Floyd Kelley

July 23, 2015July 23, 2015

The Primary Test

Recently, a young man contacted me through the internet, and asked me about my next book, and wanted some pointers on how he could beat drug addiction. I will be giving this young man some of my views on drug addiction, and recovery in the next few blog posts.

First, I think it is important to establish a “global context” for the problem of drug addiction. A global context will allow us to see the big picture, and help us navigate through the maze of drug addiction.

When thinking of drug addiction what framework guides our thoughts? Do we see drug addiction as a disease? A biological phenomena? A neurological phenomena? What we believe drug addiction is, will influence how we attempt to overcome it.

Drug addiction, at its core, is a spiritual problem. And I do not use the word, “spiritual” as a concept tag, which points to principles that are beneficial for us, and our community. I use the word, “spiritual”as a tag that points to our ontology. In other words, for me, “spiritual” refers to our state of being, and the realm in which we have it.

The Scriptures point to the philosophy of substance dualism, and it is in this sense that I use the word, “spiritual”. There are two categories of “stuff” in the philosophy of substance dualism: Subjects and objects. We are a spirit (a subject), who lives in a body (an object).

The spiritual realm is the realm in which all subjects dwell. There are two camps in the spirit realm: Yahweh’s camp, and Satan’s camp. Without exception, every spirit dwells in one of these two camps.

The spirit realm is real. It is more real than the realm of objects, because the realm of objects (the physical universe) came out of the spirit realm, when Yahweh (the Subject) spoke it into being.

Thanks to Adam, we are all born in Satan’s camp. Our spirit man is a slave to Satan, and his demons. Thanks to Yeshua (Jesus), we can escape from Satan’s slave camp, and enter into Yahweh’s camp to live as kings and priests. This message is the essence of the gospel.

The spirit realm and the physical realm converge in order to fashion the human body, and the human soul. The spirit man lives in this body, and functions in the physical realm through this soul.

Yahweh puts every human spirit in a body, which is confined within the physical universe in order to test it, and refine it. Currently, we are all in Yahweh’s testing, and refinement arena. Yahweh is testing each one of us to see if we will choose to follow Him, and submit to His refinement process, or choose to remain in Satan’s camp.

Our primary spiritual problem is that we have not submitted to Yeshua, and allowed Him to remove us from Satan’s camp. Hence, we continue to do Satan’s will: We love the world, build up our pride, please our physical bodies, and feed our eyes what they crave.

If, when we hear the gospel of the Kingdom of Yahweh, we submit to Yahweh’s King (Yeshua), His Spirit comes to live in our earthly body with us. When Yeshua’s Spirit joins Himself with our human spirit, He removes us from Satan’s kingdom (camp), and places us in His Kingdom (camp). If we do this we have passed the primary test.

Yahweh gives us all the opportunity to submit to King Yeshua, and if we do not submit to Him, before we leave our physical body, and the arena of testing, we will remain in Satan’s camp forever. And, this is real bad, because Satan has made his camp in the depths of Hell!

Passing Yahweh’s primary test is the most important thing in life.

Passing Yahweh’s primary test is also the first step in recovering from drug addiction. When Yahweh removes us from Satan’s camp, He recreates our spirit, and gives it the desire to please Him. This intense desire to please Yahweh, and live according to His instructions is the hallmark of a Christian, and it is the force that keeps him or her striving towards the goal of His high calling.

When Yahweh removes us from Satan’s camp, some of us, leave drug addiction behind, and never return. These “lucky” people get delivered immediately. The rest of us “poor souls” have to submit to the painful refining process, and grow out of drug addiction.

Why does Yahweh deliver some from drug addiction immediately, and walks with others, and grows them out of drug addiction, over time? It’s because Yahweh has an eternal assignment for each of us, and He knows which refinement process will equip us to fulfill it.

In the posts that follow, we will examine the refinement process, and how we can cooperate with it in order to overcome drug addiction. The refinement process is the secondary test, and our eternal rewards depend on how we perform in this phase of our testing.

Don’t be ignorant of Satan’s devices; he uses deception to keep us in his camp, or keep us living in bondage even though we have escaped from his camp. A strong deception of our day is this: Satan offers a refinement process, which promises freedom from addiction. And Satan has clothed his program in God garb to make it look Godly.

Of course, I am talking about A.A., and N.A. These programs consist of a set of “spiritual principles”, which are beneficial to you and your community. If you live by these principles, you may indeed overcome drug addiction, but you will nevertheless, remain in Satan’s camp.

A.A. makes the same mistake that the religious people made in Yeshua’s day. In Yeshua’s day, the Jewish leaders placed Moses ahead of Abraham, and tried to know Yahweh through their works. Paul told these men that they had to submit to Yeshua to know Yahweh, and enter His Kingdom. The same is true for A.A. members.

