The Pursuit of Power (3)
Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating the whole earth; the nations have drunk her wine, therefore the nations are going mad. Jeremiah 51:7 NASB
Mad – The elixir of the gods is power. It is the aphrodisiac of self-sovereignty. And it is deadly. Jeremiah proclaimed that the world of the 6thCentury BC was drunk on the power of Babylon. What do you think the world is drinking today? The same toxic brew has been spilling into the halls of government for as long as men have believed they are in charge of their destinies. Today is the 6thCentury BC. We worship those who wield the sword, proclaim everlasting prosperity and devour the earth. We are the madmen, consuming ourselves in the rush to have more. We are a world of bigger barns, storing up our treasures here while God prepares an accounting for our souls. Oblivious of our impending doom, we reel from one barstool to another, leaving in our wake the vast sea of impoverished faces. Drinking to stay drunk in order not to face the guilt of our pointless excess, we transform the powerful into idols and role models while we vicariously live their unrighteous exploits.
Is the world mad? How else can it be described? In a headlong death spiral of disobedience, only insanity can account for the complete disregard of the awe of existence and the call of the Creator. Men are lauded for their rejection of the fundamental question, “What does God demand of me?” But this is not an inherited condition, although it is certainly passed from one generation to another. This is voluntary madness. It is not only completely unnecessary, it is also completely unexplainable. There is no reason for sin. Sin is insanity. It is the deliberate decision to destroy myself by ignoring the grace, peace and harmony that God offers. Why would anyone do that? The question presupposes there is a valid reason for such self-contradictory actions. There is no valid reason. There is only madness.
The choice of Hebrew word here is most instructive. It is halal, the same word that means “to praise” used in conjunction with ministry to God. Halal includes boasting, shouting, acting foolishly and raging insanity. Consider the spectrum here. On the same scale we find madness and godly praise. What is the difference? Only the object of our worship. To be in one’s right mind is to be in praise of the one true God. To be insane is to be in praise of myself. Reasonable men, men of sound and righteous minds, are confronted with the inexplicable behavior and thought of madmen when they encounter those who are most surely running the path to self-destruction. There is no ground for argument or negotiation with such men. Until they come to their right minds, they are no different than the Gerasene demoniac, dangerous to themselves and to anyone in proximity. The Bible does not apply the terminology of the DSM IV to such men. It calls them demon-possessed for that is what they are. Insane. Self-destructive. Savage. Desperate.
Removing the spiritual component of such terminal behavior by dressing it in psychological garb is a mark of general cultural insanity. Redefining self-inflicted, eternal destruction as “normal” behavior does more to assist the enemy than any decline in morality. Men no longer fear the inevitable consequences of voluntary madness because today voluntary madness – the rejection of God’s instructions – is accepted and expected even within the Church. The nations came to the table of the Eucharist and were offered intoxication. Now who’s drunk?
Topical Index: power, halal, madness, Jeremiah 51:7
Hello everyone, I have been realizing as of late, again when I get my spiritual thoughts together… Skip is right there.! Today the center is the Lord if .He is not the center dot-dot-dot all caves in on itself. Today was my weakness for his strength. Total depravity, emptiness, for his fullness. Isaiah speaks of a branch or a shoot coming up from Jessie. Humbly he came to serve not to be served. Now I see servant leadership being taught in big business, it can’t be done without Christ. Or even God. Who is the center of all controversy and disgust. The article I don’t remember where it was from but it mentioned the lion lying down with the lamb, comparing it to the thorn in the Paw and the mouse removing it. What concept, so controversial to today’s society.. But not so for the believer. I think it came from…. Our daily Journey period connected with our daily bread. Sometimes they have excellent articles leading into exactly what we believe is the paradigm shift. So close but yet so far. Billions are noted for reading our daily bread. , and yet, our daily Journey gets no recognition.. someone recently told me That there is a newer Bible translation call the voice if you read it closely, it takes Christ right out of the text. And then mr. Horton Has been talking about a christless Christianity for about a decade mr. Horton is the connect with so White Horse Inn. The age of the reformers. I only add all this information because I’ve been talked to give credit, where credit is to. If we aren’t in the core, close to the center ,we end up spinning out of control , and not even knowing it . I will refer now to Paul. I must decrease so Christ can increase. that is the only way.
Presumption is the world’s substitute for faith. (It is also its substitute for reason.) We presume on the grace of God in every place we assume (presumption’s twin sister) that free will insures that all our choices are valid; that the universe exists to mold itself around what we want.
We learn by experience. Because we keep choosing death, but still wake up tomorrow, we ‘learn’ that we “shall not surely die”, and so draw the wrong conclusion. The experience of grace is running interference with the experience of the real result of our choices (which should be death). Because we are not instantly consumed, we conclude God is a liar, and our hearts are hardened. You could say that hard hearts are a result – a consequence – of grace, and you would not be wrong. How else is the flesh going to conclude? The insanity – which is all presumption on grace – starts here.
