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Volume 3 –
November 2000 (63 pages)
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: Nazarene Saints Publishing© is a Bible research
group for a better Scriptural understanding. We are dedicated to the
preservation and publishing of Christian writings which aid Friends of the Nazarene© to “follow the
Lamb no matter where he goes.” (John 15:14; 3 John 14; Revelation 14:4) The Friends of the Nazarene© are a spiritual
community of Messianic Christians. We are apologists dedicated to the
defense of the truth that “God is One” and not three. The Bible is our creed.
We view this “God-breathed” Book as inspired alone, while the thoughts of men
about it are not. We wish to show respect for our multitude of Christian
brethren. (1 Peter 3:15)
Contributors:
Mark Miller -
Senior Editor - - Hemet
Ralph Slaney
- Senior Spanish editor - - Almeria, Spain
Luis Padilla
- Spanish Editor - - Whittier
Andy Weeks –
Webmaster- - Chicago
Andrew Foss -
Hebrew editor - Belmont Shores, California
Sergei
Kremenitsky - Russian translator -
- Kiev, Ukraine
James Noble -
- California
·
ANNOUNCEMENTS
·
FAITH PERSPECTIVES
·
WHY SATAN KEEPS TESTING US [Sheila
Passenger – Oregon]
·
STILL ALIVE! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! [Mark
Miller – California]
·
SEVEN THINGS JEHOVAH ABHORS [Mark Miller
– California]
·
WHAT IS A TRUE FRIEND? [Mark Miller –
California]
·
Can Musical Instruments Play a Part
in Pure Worship? [Doug
Cunningham – Canada]
·
PRESS ON TO MATURITY [Mark Miller –
California]
·
WHO OR WHAT IS THE GREAT CROWD? [Mark
Miller- California]
·
THINKING ABOUT GOD’S NAME [Mark Miller –
California]
·
THE CHURCH – AN ORGANISM [James Noble –
California]
q
Nazarene Commentary 2000© CD: The first volume of three CDs is
available. For a gift of $20 -- to be used in the spiritual care of the flock
-- the first volume of the 21st
Century Version of the Christian Scriptures with a complete reference on Matthew to Revelation is
ready. It may be ordered by writing to: Mark Miller, 2750 West Acacia J-26,
Hemet, California 92545 USA. If anyone is not satisfied their gift will be
returned with no hard feelings. It should be remembered that those with computer
memory may download something very similar from the Friends of the Nazarene web
page FREE. It is also expected that the life story of Mark Miller, Messianic Confessions, will be made
available on CD for $10 and these funds will be used exclusively to aid the
poor and needy whoever they are of any religion or faith, or non-faith.
q
WINTER QUARTERLY SEMINAR: A Friends of the Nazarene “seminar” will
be held in early January in southern California. Details will follow.
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SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS: We would like to encourage
other individuals or groups to hold similar quarterly seminars in their own
area or country. These, of course, start out small and may only include one
family and a few friends. But, if godly men begin now to prepare for such it
would be an encouraging thing to see others meet on the same date we do here in
Southern California. We can provide the program outline and even some
materials. This can be a morning program of three of four hours with a break,
or a morning and an afternoon program. Those interested in doing this may
contact Mark Miller for more details and suggestions. Here we mix the program
with 25 minute talks, 5 minute talks on
a single Bible verse, audience Q&As on a number of selected Bible chapters
of interest to the local group. This should include the weekly Bible reading
for that time. Here we call these group discussions Searching the Scriptures.
q
607 WEB PAGE: A godly brother in England
has published some research on the date 607 BC as the first fall of Jerusalem
-- www.607v587.com – and many will find
this interesting reading. This study is a result of his visit to the British
Museum and other research areas. The results of his studies were sent to the
Society and he includes their responses.
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ARTICLES IN DECEMBER ISSUE: JEHOVAH CREATES A MASTER WORKER [Mark
Miller] – Commentary on Proverbs 8:22-30; THE
GOLDEN RULE [James Noble]; SPIRITUAL
DEPRESSION [James Noble]; LIBERATED
CHILDREN AND THE INDWELLING SPIRIT [Mark Miller] – Commentary on Romans chapter
8; MEDITATE ON IT [James Noble].
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ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS: We welcome the
submission of articles to Friends of the
Nazarene online magazine.
"If we want truth,
every person ought to be free to speak what they think
without fear." [Erasmus (1520 AD)]
[A forum for the free and open expression of beliefs without fear.
We welcome brief thoughts and articles on any appropriate subject
addressed in a kind and respectful manner.]
My dear brothers in the faith,
I so much enjoyed your September issue of Friends
of the Nazarene magazine.
Thank you for all your hard work.
From a sister in Oregon
(still in the JW organization)
>>>>
Your footnotes on the Christian Bible are without a doubt the best thing that has happened in my spiritual life since learning about Jesus and his Father's promises for the first time. They continue to clear up a lot of confusion.(Can't wait to have them in a convenient CD format--hope it's in the mail!) Every Christian I've ever known should have one. [DC – Canada]
>>>>
I'm VERY MUCH enjoying this discussion
group. All of
you have posted excellent, fascinating comments. It's
a pleasure to associate with all of you. – Robert [California]
>>>>>
Well, I completed reading (actually studying) Nazarene Principles and found it very honest and thorough. It was really faith-strengthening and upbuilding, especially [the] discussion of the Seventh Principle. … I started [Russian] translation of Affirmation of Convictions, now it’s just the first paragraph. But I feel the most important would be translation of Principles. I’m trying to find some interested ones on Russian internet and leaving, everywhere it’s possible, reference to your web site and my e-mail address for questions. Now you can (as you asked about it) put the following address on your page for Russian visitors willing to contact: .
Sergei – Ukraine
>>>>
By Sheila Passenger – Oregon –
The things that test our faith in God and Christ are the hard things we face in life. At this time these are “natural.” They include the things that happen to us because of what is going on that we cannot see. Such as the testing that God allows Satan to do on us. Much in the same way He tested Job. [Job chapters 1 and 2]
We also can see how craftily Satan uses men or organizations of men to try to cause Christians to stumble from their faith in God and to throw away their faith in God and Christ's ransom.
When we think about it, all down through man's past, God has been watching men and women to see whether or not they would continue to have faith in Him. And also whether they would obey Him no matter what they faced. Whether it was natural occurrences such as death of old age, accidental death, premature death from sickness, persecution or what ever. The Bible gives us many examples of this.
Even having faith by sight was difficult for some men. Consider the story of the Jews coming out of Egypt. We can think about what they witnessed. Such as the miracles God performed through Moses upon the Egyptians when He wanted them to let His people go -- the parting of the Red Sea. Their walking across on dry ground. How they witnessed the pillar of fire at night and the cloud that followed and that also led them by day. The food and water He miraculously provided for them.
Despite these they did not have faith enough to put their trust in Him. They failed because when it appeared to them that something might have happened to Moses because he had not returned from the mountain after 40 days. And even though they had earlier all raised their voices and agreed before God that they would not make an image, they turned around and showed their disobedience to God by making an idol and began bowing down to it anyway. These people could not keep their faith even though they had walked by sight.
We Christians today know that we must walk by faith. At this time, we do not see any miracles to rely on, but we do have God's written Word from which we draw strength. God has also given us His "Spirit in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1:22) to help us, along with a wonderful brotherhood in Christ.
