The Lost Message · El mensaje perdido

"The Second Mile", from Journeys with the Messiah, by Michael Belk

Is Religion truly an opium?
A drug that robs human beings of clear vision, humanity, and dignity?

The rise of the radical Islamic terrorist movement ISIS (IS)
and its affiliates around the world shows us precisely how poisonous
and dangerous man-made religious systems are.

And that they have absolutely nothing to do with God.

These murderers have gone on killing sprees so bloody,
so surrealistically sadistic that suddenly, the dark smokestacks of Ausschwitz
seem to be belching their infernal fumes over us once again.

Beheadings, even of children. Crucifixions. Robbery and extorsion.
Sexual slavery and perversion. The list goes on and on, all "in the Name of God".

How should we respond?  Is there any way to stop these monsters,
to "cure" the fever of this religious madness?

Jesus' own message of self-sacrifice and radical love
seems to leap off the pages these days:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away." ~ Matthew 5:38-42

 Yet, as Alice Su admits in her excellent article:

"1 John, ISIS and the Gospel versus Terror",

"How do Christians respond to terrorism?
My church answers falter.

'Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.'
OK, but really?

What if I were Iraqi or Syrian or Gazan?
What if the Islamic State crucified my father?
What if an Israeli bomb blew my family into pieces?

What if everyone I loved was hit
with chemical weapons?

I meet person after person for whom this is reality.
I wonder what I can say to them.

I write down their stories.
I cry. I want to vomit. I turn to God."

I will be reflecting more on these questions, and on the truly
"Lost Message" of Jesus in upcoming posts.

Little Shop of Horrors

The unthinkable occurred in London this week. A British soldier was attacked by two men in broad daylight who cut his throat using meat cleavers, then filmed themselves to celebrate, bloodied hands and all. A heinous, barbaric act, fueled by pure religious fanaticism. 

Beyond the depravity of the crime, it should remind us again of the danger of all religious systems. The gods created in the image of Man degenerate to terrible idols who demand constant blood sacrifices.

Religion never changes a man's heart:
it only blinds him to his own sinful state, the in-born Virus of the human race.

Religious systems, no matter what their orientation or name,
can never cure us of the Virus.

At their best, they are like funeral parlor make-up artists, only able make a corpse look more presentable (for a time). The decay remains; the stench resurfaces. They cannot bring the dead back to life. 

At its worst, Religion becomes a Little Shop of Horrors.

Instead of creating love, these systems encourage hate. Far from cultivating humility, they stoke the fires of pride, intolerance and self-righteousness. 

The "Shop's" products? Inquisitions. Pogroms. Apartheid. Homofobia. Murder.

Fearful slavery to the checklists of man-made dogmas will never result in true change. No one is made free by Religion, because Religious systems thrive on Show, on outward presentation. Such rules and regulations never produce inner transformation.

Is There A Way Out?

Yes, and it's quite different: the unadulterated message of Jesus.
 (Who, by the way, was killed by Religion.)

He made it quite simple. To save ourselves (from ourselves) we "must be born again".

How? Not by following complex Rules, but by following Him: the "Way, the Truth and the Life".

How urgently we need to heed those words in these confusing times.

It's not about Regulations, it's about a Relationship.

And Restauration. Having laid down His own life for us, He offers each of us a fresh start, with total forgiveness of all we've done wrong. It's a gift, not a system.

Only this New Birth spiritually, on the inside, can save us from ourselves, from the Virus. It sets us free from the Dungeon of Dogma.

Choosing to change course, to follow Him out of love instead of fear, produces real change. As well as love for others.

Starting again,  asking Him to come in and place His own Spirit inside,
opens us up for the greatest Adventure of all:

A relationship with our Father, the Creator. 

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PHOTO CREDITS
In order: Google Images / Press.com / JLG on Facebook