Help must come from outside organizations or through international appeal. Orissa hasn’t the best representation of freedom of religion and the state is slow to act. To read more of the conflicts between Christians, Hindus and Muslims, go to Persecutions.org or the Voice of the Martyrs.

The stories told there will break you hearts. Please keep India on your prayer lists and ask God to restore peace and reason to the area. Also, ask your government to appeal to order and send help, resources and manpower to rebuild these villages and churches. India is giving just a few dollars to rebuild and it is not anywhere enough to do much good.

But this year, here in America and across the world there seems to be little to be thankful for. As persecutions have increased in the world, we pray for God’s intervenition. As our financial empires collapse, we pray that we can keep our jobs, our homes and our minds. And as we still see conflicts around the world, genocide and oppression still on the march and we seem helpless to do anything about it, we pray that we can make sense of it all.Then in it all, I found a bit in the Bible that helps me cope.

From the book of Deuteronomy, comes this nugget of Wisdom, a prayer for the people of obedience to the Word of God and His Commandments. I offer this up as my prayer for all in the world that seek His Wisdom and strive to obey the Commandment of Love and Compassion.

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments … all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. …. The LORD will open to you his good treasure, the heavens, to give you rain in the land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. (Deuteronomy 28:1-6,12

As we begin this season of the celebration of the Birth of Chirst, let us each day find a blessing of God, even in these hard times, and rejoice in the Love, Mercy and Generosity of Our God.

James writes of three constants in Christian failings. The lack of works in Faith has placed the early Jewish Christians on a path that had brought the Pharisees and Sanhedrin into a sinful state with a disregard for the humanity of God’s law.

These three constants are:
1) The Purity of Religion and the purity of speech.
2) The caring of the less fortunate and the respect that each member deserve. i.e.: the widows, orphans and the poor.
3) The bias of the rich and the powerful and the wannabes with in the community and the stereo-typing of the poor.

The pure religion that directs us to look after the orphans (fatherless) and widows is the same pure religion that directs us to guard our voices and to watch out for the vanity and egos that tend to separate us from God’s will. It is the same pure religion that Moses recorded as the Law of Righteousness in Deuteronomy and was told of by the Prophets. When we think of bridling our tongues, we often think of slander, lies and foul language. But James is concerned with the language of our heart. In our minds we speak unkindly of others, we think things that degrade our neighbors and we disregard the needs of others or bring false shame upon them. We cast them as undeserving of God’s Mercy and Love. And then we seek to surround ourselves with the “successful and powerful” rather than with those who need our friendship and compassion.

Pure religion does not see the fate of others as a failing but as a chance to serve God in fullness. We are called to be understanding of others and to be unstained by the traps and smears of the world. The Life Application Study Bible that I like to use, lists eight ways that favoritism is wrong, and I like them as a reminder of how not be behave toward others, but I want to share with you eight scriptures that illustrate the failings of favoritism and how James and the early Church believed. James was afraid that the Jewish Christians were falling into the trappings of the Temple Priests and creating an egotistical relationship within the body of believers. While James speaks of these problems, he was not alone as these scriptures will illustrate.

1.) Proverbs 24:23-25 These are the sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good. Whoever says to the wicked, “you are right” will be cursed by the people, abhorred by nations, but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight and a good blessing will come upon them”

When we treat others with unkind words or show bias toward others because we seek favor from them, we open the doors of injustice. We are putting our fortunes above God. Every time we think or react unjustly toward another, we are in the Court of the Lord, When people say the poor deserve to be poor and rejected, they are Judging Christ, for he gave up everything to be “poor” for us. Jesus became “fatherless” when he came down from Heaven to dwell amongst us and to die for us. Didn’t He call God “Abba” which means daddy? And didn’t He cry out, “Why have you forsaken me?” from the cross? If Jesus did not think it a sin to be poor, why then should we think that the poor are guilty of sin because they are poor.

2.) Luke 6:20 Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.”

We need to look at those who are without as blessed, instead of cursed. As a result we will be more willing to put away the bangles of luxury that distract us from God’s blessings. We should not be snared by the things that the World think as important but concentrate on the things of God. We need to see things in God’s Light and then we can see that the widows, orphans and the poor are truly the blessed ones and we should protect and aid them at every turn. When we can see that the simple things of life are the only ones that have meaning, we can live less fearfully, we can have less stress and we can see that the rich and powerful are really powerless before God’s wisdom and might.

