Miracle Story

To my readers, I have been on an adventure with our Heavenly Father this week. Let me tell you about it. It all started last week, sales were down, my dentures cracked in half again, my truck is running worse, the brakes and the front end are bad, and to top that, my Mother calls me Sunday telling me Dad is having heart problems again. She says his blood pressure has been weird and his pulse rate fast. Well come Monday she calls again and this time I speak with Dad and he tells me that his rate is running 150 plus. I tell him and Mom he needs to go to the hospital, that he is having another heart attack. So she takes him to the hospital and they sure enough admit him to the cardiac ward at the Veterans Hospital.
I too had suffered the same heart problem my father has back in 1997, Atrial Fibrillation. She told me they were going to do what they did with me, and if the drugs to get his heart back into normal sinus rhythm didn't work they were going to stop his heart with electrocardio shock and "hope" that it would return to normal.
Well come Tuesday she calls and tells me they can't get him back to a normal sinus rhythm with the drugs so they are going to have to shock him to get it back. On top of all the other things that were going on in my life, I was very upset.
My wife understood that and placed a call to her former sister in law who attends the "church" we all go to in Athens, Texas. She called back in minutes and the "church" had decided to purchase me a plane ticket home at the cost of a round trip to Albuquerque and back home by Southwest Airlines, so I could be with my Mom and see my Dad.
I called my boss, who has been a wonderful guy when it comes to understanding the need to be with family. He is Mormon, and I can say for the Mormons- family is all important. We may have deep doctrinal differences but he has always been a standup guy and understanding when it has come to my needed time off work for family matters. I have love for him and his family. I pray for their conversion to truth everyday.
I have deep doctrinal differences in the areas for "church" practice even with the "church" I attend as you can tell by my writings. I attend because there is always a need for love above all things for those we have a relationship with.
Love conquers all.
My wife and step kids and step grandchildren like going there and I personally have a love for their Pastor, as he is a guy that has a sincere love for others. Though we may have differences on my view of things versus his view, we have a love and respect for each other. I admit I am not a consistent building attendee, because of my deep held beliefs in what I beleive should be early Christian Orthopraxy (church practices) for the church. I love God's people whereever they may be and love the body of Christ. I will be talking more about this in future writings, as I have said some very firm things in regard to this. I stand on these things as much as I do what is considered Orthodoxy( church beliefs or doctrine, as taught by Christ, the Apostles and the early church). I have considerable differences over what has happened to Christianity as a result of the changes made by the early church fathers (the paternalistic age) once the Apostles had passed on. I however, will never allow these differences to affect my love for my Christian brethern that may not understand these things or what has happened to the Ekklesia and how we need to return to the practices of the early Ekklesia. Understanding can only be taught most often to others by love and not debate, example and not force.
I want to say the body that gets together there at Faith Church in Athens is like any of the rest of us, they have problems wrestling with the world, the flesh and the devil everyday, but the one thing that helps them conquer often is love for one another and a very understanding and listening Pastor. Brother Leon Wallace is a fine men, and loves God's children. He is only trying to fulfill what he believes God has called Him to do, and the gift of teaching the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon him.
The believers there surely aren't perfect in their faith or their walk and neither am I. I love them all dearly, though we have lots of differing opinions about things. I want to thank those that were behind the decision to provide the funds for my trip home to be with my parents and those that gave this money and took it from their pockets to provide a point of love to me to come out here and be with my family.
I want to now return the spiritual blessing that comes with giving by writing what has transpired since their gift of love.
I want to tell the story of a miracle. My story while here.
I am not one to jump on the miracle boat, or fanciful stories often told by various groups. I approach everything in light of scripture and reality. I don't just accept stories told, I believe just as Jesus had the Leper follow the prescribed verifications for healings as laid out in the traditions of men (The Talmud)and in the Torah (Law of Moses) we should verify all miracles today with the methods provided us today to show the truth of the Gospel of Christ and the power of God in people's lives.
The Leper had to first go show himself to the Priest as prescribed by the Law of Moses and then offer a gift to God. (Luke 5:12-14
The man born blind and healed by Jesus, had to face the interrogation as prescribed by the Talmud and His family had to be interrogated by the high priest as well. (John the 9th chapter)
Jesus told the Leper and the blind man to do all these things as the Pharisees had developed a teaching to verify miracles in their writings known as the Talmud. Moses had prescribed a means in which the Leper was to be proven healed. They did this as there were many fanciful stories told of healings, demons being cast out and more, and many teachers who were not Jewish, etc. This was their way to determine the authenticity of a miracle. It was also as written in the Talmud only certain miracles would be able to be performed by the Messiah to prove he was the Messiah.Interestingly enough, Jesus did all of these.
Today, if we doubt a miracle we can use doctors, reports and all kinds of scientific verifications.
Jesus's miracle was proved using their prescribed methods to the "T" and most of all because there had never been anyone heal a Leper which was one of the things according to their traditional teachings that would verify who was the Messiah.
Only the Messiah, if he came would be able to do this.
Believe it or not, when the Jewish leaders crucified Christ they absolutely, beyond a shadow of doubt, knew they were crucifying the Lord of glory, the Messiah.
Anyway, back to my story.
There should never be any guess work, imagination or making things that aren't true true. That is deception. So I can tell you now, I don't just accept someone's stories of miracles unless they are verifiable. So, I tell you this story because it is true and happened to myself and family while I was here.
Thursday my father was given a stress test, the typical one, running the treadmill and cardiac analysis while having it done. He didn't do that well on it, but his heart seem to be doing well after they had shocked him Wednesday, and had returned to normal sinus rhythm. Wednesday night he did well, heart looked good. Thursday, he did well, Friday morning (today) they had decided to give him a chemical stress test and do some cardiac imaging as well, to insure that once his heart had to do some work he wouldnt have another heart attack.

