Light from the Darkness: Hope from despair!

Biblically WHO are God's chosen people and HOW does God choose his people?

2025-09-17T12:26:00.054-06:00

Before continuing into this biblical understanding of who "God's chosen people" really are I MUST ADDRESS SOMETHING THAT SOCIAL MEDIA GET'S WRONG AND MISAPPLIES TO ANYONE TELLING A TRUTH.

I understand what "hateful conduct" is however the meaning is wrongfully placed upon anyone telling the truth plainly seen in scripture and we have no recourse to fight against it because they set themselves up as the sole interpreters of truth.

It is in fact the SELF APOINTED "SOCIAL MEDIA" OWNERS AND THOSE THEY HIRE TO INTERPRET TRUTH THAT ARE USING HATEFULL ATTACKS AGAINST TRUTH.

It is a Satanically inspired insertion of false and disconnected facts of that information since 1948 that has confused the concept of "The Chosen People" that has caused the Church to think wrongly about not only WHO IS CHOSEN but how God chose them in the first place!

https://thejusticecometh.substack.com/p/biblical-israel-vs-modern-israel

Hosea 2:15 is a verse rich with imagery and layered meaning, rooted in the context of the prophet Hosea’s message to Israel.

We can see a great picture of what God is doing to UNITE true Israel to its original meaning :

This verse comes from a section where God is speaking through Hosea about His relationship with Israel, often portrayed as an unfaithful wife whom God promises to woo back and restore BUT HOW IS GOD DOING THAT?

Here, “I will give her her vineyards from there” suggests a restoration of blessings and abundance—vineyards symbolizing prosperity and joy.

TRUE ISRAEL IS NOT ROOTED IN PHYSICAL OWNERSHIP OF LAND THAT'S A SMALL PART OF THE BLESSING BUT IT DOESN'T DEFINE BEING GOD'S PEOPLE; the Gentiles were also promised lands but none of them were of God's chosen people.

In other words owning Land in the "Promised Land" shown to Abraham IS NOT PROOF THOSE WHO OWN IT NOW WERE CHOSEN BY GOD TO OWN IT!

So LAND doesn't define WHO GOD'S CHOSEN ARE any more than it defines who GOD'S ENEMIES ARE that definition is ONLY OF A SPIRITUAL NATURE that of holding faith and trust in his commands or REBELLING AGAINST HIS WORD.

Israel is much bigger in scope than just land which if all were known encompasses the whole earth at the time not just a tiny bit of real estate in the Mideast. God intended for his people to inhabit the whole creation before the fall!

God intended for Adam to inherit the whole earth before his fall; but his fall interrupted God's plan so he had to chose someone based upon his Faith not his background as a Pagan!

Romans 2:28-29

"For he is 👉NOT a [real] Jew👈 who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical."

👉"But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and [true] circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal [matter]. His praise is not from men but from God."👈

🔥 Israel was too receive from an unexpected place or situation of God's making but the fraudulent creation by the Rothchild's THAT THE CHURCH THINKS IS ISRAEL IS IN FACT "The Synagogue of Satan" that God warned of!

The Nation of Israel we all look at today is a SECULAR not a religious Nation it contains multiple religious sects of Jew and Gentile beliefs but is controlled overall by a Secular based government based upon how God choses his People that alone disqualifies SECULAR NATIONS as his chosen ones since he looks at the heart but he does use those secular Nations to bring about his plan for his chosen.

1 Samuel 16:7

"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Revelation 3:9

"Take note, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know [without any doubt] that I have loved you."

Revelation 2:9

"‘I know your suffering and your poverty (but you are rich), and how you are blasphemed and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan [they are Jews only by blood, and do not believe and truly honor the God whom they claim to worship]."

Are there real Jews living in this Secular Nation?

YES!

WORLDWIDE TRUE JEWS ARE BIBLICALLY DOING WHAT GOD REQUIRES ACCEPTING YESHUA AS MESSIAH BOTH JEW AND GENTILE AS ONE BODY.

Neither Jew nor Gentile IN YESHUA is chosen to be separate entities we are ONE NEW MAN not one in a nation apart only the fake are SECULAR ISRAEL!

SECULAR ISRAEL IS A NEST OF CORRUPTION CREATED TO BE JUST THAT, WHILE THE CHURCH WAS TAUGHT THAT JUST BEING BORN A JEW MEANT THEY ARE CHOSEN.

The problem with that teaching is its never taught in scripture even once.

Physical birth is not a sign of God's acceptance: Rather OBEDIENCE TO HIS LAWS WAS THE FACTOR IN GOD'S CALLING AT ALL TIMES.

God looks at the heart of Faith not the biological bloodline, somewhere we lost the context amidst false teachings and bad doctrines!

BEING CHOSEN has nothing to do with skin color or cultural belief ALL OF MANKIND IS OF ONE BLOOD AND ONE RACE so its not God's intent to chose man made ideas but to BRING FROM HEAVEN HIS IDEA AND PLANT IT IN THE EARTH.

Now back to Hosea: The phrase “from there” hints that this renewal comes out of a low point, a place of discipline or hardship.

The “Valley of Achor” is key.

Historically, it’s tied to Joshua 7, where Achan’s sin (stealing devoted items [IDOLS] after Jericho’s fall) brought judgment on Israel, and he was executed there.

Achor means “trouble” in Hebrew, so the valley became a symbol of failure and punishment.

But here, God flips that—it becomes a “door of hope and expectation.”

This is a promise that even a place of past trouble will transform into an entryway to something better, a time when God’s favor returns.

The mention of singing “as in the days of her youth” and “the day when she came up from the land of Egypt” evokes Israel’s early, innocent days of faith.

Think of the Exodus—after the Red Sea crossing, when Miriam and the people sang in triumph (Exodus 15).

It’s a picture of renewed joy, responsiveness, and closeness with God, like a honeymoon phase restored after a rough patch.

So, in essence, this verse is God saying:

“I’ll turn her losses into gains, her shame into hope, and bring her back to a place of delight and trust in Me, like it was at the start.”

It’s about redemption, not just patching things up WITH A QUICK FIX but making them better than they were before.

Just as Q said that what needed to be done had to be done correctly and done right not just quickly done without getting too the core issues surrounding the problems!

@POTUS is rooting out the Physical problems that have caused America's spiritual curse and its the Churches job NOW to do its job in the redemptive process OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE to break the Curses from continuing going forward!

Think about the promise to Abraham HOW COULD A PEOPLE AS VAST AS THE SAND OF THE SEA AND NUMBERED AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN BE LIMITED TO A LITTLE SLIVER OF LAND FOREVER?

The picture God painted of who he chose is so much more than what's been explained as doctrine- God has bigger plans than our small minded ideas of blessing!

Deuteronomy 7

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, and has cleared away many nations before you, the Hittite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant (treaty) with them nor show mercy and compassion to them.

You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son; ...

As is clear God's RULES to his people given here were later ignored and his laws broken, they were not hard rules to follow but that doesn't seem to matter to these people who were in complete disobedience and therefore THOSE specific individuals in disobedience were not of his chosen ones.

BECAUSE GOD CHOSES BASED UPON THE HEART;

BASED UPON FAITH IN HIS WORDS;

BASED UPON OBEDIENCE TO HIS COMMANDMENTS ONLY;

NOT UPON THE LAND THEY DWELL IN;

NOT UPON WHO THEY CLAIM TO BE;

NOT UPON BLOODLINE ALONE

BUT TAKEN FROM THE BLOODLINE OF PURE FAITH BASED OBEDIENCE LIKE ABRAHAM!

Genesis 18-19

"And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him and shall bless themselves by him?"

CLEARLY THE SEED OF ABRAHAM WAS TO BE WORLDWIDE; THE SEED WAR WAS SPIRITUAL BUT ALSO PHYSICAL TO ELIMINATE GOD'S SEED THROUGH ABRAHAM BY MESSING WITH ITS DNA.

Hosea’s a goldmine for symbolic language, and this verse ties into a web of meanings that echo through Scripture.

1. Vineyards as Covenant Blessing:

KEEP in mind here that this was the very thing Joshua and Caleb returned from their spying out of the promised land with; to show forth what God had given them- they rejected this sign of Covenant.

Beyond just prosperity, vineyards often symbolize God’s covenant relationship with His people.

In Deuteronomy 8:8, they’re part of the Promised Land’s bounty—signs of God’s faithfulness.

Here, restoring “her vineyards” could hint at renewing that intimate bond, not just giving material wealth.

It’s like God saying, “I’m bringing back the good times we had together.”

2. Valley of Achor as Transformation:

We already touched on Achor meaning “trouble,” but prophetically, its shift to a “door of hope” mirrors other biblical turnarounds.

Think Isaiah 65:10, where desolate places like Sharon and Achor become fertile again in the Messianic age.

It’s a symbol of God’s habit of flipping curses into blessings—death to life, exile to homecoming.

Some see this as pointing beyond Israel to a future redemption for all creation.

3. Door of Hope:

Doors in prophecy often mark transitions or access to something new.

Revelation 3:8 has an “open door” for opportunity, and in Hosea, this door could symbolize a threshold—crossing from judgment to mercy.

It’s less about a literal gate and more about a moment when everything changes, a pivot point in the story.

4. Singing and Youth:

The return to “days of her youth” and singing isn’t just nostalgia—it’s a prophetic nod to spiritual renewal.

Singing ties to joy and worship (like in Psalms or Zephaniah 3:17, where God sings over His people).

The “day she came up from Egypt” isn’t just a throwback; it’s a symbol of deliverance.

Egypt’s always the big bad guy in Israel’s story—slavery, oppression—so this is about liberation, a new exodus.

Some interpreters even link it to a future Messianic deliverance, where God’s people rejoice again.

5. Egypt as the World:

On a deeper level, Egypt often stands for the world’s pull—sin, bondage, anything that traps you or blocks you from surrendering to God.

The promise of singing as they did leaving Egypt could symbolize breaking free from spiritual captivity.

It’s not just historical; it’s a pattern.

Hosea’s audience would’ve heard this as a call to ditch their idols (like the Baal worship they’d fallen into) and return to God. Notice this clearly: UNLESS THEY GAVE UP THEIR IDOL'S AND RETURNED TO GOD, clear language stating that God choses based upon your surrendering YOUR LIFE to his control.

In the bigger picture of Hosea, these symbols weave into the book’s marriage metaphor—

Israel as the wayward bride, God as the relentless husband waiting for their spiritual awakening to the promises made to Abraham. They divorced themselves from the promise through through disobedience to his commands out of willful carelessness of this very thing they chose to do it because "They knew better than God" Secular Nations BY THEIR DEFINITION are willful antagonists toward any and all religions.

secular /sĕk′yə-lər/

adjective

Worldly rather than spiritual.
"the secular affairs of the parish."
Not relating to religion or to a religious body; nonreligious.
"secular music."
Not bound by the full monastic rule of a religious order. Used of clergy.

This is the state of Israel's current government THEY ARE NOT SPIRITUAL; NONRELIGIOUS; DON'T FOLLOW GOD'S RULE PERIOD END OF LESSON!

