#evangelism — Public Fediverse posts

Apologetics: Stranger in a Strange Land – Another New Age Expo.

It’s been several months, which means that it’s time for yet another post about my experience at the New Age Expo. Yippee!

This expo was a lot smaller than the one I went to earlier in the year. It was at a different location that was tiny compared to the last one, yet somehow, the organizers managed to shove at least a quarter of last time’s booths into the space. This inevitably made it a cramped maze of booths and tables (mostly revolving around crystals and psychic readings) that made it hard to navigate. And since most of the people there were selling psychic readings and were doing sessions with their clients, I didn’t get the chance to talk to a lot of people. But the ones I did speak with were interesting.

The first person I spoke to was a lady who was essentially selling various talismans, herbs, potions, etc. designed to bring about various things like love, prosperity, inner peace, protection…blah, blah, blah. We had a conversation about energy and how all the things that she was selling give off energy and can help change vibrations. Her reasoning for this belief is that vibrations determine how we sense the world around us, so various things to affect those vibrations will help change our reality and bring us various things.

This is obviously pseudo-science. While there is something to be said about vibrations affecting how we perceive reality, we can’t just tamper with those vibrations to manifest a new reality for ourselves. Sure, the sound of ocean waves or a certain smell may calm us and help us feel better, but they can’t bring about money, love, protection, etc.

Speaking of that, the next person I spoke to was yet another woman who was selling various types of jewelry that were meant to bring about similar things. Essentially, what she would do is have you pick your jewelry, she would perform a ritual over it to give it the power to attract whatever thing you wanted and then put it on you. We had an interesting talk about religions and worldviews and about more holistic approaches to addressing your mental health, and I was able to share the Gospel with her towards the end of the conversation.

Now, we come to the longest conversation I had at the expo. If you remember my post from last time, you will remember that my mom and I spoke to a guy I’m going to call Wyatt. At first, we thought he was a Wiccan, then thought he leaned more Luciferian, and he was claiming that he was God and could help others reach their god-ness.

But that was the conversation we had with him. This time around, I talked to a friend of his who was part of the same group. I’ll call him Jerry.

The conversation I had with Jerry can be summed up as circular and slightly disturbing. According to Jerry, we aren’t God per se but are part of God in a sense and will go back to him at some point. Who exactly God is or what will happen to you after death (Heaven or Hell) in this view, I’m not entirely sure, as he seemed to be intentionally vague about it. He told me they don’t believe in reincarnation, and when it comes to figuring out morality in this life, while it’s okay to life by your code of morals, it’s better to live by God’s code of morals.

What’s God’s code of morals according to Jerry? Glad you asked. It’s whatever seems good to us humans.

This is where the conversation started getting very circular, contradictory, and a bit disturbing from a Christian P.O.V. According to Jerry, the Bible is man-made, Christianity was created by Paul, and what’s good and brings glory to God is essentially just what we would agree on is good. We shouldn’t judge others as some things are between them and God, and if something works for you, then God must approve of it. Why? Because God is good…whatever good is since there is no set standard other than not being a horrible person.

To support this view, Jerry then resorted to a handful of cherry-picked and radically misinterpreted Scriptures, namely the story of Jesus and the adulterous woman, and the verse about knowing good by its fruit.

“But wait!” You might be saying, “Where in the Bible does it say that what’s good is known by its fruit?” The answer is nowhere, or at least, not in the sense that he meant it.

This quote comes from Jesus in Matthew 7:15-20, where Jesus says:

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

You see the problem here? Jesus was talking about false prophets. False prophets in Scripture are defined as those who deny the teachings and commands of God. Sure, they may be doing what seems to be “good,” but ultimately, they are workers of evil, “ravenous wolves.” Jerry, to some, may be doing good in helping them reach his spirituality’s version of enlightenment or healing, but ultimately, he is rejecting God’s commands (like don’t be playing around with the occult, which he is), and selling a counterfeit worldview.

Because of this, since he believes himself to be a worker of goodness who does everything by the power of God (whoever his version of God is), he believes he’s in the right. That’s where it got disturbing for me, as it was clear that he knew at least some of the Bible and was content to twist it as necessary. To some extent, that alone made the conversation almost feel like talking to Screwtape. I’ve seen people twist Scripture before, but to see someone twist it so blatantly to defend their views right in front of me made it hit differently. Add on the fact that he hardly let me get a word in edgewise, and it was even weirder.

Eventually, after about 40 minutes of going in circles, being talked over, and listening to Scripture get twisted into a jumbled mess, I made my exit. At that point, I was so confused by what he was saying because it was so out of left field and tired of going in circles that I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore and moved on. I located my dad and after walking around a bit more, we left.

Until next time,

M.J.

Never give a sucker an even chance.
#christianity #evangelism #usa #trump #coward #loser #warcriminal #malignantnarcissist #syphiliticdementia #EpsteinFiles #TrumpCrimeFamily #idiocracy #8647now
https://www.salon.com/2020/09/11/what-he-really-thinks-trump-mocks-christians-calls-them-fools-and-schmucks_partner/

The justices are expected to decide in coming months whether to take up the case, which is being closely watched as conservatives…work to expand #religious “rights” [ #Christian #evangelism ] in public spaces & opponents battle them in court. In April, a conservative appeals court upheld the law in a narrowly divided opinion.

