The Hidden Danger

Topic: Why a belief in biblical prophesy is the "original sin" and the role it plays in supporting a criminal ex-president. An essay.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

This was a section in a story I wrote called the “Hole-in-one” Brief. This part has been extracted. It’s an essay of my own thoughts.

I am not religious, but I have a church filled upbringing surrounded by people who were kind to me.

As far back as I can remember, I’ve been curious. I asked a lot of questions and still do. “Trust me”, “believe me”, or “have faith” has never worked out for me. To me, nothing is unknowable, and I only see my beliefs and assumptions as temporary placeholders in my knowledge.

SANTA LEFT YOU A PRESENT:

As a kid, you may believe in Santa. Everything you observe validates your belief. Then, as you get older, and your knowledge grows, you challenge that belief, or maybe it’s spoiled by another person who lets you in on the “secret”.

If you were fortunate, there are great memories of Christmas as a child. Once you are a parent, you want to make sure you continue the tradition with your own kids, and you nostalgically get to revisit those fond memories.

As you grow, you may meet people who never had that Santa experience, for various reasons. Perhaps you thought everyone had Santa visits. This is another belief you hold until you are challenged. You may think the solution is that everyone should have the Santa experience as a child. That is a noble idea. But realistically, you can’t force Santa on everyone.

It’s strange to think about the secular, commercially-driven Santa in a discussion about religion, but it's an example that resonates regardless of having a positive or negative experience.

This common experience is an example I’ll use to explain why I have a real problem with prophesy and how some folks think it’s real and others do not.

How I reconciled my own belief in prophesy is no different than how a child reconciles the fact/myth of Santa Claus's existence. I grew in knowledge.

PROPHESY:

Prophesy, found in the Bible, is a kind of logic trap near impossible to escape from. It's a key part of the Christian faiths. Many believe it’s part of the word, the word is infallible, therefore biblical prophesy is infallible.

For many Americans with a Christian background, this is unquestionable. If you are like me, this topic puts a knot in your stomach. It has been very difficult for me to reconcile the weight prophesy is given in the story of Jesus. This feeling I established on my own, probably when I was 10 or 11.

PARALLEL LANES:

I know evangelicals believe as I do, that we all have free will. Full stop. Where we differ is I think that was an instruction in the Bible’s book of Genesis, and not a curse. Maybe it’s both?

I also differ from evangelicals in that I have come to believe I cannot join a religion if it requires belief in any biblical prophesy, Old or New Testiment, especially after learning about Jesus's life through the Bible. There are stories of love and understanding for everyone in the Bible and the story of Jesus. I want that, even when it tests me. That is my destination.

GREEN LIGHT:

I was raised in an Episcopal church. I was an acolyte. It’s kind of like being an alter boy in a Catholic church, only the Episcopalian version. I went into the military. My dog tags and paperwork say “Episcopalian”, mostly for my mother’s benefit, in case I got killed. 

During my time in service, I was stationed overseas and have served our country during war.

I've made friends, and fought alongside American people from all walks of faith during my service. These were my fellow countrymen; Athiests, Mormons, Lutherans, Baptists, Southern Baptists, evangelicals, Catholics, a Quaker, other Episcopalians, Protestants, Jews and Muslims.

I’ve never met a devout person who did not take their faith, or absence of it, as the core of who they are. Never. I am not devout. I’m somewhere in the curious middle.

It’s called walks of faith because everyone has a path. None of us know what obstacles may lie ahead of us. We all have a unique route.

NO PARKING:

Paths are journeys. I can only know the path I’ve traveled. It’s my history. My journey. My walk.

I try to be like the good Samaritan as I walk. If I can help others, I’ll try. My mom tells me my “love language” is “service”. Others may give gifts, or write poems, volunteer, teach, sing, or cook. I am “the extra pair of hands” saying “when do you need me”?

If I tried to take you off your path, I would not be a good Samaritan. I am trying to help you back on your way, even though we may not share the same beliefs.

