The Creation of Evil: Glass Houses

'Revenge is a dish best served cold'!

I just saw the new movie, 'London Has Fallen'; if you like non-stop action, thrills-a-minute & good old-fashioned cop shows where the good guys get beaten up but win in the end, you'll wanna see this movie! Though this post will touch on the basic theme of the movie, this is in no way to be regarded as a review, favorable or otherwise, of this movie. I did enjoy this movie immensely, but I can tell you; not everyone will.

One of the themes of this movie ( as I saw it, anyway ) was that 'what goes around, comes around', in a never-ending, vicious cycle! Jesus, one of the most revered teachers ever, told His disciples 'whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them' ( Matthew 7:12b ): in today's vernacular, this might be rendered 'do unto others as you would like them to do unto you', but in this day & age ( especially ), it seems to be rather, 'do unto others as they do unto you', or 'do unto others before they  ( have a chance to  ) do unto you' ( this last one assumes, of course, evil intent ). The basic idea we're striving against here is that, since certain people wish us evil, we should hit them with a preemptive strike to prevent them from doing us or our loved ones harm. This action only serves to exacerbate the problem though, unless we are prepared to launch an all-out war & totally decimate every living being that might ever wish us harm!

There can be no doubt there are those out there who wish us harm just because we are who we are: I'm not saying we should compromise our beliefs & principles, just to keep out of harm's way! We should always stand for what's right; loving our neighbor does not mean standing by & letting him kill or be killed, if we can prevent it, but neither does it mean butting in & sticking our nose where it doesn't belong, like in the middle of a three or four millenia old feud/war! Loving our neighbor means following our Lord's instructions & treating others ( including our enemies ) as we wish to be treated. Unfortunately, the 'powers that be', in their finite wisdom, have seemingly discarded this notion & adopted the latter policy, that of striking our neighbor, though he be an enemy, before he can ( possibly ) strike us!

Some would argue, at this juncture, that this notion of a 'preemptive strike', or even just plain old revenge ( retaliation ) is necessary to our freedom: this is obviously not the case, because even though we have 'ramped up' hostilities against this often unseen enemy, our freedoms have suffered along with them! Others might refer to 'the problem of evil', saying that we must, at all costs, exterminate it wherever & whenever we find it: this much is true & while there ARE extreme cases in which some have become so used to doing evil that it has become their very nature, many who do what we would term 'evil' ( or are themselves 'evil' ) are simply reacting, though wrongly, maybe, against actions THEY perceive ( not always wrongly ) as 'evil'!

The main plot of 'London Has Fallen' is that terrorists are now executing a carefully planned & highly orchestrated ruse to capture the U.S. president & publicly execute him over nationally televised media! This plan was hatched & brooded over for years in retaliation for, not just the recent deaths of some 'innocent' family members, but also because of certain foreign policies that had long been practiced by the Office. The elderly father who had lost so much at the hands of the West was no doubt wrong in his own heartless reaction to the actions of the U.S. Inc. ( which were, in themselves wrong ), but his own actions were in a sense, justifiable, though evil!

Evil begets evil! Though evil can be eradicated, it is not by returning evil for evil that this can be accomplished: it is only by combating evil with good, or love, that evil can ever be overcome. Evil, like love, is active; it only exists as it is perpetrated & perpetuated. Once one refuses to continue the evil by returning it in kind ( 'do unto others AS they do unto you' ), that evil is stopped in its tracks. This is not to say that the one who perpetrated the 'evil' in the first place won't try to foist it on someone else, but then, imagine what might happen if THAT person refuses as well to perpetuate the 'evil'. & then the next..............the next.....................

'The Creation of Evil' is a problem that mankind has been stymied by from the beginning! What is its origin? Is the Creator God the Author of Evil? Though many have accused our Heavenly Father ( others call it 'Fate' ) of perpetrating 'evil', really, when you think about it, 'evil' is the opposite of love & we know, from Scripture, that the Creator God embodies Love. Therefore, whatever does NOT stem from Love is 'evil'; this is why, when one simply reacts or retaliates against what they perceive as 'evil', they only serve to perpetuate that 'evil' & cause it to exist by feeding it, adding fuel to the fire so to speak & in some cases, creating it!


Charles Haddon Shank

Reaching the Finish Line

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing [ I do ], forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13 & 14 

The apostle Paul, when he penned the words above in the mid-1st century, was looking forward to the End of his race. Not only was he referring to the completion, or fulfillment of the Heavenly Vision, I believe that at the same time, he was looking forward to the time when his own personal ministry would cease & he would finally be able to put his earthly struggles to rest!

We each ( individually ) have a race to finish, but the 'the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus' is already won; it was finished in the first century A. D. ( John 19:30, Revelation 21:6 )! The Finish Line that Paul prophesied of was the End that was soon to come in the first century, about 10-15 years after he wrote & though he was looking forward to the time when he would have completed his own personal race, he knew that it was not his winning that would win the prize, but that it was the Revelation of Jesus a the Christ, as the veritable Son of God, that would present, not just him, but humanity in the Messiah, or Christ, with the Prize!

Everyone, to whatever extent, looks forward to the time when their personal journey, their individual ministry, if you will, is completed & they are free to leave the trials & tribulations of this life behind! Many or most Christians, however seem to believe, based on the apostle's yearnings, that the Prize for which he waited expectantly is One that comes only after we pass onto the spiritual realm, or in other words, after our biological life ceases. Although he knew, or expected, that his own race would be completed by the Time the End was Revealed, Paul knew that the End was coming no matter whether he was still alive or not!

When the Prize was finally Revealed in the first century, it was no coincidence that the apostle Paul had already passed from this earthly ( material ) realm, but the it was not so much the end of his physical existence that the apostle looked forward to, it was the Enduring Presence of the Creator God with His Covenant People! The apostle Paul's race was the one that, when finally completed, would reveal this Prize. Biblical Eschatology shows us that, from the beginning, this race was being run & it was this race which Paul was running.

As Ministers of Reconciliation, we are each ( individually ) faced with our own race to run; some might call it a journey & that it is! We are placed on this earth to continue, to Fulfill the Work of the Christ, Jesus the Messiah. At the end of this race, we will receive a reward of sorts; we will be Pure Spirit; free of the encumbrances of this mortal life & we will be able to lay to rest the physical strains that pull upon this biological body. However, as we saw earlier, this is not the Prize was not the One for which Paul strained & was constrained; he looked forward to attaining, not just individually, but as a member of the Body of Christ, the Son of the Creator God, 'the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus' the Saving Presence of the Creator God when He descended in Judgment on the Temple & Jerusalem in AD66-70!

We each have our own race to finish, our own end to attain! Our reward will be according to how we run that race. We cannot say for certain to what extent we will enjoy the fruits of our labors after we have passed from this life, but we can say for certain that the Prize for which Paul waited in earnest expectation came soon after the end of his personal ministry. The Prize for which he yearned was not just the blessed hope of a cessation of his personal struggles, his own individual pain & suffering; the Prize which the apostle Paul sought & wrought was nothing but the True Temple, that made of 'living stones' ( I Peter 2:5 ). This New Temple is made up of the People of the Creator God & through the Blood of the Covenant, though It was fulfilled in the first century, It is still Under Construction & is expanding to fill the whole earth!

Charles Haddon Shank

A Theology of Marriage

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,

 and the two shall become one flesh.”^[e]

 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:31 & 32

Marriage is kind of a hot topic in this day & age, even controversial, you might say! On one hand, we have the 'bible-thumpers' clamoring for the Federal Government to save the holy State marriage license from the limp-wristed infidels, while on the other end of the spectrum, we have those who are totally disenchanted with the whole idea & just want to live together in various forms of disrepair & disarray. In between the two extremes are those who know enough not to let the State or Federal Government into the marriage bed!

The apostle Paul recognized that the institution of marriage was not just a comfortable institution arranged for the convenience of cohabitation, or just so that a man & woman could use their members in the way the Creator intended, yet without sin! I'm sure that many or most Jews ( Hebrews ) recognized that the institution was formed, as certain other institutions, to signify a greater spiritual truth, that truth being the union, the bond that was & is formed through covenant between Christ & the Church. Before we get too far into the Theology of Marriage, let us backtrack a bit, to present some reasons that even some Christians seem to have missed the point here!

