June 11, 2010 · 3:55 pm

Repentance–Departing from Evil–Pre-requisite of Immortality

A few of us humans will achieve immortality  when we are given a new spiritual  body  at  the  time  of the resurrection, the time of the Messiah’s return.  But not everyone that says that He is Master of their life will become immortal.  It will only be those who are alive and have the Spirit of God dwelling in them in a reality, or those who had the Spirit of God dwelling in them at the time that their earthly bodies fell asleep, these also will be given a  new immortal spiritual body during the first resurrection.

You have a mortal, fleshly body at this time, but God Almighty has unlimited power and he is quite capable with the mere power of his word to give you a new spiritual body as it has pleased him in his eternal plan and purpose laid down since before the beginning of the world. (II Cor. 5:l).  He will have called many, but few are chosen for this the greatest of all honors—to be one of the many sons and daughters  that God is bringing to glory.  It is a great love  that  will  bestow  this  on  a  select few, for few there will be to find this way of truth.  It is quite easy to find the way that leads to destruction, misery, and  desolation.  A narrow gate awaits those who enter the way that leads to love, honor, and glory.

The sole criteria in achieving immortality is that we receive the Spirit of God somehow into our bodies.  But therein lies the problem for mankind.  The Spirit God will not dwell in unclean temples.  The human body was created for the express purpose to house the Spirit of God, the essence of Himself.  God made  his crowning creation, man and woman, to house Himself.  Mankind is to be His temple.

However, God cannot dwell in the fleshly, earthly tabernacle called the human being until He cleans out the temple first.  The old carnal nature dwells in unregenerated man.  Man in his original fleshly state is abominable before God.

If He were speaking directly to us He would say, “Your actions toward your fellow man make you filthy before God.  The inside of you is dirty.  It is your heart that needs cleansing.  Your nature of selfishness is an abomination before God.  You lie, cheat, steal, kill, commit adultery, want other people’s worldly possessions; even their sons and daughters and wives and husbands.  Nothing is sacred to you humans anymore, but then it was always that way.   I gave you a simple ten point law and you refuse to keep it because there is nothing in it for yourself. You worship other things besides Me, your Creator God.  And you don’t keep the one day that I said to keep holy, the sabbath.  A very simple law, but a very profound law.

“You humans basically worship yourselves, think of yourselves first, put your thoughts for your lives first.  Always first, first, first.  And before you realize it, there is little if any thought for, or even about Me in your thoughts.  You see, your thoughts make the temple, your body, unclean.  Your center is not right, is not on Me the Creator, and so, man and woman live out their little mortal existences, leading their little desperate rut-like lives, never glimpsing the truth of the potential of what could be for them.  And that potential is immortality, never ending life, everlasting life, eternal life, a life of infinite years.

“But man’s problem is that he wants his own life to go on without end.  He wants his own selfish little existence to continue unabated with everyone worshipping him and centering in on his every whim and inordinate desire.  He wants to live forever in his way of getting for himself.  And yet he doesn’t realize that that way of life cannot last forever.  The way of getting selfishly will end up in death.  Labor in the fields of selfishness, and all you are paid is death. In all man’s thoughts these things should not be, but that’s the way of all man’s flesh that doesn’t heed the higher call.  This is man’s grief—that he can’t take it with him.  This is the proverbial vanity of vanities.  No profit under the sun of all one’s labor spent upon oneself.”

So God cannot live in the midst of all that selfishness—a lawlessness that is called sin, for the breaking of the ten commandments is sin.  And God hates sin because it is so against His nature.  He wants to live in man and woman, but He can’t because when man is full of himself, then there is no room for God.  Selfish action is a selfish spirit and  is  the  opposite  of  God’s  Spirit,  which  is the action called Love.

So there again is man’s problem; he wants to live forever, but wants to live his own selfish life forever, and this thinking breeds mortality, the way of death.  In order to gain immortality, man must have God’s Spirit living within him.  But the Spirit of God will not dwell in temples (bodies) that are unclean (have actions done in them that are sinful in breaking the l0 commandments).  Mankind that comes as far as this knowledge on the road of life comes to a fork in the road.  He must chose to either remain as he is and how he has been living, or he must seek a way to repent, to change the error of his ways.  In other words, he must find a way to stop breaking the l0 commandments.

And men have tried in the past to do just that to keep the ten commandments of God.  They have failed miserably, for they have tried on their own strength and power to do so.  It is impossible to keep them without God’s help.  We are created that way, so that we must, in order to please Him, turn to Him for his power and strength to keep His holy law.  The mightiest of body and the noblest of mind found among men cannot obey the law without His Spirit doing it in and through them.

One would ask then, “What can a person do in order to keep the law?”

First, he must through a broken and contrite spirit and heart be sorry for the way he has treated his fellow man and God.  This sorrow can grow and eventually yield a desire to not do those things again.  He will then repent of his sins, turn away from that way of getting for himself, and throw himself  on  God’s  mercy to forgive him.  God is rich in mercy and wants to receive his creation back into the fold of His plan and purpose.  If they are sincere, He will forgive them and cleanse them from the filth and uncleanness.

We are cleansed by the shed blood of the Lamb, Yahshua, Yah-in-human-form, who gave Himself up in sacrifice for us.

It all hinges on faith and belief in the sacrifice that God has ordained–the only sacrifice that can  take away a person’s sins.  The sacrifice is the Lamb of God, the only one who lived a sinless life.  If you can really believe that your sin was placed upon him the day of His death, that when He died, your sin died with it, and that when He was buried, your sinful life was buried, and when He was resurrected, you also were raised again to walk in a newness of life—if you can believe all this, then you can receive into your body (temple) that same Spirit and power that raised Him from the dead.  It takes belief, faith.

If you ask Him, He will give you a portion, an earnest, a down payment of His Spirit.  And that Spirit will come into you to replace that old spirit and will grow like a tiny seed in a large garden.  You must water it with your prayers and feed it with your study.  And that little portion of His Spirit will grow up into a full-fledged son and daughter of the Spirit who will someday be transformed in a twinkling of an eye and will be changed when immortality will come down out of heaven to swallow up that which can die.

