Those Who Mourn

Posted on April 10, 2024 by russellmckinney

“The Beatitudes” series: (post #2)

“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4, N.K.J.V.)

The Greek word for “mourn” in this verse is pentheo. It’s a word that specifically refers to the strongest, most intensive kind of mourning. In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament) this same word is used to describe Jacob’s grief when he thought his beloved son, Joseph, was dead (Genesis 37:34).

Okay, so how can anyone who is doing such mourning be blessed? The average commentator’s explanation is to make the mourning a mourning over one’s sins. In other words, the person who is under extreme conviction over his sinful condition, to the point of experiencing this type of gut-wrenching mourning, will find forgiveness and comfort by placing saving belief in Jesus.

However, even though this is certainly a doctrinally sound interpretation, I can’t help but wonder if we should be so quick to explain away the literalness of Christ’s words. Would His disciples really have understood the mourning to be mourning over one’s sins? I doubt it.

That’s why I lean toward thinking that Jesus was emphasizing that He was the answer for death. Mourning does typically walk hand in hand with death, doesn’t it? So, maybe Jesus was saying, “I am now on the scene, and through Me the greatest comfort can potentially be provided for those who are mourning the loss of loved ones.”

As I mentioned in the previous post, the New Testament gives us two versions of the Sermon on the Mount, indicating that Jesus preached the sermon (or parts of it) on at least two occasions in different settings to different audiences. Interestingly, in the Luke version, Jesus doesn’t say anything about those who mourn. Instead, He says:

“…Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.” (Luke 6:21, N.K.J.V.)

Of course, just as mourning walks hand in hand with death, weeping walks hand in hand with mourning. Therefore, it isn’t hard to see the close similarity between “Blessed are those who mourn” and “Blessed are you who weep now.” As for the fact that Jesus got more individually specific in the Luke version by using the word “you,” that might just have been a case of Him tailoring the sermon to fit that day’s audience.

In Revelation 1:18, Jesus says, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and Death” (N.K.J.V.). Since Hades was the Greek word for the general realm of the dead both for saved believers and lost unbelievers, Jesus was pointing out that He has complete charge over the afterlife. That means that if a person knew Him as Savior in life, that relationship continues in death. As Paul wrote to the Christians of Corinth:

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord…We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1,6,8, N.K.J.V.)

Speaking for myself, it brings me great comfort to know that the souls of my loved ones who died in Christ went to heaven to be with Him. For them, death was a promotion and a call home. Rather than mourn a Christian’s passing, we should celebrate it. As Paul said in another passage:

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. (Philippians 1:21-23, N.K.J.V.)

I’ve preached more funerals than I can remember, and in each one I tried to bring some comfort to the family. I have to say, though, that the greatest comfort I ever gave any family came from assuring them that the soul of their Christian loved one was with the Lord in heaven. Such funerals preach themselves. And it is because of these experiences that I can say with certainty that Jesus really does provide comfort for the blessed (the saved) who mourn the deaths of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, even if that mourning manifests itself by way of intense weeping.

Posted in Comfort, Death, Eternity, Family, Heaven, Pastors, Personal, Salvation, Series: "The Beatitudes", The Sermon On The Mount | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Poor in Spirit

Posted on April 8, 2024 by russellmckinney

“The Beatitudes” series: (post #1)

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:1-3, N.K.J.V.)

Christ’s most famous sermon is the one we call The Sermon on the Mount. That word “Mount” comes from the fact that Jesus was on a mountain when He gave this teaching to His disciples (Matthew 5:1). It seems clear, though, that He preached either the entire sermon or selected parts of it at least twice. I say this because Luke 6:17-49 gives us the record of a shortened version of the sermon, a version Jesus preached “on a level place” (N.K.J.V.) or “a plain” (K.J.V.) with not only His disciples in attendance but also a great multitude of people.

Furthermore, there are slight differences in the two accounts of the sermon. For example, in the Matthew version, Jesus promises the kingdom “of heaven,” but in the Luke account He promises the kingdom “of God.” While it’s true that both descriptions refer to the same kingdom (compare Matthew 5:19-20 with Matthew 6:33), it’s also true that the word “heaven” brings a different image to mind than the word “God.”

Another example of certain differences in the accounts is found in the sermon’s opening. Whereas the Matthew version quotes Jesus as saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (N.K.J.V.), the Luke version omits the words “in spirit” and cites the quote as, “Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God” (N.K.J.V.). It is from the word “Blessed” that we get the word “Beatitude,” which refers to a state of blessedness.

Evidently, Jesus changed the wording of the first Beatitude in order to accommodate the two different audiences for the two occasions He preached this sermon. Up on the mountain, it was just Him and His disciples in attendance. Down on the level place, they were joined by “…a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon” (Luke 6:17, N.K.J.V.).

