Before I got so old I could no longer run and play, I played softball one season on the church’s
team in the county’s “church league.” We lost every game that year (10), and I saw that record
as somewhat positive, as, “What is more Christian than that?” But, then I remembered the
bashing the “Baptist” team gave us. Let me correct myself … it was the Baptist “C” team (they
had so many players as members of one local Baptist church that they had to field three teams
that season).
Everyone one of those boys had biceps as big as my thighs. Granted, my thighs are not that
big, but every pitch became a home run, either over the fence or over our outfielders’ heads.
We only played two innings before the “mercy rule” kept us from holding them under 100 runs. I
think we could have done it … with some luck. Still, it was hard to shake hands with them after
the game. One, I did not want any broken fingers or dislocated shoulders; and two, it seemed
the game was not a fair test of two normal teams. They were as “obviously” on steroids as any
professional athlete is, while we were all young kids, old men, and one woman. Why did they
feel the need to “beef up” for church league softball?
Well, the news today might offer some good news for future church divisions in county softball
leagues. It seems the Southern Baptist Convention is losing members, and has been doing so
for a decade. The Huff-n-Puff Post reports, “Church (Baptist) attendance and Sunday school
enrollment declined in 2010. Membership, currently 16.3-million, is down for the fourth year in a
row.” At that rate, I foresee only two Baptist teams in that softball league pretty soon; but that is
dependent on if that church makes the players pay their individual team’s entry fee. That might
not happen, because the steroid boys usually have shrunken their brains to the point of thinking
the world should pay them to just be in the world. They have a hard time paying to play. They (in
the words of Billy Crystal, as Fernando Lamas) “rook marvarous.” (Thinking about it, that might
be part of Congressman Weener’s problem, and why he will not just resign.)
The report also stated, “Donations to missionary work are down too. The denomination's
International Mission Board received $145.6 million during its annual drive last year -- almost
$30 million shy of its goal. The number of missionaries, which was 5,656 in 2009, dropped to
5,000 last year.” No missionary recruiting trips to find the best Central American softball
players? Say it aint so Joe!
The report actually stated that Hispanics and African-Americans only comprised 19% of the
total church membership, so recruitment needed to focus on those minority groups. It seems
the “lily-white” image of Baptists is a problem. The team that beat us white boys was all white,
but a “ringer” only has to be a member on paper. No need to actually show up at church.
The report then went on to state, “The (statistics of declining membership) report has prompted
some soul searching among Southern Baptist leaders. “This report should break the heart of
every Southern Baptist,” wrote the Rev. Ted Traylor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.,
on his blog. “It should have us on our faces, crying out for awakening… We need freshness. We
need repentance. We need revival."”
I should say so! Heck, the team that beat us 20-0 should have all dropped to their knees and
asked us to forgive them for beating us so badly. Since they did not, it is a sign they are not
members of the religion for religious purposes. That is certainly a call for “revival.”
The good reverend was spot on to that problem. According to the report, Ed Stetzer, vice
president of research and ministry for LifeWay (a Baptist “business solutions” organization), is
reported to have said, “For many people, they attend church as 'customers' of religious goods
and services.” Nail on the head there Ed.
A big church always has lots of “customers” looking for goods and services. Softball is one of
those “Christian fellowship” services, where I felt it was better to have played your best and lost,
than to sharpen your spikes and send another Christian to the hospital with a severed artery,
from a dirty slide into third base. Obviously, Baptists do not consider other Christian
denominations as Christian, so it is all fair play to them.
Let me come clean here. The main focus of this article is not softball. It is not even Southern
Baptists. It is about dwindling memberships in all Christian denominations.
The reason is the younger generation needs flashing bells and whistles to be part of a church.
They do not want people telling them that women should all let their hair grow to their butts, and
wear plain-Jane dresses to their white-socks-clad ankles. They want a nice place to go where
they can be told, “Whatever you do is okay with God and Jesus, as long as you fill out that
pledge card, and make your payments on time.”