Can they repent and come back into the promise YES but that's my whole point here IF THEY DON'T THEY ARE NOT CHOSEN as the obedient servants of God as Abraham was.

The vineyard, the valley, the door, the song—they’re all pieces of a love story where betrayal gets rewritten into reconciliation.

Other prophets like Jeremiah (31:12) and Ezekiel (36:29-30) echo this too, with restored land and joy as signs of God’s favor kicking back in.

But it must be clearly understood that ISRAEL was never meant to be a Secular Nation God does not work with unbelief which is what a secular people hold as their belief system in running a Government- even if religions exist within it they are 2nd to its secular system of laws!

God never wanted Israel to have a King like other Nations.

WHY?

💥Because according to his promise HE ALONE WAS TO BE THEIR KING not some Man who later he rejected as King because he thought he knew better than God.💥

So that makes clear he does not chose based upon government based systems of kingships but simply because God made Covenant with a Man who left his Pagan family background to trust in a God he did not understand nor know until he made covenant by walking between the sacrifice HIMSELF.

In doing so God made lawful covenant with himself based upon his promise to Abraham to fulfill all the promises he made; he being the sacrifice made through Jesus' death.

The Promises were made to a man's obedience to God BUT THOSE PROMISES CAN ONLY BE FULFILLED IN A PEOPLE OF FAITH at no time can or did God promise it to a secular atheistic Nation operating outside spiritual mandates of its fulfillment.

So in conclusion POLITICAL SECULAR GOVERNMENTS have no promise from God biblically until its people repent and surrender to God spiritually giving all rule and authority over to him to be controlled by his kingship!

Is HUNTING GHOSTS equal to SPEAKING TO THE DEAD?

2013-05-28T18:48:00.005-06:00

IS HUNTING FOR GHOSTS EQUAL TO THE BIBLICAL ADMONITION TO NEVER TALK TO THE DEAD?

I BELIEVE IT IS.....BUT LET ME QUALIFY IT SOMEWHAT WITH GODLY ADVICE CONCERNING 'GHOST HUNTING', MOST OF WHAT WE WATCH ON T.V. CONCERNING THIS IDEA IS FILLED WITH UN-BIBLICAL AND UN-SOUND PRACTICES ABOUT GHOSTS, SPIRITS AND THE AFTERLIFE!

THE FOLLOWING SECTION OF AN ARTICLE WILL SUFFICE TO SHOW THE SILLINESS OF HUMAN PRIDE.

You May be a Ghost Hunters Copycat if.... | The Occult Section

"You may be a Ghost Hunters copycat if:

1.) You buy all your equipment based on what Ghost Hunters has – when they get some new experimental equipment, you pick it up also. (How many of us actually had K-2 meters before they came out on Ghost Hunters?)

2.) Your group’s logo is in yellow stencil font.

3.) Your vehicle has a large magnet with your group’s name on it that you use when you go to investigations.

4.) You have ever uttered the phrase “on to the next.”

5.) You have paid an excessive amount of money to meet/investigate with anyone on the cast, past or present.

6.) You list your occupation on Facebook as being in a paranormal group.

7.) You happily pay to investigate a location that Ghost Hunters has filmed an episode at (I can’t even say they “investigated”).

For those who don’t know – these locations will charge anywhere from $300-$1000 (and sometimes even more) for overnight investigations.

8.) You react to every little sound with “What was that?” in a frenzied whisper, followed by “Oh my God…”

9.) You actively try to get your own TV show despite claiming to not be in it for the fame.

10.) You defend all Ghost Hunters practices and “evidence” and put down other similar shows in the same breath.

11.) You are convinced your group is the best paranormal group in the world and that you have all the answers."

Now while I laugh at the funniness of this, I in no way think that Ghost Hunting is a joke. I know for a fact it has at least some legitimacy to it BUT let me be very clear about one thing......looking into anything supernatural without proper knowledge of what you find is both dangerous and stupid.

THAT GOES FOR GOD'S REALM OR THE DEVILS!

BOTH SIDES OF THE ISSUE HAVE IT WRONG ABOUT GHOSTS, SPIRITS AND THE PARANORMAL.

Take it from an ex-witch, the after-life is bigger than any Ghost story or Medium could ever tell. The Biblical statements about life in the hereafter DO NOT MATCH for even a second the statements from Ghost Hunters or Mediums. The afterlife does NOT consist of sitting on a cloud with a harp any more than haunting a house or a location forever.

Mediums are few in number that are real, but there are a few. Even they lie about the afterlife some willingly, some without knowledge but ALL tell lies. The bible is the sole proprietor of fact and truth concerning the afterlife. The desire of man to know about things of the beyond is not the problem but the ways and means of gaining that knowledge present the issue of false ideas masquerading as truth.

I watch all the shows every week, I stay well versed in their practices week to week from 'Ghost Hunters' to 'The Dead Files' to 'Ghost Adventures' and although they are entertaining and interesting at times they are NO REPLACEMENT FOR FACTS and the Bible is the ONLY place to find those facts.

NOT ALL MEDIUMS AND WITCHES ARE FAKES, I WAS ONE AND PLAYED BOTH SIDES OF THAT COIN.....SO PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I DO NOT DISCOUNT ALL THEIR FINDINGS JUST MOST OF THEIR METHODS.

The idea of talking to the dead is what is disputed here not the fact of spiritual beings existing because they do, the problem is if we when we die are already present with God for our reward one way or the other as Scripture tells us then WHO are they really speaking too?

While much of what you see is real spiritual manifestation and interactions with us the idea that these beings are somehow human spirits trapped in a physical place is absurd at best and simple stupidity at the worst! The Bible teaches no such doctrines ANYWHERE and it is easy to refute if we read what God reveals about the afterlife.

The following videos illustrate one of my theories concerning Ghosts that doesn't explain all but at least some haunted places. I believe that in some cases time itself overlaps and we can hear or see another time in an out-of-focus manner, and as in this EVP conversation the person in one time can hear us but we cannot hear them without the proper listening device, in this case a Digital Record.

A lot of pranking can go on in TV shows, I'm not saying this is real but in order to know both sides of an issue it's important to view it!

The Stanley Hotel

Sure I believe in MOST CASES so-called hauntings are just imaginary, but it does not mean that some of them are no real. The real issue here that I'm trying to convey is that "Human Beings" are not the causes of ANY HAUNTING. They are 100% demonic, they are either DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY being manipulated through their influence.

It is also interesting to note that BOTH ghosts and UFO's have a common "modus operandi " along with Demonic activities. The comparisons cannot be denied:

http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1806.htm

http://magnoliazz.hubpages.com/hub/Are-UFOs-of-the-Demonic

http://www.mt.net/~watcher/judgment.html

These are not Ghosts anyway in my opinion but 'time echos' or Residual Haunting as TAPS would call them, but unlike a 'Tape Recorded' playback it shows that time can become overlapped at certain places and for certain reasons. Most of what Ghost Hunters everywhere say is the reason for a Haunting may be true but for a totally different reason than previously understood.

NOT BECAUSE SOMEONE DIED AND IS STUCK HERE BUT BECAUSE THEIR TIME IS OVERLAPPED WITH OUR TIME......its a theory so lets have fun with it.

SAY SOMEONE FROM 1906 OVERLAPS WITH US IN 2006 FOR SOME REASON and we speak to them (thinking their Ghosts) and they hear us but we can't hear them because their voices are warped through time or distorted somehow but they can be heard by a device that picks up lower sound like a dog can hear. This is not Time travel but time folding in on itself for a moment.

Its an interesting theory if nothing else, but there may be many other such explanations for Ghost-like evidence besides that which is often explained as truth, when it is in fact a lie from hell! The Bible is very clear that human spirits with or without God DO NOT STICK AROUND AFTER DEATH but are rather taken to their ETERNAL REWARDS accordingly!

The half-truths and outright lies told to us on TV and in the Movies about eternal concepts have deceived an entire generation of viewers. Satan has used entertainment to lull us into a stupor concerning death and the afterlife with the soul purpose of stealing the word of God from the hearers and blinding us from its truth.

Joh_5:24

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

The afterlife for the Christian is WITH GOD not trapped on a physical plain with a spirit mist for a body. The entire ghost thing is delusion created to take away our hope of being better than we are in this limited life on earth!

2Co_5:8

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. "

You will notice that the transition from death to new life is almost non-existent, it is immediate after leaving the physical body that you are present with Jesus. No haunting, no wandering, no unknown.......funny most ghost hunters don't just read the B.I.B.L.E. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth?

So much misunderstanding and confusion could be avoided if we would just trust the Word of God instead of men and women who have no real knowledge of that part of life that is most inevitable......DEATH!

Ghost Hunting is not INVALID it's just completely miss used. I believe that in order to help those affected by evil we must pull our heads out of gaining rewards for it and start just helping with no rewards in mind! Let's be real here for a moment, would any of those TV personalities hunting ghosts do it if the cameras were not recording their deeds, would the idea of helping be as appealing without the big cash pay offs they obviously get in order to afford to investigate the sites that charge them a fee to do so?

This more than anything else would reveal their true motives wouldn't it? I'm not saying they don't have good motives, at least not all of them but we must begin to have true discernment about who and what we trust as a Nation. God requires payment for our sins both as individuals and as a Nation. The Occult and the sins it brings with it can destroy us as a people.

The bible proof's I've herein presented are evidence we have not been wise in choosing out directions but we can amend it with knowledge of what we witness in our lives.

Dangers of the Occult By Richard F. Ames

2011-11-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

Dangers of the Occult

Are witchcraft, astrology and spiritism just harmless hobbies, or are they deceptive sources of information and guidance?

Many do not realize that the occult now pervades modern culture, and that Christians must remain on guard against its evil influence.

Millions are pursuing astrology, witchcraft and the occult. Are they sowing seeds of doom and destruction?

Are these just harmless hobbies, or can you face real dangers if you dabble in the occult?

Less than three months after its release, the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone became the second-highest-grossing film ever, selling nearly $1 billion of tickets to theatergoers eager for a tale of witchcraft, wizardry and the occult. The first of seven installments in author J. K. Rowling’s planned series, Harry Potter is at the helm of a multi-billion-dollar media empire that has made Rowling one of the three highest-paid women in Great Britain. Her books have sold more than 60 million copies in 200 countries around the world.

Yet, for many, the occult is more than fiction. A May 2000 Zogby America poll revealed that 57.7 percent of Americans aged 18–29 believe in ghosts. This phenomenon is not confined to the United States; Time Magazine reported recently that belief in ghosts is shared by 45 percent in Britain. Melbourne’s Saturday Herald Sun reported that 46 percent of Australian women, and 34 percent of Australian men, believe in ghosts (January 16, 1999). Leger Marketing reported in October 2001 that 30.2 percent of Canadians believe in ghosts.

In Rowling’s books, characters routinely interact with ghosts.

Harry communicates with his dead parents through a special mirror. Characters seek guidance from astrologers, cast occult spells and use their paranormal powers to fight their enemies.

The Bible condemns this as sorcery, yet it is a part of the ordinary world of Harry Potter. The Harry Potter series teaches young minds a false and evil worldview in which occult powers, condemned in Scripture, can be used as tools for good.