God's Word tells us that we have invisible enemies. Satan and his demons are working hard to get all men to lose faith in God and become disobedient to Him. We are warned that all those who follow after Christ will be singled out for testing. We are given a good example in the book of Job where Satan fully tested Job. But even at the threshold of death, Job proved Satan a liar and was faithful. As a result God greatly rewarded him for his faith.
This is an example we always want to keep in mind. But while Job did prove faithful, Job did make one mistake. He blamed God for the things that had happened to him. It all was a puzzlement to him since he was a man who loved righteousness and walked in faith. He started to question God's judgment and righteousness. He began to reason that it did not matter whether a person was faithful or not, that bad things would happen to a person anyway. He began to conclude that because calamity happens to both the good and to the bad, then there was no advantage to serving God. Even though he drew this conclusion this, he still maintained his faith despite his wife telling him to "curse God and die". God corrected Job's thinking and rewarded him for maintaining his strong faith.
The issue that was behind Satan's test of
Job was this: Satan claims
that mankind will not remain faithful to God or serve Him. Satan said to God: "Thrust out your hand and touch
everything that he (Job) has and see whether he will not CURSE YOU TO YOUR VERY
FACE.” And also, “Skin in behalf of skin, and all that a man has he will give
in behalf of his soul. … Touch as far as his bone and his flesh and see whether
he will CURSE YOU TO YOUR VERY FACE.” (See Job 1:11; 2:4)
It is interesting to also note Jesus'
words: "What will a man give, in
exchange for his soul?" (See Matthew 16:26 NWT) Proverbs
27:11 exhorts: "Be wise my son and
make my heart rejoice that I may make a reply to him that is taunting me." [NWT] 1 Peter 5:8-10 tells us: "Keep your senses, be watchful, your
adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour
(someone.) But take your stand against him, solid in the faith, knowing that
the same things in the way of sufferings are being accomplished in the entire
association of your brothers in the world. But after you have suffered a little
while, the God of all undeserved kindness, Who called you to His everlasting
glory, in union with Christ, will Himself finish your training, He will make
you firm, he will make you strong." [NWT]
It is very interesting to notice that in
each of Jesus' messages to the
seven congregations in Revelation he gives each congregation the same words: “TO HIM THAT CONQUERS …” and then describes
the rewards that will be given for faithfulness and obedience. We can also see
that Satan has an active role of trying to get us to fail. At Revelation 2:10
Jesus tells the congregation of Smyrna: "Do not be
afraid of the things you are about to suffer, Look, the Devil will keep
throwing some of you in prison that you may be fully put to the test, and that
you may have tribulation ten days. Prove yourselves faithful even to death and
I will give you the crown of life." [NWT]
And Jesus told the angel of the congregation of Pergamum: "I know where you are dwelling, that is, where the throne of Satan is, and yet you keep on holding fast my name and you did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas my witness, the faithful one, who was killed by your side, where Satan is dwelling." (Revelation 2:12, 13 NWT)
So we all face various trials during our life, including the loss of a loved one, or illnesses, tribulations and persecutions. We really cannot know for sure whether it comes as a result of a natural occurrence "that befalls all men," or is brought upon us as a test from Satan. These may be his effort to try to get us to fail God by losing our faith and hope down to the end. Since Satan insisted that God allow Job to be tested after God had happily reminded Satan of how God fearing and upright Job was, the Bible shows that that all of those who God sets His heart on Satan will test as long as he is around. He started with Adam and Eve.
We as Christians especially need to prove ourselves faithful even if it means our death because we have to follow the example of our Lord. Jesus himself was faithful to his Heavenly Father even to his death and thus conquered Satan and his hateful accusations. We have to do this in order to be rewarded the honor and privilege of sitting down with Christ on his throne. (See Revelation 3:21) It is beautiful to see that our Lord Jesus, does not require anything from us that he himself was not also willing to do. (Like a good captain on a ship)
"And they conquered (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death." (Revelation 12:11NWT)
Since we see that Satan was so interested in testing those in the past who were not Christians, it gives us a good clue as to how greatly he must be interested in misleading the Chosen Ones. We can see how he wants to get them to stumble, or lose completely their faith in God and Christ. He wants us to fail utterly so that he can really, happily taunt God to His face.
As we can see, Satan uses so many methods. With Job, not only did he use the loss of his material things, but also he took away all of Jobs' children all at once. Then he removed his health. Satan used the great painful disease of boils from the top of his head to his toes. And if that was not enough during all of this mental and physical pain, during his depression Satan used his false comforters, his so-called friends. These worked on Job to try to break his spirit by telling him that this calamity happened to him because of something he did that was unrighteous. And finally, Satan even used Job's own wife to persecute and taunt him, like she was disgusted and totally lost all respect for him. Despite all of this Hob still maintained his faith and love for God.
For me, I want to be on our Heavenly
Father's side and especially because Satan caused Adam’s wife Eve to sin. Satan
caused her to believe in his lies and to disobey God by eating of the fruit,
which as a test God told her and Adam not to eat. Satan is basically the killer
of all humankind. This is his intention anyway. God has shown His great love by
providing a way that mankind can be saved, and He did not even spare his
beloved Son in doing it. It is hard for me not to love God, but really easy for
me to hate Satan and hate what he has done, and continues to do to humankind.
But particularly what he does toward all those who try, or are trying, to be
faithful to God. It is my great wish that I never let our Father down and that
He can put His trust in me just as He fully trusted Jesus. So that in the end I
can also have a share in proving Satan a liar and to conquer him, just as our
Lord Jesus did, through obedience and strong faith. May we all make this our
goal and firm determination.
>>>>>
NEWS RELEASE: FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS
[Thanks to James Noble -- ]
Clinton signed
into law Friday a bill designed to restore strong legal protections for
religious freedom when conflicts arise with cities, zoning boards, prisons and
nursing homes. Religious liberty is a constitutional value of the highest
order, and the framers of the Constitution included protection for the free
exercise of religion in the very first amendment," Clinton said in a
statement after signing the bill. "This act recognizes the importance the
free exercise of religion plays in our democratic society."
The law, which
requires local officials to give special treatment to churches, synagogues and
religious assemblies or lose their federal funding, is aimed at protecting
historic cathedrals and storefront churches. Often these congregations run into
conflicts with neighborhoods and business districts over parking, traffic,
zoning or new construction, particularly if the members bring with them a new
religion or style of worship. "No government shall impose a land-use
regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious
exercise of a person," except where officials can show a
"compelling" reason, the law says.
Supporters,
including a broad spectrum of religious and civil liberties groups, hope that
the president's signature will end a 10-year struggle over the status of
religious liberty in American law. But that seems unlikely. Local officials
have protested the special protections for religious groups, and church leaders
said they expect it to be challenged in the courts. During congressional
debate, sponsors cited several disputes from the Los Angeles area to justify
the law. In Hancock Park, some Orthodox
Jews had sought to use a private home as a synagogue, but a homeowners'
association objected and the city of Los Angeles refused to give them an
exemption from the residential zoning ordinance. In Rolling Hills Estates, a small Christian church sued because
it was barred from meeting in storefronts that were zoned for commercial
activity.
In a Boston
suburb, a Mormon church is set to
open--without its steeple--as neighbors wage a legal fight to tear down the
temple, which they say threatens the character of their community. An unusually
broad coalition--from the Christian Coalition and Family Research Council on
the right to the American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way
on the left--came together to support the legislation. "We agreed the
government should not be in the business of regulating people's exercise of
their religion," said Christopher T. Anders, ACLU legislative counsel.