For without God’s Spirit dwelling within us, we are only a member of the walking dead who spend a few nightly whispers with loved ones and then bury their  dead  and  wait  to be buried in turn.  Without that entity, the Spirit of God, that makes alive whatever it touches and lives in, we are just as good as dead.  Without His Spirit, if we are walking around, we do it on borrowed air in an incredibly delicate and fragile shell.  And our  shell will in a few moments, comparatively speaking, go back to dust from where it came, and our brief stint at self-glory here on earth will not be remembered anymore.  Every thing that man says and does without the Spirit of God is vain and of no profit in the final analysis.  KWHancock  [This is chapter 27 of my book Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality.  You may read more of this book which you can find at the top of this page.  Just click “Ebook…”]

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June 5, 2010 · 8:24 pm

My Mother’s Prayer and Testimony of Her Vision of One God

God, our Father, please help me write this.  I love You and want to be a good  witness for you.  I thank you for keeping me all these 84 years.

Times have been hard, but I never wanted to give up.  I loved the feeling of your reminding me to hold on.  I am so sorry for the times I was not waiting for your reminders of what you had done for me.

I realized I was in need of more of your truth to be taught to me.  But the others around me were in the same shape as I, and they were not able to teach me more of your truth. 

Through all the dark days and hangups, I finally realized I couldn’t depend on anyone but You.  I realized finally that all of us need those rough times in our lives in order to feel a greater need for You.  Thank You.

As I look back over the past six decades, I’m glad that I kept in your word, for therein is the only true help we can find. 

In the beginning of my journey here on earth with You, times were really hard.  It was the Great Depression.  My mother died when I was two, and without her to guide me, it was difficult.  My dad tried to raise us three little girls.  We were so poor that we had to live in tents in a graveyard at times, living on mostly gravey and bread made by hand.  But we survived.  And we were not the only sharecropper families there in East Texas. 

It was a struggle for our father, but being young children, we didn’t notice it much.  We just knew we were poor.  Later on in life after I came to know You, poor didn’t seem too bad, since Your word taught that we do not “live by bread alone, but by every word” of Your mouth.

As I got older, I wanted to work, but jobs were hard to find.  I got my first job at 15.  That would have been in 1941.  It was working in a laundry in Corsicana, Texas for 22 cents an hour.

Time went on, and I became of age to wed.  So after the War was over in 1945, I married, not knowing what true love was, but willing to learn to be a good wife and mother.  Then you gave me the greatest joy of my life.  You blessed me with a firstborn son.  Right out of your best mold.  Created in your image.  Thank You! 

My son brought great joy to my heart.  When he was five weeks old, we were lying down in the sun, and I was reading to him.  I did not know You or have your word at the time.  My neighbor across the path came over to visit us.  And she spoke to me of You.  I had never heard much about You at 21 years old. 

But You had prepared me to receive Your word from her because of the wonderful thing that happened five weeks earlier at childbirth.  I was under the sleep that the doctor had put me under, and I had this dream.  There was a kind of swinging ladder to heaven, and people were going up this ladder two together, but I was going up alone.  When I reached the top, there was ONE of You holding your hand out to help me get off the ladder.  I then woke up. 

That gave me the truth about there being just one God.  Ever since that day, when I read Your word, I can see one God–even when it reads “and Jesus Christ.”  Once you get the revelation, you can see it.

Well, the great son you gave me also has the truth about one God.  He has a wonderful brain, Father, and I am so happy to serve You with him.

As time went by, I longed for a baby girl.  I so wanted the two children to be not so far apart.  By then I had read about  Hannah and how she prayed for a child, a boy baby.  And God answered her prayer.    So after waiting a year and a half, I knelt by the bed, and I reminded You, Father, that You had given her a boy child, Samuel.  Now I am asking You for a baby girl.  And the very next month she was on the way. 

At that time I was very shy and had never talked to any one about You.  I had studied and gone to church, but I was so shy.  I remember that while I was in the middle of giving birth to her, You stopped everything and asked me if I had witnessed to anyone about You.  And, of course, I said no.  You very distinctly told me that if I was not going to be a witness for You that the baby would not finish coming.  So I started saying, “Yes, Lord.  Yes, Lord, I will.”  And suddenly, I was wide awake, and I asked Dr. Mamulia if he knew You.  He thought for a minute that I was out of my head.  And I said, “But do you really know Him?”

And he said, “No, Louise, I don’t really know Him.”  The nurse was very angry with me, but I was really not afraid anymore to speak out about You. 

The next morning the doctor asked me, “Louise, do you remember what you said to me last night?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh, she was just out of her head,” the nurse interrupted.

And then the doctor said, “Oh, no, she wasn’t.”

The night before, after I asked him if he knew You, I crawled off the table with no help.  You made me so strong at the  time.  You gave me a beautiful son and daughter, and I thank you.    [Written by my mother, Louise Billups, last week.  I am so blessed to still have her and be able to talk to her everyday.  Love your mothers while you still can…]

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May 27, 2010 · 5:58 pm

Fateful Decisions Determine Who Comes into Existence

It is amazing to realize how personal choices are so fateful–full of fate–not just for the one who chooses a certain path or makes a decision in life, but for those who literally come after them.  In fact, some of our choices actually determine just who comes after us on the planet!

For example, I asked my dad, Scott K. Hancock, who was in his late seventies at the time, “Hey, Dad, you were quite the ladies man in your day.  Was there a woman who you let slip through your fingers?”

He looked at me funny as if to say, Well, my son is in his fifties, and I am about done on earth, so I guess it’s all right to tell it.  “As a matter of fact, there was a girl back in Corsicana, Texas during the War.  Her name was Thelma Mae.  I should have married her, but I didn’t.  I got cold feet and stood her up.  That was a mistake.”  I could tell it was difficult for him to talk about. 

I said, “Yeah, but what about me?  You married Mom and had me right after the War.  If you had married that girl, I would not exist!  This very  conversation we are having right now would not be taking place.”

“I guess you are right,” Dad said, righting himself, withdrawing back into taciturnity, no doubt wondering what had gotten into himself for sharing anything so personal.

“I am glad that you didn’t marry her,” I finally said.  And that was about all we said that day, for I had already seen the windows of communication being shuttered over his countenance.  A couple of years later, Dad died.  That was 2002.  We never talked any more about it.

I shared our talk with my wife Linda.  “If Dad had done right, if he had kept his word and promise to Thelma Mae, our kids–all five of them–Danny, Noah, Sara, Hannah, and Joby–would not exist.  And our grandkids–no Cody, Austin, or Baby Katy.  It would be a totally different universe.  Linda, you would have existed, of course, but not you you.  We are the sum total of our experiences, so subtract our 40 years together, and who then would you haver been?”

