Love Your Pigs or Jesus

 Mathew 8:28-34

The demons know who Jesus is; v. 29 "Son of God."

They know he has absolute power over them to cast them out or not and decide for them where they go; Jesus is superior over them. They requested permission to go into the pigs.

They know that in the future they are appointed eternal torment and they wonder if Jesus came to give them that final judgement; v. 29 "Have you come here to torture us before the time?"

Jesus begins his global mission. He is in gentile territory; v. 33 "Those tending the pigs." There were herdsmen. Jews do not eat pigs; therefore they do not tend to pigs. These were gentiles.

A legion of demons is no problem for Jesus. There is nothing Jesus can't do, no evil he cannot conquer. All he has to say is "Go!"

Demons maximise their evil by entering into any kind of being to ruin their lives. From other gospels we read that the demons would make the men scratch their bodies with rocks until they bled. No one could bind them. They lived outside the town, out of civilization. They were living in the wild, treated like animals because they acted like animals. Their humanity and their livelihood were stripped away from them. Imagine the torment inside the pig's minds; they are only animals with no rational mind they cannot handle the torture and go mad and throw themselves into the sea to relieve themselves of the torture.

They couldn't have known the pigs would have run into the sea. Jesus knew. He did not let them escape for the misery the two men had suffered. But he had appointed them destruction and final judgement (without any habitation).

Two men were set free. Their lives and relationships were restored. Their humanity is given back to them.

The demons attempted to negotiate with God. Just like Satan asked permission to test Job.

The demons received their final judgement. v. 32 "and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water."

v. 33 "Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what happened to the demon-possessed men." What are the town's peoples' response? "Leave our region!" This was a test. Jesus was testing the gentiles. What is the test?

Prosperity over Love

The pigs represented prosperity to the town's peoples. It was their source of food and way to make a living. They cared more about their prosperity than the humanity of these two men. They still treated these men worthless.

Wealth over Life

They ignored the miracle. They ignored the fact that two men's lives were more important than a thousand or even two thousand pigs.

Final Points

Jesus is the Son of God

Triumphant over evil spirits

Liberates the captives

Gives hope to the hopeless

Jesus demands a choice; love him or your prosperity

Covid-19 Conspiracies and Having Faith in the Storm

The pandemic has hit the Western world the hardest, mainly because of the mishandling of information given, distrust of the government and also greed. The mentality of some is putting the focus of 'wealth over health' rather than seeing the importance of stomping out the virus first in order to recover the economy. Temporary inconveniences are out of the question to the Westerner and his comfortable life. 

He is not living the life he is used to. He may be living a harder life now because of the pandemic. I get it. We all are in this together. Business is shut down. You have bills to pay and kids to feed. We don't get to do the normal things we used to do. And the government is telling us what we can and cannot do. People only want to do what they like and agree with. They are selective in what they want to believe because if it's not what they want to hear they will choose the other information that they like better even when it's wrong and damaging in the long run. It's selective belief.

Virgins and Self-Control

1 Corinthians 7

Paul advised the unmarried Christians that if anyone is unmarried but hasn't yet reached the age of marriage and they're passions are controlled, it is better to remain single(v8) because then your only interest is to please the Lord(v32) instead of worldly things(v33). 

In verse 9, he says, if they're passions burn for each other and they are not able to behave properly, in self-control of their passion for each other, then it is better they marry than risk fornication and fall into sin(v2). 

I would like to add that for those thinking of marrying in their teens it is better if they both are determined to wait until they are matured and ready to marry, having their desires under control until then, but that's rarely the case. So it is always better to wait until you are capable of living on your own having finished your education before thinking about finding a spouse. But it is no sin to marry the one you love before that(v36). But it is more responsible and wise because then you will not be burned with all the anxieties and hardships involved in marriage and the world for a man in his teens.

