Olive Tree Congregation

by Paul J. Rico (paulrico@hotmail.com)

Many people falsely think that spirituality is like a giant wagon wheel in the sky, that all the spokes are valid approaches to God and all religions lead to the center hub, eternal life or heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth and the Holy Scriptures are full of contradictory information labeling this belief a lie from the pit of hell. If you believe this lie your soul is in grave danger of eternal hell fire. But the good news is that HaShem (Hebrew: the LORD God) loves each and every person regardless of their sinful past and has provided a free gift of eternal life to all who accept Y’Shua as the sacrifice for sin, by grace through faith without good works or obedience to the Law or Torah. When a person does good work after they have received salvation from sin, HaShem promises rewards, both on earth and in heaven. Acceptable worship of HaShem starts with faith in Y’Shua the Messiah and is continued by obedience to the Scriptures. The more obedience a person observes the more blessings and rewards they receive, but salvation from the guilty and penalty of sin is by faith alone.

• Worship of a False or Wrong god is unacceptable worship to HaShem. In the ten commandments HaShem forbade the worship of false gods. In fact to even make or have an image (idol) of a false god or to bow down giving homage to someone else’s false makes your worship unacceptable to HaShem. This would include artifacts of the fertility cults or a Buddha statue, an image of an angel or any person or object in heaven on earth or under the sea. Exodus 20:2-6 HaShem even states that to violate this prohibition is to demonstrate that one hates HaShem regardless of what their words state. Our actions prove what we really believe. If you have idols you hate your Creator, that’s His opinion not something that we have proposed..
• Worship of HaShem in a manner that He forbids is unacceptable worship. The Children of Israel just after the exodus from Egypt decided to make an image of HaShem in a manner forbidden by Him. They made a golden calf and thought that they could have a sexual orgy as worship like was practiced in the fertility cult of Egypt. They stated that they were doing their worship unto HaShem like Pagans in Egypt worshiped Ra the sun god and multiple others deities. These gods were part of the fertility cult and sexual immorality was an intrinsic part of their worship. They erected giant penis called an obelisk and believed that Pharaoh was the direct descendent of Ra the sun god the ascended Nimrod who claimed to be god. Nimrod was killed by his grandfather Shem the son of Noah for his blasphemy. The Egyptians worship included human sacrifices at the solar equinox and solstices (the equal day/night, longest day and shortest day). Ishtar day (Easter) is based on the Spring equinox. The birth day of Tamez the son of Nimrod (who supposedly became Ra the sun god) is Dec 25. It’s all part of the same false religion and fertility cult where man thinks he can ascend to become god Himself. Celebration of these pagan worship days doesn’t glory the Creator of the Universe. A constant throughout Scripture is that the people of the Kingdom are to come out from pagan religion and be separate from pagan heathen practices.
• Worship of HaShem that denies His truth is unacceptable worship to HaShem. Calling HaShem a liar is a major error which is obviously going to make one’s worship unacceptable. If we don’t believe in the Messiah that HaShem has provided we make Him a liar. 1 John 5:10 Y’Shua stated that those who worship HaShem must have the truth.
• Worship of HaShem that includes disobedience to His Scriptures, the Word of God both Old and New Testaments is unacceptable worship to HaShem. A person who lives an immoral life may voice faith but their life proves that they really don’t believe and have faith in HaShem.
• Worship of HaShem even if it includes acknowledgement of the truth, obedience to external appearances of the Word of God but with an impure and unbelieving heart (mind) is unacceptable worship to HaShem. The Torah prohibits murder but under the grace of the New Covenant a person who hates another is still guilty. The Torah prohibits adultery but under the grace of the New Covenant the person who lusts after someone not their spouse is guilty. The Torah prohibits lying but under the grace of the New Covenant any word of discouragement is a sin. The standard of the Torah the Law is still valid but under the grace of the New Covenant the standard has been raised higher and not lowered. This means that a person can’t just look good on the outside, it has to be real on the inside also. We must worship HaShem in spirit and truth. Truth is necessary but truth alone is inadequate, there must be spiritual life in the heart and mind of each person to be acceptable in their worship of HaShem.