And why had that multitude sought out Jesus? They had come “…to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits” (Luke 6:17-18, N.K.J.V.). It isn’t hard to understand that people who were either diseased or demon possessed were poor. Just as diseased people had trouble holding steady jobs and had to spend large amounts of money on doctors (Luke 8:43-44), demon possession could also take a major toll on a person’s finances.

Of course, the fact that Jesus would say to a crowd of such people, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” offers us a glimpse into why He was so popular with the common people. In large part, the Jewish people still lived under the Old Testament mindset that wealth was evidence of the blessing and favor of God. Poverty, therefore, was considered akin to being under God’s judgment, disfavor, or curse. Jesus, though, was a teacher who flipped that mindset completely on its head. According to Him, the kingdom of God belonged to the poor rather than the rich. That was mind-blowing news if you were a poor person in that culture!

Even before preaching the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had preached a sermon at Nazareth in which He had referenced Isaiah 61:1-2 in saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18, N.K.J.V., emphasis mine). Later, He would have word sent to the imprisoned John the Baptist, telling John, “…the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Luke 7:22, N.K.J.V., emphasis mine). Clearly, Jesus wanted poor people to realize that the kingdom of God wasn’t just for the rich.

Still, we must understand that the Sermon on the Mount is not the gospel. No one goes to heaven just because he or she is monetarily poor. One must be spiritually born again by believing in Jesus as Savior and thereby becoming indwelt by God the Holy Spirit (John 3:1-18, Romans 3:10-26). Even those who were in attendance to hear Jesus preach were not saved simply by virtue of their poverty. No, they had to place saving belief in Him as Savior.

To apply this first Beatitude correctly to yourself, think of being “poor in spirit” as being a deliberate choice you make rather than being a natural personality trait you either innately have or don’t have. To be “poor in spirit” is to walk in a constant realization of your utter spiritual helplessness without God. It is to abandon any and all attempts at creating self-righteousness for yourself and throw yourself completely upon the divine righteousness (Titus 2:5-6, Ephesians 2:8-9) God imputes to the one who places saving belief in Jesus (Romans 4:1-8; Galatians 3:6-9). It is to truly grasp the teaching of Isaiah 64:6 — that all your supposed works of righteousness are, in reality, like “filthy rags” in the sight of an infinitely holy God.

Furthermore, to be “poor in spirit” is to be humble in nature. It is to approach God as a lowly servant (Matthew 8:5-8), a respectful child (Matthew 18:4), or even a pitiful beggar (Matthew 15:21-28). The person who struts toward God and thinks, “He’s lucky to get me” isn’t “poor in spirit.” Neither is the person who says, “I’m going to allow God into my life, but I’ll be bringing as much to the relationship as He does.” The Greek word translated as “poor” is ptochos and it refers to abject poverty. The one who is this “poor in spirit” knows that he brings nothing to God because, frankly, he doesn’t have anything to bring.

So, tell me, is this you? Do you think of yourself as such a spiritual beggar? Or do you pull back from having such a degrading opinion of yourself? Since Jesus (God the Son) thought you were valuable enough to die for in payment for your sins, it’s obvious that God places immeasurable value upon you. But with that understood, He expects you to see yourself as nothing in comparison to Him.

You see, God doesn’t necessarily want you to be monetarily poor as you live upon this earth — even though He doesn’t promise that you will be rich, either — but He does want you to be “poor in spirit.” This will allow you to have the attitude that will make it easy for you to not only experience salvation by believing in Jesus but also to look to Him each day to meet all your needs. That is, after all, what beggars do. They look to someone else to take care of them. And Jesus will be that person to you in regards to not only your eternal existence but also your earthly one if you will allow Him to be.

Posted in Attitude, Belief, Brokenness, Depravity, God's Holiness, Humility, Needs, Pride, Salvation, Series: "The Beatitudes", The Sermon On The Mount, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Will God Meet My Need?

Posted on April 6, 2024 by russellmckinney

In the mid-19th century, poverty characterized the people of the northeast Highlands of Scotland. During those days a man named John Murray was praying for guidance by a riverside. Many of his neighbors were immigrating to America, and he was wondering if he should join them. As he was praying, he heard a loud thud on the grass behind him. A salmon had leaped right out of the water and was lying there for him! Murray took it as an answer that the Lord could provide for him in Scotland.

Philippians 4:19 says: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (N.K.J.V.). This verse is very well known, for good reason. However, I would like to point out one important fact about the verse’s application.

That fact is: The verse was written by a Christian (the apostle Paul) to other Christians (the Christians of Philippi). You see, it’s not just anyone who can rightly say, “God has promised to supply all my need according to His riches in glory.” Technically, God isn’t obligated to provide for those who do not know Jesus as Savior. Pay careful attention to the closing words of the verse: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

I’m not saying that God won’t supply the need of a lost person. The truth is, He typically does supply those needs. As Jesus said, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45, N.K.J.V.). I’m simply pointing out the vast difference between knowing God as one’s heavenly Father and merely knowing Him as “the man upstairs.”