The rate of decline in Christianity would be greater if not for those modern perks. Churches
have to pony up for goods and services, above and beyond the goods and services of 20, 30,
50 years ago. My church has to have a big screen TV and camera system to accommodate an
overflow crowd (when the irregulars show up), with chairs set up in the social hall (or Parish
Hall). I have seen a priest use an I-Pod to read a sermon from. So, all the side items come at a
cost to the Church, which is always paid for by the Churchees. That is sad; and that is the state
of religion Nostradamus saw as a sign of the End Times.
I was thinking the other day (I do that occasionally), is it a smart man that buys stock before it
explodes in value, or is it a lucky man? I would not call it wisdom. I reserve “wisdom” to thought
that is assisted from Above. Still, it seems such financial windfalls have to be more a result of
luck than skill, since more people buy the stock that goes bust, than do those who buy-in at the
startup of a company like Microsoft or Apple. I certainly do not attribute winning the lottery, or
hitting the jackpot at a casino as a measure of how close one is to God; but I wonder if “smart
people” think that?
I wonder if churches have become attractive to new members, the ones who keep the churches
from dying off completely, rather than simply gradually declining in membership, due to them not
wanting God to keep them from striking it rich. I wonder if the kids in churches are the offspring
of young parents that see the churches as a safe investment, or a minimum risk bet. I wonder
how many people say privately (maybe only to themselves), “I give to the church the amount that
helps me get back income tax money, because I cannot expense lunchtime martinis anymore. I
buy smoked turkeys from my church, but I get a product in return. I have children, and a church
is a good place to network so I can find reasonably priced babysitters when the wife and I want
to go out. I pay every month, but I have a nice big church building I can find pride in; AND I get to
play on the softball team every year.” It would be a win-win situation in those cases, so
attractive for all the WRONG reasons.
It might be that the decline in Southern Baptists is because young people have gotten the taste
of wealth without having to pray for it. In that case, they feel no obligation to pay back to the
church a portion of what God allowed them to bring in. The fastest growing denomination is
atheism. If no God, then no reason to pay anything back to God.
Still, on the other side of the coin, with the economy so iffy, young bloods might not have the
spare cash to give to the church, so there is less guilt incurred, just staying home on Sundays.
Who wants to sneak in and get some religious sermon for free, then sneak out quickly after
getting a free wafer and sip of wine? The guilt is overwhelming if one does not pay for that
entertainment! Of course, adult children can load up and go with their parents on Easter and
Christmas. They do not have to feel obligated to pay anything when with an escort who is
making payments. The burden of guilt is lifted then.
I also wondered the other day, since it seems many people have turned to gambling with their
souls lately, did anyone buy “cruise insurance” before setting sail on the Titanic? I mean if he or
she did, when it was advertised as “unsinkable,” only fools would put down a dollar for
insurance. The odds would have to be a million to one! However, that fool would have become
a lucky person. By holding an insurance policy on the Titanic, one would have won the jackpot.
As far as betting parlors go, the insurance payout would have been based on the odds of the
unsinkable sinking. Those betting agents are willing to take bets on anything. If they had been
on the Titanic, they would have sold life insurance policies up until the time it sank for good.
Unfortunately, with 1:1 odds, a million dollar policy would have cost a million dollars. The
biggest winner is the one who was led to buy when it seemed to be purely a foolish move.
Imagine if the captain of the Titanic was named Barack something-or-another, and imagine if he
walked out on the deck, overlooking the wondering passengers, as the ship listed, and said,
“Don’t worry folks. Our people have just removed 100,000 buckets of North Atlantic seawater.
You can trust that we are going to right this ship in the next 30 years.” Do you think the lucky
insurance holder would have sold his policy to someone else, to break even, after hearing that
news? Or, do you think he would have been stupid enough to calculate, “100,000 gallons
removed? There must be 2,000,000 gallons still coming in!” The sign of importance (which in
any misdirection is designed to lead one’s attention away from) is, “The damn boat is way up in
the air on one end, people! That aint right! We’re sinking!”
