"You rebuke the arrogant ('insolent, presumptuous') who are accursed, those who stray from your commands." (Psalm 119:21, NIV)
This is Psalm 119 day of the month. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, not the replacement of it. The rejection of this fundamental truth has led to some of the most atrocious tenets and acts in human history.
First of all, I remind you that centuries before the First Crusade, Arab Islamists were invading Europe. So (those who are always talking of the Crusades as some totally evil endeavor), don't give me that poor-Arab Muslim-sympathy stuff. But, having stated that, there were perversions of The Faith of Jesus during some of the Crusades by, "those who stray from your commands (words)." Secondly, "replacement theology" is a direct result of, "those who stray from your [words]." Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to them." I can give more examples, but suffice it to say that, "....the arrogant... are... those who stray from your commands (words)."
Last evening at our mission briefing I shared a little about a book I am currently reading, Betrayal: German Churches and the Holocaust. I can tell you that without exception it is the "darkest" book I have ever read. It speaks of a group of people in German Protestantism who called themselves "German Christians." How they perverted and distorted Biblical passages and Biblical Theology to justify their support and compliance with National Socialism is almost beyond belief. Let me share something I read about them on the Holocaust Museum Site: "Historically the German Evangelical Church viewed itself as one of the pillars of German culture and society, with a theologically grounded tradition of loyalty to the state. During the 1920s (note), a movement emerged within the German Evangelical Church called the Deutsche Christen or 'German Christians.' The 'German Christians' embraced many of the nationalistic and racial aspects of Nazi ideology. Once the Nazis came to power, this group sought the creation of a national 'Reich Church' and supported a 'nazified' version of Christianity."
This is Psalm 119 day of the month. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, not the replacement of it. The rejection of this fundamental truth has led to some of the most atrocious tenets and acts in human history.
First of all, I remind you that centuries before the First Crusade, Arab Islamists were invading Europe. So (those who are always talking of the Crusades as some totally evil endeavor), don't give me that poor-Arab Muslim-sympathy stuff. But, having stated that, there were perversions of The Faith of Jesus during some of the Crusades by, "those who stray from your commands (words)." Secondly, "replacement theology" is a direct result of, "those who stray from your [words]." Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to them." I can give more examples, but suffice it to say that, "....the arrogant... are... those who stray from your commands (words)."
Last evening at our mission briefing I shared a little about a book I am currently reading, Betrayal: German Churches and the Holocaust. I can tell you that without exception it is the "darkest" book I have ever read. It speaks of a group of people in German Protestantism who called themselves "German Christians." How they perverted and distorted Biblical passages and Biblical Theology to justify their support and compliance with National Socialism is almost beyond belief. Let me share something I read about them on the Holocaust Museum Site: "Historically the German Evangelical Church viewed itself as one of the pillars of German culture and society, with a theologically grounded tradition of loyalty to the state. During the 1920s (note), a movement emerged within the German Evangelical Church called the Deutsche Christen or 'German Christians.' The 'German Christians' embraced many of the nationalistic and racial aspects of Nazi ideology. Once the Nazis came to power, this group sought the creation of a national 'Reich Church' and supported a 'nazified' version of Christianity."
There are still "nazified version[s] of Christianity." They have different names, but the spirit and intent of them is the same. My intent is never to make anyone unduly suspicious and thereby elitist and isolationist towards other Followers of Jesus; if someone is looking to justify such a lifestyle, they really need no "confirmations." But this caution does not eliminate the need to, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." He devoured millions in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. God help us all.
Father, in Jesus' Name, by Your Holy Spirit, keep me, "in the faith"----- and out of, "the lie." Amen.
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Bosnia/Berlin Mission, May, 2014
Example of today's devotional at: jhs58.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