This morning I got up a little late tired from running to and fro from the hospital for days now, I over slept and wasnt up at the hospital yet when they had Dad do a different physical stress test, and some imaging. Mom had spent the night with Dad there at the hospital. I rushed to get there, and they were ready to take him back upstairs. I pushed him back up in the wheel chair, thinking how it is strange that when we get old all things are reversed. When we were children, our parents had to care for us, nurture us, see us through our illnesses, our bumps, our bruises, but as we get older, we have to now do this for them. What a priviledge it is to return things to your parents that were provided for you so many years ago. Love, compassion care and more. If all Christians could only see how important this is, we could eliminate a lot of lonely shut ins- nursing homes and more.
Well they then did a chemical test on Dad, giving him a drug which makes the heart work harder, speeding up the hard rate, and then taking images of the heart while this all going on.
Well, Mom was a nervous wreck, it was taking a lot of time for some reason for his last imaging with the drug stress test. She could see back in the area where he lay in the imaging machine. She could see several people coming over there and all about him this brought her some concern which was very human on her part to be concerned. I admit I was as well. She walked back there and asked what was going on. Well the machine broke down during his imaging and they had to call the Techs over to fix it while he laid there. They finally got it up and running and he was done. I pushed him once again upstairs to his room in ICU. Knowing it would now be a wait for the Cardiologist to come up to Dad's room. I am talking to Dad while he is sitting up and he is conversing back. I am also watching the cardiogram hookup and noticing his pulse is rising, he is throwing a few PVC's (that's pre-venticular contractions and his pulse rate is rising and bouncing up and down like a ping pong ball. The only reason I can use all these terms and have any understanding of them at all is that I served the Glenwood Springs Emergency Services for 3 years as a certified Firefighter One and Medic. I also had Advanced Cardiac Support training and could interpret cardiac charts, as I took a nursing level course at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado in the subject. I had worked on many a heart patient in the back of an Ambulance in my years there at Glenwood Springs Emergency Service.
Anyway, I call the nurse and ask her if they had yet given Dad his new Beta Blocker, Metopropyl, as his heart was definitely starting to go Tachy and was showing something other than a sinus rhythm. The nurse said no, so she comes in and gives him the pill. Well I waited a bit and assumed he would be fine. As I was leaving I noticed his BPM (beats per minute) was 146. I pointed to Mom and went on. Within an hour of getting home she calls me, crying and upset saying Dad was back in Atrial Fibrillation and the Cardiologist was telling her he was going to have some more invasive procedures. She was very upset and asked me to return and bring his CPAP, which is a breathing machine designed for people with sleep Apnea like myself and my Dad. I got there as soon as I could. On the way, I stopped and breathed a prayer for Dad. Asking the Lord to heal him, and let me have some more years of his wonderful laughter and jokes if it was within His will. I love his smile and and he loves to laugh. I like to make him laugh.
I arrive to find Mom and Dad in tears. Mom told me to talk to the Cardiologist nurse specialist that was the Cardiologist Assistant. Her and I walked around the corner from Dad's room and begin to talk. She begin to tell me the imaging shows some heart disease and damage, and that he will have to stay there and Monday they are taking him in for a Cardiac Catherization. Just as she is giving me the bad news, the Cardiologist walks up and says, "no, wait a minute, we have a change of plans". He tells her and I to follow him in to the room. We do, and he begins to speak.
He says, "I have some good news for you". He says, (quoting)" I don't undertand it but when I and the other Cardiologist were looking at your imaging, we saw diseased and damaged heart tissue.. He said so we took the images to confer with the other Cardiologist and when we all set down together, to look at the images again, there was no damage or diseased tissue showing in the images. We are going to send you home!
"I don't understand it", he replied.
My Dad says, "Well know one can know as much as God and the Doctors".
I and my Mom said it was God. The doctor agreed.
He tells us Dad will live fine with the Atrial Fib as I have since 1997, for him to continue to take the medication, get some exercise and come back for an Echogram in June, a visit with the Cardiologist for a followup in about a month, but he would need no other treatment that they can see as of now.
He is to get himself a new CPAP facial mask fitting on Monday and to use it every night, but he has a good Ventricular beat and he would be fine, go home.
For see, God has so designed our hearts that even when they don't beat perfectly, the ventricular lower half of our heart does all the work and keeps it going. Even when the Atrial just can't get it together all the way, the Doctors have come up with medicines, like the one I am on, which will help our bottom half of our heart keep up a good beat for years to come, and keep the life blood flowing through our veins. God is the great designer and the inspiration for many of these wonderful things discovered by Doctors and researchers. He gives men the ability to see beyond the surface of our skin and look inside. He gives them many abilities to heal us, but ulitmately when it gets down to the bottom wire, he holds all the juice that heals us and keeps us alive. A Doctor can never be God, he can only be a hand of the Lord and only when the Lord chooses to use them. God does use Doctors, but sometimes in cases like this he humbles even the best of Doctors with the surprises that he holds in His hands.
In my mind, that is a miracle!
Confirmed by the Doctor's. No sign of damage or disease. One minute two Cardiologist are saying he is in trouble and I am thinking now I have to call my boss to make arrangements to return to work later, changing flights, my sister was about to fly down and others suddenly between the time these two Cardiologist are going to confer with others, God does a miracle and there is no sign in the images of a problem, and I get to take my Dad home.
What an Awesome God we have!
He is and has always been "the Great Physician"!
This is one of the many confirmed miracle stories I can tell.
God has not ceased from doing miracles, but we must always remember, He does them when He chooses to, in His own timing, His own way, and in His own day. We can't manipulate the Father to do anything for us, even prayer doesnt manipulate God, not when we pray in His will.
"Not my will, but your will be done", this allows us in our heart to see God first and our desires second,this allows us to see God.

Dr. J

in Albquerque, New Mexico with a smile on his face.

What We Teach Our Children - Violence

In the aftermath of yesterday's horrendous senseless massacre at Virginia Tech, the questions are flying across the news, why? Of course, we will hear from all the so called experts, psychologist, therapist, counselors, and security experts. Every news network will have their own individual editorials and commentators tell us why. Well, I want to exercise the same perogative as a Christian and a news commentator.

Let me begin by saying, the answer is simple. Violence begats violence. America is the most violent nation on earth. We are blood thirsty and we are entertained by it. We love revenge, love to inflict injury on those we think harmed us.

Apparently someone harmed this male that committed this autrocity so he did what He has been taught by American politics, American churches, American policy, and American television and entertainment. He sought to avenge himself. To strike back at others before they might get him. To go after those that had caused him harm whether "real or imagined". It's the American way, for goodness sake. We watched after 911, our own "Christian President" go for vengeance. He still is.

