Mammon!
Tools of the trade, or just filthy lucre?

Luke 18:18-30 And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? None is good except One, God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother. And he said, I have kept all these from my youth up. And when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, Yet you lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, He said, How hardly those having riches shall enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich one to enter into the kingdom of God. And the ones who heard said, And who can be saved? And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. And Peter said, Lo, we have left all and have followed You. And He said to them, Truly I say to you, There is no one who has left house, or parents, or brothers, or wife, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and, in the world to come everlasting life.

The reason why Jesus told this potential Disciple, that he must first sell all that he possessed (all his worldly goods), and give it all to the poor, was for many reasons; the stuff of this world is not only burdensome to pack around (in weight), it is also costly and time-consuming to protect, maintain and replace. Once we humans learn to live without something, we do not miss it. I'll give you one example then move on: when I was a missionary in the Philippines, I soon noticed that toilet paper is not a common item, outside of the airports or high-end malls and such. Once I got into the suburban and rural settings, it was not to be found except in mini-packs sold in coin-operated machines outside of public toilets (CR's). So what did they have in there, I wondered? A bucket of water and a scoop, so that when you are done pooping, you could pour water down your crotch, and basically wipe your butt with your hand and water running over the area (and into the toilet). Then you would come out of the toilet stall and wash your hands. Only tourists and rich locals purchased paper, most everyone else had done it this way all their life; it was all they knew, and so they could not imagine spending money to dry-wipe your poop! Well guess what? After living in there for a year and marrying a Filipina, I eventually stopped buying toilet paper, and do not use it to this day (unless I'm not home). I now think it's nasty to dry-wipe, and so I get in the shower afterwards and clean myself there! My wife came to America, got the mammon-bug, and abandoned me for a rich guy, and she always uses TP! The point is this; we get used to not having what we never have, and likewise, we become indoctrinated, acculturated and branded, by what we are used to doing and having over time. A Tibetan child does not look forward to Christmas, it does not exist there; they do not with for a certain video game; they do not exist there (well, they may by now)! Indeed, the average Filipino thought it insulting to be thought of as 3rd world or poor. "Poor" is relative to what you are comparing yourself to. My wife came to America, and it was literally going from the provincial rice fields to Las Vegas overnight. She became overwhelmed by the wealth, propositioned by more men daily than her entire life before, and made friends with other Filipina's that had been here most of their life; they were Westernized and they quickly converted her, and made sure she understood the feminist-rules of use-em and loose-em keep looking to upgrade, but say and do whatever it takes to keep the cash (or other benefit) coming, in the interim! So it was; so it is!

And so, when the mind wants what the eyes see, that person is conquered by the material world; that person is being presented all the things that Satan presented Jesus after His Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and subsequent testing, which is an example for those with Spiritual eyes to see. Satan left Jesus (for a season) because He told him where to stuff his corporeal stuff; Jesus passed the material temptation test, and this was (and is) the victory that God seeks in us! The rich guy wanted to be holy; he wanted to follow Jesus, but the cost as too high for him, at that moment. In reality, the cost that was too high was that he coveted; was that he was materialistic, and placed a far greater value on things, than on the Spiritual life (he wanted to be materialistic, not monastic). Without a true Spirit-centric existence in the here and now, there remains only the here and now, and the Spiritual life is a mystery beyond what the businesses of religion market it to be (and what that is, is self-evident). And so, as the world turns, the stage has been set for the human experience to run its course. The importance of money is immeasurable. For we either worship God by adoring and protecting His natural creation; the work of His hands, OR, we see that work in dollar increments. We break out the chain saws, bull dozers and plow it asunder! We market it; we cut it up into Nations, States, Counties and lots, and then build some thing on it, mark it up and sell it for a profit. And we do not know any better, because that's what humans were doing when we got here. We just go a long, oblivious to our savagery towards all Gods creations, and so we butcher more lands, build a church, fill it with hirelings and pay them to tell us that Scripture says it's all OK! Religion has been kidnapped by the hungry Capitalists; packaged and resold, just as Scripture said would happen in these End-times! And so, the urban sprawls are filled with money-makers who invest their time and energies buying up the very system that's an affront to God, and they do it all in Jesus' name. They are productions of their culture, upbringing and education, and will live oblivious until they decide to surrender unconditionally unto the Way of Yahshua Messiah: The Lordship of Jesus Christ! They must first die to the ways of this life, before they can be reborn (born-again): It does not work the other way around! We first become His Disciple, and then The Change!

