I wish to share one of my favorite sites regarding the Tsalagi – the people we know as Cherokee. I have always cherished this site and being able to listen to it now makes it even better. The site of which I speak is Religion According to Chief Jahtlohi Rogers; A People in Exodus by Chief Charles Jahtlohi Rogers, M.D., Cherokee Nation of Mexico.

He explains how the Cherokee knew Jesus by the names used for Him in the Old Testament and that knowledge came directly from Unayklanahi, the one Creator of all things. I noticed the similarity between words in Sanskrit and Cherokee and this history mentions that as well.

I do not regularly post in this blog because Our Lord has other priorities for me at this time. Eventually I do hope to install it on a hosted WordPress blog so that I may reach more readers and post more efficiently. Using free WP hosting is incredibly slow compared to installing WordPress on your own domain.

I am certain the Lord will provide a better solution when the time is right. In the meantime I will share here when I am moved to do so.

Reading about Maggie’s daughter Ashley’s accident prompted me to add this post. Maggie asks that we visit the CaringBridge site and pray for her daughter. Ashley and Maggie and many others can be helped by our prayers. I offer this prayer and dedicate it to them:

Blessed Art Thou, O Lord, Our God
King of the Universe, Creator of All That Is

We surrender to Thy will and ask for Your guidance.
Grant us our prayers – and if they are not granted
Help us to see Your greater purpose

In Jesus’ name. Amen

We claim to be a Christian nation. Are we? Most Americans claim they believe in God. Do they live as though they do? Is God first in their lives? First before work? Before money? Before things? What about in your life. If God is not first – the first thanks you give when you awake and the last praise on your lips as you relax into slumber – do you truly believe you are saved?

We are warned in Revelation 3:14-19 that lukewarm Christians are NOT saved:

• And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Revelation 3:14-19 (KJV)

Only those whose eyes and heart are full of the Holy Spirit will notice that you can not be a true Christian by going through the motions without making Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit absolutely first in your life. That means before your job, before your concerns over money, before your family, before your possessions, before entertainment – FIRST BEFORE EVERYTHING – WITHOUT EXCEPTION!

I am not alone in asking “Are Christian Churches Lukewarm?” Brother Mike provided this excellent definition of a Lukewarm Christian: “Being lukewarm is a lip service Christian. They go to church, may even give money, but God is not first in their life. They conduct their life as if there is not God.”

Another writer even has a new name for it: Goldilocks Christianity. Here is your challenge as a reader: be able to read all opinions, finding the truth and leaving behind the errors of interpretation. Many otherwise excellent writers and preachers have never questioned the non-Biblical beliefs they’ve been raised in so they mingle those with the Biblical truths.

I believe this is why Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Without Jesus we can never know the Truth. Even with him, we must be aware enough to ASK HIM. Few question the beliefs they’ve been taught so many believe untruths even though they have Jesus.

• To benefit from their insights yet not be misled we must learn to listen and read with Spiritual Discernment.

I will be linking to other sites when they provide great insight even though, in many cases, these same sites will be writing many things that are not Biblical and are not true. Often they are very passionate about their beliefs – both the true and the misleading. Only those who place Jesus first in their lives will know – and only if they question their assumptions.

Remember that “normal” is however you’ve been raised or whatever you’ve been taught by schools, the media, and society. Being widely accepted does NOT make something true. Specific interpretations of the Bible are not necessarily correct simply because they are widely accepted.  Churches and individuals who use the Bible to argue secular beliefs would benefit us all by sticking to what is most important.

And what is that? Why are we here?

God created the physical world to experience, learn, and grow. He created us – with free choice – to do the same. I believe the purpose of life is to realize that the very best use of that free choice is to surrender to God totally and completely.

We can either surrender to God or continue to “play God” – and look at the mess we have made of our lives and environment by thinking we know enough to “play God”.