Linda just looked at me with that quizzical beginning of a smile that said, He’s out there again, but I love him.

“So my Dad’s betrayal of that girl some 65 years ago created a parallel world that permitted nine human beings to exist that would not have existed otherwise.  How can good come out of something bad–something so bad that it would haunt my Dad all those years?” 

Then I thought of God’s foreknowledge.  He knows all things beforehand.  There are no surprises for Him.  And then the scripture, “He puts it into their hearts to fulfill His will.” 

I talked to my Mom about this story, and she filled me in with the details that Dad did not share.

Dad and Thelma Mae had written each other for four years during World War II.  They were betrothed.  She had worked and had saved up, and her trousseau was full.  All was ready with the wedding dress, linens, and fineries.  Even furniture awaited their housewarming.  When Dad did not come back for her–and that without a word–she was heartbroken.

Instead, Dad married my Mom Louise in December 1945 and immediately took off to Califorinia for a brand new start.  I now know the reason for the sudden departure was as much personal as it was for financial considerations.

My Mom told me that a couple of years after their move, my grandmother wrote them a letter.  That would have been about the time, ironically enough, I was born.  She said that Thelma had died.  Mom said she read the letter, and it didn’t say much more than that.  Mom asked Dad who the girl was, and he said, “Oh, it was just a girl he had known back then.”

Mom said that after moving back to Texas in 1955, she had spoken to a woman she met at church in Oak Cliff that had known Dad and all the Hancocks of Kerns, Texas.  She filled Mom in on what had happened to Thelma Mae.  She had died of a broken heart in 1947.  She just wasted away.  Probably took pneumonia because she wouldn’t eat and take care of herself.  She was buried in her white wedding dress, and on her breast was laid my Dad’s 8 x 10 Army photograph and a stack of love letters he had written to her.

Oh, my God.  The sadness that my Daddy endured for the rest of his life–a sadness that paved the way for me and my family’s existence!  How unsearchable are all the ways of this life, for I was born out of a betrayal–possibly the most hurtful of all the sins.  I would not have come into existence had not my father made that fateful choice and its accompanying regret–a remorse that he carred with him to his grave.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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May 16, 2010 · 4:57 pm

The Pagan Roots of Halloween– “From Samhain to Halloween”

{The pagan roots of Halloween are thoroughly revealed in this research paper written by one of my students in Freshman College Composition this past semester.  She is actually a senior in high school, taking the course.  The truth will come out–even, as Christ said, “out of the mouth of babes.”}
 
Lizz Chappell 
Writing 110 
 Mr. Hancock 17 April 2010 

From Samhain to Halloween 

 

Each year on October 31,  people all around the world can be found walking down the streets in costumes and going door to door “Trick or Treating”. This tradition has been around for as long as any of us can remember, but where exactly does it start? How far does it go back? Is it different from how we celebrate October 31st today? Halloween is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in America, and dates back thousands of years.   

Halloween started 2,000 years ago from an ancient group of people, the Celts, with a celebration called Samhain (“Ancient Origins” 1). The Celts split their years into two different seasons, Beltane and Samhain. Beltane went from May 1st to November 1st, and was known by the Celts as “The Light.” Samhain was from November 1st to May 1st, and was a period of time called the “The Dark.” Samhain meant “summer’s end,” and marked the beginning of a new cycle. Many Celts believed that with darkness, silence comes (Freeman 1). October 31st marked the last day of summer, and the end of the harvest. It was a time of year the Celtics associated with death and darkness. They strongly believed the realms of the living and the dead crossed on this night, and the ghosts of the past would come to visit. Spirits were believed to be mischievous and caused trouble, sometimes damaging crops (“Ancient Origins” 1). Samhain was an elaborate celebration with bonfires, feasts, and sacrifice. Bonfires have especially played a big role in Samhain for one very important reason: The Feast of Tara (Freeman 2). 

The Feast of Tara was held every October 31st in celebration of the royal seat of the High King. Every household in Ireland would extinguish their fires and wait for the priests, also known as the Druids, to light a new fire. The new fire was lit at Tlachtga, which was the burial place of the great Druid, Mogh Ruith, who was believed to be a goddess. When the fire of Tara was lit, every household could relight their fire and would celebrate the new light with a huge feast of meat, breads, and the crops from the summer. The fire of the feast of Tara was a kindling of new dreams and a new beginning. The bonfire represented an island of light with an oncoming tide of winter darkness. After the fire, the ashes were sprinkled over the fields to protect them from the cold winter. Another custom after the fires was to make a circle out of the ashes and have each member of a family place a pebble within the circle. If, on the next day, the pebble had somehow been misplaced, it was believed that person would die within one year (Freeman 2). 

Another important part of Samhain was sacrifice. Herders would take cattle and sheep away from the pastures and into the stable, and a select few of those animals were chosen to be ritually devoted to the gods before slaughter. The Celts believed the gods drew near to earth at this time of year, so the people offered sacrifices for thanksgiving. Also, personal prayers in the form of objects symbolizing peoples’ wishes were thrown into the fire to be sent up to the gods in smoke (Freeman 1). 

Instead of sacrifice, some people believed in another tradition of Samhain, soul cakes. These cakes were little pastries baked for the dead to eat to help their souls. They were placed on graves or given to the poor. They were given to beggars as proxies for the dead (Leach 1053). The Celtic tradition lasted for centuries, but the way Samhain was celebrated was changed by an invasion of another culture, the Romans. 

The Celts eventually were taken over by the Romans around 43 A.D., and they ruled for 400 years. The Romans combined two of their own festivals with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain: Feralia and The Festival of Pomona. Feralia was a day when the Romans commemorated the passing of the dead, and the Festival of Pomona was to honor the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, and the symbol of the apple was imported into Samhain (“Ancient Origins” 1). The tradition of “bobbing for apples” is thought to have come from the celebration of Pomona (Freeman 3). 