Every year in America we slaughter millions of unborn babies. Where are the news commentators while this autrocity and senseless murder goes on? Every evening, you can catch World Wrestling, the Tough Man contest, and great films of violence, full of bloodshed, and murder. If that isn't enough entertainment for you, the delight of watching war and weapons documentaries are every where you turn your TV channel to.
We have the satisfaction of watching, movies about the death penalty being used on the "bad guys" or even the evening news. Better yet, if you are young, there are a thousand choices of new video and PC games you can play. Drag out your XBox or other video game player and you can go into a world of hurt.
Better yet, you can wait until the news comes on and catch some real live violence going on in Iraq. Nothing like seeing men, women and children who aren't your blood kin being killed by the dozens, blood stains on the roadway, blood on the wall. What the heck, it isn't your blood afterall.
Now, I don't want to make the focus as television as the source of all our problems. "Televison is only the reflection of the heart of the society that watches it".
At least that's how I see it. No, let's go to the deeper issue, the heart of a country that claims 80% of it is Christian.

Now, you may have heard all that before, but the fact is God said, the following in the very beginning of time. Let's take a look at a command of God's that he made to Noah, the man of righteousness. This is one of God's earliest commandments to Noah, this is right after "He"- Yahweh had destroyed probably millions, of people with drowning them. He alone maintains justice, he alone is just, to decide who shall live and who shall die. He reminds Noah of this with this short but very powerful command.

Genesis 9:6

Whoever shed's man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God he made man.

Then Our Lord and Savour wrapped the same package up when as the very "revealed Yahweh come to be manifest, in the flesh as Yeshua (Jesus), declares to Peter the exact same thing, in paraphrase to the verse above.
It happened on the night that we as fallen individuals would have acted as Peter did, and drawn our sword to fight off "the evil terrorist", the Pharisees, Judas and the other Temple leaders that were coming to take our King away from us. We would have drawn our sword and cried loudly "Revenge" or better yet, as in the movie with Mel Gibson about the struggle for freedom in Scotland, we would yell "Freedom" and slaughtered everyone in sight that we percieved to be our enemy, allowing the blood to splatter on our faces as they did. Yet, in the midst of the opportunity to defend their King and as far as that goes, the King to defend himself, Yeshua (Jesus), reminds Peter of these very words spoken by Yahweh thousands of years before.

Matthew 26:52

Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into it's place; for all who take up the sword shall perish by the sword."

How we have perverted the Gospel with our misunderstanding of the Old Testament and the actions Yahweh took to set apart for himself a people after His own heart. How He allowed them, as an instrument of His righteousness, to use the sword only for the Theocracy of the nation of Israel at that time. God is no longer in the nation business, or the physical kingdom business. He is in the Kingdom of God business, building a spiritual Kingdom. There has been a covental change. God can do as He pleases, you and I cannot!
It was not the heart of the Father to kill and maim and murder others, but there was no other way to punish the wicked, to keep His people from joining into the pagan nations around them and their taking on the pagan nations, sin and idolatry.
He, being the only "just" being there is in all the universe "could and can" make that decision to destroy physically the wicked. He has never, given that over to the hand of men. He allows governments to be formed, he doesn't put a stamp of approval on one or the other. He allows men to be unjust to men, for He is working out His plan. How could one ever use Romans 13 in the way American church goers do for American, they would have to justify Hitler, Stalin or any of their regimes to say, God established them and to go against them is sin.
All government has a wicked heart and desires nothing more than to power over others. For the Word of God tells us that these kingdoms belong to the enemy, Satan.
Thus, we see, our own slowly dissolving into totalitarianism as well. Men always desire to be in power over other men. This has been church history as well.

Now some may argue, that Romans 13 states differently, and in one way it is true he allows men to establish governments, and laws, and some to carry the sword, but it has never been His desire or His way for men. For He would be contradicting His own statement in Genesis and in Matthew.

Yahweh knows the heart of men, and He knows in our fallen state, men will always seek power over others.
Yet, as Christians we have been called to "power under" men. Just as our Lord did, when He could have called ten thousand angels, when He could have armed His disciples and used His powers to destroy Rome and Israel right then and there. He knew what was going to happen to Israel for their rejection of Him, and that was the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
He used a wicked nation to destroy another wicked nation - Israel. He had warned them and told them "for the blood of all the prophets and the saints were upon their heads"

Now, we ask, what can we do, to avoid future situations like the new "Columbine" killing at Virginia Tech? Well, my answer is this, we can't stop the world with their wars and hatred, with their thirst for blood, for their love of the sword. We can't even imagine that we can, for Jesus said, "there will be wars and rumors of wars", until He returns.
He also qualified what we as individual Christians are to do, and that is not to be a partaker of this world's ways of hatred, war, blood thirst, and violence. "Take no revenge, love your enemy"!
He set a people apart for himself, these are His people who have beaten their swords into plowshares. Who can lie down with a lion as a lamb, who can turn the other cheek, who can love their enemy, who don't answer insult with insult, injury with injury, just as our Lord did not in every aspect of His life.

We can do all we can to try to justify our love for blood shed, but the Lord has already spoken and when we disregard His word, and live like the world, act like the world, then we "who claim to be Christian" will suffer the consequences like the world - we will die by the sword.

It doesn't take a degree in psychology or security to understand the very simple, but powerful statement, that Jesus made on that evening. When if ever, there could have or should have been looking at things in the eyes of men, there been a breakout of violence and bloodshed, this would have been the time to do it. Yet, Jesus told Peter; "those who live by the sword will die by the sword".

What are you teaching your children at home, in your attitude's and opinion of these things? Do you love the world, it's VIOLENCE? Do you get all excited to see someone get blownup in a movie, killed by a gun, stabbed by a knife. No matter what that person is, or who he is, or what your opinion may be of him or her- it still comes down to this "they are created in God's image"- and if you shed THEIR blood, God will require that YOUR blood be shed too.

How we like to spout off the Ten Commandments to others, that is the "9" commandments, for one of the ten says this:

Exodus 20:13
You shall not murder.

By the way, there are 613 commandments, can you name them? Do you keep them?

We quickly judge others, when our own hearts are not right with the Lord.

All I can say, until real Christians start coming out of the woodwork (the world's molding) and take a stand like the once forgotten AnaBaptist and their now day brethern against being a part of the world and it's kingdoms, the Mennonites, the German Brethern and the Amish, we will see a lot more of the Virginia Techs type of violence, and I can promise with the direction the so called organized church is going now, with their love for violence, and war and all the gory murdering aspects of thinking they are going to build a "City of God" - ie; America, get out the easy chairs, and turn on your TV's because the bloodshed entertainment is just getting started.

