CHRIST'S CHURCH OF THE ARK             SALVATION AND NONCONFORMITY
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RANDOM SCRIPTURE QUOTES AND COMMENTS

     “For verily I say unto you, ‘Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5.18)
 Jesus was referring to the Old Testament law. Why did he say it shall not pass away till all be fulfilled, till heaven and earth pass away? Because the Old Testament law, fulfilled in Christ, was meant to fit this world and everything in it for all time.
      True progress in any day or age does not lie in science or technology, nor in idolatry, but rather in God’s Old Testament law, fulfilled in Christ, established in your heart, in your life, and in your community, as much as possible, as much as needful. This is true even though the ceremonial portions of the law (clean and unclean, circumcision, animal sacrifices, and strict observance of holy days) have been set aside until Jesus returns.


    Two wrongs do not a right make. The solution to the tyranny of kings and the idolatry of the doctrine of the divine right of kings is not another idol, such as pagan idol republic
     Oops.


    This is God’s earth, not man’s. It is those who refuse to live upon it according to God’s will who are the ingrates, not those who would. And it is those who think they can sow this world’s wisdom and reap heaven who are the filthy dreamers. The Devil said to Jesus, in essence, that he would give him the whole world if he would but fall down and worship him. But Jesus said, “Get thee hence, Satan.” It really wasn’t Satan’s to give.


     “...for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the eyes of God.” (Luke 16.15)


     “If we are unfaithful in the things of this world who shall commit unto us the true riches?” (Luke 16.11 paraphrased)


    “...the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13.1)
However, so are the wicked to their wickedness.(per Jude 4)
It is not the powers that a wise man would object to, but rather those who would use them to promote themselves and the evil they would promote. Such as pagan idol republic, brought to you by a pagan priesthood.


    “Judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7.24)
Jesus spoke this concerning the interpretation of Old Testament scripture. It applies today in the interpretation of both Old and New Testament scriptures. Let us not do with the New and Old Testament scriptures what the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day did with the O. T. scriptures. But rather, when we judge, let us judge righteous judgment.
When judging be careful. Galatians chapter 6 verse 2 admonishes, “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” Verse 5 states, “For every man shall bear his own burden.” Likewise, Jesus, who said, “Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you.”, also said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it unto strangers. ("Matthew 15.26)


     “A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.” (Proverbs 21.22)


    “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.” (Proverbs 11.4)


     “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
     Or, what shall he give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8.36,37)


     For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. (Proverbs 1.32)


     “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,      Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, ....” (Matt. 7.13.14)


     Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. (Proverbs 18.1)


     Cry up to God. He will give you wisdom. Walk upright before your God. He will give you strength. Pray and he will answer. He will be found of you when you seek him with your whole heart.


     I don’t care who it is, or what the circumstance, or what the appearance of things might be, the most fruitful thing a person can do in this life is to seek and pursue that which is right in the eyes of God.
     Not sure what that might be? Jesus said, “Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”


     Don’t let corporate America set your moral standards for you. Don’t let this government set your moral standards for you. They need to be higher than that. Walk upright. If that puts you out of work, or threatens to put you out of work, then take it to the Lord in prayer and he will make a way for you, whether in blessing or affliction. Pray, and lay it before God, and take the best wisdom you can come up with so that you can look back and say, “I did the best I could. I prayed to God to guide me, to see, and to do, that which, whatever it is, is right in his eyes.” That is always a big and important consolation.


     The three friends of Daniel (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) refused to bow down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. For that they were thrown into a fiery furnace. They did not know whether God would deliver them or not. All they knew was they were going to do what was right in God’s eyes by refusing to bow down to an idol.
     I believe that is the kind of faith God would have all his children walk by. We may not know whether God will deliver or not in a given situation, but regardless, let us do the right and pray to that end.


     It was meant to be, "Every man their vine, and every man their fig... ". (Micah 4.4) When Christ comes back it will be that way. Until then the evil that prevents that circumstance may need to be borne but should never be justified. Such as pagan idol republic, usury (banking, rent-for-profit, property taxes), obsessions with professions, etc...