In the Trinitarian view, though it may vary somewhat in its adherents, there is still somewhat of a separation in what is termed 'the God-head'; this is usually referred to as 'Father, Son & Holy Spirit, or Jehovah ( Yahweh ), Jesus ( the Christ ) & the Spirit of Both. Setting aside discussion of 'the Holy Spirit' for now, let's focus on the Father & the Son, or as most Christians commonly refer to them, 'God & Jesus'. Please don't get me wrong, any Christian worth their salt will readily acknowledge that these Two are One & the same, although They're Two separate Persons. Not confusing at all, right?! ( I'm not sarcastic at all, either! ) So anyway, based upon this kind of reasoning, some Christians have built a theology around the Creator of the Universe, saying that while God the Father is married to national Israel, though He seems to have set Her aside for a bit, Jesus the Son is married, as Paul writes, to the Church. Then there are those Christians, the majority in fact, who say that Jesus is not married to the Church yet, though God the Father HAS changed gears & made Israel the Church; so, that would mean that now............................I'm confused!

If the Church has replaced Israel as the Wife of God ( the Bride of Christ ), yet we have Three separate & distinct Persons within the 'God-head', then where does that leave the Father, not to mention the Holy Spirit? Is the Father just an old divorcee who has given up on the idea of any sort of marriage except vicariously through His Son ( who is One with Him )?! No matter where this road might lead, you're likely to end up in some sort of ditch & possibly a deadly game of chicken ending in a head-on crash!

For a true Theology of Marriage, we must understand, first, that the institution of marriage spelled out for us in the pages of Scripture IS NOT just about the human institution, though for all intents & purposes it IS the blueprint for marriage between a man & a woman ( not man & man, woman & woman or man & several women ). Marriage is a Divine Institution that not only is pictured BY the human institution; it is the Union that has been & is yet BEING established between the Creator & His Creation. Once this Glorious Truth is established, we can only go further up & further in: the Marriage, as some term it, of Heaven & Earth, like the proverbial leaven, changes EVERYTHING!

Okay, so the Church is the Bride of Christ; this is readily established, right ( 'for the Bible tells me so' )? Jesus ( the Son ) & God ( Jehovah/Yahweh-the Father ) are One, yes, so really, the Church is more correctly the Bride, or Wife of the Creator God, right? Of course, right! As we all know, the majority of Christendom believes that the Marriage has not yet been consummated, though in a sense, through the Holy Spirit, we already live together! Wait...........................Oh, Phew.............they're two separate Persons ( I guess we're not technically Joined to Christ yet............) so we're not guilty of living in..............

Getting back on track here ( I DID say 'track', NOT 'crack' ), this theology, or the study of the Nature of the Creator God, shows us that the Divine Essence is pictured by human marriage; the apostle, under Divine Inspiration, correctly noted that the human institution symbolizes the Divine Institution, or the Make-up of what is commonly referred to as 'the God-head', especially in Trinitarian doctrine. We can argue till the cows come home & we're blue in the face, but the fact is plainly set before us in the pages of Scripture; our marriages are a mere representation, a shadow, if you will, of the True Marriage, the Marriage of Heaven & Earth, or Christ & His Church, as the apostle Paul so eloquently put it. If, as so many Christians object, the Marriage has not yet taken place, that WOULD explain a lot about why so many marriages are a sham & why even many Christian marriages end in divorce!

However, it's abundantly & gloriously clear that, though the apostle WAS writing in expectation of the Consummation of this Marriage, he expected this Revelation SOON, not in his own lifetime, maybe, but in THAT generation! Was he wrong? Some people seem to think so & from the looks of things, it seem they're right! Everyone knows, though, that things aren't always what they seem ( thank the Father ), so, although it seems that the Marriage has been put on hold ( indefinitely? ) because the human institution is so fucked up ( excuse my French ), we can Rest Assured that the Spirit IS in control of His Body & We ARE moving forward, however slowly & painstakingly!

Charles Haddon Shank

The True Exodus, the True Temple

It's fairly common knowledge that the Exodus which occurred in the days of Moses, wherein Yahweh led His covenant people out of Egypt, was typological of the Final Salvation of Israel through Jesus the Christ, the Great Anti-type of Moses. It is also pretty common to metaphorize this event, equating 'Egypt' with 'sin' &, using this Story to relate our own personal journey out of sinful lifestyles. There are certain critics who have convinced themselves, as well as others, that this event never actually happened, but that it is simply an example, like the Story of Adam & Eve ( particularly 'The Fall'-Genesis 3 ), of ANE ( Ancient Near Eastern ) prose, not meant to be taken literally ( at least, not to our Western mindset ), but prophetically, pointing to & foreshadowing the Christ, or the Messiah!

The Temple itself, which was typological of the conjunction of Heaven & Earth, was patterned, from all accounts, after the Hebraic Vision of the Courts of Yahweh, or Heaven. As the Dwelling-place of Almighty God on earth, or more technically, in the Land, first the Tabernacle in the Wilderness & then the Temple in Jerusalem signified Yahweh's Presence in the midst of His covenant people. In the language of Peter & Paul, even Jesus Himself, the Temple itself symbolized, not just the Dwelling-place of the Creator on this earth, it was significant of His Covenant People, those who received salvation through Messiah!

In his first epistle, the apostle Peter used a building metaphor, talking about Jesus the Messiah as being 'A chief cornerstone' ( quoting Isaiah 28:16 ), then referring to His disciples ( followers ) as 'living stones'. The apostle Paul goes even further in his first epistle to the Church at Corinth, revealing clearly that His People, individually & collectively, are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. He wrote, in his second epistle ( II Corinthians 6:16 ), 'you are the temple of the living God'. Paul borrowed language from Peter's epistle in his own letter to the Church at Ephesus ( 2:19-21 ) when he wrote, 'you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit'.

The Exodus was all about Establishing Temple, or bringing Heaven to Earth! The apostle Paul again wrote, referring to that first, typological Exodus, 'they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ'. Jesus Himself, in a type, had followed the Children of Israel throughout their wilderness journey, providing them with safety & sustenance, though they knew it not. That first Exodus was a weeding-out, so to speak, of those who were not fit to dwell in Yahweh's Presence; the Final Exodus took place when Jesus extended His Arms outside the City & led His People to Heaven. He spiritually led His Covenant People on an Exodus, the True Exodus, out of Sin & Death!

Jesus told His disciples, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.' Because we keep His Word, or rather, His Word keeps us, we are now Home to the Creator of the Universe! Previous to this, He told them that there were many [ places ] in His Father's House: these [ places ] are us, we, His Covenant People. We make up His Body, as He formed ours in the beginning!

The True Exodus continues for the people of the Creator God, as the True Temple continues to expand with the People of the Creator God! As Moses led the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt through a burning wilderness to freedom on the Land, so Jesus led His People out of the  ( national ) Land into true & lasting freedom in what the Land had only ever pointed to; Heaven & the Blessed Presence of our Creator God! As we, the Son of God, now lead those who will follow into the Promised Land, let us forever remember that though we have entered our rest, there are those who have yet to reach those hallowed shores; let us continually rejoice in the blessings we have received & share those blessings with all those around us!

Charles Haddon Shank

'Serve the King of Kings & Let the Empire Go to Hell'

For the Christian, especially, the choice should be clear; Jesus told us very succinctly, 'seek first the Kingdom of Heaven................... and all these things will be added to you-these things, of course, being all that is necessary for the sustenance of body & soul! In this day & age, though, of entitlement & empire-building, even many Christians have been so caught up in nationalistic fervor ( AKA, 'patriotism' ) that well-nigh anything is conscionable for the welfare of this nation, or 'the greater good', as most call it. Endless wars, even bombing the hell out of our neighbors is not out of the question when it comes to waving our national idol, the good ole 'stars & stripes'!

One should understand, listening to the news today, especially that having to do with the Foreign Policy of the U.S. Inc., that America has built an empire, the likes of which Rome & Britain might have dreamed of! With numerous military bases across the world ( 800 that 'we' know of ), the presence of American service-men & women has caused a stench to come up before many peoples, most notably ( especially recently ), the Islamic State. Because of this, as well as other atrocities, Jihad has been declared as well as carried out by certain of the more radical & fanatical Muslim factions!