When our two sons were little fellows, Tonya and I used to frequently take them shopping with us. With that scene in mind, imagine us all inside a shopping mall one afternoon. It’s 6:00 p.m. and the boys haven’t had supper. They look at me and say, “Dad, we’re hungry.” At that point, a trip to the mall’s food court will be in order because I’m the father of those two boys and that means I’m obligated to provide for their needs. Well, that is how God responds to the genuine needs of a Christian. He meets them because of His fatherly obligation.

Now imagine another boy, a total stranger, coming up to me in the mall that day and saying, “Mister, I’m hungry. Will you buy me something to eat?” Based upon my assessment of the situation, if I sense a genuine need in the child, I might very well buy him something to eat. But I’m not obligated to do it, am I? Do you see the difference? I meet my boys’ need out of parental obligation, but I meet the other boy’s need out of something else, call it love, mercy, pity, charity, kindness, or compassion.

So, I’ll leave you with two thoughts. First, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, you are not a child of God. You are loved by God and desired by Him, but you are not His child. You must believe in Christ as Savior to actually join the family (John 1:12). And then, second, if you do know Jesus as Savior, you really shouldn’t worry about the meeting of your needs. Remember that your heavenly Father has inexhaustible “riches” and is obligated to take care of you, even if he has to drop a salmon on your bank to do it.

Posted in Adversity, Children, Faith, Family, Fatherhood, God's Love, God's Provision, Needs, Parenting, Personal, Prayer Requests, Problems, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Burned Spot

Posted on April 4, 2024 by russellmckinney

In the days when America’s west was being settled, prairie fires were one of the scourges of the land. The very thought of these fires struck terror into the hearts of the people. With dry grass standing high, sometimes as high as a horse’s head, the fires could sweep across vast acreages and not lack for fuel. To get caught out in the open in the midst of such a fire meant certain death.

Over the course of time, though, people figured out an odd way to remain alive during such a typically fatal time. First, you used water or dirt to create a large circular pattern in the grass surrounding you. Second, you used a match to start a fire inside that circle. Third, once all the grass inside the circle was burned, you laid down inside the circle and covered your face to avoid smoke inhalation. The prairie fire would rage all around the burned circle but not come inside it. It couldn’t come inside it because the grass to fuel it there had already been consumed.

When God looks down upon the earth, He still sees a certain spot just outside the old city of Jerusalem. It is a burned spot (think of it as a circular area) the fires of His holy wrath consumed some two thousand years ago. The spot goes by different names: Calvary (Luke 23:33), Golgotha (John 19:17), and the Place of a Skull (Matthew 27:33). Scholars debate its precise location, but God knows exactly where it is. It was at this spot that Jesus died on a Roman cross for the sins of the world. The burning of the spot reached its climax when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

The fact is, the fire of God’s wrath must sweep through the life of each sinner. His indescribable holiness demands it. Those who have believed in Jesus as Savior are granted the privilege of standing inside the burned spot of the cross because Jesus has already taken God’s wrath for us. This allows us to watch in safety as God’s wrath rages all around us. On the other hand, those who have not believed in Jesus as Savior must face the fire of God’s wrath out in the open, on their own. As John 3:16-18 and 36 put it:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…..He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Assurance of Salvation, Belief, Christ's Death, Coming Judgment, Crucifixion, Eternal Security, Forgiveness, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, Good Friday, Grace, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Learning From Rhododendrons

Posted on April 1, 2024 by russellmckinney

When the calendar page rolls over to April and the weather turns noticeably warmer, my thoughts drift toward yardwork. Trust me when I say that I don’t eagerly embrace that drift. The way I see it, I’m an apartment or condo guy who just happens to live in a brick house that features a sizable yard. Unfortunately for me, that yard must be maintained and I don’t have a professional gardener on staff. My gardener looks back at me when I shave.

I really don’t mind dragging out the lawnmower and mowing the grass. It’s a little more work to fire up the weed eater and do the detail trimming, but even that isn’t unbearable. What I truly loathe, though, is dealing with my rhododendrons. Oh, sure, I know how beautiful they are when they are in full bloom. The problem is, I also know how finicky they are. On the one hand, if they don’t get enough water, they turn dry and brittle. On the other hand, if they get too much water, they develop spots on the leaves.

The problem of proper hydration is minor, however, compared to the damage that gets done when a dog or some other animal gets into a rhododendron and breaks some of that plant’s branches. Those broken branches have to be cut out, and that leaves a big hole in the overall look of the plant. (Ask me how I know that). You get the same problem when a little boy, in the heat of a front-yard football game, crashes into a plant. (Ask me how I know that, too).

I guess we can say that rhododendrons are like Christians. When they are ideally full, healthy, and in perfect bloom, nothing is more pleasing to the eye. They brighten up their surroundings and make the world a better place to be. But when sin gets into a Christian’s branches and breaks off some of them, a noticeable hole is created in that Christian’s life. No matter how nice the other parts of the life may look, our attention will always be drawn to the hole.