Did God ever make money? Do we see it in the Garden of Eden? No! Was it, or is it, the creation of God, or of man? As humans lusted for more, the ability to be content just died! Solomon, even though being a king, said that all his wealth and power was emptiness; meaningless; pointless. Proverbs says: "Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." And yet the Apostle Paul said: "But Godliness with contentment is great gain." There are many clues in Scripture, concerning the world, as opposed to the creation: Of mans things versus Gods things! But when we humans are caught up in the world; when we humans remain indoctrinated by and to the world, we cannot see Spiritual things; we cannot rightly comprehend anything, must less Scripture. We are in darkness; we are blind, and it is not until the Indwelling Holy Spirit enlightens us, that we can see; that we can hear; that we can know! You see, King Solomon did not have the luxury of the Comforter; of the Indwelling Holy Spirit; that impartation was not yet possible for the willing (John 16). The Holy Spirit Indwelled certain men at certain times (though very rarely; see the Old Testament), but neither at their choosing nor for their own personal benefit; it was for God to do His will on Earth. It was not until Jesus paid the price for sin, did He make the way for humans to connect directly to God, without the intermediary, which could also be corrupted by the world (as history itself has taught us, in light of Scripture)! The Catholics were corrupted by material power, and so were the Protestants; both extolled the usury of mammon to live outside of Gods will, by using God/religion at their will, to do so, and just bent the words of God, to justify this Godlessness! This corruption is staggering, and God will expose all, in the Judgment. But we, in this generation, do have the advantages of the (potential) Indwelling Holy Spirit, and the benefit of time; we can look back to see what has already happened; how the Scripture has unfolded in ways that the men of old, were not privy to. Humans slowly became fearful of the natural world; of Gods world, because they had been under the protection of mans world, and for so long that they became denatured; they became humanistic, instead of naturalistic. In other words, they became more like the Pharisees, and less like John the Baptist! Thus, humans became dependent on the human creations of cities, and fearful of Gods natural creation itself, seeing it as an enemy that needed to be killed, contained and cut down. But when we look at what happens when God gets a hold of a thing, we need only study the entire live of Saul of Tarsus!

Usury is a prime example of the mentality of the Godless, and the Godless-religious. Indeed, consider the source (always); this mentality was/is not coming from men who provided all his own needs in this world, from this world; from the natural world God created for him: Instead, most men take from the labors of another so he can avoid laboring! You see, the Churches as global businesses, have been extorting mammon from its Godless simpletons for millennia, building grand cathedrals and employing millions, using the extorted mammon to live lives of relative luxury. The fruit is always outside and open for all eyes to see, but the problem has been, and always will be, that humans do not want to see the truth, they want to see the show that's being produced for them, be it political, social or religious! The takers must justify the taking, otherwise they would have to get dirty and sweaty; they would have to suffer back pain like the rest of us laborers!

The Mammon Link!

Supposition: Silver made into coins does not differ specifically from silver made into a vessel. But it is lawful to accept a price for the loan of a silver vessel. Therefore it is also lawful to accept a price for the loan of a silver coin. Therefore usury is not in itself a sin. Response: The principal use of a silver vessel is not its consumption, and so one may lawfully sell its use while retaining one's ownership of it. On the other hand the principal use of silver money is sinking it in exchange, so that it is not lawful to sell its use and at the same time expect the restitution of the amount lent. It must be observed, however, that the secondary use of silver vessels may be an exchange, and such use may not be lawfully sold. On like manner there may be some secondary use of silver money; for instance, a man might lend coins for show, or to be used as security. (Source: The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas | Second and Revised Edition, 1920)

Unlike trade or barter, money links us in ways that can be good, but also bad. It is more often the bad that has the greater effect. Prior to the modern era, humans (not caught up in some kings monarchy) were actually free; that is, they just settled on land somewhere, built homes and grew food, hunted and made everything they needed with local materials by hand. They lived very simple lives and did not have to deal with money at all. Multitudes of humans throughout human history, lived out their lives, and died, never having any coinage (mammon). Their currency was goods that were traded locally (if at all). In this way, no other humans were involved but the two trading. This is why Jesus said to render to Cesear what is his; the distinction was manifest, for those with ears to hear/eyes to see (those Enlightened by the Indwelling Holy Spirit)! Why? Because Jesus also said that we are to forsake all of Cesear's mammon; not to be yoked with unbelievers, as Paul reiterated!

I do not trust the modern-day Catholics nor the early Catholic theologians who decided what was authorized Scripture, and what was not (more on that issue later). After all, they had an agenda that involved them NOT laboring with their hands (unless you call issuing rites, labor)! I trust no one who seek out ways to live on this earth, but without building their own homes or growing or hunting for their own food; those not dedicated to living a simple life. I call all these people TAKERS; they are why humans cannot be trusted to begin with. All humans through out the past, and in all parts of the globe, can be split up into two groups: Takers (the majority), and the workers; those who lived simple lives (like, for example, the Native Hawaiians)! In other words, they did not make war machines and sought to kill other humans. Sure, there were tribal border skirmishes and fights between individuals; this is normal of all time/cultures. But it was not until humans started using coinage for currency, that the real divisions began. At first, money was made with precious metals, and so it was never worth more than its own weight/value. But eventually, the Godless materialistic Capitalists figured out how to create an inflationary economy without real value; in other words, money could be made out of paper, for that matter!

Coinage and money makes it possible for non-physical markets to exist. This has attenuated within the Capitalist Oligarchy, to what we have today; the stock market, and the potential for fraud. This "opportunity" has been "capiitalized" on, and has lead to mass-corruption, and, to the point where the entire national economy thrives or suffers as a consequence of its existence. Look at the mortgage crisis; the lending entity has made more monies off of real estate than all the carpenters who built those homes, collectively. How is this possible, mathematically? Because of an ingenious idea thought up by the fathers of Capitalism: inflation! They knew then, that inflation was temporal; that it could not go on indefinitely, and of course, it will not.

