BARBEQUING SOME SACRED COWS

BARBEQUING SOME SACRED COWS

The term "sacred cow" is a metaphorical phrase, and, according to Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, 1994, it means, "any person or thing regarded as above criticism or attack." It is derived from the Hindu belief that the cow is a sacred animal.

"Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:7-9

Jesus spoke these words to the scribes and Pharisees after they complained to him that his disciples did not follow the traditions they had established. The religious leaders, in their self-righteous way, established a tradition that required everyone to wash their hands prior to eating. However, they witnessed the disciples NOT abiding by this man-made precept. [NOTE: I recommend everyone wash their hands prior to eating. There is a variety of germs, viruses, bacterium and other contaminants of which we should be wary. We no longer have the "tradition of the elders" to wash hands prior to eating, but we should have the wisdom of mom to do so.]

I can't imagine the exasperation Jesus had in his voice when he called them all "hypocrites." The entire text of Matthew 15 reveals the exchange which took place between Jesus and the Pharisees. The religious leaders felt they could 'willy-nilly' create traditions and mandate that everyone abide by those rules. They also took upon themselves the authority to amend the laws of God. The religious leaders of the time were declaring their own traditions as the methods to serve God ("in vain they do worship me"). They ignored the God-given directions of how to worship him ("teaching for doctrines the commandments of men").

Could you imagine if that were happening today? What if the religious leaders of today were creating their own traditions and expecting everyone else to follow suit just because they said so? Oh wait! They already do… I for one think it is time to "buck" man's tradition. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Colossians 2:8

THINGS TAUGHT AS BIBLICAL DOCTRINE
BUT ARE ACTUALLY THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN

-We are required to worship on Sunday because Jesus rose on Sunday.
-Worship is attending church services, singing a couple songs, taking an offering and listening to a preacher.
-Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ. Not celebrating it is cultish.
-Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Sunrise services commemorate Christ's sunrise resurrection.
-Alcohol is ungodly and should be shunned.
-Using words such as shit, damn, hell, fuck, and ass is ungodly.

THINGS NOT FOUND IN GOD'S WORD

-We are required to worship on Sunday because Jesus rose on Sunday.
-Worship is attending church services, singing a couple songs, taking an offering and listening to a preacher.
-Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ. Not celebrating it is cultish.
-Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Sunrise services commemorate Christ's sunrise resurrection.
-Alcohol is ungodly and should be shunned.
-Using words such as shit, damn, hell, fuck, and ass is ungodly.

I don't mean to be offensive to people, but don't tell me that God wants me to refrain from something if all you can do to prove your point is quote FCC regulations. I am merely pointing out that many of us are not Bible believers, but man followers and actually have no clue why we believe as we do.

All of the above statements can be heard in various organized churches everywhere. I was raised in organized religion and have experienced all of these statements first hand. I have even been told that not celebrating Christmas is "cultish," but not one single Scripture was offered to back-it-up. A preacher once told me that he knows there is no Scriptural mandate to worship on Sunday, but any church whose worship service is not on Sunday is a "cult." In a variety of publications, early church fathers are quoted as the authoritative source for worship on Sunday, but no verses from the Bible are ever given. The Bible teaches us to question authority—not blindly follow it (Acts 17:11)!

Are we required to worship on Sunday and/or observe certain days? No!

What if we were evangelists in a communist or Islamic country? Wouldn't Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. be a safer time to gather? Ignoring the fact that the whole organized church thing is messed up, are believers really required to meet together on Sunday in commemoration of Jesus resurrecting on the first day of the week? Jesus rose at 6:00 p.m. on the last day of the week, not 6:00 a.m. the first day. Matthew 28:1 and John 20:1 both tell us that Mary Magdalene came to the sepulcher while it was still dark on the first day of the week and found Jesus was already gone. Do the math. Jesus died just prior to the Passover.

According to Leviticus 23, the Passover was a Sabbath day. The day following the Passover was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It too was a Sabbath. On Sabbath days, no work was to be done, and the Jews were to attend meetings where the Torah was read aloud. The first day of the week is mentioned in the last chapters of the gospels, therefore at the time of Jesus' death there were three Sabbath days in a row. First there was the Passover, second there was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and finally the last day of the week. Jesus was put in the sepulcher on the "preparation day" (the day they prepared for the Sabbath) just prior to the Passover (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14, 31, 42). The Passover went from 6 p.m. (around sundown) on Wednesday to 6 p.m. on Thursday, when the feast of unleavened bread began and went until 6 p.m. on Friday when the weekly Sabbath started and ended at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Jesus said he would be raised after three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40). That means 72 hours later. Seventy-two hours takes us to just before 6 p.m. on Saturday. Resurrection day is not Sunday—it's Saturday.

John 20:19 tells us the disciples were in a room with the door shut "for fear of the Jews" on the same day after they found that Jesus was missing. This verse is often used to validate the notion of Sunday worship because they had all gathered together that day. The text clearly states they were gathered there, with the door shut, because they were scared. Matthew 28:8 says they ran from the sepulcher with fear. They knew the Jewish leaders would accuse them of stealing the body of Jesus, and they were hiding until the coast was clear. They were not gathered there worshipping Jesus; they were shaking in their boots.

The Bible never states that the laws and ordinances concerning the Sabbath have been transferred to Sunday. Neither is Sunday the "Lord's Day" mentioned in Revelation 1:10. Get a concordance and look up "Lord's day" and "day of the Lord".