PICK YOUR PILL: The Rabbit Hole Awaits!

Sadly, instead of condemning the dangerous and un-biblical world of witches and wizards, some churches and clergy have tried to exploit its appeal to youth. Last year, a vicar in one English church held a special "Harry Potter liturgy." A serpent was hung in the church, while a clergyman wearing a wizard’s robe led the service. Other elements of the Harry Potter story were brought into the church service. Incredibly, many other pastors expressed interest in having that liturgy for their own churches.

What have the world’s churches come to? As one American commentator observed: "Nobody respects a religious institution willing to compromise willy-nilly with the secular culture, on a fool’s quest for popularity. A church that will try anything stands for nothing!" (Rod Dreher, New York Post, Sept. 5, 2000).

Today’s media fascination with the occult extends far beyond Harry Potter. Thirty-five years ago, many considered the television series Bewitched controversial. Today, it seems tame compared to such popular television fare as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Charmed, which glamorize the occult.

And the occult is not just for teenagers or couch potatoes. Even leaders of nations pursue the occult. Former White House chief of staff Donald Regan reported, in his autobiography For the Record, that President Ronald Reagan’s travels and activities were approved by an astrologer of his wife’s choosing. The London Daily Telegraph reported that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher consulted an astrologer "for signs of future dangers." Most members of India’s Parliament have personal astrologers on retainer.

Even in the former Soviet Union, once a bastion of materialism, the occult holds sway, as Russia is "swamped by astrologers, UFOlogists, soothsayers, parapsychologists, bogus doctors and other charlatans, whom genuine scientists make few efforts to contradict.… One of the main tasks of a senior official in the Presidential Security Service is to study astrology and prepare horoscopes" (London Daily Telegraph, July 29, 1996).

How Has Mankind Been Deceived?

Scripture reveals the source of occult deception.

"So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Revelation 12:9). Satan deceives the whole world, not just a part of this world. And he also has spirit helpers, called demons.

How does Satan deceive the whole world? He does it through the occult, false religion and false education—and through a social system that seeks licentious pleasure rather than God! The prophet Isaiah wrote:

"And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19). Who are people seeking today: mediums, wizards or the true God? Isaiah wrote: "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).

We need to understand that there is a real spirit world!

Notice this warning:

"When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead" (Deuteronomy 18:9–11).

God Almighty condemns sorcery and witchcraft. If you are "playing around" with such darkness, then you need to reject that underworld of evil! Seek the true God of your Bible! God’s warning continues:

"For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you" (Deuteronomy 18:12–14).

Can anything be more clear concerning the evils of witchcraft and sorcery? And yet millions of adults are teaching their children that there is nothing wrong with a Harry Potter actively pursuing witchcraft and wizardry. But the prophet Samuel told King Saul that witchcraft is sin.

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king" (1 Samuel 15:23).

God says that participation in the occult is spiritual harlotry (Psalm 106:38–39)! How did God punish His people for their wickedness? "Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people, so that He abhorred His own inheritance. And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, and those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand" (Psalm 106:40–42). The nation of Israel went into captivity because of these abominable practices.

A great tribulation and captivity will also come upon our peoples, if we fail to repent of our evil practices!

Some might argue that dressing up in Halloween costumes is "innocent" fun, and rationalize that parents today are not encouraging their children to expose themselves to symbols and practices of the occult. But parents who take this approach are risking their children’s spiritual lives by underestimating the devil’s influence (Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4).

In Luke’s gospel, we find that our Savior cured many individuals who were plagued by evil spirits: "And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight" (Luke 7:21). Do we live contrary to our Savior’s example? Do we teach our children to attract and cultivate evil spirits at Halloween? Certainly, dressing up like a demon or a witch invites evil rather than opposes it!

The Apostle James advises us to resist evil, not entertain it! "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). That is your Creator’s instruction to you! He promises that the devil will flee from you. Yes, "Resist the devil!" Do not join the masses in celebrating the dark world of Satan and the occult! Do not participate in the dark traditions of Halloween or any other such practices.

Notice God’s warnings against mediums and familiar spirits:

"Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31).

The Creator God plainly states that we should avoid mediums and spiritists. He does not want you to be defiled by evil influence. Notice His strong language:

"The person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 20:6–7).

When a person consorts with mediums and familiar spirits, God says that he is prostituting himself. Christians are to be clean and wholesome. They should be "holy" as we just read. Remember what the Apostle Peter wrote:

"But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’" (1 Peter 1:15–16).

Astrology and False Prophecy

Astrology has three major flaws, each of which cancels any claim to scientific validity.

First, astrology fails to succeed when tested against reality.

For example, the distribution of the heavens at the moment of birth is supposed to determine one’s astrological sign and thus one’s personality and future. On that basis, twins should have nearly identical lives. However, twins often vary greatly in talent, personality, and the paths of life they choose. Remember Jacob and Esau (Gen. 25:19-34).

Second, one’s so-called astrological sign is no longer valid.

Because of the precession of the earth’s axis, a person is actually born under a different star sign than is assigned by the outdated horoscopes in use today. Astrology is based on the former positions of stars (as they were 3,000 years ago in Babylonian times). Each year, the error in dating the zodiac signs grows greater.

Third, it is impossible for the stars to have an effect on a person, much less on world events.

The gravity of stars and planets is the only force that acts through space distances, and its effect if negligible on Earth.

Satan also deceives mankind through astrology. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Astrology originated in Mesopotamia, perhaps in the 3rd millennium bc, but attained its full development in the Western world much later, within the orbit of Greek civilization of the Hellenistic period.

It spread to India in its older Mesopotamian form. Islamic culture absorbed it as part of the Greek heritage; and in the Middle Ages, when Western Europe was strongly affected by Islamic science, European astrology also felt the influence of the Orient…. Although various Christian councils condemned astrology, the belief in the worldview it implies was not seriously shaken. In the late European Middle Ages, a number of universities, among them Paris, Padua, Bologna, and Florence, had chairs of astrology."

Even though all true Christians have condemned astrology over the years, it has persisted. In our modern time, astrologers admit that the newspaper variety of horoscope advice is mainly entertainment. But when world leaders consult astrologers for guidance, they are seeking the wrong god! Listen to God’s warning through the prophet Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them" (Jeremiah 10:2).

We have already seen that Jesus predicted that signs and wonders would deceive the many. The book of Revelation reveals dramatic events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ. There will be a great false prophet and religious system that will perform miracles, signs and wonders. The Apostle John writes this about the great false prophet.

"He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men" (Revelation 13:13). Millions, if not billions, of people will be deceived by these impressive miracles. "And he [the false prophet] deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast" (Revelation 13:14).
How can you tell whether someone is truly a minister of God, and not someone controlled by the occult world?

Deuteronomy gives us a key.

"If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’; which you have not known; ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him" (Deuteronomy 13:1–4).

A false minister or prophet may even prophesy accurately concerning some sign or wonder. But God says that if he leads you after other gods—if he leads you away from the God of the Bible and the true Jesus Christ of your Bible—then he is a false prophet. Notice also that God may be testing you, to see if you will be faithful to His Word and to His way of life!
Satan has deceived the whole world. He has many methods of deception, including witches, wizardry, channeling, sorcery, astrology, spiritism and false religion. You need to be on guard against the dangers of the occult.

The Apostle Peter gave us this instruction in 1 Peter 5:8–9: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."

God promises us protection from evil. Jesus taught us to pray: "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13). Paul exhorted Christians: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:11–12).

You can overcome the wicked one by knowing the word of God—the Bible—and living by it. You can overcome the temptations and deceptions of the occult and false religion. As the Apostle Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." May God empower you to go forward in faith. May you live not by the dark deceptions of this world, but by the light of truth, God’s Word.

King Saul's Séance
Movies like The Sixth Sense, and television programs such as Crossing Over With John Edward, play on mankind’s wish that the dead could communicate with the living. This is an age-old wish; nearly 3,000 years ago, a desperate King Saul sought help from a medium—and suffered greatly for doing so.

Saul had disobeyed God’s instructions regarding the Amalekites. He received God’s judgment that "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king" (1 Samuel 15:23).

Because of Saul’s disobedience, the Spirit of God was no longer guiding him (1 Samuel 16:14; 28:6). Desperate for guidance, Saul asked a medium to perform a séance, though he knew this violated God’s law, which prescribed the death penalty for witchcraft or mediumship (Leviticus 20:27).

During the séance, a spirit identified as Samuel (1 Samuel 28:14–15) warned that the Philistines would defeat Israel’s armies, and Saul would soon die. Saul became "dreadfully afraid" because of these words, and "fell full length on the ground" (v. 20).

Clearly, this spirit’s message terrified Saul. But was the summoned spirit really Samuel? No, it was not. Scripture explains that Saul never actually saw Samuel; he only perceived that the spirit was Samuel because of the medium’s descriptions (1 Samuel 28:14). The Bible faithfully records Saul’s experience, from his terrified point of view, but does not teach that the spirit was Samuel. Interestingly, most of today’s mediums follow a similar practice, claiming to communicate with deceased spirits even though—like Saul—their clients never actually see those spirits.

Crossing Over With John Edward is wildly popular in some circles, and has even spawned imitators like The Pet Psychic, whose host claims to communicate with families’ dearly departed pets. Spirit communication is not only the stuff of horror movies and cable television; even "innocent family fare" like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol stirs the hope that our loved ones can still call to us from beyond the grave. But this is a false hope. Our dead friends and relatives are unconscious, and will remain so until the resurrection (Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalm 146:4). Their state in death is compared to a sleep from which only God can wake them (1 Corinthians 15:51). No medium can summon the dead.

The Apostle Paul warned that some in the "latter times" would give "heed to deceiving spirits" (1 Timothy 4:1). Some modern mediums may be charlatans, who infer details about the dead by "reading" their living, paying clients. But other "genuine" mediums may be genuinely deceived, communicating with demonic spirits who impersonate the deceased.
"Genuine" or not, mediumship is dangerous business. But few today realize the serious consequences of rebelling against God’s law and seeking after spirits. What was the result for Saul? Scripture explains: "So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance" (1 Chronicles 10:13). Christians today should heed Saul’s cautionary example.

A great Testimony of Deliverance Parts 1-2

2011-11-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

Get Free, DON'T WAIT anylonger!

Deliverance From Satan and His Demonic Forces

If YOU have not confessed Jesus as your Savior and Lord, pray specifically for your salvation FIRST if you have not already done so.

Stand and thank the Father that it is done in the name of Jesus. Then pray THIS WAY:
"Father, in the name of Jesus, I come boldly to Your throne of grace and present myself before You. I stand and intercede in my behalf, knowing that the Holy Spirit within me takes hold together with me against the evils that would attempt to hold me in bondage.

I unwrap myself from these bonds of wickedness with my prayers and take my shield of faith too quench every fiery dart of the adversary that would come against my soul.

Father, You said that whatever I bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever I loose on earth is loosed in heaven. You said for me to cast out demons in the name of Jesus.