3.) John 7:24 Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgement.

For years, I tried to “raise myself up” in the standards of the world. I sought the favor of men and promoted myself at every turn. Yet God, in His wisdom, always let my attempts fail so that I might learn to live without. Investments failed, property values dropped, emergencies came up and savings had to be spent. I never got the luxuries I wanted, but I always have just enough to cover the things that I needed. I am blessed because I have no more than what I need.

Right judgment is learning to live according to God’s will and not by the desires of vanity or egos. Those who live “well” may be in misery, never having peace or contentment. Those who are rich and are truly happy are so because of the generosity of their hearts. John Wesley said to earn a lot so that you can give a lot away for the grace of God. If it were not for my charming wife telling me that we must pay the bills, I would be giving away every penny I have to so many causes. Remember that the widows pennies are more precious to God than the gold of the wealthy. She gave according to her heart rather than by the surplus as did the Pharisee and Rich. Just because the widows may be poor in the world does not mean that they are no rich in the eyes of the Father.

4.) 1 Cor 1:26-27,29 For consider your calling, brother: not many of you are wise according to worldly standards, not many of you are powerful, not many are of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak to shame the strong. ….So that no human being could boast in the presence of God.

Even Paul, the “wisest of the wise” among the followers of Jesus was sent to live among the Christians of Antioch, to learn from the simple and devout (see Acts 11:19-26). All of his wisdom did not save him or hold him high before the LORD. Even Solomon in all his wisdom did not keep from sinning against God. True wisdom comes from the heart of God. I can’t tell you of ll the times that the older women have shown me the wisdom of God and His Mercy. Many times I have been blessed because of the words, questions and simple prayer of children and child like adults. Even though have studied the Word, the history of the Church and the philosophies of man, still what I know is what God has placed upon my heart. I am “wise” because of Christ and the Spirit of God. And as Christ has come to me, so also He comes to the poor in Spirit and the weak in body so as to bring the good news to all.

It is when the powerful and the rich take control of the churches that they embrace foolishness and invite sinful natures to enter into the congregations. It is better to be poor and want of nothing except the Lord than to be rich and powerful and be at the mercy of the hands of finance and thus dilute the wisdom of the Word.

5.) 1 Peter 4:16-18 Yet if any of you suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgement to begin out of the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the Gospel of God? And “If righteousness is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (see Proverbs 11:31)

Peter spoke of hospitality to others without grumbling and he spoke of suffering. How can we judge if a person is poor or an orphan or a alien among us? What right do we have to say whether or not the state of their life is a result of sin? This was the question asked of Christ about a man who was born blind. Maybe those who are the widows, orphans and poor have been given a blessing that we might see the Glory of God because of them. We who are “righteous” in our own eyes because of wealth, power or because of noble birth may be the poor ones. We are to be judged just the same as the poor and the weak. What right do we have to lift ourselves up higher than them. God will judge the just and the foolish without bias or show favor, by our lips and our expressions we judge ourselves more right than God.

6.) Lev. 19:15,18 You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but IN RIGHTEOUSNESS shall you judge your neighbor….but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

While Moses speaks of a court of Law, James is clearly concerned with the court of public opinion. We are not to prejudge those within the congregation by wealth or by status within the greater community but we are to judge the content of their heart. In this manner, we can see that many who are within our doors are worthy of God’s Grace and Mercy regardless of the standings within the neighborhood. We are to show no bias or favoritism toward any. We are not to set preconditions on becoming a member of our Christian community other than living within the Word. I recommend reading all of the passage (Lev. 19:9-18) to get a fuller understanding of God’s Law to the Children of Israel. There is the lesson to the Israelites in the treating of the whole of the congregation. I also suggest that you read Matthew 7:1-12 and Romans 13:8-10. As the Law of God is the law of Love, to show bias or favoritism is wrong in the understanding of the Word. To treat those who have less as less is a fallacy of false worship and we will be judged by the content of our heart and the words of our mouths.

7.) Matt 5:19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Gandi required that his followers must read the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, we will not see the Kingdom. Unless we treat each and everyone of the body of Christ, rich or poor, the widows, fatherless and the aliens the same, we are like the proud and still sinful priests of the Temple who rejected Christ. We are to love the poor as our own, the fatherless as our children, the widows as our mothers or even as wives as Christ loved us. Unless we are willing do do so and make every effort to see God’s Grace in them, we will never see the Kingdom of God. If non-believers can see the good in the Sermon on the Mount, why then do so many of us avoid the righteous among us just because they are poor or weak instead of powerful and proud?

