Over the years, I have become very fond of the sacrament of Holy Communion. And now I have noticed that churches are seemingly avoiding it all together. To me this is a very sad course of events. Early in my walk into Faith I experienced the pure joy of the Christ Experience that one can get from Holy Communion and now I feel the absence of Christ in it. I wondered why this came to be and feel that it is because the Leadership in the churches have never fully understood why Christ gave the commandment to the disciples to do it in remembrance of Him. I intend to bring it to your mind now so that you will be eager and even anxious to receive it.

Let me begin with the Event itself. Jesus is celebrating the Seder Feast with His chosen freinds. As a part of the meal the “Elder” is to lift bread up to God and bless it for the family. It was after Jesus blessed the bread that he told them that “This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19). In doing this, He was presenting Himself as the Passover Lamb who was to be an offering to God for the protection of the Israelites in captivity as slaves. Jesus offered Himself for us as the perfect offering for our captivity to the sinful nature that has held us in bondage since the fall of Adam. He, in the gesture, has presented Himself as the atonement sacrifice. The breaking of the bread represents the breaking of His body for us. This offering is done so that we might have reconciliation with God and freedom from the pains of our offences to God.

When Jesus followed the meal with the customary wine offering, He told the disciples, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My Blood.” (Luke 22:20). This is equally important because the wine was poured to represent the flowing blood of the lamb offering and the marking of the doorposts of the Israelites so that the Angel of Death would “Passover” their houses. The shedding of the Blood of Jesus is the making of the new covenant of God with Man. The marking of the “doorposts” of our hearts with the Blood of Jesus is the reminder that the Angel of Death in the time of Judgement will pass over us and we shall live in Eternity. We are sealed by the blood of Jesus and marked with Grace of the Holy Spirit as preserved in Grace. As we take communion, we are celebrating our freedom from sin’s bondage and the release from the wrath of God’s judgements.

So as we partake in the joy of our salvation, we are to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus that we are free. The first time it was offered it was the foretelling of the redeeming grace of Jesus’ death and every time we join in the taking of communion, we are to recall His Mercy and Love for us in His dying. Paul tells us, “And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.” (Colossians 1:21-22 ESV).

This is the primary reason to seek to have communion but there are other reasons to consider. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the High Priest in the “Order of Melchizedek.” Looking at the full verse, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20). Now Melchizedek was the only one who was both a priest to the Most High God, he was also the King of Salem which means he was the king of peace (Salem means peace).
He was recorded as making a offering of peace on the behalf of Abram, an offering of bread and wine. Under Levitical Law, only the High Priest could make the peace offering in the inner chamber with the pouring the blood of the peace offering over the alter on Passover Sabbath.

Jesus presented Himself as equal to the Temple High Priest and offered His Blood as the Pascal Peace offering. By this action He gave of Himself that we would no longer be enemies of God through our transgressions but would have Peace with God. In sharing of the meal of the passover, we join Jesus as friends of God rather than the enemies of Grace. We who were once the enemies of God now sit at the Table of Peace with the Master. We join with Abraham and the saints of Salvation in sharing the Peace Meal that was restricted to the temple priests since the entering into the Promised Land. We are not entered into the Promised Land but live in the Land of God’s Promise. We who were at War with God are now Friends of God. We who were aliens to His grace are now heirs of Salvation and we are welcomed at the Master’s table. The most rewarding idea is that Jesus declared that we are the new temples of God. When we take of the peace offering, we are having the “Blood of Jesus” poured on our hearts as the altars of the Temple of the Most High.

The third thing that I want to share is key to the verse I opened with. We are to share in the unity of the One Body by the taking of the elements of Communion. As we who are individuals become one in Christ, we celebrate the uniqueness of that oneness by sharing the same loaf, the same cup. Communion is the uniting of our individuality by the surrendering our separateness and joining in as all members of the one body that is Christ. When we partake of Communion, we are partaking in the presence of Jesus as our Redeemer within our lives both as individuals and as a collective group. We are demonstrating our Unity of Spirit, and our unity with Christ. We are declaring that we are One With God and that God abides in us and we abide with Him through the Body and Blood of Jesus.