So I speak to you, Satan, and to the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places and the demonic spirits that have controlled the Witchcraft, Dark Magic, and practices that I have practiced. All evil Spirits assigned to me. I take authority over you and bind you away from ME, MY LIFE, AND MY FAMILY in the mighty name of Jesus.

You loose MY LIFE and let ME go free in the name of Jesus. I demand that you desist in your maneuvers now. Satan, you are a spoiled and defeated foe.

Ministering spirits [Angels] of God, go forth in the name of Jesus and provide for me the necessary help and assistance too bind the actions and loose God's power into my life now.

Father, I have laid hold of YOUR salvation and MY confession of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I now speak of things that are not as though they were, for I choose to look at the unseen, the eternal things of God.

I say with YOUR AUTHORITY that Satan shall not get an advantage over my life in any form, for I am not ignorant of Satan's devices.

I resist Satan, and he has run in terror from me in the name of Jesus. I will from this time forward give Satan no place in my life. I plead the blood of the Lamb over myself and my family, for Satan and his cohorts are overcome by that blood and Your Word.

I thank You, Father, that I now can tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy in my life. I am now delivered from this present evil world. I am RIGHT NOW delivered from the powers of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of Your dear Son!

Father, I ask You now to fill ALL the vacant places within my soul with Your redemption, Your Word, Your Holy Spirit, Your love, Your wisdom, Your righteousness and Your revelation knowledge in the name of Jesus.

I thank You, Father, that i'm redeemed out of the hand of Satan by the blood of Jesus. I am justified and made righteous by the blood of Jesus and belong to You spirit, soul and body.

I thank You that every enslaving yoke is now broken, for I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power in the name of Jesus. I have escaped the snare of the devil who has held me captive and henceforth do Your will, Father, which is to glorify You in my spirit, soul and body.

Thank You, Father, that Jesus was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Satan's works are now destroyed in my life in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah! I will walk in the Kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit! Praise the Lord! Amen."

Once this prayer has been prayed and remember ITS NOT THE PRAYER THAT FREES YOU ITS YOUR FAITH IN GOD THROUGH THE WORDS THAT RELEASES YOUR SOUL, thank the Father that Satan and his cohorts are bound.

There is no power greater than God, and since God is a spirit there is no one more able to destroy spiritual power structures in the unseen realm. God literally takes down the powers of Darkness by injecting Light into your soul and nothing disapates the Dark better than light.

Stand firm, fixed, immovable and steadfast on your confessions of faith as you intercede on this person's behalf, for greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

BLACK MAGIC EXPLANED!

2011-11-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

*As you read this I have inserted my own comments within [ ]

BLACK MAGIC EXPLANED!

Black magic or dark magic as it is sometimes called is a form of magic that is intended to draw malevolent spirits or entities and is usually performed for acts of evil. During the inquisition, Christians were frightened of witches and warlocks who practised these black magic rituals but now in modern times witches will use the term black magic to offset the good magic they profess to practise, as black magic is said to be very rarely used.

In olden days, black magic was performed to gain benefit without regard to the harm that it caused others and indeed most performed black magic solely to hurt and inflict damage on others. The difference between black magic and white magic is still debated amongst modern witches with several theories contrasting the two branches. Theories such as the “all as one”, “no connection” and “separate but equal” theories all being popular and open for debate.

The most popular theories include
The all as one theory
Believers of this theory believe that all magic, black or white is evil with black magic generally being associated with the devil or Satan. Religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism all follow the belief that any type of magic is bad.

[I would fall into this catagory fot the simple reason that I experienced much of these things listed, not all but enough to know for a fact that any form of darkness leads to deeper forms of darkness and that cannot be denied!]

The dark doctrine theory
As black magic refers to powers of darkness, believers of this theory believe that this type of magic relates directly to Satan.
The formal differences theory
There are thought to be many forms and components to black magic and those casting the black magic have different interests and reasons for doing so, followers of this theory believe that black magic is only harmful when it involves the use of personal items such as clothing, hair or blood of those the spell is directed towards.
The no connection theory
Followers of this theory believe that black and white magic have no connection at all as both practises use totally different forms, followers to this theory see both forms as totally opposing each other.
The separate but equal theory
People who follow this theory believe black and white magic are the same thing with the only difference being the goals they accomplish and the means by which witches get there. All spells are spells and the difference is only determined by the outcome of the particular spell cast.

Black magic is usually said to be performed more by those who worship the devil hence the term black magic, magic spells cast this way will usually involve the use of ones personal belongings such a piece of clothing, a lock of hair or blood. The spells cast are said to usually be for the sole purpose of bringing harm to the one they are directed at.

White magic is usually thought to help people and do no harm to others; popular spells of this type are love spells and potions, with the hope of bringing the love of your life into your arms. However, spells of this type usually involve the use of personal belongings too but for different means.

Curses and hexes
The basic curse or hex is perhaps one of the oldest forms of magic dating back thousands of years with forms of hexes and curses being used in many cultures and traditions. Hexes vary considerably in different hands and can range from the simple to the more elaborate and can be cast in a variety of ways, the most simplest of curses and hexes do nothing more than bring the person bad luck while the more elaborate can cause many problems with the victims wealth, health and even specified body parts.
The very basic hex or curse can be a spoken curse wishing bad luck and unhappiness on the intended victim; this is usually invoked by briefly describing what you want to happen to the victim followed by a sacred word or magical name.
Gypsy curses
Gypsy curses are perhaps the best known of all curses, exactly why is not known, but it probably stems from gypsy fortune telling of many years ago and one of the most famous of all gypsy curses which has been portrayed on TV many times is. “May you wander over the face of the earth forever, never sleep twice in the same bed, never drink water twice from the same well and never cross the same river twice in a year”.

As you can see gypsy curses can be pretty elaborate and not just simply one or two words, after all if we could be cursed or hexed with just a couple of simple words the parents of almost every teenage child would drop dead on the spot.
Voodoo, curses and hexesVoodoo has long been recognised as a form of curse or hex, this tradition involves the use of a figure crafted in the fashion of the intended victim and often has some trait of the victim such as hair or blood. The practitioner of voodoo would then use pins to stick in the doll with the hope of causing the victim great pain and suffering; the practice of voodoo is thought to have come from the Caribbean.
Different forms of curses and hexes
People throughout the world have their own different beliefs on curses and hexes with all of them intending to bring trouble and strife to the unsuspecting victim, the Chinese believe that they can deliver a curse by leaving a few grains of rice and some pennies on the victim’s doorstep. This type of curse symbolizes a wish for the victim to have great financial difficulty.

More recently a Tanzanian member of parliament declared they would put an Islamic death curse on the board members of a Tanzanian executive branch if they didn’t clean up corruption. The aboriginal Australians strongly believe that a curse can be put on someone by pointing a kangaroo bone at them and curses have always been associated with the Egyptians.

King Tutankhamen’s tomb is a great example of this and it has always been shrouded with mystery and anyone said to have been associated with the opening of the tomb was cursed with six of the people involved with the opening of the tomb meeting untimely and unfortunate deaths.
The curse of Rasputin
Perhaps one of the most famous of all curses was the one which Rasputin mumbled from his deathbed, Rasputin cursed Russia’s ruling monarchs due to being shot, almost drowned and castrated by the Romanov prince. This curse was apparently very effective as the entire family were dead within one year. What is Necromancy?

Necromancy is a form of divination which is used to conjure the spirits of the dead in order to gain knowledge about the future and the outcome of events in the future, the spirits conjured this way are called spirits of divination.
The spread of necromancy

During the middle ages, illiterate members of society were either nobility or Christian clergy and it is thought that either of these groups was responsible for the propagation and practice of necromancy, even though in Christianity it is forbidden and denied.

Some people deny that necromancy has anything to do with witchcraft while others say that it is a form of black magic and witchcraft and necromancers were tried as witches and hanged, the confessions of those accused of necromancy suggest that a wide range of spell casting and magical practices were involved in necromancy.
The practice of necromancy
It is though that to be able to conjure up the dead the practitioner needs the help of powerful spirits for both the practitioners’ protection and to make the corpse or ghost of the dead submit to his will. An ancient spell is the used to call upon the powers of powerful spirits to bind the dead with two essential elements that are needed to summon the dead, a burnt sacrifice and a blood-drenched altar. Elaborate preparations are made which includes the careful study of the planets and in particular the moon and the influence of Saturn.

The site for the ritual also has to be chosen with great care with the most favourable sites being crossroads, vaults, ruins or a deserted forest. Once the site has been chosen and the alignment of the planets is in favour a concentric circle of power is drawn on the ground, within the circle are inscribed crosses and other symbols.

For the magic to work, the necromancer and his assistant must stand within the circles centre and the circle must be blessed or consecrated. The summoning of the dead or spirit of the dead can then take place using the names of power, when this is successful the dead will return full of anger at being summoned against his will to return to the land of living.

The necromancer must then struggle to gain control over the dead and when control has been gained, the necromancer can then control them and questions will be asked which the dead must answer.

After the ritual has finished the necromancer must not leave the circle until the dead has been dismissed and all flowers must then be removed from the area and burned and the ashes buried deep into the earth. The ritual is one of the darkest forms of black magic and is the most dangerous of all forms of witchcraft.

The Darkness : Fear is not an Option!

2011-11-06T17:46:00.001-07:00

FEAR NO EVIL

Rout the Devil

Aside from the trappings surrounding Halloween which are a mixture of facts and legends that may or may not be true, there is an underbelly that is not good to dwell upon. It is true that MOST of what is said about it is not real truth but a bias against anything not understood, it was not an INNOCENT HOLIDAY by any means but at the same time it is not the all powerful dancing devil's we make it out to be ether!

Yes the Devil is the Prince and Power of the air BUT that only means he's in control of IGNORANCE that the World embraces AS AN EXCUSE FOR FEAR. Fear is the enemy of Faith and Christians should never allow it to direct their behavior in the world.

As believers in Jesus it is IMPORTANT that we both tell the truth and understand ALL THE FACTS as they are meant to be understood....in proper context and historical perspective.

Christian attitudes towards the Occult are diverse.

In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions of All Saints’ Day, while some other Protestants celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation.

Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vatican-appointed exorcist in Rome, has said,

"if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."

Really? No harm as a believer in Jesus DRESSING LIKE THE DEVIL'S CHILDREN once a year? Wow what bible are they reading? Dress like a believer not a devil!

In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on the holiday.Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free.

Many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween or any other pagan holiday, treating it as a purely secular holiday devoted to celebrating "imaginary spooks" and handing out candy. This attitude is simply as bad as applying TOO MUCH attention to paganism. HAND OUT THE CANDY WITH A GREAT WITNESS!

To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween is viewed as having a Christian connection [This is only because the Catholic Church CONCEDED TO PAGANS IN ORDER TO GET THEM IN THE CHURCH not because the practices were in any way Christian to start with.], and Halloween celebrations are common in Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland.

Some Christians feel concerned about Halloween, and reject the holiday because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs. I stand here but would add there is no reason to abandon this holiday to Satan or the Pagan's as I have stated before here! There are MANY ways to put Christ into every satanic holiday there is NO GOOD reason to let them have it!