How often I have heard the warmongers like to take Romans 13 out of context to justify their lust for hate and bloodshed, and yet they never read or qoute from the verse previous to Romans 13:1-7

What about Romans 12: 1-2 or Romans 12:17-21 or the ending of their favorite out of context scripture, verse 8 in Romans 13.

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

My answer as to why the senseless violence in America today is this- GOD SAID!

...but men say differently.

Jesus said it then and he says it now to the body of Christ -

"You nullify the commandments of God for the traditions of men! "

Thus, what we teach our children - Violence.

Dr. J.

Israel, Dispensationalism, Truth and the News

It seems the news always contains something about Israel and the Middle East. As an independent news writer and editor, sometimes, it becomes necesssary to let your readers know where you stand on issues, and what you believe. It is especially important because my viewpoint of History and what Christ means to me, as a believer and my bias in reporting or commenting on news will often be subjective and opinionated, then one needs to understand my theology and more. I believe absolutely that Christ died for my sins, was raised from the grave and ascended to the Father to give us, the Holy Spirit, who trust in Him, and to live His resurrected life within the believer by grace through faith, and that it is His work alone that saves, sanctifiies and glorifies the believer. We are to trust him and in this trust comes obedience by His Spirit.

A little history of the Hebrews from 597 until today on their belief structure and more.

The Chaldeans, following standard Mesopotamian practice, deported the Jews after they had conquered Jerusalem in 597 BC. The deportations were large, but certainly didn't involve the entire nation. Somewhere around 10,000 people were forced to relocate to the city of Babylon, the capital of the Chaldean empire. In 586 BC, Judah itself ceased to be an independent kingdom (which they were), and the earlier deportees found themselves without a homeland, without a state, and without a nation. This period, which actually begins in 597 but is traditionally dated at 586, is called the Exile in Jewish history; it ends with an accident in 538 when the Persians overthrow the Chaldeans.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Chaldeans, only deported the most prominent citizens of Judah: professionals, priests, craftsmen, and the wealthy. The "people of the land" (am-hares ) were allowed to stay. So Jewish history, then, has two poles during the exile: the Jew in Babylon and the Jews who remain in Judah. We know almost nothing of the Jews in Judah after 586. Judah seems to have been wracked by famine, according to the biblical book, Lamentations , which was written in Jerusalem during the exile. The entire situation seemed to be one of infinite despair. Some people were better off; when Nebuchadnezzar deported the wealthy citizens, he redistributed the land among the poor. So some people were better off. In addition, there were rivalries between the two groups of Jews. It is clear that the wealthy and professional Jews in Babylon regarded themselves as the true Jewish people.These are the same people today who call themselves - Jews

The salient feature of the exile, however, was that the Jews were settled in a single place by Nebuchadnezzar. While the Assyrian deportation of Israelites in 722 BC resulted in the complete disappearance of the Israelites, the deported Jews formed their own community in Babylon and retained their religion, practices, and philosophies. Some, it would seem, adopted the Chaldean religion (for they name their offspring after Chaldean gods), but for the most part, the community remained united in its common faith in Yahweh.

They called themselves the "gola," ("exiles"), or the "bene gola" ("the children
of the exiles"), and within the crucible of despair and hopelessness, they forged a new national identity and a new religion. The exile was unexplainable; Hebrew history was built on the promise of Yahweh to protect the Hebrews and use them for his purposes in human history. Their defeat and the loss of the land promised to them by Yahweh seemed to imply that their faith in this promise was misplaced. This crisis, a form of cognitive dissonance (when your view of reality and reality itself do not match one another), can precipitate the most profound despair or the most profound reworking of a world view. For the Jews in Babylon, it did both.

From texts such as Lamentations , which was probably written in Jerusalem, and Job , written after the exile, as well as many of the Psalms , Hebrew literature takes on a despairing quality. The subject of Job is human suffering itself. Undeserving of suffering, Job, an upright man, is made to suffer the worst series of calamities possible because of an arbitrary test. When he finally despairs that there is no cosmic justice, the only answer he receives is that humans shouldn't question God's will. That God is sovereign. Many of the psalms written in this period betray an equal hopelessness.
But the Jews in Babylon also creatively remade themselves and their world view. In particular, they blamed the disaster of the Exile on their own impurity, their forgetting of the Law and breaking the Torah and it's 613 commandments. They were sure they had betrayed Yahweh and allowed the Mosaic laws and cultic practices to become corrupt; the Babylonian Exile was proof of Yahweh's displeasure.

During this period, Jewish leaders no longer spoke about a theology of judgement, but a theology of salvation. In texts such as Ezekiel and Isaiah ,there is talk that the Israelites would be gathered together once more, their society and religion purified, and the unified Davidic kingdom be re-established. However, what they missed was God was going to establish a "spiritual" kingdom and not a physical kingdom and not the nation of Israel.

These scriptures misunderstood then, and when they crucified Christ because he didnt fulfill these things physically, are still misinterpreted and misunderstood even more today, but now not only by those who call themselves Israel but the true Jew or (Israel, the church) today.
It wasn't until the 1800's with the advent of the Scofield Bible and it's pro Zionist (separating Jews from Christians)commentary and premillenial doctrines did the church believe that Israel was to re-establish a physical nation in the "promised land, once again to usher the coming of Christ"
The prophets, that Israel misundersood then, when they crucified Christ and even today with the re-establishment of an aparthied government known as the State of Israel still persist due to poor interpretation and pro-Zionistic leading by pro Zionism even within the Christian Church.

Yes, it was to the Jews he gave the promises and the law, but they rejected it and as a result only a remnant was saved when the church began and even unto today only a remnant is being saved. Paul and the earliest Christians, the Apostles and the beleivers at Jerusalem- who were all Jewish were and are part of this remnant even until today.Along with those who claim to be Hebrew or believe in the Torah alone come to know Christ since then. What most Christians don't realize is the Torah is not the Jewish authority today nor was it when Christ was here. The Talmud and the rabbincal teachings have replaced the Torah (the first five books of the Bible which includes the 613 commandments of God).
So this period is marked by a resurgence in Jewish tradition, as the exiles looked back to their Mosaic origins in an effort to revive their original religion. It is during this time that the Jews began to develop the Mishnah, the Gemara and what is finally known as the Talmud which is what the Jews beleive in and practice today. The Torah by the time Christ came was lost to thousands of interpretations and new (fence) laws made by the Sophraim and the Tannah and thus Christ told them- "You nullify the Commandments of God for the traditions of men".

