LIFE IS SHORT (live it well)

Life is short. We only have one go at it on earth. One take, no instant replay, no freeze frame and no rewind. The Holy Bible gives us 70 years (three score and ten) and says we may live a bit longer by reason of our physical strength. (There is evidence that some modern people have lived to be 120 years old.) In essence, the scripture below is saying if we take care of our bodies and strengthen it, we may be blessed with an extension to 80 years, maybe more.

“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Psalm 90:10 KJV

So what if we don’t take care of our bodies? What happens? Will our life be even shorter? I have always marveled at how long some of the men in the Bible days lived. Was it because of their diet, was it because they were close to God or was it something else entirely? Adam (930), Noah (950) and Methuselah (969) were all closer to the creation event and were ‘born’ during a time when the earth was less polluted. Did this have anything to do with it? I don’t know but its something to think about.

None of us are perfect. Maybe I should use the word ‘righteous’ and say: None of us are righteous enough, in our own strength, to influence people to humble themselves and seek Christ. The Holy Bible says our righteousness is like filthy rags, referring to filth-rags that were buried in the earth and rotting.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6 KJV

We MUST have the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ in order to be counted as righteous. This righteousness is available to ALL but, more importantly, is placed upon ALL WHO BELIEVE in Jesus Christ.

“Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” Romans 3:22 KJV

It is only when we receive this God-righteousness by believing in Jesus Christ that we are justified (by faith) and GOD Himself calls us righteous. Jesus who did not know sin, took on the sin of the entire world when he died on the cross, so that we might be made the righteousness of God.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

The recent passing of Whitney Houston and the impact her death/funeral has had on the entire world, as well as other blog posts, have inspired me to write this.  I believe human beings are supposed to have tremendous positive impact on one another despite our flaws.

We are supposed to live our lives in such a way that, when we “fly away”, someone else will have been positively affected by us for Christ. Whitney seems to have loved the LORD and had this positive effect on us despite the many trials in her life.

Important Question: What kind of impact will I have on the people with whom I interact throughout my life?

My past life and my current interactions with people (for some) may or (for others) may not be exemplary in Christ. It is my prayer that, from this moment, I leave a lasting impression of Jesus Christ upon all who come in contact with me.

Blessings!!!

SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY?

How could I write about Easter, Halloween and Christmas and not write about Valentine’s Day (VDay)? Have you realized that these so-called “holidays”, as they are celebrated today, are rooted and grounded in pagan traditions that seek to undermine the pure unadulterated Word of God?

Easter, with its egg hunts and bunny rabbits, was borrowed from the pagan fertility religions, and seeks to completely replace the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Halloween is completely pagan in origin with its focus on human efforts to chase away evil spirits by the power of evil spirits. Evil spirits chasing away evil spirits; does that even make sense?

Christmas has been so commercialized that many people have shifted focus off Jesus. Doesn’t the Holy Bible say we are NOT to be conformed to this world?

So what about VDay? Any discussion about this has to begin with Cupid and St. Valentine.

Cupid
Who is Cupid and what is his role in VDay? Cupid is supposedly an ancient god (little ‘g’) of desire, affection and erotic love. He is often portrayed as an infant who shoots arrows that are supposed to cause people to fall in love. The Roman version of Cupid (as opposed to the Greek version Eros) is the symbol of VDay today.

Cupid by William Hoare. (Photo Credit: Fine Art Photographic Library/CORBIS)

St. Valentine
The story of VDay cannot omit this man dubbed ‘saint’ to whom much of the fanfare is credited. According to History.com,

“The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure.”

How did VDay really originate? There are many unfounded speculations so I’ll let you sift through them and decide. History.com gives us some more information:

“While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.”

This bring us to my initial question: SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE VALENTINES DAY? The possibility exists that the Roman Catholic Church may have created the Day to replace Lupercalia.  According to Cicero and Plutarch, during Lupercalia, the priests called  Luperci ran about naked, oiled and drunk, slapping women with goat skin dipped in blood. If in fact the Church created VDay to replace Lupercalia it still does not mean VDay is right. Christians are supposed to measure every practice by the standard of the Holy Bible. Here are some important points to consider:

1. Cupid is a false god;
2. Celebrating VDay is celebrating Cupid ;
3. VDay’s origins may have been pagan and founded on:
   pagan fertility rituals and fornication,
   worship of at least two other false gods, and
   idolatrous pagan blood sacrifices;
4. VDay’s celebrations today involve a few of these listed above.

