Jesus AND....

This is the first in a series called "Jesus and..."

There's a lot of Jesus' going around today,
There's Jesus and Social Justice or Jesus and Socialism, there's Jesus and Nationalism,
there's Jesus and Save the Planet or Jesus and the Environment, there's Jesus and Money,
there's Jesus and Legalism or the Rules mandating Jesus, there's "Gay Jesus" or the "Jesus of Gay Marriage"

There's a whole lot of Jesus' running around today so lets explore some of these
"Other" Jesus' but before we do lets take a look at what the Jesus of the Bible said and
some of His closest followers said about "Another Jesus" shall we?
Paul the Apostle warned his followers and is still warning us more than two thousand years later
about those who preach "Another Jesus" and here it is...

2 Corinthians 11:4
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ, For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached,
Or if you receive a different spirit than the Spirit you received, or a different Gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

And Christ Himself said here in Matthew 7:13-14
Enter through the Narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it,
For the gate is small and the way narrow that leads to life, and only a few find it.

So we see that Paul was already warning his followers that there would be a whole lot of
people preaching about "another Jesus", and Christ Himself said there would be many. many and very popular teachers and teachings that  people will follow led by charismatic and very popular "Preachers" but they're preaching a completely different Jesus than the one Paul taught or that Christ Himself revealed in His earthly ministry.

So lets take a look at a few of these Different Jesus' now...

Jesus and the Environment, or "Ecology Jesus"

In the 1970's when I was a teen a new social movement was sprouting and burgeoning and that was
the "Ecology" Movement, otherwise known today as the environmental movement or what has been termed the radical Environmental movement.
Today most environmentalists or "Greens" don't appear that radical, they paste "Save the Planet" stickers on their cars, or "Save Mother Earth" or "Stop Global Warming" stickers on their bumpers and even vote for politicians who run for office touting "Climate Justice" and we must Stop Global warming and what now has been adjusted very conveniently to "Climate Change". Unfortunately for the Climate Justice and Global warming adherents, I and many others are old enough to remember the prevailing climate science of the 1970's and that was that we were headed straight into a new Ice Age. There was even a Leonard Nimoy narrated documentary on television called the "Coming Ice Age" and it can be found today on YouTube. Look it up while perusing music videos...

In the early 70's and even up through the 90's however radical environmentalism was definitely not benign and even bordered on very radical thinking and even violence.
"Earth First" environmental radicals were violent enough that they burned down several buildings one in particular I remember well was a building in the Vail, Co. Ski resort area that was torched to the ground because radical environmentalists hated "their" forests being degraded (in their minds) by a Ski resort and despised people having fun bringing their families enjoying a holiday and for a bit of Skiing.

There are many, many more examples of environmental radicalism that not only destroyed property in the name of "Saving the Planet", but in fact has been linked to murder, the very founder of Earth Day the early High Priest himself of environmentalists Ira Einhorn was linked to the Murder of a young College student named Holly Maddux in 1978. Einhorn fled, escaped justice and left the country for 20 years after the young college girl's body was found in his apartment stuffed in a suit case...Here's the link...

http://michellemalkin.com/2013/04/22/a-grisly-earth-day-reminder-eco-pacifist-fraud-ira-einhorn-a-killer-in-p-c-clothing/

It's easy to see the hypocrisy of "Saving the Planet" by burning down buildings and getting really violent...makes a lot of sense doesn't it?

Today however radical environmentalism has exploded into the mainstream in most of the west, Europe, and the U.S., and now calls itself "Climate Justice" or "Environmental Justice" and has entered the halls of political and cultural elitist power and control. Even our current President hails "Climate justice" and calls those who deny that the climate is not warming and being destroyed by mankind "Deniers". It has sort of a religious connotation and feel to it doesn't it? There are the "true believers" and the "climate deniers" who are evil and must be dealt with...The entire "Climate justice" movement has an undeniable "Us vs. Them" Religious fervor that feels not unlike that of a Saturday night Gospel tent revival, but, and this is important...it's a very different gospel altogether.

Just yesterday March 9, 2016 the President's attorney General Loretta Lynch actually came out and admitted on the public record and for the entire nation to view that the administration has "discussed" the punitive options of how to deal with "Climate Deniers"
Lynch actually admitted that the Obama administration is researching legal options and discussing how to deal punitively with what they call "climate deniers" particularly those in the oil industry or fossil fuels industry. Apparently I could be one of those targeted because I am highly skeptical of man made Global warming (as are millions of other Americans), but I think the pharisees and saducees of today have much bigger fish they want to fry...

Ok, so what does this have to do with Jesus?
Well, here it is...This kind of radical environmentalism has also entered the "Church" or some churches, or some groups or members of churches.

Jesus and environmentalism...some will say what's wrong with that? what's wrong with being a Christian and saving the environment?
Well, nothing really until the environment and your environmental justice fervor takes the PLACE of Jesus... Now don't get me wrong, I don't like litter, I hate it when I see people throwing trash out of their cars or leaving trash in a park for others to clean up.
I really applaud those who put catalytic converters on cars in the early 1980's because I remember the 1970's well when the front range of Denver, Co. was a pretty disgusting dark brown cloud. The air today is much, much cleaner than it was when I was a late teen and into my early 20's. Technology and science has improved our air and I think that's great, even fantastic...

The problem dear friends is that the radical environmental movement birthed in the 1970's
 replaced Jesus with another god GAIA, or the goddess of the Earth, and also Pan or the Greek/Roman god of nature and the Earth.
GAIA is the earth goddess that many, many people give their allegiances to (many unknowingly) and have now skillfully entered the church claiming that Jesus is an environmentalist, or in some churches god is a woman not male (feminists can get their knives out now), but Earth Mother or GAIA. Look around today and you can see GAIA in stores, on packages, in advertisements, on television and even pushed in billion dollar grossing Movies made by world famous and very successful Film directors and producers. And now in this modern age GAIA and Earth worship has walked right into the front door of the Church...
To these folks the all powerful God and maker of the Universe is not capable of caring for the planet (in their minds) so, we humans must help out the God and maker of Earth because He's not quite powerful enough to take care of  the Planet Himself...(Sarcasm off)

The Bible most definitely states emphatically that god is not female but male in nature. Those who question that only have to look at John 10:30 "I and the Father are one", Jesus nowhere states "I and the Mother are one", or "No one who denies the Son has the Mother", Sounds pretty ridiculous and even heretical doesn't it? Yet, there are churches and even entire denominations pushing this un scriptural heretical nonsense.

There is no earth goddess and there is no GAIA, and scripture in fact states that Jesus CREATED all things Himself, and for the Christian we have to discern the times we're living in and decide if we're going to worship Mother Earth or GAIA, or Jesus Christ who is God, who came to Earth SEPARATE from His creation. Here the Bible states clearly that all things were created by Jesus Christ, HE is the author of creation...John 1:2-4

"He was in the Beginning with God, all things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being, in HIM was life, and that life was the light of men."

 If you think I'm making all this up and I'm just one of those crazy right wing Christian nut cases that hates the Planet and environment that God Himself created, google these things for yourself and find out, learn the history of the radical (and sometimes violent) environmentalist movement in the U.S. and Europe, and see what I and many others have learned. And then decide if you're going to incorporate "Another Jesus" into your worship schedule or worship the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ...

Don't shoot me, I'm just the sax player... :)