The whole point of what I am declaring is that the only way that communion is meaningless is if Jesus is meaningless to us. If there is the True Love of Jesus in your heart, then you would readily be in prayerful thanksgiving, remorseful heart and of contrite mind when ever the offering that Jesus gave for us is presented. When you take the elements your heart should be rejoicing that you have the presence of Jesus in your life and His redeeming, purifying grace of Reconciliation. Holy communion is the gathering of the believers to join in the oneness of Christ with ourselves. “For Christ also suffered, once for sins, the righteous for unrighteousness, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV).

Let your heart dwell on the the Pascal Sacrifice, the Peace Offering and the Communion of Believers. Praise God that He should deem it righteous that we who are so unworthy, should be counted among those who are blessed, made Happy in the presence of Salvation. When we go before the Lord’s Table we are to desire the Unity of God’s Spirit covenant, being one body with the Lord, have a contrite heart seeking to change ourselves to be truly holy and blameless, and to live in a mind changed for Jesus, no longer counted as unworthy but as Blessed. Be in celebration with the Most High and welcome Christ anew each time you receive the elements. Seek the blessings of God by meditating on the purpose of the feast and remember that as often, not as seldom, we do this we do it in remembrance of Christ’s Glory and Grace given for our sake.

Examine yourselves for the things that separate us from God’s love and confess them. Strive to welcome the Redeemer in your presence and present to Him a holy vessel eager to accept Him. And be prepared to take the risk for His sake as His took our sins for our sake. As where two or three are gathered in His Name, He is among them when we partake in His offering to us, His presence is clear. Jesus is with us as we take His gifts to us.

Be Blessed, be glad and be aware of Christ in all things. We share in the Pascal Feast of Jesus, we welcome the High Priest into our inner sanctuary and we sit as friends with God at His Holy Table; we share with each other the Glory of Christ.

At the turn of the Twentieth Century, Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East numbered in the thousands, today they number into the Millions. Approximately 45% of Africa is Christian and this includes counting North Africa which is predominantly Muslin. The South Pacific nations show that the numbers between Asian Religions, Muslim and Animism traditions combined barely outnumber the combined Catholic and Evangelical faiths. In China, there are at best guess, 30 million Christians ( about 9% of the population). From China, the “Back to Jerusalem Movement” has begun and the Silk Road Ministry has sent out over a thousand missionaries from China to spread the gospel back west toward Israel. South Korea Christians are the most enthusiastic evangelists and there are more Korean Evangelical communities outside Korea than in and still the number of churches exceeds 1,600 in Korea.

In Latin America there are more pentacostal churches than in North America. I quote from Bruce Shelly’s book “Church History in Pain Language,” in stating that there are more Baptist Churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo than in America. The African Anglican Church is sending missionaries to the U.S.A. And the most shocking of all, there are more people in the underground churches every Sunday than in all the churches in America combined.

The question then rises; why is the Gospel on the rise everywhere but in America and Europe? The answer is in the current trend of agnosticism and anti-god approach of the science community, the “politically correct” secularist governments and the media’s fascination with “scandals” that flood our airways. “Bad News” is good press, always. So this is the “bad news” for today,…. God is Real and He is getting fed up with us! As I read the Old Testament I see that every time the Israelites wandered from the Truth and took on the ways of the “World” they faced disaster and war. As the West is turning toward a godless society, Christians the world over face persecutions, the governments in Germany, Sweden, UK, USA and Russia pass laws that restrict free expression of Christian Faith. If the trend does not turn back toward Godliness instead of godlessness, Christians, Jews and and other faiths will be hounded down and ridiculed in America as they are in the Middle East, North Africa, India and Burma.

What are you doing to protect your right of Faith? If you were charged with “crimes against the State” for being a Christian would you be convicted? Are you “guilty” of loving and “Serving the KING”? Slowly we are returning to the days of the early Church, the witnesses of Faith, the Way and the Cross are shunned by society. We are mocked by people like Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan and others because we accept that God is real. But what are we doing about it? Very little it seems. We can start by inviting our unbelieving friends to church, we can speak openly about our faith. We can reach out toward others of Faith (outside our own small group of believers) and work together to share the Mercy, Love and Grace of Christ.