For these & many other reasons, the American Empire is following in the fabled footsteps of both the British & Roman Empires, even all the way back to the Assyrian & beyond! Empires have a history of lasting a few hundred years & burning out! Not being a historian by any stretch of the imagination, I can only point you to the earliest histories that we have available in order to ascertain the veracity of this statement. For the most part, this is true because humans are corruptible: when men & women try to rule over each other, usually several things happen, one of which is that those ruled over rebel against the established order, or those who claim authority over them!

The Order that was Established by our Creator, our Heavenly Father is the Only True & Lasting One, so to try to set up any kingdom besides that, especially in opposition to the Heavenly Vision, is to rebel against Him: any way you look at it, it most certainly is not seeking first His Kingdom, but rather the kingdom of man, which is always poised to fail! The corruptibility of mere human beings has ensured, since the dawn of history, that when men & women try to rule each other, trouble always ensues, sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but it is inevitable; no matter how good the intentions, things always end up on a downhill slope, or worse! ( Ever hear that 'the road to Hell is paved with good intentions'? )

Pride has been the downfall of every empire that has ever disgraced the face of the earth ( 'under Heaven' ); all one has to do is pick up any history book, particularly ancient history, to see that this is so! The American Experiment was begun with the best of intentions & with a good foundation; to some extent, part of that foundation & some might argue, many of those good intentions remain, but for all intents & purposes, this latest empire to appear on the world stage is doomed to follow in the footsteps of all those before her, Death & Hell, or Sheol!

Patriotism is infectious & in fact, one might say it is insidious! Patriotism has caused many Christians, both in this country & elsewhere, to commit acts of treason against the Heavenly Vision. A misunderstanding of what the Heavenly Vision, or the Kingdom of Heaven ( God ) actually entails is very likely the prime culprit in their failure to seek first His Kingdom, but the fact remains that many Christians, especially those who back America & Israel, are guilty of idolatry & empire-building!

This is not to say that all those who exhibit a nationalistic fervor, to whatever extent, are intentionally & purposefully NOT seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven & disobeying the Heavenly Vision-God forbid! As the case may be, though, this empire is on a very slippery slope & is headed for certain demise. It may be arguable as to whether this crazy train can be stopped or even turned around before she comes to the end of her track, but one thing is sure, the best we can do is 'Seek First The Kingdom Of Heaven And Let The Empire Go To Hell'!

Charles Haddon Shank

Acquired Rights & Legal Plunder; Likely Bedfellows

'He/she has earned that right'! This is the kind of society we live in today; rights are most often earned, or acquired, but is this right? The other side of the coin says that the opposite is true as well, we can lose our rights through certain actions or through inaction! Are rights earned though, or are they inherent? This could open a whole nasty can of worms & engender a lot of heated controversy. It could even almost be on par with Politics & Religion.........................Oh, wait!

'There are two things in this life that are certain; Death & Taxes!' However you phrase this old adage, there seems to be a lot of truth to it; you WILL die someday ( 'who wants to live forever?' ) & EVERYONE has to pay their taxes! Really? Taxes ( whatever form they take ) seem to be inevitable, almost as inevitable as our physical demise, but where does it say that we MUST pay a tax on anything, much less on our hard-earned paycheck? A statement like this, I realize, could stir up a lot of controversy, but sometimes things need to be disturbed!

A tax is defined in numerous ways, but maybe the most true & simple definition is 'a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on worker's income and business profits or added to the cost of some goods, services and transactions'; however one defines it, therefore, it is a forced contribution ( that's a paradox, if I ever heard one )! Some may object to calling this 'legal plunder', especially to referring to it as 'plunder' at all, since 'we owe these taxes'. My response would be, 'since when?' Many people that one might butt heads with on this issue would say something like, 'well, how would our federal government operate ( build roads, schools, etc. or protect us ) if not for our tax monies?' 'We OWE it to them!' My response & the obvious answer is, 'well, how did people do it before the federal government became big?' If a certain community needed a road, they built it; they didn't rely on the federal government for these matters. If a school became a necessity in the community, the people of that community built the building & started ( formed ) a charter.

Taxes, especially in this day & age, have seemingly become a necessary evil! In order for the up-keep of our roads ( highway system, especially ) & for the education of the greater part of the young people of this nation to continue, it would seem that everyone MUST pay this fee. However, the question might be proffered here, 'if everybody stopped playing the victim to this 'legal plunder' & started taking care of their own matters ( like they should ), then where do you think would be the NEED for a 'Nanny State'? Even further & maybe more importantly, if the Church ( not the institution, necessarily ) was doing Her job, then there would be no need for the 'Nanny State' ( by 'Nanny State', I simply mean the federal or state government that thinks 'they' must take care of everyone )!

While it is hard to deny the need, in this day & age, for certain things that the Federal & State Governments have ( legally or illegally ) taken under their 'wing', nothing that they have undertaken would have become 'necessary' but for the lack of responsibility of the American people! Looking at our Highway System, for example, one could argue that without the necessary influence forced upon us, this never would have been accomplished. That may be true, but would that necessarily be a bad thing? Sure, our highways make it much easier to get from point 'A' to point 'B', but easier is not always better, as we all can attest to. Look at all the deaths that have unnecessarily happened because of our Highway System; with responsibility comes freedom, without responsibility, freedom takes flight! Because many people lack the responsibility to understand that traveling at certain speeds in a highly populated area ( either by wildlife or people ) can be dangerous to their health, we have seat-belt 'laws', speed limits, etc. Because certain drivers lack the responsibility to stay off the road ( behind the wheel ) when unduly impaired, we have drunk-driving 'laws', etc.

Can rights actually be taken away? It would seem so! Every day, usually because of a lack of responsibility ( stupidity ), someone's 'right' to transport themselves on America's highways & byways is taken away. Lately, we have noted an increasing amounts of our rights being trampled on by those in authority; the news stories from a certain county in Nevada & certain areas in Oregon ( to name a few ) bear witness to the fact that certain officials DO indeed believe they have the authority to take away those rights that come directly from our Creator!

In some sense, one could argue, certain 'rights' ARE acquired! If someone wants to do certain things, he or she should prove that they possess both the ability & responsibility to undertake such things. Unfortunately, many who 'prove' their ability & responsibility, although they may possess the ability, lack the responsibility to correctly govern their actions. This is where the State & Federal Governments come in; because they have witnessed the 'need' for external government, they immediately  swoop in on the situation & threaten the removal of those rights if certain action is not corrected. Many Americans seem to be clueless as to why their rights are being trampled on & their freedoms are going the way of the Dodo bird; this is why: we, as a people, have given our responsibility over to those who don't deserve it & so we have what we now see!

Rights are acquired, but not from any external agency except the One that gives life! People have the right to life, liberty & property, but with those God-given rights come the responsibility to maintain them; when we give up our responsibilities, we also give up, for all intents & purposes, the rights & freedoms we have previously enjoyed. The State, then, has every legal 'right', since they bear our responsibility, to the 'legal plunder' that we love to complain about!

Charles Haddon Shank

Der Hersteller Continues

The Man chosen by the Creator, from the Beginning, persists to this day & according to the Sacred Word ( the Divine Essence ), will exist for Eternity! Since the Marriage of Heaven & Earth, though much has changed & the End has Come, it seems that the Creation continues to be ravaged by the annals of Time. It would seem that the Man chosen by the Creator, oh, so long ago, had fallen asleep on the job & made a complete & utter mess of things; although Time marches on & the Creator's Purpose is doubtless being fulfilled, things seem to be about as crooked as ever they were!

The End in question was three-fold; the End of an epoch ( era ), the End of the Betrothal & the End ( Goal ) to which that Betrothal looked! The Time of the End occurred to the People of God, both real & imagined, when the man of sin was revealed, that sin was taken away & everlasting Righteousness was established on top of the Creator's holy hill of Zion. From the Beginning, those ministers of the Good News from the Creator had prophesied of this Time to Come when the Creation would become One with her Creator, through the ministry of this Man that He had chosen.

The Man of which we speak here is like, yet unlike, other men; He is the Only Begotten Son of the Creator, the Father, yet He is not confined to biology, like mere men are! He inhabits a Body which is made up of many bodies. In fact, one of these latter-day prophets records Him as speaking thus, 'In My Father’s house are many mansions'; as He is, so are we in this world! In a world, created by Him, yet that does not yet fully understand or accept the Relationship between Creator & Creation, this Chosen One still labors to make known this Good News to all Creation!