We must understand what was going on with regards to money; mammon! It was not just a method of exchanging goods/services , money represented far more than that. Jesus was the first in recorded history (that I know of) who made sure to point out this fact. Jesus was not just identifying that which was Roman and that which was Jewish; He was not just identifying things carnal with things Spiritual: Both of those points can be drawn, and should be, because indirectly, they fit. But the main point made here, comes from an understanding of what coinage itself, had done to the world, as they knew of it, back them. Christ (and later, Christians and Christianity) was all about a simple life; it was about having little of this worlds goods to begin with. Jesus said that he had no place to lay His head; He told those following Him no to carry money (scrip) with them, Later, Christian letter writer, Paul, wrote extensively on the dangers of money and how he, himself, gave it up, as much as it were possible, saying that Godliness with contentment is great gain. The moral of these stories are that, if you do not want the things of this world, and you then just grow your own food and build your own homes, the coin-users (the Takers) will not have any interest in you, because they wanted to take coins from you, they did not want your potatoes!

The Iscariot Institution!
For the love of money IS the root of all evil!

The Romans were morally corrupt and Spiritually bankrupt; they were brazenly Godless and liked to flaunt their corruption into the faces of the Jews (and their worthless God). The Romans were forcing the Jews to become Romans; that is, they were trying to make them into Godless Capitalists, like they were, and this was the tension going on at that time. Getting them addicted to materialism was to get them hooked on coinage, and it was that usage that was taxable. This is why there was a temple tax; the Romans knew that the Jews were devout religionists, and so they used that against them, by charging them mammon in order for them to come into the Holy place for worship. Matthew was one of those who was the toll gate operator of the temple gate (who abandoned that post when something worth far more, came into his life: Jesus)! The Pharisees were, by this time, in bed with the Imperialists and were flourishing by the involved usage of Caesars coinage (denarius): It was that coinage that was paid to Judas Iscariot! Coinage, or mammon, has a power that transcends mere barter; the mere trade of goods.

The coinage was used by humans who were not interested in a Godly life of contentment and family; these men wanted to have multiple women, party all day, and make war when the coffers got low. They were Godless, and utterly Godless, and so they needed, and utilized, mammon to do what could not be done with a garden, a barn of animals and a simple clay box for shelter. They had a much grander vision of living life on earth, as the building projects and the attempts at greatness, that remain to this day (and I‘ve toured these remains)! Coinage was the way to go: After all, it took much effort to trade a thousand head of cattle for a hundred tons of grain; the sheer volumes and weights and distances, made bartering over long distances impractical, and even impossible in some cases. And so, globalism was made possible by the abandonment of simple trade and manual labor, as a means of living on the Earth. This is why sailing ships were built; to take armies overseas to distant lands, to do what; Evangelize? Give me a break! They went with Catholic Priests, who were there to sanction and bless their voyage, and their attempts to plunder indigenous cultures and take their precious metals, and eventually, all the natural resources (as we see happening today).

And so, coinage is directly linked to corruption, on what is now, a global scale. Eventually, this rape and plunder will lead to the end of time; that, Jesus knew long ago, that the link to mammon was more than an association with Godless Imperialists (though it was that!); He knew that no good could come from this system, and He was right. We have the advantage of time-forward; we look back to see the consequences of masses of discontented humans and their collective effect on Earth itself. No one back then, could have ever imagined the human species ever arriving at a place where we could disrupt the balance of entire planet. This was thought to be only possible by God almighty. And in a lesser sense, this is true. It is the god of this world (Satan), that has inspired it all, and mammon was not the tool, but rather, the weapon, to bring it into fruition; and, to butcher the seeds of faith, first planted by our Master Yahshua, the Lord Jesus Christ!

The simple life did not require large herds; the simple life did not require money. But just as we witness today in developing nations, the Capitalists and their exorbitant lifestyles are a great temptation to those living in rice fields or in cottage industries; doing the same things; eating the same things, day after day. Without a true Spiritual life, the hominid becomes bored quickly with living on Earth, and so they seek more excitement; power; materialism; entertainment; shopping! If the Spirit of Christ is really just the emotions in the brain, then the serving of that god becomes self-evident! If a person is not truly converted by the Indwelling, they will not be attracted to a Spirit-centric existence, they will instead, be attracted to the physical world, where religion, then, becomes just another avenue to self-fulfillment. And of course, all of this requires mammon. Even to this day, if a person just lives off the land, they could live out this life and die, never making or using a single penny. But this would only be possible where land is not lorded.

Most modern Capitalists focus on the love of money as the root of all evil, because they want and need money. It is true, that in a money-economy, it is a necessity. It is hard to trade a thousand pounds of potatoes for the property tax on ones land. This lesson is witnessed within the American Amish. They do not take collections during weekly worship gatherings, because they (and I) believe that business is separate from worship. Conversely, the Godless-religious incorporate the two; they are made manifest (well, to/for those with Spiritual eyes to see)! When we labor with our hands the thing which is good; namely, the harvest of food, we then grow excess in order to share with others who may lack. This is the "giving" part of true Christianity. This is why the Amish do not educate their children beyond middle school. They do not need to teach them how to further destroy the planet; they teach them how to live simple on the Earth; this is the duty of all Gods Children, Amish or not!

