A Child's Dream

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A few days ago I received an e-mail from a sister in Christ, Justina, who shared with me a reoccurring dream her ten year old nephew had been having. She has given me permission to share this correspondence with you.

A Young Boy's Dream

Hi,
I know you are swamped with emails but my 10 year nephew keeps having a similar dream and believes that Father is trying to speak to him. Would you please take a look at this dream and pass along any insight the Spirit gives? I am sending it to you exactly the way Brandon typed it.

One night before sunset, Heathy (his 4 year old brother) and I are walking through the woods as usual. But we always check the weather channel before we walk. The channel showed a light rain for today. So we walked but the wind got strong. Too strong. Then I spotted it. A TORNADO!

I yelled to Heathy, "RRUUUNN!" Heathy ran as fast as he could and so did I. He made it and I did to. We were at the barn. When we look, there are a whole bunch of people there. They were all sitting talking to each other some of them were crying. The crying was from some of them losing their homes and things from the tornado.

We all walked out of the barn and saw another tornado so we all went back into the barn.

Thank you very much for taking time to respond.

Justina

Following is my reply.

Dear Sister Justina,

Thank you for writing and sharing this dream from your nephew Brandon.

The weather is symbolic of the time we live in and the events that occur. Yahshua used the weather to speak of having an ability to forecast what it coming.

Matthew 16:2-4
But He answered and said to them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?"

In the dream Brandon says they always check the weather on The Weather Channel, and the forecast was for light rain. This speaks of the inaccuracy of what is being reported on the televisions and through the Internet today. (The Weather Channel distributes their forecast through both means.)

A forecast for light rain is in keeping with what the government and media are forecasting for this nation, and specifically for the economy. They are constantly saying that the weather is a bit bad (struggling through a recession), but they deny that there is anything calamitous in the forecast. Many people are putting confidence in this interpretation of the weather, and it is leading them to be unprepared for more serious things to come.

As Brandon an Heathy go walking they notice the wind picking up and then see a tornado. This is the most devastating local weather event possible. A tornado can destroy entire homes, and end lives. They run for the barn and find many other people there. Many are weeping at having lost their homes.

This is a parable for the sudden, and for many people, unexpected, tragedy that is to befall them. There are storms on the horizon. A great collapse is coming to this nation economically, and a great many people will lose all they have. Their manner of living will be as transformed as if they had just lost a comfortable house with all their possessions and now were reduced to living in a barn. Conditions will become very primitive.

As Brandon looks outside he sees another tornado. The calamity to come will be followed quickly by other disasters, and the nation will be left reeling. It will be a fulfillment of the judgment described in the following passage where men run from one calamity only to be met by another one.

Amos 5:18-20
Alas, you who are longing for the day of Yahweh, for what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you? It will be darkness and not light; as when a man flees from a lion, and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

This dream reveals the conditions of this day. What is forecast in the media is far from the reality of what is about to occur, and many will suffer great loss because they were unprepared.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days,

Joseph Herrin

Additional Note: I am making good progress on the PARABLES BOOKSHELF. Yesterday I finished issue number six, which concluded the first book I will be making available to men and women in prison. This book is Overcoming Addiction by the Spirit of Christ.

My thanks go out to all those who have expressed interest in distributing these writings to others. As soon as I am able I will begin having the issues posted to the Heart4God website that all who desire may download them for printing and distribution. Please continue to keep this labor lifted up before the Father. May He use it to impact many lives to the praise of His glory!

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Announcing PARABLES BOOKSHELF

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I announced some weeks back that ministering to men and women in prison has been placed upon my heart by the Father. I have been seeking the Father to know His will in this matter, and I have been led to produce materials that can be sent to men and women who are in jail.

A limitation of many jails and prisons, is that books and magazines cannot be mailed to inmates. Many facilities have a chaplain’s office, or a lending library where inmates can request material to read, but getting material into these centralized facilities can be problematic.

For example, the local county jail in which I spent some time, has new books available for inmates to receive free to keep as their own possessions. But the list of material is limited, and because the chaplain’s office is small, they are resistant to receiving new resources. They also require that any books stocked in the chaplain’s office must be received in batches no smaller than fifty books. It is currently outside my ability to provide printed books in such volumes, and this is only one jail, of which there are thousands across the nation.

Most detention facilities do permit inmates to receive religious material, but not in the form of magazines or books. Newsletters are permitted, and I observed a number of men in jail receiving various newsletters put out by an assortment of ministries. The quality of spiritual teaching contained in these ministry mailings vary greatly, and largely reflect the state of Christianity in this nation, which is very weak, and filled with much error and false teaching. There are notable exceptions, however, which I was blessed to see.

The Father specifically ordered my experience to observe that there are men behind bars who are in need of spiritual meat to feed upon, that they might be led to maturity in Christ. He directed me to daily lead Bible studies with the men. I based these studies upon many of the teachings found in various books and shorter writings I have authored, and I found that a few men were very eager and able to receive such instruction. Yahweh has a remnant in prison, and these men and women have much time available to spend in study of things pertaining to the kingdom of Yahweh.

With this in mind, I have been led to create a series of mailings in newsletter format that will contain the books and teachings found on the Heart4God and Parables Blog websites. These teachings are being divided into packet sizes, and when I am through I anticipate upwards of a hundred individual issues to have been produced. Following is a picture of the first edition of PARABLES BOOKSHELF.


























(Click on picture for larger image.)

Each issue of PARABLES BOOKSHELF will contain a front article focusing on the subject of the book contained inside. There will also be a scripture memory verse and introduction to the PARABLES PRECEPT which is located on the back page of each issue.


























These newsletters will be printed on both sides of an 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper, stapled in the top left corner, and folded in two for mailing. I have found that a 1-1/2 by 2-3/4 inch adhesive label is perfect for holding the edges of the newsletter closed for mailing. This morning I sent out the first copies to some men in prison, and I found that the cost of mailing was approximately half of what it had been costing me to print pages and stuff them in a 6 by 9 inch envelope.

The PARABLES PRECEPT located on the back of each issue is a new writing which I have created for these mailings. Each one contains some short teaching on a topic related to better understanding the Bible, with the aim of equipping the saints to be skillful in their study of the Scriptures. The first 20 or more issues, will have a PARABLES PRECEPT that looks at the Hebrew Alphabet, specifically the Paleo-Hebrew, which is the earliest known form of written Hebrew. I have been blessed to study this subject recently through several books authored by Jeff Benner who has a website called the Ancient Hebrew Research Center.

http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/

The interior of each newsletter will contain chapters from the 14 books I have written, plus a select number of other teachings.



















The Father sent me the resources necessary to purchase a new printer that does duplexing (printing on both sides of the page), and also to purchase Microsoft Publisher to create the newsletter. However, I do not anticipate doing all the mailing myself.

I believe the Spirit is leading me to create this series, and to post every issue in PDF format on the Heart4God website. This will make the material freely available for all the saints who are so led, to print them out, address them, and mail them to inmates, or individuals outside of prisons, whom they believe would profit by receiving them. I am creating them in an ordered series, starting with Issue 1.1.1, which is designed to lay a foundation in elementary teachings of Christ’s kingdom before moving on to more advanced subjects.