When this Chosen One was finally revealed, in the Fullness of Time, lo & behold, He wore the body of a mere man! Although He wore the body of a mere man, like, yet unlike His brethren, His Creation, this Man came to inhabit a yet Greater Body. As we have seen, this Body is made up of many individual bodies & is growing all the Time; in fact it will continue to expand for Eternity, till the Knowledge of the Creator covers the Earth as the waters cover the Sea!

The Marriage of Heaven & Earth revealed One important Truth; the Creator, now totally invested in His Creation & not willing that any should perish, has so bound Himself to His Creation that He has Covenanted to live with Her forever, in the Bonds of Holy Matrimony! Creator & Creation live & breathe as One & while neither ( individually ) is the other, they function as One, having the same Purpose. He ( Together ) Purposes the Reconciliation of Creation to Himself & as the Son of His Love, the Man Chosen before the foundation of the world is charged with this ministry!

The End, or Goal, of Creation was that both Creator & Creation might enjoy the Bonds of Fellowship in Relationship! It is in the Body of the Chosen One, the Man of the Creator's own choosing, the Man after His own Heart, that this Goal is fully & irrevocably met. The Creator had chosen this Man for such a Time as this, a Time when Reconciliation, though accomplished, must be continually groomed & renewed every day, like any good marriage!

While the Creation has indeed been Reconciled to the Creator, sadly, much of it has yet to be reconciled with Him! This is where the Man comes in: though He has been made One with the Creator, neither is He the Creator, nor is the Creator Him. As in the marriage between a mere man & woman, they remain separate individuals, yet with one purpose, so with the Marriage of Heaven & Earth; Creator & Creation remain distinct individuals, yet with One Purpose, the Reconciliation of Creation.

In some sense & for the purpose of further clarification, one might say that we speak of two different, yet inextricably linked Creations, one the natural Creation, that of mere humanity & another Creation, that by Covenant through which it has become One with the Creator! The Creation which has entered into a Covenant of Marriage with the Creator has become the Man/Woman through whom the Divine Purpose is daily being fulfilled!

As the Chosen One awakens to His & Her true Purpose & Relationship with the Creator, the Creation itself will awaken from the bondage of corruptible things, to the Glorious Liberty of That which is Incorruptible!

Charles Haddon Shank

Made Whole; 'That I may be Healed'

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

I Timothy 4:8

 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.

Galatians 6:15

Why are we here? This is a question to which the answer should be simple, but it seems that some people just have no clue! Clearly, we are here to make a difference, but to what extent & how to define that difference is often where we come face to face with a brick wall. Should we be doing more to impact, to transform the culture around us, or should we instead focus on our own lives in preparation for our final destination & separate ourselves from the wicked world around us that seems to be headed for hell in a handbasket? If we ARE here to make a difference, should we not be ready to give up our physical existence to further the Kingdom of Heaven?

It has been said before that, 'we are spiritual beings having a human ( physical ) experience', but wouldn't you think that this 'experience' could be so much better if we didn't have certain physical ailments & disabilities to deal with?! Some, particularly those with said ailments & disabilities, might wonder if they would be better suited to serve in the Kingdom if they were 'whole'! The wisdom of man would certainly tell us that, 'yes, if we had our full capacity, we would be able to accomplish more for the Kingdom'!

Looking at the verses quoted above in their necessary context, we should note that, while they ARE fulfilled in the sense that 'the life.......which is to come' & 'the new creation' of which the apostle Paul wrote are the Life which we now Live through Jesus the Christ & the Spirit of our Heavenly Father, they still speak to us today. They should serve as reminders that, though the way we treat our biological bodies has a necessary effect on our living in the human realm, it is how we live in the spiritual realm that has the most effect! When we live according to our Heavenly Father's Word, in the Spirit, we have the most & best impact on the culture around us.

'Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise': this quotation from Benjamin Franklin has stood the test of time! In a culture where the norm for many people seems to be quite the opposite, we have what you now see; a lack of responsibility in many areas, reliance on a false messiah ( government-federal rather than self ),  a false sense of security & idolatry. The majority of people, if they even think about it at all, live only to die & escape the rigors of this life to spend an eternity in Heaven or Hell. 'If we only we were free of this mess, things would be so much easier' seems to be the common dream of most, but many fail to realize that this 'mess' is one of our own making!

'If you wanna be free, be free'! The apostle Paul once wrote, 'if anyone [ is ] in Christ, [ he is ] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new'. The apostle obviously wasn't referring to our biological bodies here, he was referring instead to the Body of Christ & our spiritual state. It's no wonder that so many people seem to think that Paul was looking forward to some day in the distant future when his words would come true! However, his words were true in that day; he was speaking of a new ( spiritual ) creation, one that, beginning with the inward man ( woman ) would have such an effect on the outward man ( woman ) that it would affect the culture around him ( her )!

Physically speaking, we can all attest to the fact that most of us are far from 'whole', though the question might be asked, 'what IS 'whole?' We HAVE been made whole! We ARE a New Creation ( I know; it doesn't feel like it, right? ) It is not about what we do to or with these biological bodies that makes us a New Creation, though what we do to & with these biological bodies greatly affects our personal impact! The glorious fact of the New Creation IS, however, proven BY what we do in the physical realm. When we take care of these 'shells', whether through 'bodily exercise' & better nutrition or whatever, it WILL have an effect on how we live our lives in this realm, but it has NO effect on our spiritual standing with our Heavenly Father!

Having been made whole then, through the glorious fact of the New Creation, let us so live in the Spirit that we have the greatest effect in the physical realm! Not neglecting the biological bodies that we have been given in the physical realm, let us rather use them to affect the transformation that this society, this culture so sadly needs. We HAVE the Power, through the Spirit, to effect this transformation, whether our biological bodies are 'whole' or not! Do our physical 'disabilities' hinder the Kingdom of Heaven? The wisdom of man would seem to say 'yes', but the Wisdom From Above says 'NO'! Whatever our individual abilities ( or disabilities ), it is the New Creation that enables us to DO for His Glory & the furtherance of the Kingdom!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Liberality of Love

A young friend of mine has recently published a short article about the difference between going to a liberal arts college & being a 'liberal': being rather much of a self-professed liberal myself, I enjoyed the article, but I'm going to take it a step further! 'Liberal' is simply put, another one of those words in the English language that seems to have lost its true meaning. Merriam/Webster's Online Dictionary seems to prove my point, with the simple definition of a 'liberal' being 'one who believes that government should be active in supporting social and political change : relating to or supporting political liberalism'. Only secondarily do they give its true meaning, which is 'marked by generosity'!

When Facebook asked my religious preference those many years ago, I replied that I was 'liberally preteristic'; I have not changed it ( not likely to, either ) over the past 5-10 years. Though one might read that 'preference' & have different thoughts on the matter, really, all I meant by that is that I tend to be liberal with my application of the fulfilled principles in preterism. In reality, if were were ALL liberal, the world might be a much better place! Conservatism, however, has determined that one must be conservative with what one has, in order to become wealthy, etc. ( Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with this idea )

Conservatism seems to have had its effect on love as well; we must be careful to whom we show our love or we might get burned right? The old saying, 'better to have loved & lost, then never to have loved at all' sounds about right, but even here, the 'love' referred to is, I believe, a bit different then the original! While its true that we must be careful who we share our love with, especially in this day & age, sometimes I believe we are too conservative with our love, both our love for life & our love for each other!

What is love, then? Well, put simply, in an explanation which I often use, 'it is a decision to do what is right ( by another person )'; not necessarily what that other person wants, or believes is right, but what the Word of God says is right. Love IS an action, but more than just any action, the 'thrust' of the word, the true meaning is right action! Being Liberal in Love does not meaning showing what is often called 'romantic love' with anyone & everyone ( or just those you choose to ); being Liberal in Love means making the same decision towards ALL those you meet, to act toward them in the same way, doing right by them, even if/when they d you wrong! ( We're all human; this probably won't consistently happen for most of us! )

Liberality WILL have its effect; it's what one is liberal WITH that makes the difference! If, for instance, one was to liberally show their bad or negative feelings, depending on the context, that person might find him or herself in danger of a good old-fashioned ass-kicking! In the same vein, the liberality of say, a shooting spree is probably not a good idea either ( depending on who's being shot, I guess & why ). On the other hand, if you have a lot of extra food on hand ( by extra, I mean food you don't need ), the liberal distribution of this could well make you some lasting friends. Money, the same thing, although most would argue that it's best to be more conservative with your wealth.

