1,000 Words on The Real Slavery
I saw a note from some web expert guy who says to be an effective blogger, you must write 1,000 words a day. A day. Now I'm all for writing prodigiously -- I simply won't stop sharing the things I think are most important for the Kingdom. But I have a family, a job, and a home. Attention to those three things takes up 98% of my time. Yes I have a ministry, but much of that is wrapped up in those three things. I try to squeeze what I can into The Catholicist Nation and Wonderful Matters from the other 2%.
I am wholly devoted, though, to this ministry. But to write 1,000 words a day? I'd have to sacrifice far too much of those other things. Can I be a successful blogger otherwise? The only reason I'd consider myself to be relates to another critical aspect of web success, and that is that there must be content.
That's what I try to achieve, and I just think slapping 1,000 words on the splendor of today's dog-walking experience is just not worth it.
For example, I can't refuse to blog on what happened on Sunday, something that very few people are addressing from an Ungrafted Church perspective. Oh there is the World System perspective, and there is the Catholicized Church perspective, and there is the Average Joe perspective...
And then there is the core truth about things.
I'd like to share with you the core truth about this event and its ramifications all around. You're more than welcome to critique it, I'm great with that. If it isn't the truth let me know. But if it is, you'll either foolishly reject it or wisely embrace it. And if you do the latter, it only means something if you then decide to do the one thing that really matters in it all.
The event was "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," the day pastors felt the need to boldly shout about all the political evils that ravage the country. They even went so far as to say who people should and shouldn't vote for in elections for civil office.
The move was really a protest against what they see as excessively constrictive regulations against their right to speak freely. Rules for 501c3 non-profit tax-exempt organizations include provisions against partisan activity that strictly prohibit pastors from openly endorsing any given candidate in the service of their duties. These particular pastors consider that this is an undue violation of their First Amendment rights.
I guess my question is, how can you reject the rules so stridently when you agreed to the terms of the contract you signed? Furthermore, how can you reasonably expect your demands to be respected when you are getting paid so generously for the expressed purpose of following them?
It has been made clear in no uncertain terms that the pastors are hoping to goad the IRS into some rabid prosecution of their disobedience in order to draw attention to the onerous condition they must endure, but do you know what's been happening?
Nothing.
On Sunday the bleats and roars and wails screeched from pulpits across the country about the devastating effects of abortion and same-sex marriage and illegal immigration and a host of other social ills, and about that rascal Obama and his cohorts and how evil they all are. It was deafening!
The problem is that, it was just that. It didn't matter, because deaf ears can't hear it, and coming from spiritually impotent speakers it is just mumbo-jumbo.
Right now the IRS is completely ignoring it all, effectively marginalizing the World-church-flailing-about-trying to-be-Christian. These pastors are yelling, "Listen to us everyone!" and everyone is yawning, helped along by the entrenched World System powers. And what is funny is that
The pastors are very aggravated.
"What? No wall-to-wall media attention? No televised coverage of dozens of valiant pastors being dragged to jail? No prime-time network newscasts of our noble plight?"
Nuttin.'
"It's frustrating," said a senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, the point group for the event. "The law is on the books but they don't enforce it, leaving the churches in limbo." (quote from the New York Times)
There it is. What World operatives have done is very strategically left the church hanging out to dry. By heeding the World's call to enter into rebellion against the temporal authorities, these pastors have made themselves wholly impotent to have any lasting impact in the spiritual lives of those desparate for Christ. By continuing to seek benefits of a legal obligation without fulfilling the contract's requirements and defying Caesar in a pathetically unbiblical way, they are breaking God's law and thoroughly eviscerating their witness for the One they foolishly believe they are honoring.
Yes, they are breaking His law. They are hypocritically saying one thing and doing another. This is an awful offense to God. They've signed on with Cain's agency for the purpose of law enforcement (by firmly girding 501c3 non-profit tax-exempt status), expected the law to protect them (in complete rejection of God's generous call for His own to live by Truth and Grace), and then demanded that Cain provide for them even in their own vocal objection to Cain's sworn officers (open challenge to those officers and their ordained duties).