Having created the format for the newsletter, I spent some time praying and inquiring of the Father whether this was truly a work in which He wanted me to spend my time. I knew it would require several weeks of work at the minimum to convert the many books and teachings I have authored into this format. I wanted to be assured that it was the Father’s will that I spend my time employed in this labor. I asked Him to confirm His will for me.

I prayed this Sunday night, and each of the next three days I received a letter in the mail from a man in a different prison, asking me to please send them some teachings that they could study while locked behind bars. The Spirit used these three witnesses to confirm to me that this is a labor He has appointed to me. I have considered confirmation to be very much like the sign Paul received when he saw the vision of the man from Macedonia entreating him to come and proclaim the gospel to them. By two or three witnesses, let all things be confirmed.

I have received some requests from people asking that I make the teachings on the Internet available in a form more conducive for printing that they might read them offline, and share them with others. The PARABLES BOOKSHELF will also serve to answer this desire.

If you are unfamiliar with PDF format, PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and anyone, anywhere who has a PDF reader can open the documents, read them, or print them out. The PDF reader comes included with most operating systems and Internet browsers today. It can also be freely downloaded from the internet.

http://get.adobe.com/reader/

I encourage you to seek the Father to know if He might have you to use this new resource to reach out to others. Ask the Father to lead you to those whose hearts are open to receive instruction in the things of the Kingdom. Perhaps He would lead you to begin sending the PARABLES BOOKSHELF to people in prison. There are many ways to make connections with people who are hungry for the word of God. Let the Spirit of Christ lead you.

I intend to spend the next few weeks focused primarily working on the PARABLES BOOKSHELF, and I hope to begin having them posted soon on the Heart4God website. I will let you know when they are available.

Please join me in praying for this work, and for those whom God has appointed to receive these things. I have been praying that Yahweh might fill me with not only His thoughts toward those in detention, but also to have His heart, and to experience His emotion for them. He has truly been answering this prayer, and I have been writing as if to one of my own family members who is dear to me.

If you would like to receive the first issue in PDF form via e-mail to see if you are able to print it out, send me an e-mail response simply asking for the PARABLES BOOKSHELF. I will send you an e-mail with the document attached.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

In the News

Joseph Herrin (02-25-2010)

Every now and then I feel compelled to comment on issues in the news. There is so much going on in this hour. The end of the age is at hand, and the earth must go through her birth pangs as the sons of God are revealed. Many things are being set in place for the fulfillment of a host of Scriptural prophecies.

I am going to just give a brief moment to a number of things occurring at this hour. A sister in Christ sent me a link to the following video. It is extremely eye-opening. It should cause every person to question those things they see on television. It is literally impossible to tell when we are seeing an actual event, or a staged event. Technology has advanced so far as to make them indistinguishable. (Remember Forrest Gump speaking to multiple presidents?)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnozSXyF4k&feature=player_embedded

Bob Schlenker provided a link to an article on what is happening with implantable RFID chips. They have been progressing from a technology first used for identifying pets, to being implanted in humans for medical monitoring and to hold patient ID records. Now they are being integrated to the banking system, and it will not be long before such technology is required in order to buy and sell, or to function in the modern digital world.

http://investors.positiveidcorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=446795


























Health Link Implantable RFID Chip

These chips are made to be implanted into the body. Technology has been developed to allow them to monitor the blood of the individual, and they can give real-time blood glucose monitoring information for diabetics. They are also being marketed as flu detectors, especially of such strains as H1N1, which has been greatly hyped.

Now, the technology is going to the next level. It will begin to be tied into the financial services industry. PostiveID, formerly known as Verichip, has partnered with FIS, “one of the world’s largest providers of banking and payment technology.”

There is still a lot of resistance to the idea of receiving an implantable chip for security, health, and financial services. It will require some major crisis to persuade the masses to accept such an implant. Undoubtedly, the needed crises have already been scheduled, and we will see a much wider roll-out of this technology in the not-so-distant future.



















Bob Schlenker also did a good job of examining the symbolism of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. The Olympics are being used as the Illuminist’s venue of choice to display their plans through various symbols, images, and carefully choreographed stage shows. The occult is an ever present and pervasive element in these ceremonies. You can find Bob’s analysis of the 2008 Olympic ceremonies at the following link. He has written at great length on this subject.

http://theopenscroll.com/olympicCeremonySymbolism.htm

I anticipated that it wouldn’t be long before Bob began commenting on the present Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. I have received some correspondence from other readers asking me my thoughts on the symbolism of the Olympic icons being used.

























This image was created by Vancouver artist Elena Rivera MacGregor. According to a CBS news report on this symbol:

The emblem of the Olympic Winter Games is a colorful humanoid with arms spread wide, a contemporary interpretation of a stone landmark called an inukshuk with a history stretching back more than 3,000 years in Inuit culture...

An inukshuk is a carefully balanced pile of unworked rocks and slabs. The Inuit have built them through time to guide travelers, assist with hunts, warn of danger or indicate caches of food. A miniature version stands hip-high, with others measuring 3 to 6 feet tall, one builder said.

With a more human look, the design for the Olympic emblem was chosen in 2005 from about 1,600 proposals to represent hope, friendship, hospitality and teamwork, according to Vancouver organizers. Named Ilanaaq, meaning friend, it was cast in Canada's red and two shades of blue, along with green, yellow and gold, to evoke the host country's sweeping forests, mountains, islands and sunsets.
[Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/26/world/main6141941.shtml]

The word inuksuk means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person."
[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk]

Wikipedia also says that an inukshuk is often confused with an inunnguag, which is a cairn representing a human. Clearly, the symbol adopted by the Olympics is intended to appear as a human, and is closely related to images of existing innunguag.


























Innunguag at Rankin Inlet

This stone idol, which has been given the name “Friend,” is the symbol chosen for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Idols are rife throughout these Olympics, and there is a theme developing where one sees inanimate images coming to life. This was the motif chosen for the opening ceremony as massive idols arose from the ground to stand upright, and then the many indigenous peoples of Canada danced around and came before them in symbolic worship.


















2010 Olympic Idols

Such a spectacle evokes the memory of the Israelites frolicking around the image of the golden calf that they had set up. It is of particular interest that all of these idols that are raised to life, are appearing at the same time that the all-time top grossing movie “Avatar” has been playing in theaters. Avatar has amassed sales of $2.5 billion dollars worldwide. The word Avatar shares the same definition as the Inuit word Inukshuk. They are both something non-human that perform the function of a human.

The following passage of Scripture ties these last two news items together.

Revelation 13:15-17
And there was given to him to give [pneuma] to the image of the beast , that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

I inserted the Greek word pneuma into this Scripture in place of the English word, which is often rendered as “breath,” or “life.” The word pneuma in the Greek is very often used to denote the soul of man. Strong’s Concordance defines it as follows:

pneuma
a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively, a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit:

The movie Avatar is centered upon the idea of transferring the soul of a human into an alien body that has been genetically manufactured. The unmatched popularity of the movie attests to the acceptance there is in the world for such a concept. It is not hard to imagine all the world worshiping an image given life as described in Revelation. Many already are doing so as they ecstatically embrace the movie Avatar. The worship of images that come to life is clearly symbolized in the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. Note that it was people from a vast array of aboriginal groups throughout Canada that all came to dance and worship before the images, and all the nations of the world looked on.