Being labeled a 'liberal' in this day & age unfortunately DOES carry with it the connotation of being almost what is now being termed 'progressive' ( AKA socialist/communist ). The 'liberal' denominations are the ones, for the most part, who are allowing women to preach, ordaining homosexual ( of both sexes ) & even recognizing 'gay marriages. Yes, in this day & age, being A liberal is definitely NOT looked upon kindly! Maybe it should be though, huh: not the homosexual thing maybe, but maybe if we were more generous with our love, we wouldn't be witnesses to a lot of the pain & suffering that we see all around us, on a daily basis!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Tolerable Christian: 'Friendship With the World'

Adulterers and^[b] adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

James 4:4

And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail,^[c] they may receive you into an everlasting home.

 Luke 16:9

 Many Christians today read the passage above, from James, understanding that, quite literally, one cannot be friends with any who do not believe as we do ( AKA, 'the world' ); however, read in context with Jesus' statement from the Gospel according to Luke, it seems that we SHOULD make friends with 'the world', even unrighteous ones! What are we to make of this seeming contradiction? Can we or should we be friends with those who war against the Gospel of Peace? Of course not, but if we simply tolerate them, are we acquiescing to their violence, or simply living at peace ( loving ) our neighbor?

Both James & Jesus made the above statements in a slightly different context, both culturally & historically from our present situation. 'The world' of their day was that, yes, of the enemies of the Gospel, but we must understand first of all that both Jesus & his brother were referring to the apostate Jews, 'the world' ( system ) of their day. Second, both were speaking to those who labored under that first ( AKA, the Old ) covenant. As Christians under the New Covenant, while we should not tolerate evil, neither should we turn our backs on those who do not have a right relationship with their Creator!

The Gospel, as we have noted previously, is not about Heaven & Hell, but rather about life in this world! The Good News is that our Heavenly Father brought Peace on Earth & Goodwill to All Men. He did this that men might live in peace & perpetuate His Kingdom all over the world. We have borne witness to this Gospel of Peace in the midst of Turmoil, as Christians have peaceably resisted those enemies of the Gospel, but we have also borne witness to those who claim the Name of Christ & yet have done the exact opposite: they seem to have adopted the way of those enemies of the Gospel & rather than transforming their world through this Gospel of Peace, have conformed to it by making enemies of those who should be friends!

G.K. Chesterton once said that, 'tolerance is the virtue of the man without conviction'. It has been said that if one doesn't believe something, they'll fall for anything. Christians, to a large extent, have misunderstood the Nature & Character of our Heavenly Father! Because they have these errant convictions about Him, they have tolerated many things which they shouldn't & have refused to tolerate many things which they should have embraced. Too many Christians have embraced the notion that the Gospel IS about going to Heaven when you die & avoiding Hell; they seem to have forgotten that this IS our Father's world & that we ARE here, not to tolerate evil, but to transform our culture into one of Peace. 

Both Jesus & His brother lived in a peculiar time; they were facing an enemy who was surely & finally being brought to his knees! That enemy was Death & now with the death of Death, the Gospel of Peace, not tolerance of evil, is transforming the culture as we speak. It may seem that we live in such a time as Jesus did & in some sense, we may bear witness to that fact, but with one glaring difference, the Presence of our Heavenly Father now dwells in our midst; we do not labor under the Law of that first ( Old ) covenant, but rather in the Grace of the New!

The question of whether we can tolerate those who do not believe as we do is not a simple one! We should not tolerate evil or wickedness, but neither should we turn our backs on a world that so desperately needs us! Christians should embrace, not the ways of the world, by tolerating the evils thereof, but the world itself, by realizing that it is our Father's Creation & transforming it through the Gospel of Peace!

Charles Haddon Shank

In My Father's House Are Many Rooms

You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with;^[e] but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give,

 but [ it is for those ] for whom it is prepared by My Father.

Matthew 20:23

 Jesus told his disciples ( John 14:3 ), 'And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [ there ] you may be also'. This statement seems to be pretty clearly saying that Jesus was going to be returning to those selfsame disciples one day & taking them back with Him ( to 'Heaven' ). It is pretty clear, from a very literalistic reading of these words, that Jesus had gone back to 'Heaven' & that one day, we would live there with Him ( forever ). One important truth that we must understand though is that these words were spoken a long time okay by a Hebrew, to a mixed Hebrew & Greek ( Syrian? ) audience; when we try to understand these words outside of that context, the context of the Ancient Near East, with their unique style of literature, we do ourselves & Scripture a disservice!

Another area in which we often err is when we 'proof-text'; this is when we tend to rip verses out of their context, especially surrounding ( textual )! Jesus clearly said, 'I go and prepare a place for you', but at the end of His statement, He said, 'that where I am, [ there ] you may be also'. At this point, the question should be asked, 'where IS He?' The obvious Scriptural answer, of course, is 'Heaven'; the Hebrew Scriptures, what is most often called the Old Testament ( especially the Psalms ) are full of statements attesting to this fact; 'Heaven' is where the Creator God dwells & so it follows from a cursory reading of the earlier part of John 14 that we will too!

However, when we read this passage in the context of verse 23 ( 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him' ), as well as the last statement of I Thessalonians 4:17, where the apostle Paul promises those first-century disciples, 'And thus we shall always be with the Lord', we should understand that it's not as simple as Him preparing a place' FOR us, but more to the effect of preparing US as that 'place! The latter reference is most often understood, from our Western view-point, as stating that Jesus will return one fine day ( soon ) & wisk us away to our mansion in 'Heaven', but it has been made fairly clear, with further textual investigation that this passage is not referring to what we know as 'the Rapture', although I'm sure it WAS pretty 'rapturous' to those in the first century who witnessed the events in view!

Okay, so the Creator God has made His Home with those who keep His Word; that's easily explainable just by the Glorious Fact of the indwelling Holy Spirit, right? Well yes, that IS what Jesus meant by those Words, but they hold so much more & deeper meaning! Jesus said 'We will come to him and make Our home with him'. If we can take Him at His Word, does this not mean that HE ( personally? ) has also made HIS Home with us, along with the Father Himself ( the Creator ); does not the entirety of what we know as the Godhead now dwell with ( in ) us? If THEY have made THEIR Home with us, does the Creator God still dwell in 'Heaven', like the Psalms say? Are we merely His 'summer' home?

Ancient Near Eastern literature ( of which the Scriptures are but one example ) is quite different from our Western mindset; it is full of hyperbole & idioms which we are only beginning to understand! When the apostle said, in I Thessalonians 4;16 that 'the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout', because these Words of Promise were to His first-century disciples, we should understand that He was simply talking about the Roman armies descending on Jerusalem. We should also keep in mind passages from the Hebrew Scriptures that speak of the Creator God coming down from 'heaven' to visit His judgment & justice on the nations. Remember too, when Jesus infuriated the high priest when He simply stated, 'Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven' ( Matthew 26:64 ) Only the Creator God Himself rode 'the clouds of heaven'. 

In conclusion & most importantly, we must understand that, as the New Temple of the Creator God, that 'dwelling' which He promised to inhabit in John 14:23, we ( corporately ) ARE the House that Jesus spoke of earlier in John 14. In fact, to go into more detail, the 'house' that Jesus spoke of ( His Father's ) is the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21! Again, this is us, the ( corporate ) Body of Christ; as we saw earlier, it was the Church that He was preparing AS a Dwelling-place For Himself, His New Temple. Now, we ( individually ) are 'the temple of the Holy Spirit', but as Jesus said, 'in My Father’s house are many mansions;^[a]'. Speaking of the New Jerusalem, WE ( individually ) are the 'rooms' or 'places' to which He referred!

Charles Haddon Shank

 

Beatiful Dystopia

Imagine, if you will, a society without the encumbrances of memories ( good & bad ), without the inherent messiness of things like emotions & ( GASP! ) free-will! You may say I'm a dreamer, but obviously, I'm not the only one. There is a growing plethora of movies out there, based, however loosely, on this utopian dream.Could such a society exist? On the surface, one might almost accept the propagandized notion, that without these unnecessary evils, we wouldn't have wars & other conflicts of this nature. However, as these movies are painstakingly pointing out, with the bad go the good as well, with the messy go the necessary & so on & so forth!