What has happened in our modern world, is that goods and service, have been replaced with mammon. Money is not just a tool, it is also a weapon. Study Scripture carefully; Jesus never carried coins; shekels; mammon, and from what I gleam from the many events concerning mammon, Jesus was discouraging His disciples from using Caesars mammon at all. He told the want-a-be disciple that he must relinquish all his immense worldly possessions to the poor, and then he could follow Jesus. He commanded His disciples that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse! (Mark 6:8) When Jesus was asked if He paid tithes or taxes, He said no. But, when He was faced with a collector of the temple tax, He ordered another to capture a fish from the waters and take the coin out of its mouth to pay the tax. In other words, don't volunteer to finance (in any way) the world or the worldly, but if confronted, don't fight them for it, or over it, either. There are just too many instances that all lead to one basic premise; that mammon itself, is corrupt. Why? Because it places the power into the hands of men, just as the Industrialization of Gods Earth, and the Capitalist Oligarchy, has revealed to us humans with a 21st century vantage point. I learned my lessons young. I was in the wrong part of town, it was late and I was in the parking lot of a grocer, when I was faced with 2 men with knives; they were robbing me. They did not ask me for anything, they just went through all my pockets and took the money I had; all 9 dollars of it! After I calmed down from the confrontation, I laughed all the way home. I thought this was pathetic; they risked hurting me, or getting caught and sentenced for armed robbery, for nine dollars! Of course, they just wanted cash to buy drugs, so they did no bother to take the 20 dollars worth of groceries I had just placed in the trunk.

Unrighteous Mammon!

Luke 16:1-15 And He also said to His disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a steward. And he was accused to him, that he had wasted his goods. And he called him and said to him, What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you may no longer be steward. And the steward said within himself, What shall I do? For my lord is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, so that when I am put out of the stewardship they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors and said; to the first, How much do you owe my lord? And he said, A hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty. And he said to another, And how much do you owe? And he said, A hundred cors of wheat. And he said to him, Take your bill and write eighty. And the unjust steward's lord commended him because he had done wisely. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say to you, Make friends by the mammon of unrighteousness for yourselves, so that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He who is faithful in the least is also faithful in much. And he who is unjust in the least is also unjust in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. And being money-lovers, all the Pharisees also heard all these things. And they derided Him. And He said to them, You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

The Godless Capitalists twist this in so many ways, that I'm not going to even try to clean up that mess. Suffice it to say, that most who try to teach on this passage, are themselves lazy creatures who have not even built their own homes with their own hands; they do not grow their own foods; they probably have more time spent gathering money than they do honoring God. Without the Indwelling Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us, we are bitterly lost humans! The Bible becomes just another qualifier for our lifestyles of Godlessness. Religion becomes just another talisman; for some, the businesses of religion becomes a replacement to laboring with their own hands. This parable speaks several things loudly, but the blind and the deaf, simply cannot see it; hear it. They filter the words thru whatever time/culture that has indoctrinated them (in this case, post-industrial Capitalism). Capitalism itself, is but the ace in Armageddon; that, without unfettered greed, the prophecies could not manifest. And so, Capitalism and the Industrialization of the natural word, was a necessary step to the end-time prophecies. They're the polar opposite of Gods will, just like everything else humans have done, from Eden forward! God flushed the global toilet on His creation once, and said that the second mass-destruction would be by fire. The prophetic details would not be possible without the inherent greed and mass-materialism of the masses; those on the Broadway to outer darkness.

And so, the key points of this (mystery) parable?
1) "I cannot dig"; I'm too proud to labor with my hands, I'm lazy! I just want to con someone out of their mammon to avoid laboring.
2) "For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light": We who follow Christ live in polar opposition to "the world"! Jesus' point was not that we use this parable to become more worldly, the point made was that the utterly Godless can better capitalize on that which is evil, than those who should be capitalizing on things Spiritual (it's a depredation of/to the Pharisees)!
3) "the mammon of unrighteousness"; "if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?": Mammon is unrighteous; those who partake in it, were the Roman Imperialists who were in Jerusalem to dominate the culture, and defile the Temple there. Indeed, and it was those yokefellow Pharisees who used Caesars mammon to purchase the location of Jesus from the son of perdition, so they could arrest Him and ultimately crucify Him. At all points, money; coinage; dollars, are used for evil, and referred to as the root OF ALL evil.
4) "For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." Wealth and money and the power it brings, is what is highly esteemed among men, as the Godless Capitalists teach us with every act; the news is never void of the stories of corruption that stems from the love of money. Jesus was talking to the many, but He was speaking directly to the Pharisees, whom He condemned and cursed so often, they wanted Him dead! He was using a parable that they could relate to; it was not a license for men to justify making more money, or becoming investors and lenders of money.

Jesus would not even touch money; He would not carry it, nor did He ever produce it. Most people traded goods for goods, but the Godless (and the Godless-religious) like to say that money "is just a tool for trade". Money (coins or paper) was what allowed men to hoard and gain more than they earned. It was a very easy thing to steal, to hoard, and to replicate. It did not require any labor. It was also a badge of greatness, as the Bible describes. Indeed, the Luke 16 parable was about an act of deception; of fraud. Is Jesus teaching us how to better defraud others? Well, to the Godless Capitalist, it could certainly be twisted into such a message. It fits into what's referred to as "the snares of Scripture": That God is so wise, that He intentionally wrote Scripture in such as way, as to reveal the Godless-religious, from the truly Saved, by how they interpret it; by the conclusions they draw from it. But once the Indwelling Holy Spirit dominates your Soul, these back-door shepherds become rather easy to spot. They do not labor for their own needs; they have far too many possessions; they are in debt to the world for things God does not want them to have to begin with; they indoctrinate their own children into the world...on and on I could go. The fruits of Godlessness is overwhelming, all you have to do is surrender your life and resign yourself to a life of utter poverty, and be a bondservant of the Living God; then, the Indwelling will fill your soul in such a way, that all the wealth on Earth, is utterly meaningless to you. Then, and only then, you will see for yourself, for God will illuminate LIFE to you. You see, if I plant a seed in the ground, God provides the water and the sun; God provides the genetics necessary for it to grow up as food. God will also provide a new seed, to grow next year. You see, God provides all we need without any coins! The trees will make homes and firewood; the rocks will provide shelter and other uses. The natural world provides all we need, however, it takes labor; we must fight our lazy nature; we must have self-control. The godless, and the Godless-religious, are slave to their own bodies, and so they follow the path of least resistance, even enslaving others to do their fair share of the labor. God has no respect for these people; neither do I.

The Mammonites!

Matthew 17:24-27 And when they had come to Capernaum, those who received the didrachmas came to Peter and said, Does your master not pay the didrachmas? He said, Yes. And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? From their sons, or from strangers? Peter said to Him, From strangers. Jesus said to him, Then truly the sons are free. But lest we should offend them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. And when you have opened its mouth, you shall find a stater; take that, and give it to them for Me and you.   22:15-22 Then the Pharisees left and took counsel that they might entangle Him in words. And they sent their disciples out to Him along with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and that you teach the way of God in truth. Nor do you care for anyone, for you do not regard the person of men. Therefore tell us; what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites? Show Me the tribute money. And they brought a denarius to Him. And He said to them, Whose image and inscription is this? They said to Him, Caesar's. Then He said to them, Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's. When they heard these words, they marveled, and they left Him and went away.   Luke 23:1-3 And rising up, all the multitude of them led Him before Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, We have found this one perverting the nation and forbidding them to give tribute to Caesar, saying himself to be a king, Christ. And Pilate asked Him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And He answered him and said, You say it!

How we handle this life is how we will live in eternity. This life is the measure of our eternal fate; it is the proving ground for God to replay for us, the content of our own volitional self; the sum of our life based on the cards God dealt us! It is more than a verbal profession of what we believe, for what we truly believe, is manifest in the physical world. It is not manifest in our religious rituals, but in our lifestyles. Do we handle money wisely, or do we avoid handling it at all? Jesus did not carry money, He thought of it as defiled. Jesus never once pulled coins out of His pocket/purse when asked for money, or about money. There is no place in the NT where Jesus revealed that He ever had money. Now, I know well, the circular reasoning going through the brains of the materialist justifiers; that Jesus did not have a home either, but that He had to live somewhere. He did not carry food, and so He had to make fish and loaves multiply to feed the hungry masses. I suppose we could go on like this and it never end.

My own personal experience with the Capitalist Protestant-based religions, almost ended my life. I came to Christ in my early 30's, but since I was unfamiliar with Gods Community, and only knew of the religion-businesses, I started there (like most people in Capitalist America does)! I thought that God was in church-businesses, an so were Gods people. Now, some who participate in these businesses may be Saved, but I have been to many of them, and I have witnessed how they live apart from their religion, and so I would say that only a precious fraction of those who participate in the religion-businesses of North America, are actually Saved; Transformed! I did not know then, what God has revealed to me, now! But this is the Spiritual path, for I was a stubborn human even before I came to Christ, and it took God awhile to wean me from the world. There were casualties along the way! All I can do now, is to teach the truth as the Inspired word of God is pressed through my Indwelled Soul, and out my brain and into my words. This is why I write. This is why I live the way I do. I say this so that you know that I have already graduated from the University of Hard Knocks, and have listened to the studies of multitudes of Protestant teachers. I worked for 4 years at a Christian radio station that played a plethora of teaching ministries, when I was not at my own church, or in my own private time of study. I even spent many years revising the King James Bible because it was my favorite translation, and as a missionary to the Philippines (another mistake), I wanted those who only spoke English as a second language, to be able to read the KJV; hence the RKJV (free to anyone who wants it)! And so that is the summary background on me. Here is what God and life has revealed to me over the past decade, concerning money.

Power Corrupts; Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely!

Mammon is the root of all evil. But the Godless Capitalist will make sure to magnify "the love" of money, because it's an easy thing to just say that you don't love it, and write off the core of the message! Kings and Emperors used coinage to tax, exploit and conquer other human beings. It allowed the Kingships of human-past to exist to begin with. If all you have are farm animals and a garden and some crops surrounding your little farm home, it is hard to be a King in a castle, ruling over a nation. For that ego to be fulfilled, it takes far more resources than one person could gain living Godly lives. This is why they wanted a warrior (Barabus), not a Savior. They had no interest in surrender; in submission, for the carnal man is a fighter; angry and ready to make war! The message of Jesus was of compliance when confronted, but non-conformity in all other instances. In other words, if you do not need mammon, and you do not have mammon, you cannot be compelled to produce it. The taxation of humans was a way for the rich to get richer; Jesus taught His Disciples to live simple at all times and at all places, and let God provide daily, from the natural world. This requires trust; this requires faith. That IS faith (Hebrews). And so the message was/is simple; do not seek the things in this life that require money; grow your own food and build your own homes and teach your own children. Try to stay within the confines of Gods creation, and let God provide for you, from that resource alone. The American Amish are doing the best, in that regard. If the Godless hands-in-the-pie takers of this life, come around and demand a share, just give it to them. Our purpose in this life is not social justice for ourselves, we are here to show the world, Christ! Jesus knew that the takers of this life will always outnumber the Godly, and by much! Wide is the path that leads to destruction, and narrow is the Way! The path to Heaven is like a sidewalk, and the Broadway to outer darkness is many miles wide; a superhighway! The takers are everywhere, and when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, the antichrists were appearing even before Scripture was completed. They will outnumber the Saved in these end-times.

How many stories are there, of the simpleton who wins a lottery and suddenly has millions of dollars? Typically, wealth is inherited, and the children are already brought up in affluence, and so they are trained in wealth management to a greater or lesser degree. And those who work all their lives and gather that wealth slowly over time also have a different perspective. But when you live much of your live at the poverty line, craving all the things you could not afford, and then suddenly you have that wealth, this tends to tip the balance, and a fall is eminent. Of course, children to inherit wealth and squander it; of course those who earn wealth also squander it. The point here is that, when you crave the power that comes from wealth, and yet, you do not have the wealth, your foot is already in the trap. Money is used by the power hungry to control and manipulate, and even to get people to grovel at their feet. Many people just like the control that being the holder of the money, has! The atypical father figure of past-generations often include this mentality; this typography. In other words, if you do as I expect, I will give you money. If you ask and plead, maybe I'll throw you a bone.

I moved back to Southern California because I had a step-brother who lived there most of his life; he was grounded (a home owner), I was itinerate. And so, I wanted to start/operate a construction company, just as I did in other States, except in California you must be an established resident (they do not want fly-by-night contractors). This is logical, except, I was new again to the area (I had lived there before), and so, since it was my step-brother who helped me to get into construction as a boy, I felt a nostalgia about hooking up and trying the hand at working as a team again. And so, he had to be the legal holder of the contractor’s license, and, while he continued to work as a Union carpenter, I worked the business, building it up with ads, websites and running the bids. Finally a contract, and so I ran that job (and worked my back side off) doing the first room addition; alone for the most part. After time the business grew; we bought a truck, more tools and was on a roll! As more monies were coming in from the contracts I was winning, I was seeing less and less monies. Eventually I was getting hundreds when I should have been seeing thousands. I knew I was being taken advantage of, and at the time I was in a serious financial crunch, and everyone knew it. But you see when the money is in your control, it is hard to relinquish it, even to the one who made that money possible to begin with. I was being controlled with that money, and I would not allow myself to be treated like that by any man. I walked away from a business that I worked over-time to build, and the monies that was owed to me, I knew I’d never see. I cur my losses, took my integrity and walked. It was hard because I just went through the loss of my wife, and all I needed was my step-brother to look at me as a mere resource, as well. And what Scriptures did God implicate in my mind? [Again?]

2nd Corinthians 6:14-18 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship does righteousness have with lawlessness? And what partnership does light have with darkness? And what agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Therefore come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. | No servant can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Luke 16:13)

1st Timothy 6:5-10 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is Godliness: From such withdraw yourself. But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Money Empowers People to be More Than Who They Truly Are!

Once mammon was brought into the Fellowship, corruption followed. If there is monies involved, God is not there. Money; mammon, was the way that Godless humans avoided laboring for their own needs. Jesus Christ called all of His Disciples and Apostles away from the worldly money centers. They would go in and out of urban areas because for one, the roads were trade routes form city to city, and so they were unavoidable. But when we read the Gospels, we notice how often Jesus (and the Apostles) were in the wilderness; in the natural world, and away from urban centers. The sin that pervaded these places were a vexation to the Messiah, and so He went to them, only to lead people out! When He went into THEIR Synagogues, He went to each, not to learn. He went to send a message of deliverance from the bondages they were confronted with; namely, the Imperialists. The multitudes were looking for a Savior that was militant; one that would fight and drive out the invaders. But Jesus came along with a completely different message; a message of freedom from the material world that they so desperately wanted to defend. God owns the whole world (indeed, the universe itself); for God so Loved the world that the Messiah (God-Corporeal) came to Save those willing to believe-in AND follow Him. Satan was/is the prince of this world; we know from the books of Job and other OT writings, that the physical world is Satan's domain, and because we are fallen beings too, we all get to live here together. But this was necessary for God to be able to provide volitional beings the opportunity to live a higher life; a Spirit-centric life, or conversely, to live for the things of this world; to live for the here-n-now! Humans enslaved one another in pathetic attempts at gaining more stuff in the here-n-now. But the real prison was not the chains of the dominators, but the addictions to this worlds things to begin with. Rich or poor, the human could either live for things Spiritual, or remain chained to their lusts of/for the material world. this is why, when you actually understand Scripture, you see so many references to "the world" or to the word "worldly". When I do a word search, the word "world" pops up over 250 times in the New Testament alone. I cannot post every Scripture that is relevant to this without making you read a quarter of the New Testament!

We must understand things within their context; not only do we want to understand Scripture in its own context, but also the cultural context which is even more important. After all, many of Jesus' parables were used because those listening could easily relate them to their own lives. Jesus (and many of His Disciples) were construction workers (Tektons); thus, you hear Jesus referring to the beam in your eye versus the splinter in another's. Many of His Disciples (both men and women) were farm workers or gardeners, or fishermen, or other manual labor trades. Jesus did not reach out to too many non-laborers, primarily because of the issue with money. Keep in mind that if you are content with food, clothing and shelter, you need no money. Money was used to exchange things you did not have for things that were brought in on trade routes to city centers (where Jesus turned over the moneychangers tables in the temple). Jesus taught a simple principle; that of living on this Earth, simply. Materialism is a curse; we of the 21st Century measure materialism in mega-tons of carbon in the atmosphere; mega-tons in landfills; in water pollution, and the general degradation of Gods natural creation. The amount of human suffering and death connected to materialism is just too difficult to fathom. Even the Godless-religious get caught-up in the materialism of the human condition. The ministries that exist to justify living with money, is staggering. The Amish are one of the last remnants of what the early fellowships looked like, as compared to "the world". They grow much of their own food; they build their own homes from the raw materials of the land; they have little need for money, period. In doing this, they are freed from Rome's Godless grip. Now, we know that I'm writing about the Amish prior to the Great depression, for after that, as the Godless (and the Godless-religious) went full-bore into the Industrialization of Gods creation, the climate here in North America, became even more unGodly. The Protestants followed the Catholics down Mammon Blvd, and they both went the way of those blinded.

Matthew 13: 9-13 | 18-23 He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not; nor do they understand. | Therefore hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown by the wayside. But that which was sown on the stony places is this: he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself, and is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, he immediately stumbles. And that sown into the thorns is this: he who hears the Word; and the anxiety of this world, and the deceit of riches, choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful. But that sown on the good ground is this: he who hears the Word and understands; who also bears fruit and produces, one truly a hundredfold; and one sixty; and one thirty. {Spiritually, not materialistically}

Mammon: Band-Aid for Damaged Egos!

Jesus was clarifying that many will hear the words, and understand them as the language they speak (the logos), but they will never fully "gnosis" them; the words will not transform their very existence on Earth. They will instead, use the words to better their live in the hear-n-now. They will make merchandise of gullible people who are trying to find truth. The Godless-religious charge money, or make money, with their ministry. The Saved labor with their hands, and offer their ministry for free. That is how you know who belongs to the Body of Christ, and who do not; who is there for the fishes and the loaves, and who is there for the Living Water! When we are Saved, the Scriptures make perfect sense to us. But when we are materialistic Capitalists trying to be Christian, this has to mean something corporeal. It's like that with the parable of the talents; the Godless-religious think they mean something tangible; something corporeal, but this is because they're not Transformed and Enlightened; they're wordsmiths who try to jockey Scripture to help them justify their own laziness; their own fattened lifestyles. We must understand the cultural context, and today, in modern America, we are living in a culture that was corrupted from day 1. The USA is far more depraved than Sodom could have ever become! We are in the Laodicean Age, where the bulk of those who claim the name of Jesus, will be the vessels of Satan to take down the last of the true believers; to crush the seeds into mammon (and there's only a remnant of Christ-centric Fellowships left on Earth, now). This is the cultural context that we must view Scripture through as well. Jesus made plain, that the cares of corporeality will make us unfruitful. He was not referring to material riches, but Spiritual riches, and not just in the hereafter, but in the now. You see, when the Indwelling Holy Spirit dominates your very existence, this life becomes a mere extension of life-eternal; there is no break between the corporeal and the non-corporal; between this life and life-universal; that time, space and matter are not immutable. Our understanding of the vastness and the bigness of life-eternal, can be seen in glimpses, through the telescope, as well as the microscope; the macro, and the micro, for they are all one. Looking at the vastness of time and space, makes this temporal stop-over a bathroom break! Once we are Enlightened by the Indwelling, this life becomes an obstacle to what Life is really all about. The Apostle Paul finally realized this, and said:

For me, to live is Christ; to die is gain! But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. (Philippians)

In other words, some people take a long time to "get it"; to plug into the way-bigger picture of Life! They get caught up in the material world, and they do so because they have no Spiritual life at all, though they may believe in a creator and participate in one of the businesses of religion. But once we utterly surrender all, and I mean all, God can then Indwell us; God can then be the navigator of our corporeality! If not, we will live and die as slave to our culture; our past; our education; our experiences! We will be indentured servants to the directives fed to us, without ever knowing of a higher life; a higher calling! We will become addicted to the machine; drones who comply, shop and die! Without the Enlightenment that comes from Christ-in-us, we are the mere products of our immediate surroundings, with little ability to transcend any of it. We become slave to our automobiles, our mortgaged homes and our employment roles. We become Capitalists who know of no other way to live upon the Earth. We are trapped within this little box, where those of our time and our society become the expanse of the universe, and we are ready and willing to sell our Souls just to be important within it. This is why the Westernized world is so conquered with the need to be recognized; to be made into a somebody, via the media; If I could only get on TV!

Cultural Conformation? Spiritual Transformation?