The National
Assn. of Counties contended that the legislation represents an
"unwarranted and excessive intrusion" into local government's
land-use authority. "I have a lot of concerns about the bill," said
Los Angeles Assistant City Atty. Anthony S. Alperin. "Rather than treating
religious uses in a fair and equitable way with respect to similar uses, it
treats them in a much different and more favorable way," even though
religious uses can have the same effects on the surrounding neighborhood.
"We should treat religious uses the same as other uses," he added.
"We should treat them from a zoning standpoint on the basis of what their
impacts are on the surrounding communities." Jan LaRue, the Family
Research Council's senior director of legal studies, said: "This
legislation doesn't guarantee that a religious claimant will always win. It
only guarantees that claimant a chance." The law is a scaled-down version
of a religious liberty bill that ran into sudden opposition last year. Gay
rights leaders and civil rights activists were concerned that the bill would
have allowed landlords and employers to refuse to deal with gays and lesbians
by citing religious objections.
Two months
ago, House and Senate sponsors agreed to narrow the bill so that it would
address only land-use disputes and religious conflicts involving people under
the control of others, such as prisoners and nursing home patients. Until 1990,
the Supreme Court had said that the 1st Amendment's guarantee of the "free
exercise of religion" usually required the government to make exceptions
for religious claimants. The Amish,
for example, could not be compelled to send their children to high school, it
said, and states could not deny unemployment benefits to Seventh-day Adventists who refused to work on Saturdays. But in
1990, the high court reversed itself in a case involving two Native Americans who had been fired
from state jobs after they ingested peyote, a hallucinogen that they said was
central to their religious celebrations.
Speaking for a
5-4 majority in the case of Oregon vs. Smith, Justice Antonin Scalia said that
religious claimants are not entitled to special exemptions from ordinary laws.
The government can enforce laws against everyone equally, so long as a
religious group is not singled out for discriminatory treatment. Scalia's
opinion surprised mainstream church leaders because it left no room for the
special status of religion. If it were read literally, for example, the Roman Catholic Church could have been
sued for illegal sex discrimination because it refused to hire women as
priests. Not surprisingly, Congress took up the issue and, in 1993, passed the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The measure directly reversed the Supreme
Court's ruling and restored religion to a special place under the law.
However, the
law's constitutionality was in doubt. A test case emerged in the small town of
Boerne, Texas, where the city's historical zoning commission had refused to
allow leaders of a Catholic parish to tear down and rebuild the facade of their
mission-style church on the main street. Under the 1993 law, city officials
were obliged to defer to the wishes of church leaders. But when the case
reached the Supreme Court, the justices sided with the city and struck down the
law as unconstitutional. Only the high court can determine the meaning of the
1st Amendment, the justices declared. Undaunted, Rep. Charles T. Canady
(R-Fla.) drew up the measure signed into law Friday.
>>>>>
Mark Heber Miller – California –
The word “intimidate” comes from the Latin which means “afraid” or “fearful.” The dictionary defines intimidation as “1. To make timid; make afraid; overawe. 2. To force or deter with threats or violence.” So, it often has a negative connotation.
There is a negative, deliberate form of intimidation that has the purpose to cause others to be afraid or overawed. Sometimes this is used in what is called “the tyranny of authority.” Controlling religious hierarchies use this to cause the flock to be in fear and thus accept without question whatever that authority says.
There is a difference with a person who is intimidated, that is timid about expressing themselves in the presence of someone viewed as an authority. For example, a person ignorant of quantum mechanics will feel ill at ease in Physics 101 when a professor is present. No one likes to look stupid, and so sometimes this feeling of intimidation really comes out of self-pride or low self-esteem. Or, just plain lack of study and preparation. However, once a person has overcome this timidity, and becomes more knowledgeable, they will become less intimidated.
There are examples of being intimidated in the Bible. Let us look at two. First, Elihu in the case of Job and his three associates. He had listened to these older men speak for many days. He was intimidated by their years and wisdom. BUT, finally he spoke up. Job 32:6, 7 reports:
6 And E·li'hu the son of Bar'a·chel the Buz'ite proceeded to answer and
say:
"Young I
am in days
And YOU men
are aged.
That is why I
drew back and was afraid
To declare my
knowledge to YOU men.
7
I said, 'Days themselves should speak,
And a
multitude of years are what should make wisdom known.' [NWT]
At first
Elihu was intimidated even though these four men were not deliberately trying
to intimidate him. After he had listened to his elders for awhile Elihu
realized that he had something important to contribute. Elihu’s intimidation
was out of respect and not personal pride.
The second
example is Jesus himself. Now no one would accuse the Nazarene of trying to
intimidate people. When explaining something very simple that you and I have no
difficulty understanding, the disciples were intimidated – timid or afraid – to
ask Jesus further about it. The Gospels record:
MK9:30 Now they left there and traveled through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know of the matter. MK9:31 For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them: “The Son of Humankind [Daniel 7:13] will be delivered up to the hands of men and they will kill him. But after he has been killed, he will rise on the third day.” MK9:32 However, the disciples did not understand what he said and were afraid to ask him. [NCMM]
LK9:45 However, the disciples just did not understand this statement for it had been hidden from them that they might not understand. Also, they were afraid to ask Jesus about his statement. [NCMM]
The disciples had shown themselves filled with pride and jealousy on occasions, so it is possible that in this case it is not Jesus who intimidated them, but rather they allowed themselves to be intimidated because of their own pride.
It is true some men and women on the Internet use intimidation as a tool when discussing subjects with others. On the other hand, some times we allow ourselves to be intimidated out of a degree of our own self-pride. We are not always humble enough to admit others might know more about a subject than we do. Actually this is the case throughout life — there will always be others who know more about a certain subject than we do. We often pay such persons to do services for us because we do not know how to do it.
Sometimes, when entering a chat room or lurking on a talk list we may hold back from participating because we feel intimidated. In order to share there is something we can all do without fear of intimidation. Ask questions.
I remember very well when I was about 6 and learning to add and subtract I was much intimidated among my school mates. The reason? I was from a very poor family and could not afford to bring to schol the paper bottle caps from milk jars. You see, everyone used these bottle caps to add and subtract. Take away 3 bottles caps from 10 and how many do you have left? I just could not figure this out at first because I had no such bottle caps. I felt terrible – intimidated. But when my teacher realized why I was teary eyed she got me some bottle caps. At the close of the school year I was called in to a conference with two teachers. I was very intimidated by the thought and worried greatly. I remember it well to this day. BUT, these two teachers told me: “Mark, you ask very good questions in class. Please keep it up.” I sure felt good.
And life teaches that sometimes the very question we think the most stupid turns out to cut right to the kernel of a point.
No one should deliberately try to intimidate others. Neither should we take ourselves too seriously that we allow ourselves to be intimidated out of self-pride.
==== END FAITH PERSPECTIVES ====
After All These
Years!
By Mark Heber Miller – California -
Today is September 24 and at 5 AM in the morning I turned 62. I should not be alive. I should have died a long time ago. BUT, after all these years, I am still alive. To my great surprise!