Emotions, as we've witnessed, can go both ways; they can induce us to do good or evil, they can rule us or we can rule them! There is always a choice involved & as these utopian dreamers point out so wee ( it would seem ), more often than not, when humans are faced with two choice, we make the wrong one & walk through the door that brings pain, suffering & conflict, all because of those nasty emotions! Though this may often be the case, emotions themselves are not a bad thing; they were programmed into us by the Giver of All Life & not everything that seems to be bad or evil is so!

Communities, like kingdoms, are a messy business! Yes, for the same reason, both of these constructs can be a frightening prospect, mainly because it involves bring together a bunch of humans with differing characters, emotions & physical make-up. Uniformity, we can probably all agree, tends to lessen the cause for conflict, but it also lessens the possibility of individual achievement: if everyone was the same, or at least acted the same, there would be no need for the corporate faction, for people to live together in community, because everyone could do everything; every man & woman COULD be an island because they wouldn't need anyone to do anything for them!

To live together in community is a sometimes frightening, but blessed proposal! Just like Marriage, it brings together individuals who have free-will; though there may be a basic agreement on the fundamentals of life, when it comes down to the nitty gritty, those nasty minor disagreements ( the color of the carpet, etc. ) threaten to bring the whole house crumbling down! However, any certain group, when deciding to live together in community is faced with the choice of whether to let their differences divide them or define them! It is our differences that make us unique & how we choose to celebrate our differences determines how we will live. If we choose to employ our differences, we will become an integral part of the community, but if we stifle those differences, then we will have no opportunity to shine!

Our feelings too often determine our actions; although it is not necessarily wrong to follow our heart, the heart IS the seat of emotions & when we let those emotions rule us, we often end up with unnecessary pain, pain which, if we had used our common sense, our head, instead of following our heart, could have been avoided. Our Heavenly Father, the Creator of All, has set certain boundaries ( like any good father ), rules which, if followed, bring certain blessings, but if disdained, or thrown aside, bring nothing but pain, suffering & almost certain disaster! Disobedience to the Laws of Nature & Nature's God, while offering a momentary relief & ( dare I say it? ) satisfaction, will end in divorce & dissatisfaction!

There IS a society that brings together & celebrates individual uniqueness; this society is one that lives together in conformity to the Laws of Nature & Nature's God! The utopian dream proposed by such movies as 'The Giver' more often than not end up being a dystopian nightmare for the very reasons that we see outlined above. Instead of celebrating our differences & using them for the mutual advantage of the community, the uniformity that is seen as necessary for a 'perfect' society ends up bringing, whether through dissatisfaction or design, the ultimate end of that 'perfect' society!

The Society of Righteousness is ruled by a Law which says, 'this is right & that is wrong'! If each individual within any given society is a law unto themselves, in other words, decides for themselves what is right & what is wrong, that society cannot last, but will eventually devour itself from the inside out. However, a Society which is founded upon certain absolutes & celebrates the differences of its members & fosters conformity without uniformity, THAT Society will last because its members will be happy in their uniqueness while unselfishly serving the good of the community, not through force, but through their own free-will!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Deeper Meaning ( of Love )

'What's Love Got To Do With It?'

Valentine's Day is two days away: some people are looking forward to it, some are not! The history of this lover's holiday is quite interesting to say the least & I encourage you to look it up ( google it ), but our focus today is the love behind it all; is it REALLY Love, or is it just a passing fancy, a lustful feeling? Much of what passes for love in this day & age is based on feelings, which, as we have noted, can change like the weather! This is not to say, however, that a love which IS based primarily on feelings cannot be a lasting one, but this, I believe, would be the exception, not the rule.

Many words seem to have lost their true meaning, or intent in this modern age of technology & convenience. Among others, 'love' is one of those words! As originally conceived, Love was simply an action, a conscious decision, a self-imposed duty, if you will, to follow a certain set of rules, or Law, concerning another, or any number of people. In today's vernacular, which probably most everybody can say mea culpa to, including this blogger, 'I love you' can mean anything from 'I have warm feelings for you' to 'I want to make babies with you ( or at least go through the motions )'!

When words lose their meaning, that meaning is, for all intents & purposes lost! This is not to say that the original meaning & intent no longer apply, for it is a universal & absolute truth, only that it is hidden to those who have chosen to accept the false conception. Love, therefore, is not based upon warm or lustful feelings, but upon a conscious decision to do what is right with concern to another or others. 'Romantic love', as we know it too familiarly today, while not necessarily based on feelings, is most often thus & is concerned largely with the physical aspects of the intimacy, the 'ins & outs', 'ups & downs', so to speak, of this over-sexualized society!

Sex, or the act of sexual intercourse, is not in itself wrong, shameful, or inherently sinful, but when it is wrongly applied, or explored in a wrong or unnatural context, it becomes corrupted & a root of all kinds of evil! Many of those who are familiar with the latter scenario can attest to the fact that this wrong context, or abuse of the sex act can lead to all sorts of nasty repercussions & cause all sorts of interesting dilemmas. The act of sexual intercourse is very natural; we were made for it! As we've explored previously, a certain part of the male anatomy melds quite nicely & interacts quite pleasingly ( if I may say so myself ) with a certain part of the female anatomy, and while certain dogma & stigma has made & continues to make this act shameful, there is nothing to be ashamed about, IN THE RIGHT CONTEXT!

The Context, of course, is Love! Not the fuzzy, warm feeling that we get when we see, think of, or are around a certain person, although that IS often involved, but the Love from Above, that which comes from a Knowledge of the Creator & the understanding that Love does not originate with our feelings but rather in our mind, our 'heart', if you will. Feelings are most certainly involved, but first & foremost, it is a choice we all must make; will we do what is right, or will we allow our feelings to dictate our course of action? Too often, I believe, people choose the latter & erroneously call it 'love', not understanding the deeper meaning of the word!

The intimacy of the act of sexual intercourse, though not necessarily involved in the deeper meaning of love, certainly brings a sort of stability to the table! A 'love' based on that act is no love at all, but the act of sexual intercourse between a male & female, in the right context, is nothing but Love. This is a Love that will last, not because the 'sex is good', but because the intimacy is there; a connection deeper than anything like mere biology has occurred & that, my friends is Love!

When we celebrate Love this Valentine's Day, while everybody else is wondering who they're going to wine & dine or just planning to woo into bed after the festivities, let's remember that it's not about the biological attraction ( although chemistry has a lot to do with it); it's about that intimate connection we make with another soul, whether or not the physical act of sexual intercourse is involved! Feelings come & go, but Love, True Love, is forever; when we focus on what is right & not just what feels right ( at the moment, or for the moment ), then we will begin to experience for ourselves the Deeper Meaning of Love, for we have found A Love That Stands the Test of Time!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Reins of Power

In this day & age, especially as Election Season has almost hit us 'full-tilt' ( sound strangely like 'bull-shit' ), political prowess is being flaunted in all its inglorious aspects! We currently have a president who claims to be Christian, yet has ties with the Muslim Brotherhood & has traveled around the world basically apologizing for America's greatness. Whether you agree or not that America has done many things around the world that warrant this kind of behavior, it is abundantly clear that politics rule the day!

As we have noted previously, politics is basically 'the decision of the people'; the people decide, through majority vote ( although this is very questionable, at the least ), who they want to 'lead' the country, so, like it or not, whoever the 'powers that be' are that run this great nation, 'they' decide who will govern & that 'choice' governs basically at will; no longer must the Executive Branch go through the Judicial Branch anymore, if the president wants to do something, all he or she needs to do is sign an Executive Order & there you have it!

'Power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely'! Lately, within the past 50 years or so anyway, this coinage has seen more use than a pair of old gym socks. Politicians, for the most part, have become so power-hungry that they will do almost anything within their power to win an election. The corruption we have seen from their use or abuse of power has borne manifold witness to the veracity of the statement in question & although only One truly wields Absolute Power, as far as mere human beings can wield power over others, there is the inherent potential to corrupt the one who holds it!

The question, ever since the Birth of Nations, has never been whether one should bear rule over another, but how to best exercise that power! While it has been widely accepted for many years that human beings need a governor, or ruler, the tendency for most human beings, which we have all borne witness to, is to give up their responsibility if someone else is willing to take it, in many areas anyway; we are, most of us, naturally lazy & if the government is willing to do something which we are not, we will often roll over & let them take the responsibility for our inaction. Usually this means a loss of freedom as well & oddly enough, it's not till people begin to realize that along with their responsibility goes their freedom, that they begin to take responsibility for their actions, but by then, it's often too late!