God is not “in control” of this World. He told us this. He is not waging war, or starving us, or forcing us to submit to the evils all around us. Once we surrender out lives, thoughts, and actions to Him we will be guided in our path. We will be provided for physically. We may be protected or it may be our calling to endure for His sake.

One thing we will have is peace in our hearts and of our minds regardless of what is going on all around us. And most important of all, we will have eternity with Him in a far better world where life is worth living; unlike this end game we are experiencing now.

RELATED POSTS ELSEWHERE:

• How Not to Be a Lukewarm Christian (Nov. 10, 2008) – (Note that Our Lord inspires many to write on the same subject on the same day. I woke up with this post in my mind yesterday and today and only after typing it found this other post.)
• Confusion Message (Nov 09, 2008) – While this post has insights – and note the date – was divinely inspired, it focuses on politics while I do not believe Jesus would advise we do that. The few who are true believers are not going to be able to change the world through activism any more than Jesus tried to do so in his time. How much time did he spend trying to change the system? How many doors did he knock on? Where did he spend his time?
• Guard Your Affection for Christ – Bible Study covering the warnings given to Lukewarm Christians in Revelation and describing deep, enduring love for Jesus
• Inconsistencies of Mainstream Christianity: Does Doctrine Really Matter – This site has an exceptional depth of information
• The Child of God

BIBLE REFERENCES:

• Read Revelation 3:14 or any other Bible verse in multiple English translations plus many other languages at Bible Gateway
• Bible Commentary on Revelation 3:14

There have been many theories on exactly what Bob Dylan meant when he wrote his best selling song Blowin’ in the Wind. Inspired music always has many meanings. It is historical; it is now; it is prophetic. Take this stanza:

How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

While the most likely meaning of these lyrics related to the civil rights movement, it is equally true about the increasing death toll in the “War on Drugs”. How long will we keep our heads in the sand while innocent people are murdered in their homes by those who – theoretically at least – are supposed to be “protecting” us? Please read on so that you may at least understand.

Dennis McBride, a casualty in this drug war himself, has accumulated true life horror stories of people who would be flippantly dismissed as “collateral damage“.  I sincerely hope that every person reading this will take the time to read at least a few of the tragic tales told at The Drug fLaws: Murder.

Here is just one quote from Dennis’ enormous files:

“The list of drug war victims goes on and on. I am talking about kids, old ladies, completely innocent people, shot and killed not by gangs, not by robbers or drug dealers, not by schoolyard shooters or kids playing with guns, but by those sworn to protect our lives.”~ Sheriff Bill Masters

We as a society have allowed these travesties to become increasingly common. Many encourage such behavior because they have been convinced that there are only two kinds of people: the good and the bad. As soon as someone else does anything society has decided to label as “bad” many believe they deserve whatever they get.

There are myriad problems with this. Let’s start with the most obvious, though. Many of the people being murdered by law enforcement are NOT the “bad” people. They were totally and completely innocent!

If you think this is rare visit this page of Drug War Victims. Among them are an 8 year old girl, a Baptist Missionary and her 7 month old daughter, an 84 yo bedridden women sick with pneumonia, and countless individuals who were shot in their homes when police raided the wrong address!

Not enough yet? Do a search for the phrase “murdered by law enforcement” (with the quotes around it). A search tonight on Google returns 402 results that contain that specific phrase in them. While some of those murdered may not be innocent many were. And even those that were guilty might have done something minor. Death should not be their sentence.

Amnesty International says Police Brutality in the U.S. is “Systematic and Widespread”. In their 1998 report Rights for All they said:

“There is a widespread and persistent problem of police brutality across the USA. Thousands of individual complaints about police abuse are reported each year and local authorities pay out millions of dollars to victims in damages after lawsuits. Police officers have beaten and shot unresisting suspects; they have misused batons, chemical sprays and electro-shock weapons; they have injured or killed people by placing them in dangerous restraint holds.”