A response among some fundamentalist and conservative evangelical churches in recent years has been the use of "Hell houses", themed pamphlets, or comic-style tracts. Be very prayerful in reading anything about history as bias is used to promote an agenda, ONLY God knows what's real and what's human fear based!

While I do consider Halloween to be completely incompatible theologically with the Christian faith I do not give darkness more power than it has by overstating its origins as a pagan "Festival of the Dead". Superstitions are just that, open to fearful interpretations which do not advance Christ nor the love of God. The danger in these holidays IS NOT so much their content or structure BUT the lack of Christian involvement to COUNTER that content with the real truth.

Every attempt to bolster SATAN in any way should be a perfect time to lift the truth of Christ high in the air, there is NO EXCUSE to let opportunity pass because of ignorance of the enemies lies!

To make more out of beliefs than is necessary only advances the darkness's power. Fear, lack of understanding and over active imaginations contribute greatly to what we hear about Halloween and related Holy Days in the Occult.They like their father the devil are boisterous exaggerators of their abilities against God. Darkness HAS NO POWER AGAINST GOD WHATSOEVER, their victories against US are the result of our FEAR and stupidity not because Satan or Occultists are so much more than they really are.

HERE IS YOUR VICTORY

The Lie of the Lure: How the Darkness does it!

2011-10-12T18:06:00.001-06:00

The Lure of power, accomplishment, and just being in charge is great. The Occult offers all that and more, as much as your flesh can handle. The problem soon comes in the fact that everything in life COSTS something, you cannot receive without a cost, payment is due soon after if not during its use.

The Occult in your Living Room?

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable way of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord has not permitted you to do so” (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).

Demons often utter information which is sometimes simply 'foolish gibberish', or trivial facts anyone with understanding could find out on Google or Yahoo, and most often urban legends mixed into real facts, WHY do they do this? Because no one really checks facts on the fly and its simply easier to accept during a situation of supernatural origin. We become amazed by the moment and just assume the facts must be true, after all look at this amazing spiritual occurrence. And if they appear as someone we trusted in life or history we just accept it without thinking.

Its not hard to understand how they know these things, as they were ether in the people or are connected to the spirits who were there at the time of their lives and their death. They simply know what the person knew and can at least get those facts right. Everyone on earth has demons attached to their flesh and souls to differing degrees so if you die those attachments have no place to go and nothing to do but imitate the life they were attached to. In some cases they simply move on down the family line for generations. This is where family curses come from!

Your flesh is the breeding ground of the actions of sin and your mind is the peitry dish that grows the virus of sin, your choices become reality once you decide to act upon it.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

ALL Demonic spirits no matter how benign they seem are evil, vile, and hateful towards anything Christian, no matter how opposite they appear at first, RELIGIOUS SPIRITS are a great example of this pretending to be a godly spirit that hates anything God related right under our noses. They can appear as benign as a family member who recently died or even those who died centuries ago to guide and protect. They can imitate godly figures we trust like the Virgin Mary or Jesus himself. Do not believe anything a false spirit tells you because it is ROOTED in a lie somewhere to be sure. Darkness hates the light completely and utterly. It is mankind who was created from perfect light that has have become the only way for them to get back at the God who cast them out from heaven.

“For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

Demonic spirits are very rude, they love to pester anyone willing to trust them, usually they will make you feel as though YOU NEED TO REPENT to them to gain favor. It is a constant struggle to please them, to gain favor and understand deeper knowledge which they never seem to give you in the end. Its similar to a parent, husband or wife who abuses their children and their children go to great lengths to try and please their abusive parent(s), Husband, Wife etc....The principle is the same.

Demon spirits love to get people to kill animals and injure and murder people, its a deep seated desire to KILL, STEAL OR OTHERWISE DESTROY God's creation at any cost.

A representative of the Barna Group said: "Teens give the supernatural world the same treatment as any other aspect of their lives. They cut and paste supernatural experiences and perspectives from a variety of sources . . . Most of all, they are motivated by their desire to find out what works for them and what feels right."

Demons simply wish to attack God, that's their main agenda, using you to accomplish it because they cannot do it in their current form. Earth is a punishment not a freedom for them, being in the middle of all things they despise is no picnic for them so they attack it at all costs.

Proverbs 6:16-19 "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

Satan NOT God hates people, God is LOVE and hates NO ONE. What God does hate is SIN, THE ACT OF REBELLION not the persons involved but the actions done against his perfection of creation. Satan propagates all of these things within creation, within us to counter all things good. SATAN IS THE HATER OF GOD AND MAN, he literally has anger toward God because of his personal failures, it is Satan who caused his own troubles, Satan who made the bad decisions that lead to his downfall.

It is extremely dangerous to consult a spirit or spiritualist, it can bring great injury to your mind and body to say the least. Spirits have a large amount of knowledge to share but it come at great cost to your person, life and liberty. Not only that but it can empty your bank account as well because their are more than 10 to 1 fakes and forgeries out their just waiting to deceive your hard earned wallet or purse! MOST of what passes as the Occult is not real but fake, but the real exists and is so much more dangerous than the fake.

Isaiah 8:19 says, "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?"

They terrify, injure, and frequently kill their own followers, its not about being Christian or NOT being Christian to Satan, its about Human Beings belonging to God through the creative process not their acceptance of a God or non acceptance of a God. Satan couldn't care less if you propagate his plans or not he simply cannot stand the fact that God loves you and provided for your forgiveness even AS YOU ARE IN SIN!

Think of it this way for a moment, think of all the most evil sins in the world, jealousy, hate, murder, pride, lying, where did these things come from? It ALL BEGAN in the heart and soul of Satan in the beginning before man's creation and when Satan was cast from heaven he brought it to the garden within him and passed it to the children of men through their disobedience.

All that rage is focused through God's greatest love...MANKIND!

The Realities and Lies of Darkness Revealed!

2011-10-05T16:13:00.001-06:00

The Man below spent more time in the Occult than I did so I defer to him here.

"HOW THE OCCULT OPERATES"

The Realities and Lies of Darkness Revealed!

Having come from a background in the Occult, both from histories in Native American family ties { "Penobscot Indians" It comes from Panawahpskek, which means "the place where the rocks open out." Click here to read about : American Indian Spirituality....and....Sacred Rites } and an interest developed from my youth {Watching TV shows like "Bewitched" and other means of reading text such as "Man, Myth and Magic"a 1970s occult encyclopedia published in installments as a magazine} I deem myself NOT an expert so much by education as by experience doing and practicing the Occult as my own, dabbling at first that turned into fear and loathing as I fell deeper into its spell.

There is a reality to witchcraft and the Occult that cannot be stated enough times to WARN those who dapple in what they cannot comprehend with the natural mind but at the same time BLINDS them to the realities of God. The Occult knowledge one acquires is only a FRACTION of spiritual realities available but you are deceived into believing there's more to be known through this extremely limited venue. It is not that what happens is not real but that it is manipulated to a great degree by unseen forces within and without you that you are unaware of.

No matter how Innocent your practice seems to you, no matter your personal intentions of good, no matter what you believe about what your doing, the Master of the occult is SATAN not Nature, not ancient gods of power, not superstitions gone wild in a vain imagination but plain and simple demonic influences ever growing, ever taking root in your soul. These practices are dangerous, deadly things that have no remorse, no love, no repentance before a Holy and Just God and most of all a deep seated hatred of God's Creation!

The Reason I mentioned my heritage as an American Indian is because of the great spiritual background I have as an American Indian. The spiritual side has BOTH pro and Con in my ancestry which I am only now beginning to see. The point being that many who get involved are drawn to spiritual things pro and con because of an ancestry background that makes them prone to develop in that area but because of a lack of real guidance as with me it evolved into an unhealthy desire, driven by the darkness in my soul rather than God's Holy presence.

Spiritual experience must be molded around knowledge but that knowledge must be from a TRUE SOURCE that is grounded upon a solid foundation of fact and reality based decisions, NOT upon feelings and goosebumps as was my experiences in Witchcraft. My Christian Faith UNLIKE those of my Occult experience is based in real facts and realities of faith. At NO TIME while I was involved in the Occult was there real solid evidences of what I experienced ONLY FEELINGS AND GOOSEBUMPS accented by what I witnessed with my eyes. It happened but on a lesser level than my Christian faith revealed God to me.

Scientific Proof God Exists!

There is not one single so-called evidence against God that has had any effect whatsoever upon my faith since 1979 and there never will be because you cannot DISPROVE the reality of God with FACT UNATTACHED TO REALITIES OF FAITH. Faith must be understood from a separate understanding from"There are no gods or God, so therefore there is no supernatural world." This is plainly circular reasoning that cannot be disproved as long as you think its a valid reasoning. Its similar to saying "There's no such thing as snowflakes in my experience and therefore there can be no such thing as Winter." The question was answered by a man who lived on an Island that never experienced snow or winter as we know it, but was it valid reasoning? Only to the man who said it, because he based his knowledge upon his limited experience living on a winter-less island in the South Pacific. It was completely true in his experience but at the same time was based upon a LACK OF EVIDENCE instead of a full understanding of his location on the earth.

You cannot base your UNDERSTANDING OF GOD upon your limited experiences with life, created by religious limitations founded in man-made ideas. Its the same with the Occult, its based upon man invented spells, man invented ideas that have attached to them false histories and some truthful facts mixed in. Religion is Religion no matter who states it, no matter who defends it, its man invented pure and simple. The God of scripture is completely unique from all 'gods' and 'demigods' created in mind of man, there has never in the histories of man been a 'god or demigod' who remotely resembles our God, the God of the Bible. Only in certain aspects do they come close but these similarities are 'vague and obscure' not exact and factual!

Again it cannot be accomplished by using man-made gods and demigods, man-made ideas about God or religious branding of history. These things are but the shadows of vain and sinful men who tried to recount the creation around them, and unless the true God revealed himself to one of these men as he did, unreliable facts! Facts can be true and untrue depending upon where those facts are being derived from, as in my example above....it was a fact that the man from the island never saw a snowflake but it was NOT a fact that there were no snowflakes anywhere else on earth, but he assumed that because he couldn't see them that there were none. So facts can be misinterpreted through a lack of true knowledge.

The Occult and its so-called deep knowledge of how the world works is based in manipulated facts, manipulated by demonic entities hidden as 'gods and demigods' to the initiated. Demons can manipulate creation to deceive us, to make us see what isn't true fact as the only facts that are real. Whether or not your foundation is Atheistic or Religious its still based in this circular reasoning that my facts are superior to any facts to the contrary. TRUTH is the only basis upon which facts can come that cannot be disproved to the soul, facts based in TRUTH are rock solid evidences of faith not the ideas of men who try to explain what they are incapable of understanding apart from truth.

As I have stated before Satan, one God's original created Angels has been around a long, long time. He knows man better than man knows himself FROM THE STANDPOINT OF FLESH AND BLOOD and all the science attached to it. He's the most knowledgable about creation under God himself, except he perverts and twists that knowledge to an evil advantage. He can use the Laws of nature to manipulate circumstance by stratching to the max the Laws that govern creation. He knows how our bodies work, how our minds work and can twist us if WE WILL IT SO!