     If a just government would tax something it would put a tax on what people make, not on what they just got sitting there. Property would not, should not, be taxed. I believe this is in accord with scripture. Property taxes are really the government playing rent-for-profit on people’s “own” property. It seems to me if someone has to pay someone in order to stay on a given property that person doesn’t own it. The one who owns it is the one to who the person has to pay money to in order to stay on it. So from this point of view private land ownership in this country is a myth. The government, by way of property taxes, owns the land.
     I imagine that property taxes, which is the government playing rent-for-profit, which is a form of usury (which I believe is abomination in the eyes of God), are and have been the driving force behind the extinction of the small farmer (Besides devouring widows houses). No doubt property taxes are and have been a virulent form of social engineering. Sad and funny how evil works.


     Jesus said to pray to the Father as part of the Lord’s prayer, “... thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Part of that will is, according to Micah 4.4, every man their vine and every man their fig. (Their own land-no bank man, no rent man involved) And as is evident from Micah 4.1-4 God is not speaking of only the nation of Israel. He is speaking of all the nations.
     What would justice today be? It would be for men to lay down pagan idol republic, including the pagan priesthood of that idol to lay it down and go home, and then for men to gather by tribe for the purpose of dividing the land by tribe. That would be part of God’s true justice. (When God gave to Israel their inheritance he divided the land to them by tribe and then commanded that the inheritances within those boundaries were to stay within those tribes.)
     That isn’t going to happen today? I reckon not. Not until Christ comes back. But until then what? Would God have a man embrace and justify evil? I think not. Bear it as need be and as best as one can by God’s grace but justify it never. As need be and as opportunity allows promote God’s will, God’s right, and bear the evil as best you can. But don’t conform to that evil. Don’t embrace it.
     James said in his epistle, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4.7) What right has any devil or any wicked to say to any child or would be child of God, “Fall down and worship our gods, give thanks to our gods, or get thee hence.”? This is God’s earth, not the devil’s or man’s, and if push come to shove let the devil and his get them hence. In a sense that’s what James is saying and what Christ said to Satan in the wilderness. Walking away from some circumstances sometimes might be wisdom. Sometimes holding your ground is wisdom or at least to the nth degree you can. But will your trust be in pagan idolatry, or the love of money, or guns, or science, or technology? Or in the Lord God? There is a difference.


     The usurer, the money men, the pure investment stock market, and pagan idol republic have usurped the rule of kings, with or without their tyranny, and the idolatry of the doctrine of the divine right of kings, but it’s still the dark ages. And in offering people their wisdom they cheat them out of God’s greater truth, and right, and justice. But Jesus said, “If the blind lead the blind leave them alone, they will both fall into a ditch.”
     But perhaps many would say that slavery in this day and age is better than the slavery in the Middle Ages? It’s a higher standard. But slavery is still slavery and freedom in idolatry and oppression is a myth. Anytime two parents have to work so that they can’t even raise their own children they aren’t really free. They are slaves and the children belong to the ones who raise them. In today’s case it is the state.
     In a just society it is not the duty of the government to educate the children. That is the duty of the parents. If the government is to educate anybody it would be the parents in the laws of the land which should be God’s laws, and God’s justice, and the parents in turn would teach their children.
     But today the government drives or allows such oppression that it forces both parents to go out and work to such a degree that they aren’t able to raise their own children. Thus it wrests the children from their parents and claims them for their own raising them up in the doctrines of the state to cause them to worship the idols of pagan idol republic, and god science, and god technology, etc. and calls it progress and freedom. I think it is slavery and not progress.


     As a general rule at least, I believe any individual material progress should be towards the direction of God's idea of material justice; every man their vine, every man their fig. In other words material progress for an individual should not be up a corporate ladder but to the attaining of one's own land and supporting oneself on it, or one's own business whether it be a one, two, three-man or whatever operation; but not going of in a multi-city, multi-state, or multi-country business site direction. That contradicts justice, the idea of every man their vine, and every man their fig, and is not true progress. It's vanity (ego and greed).
     In a just society, there would be no banking, no exclusive prices from manufacturers for bulk purchases, and wage oppression in mass. There would be the law of every man their vine and their fig and the law of redemption to go with it with the year of jubilee. And in such a society corporations could not exist. And so you see, the truth is that the heart and soul of corporations is not in the bounds of true justice but is all vanity, all about ego and greed. It is not just a profit motive, because honoring of justice is not aimed for (they go to the banker, they wage oppress, they rush to give and get exclusive prices for bulk purchasing, even try to persuade government to make or rescind laws aimed at better enabling their ideas of progress) but true justice is willfully (though it be even out of ignorance) ignored. The heart and soul of corporations is, and can only be, rooted in a motivation of greed and ego, no matter how dressed up. And it grows and grows. And hand joins to hand. Yet the wicked shall not go unpunished, the Lord has said.
     So, on an individual level, get out if you can. Don't seek to go up a corporate ladder, or seek to grow into a multi-site operation, but keep it small. Or buy land and be a farmer.
     However, the laws, and economic circumstances these days are such that maybe one is doing well if they can just hold their own right now where they are and having food and remnant (and perhaps a job) be thankful. And remember all the while and always that Jesus cautioned us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (material necessities) shall be added unto you.
     If you own a chain store operation bust it up into individual, independant stores each with its own owner. Don't rush to get exclusive prices for bulk purchasing from manufacturers. Don't go to the bank man (who is the usurer) to feed that abomination. If all this puts you and every store owner out of business then go out of business. It would still be progress. Whenever you do the right thing for the right reasons the good always wins, ultimately at least.