Throughout the years, Christianity grew strongly across Europe, and in the 800’s, Pope Boniface the IV declared November 1st as All Saints Day. It is believed he did this to replace the Celtic festival Samhain with something church related but still dealing with the dead and lost souls. The Church believed rather than trying to completely erase the Pagan holiday of Samhain, they would use it. Pope Gregory I’s theory was that if people worshipped a tree, rather than cut it down, consecrate it to Christ. This became the basic approach used in missionary work. Samhain eventually was decided Pagan and evil by the Catholic Church. They believed it was a festival associated with the devil. Druids, or Celtic Priests, were considered devil worshipers who believed in demons and spirits. The Celtic Underworld became identified with Christian Hell. Some believers of the Celtic religion actually went into hiding and were branded as dangerous and malicious. All Saints Day was a holiday meant to replace Samhain forever, though it never fully did (Santino 2). November 2nd was later declared All Souls Day, a time to not only honor saints who had passed away, but all those who had passed. These celebrations were referred to as “All-Hallows”, so October 31st became All Hallow’s Eve, then over time that formed into the word we commonly use today, Halloween (“Ancient Origins” 1). Halloween is also referred to as “The Witches New Year”, and “The Last Harvest” (“Pumpkin Carving” 1). 

Halloween eventually came to America as more and more European immigrants came to our country, though there are actually very few records of Halloween celebration in the colonial history of America. Each culture brought their own varied customs of Halloween with them. Northern American colonies were mostly Protestant and had strict religious beliefs against the practice of Halloween. Southern colonies, on the other hand, had more of a mixture of European religion and culture. Beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups began to clash with each other and Native American tribes, and the southern colonies began to mix their Halloween traditions with Native American harvest celebrations. Some of the first celebrations were actually play parties, where neighbors told stories of the dead, told each other’s fortunes, and had feasts with dancing and singing. Around 1850, America was flooded with many immigrants, and each culture helped the celebration of Halloween become very popular (“Ancient Origins” 2). Scottish immigrants celebrated with fireworks, tall tales of ghosts and spooks, games, and mischief. Bobbing for apples was a very popular game, and Puicini, an Irish fortune-telling game using saucers. In the mid 1800’s, the potato famine of Ireland sent approximately 2 million immigrants from Ireland and surrounding countries to America. These immigrants really shaped the Halloween celebration and spread it throughout America. Many supernatural creatures became associated with All Hallows. In Ireland, fairies were some of the legendary creatures thought to roam the streets on Halloween. Many old folk ballads commemorated this, like one called “Allison Gross”, which told the story of a man being saved from a witch’s spell by the fairy queen (Santino 3). English observation of Guy Fawkes Day on November 5th also intertwined with Halloween celebrations. This brought in a lot of pranks and mischief to the holiday. People now believed less in ghosts wreaking havoc on the night of October 31st and more of children causing trouble (Hellion 1). Along with pranks and old legends being told on Halloween, one thing that spread quickly over America was wearing costumes. 

Today on the night of Halloween, many children can be seen running around the streets in costumes such as witches and ghosts, their favorite television characters, and many more. The tradition of Halloween costumes actually dates all the way back to the Celts and their practice of Samhain. The Celts believed winter was a very frightening time with darkness, the cold, and a shrinking food supply. On the October 31st, people believed they could encounter ghosts, but to avoid being recognized by these ghosts’ people would wear masks and disguises when they left their homes. Many Celts also wore costumes in celebration of Samhain, usually consisting of animal heads and skins. Throughout the years this tradition evolved into what we now practice today (“Ancient Origins” 3). 

Another world-wide tradition of Halloween is carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. This has become the symbol many of us automatically associate with Halloween. This tradition is believed to have begun around the 900’s, and turnips and gourds were originally used. They were set on porches and window sills to welcome the ghosts of loved ones that had passed away and to protect their home against evil spirits. Instead of candles, these gourds and turnips were lit with burning lumps of coals. Pumpkins weren’t native to Europe, and it wasn’t until European immigrants came to America that they discovered pumpkins and began using them (“Pumpkin Carving” 1). 

No one can think of Halloween without thinking of “trick-or-treating.” This tradition goes back to the very first celebrations of All Souls Day parades in England. Poor people would beg for food, and families would give out soul cakes in promise of prayer for dead family members. The distribution of soul cakes was actually highly encouraged by the church. Children began going from house to house to get these sweet treats, and throughout the years the treats began to vary (“Ancient Origins” 3). Today candy is the main treat given out on Halloween night. 

Halloween has always been associated as a night of mischief, and many superstitions and legends have arose from this. Some people believe certain things may bring you love, bad luck, or even death. Superstitions have changed and evolved throughout the ages, and some of them are still around today. 

Many people hear stories of avoiding things on Halloween in case of bad luck, also known as superstitions. There are thousands of superstitions associated with Halloween. Some have been long forgotten, but some are still well known today. One of the most famous Halloween superstitions is the fear of black cats because of the belief they bring bad luck. This superstition dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, when people believed witches would turn themselves into black cats to avoid being recognized. Another common superstition is to avoid walking under ladders to keep away bad luck. This superstition goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians, and their belief that triangles were sacred and that they shouldn’t be crossed (“Ancient Origins” 4). If a candle suddenly goes out by itself, as though by breath or wind, it is believed that a ghost is present. If you gaze into a candle flame long enough, you can peer into your future. If a person casts a headless shadow or no shadow at all, it is believed to be an omen of death within the next year. If a bat flies around a house three times, a death omen is placed on that household. It is believed anyone born on Halloween can see and talk to spirits. In Britain, it was believed the devil was a nut-gatherer, and he used nuts as his magic charms (“Halloween Superstitions” 2). Many superstitions also came about from the festival of Samhain. 

Samhain was a time of mystery and a time when people believed the lost souls of loved ones drew near to the earth. Certain legends came about with the festival of Samhain. Many believed the barrows where fairies dwelt would open, and a demon who stole babies, Samhanach, was released. For three days before and three days after November 1st, the warriors of Ulster assembled for eating, drinking, and boasting of men they had killed. Each warrior kept the tongue of the men they killed for evidence (Leach 1051). There was also a legend of women being able to change the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, and mirrors (“Ancient Origins” 4). Girls who would carry a lamp to a spring of water believed they could see their future husband in the water’s reflection (“Halloween Superstitions” 1). 