Another note that I would add on these recent Olympics: you may remember that on 8-8-08, the kick-off for the Beijing Olympics, fighting broke out in the nation of Georgia. This resulted in many deaths in the region. The start of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was also marked by the death of a citizen of Georgia. Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a crash on the Luge run as the Olympics were set to begin.

I do not believe that it is coincidental that both Olympics were interrupted by tragic news relating to the nation of Georgia. What is the significance of Georgia? It is popularly known as the first Christian nation in the world, having declared itself to be so in the 4th century A.D..

Are Satan and his accomplices seeking to testify that the death of Christianity among the nations of the world is at hand? Was a man representing the first Christian nation on earth slain by Satan as a ritualistic act of sacrifice to initiate the beginning of these Olympics, and those held in 2008? Perhaps.

(Please note that I do not believe there is now, or ever has been a truly Christian nation on the earth, but this does not diminish the symbolic aspect of these events.)

The hour is late. Satan’s plans are advancing quickly in this hour. Yahweh is also moving quickly to prepare a people to share His nature in this last hour. A great separation will be seen in this hour, and one trend we will definitely see is that the remnant of saints who will not compromise, who spurn the syncretism of all religions into one, will be labeled as extremists and “marginalized.” This is the headline on a CNN news article.

Report: U.S. should 'marginalize religious extremists, not religion'

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/25/foreign.policy.religion/

I reported a couple years past that there has been the utmost effort put forth by a concerted effort of government and media to create a view in the minds of the populace that the greatest danger in the world today is “religious extremism.” Those Christians who say that there is salvation in no other name than Jesus Christ/Yahshua the Messiah, will soon be labeled as extremists. They will be characterized as divisive, and promoters of hatred and strife. If you read between the lines in the article above, you can see this definition present.

What does it mean to “marginalize” religious extremists? It means to render them irrelevant, to push them out on the fringes of society, to put them away where they can not harm or influence anyone.

To read what I have written in the past about this trend, see the following link:

http://www.heart4god.ws/id556.htm

The hour is late. Are you walking as you ought?

I Thessalonians 5:2-6
For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Syncretism - Part Eight - SYNC or SWIM

Joseph Herrin (10-23-2010)






















Perhaps you have considered that the practice of Syncretism that has been revealed in this series is the opposite of the separation that God has always required of a people who will be holy unto Him. Syncretism is the mixing of the holy and profane. It is to travel in a path contrary to that of being separated unto a holy God.

James 4:4
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Observing the trend of the churches today as they strive to be “seeker friendly,” we see that the chief means by which the church seeks to accomplish this end is to embrace the world. Does the world love rock music? The church will give them rock music. Does the world love sports? The church will create Christian sports leagues and build ball fields and a sports complex. Does the world love entertainment? The church will install big screens, professional lighting and sound systems, and put on a show. Does the world love its celebrities? The church will build a personality of cult around its gifted speakers, singers and entertainers.

Of course, those Christians who embrace all the things of the world, declare they are doing so in a quest to be “relevant.” After all, they reason, how will they reach a lost world if they do not appeal to the desires of the world?

The problem with this way of thinking is that, having drawn worldly people into the church, the seekers find no significant difference inside the church. The church merely presents them with a “cleaned up” version of what they had outside. The church has all the same values of comfort, ease, pleasure, and entertainment; they are presenting a religion that satisfies the soul of man, instead of leading people to the radical change of focus that they need.

Mankind apart from Christ is by nature a consumer. He lives to satisfy his natural appetites. This became the state of all men when Adam transgressed in the Garden of Eden. Adam failed to subdue and rule over the beasts (and by extension the beast nature). Adam submitted to the rule of the serpent. Consequently, the curse on the serpent became mankind’s curse.

Genesis 3:14
And Yahweh God said to the serpent... "Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life...”

This curse contains a great parable. To go on one’s belly, is a parable of living to satisfy the appetites of the flesh. Man’s flesh was formed of the dust of the earth, and this became the food of all those ruled by the nature of the serpent. The apostle Paul alludes to this fallen state of mankind, and those in the church who continued in it, in the following words:

Philippians 3:18-19
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame - who set their mind on earthly things.

If one sets their mind on earthly things, then they are an enemy of the cross that all disciples must bear. If a man or woman is ruled by their belly, by the desires of their flesh and soul, then they are not following the pattern of Christ who testified that He did not come to do His own will.

John 5:30-31
"I can do nothing on My own initiative... because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

The world knows nothing of living for the will of the Father. A worldly church is following the pattern of the world. Christians are running over with personal initiative. They live their lives according to the desires of their own soul. They have merely adopted sanitized versions of the things the world pursues. The course of their life has not been altered. They are still living for self.

To be a disciple of Christ, one must make a complete about face. One must dare to be different.






















To be a disciple, one must make an about face. They must no longer live to please themselves. They become the bond-servants of God, having been bought with a price.

I Corinthians 6:20
For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

As I shared in the previous post, the disciple must hate his own soul.

Luke 14:26-27
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate... even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Both Christ and His apostles contrasted The Way of the cross with loving the world. If one loved the world, and the things in it, if they were ruled by their belly, they were said to be enemies of the cross.

The church today has lost this distinctiveness. They have become as salt that has lost its savor.

Luke 14:33-35
"So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

It is the cross that gives the church its intense flavor. I am speaking here of the cross each disciple is called to bear. The church today speaks only of the cross that Christ bore. In their own lives there is no cross. Most Christians are not denying themselves, but rather living for self.

Some have written to me after the last post asking if there must always be suffering in our lives. Must we continually be subjected to hardship, loss, difficulty and distresses? Both Christ and His apostles have answered this question for us.

Luke 9:23
And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me.”

I Corinthians 15:31
“I protest, brethren, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Yahshua our Lord, I die DAILY.”

This does not mean that we must be miserable every moment. It does not mean that suffering is our daily portion. What it does mean is that every day we must live for the will and pleasure of God rather than for our own will and pleasure. The cross always is applied to the soul of man. Our desires, our will, our ways, must be set aside in order that we might do the will of Yahweh. Though all the world and a worldly church are pursuing their own will, those who would be disciples must go against the flow. As they do, all who observe them realize that they have a very distinct flavor. There is a pungency about them that is absent in the lives of others. Their lives are potent by virtue of their sacrificial obedience to the Father.

II Corinthians 2:15-16
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.

Let me clarify that which I shared yesterday. Some have wondered whether we must be always suffering. Must we embrace poverty, and never know any ease or comfort. In God’s sight one condition is not superior to another. Whether we are well dressed, or ill-clothed; whether we are abundantly fed, or experiencing hunger; whether we are financially well-off, or experiencing great leanness, there is no moral benefit in one condition versus another.