     A man’s faith should be more than a dog’s faith. A dog is content to serve his master whether the master is good or evil. I don’t believe it should be that way with men, as it so often seems to be.


     DEUTERONOMY 15.1-3: “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
     And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour,or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.
     Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thy hand shall release;”
     Keeping the above verses in mind, consider the question asked of Jesus in Luke 10.29 where the man asked, “And who is my neighbor?” and Jesus’ response with the parable of the good Samaritan.
     A fair and proper tenor or interpretation of the application of the word neighbor in Deut. 15.1-3 would be that the year of release applied not just to Israelis in Israel but to strangers sojourning there as well. At least poor strangers sojourning there. But of a foreigner (a stranger not sojourning in Israel) they could require it still.
     So what’s the point? Look at the love of God. Even for the stranger.
     This tenor or interpretation fits in with the interpretation of Lev. 25-35 in regards to the forbidding of the charging of usury applying not only to the poor Israelite but to the poor stranger or sojourner as well. For again, if the charging of usury in lending to the poor brother tends to drive him out, as Lev. 25.35-38 implies, it would tend to drive out the poor stranger or sojourner as well, which would contradict the intent of Lev. 25.35. And Jesus said that scripture cannot be broken. Therefore, later in Deuteronomy 23.20, where God permits charging usury to a stranger, it must be conditional, as in unto a stranger not poor. Otherwise, the scripture is broken.
     But one might say you can’t just go putting conditions on scripture like that. But if the tenor and the whole of scripture argue for it I believe it is valid. And besides, if some can place conditions on verses, such as, where it says in the verse just above in Deut. 23.19, “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother.”, and condition it to mean poor brother or “but this is business!”, why can’t I reject their condition and put one on the next verse where it is truly proper? Putting a condition on Deut. 23.19, insisting that brother there means poor brother, is a judgment motivated by filthy lucre or a desire for convenient conformity. Jesus said that the law and the prophets hang by these two commandments, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and thy neighbor as thyself.


     Also, consider Leviticus 25 verses 39 through 55 regarding menservants, maidservants, bondmen, bond maids, and ruling with rigor relating to Israelis, and strangers, and relating to the year of jubilee. And consider these in the light of the words of Christ, wherein he said, “Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7.12)
     In Leviticus 25.42-43 referring to all Israelites it says, “For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.
     Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor; but shalt fear thy God.”
     This and the following verses would seem to imply that they could take strangers as bondservants and rule over them with rigor. But would God want bondservants (of the strangers in Israel) to be ruled over with rigor in all cases or even as a general rule? Consider again the words of Christ wherein he said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Would you want to be ruled over with rigor? I wouldn’t. So then I would interpret that the implied allowance for ruling over bondservants with rigor would be the exception rather than the rule; that there might be some particular case or cases or circumstances where it might be appropriate but as a general rule, no.
     Likewise, in Israel, in the year of jubilee, when any Israeli servant was to be released and every man could return to his land inheritance (if he had sold it away before and had not been able to redeem it), it was a time of rejoicing. If at this time you were a stranger and a bondservant in Israel and all Israel was rejoicing for good cause wouldn’t you want to be rejoicing, too, and for a good cause? Why? Because maybe they gave you an extra meal on the Sabbath? Or because maybe they might set you free, too? Wouldn’t that please not only you but God, too? You could be free and remain in Israel or perhaps go back to your native land if that seemed the right thing to do. Wouldn’t God want you to have something to rejoice about in Israel in the year of jubilee, too? I would think so. Even as a stranger.
     So then, even in the law of God behold the love of God for the stranger! For even in the law of God he said to the Israelis that they were to love the stranger as themselves. (Lev. 19.34) And Jesus said to do unto others as ye would have them do unto you.
     How then can the love of God be in his children if they would oppress, or rule over with rigor, or embrace idols, or justify oppression and those that would oppress? The Bible says that oppression makes a wise man mad. But fools delight therein.
     Today, banking (which is usury), rent-for-profit (which is usury), and property taxes (which is the government playing rent-for-profit) are oppression. And a republic is idolatry and idolatry is the rage of God. I don’t believe a person can be an obedient child of God if they do or justify those who do these things.