With that analogy, look at how bad things are economically right now. Look at how unsettled the
world is right now. Look at how the United States of America (more you and I, than the rich
elected officials that make constitutional amendments that guarantee their pay) is in multiple
foreign wars (declared or undeclared), while it is unable (or unwilling) to defend our borders
from illegal immigrants and drug murderers. Look at how we celebrate the murder of a wanted
criminal (Osama bin Laden), rather than capture him and let justice prevail. Look at how little
justice prevails these days (Criminal Defense Attorneys play games with the law, making
injustice the norm). Just look at what is going on for a little bit. Does it look like the ship we are
on is smoothly sailing like it used to? Or, does it look like one end is up in the air?
I have a service that I give away partially. You are reading that freebie right now. I serve you
with these little tidbits of information, in an attempt to help you see we are not headed in the
right direction. I am giving away as a service to ALL human beings, of ALL kinds, because
once a ship sinks, it will never be the same.
I have only a few products, which are the books that I have written. The books are part of my
service, but they become products because I cannot afford to give them away. I have to pay to
make them available, so I have to sell them just to break even, or (more true) to slow the
financial bleeding on my end. Ask yourself, “Do I sell anything – like myself, my product, my time
– for a buck to stay alive?” I can answer that for you. “Yes.” You sell more than I sell. You are
better off than I am – financially. You can go to the bank with that, because that is the truth.
If I was a church, I could easily make everyone feel guilty for not having bought one of my
products, while you sit in your home “pew” reading these sermons for free. I could try to
browbeat everyone into buying one of each of my books, by pointing out “free does not mean it
does not cost anything, because nothing in life is free.” Unfortunately, I am not a church. More
importantly, you simply having one or more copies of my books on your bookshelf will do no one
any good. It will not make me rich, and it will not enrich you as intended.
Please, do not take what I am saying the wrong way. Everyone has to pay to get on board the
Titanic. Even the peasant immigrants going to find a better place to live in America had to pay
something to get loaded like cattle in the lowest part of a ship that would never make it to its
destination (remember the character played by Leo DiCaprio? Just a po-boy). Everyone has
to have money to live. It is a fact of life. So, everyone has to find a way to get money, one way
or another. Some people find it easier to attract money to them than do others. Thus, some get
staterooms in the elegant part of the ship, while others are herded in the hold.
I am in the hold, with only my few books to sell when I get to the promised land. I am like a street
urchin or shoeshine boy, full of dreams, and willing to do the worst of jobs. That is why it is so
easy for those with more (which is most anyone with a computer, thus anyone reading this blog)
to look down on me as unworthy of even a comment (blog or email), like, “Why don’t you go
make something of yourself and stop groveling in the gutter?” Please, prove your worthiness to
me, massah.
Do you know my past? Do you know if I have always been like this? Do you think I might have
been just like you once before and now I see the light? Do you think that is how I know you are
going the wrong way? Do you think?
The products I sell are like life insurance policies for the Titanic, but not with some monetary
value based on odds. My books act like individual inflatable life rafts, which are self-reassuring
elements that allow you to know you are safe. If the ship goes down, and you with it, you know
you will be okay. The books are not only to save you should the ship sink, but (like wearing
garlic necklaces to ward off werewolves) they are a way of warding away the doom that is out
there looming in the newscasts. Danger beckons just like known icebergs in the water, with
other ships pecking out Morse code warnings of what to be careful of ahead. The books are
designed to help you navigate the ship away from danger, even though you are not in control of
the ship.
The problem the Southern Baptists have (and all Christian denominations) is the members all
think they are “fast-tracking” to Heaven. That sense of self-righteousness makes Christians act
like, “Who are you to tell me I will drown when the ship sinks?” People think that everyone else
is gonna get lost in the shuffle, come Judgment Day, and he, she, or it is certainly not going to
Hell.
The reality is the Spirit of Jesus Christ appeared to John (at Patmos) and told him to write a
letter to the seven churches. He wrote the letter that is The Revelation for you, because you go
to one of the seven churches. Nostradamus rewrote that letter from Christ. It says the same
thing, only in easier to understand words. Nostradamus and John wrote the letter to the seven
churches, at the instruction of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
“Fools!” That is how you can paraphrase what Christ told John to write. Send a letter to the
Fools who think they are saved.
All Christians are members of one of those (if not all of those) churches! Christ told John to tell
your church that it is really nice that your church does some things fairly well, but the problem is
some things your church does is not cutting the mustard. ALL of the seven churches had some
serious fixin to do.