And they are having their just desserts, being shown for who they really are. Even worse than that, no one knows about it, and no one cares.
Should the System care, and should the IRS actually take care of business, they will do it quietly, subtly. IRS officials have given lip service to the offense, but only to sound like they know what's going on. They've said some churches are being "audited." Ooo, scary. But as long as no one really gives a rip (which most don't) why make a big deal out of it?
Should there be any media attention, it will only come with everyone seeing the rank hypocrisy of the church leaders. The very clever strategy: just wait until enough can see the brazen behavior of these people, and if there is any publicized prosecution, it will be wholly justified in the public's eyes.
And what if there is that remote chance that there is actually any widespread sympathy for the pastors? Then there is ripe opportunity to rationalize more fomented rebellion against Caesar, which feeds the voracious appetites of World System powers. They will find someone to step up and use this to further strengthen the System's grip on the populace, to the Catholicized church-goer's glee.
These fools cannot win. And it is made to be that way.
Actually, that may be the best thing for Christ. Maybe more people will see these people for who they are. Even better maybe people will see Christ for who He really is -- leaving the World and its puny little 501c3 churches for what they are. Hey, I agree that abortion and same-sex marriage and all those things are horrific, I'm with them on that.
But people will not be free from them as long as they interminably continue to try to get Caesar to fix them. Much much less when they alienate the people to whom they should be ministering.
The True Church of Christ is free from Caesar's clutches. Free from having to say anything to his officers. Free from the oppressive law enforcement he administors, which includes any 501c3 entanglements. Free from expecting to get anything from Caesar that God hasn't already ordained should be the follower of Christ's anyway by way of His divine protection.
The 501c3 pastor and those who enable them are slaves to the World System, and as a result they rage and rail and have very high blood pressure all the time, making everyone around them very uncomfortable.
The follower of Christ is a slave to righteousness, His righteousness, rapturously serving Him and others in His Kingdom, and as a result they know and experience and revel in His bountiful joy and peace.
There are my 1,000 words for today. Probably a few more than that.
But hey, gotta make sure I make up for all the other days I don't blog.
I am wholly devoted, though, to this ministry. But to write 1,000 words a day? I'd have to sacrifice far too much of those other things. Can I be a successful blogger otherwise? The only reason I'd consider myself to be relates to another critical aspect of web success, and that is that there must be content.
That's what I try to achieve, and I just think slapping 1,000 words on the splendor of today's dog-walking experience is just not worth it.
For example, I can't refuse to blog on what happened on Sunday, something that very few people are addressing from an Ungrafted Church perspective. Oh there is the World System perspective, and there is the Catholicized Church perspective, and there is the Average Joe perspective...
And then there is the core truth about things.
I'd like to share with you the core truth about this event and its ramifications all around. You're more than welcome to critique it, I'm great with that. If it isn't the truth let me know. But if it is, you'll either foolishly reject it or wisely embrace it. And if you do the latter, it only means something if you then decide to do the one thing that really matters in it all.
The event was "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," the day pastors felt the need to boldly shout about all the political evils that ravage the country. They even went so far as to say who people should and shouldn't vote for in elections for civil office.
The move was really a protest against what they see as excessively constrictive regulations against their right to speak freely. Rules for 501c3 non-profit tax-exempt organizations include provisions against partisan activity that strictly prohibit pastors from openly endorsing any given candidate in the service of their duties. These particular pastors consider that this is an undue violation of their First Amendment rights.
I guess my question is, how can you reject the rules so stridently when you agreed to the terms of the contract you signed? Furthermore, how can you reasonably expect your demands to be respected when you are getting paid so generously for the expressed purpose of following them?
It has been made clear in no uncertain terms that the pastors are hoping to goad the IRS into some rabid prosecution of their disobedience in order to draw attention to the onerous condition they must endure, but do you know what's been happening?