I was born with difficult and physical problems right out of the starting blocks. My mother prayed that I would be a Christian minister. Through out my early childhood I was one of those “sickly” kids with a “weak constitution.” Plagued by every kind of childhood illness I had my first of twenty surgeries when I was five. I failed the 3rd grade because of rupture ear drums due to complications during measles. I would awake after a night of pain with blood and pus all over my pillows. You could spot me easily in school. I was the kid with the big ears stuffed with cotton and called “Dumbo.”
Before I was a teenager living in Washington state my father wanted to take me on a hunting trip. My mother, for her own reasons, demanded that I should not go. Returning form his hunting trip in the forests of Washington, my father was forced off a small bridge by a logging truck. He ended up trapped in the Chevy with the top crushed all the way down to the top of the seats, overturned in a stream. It was a long time before he was discovered because he was unable to get out of the demolished car. His only injury was a dislocated shoulder that popped back into placed on the way to this hospital in an ambulance. My mother always wondered what would have happened if I had been along – before the days of seat belts – and I have pondered my first “brush with death.”
A couple of years later in London, England my father wanted to take me to an air show. I was overjoyed because I used to study Jane’s Airplanes and was obsessed with jet fighters. I wanted to really – really -- go. Again for her own reasons my mother was adamant that I should not go. I could not figure out why. But, it became apparent later. At the air show one of the features was a fly-by at ground level of a British jet fighter. It was planned that the jet would break the sound barrier nor more than 100 feet above the ground BETWEEN stadium grandstands on right and left. The jet made its run and was approaching the staging area at 700 miles an hour. It plowed into the ground almost in the middle of the onlookers and exploded, sending engines and debris into the crowd. Hundreds were critically injured and killed. My mother wondered what had moved her not to let me go. I have wondered many times since.
I had always been bothered by lung and bronchial problems with childhood asthma. When my mother and father separated we planned to leave England from the Heathrow airport. That night a killer fog fell on London, so thick the heavy mist would actually go through key holes and under doors. The day we left 5,000 with respiratory problems died from this fog.
At about the age of 10 we lived on a lake in Federal Way, Washington. Though I could not swim I loved to build rafts from old logs and paddle around. One day the raft fell apart and I was thrown into the water. I found myself, unable to swim, in deep water among lily pads. The more I struggled the more I became enwrapped in the lily pads. To this day I distinctly remember the color of the clear water with all these tentacles seeming to devour me. For some reason I forced myself to relax and before I knew it my hands grabbed a log and I was able to keep my head above water until I made it to shore.
Some years later, after I was married and had three children, I became interested in body and belly-board [Paipo] surfing along Newport Beach where we lived in California. The bigger the waves the better. Several times in surfing the great south swells that strike southern California in the summer I came so close to death that I was praying to God. These were moments when the waves on several beaches from Corona del Mar to Huntington Beach were at record heights. These ranged from ten to twenty-five feet and generally broke in shallow water. On three occasions in three different places a friend and I were the only persons in the water while tens of thousands remained out of the water due to lifeguard warnings. In Corona del Mar waves were running ten feet and were complete “close outs” along the entire length of the State Beach.
There was no way to ride them as body surfers do. So instead we would take off underwater on a ten-foot wave and at the critical moment stroked hard to allow our bodies to be canon-shot out of the top of the wave. We fell two stories and dove into the water ahead of the wave. The problem was the water was only six feet deep and you had to count on hitting the bottom. The trick was to roll in such away that you tumbled on the bottom. THEN the wave would pick you up and recycle you “over the falls” for the second drop. Once I slammed against the bottom so hard the breath was knocked out of me. “Over the falls” I went again. I could see the beach and the thousands watching clearly. But I could not catch a breath. So the second time I was pounded on the bottom, rolled like a log until I was sure I was going to die this time. I pushed with all my might off the bottom and broke clear. Only I could not breathe because I had hit the bottom so hard before. I was washed ashore near unconsciousness.
Later we took on the infamous Wedge on one of the biggest days in memory. Again my friend and I were the only two in the water with thousands watching from the beach and the nearby jetty. My friend was nearly drowned when a waved rolled him along the bottom for over one-hundred feet until he was washed up on the steep beach at the foot of the crowds. Alone I took off on a wave that broke near the end of the Newport jetty. Some estimate it to have reached thirty feet. As the wave approached the shore with me speeding to the left in “green water” this wave struck a “slap wave” of over ten feet GOING BACK OUT. I was thrown high into the air and then slammed against the bottom. It was like being in a washing machine. Some compare this experience to crawling across a busy free way on your back with a three-hundred pound man jumping on your chest. Again I thought I surely was going to die. My friend vowed never to surf the Wedge again. Five fishermen were killed on that same wave when in completely washed over the jetty into Newport Bay. Hundreds scrambled and ran for their lives to escape that monster.
That same summer two more events happened in the largest surf along the southern California coast in years. At 39th Street on a ten-foot day I took off in a crowd and at the top of a two story wave looked down to see a frightened swimmer trying to escape. I fell right across his legs with my left chest. I still remember his look. The collision squashed all the air out of my lungs and then out of control I was slammed against the bottom. I went “over the falls” two times, each time seeing daylight but unable to take a breath. Each time I was rolled against the bottom until washed up on shore. I knew I was going to die right there. But, I did not. Indeed, after getting my breath I spent the next hour as a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor helping lifeguards pull people out of impossible surf. That day I saved three people and assisted many more.
A bit later, my friend and I entered the water at the Santa Ana river jetty. The surf was consistently running well over ten feet. We road magnificent waves several times as the current pulled us north toward the Huntington Beach jetty miles away. Often the surf foam was so thick it was nearly impossible to get our heads above it. At one point we realized we could not get ashore before the pier so we agreed to start swimming out around the pier. Waves were breaking outside the pier that is about a half mile long. Near the pier we could hear the lifeguard tower announcing, “Bring the victims to the end of the pier.” It was impossible to save anyone in that surf and the surf boats could not get any nearer than the end of the pier between sets.
We swam around the pier and then started swimming in. It took two hours to swim toward the beach and the current carried us three miles north to another state park. We learned later that half a dozen persons died in that surf. Two bodies were found days later at the entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor. I had escaped death several times and looking back cannot believe I survived despite my foolishness. I cannot explain why I did this. Today they call these kind of people “adrenaline junkies” and they think they have even found the DNA that causes some people to become serious “risk-takers.”
Later when I moved to a state with the largest beach in America but was a thousand miles from any ocean – New Mexico – I decided to take up rock climbing. This was in the early 60s. Since I had no one to climb with I took up solo climbing. This is a technique of using a rope with a safety device moved up as one proceeds. The only problem is that on some “pitches” [or, rope lengths from belay to belay] the soloist must descend to release the lower anchors, and then re-climb a free rope to remove the anchors placed on the way up the first time. This requires three trips over the same ground JUST TO GET UP. AND THEN you have to get back down.