In order for anyone to get back to God, someone must realize Christ sends forewarning first.
That warning was stated in the instruction to send a letters to the seven churches, as pertinent
before the End Times. Christ was sent to give that warning because God love you, more than
God loves your church, and Christ wants you to save your ass from the wrongs you church is
doing to you!
The purpose of a real Church is to teach the Laws of God and teach the Laws of Christ. Call
that purpose the instruction to follow both the Jewish Torah and the teachings of Jesus. You
have to do both, but your church is only focused on one of those lessons.
What you have to have your eyes opened to realize is learning those Laws and teachings is the
first step towards letting Christ send you the Advocate, which makes you truly Christian. Before
you receive the Spirit, you are just a wannabe Christian in training. This learning phase is how
one puts words down to memory. You let your brain absorb the Word, rather than memorize the
words. This is the symbolism of taking the bread and eating it, and doing it to remember the
body of knowledge that led to God sending the world a Messiah. You have to SEE this is
MUCH MORE that the symbolic act of eating a wafer (unleavened bread) in a church building.
Symbolic BREAD is not the same as something you chew with the teeth. Understanding the
meaning of the Word is consuming the BODY with your heart, to your mind. You have to absorb
the Holy Bible before you can understand the Holy part. You have to have that body of work
within your body, meaning you have spent time studying the books of the Holy Bible.
The blood that Jesus referred to is then the HOLY SPIRIT, not wine. Wine is the spirit of alcohol
(fermented grape juice), which (if you drink enough) gets you tingly all over. But that physical
drink is only symbolic and not the true meaning of being filled with the HOLY SPIRIT. That only
comes after one has consumed the BODY, and once filled, it stays.
You are supposed to be filled with the HOLY SPIRIT after having learned the Laws and
teachings of the BODY culminating with Christ. Being filled with the HOLY SPIRIT allows God to
take over one’s actions, just as Jesus repeated over and over, “The Father is working through
me.” Having received the Spirit, the Blood of Christ, is then how one is able to act as a
HUMANE BEING, completely without fear of any boats sinking. This security (or insurance
policy) is because you are safe in the arms of Christ.
Once you are filled with the HOLY SPIRIT, you no longer simply act Christian on Sundays.
When you take a sip of this Cup, you become a priest for the One God and go out to share this
marvel with all others. No seminary pours the wine of the HOLY SPIRIT. You cannot learn the
HOLY SPIRIT. You become the HOLY SPIRIT, and the HOLY SPIRIT becomes you. You
become the equivalent of Jesus, the Son of Man, because the Father is working through you
too. You go out with a mission assignment, from the Father, to fill others with the HOLY SPIRIT
who have not yet been filled. It becomes a “tag, you’re it too” kind of thing, and you want to be
tagged.
The products I have are gifts to me. I have been allowed awareness by the HOLY SPIRIT. If you
doubt that, you are not filled with the same Spirit. You should realize a need to understand
Nostradamus because of that doubt. If you actually take the time to read what I have been led to
write, you will see how to read not only Nostradamus, but the books of the Holy Bible as well. If
you put your hands on the books I have written, you will be able to convince yourself that Christ is
flowing through those pages; and you will have no doubts about me, Nostradamus, or anything
in the Holy Bible. You will have no need for going to a church to hear a sermon, because you
will be filled with sermons that must come out of you.
My books will allow you to see for yourself what being filled with the HOLY SPIRIT is like. It is
bliss. Once filled, you do not worry about dollars and cents, or insurance policies. You just go
with throttle up, because Christ is within you and at the controls.
How often do you go help the poor, as part of the church? Ever? Do you help others because
you think it saves you, or gives you a chance to get rich some day? Do you help others
because you feel driven to help, and you would go out by yourself without the safety of church
numbers? Do you think I am not poor? Do you doubt I am losing money giving to you freely?