There are also many legends dealing with women and love on Halloween night. Many young women believed they could use the magic of Halloween to identify their future husband. Nuts were believed to hold magic. If a woman would eat a baked treat with walnuts, hazelnuts, and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night, it is believed she would dream about her future husband. In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that single young women name a hazelnut for each one of their eligible mates, and then toss all the hazelnuts into a fireplace. The nut that would burn to ashes, rather than pop or explode represented that woman’s future husband. In 1700’s Ireland, a cook would bury a ring into a woman’s mashed potatoes on Halloween, hoping to bring love to the diner who found it (“Ancient Origins” 4). Along with superstitions came many pranks, mischief, and tricks. Halloween became a spooky night with all the old legends, but it also became a night many saw to stir up trouble. 

Pranks and mischief turned into a major problem in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Instead of harmless pranks and tricks played on friends, they became acts of vandalism and property damage. Halloween became an excuse to participate in criminal activity. Communities fought back by encouraging “trick-or-treating.” They believed trick-or-treating was a safe way to have fun and keep kids out of trouble. Trick-or-treating became very popular by the 1940’s and has evolved into what it is today (Hellion 2). 

Halloween as we know it today started from an ancient ritual very different from our own. What was once a festival full of witchcraft and the belief in spirits and ghosts has now turned into a night of dressing up in a variety of costumes and collecting candy from door to door. Halloween has become popularized by television, movies, music, and other types of media. It has grown to become America’s second largest holiday, and it brings in approximately $6.9 billion dollars annually. 

Whether it was Samhain or Halloween, October 31st is a day throughout history that has always had a supernatural feel to it. It’s a night when the air starts to grow cold and stories come about of spooks and legends. It’s a holiday different from the others, and it all started thousands of years ago. 

　 

Works Cited 

“Ancient Origins.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 23 Apr 2010. 

<http://www.history.com/topics/halloween&gt;. 

Freeman, Mara. “The Celtic Year Samhain.” Chalice Centre. Chalice Productions, 1999. Web. 23 Apr 

2010. <http://www.chalicecentre.net/samhain.htm&gt;. 

“Halloween Superstitions.” The Holiday Spot. The Holiday Spot, n.d. Web. 23 Apr 2010. 

<http://www.theholidayspot.com/halloween/superstitions.htm&gt;. 

Hellion, . “A Brief History of Halloween in America.” Deliriums Realm. N.p., 09/10/2007. Web. 23 Apr 

2010. <Hellion, . “A Brief History of Halloween in America.” Deliriums Realm. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 

Apr 2010 >. 

“The History of Pumpkin Carving.” Pumpkin Carving 101. Halloween Online, n.d. Web. 23 Apr 2010. 

<http://www.pumpkincarving101.com/pumpkin_carving_history.html&gt;. 

Leach, Maria. Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend. New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls, 

1972. 1051-53. Print. 

Santino, Jack. “The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows.” The Library of Congress. Library of Congress, 

n.d. Web. 23 Apr 2010. <http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html&gt;.

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May 1, 2010 · 4:47 pm

“Woe to the Pastors” Because of the Lies–Part II–(Conversations with the Seer)

“What exactly is God’s beef with the preachers and pastors?”

“In this message contained in Jeremiah 23, Yahweh is saying, You have scattered my people by feeding them lies, but ‘I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them into their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.  And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them’ with the truth (vs. 3-4).  It is plain that God has not forgotten the lost tribes of Israel even though the pastors don’t teach the flock this truth.  For He refers to Himself as the LORD (YHWH) God of Israel, even as the apostle Paul said, ‘God has not cast off His people whom He foreknew'” (Romans 11: 2).

I stopped him.  “Wait a minute.  Why is all this important?”

“Because we are peeking into the very mind of Christ, the Anointed One.  The ‘fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily’ in Him [Col. 2: 9].  So knowing what is in His mind shows us what is in the Father’s mind.  These are the very things that He is thinking about.  Yes, thinking about.  Do we want the mind of Christ?  We are admonished to put it on, to think like He thinks, to be perfect like Him.”

“You mean God actually sits around and thinks about things?”

“Exactly,” the Seer said.  “He thinks about regathering His chosen people Israel, the 12 tribes.  And today’s preachers are not teaching this regathering, because they are not thinking about it.  For they have not believed this truth.  After all, He said, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts'” [Isa. 55: 8].

“I was taught that we were Gentiles, one of the heathen nations.”

“That is a perfect example of how the pastors ‘speak a vision of their own heart, and not of the mouth of Yahweh’ [v. 16].  Today’s pastors tell their flocks that ‘you shall have peace and no evil shall come upon you’ [v. 17].  They tell their flocks, Hey, no sweat.  The Rapture is coming.  You will escape the Great Tribulation.  ‘No evil shall come upon you.’  You will be taken out of the earth supernaturally.  They keep repeating this erroneous dream some woman had in the 1800’s.  Just tell them what they want to hear.  The bigger and more extravagant the lie, the more the people will believe it.  But don’t tell them the truth–that ‘the righteous will scarcely be saved’ from the tribulation coming–that the only reason that the very earth we sit on today is spared from total destruction is because of His elect chosen ones being in the line of fire.  ‘And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s  sake, those days shall be shortened'” [Matt. 24: 22].

“So the only reason that the earth is spared from total annihilation is because God doesn’t want to kill His chosen elect along with the others?”

“That’s right, and that means that true followers of His are on the earth–in harm’s way.  These are His elect, the chosen ones, the sons and daughters of God.”

“Why don’t the preachers warn the people of the hard times coming?” I asked.

“The preachers don’t tell them these truths because they don’t believe it themselves, and if they are leaning to accepting this truth, they do not share it, for they know that they would be kicked out and lose their jobs and livelihood being the hirelings that they are.”

“The pastors teach that the modern day Jewish people fulfill all this that you are saying.”

“Don’t be deceived into believing that.  About 85% of todays Jewish people are converts to Judaism.  Most are the offspring of the Khazars whose kingdom converted to Judaism in the 8th Century AD [ http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Khazars ].”

“What difference does that make?”

“The difference to God is that He promised Abraham that to his seed He would give the land in and around Jerusalem.  And the Khazars are from another lineage.  But they claim  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel as their forefathers.  It is not true.  And even if all modern day Jewish people were from the biblical patriarchs, that would only include just two of the 12 tribes, for the kingdom of Judah (the Jews) was made up of Judah and Benjamin.