It’s similar to what happened to David in the days of the Old Testament. Even as he lived his life for God, right in the middle of it he had his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and subsequently orchestrated the murder of her husband, Uriah. To David’s credit, he did eventually confess his sins and repent of them. That didn’t mean, though, that he got out from under their earthly stigma. The Bible bears this out in 1 Kings 15:5 by saying:

David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Please understand that I’m not trying to be mean or unforgiving. I know full well that God can take a life’s broken eggs and make great omelets. He’s done that in my life. I’m simply pointing out the obvious fact that sin damages a person’s life in a very real way. Some of that damage can be minor, but some of it can be catastrophic.

The good news is that forgiveness of all sin is available in Jesus. The bad news is that Jesus won’t bring crop failure to bad seeds you have sown. He’ll help you face up to those tough harvests, and He’ll even bring great good out of them, but the unpleasant crops will nevertheless have to be harvested.

That’s why it’s so much better if you don’t sow the seeds of sin in the first place. Instead, do your best to keep your life looking like a perfectly shaped, beautiful rhododendron. You do that by embracing Jesus as your personal Savior, submitting your life fully to Him, and resisting the temptation to run off to some Bathsheba of sin that looks good to you. Remember, you’ll never be able to bloom to your fullest if you’ve got a sin-shaped hole somewhere in your plant.

Posted in Backsliding, Confession, Conviction, Faithfulness, God's Will, Personal, Rebellion, Repentance, Sanctification, Sin, Sowing and Reaping, Temptation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Origins of the Easter Holiday (post #3)

Posted on March 29, 2024 by russellmckinney

The name “Easter” is a derivation of the name “Ishtar,” “Astarte,” and “Eostre.” Each of these was a localized, cultural name for Semiramis, ancient Babylon’s so-called “queen of heaven.” In the Babylonian religion now known as “the Babylonian cult,” each year a festival for Semiramis was held in honor of her supposedly receiving her slain son, Tammuz, back from the dead. This festival is where the holiday we call “Easter” has its origins.

The Roman emperor Constantine’s decree that Christianity would be the state religion of the Roman empire eventually led to the Christianizing of Rome’s yearly festival for Semiramis and Tammuz. That’s how the holiday changed from being about the resurrection of Tammuz to being about the resurrection of Jesus. However, even though the meaning of the holiday changed, many of its trappings didn’t.

First, during this festival, people exchanged colored eggs. They did this because legend had it that Tammuz considered the egg sacred. Supposedly, he saw it as depicting the miracle of his resurrection, thus becoming symbolic of new life. This, of course, is the basis of the idea of Easter eggs.

Second, in the forty days prior to the festival for Semiramis and Tammuz, the people engaged in a time of mourning. This forty-day period was held to commemorate the forty days Semiramis reportedly mourned between Tammuz’s death and resurrection. This forty-day period is the origin for Catholicism’s forty-day observance of Lent during the forty days leading up to Easter.

Third, rabbits were part of the festival held in honor of Semiramis and Tammuz. The rabbits, with their incredible ability to reproduce, spoke of Semiramis as a fertility goddess. This set the stage for the idea of an Easter bunny.

Continuing on with that topic, the predominate spring festival in second-century Europe was a Saxon fertility celebration held in honor of the Saxon goddess Eastre (Ostara). She was the Saxon version of Semiramis, and her sacred animal was a hare (rabbit).

1,500 years later, in Germany, children would await the arrival of Oschter Haws, a rabbit who supposedly laid colored eggs in nests for children to find on Easter morning. Ultimately, this German tradition was transformed into the American “Easter bunny” after the tradition was introduced by German settlers who settled in Pennsylvania.

Now, as I begin to close out this post and this series, let me say that the issue we Christians face today is keeping a right balance on all of this subject matter. Personally, I don’t believe we should shun Easter baskets or create a picket line in front of Easter egg hunts. Neither do I believe we should ignore the Easter holiday all together.

Like it or not, we can’t isolate ourselves from the world and become spiritual hermits. When our children go off to kindergarten, they want to take part in the Easter parties. When those same kids go into Walmart around Easter, they want to buy Easter baskets. How can we possibly isolate them from this kind of thing? Are we supposed to say, “No, child, those chocolate bunnies and plastic eggs might lead you to worship the Babylonian goddess Semiramis and her son Tammuz”? I think that is taking things to a wrong extreme.

Here is a good piece of advice for any parent: Choose your stands well. Be much in prayer over what to make an issue of and what to let go. The last thing you want to do is turn into a mean-spirited legalist who raises a child who can’t wait to get out from under your domineering thumb and try everything under the sun. Easter is such a fun time for kids. Don’t rob them of that fun. Instead, use Easter to teach them about the glorious resurrection of Jesus.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to read about how God is going to bring down the Roman Catholic Church during the coming tribulation period, you should read Revelation chapters 17 and 18. For reasons I’ve already explained in this series, those chapters refer to the Catholic Church as “Mystery Babylon.” Chapter 17 describes the coming destruction of the religious power of the Catholic Church, and chapter 18 describes the coming destruction of the financial power of the Catholic Church.