I believe we should be able to talk about any subject, including religiously devout people. No subject should be unspeakable to rational people. It’s important to entertain ideas, and challenge my own beliefs.

THE BASE:

Trump gets domestic political support from his base. There are many shared physical and regional similarities in this base, but this can be misleading.

We humans are primates, and we depend on physical, visual and auditory cues from our surroundings to detect threats. It’s hard wired into us. Primates vocalize to others in the group when they identify a threat. Human primates also share an affinity for identifying patterns.

The physical similarities in a threat are easy to identify. We all possess this skill. The more interesting connection in Trump’s base is found when you look at an underlying commonly held core value. This is a hidden danger.

I propose that value is religious, and going deeper, it may be due to the acceptance of prophesy, and a perceived connection to world events.

Religion is not bad. It’s protected by the law. When a religion tries to become the law, or influence the law, it has to be discussed. Even if it is uncomfortable.

If religion tries to overthrow the law, then the umbella of protection we all live under to use our free will is destroyed. As of September 1, 2022, 63% of Americans polled say the threat to democracy is their biggest concern.

I’d be interested to see the numbers if the poll question was changed to “is a religious belief responsible for a threat to democracy?”

UP TO SPEED:

In my “Hole-in-one” Brief story, I called the deal that Trump may have with the Saudis “Golf-gate”. It’s a story about trading state secrets with Saudi Arabia for a new golf league, because it’s the easiest way to wrap up the whole scheme with brevity.

My “Golf-gate” story is available under this substack account.

This essay assumes you understand me when I refer to “Golf-gate”.

DANGER:

If Trump’s “Golf-gate” scheme is exposed, so are Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS)  & the Saudis involvement. This is dangerous as there are rivals everywhere in the Middle East and he is not king yet.

Secrecy to a plot is so important to the Saudi Royals, people will get boned-sawed in an embassy or assassinated to keep a plot hidden.

Equally dangerous is if Trump’s “Golf-gate” scheme remained hidden. Then MBS & the Saudis use the details from US state secrets to set up the region for conflict and perhaps war breaks out. 

If you believe in prophesy, any conflict in the Middle East, whenever it breaks out, is taking place in an area evangelical Christians have decyphered from biblical verses as the setting for the “battle of apocalypse”. It’s described as a horrible war, and is preceded by ominous “signs”. To understand signs, you can learn much from deconstructing evangelicalism.

IN THE SAME BOAT:

Evangelicalism is, in reality, a loosely controlled, usually harmless church-like-business that may preach as part of the gospel or "revelation of Christ", to look forward to apocalypse, as it's a signal Christ (literally, “savior”) is returning to judge. Many ministries lean into prophesy, a lot.

The startup costs for an evangelical ministry are minimal too. All you need is some chairs, a Bible, and a charismatic pastor. This creates a wild amount of deviation in the evangelical faith(s).

This incongruous messaging is called "ministries" for just that reason. This is not always an organized religion.

Metaphorically, the Biblical messages are a buffet and evangelical pastors pick and choose what they will serve to their congregations or to prove a point. This method of sharing information is called preaching.

The term “pastor” or “preacher” or “minister” or “elder” are interchangeable. These people vary in style, delivery and substance. But generally, they are trying to offer solutions to their audience based on patterns they find in holy writ, rooted in tradition.

However, to messianic evangelical leaders and pastors, that is a temptation to say outlandish things and attribute it to God revealing his message through them.

Voices in my head are called ideas, but whatever. I have no problem if you want to say your thoughts are inspired by the holy spirit. We’ve both got free will.

These messianic leaders operate mostly on belief or faith. Some followers of these leaders have misplaced faith that their leader is under the control of God, and therefore speaks with the same authority. Many other religions would see such a claim as borderline blasphemy. I am part of that group, but for a different reason.

