Idle Words

In Matthew 12:36, Jesus warns, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”  The dread of these words ranks next to the legendary Luke 13:27 passage, “But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”

Idle words.  We’ve all spoken them – some more than others.  There’s plenty of guilt to pass around.  Most of us give up trying to monitor every word that passes over the gums, until we are reminded of Matthew 12:36.  This scripture, however, doesn’t necessarily mean the great wiretap of Heaven is recording our deposition for judgment day.  To be honest, we eat the fruit of our own lips in this life.  The more foolishness we talk, the more foolishness we eat.  While this is a truth, it is not what Jesus was conveying in this passage.  Christ’s one-liner has been lifted entirely out of context, off of the page, and inappropriately applied.

First of all, we must discover who Jesus is warning in Matthew 12.  This chapter is a play-by-play series of confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees.  First, the Pharisees attacked Jesus and his disciples for plucking and eating spikes of grain in a field on the sabbath.  The same day, Jesus takes heat for healing a man’s withered hand in the synagogue, on the Lord’s day for Pete’s sake!  Finally, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out devils with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons.  To all these allegations, Jesus responded by condemning the fruit of their lips as blasphemy. The exchange between them culminates in this statement, “But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.” [AMP]  Jesus was identifying the Pharisees’ accusations as idle words.  Notice, he wasn’t speaking to the masses who gladly followed him?  These choice words were a stern warning to those who had set themselves at variance against the Lord. 

What makes a word idle?

I love the Amplified definition: inoperative and nonworking.  Jesus wasn’t just addressing the Pharisees’ false and negative opinions of him and his messianic ministry.  He was digging deeper, below their insults.  Jesus went after the false teaching that perverted their mindsets, causing them to reject the truth when he showed up on their doorstep.

The Pharisees had a pre-conceived idea of what their “messiah” would look and act like.  He would be compliant, not only to the Torah, but to the many man-made laws that had been added over the centuries of Judaism.  Disappointing their expectations, Jesus honored the law of God while expressing disregard for the law of the Pharisees.  This invoked their flood of idle words, or false accusation.

As teachers of the Word, we must test our doctrine to determine whether it be idle or alive.  After reading this passage in context, I must admit there are areas of deception in my life that have hindered me from opening my arms to the Truth when it comes to my doorstep.  For this I have and will continue to repent as the Lord opens my eyes.  Here are some questions we need to ask ourselves concerning our own beliefs.

1.  Do I believe something simply because I heard someone share it convincingly?

2. Does my doctrine work in context and with 2 or 3 other scriptural witnesses?

3.  Have I road-tested what I believe to determine whether it is operative and applicable?

4. If my doctrine hasn’t delivered what it has promised to me, after years of adherence, am I willing to revisit it?

5. Is there sufficient evidence that what I’ve taught is the truth?  Enough evidence to stand trial? 

This new year, rather than worrying about talking too much or saying something inappropriate, let’s focus our energies on what’s of real importance… forsaking ideas and beliefs that are inoperative and nonworking.

Are You With Me?

The Information Age is coming to a close.  “But wait!” I hear you object. “I’ve just got on board with my smartphone, wi-fi and Tom-Tom!”  Precisely.  The machinery of the Information Age can now be found  in nearly every household in the civilized world.  We have all jumped on board the ship and are heading to the next destination. 

If you haven’t noticed, the world of broadcasting is changing. 

Due to information overload, people are opting for NARROW-casts rather than BROAD-casts.  Simply put, media is revolutionizing into more specialized and personal vehicles.  A new trend is the abandonment of cable/satellite tv for on-demand online broadcasts.  No longer will America watch season premieres en masse, but individually with TIVO, Hulu, or other on-demand options.

The result? People are learning to tune out the roar of our info-world by personalizing everything.  Because the world has become too large and too loud, we have learned to create a smaller, more manageable world of our own. 

The age has tipped.  Information is no longer seen as a friend, but a foe.  Don’t you just want to enjoy the silence? EXACTLY. We are fast approaching a new era.  Some are predicting a Conversation Age or a Relationship Age.  A hunger for real connectivity the current age has generated.  Here’s my prediction… for what it’s worth.  We are about to come into the Family Age in the Body of Christ.  This will be a time of gathering together and alignment in preparation for the great harvest.

In Matthew 12:30, Jesus said, “He who is not with Me [definitely on My side] is against Me, and he who does not [definitely] gather with Me and for My side scatters.” [AMP]   

The church of the information age was rife with ”Identif- itis.”  In an attempt to build the church, leaders were to taught to focus on what set their church apart from others.  These differences were magnified to create a church persona or identity that would attract members.  Pet-doctrine platforms allowed leaders to “stand up and out” from the crowd.  When a doctrine is given pre-eminence over the scriptures as a whole, the consequences are imbalance, hype, rhetoric, and disillusionment.  Rather than gathering people to Christ, people were scattered to sects or divisions of the body. 