“And you know what else angers Goid about the pastors?  They ‘think to cause my people to forget my name’ [v. 27].  They don’t tell the people–even if they have this knowledge– that ‘the LORD’ is a title that the translators used instead of God’s Hebrew name YHWH, pronounced Yahweh, or very close to that [ http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/index.php?q=Yahweh&title=LoveToKnow_1911%3ASearch&site=1911 ]. That’s the thing to really watch out for.  Don’t mess with God’s name, and definitely don’t deny it–whatever you do.”

That closed that session with the Seer.  These things would take time to soak in, for they were so different, so opposite of what the world was teaching.

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April 23, 2010 · 11:32 am

“Woe to the Pastors That Destroy My Sheep”–The Sermon You Won’t Hear on Sunday Morning [Conversations With the Seer] Part I

“Why won’t you hear this message on Sunday morning?” I asked the Seer.  He had mentioned in passing the day before, that chapter 23 in Jeremiah would never serve as a text for a pastor.

The Seer looked at me as if needing to see a sufficient amount of sincerity in the question.  And seeing it, he said, “It is not because the words are unintelligible.  The word from the LORD (Yahweh) that the prophet Jeremiah wrote down is extremely clear, brought to us in a very simple unadorned style of English.  When the Spirit says, ‘Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Yahweh,’ the words are straightforward and plain.”

“But why won’t they preach it.”

“It’s because the message is not for God’s sheep in the pews but for the pastors, preachers, and priests themselves.  It is a woe pronounced on them by the God they say they are serving!”

“No wonder they won’t go there.”

“They are not about to.  Remember when our Master, the Anointed One Himself, said, ‘By your words you are justified and by your words you are condemned'”?

“Yes.”

“If they preach this message, their words will fall like a sword of judgement upon their own necks.”

“Why?  What is God’s beef with them?”

The Seer opened the front of the cast iron wood heater, exposing the bright orange coals that lay pulsating in the bottom.  He stirred the coals with a rod of iron, picked up two four inch logs and threw them in.  Shutting the door, he said, “In order to understand the message to the pastors, we need to know just who their congegrants are.  For God’s controversy with them has to do with how they have done His people in the pews.  For, you see, God has a chosen people.  They are the descendants of the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.  He was the grandson of Abraham and the son of the patriarch Isaac.  The offspring of his twelve sons grew into twelve tribes and became the great 12-tribed Kingdom of Israel under King David and Solomon.

“But they split into two different kingdoms around 975 B.C.–the Kingdom of Judah with two of  the tribes–Judah and Benjamin–at Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Israel made up of the other ten tribes with Samaria as their capital.  Later in c. 721 B.C. the Kingdom of Israel was carried away captive into Assyria and lost their identity as the children of Israel and God’s chosen people.  These are the “Lost Sheep of the House of Israel” that Christ (Yahshua) said He was sent to, and that the apostles wrote to in James 1:1, Hebrews, and Acts 9: 15.  The citizens of the Kingdom of Judah came to be called “Jews” over a hundred years later (II Kings).  They were led captive into Babylon around 600 B.C. It is the way the religious leaders over the centuries have treated these people that God is angry about.”

“Are you talking about the Jews?”

“No, the Jews are not the ‘Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.’  Think about it for a minute.  The Jews were never ‘lost.’  They have always been known and recognized wherever they have gone.  And they came from only the two tribes and not the ten tribes of the Kingdom of Israel.”

Now the Seer really had me.  “So who are these lost sheep of the House of Israel?” I asked.

“Studying the prophecies given over the 12 tribes by Jacob/Israel and Moses in Genesis and Deuteronomy, the only nations that can fulfill them are the countries of Western Europe, the British Isles and their ex-colonies, and the USA.  No other countries can measure up to the overwhelming blessings given to them in scripture.  The Master said, “You will know a tree by its fruit.  And so it is with nations and prophecies.”

“So, God’s problem with the pastors concerns their relationship with the peoples you have just mentioned?”

“Exactly.  Without the background and back story, the message to the pastors in Jeremiah 23 will not be understood by the unenlightened.”

“So, what does Yahweh have against the pastors of His people?”

“You have scattered my flock, driven them away, and not visited them” (v. 2).  Yahweh holds them responsible for what has happened to His flock.  How are they responsible?  They have prophesied lies to the people.  They have taught them after the imaginations of their own hearts and they have not heard from God.  They have taught false doctrines [v. 16].  They tell the people that no evil will come upon them; they will be raptured out before the endtime bad things start to happen–the fall of the one world system.  But that is a lie.

“In fact, when a scripture does not agree with what they have been taught in seminary, they try to explain it away.  Like this very chapter.  They will say, ‘Oh, this was written for Jeremiah’s day, 2,600 years ago.  That is ancient history and not for our day.”  But that very thought is one of the lies God warns us of in the chapter.  And He goes on in verse 20 and tells us that this message against the pastors is for our very day!  For ‘in the latter days you shall consider it perfectly.’  And we all know that the ‘latter days’ are the last of the “last days.”  That should not need much explanation.

“So God has a huge beef, a vehement controversy with all pastors, priests, preachers, and so-called prophets, and all those who claim that they have heard from God and speak for Him.  Better have the truth and no false doctrines.  And God really let’s His thoughts against them be known in this chapter.  This is why you won’t hear this preached anywhere.  It is too convicting.” [To be continued]

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April 1, 2010 · 2:13 pm

Christ Not Buried Good Friday and Raised Easter Morning–That Is Not 3 Days and 3 Nights–Redux

Yes, it is a shocking statement, but before you tar and feather me, let me explain.

Christ could not have been buried on Good Friday afternoon and resurrected early Easter Sunday morning because that would be only a day and a half in the tomb–36-40 hours maximum.

“So what?” some may ask.  “So what if it’s just a day and a half; it was part of three days.  The important thing is that we believe that Christ arose.”

Yes, His resurrection is extremely important.  But  Christ Himself said that we should “dig deep and build our house on the Rock”–Him.  We cannot remain superficial on this.

No Other Sign Given–Three days and Three Nights in the Tomb

Christ gave only one sign to unbelieving mankind–one sign that would point out who the true Savior is.  His own words: “There shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39-40).

But how long is a day and night?  Christ Himself said that there are “12 hours in the day” (John 11:9).   That would mean that there are 12 hours in the night.  This gives us the prophetical yardstick.  Three 12 hours days is 36 hours; three 12 hours nights equals 36 hours.  36 and 36 is 72 hours total time in the tomb, in the “heart of the earth.”