I feel a pope, a minister, a rabbi, a priest or a pastor is only a guide on your path. I also feel if they guide a follower into the weeds of prophesy, that follower should use their free will and get a new guide immediately.

Let’s say war breaks out in the middle-east. Let’s assume your pastor saw this as a “sign” and thought that God was guiding them. And let’s imagine they shared the prophesy fullfilling pattern they observed with their flock. What could happen?

Well, I’d imagine many in the congregation might think “This could be it. The Second Coming! Rejoice!”. 

But there’s a catch with sharing this information as fact. The biblical warning is this prediction could be false prophesy delivered by an unwitting messenger. This is why religions require you have unwavering faith. Only with blind faith can belief become truth.

I just saw a letter sign in front of a church that read “reason is the true enemy of faith” and to me, it warned, “Abandon all reason if ye enter this place”. I will not be going to learn about Jesus here. Thank you.

Ironically, looking for prophetic signs in the first place could also make a devout person BELIEVE they discovered the prophesied Anti-Christ that would fool the faithful. It's tricky stuff. Stay on your toes. This is life or death to some Christians.

Am I suggesting that many evangelicals might have "recognized" this Anti-Christ behavior in Donald J. Trump and see it as good news? YES. Yes I am.

What about those other Christians and Trump idol worshippers that think Trump is a savior? To some evangelical ministries, these Christians are the willfully deceived who have closed their eyes and ears. Again, prophesy fulfilled.

QANON’S SIGNAL:

I’ve never heard an evangelical explain why QAnons gave them such a prophesy vibe of a second coming. Or why they started looking everywhere for signs. Or why they felt obligated to bear false witness of this discovery to others. Not once. I have come to my own conclusion.

If you know Marvel™ movies then you will understand this apt reference.

In Captain America 2, when the dark authority (HYDRA) says the right words in the right order, to a preconditioned person, (in this case Bucky Barnes), they unlock the Winter Soldier. Bucky was a friend of Cap, but fell under control of the bad guys. [Video Clip below]

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx0SAMcL8qSgTkvcD5_U3Qzu9VjsPNPC5J

“Q”, a fantasy roll-playing exercise for the “trolling”, by some deranged individual on a non-moderated message board in the Philippines, was saying those “right” words for 20 million Americans. In all walks of life, including politicians. QAnons spread that gossip.

“Q” was a dark authority. QAnon evangelicals were powerless to the temptation to share the “good news” and virtue signal their righteousness.

If you didn't read “Q”, some QAnon gossiping in your church, (or on Twitter) was. Many are still engaged in this activity. Donald Trump broadcasts QAnon conspiracy theories frequently. Every word is false prophesy meant to frighten or embolden the faithful.

That is EVIL. There is no other way to describe it.

The QAnon evangelicals were being catfished by “Q” and it spread through the congregations and into other ministries by social media at the speed of light. "Catfishing" is when you lure (someone) into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona.

What about the evangelical MAGA group that think Trump is the prophesied avenging lion (or king)? It’s not just QAnons, right?

Unfortunatly, those particular MAGA evangelical ministries believe BARACK OBAMA is the Anti-Christ. I'm not even kidding.

SIGNALING:

Trump began his rise in alt-right circles promoting the lie Obama wasn't born in the US. Trump has been recently dropping Obama’s middle name in letters and ”twuths” while defending his “Golf-gate” document theft. These acts alone make me suspect he's playing off the fears of evangelicals. Are there other examples? Lots.

For instance, Remember the Bible photoshoot in front of an Episcopal church during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest near the White House? Trump was signalling evangelicals.

The term "fake news" has a layers that could be interpreted by a devout person as a prophetic reference to “Babylon” and “lies”.

"A King" does not mean "English royalty" for evangelicals when we say Trump is acting like one. It’s a sign.

Biblical scripture interpreted as prophesy by a bad or lazy shepherd could be, Christ's 2nd coming (e.g. Donald "John" Trump) is after the beast’s reign (e.g. Barack "Hussein" Obama).

