Got Zeal? :: By Bill Wilson

The Archbishop of York, a major leader in the Church of England, last week told the organization’s General Synod that the Lord’s prayer was “oppressively patriarchal” because of the reference to “Our Father” at the beginning of the prayer taught by Christ.

The July 7 report from GBN, a Great Britain news network, quotes Archbishop Stephen Cottrell saying, “I know the word ‘father’ is problematic for those whose experience of earthly fathers has been destructive and abusive, and for all of us who have labored rather too much from an oppressively patriarchal grip on life.”

In other words, Cottrell is saying that Christ was wrong in describing God as Father because the word’s use conjures up bad memories of earthly fathers. What?

It’s this type of thinking that drives people even further away from God, and allows for the misinterpretation of both content and context of the Bible.

The Church of England and its American counterpart, the Episcopal Church, have been in decline. They are examples of Christ’s reference to salt losing it savor. They lack zeal for God in their leadership, as do many churches that are compromising to culture rather than being the light of Christ in their communities. Sharing the pulpit with drag queens, supporting the very things that are detestable and abominations to God, twisting the Bible to gain a control are all marks of the times. Sin is justified. Bad doctrine is practiced. Ceremony takes precedence over substance.

In Numbers 25-30, the story of Phinehas reveals a new character type at the time—the zealot. Israelite men were literally being seduced into Baal worship by Moabite women. God became angry with the flagrant in-your-face sin. He sent a plague in the camp. Phinehas stepped up and decisively killed both Zimri, an Israelite prince, and a Midianite princess who were “cavorting” right in front of the Tabernacle. The Lord spoke to Moses saying that Phinehas was “zealous for my sake,” and he ended the plague. In Numbers 25:13, God rewarded Phinehas and his “seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the children of Israel.”

Another zealot, David, wrote in Psalm 69:8, “I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children, because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.”

The disciples recalled this psalm when, in his zeal, Christ cleansed his Temple in Jerusalem.

Christ is our greatest example of zeal for God. His zeal challenged the hearts and practices of the religious leaders. His zeal gave everlasting life to those who believe in Christ. As followers of Christ, we are charged to take up this zeal in exercising the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

Lord, give us the courage for such zeal.

Posted in The Daily Jot

Fortunate Son :: By Bill Wilson

In November 1969, Credence Clearwater Revival released the song “Fortunate Son.” Lead singer John Fogerty says the song was birthed out of extreme distrust of executive authority. The second verse reads:

“Some folks are born silver spoon in hand; Lord, don’t they help themselves, no; But when the taxman come’ to the door; Lord, the house lookin’ like a rummage sale, yeah.” And the chorus: “It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no senator’s son, son; It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no.”

Well, it may not be fortunate for you and me when the taxman comes a-knockin’ at the door, but for Joe Biden’s son Hunter, he got the IRS deal of the century. Slap on the wrist for income tax evasion. Go figure.

The Big Guy’s boy comes out as the fortunate son after the IRS completed its criminal investigation. Hunter copped a plea deal to avoid prison. A Justice Department letter confirmed that the fortunate son would be pleading guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. Biden owed in excess of $200,000 on over $3 million income from 2017 and 2018. He also pled guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm. I wonder how that made the Big Guy feel given his strong desire to disarm every American citizen.

Court docs say there is a maximum sentence for each count of “12 months in prison, a fine of $100,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater; 1 year of supervised release, restitution, a $25 special assessment, cost of prosecution.” That would be for you and me, not the fortunate son.

The fortunate son will be on probation and will not see the inside of a jail cell—money is the “cure all” for this case, and there is plenty of it to go around. The Washington Times reported on June 12 that a secret FBI memo involving a paid informant obtained by the Senate referred to Joe Biden as the “big guy.” It described Joe Biden receiving a $5 million-dollar bribe from an executive of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma in a payout scheme with a Chinese energy company. The communist Chinese company was to hold 10% of the profits for the “big guy.”

There are also, according to the FBI memo, over 15 audio recordings of phone calls between the Burisma executive, Hunter Biden, and the then-Vice President Joe “Big Guy” Biden.

Now, the “Big Guy” said that neither he nor his Administration would interfere with the investigation of the fortunate son. But two IRS whistleblowers came forward, one who was leading the IRS investigation, saying they were removed and threatened with criminal charges if they said anything about it. Their claim is that the fortunate son received preferential treatment from the investigators. Of course, the Justice Department declined to comment.

Proverbs 17:23 says, “A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back to pervert the ways of justice.” They all can sing, “It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no senator’s son, son; It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no.” But we know better… it’s, say it with me… Stupidocrisy.

Sources:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23854108-us-department-of-justice-filings-related-to-hunter-biden

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/20/politics/hunter-biden/index.html

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/irs-whistleblower-hunter-biden-investigation-infected-politics

Posted in The Daily Jot