The Holy Bible tells us explicitly:

• flee fornication,
• have no other gods before me,
• avoid evil and avoid even the appearance of evil.

On fornication: The Holy Bible tells Christians that their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, fornication defiles the temple, and we are to “flee fornication” (1 Corinthians 6:18 (KJV)).

On Cupid: C’mon, really!!! Let’s have a funeral for that thought right now. The Holy Bible tells us “There is one God” (1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)); He is the ultimate source of love because “God is love” (1 John 4:16 (KJV)); and that we should have “no other gods” (Exodus 20:3 (KJV)) in place of Him.

On avoiding the appearance of evil: The Holy Bible says “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV)). This means we must avoid and refuse to participate in anything that even remotely resembles evil. Personally, I don’t believe we should compromise where God’s Word is concerned, though we often do!

Many will ask how can something that is supposed to have everything to do with “love” be associated with “evil”? I ask: Is there a way Christians can celebrate true LOVE (GOD) without attaching “pagan valentine” sentiments to their celebrations, and without offending God or scripture? I’d like to hear your comments on this. 🙂

See my previous post entitled WHAT is LOVE.

See also a history of THE ROMAN FESTIVAL OF LUPERCALIA.

Read the entire article about the history of VALENTINE’S DAY at History.com.

Ovid counted Faunus as the god of the Lupercalia. For Livy, it was Inuus. Other possibilities include Mars, Juno, Pan, Lupercus, Lycaeus, Bacchus, and Februus. Quod non noris, non ames [Latin proverb that translates to]: Do not love what you do not know.

HOLY BIBLE 101 – CONFORMITY & Non-conformity

Sin is a degenerative condition that inflicts human beings in a creeping fashion from the flesh to the soul. From the time that Adam disobeyed God everything under the sun has waxed worse. It is evident to me and to most born-again believers that the world we live in is in a similar spiritual state like the one in Noah’s time, which was destroyed by water.

Entire kingdoms, civilizations and families from Noah’s time to now have succumbed to utter devastation because of people’s dramatic erosion into immorality, rebellion and perversion. We have examples like Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-25) and Korah (Numbers 16:30-33). Shouldn’t the thought of these be a wake-up-call to all of us? But no! People want to perpetuate depravity, insurgence and hedonism because it feels good.

The Apostle Peter wrote to the pilgrims throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, in a manner similar to how I am writing to you now. They were strangers scattered throughout five territories that were not their natural homelands. He wrote:

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16 (KJV)

This is a powerful exhortation. My focus here is verse 14, which says you MUST NOT fashion yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance but be obedient children. This phrase ‘fashioning yourselves according to’ was translated from the Greek word SYSCHEMATIZO (Strong’s G4964). It is pronounced sü-skhā-mä-tē’-zō and refers to conforming one’s self (i.e. one’s mind and character) to someone else’s pattern. In this case it refers to ‘former lusts‘, a pattern that is anti-Christ.

Peter was telling these sojourners they should not fall back into the former lusts that they had been delivered from. As children of God we were delivered from some very diabolical circumstances and conditions. We MUST NOT fashion ourselves according to those former lusts that are gaining more and more acceptance in this very dark world. The Apostle Paul told the Roman Christians the same thing. He said:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 (KJV)

Paul urged many things here but my focus for the purpose of this study is on the fact that we MUST NOT be conformed to this world. What is interesting is, in this scripture (it is no coincidence), the words ‘be’ and ‘conformed’ are also translated from the Greek word SYSCHEMATIZO. These three uses are the only places where the word is found in the Greek concordance of the New Testament.

Our mandate as born-again believers is crystal clear. We were delivered from conformity to the pattern of the world and cannot allow ourselves to kowtow to it anymore. The world cannot and MUST NOT determine who our associations are, where we are on the social ladder, whether or not we hold status in society, how we talk, joke, dress, or look, and more importantly, what our ideologies are or how we worship God!

The scriptures say we MUST gather the thoughts of our mind together, soberly, in everything we do, and be holy like Christ. We MUST dedicate our bodies to God and renew our minds (with God’s Word through the Holy Spirit) so that we can know what His good, acceptable and perfect will is. Mind renewal brings about transformation. This is not a mere request from the Apostles Peter and Paul but a direct command from God. We MUST obey God!

Peace!