Puritan Corner - Dangerous

It is dangerous to be the world's favorite.
by Simeon Ashe (?-1622)
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
1 John 2:15

Sabbath Keeping Simplified

"The Sabbath is the one commandment we must accept solely by faith in Jesus’ authority.

---Keeping it does not save us,
---but it demonstrates our true allegiance.

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17"
StepsToLife

IN the NEWS - California Legislators Blame Religious People

If the world hate you, (that includes California Legislators) ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
John 15:18

"In a resolution that recently passed the state assembly, “the Legislature calls upon all Californians to embrace the individual and social benefits of family and community acceptance” of LGBT people. It singles out especially faith-motivated individuals and organizations.
lawmakers are planning to spread the idea, with the power and moral authority of the state, that such religious beliefs actually kill people, including children. The text of this bill boldly states:

WHEREAS, The stigma associated with being LGBT often created by groups in society, including therapists and religious groups, has caused disproportionately high rates of suicide, attempted suicide, depression, rejection, and isolation amongst LGBT and questioning individuals…

Note the absoluteness of their conclusions, particularly two words: create and cause. Stigma, created by religious groups, causes high rates of suicide."
Federalist

Creation Moment 7/31/2019 - Jesus AGE Verses Series: 3

Jesus AGE Verses Series: 3

What does Jesus have to say about the age of the earth?

 

"Those verses, hereafter collectively referred to as the “Jesus AGE verses,” show that Jesus was a young-earth creationist. They are:

1. “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.” (Mark 10:6)
2. “For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.” (Mark 13:19–20)
3. “. . . so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.” (Luke 11:50–51)

The key phrases that will attract our attention in these verses are “from (or since) the beginning of creation” and “since the foundation of the world.”

Mark 10:6 “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.” Commentators agree that Jesus is quoting from Genesis 1 & 2, so the “male and female” he refers to are Adam and Eve. Jesus says they were “from the beginning of creation” (ἀπὸ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως). To what does that phrase refer—to the creation of Adam and Eve or to the beginning of creation in Genesis 1:1?

Besides its use in Mark 10:6, “from the beginning of creation” (ἀπὸ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως) appears in Mark 13:19 and 2 Peter 3:4. In 2 Peter 3:4, Peter is speaking about the past and the future of the whole heavens and earth, not simply of humanity. His reference to the beginning of creation must, therefore, be equally cosmic in extent.
In a similar phrase in Revelation 3:14, Jesus says that He is “the beginning (or ruler) of the creation” (ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεως), which certainly applies to all of creation."
AIG

ERROR Simplified

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men....Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 15:9/7:15

"Error cannot stand alone, and would soon become extinct if it did not fasten itself like a parasite upon the tree of truth.

Error draws its life from the truth of God.

--The traditions of men, like floating germs, attach themselves to the truth of God, and men regard them as a part of the truth.
--Through false doctrines, Satan gains a foothold, and captivates the minds of men, causing them to hold theories that have no foundation in truth.

Men boldly teach for doctrines the commandments of men;
and as traditions pass on from age to age,
they acquire a power over the human mind.
But age does not make error truth, neither does its burdensome weight cause the plant of truth to become a parasite.

*The tree of truth bears its own genuine fruit, showing its true origin and nature.
*The parasite of error also bears its own fruit, and makes manifest that its character is diverse from the plant of heavenly origin."
E.G.W.

Lesson of the Parable of Luke 12

"Most people seem to think that the sole duty of man is to provide for himself, leaving God out of the question entirely; and even many who recognize the fact that God has claims upon them, think that “we must make a living.”

Not so; we must glorify God, and this must be our first, and, indeed, our only object; and since we cannot provide for ourselves, but must depend upon God for all our temporal supplies, it stands to reason that by serving him faithfully our prospects for a continued supply of at least the necessaries of life, is better than if we ignored him.

Christ’s parable in Luke 12, shows what a man will lose by a failure to make the glory of God the first thing in all his calculations:

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.

And he spoke a parable unto them,

saying,

The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying,

What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said unto him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?

So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15-21)."
E.J.Waggoner

Creation Moment 7/30/2019 - Jesus AGE Verses Series: 2

Jesus AGE Verses Series:2

What does Jesus have to say about the age of the earth?

 

"In John 10:34–35 Jesus defended His claim to deity by quoting from Psalm 82:6 and then asserting that “Scripture cannot be broken.”