Study these chapters and you will see that the system of religion that was started by Semiramis way back in ancient Babylon and was ultimately merged with true Christianity will one day be brought to an end by God. For now, though, we Christians must deal with the mess that was created by that merging. That mess includes the Easter holiday.

So, despite all of Easter’s idolatrous and pagan origins, let’s just stay focused on the fact that Jesus Christ really did resurrect from the dead. Unlike the lies associated with Tammuz, the story of Christ’s resurrection is true. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Jesus is alive! And that is something that is definitely worth celebrating.

Posted in Catholicism, Easter, Easter Traditions, Idolatry, Series: "The Origins of the Easter Holiday" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Origins of the Easter Holiday (post #2)

Posted on March 27, 2024 by russellmckinney

In my previous post, I began a short series on the origins of the Easter Holiday. That post explained the historical significance of the names “Semiramis” (the queen of heaven) and “Tammuz” as well as the idolatrous religion that was built around them. That religion began in ancient in Babylon and, over the centuries, snaked its way across the known world. Now, with this post, let’s press on further into world history and see what ultimately became of that religion.

The nation of Rome eventually rose to become the most powerful empire on earth, and the Babylonian mother-child religion (in our day referred to by many as “the Babylonian cult”) became deeply entrenched in that massive empire. This is where a Roman emperor named Constantine comes into the story.

As legend has it, Constantine had a vision that led him to convert to Christianity. Whether or not he actually got saved is highly debatable, but he at least outwardly professed to be a Christian. As emperor, he then began a process of making Christianity the state religion of the Roman empire. This was in 324 A.D., and here is where we start pulling some things together.

When Constantine made Christianity the state religion of the Roman empire, millions of lost Romans flooded into the Christian churches. Basically, those Romans said to the Christians, “Okay, the emperor says that we are now Christians. Show us how to do Christianity.” Well, those Christians surely tried, but Rome’s old system of pagan religion, which was built around the mother-child idolatry of ancient Babylon, was just too ingrained in the people to go away. Just because an emperor forces Christianity onto his people, that doesn’t make those people truly Christian.

So, what happened? Over a period of about four hundred years, those lost Romans, mingled in with true Christians, created a bizarre mix of Christianity and Babylonian cult paganism. When all the dust was settled, this mix became what we know as the Roman Catholic Church.

Let me cite four specific examples to help explain what happened. Keep in mind now that these things didn’t happen overnight. It was a gradual process that played itself out over about four centuries.

Example #1 centers around the worship of the queen of heaven. When the lost Romans came into the Christian churches, those pagans looked for Christianity’s version of the queen of heaven and her son. But they soon learned that Christians didn’t worship the queen of heaven or her son. So, rather than give up the worship of the queen of heaven and her son, those lost Romans made Mary the queen of heaven and her son, Jesus, the equivalent of Tammuz. This is why Catholics, to this day, call Mary the “queen of heaven” and pray to her.

Example #2 centers around the idea of ongoing, blood, sacrificial offerings. Such offerings were a vital part of the Babylonian cult system of worship. Again, though, those lost Romans found out that Christianity didn’t align so well with that Babylonian system of worship. Rather than feature ongoing, blood, sacrificial offerings, Christianity considered Christ’s death on the cross to be the one, final, blood sacrifice that eliminated the need for any more blood sacrifices.

Consequently, rather than give up on the idea of continuing, blood sacrifices, those lost Romans devised a new interpretation for The Lord’s Supper. They began to say that a miracle takes place during the partaking of The Lord’s Supper. Through this miracle, the symbolism of The Lord’s Supper is done away with as the bread literally becomes the actual body of Christ and the content of the cup literally becomes the actual blood of Christ. Under this interpretation, by partaking of The Lord’s Supper, we sacrifice Jesus over and over again for our sins. This interpretation is now known as the Catholic doctrine of “transubstantiation,” and it is why Mass (Communion), which is the Catholic version of The Lord’s Supper, is so important to Catholics.

Example #3 centers around priests. The Babylonian cult system of worship prominently featured priests, but those lost Romans discovered that Christianity taught that each Christian is a priest in his or her own right. As Revelation 5:9-10 puts it, Jesus has “made us kings and priests to our God…” Instead of having priests who were in charge, the Christian churches had pastors, men who were on the same spiritual level as those in the congregations.

Nevertheless, rather than give up on the idea of having priests, those lost Romans started calling the pastors “priests” and got them to wear ornate, priestly garments. These garments were actually duplicates of the garments worn by the priests in the Babylonian cult system of worship. Furthermore, under the rules of the Babylonian cult, a person had to confess his sins to a priest before that person could be initiated into the religion. Therefore, those lost Romans began to confess their sins to the pastors, a practice which eventually led to the Catholic act of confessing one’s sins to a priest.

