BUILD YOUR OWN MIND

   If you want to be free, build your own mind: 
   Do your own thinking, your own research, arrive at you own conclusions, and make your own decisions. 
   Do not believe everything you hear or see. 
   If necessary, question everything.
   If you do not question everything, you will question nothing.
   Do not expect others to agree with you, or stand with you.
   In so doing, some people will not like you, even among your own family and friends.
   In so doing, you will not be popular.
   Do not expect pats on the head or slaps on the back.
   Stop allowing others to do your thinking for you.
   Stop allowing others to make your conclusions.
   Stop allowing others to make your decisions.
   Stop allowing others to speak for you, or be your voice.
   If you do not believe everything you say you believe, neither will others.
   To be free, it will be necessary to stand alone.
   Build your own mind because your mind is you:  your mind does not belong to others.

AN ILLUSIONARY WORLD

   When people kneel and pray to images on granite, portraits, and paintings, they are living in an illusionary world in that the images are not real, which means they are not living creatures; for these images merely represent deities, or gods and goddesses, created from the imaginations of men.
   Young children, however, do not know that these images are not living creatures; for in all of their doing they are doing as they have been instructed to believe by adults, who have believed in this doctrine since the time when they also were young children from adults in their own environment.
   For example, the illusion of Santa Claus and Easter Bunny is cast by adults in the minds of young children as children are taught to believe that Santa Claus and Easter Bunny are real:  further fueled by the fact that images of Santa Claus and Easter Bunny appear every year, in their seasons, in their environment, on street corners and on rooftops, in homes, and on holiday cards.  As children grow up, however, they grow out of this false teaching and play the game on other children just as the game was played on them.
   But in religion, this teaching of images is not a game adults play on children; and neither is it a game that had been played on the adults when they were kids.  To them, this is real.  To them, they actually believe that the images hear their prayers and will also answer their prayers.  They would never believe that these images are not living creatures even though they are looking at granite, portraits, and paintings.
   On the other hand, people can look at the statue of a great athlete and know that the statue is just an image and know that the statue is not living.  But in religion, image worship is an entirely different matter.
   Obviously, two images can be shaped out of the same boulder of granite, and people will believe that one is not real, while believing that the other image is real.  Two images can also be painted by the same artist, and two pictures can be taken by the same photographer.  One image will be believed as real by idolaters while believing that the other image is only a image.
   Idolaters wear out their knees  in their world of illusion worshipping images---while Christians wear out their feet  in service to the living Christ, whom we worship without an image.
      "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:  whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."  (Job 19: 25-27)

SAFE SPACES

   When people speak or write from their hearts, they are exposing their souls.  But when people speak or write from their heads, all they are doing is exposing head knowledge, which they have adapted from their environment from others, or from their own imaginations.
   Therefore it is in the minds of people where they create Safe Spaces, which is where they, like young children, live alone with coloring books and boxes of crayons, where they idle time away:  afraid to speak or write from their hearts for fear of anything or everything that others will think or say about them.
   Such people are as ships without sails, being tossed to and fro upon the sea, with nothing to live for and nothing to gain outside of themselves.
   These are selfish individuals, living in solitary confinement, for their only interest in life is in the life they live within themselves:  in a world where "love" is just a word they have heard, where the only love they know is the love they have for themselves.
   Obviously, Safe Spaces are the same as throne rooms that people build for themselves in their own minds, then close the door, saying:  I am me and there is none other:  do not contaminate me with your uninvited presence!
   They live their lives in self-imposed exiles, in a private room where even God is not welcome: 
      with "DO NOT DISTURB" hanging on the door.

A FLAMING FIRE

   "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and turn about their whole body.  Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven by fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a small helm, whithersoever the governer listeth. 
   "Even though the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.  Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
   "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:  so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire in hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."  (James 3: 3-8)
   Members of country clubs, for example, are, by nature, no different than people on the outside:  they like to find fault, gossip, and snitch on fellow members.
   Members of churches and religions, for example, are, by nature, no different than people on the outside:  they like to find fault, gossip, and snitch on fellow members.
   But me?  How can I possibly find fault with me!?
   If there is no change of heart, there will be no change of mind; and without a change of mind, there will be no change in our behaviors:  at which time we see ourselves as perfect in all of our ways, high and lifted up, pointing our fingers at others because they are beneath our feet from the throne we build for ourselves in our own minds.
   How can we, therefore, govern others if we are unable to govern our own tongues?
   As long as people refuse to submit to the authority of God, neither will they submit their hearts, their minds, or their tongues:  and the gossip wheel will keep on turning because we consider ourselves as little gods, walking to and fro upon the earth, seeking others to devour with flaming tongues.
      "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."  (James 3: 8)
  

