Zimbabwe’s Gold Mafia, and Sanctions Enriching the Corrupt

It seems that when the US and Europe impose sanctions on a government, such as Zimbabwe, it punishes the ordinary people who lose the stability that their government should be able to provide. Countries always have resources of various kinds that they need to sell, so if a government is blocked from selling those resources because sanctions have been imposed, this just opens up opportunity for crafty individuals to make money out of finding ways around the sanctions to help with the sale of those resources. That which would normally be done through official channels is done by the back door, enriching those involved but depriving the ordinary citizens of a country revenue that the government should be able to share more widely among its people.

The Letter Writer

I read a lot of stuff on Facebook about Paul being a false apostle, “the 13th Apostle”, who taught differently to what Yahshua did. This comes especially from people who are Torah observant. Paul wasn’t perfect, but I personally don’t think he was a false apostle. If Paul was false, then he deceived Peter, who refers to him as a “dear brother” too:

2 Peter 3:15–16 (NIV): 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

This whole argument is set alight by the fact that some people misinterpret what Paul writes about the law to mean that we are not to obey the commandments. Simply put, I believe Paul uses the phrase “under law” to refer to those who try to practice the law without it being written in their hearts. The Letter Writer, written by Tim Hegg is a good analysis of this.

The Letter Writer

Luke 17:20–21 (YLT): 20 And having been questioned by the Pharisees, when the reign of God doth come, he answered them, and said, ‘The reign of God doth not come with observation; 21 nor shall they say, Lo, here; or lo, there; for lo, the reign of God is within you.’

We aren’t under subjugation to the law in the same sense as a child in a school being taught by someone, about things they often don’t know about, (Gal 3:24-26), because we are to know the law inwardly by nature.

34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. (Jer 32:34)

The New Covenant says the the law will be written in our hearts:

33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people: (Jer 31:33)

Romans 2:14–16 (CJB): 14 For whenever Gentiles, who have no Torah, do naturally what the Torah requires, then these, even though they don’t have Torah, for themselves are Torah! 15 For their lives show that the conduct the Torah dictates is written in their hearts. Their consciences also bear witness to this, for their conflicting thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them 16 on a day when God passes judgment on people’s inmost secrets. (According to the Good News as I proclaim it, he does this through the Messiah Yeshua.)

The key to understanding what Paul is saying about the law is Romans 8.  We obey the law by Yah’s spirit in us, it is His work in us that enables us to understand and do – that’s not an excuse to be lawless.

16 For Yahweh so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
12 Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father. (John 14:12)
17 Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one yothe or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. 19 Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:17-20)
12 Here is the patience of the saints; They that keep the commandments of Yahweh, and the faith of Yahshua. (Revelation 14:12)
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that bears not fruit, he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he cleanses it, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it remain in the vine; so neither can you, except you remain in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches: He that remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit: for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man remain not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done to you. (John 15:1-8)
22 Who is the liar but he that denies that Yahshua is the Messiah? This is the anti-messiah — he that denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father: he that confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remain in you, you also shall remain in the Son, and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise which he promised us the life eternal. 26 These things have I written to you concerning them that would lead you astray. 27 And as for you, the anointing which you received of him remains in you, and you need not that anyone should teach you; but as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you remain in him. (1 John 2:22-27)

Don’t let the common misinterpretation of Paul’s narrative put forth by “the church” sway you from understanding what he is saying. You will find Peter’s words are 100% correct, because those people who misinterpret Paul also misinterpret the other scriptures, they don’t misinterpret Paul only. This happens because of the spirit in people, we can read the same text and come to many different beliefs from it, but the spirit of Yah is not divided, Yah is one.

Copernicus and the Jews

This is a book that will challenge your perceptions about the various religious systems centred around pertaining to what is commonly known as Christianity. Should Rome, England, Russia or any where else be the focus of a faith that is inherently Jewish?

All Hail The Planet

Awesome documentary, for every $1 dollar the global north “donates” to the global south $30 dollars goes the other way because of “unequal exchange” (exploitation of labour and resources). The global south funds the development of the global north, don’t believe the spin.