'With freedom comes responsibility'; never has that statement been more true than today! If one wants to be truly free, one must take the responsibility for his or her own actions & if we are willing to let the federal government, that corporate entity known as the U.S.Inc., absolve us of our responsibilities, then we shouldn't complain when our freedoms begin to fall into their far-reaching hands as well. Self-governance seems to be almost a foreign concept to some people anymore; no longer do they do what's right simply because it's right; they do what they do, right or wrong, either because it is or isn't the law! Now, I realize that this might be the exception, but as a general rule, it seems that most people have given their power over ( gladly ) to an entity that changes its face every 4-8 years.

Although, for the past 50-100 years, these United States of America have been A Nation of Sheeple, as more & more wake up & smell the coffee burning, we are witnessing a growth in the number of those ( too late, in some cases ) who ARE waking up & realizing the mistakes of the past. Although too many are going about it the wrong way, these are doing the best they know how to rectify the situation & are beginning to practice a sort of self government!

The Reins of Power, as the Founding Fathers knew, rest squarely in the hands of the people! Politics is truly 'of the people, for the people, by the people', but the powers that were granted to the federal government, our representatives, have corrupted them to the point that many or most politicians see themselves, not as servants but as rulers! From the beginning, this was not so; representatives were chosen from among the people, by the people & for the best interests of the people. Today, Politics has become so corrupt that, not only do they no longer truly represent us as they're supposed to, it's nothing more than the old 'bait & switch', a very dangerous stage show!

'How can we retrieve these reins', you might ask, 'how can we take back the freedoms that have been wrested from our cold, dead ( lifeless ) fingers?' In some cases, it may be too late for anything but blood-shed ( drastic ) to retrieve what's ours by right, but the simplest way at our disposal is to live as free men & women. When we begin to take responsibility for our own actions & live rightly just because it IS right, not because some law says we have to, we will again begin to experience the freedom that only comes with responsibility; we will have once again taken up The Reins of Power!

Can you imagine if all the people around us saw our freedom ( with responsibility ) & decided they want it too? Why, it might become a movement & folks, that's what it is, the Self Governing Kingdom of Heaven Movement & to join it, all you have to do is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar....................

Charles Haddon Shank

The Greatest Good; Live & Let Live

When faced with violence, it is difficult, in the least, to remember that 'violence is NOT the answer'! Though it may seem that violence is the best answer to violence, we know from experience that violence usually begets more violence; the history of violence in this nation alone, not to mention Europe, the Middle East & the rest of the known world bears manifold witness to this deplorable fact. Nation retaliates against nation, group against group & so on & so forth; 'where it will stop, no one knows'. Then there's the preemptive strike, a pre-retaliation of sorts; 'lets bomb them first, because we're pretty sure they plan to bomb us'...........................

There can be no doubt that evil is an everyday occurrence; the violence that goes almost unchecked in many parts of the world IS most definitely deplorable, but it is an Ancient Evil! The History of Violence around the world has its beginnings from the very genesis of the nations. Those who founded the particular nations did so, for the most part, on the blood, sweat & tears of those involved. Those who bled & died were often the victims of some type of some type of genocide, particularly on the Dark Continent lately, but in Europe as well & even here in the good ole U.S. of A.!

Violence seems unavoidable; if our own life, liberty or property ( or that of loved ones ) is threatened it is natural to immediately react with more violence. Not only is it a natural reaction, it often seems like the only sane & logical course of action! When faced with such a situation though, there are a number of facts we need to consider; are we doing right in meeting violence with violence? Though violence is not the answer, neither is it necessarily a bad thing. In some cases, violence must be employed in order to get the job done & while it is NOT true that 'a little violence never hurt anyone', it IS true that some people need to be hurt ( a little ) for their own good. A case in point here would be if someone were headed straight for a cliff & someone else tackled him, maybe breaking an arm or leg, but saving him from almost certain death at the bottom of the precipice!

Although violence is not the answer, sometimes it's a good thing, not in a reactive sense, but in an active sense! For the greater good, sometimes it's necessary to violate the rules, right? Sounds almost like 'two wrongs make a right', huh? Well, no, that's not right; it's never right to do wrong in order to do right! In order to make the necessary changes in one's life, though, one must suffer violence. Not ALL violence, then, is wrong or bad. Though it usually hurts for the moment, especially to the one undergoing the change, the violence suffered, whether it's a broken arm or a bloody nose, will usually have the desired effect. This is not always the case, however, some people never learn, it seems, but for the most part, when a person realizes the pain they might have suffered, he or she takes the lesson & makes the necessary adjustments!

Facing evil is a frightening proposition! If we face it with, not merely the greater, but the greatest good in mind, it doesn't seem so insurmountable & reacting with more violence seems less & less of an option. As we have all borne witness to, 'violence begets more violence'; it's a vicious circle! Once someone employs violence ( in a wrong way ), it's hard to stop it unless & until someone comes along who is willing to live & let live, someone who has taken note of where it will lead if they respond with more violence!

'Live & let live'; now there's a concept! Imagine what the world would look like now if more people employed this mantra! I can only imagine how difficult it would be, in the face of a Hitler or a Pol Pot, to 'turn the other cheek', so to speak, but if we had elected ( I say 'we' in a corporate sense, as the Apostle Paul used 'I' in Romans 5-7 ) to do things differently in the beginning, how much better would this world be to live in? Would people still suffer violence? To be sure; there will always be the Hitlers & the Pol Pots, but even then, when faced with the correct actions, they might turn out to be not so bad after all!

Charles Haddon Shank

Time on Our Hands

What if we could travel, not only back but forward in time & fix our mistakes both past & future? Time Travel has always, for the past number of years especially, held an almost immoral fascination for some people ( it's a growing number ). When you really think about it, which fairly recent movies like 'Looper' & 'Interstellar' have made us do ( even more ), how awesome would it be to be able to go back in time & fix the mistakes of the past? On the other hand, what if we could travel into the future & change our present, which would be a natural deduction; if we could travel back in time, why not forward, right?

Time Travel, while having much attraction at first glance ( who doesn't wanna fix their mistakes? ), also has some side-effects that aren't so pretty; what if we were able to travel anytime we wanted to, past or future & change our circumstances in either time, earlier or later: wouldn't there be a danger of losing the good ( memories ) too? We might travel back in time to change one aspect of our future & like 'Back to the Future' showed us, we could end up changing our whole future, including what we DIDN'T want to change!

The best way to ensure that we have a good future, obviously, is to do our damnedest to live well in the present! Sure, there'll be hiccups along the way; there'll be opportunities lost along the way, bad decisions that we regret & thing that occur that, looking back on them, we're pretty sure if they hadn't happened, things would have turned out differently, but we must also factor in the good things that come about because of certain 'bad' things. A 'for instance' scenario might be where, if we hadn't been hospitalized from a bad car wreck, we may never have met the love of our life who 'nursed' us back to health!

Living the good life in the present is no guarantee that your future will be all roses, but it certainly helps! What we do in the present DOES have an effect on our future, THAT is guaranteed; though there IS such a thing as forgiveness ( thank our Father ), the way you treat a certain person in the present WILL affect that person for their immediate future. The way we treat our bodies in the present will have much the same detrimental effect for our immediate future. Both scenarios are somewhat reversible, although some 'scars' may remain!

One aspect of the movie 'Loopers' that almost brought me to tears was that the mother of a particular child pleads with the one who would kill her child to selfishly secure his own future ( the killer's ) to spare his life so that she might raise him to be good; a second chance, so to speak. Isn't that what it's all about; don't we ALL want a second chance? Well, the Creator God IS the God of second chances; He has ordered the universe ( or multiverse ) in such a way that when we screw up, there is always the free choice given us to 'do better next time'!

This again is no guarantee that our second chance, even our third or fourth. will have the desired effect; we may just be that stubborn & ignorant! However, we DO have that choice before us, as to how we will act or react, whether to learn from our mistakes & do better, or if we will continue to make the same mistakes over & over, guaranteeing that our future will if anything be sadder than our present. Our future, in the greatest sense, is NOW & it's in OUR hands; what will happen is never guaranteed, although it is more open to the Eyes of Him who sees all, but what our future looks like WILL in many ways be determined by what we do NOW!