Another way that Jesus revealed His complete trust in the Scriptures was by treating as historical fact the accounts in the Old Testament which most contemporary people think are unbelievable mythology.

These historical accounts include

Adam and Eve as the first married couple

(Matt. 19:3–6, Mark 10:3–9),

Abel as the first prophet who was martyred

(Luke 11:50–51),

Noah and the Flood

(Matt. 24:38–39),

Moses and the serpent

(John 3:14),

Moses and the manna

(John 6:32–33, 49),

the experiences of Lot and his wife

(Luke 17:28–32),

the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah

(Matt. 10:15),

the miracles of Elijah

(Luke 4:25–27),

and Jonah and the big fish

(Matt. 12:40–41).

As Wenham has compellingly argued.

Jesus did not allegorize these accounts but took them as straightforward history, describing events that actually happened just as the Old Testament describes.

The thoughts of men are nothing compared to the commandments and testimonies of God.

It is a very serious error, according to Jesus, to set them aside in order to submit to some other source of supposed truth, whether natural or supernatural."

AIG

Psalm 21: Present & Future Praise

Psalm 21:

He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him,

even length of days for ever and ever.

vs.4

"Psalm 21: The connection with the preceding Psalm contains thanksgiving for the Lord’s deliverance.

The first part (of Psalm 21), is a thanksgiving for victory;
the last part is an anticipation of future victories in the Lord through the king-general.

Two scenarios of victory provide a context for praise and prayer to the Commander-in-Chief of Israel’s king-general.

I.       A Present-Past Scenario of Praise: Grounded upon Victories Accomplished in the Lord (21:1-6).

His glory is great in thy salvation: honor and majesty hast thou laid upon him. vs.5

II.      A Present-Future Scenario of Prayer and Praise: Grounded upon Victories Anticipated in the Lord (21:7-13).

For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. vs.7."

 

Thou hast given him his heart's desire,

and hast not withholden the request of his lips.

vs.22

BooksOfTheBible

Emotions are Like Clouds

"Do not feed on the husks of self-righteousness, but go to the Lord; He has the best robe to put upon you, and His arms are open to receive you. Christ will say, "Take away the filthy garments, and clothe him with a change of raiment." (Zech.3:4).

But shall we wait till we feel that we are cleansed?--No;
Christ has promised that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

You are proved of God through His Word.
--You are not to wait for wonderful emotions before you believe that God has heard you;
--feeling is not to be your criterion,

for emotions are as changeable as the clouds.

You must have something solid for the foundation of your faith. The word of the Lord is a word of infinite power, upon which you may rely; and He has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive." (John 16:24) 

*Look to Calvary.

*Has not Jesus said that He is your Advocate?

Has He not said that if you ask anything in His name, you shall receive?"
The Bible Echo 1893 E.G.W.

Purpose of the Sanctuary

"It is a marvelous revelation that the entire sanctuary service was symbolic of Christ’s priestly ministry. He was represented in every sacrifice, and fulfilled both phases of the priesthood–the first by dying for fallen man, and the second by pleading before the Father for every repentant sinner.

When Christ ascended to heaven, He entered not “into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us:” (Heb.9:24). So, the earthly sanctuary came to an end. Remember, it was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Roman army.

The priests, under the old covenant, performed their ministry in relationship to the Ten Commandments. So, Jesus Christ our high priest, now in heaven, under the new covenant performs His ministry in relation to these same Ten Commandments; the original law of God. We read in Hebrews 8:8-10: “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Now notice this– “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” What is God saying? He says that under the new covenant, He is going to take away sin out of our hearts, and He says, “I will give you a new heart, and write my law in your heart.” You notice God did not say, “I will abolish my covenant, and give you a new law.” and neither did He say, “I will give grace to supersede the Ten Commandments.”

What God is really trying to tell us is that because of His grace, He will write His law in our hearts, and bring our lives into conformity to His precepts. Isn’t that simple? Perhaps I should say isn’t that beautiful?

Now you can easily see that during a year’s time, there would be a multitude of sins that had gathered in the earthly sanctuary. This is what made it necessary to cleanse the sanctuary, or blot out the record of those sins, and take them out of the sanctuary as

described in Leviticus 16. And so it was, that there was a day known as “The Day of Atonement”, in which the sanctuary was cleansed.

