Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing

I hope most of you have heard about this or have seen the YouTube video of what occurred at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on Jan 29, 2012.  If not, here is what occurred as reported by Katherine Weber of the Christian Post Recorder, “In an ornate ceremony, guest speaker Rabbi Ralph Messer declared presiding pastor Eddie Long a "king." He wrapped the controversial pastor in a 312-year old Torah scroll which he claimed was rescued from the Auschwitz death camp after WWII. The scroll, according to Messer, "may still have the dust of Auschwitz and Birkenau" on it.

"He's a king. God has blessed him," Messer declared. Long was then hoisted onto a chair and carried by four men across the podium, as Messer spoke of biblical kingship.”  As “King” Eddie was raised and carried around the pulpit (which looks more like a stage), did anyone notice the congregation? They were on their feet, clapping their hands and some even showed their acceptance by making a bowing motion.

The irony was simply hilarious. Think about it.... ministers of these mega churches are treated like kings. Consider the offerings they are given, the mansions they live in and they way they live completely above the “flock” they are supposed to be feeding. They are placed on an unrealistic pedestal. Most are believed to be so righteous that in a sense they are seen by the congregation as divine. What’s forgotten is that they are imperfect creatures made of flesh and blood that sin like every other human being on God’s green earth. Anytime an entity can generate as much money as these mega churches can, corruption is quick to follow. The sad thing is when somebody stamps a cross or the name of God on something many people feel it shouldn’t be scrutinized.

There are many people that become ministers not because of a calling but because of money. It's rationalized that the amount of money ministers make compensates for the fact that large churches have so many members that the ministers have to dedicate all of their time and energy to their flock. Maybe that’s why when the church was set up it wasn’t set up to have mega churches.

The minister of the church I was raised in didn’t live off the church. He worked a worked a 9-5 like everyone else. He received “love tokens” on special days, but never received a salary for doing what he was called to do. That filtered out the most of the hustlers and fakes. When the church grew to be too large, the Assistant Pastor would break away and start another church and the cycle would continue.

I am not too worried about these men because they will have to, as my mother say, “Stand in front of God and give an account for their actions.” I’m much more worried about the brainwashed masses following these men without question. Remember that when a man is called by God, he is called to be an avenue for the path of enlightenment to flow through. Understand this fact; each of us must know God for ourselves. We have to seek Him ourselves. We have to study scripture for ourselves and pray that God will, as my Grandmother (RIP) used to say “will open up our understanding.”

In the history of this planet more people have been killed in the name of God than for anything else. Religion is the controlling factor of every society. To understand it's power is to understand it's power to corrupt. Be a thinker not a follower. We have to learn to see with our intellect instead of our emotions. The biggest lie the devil ever told is that he didn’t exist. The Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (Bible) warns us of this in Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”… Some of these ministers today are just that.

This Too Shall Pass

“This too shall pass.” Many people believe this saying comes from the Bible, however it is actually comes from Muslim mystics. As a little boy I used to get in trouble a lot. Not because I was “bad” but because I was just “energetic”. My punishments usually resulted in a loss of privileges. I can remember one time as I sat in my room whipping my tears after I had been “discipline”, my loving Grandmother (RIP) came in to console me. She put her hand on my shoulder and said “Baby, this too shall pass.”

I didn’t really understand the meaning of this until about 20 years later when she was holding my hand telling me the same thing as I sat in front of her troubled. All problems are temporary. No matter how bad life seems, at some point it has to change because change is inevitable.

Last year 150,000 people committed suicide in the U.S. A number of these deaths were due to mental illness. A great portion of these deaths were people with temporary problems that resorted to final and irreversible answers. Death is final, and the pain of loved ones that lose people to suicide is also final.

The Bible states “Do not be a fool, why die before your time” (Ecclesiastes 7:17). Understand that you belong to God, and your time on this earth has been borrowed from Him. Life is hard. Understand you are protected by Him, the trials and tribulations of these days are simply a test for your soul and are not permanent. Death is a rest that cannot be taken, it can only be granted.