A.A. without Yeshua is a ticket to Hell.

A.A. with Yeshua is just another form of bondage.

Don’t be deceived. Refining yourself with a set of spiritual principles will not bring you into Yahweh’s Kingdom so that you can know Him. There is only one way into Yahweh’s Kingdom, and only one way to know Him. This is the way: We must pass the primary test.

July 18, 2015

Hating Gays

There has been a lot of talk lately about Christians hating, and persecuting homosexuals. Well, let me say right off the bat, that I do not hate gays. Whatever another person does in the privacy of their own home is no business of mine, unless what they do directly impacts my life, or the lives of my children and grandchildren.

We live in a sin cursed world, where things are not perfect. Everyone sins in this imperfect world. Homosexuality is a sin. Heterosexual sex outside of marriage is a sin. Heterosexual lust is a sin. Overeating is a sin. Hating is a sin. Gossiping is a sin. There are many ways to sin. Anything that is not done in faith is sin. You sin, I sin, everybody sins.

What is sin? Sin is disobeying God’s instructions. What are the consequences of sin? Sin leads to death, and death manifests in many forms. Relationships die. Businesses die. Finances die. Personal freedoms die. Health dies, and bad health can lead to physical death. And physical death can lead to eternal death.

Sin is a very bad thing, and it should be taken seriously.

People say that judgement is coming to America. They say that God is going to judge, and punish America for embracing homosexual marriage. I don’t see it that way, however.

According to Romans 1, normalizing homosexuality is God’s judgment on a nation, who has turned away from Him, and His standards. Since, we have allowed a small minority to make laws that turn our kids away from God, and His standards, His Spirit has backed off, and let the wickedness, which is in the human heart vomit out on our society, which is why wickedness is increasing.

We have thrown the gates open, so that our spiritual, and physical enemies can destroy our country. Just look at what is happening, it doesn’t make sense, we are self-destructing. And we think that we are actually doing something about it when we share a Facebook post, or write a blog post. Brothers, and sisters we have stood by and allowed a small group of people to turn our children away from God, and what we are seeing today is the fruit of our complacency.

Homosexuality is not the root of our problem, it is the fruit of it.

In Leviticus 18:22, and Romans 1:26-27, God says homosexuality is a sin. The radical Homosexual movement says that there is no God, and the Bible is a book of fairytales. The moderate homosexual movement says that the Bible really doesn’t say that homosexuality is a sin, or that God made them homosexuals, or that Jesus is ok with them being a homosexual. and that they are Christians.

Most people acknowledge God, and ignore the fools, who deny Him, so the atheistic wing of the homosexual movement doesn’t have much of an impact on our society. What does have a big impact, however, is the moderate wing of the homosexual movement.

The moderate wing of the homosexual movement denies that God said that homosexuality is a sin, and that it is perfectly normal. And the worst thing is that they say that they are Christian homosexuals.

It is very clear. God did say that homosexuality is a sin. And there is no scientific evidence that God made anybody a homosexual. And to say that a Christian homosexual exists, is a contradiction in terms.

Christians sin. When a real Christian sins, the Spirit goes to war with his flesh, in order to get him to stop. (Galatians 5:17) A real Christian can not embrace sin, and live comfortably in it. And a real Christian will not teach kids that sin is normal, and ensnare them in it.

What a homosexual does in the privacy of his or her home is no business of mine, but, it becomes my business when they want to teach my kids, and grandkids that it is not sin, and Jesus is ok with it.

Jesus is not ok with sin, and unless we repent (turn away from sin), we will not enter into His Kingdom. The unrepentant homosexual will not enter God’s kingdom. (1 Cor 6:9-10) And if our kids, and grandkids accept homosexuality, and become one, neither will they.

I am not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. I am the chief of all sinners. The Holy Spirit wars with my flesh, in order to help me get it under control. It is a full time job for Him. I do not condemn anyone for their sins. I will standup and call my sin, sin. And I will standup and call your sin, sin. We must standup for the truth.

I don’t hate gays. What I hate is the normalization of sin.

I will not waver on my position. And the choice is yours, you can say that I am standing on God’s truth, or that I am hating gays.

May 18, 2015

Who Do you say I Am?

The mystery of the Godhead is deep. In fact, it is so deep, that our finite human minds can’t fully comprehend it.

Nevertheless, according to both, the Old and New Testaments, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are God, and God is of One substance. So, ontologically, the Father, Son and Spirit are equal.

No one has seen God (Elohim, the Supreme Judge, the Father), but Yeshua (Jesus) said, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.