Donald J. Trump is both savior and beast at the same time to different parts of the same base, while admitting to be neither.

Non-evangelicals see the two former Presidents as historically significant men. This is because we have not surrendered our rational minds to the whims of a person who started their ministry at a WWE wrestling match, a fake reality TV show and Twitter.

UNREPENTANT:

It’s obvious Trump knew the symbolism that shakes the evangelical base to its core. His evangelical religious advisor was Paula White, (prosperity gospel).

Finally, Trump finds a theology that says he's the most holy, based on how much money he makes and Trump runs Paula White’s playbook.

Trump has admitted to reading the Bible “hundreds” of times which is amazing to even consider. He says the Holy Bible is “art”, but has no favorite passage. Trump can recite one verse, “don’t bow down to envy” which is for others to follow, not a verse he's guided by.

Trump does not ask for forgiveness, ever. Trump thinks the communion host is a “little cracker” which is “a form of forgiveness” to him. The faithful I’ve had the privilege to know take forgiveness as the main path to salvation. You cannot be saved without it.

What is Trump even saying? None of this is hyperbole. You can see the actual network TV interviews unedited on YouTube.

Trump pretends to be a “spiritual” leader, while not being spiritual. He does this even as we know he golfed 283 times to 2 church visits as the MAGA figurehead. In 5 years! One visit was to wave a Bible in front of cameras. The other was to bury his first wife. All other visits were to curry favor with an influential person.

ONE WAY:

Entertain this idea. Every group of Christians throughout time know about the second coming. Evangelicals are looking for proof of God through the witnessing of fulfilled prophesy. That is a huge difference. That’s a sin. Desire to know what God knows? Prophesy is the original sin.

I think it's EVIL to use a groups weakness or “preconditioned response” to prophesy against them, to profit off that weakness, or reinforce it. It’s EVIL to weaponize faithful, trusting followers against democracy, their own country and neighbors. Donald Trump, Fox News and a host of others does that regularly, because it pays the bills.

Did you know a majority of evangelicals who grew up in the 70's have been through 4 so-called "apocalypses"? I mean, none of them ever panned out, but don't let that shake you. Those were just a test,... of the emergency broadcast system. That was only a test. Do you see the pattern yet?

This current batch of evangelical "signpost watchers" are seeing War (Ukraine), plagues (Covid, Monkeypox...), "the mark of the beast..." (Covid vaccines), "...on your (fore)head" (masks) "...and hand" (vaccine cards), a burning planet (climate change), godless pagans (liberals), 500 yr droughts (climate change), famine (food shortages), and flooding (climate change).

These are human problems with human solutions.

But to a victim of a bad or lazy shepherd, all that is left is the prophesied battle of apocalypse (war in the middle-east) and it's a full bingo card of prophesy. Especially for those MINISTRIES obsessed with the Book of Revelations.

STOP:

The lunacy part is some evangelicals are unafraid of these end-times signs and don't want to get off this road. Other evangelicals are terrified for themselves and those that they love and are desperately looking for comfort.

To counter the fear prophesy invokes, evangelicals are taught they won't suffer if they are righteous. A righteous person is a Christian soldier to them. So they load up on guns for battle. And these soldiers are attacking culture, democracy, justice, progress and science. They are attacking others that have used their free will differently, and calling it an attack on THEM. 

Democracy protects free will for all Americans. We call that “liberty”. Only with liberty can a person follow their own path, can self determine, and it should be equal for every person. No matter what you believe. This IS the unalienable right endowed upon us by our creator the founders were speaking about.

Revelations interpreted prophesy says the true believer will simply evaporate in an event called “The rapture” if they are the chosen, and it's the LEFT BEHIND that need to pray harder. Cult much? And you thought Jihadists "70 virgins in heaven" was a weird perk?

I implore you, do not go after the Christian soldier. They are acting on unlawful orders. Help them see the crimes they are enabling.

