Lies

There are certain lies that I have heard over the years that are perpetuated over and over again. They upset me greatly, because they mislead people- often to their great detriment. I was one of those people at one time, and yes, I was deceived for many years. Thanks be to God that He delivered me from these issues. From sin. I was the 100th sheep that Jesus left the flock to come after. I will be forever grateful for His rescue and His love towards me.

I think that due to the fact that I was once affected by lies, not necessarily these I am about to discuss in particular, it affects me in a different way. I kick out my leg, metaphorically, as in a doctor's office. I feel a moral outrage- an internal duty- to correct and speak out against lies which hurt people. Lies which speak against God. Against truth. This article started when I happened upon someone defending the following blue box of text. 

 

A Lie from the Pit of Hell

But I am being asked to change… both my beliefs and my faith. Words are being substituted. Murder of helpless ones is being called “health care.” I am asked to remain silent about this atrocity, which God will surely judge our nation for, both collectively and individually as a member of a society that calls evil good. I have addressed this topic in my article “The Unspoken,” where after death, we are asked to pass aside mountains of glass jars containing the bodies of murdered babies before we face judgement.

I am being asked to redefine the definition of marriage, which is a sacrament, and which God instituted. It was not enough to simply allow civil unions. They had to push it and force their one-way alternate definition on everyone by law.

It is not love if it is sin. God is the One from whom all love comes forth, because He is love. Therefore, God is the one who defines what love is. God is also the one who defines what sin is. Don’t get me wrong. People can believe whatever they want to. When we allow our minds to be influenced to the point of redefining sin, we are in grave danger.

Again, God instituted the Noahic Covenant with a symbol as a promise He would not destroy the Earth by flood. That had to be co-opted as well. It’s wrong. I am being asked to shut up about that as well.

I refuse.

They go on to say that these things do not effect [sic] me. That is a lie. Because I am going to be judged as a member of this sinful nation of Molochists. I will not be bullied into silence.

You see, we are going to be held responsible, collectively and individually in front of a Holy and Almighty God. The person writing this says if you believe what they say is wrong then shut up. I will not. They say to worry about my own judgement. THAT is EXACTLY what I am doing when I speak out about this.

We should not take the gifts of God and pervert them. We should not take truths of God and lie about them. May God have mercy on us all.

 

Titles and Honorifics

Titles and Honorifics

Okay. I am going to go ahead and say it. I was up this evening at 2:30 am upset about the events of last night. Right now, I am just writing to sort out my thoughts and try to make sense out of this situation.

I went to prayer meeting last night in Second Life. Among the persistent prayer requests was the pastor of a church whose congregants visit us weekly to pray. What was once thought to be stage 3 renal failure was in fact the result of a bad reaction to certain medications. So, we were all very happy to hear this person had recovered. This is a lady who took over the ministry of the church her husband previously served at before he passed. I will call her Carlotta.

She and many of the people in this church have titles attached to their names, which one can read above their heads. Senior Pastor Carlotta. The folks who come to visit also have titles along with their names, too. Senior Deaconess Desiree. Assistant Pastor Lindsay. Whatever. I generally ignore the titles and just use their first names. Which is fine. Or so I thought.

Before Carlotta came down with her illness and had to be hospitalized several months ago, she confronted me in prayer meeting about why I did not use the titles before the names. I said the answer is quite simple. You are not my pastor. I thought the matter was settled. When Carlotta returned last night, within two minutes, she started asking me in front of the group if I call my doctors “Doctor,” when I go to visit them. I could see where this was going really fast. She was trying to pin me with accusations of why I did not address her and others with these pretentious titles. I said, “No, this is wrong. How rude!” I then logged out before I could say things I could not take back.

I never expected to be chased out of my own church’s prayer meeting. I gave a little cheer “yay!” when I first arrived and saw Carlotta was attending prayer again, after being gone for over two months. One might think that her initial response might be “Thank you for your prayers and steadfastness on my behalf while I was ill.” Nope. It was to sling crap at me. I am truly hurt because I counted these folks as my friends. People who have visited our prayer meeting weekly for nearly a year now. People I had prayed for, and who had prayed for me.

There are a couple of things going on here, and some things I think may be going on behind the scenes. First, this particular group has been asked to leave more than one ministry in Second Life when they visited, for various reasons. Most often it was because they were being overbearing. They have a reputation.

Second, and I strongly object to this, Carlotta was insisting on putting words into my mouth (hers and her followers titles) in order for them to feel good about themselves. She was injecting her church's practices upon us in doing so. This is the precisely what the alphabet crowd does with pronouns. “You didn’t call me ‘they’ which is a microaggression.” It is the exact same thing, and like Jordan Peterson, I absolutely will not stand for anyone putting words into my mouth that I did not choose. I don’t care who they are.