True choice is the true power we were created to wield, but the flesh is “weak” because it does not, in fact, make true choices. Why? Because all real choices are acts of faith, but faith is only possible when our choices are in conjunction with the choices of heaven, for all faith, like all heavenly gifts, is really God’s faith exercised in us, and His faith only lines up with His will. Therefore our wills are only “free” to make real choices when they are bound to His will and choices. This is because our design (which is free will) is to be a symbiont of the will of God, for only His will can actually move in all directions. Freely. He is above the web of life because He IS the life; the glue that holds reality together.
Just because we are still breathing does not mean that we are alive, for true life, where choices really work, is only possible in the freedom we find by participating (through obedience with His instructions, minute by minute) with the will of God. That is only possible if we are, in fact, in conversation with Him, minute by minute. Grace may make that opportunity available (even though we keep choosing destruction) but only faith can take advantage of the opportunity to return to the freedom heaven enjoys.
We seek power because we don’t, in fact, have it. We lost all the power of real choice when we severed our connections with the Source of all true choices. All we have left is the choice to seek altered states of intoxication to escape the pain of being unable to exercise our true destiny (which is to be co-creators – through faith – with our Creator). We chase after choice – power – because lives of faithlessness are lives of reactions to reality instead of actions that CREATE reality, which is participation in life.
We make the mistake of thinking reactions to reality – which are all bondage TO reality – are real choices only because we don’t know what faith is designed to be. We keep spending the stipend of faith we are gracefully gifted by deluding ourselves that we can exercise it without cooperating with the Giver, but, at the end of the day, all we have really done is drink our own Koolaid. Love can only be done with the Lover.
First of all, yes and amein to almost everything you say here. Especially this:
“Is the world mad? How else can it be described? In a headlong death spiral of disobedience, only insanity can account for the complete disregard of the awe of existence and the call of the Creator. Men are lauded for their rejection of the fundamental question, ‘What does God demand of me?’ This is voluntary madness. It is not only completely unnecessary, it is also completely unexplainable. There is no reason for sin. Sin is insanity. It is the deliberate decision to destroy myself by ignoring the grace, peace and harmony that God offers. Why would anyone do that? The question presupposes there is a valid reason for such self-contradictory actions. There is no valid reason. There is only madness.”
But then there is the following statement:
“The Bible does not apply the terminology of the DSM IV to such men. It calls them demon-possessed for that is what they are. Insane. Self-destructive. Savage. Desperate. Removing the spiritual component of such terminal behavior by dressing it in psychological garb is a mark of general cultural insanity. Redefining self-inflicted, eternal destruction as “normal” behavior does more to assist the enemy than any decline in morality.”
I sort of agree with what you are trying to say here, but I would like to add that the Bible also does not apply the terminology of many bodies of knowledge to a myriad of human conditions, but that does not, in and of itself, make those bodies of knowledge irrelevant, erroneous, useless, or unhelpful. The problem is not in having a Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) for psychological disorders that does not include the spiritual component (and by the way, the current DSM by the American Psychiatric Association [APA] is the DSM-V [5th edition], not the DSM-IV). There are a vast variety of manuals all over the world that do that. So are we to object to all those bodies of work that seek to codify knowledge of the many human conditions, and otherwise, that need to be understood on bases that are not just spiritual, such as those for other “medical” conditions, because they do not include the spiritual component?
No. These manuals can be helpful, even if the spiritual component is removed, though it is by INTEGRATING the spiritual knowledge we have from the Bible with this psychological knowledge we have from the DSM-V that can often be MOST helpful in remedying these human conditions. I’m not saying that the DSM-V is always necessary, but I can say that the knowledge we have from the Bible can very often be greatly assisted by the knowledge we can gain from the DSM-V, or the DSM-IV), not only in explaining the causes but also applying the solutions. Maybe we could consider them psycho-spiritual Biblical solutions. There is a body of work by the Puritans that seems to have attempted such a similar kind of integration of these two related bodies of knowledge, though, I’m sorry, I am still searching for the title of that and can’t provide that now. I remember it being quite exhaustive.
I second what you said above, Jerry and Lisa, but, did you have to disagree with Skip to say it? I don’t think anything he said disagreed with what you then said. Just because he says “The Bible does not apply the terminology of the DSM IV to such men. It calls them demon-possessed for that is what they are.” does not necessarily mean that Skip is in disagreement – or that he thinks the Bible is in disagreement – with secular knowledge. Secular knowledge can only work with what the flesh can see. That is good as far as it goes, but the flesh cannot see demons any more than it can see any of the other first causes for reality. Skip added a first cause – demons – but that does not mean he negated any of the DSM-IV or DSM-V to do it. (I also cannot see where he said that he did.) If he owns (and therefore is reading from) the DSM-IV, then of course he should refer to what he is reading, right? So, I don’t see a disagreement between either of you in what either of you wrote. And, I agree with both of you, EXCEPT where you think you are disagreeing with Skip! You, of course, are free to disagree with me, however.
Love, Laurita
Does Skip need an intermediary?
I liked what Skip said about praise being a ministry to God. It sort of brings things into perspective, such as Matthew 6:33. Coming into alignment with God, seeking first his kingdom. Submitting to “his will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. One of the alternatives would be worshiping and serving the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever! Self worship. Just a thought.