Example #4 centers around vestal virgins. In the Babylonian cult system of worship, a special class of women were set apart for religious service. These women were the vestal virgins. Don’t be fooled by that name, though. Even though these women were supposedly dedicated to God, they served as temple prostitutes. To understand this, you must understand that the queen of heaven was associated with fertility, and the subject of fertility brings in the act of sex.

Of course, it didn’t take the pagan Romans long to learn that the Christian churches didn’t have a class of women who were especially set apart in any way for religious service. True to form, though, rather than give up on the idea of having a class of women set apart for religious service, those lost Romans created the order of women we now call “nuns.” You see, in this case, the situation swung from one extreme (temple prostitutes who were set apart for service to God) to the opposite extreme (literal virgins who were set apart for service to God).

Alright, now as long as I am in this deep, let me go ahead and name some other examples of how the Babylonian mother-child religion was mixed with Christianity to produce Roman Catholicism. Again, these Catholic doctrines didn’t come into being overnight, but they were ultimately created:

Example #1: The Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory has its roots in the Babylonian cult. In the Babylonian cult, a priest would offer up prayers for a dead person to get that person into a better afterlife. But he would only do this after a large fee had been paid.

Example #2: The Roman Catholic practice of last rites has its roots in the Babylonian cult. In the Babylonian cult, the dying were anointed for their journey into death. This anointing was done in the name of the “lord of heaven.”

Example #3: The Roman Catholic practice of burning candles and incense to Mary has its roots in the Babylonian cult. As I mentioned in the first post from this series, Semiramis had shrines to herself placed along the roads leading in and out of ancient Babylon. Worshipers stopped at these shrines and burned candles and incense to her.

Example #4: The Roman Catholic doctrine of baptismal regeneration has its roots in the Babylonian cult. In the Babylonian cult, water baptism was one part of the initiation rites into the religion. This explains why the idea of baptismal regeneration was found in places like India and Mexico before Roman Catholic missionaries ever arrived in those places.

Example #5: The Roman Catholic doctrine of the supreme authority of the Pope has its roots in the Babylonian cult. In the Babylonian cult system, one man served as the greatest high priest. The Latin for “the greatest high priest” is Pontifex Maximus. Keep in mind now that the Roman empire was saturated with the ideas of the Babylonian cult. This explains why each Roman emperor held the title Pontifex Maximus. And what happened to that title when the emperor system was ended? That’s when the bishops of Rome began to claim the title. Today, the Pope is called “The Bishop of Rome,” but Catholicism more officially refers to him as Pontifex Maximus, “The Greatest High Priest.”

Example #6 (this one might shock you): The sign of the cross has its roots in the Babylonian cult. Believe it or not, the sign of the cross was not originally made famous by Christianity. Long before the sign ever represented Christ and His death on the cross, it symbolized Tau, which corresponds to the letter “T,” the initial for the name Tammuz. This explains why the sign has been found on many altars and temples that were built long before the time of Christ.

As further evidence that the sign of the cross has its roots in the Babylonian cult, ancient Babylon featured coins that had crosses engraved upon them. Similarly, different variations of the cross appeared in other parts of the world. Sometimes the cross had a small circle on the top of the cross. That circle identified Tammuz with the sun. Other times a full circle was drawn around the entire cross. This, again, identified Tammuz with the sun. The symbol of the cross was even used on the garments of the priests of the Babylonian cult.

So, to sum up, by the year 700 or so, true Christianity had become dwarfed by an unholy mix of paganism and Christianity, and this mix dominated Europe into the Middle Ages. It wasn’t until the age of the Protestant Reformation (led by Martin Luther) that any dent was made in the religious and political machine the Roman Catholic Church had become. And today we still deal with the fallout of a world that has been deceived and confused by Catholicism.

(More to come next post.)

Posted in Baptism, Catholicism, Confession, Easter, Easter Traditions, Idolatry, Series: "The Origins of the Easter Holiday" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Origins of the Easter Holiday (post # 1)

Posted on March 25, 2024 by russellmckinney

On the holiday we call Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must admit, though, that certain odd questions surround this holiday. For example, what do eggs have to do with an empty tomb? Or what does a bunny have to do with a risen Savior?

This post is the first in a three-post series in which I’ll explain how Christ’s resurrection came to be celebrated with the holiday known as Easter. I’ll also explain how some of the trappings of the holiday, things such as eggs and bunnies, became associated with it. My goal here is not to try to give the first and last word on this subject. I simply want to give you the core basics of it.

Now, to get us started, we need to read Genesis 10:8-10:

Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (N.K.J.V.)

(For the record, the land of Shinar ultimately came to be known as the kingdom of Babylon. Today we call that land Iraq.)