Do call out the evil commanders, Donald Trump, his co-conspirators, and a cadre of bad and misinformed pastors. Some will ask forgiveness. Trump and messianic pastors will not.

BONUS EVIL: 

If Hebrew or Israelite decendants (Jews) or Muslims, (basically any brown skinned middle-eastern people), get hurt or killed as a result of Trumps “Golf-gate” scheme, white supremacy ministries will praise Trump for this treason. Donald Trump is depending on it.

For those who need a guide, "White supremacy" is code for caucasian evangelicals with guns. Only they dress the same, have the darkest sermons and usually, one very sinister messianic pastor. They consider themselves Christian special forces. They are deluded, sadistic, and demonic criminals. Many have infiltrated our law enforcement and armed forces.

Honestly though? Prophetic apocalypse talk is good for business. It puts butts in pews. It increases collections. It tightens the group mission. It empowers the leader. Sadly, it also makes good people into doomsday preppers. Looking at the amount of weapons cached across the US, there are many bad pastors that need to be rejected by their flocks.

OPERATIONS MANUAL:

Financially speaking, evangelical ministries are run more like multi-level marketing (MLM) that sell salvation and faith, than traditional houses of worship. This could be an explanation why MLM businesses spread so well in them. AND they don't pay taxes because of an antiquated concept of what a church is. Just ask Kenneth Copeland or Joel Osteen.

BRAKE CHECK:

My humble suggestion is NO CHURCH OR MINISTRY should ever get a tax break. Here is my reasoning.

In my perfect world, Organized religious group affiliation is the key to a tax break. A single ministry does not qualify for the status of church to avoid taxes (sorry televangelists). This keeps messianic pastors in check as they seek affiliation to get the tax break. This one bureaucratic rule places the faithful back in control over their organized message, style and liturgy, and drives out the scam artists.

The cults that operate on the fringe of organized religion will shudder at this suggestion. Scientology is a business. Not a religion. The temptation is still there for some extreme ministries to impose control over individuals and families, but without money or legitimacy, they can never have the same reach or impact on democracy.

SHIFTING GEARS:

None of the behavior I have described above comes close to representing what I hold as Jesus's simple message:

Cast off the chains of prophesy, and love your neighbor. Whomever they are. Did you mess up? You will be forgiven, if you ask.

I think we’d ALL like more of that message in the world. I would.

STEEP GRADE:

The Bible is a much deeper set of texts for the average Christian to study. The lessons found within the different books can be applied to our own unique situations or journeys. They are examples. Demonstrations. Parables. Teachings.

Like I said, I’m curious, and through my curiosity I think I may have found a summary lesson in the physical layout of the Bible itself, maybe one meant for all people. You don’t even need to read the Bible to understand it. It’s a message for everyone. But to me, knowing about the life of Jesus, my discovery shook my world and opened my eyes. I’ll try to share.

QUESTION FOR PASTORS:

As I mentioned, has it occurred to you that Genesis contained an instruction? That instruction is in the Biblical creation story. God gave man free will, and 1 law:

Genesis 2:7 “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

The free will in the biblical story of the creation is so man will choose a path, not be forced down one. After creation, we get the parable about a garden, a tree, a fruit, a man’s offspring (Eve), and a serpent.

This would have been a story Jesus knew very well. Everyone of the day would know it.

DISCOVERY:

Jesus was a simple carpenter. Jesus had observed how unhappy people were around him. They were being controlled by Old Testiment prophesy, and waiting for a savior.

I think Jesus had identified the teachings in the temples and concluded these were causing more harm than good.

“Temples” were the churches and synagogues of their day.

The Temple authorities were profiting from those tales of prophesy and businesses had been erected around the temple to take advantage of the faithful in service to their faith. It was oppressive on everyone, including simple people, like Jesus.

One day, Jesus has a moment of inspiration. I imagine he’s making a chair, or something, and is kicking around ideas in his head. I do the same thing when I’m doing a repetitive task.

“The Temple says man is kicked out of the garden, for partaking of a forbidden fruit and is filled with shame. Was that act of disobedience the original sin? Or was what the fruit represented the original sin? The serpent tempted the offspring of Adam, with a promise that the fruit represents to know what God knows. Eve gossips to Adam, and he joins her in trying to know what God knows.”

Jesus would ponder what Adam and Eve know about their world. He could conclude Adam and Eve would only know their past, which is good. They are in a beautiful garden. What could God know that would be of interest to them if they lived in paradise? What would be “the evil” they were warned of? Only God knows the future. So what is another word for wanting to know the future? Prophesy.

Prophesy IS the original sin.

Everything begins to unfold for Jesus. “Maybe the tree of life/knowledge is a metaphor for history? A tree, rooted in our ancestor’s origins, that bears the fruit of prophesy seasonally, and regularly? Is it up to man to resist the temptation to consume or gossip about prophesy?” Jesus thinks, “Of course! Prophesy will poison man and must be forbidden. That is why God establishes the first and only law.”

The creation story has many layers. One is man will be tempted by prophesy, will share prophesy and will feel shame from consuming prophesy when they realize what they’ve done. Another is to follow laws. They are there for your protection and are wise rules.

Adam is Eves father, in one sense, as she came from him. This parable is also a warning to parents to correct their child from being tempted by prophesy or join them in breaking God’s 1 law.

I think Jesus discovered the original sin in the Old Testiment teachings and it guided his actions from that point forward to destroy the practice.

It’s such a truth that has come into his mind, he’s filled with awe. He must share this revelation. Every time he shares this idea, people follow him to hear more from this man. “Gospel” literally means “revelation of Christ”. It can also mean “Jesus's discovery”, or “savior revealed”.

The Old Testiment prophesy that was being shared in the temples at the time was there is to be a savior, to lead the people out of darkness and free the people from captivity.

Jesus, through his inspired revelation, knows this prophesy is not possible. He knew all prophesy is original sin. Prophesy breaks God’s 1 law.

The people were truly captives to the temple's financial interests. The holy people running the temples had amassed great power and those authorities were using Old Testiment prophesy to keep the faithful caged and controlled.

Jesus also knows that all men possess free will. Man has to choose love over fear of the future on his own, over the temptation to find comfort in a made up story about the future, and this good news he’s discovered must be shared.

Can you imagine? To share this revelation will mean his death. The state is run by the powerful temple leaders. There are Romans who enforce the law, yes, but the soul of his land is controlled by the Temple.

MISSING CANON:

I’ve always found this part interesting about the story of Jesus. There is a period of time in the life of Jesus that is missing from the Bible. I imagine this was a period of inner struggle. To me, I can imagine Jesus thinking, and praying to see if he would discover a solution to this logic problem. But that is just a guess.

My observation to the missing time comes from the biblical stories about Jesus history. Those stories only relate to Jesus confirming every prophesy of the savior at the time. The parts that do not confirm prophesy are not important.

We don’t even get a book in the Bible that provides a montage. Jesus goes from baby, to gifted child, to carpenter, to savior, then some post credit scenes. I wanted more.

There is much missing in Jesus's story, particularly, his path.

Star Wars or Lord of the Rings has done more to fill in canon than the New Testiment has. But that’s the Bible. It is what it is, and it’s infallible.

THE BIBLE:

Some call this collection of holy books the greatest story ever told. Have you ever read it?

Here is what we know in history. The books within the Bible were chosen around 393CE. No where in the Bible does it state the proper order of the books. But let's assume they are placed in their order for a reason. A hidden lesson perhaps? Or an obvious lesson?

Why are the books of the Bible in that particular order? Let's review.

We have The Book of Genesis starting the Old Testiment.

In the Christian ordering, the grouping of the prophetic books is the last section of the Old Testament, making Malachi the last book before the New Testament.

We have The Book of Matthew starting the New Testiment and ending in the prophetic Book of Revelations.

If you are like me, someone who read the Bible like a book, not skipping around, you will notice a glaring issue with the collection.

The Book of Revelations does not fit with the rest of the New Testiment. It reads like the Old Testiment. Did you notice?

The current explanation for this book was Revelations was written by John the Elder around 96CE, exiled to Patmos for believing in Christ. This happened not long after the Romans were slaughtering Christians at Masada. This was not a story passed down verbally from the disciples who knew Jesus as a man.

So why was this book included? Was it critical to the story of Jesus? Or did the council assembling the volumes try to match a pattern found in the Old Testiment? That is the first thing biblical scholars notice. The order of the books rhyme in theme, like poetry. But looks can be deceiving.

SOMETHING DOESN'T FIT

This has bothered me my entire life. Here is why;

Jesus is a path. The way. A guide. A shepherd. A path must come from something and take you somewhere else. A destination you want to reach from a place you want to leave. My destination is to find love for everyone. That’s my green pasture. Revelations is my obstacle.

Like I said, on the surface, the New Testiment ends in the same place the Old Testiment ends. Prophesy.

Entertain this thought. Jesus was against the original sin of prophesy. He was a man. His whole goal was to break the pattern of the old ways, not rhyme or repeat them. Skipping around the Bible can distract us to the overall lesson.

That lesson is a better life waits for us, better than living in the ancient ways if we follow the path before us and stop fearing what will come.

SCHOOL CROSSING:

I was taught at some point we could not change one word of the Bible or we’d be damned. Translators of the original Hebrew bible struggled with this problem. But luckily, they reconciled this issue.

As a child, I was terrified of the Book of Revelations. But I was equally curious. I saw adults happily accepting Revelations. I figured I would understand it some day. Revelations was all about the end and horrors.

I had just arrived to the timeline of life on earth. I didn’t want to find out I came in at the end of the movie.

I, like many, started looking for “signs” to calm my fears. I just needed to know what I was looking for.

During my search, I read a comic book from the church gift shop called “We Are Living In The End Times” and it scared the shit out of me. To me, this particular interpretation of Biblical prophesy poisoned my innocence.

At that point in my life, prophesy was as real as Santa Claus was to me in 1st grade. The interpretations I kept finding were all plausible to a child. RONALD WILSON REAGAN was 6 6 6, helicopters looked like prophesied scorpions with hair. That was 43 years ago.

As an adult, I know it’s utter nonsense. My adult ability to reason now tells me other people were wanting answers as well. They were searching for patterns and clues, just like me, because it’s what we are built to do. We’re human primates, after all.

My searches got me to study the Bible. Cover to cover. This lead me to find a pattern in the Bible around that same time I read the comic. This discovery was all my own. No one ever taught me this, and I was sure I’d be mocked if I shared this idea. I kept it to myself.

My discovery was the Holy Bible, when broken down into its basic parts could be a lesson, but only if you really know the Bible.

I think the idea is easy to understand. I think it’s beautiful. I think it’s what a simple carpenter would want to teach everyone. I believe every human on earth could benefit from this observation. Jesus's death and resurrection and assention is not the important part of his story. It’s his life as a man and it filled me with peace. Here is what I found.

SPOILER:

The human story of Jesus is him reluctantly fulfilling the last prophesy of the Old Testiment, “the Christ prophesy”, even though it went against his own teachings and knowledge.

Jesus's disciples were horrified he chose this solution to the prophesy contradiction, but eventually, they saw the wisdom in it, and all agreed to help with the mission. Each disciple, and trusted friends of Jesus, had a very specific roll to play.

Jesus made it clear to his chosen story tellers, there must be no doubt ever that Jesus had absorbed every aspect of the Old Testiment prophesy of the Christ. He would break the pattern, and release the people from their bonds.

There is no savior for the people to wait for if he’s already come. He, Jesus, must sacrifice himself to the prophesy to break the original sin of prophesy.

Wow.

Jesus was a man, willing to pay the ultimate price of his own life, because he knew he must, to usher mankind away from the old prophetic ways, and end the practice of prophesy forever. Do you see it now?

So to Jesus's disciples and friends at the time, Jesus rids the world of prophesy. It’s that simple. I’d cheapen his sacrifice if I continued believing in prophecies. It’s okay though, I can still ask for forgiveness if I fall into temptation.

CAN I GET A WITNESS:

There you go pastors, and you don’t even need to memorize line and verse. Jesus discovered that free will was given to all, to allow mankind the permission to reject prophesy, God’s only law from the very start.

Jesus knew love could fill that space and taught that very thing during his life. That was his only ministry.

Prophesy is no more than man testing God to prove he’s real. If one believes in prophesy, they are lost and without true faith. They must seek forgiveness or be cast out.

“Jesus has risen” had to be be shared as part of the story, otherwise he is not the prophesied Christ, and the people continue waiting, miserably, in slavery to the temple, possibly forever.

Assuming this, the council that assembled the Bible volumes placed the Book of Revelations at the end of the New Testiment as a metaphorical serpent. The snake. The temptation. There is no other explanation that fits the teachings of Jesus life. To believe Revelations means you missed the lesson of Jesus. Go back to the beginning, and start again.

You have to admit, that’s just good screenwriting.

SUMMARY:

I’ll demonstrate the simplest plot points:

INSTRUCTION: Genesis with the warning about prophesy via a parable.

OLD TESTAMENT: Demonstrating the old ways ending with prophesy laden Malachi.

JESUS'S LIFE AS A MAN: His inspired discovery, and how to find a way to love others, no matter what, no matter who, and how to ask for forgiveness for your sins or if you break the wise guidelines of law.

NEW TESTAMENT: Re-telling of Jesus life, his gospel, structured, written and detailed to make sure there was no doubt in his followers that Jesus took all prophesy away through his death. It was Jesus unselfish mission his disciples completed.

TEST: In the form of a book called Revelations, that doesn’t fit with the rest of the new Testiment, and we must reject its temptations to pass.

Finally, I understood why man may not add or remove any part of the Bible. After all, it’s infallable exactly as it is.

Here ends the lesson.

See? The story of Jesus is simply genius.

Jesus was not God, but he had faith in the creator God and the wisdom of God’s 1 law. Jesus had an idea, a revelation, that some felt was so original, so uplifting, it must have been a holy spirit that filled him.

Anyway you look at it, he was a brilliant man who acted unselfishly to save others. I think that’s a story worthy of the ages.

A REAL SIGN:

Bible scholars have explained to the faithful that "apocalypses" were a genre of literature, there are hundreds of volumes, and only the ancients could understand the symbolism. It was an obvious lesson to people of a different time.

No good or caring shepherd would try to make the TEST into prophesy if they identified the simple message, right out there in the open, for a simple people to understand. 

Pastors, like all people, simply trust their infallibility too much. It is misplaced faith in their own spirit or thought. They too can be forgiven if they humble themselves and ask.

If you pass the test, my Christian friends, you ARE his second coming. You will fear nothing. And it happens every day. You don’t need to wait for anything. Just use your free will as instructed on the book you know. This is your true path.

You don’t have to stop going to church. You do not need to stop being a Christian. You can ask for forgiveness and move forward. Maybe you just need to find a better shepherd? It’s your choice. I believe in you.

(R) Adam Kinzinger, a Christian, and J6 committee member said Aug 16th on MSNBC "the Republicans have turned into a cult" and "Pastors are failing their congregations". He's not wrong.

I am a good Samaritan. You have been injured by some less informed teachers and a very bad person in Donald Trump. But you will rise.

Occasionally, we all need help from a stranger who may not believe exactly as we do to get back on our path.