And I loved how you, Laurita, said “when we wake up tomorrow “. Such a good way to put it. In a sense we are saying that we “acted out” the night before and yet we woke up, so it must not be that bad, God must be tolerating our behavior and so we continue …. not remembering that it’s the kindness of God that ‘leads’ us to repentance !
Benefiting from his kindness and forbearance! Love covers a multitude of sins, is true whether we take advantage of that in a beneficial way or in continuing to sin that grace may abound…… blessings all around !
Jerry and Lisa, Both the DSM IV and V have the psychiatric condition known as Oppositional Defiant Disorder – ODD. It is a condition found in children where there is an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures. I have seen children with ODD and it is disconcerting, to say the least. I am in no way inferring that your Blog comments rise to this level of disturbance (nor am I trying to make a psychiatric diagnosis), but given your history of “disagreement and opposition” to Skip on this site one wonders if the DSM VI will invent a new condition… BloggODD. (A personal question: do you pray over your words before you post them or at least read them out loud to your spouse?) Not everything Skip writes has to be argued, ammended, remedied or repaired. I’m sure the DSM would label any such compulsion as a psychiatric disorder too…along, it seems, with everything I think, say and do.
PS if you (or anyone else) find that reference material by the Puritans please POST that! Thanks.
This is not it, but it is by a Puritan writer and you may find it of similar value, “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices” by Thomas Brooks.
Thank you for reference.
Not really disagreeing with what Skip said here. Offering possibly needed clarification for all in general regarding what was NOT said, and so not really opposing Skip. Also, please don’t miss expressed agreements….”First of all, yes and amein to almost everything you say here…”, “I sort of agree with what you are trying to say here…”, and “I would like to add…”.
I’m sure I could find a boatload of things to disagree with if I were to parse every word of what Skip says. But that would neither be helpful for his readers or my sanity. Skip, keep pushing the envelope and writing in your uniquely you style (fluid, expressive, didactic, sometimes sarcastic), the DSM V notwithstanding.
Sorry, but I actually did forget, in the original reply to include this point where I actually did have some disagreement:
Even those people who may not know and understand these things about the demonic component of these conditions and who developed and/or utilize the DSM, do NOT redefine such behavior as “NORMAL”. That’s why the codified conditions of the DSM are called “DISORDERS” and are often further defined as being “outside of the ‘NORMATIVE’ behavior of the person’s age or cultural group” (or, in other words are considered, “ABNORMAL”). One notable exception was in December 1973, when the American Psychiatric Association removed “homosexuality” from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II) and redefined THAT as “normal”. And, THAT was “INSANE”, but only in the informal sense of defining that term, which is “shocking, outrageous”, and not the formal sense of defining the term, “being of a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill”!
Madness is pure blindness. Insanity sees no way out.
It’s like being locked in a deadly dark room … with no key.
Yeshua spoke of this dilemma in these remarkable words:
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”
Today, loving darkness is society’s way. It’s the relative permission
to ‘do your own thing” —that way nobody has to feel bad. If it feels good . . .
We’ve all watched today’s “leaders” remove God and His kingdom as best
they THINK they can. They deceive themselves and all who follow in willful blindness.
BEWARE! “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider
is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.”
His will is for us today to live His loving message — and worship as we walk!
You’re so right Skip…”The Bible does not apply the terminology of the DSM IV to such men. It calls them demon-possessed for that is what they are. Insane. Self-destructive. Savage. Desperate.”
Yes…it’s secular humans that have chosen to give diagnoses to many of today’s life style choices in their absurd attempts to try and normalize bizarre and sinful behaviors. All the while, God is watching and will eventually respond. Meanwhile, He waits patiently for more to recognize and respond to His Truth.
Oh Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Psalm 123:3
Thank you Skip, food for thought ~ I just pulled my copy of Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher off the bookshelf for a re-read. “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” The bottom line for the best economic model is Luke 12:31.
Well yes… They say success breeds success or is it addiction to continue adding…
What about wealth of knowledge. Now that is one source that never seems to run dry.
Would our commitment to seek truth not be the same poison that eventually results in our greed for more and our failure to move on or let go, so that God can baptise and annoint.
The qoute from br Lawrence on an earlier blog from 1611 literature is what creates Godly leaders and opens heavens of blessings…
I have realised that never mind how absurd the roaming preachers are they have a very lucrative evangelistic business. Is this not also an example of how the wine of Babylon and us eager and thirsty seekers rush to these for answers we will never get as we are filling the wrong bowl…
God also said He has one thing against His people, that we neglected and left Him the source of living water to get our own cracked water pots that actually keep no water.
Where do we draw the line of toxic sources. Greed for wealth or is it greed for knowledge that is more harmful for our soul than a super bank account…
I have learnt that The more we learn the less we know.
And that He who does knows, he you doesn’t teaches…
Do I not teach because I struggle to do. It is easier to tell others what is right while I keep eating of the cursed fruit of that one tree. The tree of knowledge… Is this not also an excellent vintage collection of Babylonian wine?