The Talmud has become the central text of the Jewish faith. The one thing that allowed Israel to rediscover itself at this time was the fervent revival of religious tradition it was aided by another incident in history: when Cyrus the Persian conquered Mesopotamia, he allowed the Jews to return home. This was no ordinary event, though. Cyrus sent them home specifically to worship Yahweh—what was once only a kingdom would become a nation of Yahweh.
The so called nation of Israel if based that they are to return to their homeland has been fulfilled many times before 1949. It may be that never before was a particular area called Israel since the Babylonian captivity but it is not the land that God promises those of Hebrew origin but Himself, if but they would return to him.
One of the main reasons the Law has not made the Hebrew or those claiming to be Jewish, lead them as "the school master to Christ" as it did us, who claim to be Christian, is the purity of the original 613 commandments made by God to Israel has been turned into ridiculous and long discourse of the law which in themselve have become the law for Jews.
Judaism, regardless of what you may mistakenly beleive has nothing to do with the honor of the Torah as the Supreme law of God as the pre-Babylonian Jews trusted in and broke it's laws but the traditions of these men who wrote the Misnah, the Gemara, now known as the Talmud and all the rabbinic discussions since. The Talmud and it's writings are anti-Christ in nature and anti-Christian. One must study to discover these things as I have, and read the Talmud and the Jewish writings of today to discover this truth. Israel- the nation of Israel is made up of Zionist and those who hold to the supremacy of themselves over all races, including American Gentiles ( Gentile, here, having the meaning - all of us who do not accept the Talmud and their Jewish supremacy over all other races in the world). Most Americans and even most preachers in America have simply accepted what has been handed down to them as interpretation of the majority of Paul's writings in Romans on this subject, and the most predominant teaching since the 1800's has been Darby's and Scofield's popularizing this DISPENSATIONAL interpretation of Biblical prophecy, all of scripture, and the book of Revelation.

However, they weren't alone in this non-biblical interpretation of scripture. Here is the story behind DISPENSATIONALISM, from whence most of the premillenial doctrine is taken. It will surprise you, it may even anger you at me for telling you, but what I hope is it will anger you that you have been so mislead to believe in DISPENSATIONALISM. It will anger you to find that the foreign policies and the War against Terrorism and much of the Police State, that is already in effect in Israel is driven by Pro-Zionist and those in the church who proscribe to these cultic theories of DISPENSATIONALISM.

The Origins of Dispensationalism

Most people assume that Dispensationalism started with J N Darby, one of the originators of the Brethren movement. Certainly Darby popularised this doctrine and, with the spread Scofield’s reference Bible, the teaching went world wide. However, Darby was not the first to develop these ideas. In fact, there is now conclusive evidence that there was a plan by William Kelly (another key Brethren leader, and follower of Darby) to discredit the real origins, because of their dubious pedigree, and inflate the place of Darby.

I should be very clear that Dispensationalism finds no place in the entire history of the church before 1830. No one has yet found any credible evidence that anybody believed or taught such a thing. This alone should cause alarm bells to ring in our spiritual ears. When we learn the true origin of the error, we can see even more reason to steer clear.

Key Distinctives of Dispensationalism

Before we proceed, we need to clarify exactly what this teaching is in connection with other eschatological theories.
Dispensationalism is a variant of
Historic Premillennialism,that is the teaching that Christ will return after the Great Tribulation and establish a 1000 year reign on the earth (millennium) before the final battle with Satan (Armageddon), which issues in final judgment and a new earth.
Postmillennialism
teaches that Christ returns after a golden age of 1000 years where the church rules the earth in righteousness;
Amillennialism
believes that there is no Biblical teaching about a literal millennium and that the only passage which mentions is (Rev 20) is symbolically speaking of the age of grace in which we now live.

Dispensationalism is very different and has become the predominant belief in America and versions of it are growing rapidly in Britain. One problem is that it has very many variations, so to simplify our approach we will keep to essential distinctives. These are:
• Two comings of Christ. One an appearing for the saints in the air, the other a return with the saints. A period of 7 years separates these comings. In this time of tribulation, the Gospel is preached by a remnant of believing Jews and Christians not spiritual enough to be raptured.

• A secret rapture of some saints before the period of tribulation when the
antichrist will arise. This is the key distinctive called the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, (henceforth: pretribulation). This is imminent and could happen at any time.

• A dichotomy between the church and Israel. Jews are God’s true covenant people who will inherit the literal covenant promises, the church is God’s stop-gap
operation which benefits from Jewish promises. This distinction is seen as the most important Dispensational tenet by Dispensationalists Charles Ryrie and John Walvoord.

• A rigid literal approach to interpretation, especially of prophetic books.
This divides the Bible into that which refers to the Kingdom (Israel) and that which speaks of the Church.

• History is divided into specific dispensations where God deals with men in a
certain way. Each of these time periods ends in failure and judgment.

The most important aspects in evaluating the origin are: the pretribulation rapture and the dichotomy of Israel/Church.


The Origins
Pre 19th century

Some isolated superficial ‘dispensational’ statements have appeared throughout history. Some 18th century writers began to systematise some of these ideas e.g: Pierre Poiret and Isaac Watts. No one, however, taught a pretribulation rapture.
Everyone believed that the church would go through the Great Tribulation. Claims, of
some, to find it in the early church fathers are false. There is some amillennialism
there, but none of the key distinctives of Dispensationalism:there is no separation of the church and Israel and no idea of Christians escaping the tribulation or antichrist by a rapture.

The earliest form of a ‘secret’ rapture was the idea of a partial rapture which
separated some saints from others after the tribulation. This really was about
prioritisation at the second coming, spiritual believers being given priority over less worthy ones. No one saw a place for Jews until the very end and there was no form of Church/Israel dichotomy.