Really appreciate this insightful documentary. Thank you Ali Rae.

The hypocrisy of the Qatar World Cup

OK, if migrant labourers died building stadiums and hotels etc for the World Cup, pick any number you want, and people aren’t truly sickened by that but are more worried about whether LGBTQ people will be arrested for contravening Qatar’s laws (noting UK held the World Wup in 1966 but didn’t legalise homosexuality until 1967); and if people are more worried about drinking bans in the stadiums than human life; this to me shows how our values are fundamentally wrong.

The choices and pleasures we can have shouldn’t be at the expense of another human’s life.

The more we go on thinking like this, the worse this “modern slavery” problem will become.

I’m sick of the World Cup, and it hasn’t even started yet! I won’t be watching.

Under Law

Under Law?

Think carefully about the doctrine of Christianity, as opposed to “The Way”. If Messiah “abolished the law on the cross”, as many people claim, then the new covenant could never have been established and Messiah’s own words were unfulfilled (Matt 5:17-20). How can people put their hope in a saviour whose words have apparently failed? How will that affect our trust if what The Messiah has said cannot fully be trusted?

The new covenant is Yah’s laws written in our hearts – Jer 31/Heb 8 makes this clear. Don’t think Yah found fault with his law, no, scripture says he found fault with the people. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be possible to write what had already been abolished in our hearts. Christians, logically, really must believe that the new covenant will never be established. Maybe I’m over-thinking it, but the way I see it, the doctrines of Christianity are entirely confused. The Apostle Peter (Kefa) said this:

2 Peter 3:15–16 (CJB): And think of our Lord’s patience as deliverance, just as our dear brother Sha’ul (Paul) also wrote you, following the wisdom God gave him. Indeed, he speaks about these things in all his letters. They contain some things that are hard to understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Lawfulness and obedience to Yah’s commands doesn’t lead to destruction or death (Rev 12:17 & 14:12), but rather it is sin that leads to death (Rom 6:23).

However, we aren’t “under law” as Paul/Sha’ul puts it, because being “under law” means you don’t have the law written in your heart and/or neither have you accepted the Messiah. One who is under law is obeying the law under their own effort, and not because it has been written in their heart by Messiah. This effort to obey that which is external to us not only applies to Yah’s laws, but also the man made traditions which also form another branch of “legalism”. Yah never made traditions so he will not write them in our hearts.

Consider that Paul’s use of the phrase “the just shall live by faith” (Gal 3:11) is a reference to Habakkuk 2:4 – which talks about the Babylonians/Chaldeans. Revelation prophecies the fall of Babylon, and Habakkuk 1:11 describes one of the The Babylonian’s chief characteristics thus – “they become guilty, because they make their strength their god”. The mark of the Babylonian is a people whose own power to keep the law, and/or laws given from their own power is what they declare makes them righteous.

Really Paul/Sha’ul says it so eloquently in Romans 8 we must be renewed by the Spirit of Messiah, not of our own works but of His in us. When something is written in our hearts we do it by nature (Rom 2:14/15). We don’t need laws to tell us to open our eyes to see, laws to remind us to breathe, etc, we do these things by nature – and so it is with the law for those who have been renewed by Yahshua Hamashiach. This is why scripture states “his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3) and Messiah said “my yolk is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).

Ahmaud Arbery

Ahmaud Arbery: Verdict

I’m pleased at the Ahmaud Arbery verdict. He can’t be brought back, but at least those who murdered him should serve time. I am overwhelmed with admiration for Ahmaud mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, who vowed to fight for justice and have several court cases pending separate to this one that has been ruled on. I also felt that the judge, Timothy Walmsley’s, comments were timeless – “In assuming the worst in others, we show our worst character”. This verdict gives me hope that their are people who understand and can work toward justice in America, still yet this countries true maturity can only be realised if murders based on race can be eliminated, and this requires a change in the heart, mind, and attitude of many people.

Photo courtesy Chris Christian