Checkyourhappiness.com Make the Lord your Guide, the Bible your itinerary    My story, my thanks. Witnessing my love for Jesus... Two times thank you, first to the Lord and secondly to you, our visitors: Lord, thank you so much that during the past years you have made it possible for me to find and experience your divine Love. The years since 2003 have become the best years in my life simply because I experienced what happens when You open your arms and show Your Love. Thank you so much for this. My prayer to you is that You show this to everybody who will open his or her heart up to You. Whatever happened and happens on the ‘carnal front’, receiving Faith through the Spirit, puts every financial or physical disappointment so very much in its shadow that they become acceptable and bearable. Simply because of feeling Your Love. Also a “Thank you very much” to everybody who has visited one or more pages of this personal web site. We have registered now thousands of times that pages have been visited, since we are ‘in the air’ (‘in cyber space’). Thanks to all. May the Lord bless you all. Many people are surprised with my reaction (see also the page on Holy Days?) on Easter and Christmas celebrations. The whole world is celebrating, in every street you can see the decorations and people are looking back to the year and complaining about all the suffering that so many are enduring, because of wars and floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, mud slides, earthquakes and forest fires to name just a few. Some also contribute a bit extra to charity. And this gives them the Christmas feeling, the Charles Dickens emotion. O Lord. They feel so Christian. When I express my own Christmas feelings to other people in a conversation or correspondence, especially those who have embraced the traditional, denominational churches, things are said to me like “Christ is Love, and I see no love in your words”, or similar. Let me show you all that my words ARE written out of love: a love that pushes and stimulates me to focus on guarding, on trying to safe people’s life. Not their (your) carnal life or temporary existence on earth, but people’s eternal lives. Yes my words are unconventional, sometimes disturbing or inconvenient. I do raise my voice a little bit sometimes. Yes sometimes I am quite direct in my ways of communication. Compare it with the hollering one does when you see that the person who is driving your car doesn’t see the red traffic light in front of him, when you see a child walking towards a pit, when you need to draw immediate attention without being able to allow yourself the time for soft and mild explanations. Direct action is needed, explanations, even apologies (for the style, not the content) can follow afterwards. Compare it with the stone you need to throw in the pond to create the ripples on the surface. Yes, my words and letters are said and written with love and out of love. I hope and pray you see it too by the end of this article. I am still a babe in Faith. I was born in 1953, but kind of reborn in 2003. I see myself as an adult in years, but a child in Christ. I was baptized in the Roman Catholic faith, fifty years ago, and raised with the Catechism in school, Communion, Confirmation, the lot, even the church choir. During my twenties, there was no time for church or God. Flower Power, Sergeant Pepper (the Beatles that was), some mysticism, the lot, although, in one thing I did not follow the crowds: I never used any soft, and certainly no hard, drugs in my entire life. I did get married though. In my thirties, when my dad died, I searched Judaism to know more about his roots, as I never knew who he really was. This was also the period in which I became a father myself, and in which I decided that my children needed no water baptizing as a baby. They should grow up without that ballast, was my thinking. In my forties I lived and worked in many different countries and cultures and experienced the Orthodox Catholic churches in the Ukraine and the worshipping of saints in South America. During the last couple of years, in Australia and the United States, the various Protestant denominations and churches crossed my path, starting when my mom’s second husband died during holidays in Florida and we had to fly over for all the arrangements. Perhaps this series of different periods, cultures and circumstances has been an advantage. All these religions create and communicate their own values. Most are different and sometimes result in reasons to kill each other, but funnily enough they are all on the basis of one element they have in common. A believe in God. They are all different though in the way they use the Bible, the Word of God. They all create their own rules and regulations, on the convenient parts of the Book. Doctrines, laws, rules and regulations that they need to be able to judge whether other people are friend or foe. Rules with which they can judge. And condemn. I always had a deep believe that God existed, but was never able (or capable?) to match words, examples, and lifestyles of the clergy, the church authorities, with my convictions and feelings for God, feelings of Love. I saw a lot of controlling and judging; I saw only little love. In 2003 I came to talk to someone, Bobby Carman, an American, who studied the Bible for thirty years already, knows the Book inside out and lives Faith entirely through the Spirit. No churches, no priests, no pastors. No doctrines made by men, but a strong and pure Faith in the Lord based on the Word. No laws of Moses either! Faith based purely on the Great Commandments as witnessed in Matthew 22:36-40 (and other places) and given to us directly by the Lord Jesus Himself when He spoke in front of the Pharisees and Sadducees: 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Coming back to the subject, Bobby Carman showed me the truth in the Bible, and purpose, value and meaning of the parables. That was a new experience for me. To read the Bible and to try to understand it myself, and not just listen to someone who reads some chosen parts to you and gives it his or her own view, often out of context and only based on one or two lines. Of course I knew the life story of Jesus, of course I had heard of the Garden of Eden, of the Book of Genesis, heard of