     Paul the apostle said, referring to Old Testament scripture (and it would include any New Testament scripture as well), “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3.16)
     Those who might say of me that I am trying to live under the Law and not under grace are spiritual Mickey Mousers who want to be free to swallow camels while they walk on water. Who want to be free to abuse the grace under which they walk. Who would build upon their salvation false works. Let me shoot the moon for the Lord my God and pray that if while I preach to others, I myself do not become a castaway, that I myself do not be, nor justify, the wicked.


     Today instead of justice we have science and technology. It is because the powers that be want it more than they want justice. Indeed, they come not to the light lest their own deeds should be made manifest. Instead they piously fold their hands and say that's the way things are, we can't change them. But it is one thing to suffer evil, quite another to embrace it, to sanctify it, to justify it. And under that pious cloak that is just what they are doing and offering science and technology as a solace. When you sacrifice justice for anything that anything becomes an idol. And so today we have god science and god technology among the idols of this age.


     And if for seeming security's sake you sacrifice justice you have god gun.  Obviously that "tradition" has been around since about day one but that  doesn't make it right. God would have his children say even as King David had said, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but as for me, I will trust in the name of the Lord my God." Not that King David didn't use weapons. He just didn't sell the truth and right away in order to have or use them. So it should be with any would be godly, upright man, or community, or nation.


     If I am right about my views on what is justice (i.e. as presented in this literature), and I believe I am, then the conclusion must be that the politicos who run this country and the money men who pull their strings don't care one whit really about justice (though they pay it lip service) right here in their own country. How can they say then that they care about justice half-way around the world? It's not possible. But their gods are god money, god republic, god gun, god science, god technology. Because justice is sacrificed for all these things.


     DEUTERONOMY 20.1-9: “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
     And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,
     And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
     For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
     And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
     And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
     And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
     And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.
     And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.”
     Consider the particular verse above where it says, “What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.” A man’s first duty is to his conscience before God. Any soldier or would be soldier has not only a right but a duty before God to question the right and wrong of any war he is asked or expected to do battle in. And if he cannot believe that it is a just war or that he can be justified in fighting in it, then he ought not to fight. Under God’s law, as evidenced by this verse in Deuteronomy (Deut. 20.8), he would not be punished for that. This government’s and every government’s armies should operate the same way. To bind a man in any way to fight against his conscience is to sin against that man. Badges, or uniforms, or governments are not cloaks sufficient to take away the guilt that is upon those or any entity that would do so. The ditty, “Mine is not to question why, mine is but to do or die.”, is not for those who would walk upright before God. They would be sinning or at least taking a big chance of sinning against their own souls. The true motto, when it comes to questions of right and wrong, and of the soul, is “to question everything.”. Not to make trouble, or just to make trouble, but because every soul shall give account before God. So question everything to that end, to become as fully persuaded in your own mind as you can possibly be. Remember, Jesus said, “Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” And James, in his epistle, said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” And Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” By God’s grace the gates of hell can’t stop that blessing.


     An example of corporate manipulation: (Conclusion arrived at through deduction) I remember thinking back when I was seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, etc. how if any sane person really had a choice they would never own a car. I mean, it's nice to ride around in and go hither and yon and all that but unless you can afford the up front cost, and the cost of somebody else doing your repair and maintanence, who would bother? I mean you have to learn all about cars, do your own repair work, time and money, money and time, extra money to cover for your learning mistakes and experiences. I mean a person can practically end up living for a car. It's ridiculous. Yet we have circumstance in this country, and the world for that matter, where for many it can be the difference between a job or no job. Being off the street or on the street. Why is it this way? It must be for the sake of the car companies and the oil companies. They have persuaded the government to build roads for them, in the name of progress (progress being not justice but science and technology). And they and the government have laid it upon the people; the government even making zoning laws to accomodate that "progress". Now, if that ain't an example of corporate manipulation what is?