From 34 A.D. until 1844 Christ ministered within the first apartment of the sanctuary, according to the terms of the new covenant. But, in 1844, Christ entered within the veil, just as the priest in the earthly sanctuary did on the Day of Atonement to cleanse the sanctuary. This is what we read in Daniel 8:14, “Unto two thousand three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” So Christ our high priest left the first apartment, of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 and entered the second apartment to finish His mediatorial work, to become our Advocate."
StepsToLife

IN the NEWS - 74 out in Kansas

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Genesis 13:13

"Kansas Bureau of Investigation says they will begin 74 investigations into allegations of Catholic Church clergy sexual abuse.

According to the Christian Post, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has received 119 reports of alleged abuse.
The 74 investigations span about 30 counties in Kansas.
“Victims are asked to report all incidents of sexual abuse that involve a member of the clergy, no matter how long ago the incident occurred, and even if it was previously reported to law enforcement or the church,” stated the KBI.
The investigations come after Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt asked the KBI to investigate the many allegations. Schmidt also asked for the names of the priests accused of sexual misconduct.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City released 22 names and the Diocese of Salina released a list of 14. The dioceses of Wichita and Dodge City have yet to release their lists."
BCN

Creation Moment 7/29/2019 - Jesus AGE Verses Series: I

Jesus AGE Verses Series: I

What does Jesus have to say about the age of the earth?

"--Young-earth creationists have been contending for a literal six-day Creation 6,000-10,000 years ago and a global Flood.
--In opposition have been various kinds of old-earth creationists advocating theistic evolution or progressive creation over millions of years, with many of them also arguing for a local Flood at the time of Noah.
*The old-earth views have dominated the church since the early 19th century, whereas the young-earth view was the almost universal belief of the church in the first 18 centuries.

As Ravi Zacharias correctly observes in his book which refutes atheism, “Jesus claimed to be ‘the truth.’ Let us test His claims and teachings. If they are true, what He says matters more than anything else in life.”

 It will be argued that Jesus clearly was a young-earth creationist and that if we call Him Lord we should follow Him rather than the contemporary scientific majority, which primarily consists of unbelievers.

But he answered, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
 Matthew 4:4"
AIG/Dr.Terry Mortenson

REST (1)

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matt.11:28-30."
 
Here is a giving by Christ, and on our part an acceptance of the promise, a conscious finding, a sense of relief from all perplexing doubt. Simple enough, is it not?--Thus it appears.

But the promise is large and far-reaching. It implies much.
It means deliverance from constant, perplexing uncertainty.
*The word "rest" is repeated. "I will give you rest." "Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
 
The reason there are so many in perplexity
--is because they take their case into their own finite hands,
--and manufacture yokes that are not pleasant for them to wear. They think they understand their needs, and they worry and plan and devise, while Christ stands inviting, "Take my yoke upon you, ...For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

The yokes of human manufacture

gall the necks that wear them.       

 
 Do not load yourself with cares that weigh you down to the ground.
Your troubles come because you are so anxious to manage matters yourself.
 
*By some, the promise of God is grasped so eagerly that it becomes their own, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit is their experience.

*Others suppose that they must wait until they become worthy. To these I would say, Never, never, will you become worthy. If this

were possible, the Prince of heaven need not have come to our world.

Through the sacrifice and merits of the Redeemer, man is made a partaker of the divine nature; but he must act his part by co-operating with the One who has promised. Not only does Christ say, "I will give you rest," but, "Ye shall find rest unto your souls."
 
We are told in God's Word to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." What does this mean?--Fear lest you shall err in choosing the timber for your character-building.
--God alone can supply solid timber.
Well may mortal man be afraid lest he shall weave into his character the defective threads of his inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong. 
  
Let not anything rob your soul of peace, of restfulness, of the assurance that you are accepted just now. Claim every promise; all are yours if you will comply with the prescribed terms.

--Entire self-surrender,

--an acceptance of Christ's ways,

is the secret of perfect rest in His love.

  
When we fall upon the living Rock, our wrong traits of character are taken away as hindrances to perfection of character. 
When self dies, Christ lives in the human agent. Acquaintance with Christ makes us long to abide in Him, and to have Him abide in us.
 

Christ desires all to become His students. 

His acceptance means rest to the soul, rest in His love."
  Published in The Review and Herald, April 25, 1899 E.G.W.

Are you of a Sorrowful Heart or Wasted Life?

For to me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21

"Fame, genius, talent - 

 all are powerless to gladden the sorrowful heart

or to restore the wasted life."

E.G.W.

REST(2)

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

"Dissect, investigate, and weigh the Master's teaching word by word, and each syllable will repay you.
But now you have reached the house of mercy, you sit and listen to each distinct note of love's perfect peal, and wonderingly feel that even angelic harps cannot excel it.