Moses and the tables with the Ten Commandments and the opening of the waters, Noah and the arc. Of course I thought I knew it all. He showed me though, how to experience Faith, purely on the basis of the Word of God as the prophets and the apostles have been allowed to write it down, blessed by the Holy Spirit, in their letters and books that became the Bible. Without all the rules and regulations and laws (I suppose you all know that in the five books of Moses there were 613 of them) that have been used and adapted by the different churches and denominations to fit their own standards and wishes and through which they could accomplish their needs. In the United States even stricter than in other parts of the world. And we all have also experienced the excesses, the protuberances to which they have led in the different churches. This way of looking at faith, “Faith through the Spirit” and revoking the carnal laws and doctrines of man has its consequences; everything that I say or write is only valid when confirmed and supported by the Bible, the Word of God. And the opposite is true as well, anything which cannot be found back and supported in the Bible cannot be true either. I do realize that this conclusion is without nuances, but supposing that you, who has gone through the trouble of finding this web site, has a more than average knowledge of and desire to know God and has some knowledge of the bible, I take that risk. God created heaven and earth and everything and everybody on it. At first split in Gentiles and Hebrews, who would be called Jews in a later stage. The Old Testament speaks about the period in which the Lord, using prophets and signals or wonders, tries to lead His chosen people, the Jews, to the moment in which they will be ready to receive eternal life, Grace. Until he sent His Son – descends to earth in the form of man, in the flesh – to fulfil the prophecies to make an end, both literally and symbolically to the power of the flesh, and to make a beginning of the period of Faith through the Holy Ghost. Through this He dismantled the power of the church leaders, which made them built up their defenses, and made them refuse (and they still do) to give up their positions of power, forcing them to take measures to safeguard their own positions. For this reason He opened up His Divine Grace and Righteousness for the heathen, the Gentiles soon (six and a half years) after His death and resurrection. Through this measure He made everybody equal, Jews and Gentiles and in today’s world Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims etc. All are equal in their existence here on earth. And at the same time opening up eternal life in His Kingdom for everybody, although only a few will be accepting the invitation because of the only condition He asks for: reception of the Holy Ghost, through an unconditional Faith in and Love for the Holy Father. Where you come from does not matter, everybody is equal here on earth. However, to get access to Heaven and life in eternity you need to open up for the Holy Ghost. Nothing less and nothing more. Romans 9:25-27 25 As he saith also in Osee, I WILL CALL THEM MY PEOPLE, WHICH WERE NOT MY PEOPLE; AND HER BELOVED, WHICH WAS NOT BELOVED. 26 AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID UNTO THEM, YE ARE NOT MY PEOPLE; THERE SHALL THEY BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD. 27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel. THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA, A REMNANT SHALL B SAVED: 28 FOR HE WILL FINISH THE WORK, AND CUT IT SHORT IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: BECAUSE A SHORT WORK WILL THE LORD MAKE UPON THE EARTH. Opening up his Kingdom for what will result in just a very small number, a remnant. Where they come from is unimportant. The alternative, the eternal flames, also is very clear. Stating all this in a way also ‘degrades’ the Old Testament to a kind of history book. A special history book, witnessing the genealogy of the Lord, explaining why the Lord had to come in the form of man, showing the eternal love of the Lord and His trials to guide the chosen people, together with their roadmap to get there, and the prophecies that all became fulfilled. But the books of law have all been revoked with the fulfilling of those prophecies. Those books of law had to be revoked also for practical reasons as the Lord had foreseen. As is shown before, He opened up his love and reign to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles never were under the law, never could be under the law and never will be under the law. The apostles then received the task to witness the life of the Lord here on earth, the ‘administrating’ of His many parables, and, after that, after receiving the Spirit of the Holy Ghost, to spread the Word and spread the Faith and to receive and note down the last Prophecies, the Prophecy on Revelation. By the way, for anyone who is interested, a bibliography on Revelation, adapted from the works done by Dr. Loren L. Johns, Associate Professor of New Testament, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, containing over 1100 books, articles and papers about the Book of Revelation is available at simple request by e-mail to info@checkyourhappiness.com. For us, the Gentiles, God actually only became visible, known, and with that of importance, these six and a half years after His resurrection, when Paul started to spread the Word of God to the Gentiles, the beast in the field, as they were called very often. For this reason, only in the letters of Paul we can see what the Lord expects from us. And even in his epistles the use of parables and metaphors is so frequent that only the fact the epistles contain these parables already shows that Faith is not something that simply can be ‘done’ by following a number of rules and regulations, but that the real Believing can only be a 24/7 experiencing, undergoing, living through, and witnessing of and being guided by the only remaining commandments, the great commandments given by Jesus himself: THE LOVE OF THE LORD IN YOUR HEART. That’s why Christmas makes me so sad, and that’s why I feel I have to react against it. Because every tradition that is kept alive as being a remnant or extension, having found its roots in so-called