Once when preparing for the first solo ascent of Shiprock in New Mexico’s Four Corners I was descending over a cliff when a rock broke loose causing me to fall and swing out over an overhang. I could not touch the wall and was hanging in space about three stories above the ground. I was tangled in the rope and it was restricting my chest. Soon it became difficult to breathe. My arms and hands were going numb. Despite every effort I found to way to extricate myself. I seldom panic in these situations, but now I felt my body was going to be found days later hanging in this impossible situation. I began to cry – CRY! – to God! I began to offer my final prayers to Him. Suddenly, I remember I had a small pocket knife in my pants pocket. With great difficulty and care, despite hands so numb they had no feeling, I was able to get the knife out and open it. With my last bit of strength I decided the only thing for it was to cut the rope and take my chances in the fall. At least I would not die just hanging there. The rope snapped under my weight and I fell, unraveling from coils of rope. I was stunned in hitting the ground twenty five feet below. Fortunately it was sandy and as I lay there I wondered how badly broken I was. As I came to I slowly began to move, sure that my legs would be twisted and broken. But, by God’s grace, I was unhurt other than rope burns and some scraps. I stood, shaken uncontrollably and looked up at the naked end of the rope hanging above. That was not the last close call I had in climbing, but it was clearly the worst! I should not be alive. I should be a dried out mummy hanging as skin and bones on some great volcanic plug in the New Mexican desert. I was a full-time pioneer and congregation servant among Jehovah's Witnesses.
Some years passed when I was living back in Corona del Mar, California. I had been among the first photographers to be given a free hand in China in 1979. I was at the height of my new career as a well-known graphic arts photographer. But there was something wrong in my life as a Presiding Overseer among Jehovah’s Witnesses. My marriage was in trouble. My children were having problems. I was under great pressure among unChristian JW elders in Newport Beach. I became seriously suicidal. I carried around a bottle of one-hundred 10mg Valium in a bottle wrapped in tape with “Death” written on it. It was in my pocket all the time.
One night I decided to finally use death as my escape from great pain. I secretly loaded my new convertible sports car and left for the desert. I was determined to swallow the Valium with vodka and be found dead in my tent in the Joshua Tree desert. But what if I just become ill and puked? I brought a ten-inch Buck knife and I intended to place it under my chest and just fall on it in my tent.
But something interesting happened on my way to kill myself. An angel of the Lord stood in the middle of a desert road at 10 PM at night under a full moon. Rounding a 30 MPH corner at exactly 30 MPH my sports car suddenly pirouetting on its nose, spun around and collapsed down on my head. I was dragged thirty feet underneath out into the desert in the ONLY PLACE this could have happened. There was only sand and brush beneath me.
I was pinned unconscious under the car. No one but God knew how injured I was at that moment. The seventh thoracic vertebrae was cracked open like a walnut with T6 smashed into it. My neck had compression fractures in two vertebra. My lower back had two compression fractures. I would loose three inches in height in a split second. One lung was collapsed and punctured. Ten ribs were fractured. A collar-bone was fractured. My heart had suffered such a terrible “third impact” that it was oozing blood into my abdomen. My left knee was torn and battery acid was tripping on my feet.
In this situation I began to come around with my face buried in sand and grit. Out of one eye I could see lights and movement. I began to hear the voices of the people trying to get me out from under the car. It was a miracle anyone was there at all. For my accident happened in a place hard to see from the road at night. Unknown to me at the time two rangers had been on a trail some miles away and had HEARD the crash. They radioed a ranger going in my direction on his LAST RUN of the night. He is the one that saw the dust still in the air. Had this happened a few minutes later, I would not have been found until morning.
After great difficulty the car was lifted with a jack in shifting sand and a body board was forced under me. I cannot describe the degree of pain I was in. I moved from consciousness to unconsciousness through unimaginable agony. I was going into shock and became extremely cold.
I was delivered to an isolated medical clinic in the high desert of Joshua Tree. Now a series of miraculous events occurred. The doctor who first examined me declared that I had only fractured a couple of ribs and called my wife to say she could come and get me. I was in great agony and passed in and out of consciousness. I could see a clock, however. I saw it move from 11 PM to 1 AM, to 2 AM, and then to 3 AM. I must have passed out, but when I came to again I saw a most lovely man standing over me screaming in a Pakistani accent. He was cursing the attending physician: “This man is dying in front of you and you do not know it! His blood pressure is 60 over Dopler.” I distinctly remember these words. Whether I was near-death or unconscious I do not know. This doctor had “accidentally” come from Eisenhower Memorial Hospital in Palm Springs on a tour of smaller clinics in the area. What would have happened if this doctor had not appeared?
When my wife arrived after a two hour drive I had already been given five Demoral shots but they had done little to stop the pain. I remember my wife saying, “Can’t you do anything for his pain?” The nurse had said, “We have already given him five.” I remember this. Much of the next week are a blur to me as I remained under critical care in this small clinic. Later I was moved by ambulance to Hoag Presbyterian Hospital in Newport Beach. Still, no one knew the degree of my injuries and my heart was still leaking blood.
An emergency angiogram was performed to determine the source of the blood loss. At the same time I was x-rayed. I can remember the physician’s words: “Jeeeesus Kee-rist!” as other doctors gathered. They could not believe what they saw. After a cat-scan – rare in those days – no one could believe that any person could survive these injuries. At the very least I should be paralyzed from my neck down.
After a week I was released to go home to spend much of the next year in a hospital bed. Though I did return to my duties as presiding overseer, giving my public Bible talks in a wheel chair, things were not going well. I had been reduced to swallowing Darvon with bourbon to kill the constant pain. After a year I returned to my cardiac specialist and told him what was happening to me. He called around in my presence to half a dozen doctors and got the very best specialist spinal surgeon in Orange County. The only thing left was radical surgery. It seemed some relief was possible. But only the worst lie ahead.
I was operated on in a ten-hour surgery to implant titanium rods with nuts and bolts over a one-foot section of my spine. Before going under I had begged God for His forgiveness and thanked him for turning me around in such a dramatic way. I prayed that I either awoke in the recovery room or in heaven. After a surgery so unique and radical that it was video tapped -- and one of the attending doctors wanted to write an article for the medical journals on it – I was placed on a bed called a Stricker-frame which is something like a waffle iron in which you are sandwiched with only a hole for your face. I will not go into all the details of what happened next because these are recorded in my book Messianic Confessions. Every two hours I was rotated – face down and then face up. Every two hours I was given another shot of morphine. But about three days into this one week experience I was accidentally given a double dose of morphine and at the same time left alone in ICU when the attending nurse injured her back in one of my rotations.
I went Code Blue. That is a hospital’s way of saying you have died and “crashed.” Because my nurse was not immediately present it took some moments before anyone responded to the alarm. I do not know all the details of this because it has been covered up by the hospital and doctors. It was later blamed on ME by my lying doctor who said I had a slight irregular heart beat – something I was born with! I plunged into the worst near-death experience one can imagine. It is retold in detail in Messianc Confessions and it was so vivid that I later wrote a 600-page epic poem on the experience called Across Infinity. I was “dead” for almost two minutes. I remember distinctly the resuscitation and it was not at all pretty.
At any rate I was brought back again from many “brushes with death.” For another year I was immobilized at home in a hospital bed. I strange thing happened because of the accident and the subsequent Code Blue – I lost much of my memory. I knew I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and many faces were somewhat familiar but not any names. I some how knew I loved the Bible but could not recall its contents. I determined in that year to go over the Bible and my beliefs.
This led to becoming self-taught in Greek as I studied the Greek New Testament comparing it to ten Bible translations which I read word by word. I also read the last ten years of all the publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I read the twelve volume collection of Will Durant’s Story of Civilization. I read every National Geographic from the year 1948. I was like an alien visitor to this planet who knew nothing about it. In that year those damaged and broken synapses were reconnected by some kind of miracle.
During this time a most lovely Irish girl came to visit me several times. She was going to open an orphanage in Ireland. She was most kind and loving to me. But it is strange that no one remembers this person!