Do you see how I see you as the poor of Spirit, such that I am going to you to give? I do this to a
bunch of lame people who need help. People like you have eyes but cannot see, have ears but
cannot hear, and have wallets but cannot give! You are the ones who need help!
team in the county’s “church league.” We lost every game that year (10), and I saw that record
as somewhat positive, as, “What is more Christian than that?” But, then I remembered the
bashing the “Baptist” team gave us. Let me correct myself … it was the Baptist “C” team (they
had so many players as members of one local Baptist church that they had to field three teams
that season).
Everyone one of those boys had biceps as big as my thighs. Granted, my thighs are not that
big, but every pitch became a home run, either over the fence or over our outfielders’ heads.
We only played two innings before the “mercy rule” kept us from holding them under 100 runs. I
think we could have done it … with some luck. Still, it was hard to shake hands with them after
the game. One, I did not want any broken fingers or dislocated shoulders; and two, it seemed
the game was not a fair test of two normal teams. They were as “obviously” on steroids as any
professional athlete is, while we were all young kids, old men, and one woman. Why did they
feel the need to “beef up” for church league softball?
Well, the news today might offer some good news for future church divisions in county softball
leagues. It seems the Southern Baptist Convention is losing members, and has been doing so
for a decade. The Huff-n-Puff Post reports, “Church (Baptist) attendance and Sunday school
enrollment declined in 2010. Membership, currently 16.3-million, is down for the fourth year in a
row.” At that rate, I foresee only two Baptist teams in that softball league pretty soon; but that is
dependent on if that church makes the players pay their individual team’s entry fee. That might
not happen, because the steroid boys usually have shrunken their brains to the point of thinking
the world should pay them to just be in the world. They have a hard time paying to play. They (in
the words of Billy Crystal, as Fernando Lamas) “rook marvarous.” (Thinking about it, that might
be part of Congressman Weener’s problem, and why he will not just resign.)
The report also stated, “Donations to missionary work are down too. The denomination's
International Mission Board received $145.6 million during its annual drive last year -- almost
$30 million shy of its goal. The number of missionaries, which was 5,656 in 2009, dropped to
5,000 last year.” No missionary recruiting trips to find the best Central American softball
players? Say it aint so Joe!
The report actually stated that Hispanics and African-Americans only comprised 19% of the
total church membership, so recruitment needed to focus on those minority groups. It seems
the “lily-white” image of Baptists is a problem. The team that beat us white boys was all white,
but a “ringer” only has to be a member on paper. No need to actually show up at church.
The report then went on to state, “The (statistics of declining membership) report has prompted
some soul searching among Southern Baptist leaders. “This report should break the heart of
every Southern Baptist,” wrote the Rev. Ted Traylor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.,
on his blog. “It should have us on our faces, crying out for awakening… We need freshness. We
need repentance. We need revival."”
I should say so! Heck, the team that beat us 20-0 should have all dropped to their knees and
asked us to forgive them for beating us so badly. Since they did not, it is a sign they are not
members of the religion for religious purposes. That is certainly a call for “revival.”
The good reverend was spot on to that problem. According to the report, Ed Stetzer, vice
president of research and ministry for LifeWay (a Baptist “business solutions” organization), is
reported to have said, “For many people, they attend church as 'customers' of religious goods
and services.” Nail on the head there Ed.
A big church always has lots of “customers” looking for goods and services. Softball is one of
those “Christian fellowship” services, where I felt it was better to have played your best and lost,
than to sharpen your spikes and send another Christian to the hospital with a severed artery,
from a dirty slide into third base. Obviously, Baptists do not consider other Christian
denominations as Christian, so it is all fair play to them.
Let me come clean here. The main focus of this article is not softball. It is not even Southern
Baptists. It is about dwindling memberships in all Christian denominations.
The reason is the younger generation needs flashing bells and whistles to be part of a church.
They do not want people telling them that women should all let their hair grow to their butts, and
wear plain-Jane dresses to their white-socks-clad ankles. They want a nice place to go where
they can be told, “Whatever you do is okay with God and Jesus, as long as you fill out that
pledge card, and make your payments on time.”
The rate of decline in Christianity would be greater if not for those modern perks. Churches
have to pony up for goods and services, above and beyond the goods and services of 20, 30,
50 years ago. My church has to have a big screen TV and camera system to accommodate an
overflow crowd (when the irregulars show up), with chairs set up in the social hall (or Parish
Hall). I have seen a priest use an I-Pod to read a sermon from. So, all the side items come at a
cost to the Church, which is always paid for by the Churchees. That is sad; and that is the state
of religion Nostradamus saw as a sign of the End Times.
