“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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The Politics of Religion: Finding the Lowest Common Denominator
See “Southern Baptists Elect A New President, Ed Litton, Who Is Seen As A Bridge Builder”:
As ideological divisions wracked the Southern Baptist Convention this year ahead of a pivotal national meeting, one of the leading candidates for its presidency, Ed Litton, embraced a role as the man best equipped to build bridges and promote unity.
“From time to time, every family has disagreements and tensions,” Litton said in a campaign video. “Because we’re a family, we don’t give up on one another.”
On Tuesday he prevailed in a runoff against Georgia pastor Mike Stone to become the next leader of the United States’ largest Protestant denomination, winning about 52% of the votes among more than 15,000 delegates at a meeting roiled by controversy and a power play by the SBC’s ultraconservative wing.
In doing so, Litton bested a better-known rival in the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as Stone, who ran an aggressive campaign fueled by some of the SBC’s most prominent hard-line conservatives.
Religion is a Serious Problem
One of the biggest problems with religion, probably the biggest problem, is the tendency that people have when they get together in groups to find the lowest common denominator. They don’t call it that. Instead, they say things like “building bridges” and “promoting unity” to address ideological differences. To do that, they must find the lowest common denominator so that most of the people involved with the group can get onboard with the plan, whatever it turns out to be.
It’s the politics of religion. As a deacon, I saw it up close and personal in 2 churches. In the midst of my second foray into church politics, Yahweh took me out of organized religion altogether, and I have never returned. That was in the mid-1980s. For the past 35+ years, Yahweh has been teaching me Himself. I have never learned more or faster in my life.
I’ll never forget the first time I served as a deacon. I had been studying and praying for quite a while, and Yahweh was leading me back to the Old Testament. I was simply following the leading of His Spirit, but to many of my colleagues on the Board of Deacons, I was a becoming a “hard-line conservative”. Their reaction confused me, because I was simply applying what Yahweh said in the Bible.
One deacon in particular stands out in my mind, because he was the great old man on the board. Every deacon board has at least one of them. To him, I was a young whippersnapper who had to learn the ropes, and he saw teaching me the ropes as his responsibility. I remember the day that he took me aside and said, “Neil, I think believers should be required to study the New Testament for at least 2 years before the are allowed to read the Old Testament.”
There is no doubt in my mind about the importance of the New Testament, but with the exception of Revelation, it isn’t Scripture. (See The Trilogy.) The Old Testament/Tanach is Scripture. This is what the Messiah said in Matthew and John:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets [the Old Testament/Tanach]. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5: 17-19)
So Y’shua was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word [the Old Testament/Tanach], then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8: 31-32)
There was no New Testament when the Messiah made those statements. The New Testament would not come into being for several decades, so obviously, He was not talking about the New Testament. That’s a hard pill for most churchgoers to swallow.
To fit in with the group, the great old man on the deacon board was telling me that I needed to compromise Yahweh’s principles. Elijah didn’t do that. He confronted the prophets of Ba’al on Mount Carmel. This is what 1 Kings 18 says about that confrontation:
So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is Elohim, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and the Elohim who answers by fire, He is Elohim.” And all the people said, “That is a good idea.”
So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of Yahweh which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” So with the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed. Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.
At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Yahweh, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are Elohim in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Yahweh, are Elohim, and that You have turned their heart back again.” Then the fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “Yahweh, He is Elohim; Yahweh, He is Elohim.” Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. (1 Kings 18: 20-40)
The exact spot where that occurred is known today. It’s called El-Muhraqa, and El-Muhraqa means the place where fire came down. It’s interesting to point out that El-Muhraqa is an Arab name. The location has been known all along. Arabs named it to memorialize that event. (See the video below.)
Getting onboard with Yahweh should be our highest priority. His goals and His plans may not be at all like ours. If they differ in any way, we need to jettison our goals and plans. Since Yahweh’s word will be in effect “until heaven and earth pass away”, it most certainly is in effect today.
Yahweh is Not a Politician
Yahweh is not a politician. From His perspective, things are either right or wrong, not conservative or liberal. People who view adhering to Yahweh’s principles as a hard-line conservative stance can’t be following Him. As I said, they are searching for the lowest common denominator that will enable them to hold the group together.
That is not how Yahweh sees things. From His perspective, only a remnant will follow Him. They are His people. Others are not. That’s what He said:
“For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.” (Isaiah 10: 22)
“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares Yahweh. (Jeremiah 23: 3-4)
“However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.” (Ezekiel 6: 8-10)
This is how Paul explained it in Romans:
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; for Yahweh will execute His word on the Earth, thoroughly and quickly.” And just as Isaiah foretold, “Unless Yahweh Sabaoth had left to us a posterity, we would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.” (Romans 9: 27-29)
The Messiah was talking about the same thing in Revelation 3 when He said,
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3: 16)
He was saying that only a remnant will be saved, and that the remnant is hot, not cold or lukewarm. They have a burning desire to please Yahweh. They will stand for Him and with Him against any and all obstacles. They will not compromise to attract the masses.
Lukewarm is the Lowest Common Denominator
Lukewarm is the lowest common denominator. It’s a blending of hot and cold, right and wrong. People who are lukewarm can’t represent Yahweh. Instead, they represent man-made religion that is designed to appeal to the masses. It’s a blending of right and wrong which Yahweh can’t and won’t condone or endorse.
In Yahweh’s economy, bigger doesn’t mean better. The remnant are a minority. They are Yahweh’s people. The masses are not.
I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.” (Revelation 18: 4)
I’m not going to make a list of issues dividing people who are enslaved by religion, because it is too long. Let it suffice to say that Yahweh will always be true to His word. He will accept anyone who repents and comes to Him in faith no matter what he or she has done. To repent means to change your ways. People who ignore Yahweh’s commands and refuse to change their ways are not part of the remnant. Churchgoers need to hear that, because Yahweh is deadly serious.
Again, the masses are not the remnant. Yahweh doesn’t compromise and make sin acceptable so He can fill the pews or the stadium. He demands justice, so He sent the Messiah to pay the price for the sins we committed. He paid that price so we can be saved. He didn’t pay that price so we can continue to wallow in depravity with impunity.
Yahweh is separating the wheat from the chaff. John the Baptist explained it this way:
“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3: 12)
Jeremiah explained it like this:
“What does straw have in common with grain?” declares Yahweh. “Is not My word like fire?” declares Yahweh, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jeremiah 23: 28-29)
The Messiah explained it this way:
“Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13: 30)
See the SnyderTalk editorials below:
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
