Dear Doves,
      For many years, congregations of Christian houses of faith in America have had read books, studied, seen movies and other videos, had study groups and  seminars to learn all sorts of things. Study is one thing. Worship is another. What are some themes of our times? There is accommodation, ecumenism, tolerance, political correctness, and understanding. There come times when there is a perilous spiritual blur between the theory and the practice. Worship in The Scriptures is about the real and true. Worship of what? Worship of whom? For genuine Christians the real and true is the 3 in 1 of  The Father, The Son, and The Spirit of Truth. The first 3 of the 10 Statements, the Ten Commandments, deal with these eternal and all important issues. There is the real and true Supreme Being, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and all His Creation. According to The Scriptures, rival gods or goddesses are not the real and true and are NEVER to be WORSHIPED. Obedience or rebellion? Submission or defiance? How curious it is that the weekly Torah reading from Numbers 16:1-20 for this weekend includes the story of the rebels, the unbelieving, the faithless, the malcontents, the defiant, the disobedient, the apostate, the blasphemous, the usurpers, the proud, the arrogant, the slanderers. Korach and his followers, 250 slain, were The Enthusiasts for Sacrilege! This spiritual horror story leading to death and destruction can remind us of Jude 11 and Revelation 18:4. Jude 11 is a stern warning against those individuals who infiltrate, sneak in unawares and seek power in a Christian house of faith to lead the sheep astray, to very destruction and perdition. These sneaks cleverly plot to divide and conquer. What is the spirit of one who would be like Korach? Revelation 18:4  tells to leave "the Mystery, Babylon the Great." These "alternative paths" lead to TRAGEDY and DESTRUCTION! The Scriptures are words of LIFE and SALVATION and TRUTH.
      If the Koran replaces The Scriptures for "Christians" then what happens? If a--ah replaces Father, Son, and The Spirit, for "Christians" then what happens? If Islam replaces "Christianity" then what happens? There are faith houses, texts, pulpits, vestments, ministers, leaders, sheep.  Some "Christians" this weekend would do well to heed THE WORD and learn more about the TRAGEDY and DESTRUCTION of Korach and his misled 250 followers. Some "ordained ministers" and their "texts" and their "sheep" and their "worship" may not be heeding the lessons of Korach. What are the lessons as those of Laodicea commune and nibble on the BITTER FRUITS OF ANTI-PENTECOST like apostasy, rebellion, blasphemy, and sacrilege? The Division, The Separation is continuing. May we be like those faithful and true of Philadelphia,  promised the open door,  in these last golden days of The Age of Grace! Come quickly, Lord...
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean