Treeless Worship Deuteronomy 16:21-22

“Thou shalt not plant a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shall thy set up any image, which the Lord thy God hateth.” We first need to look at the Hebrew root word for the English word “groves.” The Hebrew root word translates to the word “Asherah.” Astarte is a Phoenician goddess of fertility. She was the Canaan fertility goddess believed to be the consort of Baal. The noun is most often used for the carved wooden images of the goddess. The image was associated with high places and fresh green trees. The Israelites were commanded to cut them down and burn them! False worship was a problem even to the extent that Asherah’s image was erected in God’s Temple itself! There were no trees around the temple in Jerusalem!  I witnessed idol worship during the three years we spent in India. These idol’s were everywhere! Often these huge wooden images were parked along tree lines. In the Hindu Temples prostitution was a regular business! I was offered a teenage girl in one of these temples! If you are going to worship the goddess of sex then prostitutes come with the package! To look deeper into the root of idol worship we need to go back to the Book of Genesis. If God took a rib from the man and created a woman then when they are united in marriage there is a completeness. However if you are going to make an image of a woman and worship her through sex then this is self-worship because the woman was taken from the man! Let us look at Genesis 2:9. “And out of the ground made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God warned them that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die! Why? God understood that they could not handle it! God knew that created beings with the knowledge of evil would sin! Let us look at Genesis 3:22. “And the Lord said, Behold the man is become one of us, to know good and evil, now lest he put his hand and take also the Tree of Life, and eat and live forever.” God had to block them from the Garden of Eden because to enter Heaven with the knowledge of evil for eternity would doom them forever! This was an act of Mercy by God! So what about the Tree of Life? This Tree represents Christ, redemption for man and eternity with God! So what did man do with Christ? They cut down a tree and crucified Him on it! This is what happens to all that eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! You commit evil and then try to do good? However God’s plan was engaged by the evil of men and brought redemption to the world! Without Christ whatever God has given to man as a gift turns to evil! All the religions of the world whether Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, ect, try to find God through their own efforts! Eating from the wrong tree! We all have access to the Tree of Life through Christ and our knowledge of evil is atoned for by His blood sacrifice on Calvary and we can live forever not separated from God but joined with Him in peace and love forever! We cannot save ourselves even though the world religions since creation have and still try! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Are You a Good Teacher?

To awaken interest and kindle enthusiasm is the sure way to teach easily and successfully!  Tyron Edwards (1809-1894) Tyron was a American Theologian and the great grandson of Jonathan Edwards. Comment: We can always blame our teacher for poor performance but going through elementary and high school I was bored to death! I dreamed in the classroom what I was going to do when school got out! My dog Jigs would be awaiting for me at the end of the lane when I got off the bus along with my pet duck! When I got off the bus Jigs would wag his tail enthusiastically and quaky would shake his tail too! So excited to see me! My rifle was waiting in my room to take Jigs rabbit hunting! How I acquired my pet duck was an unusual story! I shot him out of the sky! He had a broken wing so I feed him every morning before school and every evening after school. I took him to the cattle watering tank everyday for a bath! He loved water! I could not wait for summer vacation! Fishing trips with Jigs and quaky! I remember the red marks all over my school test papers and it reminded me that Christmas was coming! When I was a senior in high school I had an English teacher Mr. Wilson who awoke my interest and kindled my enthusiasm for studies! Then everything changed! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.coml

Warning to America!

Even after the Paris attacks Obama says he still plans to bring in ten thousand Syrian refugees to America? This is an act of suicide! As of October 2015, he has moved 1293 Syrian refugees into America! Where are they? One governor has already refused to let them into his state! We should all move there! Obama is out to fundamentally change America! He has and is and we are loosing our freedom! He has declared war on law enforcement across America! As thousands of these Jihadist flow into American streets you are going to have to make changes in your life here! First you are going to have to avoid large crowds! You are going to have to avoid football games, basketball games, sporting events like the Boston Marathon! You need to avoid concerts, large congregation churches, shopping malls wherever large crowds gather! I believe house churches will come back to America! Do your children attend schools that have armed guards? Avoid gun free zones like the plague! Our hospitals and nursing homes will need more security! Order your gifts on Amazon and other on-line retailers! Our power plants, transmission lines, communication towers, gas lines, fuel refineries and cell phone towers will need increased security! Obama pulled us out of Iraq and now 1/3 of Iraq is under ISIL control and thousands of Christians martyred! We now have 4 million Syrian refugees! Obama will never admit a mistake so his solution is to bring his foreign policy mistakes back to America! Last Americans need to arm themselves! Obama at the same time is trying to take our arms away from us? America? Do you get it? Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Christian Civilization and France! Battle of Tours 732 A.D.