19th century prophetic conferences

During the 18th century there was very little teaching on the Lord’s return. As a result, a reaction began in the 1820’s and 30’s. Prophetic periodicals and references abounded. Most important were the Albury conferences established by Henry Drummond in 1826-30, but the Powerscourt Conferences, instituted by Lady Powerscourt, were also significant. Anglican S.R Maitland began to teach a future rise of Antichrist and a 3½ year great tribulation in 1826. His follower,James Todd, also wrote extensively on the subject. William Burgh converted to this ‘futurist’ view of Revelation and wrote systematically upon it in 1835.

Edward Irving

Before we continue, we must explain the person of Edward Irving. Originally a Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) minister, he moved to London in 1822 and became a very famous preacher. He was such a powerful and stimulating speaker, who attracted great
crowds, that in 1827 the large Regent Square church was erected for him. This was the first to adopt modern charismatic practices (including tongues) following Irving’s belief that the gifts of the Spirit were about to be given again. Tongues first appeared in the west of Scotland in Spring 1830 but were soon present in Irving’s church. Being expelled by the Church of Scotland in 1833 he established
the Catholic Apostolic Church which was fully charismatic, including a belief in the vital role of prophets and apostles. Events soon took a turn for the worse with the gifts being abused and overruling common sense. Irving himself was ousted by men with gifts of supposed greater (apostolic) authority, and many serious doctrinal and ethical aberrations resulted. Irving himself taught a false Christology. As a result, Irving died a demoralised man and the whole movement was vilified.

In 1830, however, Irving was at the height of his fame, and spoke at the Albury
conferences. His journal "The Morning Watch", which had a high eschatological content, was widely distributed. We should note that this journal was susceptible to many weird teachings in its desire to undergird a new wave of spiritual gifts.
Some examples follow.

• Human pre-existence, author: ‘WL’. March 1830.

• The church will give birth to generations of new people in heaven to inhabit
other worlds, author: ‘C’. Sept 1830.

• The Jewish occult Cabbala rested on a ‘stable’ foundation, author not named. Sept 1830.

• Christ will multiply human beings, from the church in heaven, not by creation, but by mysterious generation in the same way that Christ was generated, author: Irving, March 1833.

• The Zodiac will bring out from secular science a conclusive demonstration of
scripture chronology, author not named. March 1833.

These sorts of doctrinal aberrations were felt to be: ‘mysteries heretofore unknown’ (Morning Watch June 1833). The same issue derided great theologians of the past, denigrated Christians that studied their writings as ‘idolaters’ and called the Evangelical World: ‘modern Moabites’.

Like many other cults, it was deemed necessary that one must join them and be
initiated to be safe. Irvingite historian Edward Miller explains that it was necessary to be sealed by the apostles of the Catholic Apostolic Church in order to escape the Imminent Great Tribulation. Each of the Irvingite apostles had to seal 12,000 before he died, but failed to do so in time (and insufficient volunteers). A helpful prophet declared that the sealing would thus be carried on in Paradise.

Roman Catholic influence

The Irvingite church journal (The Morning Watch) carried an article in September 1830 that posited a two phased coming of Christ. This critical idea is originated from a Roman Catholic Jesuit Spanish writer, called Manuel Lacunza. His book, The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty, was translated by Irving in 1827 and studied at the Albury conference, and especially at the later Powerscourt meetings. This is important - one of the key spurs to the foundations of Dispensationalism was the study of the imaginations of a Roman Jesuit, the ideas of another Jesuit, Ribera, were also considered.

So, by about 1830 we have a high degree of eschatological speculation in conferences, books and journals; a futurist view of Revelation; a growing acceptance of extreme ideas including charismania; a Jesuit view of two second comings of Christ; ideas about the separation of the church and Israel; a parenthesis of the Jewish kingdom (see later); and the expected rise of antichrist and the Great tribulation. It is also interesting to note that Joseph Smith published the Book of
Mormon, teaching a regathering of Israel, in 1830. In 1831 William Miller (the founder of Adventism) began teaching his ‘findings’. Jehovah’s Witnesses also started soon afterwards. Chiliasm (millennialism) was in the air in the mid 19th century. The missing ingredient, however, is a secret rapture.

Margaret Macdonald

The first person to speak about a pretribulation rapture was a young girl named
Margaret Macdonald from Port Glasgow (15 miles from Glasgow) who was familiar with The Morning Watch and Edward Irving. The vehicle of this idea was a vision which was written down and read by Irving. In the early 1800’s, some people were beginning to think of a future tribulation and Antichrist. Earlier, most had been historicists who saw the 1260 days of Revelation as years, viewing tribulation as present or past and seeing the Antichrist in the pope, or Napoleon, and the beast as Jews, pagans, Arians, Saracens etc.

In 1829 The Morning Watch represented the most advanced prophetical ideas, including:
• a future tribulation and Antichrist.
• a literal rapture
• a partial rapture (only those filled with the Spirit)
• however, the man-child of Rev 12 was not seen as a church symbol
• an emphasis upon the witnesses of Zecharia tied in to the witnesses of Revelations 11.

[Historically, these witnesses had been seen as the Old and New Testaments, or alternatively as Enoch and Elijah (who had been raptured)].

Margaret saw these witnesses as a symbol of the church which introduced a completely new eschatological idea. Irving (as a historicist) had come close to this in seeing the Rev 11 witnesses as a succession of chosen men faithful to God. This is found in his introduction to the translation of Lacunza’s: The Coming of the Messiah’. (Although he later in the same work states that they are a symbol of the scriptures.) Lacunza also saw them as 78utwo congregations of faithful ministers, but neither saw them as being secretly raptured before the Tribulation. Irving, like many others, believed he was already in the 1260 year Tribulation.

Young Margaret Macdonald, who had such a critical influence in the formation of
pretribulation was a poor foundation on which to rest. Her insight came in a lengthy vision after prolonged sickness which required bed-rest for 18 months. This was written down and passed to ministers, including Irving at a time when he was very susceptible to such charismatic revelation. Margaret had also only been a Christian for a year and was uneducated. It was probably these facts which led to the origin being obscured and publicised by more educated men.

Margaret was also particularly open to the occult. Robert Norton wrote of her and a friend, ‘I have seen both her and Miss Margaret Macdonald stand like statues scarcely touching the ground, evidently supernaturally’. Andrew Drummond tells us that Margaret’s close friend Mary Campbell practised automatic writing and had intense psychical power and was a medium. Margaret also predicted that socialist Robert Owen was the Antichrist at the time she had her pretribulation vision. Margaret herself began to speak in tongues about four months after her vision in August 1830.

