Religion

Religion

By Richard P. Joseph

This is a test; can you identify the item above that does not belong with the rest
of the images?

“Let’s talk religion and politics”.  Usually when you hear that, people cringe but
don’t worry, you are safe here.  There is a serious problem with most people in
that they do not understand the difference between religion and Christianity.  In
fact, most (and I mean most) people lump Christianity and religion together as
if somehow Christianity is a religion.  We often hear politicians and educators
talking about the great religions of the world.  In highschool textbooks there is
usually a section on “religions of the world”.  The book will give a description of
each religion as if they are somehow items that one can choose from like a
tasty dessert.    I had a friend who came up to me and told me how well her
kid’s textbook did when it provided a healthy section on Christianity.  I had to
inform her that it is all in the master plan of indoctrinating our children into
believing that Christianity is just another man made religion that is equal to all
other religions.  This is a serious and dangerous hoax that most people have
followed right over the cliff.

Pretty much all public schools have banned the expression of religion in
schools; so they say.  The truth is, is that they only banned Christianity, not
religion.  The irony of that is that Christianity isn’t even a religion.  Schools and
liberals in general are committed to the ultimate destruction of Christianity, not
religion, and they definitely know the difference.  Unfortunately most pew
warmers have no clue of the difference.  In reality, if a school or institution bans
religion, it has nothing to do with Christianity but try telling them that.  So what
is the difference anyhow?

Simply said, religion is mans attempt to explain or seek out the spiritual
dimension of their culture or society.  All cultures have religious beliefs and all of
them are wrong.  Man does not have the capacity or the knowledge to seek out
the true creator of the universe.  This is one reason that the second
commandment warns the people to not make for themselves any graven
images of things above or below.  God knew that they had 100% chance of
getting it wrong.  The only way us humans can experience the true God is if he
himself presents his glory to us, not us looking for him.  In the beginning, God
presented himself to his creation, namely Adam and Eve, and they enjoyed a
profound communication with God until the day that they broke God’s trust in
them.  At that point God would only be experienced through his prophets until
the Messiah once again restored communications between God and man
through the Holy Spirit.  In old Testament times God made his presence known
in the Holy of Holies in the temple.  Once Jesus appeared he made many
statements about there being a time when the Temple would be dismantled and
men would then worship God in spirit and in truth.  That time occurred in AD 70.
 This is the time of the parousia (second coming of Christ).  Once this occured
we see that God would once again dwell with men, not in a temple.

Revelation 21:2-4

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I
heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle
of God is among men, and He will [a]dwell among them, and they
shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them[b], 4 and
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer
be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or
pain; the first things have passed away.”

God does not dwell in buildings, or in religions, or in the communion host; he
dwells with those that were called out of the darkness of the world system and
into his marvelous light.  That is the true church.  So when an institution tells you
that they have banned religion, you can stand tall and confident and worship
Jesus Christ right in front of them because Christianity is not a religion and is
therefore not banned.  Christianity is really only true history.  It is the story of
how God created the heavens and the earth and sent his son to set us free
from captivity.  There is no myth or man made beliefs associated with it.  It is
just the plain truth!  The church is really those that understand and embrace
this.  Even Nero knew that.  When Nero wanted to destroy Christianity, he did
not attack a religion or a church building; he attacked “people”.  Christians are
“free agents” of the most high God.   The church is not defined by man made
inventions.  If someone wants to destroy the church then they must destroy all
Christians.  Perhaps that is why the homosexual activists are focusing on
individuals such as wedding cake bakers etc.  They are now targeting the core
of the church.  Nero understood it, the homosexuals understand it, but the pew
warmers have no clue.  The pastors have no clue.  The people in general have
no clue.  That is why I write.

As you can guess, it would really take an entire book to do this subject justice
but my goal is to bring these issues up in short articles so that people would at
least get a glimpse of some of the social issues that are never brought up in
our politically correct churches.  I do not wait to take orders from an
organization, I take orders directly from God.  Jesus is my shepherd and I shall
not want.  My hope is that my readers will understand that Christianity is not a
religion and therefore governments cannot take it from you.  Stand tall and
proclaim the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ because there is no law against
it no matter how hard they try.

Jesus Christ has no competition, there is no one that compares to him.  He is
not in the same boat as anyone.  He is Holy which means he is separate from
all others.  He is not the founder of a great religion, he is God almighty.