     Another example of corporate manipulation: Illegal immigration:
     Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Old Testament also says to love the stranger as thyself. But Jesus also said that it isn't justice (meet) to take the children's bread and cast it unto strangers (dogs). (Matt. 15.26)
     So I don't want to play racist. Or grudge the poor (I reckon I'm among them). Or grudge the stranger. But it seems insult to injury here where a whole generation or even whole generations coming of age in this country, born and raised, and hardly enough to go around that they might have life under the economic system as it is, and rulers refusing to seriously and justly change anything, that on top of all this they got to open the borders and let anybody and everybody from wherever come in to take from those who have so little to begin with. I mean, yes I can sympathize with the poor in Mexico and wherever but are the poor here in this country suppose to roll over and drop dead to satiate the greed of corporate America and the aims of politicos who do their bidding? No. This is a slap in the face to people born and raised in this country. Because corporate America and the politicos who do their bidding don't care one iota about country, or neighbor, or true justice. They pay lip service to these things while they feed their blind greed and egos. They pose as benefactors to mankind when really they are cheats. Whose religion is cut-throat, the every dog-for-himself religion of the devil.
     And if corporate America wants factories in China, or Timbuktu, or wherever to get the cheap slave labor why don't they be made to take themselves and their families and go live in China, or wherever, and stay there? And if they don't want to do that, and can't stay in business here without building slave factories here, then they should go out of business. And maybe they can join the destitute here in this country in a cry for a greater justice.
     Ain't going to happen? I don't reckon. But let me at least see the truth and honor it so that when judgment comes I'm not swallowed up in it.
     I was always taught that the ends don't justify the means. If the illegal immigrants in order to get jobs or government aid have to cheat, steal, or lie (and don't they?) to obtain them it hardly speaks well of them. They evince a character that is hardly any better than the corporate money men and politicos who obviously believe the ends justify the means. Will this make a country better? Hardly.
     Conclusion? Send them home. Sorry, no amnesty. But no doubt the wicked will instead just heap sin upon sin.


     I reckon it is difficult enough for a person to find work these days. How much more so if one consciously puts him or herself under a self-imposed handicap? Yet I would recommend even such a thing. There might be many things or jobs that on a moral basis businesses, and government even, don’t have a problem with. Yet, I believe that if a person were to walk upright before God they would, and should, have a problem with.
     For example, I know for myself that in the past, in looking for work, there are different jobs that I might have liked to apply for but would not. I like to read a little and might have liked to work in a bookstore, the wages maybe not being the greatest, but at the time, at least, acceptable. But because of some of the books and magazines that the bookstores will sell I believe it wholly wrong for an employee to sell them. So, of course, with the business owners being above any serious rebuke themselves, there is no point in applying for such a job in the first place. I’m sorry. I believe in censorship. Whore mongers are haters of God and they are playing with fire. Paul wrote, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the marriage bed undefiled, but whore mongers and adulterers God shall judge.” Only fools defy God and only fools take up with them. And you can smile, and piously fold your hands after you pass the materials over the counter, but you’re still taking up with whore mongers, throwing in your little mite to feed Sodom and Gomorrah. I’m sorry. This may sound hard. But who do you think the hard cores point to when or if they would endeavor to justify themselves? Why the pious little hand-folders who throw in their mites. Why give them excuses?
     “But I have to make a living!” “What am I suppose to do?” Pray to God. Let him make a way for you.
     “All right, then you pay my rent!” I’m sorry, I don’t have the means to pay everybody’s rent for them. Yet, I still dare to give this advise. After all, it is only advise. If you don’t want to hear it, if you don’t want to take it, then don’t. But I believe if you would walk upright you would.
     I believe this applies to people who work in grocery stores, too. I’m sorry. But I believe I’m right about that. The books and magazines in the grocery stores, even the big chain stores, that they would sell to you, with their content or just covers, is grounds enough for that to be true. And modern maturity is for the devil and his angels, not children, or would be children of God. What, is corporate America so mighty and all powerful that they are above God? That they can’t gird up their loins nor suffer their employees to?
     But I’ve learned not to hold my breath. Likely corporate America will lie wasted in judgment before it will ever change its tune. Will you lie with them? I mean they are so all-mighty and so all-powerful! Will you let them set your moral standards for you, too?