My Response to a Medium

http://blairrobertson.com/blog/the-truth-about-god-and-mediums/

Drawing off from what you said. You're selling nonessential tips for living in peace with God. Putting the bias aside let's analyze your logic. You can say that Jesus spoke to spirits in his transfiguration, but in saying that, there is no way conclude that we can do that too. And because he was silent on a matter isn't an argument for it. That's an argument based on silence. It also just doesn't make sense to say that he spoke to spirits then on the other hand argue he didn't say anything about it to support your argument. He also healed a man's ear and raised people from the dead. And he some with Satan and turn water into wine and duplicated fish and bread. By your logic we can too! 

Your argument on the rules set in leviticus as erased is untrue. If you know the Bible this is clear. Jesus came to fulfill the law of the Prophets. You first don't even have a clear understanding of the laws. Leviticus is the laws relating to the priests and Levites and to the forms of Jewish ceremonial observance. Leviticus is a record of God's installing a priesthood for his nation and giving them the statutes that would enable them to maintain holiness in his eyes. It now since had been fulfilled by Jesus and outlines as a part of moral law for Christians, not ceremonial law as it did for the Jews under Moses. Christians don't sacrifice doves because Jesus had fulfilled that. The morals are still there, but the ceremonial part is completed by Jesus. There's is no more sacrifice required because Jesus is the sacrifice.

Why did God tell Abraham to kill his son Isaac?

"Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' 2 And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you,'"(Gen. 22:1-2).

God told Abraham to kill his son Isaac because their actions are pointing ahead to the person of Christ in a typology of the true sacrifice. First of all, God says to Abraham to take his only son. But, we know that 13 years earlier Ishmael had been born to Abraham. So why would God call Isaac the only son? The answer becomes clear when we see what the Scriptures teach.

Read more at CARM.org

What's Wrong With Critical Race Theory?

'Only' Black Lives Matter

"Activists Fight Racism By Driving All People Of Color Out Of Pop Culture"

Resource

I saw this coming. BLM also is pushing LGBTQ+2 and Intersectionality. Everything is fluid. All of this they call "Social Justice" is a Marxist concept. "BLM" in the title itself and it's movement are in fact a method of social control falsely concealing itself in the guise of social reconstruction. Rioting to make their point and endorsing violence to get the message across. Protesting to disarm the Police or better yet; removal of the Police. It's anti-democracy. It's a push for an authoritarian state. The opposite result they will get is a Police State in the end. The BLM movement is ungodly. It's a lie. All the social justice groups are on the same agenda. It's not worth my support.

Yes, there are victims of racism in workplaces, I wouldn't deny that. But I could argue, from the other end of the spectrum, the over-the-top inclusivism of other races and sexes in secondary education and politics. Universities are bending over backwards to get as many people from diverse backgrounds as possible and even at times giving extra credit to "those of the minority." We see it advertised by businesses and institutions blatantly showing their support during the month of June.

If they, as a whole, succeeded--what the end result would be is an authoritarian state controlled by a minority of violent people. If what they are fighting for is to remove the "1%" from power they will inevitably become the new "1%" in charge. But in reality what could happen is a push-back from the current government to create a "Police State" in which everyone is monitored for the protection of society and harmony.

All the problems boiled up in society has been cause by the destruction of the family. More than half of couples in North America have children out of wedlock. Through the years more black children grow up without their fathers. The problem is that fathers aren't taking their roles seriously and society is demeaning males as authority figures. Societal issues stem from what goes on at home. When you break down the family, society breaks down.

It all started in the early 20th century. First, they remove Jesus as the authority of where we get our morals. Then came divorce without cause. Then Gay rights. Then Trans, Queer, two-spirit, non-binaries and the plethora of self-identities. Now the next step is to make everything "fluid." There is no objective truth. Truth is under attack. It always has been. It has always ended up being the topic. It's always the way to attack God. Satan tested it with Eve and the relationship between her and Adam and her and God broke down. God truth is always attacked. This is the destructive nature of the lie. It destroys the perfect relationships we were supposed to have.

The only fix to humanity is through the heart and Jesus has already done it. And this is also God's judgement to people. "He gave them up to depraved minds." This is the end of society.

Romans 1:26-32 New Living Translation (NLT)

26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.