Some do err by thinking they must always be abased, and suffering some austerity. These will not accept blessings of abundance when they come from Yahweh’s hand. To have such a mind is equally as much in error as those who will only accept blessing and abundance, despising and rejecting any thought that they should ever be lacking in every good thing. The apostle Paul addresses this error in the following words:

Colossians 2:20-23
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using) - in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Paul is addressing those who are asserting that “self-abasement and severe treatment of the body” are required for one to be walking in a pure religion. In other places the apostles and Christ address those who go to the other extreme, desiring always to be rich in the goods of this world.

I Timothy 6:9-10
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.

Despite the marked difference in the outward appearance of those who are pursuing a life of austerity, and those who are pursuing a life of material abundance, the error of their hearts is the same. They are both “self-directed.” Both groups are choosing for themselves what they will accept in this life. Paul has declared this when he speaks of “self-made religion” and “self-abasement.” It is obvious from these words that “self” is the origin of this lifestyle. In contrast, Christ never did anything that arose from self. He lived to do the will of the Father.

John 4:34
Yahshua said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.”

John 6:38
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

Romans 15:3
For even Christ did not please Himself...

Christ came into a world that was living for self. He swam against the current. His life was very distinctive. He was exceedingly salty.


















I have often shared in this blog that a Christian need not choose for himself a cross to bear. No man needs to go and look for some way to suffer for Christ. All we must do is surrender to be led of the Spirit of Christ in all things. This is what Yahshua did. He always did the will of the Father. Such a life, moving as it does against the tide of humanity and the forces of this world, will include conflict and suffering. At times this suffering is the result of the world standing in opposition to the course of our life, but oftentimes the suffering is internal as we wrestle with laying down some cherished thing that our soul loves.

There are no vacations in a disciple’s commitment to follow God, but our Father does give His sons and daughters seasons of refreshing. We are not always in distresses. We are not every day submitted to dangers, and fears, and reproaches. We do not meet with loss and heartache every day. There are periods of great fellowship, of relative abundance, and of calm. Our Father knows how to refine His children. He knows how long they can remain in the fire, and when to bring them out and allow them rest.

The message I would convey to you is that a great majority of those who profess to be Christians are not walking as His disciples. They are not walking in The Way that leads to life. Many are enemies of the cross. They will not accept the cost of discipleship. They have never surrendered to be led of the Spirit in all things. They are going in the same direction they were traveling before they began confessing Christ. They are self directed, and living for selfish pleasure.

I Timothy 5:6
Whereas she who lives in pleasure and self-gratification [giving herself up to luxury and self-indulgence] is dead even while she [still] lives.
[Amplified Bible]





















What will you do? SYNC or SWIM!

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Syncretism - Part Seven - Parting of THE WAYS

Joseph Herrin (02-22-2010)



















This is the most important post of this series, for in it I will address the motive behind the practice of syncretism. Without any doubt in my mind, understanding this matter will be a key issue for all who would walk as overcomers in these last days.

As I have meditated upon this subject, asking the Spirit of Christ to guide me, I have pondered what the root cause of this practice of syncretism, this leavening of the church could be. The conclusion I have arrived touches the very foundation of Christianity.

Those who fail to accept the cost of discipleship; those who reject The Way of the cross, are susceptible to the unclean practices of syncretism. A Christian who has not given his or her life wholly to Christ to live as He chooses, have already adopted a spirit of compromise. This compromise opens the door to further compromise in all areas of life.

The Way of Christ and His disciples is a very narrow way. It is an afflicted way. The way of Mystery Babylon, the Great Harlot, is a way of ease and self-indulgence.

Consider for a moment the contrast between Christ and His disciples, and Mystery Babylon, the Great Harlot described in Revelation.

Of Christ and His disciples we read:

Isaiah 53:2-4
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows , and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

I Corinthians 4:9-13
For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

Of Babylon, the Great Harlot, we read:

Revelation 17:3-6
And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast... And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

Revelation 18:7-16
She glorified herself and lived sensuously... for she says in her heart, 'I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning...' And the kings of the earth... committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her... And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more; cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives... and all things that were luxurious and splendid... she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls.

Can a greater contrast be found between Christ and His disciples and the description of the Great Harlot, Mystery Babylon? Christ and His disciples had an afflicted path to walk. As men viewed their lives, they were judged to be stricken and smitten by God. They were strangers in the earth, without homes, without possessions, in many hardships and distresses. Their pathway was the way of the cross.

The Great Harlot, in contrast, has all the world’s goods. She says that she will never see mourning, for her heart is set to avoid all suffering. She is esteemed by the great people and merchants of the earth, where the true disciples were scorned. The harlot walks comfortably in the midst of this world system. Her path is broad, and multitudes join in her company, while the way of Christ is narrow, constricted and afflicted, and few are there who find it.

I will tell you what led to the compromises of the early church, and the corruption of the virgin Bride of Christ into a Great Harlot. It was a loathing of The Way, the narrow way, the way of the cross that all true disciples must follow.

Perhaps you have noticed that I have been capitalizing the words “The Way” throughout this series. This is the expression used to describe the early disciples of Christ. The early disciples were called “followers of The Way.”

Acts 9:1-2
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Acts 19:9
But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

Acts 19:23
And about that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way.

Acts 24:14
"But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers...”

The early disciples were referred to as The Way, more often than they were called Christians in the New Testament. These verses above reveal that those who belonged to The Way were persecuted; they were “the disciples”; disturbances followed them; and they were viewed as a sect of Judaism.

Strong’s Concordance defines the Greek word rendered as “Way” in the following manner:

hodos (hod-os'); apparently a primary word; a road; by implication a progress (the route, act or distance); figuratively, a mode or means:
KJV - journey, (high-) way.

We see that this Greek word can be used to signify both the route and road one takes, as well as the journey. The walk of those who were true disciples of Christ was very different from the path all other people around them were following. The disciples of The Way stood out in the society they found themselves in. Their priorities, values, and manner of living was altogether different from the pattern of the world.

Christ declared to those who gathered to hear Him that The Way to life was very different than the way of the world.

Matthew 7:13-14
Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way (hodos) is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way (hodos) is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.

I want you to understand this post, if you do not understand anything else from this series. There is apparent today two bodies, both women, who are identified as the Bride of Christ. One body is small in number. It is described as “a pure virgin” that has been espoused to Christ (II Corinthians 11:2). There is another body comprised of vast multitudes. It too claims to be espoused to Christ, but she is a harlot in her affections. She has eyes for the world, and the things in it.

Both of these bodies are walking very different roads. The pure virgin, few in number, is set upon an afflicted path, a narrow and constricted way. They aspire to be led of the Spirit in all they do. They have counted the cost of following Christ, even to hating their own lives, and have accepted the cost. These are following The Way that leads to life.

The other body is walking together with the world on a very broad path. It is the path of least resistance. They walk hand in hand with the merchants and money changers. They are focused on buying and selling, on eating and drinking, on building and planting and marrying. Their lives are focused on satisfying the desires of their flesh and the dreams and passions of their souls. Although a great many profess to be followers of God, these are walking the way that leads to destruction.

