Thesis 14 - Combatting the "Spirit of the Offended" or σκανδαλίζω

I am sharing some of my photography with the blog, as I believe it says more than I can say sometimes. I have thousands of photos, so I plan on sharing them over time, and I believe they showcase the majesty of God's creation, and people are without excuse.

This is Thesis 14 of the “End Times 95 Theses by The Two Witnesses of Revelation", a parallel of the work Martin Luther did hundreds of years ago. This thesis will explore the way the end time church can combat the spirit of the offended or "σκανδαλίζω"

Thesis 1: Once Saved, Always Saved: The Toxic Root of the Dead Church

Thesis 2: The Prosperity Gospel: The Rotten Vine of the Dead Church

Thesis 3: The Anti-Christ Spirit (The Branch) & Its Rotten Fruits

Thesis 4: The Modern Unholy Church: Without Truth, There is No Holiness

Thesis 5: The Cataclysmic Sin of the Complacent Christian Church

Thesis 6: A Modern Letter to The Church of Sardis

Thesis 7: Christian Demonization & The 7 Holy and Unholy Spirits

Thesis 8: A Letter to Laodicea - Become Like Children Again!

Thesis 9: Legalism is Not Holiness. Legalism is Not Love.

Thesis 10: Conformity of Satan vs. Unity of Jesus Christ

Thesis 11: Subtle Pride Manifesting as Cancer in the Dying Church

Thesis 12: A Call to Return to the Church of Acts!

Thesis 13: Barriers to the End Times Church

(This is becoming a book slowly).

Introduction - What is the Spirit of the Offended or σκανδαλίζω?

The Bible says that in the end of times, many will be offended. In Matthew 24: 10 - 12 it says:

10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

When I looked up the word “offended” in the concordance, I was surprised by how deep and meaningful the word is:

Word: skandalizw

Pronounce: skan-dal-id'-zo

Strongs Number: G4624

Orig: from 4625; to entrap, i.e. trip up (figuratively, stumble (transitively) or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure):--(make to) offend. G4625

Use: TDNT-7:339,1036 Verb

Heb Strong: H3782

1) to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. to offend
1a) to entice to sin
1b) to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey
1b1) to cause to fall away
1b2) to be offended in one, i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority
1b3) to cause one to judge unfavourably or unjustly of another
1c) since one who stumbles or whose foot gets entangled feels annoyed
1c1) to cause one displeasure at a thing
1c2) to make indignant
1c3) to be displeased, indignant

To offend or be offended, biblically, can mean to entrap others, trip up others, put a stumbling block to entice to sin, to cause to fall way, to take people away from the truth, to judge unjustly, to get entangled/annoyed, or to make indignant (anger or annoyance). An instigatory or easily offended person can cause great drama and hardship in a church, and I have seen it non-stop and consistently in our end times ministry. Here is the good news: We ultimately do not allow this spirit in our ministry, and you can join our discord for proof of this. In fact, the easily offended cannot last in our community and quickly see themselves out. It just does not work.

Before I get into the spirit of the easily offended that has taken over the nation and end times church, I want to give an example of people being easily offended in our ministry. I also want to explain that, at times, we may all get offended. I do. Readers do. It happens. So, it isn’t that you can never feel offended, but rather, it is about deciding if you are going to take on a spirit of offense or forgive those who have offended you. In other words, how can one act like Jesus Christ in situations where one becomes easily offended? We will go back to this point in a moment.

As for an example, in our online meeting the other day, someone criticized someone for not capitalizing Jesus’s name. This was in an online session when people were typing fast, and I called it out immediately: “No legalism here!” It ended at once.

What would Jesus do? Would Jesus Christ be so upset if someone was praising Him but accidentally forget to capitalize his name? He says directly to me, as I write this, “No, this is foolishness. Intentions matter."

I can give endless amounts of examples of easily offended personalities, but I am joyous to know I am not alone in this as we read through 1 Corinthians in our almost daily bible study. Please join us, and today we are on 1 Corinthians 6, and tomorrow (8/27/24), we will be on 1 Corinthians 7. In the meantime, the first six chapters of 1 Corinthians are really about overcoming petty quarrels, stumbling blocks, and ridiculousness in the early church.

What was before will be again - There is nothing new under the Sun. We are building the Church of Philadelphia, which is the end times church. The problems of the early church are now apparent in the end times church.

So, then, why is everyone so offended? What is this easily offended spirit in the end times? Well, first, I believe it is an actual spirit. I don’t think it is an attitude - I think it is a spirit that is working through society to cause conflict and strife. It is an actual demon.