Nothing.
On Sunday the bleats and roars and wails screeched from pulpits across the country about the devastating effects of abortion and same-sex marriage and illegal immigration and a host of other social ills, and about that rascal Obama and his cohorts and how evil they all are. It was deafening!
The problem is that, it was just that. It didn't matter, because deaf ears can't hear it, and coming from spiritually impotent speakers it is just mumbo-jumbo.
Right now the IRS is completely ignoring it all, effectively marginalizing the World-church-flailing-about-trying to-be-Christian. These pastors are yelling, "Listen to us everyone!" and everyone is yawning, helped along by the entrenched World System powers. And what is funny is that
The pastors are very aggravated.
"What? No wall-to-wall media attention? No televised coverage of dozens of valiant pastors being dragged to jail? No prime-time network newscasts of our noble plight?"
Nuttin.'
"It's frustrating," said a senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, the point group for the event. "The law is on the books but they don't enforce it, leaving the churches in limbo." (quote from the New York Times)
There it is. What World operatives have done is very strategically left the church hanging out to dry. By heeding the World's call to enter into rebellion against the temporal authorities, these pastors have made themselves wholly impotent to have any lasting impact in the spiritual lives of those desparate for Christ. By continuing to seek benefits of a legal obligation without fulfilling the contract's requirements and defying Caesar in a pathetically unbiblical way, they are breaking God's law and thoroughly eviscerating their witness for the One they foolishly believe they are honoring.
Yes, they are breaking His law. They are hypocritically saying one thing and doing another. This is an awful offense to God. They've signed on with Cain's agency for the purpose of law enforcement (by firmly girding 501c3 non-profit tax-exempt status), expected the law to protect them (in complete rejection of God's generous call for His own to live by Truth and Grace), and then demanded that Cain provide for them even in their own vocal objection to Cain's sworn officers (open challenge to those officers and their ordained duties).
And they are having their just desserts, being shown for who they really are. Even worse than that, no one knows about it, and no one cares.
Should the System care, and should the IRS actually take care of business, they will do it quietly, subtly. IRS officials have given lip service to the offense, but only to sound like they know what's going on. They've said some churches are being "audited." Ooo, scary. But as long as no one really gives a rip (which most don't) why make a big deal out of it?
Should there be any media attention, it will only come with everyone seeing the rank hypocrisy of the church leaders. The very clever strategy: just wait until enough can see the brazen behavior of these people, and if there is any publicized prosecution, it will be wholly justified in the public's eyes.
And what if there is that remote chance that there is actually any widespread sympathy for the pastors? Then there is ripe opportunity to rationalize more fomented rebellion against Caesar, which feeds the voracious appetites of World System powers. They will find someone to step up and use this to further strengthen the System's grip on the populace, to the Catholicized church-goer's glee.
These fools cannot win. And it is made to be that way.
Actually, that may be the best thing for Christ. Maybe more people will see these people for who they are. Even better maybe people will see Christ for who He really is -- leaving the World and its puny little 501c3 churches for what they are. Hey, I agree that abortion and same-sex marriage and all those things are horrific, I'm with them on that.
But people will not be free from them as long as they interminably continue to try to get Caesar to fix them. Much much less when they alienate the people to whom they should be ministering.
The True Church of Christ is free from Caesar's clutches. Free from having to say anything to his officers. Free from the oppressive law enforcement he administors, which includes any 501c3 entanglements. Free from expecting to get anything from Caesar that God hasn't already ordained should be the follower of Christ's anyway by way of His divine protection.
The 501c3 pastor and those who enable them are slaves to the World System, and as a result they rage and rail and have very high blood pressure all the time, making everyone around them very uncomfortable.
The follower of Christ is a slave to righteousness, His righteousness, rapturously serving Him and others in His Kingdom, and as a result they know and experience and revel in His bountiful joy and peace.
There are my 1,000 words for today. Probably a few more than that.
But hey, gotta make sure I make up for all the other days I don't blog.
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