Among the early believers, the cost of following Christ was very clear. The early disciples, and all the 120 gathered in the upper room during that first Pentecost of the virgin church, knew very well the path that Yahshua had walked. Many had been witnesses of His crucifixion. All knew of His suffering and persecution and death. They were aware that He was an outcast from the Jewish religious system, hunted by the leaders of the Temple and synagogues.

The early church proclaimed the cost of following Christ. The first disciples knew that it would cost them everything. Christ made it clear that even as He was persecuted, so too would they. Even as He did not possess this world’s goods, neither would they be promised the things of this world. They had to accept whatever provision their Father in Heaven chose for them, for Christ was their pattern, and they were to be conformed to His image.

When the rich young ruler approached Christ, we read the following:

Matthew 19:21-22
Yahshua said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved; for he was one who owned much property.

When the Scribe approached Yahshua wanting to be His disciple, we read:

Matthew 8:20
And Yahshua said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

In these words we read that Christ did not require a permanent dwelling place on this earth. He never owned a home. He went wherever His Father directed Him, and was content with whatever provision God chose for Him.

When Christ addressed the multitudes, He declared:

Luke 14:33
“So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

From a strictly material point of view, there is nothing in The Way of Christ that would attract followers. One must choose The Way for no other reason than that it is the only path that leads to life. It was for this reason that Christ’s disciples continued to follow Him when the majority fell away.

John 6:66-68
Many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore. Yahshua said therefore to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.”

Yes, if you want eternal life, if you want to be a possessor of the life of the Son of God, there is only one Way to walk. It is The Way of the disciples. It is the narrow way that promises nothing in this world, but has laid up its treasure in heaven and in an inheritance imperishable and incorruptible. It was in recognizing the truth that the Christian’s reward is not in this present life that the apostle Paul penned the following:

I Corinthians 15:19
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

The Way to life is a costly way. It is a difficult way. It is a way that only those who embrace death to the natural life, to the desires and passions of the soul, alone can find.

Luke 14:26-27
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

What Christ is describing is the complete opposite of the broad path that “seems right unto a man.” Christ exhorted all who would be His disciples to count the cost first, to see if they could finish what they began. Were they willing to pay the full cost of what they began? Would they shrink back at anything?

People of God, the Spirit has instructed me in The Way during the past eleven years. In 1999 the Spirit of Christ challenged me to give all things I possessed over into His care, including my wife, my children, my home, my job, and even my own life. He asked me to commit to following Him wherever He would lead me, and to doing whatever He asked. I have written of this journey in the book Evidence of Things Unseen.

http://www.heart4god.ws/id426.htm

One thing I have fully discovered is that there truly are few who are willing to walk this narrow path. Many who are dear to me have fallen away, choosing a different course. Many trials, losses, suffering, and persecutions have been my lot over the past decade. These experience included the departure of my wife and son, of being rejected by fellow ministers, and having the doors to today’s synagogues, the churches, closed to me. It has led to my living as a wanderer in this earth, and even experiencing homelessness, and living at a Rescue Mission for a year. I have lived out of a car, in a tent, in a camper/van, and in other people’s homes. I have gone where the Father has led me, even when that included spending time in jail.

II Timothy 3:12
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Let me share with you something I have discovered along The Way. When we count the cost of following Christ; when we accept the cost setting our faces as flint to continue to the end; when we will bear every loss without seeking an easier path, then we will also find that our the compromises we once embraced in other areas of life will also fall away from us. These compromises include the doctrines and practices of an apostate church system who is walking on the way that is broad and leads to destruction.

The Way of Christ is an ever narrower Way. Yahweh is ever calling His people OUT of the world to be HOLY unto Him.

Revelation 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "COME OUT of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues...”

The very word that is translated as “church” in our English Bibles speaks of this call of God upon those who would embrace The Way of Christ that leads to life. The Greek word “ekklesia” is translated into the English word “church.” Ekklesia is more literally translated as “called out assembly.” Those who would walk holy unto God are constantly being called OUT to a narrower place where there are fewer walking the path. This narrow place is a part of their journey. It is The Way, the narrow Way.

Consider now, what the inducement was among the early believers to look for another Way. The natural man despises the cross. The natural man does not desire to suffer, even if the suffering is necessary in order to fit sons and daughters to rule and reign with Christ. The natural man will seek a path of compromise where the way is not so difficult, and the most odious suffering can be avoided. Over time even the smaller acts of sacrifice and suffering will give way to a desire to be constantly at ease, endlessly entertained, and perpetually in a state of pleasure.

II Timothy 3:1-4
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...

These words describe the state of the visible church today. Today, ministers do not even mention that there is a cost to be counted before committing to becoming a disciple of Christ. People are told that Christ has done it all. They can get their “get out of hell free card” by making a confession and saying a prayer. Then they can continue to live for their own will and desires, and God will even help them to attain all that their soul lusts for.

Such ones will inevitably find themselves following a broad way upon which the teeming multitudes throng. Having embraced a life of compromise, they will find themselves embracing mixture in all areas of life. In their religion they will see no difficulty in mixing the holy and the profane, for in their commitment to Christ they have mixed the will of God with their own Adamic will. They will obey God as long as it is pleasing to their soul, but if it does not please them, if the will of Yahweh leads to some sacrifice or suffering they do not wish to make, then they will choose the profane leadership of the fallen nature over the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Have you heeded the command of Christ to count the cost of discipleship? Have you considered that following Christ means death to your own ways? Have you considered that you must let another lead you, and live for the pleasure of another, in order to be a disciple of Christ? Are you willing to go wherever He would lead, and do whatever He would ask you to do? Have you considered that your life is not your own, for you have been bought with a price? Are you willing to live as a bondservant of God, living daily to do His will?

If you have not yet made this commitment, then you are a candidate for Satan deceit of syncretism. God requires everything. There can be nothing held back. Yahweh will ask you to lay that which is most precious to you on the altar as He directed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

If you will not pay the cost, then you have already compromised your faith, and you are an open target for Satan to bring in more and more compromise and error until all is thoroughly leavened. Satan’s work is far advanced in the church today. The Spirit is calling His people to come out of Babylon, to come out of the world, to come out and be a people holy unto Him.

Syncretism is mixture. Syncretism is compromise.

Will you heed the call?

To be continued...

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Comments on the Syncretism Series

Joseph Herrin (02-21-2010)

Before sharing some of the comments to the present series on Syncretism, I want to speak on the subject of this Blog’s intended audience. When in High School and College, my English teachers used to tell the students that they needed to have a clear idea of the audience to whom they were writing. This would allow the students to write clearly, and with focus, and keep from drifting.

As a minister called of Yahweh to fulfill the calling of a teacher, I am not free to choose my audience. My audience is that which Yahweh has appointed to me. I am called to speak to those who are disciples of Christ, or who are considering being disciples. As I wrote in a few recent posts at the beginning of this year, the ministry I am appointed to is to “a few.”