I. Let us begin at the beginning with the first REST, and here we will make divisions only for the sake of bringing out the sense more clearly.

1. Observe the person invited to receive this first rest: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden." The word "all" first demands attention:  "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." A gift is not of merit but of grace; wages and reward are for those who earn, but a gift is a matter of charity.

2. Notice next, the precept here laid down: "Come." It is not "Learn," it is not "Take my yoke"—that is in the next verse, and is intended for the next stage of experience-but in the beginning the word of the Lord is, "Come unto me,"....Let your minds consider him who from his cross hurled the enormous mass of his people's transgressions into a bottomless sepulchre, where it was buried forever.

3. Notice next the promise spoken, "I will give you rest." "I will give." It is a rest that is a gift.

II. We must now advance to our second head—REST. It looks rather strange that after having received rest, the next verse should begin: "Take my yoke upon you." "Ah! I had been set free from laboring, am I to be a laborer again?" Hence in the text you will be pleased to see that
--there is something said about a yoke,

which is the ensign of working,

--and something about a burden,

which is the emblem of enduring.

It is in man's mortal nature that he must do or endure, or else his spirit will stagnate and be far from rest.

1. We will consider this second rest, and notice that it is rest after rest. "I will give you rest" comes before "Ye shall find rest."
--It is the rest of a man who is already at rest,
--the repose of a man who has received a given rest,
--and now discovers the found rest.
It is the rest of a learner—"Learn of me, and ye shall find rest."
After awhile the happy owner begins to examine his treasure. It is all his own, but he has not yet seen it all, for one day he detects a secret drawer...Have you found out the secret drawer yet? He has given you rest, but have you found the innermost rest which he works in your hearts?

2. Further observe that the rest in this second part of our text is a rest in service. It is coupled with a yoke, for activity—"Take my yoke;" it is connected with a burden, for endurance—"My burden is light." He who is a Christian will not find rest in being idle. There is no unrest greater than that of the sluggard.

3. The rest before us is rest through learning. ...you must go to school to Christ. "Learn of me," saith he, "for I am meek and lowly in heart." Now, in order to learn of Christ it is implied that we lay aside all prejudices of the past.....please to note what is to be learned.... learn from his example to be "meek and lowly in heart," and in learning that you will "find rest unto your souls." To catch the spirit of Jesus is the road to rest."
Charles Spurgeon

ARCHAEOLOGY: SIMULTANEOUS Pottery Pointing back to Babel......

Therefore is the name of it called Babel;....from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Genesis 11:9

"The pottery fragments from the Real Alto site appear to belong to a previously unknown culture.
They predate Ecuador’s Valdivia culture, one of the oldest pottery-featured cultures recorded in the Americas.

“Sherds are either black or black-and-brown, from bowls and globular, necked jars,” said Dr. Andrey Tabarev.
“They were made using grog and stone temper, including some large particles visible on the surface.”
“The rough, geometric decorations were made with shallow, linear incisions that had irregular margins as well as finger-gouging and rows of round punctation.”

Chemical residues found on the Real Alto pottery fragments suggest that some vessels were used for cooking.
“The mass emergence of pottery was a kind of technical breakthrough associated with many aspects of human life and the level of economic development in different parts of the globe,” said team member Dr. Alexander Popov.
“Ceramic vessels belonging to different cultures developed simultaneously confirm that our ancestors had evolved in terms of cultural diversity.”
“Despite the different vectors of human development, in the technological sense we were moving in the same direction.”
SciNews
--OR--vessels belonging to different cultures that developed SIMULTANEOUSLY show that they came from a common point--BABEL--and took the knowledge with them. That too could explain Pottery emerging SIMULTANEOUSLY too.....just saying...

Psalm 20: Preperation for the Battle

Psalm 20:

Some trust in chariots,

and some in horses:

but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

vs.7

"Psalm 20 and 21 go together: 
---The first is a psalm of intercession by the people on behalf of the king before battle;
---the second is a psalm of thanksgiving for the victory achieved.


Psalm 20, in anticipation of a military campaign, commemorates a 3-phrased ceremony regularly conducted by the people in the presence of the Commander-in-Chief on behalf of the king-general.

I.       An Offering of Their Prayers (20:1-5);

The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; vs.1

II.      A Confirmation of Their Confidence (20:6-8);

Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; vs.6

III.     A Reaffirmation of Their Dependence (20:9).

Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call. vs.9

 

Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed;

he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. vs.6

BooksOfTheBible

IN the NEWS - Catholic Church Recognizes Gay Marriage

"The Catholic Church has just officially recognized two legally “married” lesbian “mothers” as the official “parents” of a child on one of their baptism certificates.

The Archdiocese of Medellín, Colombia has performed a baptism on a child who has two mothers and they have even issued a certificate acknowledging the “family.”

The lesbian couple had a baby boy through in vitro fertilization. They were unsuccessful at first in getting the local Roman Catholic Church to baptize their child due to the fact that baptism certificates need to list the “parents” of the child. Since the “parents” of the boy are two “mothers” the Catholic Church was hesitant to officially acknowledge this “family” arrangement.

The church has proceeded with the baptism and is now officially recognizing the new “family.” LGBT+ advocates are celebrating this new move that has completely sets up a new precedent for gay and lesbian Roman Catholic couples. Inclusion has become the new gospel that the churches are promoting. This act is a ringing endorsement for the LGBT+ agenda.

This lesbian couple has been appearing in nationwide and worldwide televised interviews ever since the baptism took place. With the help of the media they are pushing the LGBT+ agenda upon the whole world. Instead of quietly moving on with their lives, they are using this poor child as a pawn to advocate for  LGBT+ inclusion in the churches. 

Religious institutions and denominations are turning their back on God. Many are rejecting the Author of the Holy Scriptures. This is what the Lord has said:

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22, 23."

AdventMessenger

Creation Moment 7/28/2019 - Hot Jupiters

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God...
Hebrews 11:3

"Hot Jupiters are gas giants presumed to be like Jupiter but orbiting their host stars at close distances, typically about five times the star’s diameter, or roughly 20 times the Moon’s distance from Earth.
The close orbits of hot Jupiters make it possible for these objects to experience strong interactions with their stars via tides, collisions with stellar wind particles, accretion of planetary gas onto the star’s surface and magnetic reconnection between the stellar and

planetary magnetic field lines.
Star-planet interactions can potentially reveal details about stellar wind properties and, most intriguingly, planetary magnetic fields.
The magnetic field strengths the researchers found range from 20 to 120 G (gauss) — around 10-100 times larger than predicted values.
For comparison, Jupiter’s magnetic field is 4.3 G and Earth’s field strength is only 0.5 G, although that is strong enough to orient compasses worldwide.
“The field strengths are larger than one would expect considering only the rotation and age of the planet,” the study authors said."
SciNews
--OR--the planets are NOT AS OLD AS YOU THINK THEY ARE...just saying...

Is not salvation great in its simplicity?

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood...
Revelation 1:5

"The death we deserved was suffered to come upon him,

that immortality might be given to us,

who could never merit such a reward.

Is not salvation great in its simplicity,
and wonderful in its comprehensiveness?

Christ takes the sinner from the lowest degradation,

and purifies,

refines,

and ennobles him."

E.G.W. 

IN the NEWS - DaNgErOuS

"The Jesuit flagship publication in the United States, America magazine, has published an article defending Marxism and comparing the murderous, atheist ideology to Christianity.

In “The Catholic Case for Communism,” America writer Dean Dettloff says that the militant atheism of Marxist politics is

“understandable” because “Christianity has so often been a force allied to the ruling powers that exploit the poor.”

Citing Marxist arguments, Dettloff makes the bizarre claim that the ownership of private property necessarily leads to slavery, since property owners come to see other people as just another form of property to be owned.

“Communism in its socio-political expression has at times caused great human and ecological suffering,” Dettloff concedes, but any “good communist is quick to admit as much,” he adds, because “communism is an unfinished project that depends on the recognition of its real and tragic mistakes.”

Mr. Dettloff evidently believes that over 100 million deaths in the 20th century can be reduced to “great human and ecological suffering” caused by the Marxist ideology being an “unfinished project.”
One would be tempted to suggest that if Marxism were a “finished” project, the deaths would be many times greater.

Dettloff goes so far as to parallel Marx’s The Communist Manifesto to Catholic teaching on the nature of private property.
Although the Catholic Church “officially” teaches that private property is a natural right, Dettloff writes, “this teaching also comes with the proviso that private property is always subordinate to the common good.” Breitbart
This is Dangerous -- mixing communism with religion. Imagine the hate driven violent rage of Leftist Bolsheviks who also think they are doing God's will....
Thou shalt not covet thy...any thing that is thy neighbor's.
Exodus 20:17