"Gang, gang, gang, gang..."

Born & raised just south of Chicago’s south side, you see a world full of gang activity & gangs. They tried to recruit in the hood, at the store, on the bus & at school. As a child, my Dad used to harp on not getting involved with gangs, saying they were for “kids who had no family” who turned to the streets to find what they were missing. By definition, gang or ‘mob’ is “A loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities“. Traditional organized religion always turns political (about money, power & respect) & therefore, sooner or later, becomes just that - a mob or a gang. It always did. Saul in the Bible, later called Paul, was politically-religious, but not a “christian”. He wasn't a soldier though, either. He was a politically-religious gangster. His testimony can be found in these Scriptures below, & the ones proceeding/following them in the Bible:

Acts 22:4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

Acts 26:4-5, 8-11 Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from the earliest days of my youth, among my own people and in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion... Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

1Co. 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Gal. 1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it.

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Today, we still see this type of activity: From the thousands of folk who aren’t even Believers of Jesus Christ who want to hold politically-religious debates on social media to see how many others they can sway to be lost also, to these thousands of building-going folk claiming to be “saved” with a spirit of religion who bully, lie, politic, steal and will literally kill just like the pharisees & others would back in Biblical times. It’s not new.

They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God - John 16:2

So now the youth then seem to have picked up on this system, this way of doing things, and mirror this. So the religious divide-up into cliques called 'denominations' & the youth have their own gang cliques. The religious have organizations with abbreviated long names & so do the youths gangs. The religious have their c.o.g.i.c. & the youth have b.g.d.n. & their c.v.l.n. & the l.g.b.t.q. Religious folk always add the Lord in their hypocrisy & claim their His disciple, thus the youth chose the terms ‘disciples & vice lords’. How these organizations are ran is even similar & both harbor a spirit of poverty. They both have dress-codes that seem out-of-kilter with the rest of society. Both have 'laws' they adhere to. Both are territorial. Both recruit. And their creed, structure, approach, etc. ALL mocks Biblical Order - They may look like or know-of, but aren’t. Both sets fear-monger. This is also why you see bullying in schools & children take their lives. It’s the same reason many won’t leave a building they mistakenly call ,'church', where they’re bullied & belittled - because they feel out-numbered & are afraid to leave so they remain under this oppressive squeeze of a Man-made way of doing things modeled in front of them every week.

One thing’s for sure, you can’t be OF the world-system and change it from the inside. You can, however, be a born-again Believer of Jesus Christ, only simply Believe & follow Him, & make change by being the salt of the Earth & light of the world- Believe who the Word of God says you are & an example to the world-system so they see Him when they see you.

I may revisit this later when I can.