Those things expressed in this Blog are not intended for mass appeal. There will ever only be a remnant who are truly willing to follow Christ wherever He would lead them. To be a disciple of Yahshua the Messiah, one must hate their own life (Luke 14:26). To be a disciple one must die daily to the things their soul would choose, for they must submit to do the will of Another that they might be found pleasing to Him.

Yahshua is the pattern of all who would be true disciples. He is recorded as saying six times in the gospel of John that He never did anything of His own initiative. He only did the will of the Father.

Undoubtedly, if all professing believers lived according to this very demanding standard of discipleship, the church would never have gotten off into all the error that we find today. Syncretism would not be the bane that it is, for a man or woman who lives only to do the will of the Father would not be pursuing an agenda that has been birthed in their own soul. They would be waiting to be led of the Spirit in all they do.

I realize that none today can say they have arrived at “a perfect man.” Christ has not yet been “fully formed” in any of us. Yet, it is to those who are desiring to arrive at the fulness of the stature of Christ that I am writing. I anticipate that such ones will place no allegiance to any religious institution above their allegiance to their Father in heaven. I am writing to those who walk in the fear of Yahweh, and understand that on a day not too far off they must give an account to Him for every deed done in the flesh, and every idle word spoken.

If you have stumbled upon this Blog, not realizing for whom it is written, you will no doubt find much that is recorded here offensive. The carnal Christian will not be pandered to here, but neither are they intentionally insulted or driven away. Rather, a true standard of discipleship is portrayed before them, and they are allowed to choose whether they want to accept the cost of following Christ wholeheartedly, or turning aside to some level of compromise that allows them to live as comfortably in this world as they choose.

Let me also mention something about the comment feature on the Parables Blog. The Parables Blog is not a forum. It serves as the medium of broadcast for those messages I believe the Father has given me to share with a particular audience, a dedicated audience. You are welcome to use the comment field to send me a note, and I will read every comment. However, I do not publish all the comments.

All comments are moderated. That means, they are sent to me automatically to allow me to choose whether to post them, or reject them. A great many get rejected. Some were not intended as public comments, so I simply read them, and if the person has provided me with an e-mail address, I will write to them privately.

Some of the comments are argumentative. I am not offended by disagreement. I am very willing to discuss disagreements with any who have a sincere argument that keeps them from accepting a particular doctrine of thought. I am very patient in these discussions, and I very frequently engage in lengthy correspondence with individuals, sometimes spending more than an hour on a single reply.

However, I do not believe it is in the interests of those who come to the Parables Blog to read the writings there to post every contrary thought that might be submitted. Some are very poorly thought out. Others are very bitter in their tone and abusive in the manner in which they express themselves. Others are just simply opinion, lacking the characteristic of patience and wisdom that would make them suitable for public consumption.

Some years back I wrote a short piece explaining the reasons that I believe unmoderated Christian forums are unhealthy for the saints. You can find the article here:

http://www.heart4god.ws/id357.htm

If you desire to correspond with me personally, I encourage you to not use the comment feature. Send me an e-mail. My e-mail address is posted on the Parables Blog at the top left hand side. Also, if you receive the Parables Blog by e-mail, simply hitting the reply button will fill in my address for you. Please note, however, that due to my receiving a large volume of e-mail, plus my other writing responsibilities and various duties, it may take some time for me to get back to you. Your patience and understanding is appreciated.

I do want to spend some time answering a few comments that have been sent to me. Some are obviously from people who are not my target audience, and I do not believe they will remain readers for long. Others, are more thoughtful, and have asked questions, or raised sincere objections that deserve a thoughtful reply. Let me begin with the following:

Mr. Herrin-

Did you ever read in Scripture where people sat in sackcloth and ashes, or in an act of penance threw ashes on their heads? This is all we Catholics are doing on Ash Wednesday. It is a sign of repentance and a sign of our mortality save the Cross of Christ. We Catholics take a lot of hits from the world but I've never been called a sun worshiper by a Christian. Christ is the living Bread come down from heaven. He is our manna to this day; until the end of time. The 'sun' has nothing to do with it. The rays only show visibly what we believe is true spiritually in Christ's true presence in the Blessed Sacrament.

Confession is in Scripture, the Eucharistic presence (John 6:52) Vestments, the Levitical priesthood, Apostolic succession, The papacy (modern day prime minister from Old Testament-Hezekiah)...My gosh! I could go on and on...

One of the first thoughts that comes to my mind in reading this comment is, “If a person is a Christian, then why do they need to be joined to a sect of Christianity that gives them an additional identity?” Is it not enough to be a Christian? Must one be a Catholic as well?

Please know that I am not being petty in asking this question. The apostle Paul brought up the very same issue with those Christians in the city of Corinth.

I Corinthians 1:10-14
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Yahshua Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I Corinthians 3:1-4
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?

The word carnal means fleshly. Paul says that having divisions among the church is a sign of their immaturity. Of course, a Catholic Christian finds it hard to not be divisive for their doctrines teach them that one must be a Catholic to be a Christian. If one is not a Catholic, one is not a Christian, and not a member of the true faith. This teaching is extra-Biblical, having no foundation in the teaching of Christ or His apostles, but the Catholic Church also declares that the words of the Pope supersede the words of Scripture. It was necessary for them to develop such a doctrine, for there is much taught and practiced among the Roman Catholic Church that is contrary to the Scriptures. It is truly “another gospel.”

Regarding the comment about Ash Wednesday simply being a sign of mourning for Christ, I would ask the defender of this practice to consider why it is that they apply ashes to their forehead at this particular time of year. Why not mourn for Christ all year long? Why not mourn for Him on Passover? Why does the Roman Catholic Church only do this on the day that the Babylonian Sun worshipers applied ashes to their foreheads to commemorate the death of Tammuz? Why do they mourn for forty days as did the Babylonians, and why do they end their mourning on Easter, whose very name testifies to the fertility goddess derived from Babylonian idolatry?

I have no problem with any Christian wanting to commemorate the suffering of Christ. Christ told His disciples to remember Him in His sufferings as often as they partook of the bread and the wine of Passover. If one wants to keep an apostolic ordinance, then why not choose one that the apostles practiced, instead of one the followers of Babylonian Sun worship practiced?

The writer ends with a list of Catholic (as opposed to Christian) doctrines. He wrote:

Confession is in Scripture, the Eucharistic presence (John 6:52) Vestments, the Levitical priesthood, Apostolic succession, The papacy (modern day prime minister from Old Testament-Hezekiah)...My gosh! I could go on and on...

Each one of these things as practiced by the Catholic Church is an abominable aberration. It is a departure from the truth. There is a little truth and a lot of error, and a little leaven leavens the whole lump. To think that when one eats a small Sun shaped wafer of bread that it actually becomes at that moment the living presence of Christ, and one is eating His flesh, is truly atrocious. The same is true of the drinking of the wine. Satan has deceived the masses (the pun is intended). He has them acting out something Yahweh has declared to be vile and abominable.

Leviticus 7:27
Any person who eats any blood, even that person shall be cut off from his people.