"The Morning Watch"

The Morning Watch did not credit Margaret Macdonald as its inspiration, although it does mention ‘several young women’ having given deep revelation in a few broken sentences.

Robert Baxter, a lawyer who became disillusioned with the Irvingites and left
them wrote about Margaret in his Narrative of Facts. He states that: ‘the delusion first appeared in Scotland’ but ‘it was not until adopted and upheld by Mr Irving, that it began to challenge much attention.’ Margaret’s (uncredited) vision appeared in 1840 in the Memoirs of James & George Macdonald of Port Glasgow written by Robert Norton. In 1861 he told her vision and named her specifically, identifying her as the source of the new doctrine. The fact that the Irvingites initiated the teaching of pretribulation is also asserted by several contemporaries,including eminent Brethren writers, such as: S. P. Tregelles, J. P. Lange, Thomas Croskery,
Edward Miller (Irvingite historian), William Reid, George Stokes and J. S. Teulon.

Subsequent to receiving a copy of Margaret’s vision, The Morning Watch went into overdrive in explaining their modification of eschatology. The caught up of 1 Thess 4 is now separated from the gathering of Matt 24. An article by ‘Fidus’ in June 1830 clearly states that ‘Philadelphia’ (spiritual believers) will be raptured and ‘Laodicea’ (non-spiritual Christians, and Jews who follow Antichrist) will be left on earth to endure the Great tribulation. Margaret had rested on the ‘two
witnesses’ symbol, Fidus on the 7 churches.

Later, others (especially Darby) would rest upon the ‘man-child’ symbol. Pretribulation must lean upon these symbols from Revelation because there is absolutely no clear, non-symbolic statement in the Bible to defend it.

The pretribulation rapture became known as ‘the secret rapture’. This has tendencies of developing an elitist, arcane society of adherents, those who are privileged to know about the secret or are especially spiritual in order to take part in it. In June 1832, it was stated that the Lord’s coming was only a joy for those prepared and looking for it. Only they would see the Lord, the rest of the church would only see this first appearance as a meteor or cloud.

Other ideas began to emerge. In June 1832 an article on the feast of Tabernacles saw the seven days of the feast as seven years, the thirteen bullocks slain indicated a confederacy of thirteen hostile powers, during the rise of Antichrist, Gog and Magog etc. This appears to be the first mention of a seven year tribulation period. Out of interest, Darby was teaching a tribulation of three and a half years as late as 1868.

Because the symbolism of types can be interpreted according to other influences, once sound Biblical hermeneutics are ignored,the interpretation of the feasts varied significantly from year to year. Irvingites shifted the rapture from feast 6 (of Lev 23’s 7 feasts) to feast 5, then feast 4 and even feast 3 within the first few years. Modern Dispensationalists have the same problems.

Scofield based his pretribulation rapture on feast 3 (firstfruits). Hal Lindsey has a rapture somewhere between feast 3 and 7. Edgar Whisenant based it upon feast 5, stating that it would occur in 1988. Another recent author stated that it would occur in May 1997.

Irving’s man-child ideas began to emerge in June 1831; repeated by Darby in 1839. He took Paul’s teaching on the union of believers with Christ and transferred it to the the interpretation of OT prophecy and Revelation symbolism. References to ‘Christ’ became corporate, especially the veiled reference of the man-child in Rev 12. With appalling exegesis he sees a first company gathered (rapture of the singular child) before the others of the church who suffer in the Great Tribulation (a remnant of the woman’s seed).

Questions raised by this nonsense include:

• Part of the symbol is literal (‘caught up’),and part is taken spiritually (‘man-child’).

• If the man-child literally referred to Christ as claimed, why did the disciples not accompany Christ into heaven at his ascension?

• If the man-child symbolises a pretribulation rapture at Rev 12:5, the head
needs to be on earth for the whole body and members to be caught up together.

• If the church is already mysteriously (spiritually) joined to the head, why does the church need to be with him in person at Rev 12:5?

Development by Darby

Dave MacPherson has catalogued Darby’s main eschatological beliefs in 21 tenets. He then demonstrates that all of these are present, using the same wording, in Edward Irving’s preliminary discourse to Lacunza’s work published in 1827. In 1829, Darby himself was only voicing 6 of the 21 items. For instance, in 1829 Darby had a Post-tribulation outlook and only saw a distinction, not a dichotomy (separation) between Israel and the church. Darby also quoted Irving, Lacunza and
The Morning Watch in 1830.

Furthermore, Darby’s idea of the parenthesis (where the Jewish kingdom is put
on hold while the Gentile church is developed) appeared in 1830; but the same thought in very similar wording appeared in The Millennium by W C Davis of South Carolina in 1811. Lacunza also frequently mentioned this word in explaining prophetic scripture. It was only in 1870 that Darby’s development led to the position now held by modern dispensationalists. He ceased to emphasise the man-child symbol in favour of the Philadelphia symbol, or even the apostle John who heard ‘Come up hither’. All these had been previously stated by Irvingites, even
using John as a church symbol.

Darby’s later reminiscences show signs of misrepresentation and plagiarism. For example, his observations of an 1830’s Scottish prayer meeting conducted by the Macdonalds, and which included tongue speaking,is almost identical to the report given by John B. Cardale printed in The Morning Watch, Dec 1830, except for one item. Darby omits Margaret’s utterances regarding a pretribulation deliverance. Other writers noted this. F. Roy Coad called it, ‘disingenuous tactics’ and ‘descended to the disreputable’. Benjamin Newton wrote that Darby was most subtle (i.e. sly). Darby can be claimed as a populariser of other’s thoughts on pretribulation predispensationalism, but not the originator - as is everywhere claimed.