Interestingly, I was reading that Discord was originally suggested to be called "campfire", but I guess they did not want a warm feeling but division. Our end times ministry is fighting the demon of discord by literally situating our ministry in it. : )

Moreover, in our Babylonian society, this spirit has invaded every facet of our world through “political correctness” and things like “asking for a person’s pronouns.” It is an absurdity, but it really has been normalized, even when people say they disagree with it all. For instance, I see people with their pronouns at the bottom of emails, and I see never-ending training on how not to offend anyone in the workplace. There is “sensitivity” training everywhere, and a society that encourages this in nearly every industry. If you are a conservative, you are not exempt. There are countless examples of people being offended regarding politics on behalf of the "right."

The irony is that society is completely degraded in every way, no matter what side you're on, yet we are supposed to be sensitive and walking on eggshells at all times. I seriously do not know how to illustrate this absurdity other than just to say - it is the end times, and everything is upside down.

This is outside the workplace, too. Everywhere you go, you never know who you are going to offend, and it is difficult to know what to say to people anymore. I think that is why a lot of discussion and language has ceased. It simply just isn’t worth the energy to possibly offend someone.

The church can barely be differentiated from society anymore, and this spirit of offense lingers. While I do not go to real life churches anymore, I see this mostly in Christian online communities. It is almost impossible to have a discussion because of this pervasive spirit. Furthermore, an in effort not to offend, churches completely bowed down to Corona (The Crown) and promoted and distributed gene altering therapy to their people. This is the greatest travesty in human history, yet apathy has reached its highest limits possible.

So, Witness 1 and I started this ministry to combat the dead church and their cowardice. We are non-denominational, and we look straight to Scripture on how to run our ministry. We are facing the same exact things Paul faced when first starting the church. We are rebuilding a church that fully died during Covid, and this is the first church of the end times.

When looking at 1 Corinthians, Paul calls out petty disagreements and quarrels, which are now never-ending in the end times church, and he says Christians should not pursue lawsuits amongst each other but come to peace in all disagreements.

While Christians may not be pursuing lawsuits with one another as much anymore, it often feels like there are trials going on in Christian communities, with great judgment being placed on those with slightly differing opinions or questions. You can barely walk into any Christian online atmosphere without wanting to leave in just a few minutes. This type of environment of hatred has been perfectly created and orchestrated by Satan himself.

So, then, what do Christians do? Where is the line drawn? How can we enter a community and not kill each other in our hearts?

I have had great experience in leadership for the majority of my life. I have learned a few pointers which I believe will help us all be better Christians in any community. So, here they are:

1) Model what you want. If you want others to be kind, fair, and professional in their arguments, then you need to be that way. It isn't fair to expect anything of anyone, if you are not that way yourself. Be who you want others to be, even in online discussions.

2) Forgive continuously and immediately. I wouldn't be able to continue this work if I wasn't in a constant state of forgiveness. Where you cannot forgive someone yourself, ask Jesus Christ to take it away from you. This constant state of forgiveness is the key to conquer all of your enemies. It is the key to power in Christ. Online communities are a great opportunity to practice forgiveness!

3) If something does offend you, decide if it is worthing fighting about. I am not saying one can never fight. There is a time and place for conflict, but pick and choose your battles. Not every battle is worth fighting, but some are worth fighting. Stand your ground on the things that really matter.

4) Is it a salvation issue? This one has saved Witness 1 and I a lot of trouble. If something is not a salvation issue, we tend to not get too worked up about it. If something is clearly impeding someone's salvation, such as sexual immorality, it is worth calling out. Most things people argue about are not salvation issues.

5) If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all. I am continually shocked that Jesus Christ teaches us to love others, yet I see unfair critique spew out of people's mouth everywhere in Christian communities. When in doubt, just don't say anything. Not everything you think is worth telling someone, and not all our thoughts are true. We should examine every single thought placed in our heads and decide if it is worth sharing.

6) Sometimes it isn't about winning. I think so many Christians have been obsessed with thinking they know all the answers that they forget to say, "I don't know" or "Let me get back to you on that." We don't have to know everything, and it is okay to not form any conclusions. In fact, in Socratic discussions, there often are no conclusions or answers, and that's okay. Remember, we may lose in the world, but we have already won in Christ.