8.) Colossians 3:12-14 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved; compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with each other and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so that you must also forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

I don’t need to add much to these powerful words of Paul but to say that as Jesus told us to sin no more, to obey His commandments of Love and that Peter, John and Paul all seem to relate how we are not to have partiality or bias in the Church, the lesson of James is a conformation that such behavior is vile to God. They are all in agreement that the ones who the world sees as unworthy are in fact the ones that God seeks to make worthy. God loved us while we were still sin, He does not differentiate the rich from the poor. We are made of the same dirt. Bias, prejudice, avoidance or rejection is meaningless to God who has called us all as equal heirs of His Salvation.

And that brings us back to the beginning. We are to watch what we say, check what we think lest we say the wrong things. We are to guard our hearts and our voices that we cause no harm to any believer. We are to treat each with the same kindness as Christ treated us. Most importantly, we should speak prayerfully to each other, have conversation with each as we would have with the Father of us all. I remember that someone said that as we speak to each other, we would speak with God, and that as we pray to God, we should speak as in prayer to each other.

And as we would have God treat us as worthy, we should also treat each other. As we were all orphans, until we were adopted by Christ’s blood, we should treat the orphans and widows as our sisters and children. Be in God’s Peace.

I can understand why they want to do that but I am appalled that the margin of victory was so slim. To many people have given themselves over to Baal and the way of the flesh. Even in our mainstream churches, the worship of our bodies and the idea that what God says about our being temples to Him is meaningless. This new attack against morality is something that I have been anticipating for a long time. It began when we stopped believing that adultery was immoral and encouraged it in movies, books and our neighborhoods. It excellerated when we stopped thinking of premarital sex and child pregnancies as evil and morally accepted it. The no-fault divorce was the clincher to our road to degradation.

So this step to beleive that unnatural sex between consenting adults is legitimate is no surprise. The writing was on the wall when major Mainstream Churches ordained homosexuals as priests and promoted them to bishops. While I believe in religious tolerance, I have to draw the line when Churches justify sin and promote it from the pulpits. We must as a people of God and disciples of Jesus, Who is Christ, fight to regain the morality of the Gospel and expel such depravity from the Church.

It is my opinion, as one who believes that the Wholeness of Christ must be maintained in all teachings, that those who condone, accept and promote homosexual marriage and no fault divorce should be removed from the roles of True Christian Faith. We must return to the path of Righteousness and Godly precepts. We must put the Word of God and ALL His teachings in our hearts. We must restore our people to live in the Word of God and in the Spirit of holiness. We must fight the worship of the flesh and it’s depravity.

Restore in us a clean heart, O LORD, and renew in me a new Spirit. If we can not succeed in preserving marriage as a sacred bond between a man and a woman, let us a least preserve our Faith in God. The first step would be for churches in California and other battleground states to stop recognizing Secular marriages as valid and only acknowledge marriages preformed in Churches that perform Biblical Marriages. If the Churches reject Civil Unions as acceptable for its members, we can claim a small victory. The next thing is to practice civil disobedience and prohibit our schools from teaching our children same sex marriage as a violation of our freedom of religion. But the most important thing we must do is to PRAY every day for a return to sensibility of our government and to reject those who oppose God’s will and Word.

One ambitious young man chose to learn three psalms (22, 23, 26), but most of us were not quite up to that zeal. My choice was Jeremiah 12. Partly because of the opening verse: “Righteous are you , O LORD (Adoni) when I complain to you.” And also because of the fact that the complaint was the false worship in the land.

When I think of all the times that I have gone to the Lord and asked why do they say and do these horrendous thing in your Name and still beleive that they are “righteous”? I have pondered why the evil prosper and the just go hungry. I have lamented that many times the True Word of Salvation has been altered and watered down by justification of sin. So these verses, the lament of Jeremiah for the sins of Israel and her neighbors, has not changed. Only Israel is the whole of the Christian world.

So I will study and memorize these verses, I will put them into my heart. And then I will seek the LORD to examine my own heart to make sure that I am not living in the lie I protest. For if I am to be Holy and Blameless, I must purge myself of all unrighteousness and seek only what is good and well with My God.

When I have completed to memory Jeremiah 12, I will add the footnote to this post. I want you to remember though, I am dyslexic and this will be a challenge for me. Pray that I do well.