Okay, what you need to know is that Nimrod had a wife. Her name was Semiramis, and she was the first high priestess of idolatry. Her story is not found in the Bible, but it is certainly found in the ancient records of the history of this world. According to the story, Semiramis gave birth to a son named Tammuz, a son she claimed was miraculously conceived in her womb by way of a sunbeam. This claim led to the worship of both Semiramis and Tammuz. Semiramis became known as “the queen of heaven,” and Tammuz became known as a miraculously conceived, Savior-like figure.

As the story continues, when Tammuz grew up he was killed by a wild boar. Semiramis then wept for her dead son for forty days, after which he reportedly arose from the dead. This was a lie, of course. Either Tammuz wasn’t killed by a wild boar or he didn’t resurrect from the dead. But people believed the lie. This furthered the purported divinity of both mother and child, and the worship of them grew.

The primary symbol of this mother-child religion was the scene of the motherly Semiramis holding the infant Tammuz in her arms. Semiramis had these images set up as worship shrines along all of the major highways running in and out of Babylon. Worshipers stopped at these shrines and burned candles and incense to her.

Many Bible scholars now refer to the mother-child religion as “the Babylonian cult.” Whatever we call it, one thing is clear: From its very inception, it was Satan’s master counterfeit to the true story of Jesus. Make no mistake, there is a reason (and not a godly one) why Semiramis and Tammuz interchange so easily with Mary and Jesus.

Well, over the next 1,000 years, the religious system (cult) that began in ancient Babylon spread its influence through the known world. Would you believe that archaeologists have uncovered mother-child images from ruins as far as ancient China? These ruins date back to several centuries before the birth of Jesus.

And as the Babylonian cult system of worship spread across the known world, it took on new facets and details as the names of Semiramis and Tammuz were changed to fit the languages of the various cultures. Some of the other names for Semiramis, the queen of heaven, were: Isis, Astarte, Ashtoreth, and Ishtar. Likewise, Tammuz became known by names such as Baal and Adonis. Still, though, despite the frequent cultural changes and the changing of the names, the fundamentals of the system of religion remained the same.

Sadly, even the nation of Israel, God’s chosen nation, eventually succumbed to the influence of the Babylonian cult. As clear evidence of this, in Jeremiah 7:17-18, Jeremiah relates what God had said to him:

Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. (N.K.J.V.)

Similarly, in Jeremiah 44:15-18, we see more of this same kind of thing:

Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” (N.K.J.V.)

As you can see, by Jeremiah’s day the worship of the queen of heaven, Semiramis, had become common practice in Israel. The people even attributed their abundance and blessing to her! And this specific form of idolatry was actually practiced by the kings and princes of Judah in Jerusalem, where the Jewish temple stood.

Next, let’s read Ezekiel 8:13-14. Here Ezekiel says of God:

And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. (N.K.J.V.)

Remember that (according to the legend) Tammuz was killed by a wild boar, after which Semiramis wept for forty days. Those forty days ended with Tammuz’s resurrection from the dead. In honor of his resurrection, those who followed the mother-child religion observed an annual forty-day period of mourning and weeping for Tammuz. That mourning and weeping was what Ezekiel saw those women of Israel doing.

(More to come next post.)

Posted in Catholicism, Easter, Easter Traditions, Idolatry, Series: "The Origins of the Easter Holiday" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Always Do Your Best

Posted on March 23, 2024 by russellmckinney

One day, many years ago when New York department stores were high-end stores, a group of lowly paid clerks were standing around talking about baseball. It was raining that day, which meant that business was slow. Then a woman, wet and a bit disheveled, came into the store. As she entered the premises, only one of the clerks was willing to leave the baseball discussion to attend to her.

The young man walked over to the woman and courteously asked her, “What can I show you, madam?” She told him the item she needed, and he quickly located it for her. Then he took the time to expertly explain the item’s merits. The woman made the purchase and left the store, asking for the young man’s card as she left.

Sometime later the woman sent a letter to the head of that store. Actually, the letter was an order for the complete furnishings of an estate in Scotland. In the letter, the woman specifically asked that the young employee who had attended to her that rainy day supervise the furnishing personally.

The store head wrote her in reply, saying, “Madam, this man is one of our youngest and most inexperienced clerks. Hadn’t we better give this assignment to someone else?” But the reply came back, “I want this young man and no other.”

In compliance with the woman’s wishes, the store sent the young clerk across the Atlantic to personally oversee the furnishing of the grand palace in Scotland. The palace was called Skibo Castle, and it had recently been purchased by Andrew Carnegie, one of the world’s richest men. And who was the woman who insisted that the young clerk be granted the prestigious assignment of furnishing the castle? She was none other than Louise Carnegie, Andrew’s wife.

You say, “Oh, c’mon, Russell. Am I supposed to take your word that such a story actually happened?” No, but you don’t have to take my word for it. The person who originally told the story was Charles Schwab, the steel magnet who got his start working for Andrew Carnegie. Schwab began the story by saying, “I know a young fellow in New York who has built himself a big business. He used to be a poorly paid clerk in a department store.”