#SCOTUS #law #Constitution #EstablishmentClause #SeparationOfChurchAndState #TenCommandments #education #PublicSchools #schools #Texas

GO! [Sermon]

Hospitality is a huge issue in the Middle East. Even people who have little will offer visitors rest and refreshment.

This isn’t just friendliness. There are many places where there is little opportunity to find food or water. A lack of hospitality could mean death for the traveler.

So it’s not surprising that when Abraham saw three men, he offered them rest, water to wash their feet, bread, beef, and curds to eat.

The tradition of hospitality is still strong in modern Palestine. It was even stronger in the time of Abraham, and in the time of Jesus.

Let’s go to God in prayer.

God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.

Amen.

In our Gospel reading Jesus sends the twelve out to Jewish cities. He’s sending them to people who should have no reason to deny them hospitality. And he gives them instructions to proclaim the good news, cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; and cast out demons.

This is obviously evangelism, but it’s also something else: a test of hospitality.

If you know the story of the fall of Sodom, you may know that it was destroyed for homosexuality. Topical for Pride month.

But if you really know the story of the fall of Sodom, you know it’s a story of strangers to the city who were planning on spending the night in the public square, but who were offered hospitality by Lot – who was mentored by his uncle Abram.

And rather than being content with their neighbor offering hospitality to these strangers, they were enraged and demanded that Lot send the strangers out so that they may “know” them.

I would argue that “know” – yada – is often used for husbands with wives, but for unmarried people, we usually read “lie with.”

Yada also means to just know someone or something well. There’s even a place where God is quoted as thinking about Abraham “I know (yada) him.”

But even if we’re talking about knowing the strangers “in the Biblical sense,” it’s not consensual.

It’s violence.

So the story is about strangers – apparently transients – in town, sleeping on the streets, who were invited in by someone offering hospitality, and the people of the town taking issue with this, demanding the strangers be brought out to face mob judgment.

And if there’s any doubt, hear these words from Ezekiel 16, beginning with verse 48:

48 As I live, says the Lord God,

your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.

49 This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease but did not aid the poor and needy.

50 They were haughty and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Ezekiel 16:48-51, NRSVue

So when Jesus sends out the twelve, he’s sending them to people who should know these lessons. But if you have met many people of any faith, you have met at least one or two who have missed or ignore the central teachings of their faith and focused on those that help them.

And he gives them a test:

12 As you enter the house, greet it.

13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words,

shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.

Matthew 10:12-14, NRSVue

They’re going to offer you hospitality, or they’re going to be unworthy.

How unworthy?

15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable

for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Matthew 10:15, NRSVue

There’s that Sodom reference again.

It’s not mere coincidence.

He even tells them what to do if a town refuses them:

23 When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you,

you will not have finished going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

Matthew 10:23

There’s no benefit in continuing to challenge people who won’t listen to you. We’ve all met people who won’t take “no” for an answer.

So what does this tell us?

Well, it tells us that we ought to offer hospitality to travelers in need. It tells us that we ought to tell the message of Jesus as we understand it. And it tells us that when people are not receptive to that message of love, rather than wasting our time and energy making someone more upset with us, we ought to just move on.

Sometimes it will take several people before someone gets it. Or they may never get it.

We’re not out there counting our conversions. We’re out there bringing good news.

So my challenge to us this week is to find those opportunities to tell of a God who loves us all. A God who wants to offer us hospitality and healing.

There may be large opportunities, like parades, rallies, and protests.

But there may also be small opportunities: one-on-one conversations with people who need to hear these healing words of welcome.

Whether it’s into the public square of a strange town, or next to a person in need,

GO!

Amen.

Let’s sing CH 475 The Church of Christ in Every Age

* Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue

* Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.

My theory on the nature of the #Evangelist death cult that has captured the #US #government via the #HeritageFoundation: #Evangelists have adopted Marcionism, a belief that sees the creator god in the OT as the devil, & the world he created as the false world. In short, #Evangelism meets #RedPill.

A US district court judge held that TX SB10, which is due to take effect on Sept 1, likely violates both the #EstablishmentClause & Free Exercise clause of the #FirstAmendment.

Ruling: https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/texas-sb-10-ruling.pdf

#law #Republicans #ChurchAndState #Christian #Evangelism #NewApostolicReformation #NAR #PublicSchools #education #indoctrination

#Law experts have long said they expect the #Louisiana case to make its way to the #SCOTUS, testing the #conservative #court on the issue of #religion & #government.

In 1980, the #SupremeCourt ruled that a similar #Kentucky law violated the #EstablishmentClause of the US #Constitution, which says #Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The high court found that the law had no secular purpose but served a plainly #religious purpose.

#ChurchAndState #Evangelism

#America is the
Nation of 'News'

Now Americans invented a NEW #Religion
far from #Christianity, from #Protestantism
(and also from #Evangelism... which no one know what it actually is)
after
the> '#Manson, #Schientology, #JeffsFundamentalChurch, #Rajneeshpuram, #Angel’s Landing, #ChildrenofGod, #NXIVM, #TempleoftheDisciplesofChrist, ... #evangelists
cult
the 'new' CULT
#Trumpianism ....
#Trump the 'chosen one' (by God)

and #Americans are surprised if they are considered idiots...
FFS