A shift is taking place.  Deep hunger for relationship is rumbling among the members of this dislocated body.  The bones are rattling and coming together, one joint at a time.  Watch and listen as the body begins to realize that Father’s chief desire all along, was to gather and build Himself a family.

For Such A Time As This

Call me a romantic, but I’ve always been enamored with the heroic tales of American patriots.  The conflicts of years gone-by were won by men and women who rose to a cause greater than themselves and recognized that cause when others didn’t.  Without them, our world would be much darker.  

Academia teaches the great causes have been ones of tolerance… tolerance being the chief virtue of humanity.  Liberals claim that abolition, civil rights, suffrage, etc. are all the results of tolerance winning out over ignorance.   Intolerance has been billed as the root of all evils. 

History records it differently.  Each of these triumphs of liberty were the result of passionate people, driven by an inner moral compass set on absolute true north.  Not all of my heroes were bible-thumpers.  They were, however, sold out to righteous causes.  In their day, tolerance was defined as stamina or the capacity to endure pain or hardship.  Tolerance has become the altar on which morality is daily sacrificed.  This week, our U.S. Congress seeks to offer a long-time ban on tax-payer funded abortion… just the latest outrage to the community deemed as “Religious Intolerants.” 

Friend, you and I have been labeled as the modern-day “Nazi’s” who are guilty of the chief sin of intolerance: an unwillingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others.  (thefreedictionary.com.)  That definition is worthy of an entire blog post of its own.  A line has been drawn for us.  How I wish we had taken the initiative to draw the line somewhere else, sometime sooner! 

It pains my heart to converse with discomfited Christians who willingly offer their wrists to the shackles of moral defeat.  Wake up! Hear the shackles clanking in the jailors’ hands!  We must arise in holy defiance, resisting the tyranny of tolerance.

This Monday morning, the Lord spoke ever-so clearly to me in the quiet pre-dawn hours of the A.M.  He said, “Melissa, the greatest cause has not yet been fought…”  After asking what that cause might be, Father replied, “The greatest cause is the cause of your time.”  It all began to come together for me.  Slavery is no longer the greatest cause, neither is civil rights or suffrage for all American citizens!  All those causes have been won.  The greatest cause has become the dilemmas of our day.

There has been talk of an Esther generation, a people aptly prepared and placed for the deliverance of a nation.  This verse came alive for me in that conversation with Father, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

If you think I’m talking about health care reform – I am.  If you think I’m talking about pro-family values – I am.  Pro-life, pro-faith, pro-liberty – Yes, I am.  It’s time we talk about the issues that the fearful have shied away from.  The end-of-the-age harvest can be reaped, however, our fields are besieged!  “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!” Joel 3:10.

It Will Not Be A Silent Night

Enraged.  That’s how I feel in this moment.  The will of the American public is being held hostage.  Over 61% of Americans polled said they look disfavorably on the Health Care Reform bill currently being railroaded through Congress.  Sinced we clearly DO NOT want health-care reform that authorizes tax-payer funded ABORTION on demand, Congress will sneak this bill through during the Christmas holiday.  While Americans overdose on sugar cookies and figgy pudding, great evil will be perpetrated IF WE DO NOT ARISE.  I’m tempted to visit D.C. Christmas Eve, and voice my opinion LIVE and IN PERSON.  Anyone else tempted to crash the party? 

In the interim, I’ve called my Senators and Representatives.  Please, avail yourself to these great sources of contact info:

CONTACT YOUR US REPRESENTATIVE

CONTACT YOUR SENATOR

I read a fantastic article by a blogger at www.teapartypatriots.org who conveyed the very same inklings in my heart.  Rather than synthesizing, I believe you would benefit best by reading the following for yourself.  Act, NOW.  You are powerful, my friend. 

The Cost of Silence – Christmas Eve Health Care Sneak (or the Senate Grinch that stole Christmas)
Health Care by Dann51

Harry Reid, the honorable Senator from Nevada, is about to push through a multi-thousand page health care bill no one has read, no one understands and no one knows what it will really do to this country. 

 

Like a child trying to hide what it’s doing so Mom and Dad doesn’t find out, the Senate Democrats are laboring long and hard, hoping we stay distracted with Christmas, family and friends. But like most children know, the after math will be unknown, punishment  uncertain and it’s hard to undo what was done.

 

So what do we “know” about this “bill” that isn’t written but almost approved?

 

1. $500 BILLION – Medicare cuts
2. $200 Billion in TAXES on Medical “DEVICES” (4)
3. $67 Billion Health Insurance Premiums TAX  (5)
4. Increased Costs of health care as these costs are passed on to us
5. Increased payroll taxes as the government tries to cover the spending / revenue gaps

 

Based on what we have seen, this bill will cut Medicare payments to doctors. Hmmm… wonder who gets to pick up the additional cost of the doctor visit? Must be the health care fairy because they say it will save seniors money. I’m sure the doctors, being the unusually magnanimous and caring individuals they are, will just eat the costs and take it out of their own pockets.