Not only are we to be better attenders of Church, we are to be better retainers of God’s Good News! “Count as JOY, my brothers, when you meet trails of various kinds, for you KNOW that the testing of your FAITH produces STEADFASTNESS.” (James 1:2 ESV). “But the one who looks into the PERFECT LAW, the Law of LIBERTY, and preserves, being no hearer of the WORD but a DOER WHO ACTS, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:25 ESV).”As a fellow elder, this is my appeal to you: CARE of the flock of God entrusted to you. WATCH over it willingly, not grudgingly – not for what you will get out of it, but because you are EAGER to SERVE GOD. Don’t lord over the people assigned to your care but LEAD THEM by your GOOD EXAMPLE.” (1 Peter 5:2-4 NLT) [Caps mine]. When Jesus gave the Great Commission to spread the Good News to all Nations, it wasn’t to stop until all who were willing to come to His Saving Grace were reached. Christians in America and Europe must rise up and take their place in society as leaders, examples and participants of their Faith.

Open Doors Ministry sent me a list of Remarkable Remarks made by those who live in persecuted areas. Among those were; “Christians are like nails; the harder you hit them, the deeper they go.” “All my suffering is worthwhile, even if I were to reach only one person for Christ.” “We are soldiers under the banner of Jesus Christ in a spiritual battle. We can only advance and never retreat.” Are we game enough to defend our Faith with the actions worthy of Jesus? Let us begin with a prayerful attitude and commune with Our Father in heaven to open our hearts, voices and our wills to serve the Lord of Creation and His Beloved son, Jesus with the Spirit of the Most High to guide us.

This book is going to have a prominent place in my library and must be kept close at hand. It is for serious students of the Messianic Faith and an encouragement to mainstream Gentile Christians. Every Evangelical pastor should have this work in his library and it should be taught in every Christian and Jewish school. While most Christians are totally unaware of teh Messianic Jewish movement, it has been around from the very beginning. As Gentile Christians, we tend to overlook that the first churches were in Judea and all members were Jewish. We over look that fact the some of the Pharisees hear the call of Jesus and repented and believed. This book give insight as to how and why Jews chose to either accept Jesus or to reject Him. The Theology and the history of the early church and the teaching of the synagogues played an important role in the development of the early followers of Christ.

I will warn you that the book is very long (711 pages) and that some chapters need to be read in parts because of their length (130 pages), but the effort to read it is worth every word. I gave myself headaches trying to “burn the words” into my brain. If you love to learn how others came to walk in the Way of the Lord, this is the best work on Jewish Faith and Jesus.

Lake Athens Baptist Church
Little Hope Baptist Church
Tyler Baptist Church

While other churches, such as Assembly of God and Church of Christ have been hit, the main target seems to be Southern Baptist. If you would like to help or to add your prayers for these churches, you can contact them at www.texanonline.net. I am sure they would welcome your prayers.

Open Doors, Mission News Network and International Christian Concerns each report on these assaults against Christ. yet in each case the Faithful grow in numbers and in the Grace of God. Pray this Christmas for the release from the onslaught of aggression toward those who seek to share the Good News of God’s Salvation in India.

While I am addressing India, do not forget that Christians in Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan are also under oppression and they need your prayers as well. Here in the West, we have no idea of how hard it is to Love the Lord of our Salvation in all of Asia and most of Africa. Yet in these places, the devote Christians may have never seen teh whole of the Bible. Their faith is based only on the few verses that they have heard and the miracle of Grace that only comes by the Holy Spirit. When we get to heaven they will have the highest place of honor because they believe with little knowledge and a lot of heart.

God’s Grace be with them and with you all. Pray unceasingly for the peace of God in the whole of the Earth.