Ten years later and this abuse is more widespread and escalating. Searching YouTube for +”police” +”excessive force” turns up 238 videos. People’s doors are being broken down by armed, masked adrenaline-fed authorities who abuse and arrest innocent people who are often not charged. If you think YOUR door can’t be next you didn’t read the stories at The Drug fLaws: Murder.

This has been happening for years – actually decades. Even though we’ve seen it all on television our entire lives we have done nothing to stop it so it is getting worse and worse. If you think these incidents embarrass the authorities you’re not paying attention. They brag about what is happening on television shows all the time. Watch the news, or any Cops show, or many movies and you’ll see examples like these:

• A woman tazed even though she pulled over promptly and complied with every order. Her “crime”? Her drivers’ license had expired. She had NO criminal history – NONE! And they put this on television so they obviously want us to know about it.
• Cooperative citizens being handled roughly or even violently
• Cars being stopped and searched without cause

Sometimes the comments on articles and blogs make the best reading. Consider this quote deep in the comments on the tazing incident during John Kerry’s speech at the University of Florida: “The most striking thing was that the police officers responded to our righteous indignation by asserting that they “are not operating under the constitution” anymore, rather “under Homeland Security.”

The point of this post is that we simply must realize that although we never really had freedom, the average American has a lot less liberty now than any but slaves have ever had in the history of the United States of America. We have always only had the Illusion of Freedom and even that is slipping away.

As Chief Joseph said, “this country, this government, was born and founded on violence.” The main difference today is that white “middle class” America is now being treated by Law Enforcement the same way that minorities have always been treated – guilty until proven innocent.

ADDITIONAL READING on CIVIL RIGHTS:

• Congressman Ron Paul: Is America Already a Police State?
• Police State USA – defines what a police state is – recognition is the first step to stopping it
• Operation Eroding Freedom
• War Protests – Why No Media Coverage? – NOTE: Our major media is all owned and controlled by a small minority. Whatever they wish us not to know will not appear there.
• Campus Antiwar Network – Do students still protest? It would be hard to tell based on lack of mainstream coverage
• Rosa Parks Act of Alabama – House OKs Bill Giving Pardons to Activists
• Important Changes to Your Citizenship Agreement – Might be funny if some of it weren’t so true

ADDITIONAL READING on The War On Drugs:

• Dallas Fake Drug Scandal Continues to Unravel
• Tyranny and the Tulia 38 – Small Texas Town Devastated by Corrupt Drug Agent
• Fundamental Fairness Takes a Powder – Tougher sentencing unfairly targets minorities
• The Other Casualty in the War on Drugs: Faith in Law Enforcement
• Whosarat.com – Detailed information provided by a Former Federal Agent
• The Law Should Target the KingPins

FAMOUS INCIDENTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT VIOLENCE:

• May 1970 – The Kent State Massacre
• History & Timeline of the Southern Freedom Movement (Civil Rights) – Includes many incidents of peaceful protestors being attacked by law enforcement. The United States has a history of arresting, harassing, beating, and framing those who attempt to assert they have Constitutional Rights.
• Waco: Lies, Deaths, and Cover-ups
• Ruby Ridge Prosecutions; Massacre at Ruby Ridge

FAMOUS LAW BREAKERS – They were arrested so they MUST be “bad“, right? They wanted the liberty we supposedly have in the United States. Many were killed for asking.

• Mahatma Gandhi – Nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize, Gandhi was repeatedly jailed. More on Gandhi.
• Nelson Mandella – America is asleep to our own trials. Read the first paragraph and if you don’t see America in it you are in denial of the truth. That is EXACTLY how it was in the American south and although it is no longer “legal” some of it persists to this day.
• Dr. Martin Luther King – The United States government has mandated MLK Boulevards and MLK Holiday for this man who had the courage to live – and die – for the liberty he had to protest to obtain.
• Joan Baez – Folk singer repeatedly arrested for taking part in peaceful protests

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES about BOB DYLAN:

• Videos of Performances of Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind
• Bob Dylan Online Biography - an exceptional collection of all things Dylan
• Song Meanings: Dylan’s Blowin in the Wind
• Harlem Renaissance
• Let’s Sing It Music Community Blowin’ in the Wind Reviews
• Political in Music: Bob Dylan’s Protest Songs – English translation

What if what we think is failure to mature as Christians has nothing to do with sin? How much of what we simply accept to be WRONG would be revealed to us BY GOD to NOT be sin - IF we ever thought to ask Him?