I was thinking the other day (I do that occasionally), is it a smart man that buys stock before it
explodes in value, or is it a lucky man? I would not call it wisdom. I reserve “wisdom” to thought
that is assisted from Above. Still, it seems such financial windfalls have to be more a result of
luck than skill, since more people buy the stock that goes bust, than do those who buy-in at the
startup of a company like Microsoft or Apple. I certainly do not attribute winning the lottery, or
hitting the jackpot at a casino as a measure of how close one is to God; but I wonder if “smart
people” think that?
I wonder if churches have become attractive to new members, the ones who keep the churches
from dying off completely, rather than simply gradually declining in membership, due to them not
wanting God to keep them from striking it rich. I wonder if the kids in churches are the offspring
of young parents that see the churches as a safe investment, or a minimum risk bet. I wonder
how many people say privately (maybe only to themselves), “I give to the church the amount that
helps me get back income tax money, because I cannot expense lunchtime martinis anymore. I
buy smoked turkeys from my church, but I get a product in return. I have children, and a church
is a good place to network so I can find reasonably priced babysitters when the wife and I want
to go out. I pay every month, but I have a nice big church building I can find pride in; AND I get to
play on the softball team every year.” It would be a win-win situation in those cases, so
attractive for all the WRONG reasons.
It might be that the decline in Southern Baptists is because young people have gotten the taste
of wealth without having to pray for it. In that case, they feel no obligation to pay back to the
church a portion of what God allowed them to bring in. The fastest growing denomination is
atheism. If no God, then no reason to pay anything back to God.
Still, on the other side of the coin, with the economy so iffy, young bloods might not have the
spare cash to give to the church, so there is less guilt incurred, just staying home on Sundays.
Who wants to sneak in and get some religious sermon for free, then sneak out quickly after
getting a free wafer and sip of wine? The guilt is overwhelming if one does not pay for that
entertainment! Of course, adult children can load up and go with their parents on Easter and
Christmas. They do not have to feel obligated to pay anything when with an escort who is
making payments. The burden of guilt is lifted then.
I also wondered the other day, since it seems many people have turned to gambling with their
souls lately, did anyone buy “cruise insurance” before setting sail on the Titanic? I mean if he or
she did, when it was advertised as “unsinkable,” only fools would put down a dollar for
insurance. The odds would have to be a million to one! However, that fool would have become
a lucky person. By holding an insurance policy on the Titanic, one would have won the jackpot.
As far as betting parlors go, the insurance payout would have been based on the odds of the
unsinkable sinking. Those betting agents are willing to take bets on anything. If they had been
on the Titanic, they would have sold life insurance policies up until the time it sank for good.
Unfortunately, with 1:1 odds, a million dollar policy would have cost a million dollars. The
biggest winner is the one who was led to buy when it seemed to be purely a foolish move.
Imagine if the captain of the Titanic was named Barack something-or-another, and imagine if he
walked out on the deck, overlooking the wondering passengers, as the ship listed, and said,
“Don’t worry folks. Our people have just removed 100,000 buckets of North Atlantic seawater.
You can trust that we are going to right this ship in the next 30 years.” Do you think the lucky
insurance holder would have sold his policy to someone else, to break even, after hearing that
news? Or, do you think he would have been stupid enough to calculate, “100,000 gallons
removed? There must be 2,000,000 gallons still coming in!” The sign of importance (which in
any misdirection is designed to lead one’s attention away from) is, “The damn boat is way up in
the air on one end, people! That aint right! We’re sinking!”
With that analogy, look at how bad things are economically right now. Look at how unsettled the
world is right now. Look at how the United States of America (more you and I, than the rich
elected officials that make constitutional amendments that guarantee their pay) is in multiple
foreign wars (declared or undeclared), while it is unable (or unwilling) to defend our borders
from illegal immigrants and drug murderers. Look at how we celebrate the murder of a wanted
criminal (Osama bin Laden), rather than capture him and let justice prevail. Look at how little
justice prevails these days (Criminal Defense Attorneys play games with the law, making
injustice the norm). Just look at what is going on for a little bit. Does it look like the ship we are
on is smoothly sailing like it used to? Or, does it look like one end is up in the air?