Christian laws, are only tools of Satan to keep people confused, helpless and separated, to avoid that they will really see this unconditional Love and Faith in God through the Holy Ghost. That’s why I throw that stone and cause those ripples in that pond with seems to be so beautiful and peaceful but which is just misleading. Keeping these rituals under false pretences, finding so many excuses for them simply means that you still adhere to the laws of the flesh and as such rebuke the Lord and refuse to accept His unconditional Love and Grace. Galatians 2:21 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Of course I am happy that the Lord came and used the symbolism of carnal birth to announce His presence. But isn’t it strange that none of the Bible chapters, or other history books reveal his precise date of birth? Celebrating Christmas is one of the results, one of the achievements of church authorities, with its foundations in the law. Celebrating Christmas and claiming to be a real Christian is agreeing to an unconditional Love and Faith under the condition that there are exceptions to this unconditional... Anyway, Salvation through Grace, Faith through the Spirit, with Jesus Christ who revoked the old laws of the flesh, has a big impact on today’s Christian. It has a lot of consequences, and certainly the churches do not - as part of their defense strategy not to lose the seat of power - agree with, let alone allow for in today’s churches. It goes as far as accepting that baptizing with water is a false testimony, just like tithing, keeping the Sabbath (or any obligatory Sunday services and other festive days, the obligation to or its opposite the abstinence of certain types of food, use of cloth, and hairdos, marriage and so on. That’s is why I holler to the child, trying to correct its path in the direction of the pit. Because of the large majority of false preachers and priests, the blind, who lead the other blind into the ditch. Because it is time to stop feeding with milk and it is time to transfer to feeding with meat. It is time to stop making Faith artificially attractive, because it is a false faith. Just like in a pregnancy – you cannot be half pregnant - it is just impossible to be only half believing and try to sell Christianity on the basis of the easy way and outside works. I have been discussing – well I received a comment about a lack of love to which I responded with a long letter a number of weeks ago to which I have not received an answer yet – with someone (sorry that I will not mention his name in here) who went public with his website and got a lot of publicity when his wife gave her testimony on how she received the Lord on nationwide television. He claimed to simply take any opportunity to proclaim God’s Love, to spread the news of His Goodness so to speak. Of course it sounds good, but on the other hand is it true? Or is he just naïve? Because, one sells Christianity under false pretences. If you would advertise any product or service this way, within short you would receive the first subpoena, as people would sue you selling just the benefits without telling them what to need to do to reap the benefits. It means that people might turn to God and pray, but also that they will have no clue what it means to become a true and pure Christian living your life for God. And what’s the benefit then? Apart from a website with advertisers and book sales? Milk and meat, like in Hebrews 5:12-14 12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Christmas was invented around the year 352 by pope Liberius, who needed an alternative for the pagan Saturnalia parties of December. He made 25 December the day of birth of the Lord, helped by the fact that the real date is unknown. As I write on the Holy days/ page, based on numerous methods dates like 20 May, 25 March, 22 February, 5 January are all possible, including other references looking at September and October. There is not even agreement on the year and although the vast majority agrees on Jesus’ age being 33 at His death, some evidence is given that He was only 28. The Italian scholar Faenza said in 1785, "There is no month of the year to which respectable authorities have not assigned to Christ Jesus birth." Christmas was forbidden in many countries during periods of time. Christmas, a strategic measure of clergyman in competition with his adversaries in a sort of election campaign, trying to receive more votes than the goddess Mithra. Today it is very difficult to ignore Christmas, to avoid it. The whole world is celebrating, in every street you can see the decorations… The Old Testament is a book of history, but already the Prophets who wrote the parts in this book announced that conflict between the popular methods of using pleasure to reach followers and the more profound, serious and pure way of believing in God would exist. Between the partying and in compensation spending a bit of time obeying to some regulations for compensation or retribution. Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity. The easy way, following preachers who use milky words compared with those who are serious. By the way, the first verse in which it says “the day of death [is better] than the day of one’s birth.” gives an interesting view on Christmas parties too, doesn’t it? Jesus did not preach what everybody would easily accept. The easy way (milk) versus the consequences of the difficult way (meat). I just cannot avoid to add one more comment. During the past year many things have happened in the world because the words WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION’ became very popular and among the most frequently used. Accepting the risk that many see this as an exaggeration, Christmas celebrations have become the most effective weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Satan and his vassals on the many pulpits keeping people blind and motivated to follow the wrong path, the path that leads into the ditch of eternal flames. And again I did not follow the crowds. In love with the Lord. 1 Corinthians 3:7 So neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Update 21 April 2006 For more detailed information, conversations, questions etc. just send us an e-mailby clicking on this link and we will respond as soon as we can.