Show me from Scripture where the apostles delivered to the church any instruction concerning Vestments, Apostolic succession, the Papacy, or confession to a priest. Much of this is based upon an errant belief that the Catholic Church has stepped into the role of the Levitical priesthood. Yet, the apostles testify that Christ was the end of the Levitical priesthood.

Hebrews 7:11-12
Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.

The apostle testifies that perfection was NOT through the Levitical priesthood, and Christ was after the order of Melchizedek, not Levi. The apostle says that the priesthood has been changed, and the Law has been changed as well. These things are outside the scope of this post to address, however.

Let me move on to another comment. One reader wrote:

I hope your readers actually investigate what the Pope says. He is one of the only public figures standing for moral truth in our world today. All the personal attacks and hatred of him prove that!

If a prophet of Baal stands for morality in some area, but is inducing people to embrace idolatry which Yahweh declared to be an abomination and a violation of the first of the ten commandments, should we back the prophet of Baal? This is one of the subtleties of Satan. He seeks to dress up that which is an abomination in Yahweh’s sight in a manner that makes it seem acceptable to Christians, and those who have some sense of morality. We find this with Freemasonry in that Shriners have established hospitals for children, and they engage in numerous civic and charitable activities.

Yet every Shriner must be a 30th degree Freemason before they become a Shriner.






















Despite the red Fez, whose origin was a Muslim slaughter of Christians where the Muslims dipped their hats in the blood of the slain, and the emblems of Islam on the back of the shirt, he sure looks like a nice guy to be carrying a poor crippled girl. Who could find fault with such a one?

II Corinthians 11:13-15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds.



















Despite the Dagon fish god miter on his head, the numerous Tau symbols draped across his miter and vesture to commemorate Tammuz, despite the fact that he is a prophet of Baal, millions still think he is a nice guy. Some even think he is a servant of righteousness.

The Pope’s predecessors are responsible for the slaughter of an estimated fifty million professing Christians for such crimes as possessing a copy of the Scriptures, or refusing to adopt the pagan rites and doctrines of the Catholic Church. I have not even addressed the topic of the inquisitions and slaughter of entire cities who resisted the false teachings of Catholicism, but history has preserved this horrendous heritage of the Roman Popes. The Roman Catholic Church has fulfilled the prophecy of the apostle John:

Revelation 17:6
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Yahshua.

I cannot agree that just because the Pope opposes homosexuality (while his priests are practicing homosexual pedophilia and paying out hush money to keep it all quiet), and because he opposes abortion, that he is a champion of righteousness and Christians should all rally around him. No! He is a false apostle, and a deceiver, leading millions into idolatrous worship of Mary, and many other grievous deceptions.

One reader wrote the following:

Please! It is sun worship that has been polluted and obscured by Christianity, not the other way around. Our life giving Sun is the light of the world - it's a no-brainer.

Well, at least here is an honest Sun worshiper. I don’t know what he is doing reading my blog. He must have strayed in by accident.

And another wrote:

I have thoroughly enjoyed your teachings!! But I have questions for you. I mean them earnestly and with no disrespect at all!! I just don't know where to go from here.

We have been anti-Christmas, Easter syncretism, etc. for years, but have found ourselves without a church home for a long time. Is it just a matter of finding a local church that actually preaches the truth? And what of grace? I read the man's letter at the beginning of the article and it is the stream of thought taught everywhere. We may be wrong, we may be deceived, but the Love of Jesus and grace will cover us. If we don't know we are wrong or deceived, we are covered by grace are we not? It is the Lord's day morning and we have no where to go to be truly fed the word of YHWH. A very lonely place to be indeed.

I appreciate thoughtful questions that are written in sincerity. This writer is expressing such questions. Let me answer first the following:

If we don't know we are wrong or deceived, we are covered by grace are we not?

Christ gave a parable that reveals an answer to this question. Following are some words from this parable.

Luke 12:47-48
"And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

Christ is saying that ignorance does not give one a free pass. Those servants of Yahweh who did not know their Master’s will, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging will receive stripes. However, their stripes will be few in comparison to the one who knew his Master’s will and did not do it. This makes knowledge of the will of God a very costly thing. Those who have been given much understanding will have much expected from them.

If Yahweh is making you aware that He hates the mixture of the holy and the profane, and He is revealing to you the pagan origins of many of the practices and teachings of the church, then will you not be held accountable? Will Yahweh not expect more from you than from another who is ignorant of these things?

Some are careless. They think it is not a big deal, and they will not trouble themselves to even investigate such matters. They may say to Yahweh on the day of judgment that they simply did not know about the origins of so many pagan practices and doctrines, but God may rightly ask them why they did not seek out the truth. Many are the sins of omission.

I can empathize with the sister who wrote above. When one begins to walk separately from all the confusion and mixture of Babylon, the way does become lonely. There are few other saints with whom one might find fellowship. One finds that there are a myriad of confessors of Christ, but few who are disciples. I trust that if you are reading this blog that you are laboring to walk as a disciple of Christ.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Syncretism - Part Six - The Great Substitution

Joseph Herrin (02-19-2010)

The practice of syncretism, of mixing the abominable practices, symbols and doctrines of idolatrous religions with the teaching of Christ and His apostles is clearly observable to all who care to examine the matter. One need only look at any of a multitude of things in the Roman Catholic Church to see that there is no Biblical precedence for them. The Catholic church has monks who reside in monasteries, but the Scriptures nowhere testify of any such practice among Christ or His apostles, nor among the early disciples. Where then did such a concept arise?





















Buddhist Monks at Prayer
(Note the nimbus - solar halo - around the heads of their idols, similar to the way Roman Catholics represent images of deity and the saints.)

Many of the people groups at the time of the early church practiced religions that included monks, monasteries, prayer beads, candle lighting, and other rites that are nowhere found in the Bible, but which have been adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.

The early church began to adopt the practices of the pagan religions around them, freely merging together the holy and the profane. The lighting of candles is a very common Catholic practice that is also observed among early pagan religions.


















Buddhist Monks Lighting Candles





















Buddhist Monk with Prayer Beads

There is no apostolic pattern for such practices as these. They were all borrowed from pagan religions as the church began to be leavened with false doctrine, and many false disciples (tares among the wheat) began to infiltrate the church. Very quickly, the thing that the apostle Paul feared greatly occurred.

Acts 20:28-30
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

II Corinthians 11:2-4
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Yahshua whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

Already, in his day, the apostle Paul was finding that various unclean spirits were entering into the church. This same church in Corinth to whom Paul was speaking had members who were going to the local pagan temples and engaging in ritualistic sex with temple prostitutes (I Corinthians 6:15-16). There was no distinguishing between the things of Satan and the things of Christ, and because of this Paul said that many in the church at Corinth had become sick, and some had died (I Corinthians 11:30).

There were many Baals worshiped throughout the world. Baal is a generic term given to the gods worshiped by various people groups. The Scriptures refer to these aggregated deities as “the Baals,” or “Baalim.”

Judges 2:11
Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals...