The above examples concerning Sunday worship could also be used regarding Easter. The word Easter is used in the King James Bible in Acts 12:4. All the modern versions and the notes in most KJB's will change the word "Easter" to "Passover." Aside from that being an obvious mistranslation, it is foolish to think that King Herod would concern himself enough with the Passover that he would refrain from killing Peter. It did not bother anyone to kill Jesus at the Passover, why would anyone be so worried about killing Peter on the Sabbath? Easter was actually a Roman day in observance of the fertility goddess Astarte. The early Roman church assimilated this day into its traditions in order to accommodate the pagans of the day. The celebration kept its name, but its practices were adapted by the first century Catholics.

Many will not argue that December 25th is not the day when Jesus was born. Most will admit that figuring it out would be damn near impossible. But do they realize that December 25th was originally the day celebrated by Roman pagans as Saturnalia? It was the birthday of the god Saturn.

The Bible tells us not to be fooled by the "rudiments of the world" (Colossians 2:8). According to Archaic Words and the Authorized Version by Laurence M. Vance, page 294, "rudiments are first attempts or principles, the elements of a subject, foundation or fundamental principles, or an initial or imperfect form, stage, or appearance." Worshipping God is not attending a church gathering service and listening to some preacher rant and rave about how wonderful he is and how horrible everyone else is; and it is far more than mutating pagan festivals into holy days.

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines…We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle…By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his name…to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Hebrews 13:9-16. Jesus said "…the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him…they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" John 4:23, 24. Our worship is suppose to be a personal experience between God and ourselves in our hearts (Philippians 3:3), and it is to be guided by Truth (John 1:14, 17; 14:6; 16:13; 18:37, 38).

For Further study on this matter just check out the following: Exodus 32; I Chronicles 16:7-36; Isaiah 1:10-20; Ezekiel 8; Jeremiah 10:1-5; Matthew 15:1-9; Luke 16:15; I Corinthians 5:7,8; II Corinthians 6:14-17; Galatians 4:7-11; Ephesians 5:6-13; Colossians 2:16-3:4; II Timothy 2:15; 3:15-17.

Have a drink on me.

What about alcohol? Does the Bible really say not to consume alcohol? No, it doesn't. It does, however, warn against being controlled by it.
Ephesians 5:18 "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess…"
Proverbs 10:1 "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."

It doesn't say not to drink any sort of alcohol; it says "be not drunk with wine." What does being drunk mean? As always the Bible explains itself:
Genesis 9:21-24 and 19:32 give examples of actual drunkenness. Drunkenness is when someone has consumed enough alcohol that they are unable to take the right decision in matters. Catching a good buzz from a bottle of rum is not the same as being drunk.

Even Jesus turned water into wine, and it wasn't grape juice, it was good old fashion wine:
John 2:3-10 "And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now."

If the translators meant "grape juice" wouldn't they have said "grape juice?" Pretty stupid translators, huh? This section could be so long it would be its own blog. I only have one more point to make before moving on.
Psalms 104:15 …Wine that maketh glad the heart of man…
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…

If your best idea of avoiding drunkenness is to not consume alcohol at all—fine. But don't bitch about others who do partake in it. Also keep in mind the hypocrisy you place yourself into when you refuse to partake in intoxicating beverages, but yet you consume sugar and caffeine.

"Watch your mouth young man!"

Bullshit is bullshit no matter what you call it. To tell folks it is "a sin" to use certain words is just plain bullshit. Who came up with the list any way? Who declared certain words should not be said at all? The FCC? Unfortunately this particular dogma is usually based upon a misunderstood word: "profanity."
II Timothy 2:16 "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness."

Does this mean we should shun words such as: ass, shit, crap, bastard, et al?
No it doesn't. Simply looking up the actual definition of the word "profanity" will solve this dilemma. According to Webster's 1828 Dictionary of the English Language:
Profane:

PROFA'NE, a. [L. profanus; pro and fanum, a temple.]
1. Irreverent to any thing sacred; applied to persons. A man is profane when he takes the name of God in vain, or treats sacred things with abuse and irreverence.
2. Irreverent; proceeding from a contempt of sacred things, or implying it; as profane words or language; profane swearing.
3. Not sacred; secular; relating to secular things; as profane history.
4. Polluted; not pure.
Nothing is profane that serveth to holy things.
5. Not purified or holy; allowed for common use; as a profane place. Ezek.42. and 48.
6. Obscene; heathenish; tending to bring reproach on religion; as profane fables. 1 Tim.4.
Profane is used chiefly in Scripture in opposition to holy, or qualified ceremonially for sacred services.

PROFA'NE, v.t. To violate any thing sacred, or treat it with abuse, irreverence, obloquy or contempt; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the Sabbath; to profane the Scriptures or the ordinances of God.
1. To pollute; to defile; to apply to temporal uses; to use as base or common. Ezek.24.
2. To violate. Mal.2.
3. To pollute; to debase.Lev.21.
4. To put to a wrong use.

Profanity is anything contrary to or derogatory toward God and his word. The King James Bible uses the words "piss" and "bastard." I don't have a problem with society declaring that certain words should only be used by adults, what I have a problem with is declaring that the use of those words is a violation of Scripture, now that's bullshit.