Well to make a story already too long short, I recovered though I remained disabled and dependent on pain-killers for the rest of my life. But other things were to happen more bizarre than anything that went before.
In 1988 I began to wonder what was wrong with my religion. I made even more intense studies – night and day. I became suicidal AGAIN! I could not understand what was wrong. I knew what Christianity should be, but most places I looked I could not find it – neither in doctrine or behavior. I set off to finish what I had started in 1979. But this time through great amounts of prayer and meditation I was able to pull myself through.
I spent the next years in private studies during which I read the Bible in a dozen versions over and over. I re-read and studied carefully the publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses, finishing a complete reading of what is called the Insight book. I was also working as a consultant to the Writing and Art Departments at Brooklyn Bethel. I made several trips lasting up to a month where I worked on the 9th and 10th floors of the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I saw things that disturbed me. Things that lacked a true Christian spirit and love. I saw a hard and cold organizational form of Christianity. A corporate form of worship.
During the early 90s I went through great struggles among local elders in Riverside County, California. These drove me to great depression. Despite this I was secretly studying more than ever before. My wife, my sister and I planned to move to Spain to do missionary work. I had hoped that such a change would take me away from that form of Christianity I saw in the US. I was to discover there was no difference.
On a stop over in Holland where we stayed with friends I remained home very ill while the others went to the meeting. I became very sick, racked with enormous pain. I had been having dreams night and day of the Scriptures, trying to work my way out of a religious morass of confusion and disillusion. Night after night I saw nothing but Scriptural references on a blackboard, verses burning into my mind.
I reached such a state of panic and pain that I was crying out. I would have called for an ambulance if I could have reached a phone and been able to get through in English. I began to pray to God most earnestly. I began to beg him to kill me and end my agony. I begged him to reveal to me the answers to my questions and doubts, or let me die. “Answer my questions or let me die!” I screamed in pain to that empty house. I was curled up on a couch in the living room, lying on my side. What was to happen next I cannot explain. I do not know whether it was a hallucinating dream brought on by extreme pain or a heavenly vision. Like Paul, I did not know whether it was in the body or out of the body. I knew if I ever told this story Jehovah’s Witnesses would think me either crazy or demonized.
Instantly my pain was gone! A person stood before me to my right. He was tall, taller than I would have thought. He was a bigger man than I would have thought. His hair was black to his shoulders and smoothed with a perfumed oil which I could smell. His cloak was long with vertical stripes in black, warm brown, and what I would describe as French-vanilla. He sat beside me and touched me with his right hand. His words were simple and straightforward: “KEEP ON THIS PATH YOU HAVE CHOSEN. KEEP SEARCHING. KEEP ASKING. YOU WILL FIND THE TRUTH.” And then my visitor vanished. I cannot tell you whether this was the Lord Jesus. I had the powerful awareness that it was.
I rose completely free of pain and completely filled with enormous peace. That night I no longer had the unsettling dreams. I slept like a baby. I told no one of this experience.
In Spain I started all over in my Biblical studies. Now with the help of an IBM Think Pad and a Bible search program I settled in between pioneering and my duties as an elder to write down what now came to me as a flood of spiritual waters. I rejoiced with every day as all of my questions were answered. The Bible came together in one sublime harmony. I told no one of these studies and conclusions, but it was clear “my church was wrong.”
Many know the remaining part of this story. But in brief I returned to California, now separated from my wife. My laptop had been stolen in the Madrid airport, along with all my notes with thousands of pages. I determined to begin anew and take one year to decide FOR SURE about the truths I was learning. I would leave for long and isolated trips into the High Sierras and the Mojave desert. Each trip I brought along a new copy of the Christian Bible in a different version. I re-read this translation with yellow highlighter and red pen, making copious notes in the margins. I did this through over a half dozen versions. I had pages of notes, but now most of this was in my mind and memory.
Having almost finished my journey in answer to my prayers and vision, I decided to go one more time into the desert for two weeks without Bible, pen or paper. I devoted myself to prayer and meditation day and night. During the day I would limp with my canes out into the wilderness to be completely alone with my thoughts and God. Everything coursed through my mind like I was speed-reading page after page of the Bible, now stored in m memory. At night under the stars I wondered at God’s wisdom, power, mercy and love. Over and over I asked God what I was to do. I imagined – it was not a dream or a vision – Christ sitting across from me around a camp-fire. I would ask, “What am I to do? What am I to do?” The answer came each time: “What more must I say, Mark? It is right there in my own words.”
The last night I most earnestly prayed that our Father allow me the time to put down on paper for others my thoughts on the Bible from Matthew to Revelation. I prayed I would not die or be taken before I could leave behind some record of my own thoughts and studies. BUT, I had no way of doing this! I had no computer and I knew I could not physically write it with pen and paper. I prayed that if, indeed, that was His will He would somehow provide the tools for me to do this. No more than a week later, out of no where, the funds and means were provided to buy this little Japanese laptop upon which I now work.
My health was so poor that I prayed to Him to just allow me the time to accomplish this feat. I was somewhat panicky that I would never finish it before I died. I wanted to leave to others the blessings I had received. Not as something inspired, or delivered to me from heaven, but just the godly thoughts of one disciple of the Nazarene at the beginning of the 21st Century and the new millennium. It seemed daunting, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
I began with Revelation and Daniel! I had determined to produce a new “rendering” of the New Testament, at least in part. Each verse would have every phrase analyzed and compared with two dozen other versions. It would have cross-references and footnotes. Every important Greek word would be referenced. I would just put down on paper what was in my memory. Every chapter and paragraph would be topically outlined and themed so that others could learn to memorize where important subjects were.
Time passed and book by book I worked through the Christian Bible. But this would really do no good unless others had access to it. I was by then becoming acquainted with the Internet. I was completely ignorant of how to publish anything on the World Wide Web. I remember very well offering a formal prayer to the God of Jesus: “If You want me to publish this on the Internet, send me help.” TWO DAYS later I got a post from a brother I did not know who was across the country in Chicago. He wanted to know if I needed any help with the Internet. He volunteered to create and host as webmaster the web site that became known as Friends of the Nazarene. Two years later he remains very much associated with our Internet page.
Today one may download Nazarene Commentary 2000© with a complete reference on Matthew to Revelation. Also three years of the magazine Friends are readable on the Internet. In addition there were a half dozen full book-length publications available free to anyone who could download these. Over 10,000 people have in some way been encouraged by or visited the material. In addition I have personally sent out hundreds of reference works to interested individuals in 30 countries.
That was not the only help the Weeks family contributed to this effort. I must say that all the Weeks family have aided me in most critical times. From the beginning – after my JW pioneer sister threw me out – I had not a single penny in income and very few friends helping me at that time. The Weeks family and their unknown friends came to my aid so that I had a place to stay until this time. Also, a beloved sister provided a car, which had remained faithful until this month. It is marvelous how God works and how He moves His servants. These have not been the rich, but people of normal means who made sacrifices to assist a penniless Christian. To this day I thank God for these persons who helped the Helper without a personal agenda. [Psalm 54:4]
Nazarene Commentary 2000© in three volumes will soon be available in CD form. The first 10 copies are now available of Volume 1 – 21st Century Version of the Christian Scriptures [Matthew to Revelation] for a gift of $20.
Now, this little Japanese lap-top has had many millions of words pass through it. There is no way of knowing how many. I know the published words made available free to thousands has amounted to millions, thousands of pages, and thousands of researched footnotes.