Yeshua also said that He and the Father were One. (Which to a Jew most assuredly meant that Yeshua was God, because, to a Jew, the most important passage in the Old Testament was the “Shema”, in which Yahweh said that He was One). Deuteronomy 6:4

There are three “offices” in the Godhead. The Father sits in the office of Supreme Judge. The Son sits in the office of Mediator. The Holy Spirit, is the personality and power of God manifested, Who carries out the will of the Supreme Judge, and the Mediator.

Now, most people can understand, who the Father and The Spirit is, however, they can’t understand who the Son is.

So Who is the Son?

The Son

In the Old Testament, Yahweh called the people, and angels, who He placed in leadership, and anointed with His Spirit, His sons. This has caused confusion, in the minds of some. Some people mistakenly think that the Son is the highest ranking angel, that is, the Jehovah Witnesses mistakenly believe that the Son is the archangel Michael.

In the Scriptures, Yahweh plainly says that Yeshua is not an angel of any order. In fact, the Scriptures say that Yahweh commanded all the angels to worship Yeshua. (Hebrews 1:13,1:6)

Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is Yahweh (the Everlasting Father) manifested to us in human flesh.

Not only is there a Jehovah Witness Jesus. There is a New Age Jesus. There is a Muslim Jesus. There is a Catholic Jesus. There is a Hindu Jesus. There is a Buddhist Jesus. There is a Mormon Jesus.

In these religions, Jesus is an enlightened teacher, a good man, a prophet, a false God and ineffective mediator, a moral teacher, a spirit guide, a spirit child of God, and, of course, an arch angel.

None of these Jesus(s) can save, because they are false Jesus(s).

The real Jesus is the Jesus of the Scriptures.

The Real Jesus

Isaiah and Jeremiah said that the Promised Seed (the Messiah) would be Yahweh in human flesh. Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 23:6

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John said Yeshua was Yahweh in human flesh. (Matthew 1:23; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; John 8:58)

Yeshua claimed to be Yahweh in the flesh. (John 8:24, 8:58)

Peter acknowledged that Jesus was God. (Matthew 16:16)

Thomas acknowledged that Jesus was God. (John 20:28)

John acknowledged that Jesus was God, and said that if we deny that the Messiah (Yahweh) has come in the flesh, we are under the control of the anti-Christ spirit. (Rev 1:18; 1John 4:3)

The apostle Paul acknowledged that Jesus was God, and warned us not to accept a false Jesus. (Colossians 2:9; 2Corinthians 11:4)

The Divine Jesus, whose blood perfectly reconciled us to Yahweh (united us with Yahweh forever), is the only Jesus, who can save us.

This is why this is such an important issue.

Jesus is worthy of our worship, so acknowledge Him as God.

The Mystery

Yahweh showed His great love for us, by sending His Spirit into Mary’s womb. In Mary’s womb, Yahweh’s Spirit breathed life into “the seed of the woman” (Mary’s egg). Yahweh’s Spirit took Mary’s raw material, and built a human body out of it.

This human body allowed Yahweh to live with man in a tangible way. Consequently, one of Yeshua’s names is “Immanuel” (God with us).

Yahweh’s Spirit lived in a human body, and He named this human body Yeshua. This is why Yeshua said that He and Yahweh were One.

Yahweh was in Yeshua reconciling the world unto Himself. (2Corinthians 5:19)

Through Yeshua, Yahweh walked and talked with man on the earth.

Through Yeshua, we have seen Yahweh.

Through Yeshua, Yahweh demonstrated His great love for us.

How did Yahweh demonstrate His great love for us?

Well, it is written, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Yeshua went beyond this perfect human love; Yeshua willingly laid down His life to save His enemies. That is, Yeshua loved us, and died for us, while we were yet sinners.

The Paradox

So, did Yahweh (the Everlasting Father) die when Yeshua died physically on the execution stake (cross)? No way! If the Everlasting Father died, then He would not be the Everlasting Father, would He?

No, the body that Yahweh’s Spirit lived in died, and this body no longer housed Yahweh’s Spirit.

Three days later, Yahweh’s Spirit came upon Yeshua’s lifeless body, and breathed life into it, and glorified it.

Fourty days later, Yahweh’s Spirit withdrew into the heavenly realm, taking Yeshua’s physical body to Heaven.

Then, ten days later, during the feast of Pentecost, Yahweh sent His Spirit back to the earth to indwell everyone, who believed in Yeshua.

So, what does it mean to “believe in Yeshua”?

It means to believe that He is Yahweh (Perfect Love) come down from Heaven to save us.

Everyone, who confesses Yeshua as LORD (Yahweh), will be saved.

Everyone, who denies Yeshua is LORD (Yahweh), will not be saved.

One day, not too long from now, Yahweh will make it painfully obvious that He came to the earth as Yeshua, and out of fear, and terror, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Yeshua is LORD (Yahweh).

Don’t wait until that day!

Today is the day of salvation.

Today, Yeshua asks you, “who do you say I am?”