So, the lesson of this true-life story is: Always do your best because you never know who might be watching. As the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” (N.K.J.V.) And if you need a distinctly Christian spin put on the lesson, consider the words of Colossians 3:17 and 3:23, where the apostle Paul says to Christians: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Attitude, Business, Character, Commitment, Doing Good, God's Omnipresence, Personal Holiness, Reward, Service, Stewardship, Work | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Christianity in Shoe Leather

Posted on March 21, 2024 by russellmckinney

In my previous post, “For His Name’s Sake,” I talked about how a Christian’s conduct has a direct effect upon Christ’s reputation with the lost people of this world. Summing up the situation, a Christian’s sinful conduct does harm to Christ’s name. Now let me give you an example to illustrate this truth. Like the exaggerated examples Jesus loved to use, this hypothetical story will be on the extreme side.

Let’s say that a husband and wife, neither of whom is a Christian, go to buy a used car. They drive to a local dealership and find a car that looks good to them. As if he is reading their minds, a salesman suddenly appears from the office and makes his way out to them. He says, “You folks have a good eye. Just between you and me, this car is the best buy on the lot. It is mechanically as sound as a dollar. I wouldn’t mind taking off cross country in it. And if you’ll finalize the deal today, I’ll knock an extra $500 off the asking price.”

Even as those words roll from the salesman’s lips, however, he knows he is lying. His mechanics have told him the car’s engine needs to be completely rebuilt. Ignorant of this inside information, the husband and wife take the car out for a test spin, and the car does alright on that short test drive. Arriving back at the lot, the couple talk between themselves briefly, after which the husband tells the salesman, “We’ll take it. The salesman says, “Great. Step into my office and we’ll sign the papers.”

As they walk into the office, the husband notices that hanging on the salesman’s office wall is a beautiful picture of Jesus. He also notices that sitting on the salesman’s desk is a little plaque that says: “Christ is the answer.” The husband says to the salesman, “I gather that you are a Christian.” The salesman says, “Oh yes. I’ve been a deacon in my church for twenty years.”

The husband says, “Well, my wife and I aren’t very religious, but I guess we can trust a deacon.” The salesman says, “Absolutely! You can trust me. Even though this car is just a little bit too old to have any kind of warranty, I’ll take care of you. If you have any trouble with it, just bring it back to me. I’ll make things right. You have my personal guarantee on that.”

So, the papers are signed and the deal is done. The husband and wife just bought themselves a car. The husband climbs into it, starts it up, and pulls off the lot while his wife falls in behind him in the car they drove to the lot. But the husband only gets about five miles up the road before smoke starts pouring out from under the hood of his car. Luckily for him, there is a service station right there on the corner. He pulls into the station, and a mechanic pops the hood and takes a look at the car’s engine. The mechanic says, “Sir, I hate to tell you this, but this motor is completely shot. It needs a total rebuild.”

Upon hearing that, the man immediately gets into the car with his wife, who has followed him to the service station, and tells her, “Take me back to that car lot. I’m going to have a word with that salesman.” The wife obliges, and the husband storms into the salesman’s office. He points his finger at the salesman and says, “You sold me a lemon. I drove that car about five miles and the motor blew up. I want you to keep your word and make things right.”

And how does that used-car salesman/deacon respond? He says, “Sir, I feel awful about this, but our policy is that all sales are final and that car doesn’t have a warranty. So, I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do for you.”

You say, “Boy, that husband and wife won’t think much of that Christian salesman.” You’re right, they won’t. I’ll tell you something else: They won’t think much of Christ either! They’ll say, “If that’s what being a Christian is all about, the Christians can have it. We can do better than that on our own. Who needs a Savior who produces that kind of behavior in His people?”

The takeaway lesson from this story, Christian, is that you are called to live your faith wherever you happen to be at the time. This means that if you go around claiming to be a Christian, you’d better act right. If you have a tag that says “Christ Is My Co-Pilot,” you’d better be honest. If you have a bumper sticker that says “Honk, If You Love Jesus,” you’d better pay your bills. If you wear a shirt that says “My Best Friend Is A Jewish Carpenter,” you’d better watch your language. Why? It’s because Christ’s reputation is at stake by way of your behavior!

You can call this “Christianity in shoe leather.” It is you bringing your Christianity out of the clouds of doctrine. It is you pulling your religion up from your church seat. It is you transitioning your spirituality from principle to practice.

How do you do this? Every day that you wake up you spend time in prayer, saying, “Jesus, today, wherever I go, whatever the day holds for me, lead me in the paths of righteousness. You be My guiding shepherd and help me be your obedient sheep. Don’t let me do anything today that will bring shame to Your name.” Once you start praying like that and living out that prayer, you’ll find yourself walking in those paths of righteousness. And that will not only be beneficial to you and others, it will be beneficial to Jesus as His good name will not be muddied by your ungodly behavior.

Posted in Backsliding, Business, Character, Church, Discipleship, Doing Good, Faithfulness, Honesty, Influence, Lying, Obedience, Personal Holiness, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment