors and many different nationalities. Since I had spent much time earlier in reading Christian reference books, I also was willing to consider the words from those who were not Christian. One of my favorite belief systems is what I've learned from Manny Moreno, a Native American poet/writer/personal friend. I had also read many fiction books about how ancestors and animal token were part of their earlier beliefs... I found this not out of line with my particular learning as an early Christian convert.
God's Holy Spirit has taught me that I love all peoples... Sure, we may have personal interactions with others who becomes a problem for us...that is, me, since this is my personal experience. I have come to recognize that if I had been born anywhere else in the world, then I would early in my life, never, perhaps, heard that Jesus Loves Me. God tells us to go out into the world and speak of Jesus... He does not say go out and ban, be prejudice of, or hate and evoke violence against those who are different from us...who believe differently from us. Instead we are to reveal our knowledge of The Holy Trinity through our own lives... That is how I've tried to live my life...
The one result of being given the gift of tongues and baptism with the Holy Spirit, is a sure knowledge that God IS LOVE... He does not need us, no matter what religion we have come to believe in, to demand obedience to Christianity or any other religion. And, he definitely does not expect us to use violence to act "on behalf" of Christianity!
When I was young and trying to understand about The Holy Trinity, I quickly recognized that God was the father I never had... That Jesus was My best friend! And the Holy Spirit was the wonderful realization that God lives within each of us... All we had to do was open our Heart to receive guidance, communication and soooo much love... Even if we not yet loved us as He loves Us... UNBELIEVABLE!
Please allow yourself to listen to the Truth, right now... today... about His Wonderful Commandment to Love Thy Neighbor... Can we really be willing to have guns killing our children, just so we can do what "we" want as part of the free will? Can we really believe that non-white individuals are NOT also God's creation
My final thought as I think of what occurred on January 6th, 2021...
Surely The Spirit of the Lord's Love Was Not With those Insurrectionists that were there to override the people's choice for the new president of our great nation...
No comments:
Post a Comment