“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.”
Isaiah 55: 6
דרשו יהוה בהמצאו קראהו בהיותו קרוב׃
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Faith and Religion are Not the Same Thing
See “Oppression Often Starts When Gov’t Says Religious Services are ‘Non-Essential’”:
Over the last several weeks, Americans have fought and battled through various challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As our nation took steps to stem the effects of the outbreak, we confronted a very real threat to our physical health.
But the crisis also brought to the surface threats to our political, economic and constitutional health, including pressing and ongoing dangers to religious liberty.
Now, as we are hopefully on the tail end of this crisis, we can look back to ask a very important question: What are the greatest threats to freedom in our country?
Yahweh Requires Faith, Not Religion
Religious people will have a difficult time understanding what I am about to say, but it’s not complicated.
Judgment starts when religious people demonstrate that faithfulness is non-essential. Oppression follows judgment when governments say that religion is non-essential.
Actually, governments are right. Religion is non-essential. Faithfulness is essential.
Habakkuk
I like the way Habakkuk said it:
“For the vision is yet for the appointed time. It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it. It will certainly come. It will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2: 3-4)
Habakkuk referred to “righteous” people, not religious people. Most church-goers equate religiosity and righteousness. That’s a terrible mistake. Righteous people are faithful to Yahweh. Religious people tend to be self-righteous which is to say “not righteous at all”.
Paul paraphrased Habakkuk:
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to Elohim must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11: 6)
In other words, without faith we are dead. I included a chapter in His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition titled “Without Faith We are Dead”. You should read it.
Religious people are likely to say, “I’m not sure Paul wrote Hebrews.”
My response: “I know you’re not, but I am.”
Churches in America are in Trouble Because of Faithlessness
The word that’s translated as “church” in the Bible is the Greek word “ecclesia”. It does not mean a building or a religion. It means people who are faithful to Yahweh.
Literally, ecclesia means “the called-out ones”. They are people that Yahweh called out to be His ambassadors. We have messed up “church” so much that it doesn’t resemble what Yahweh has in mind.
Religious church-goers wonder why church membership is declining. They wonder why they have to resort to theatrics to attract a crowd and fill the pews. They wonder why so many churches in America are dead or dying. They wonder why preachers have become entertainers and why they can’t tell the difference between the Hollywood jet-set and televangelists.
No one joins Yahweh’s church. He chooses people and calls them out. Church is not a social club, and Yahweh’s church doesn’t meet on Sunday. Faithfulness is a 24/7/365 thing. The Sabbath is a day of rest. It’s the last day of the week.
Sunday is called “Sunday” because that’s the day sun god worshipers set aside each week to honor the sun god. Literally, it’s “Sun Day”. It’s the first day of the week, not the last day of the week. Emperor Constantine abandoned Yahweh’s Fourth Commandment in the 300s AD when he created the Catholic Church and introduced Sun Day worship. You won’t hear that in church, but you should.
Church-goers will say, “I don’t get it.”
My response: “I know you don’t.”
Yahweh calls faithfulness “the faith of Abraham”. See The Trilogy.
Most church-goers substitute religion for faith. In their world, faith and religion are synonymous. The problem is so bad that faithful people eventually want nothing to do with “church”. To faithful people, “church” feels dirty. To religious church-goers, that’s sacrilegious.
An Example
Easter was a few days ago. Easter is the name of the Babylonian and Assyrian fertility goddess Ishtar. Literally, “Easter” is the correct pronunciation of “Ishtar”.
Yahweh said, “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.” (Exodus 23: 13)
He said that right after He gave the Children of Israel the Ten Commandments. It’s important. Faithful people know that it’s important, and they want nothing to do with Easter.
Religious people ignore Yahweh, because they are not faithful. They advertise their Easter service and invite people in their communities to join them for worship on Easter Sun Day.
Have you ever wondered what Easter bunnies and colored eggs have to do with the resurrection of our Savior? If not, your have been well-churched. Easter is about the fertility goddess Ishtar.
It’s Passover, not Easter. Religious people don’t get it. As I said, most church-goers have a hard time understanding what I am talking about.
Paraphrasing Paul, I have much more to tell you, but it is hard to explain, because you have become dull of hearing. (Hebrews 5:11)
The Real Problem
The article that I referenced at the top of this SnyderTalk editorial asked this crucial question:
What are the greatest threats to freedom in our country?
The greatest threat to freedom in our country today is lack of faith in Yahweh. Nothing else comes even close.
From Yahweh’s perspective, religion is a serious problem. To most church-goers, government attacks on religion are the problem.
Church-goers are wrong. More than 70% of Americans claim to be Christians. If that were true, governments in the United States would be no problem at all. People who call themselves “Christians” are the problem.
Right now, Yahweh’s called out ones, the real church, are experiencing mighty outpourings of His Spirit in places like Iran and China and Nigeria despite relentless pressure to suppress them. The Christian church in America is declining despite constitutional protections for the freedom of religion. That should tell you something.
We can experience the same outpouring of Yahweh’s Spirit in America, too. All we have to do is be faithful.
The Solution
The solution is simple. Forget religion. Be faithful.
Regrettably, most church-goers will say, “I don’t understand what you mean.”
My response: “I know.”
Other church-goers will say, “That’s just semantics.”
My response: “I know you think it’s just semantics.”
Religiosity Has Consequences
Interestingly, Yahweh’s real church is growing and getting stronger every day, because they are being faithful. They are listening to Yahweh’s voice and responding. That’s faithfulness. Religion in America is dying, because most church-goers don’t recognize Yahweh’s voice.
The Messiah said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10: 27)
He also said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7: 21-23)
To Yahweh, it’s all about faithfulness, the faith of Abraham. It has nothing to do with religion.
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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)