But What Difference Does It Make?

I’ll answer that question with another question.  If “Organized Christianity” can’t even get the one and only sign of the true Messiah right, then how can we trust them to teach us the deeper truths of God?

Hundreds of millions of professing Christians all over the world, many very sincere, will go to their respective church buildings and worship this Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Yet hardly any of them will realize that their pastors, priests, and bishops have taught them error and un-truths concerning their Savior Jesus Christ.  How many other falsehoods are they teaching them?

If the Catholic and Protestant Denominations can’t even get the sign of the Savior right, how many other concepts that they teach about Christ and His gospel can be trusted?  If they have this sign wrong, how many other doctrines and traditions are wrong as well?

What Is the Fruit of This Error?

I believe that they are teaching a different concept of the Savior and another gospel.  Christ said, “You will know them by their fruits.”  What is the fruit of all the studies done in all the seminaries with all their doctorates in Theology and Divinity and Philosophy?  They have Christ in the tomb 36 hours! Please.

I share this, not to be disrespectful of anyone and their worship.  All pilgrims to the Heavenly Jerusalem are at “way stations” at present.  But I’m sharing this to alert those “who have an ear to hear” to dig deep!  “Prove all things.”  Know that if this only sign of  the true Savior is off, then something is dreadfully wrong with the whole spiritual building!

I share this, not to be argumentative, but out of concern–a concern that honest seekers of God must be told the truth about this one true sign of who He is.

Yet, Organized Churchianity keeps slugging on, teaching tired old erroneous doctrines  like this one–earnestly sharing half-truths, not realizing that “a little leaven (hypocrisy and falsehoods) leaveneth the whole lump.”

Therefore, we are admonished to “purge out the old leaven that the lump may be holy.”  We, the  spiritual body of Christ, His church, are supposed to be that lump of dough that turns into the bread of life after we suffer the fiery trials of this oven-like existence here on earth.  But we have to get rid of false doctrines and false concepts before we can be that holy bread of life that is to be broken and share with those hungering after righteousness.  “Take, eat, this is my body.”  We, His body, must be holy, and getting this right is a good place to start.

A detailed biblical account of how Christ was crucified Wednesday afternoon and resurrected Saturday afternoon is found here: https://www.hwalibrary.com/cgi-bin/get/hwa.cgi?action=getbklet&InfoID=1319569863

May God bless you on your search.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{I would like to know your thoughts about this subject.  Leave a comment. }

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March 21, 2010 · 3:43 pm

Abraham, Father of MANY NATIONS–But Which Nations Are They?

[BE SURE TO ORDER YOUR FREE COPY OF MY NEW BOOK ‘THE ROYAL DESTINY OF GOD’S ELECT.’ JUST SEND YOUR MAILING ADDRESS TO MY EMAIL wayneman5@hotmail.com for your free promotional copy. No gimmicks and no follow up. Free in USA. International please contact me]

The Lost Tribes of Israel have to be in the earth today.  They are only lost to those who do not have an ear to hear and an eye to see.

Scholars say that after being taken into captivity around 720 B.C., they were totally dispersed and never heard from again.  They say that they melted into all of the other peoples of the earth and that they no longer exists as the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (whose name was changed by God to Israel).

That simply cannot be true, for many prophecies in scripture say that these descendants of Abraham would become nations.  And not just any old run of the mill nations either.  For Abraham was told by God, face to face, “Thou shalt be a father of many nations”  (1).

But Abraham had just one little problem; his wife was barren and he had no heir to fulfill this prophecy.  And he was running out of time, for he was about 100 years old, and his wife Sarai was 90 and well into menopause.   It was difficult to believe, but “he believed the LORD (Yahweh); and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness (2)

From then on, God looked on Abraham as His righteous son.  Here is the first seed lesson of what God’s faith can do–just believe God–the thing hardest for man to do.  And in that same passage God gave him and his offspring all the land from the Nile in Egypt to the Euphrates.

Now, he just had to get this family started.  Still no first born son…until that day when God yet appeared to Abram again.  This time God made a covenant with Abram.  In fact God changed his name to Abraham, “for a father of many nations have I made thee.”  Many nations.   And I will be your God and “establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant,” or agreement (3).

And it was then that God blessed Sarai and changed her name to Sarah, meaning “princess,” and told her that He would give her a son “of her,” and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”

And their miracle son that God promised them came a year later as spoken.  And they named him Isaac.   And this great promise of nations and kings was renewed by God to Isaac.  And then Isaac blessed his son Jacob with these words: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land…which God gave unto Abraham” (4).

Later God appeared to Jacob to renew His covenant of nations with him.  “And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins”.

Who are these “many nations”?  “Declare if thou hast understanding.”  In the seed book of Genesis, prophecies spoken by God to Abraham declare that he will be the father of many nations.  Can we discover who these nations are?  Did not Christ say, “Seek and ye shall find”?  Can we read the other prophecies about these nations that developed out of the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel and come to the knowledge of just who these nations are in history?

Scripture cannot be broken, for God cannot lie.  He spoke of many nations out of Abraham.  This could not be the Jewish Israeli state, for it is only one nation, and the Jews have not been a nation since 70 A. D.  But it was “nations.”  Christ spoke of the “Lost sheep of the House of Israel.”  They are so important that He said He was only sent to them (6).  We must find out, for they are the key that unlocks the prophetic utterances for these last days.  KWH…to be continued

1. Genesis 17: 4

2.  Gen. 15: 6

3.  Gen. 17: 7

4.  Gen 28:3-4

5.  Gen 35: 11].

6.  Matt. 16: 24

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March 13, 2010 · 5:06 pm

Bob Chapman: Deflationary Depression Coming Soon After Inflation

Bob Chapman is forecasting some dark times for all of us.  The world economy is going belly-up as evidenced by the the economic collapse of several countries.  He writes:

“The collapse of currencies and nations won’t happen overnight, because their demise has been planned, and a subtle collapse is in process. Our guess is that next year is when the collapse will finally take place followed by one of the greatest deflationary depressions of all time. During the last 2-1/2 years all the toxic investments have been and will continue to be transferred from the Illuminist banks, brokerage houses, insurance companies and transnational conglomerates to the public.