How many things are we taught make us awful that are NOT Biblically based? What if much of what we believe to be sin is simply self-inflicted nonsense? “I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”

Our personal walk with Jesus can reveal that what Lucifer wants us to believe proves we are bad is not even a failing in the first place.

Before we judge others or ourselves, perhaps we should ask what the Bible has to say on the subject. If it is silent THAT would be a good thing to ask Jesus about.

• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Not Enjoy Dancing? Perhaps you are dancing in Joy to the Lord.
• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Not Lose Productivity by Stopping to Help Thy Neighbor – Wait a minute. Wasn’t there something about “helping the least of Mine” and being a Good Samaritan?
• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Not Use Plants God created because someone who wishes to control you says so but using dangerous chemicals is perfectly fine because Big Pharma makes lots of money off of them?
• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Consume Poisonous Food because everyone else does. You wouldn’t want to actually follow our Lord’s teachings instead of what we’ve been taught by those who worship money, would you?
• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Bet Your Life trusting in Big Pharma instead of God.
• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Trust in Politicians Claiming to be Christians when by their fruits it is obvious that they are not!
• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Endanger Thy Daughters’ Health because Big Brother says it is best for them and they’ll get you if you don’t comply!
• Show me where it says Thou Shalt Close Thy Eyes and Trust in a Government that would Vaccinate Your Children at Gunpoint against their will – without even the farce of passing a law first.
• I know where it says Thou Shalt Not Kill and I also know there were many wars in the Bible; however, I just can not see Jesus condoning the Myth of the “Just” War.

What if God’s will for me is different than it is for you is different than it is for our neighbor? If you have any exposure to Bible stories at all surely you realize God has commanded His disciples to do things that were considered “wrong” or “illegal” in their time. Many of them willingly DIED choosing what God led them to do INSTEAD of what human law decreed!

Shouldn’t we be listening to God on these subjects instead of Caesar?

ADDITIONAL READING:

• The Apocalypse of Judas – Said to have been found buried in the Temple Mount, these words are believed to be a fragment written by Judas just before his death. Probably the most moving words I have ever read.  If these don’t change your life it is likely that nothing ever will.
• Standing with the Good Samaritan Against So Many Christians – If you are living by Jesus’ example you must have asked Jesus into your heart and be filled with the Holy Spirit even if you don’t remember. Many gave their lives to Jesus as children yet have no memory of it. Jesus IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Those who have accepted his offer have received the Holy Spirit and the Spirit acting through them is why they give to others. It is not us that does the works – the Holy Spirit through us does them.  If a person is EVER selfish or hateful that is proof positive that they are not saved. If this is you open your eyes and get right with God. Time IS running out.
• Unconditional Identification with Jesus
• The Herd Mentality Lives and Destroys
• Should Christians Always Obey Their Government?
• Should Christians Obey the Antichrist?
• I am Not Afraid of Radical Islam
• Romans 14 and the Gospel of Vegetarianism
• Understanding Unclean in Romans 14
• What is Romans 14 About?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES on Gardasil HPV Vaccine:

• HPV Vaccine Causes Adverse Reactions; Mandatory Vaccination Attempts Fall By the Wayside
• HPV Vaccine Not Really Mandatory Even in Texas Not Really Safe – huge public outcry keeps it from being made mandatory

ADDITIONAL READING ON BIG PHARMA:

• Big Pharma Takes a Hit: Alaska Supreme Court Strikes Down Forced Psychiatric Drugging
• Codex Alimentaris Trying to Eliminate Access to Vitamins, Herbs and Minerals in the U.S.