Jesus had hard words for the religious leaders of the day as He quoted this passage to them. Much can be said for many who claim to know God and still persist in not keeping the Word. This is why He tells His followers in the words of Isaiah that those who reject the teachings of the Good News are hardened so as to not grasp the meaning of His teachings. It is because of this parable and other teachings of Jesus, that I question the understanding of “Once Saved, Always Saved.” I firmly believe that many who claim salvation are deluding themselves with false hope, and in reality still live in blindness and sin.

Yet in all this there is still a glimmer of True Hope and they are not doomed as were the deceivers of the Word of God, such as the Sadducees and Scribes of Jerusalem. Because Jesus told His disciples, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear.” (Matthew 13:16). Because it is possible to hear the word once and not understand, yet in another day when your heart is made right, you will hear and grasp it firmly. I know this is so because for many years, I did not accept the teaching of Jesus and the prophets because my heart was hardened. I want to explore what Jesus told those few who wanted understanding and share what it has shown me, one who once rejected Christ.

“When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” (Matthew 13:19) There are those whose heart is hard, cold and can not bear fruit. This is the way I once was. Satan kept turning my heart against the Word of God and I only saw the failings of the Gospel and not the joy and success that it brought. Those who are such as I was refuse to accept any truth because it will make them appear soft and weak. If they belong to a faith other than that of Christ, they will fight the logic of the Word and seek to condemn you for your understanding. These are the persecutors and the naysayers that are even in churches but mainly in places that attack Christians around the world.

“As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, immediately falls away.”(Matt 13: 20-21). What Jesus does not mention is that those who are lacking in Faith are staying in the world. Those who hear for a while but quickly lose interest and when questioned on their Faith are unwilling to commit to it or even to admit that they are Christians. They are those who believe for a day and never go to church or fellowship with others to stay focused on God’s Purpose. Many are those who believed with their ears but never allowed Christ into their hearts. The belief is only skin deep, it is based only on emotions and not a life changing event.

Or they may be “Sunday Believers” who go to church and rely on the “once saved” teachings yet make no effort to grow in faith. They are quickly turned away from the Gospel and leave churches at the turn of a stone, create divisions and find excuses not to join in fellowship. When challenged, they have no answers, and will be unable to defend their faith. Their faith is only a front for an easy way out. When pressed, they reject the teachings of their churches and some become immersed into cults, sects and diverse doctrines that are more appealing. They will follow the whims of doctrines and are subject to changes of faith when something better comes along. These “Christians” are not convicted by faith but are only enticed by fancy words. They hear what they want to hear and disregard all other teachings of Jesus.

I have a hard time dealing with these people and sometimes get very exasperated with them. Yet God can change their hearts, and they can at some point in their lives recognize the foolishness and weakness in their hearts and become strong in True Faith and work diligently to bring others into the Light of the Wholeness of Christ. One such person with whom I have had many disagreements with in the past is now working as a teacher in discipleship and leadership training.

“As for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22). These are the ones who claim salvation, but because of the ways of the world, the riches and prosperity and greed, the pleasures of the flesh, drink and even crime are too appealing for them. They claim to be redeemed by the “Grace of God” but continue to live in sin and degradation. They are pastors, teachers, police, prominent men and women in our communities, business people, bankers, investors and people from just about every walk of life that cheat, lie and steal, yet claim salvation. Not only do they choke the Word of God by their actions, they hide the thorns from others. Yet these claim to be “God’s People” Just as did the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes of the Temple. They stand not on Faith, but on the lies of their lives. They justify the sin in their lives by claiming to been redeemed for the sins they have yet to commit. They say to God, “You will not punish me, even though I willfully disregard Your statutes and Your love.” While claiming Grace, they live outside of grace and mock God by still clinging to sin and the world’s desires.

So then, who are the Saved and Redeemed? Those who see the fullness of Jesus, who live to serve Him in all things, those who walk in His Right Ways and strive to do good and just things for His sake and for the love of man. Jesus says in the words of Matthew 13:23, “He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” While everybody who follows the Word of God faithfully will see the Fruit of God fulfilled, those who do what is good for Christ’s sake will lead others to the understanding that they live for Christ. Not every one is to evangelize, teach or become missionaries, but just by being faithful, striving in the Word and working to make your heart right with God, you will cause others to seek what you have. The fruit of your lives will be the blessings you have in Christ. Those who truly love the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus, will produce good works, kind hearts and humble lives.