Charles Haddon Shank

Redeeming Culture

Since 1972, these United States have been an almost silent witness to around 55 million murders! Most recently in the news are homosexual marriage licenses. For the past 40-50 years, society ( culture ) in this great nation have taken a decidedly down-hill turn. This is barely to mention even the wars & rumors of war that the U.S. Inc. has embroiled its subjects in!

Society in these United States & Western Culture in general has become so corrupt that I'm sure our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their metaphorical graves ( 'You've fallen a long way, baby!' )! 'If only we could restore the Constitution', you hear some people say. Well, we had/have the Constitution & look where we are in spite/because of it! One of our most famous Founding Fathers, John Adams, said, 'Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other'; sounds something like the apostle Paul when he wrote 'we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully' ( I Timothy 1:8 ).

It's really no wonder that the majority of Christians out there are looking for the soon return of Jesus; one, they hope for Him to rescue us from the corruption that surrounds us & threatens to overwhelm us & two, they believe, to varying degrees, that He will literally burn up/destroy all sin & wickedness, turning this earth/world into a veritable utopia! It's almost difficult to blame them for holding on to this hope & it's impossible to deny that the situation calls for something that drastic. As believers in a Fulfilled Eschatology, we here at Covenant Community Church know that Jesus returned, as He promised, 'in the clouds' of judgment in the first century, with the destruction of Jerusalem & the Temple, thus bringing an end to the apostate Jews reign of terror & ushering in the Parousia, or lasting Presence of the Almighty Creator God!

Since then, the Parousia has been realized & is realized every day, what hope do we have? If Jesus has already come, then why is the culture in such a mess, why is society around us so corrupt? Is there any hope left if Jesus has already made His Presence known?!

'Covenant Community Church; a Redemptive Society'! That's the first thing you will see when you visit our website, Truth In Living. Many Christians seem to have forgotten or have failed to realize why we are here on this earth; we are not here to decide among ourselves who will be making the up-ward trip to Heaven & who will descend to a burning Hell ( in fact, the traditional Heaven & Hell barely even register in the equation- Heaven is the Blessed Presence of God & Hell, well, Hell was the grave in the days of Israel under that first covenant, or 'Israel in Exile' ) The Creator God brought His People, much like Israel of old, into Covenant with Him in order that they might be a nation of priests to all those ( the culture/society ) around them in order that we might transform them into the People of the Presence, rather than we conforming to the corrupt culture around us!

Jesus promised that 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him' ( John 14:23 ): we have the Power! We have the Strength that we need & more, so why does the culture around us look & act the way it does? We can really only blame ourselves! If more than a handful of Christians had stood their ground back in 1972, over 55 million babies might be 'over the hill' right now! If those same Christians & more had done more than protest & martyr themselves for those poor helpless unborn, the abortion industry may have faded from view long ago! Abortion is just one fateful aspect of the Corruption we witness on a daily basis in society at large; I leave you, the reader, to discern the rest!

What then are we to do? The task seems all but insurmountable! Well, many have tried the way of politics; we can simply pass more legislation, legislation that would make it illegal to murder the unborn, legislation that would put the brakes on the porn industry, etc., etc. That solution no doubt has some merit; it has worked in the past, enjoying various degrees of success, but as John Adams foresaw, that only goes so far, it only works well for 'a moral and religious people'!

The Solution then, is to redeem society! 'How do we do that?' you might ask; well, first of all, we transform ( to the best of our several abilities ) the society/culture around us, rather than conforming to it, becoming in the process as corrupt as they. Secondly & maybe most importantly, we should be a 'culture within a culture'; we should be, as so many Christians are fond of saying, 'in the world but not of the world'. This is our home, don't get me wrong, this is our Father's world, but we have been saved from the corruption that plagues those around us who do not know the Creator God! In order to form a more perfect society ( culture ), We, the People of the Creator God & Kings & Priests ourselves, MUST, to the best of our ability, live at peace with ALL men & women, bringing them to the knowledge ( not just acquaintance ) of our God & Father!

In years past, Christianity has witnessed, to varying degrees of success, the conversion of whole cultures through the means of preaching & even at the point of a sword ( or spear ); we cannot deny that the Kingdom of Heaven has experienced expansion through these means! Even today, here in America, we may bear witness to the power of these influences & the effect they still present; however, the fact remains that society or the culture in general has been corrupted. There remains one sure way to cure these evils & that is 'Truth In Living'!

Charles Haddon Shank

No Exit Here; the Reasoning behind the Doctrine of Total Depravity

I. Our first parents, begin seduced by the subtlety and temptations of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory.

II. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.

III. They being the root of mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by original generation.

IV. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.

V. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.

VI. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal. 

Whether you agree with this section of the Westminster Confession of Faith or not ( or any of it for that matter ), if you're a Bible-believing Christian, you must admit that Adam & Eve DID sin ( grievously ) & unwittingly unleashed a 'world' of trouble on their descendants! That this corruption persists to this day, even in the nature of the regenerated, is the question we must ask ourselves; if this 'fallen' nature persists in those who have been regenerated, then did Christ come in vain?! Are we not, as the apostle Paul wrote, 'a new creation' ( II Corinthians 5:17 )? The argument that the WCF outlines ( in bold above ) seems rather obvious in many cases, but is it really that simple; can or should we blame our failures on something over which we have no control: have we no responsibility to bear in the matter?

The doctrine of total depravity, along with being one of the five pillars of Calvinism, is one of the hallmarks of the orthodox Christian faith. Without the necessity of blaming our failures on some storied 'fallen nature', the redemption that Jesus brought seems almost unnecessary. If we did not inherit this corruption from the first Adam, then where is the need for rescue from the depravity of this world? On the other hand, though, if the Anointed One, the last Adam, did not save His people from their sins, then what veracity can we glean from statements such as that above? Since Jesus DID save His people from corruption, then what were the fashioners of the WCF thinking when they penned those words?!

The doctrine in question here is based upon the false notion that somehow man was able to irrevocably mar the Creator God's natural good Creation; to even suggest that is to put mere humanity ( not to mention this 'Satan' ) on par  with the Creator; this may not be! To suggest that mankind is fated to live with this corrupted nature until they die or Jesus comes back, whichever comes first, is to say that the Messiah of Israel failed in His original mission & must return in the selfsame Body to rule & reign on the earth. This of course, will be AFTER He burns up this present world in all its wickedness!

While this doctrine DOES seem to be supported by manifold proof-texts from Scripture, Jeremiah 17:9 for instance, when read in their proper & original context, we can see that they're not speaking of those who have entered the New Covenant, but of those that labored under that first covenant, Israel according to the flesh! Because the Messiah rescued His people from their distresses under that first covenant & ushered in the New, we no longer suffer from that corruption. Sure, through the weakness of the flesh, we still fail to keep His instructions at all times, but we have been given Strength in the Spirit & in that Spirit we live & breath & have our being; we are not depraved or corrupt, we are a New Creation & that means no more corruption ( or else Jesus failed )!

'If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.' This passage ( I Corinthians 15:19 ) is probably one of the orthodox Christian's most quoted ones. The idea behind this is what is known as 'the Hope of Heaven', that someday Jesus will return & rescue His people ( AGAIN? ) from the mess they have made & transport them to a place where there will be no more tears, suffering or dying; this doctrine leaves us with basically no responsibility & renders us powerless, even with the Strength of the Spirit! We are NOT powerless; we are indwelt by the Divine & whether one wants to dicker about the separation of Church & State, Body & Soul or not, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit!

The escapist notion that we must leave this humanity behind in order to enter God's good graces ( 'Heaven' ) must be wholly discarded! We ARE a New Creation & thus no longer corrupted by the weakness of the flesh. No doubt our Heavenly Father, as we are, is saddened by our failures, but it is not our failures that determine our New Standing; it is rather the Spirit within that has given us the Strength, though we do not always use it, to persevere in do what is right, just & good.

The Sign was given, the Exodus occurred & the People of the Creator God WERE rescued from their corruption, from the depravity of the first Adam! Through this True Exodus, of which that first from Egypt was significant, Jesus led His People out of darkness & into the Light of His Presence, forever.  Forevermore, may we be known, not as Totally Depraved, but as the People of the Presence, for that Sign occurred in the first century A.D. & we are no longer on the 'highway to hell'!

Charles Haddon Shank