SO, here I am on this little lap-top at the age of 62 – on my birthday. A man who a doctor told three years ago that it would not surprise him at all if I walked out of his office and dropped dead from a heart attack or stroke. I AM STILL HERE, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. I have asked God that if it is His will I may be allowed to finished the Old Testament in a new version with the same format seen in Nazarene Commentary 2000©. So far, so good. I have finished some of the prophets: Daniel, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Malachi. I have 25% of the Psalms finished and also a large portion of Proverbs. I am not as panicky as I was on the New Testament. As I can I work on the Hebrew Bible. It gives me more time to help others personally and presently I conduct email correspondence courses with brothers in America, Canada, Belgium and the Ukraine.
I AM STILL HERE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! What is ahead? None of us can know. On both sides of my family everyone has lived into their mid-80s and died peacefully of strokes. As unthinkable as it is for me, I may have 20 years left. I cannot imagine living that long, but let God’s will take place.
After writing the above a visit to a doctor was sobering. I learned I may have been having “mini-strokes” due to plaque in arteries sloughing off and entering the brain. The interesting thing about this turns out to be a statement on medical coverage to the elderly in this country. There is an amazing new prescription that can safely dissolve this plaque. But it is $100.00 [USA] a month and Medi-Cal will NOT COVER IT and there is no way I can.
Would you like to know what I am praying for now? I can tell you before God that I have prayed for three things:
First, because I am so limited by physical health and strength I have prayed that God would provide a young man with the same love of the Bible I have. Someone who could devote his WHOLE life to the Friends of the Nazarene and other Christians. Someone who not only knows his Bible and the truths I have learned, but also would be willing to move around the country – and the world – to visit little home churches in need. I am convinced God would care for such a godly man. I know the Helper would use other helpers to provide for such a devoted and righteous person to care for the sheep no matter where they are in the world. That is one thing I ask for in the name of Jesus. And I have been looking for him.
Second, I have prayed that someone with the surplus would fund the hard publishing of several tracts, booklets, and books to be used by the poor who cannot afford a computer or the Internet.
Third, I have prayed that a Friends of the Nazarene commune and retreat might be created on a parcel of land where a marvelous library might be installed. This library of 3,000 volumes of rare books covering 150 years of Biblical studies is ALREADY waiting for such a kind individual. This commune would include ONLY persons dedicated and consecrated to God who would be willing to work in both physical and spiritual labor each day. It would be a place for true Christians all over the world to come and visit. A place where quarterly conferences could be hosted. A place where weekly worship and Bible instruction take place.
I hope soon to be able to move into a HUD apartment where I will have a living room where I can hold meetings and invite persons for Bible discussions. I know this will work out in time according to His will.
My dear mother, God rest her soul, prayed at my birth for me to become a Christian minister. Is it her single prayer – like Hannah – that which is being fulfilled by ALL that has happened to me? I do not know for sure. But I want to believe it is. She is gone now for over two years. She never got to read what was produced by that pneumatic pressure of God’s Spirit on me. I wonder – would she be surprised that – AFTER ALL THESE YEARS -- I AM STILL HERE.
I think not.
==== END ====
By Mark Heber Miller – California -
Though Jehovah is called a God of Love, He is also completely capable of hate. The Bible testifies that there are things and persons God hates. [Psalm 5:5; 11:5; 45:7; Isaiah 1:14; Hosea 9:15; Amos 5:21; 6:8; Zechariah 8:17; Malachi 1:3; 2:16]
In Proverbs there are some fairly well known verses that describe seven things God hates. Here is a discussion of each of these.
Proverbs 6:16-19: “There are six things Yehowah hates. Yes, even seven are disgusting to His soul …” [NCMM] That is, God loathes, is disgusted, detests, abhors certain attitudes and conduct. Indeed the second phrase grows stronger. God considers these seven an abomination, something He loathes, things detestable to Him. What are these seven things Jehovah hates and abhors?
1.
THE ARROGANT
Other versions describe this first attitude as KJV: a proud look; YLT: haughty appearance; KNX: the haughty look; BAS: eyes of pride; TAY: haughtiness. No one likes the arrogant but the arrogant themselves. The Bible elsewhere warns against egotism and haughty pride. Psalm 101:5 describes God’s hatred to such: “Anyone of haughty eyes and of arrogant heart, Him I cannot endure.” [NWT] Proverbs 16:5 echoes the same: “Everyone that is proud in heart is something detestable to Jehovah.” [NWT] Paul warns against such egotism: “Let us not become egotistical. … For if there is any one who thinks himself to be somebody when he is nobody, he is deluding himself.” [Galatians 5:26 NWT; Galatians 6:3 Weymouth Translation] The Nazarene also warned that such attitudes could defile a Christian. [Compare the Nazarene at Mark 7:22.]
Most people recognize arrogance or pride when they see it. Unfortunately, such prideful persons seldom see this hateful attribute in their own character. However, if we can see it in others, we can learn to recognize the disdainful quality in ourselves. In the Bible Satan is an example, as are the Pharisees. One identifying mark of the arrogant is the opinionated person. Some of these persons follow every remark or suggestion of others with something in the form of “No.” No matter what one says, the arrogant will come back with a negative or contradictory statement. They seem not satisfied that another have something to contribute and so they often interrupt. They have no idea what a period is and seldom to they let others finish their sentence. Such prideful persons are virtually a “lost cause” and change little throughout life. One must either tolerate them, and stay out of their company even as God would. For no one who hates something remains in its presence long.
2. THE LIAR
Or, KJV: a lying tongue; RHM: a tongue that
is false. No one likes to be lied to, and everyone knows what it means to be
lied about. “False lips are something detestable to Jehovah.” [Proverbs 12:22 NWT] A lie is defined by some as
withholding the truth from those who have a right to know. Lying often
manifests itself in gossip or slander. In this form the liar wants to tarnish
the reputation of another. Such lying is really motivated by jealousy, because
the liar cannot tolerate someone more gifted or blessed.
Unfortunately
there are more liars among Christians than one would suppose. Why can we say
such a terrible thing? Because that is what the beloved apostle John says: “If any individual claims, ‘I love God!’ and yet
refuses to love another Christian --- such a person is a liar!” [1 John 4:20 NCMM Paraphrase]
In other words, if a Christian says he or she loves God or Jesus and yet fails
the test of 1 John 3:17 – they are liars. They are lying to themselves in
self-deception, and they are lying to others as hypocrites.
3. THE BLOODGUILTY
That is, “hands shedding innocent blood” [NCMM];
KNX:
take innocent life; BAS: take life without cause; TAY: murdering. Such persons
were executed in Israel as Numbers 35:31 commands: “And you must take no ransom for the
soul of a murderer who is deserving to die, for without fail he should be put
to death.” [NWT] Deuteronomy 27:25 says the same: “Cursed
is the one who accepts a bribe to strike a soul fatally, when it is innocent
blood.” Jesus teaches that
such can certainly “defile” a worshipper of God. [Compare the Nazarene at Mark
7:21.] John goes even further wen he writes: “Anybody who hates a fellow is guilty of manslaughter. You realize that
anyone guilty of manslaughter does not have everlasting life remaining within.”