Its a transformation, not a conformation. Self-belief does not lead to salvation, nor does mere obedience. Jesus said plainly that if you are not born-again, you will not see Heaven; period (John 3)! You can obey all the religious laws, rituals traditions and sacraments you want, but Salvation is about utter surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, not that of religious works, ordinances and rites. In other words, it is not the physical motion of these rituals that determine our Spiritual condition, for indeed, our Spiritual condition is (strictly) Spiritual. In order for God to Indwell us, to inhabit us, we first must be made clean (for God cannot so much as look upon sin); that ultimate cleansing was the propitiation on the Cross of Golgotha; the sin-debt was paid in full, by our Savior and Messiah! But as flesh-n-blood beings, we live in a fallen world with the evil one trying to tear us down, and so we cannot live completely sinless. However, we can surrender our flesh, are dreams, our goals and plans, unto the foot of the Cross; we can give up, and let God lead us. when we do that, we sin very little. Once we demonstrate to God, our resolve to live righteous lives, the Holy Spirit yokes with our Spirit; Indwells us, and that Indwelling further empowers us to live holy lives, but most importantly, it turns on the light of life; we can now see. We become clear-vision; we become cognizant; we become conscientious! Even still, we may sin, but when we do, we know it right away, and we confess, repent and restore. In other words, broken relationships are the proof of Godlessness. We all make mistakes, but those of the Indwelling forgive and forget, restoring broken relationships and rebuilding trust when broken.

It's like the story I often tell about the child missing in the big department store. The fear of the child is only trumped by the fear of the parent. The idea of being separated from those we Love; actually Love, is horrifying. When we are, the whole world stops, and there is nothing else but to be reunited with the one we (really) Love. But when love is an emotion that we attach and detach from one person to the next, relational abandonment not only becomes routines, but expected. I have been separated from those of Love, many times, and each time it is horrifying, but they were not my children lost in the store, and so I could not just go claim them back once found. They did not want to be found, they wanted to be left alone so they could pursue relationships with other men. I had to suffer alone, and I did so, many times; too many times. The wounds from those losses are major; I'd call them post traumatic! Was this my fault? In a way, yes. After all, I was becoming involved (mind, body and Soul) with women who were churched, but certainly not Saved. I thought that, if they proclaim to be Christian, they are Christian. This same mistake is made by the multitudes. While we may want do physical proof if our doctor has a medical degree, or our homebuilder has built other homes, we humans are quick to accept the words of those who walk in and out of church-businesses. We do not take the time to measure their everyday lives against the backdrop of the Savior; we do not look at them with the eyes of gospel truth. We (Or, I then) look at the superficial, and settle therein. This is the mistake. A pretty face, and innocent smile, and the parroting of Christianize, is not the barometer of mate-selection for the Body of Christ, but then, I was not among the Body of Christ during those times. I was participant in just another business that had to conform to its surrounding culture to lure in its customer-base; because it was the business of Capitalists; men (and some women) who refused to labor with their hands; to dress modestly; to see the Body of Christ as their family and not just their customers.

This is why money damages the Fellowship; this is why Jesus had nothing to do with Rome's coinage! The Indwelling Holy Spirit never "convicts" someone to give mammon to a person or ministry, when theirs no pre-established interpersonal relationship; in other words, God never prompts anyone to give anything to a complete stranger. There's a trail of Biblical references to this, and even the Apostles did not hand out mammon to strangers. The Indwelling Holy Spirit never compels someone to give anything to those who do not labor for their own basic needs. The Bible is clear that if a person does not labor, he/she should starve to death: The exceptions are the elderly and the handicapped. During all the Apostles journeys, they worked, or grazed, or hunted/fished for their needs, and did not take mammon handouts for themselves. Indeed, the very word "needs" is greatly changed once the light of the Indwelling Holy Spirit Enlightens the human mind. Once we have the mind of Christ, our perspectives and our purpose becomes radically different than the rest of the Godless, and the Godless-religious (who are both the same, Spiritually). The Godless are takers and taxers who refuse to labor for their sustainance. The Godless-religious do the same thing; they are also hands-out takers (they operate urban hands-out "ministries").

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1st John 2:1-12 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation concerning our sins, and not concerning ours only, but also concerning the sins of all the world. And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked. Brothers, I do not write a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the Word which you have heard from the beginning. Again, I write a new commandment to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true Light now shines. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no offense in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because darkness has blinded his eyes. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.
e-Sword
Romans 13:1-8 Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities. For there is no authority but of God; the authorities that exist are ordained by God. So that the one resisting the authority resists the ordinance of God; and the ones who resist will receive judgment to themselves. For the rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the bad. And do you desire to be not afraid of the authority? Do the good, and you shall have praise from it. For it is a servant of God to you for good. For if you practice evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain; for it is a servant of God, a revenger for wrath on him who does evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes. For they are God's servants, always giving attention to this very thing. Therefore give to all their dues; to the one due tax, the tax; tribute to whom tribute is due, fear to whom fear is due, and honor to whom honor is due. Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law. {Note: This was written and distributed to those within the brutal Roman Empire: For those with understanding}

Colossians 2:8-23 Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. Having stripped rulers and authorities, He made a show of them publicly, triumphing over them in it. Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in respect of a feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths. For these are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. Let no one defraud you, delighting in humility and worship of the angels, intruding into things which he has not seen, without a cause being vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from whom all the body, having been supplied through the joints and bands, and having been joined together, will grow with the growth of God. If then you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to its ordinances: touch not, taste not, handle not; which things are all for corruption in the using, according to the commands and doctrines of men? These things indeed have a reputation of wisdom in self-imposed worship and humility, and unsparing severity of the body, but are not of any value for the satisfying of the flesh.

Inflationism & Usury!

Copyrighted Excerpts from Author Paul Andrew Anderson!
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