    I believe that in the Bible (In God’s law, which was made for this world and everything in it, for all time) it does not teach jail or prison as a proper form of punishment or even correction. There was a case or two in the days of Moses (Lev. 24.12 and Num. 15.34) where they put somebody in ward until it could be determined what to do with him. But that was not jail time as a form of punishment or correction. That was holding someone until judgment could be determined. But jail time as a form of punishment or correction I don’t believe is a correct application of God’s law or the tenor of God’s law.
     If that be the case, and I believe it is, then I would reckon that jail time can be more an instrument of evil than of good. It could be used as a breeding ground for Sodom and Gomorrah. It could be used as a modern day torture chamber to attempt to terrorize and control the general populace, to toe the politically correct line or be subject to its tortures. It could be used by politicos or those who would pull their strings as a way to simply “waste” some of the “surplus” population. After all, I reckon that back with the coming of age of the baby boom generation there just wasn’t enough to go around within the bounds of the system as it was or be. But instead then of getting things right, or righter, it was rather dig in as things are, no real changes, every man or dog for him or herself, and then just kind of let the “surplus” population “waste” itself. Then come back and say, “Well, it was your own fault!”. Tolerating, or even encouraging, loose morals and drugs, and jail time as the means to bleed off and waste some of it. But I believe it will be woe from God unto those who have bought into and fed that “solution” whether they are conscious of it, or admit it, or not.
     Also, in God’s book, or in a just society, if somebody has committed a crime and received their punishment for it then it is to be forgotten. It isn’t to be forever held against somebody. If I were an employer and I were aiming to hire somebody for whatever, I would want to be, and should be, careful. Avoid risk perhaps, if possible, or limit it as much as possible, make the best judgment I can on somebody as fairly as possible, hire, or don’t hire, take a chance, or don’t take a chance. But I believe it would be wrong to ask the person if they had a record. Or, “Ever been convicted of a crime?” You are punishing that person over and over for a crime (if they had committed one) they supposedly have paid their price for and now it is to be forgotten.
     But devil worshipers, cutthroats, dog-eat-doggers and wiser than God-all-mightys say, “Tough! Too bad!”, etc. But do you think that God will not judge people who say such as that? or a nation? I imagine that people who stop their ears at the cry of justice will one day cry themselves and not be heard.


     In God’s book, and it would be appropriate to any just society, I believe there are at least three standards given for price or relative value setting for the marketplace; For the value of land (Leviticus 27.16); for the value of labor (Exodus 21.32); and the relative value of silver to gold (1/20th) (Numbers 7.84-86).
     I believe that a society seeking what is right and just before God and accepting these standards as a basis would find a reasonable relative range for the value of all other things in the marketplace.
     I believe in a just society inflation would not exist. The standards mentioned above would be adhered to no matter what. One might in charity or love of neighbor lower prices but not raise them beyond the standard prices; Not for famine, or drought, or whatever. To do so would be to allow dog-eat-dog religion by allowing virtual price gouging. Or it would be like giving special rights to the richer in a society, as if they were more entitled to life than others because of their wealth; it being a sign of their more worthiness; which view would be opposite to the tenor of scripture. If you, in famine, or drought, or need, have something of value that somebody else wants, too, and they are willing to pay much more than it is normally worth, don’t price gouge and don’t give that wealthier person special privilege. Either sell at the standard price or don’t sell at all.
     One exception I could imagine (with a condition) for possibly raising ones prices above a standard norm: If some in a society were to try and were able to get away with price gouging, so that many other peoples’ normally sufficient earnings could no longer sustain them, then those other people could raise their prices or wages (if they can ) enough so that they could continue to support themselves. I think the only fair condition being that they take about everything into account in weighing up to determine how much of their losses due to inflation they should absorb and how much they should pass on to their customers.


     I believe that gambling is wrong in that it is tempting God. In two ways it tempts him. It is asking him to play favorites and/or someone is endeavoring to use their skill or knowledge to take advantage of someone.
     I don’t know off hand if a just government would go chasing down a lot of elderly people playing bingo for nickels and dimes, even if it isn’t too good what they are doing. But the gambling that goes on in this state and others is a whole lot more big time than that. Why, the government itself even gets into the picture with its lottery this and lottery that. How great is the darkness.


     The motivation behind patent and copyright laws is covetousness. According to Colossians 3:5 covetousness is idolatry. Science and technology more readily become gods by these laws. But true progress lies in God’s justice. I’m not saying this to encourage anyone to break patent and copyright laws. Why unduly ask for trouble? I am saying this because it is truth. Those laws promote covetousness (and filthy lucre) and are a big part of the evil today.