I have a service that I give away partially. You are reading that freebie right now. I serve you
with these little tidbits of information, in an attempt to help you see we are not headed in the
right direction. I am giving away as a service to ALL human beings, of ALL kinds, because
once a ship sinks, it will never be the same.
I have only a few products, which are the books that I have written. The books are part of my
service, but they become products because I cannot afford to give them away. I have to pay to
make them available, so I have to sell them just to break even, or (more true) to slow the
financial bleeding on my end. Ask yourself, “Do I sell anything – like myself, my product, my time
– for a buck to stay alive?” I can answer that for you. “Yes.” You sell more than I sell. You are
better off than I am – financially. You can go to the bank with that, because that is the truth.
If I was a church, I could easily make everyone feel guilty for not having bought one of my
products, while you sit in your home “pew” reading these sermons for free. I could try to
browbeat everyone into buying one of each of my books, by pointing out “free does not mean it
does not cost anything, because nothing in life is free.” Unfortunately, I am not a church. More
importantly, you simply having one or more copies of my books on your bookshelf will do no one
any good. It will not make me rich, and it will not enrich you as intended.
Please, do not take what I am saying the wrong way. Everyone has to pay to get on board the
Titanic. Even the peasant immigrants going to find a better place to live in America had to pay
something to get loaded like cattle in the lowest part of a ship that would never make it to its
destination (remember the character played by Leo DiCaprio? Just a po-boy). Everyone has
to have money to live. It is a fact of life. So, everyone has to find a way to get money, one way
or another. Some people find it easier to attract money to them than do others. Thus, some get
staterooms in the elegant part of the ship, while others are herded in the hold.
I am in the hold, with only my few books to sell when I get to the promised land. I am like a street
urchin or shoeshine boy, full of dreams, and willing to do the worst of jobs. That is why it is so
easy for those with more (which is most anyone with a computer, thus anyone reading this blog)
to look down on me as unworthy of even a comment (blog or email), like, “Why don’t you go
make something of yourself and stop groveling in the gutter?” Please, prove your worthiness to
me, massah.
Do you know my past? Do you know if I have always been like this? Do you think I might have
been just like you once before and now I see the light? Do you think that is how I know you are
going the wrong way? Do you think?
The products I sell are like life insurance policies for the Titanic, but not with some monetary
value based on odds. My books act like individual inflatable life rafts, which are self-reassuring
elements that allow you to know you are safe. If the ship goes down, and you with it, you know
you will be okay. The books are not only to save you should the ship sink, but (like wearing
garlic necklaces to ward off werewolves) they are a way of warding away the doom that is out
there looming in the newscasts. Danger beckons just like known icebergs in the water, with
other ships pecking out Morse code warnings of what to be careful of ahead. The books are
designed to help you navigate the ship away from danger, even though you are not in control of
the ship.
The problem the Southern Baptists have (and all Christian denominations) is the members all
think they are “fast-tracking” to Heaven. That sense of self-righteousness makes Christians act
like, “Who are you to tell me I will drown when the ship sinks?” People think that everyone else
is gonna get lost in the shuffle, come Judgment Day, and he, she, or it is certainly not going to
Hell.
The reality is the Spirit of Jesus Christ appeared to John (at Patmos) and told him to write a
letter to the seven churches. He wrote the letter that is The Revelation for you, because you go
to one of the seven churches. Nostradamus rewrote that letter from Christ. It says the same
thing, only in easier to understand words. Nostradamus and John wrote the letter to the seven
churches, at the instruction of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
“Fools!” That is how you can paraphrase what Christ told John to write. Send a letter to the
Fools who think they are saved.
All Christians are members of one of those (if not all of those) churches! Christ told John to tell
your church that it is really nice that your church does some things fairly well, but the problem is
some things your church does is not cutting the mustard. ALL of the seven churches had some
serious fixin to do.
In order for anyone to get back to God, someone must realize Christ sends forewarning first.