We owe a debt to the French people as leaders of the Crusades against Islam for over 200 years! Because of your efforts and sacrifices we have Western Civilization and a Christian America! We are reminded that the Arab name for all Crusades spanning over 500 years regardless of nationality was “Franj.” The Battle of Tours in France was one of the most decisive battles in history! Abd-ur Rahman the Muslim general with his 600000 man army conquered all of Egypt, Syria and North Africa. In October 732 A.D. exactly 100 years from the death of  Mohammed the Muslim armies entered into Europe. The Frankish army was made up of Gothic Germanic tribes who became the French today met the Muslim armies in battle! The Muslims who invaded France destroyed palaces, churches and murdered thousands! The Francs lead by Charles Martel, known as the Hammer led France into battle. They routed the Muslim armies and captured and killed Abd-ur Rahman! The Franks were the first to learn that the terror of the Arab Muslims can only be neutralized by a greater counter terror! This counter terror has to be a super terror to strike fear into the hearts of Muslims so that they give up their aggressive mentality for fear of death! If only one or two French citizens had  side arms in these attacks in Paris the outcome would have been very different! I try to persuade my Christian friends here in America to arm themselves for what is coming here! Right now they dismiss my warning but after President Obama lets in 10000 Syrian refugees they will figure it out! Our condolences to the French families as we share your suffering and encourage you that our hope is in Christ! The German and French soccer game in Paris where some of the attack took place reminds us of history as the Germans and French fought together at the Battle of Tours in 732 A.D. to drive out the Muslims from France! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Angel Worship? Psalm 148: 2-6

Do you have a guardian Angel? There are about 300 scriptures in your Bible on Angels! First remember Angels are created beings. The Trinity created them and you and me! They also created the Heavens and the earth! The Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit all pre-existed all creation and are authors of creation. There is some debate as to whether Angels were created prior to the six day creation on Genesis chapter one! We do know Adam and Eve were tempted by Lucifer so the Angels had to exist before them! Lucifer is a fallen Angel. Since Angels are created beings they have a free will to obey or disobey! The same choice we have! One third of the Angels rebelled against God and were cast out of Heaven. However two thirds of the Angels stayed faithful to God! It seems just the opposite on earth as one third of the world’s population is Christian and the other two thirds reject Christ! However the Christians replace one third of the Angels who rebelled! Also remember Angels are immortal! That is why the lake of fire awaits the fallen Angels. Angel’s primary purpose is to worship God! So likewise with mortals! God can dispatch Angels at His will! Whether to announce the virgin birth to the shepherds or deliver Paul and Silas from prison! Gabriel is the messenger Angel, Michael the war Angel and Lucifer the Praise Angel who rebelled and now is Satan! These are the three primary groups but the others we will not discuss here. Sort of like the Trinity of Angels! Again the Saints replace the worship to God that Lucifer abandoned through rebellion! You cannot dispatch Angels but Christ will if needed! You do not pray to Angels! You cannot depend on created beings! Angels are servants of God and obey His will to accomplish His purpose! Trust God and His Christ and He will come to your rescue if needed! He could send millions but one would be enough! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

False Prophets! 1 John 4:1

The Bible from Deuteronomy to Revelation has many scriptures warning us about false prophets! How do you guard against deception from these spiritualists? First and foremost know your Bible! What will happen when error is introduced by a speaker or writer the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance a scripture that will refute the error! If truth is spoken the Holy Spirit will confirm the truth by scripture! False prophets will try to lead you away from Christ! An obvious example would be where Mohammed in the Quran says that Jesus did not die on the Cross! False prophets in the Church is more subtle! Eighty eight reasons why Jesus is coming back in 1988? Remember? Millions of books were sold and some Christian’s burned their mortgages and stopped making their car payments! Here in this example many thought this author was leading them towards Christ but he was fleecing them! It says in our Bible that Jesus does not even know the hour of His return except the Father! A church leader might infer that you are blessed because I am so Holy and into so many good works! Because of only my prayers you are blessed! Remember it is Jesus response to our prayers that brings blessings! Jesus is also praying for us! Remember your scriptures? I love my Pastor Brady Boyd but he cannot save me! His job is to lead me and others to Christ! Just be careful your attention is not drawn away from Christ unto men! False prophets will try to divide the Church! They promote Church splits! They will promote one group against another! They will spread lies against leadership! We need to come alongside our leaders but be honest enough to say something if you believe error exists! We are all human and need each other to watch over the body! When we were in Pastor Cho’s office in Korean in the 1980’s before leaving for India for three years he made it very clear what our mission was to be in India! I thought he was going to say Evangelism! No! He told us our whole mission in India was to help local Pastor’s! It was such a challenge for us because most do not think they need any help? Cho told us Satan will attack the head to break up the body! Satan is a divider and that is why we have war between Heaven and earth! Between good and evil! Satan is constantly recruiting people into his Kingdom! One of Satan’s tools is false prophets! However he has no power against the Word of God the Holy Scriptures! Put on God’s armor against the wiles of the devil! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Satan is a Trinity! Revelation 16: 13-14

Here we see unclean spirits coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. The dragon being Satan and the beast the anti-Christ and the false prophet who will be the religious ruler of the world. They are all spirits of devils. They work miracles with the intent of recruiting followers for the last battle here on earth! This last battle will be the armies of good and evil meeting in Israel. This place is called Armageddon! The word Armageddon is a very interesting word used in the Book of Revelation. It is made up of three Hebrew words. The first word means a hill or mountain. The second word Megiddo is a place in Israel. The third word means the gathering of troops pressing together in battle. Megiddo, modern day Tel Megiddo is an important town overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon (Valley of Jezreel). It lies about 18 miles southeast of Haifa in Northern Israel. The last military action there in 1918 drove the Muslims out and ended the Ottoman Empire. British General Edmond Allenby drove out the Turks 7th and 8th Armies and helped to end World War I. Just a note of history the reason the British defeated the Germans in World War I was because a Jewish chemist developed a method to rapidly produce gun powder. This gave England the advantage! The Jews were rewarded by England as they helped them establish Israel as a nation in 1948. There will be another battle at Armageddon but this will be the mother of all wars! Have you noticed lately all the nations turning against Israel the mother of Christ! This is an important sign in Bible prophecy! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com