Third, Carlotta did this in front of everyone there. This is not biblical correction. The first time one confronts another Christian, they are to speak one on one with the person they have a grief with. (Which was not done the first time, either.) The second time a Christian confronts another, they are to bring an elder with them for corroboration. This was not done last night, as well. It was a public attempt at correction and coercion, and it was wrong. Even as a teacher, I know to praise in public and correct in private. For a “pastor,” Carlotta does not seem to be following scripture in this regard. I use this word in quotations since a pastor, biblically, should be the husband of one wife.

This got me thinking. Since this accusation of “not using titles” came out at the very beginning of prayer meeting last night, I wonder if the group from this other church had a meeting ahead of time and discussed what they were going to do. In other words, I wonder if the others were in on it to set me up. If, so, this would sadden me greatly. Because it means their titles and honorifics are more important than friendship, than fellowship, than being humble, or treating others respectfully. Which is interesting in that that is what they are accusing me of being- disrespectful.

If this is true, if Carlotta decided with others to go ahead with this planned confrontation, it means that she is in sin, not just for insulting me at my own church’s prayer meeting, but also for leading others in participation of this deed.

This whole situation is absurd. I should not be writing this. I guess they cannot leave it alone. I can’t help but consider that perhaps Carlotta has been wounded in some way that keeps her from giving up her precious titles, for her and for others. It’s hers, her one, her own, her only, her precious... title. In case you are wondering, I do not respond well to being asked to compromise my internal thoughts and values. In this case, being asked to suck up to a prideful and grandiose heirarchy.

To sum it up, I think it is wrong for a church... who is visiting another church's service on that church's land, to demand that they observe the peculiarities of the visiting church's doctrine, and to question and belittle one of the host church's members.

So, this means that I should pray for Carlotta. I will. This also means that I need to examine myself, and my thoughts and actions. I need to beware lest I go down a similar road. What is my own title, my own honorific, that I cannot do without? My only answer to giving this up should be “Yes, Lord.” My prayer is that I yield myself to You in all thoughts, all things and in all ways.

Olympic Issues

 

Olympic Issues

This column has been a long time coming. I have had it on the back burner for a while now, because words, once uttered or written, are hard to take back. I have had to think and consider. Then turn it around. I have had to listen carefully, then shut up, then listen some more. Astute persons will note on my face book page I entered one word on July 28^th, 2024. That word is iconography. By itself, it does not mean much. Behind it is a plethora of thoughts and feelings, brought to the forefront by a tragic display of rudeness, which some people not only defended, but supported. I’m talking about the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in France.

There are three reasons why I am certain the event was done purposefully as an insult to Christianity.

The first reason I am certain this event was staged this way publicly is because of the positions of the actors on one side of the table. This is the same manner in which Jesus and the apostles are positioned in The Last Supper by Leonardo DaVinci. There is no mistaking these poses with the white cloth before the participants took a later picture showing off for the camera.

The second reason is the circular halo around the head of the central character on the table, with rays stretching out. This is supposed to be symbolic of holiness. While it is not limited exclusively to Christian paintings, it is most often associated with a stylistic form of art called iconography, which was used to emphasize a holy life. The paintings done in this manner are sometimes called icons.

The third reason are the words of the central figure in the picture. Immediately following the opening ceremonies, a picture was posted on Instagram by “Barbara Butch.” It stated “Oh yes! Oh yes! The New Gay Testament!” with a comparison picture above and below. Three hours later, this Instagram post was deleted and an excuse was concocted that the picture was meant to portray the Greek gods. Nope. Please see the illustration for this article which is posted.

If you know me and, in any way, shape or form you stuck up for those who did this, you really, really hurt me. More than I can comfortably put into words. I forgive you, but know that this is not something I can quickly forget.

There is a reason why Jesus said in Matthew 5 “Whoever says ‘you fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” The reason is they are calling out God’s creation in a way it was not made. (Thanks to Pastor Eb for his series on the Beatitudes.) When people lower the value of human life, they are demeaning the worth of people who were created in God’s image. God loves the entire world and gave His son for everyone. This portrayal calls Jesus and his apostles in a manner which they are not. This is sinful and shameful. The participants are dressed in a manner to mock gender (in my opinion) and the positions these figures hold in Christendom. All persons are worthy of respectful behavior. Even the thief on the cross received mercy and forgiveness. So yes, I forgive all the persons involved. This event should never be repeated or tolerated, however.

I have lost all possible interest and goodwill in the Olympics. It is no longer a celebration of mankind’s achievements. It has become something worse- a caricature of itself. I’ll post the references in the comments.

G.Houtchens

Armchair Coach

Amateur Historian