Earlier historians and theologians were not in the dark on this. George Stokes wrote: ‘Darby ... imbibed the Irvingite theories about prophecy, which coincided with his natural turn of mind.' Samuel Tregelles, one of the ablest 19th century scholars and a Brethren leader, said that the Secret Rapture doctrine was developed by Irvingites, that Darbyites wrote heterodox tracts, misrepresented historic writings to suit their ideas, and added unsound thoughts to quotes of existing writers, all excused as being done for the honour of God. In editing Darby’s
works, William Kelly deliberately revised them to give the impression that Darby originated the key doctrines and used editing techniques to misrepresent the Irvingite position. Modern Dispensationalists have continued this error, by accident or design.
After being taken on board by the Brethren leader, John Darby, some Brethren
leaders (like B. W. Newton, George Muller) rejected it. S. P. Tregelles added that the idea came from a false spirit prompting a vision in Irving’s church. Other contemporary leaders, like Charles Spurgeon and William Booth also condemned the teaching.
The ideas were exported by several visits of Darby to the USA (between 1859-74) and a series of prophetic conferences (1878-1901) presenting Dispensationalism to Americans. Delegates included Hudson Taylor, A.T. Pierson. A.J. Gordon, S.H. Kellog and W.J. Erdman.

The Scofield Bible and other writings

Dispensationalism was Internationally popularised by the Scofield Reference Bible (arising out of these conferences and published in 1909 with over 3 million sold by 1960), J.N. Darby’s writings, William Kelly’s books, E.W. Bullinger’s The Companion Bible, W.E. Blackstone’s Jesus is Coming (hundreds of thousands sent free to Christian workers in USA) and many other Brethren writings. Many of these works denigrated existing commentaries, and even the church Fathers and the Reformers, and boasted a special revelation, only their works truly understood God’s mysteries.

This gave these ideas an attractive and popular ‘novelty’ to the Christian public. It should also be noted that there was widespread corruption in the church at large in this period with a poor level of teaching (despite some notable exceptions). As a result, many people jumped on to Darby’s bandwagon which
promoted a return to exegetical teaching of the Bible. ‘He (Darby) was able to do what he did because there was a great need ... the church was corrupt, the clergy unlearned.

Liberalism had all but taken over. Prophetic teachings ... were almost unheard of.
Multitudes were spiritually starved’.

The current situation

Today, the most popular systematic defenders are Americans (live & dead) like:
Charles Ryrie, John Walvoord, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Arno Gaebelein, J. Dwight Pentecost and Ernest Pickering. At a popular level, there are numerous melodramatic paperbacks (like Hal Lindsey’s: The Late Great Planet Earth and Bruce Larson, Armaggedon) or like films.

We can identify the following varieties:
· Classical Dispensationalism -
(Scofield, Chafer), Israel is on the earth, the church is in heaven and the two never meeting the new world. There are two ways of salvation: works in the OT and faith in the NT. Chafer holds to two covenants. This view dominated 1900-1950’s.
· Hyper Dispensationalism - Instead of finding the usual Dispensationalist origin of the church in Acts 2, these see it in Acts 13 (as Charles Baker, author of A Disp. Theology and associated with Grand Rapids Grace Bible College!).
· Ultra Dispensationalism - The church begins in Acts 28 (as E.W. Bullinger, hence sometimes called Bullingerism). Therefore, only a few of Paul’s letters apply to the church, the rest of the NT is Jewish.
· Neo Dispensationalism - (Ryrie, Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost). Israel and the
church will be together after the millennium; there is only one way to salvation in both testaments (faith); there is only one new covenant. Dallas seminary promotes this view.
· Progressive Dispensationalism - In recent years some have realised that even some of the Neo Dispensational views are untenable and have sought to further ameliorate its teaching (e.g: Robert Saucy, Craig Blaising, Darrell Bock).
They state that:
o The church is not a parenthesis but the first step towards establishing the kingdom of God.
o God does not have two purposes (i.e. Israel and the church), there is only one purpose, but both of them share in it.
o There is no distinction between Israel and the church in the future state.
o The church will reign (with Jews) in glorified bodies on earth during the
millennium.
o But - they still insist that OT prophecies regarding Israel will be fulfilled
in the millennium by ethnic Jews. They do not see the church as the new Israel or believe that OT prophecies are fulfilled in the church.

One can begin to see how complex and varied this scheme is. There is, also,
hopeless disagreement among its teachers. Is it really conceivable that the greatest saints in the history of the church could have not known of this ‘vital’ truth for 1900 years?

Also consider that the foundation was laid by: a Roman Catholic Jesuit, a discredited, charismatic heretic and a young girl influenced by hallucinations and connected with occult practices.

Go figure how this belief system has so influenced American politics and the preaching of this in America, to create Christian Nationalism, the greatest lie told to the church, so that is has become proactive in this idolatry to the point we have become a nation of war mongering and blood shedding of any others that would disagree with us, all except the present nation of Israel, who not only is
allowed to have WMD's but continue it's persecution of all those that in anyway would oppose their authority over all of the Middle East. We have somehow come to beleive that as long as we support this Zionist nation, we too are some how the nation, with the promised land and the physical promises that can never be removed.
Wrong, as history and time will tell. If we continue, on the same path as Israel, to put ourselves, above God and others, and not promote the Kingdom of God over the earthly kingdoms of men, we will soon find the destruction of America just as Israel found itself under the destruction by Rome in 70 AD. It is our call to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone, to bring forth the true Jew, as Paul so elogantly put it - those not circumcised in the flesh but in the heart. The true Israel, the organized church is unable to realize is the unseen "universal church" (EKKLESIA) "the called out one's" of Christ who no longer look for an earthly kingdom, but live by the Lord's prayer. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Remember it is Paul who said that "there is neither, Jew nor Greek, nor male or female, all are one in Christ".
How easy it is to be decieved, even with the very first letter Paul wrote sometime in 51 AD, to the church of Galatia, the Judaizers were then trying to destroy Christianity with a return to the Old Covenant and circumcision of believers as they have so subtley done so today to convince us that God has any kingdom on this earth.

"The Kingdom of God is within you", Christ said. This is the rulership of our Father in our lives over all things and all purposes, all desires of this world (Cosmos) which the Bible says very clearly, "they are blinded by the god of this world"- Satan. I am not anti-Semitic nor do I hate the people in Israel or any race called the Hebrews, but the truth is they are blind and as long as any Hebrew continues to reject Christ he as all others including Americans, Chinese or whoever, they are under the power of Satan and blinded by him.

I refer you to a scripture now, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that "all" will be condemned "who have not believed" the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

It is time the church rejects these ideas of dichtomy (seperation) of the Jews and the Church and realize, there is only one true Israel it will all be saved, as it is made up of men and women, of all races, creeds and color, who given their lives to Christ and recognize him as King now, and the Promised Land as the dwelling place we have with him now in the Spirit.