The Religious Test Part 1

 

by Pastor Mark Downey

Scripture Reading: Exodus 19:3-8

When Moses received the test question from God, the people answered in the affirmative.  This was a religious test even though the words religion and religious are misnomers.  A misnomer is something that is named in error.  One of the first things I learned in Christian Identity is that Christianity is not a religion; it’s a way of life.  Religions are man-made.  Christianity is made by God.  The word religion comes from the Latin ‘religio’ and means ‘to bind anew.’  This word seems originally to have signified an oath or vow to the gods, or an obligation, which was held to be very sacred during the Roman Empire.  However, 200 years ago in America, religion was often synonymous with Christianity for all intents and purposes.  It was the test itself that was the principle of controversy in more recent times.

The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary goes so far to say, “Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man's obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties. It therefore comprehends theology, as a system of doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety; for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver, and without reference to his will or commands, is not religion.”  The modern Merriam-Webster puts a much blander rendition of defining religion: “the service and worship of God or the supernatural; commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance.”  From these two historical perspectives of religion, we can assert that there are two distinct categories i.e. Christianity in contrast to a million other gods.

The Religious Test

by Pastor Mark Downey

Expounding upon the balance between God's Law and government, which is often obfuscated with the misnomers of church and state.

Part 1:  A message defending the faith of our fathers, the heritage of True Israel and the hope we must transfer to our posterity; a challenge to the traditions of tyrants, that Christianity proclaims liberty; the importance of where and when a 'religious test' is appropriate and biblical.

Part 2:  A presentation as to why the religious test remained with the states and not the federal government; addressing the arguments leveled against the founding fathers regarding jewish and Masonic conspiracies.

Don't Talk to Strangers

by Pastor Mark Downey

Revised July 2013

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 31:10-13

I'm a baby-boomer and growing up in the 1950's, when you could walk down the street in relative safety, I remember my mom saying, "Don't talk to strangers."  Even 50 years ago, America was changing for the worse.  Christianity was on the verge of a major downswing towards a hyphenated judaization and multicultural diversity.  Back then, the proverbial stranger was a hitchhiker with his thumb up for a ride or someone you didn't know offering candy to children.  The innocence of such things soon changed, because of a few gruesome crimes, which later became quite common.  In fact, the dark side of strangers has become serial, as in killers and pedophiles.  Trust is no longer taken for granted.  Talking to strangers today can be deathly.  And so we have to ask if the Bible prohibits our people from conversing with the strangers of forced integration.  Actually, it’s more than just mere conversation; it is the mindset of modern social interaction.     

I choose Deuteronomy for our Scripture reading today, because most people would not be able to tell you who the stranger is in verse 12.  Christian Identity seems to be the only form of Christianity that has an understanding of three different words for stranger that are found in the Bible.  If these strangers are not biblically identified, our kith and kin could be facing serious trespasses and doing just the opposite of what God commands.  To the universalist or those who think God's salvation includes all races, rightly dividing the word stranger means little or nothing to them.  They go about their merry race mixing ways in disobedience to God's Law.  In fact, they go on the offensive to instill White guilt for the so called sin of racism.  However, this ‘Answers in Genesis’ “sin” is not from the Bible, but from Baal worship. 

The biblical perspective of what constitutes a stranger can be either someone of our own race or someone of another race.  This is made evident by the scriptural record itself.

The Joys of Tribulation

by Pastor Mark Downey

I no sooner commenced to sitting down with a yellow legal note pad to write down this message, when a bird in the backyard began squawking. I wondered, "What's his problem." It sounded like some kind of warning, rather than the happy chirping of an early bird catching a worm. Perhaps another animal was encroaching upon his meal.

I love how the Holy Spirit works. Before I began to write anything about tribulation, the sounds of God's creation gave me a sermon example from the get-go. Through this otherwise mundane morning activity of nature, it came to my mind of a situation we had last year in our driveway.