So just what is wrong with getting involved in the Occult or some innocent form of the Craft?
Is there really a danger in spiritualistic games, videos or movies, as opposed to DIRECT involvement through membership or practice in the Occult?

Well, the bigger question should be is there a danger in Parents who are clueless about these things; raising clueless kids who carelessly allow the spiritual to enter their knowledge-less minds. Is this not the root of the problem both in the church and without the churches?

Why do we as adults just sit back and allow our children to do as THEY see fit because of cultural differences? Why don't we learn about all these things in great detail, so our children can have a real sounding board to ask "Why is this bad for me?" Its so simple, it hurts to witness it. Kids do what they shouldn't simply because Parents let SOCIETY do their babysitting for them, and basic society doesn't have a clue about right and wrong. If parents, and I do this; would sit down and watch, listen too and otherwise engage their kids toward a the reasoning behind their preaching they would listen.

My Granddaughter opened up to me about the Occult {Her games, her music and her friends} many times because she knows my past, my knowledge about it and because of that she understands 'THE WHY' better than if I allowed her to stumble and fall on her own into it! Its NOT about TAKING AWAY her music, her Video games or grounding her because she won't think my way, its always about giving her the right choices to choose from. She may hate me for a while but my personal wisdom concerning it will pay off in the end. She will direct her steps in the way NOT of me but the Lord whom I give credit for saving me from myself.

Get engaged Parents, don't stop loving your kids and by all means LEARN WHAT YOUR KIDS LOVE TO DO, WHO THEY SPEND TIME WITH AND WHAT DRIVES THEM. Be God's tool to direct them to a right choice with a caring and loving hand. As adults you and your kids can learn a lot from both my testimony here and the knowledge contained on this site, do it, get involved for the rest of their lives.

PART 2 of FEAR : The Food of those who would be gods, The BAIN of those who would serve God!

2011-09-04T13:57:00.004-06:00

How we think of Bears.......

How BEARS think of them selves!

Let's tell a story for a moment shall we?

Let's imagine for a moment that a young boy who lives in the Wilderness with his family in the early 1800's, one day ventures out into the woods to explore and comes across a lonely Grisly bear cub along side his dead parents. Feeling empathy for the very young cub he takes the cub to care for him never letting his parents know he has the cub.

Let's say he keeps the cub in a little storage shed about a mile or so from his families home in the woods, feeding him table scraps and giving him left over milk from his breakfast. The two grow up together becoming friends, the bear thinking that the boy is one of his parents {Food Sources}. As the cub grows up its internal instincts begin to take over and he becomes harder and harder to control and the young boy doesn't know how to control him so he puts him in a cage he builds from scrap wood around the shed. This however doesn't sit well with the now older bear and he breaks out to find food, since he was feed human food and never taught to hunt on his own, he seeks out humans to feed him.

In his search he comes upon the boy's house a mile or so uphill, the parents unaware of their son's misdeed done in empathy for a lonely cub months ago are unprepared to defend themselves from the fury of the young Bears appetite. They do not know he only wants scraps, and begin to scare him away like they would any wild animal. The Bear is so confused by these mixed signals from what he has grown to love as FOOD SOURCES in his life THAT HE DOES WHAT ANY BEAR WOULD DO, HE ATTACKS THEM AND KILLS THEM. They become his food source literally and the Bear becomes a man killer ALL BECAUSE OF A LITTLE BOY WANTS A TO CARE FOR ONE OF NATURES CREATURES WITHOUT FULL KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO DO IT.

WHAT DID THE BOY IN THIS STORY LACK THAT WOULD HAVE HELPED HIM MAKE A BETTER CHOICE?

Its simple, "Fear of the bear" he thought that because he cared for the bear and provided love from his heart that the Bear would always be tame. That was his mistake, BEARS are wild BY NATURE within and cannot be tamed permanently. No matter what WE THINK about the Bear's nature, its nature will take care of itself.

In a SIMILAR way our THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD can equally be wrong and misdirect our perceptions concerning Who he is, How he operates in the world and Why he does what he does. If our perceptions are deceived concerning God we LACK THAT SAME FEAR that the boy lacked concerning the Bear.

Religion gives a false view of God!

How do we KNOW about God?

Where do you gain knowledge that could even come close to describing a God that is BOTH the greatest love and the most pure and equal Judgment rolled into one?

Can any mortal finite mind ever think of God rightly without failing to embrace both sides of his nature? Its not within our abilities as mortal's to think of something beyond ourselves that has NONE of the weaknesses and perfection no human being has. In all the history of the "gods" of men, their imaginations about a higher power could not move beyond their own limited perceptions of power, greed, lust, and money.

The answer is BOTH simple and hard to understand at the same time, hard because we do not have the proper understanding through man made Religion. Easy because God made us in his Image to begin with. With HIS POWER he can rewire us to understand his love and his judgment.

To Fear God is not to "BE AFRAID" of God's Love but to have a balanced Reverence, awe and understanding that God can take this world out as fast as he put it here, of what would happen if we disobey that love. God has CLEARLY revealed the rules to obtain life, clearly shown the way, the truth, and the life in his word. God CANNOT be understood aside from his word and not properly understood without spiritual life within us.

PART 1 - FEAR : The Food of those who would be gods, The BAIN of those who would serve God!

2011-05-01T20:56:00.001-06:00

FEAR

Fear, the very mention of the word causes our minds to transform the monsters of childhood, the screen monsters and screams of the unknown in our past.

But fear does serve a good purpose in our lives if we recognize its lessons, natural fear is there to prevent us from going, doing, or touching what we shouldn't.

Normal fear is a natural thing put there by God as a stop gap in our conscience, as a defense against breaking God's and Man's Laws. It causes us to think twice before settling on one thing to do.

However, fear of the wrong thing is not good; but when I say fear I don't mean the kind of fear that we should have towards God and his power! Godly fear is a healthy respect for the one who rules the universe, to admire, to obey out of love for what he's done.

Fear is like a chain around our mind!

Emotions play an important part in our daily lives. Fear is one such emotion that is pre-programmed into all animals and people as an instinctual response to potential danger.

As for what fear is biologically speaking, when a person experiences fear, certain areas in their brain such as the amygdala and the hypothalamus are immediately activated and appear to control the first physical response to fear.

Chemicals such as adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol are released into the blood stream causing certain physical reactions such as:

Rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, tightening of muscles, sharpened or redirected senses that can lead us from danger, dilation of the pupils (to let in more light), increased sweating.

There are many people for whom fear becomes maladaptive, as they struggle with anxiety, phobias and panic attacks. Children are also at risk of overactive fear, as they are not always able to rationalize fears that are unrealistic or unfounded.

Fear is food for the demonic realm, it works like Faith only in reverse. It becomes UNADAPTIVE in your life once you become focused on your fears rather than on what your fear is warning you about, thus you are not able to learn the lesson it teaches you.

The demonic realm feeds on your fear like piranha on human flesh, it is your own fear of the devil that gives him power to harm!

Without overactive fears, the demonic realm cannot function in our world, its our LACK OF KNOWLEDGE about their world that places us on the defensive instead of the offensive.

Sometimes fear is triggered by something that is startling or unexpected, even if it's not actually dangerous. Much of what we think of as fearful is simply a startling occurrence.

That's because the fear reaction is activated instantly — a few seconds faster than the thinking part of the brain can process or evaluate what's happening.

This is why fear can be irrational as common sense, and rational thought are POST FEAR REACTIONS. It is impossible to obey God out of this form of fear, it debilitates our faith and trust in him causing us not to receive what he wants us to have.

Those who WORSHIP their fears as all that there is in life, experience little of true reality, their imaginations controlled by fear run their lives instead of rational thought. Our imagination was given to us to picture what God wants in a vivid manner to assist our faith by grounding our soul in in a spiritual way. But when fear takes over our imaginations the picture that results kills faith and gives a false idea of God and his teaching!

As soon as the brain gets enough information to realize there's no danger, it turns off the fear reaction. All this can happen within seconds.

Overcoming our fears is the FIRST step towards COMING INTO FAITH, the two cannot operate in the same place at the same time.

Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World

The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger

Feel the Fear...and Beyond: Mastering the Techniques for Doing It Anyway

The Science of Fear: How the Culture of Fear Manipulates Your Brain

Love Is Letting Go of Fear

Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety: Becoming a Woman of Faith and Confidence

Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger

Embracing Fear: How to Turn What Scares Us into Our Greatest Gift

Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind

Spiritual Well-Being, inspirational affirmations to empower your thinking, relieve stress, and deepen your spiritual life while you drive! Give a unique gift, under $10, that uplifts with positive, faith-filled affirmations!

Fear is the antithesis of Faith, Faith creates, Fear destroys, Faith brings light of knowledge to the mind, Fear covers the mind in DARKNESS and indecision. As long as we operate in fear the fulfillment of our life will never be clear to us, when faith is in play our minds are clear on our purpose.

Too Fear our God is too give him his due, he is infinitely more powerful than all of the energy found in the universe combined, he alone holds every Atom in the universe together keeping you and me from floating into space. The same God in Christ that died as a man and rose from death to free us all from sin.

This is the God we are to stand in Awe of everyday, a God bigger than the Universe who felt the need to live in my heart, if that doesn't cause pause in your life...YOUR PROBABLY DEAD!

Part 3- Freedom FROM Sin and INTO New Life!

2011-04-05T18:16:00.000-06:00

Information about the Word of God in and of itself cannot bring the transformation necessary to change the human heart bound by sin so it is impossible for mere religion or denominational-ism to be of any effect.

Information ABOUT the Word provides the first step toward transformation but cannot by itself do it, you must WILL that God's Word can have the right to transform your life.

This is how God made us, with the most powerful thing called 'a will' he will not overpower it, he will not force himself beyond our permission. Its not that God is not MORE powerful than our will's HE IS by far, but he respects our space.

This is why when we willingly give ourselves over, our conversion is deeper and forever. But if we do not do it willingly, it results in a shallow commitment to the truth. We allow the worldliness we were accustomed to to lead our decisions.

THE SOWER

MARK 4:

¹³And He said to them, Do you not discern and understand this parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the parables?

¹⁴The sower sows the Word.

The Word here is the speech that God himself has stated in the Bible. His word is Life spoken forth to change but before that word can do its work it must first be planted in soil that is spiritual.

¹⁵The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them.

These are people who hear on the outskirts of the message, they THINK that God said something he really didn't, its really close but not the pure unadulterated original word that God spoke.

If we hear what we want to hear instead of what God's intent is, we rob ourselves of the blessing intended and Satan steals the rest.

Human nature has a bad habit of jumping to false conclusions because of a lack of concentration on the subject at hand, we think we know more than has been revealed and only accept half of what God said!

Satan is a spiritual rapist, he forces his REINTERPRETATION of what God said as he did to Eve in the Garden, its just the opposite of its intention. If we don't get the intent we don't hear God, God speaks what he means and means what he says!

¹⁶And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy;

¹⁷And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.