[1 John 3:15 NCMM Paraphrase]
History is filled with the example of Christians and others shedding innocent blood. Millions of men and women are guilty of such bloodshed of the innocent. This has occurred in wars with over 100,000,000 killed in wars in the 20th Century. Millions of women have shed innocent blood and life by means of abortion. Some estimate this holocaust to be 50 million a year, or 1 billion in the last twenty years. They have, or someone else who did it for them, killed that “embryo” [or, substance] that God sees in the womb of a women. [ Psalm 139:16] They have stopped the life with “all its parts.” Others in more recent times have shed innocent blood through “ethnic cleansing.” Famous names scream God’s condemnation to Christians and heathens involved in shedding innocent blood – Nanking – where 250,000 Chinese were killed one at a time by the Japanese. Hiroshima – where 200,000 died instantly. Auschwitz and other infamous names where millions of different races and religions were killed by starvation, disease, and mass executions by Germans. Mi Li – where a small village was slaughtered by America soldiers.
4. THE HURTFUL
Proverbs puts it: “… a heart plotting HURTFUL schemes.” [NCMM]
That is, KJV: deviseth wicked imaginations; YLT: devising thoughts of vanity; JPS: wicked thoughts; AAT: plots mischievous schemes; MOF: a mind with crafty plans; JB: weaves wicked plots; RHM: contriving iniquitous devices; NWT: fabricating hurtful schemes. The Nazarene warns that such a trait could “devile” a worshipper of God. [Compare the Nazarene at Mark 7:21.]
Any of us knows what hurts us – deception, manipulation, slander, business cheats, belittling, and a long list of other matters. You know what hurts you, so do not do these to others. If it hurts you, it must also hurt others. In the previous verses the Proverbs described such a person: “There is a type of person who is completely worthless, going about with a perverse mouth. This person winks, makes hidden signals with the feet, and gives signs with the fingers. This person’s heart motive is perverse, constantly plotting mischief, sowing discord everywhere. But calamity will suddenly come upon this type of person – instantly broken without any healing.” [Proverbs 6:12-15 NCMM; compare Proverbs 17:4; 22:8] Often greed is behind what is hurtful. [Colossians 3:5]
5. THE EVIL-DOER
That is, “feet that are quick to run to evil.” [NCMM] Others render this: KJV: feet that be swift in running to mischief; YLT: feet hastening to run to evil; MOF: feat eager to go mischief-making; JB: feet that hurry to do evil. Several places in the Bible all the things that could be involved in the conduct or attitude of such an “evil-doer.” Compare Paul’s list about three dozen things in Romans 1:24-32.
Isaiah 59:7, 8 describes such a person hated by God: “Their own feet keep running to sheer badness, and they are in a hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are hurtful thoughts; despoiling and breakdown are in their highways. The way of peace they have ignored, and there is no justice in their tracks. Their roadways they have made crooked for themselves. No one at all treading in them will actually know peace.” [NWT; compare Romans 3:15] Note the Nazarene’s teachings at Mark 7:22.
6. THE FALSE WITNESS
As one of things God hates Proverbs lists: “a false witness speaking lies.” The New Jerusalem Bible phrases this: “a false witness who lies with every breath.” Unlike the liar above, this is the type of person who would deliberately lie in a court of law or a judicial environment. It is condemned in the Law of Moses: “You must not take up an untrue report. Do not cooperate with a wicked one by becoming a witness who schemes violence. You must not follow after the crowd for evil ends; and you must not testify over a controversy so as to turn aside with the crowd in order to pervert justice. As for the lowly one, you must not show preference in a controversy of his.” [Exodus 23:1-3 NWT] Jesus was the object of such false witnesses. [Matthew 26:59]
In courts in the United States a witness must swear with the right hand on the Holy Bible. Perjury or false witness is a serious crime and some in the US Senate have accused the president of such conduct. When testifying before appropriate authority, whether secular or within the Christian Church, God hates the person who would lie in their testimony, particularly if their motive is to injure another.
7. THE DISCORDANT
The last of the seven things that God hates is listed as “the person sowing discord among associates.” [NCMM] This is rendered by others as: YLT: sending forth contentions; NJB: sows dissension; RHM: sending forth strifes; NWT: contentions. Elsewhere the Bible warns about such a person hated by God. Leviticus 19:16 warns: “You must not go around among your people for the sake of slandering.” [NWT] Paul lists such as a “work of the flesh” and the person who habitually creates disunity will not inherit God’s kingdom. [Galatians 5:20] The disciple James associates the discordant person with dangerous influences: “However, if you have in your heart bitter jealousy and selfishness, do not boast and continue to lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom which descends from above, but rather, is earthly, soul-like, demonic. For where there is jealousy and selfishness there is disorder and the practice of every kind of evil.” [James 3:14-16 NCMM]
The person who sows discord or disunity among Christian associates is being influenced by demons because Satan was the original rebel and discordant one. According to James jealousy is associated with disorder and contention. Often the discordant person is one who is jealous and thus speaks evilly of a fellow associate. Sometimes there is a Christian who is particularly gifted or blessed by God. This causes the evil-minded to become jealous and they strike out. Almost always this manifests it self in false testimony about the person. Or it may take some form of slanderous speech that calls into question the persons gifts and motives.
For example, two Christians may be discussing another in derogatory terms. Sometimes these can even be true, but most often they are half-truths. It may begin innocently enough: “Brother Elder, or Friend sister, are so capable. That is why I was surprised when …” In other words, almost in a satanic manner they begin with an apparently positive note, but end up speaking divisively. It may be: “So-and-so acts holier than thou,” or, “So-and-so is full of it,” or, “So-and-so is motivated by pride.” Whether these things are true or not, the end result is disunity among Christians.
When we consider the seven things Jehovah hates and abhors we shudder in our shoes. For in some way or another most have done these very things. If it has happened only once or twice we can humble repent and ask forgiveness from both God and the person who is the object of these hateful things. By the grace of God and His tender mercies through Jesus Christ, we can gain forgiveness as long as we do not become a habitual practicer of those seven things God hates.
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WHAT IS A TRUE “FRIEND”?
By Mark Heber Miller – California
What is a
“friend”? The dictionary gives this explanation: “a person whom one knows well
and is fond of; intimate associate; close acquaintance.” Of course there are
degrees of friendship. There are friends and then there are “friends.” Many
people call even the briefest of acquaintances as friends. There is a real
difference between an acquaintance who is friendly and a true friend. The
English root for “friend” is “lover.” So a true friend is one who has
demonstrated loving concern over a period of time.
The Bible
describes a true friend. “A real friend
is always loving and is like a brother born just for the purpose of helping
during difficulties.” [Proverbs 17:17 NCMM] “A friend sticks closer than any brother.” [Proverbs 18:24 NCMM]
“The pain [of counsel] caused by a true friend are honest and trustworthy. …
Also the wise suggestions of a friend is sweet to the soul.” [Proverbs 27:6, 9
NCMM] A friend ALWAYS comes to the aid of a friend in need. Friends are NEVER
critical of one another. That is left for married couples. Friends NEVER gossip
or slander one another, but rather ALWAYS defend one another. A true friend can
keep a confidence. True friends are always welcome and may even impose on one
another at inconvenient times. [Luke 11:5-9] There are false friends, however.
Job’s
so-called three “friends” treated him more like an enemy by accusing him of
some hidden sins. Even one of Jesus’ “friends” ended up betraying him. [Luke
12:4; Luke 21:16] Friends can get into an argument that alters or destroys
their friendship. [Acts 15:39]
There are other types of false friends, people who have an agenda to their supposed friendship. Proverbs 14:20 puts it this way:
