In 312 AD Constantine fought a battle to determine who would be emperor of the Roman Empire. Before the battle, in a French seaside town known as La Croix Valmer, Constantine prayed to Mithras, the sun god, for victory and he saw a vision of a flaming cross next to the sun and the words, "Conquer by this." Constantine was victorious and so he decided he was a Christian. He never stopped being a sun worshipper and his claim of Chrisitan faith is unsupportable. From this "revelation", the state and Christianity became one entity controlled by the Emperor. Three hundred years later the world was in the Dark Ages. For the Jews and Jewish believers in Yeshua, persecution was almost immediate as Constantine sought to rid all Jewish connections from Christianity. He also formalized the faith making home worship illegal. Now, to be legitimate, one had to have emperor style worship and liturgy in a basilica with professional clergy controlling religious experience and the Bible itself. His blunders affect believers today and if you want a great account of this transition read "The Messianic Church Arising" by Robert Heidler which can be found at www.glory-of-zion.org.We had a chance to visit La Croix Valmer this week. In front of their city hall there were two olive trees (photo above). Constantine separated the natural and wild olive trees but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is reuniting them in this day. This is what we prayed in La Croix Valmer, that the Lord would undo what has been considered normal since 325 AD (the Council of Nicea drove Jewish believers out of the body of Messiah) and reunite Jews and Gentiles under the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua. Shalom. David Schneier