That warning was stated in the instruction to send a letters to the seven churches, as pertinent
before the End Times. Christ was sent to give that warning because God love you, more than
God loves your church, and Christ wants you to save your ass from the wrongs you church is
doing to you!
The purpose of a real Church is to teach the Laws of God and teach the Laws of Christ. Call
that purpose the instruction to follow both the Jewish Torah and the teachings of Jesus. You
have to do both, but your church is only focused on one of those lessons.
What you have to have your eyes opened to realize is learning those Laws and teachings is the
first step towards letting Christ send you the Advocate, which makes you truly Christian. Before
you receive the Spirit, you are just a wannabe Christian in training. This learning phase is how
one puts words down to memory. You let your brain absorb the Word, rather than memorize the
words. This is the symbolism of taking the bread and eating it, and doing it to remember the
body of knowledge that led to God sending the world a Messiah. You have to SEE this is
MUCH MORE that the symbolic act of eating a wafer (unleavened bread) in a church building.
Symbolic BREAD is not the same as something you chew with the teeth. Understanding the
meaning of the Word is consuming the BODY with your heart, to your mind. You have to absorb
the Holy Bible before you can understand the Holy part. You have to have that body of work
within your body, meaning you have spent time studying the books of the Holy Bible.
The blood that Jesus referred to is then the HOLY SPIRIT, not wine. Wine is the spirit of alcohol
(fermented grape juice), which (if you drink enough) gets you tingly all over. But that physical
drink is only symbolic and not the true meaning of being filled with the HOLY SPIRIT. That only
comes after one has consumed the BODY, and once filled, it stays.
You are supposed to be filled with the HOLY SPIRIT after having learned the Laws and
teachings of the BODY culminating with Christ. Being filled with the HOLY SPIRIT allows God to
take over one’s actions, just as Jesus repeated over and over, “The Father is working through
me.” Having received the Spirit, the Blood of Christ, is then how one is able to act as a
HUMANE BEING, completely without fear of any boats sinking. This security (or insurance
policy) is because you are safe in the arms of Christ.
Once you are filled with the HOLY SPIRIT, you no longer simply act Christian on Sundays.
When you take a sip of this Cup, you become a priest for the One God and go out to share this
marvel with all others. No seminary pours the wine of the HOLY SPIRIT. You cannot learn the
HOLY SPIRIT. You become the HOLY SPIRIT, and the HOLY SPIRIT becomes you. You
become the equivalent of Jesus, the Son of Man, because the Father is working through you
too. You go out with a mission assignment, from the Father, to fill others with the HOLY SPIRIT
who have not yet been filled. It becomes a “tag, you’re it too” kind of thing, and you want to be
tagged.
The products I have are gifts to me. I have been allowed awareness by the HOLY SPIRIT. If you
doubt that, you are not filled with the same Spirit. You should realize a need to understand
Nostradamus because of that doubt. If you actually take the time to read what I have been led to
write, you will see how to read not only Nostradamus, but the books of the Holy Bible as well. If
you put your hands on the books I have written, you will be able to convince yourself that Christ is
flowing through those pages; and you will have no doubts about me, Nostradamus, or anything
in the Holy Bible. You will have no need for going to a church to hear a sermon, because you
will be filled with sermons that must come out of you.
My books will allow you to see for yourself what being filled with the HOLY SPIRIT is like. It is
bliss. Once filled, you do not worry about dollars and cents, or insurance policies. You just go
with throttle up, because Christ is within you and at the controls.
How often do you go help the poor, as part of the church? Ever? Do you help others because
you think it saves you, or gives you a chance to get rich some day? Do you help others
because you feel driven to help, and you would go out by yourself without the safety of church
numbers? Do you think I am not poor? Do you doubt I am losing money giving to you freely?
Do you see how I see you as the poor of Spirit, such that I am going to you to give? I do this to a
bunch of lame people who need help. People like you have eyes but cannot see, have ears but
cannot hear, and have wallets but cannot give! You are the ones who need help!
| Dear Deadbeat Christians |
| All Material Copyright of Robert Tippett with the exception of the obviously stolen stuff Reproduction by Permission Only |
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