Stony hearts are incapable of real growth because they are filled with so much of the world that little soil exists. The Word of God demands free space to spread out and grow.

In order to endure the Word mush take first place above all else, it requires DEEP ROOTS to grab hold of life so that when there arises persecution against what God says we can defend our stand. Without those roots we are easy targets for vain reasoning and foolish ideas.

¹⁸And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word;

¹⁹Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.

This one speaks for itself, the clutter of worldly living drains our spiritual life of every nutrient rich element in our heart.

God made us to hold his Image within us, if that image is being tainted by fleshly desires and mental images that haven't occurred yet but are anti-Christ in nature; how do we think God's word could rule us that way?

²⁰And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit--some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.

This is the ideal growing condition for the word of God, no other soil is able to produce the fruit that God requires of our lives!

As any gardener knows the soil is the most important part of the crop of flowers, corn, or Wheat because it is within the soil that the seed is gestated and opened. How would a good seed grow in polluted soil?

THIS IS CLEAR TEACHING ABOUT THE 'WILL' AS MUCH AS IT IS ABOUT THE DEPTH OF FAITH AND TRUST.

If you want true change to take root, then your Will must be in the lead when your trust and faith in God are in play, nothing will change until your WILL allows the change in. Too many people accept the information concerning Jesus at face value instead of for its internal value.

You are made up of the past choices you have made, they define you only AS LONG as you will them too; after you choose to change then change can begin.

Change definition: to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone, to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone.

This is what God does in the New Birth, but not before you allow it. You may want it in your heart but your will is blocking it from happening. Satan cannot MAKE you do what your will blocks, but he UNLIKE God will force himself upon you...like a rapist! He will mess with your emotions, play in your mind by putting thoughts contrary to the Word.

The whole point here is that WE have control over how we receive his word, we can determine the outcome of the blessing simply by Listening well and not OVER-LISTENING or UNDER-LISTENING to the Word. Because this is what adding to and taking from the word of God is!

Prosperity: The Choice is Yours

The Laws of Prosperity

Partners -- Jesus is Lord -- Kenneth Copeland Ministries -- Understanding the Covenant of Partnership [book], Covenant Promises [audio cassette], The Anointing in Partnership [audio cassette], The Anointing in Partnership [CD], Covenant Promises [CD]

I Was On His Mind [5 Video Songs with Medley] (Kenneth Copeland Video Music Series)

The Best of Kenneth Copeland (Vinyl Lp)

CD Healing Scriptures

Pursuit of His Presence: Daily Devotions to Strengthen Your Walk With God

Healing Promises

The Faith Adventures of Wichita Slim (The Gunslinger/The Treasure of Eagle Mountain/Covenant Rider) [VHS]

THE WORD - Kenneth Copeland

Pursuit of His Presence: Daily Devotional

Part 2- Knowing what freedom is and how to receive it!

2011-03-30T18:58:00.000-06:00

PLEASE READ PART 1 FIRST:

http://hopefromdispair.blogspot.com/2011/03/freedom-part-1-what-is-true-freedom.html

THE PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM

As we learned yesterday Freedom is far more than what we learned in school, and a lot deeper of a subject than most Americans know. But the point in doing this series is not to teach what we know but what we haven't understood about freedom, so that we can grow-up into it and change the world.

Conditions that surround you will determine your responses until it is interrupted by the greatest outside force available...God himself! The issue is....we cannot walk in true freedom UNTIL we accept the responsibility required to use it rightly. The problems created by a non-understanding of biblical freedom are obvious, we know that we are released from Satan the Oppressor at the New Birth, but we think we are still bound to the oppression as a religious obligation. This would not happen if we were taught to be responsible for our own freedom.

The good news is that Jesus WILL convert our deliverance from sin INTO freedom FROM sin through our sanctification process. The longer we live as responsible believers under God's Laws and commands the deeper that word creates within us a solid foundation that the winds, and waves of the world cannot knock down!

Our position in life does not guarantee our disposition, emotions cannot be trusted to follow as a sign like so many do in Horoscopes, and the craft. Simply because something is new does not mean that CHANGE is happening! Too often we as Christians base our lives around superstitions rather than the Word of God and our freedom turn into bondage.

Without a real MENTAL transformation, a renewing of our thinking, the actions we take to change will only produce a new place to do the old things we used to do. Decorating garbage only leads to a smelly mess that looks nice but goes no where in changing our insides as God requires.

God calls this form of religion Hypocritical!

Why do people LIKE being controlled by others rather than being free to be controlled by God? The answer is simple really,there is comfort in having someone else take control of your life so you can slide through without having to take responsibility for your own actions. This is why the progressive party uses Welfare so well to control elections, people would give up their rights as long as those food stamps are available. But if we are in obedience to God its our responsibility to walk out of the prison we made not God!

Want to know who changes YOU? You do! God provides all the power and the faith but YOU have to want to do the actions required to be free, you've heard the phrase 'Freedom isn't Free' well its true in more ways than you know. Your thinking must line up with God's plan for you before that plan can be fulfilled, if the old ways are in play the New ways will be silenced. Playing games that you played as a sinner will only imprison your walk with God.

If we truly love God AS WE SAY then DOING his word should be second nature, without exception. NOTHING CHANGES UNTIL THE SOUL CHANGES, your wasting your time playing religious games, they avail nothing and prove nothing to God.

James 1:22-24

"But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. "

Its simple...What we feed our minds, like our bodies determines how healthy we will be, too often we think of our minds as the last thing a christian should be worried about, but your mind should be the FIRST THING YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT since that is where the battle of flesh and spirit takes place. Your mind will determine your quality of life and the degree of FREEDOM you enjoy with God.

RETRAIN your mind to think like God....How do you do that? By meditating not simply reading God's word first of all and by praying his word into your soul. This is what the bible means by saying to be in prayer at ALL TIMES because talking to God should be returning his word to him once it is processed in our hearts and received as fact to our minds, this is true prayer.

You must become mature and be willing to fight, take responsibility for your own future by bearing fruit though the kingdom of God within you. If you claim to be Christian then you CANNOT at the same time be religious, ether you are his or you are not! Never forget that its easier to live as a slave until you decide that you want to be in control with God's help then the real struggle begins!

Freedom isn't free, neither is it ongoing without work..HARD WORK, because the lack of responsibility in others can bring you down to their level as quickly as you rose up. Don't hang around those who do not share in your freedom as their lack of work will become yours in short order! Don't get so busy getting over your past that you forget to build for your future.

Remember that your past life gains strength from your dwelling mind, your thoughts can empower your past or your future your choice!

Don't be one of those Christian fakes that are so glad for being free from Satan in Word only, but all the while do not want real deliverance from their oppression because it comforts them to remain where they were rather than work hard to be as God wants them. These people are no better in God's eyes than the thousands of Welfare bums in America who rather than working to get a job would just as soon be on endless taxpayer support because its easier than risking ones energy to do it for themselves. Don't be a fake, be real before God because he was real to gain the rights to your freedom for you!

Hell's Best Kept Secret / True & False Conversion (Premiere Series, Living Waters Publications) (2-VHS in case)

Spiritual Refining: The Anatomy of True and False Conversion

Knowing the Heart: Jonathan Edwards on True and False Conversion

Hell's Best Kept Secret and True & False Conversion

The Way of the Master: True & False Conversion and Soundly Saved (How to share your faith simply, effectively, biblically...the way Jesus did, 2 Audio Message Set)

A link too many: A tract on true and false conversion and assurance

MARKS OF A FALSE CONVERT, BEWARE!!

FALSE CONVERSION

TRUE AND FALSE CONVERSION

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

FREEDOM : Part 1 - What is true Freedom? When do I know I have it?

2011-03-29T18:16:00.000-06:00

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN BY FREEDOM?

The very first thing we all must distinguish in the term freedom is the MAJOR difference between what we term 'Freedom' and what God wants us to have. Biblical Freedom is nothing like the flesh based idea of freedom we see in Western cultures today, freedom to us is the ability to do as we please, when we please, under OUR OWN IDEAS OF A MORAL CODE.

While this form of governing has Nobel intent, it falls way short of God's basic freedom acquired in the New Birth. God defines Freedom as FREE-DOMINATION: The liberty to dominate the earth through one's unique gifts and talents in fulfillment of God's purpose for us. But we must qualify this fact the following way, we have the God given right to dominate our Environment that's what God intended for man BUT we are NEVER TO MISUSE OR ABUSE OUR ENVIRONMENT.

Just because we CAN DO A THING doesn't mean we SHOULD DO THAT THING, its all about CONTEXT when we do anything, many in the Media should learn a lesson from this as they report AS THEY SHOULD FACTS but many times completely OUT OF THE CLEAR CONTEXT of the happening. Context gives a clear picture of HOW to act in every circumstance we come across, if we act within the context of our environment, THINKING BEFORE WE ACT basing every decision we make upon clear facts within the context we would make FEWER mistakes!

HERE'S A GREAT VIDEO CONCERNING FREEDOM ' The Birth of Freedom '

WHAT IS FREEDOM?

JUDAISM and Human Rights

Inventions and human dignity

Poverty and mid-evil Europe

Secularism: is it Neutral?

Christianity and human equality

What about China?

There is a concept that we know as Natural Freedom, it exists within every human being as that God given right to be free, but with that right there is something called 'Responsibility' for our freedom. Not simply 'I have the right so give it to me!' but 'I will do what is required to be free WITHIN the framework or context of my circumstances and cultural background that I find myself in.'

Genesis 1:26

"God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth."

An IMAGE is the reproduction of the form of a person or object, One that closely or exactly resembles another; a double, personification of something specified, to transmit (an exact replica of the contents of a storage device) to another storage device.

God made man with an image of Himself within him, God's own image was placed within us NOT superimposed over our own image, God himself put himself within mankind, what does that mean? First of all it means just what it means: God transferred HIMSELF from Him to us, the exact replica of his nature gave life to his creation UNLIKE any other part of creation INCLUDING the Angels themselves.

We are unique in creation BECAUSE we are an exact copy of God's Image inside our hearts, the only problem is our Flesh and our Mind, Will and Emotions are playing catch-up with our spiritual Images. WHY? Why does it take so long to become what we already have within?

The Answer is very simple, SIN also exists within man, this is what's in CONTROL of our self image, hiding from us our true nature. Sin keeps us DOWN, under the real potential we were intended to fulfill, it causes us to make the wrong choices about our right to freedom. If in your religious service you are still 'servant to the lender' you are NOT FREE, to be 'Saved or Born Again' is to be FREE AND DOMINATING, NOT BEING DOMINATED BY LIFE!

True freedom means a self-discovery of your personal purpose, the liberty to pursue its fulfillment, the purpose that God places within you has the guidance of God's laws and commandments to control its outcome. True freedom is NEVER based in human feeling or emotional intents. It's the intent of God that proves our right to freedom not WHO we are or WHAT we become good or bad. Sometimes the BEST of men are slaves and the WORST of men are free so it matters not your place in life, only your choice to be free!

Who's Image as God do we have within?

Hebrews 1:3

"He (Jesus) is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high,..."

