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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


Stumbling Blocks – 10 January 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

Have you noticed how naturally joyful little children are around animals? This is the reaction of innocent ones who haven’t been indoctrinated into the hardness of the world. The brainwashing that society inflicts on children results in a hardness of heart that immunizes them against love, gentleness, mercy, kindness, and compassion for “the least of these,” and is directly opposed to the teachings of the Bible. (Matthew 5 and Galatians 5:22-23)

In Matthew 18:1, His disciples ask Jesus, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” There can be no mistaking the answer that Jesus gives: (Matthew 18:2-4)

2. And He called a child to Himself and set him before them.

3. and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4. "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Proof that Christianity has been hijacked is the fact that there are pastors who hunt, and if that isn’t bad enough, enthusiastically encourage their church members to follow in their ungodly pursuits. Instead of living by the ideals that Jesus and some early Christians upheld, these leaders create the “stumbling blocks” that Jesus warned about. In John 14:12 Jesus says "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father." Instead of reaching upward to even “greater works” of compassion for all of God’s creation, these pastors actively promote the devil’s work.

Jesus gives a stern warning against creating “stumbling blocks”: (Matthew 18:6)

6. but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea."

Jesus doesn’t mince words in Matthew 18:7-10. Those who, in their arrogance, teach their evil ways, and have contempt for others who are compassionate toward God’s creatures, would do well to take notice before it’s too late:

7. "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

8. "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire.

9. "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.

10. "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven."
~ New American Standard Bible

Go on to: Familial Bonds – 11 January 2008
Return to: “Blessed Are Those…” – 9 January 2008
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