 

$500 BILLION, tell me it isn’t going to hurt your mother and father, you if you’re retired, your kids and grandchildren as they struggle to pay this when you’re gone. Come on, lie to me; keep lying to yourself.

 

$200 BILLION in taxes on medical devices: I have a CPAP for my sleep Apnea. Are you a diabetic with a meter, a heart patient with a pace maker, some one on kidney dialysis? Expect to pay more, much more for those precious life saving, life altering devices. Oh you’re not being taxed, not directly, but since when do companies costs go up and the prices of their products remain the same?

 

$67 BILLION in Health Insurance Premium  taxes: now I wonder who gets the bill for this? Your employer, you, the health care fairy?

 

Employers are us. Don’t you understand that? People own businesses, large and small. The stockholders of Exxon are us through 401Ks, IRAs, pension funds and stock portfolios. Joe’s Bakery is owned by Joe and his family. Business has a face and it is yours. Whether this comes directly from your pocket, disguised in higher costs of goods and services, or fewer jobs with lower pay, WE the People will pay this.

 

The CBO has admitted this is not going to bend the cost curve. In fact they have said it will increase the costs of health care. Who is going to pay this? Hint: keep a mirror very handy.

 

Most of us don’t realize how much we’re paying right now for Medicare & Social Security. Most of us don’t know or understand how much more it’s going to cost.

 

This is what you pay directly

• Social Security taxes (6.2% up to the annual maximum)
• Medicare taxes (1.45% of wages)

 

Most people don’t know or care but your employer pays an equal amount. So the totals are 7.65% paid by you and 7.65% paid by your employer for a grand total of 15.3%. By 2054 this could rise to 37% (1) in order to cover Medicare and Social Security. Thank God I’ll be 103 or dead.

 

The National Center for Policy Analysis stated in June of 2009 “The 2009 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports show the combined unfunded liability of these two programs has reached nearly $107 trillion in today’s dollars!  That is about seven times the size of the U.S. economy and 10 times the size of the outstanding national debt.” (1)   

 

Any idea what this will do to the value of the dollar? How about to the cost of servicing this debt? Remember,the government’s pockets are your pockets, not some undefined and separate weasel we can steal from. Everything thing has consequences and they come back to us in spades with this disaster.

 

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” (3) 

 

Our silence on this and other issues makes us the villains. We The People are not doing our jobs. Think of the House and Senate as your children. If you don’t impose some discipline and order, they run amuck as children will do when adults don’t pay attention.

 

Are you going to be a good parent?

 

If you are, if you want to be, then get off your duff and write that letter, write that e-mail, make that phone call, talk to your neighbors, family friends. Pound your Senators and Congressmen. Get active and get informed. The cost of your silence is too high.

 

I am a Tea Party Patriot because I will not go silent into the night. Will you?

 

Sources:

1. NCPA
2. About.com: Payroll Taxes
3. Pogo a.k.a. Walt Kelly
4. Wall Street Journal
5. Premium Tax Hike

 

Will this bill grant tax-payer funded abortion? YES.  Find out the truth .

The Treasuries of Snow

The snow event of the decade has sent Christmas shoppers retreating to the safety of their homes.  My husband and 13-year old daughter could not resist the steep snowy slope outside, now covered with a foot of new-fallen snow.  I’ve chosen to retire to the couch with my laptop, bible, and warm steaming cup of coffee (with Belgian Toffee creamer …ahh!)

The circumstances of the day reminded me of a scripture that a Facebook friend (Brad) brought up a week ago about the treasuries of snow.  Job 38 is a recorded conversation between God and Job.  It begins with God questioning Job from a whirlwind.  “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”  What ensues is a revelation of some of the marvels of Father’s grand creation.

Verses 22-23 read, “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?”  According to the writings of Enoch, the Treasuries (or armories) of Snow have angelic guardians who oversee their dispersals. 

Washington D.C. is also under a hazardous weather outlook and a winter storm warning.  The brunt of the storm is focused on the District and parts of Northern Virginia who will see anywhere from 14-22 inches by the time the storm has passed.  Coincidentally, CNN.com just posted this headline, “Senate Democrats win over key holdouts to reach 60 votes on reform bill.”  The health care bill has been the subject of closed-door negotiations, today, between liberal and moderate Democrats.  The main hold-out? Taxpayer-funded abortions.  It appears the compromise that won the final vote needed for passing, was to require states to offer at least one plan that excludes abortion coverage. 

The CNN article reads, “In addition, under national plans that would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management, there has to be, if a state chooses those, at least one that does not offer abortion coverage.”

The Senate insisted on meeting today, in spite of the treacherous atmospheric conditions.  There are a number of issues remaining to be voted on  clearing the path for a health-care vote before Christmas break.  It would seem Senate Dems are hell-bent on forcing this vote, without the due process of full disclosure and review.  If it were a righteous bill, with righteous intentions, it would not be invented in darkness behind closed doors. 

About the snow, Washington D.C. hasn’t seen 2 feet of snow in one storm since 1922.  It is certainly worth noting.