Voice of the Kingfisher speaks out …from a different perspective
by Elinor Montgomery
August 18, 2012
Christians wear the name as though it is a designer label. One is often identified by one’s religious affiliation – that is to say, by the title of Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Anglican or Baptist – and so the list goes on and on. The label also takes on the meaning of becoming part of a club to which one has a membership. There are great advantages to becoming a full member of the club, as opposed to being an occasional visitor. The organization gives one the advantage of a home base for baptism, marriage and, finally, a funeral as the send-off from this life to wherever one believes one is going.
The extraordinary thing about some of the top designer clothing is that there is no designer label on them. The design is considered worthy of speaking for itself. If there were a price tag attached to the clothing, it would be exorbitant, to say the least. In my day we were talking Chanel, Dior and Oscar de la Renta, to mention but a few of the great names among the chic and the elite.
The label of Christianity, on the other hand, comes with a very low price tag, indeed; there is almost no cost to most of those who wear it. All that is required is an appearance at church once or twice a year, especially at Christmas and Easter time, so that a bit of substance is added to the tinsel and Easter eggs, not to take away from either, but rather to make certain that we and our children will not forget just which label is attached to us. Of course, it helps if we can find an institutional church system, which will agree in general with our cultural label, so that the sermon is more along liberal lines, which do not conflict with our liberal culture.
I have heard the priesthood being discussed in terms of how well the preacher preaches, and how good he/she makes one feel about oneself, when one attends church. One of my United Church friends described how tolerant her church is by having a pregnant, lesbian minister. I have reached the conclusion that there is literally no cost any longer, to being part of the United Church club, which is more concerned about its green message than a salvation message. It is what is called earth worship rather than God worship – the worship of creation, rather than the worship of the Creator. I am led to believe that this church organization has an up-coming general meeting to discuss approximately 130 such concerns ranging from green problems to its desire for the ‘Miss Congeniality-type’ of world peace, yet strangely missing any concern for the trashing of the Bible in our society.
Where, I have to ask, is the church’s outrage over the government, which is supposed to represent the 75% Christian population, having removed the Bible from the classroom? Was there any Christian outrage at all or, like the United Church congregation of liberals, did the rest of them push for tolerance of all religions and the removal of the offense of the name of Jesus from the public square, in an ever-increasing, multi-cultural, tolerant society?
There is an enormous difference between the nearly non-existent price tag of the Christian label and that of the true church of Jesus Christ, His apostolic church of the Way, which has the price tag of the cross attached to it. When will the true believer and righteous ministries wake up to the realization that Christianity is not the label that was applied to the true church of Christ?
Being a good Christian means nothing, more or less, than the fact that one is a very religious person indeed, with roots back to Constantine, the Roman emperor of the Roman Empire, and a spiritual son of Satan as the ruler of one of the empires of the world. All of the empire nations belong to the spiritual waters of Babylon, about as far away as one can get from the spiritual waters of life, which should fill every saved person who trusts in Jesus for salvation. I used to believe that being a good person who attended the United Church regularly was enough to get me into heaven, but now, it angers me to think how many millions of people this particular Christian institution is leading to the pit in the deception of its apostate ministry.
Jesus was faced with the equivalent of Christianity in His day, which came under the label of Judaism, the apostate religion of all good Hebrews who believed in the coming of their Messiah, who would provide ruler-ship for them on earth. He would come to their nation, so they thought, and with Him would come His Valhalla for only them, the chosen people of God. The Christians like to co-partner with the Judaic to become the Judeo-Christian, full-blown apostasy of the 21st century. Jesus had this to say to the pharisaical priesthood of His day:
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44).”
If Jesus were here now, He would have exactly the same message for the institutions, which hand out membership to the ‘clubs’ under the label of Christian. The lies of Satan to Eve led to the first religious belief system apart from the truth. The apostolic church of Jesus Christ rejected that religious label for a foundation of truth, which led to them being called the Way, for they were placed on the Way by Jesus who said He was the way back in truth to the tree of life, closed off in the Garden to sinful man. There is no way to get there with Satan, the author of religion.
Are there good Christians seeking the way to the kingdom? Absolutely, but they will only find it through the truth of the Word, which comes against religion, as it always has from the dawn of creation. You cannot wear two different designer labels at the same time. The design of the mantle of Jesus is truth, whereas Satan is clothed in the lie.
The Lord God declared that the fruit of the tree of religious lies would surely cause Adam and Eve to die. And they discovered that God said what He meant and meant what He said. They surely did die as the Spirit of life, breathed into them, departed from them. As a result, man moved from the government of God to the government of Satan within the nations that came out of Babel and spread across the face of the earth.
Out of the nations, God established His own nation of Israel, over which He would rule with His Law, apart from the empire rule of Satan over the nations of the world. It was the beginning of returning a righteous people under His rule back to a Garden kingdom on earth ruled by Him in truth, having no lies of Satan in it. There will be no temple and no religious systems in the coming New World Order of the kingdom of God on earth.
And so those good people of the ‘knock-off’ Christian label need to heed the words of the angel who came down from heaven to John the apostle, having great authority, illuminating the earth with his glory. He gave to John what may be considered the greatest revelation of the end times that has ever been given to man. In a loud voice he spoke of the fall of Babylon, and the religious harlotry in which Christianity and Judaism share their part. They are both going down with the liberal element, which has never wanted to hear the truth of Christ. The solution for the righteous is a singular one and a mandatory one for kingdom entry right here on earth.
“Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues (Revelation 18:4).”
May those, who see themselves as good, go from good to righteous, for the kingdom is for the righteous, and not for the good? There is only One who is good, and His name is Jesus; for there is nothing but truth in Him.