In order to prepare the way for the adoption of pagan gods into the worship of Yahweh, Satan found it to be extremely beneficial to hide the name of Yahweh. He led men through various deceits to remove the name of Yahweh from the Scriptures, and to replace it with titular substitutes that are very generic, such as Lord and God. The Holy Spirit inspired holy men of old to record the name Yahweh 6,828 times in the Old Testament, and the shortened version of His name, Yah, another 49 times.

The name Yahweh, sometimes rendered as Jehovah, is found recorded thousands of times in the Scriptures, and is referred to as the Tetragrammaton. Tetragrammaton literally means “a word having four letters.” The name Yahweh is recorded in the Old Testament with the writing of the four Hebrew letters Yodh He Waw He (Anglicized as YHWH). In the ancient Paleo-Hebrew, old Aramaic, and modern Hebrew, this would have looked similar to the following image:

















Note that Hebrew is read right to left.

About ten years ago I wrote an article explaining the use of the Divine names in the writings of this author. I highly recommend that you take the time to read it, if you have not yet done so.

http://www.heart4god.ws/id210.htm

The article explains the various deceits that Satan has employed to have the name of Yahweh removed from the Scriptures today. I have found that a great many, probably a majority of professing Christians today, do not even know the name of the God they profess to follow. Many know Him only by generic titles such as God, Lord, and Father. I am not suggesting that it is inappropriate to use these generic titles, for they do have their proper usage, but Christians should know the memorial name of the God they profess to follow, for it was recorded nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament, though it has now been completely removed in the most popular English translations.

What I want to point out is that the most common substitute for the name of Yahweh is the word “Lord.” The Hebrew word Baal literally means “Lord,” or “Master.” To the ancient Hebrews the word Baal was not a specific name, it was a generic title. They employed it the same way we use the word “Lord” today. There are many lords, as there were many Baals, and this title was often used in reference to pagan deities that were worshiped. To the ancient Israelite, saying “Let’s go worship Baal” would be the same as a modern English speaking Christian saying “Let’s go worship the Lord.” These pagan deities known as Baals were quite often solar deities, represented by the Sun.

What Satan has accomplished in this hour is to raise up a massive religion that began as the worship of Yahweh and His Son Yahshua, and he has transformed it into a caricature of the worship of Baal (“the Lord”). He has additionally brought into this worship a myriad of the symbols, rites and doctrines that belonged to the worship of the Baals.

If Christians do not name the Lord (Hebrew Baal) they claim to worship, having forgotten His name, having removed it from their Scriptures; and if they embrace the symbols, rites and doctrines of the solar deities that were called Baalim, then how does one know who is truly being worshiped? Consider the following:

Churchgoers, both Catholic and Protestant, celebrate the resurrection of the Son of God on Easter, the day Tammuz the son of Ishtar (the Babylonian Semiramis) was said to be resurrected after he had been slain by a wild boar.



















Image of Tammuz - Greek Adonis - Dying
(Note gash on leg from tusk of wild boar.)

These worshipers eat the traditional Easter ham (a symbol of the boar who slew Tammuz). They spend forty days of mourning leading up to the date of Tammuz’s rebirth on Ishtar SUNday. This mourning for Tammuz was present even in the days of the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 8:14-15
Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these."

This mourning among Christians begins on Ash Wednesday, when ashes were applied to the foreheads of Sun worshipers to mark the beginning of their mourning for Tammuz.






















Minister applying ashes to forehead of a young (Christian?) worshiper on Ash Wednesday

These ashes are applied in the form of the Tau symbol, which from antiquity was used to represent Tammuz. This Tau (cross) symbol on the form of a solar wafer, is what the Roman Catholic Church requires to be served to its millions of followers during the Eucharistic service.





















Solar Disk - Communion Wafer

It is from the symbol of Tammuz, the Tau, that we also get “hot crossed buns.”



















Hot Crossed Tammuz Buns

The pagan traditions of the mystery religions have even been passed down to our children as they sing the little song that speaks of hot cross buns.

Hot cross buns
Hot cross buns
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot cross buns

If you have no daughters
Give them to your sons
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot cross buns

What does this mean “if you have no daughters, give them to your sons?” Remember, this was the celebration of the goddess of fertility and her son. By offering oblations of liquid and foods to Semiramis and Tammuz the people were asking for the gift of fertility. This fertility was petitioned from the goddess by offering drinks and cakes in order that their crops, livestock, and their own families might be blessed with abundance. Many a tradition that seems innocent today has found its origin in practices that are detestable to Yahweh.

Many of these same Easter celebrants arise early to attend a SUNrise service, which was also derived from pagan rituals as the idolatrous Sun worshipers awaited the appearing of the Sun to mark the re-birth of Tammuz. Easter NEVER falls on the same date as Passover, which was the date upon which Yahshua, the Son of Yawheh, was crucified. Indeed, the Christian leaders assembled by Constantine in 325 A.D. mandated that if the dates should ever coincide that the date of Easter must be moved. Constantine was a Sun worshiper. (We wouldn’t want to accidentally commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of Yahshua on the actual date of its occurrence. Some might mistake Christians for worshipers of Yahweh, rather than worshipers of the Sun.)

Seeing all of these things, what god would an impartial, yet knowledgeable, observer conclude that these worshipers were serving? Since the very day they are observing is named Easter, after the goddess of fertility, and it is marked by images and rites derived from the worship of the queen of heaven and her son, would it not be fair to conclude that these are pagan Sun worshipers?

What then, if the worshipers protest that they are celebrating the resurrection of the Christ of the Bible? Should we not at the very least conclude that these worshipers of Yahweh and His Son have been grossly led astray into adopting the rites, symbols and doctrines of pagan Sun worship? It should come as no surprise that the Spirit is calling His people to come out of Babylon, for His people have clearly taken up residence in the very heart of Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Harlots.

Revelation 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of [Babylon], my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues...”

Perhaps you are beginning to see how pervasive this Babylonian Sun worship is among what passes for Christianity today. From the steeples atop the churches, to the holy days she celebrates, the church of Christ has been thoroughly leavened with pagan symbols, rites and doctrines. (And I have not even begun to address the doctrines yet!)

Satan is truly “the great deceiver who deceives the whole world.” If possible, He will deceive even the elect of God. What Satan has done is to replace the worship of Yahweh with the worship of the Baalim. Satan has done a thorough work, even as He did in removing the name of Yahweh from the Scriptures. This has set up the entire Christian world to receive the lies that are being poured out in these last days; namely, that all religions lead to God, and all faiths are equally honorable.

How can Christians stand against such powerful deception when they have already embraced the religious practices of Mystery Babylon? Where is the discerning man, or woman? Where is the one who will separate the holy from the vile?

II Corinthians 6:17-18
“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says Yahweh. "And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," says Yahweh Almighty.

Can it be said that you are not touching that which is unclean if you are embracing these practices derived from Sun worship? Have you truly come out from the midst of the unclean practices of idolatry and separated yourself unto Yahweh? The Spirit is calling to the people of God in this hour, urging them to come out of Babylon, for the plagues of Yahweh will shortly be released in great fury upon her.

To be continued...

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063