“The Federal Reserve is the repository for this junk, which includes Treasuries and Agencies. That means the public foots the bill. Every government and bank in the world will be affected. This magical game of 3-card-Monte will never work and the Illuminists know it won’t work. That is why they have war on demand to distract the public and to escape punishment for the devastating thing they have brought upon mankind.

“What we are facing is as bad if not worse than the collapse of the Lombard system in Venice in 1348, the year of the plague and the collapse of the Hanseanic League in the 1600s, the creation of the Medici’s. For starters we already have 19 bankrupt or near bankrupt major countries and many others that will be pulled into the vortex of financial and economic calamity. In each country we see the Illuminists doing their evil work, legends in their own minds, in a system that they know cannot survive. They are waiting for orders to pull the plug in each and every country. These masters of the universe all know that prosperity cannot be created by printing money and issuing credit indefinitely. They know full well that such a system cannot survive…

“The idea of too big to fail will persist even after any deflationary collapse. Nothing will change unless the elitists want it to change – the concept is at the base of power in the financial world. This finance bubble can only be disrupted by the failure of national economies. There are 19 in that position presently, and what it boils down to is whether and when these elitists want to pull the plug on liquidity and seriously want to enter a deflationary era. For the time being, over the next 18 months, inflation and perhaps hyperinflation will prevail. Politicians are 90% in the pockets of these people, so unless we can unseat more than half of the incumbents in Congress, the elitist grip on our society will prevail. In the meantime it is inflation and or hyperinflation followed by deflation this year and next year…

“Just as in the 1930s the Federal Reserve will eventually take us into a deflationary depression. That is what Greece was all about. The table is being set for the end of inflation probably within the next two years…

“We see a general contraction of credit worldwide and unless reversed the inevitable will unfold. What is even more dangerous than in the 1930s is the enormous leverage that exists today. When this come down it will be with a thundering roar. That is because few have the ability to pay. It is totally inconceivable that the US government can pay back its liabilities. That means that other nations that hold 60-1/2% of their foreign exchange in US dollars will take tremendous losses from which they won’t easily recover. China and Japan, along with Middle East oil producers, will take unbelievable losses. All creditors will be big losers.

“In this wringer no nation seems to want to reduce spending or is prepared for any kind of austerity. Greece is a good example. Each day sees more and more demonstrations. No one wants to take the economic and financial pain. The good days are supposed to go on endlessly. Not only does the public not want reduced employment, but they also do not want increased taxation. What is extremely interesting is that those in charge of monetary theory at the Fed know that monetary inflation does not work. They also know that the minute they can no longer control deflation with inflationary monetary policy the game is over. The Fed and other central banks are currently playing a very dangerous game. That is keeping inflation up, but only enough to stop hyperinflation. This is like sitting on the edge of a knife. One false move the game is over. Global credit is evaporating and the Fed and others are attempting at the same time to remove some of the excess in the system. We do not think it will work. If it does not work it is depression for many years to come.”  [http://theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Pondering_Our_Collapse_While_We_Watch_Others_Fall

Pretty dark stuff.  Our initial reaction is to slay the messenger, laugh scornfully, or make like an ostrich.  What we need to do is check out the track record.  Was Bob Chapman right before?  If so, we better listen.  KWH

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February 27, 2010 · 2:39 pm

CHRIST: You Must “Hate” Your Family to Be My Disciple–Counting the Cost of Discipleship

I know.  “Hate” is a very strong word.  Surely, Christ did not mean for us to hate our family members, as in loathing them.

Here is exactly what He said: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple“ (Luke 14: 26).

These are powerful words and very perplexing.  Surely He did not mean hate hate.  Pondering this, I looked up the word in the Greek.  Miseo is used with several shades of meaning.  Consulting Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, I found that it is indeed used for “malicious feelings toward others.”  But it is also used to speak “of relative preference for one thing over another, by way of expressing either aversion from, or disregard for, the claims of one person…to those of another.” 

The Key to Understanding What He Meant

 The key to understanding this kind of “hate” for earthly family members that Christ speaks about resides in understanding “aversion from” and “disregard for.”

Christ is saying that when we answer the call to become a son or daughter of God, earthly family members will stand in the way of us walking on with God.  Consciously or unconsciously, they will obstruct us.  Christ called them blind and the walking dead.  Even though some may mean well, Christ sees them as enemies endeavoring to thwart His plan for our new lives in Him.  They have their plans for us–how we should act towards them, and it is always about them.  And God has His plan for how we occupy our minds with His thoughts.  Therefore, we must choose God’s thoughts for us and “disregard” their little self-centered world, around which they want us to spin.  We must avert or turn away our minds and hearts from dwelling on them.

Simply put, in comparison to the high calling, they are a hindrance and must be put on the back burner when we are forced to choose between Christ and them.  We must set Christ and His plan as the top priority and not antagonistic family members.  In a word, we must separate ourselves from them.

The Rest of Christ’s Lesson

Christ continues His teaching on all this in the verses that follow, illustrating the actual cost, the actual price we must pay for discipleship.  For He immediately asks, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?”  For you may come up short and not be able to finish the project.

By that He wants us to ask ourselves, “What might it cost to seriously follow Christ into Sonship?”  It just may cost us a row, a major blow up with a family member.  It might cost a wife [I have actually seen this happen more than once, and thank God that mine stayed with me].  It may cost you a relationship with a son or daughter [I know about the son].

Following Christ the way He wants us to follow Him may cost us someone dear to us.  “For how can two walk together, except they be agreed?  And “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness?  Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord” (II Cor 6: 14-17). 

The Conclusion of Christ’s Lesson for Us

Finishing up His lesson on counting the cost of serving Him, He says, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14: 33). 

The “all that he has” here is the earthly life mentioned seven verses before at the beginning of the lesson–his earthly father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters. 

Christ is teaching us that we should disregard and turn away from, and thereby forsake earthly family members if they continue to be used by Satan to prevent us from fulfilling our calling.  We still love them and pray for them that they might repent and turn toward God.  But we should hear Christ’s words and not theirs.  He did warn us about all this.  He said, “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter agains her mother…and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Mt. 10: 34-36). 

Finally, we must ask ourselves this:  Are we going to flail around in the deep dark lake of fear and dread, trying to save someone whose thrashing about just might drown us in the process?  Or are we going to obey and trust our Master by standing on the banks with Him as a beacon of light and thereby be able to help those who want to come to the light and walk with Him?

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