The last point I want to make here is that the sower of the Word, Jesus, spreads the seed of Faith everywhere, even in the darkest places. He sends us out into the world where the Word is not received. He sows the Truth even to those places that see it as a lie. And God allows the seed to be spread into the brambles and thorns, knowing that it will not grow well. Because even in these places, some seed will fall onto good, clean soil and will take root and grow. Understand this: God makes no mistakes! He expects that even in the harshest of places, the Good News will flourish. The hard will be made pliable and the thorns will die out. Satan and his minions can not destroy all the Good News nor can the hearts of fleshly man control what is taught. Good men and women will always stand out and bring faithfulness to the forefront and many will turn to Christ and to the Word of the Father and be enriched by the fertile power of the Holy Spirit.

While I do accept that if you are truly grounded in Faith, you are saved forever, I also believe that many who claim salvation are deceiving themselves by their lack of Faith. They walk in ways that prove that they are not of God but of the world. Each day we are to examine ourselves to see what there is still in our lives that distracts us from the Grace of God and still binds us to the world, to whim and Satan. Each day we are to pray for the grace to endure, never forgetting that in the garden, Jesus prayed not for Himself but for us. (John 17:1-27).

This report has been confirmed by many other news sources including Yahoo News, The Himalayan Times, Sydney Morning News, the Seattle P.I. and the Daily News(Bangladesh). I have reported in the past the need for prayer for the people of Burma, especially the children, but to find out that an American Icon, Chevron is financing the slaughter of these children for the expectation of Natural gas purchases is “Making a deal with the Devil.”

To all Americans, I say it is vital that we express our outrage at these actions by condemning Chevron with our pocketbooks, not only boycotting them and their products but writing to the company, emailing them and publicly proclaiming out disdain. That a company that proudly proclaims that it is a true American Symbol and quietly pay off a violent government and hide the money in banks in Singapore, is equal to murder for hire. The money are used to “train” Myanmar to protect the gas fields, but in reality, they are used to commit forced labor, murder, and bribery. As a Free People and a People of God, our voices should be heard and we are to be the voice of the tormented and oppressed. Say no to chevron and to any enterprise that profit from the death of chirldren and tha manipulation of human rights.

The next day the mob ransacked two churches in Gojra and burned fifty more homes and fourteen Christians died as a result. Police tried to stop them but where illequipted to stem the tide of violence. Six Muslims died in conflict with the police.

All this was a result of people not respecting the religious rights of others. But regardless of the fact that Christians may have cut up the Q’uran or not, the reaction of the Muslims was far worse. Their wrong far exceeds the wrong of the Christians. Be that as it may, Christians have a responsibility to ALWAYS respect others. Christians must at all costs, take the higher road. Paul tells us, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every every brother who leads an unruly life, and not from the traditions which you received from us.” 2 Thess. 3:6. If we are to be a light unto the world, we must use sensible and reasonable actions among those who are not believers. we are required to temper our actions with love and gentleness.

We are to encourage each other to act in accordance to the service of Christ, to never allow ourselves to be drawn into disrespectful behavior while we live among non-believers. It is only by showing the loving heart that we will win souls for Christ. To the shame of the Muslims, lives were lost because they chose to listen to unruly men and spiritual leaders and chose violence instead of finding another avenue to resolve the insult they had received.
It will be hard for the Christians of these villages to rebuild their lives, homes and return to normal lives now that the hatred has been raised to this level. Because of this, we must pray for the Church to survive and the True Message of Jesus to grow in Pakistan.

Pray that the pastors of the effected churches are able to make peace with the mosques and mend the rift cause by both sides. Pray that they will be able to worship in peace with their neighbors and that the police can restore calm quickly. Pray all these things in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit from whom all grace is given.