Everyone on planet earth was born into an existing “game”. We here in the United States are now in the “end game” because the game we were born into is becoming increasingly unstable by design. We are constantly blamed for our own situation when, in fact, the “rules” are intended to prevent us from rising above our increasingly hopeless lives. Other countries were already in their own versions of the game.

It is NOT your fault and there is ONLY ONE SOLUTION.

If you’re an intellectual, like to figure things out, or think for yourself, read on. If you have faith, you can read on if you wish or simply surrender.

People in the West have been on sold lies, damn lies and statistics about the “truth” of science and mathematics. We have television shows such as Numb3rs and the many “who done it” forensic and police shows such as NCIS and the many variations of CSI that “teach us” that everything can be calculated including what we did in the past and what we will do in the future.

While that is a great way to control people who have no way of knowing the limitations of science and mathematics, it simply is not so. Some of the information is accurate; other aspects are disinformation. There is only one way to know the truth.

Most people who have been raised swimming in disinformation soup and breathing propaganda atmosphere have lost their critical thinking ability. As soon as you recover yours, the ridiculousness of what we’re being fed will become as obvious as a flashing neon light.

Ecological Economics quotes tidbits from Nasem Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable:

“What is the ludic fallacy? Ludic comes from ludis, Latin for games. … In the casino you know the rules, you can calcalute the odds, and the type of uncertainty we encounter there. …

In real life you do not know the odds; you need to discover them, and the sources of uncertainty are not defined. Economists … draw an artifical distinction between Knightian risks (which you can compute), and Knightian uncertainty (which you cannot compute), after … Frank Knight ….

Yet we automatically, spontaneously associate chance with these Platonified [or "scientitized"] games. …

Those who spend too much time with their noses glued to maps will tend to mistake the map for the territory. …”

They go on to discuss narrative fallacies:

“We like stories, we like to summarize, and we like to simplify, i.e., to reduce the dimension of matters. The … narrative fallacy… is associated with our vulnerability to overinterpretation and our predilection for compact stories over raw truths. It severely distorts our mental representation of the world; it is particularly acute when it comes to the rare event. …”

We all live in illusions – narrative fallacies fed to us throughout our lives. Instead of opening our eyes to the truth, most quickly stick their heads into the conveniently offered sand. They wouldn’t want to “rock the boat” or have to proactively change their lives. Much better to keep their eyes tightly closed and wait for the next tidal wave to take them.  Are you one of them or are you walking with Jesus?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• The Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time – throughout time writers have been inspired to reveal the truth between the lines. Many of these movies seemed over the top ridiculous when they came out. Decades later we can see they were warning us of what is behind the illusion we’re living in and the future that is coming (or already here!). Why do certain movies like Star Wars have such a wide appeal and lasting fan base? Why are non-fiction fans drawn to them? Could it be that we all know the truth deep inside but many can only allow it into their minds as fiction? Think about it.

Lucifer is laughing:

• At how naive so many still are
• At how few truly trust in God – our God – the one and only God – who created us
• At all the mouth Christians whose eyes are closed and ears do not hear

Surely Lucifer believes he is winning. Even those who claim they are Christians are easily:

• Misled by the propaganda they swim in from birth until death
• Kept worshiping things…and money…and reputation…and status
• Led astray like a child distracted from his true path by a shiny object or a change of subject

Lucifer is laughing at:

• The majority of Christians who actually serve Lucifer! – not the one true God
• How easy it is for the Prince of Darkness to lead us around like sheep who have lost their true Shepherd
• How few “Christians” have truly accepted Jesus promise that HE is THE Way THE Truth and THE Life

God will have the last laugh though – and those who would live forever with Him are running out of time.