THE STATE OF THE WORLD

   When evil people occupy seats of authority, evil things happen.
   Because evil is their nature and because they cannot change their nature, evil people are masters of deception, masters of lies, and masters of masquerading themselves as ministers, pastors, preachers, priests, and politicians.  They also love money above all possessions.
   Consider the state of the world today in contrast to the state of the world over the past six thousand years and see if there is any real difference from then until this present day in human history.
   For six thousand years, men of governments and men of religions have been desiring that people believe in them, trust in them, and follow them to a better and brighter future.  Has that happened?
   Where is peace?  Where is justice and equality for all?
   People continue to hate people. 
   People continue to make war with people. 
   Poverty continues worldwide.
   Sickness and disease and starvation continue worldwide.
   Drugs is a global addiction.
   Trafficking humans for slavery, pornography, prostitution, sex, and money is a global industry.
   People continue to give their money to governments and religions, only to see the rich get richer and the poor remain poor:  while worldwide problems remain worldwide problems.
   Outside of man's inventions, 2017 is not much different than any previous year, decade, or century.  People in seats of authority keep spinning the same yarns in the minds of people and people keep believing in them, keep following them, and keep trusting in them to lead people all over the earth to a better and brighter future. 
   Is that better and brighter future here yet?
   No, not yet.  But people are sure it is on the way.  After all, they have been hearing the same story for six thousand years.  If Santa Claus can come to town every year, global peace could happen any day now!
      "Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.  And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence cometh thou?  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From goin to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."  (Job 2: 1-2)
   Have you ever wondered if the people in seats of authority are agents of Satan?  After all, they deceive, they lie, they steal, they love money above all possessions, and they masquerade themselves as ministers, pastors, preachers, priests, and politicians.
   So is the world a better and brighter place to live today?  Is it getting better and brighter?
   The evidence is in front of our eyes.
   What do you see?

A CLOSED MIND

   A closed mind is a mind that dwells in the past, and the present is no more than a collection of habits, traditions, rites, rituals, addictions, and repetitions of by-gone eras with little or no interest in things future.  Such a mind is not subject to change easily and a mind that can quickly resist anything new or different.
   Religion, for example, is the perfect fit for a closed mind because religion is a collection of habits, traditions, rites, rituals, addictions, and repetitions of by-gone eras with little or no interest in things future.
   Religion is also the place for an order of worship, for the order in which things are done never changes because the prescription never changes.
   The order of worship is also timed, or set to a clock, so that the order from the beginning to the end never changes, and the people can easily memorize the order of worship as well as the length of time. 
   To keep people living in the present, religion never ventures to introduce events of the future other than death. 
   Religion is like a television with one channel and one program where the people participate in re-runs:  week after week, month after month, year after year, and even century after century, including generation after generation.
   Parents can commit their children to religion just as easily as people can be committed to psychiatric hospitals and the children grow up in the insane asylum of religion because religion is the control substance of their minds and thereby their behaviors are dictated by their religion.  No wonder Karl Marx said, "Religion is he opiate of people."
   Religion, more than any other institution, is therefore the leading cause for closed minds in people worldwide, all across the ages and pages of human history, thereby closing the minds of people to the truth of God, the truth of Christ, and the truth of the Bible:  beginning at the earliest age possible in young children and continuing throughout their lives in order to keep the minds of adults as the minds of children.
   Religion's purpose, therefore, should be easy to see and understand, which is to keep people imprisoned in their minds to religion while building a wall to keep God out---and to rob them of their souls at death.
      "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God:  but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  (Philippians 2: 5-11)

RENDER UNTO CAESAR

   Jesus said,
       "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's:  and unto God the things that are God's."  (Matthew 22: 21)
   If people stopped supporting religions, with their time and with their money, religions would crumble, collapse, and disappear from the face of the earth;  but when people, being deceived, do not know the difference between Caesar and God, they will continue to pay tribute to Caesar even though they can be led to believe they are giving their money for the work of God.
   Caesar was the head of the Roman government as well as the head of the Roman religion and he was worshipped as a god.
   The religions of man operate by this same method, for religions are dictatorships, just like Caesar's world, and they need people and money to continue to exist.
   Apart from God, there is no evil that man will not pursue; and man's greatest pursuit of evil is found in man's invention of religion:  for this is the place where man enslaves people, to hold them prisoners, to keep them from knowing God.
   Moreover, it is in this place of religion where people give their money:  in the belief that they are pleasing their god and gods as well as pleasing their spiritual gurus---ministers, pastors, preachers, priests, popes, and rabbis:  which, again, is the evidence that people, apart from God, do not know the difference between Caesar and God---mixed with the false belief that, by giving their money, they will receive something in return for their financial investment, such as gaining favors as well as buying their way to heaven.
   Because people, however, keep giving their money, religions continue to grow and prosper and gain in memberships, which explains why religions are the wealthiest institutions on the face of the earth, and which also enables their Caesars to live in luxurious splendor---while snubbing their noses at the poverty of people living within the shadows of their temples, shrines, and cathedrals.
      "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:  , and there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table:   moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
      "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom:  the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments...."  (Luke 16: 19-22)