7) Reframe your language. How did Jesus Christ speak to others? He used harsher language for the right place and right time, but most of his language was authoritative and loving. He spoke in parables, he asked questions, and he rarely used "ad hominem" attacks. When anybody resorts to "ad hominem" they already lost. This is something used by shills on the internet, and when they use it, just say, "I am not going to respond to ad hominem attacks but real debate only." It works : )

8) Recognize there are people hired to fight online - shills are real. This is not a conspiracy. On a larger spiritual scale, the very purpose of shills online is division. That's it. People can never unify, and they are always divided, and therefore, there is never any movement. Combat this by NOT replying to clear shills, and join our discord where shills are exposed easily and cannot last very long. Remember, you may even be fighting demons in people - not people themselves.

9) As a servant of Christ, act like a servant. So many come into a conversation with what they want to teach people. Have you ever just talked to people and asked them about themselves? Have you ever listened to them, even if you disagree? Have you ever asked to pray for someone who is in a rage or who is clearly having a bad day? See yourself as a servant, even in online communities.

10) Remember the bigger picture. I have continued to operate this ministry by sticking to the big picture. I can't save everyone, nor will everyone believe me. Getting caught up in the smaller things can take away from the big things. I always keep my eyes on Heaven, and even if my efforts feel fruitless, I keep looking at the bigger picture of Jesus Christ and establishing His Kingdom.

There are more. As a leader, I have learned to just let go of the things that offend me. I receive multiple offensive comments per week, and I pick and choose which ones are worth fighting about. There are times it is worth a fight, and I fight when I need to.

However, I would say 90% of the time, it's just not worth a fight. I cannot believe the number of hours that many Christians have wasted fighting with people who will never in a million years convert to Christ - maybe because they are actually paid shills, or maybe they aren't even human. Maybe AI bots are getting that advanced. We just do not know.

So then, if Paul were alive today, here is a speech I think he would give to the end times church, written by me, an end times servant of Christ. I pray for the Holy Spirit to lead the wording of this message in Jesus's name!

You foolish Babylonians!

Don't you know that your endless hours of bickering has further enhanced the Kingdom of Satan? With each division in the online Christian community, Satan laughs. The Christians huff and puff with haughty pride, not realizing they have let their Christian brother and sister down, and therefore they have grieved the Holy Spirit and disappointed Jesus Christ Himself.

In a quest to be right and come off as wise, you have chased away all fellowship and isolated yourself into a dark corner. In your quest to be right, you have forgotten love.

Behind the guise of anonymity, you have shown your true self, one that has darkness and brutality in its heart. You have exposed the Kingdom of Darkness within yourselves by the way you treat others online.

The online world is not separate from the real world; rather, it is reality, and every interaction you have online will be judged as if it was a real action in real life.

Your insults, your divisive attitude, and your evil spirit of being offended is noted by the angels who are recording your every-moment actions. You come into these Christian communities to judge your brother and sister in Christ, without asking, how can I serve them?

For those who forsake fellowship, hiding away from these Witnesses who continually invite you into their community, you are a reflection of the lukewarm spirit that God will spit out of His mouth in the coming days. The Witnesses have asked you to join them many, many times, and you have refused their calls and cries because you want to be right. You don't want them to be right, but rather, you go back to your preachers with itching ears.

The time is at hand, and some of the last communities are in these corners of the internet. Use these communities to model Christ-like behavior to the lost and distressed. Stand your ground when it is necessary, and forgive as often as it is needed.

These are your last opportunities to bring people to repentance in Christ, yet so many have turned away potential people from Jesus because they model Satanic and demonic behaviors online.

End times Christians! Repent! You have let Satan infiltrate every corner of the internet (and of course, your churches are dead!). It is now time to reclaim true fellowship in Christ with The Two Witnesses End Times Ministry. Join them now because great darkness is coming over this world.

Join the last true church today. We don't even ask for tithes or anything. Come as you are!

https://discord.gg/qXQfjU5mHv

Speaking of generosity and tithes, however, I want to thank the readers who have contributed to our ministry, and we are in the process of helping a pastor in Kenya build an orphanage. I understand this may look rudimentary, but the orphans are rejoicing, and we will post pictures when it is finished. There are also more steps coming after it is built. Join us in helping us build this orphanage and uplift their community. There should be a completed picture within a week or two.

Well, this about wraps up the 14th thesis. I pray it helps guide people in their actions online in Jesus's name. Lord, please bring the true remnant to us, and help them conquer a spirit of isolation and join our community in Jesus's name I pray.

Until next time,

With love,

Elisha aka Witness 2...and who doesn't love rainbows?