     There may be some people who believe that not to have insurance (i.e. health insurance, medical insurance, life insurance, etc.) is tempting God. I believe just the opposite. It may be that one does not think so highly of one’s neighbors. There might even be good and right cause for that sometimes. There may be those who would ask you to split your last dime with them (even insist that you do, and that in the name of “love thy neighbor as thyself”) and then turn, and spit, and walk off laughing. Who can afford to yield even a word or a penny to that? It’s a fair question. But that does not mean that one should throw out the whole notion (commandment) of “love thy neighbor as thyself”. Insurance does effectually just that. Even if present general circumstances and differences in beliefs and values make it a very difficult notion to walk by it should still be allowed to have a potential to live; however momentarily dormant it might be. Insurance locks it out completely. To do that is to tempt God. For God commanded, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” It was meant to be a neighbor thing, not a business enterprise.
     If a condition for employment someplace were some sort of mandatory insurance, I would not let that stop me from applying. I wouldn’t let that cheat me out of a job opportunity. And then, if I worked at such a place and an expense came up that the insurance might cover, why look a gift horse in the mouth? Maybe if I was making super amounts where I was working I would. Otherwise, I might go for it. But if it is a voluntary deal, and I have to pay even one penny to receive it, then I believe I should say no.


     Regarding doctors and nurses and patients rights: I have some of my own ideas on what a patients true bill of rights ought to be. Namely; the right to refuse treatment, the right to refuse treatment from any particular individual, and the right to refuse the allowance of any particular person to be present in a room during the course of any treatment or examination. To deny these rights is, at the least, outrageous flippancy and arrogance motivated by conceit, filthy lucre, and perhaps even downright perversion. Why should a demand for the respect of these rights trouble a doctor or nurse? Are they trying to work dirt then? Or would it maybe hurt business, filthy lucre being the motivation? Or do they simply insist on shoving their standards down anyone’s throat? Especially when it seems the state is so willing to give them god-like status in their dealings. I believe that their flippancy and arrogance has helped to feed even Sodom and Gomorrah in a society. Though many of them may even say, and the state, too, “So what, what’s wrong with that?”, my Bible tells me that Sodom and Gomorrah God shall judge. And I believe that God’s word is truth and that those who will not hear it, who will not receive it, will have that very truth come back and haunt them some day.


     What is the right and wrong of professional sports? Since today it is not every man their vine and every man their fig, as it should be (their own land no bank-man, no rent-man involved and no property taxes), the very least a business can and should do is be willing to train. This applies to professional sports businesses, too. Put applicants name in a hat and pick by lot. If a person is morally and ethically decent and their name comes up they’re on the team. It is precisely for lack of this that professional sports is just glorified cut-throat, the religion of the devil. It is the employers who are at fault.
     When it comes right down to it the only good, healthy, competition is that which provokes one another to good works and a Godly uprightness.


    I believe usury is so wrong and that includes rent for profit. So I have wondered about hotels and motels. How do hotels and motels relate to the subject of usury? If rent for profit is a form of usury and people pay for hotel/motel rooms is that, too, a form of usury? I would say, technically, no. Were not inns the ancestors of modern day hotels and motels? And I believe historically inns always served meals as well as providing lodging. It may also be found historically that the charge was for the meals and that lodging was makeshift and even free. But even if there were room charges I think it can be argued that the charge was not for renting a room but rather for the room service provided. (i.e. clean linen or bedding, or towels, or hot water, or room cleaning) Things that a traveler might not want to trouble themselves with. I think that the same line of reasoning would hold for modern day hotels and motels though many of them don't serve meals. There is still room service and if someone is going to provide it for them they have a right to charge.


     Another thing I have wondered about as it may or may not relate to usury is phone service. Here, too, I have thought that it could be looked upon as not a rent charge for a phone but rather a charge for the business to be able to hook up and maintain the necessary systems that people want in order to be able to communicate with one another.


     I will one day have to get along with my brethren in eternity and they with me. I would keep this always in mind. At the same time I will have to give account for what I build upon my salvation. So I would be most careful. When it comes to matters of right and wrong, of justice or injustice, and of faith, a wise man will question everything. Not to make trouble or just to make trouble but that he might be as fully persuaded in his own mind as he can honestly be. Else he is taking a chance with his soul in judgment before God. If in inward bewilderment, or shock, or difficulty, a person reaches out to hear somebody else’s words, or views, or advice, that’s alright. At least on a tentative basis. At least until further examination. If one is truly convinced or persuaded of the views or words, fine, go with them. Or, examine them until one is persuaded. Or, if seeing it better, clearer, or truer, go with that better view and leave the other. So that what might be someone else’s faith can be truly yours, also, if you agree with it. As the scripture says in regards to faith, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” (Romans 14.5) And, "...work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. (Phillips. 2.12)
     But if I believe I am right on what I would build upon my salvation and many others disagree, and I further believe that they are issues that are no small stuff, that those issues are not gnat straining things but truly big-time, camel swallowing stuff, then I will make an issue out of those things. And I will separate myself from even my own brethren rather than to follow them into judgment with God. Let them walk after their values and I after mine, and we shall see who is approved before God. Above all, let me not be like them. But who agrees with me in this literature? Who would walk with me in this one accord of salvation and nonconformity?
     Then pray. And in honesty let God guide you. God can make his children to stand. And if it be to gather or communicate let it be for edifying and for the promotion of that which is good and right in his eyes, whatever that might be.


     1 Corinthians 3.10b-15 KJV of 1611
“... Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble
Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”


     These verses answer a question for me that perplexed me back in the first years of my salvation. That is, how is it that two or more different people of whom one might in honesty believe that both, or all, are honest-to-God born-again saved, yet in there walk, in there life, values, and views can be very contrary to one another; even carry those differences to their graves? These verses in 1 Corinthians tell me that there is a purgatory whether it transpires in this life, or after this life. These verses with this question, born of observation, lead to only this conclusion.


     Jesus said once of the scribes and Pharisees of his day that they through their customs and traditions had made of none effect the word of God, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. If a man would build wisely upon his salvation it is a mistake to just blindly accept or superficially justify the customs and traditions of his day. Your taking a big chance with your soul or with judgment upon your works. Have you sown to the flesh or are you honoring and working the right of God? Just because a lot of people, perhaps even “good” people, are sold to the custom, or tradition, doesn’t necessarily make it right. Likewise, just because it may seem that only one, or a very few, believe something else doesn’t necessarily make that something else wrong. It may be cause to be extra careful but not to automatically conclude it wrong because seemingly only one, or very few, believe it. Examine it for what it is in the light of what it says for itself, and how it stands against your own experience, and in prayer before God, and before a fair take or tenor of the scripture


     Don’t be out to use others wrongfully, nor to be used. Pray for what is right. On that basis relate as a church. Let your present and your future be in God’s church. Let and pray for God’s right to be in you, as much as possible, as much as needful. That that right might be in you, in your heart, in your life, in your community even, as much as possible, as much as needful. If you cannot change the world, at least don’t let it change you, don’t let it make you over into something you should not be. Suffer the evil as much as wisdom allows, but never do that evil or justify it. Pray to God to that end.


     If today it cannot be one people, one nation, one unity in Christ, one godly law that demonstrates that unity, then at least strive to be a church; founded upon salvation and sound doctrine. And be not conformed to this world, to the evil of this world, as the scripture admonishes.


     Walk by values that don’t build up the egos, the false selves, or the worship of devils, but that honor the word of God, build up the inner man on sound values, and truly honor your fellow man for what he is, or ought to be, before God. It’s not supposed to be every dog for himself. Then walk by values that don’t reflect that belief, else you’re just worshipping the devil.


     If you would do right and honor God and that puts you in need or risks putting you in need this world-wise then go to God in prayer. If you can get help from others and you need it, well, go for it. Or from the government, and you need it, well, go for it. But if you have to lie, or betray the right, or your own soul to get that help then pray God and refuse it. After all, if the government supports, and justifies, and does dressed-up evil the least it can do is be willing to patch up victims of that evil. But are you getting things right? Are you praying to that end? Be careful, pray, and try.


     In this endeavor, this Christ's Church of the Ark, I am not saying I am perfect. It is a matter of degrees. But I truly believe that essentially I am correct. That not only am I right about salvation and nonconformity-- the issues, ideas, and values mentioned in this literature but that also they are important things, not small stuff.
     There should be a pulpit saying so. This is that pulpit. Because it is right and it is important. And God is not coming back for a church steeped in the dressed up evil of this day. The scripture says that yet once more God will shake the earth. (Haggai 2.6,7) And he will shake up his people. He will not suffer them to go on worshipping and serving devils. I believe the only church that will survive God's purging will be a church of salvation and nonconformity.

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