The Word of God forms the Image of God within us and that Word is Jesus, he became flesh to set our example to walk as he walked. Religion should take its Image from this verse BUT it does not religion takes its Image from THE COPY OF GOD'S IMAGE TAINTED BY SIN, and thus only sees the darkened image after sin has ruined us. This is why Jesus hated religion based in human understanding of God and rebuked it daily as he walked among us!

“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”

Harriet Tubman

The only way to fully understand 'Freedom from God' is to have a full understanding of 'The Slavery of Sin' by understanding how slaves were treated!

Orlando Patterson in his work 'Freedom, Volume 1: Freedom in the making of Western Culture (n.p;Basic Books, 1991) said of slavery the following:

"Slavery is the permanent, violent and personal domination of natally alienated and generally dishonored persons. It is a form of personal domination. One individual is under the direct power of another or his agent. In practice, this usually entails the power of life and death over the slave. Second, the slave is always an excommunicated person. He or she does not belong to the legitimate social or moral community; he has no independent social existence; he exists only through, and for, the master; he is natally alienated. Third, the slave is in a perpetual condition of dishonor. What is more, the master and his group parasitically gain honor in degrading the slave."

If a slave is owned, then all his Children and their Children are thus owned as well as whatever they make or do in the future of their families. Slavery DOMINATES ones like completely and totally. Sin is the Master of your life completely and totally, it owns you, your Family and every Child born to you or your Children. Whatever you do throughout your life is tainted with sin's darkness, it is a literal Genetic Malformation within the Image of God within us. Even though we are all born with the Image, the Copy of God's intent within us, Sin has bored into that Image genetically and must be surgically removed by God himself!

What sin does inside us is too Limit, control, hinder, restrict, inhibit, prevent and stop the fulfillment of God's purpose and will in our lives. But we must in turn accept or reject sin's advance, we cannot prevent its entrance at birth but we are given the Ability to overcome it throughout our lives through the attempts of God to direct us to his Word, the tainted Image that resides in our spiritual natures. The Bible states that 'Rebellion' is as the sin of Witchcraft, which is defined as any attempt to control the will and spirit of another through the outside means of magical arts. These magical arts are not like we see in the movies though they are simply WORDS that do not come from God's Image but from the COPIED IMAGE TAINTED BY SIN. Whenever we speak from the COPIED IMAGE and not from the 'source code' OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE, the word from God!

Slaves from every culture were and are treated terribly, but the worst Damage slavery leaves is not the Physical scare but the MENTAL SCARS of ownership to another, never leaving the idea behind you even after you are set free physically. This is the single issue that plaques believers and unbelievers alike throughout their lives. When we are 'Born Again' it is important to get into a fellowship of Word of God faithful believers that will BUILD THE IMAGE OF GOD THROUGHOUT YOUR SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY AS ONE COMPLETE DIETARY MEAL.

John 8:32

^"And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."

It is not simply Truth that frees anyone, having a bible on your coffee table every day won't free your heart or mind and certainly won't heal your body. The only way truth can free is to be UNDERSTOOD, to be known and revealed, this is real freedom because it is equally distributed into your spirit, then your soul then your body, healing your whole person at once. No religion on earth today can honestly claim that for themselves. No religion born of the copied image of God, tainted by sin could ever FREE its slaves because religion requires slavery to function.

RELIGION...KILLS, HOLDS BACK RIGHTS FROM WOMEN, HOMOSEXUALS, AND VARIOUS OTHER GROUPS THAT DISAGREE WITH IT, RELIGION HATES WHAT GOD LOVES AND LOVES WHAT GOD HATES!

This is what RELIGION is all about, but as James clearly said:

James 1:13-17

" Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one. But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death. Do not be misled, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect (^[d]free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]."

Religion says the exact opposite of this, its God who is testing you, its God who hates you, its God who is your enemy so join our membership and we'll talk to God about you and have your back. This is TOTAL NONSENSE, religion can't get its own house in order let alone yours!

James 1: 22-27 further states:

^"But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).

If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless (futile, barren). External ^[e]religious worship [^[f]religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world."

That final verse is LIVING PROOF that no religion currently in existence meets with Gods standards including every Christian denomination on earth today....its just man's ideas formulated into a 'Christianized Idol' that we gain a small form of comfort from but in the end HELL is enlarged by those who trust in Religion WITHOUT GOD!

ONLY GODS WORD TRULY FREE'S US

Religion ADDS to us Laws and greed's not required by God to be as he intends us to be, but we must also know that freedom is not the absence of the LAW of God but the addition of personal responsibility. TRUE FREEDOM has more Law (Guidance) than slavery, more self-control, more discipline than slavery does that is the reason more people would rather be slaves. Its much easier to be a slave to someone else and expect the master to control our lives, responsibility requires personal action to get free and that is harder than letting something else do it for us!

What is a true Christian? He's a MANAGER, that's right a manager both of himself and his surroundings. A true believer can organize his circumstances for the betterment of himself and the entire earth that is connected to his circumstances. This is the whole idea of freedom or FREE-DOMINION to use what God has given us to better us and the world.

HEBREWS 11: 40- 12: 1- 4

^"Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them]."

^"THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.^(A) Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.
You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood."

WELL THAT LEAVES OUT MOST RELIGIONS AND BADLY DAMAGES THE REST BEYOND HELP!

Heirs of Promise: Renewing Your Mind to Receive Your Predestinated Inheritance

Most Important Person On Earth

The Principles and Power of Vision: Keys to Achieving Personal and Corporate Destiny (Study Guide)

In Pursuit of Purpose

Spirit Of Leadership

The Fatherhood Principle: Priority, Position, and the Role of the Male

Overcoming Crisis

Kingdom Principles 40-Day Devotional Journal: Preparing for Kingdom Experience and Expansion

Principles And Benefits Of Change

Purpose and Power of Praise and Worship

God's Big Idea: Reclaiming God's Original Purpose for Your Life (The Kingdom Series)

Unleash Your Purpose

Releasing Your Potential Expanded Edition

Wisdom from Myles Munroe

Becoming A Leader

Myles Munroe on Relationships

Rediscovering the Kingdom, Vol. 1

The Burden Of Freedom

In Charge: Finding the Leader Within You

Keys for Living Single (Keys for)

Daily Power And Prayer Devotional (TP)

Kingdom Parenting

Keys for Prayer

Becoming a Leader: Everyone Can Do It

The Glory of Living: Keys to Releasing Your Personal Glory

El Poder de la Visio'n

Myles Munroe 365 Day Devotional

Rediscovering Kingdom Worship

Seasons of Change

Cultic Dogmas or Good Doctrine: Can your perception of Doctrine influence your Eternal Destiny?

2011-03-19T17:14:00.000-06:00

As long as I have been presenting this evidence of Creation, of God and any thing clearly proven by the scientific facts at hand, I have been ridiculed and cut down in my intelligence INSTEAD of personal investigation being done by those who fear this evidence, this alone proves me right and them wrong solely because of their clear fear of the evidence.

Whenever I come across evidence from Evolution I first think this must mean something.

Of course I don't believe that Evolution is that answer but at the same time I investigate what it could mean, that's the true nature of Science to investigate what happens NOW to prove what could have happened back then, at the dawn of creation.

For those who read here, there must be civility in our discourses or there is no point in communicating at all because this insulting and name-calling for the sake of avoiding the proof is SIMPLY Childish NONSENSE that is not scientific at all.

If you cannot accept the clear evidence presented because of what your peers would say or what others believe, you are not worthy of the truth. Accepting real truth requires us to drop anything that opposes that truth including Religious and Scientific presumptions that run crosswise of the facts!

Many today are confused and dismayed with the huge amount of Dogmas in many forms making the salvation of God muddled with man-made ideas and rituals that God never intended.

The point is, we could believe ALL the right Doctrines about God and still NOT be saved!

Is it even possible to know the difference between them anymore?

Can I be saved while I'm surrounded by false doctrines and concepts from the mind of the demonic realm?

Am I a Christian if I simply believe every good doctrine about God?

Spiritual Refining: The Anatomy of True and False Conversion

Hell's Best Kept Secret / True & False Conversion (Premiere Series, Living Waters Publications) (2-VHS in case)

True biblical Salvation has NEVER CHANGED from day one, just as God is the SAME yesterday, today and forever ....the only thing that has changed and is changing is OUR view of its simple straight forward transparency.

James 1:17 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁷ "Every good gift and every perfect (^[a]free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]."

Salvation was not meant to be complicated or confusing but receivable at the lowest level of life to the highest level of human existence.

The problem is not the Doctrines themselves, though they are deadly it is, in the end how we perceive them internally,that really brings us into bondage!

How doctrine is delivered to us determines everything, if doctrine is force feed it simply produces false obedience and death!

BUT if that same doctrine is accepted through reasoning of the mind and spiritual joyfulness it produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives!

God made salvation so simple that we actually need HELP to mess it up, a help Satan is more than willing to give!

The question is: "Do your dogmas control every fiber of your existence from your mental to your physical reactions?"

If dogmas invented by men and NOT GOD control you then you are NOT thinking for yourself, you are NOT free, you are being Brainwashed!

If on the other hand if the Doctrine in scripture flows from the Spirit of God there is NO brainwashing BUT rather "Mind Renewing" a restructuring of the process of thought so that our reasoning is in line with God's thoughts!

Definition of

brainwashing':

Translation of a Chinese term indicating

"a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas."

Source: Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

A remarkable thing about cult mind control is that it's so ordinary in the tactics and strategies of social influence employed.

They are variants of well-known social psychological principles of compliance, conformity, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, framing, emotional manipulation,

and others that are used on all of us daily to entice us to buy, to try, to donate, to vote, to join, to change, to believe, to love, to hate the enemy.

Cult mind control is not different in kind from these everyday varieties, but in its greater intensity, persistence, duration, and scope.

One difference is in its greater efforts to: block quitting the group, by imposing high exit costs, replete with induced phobias of harm, failure, and personal isolation.

Source: Phillip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., What Is The Message Behind Today's Cults?

"True Doctrine comes from ABOVE to us, false doctrine comes from our perceptions of what we think God meant to say."

Doctrine CANNOT in itself save anyone, doctrines are after all just words from men or on a page. It is what WE do with them and how we do it that defines both our doctrines and us.

Doctrine MUST be placed in a "spiritual container" of words in order to be fully released for change, confession is that container.

Words are spiritual by nature and must be in a spiritual place of obedience just as a "physical seed" must be placed in the dirt and watered in order to grow!

False or true, doctrine works the same. Perception of the false can be so close to the truth, but missing it just by that little fact, the fact our perceptions cannot witness because we have predetermined our out comes using a false positive.

We think we know all about it, but we only see what our flesh is comfortable living with. That's the real point here, the real TRUTH is so far beyond our comfortable zones, beyond our small thoughts, and beyond our incomplete understanding of God!

Doctrine must be understood from God's point of view downward not from our point of view upward, we have gotten religion completely backwards and Satan prospers because of it.

100% of false doctrine happens as a result of misunderstanding the original intent of the writers of scripture!

Can a person living in deception from a scriptural sense be saved and go to heaven?

How often have I asked God that after speaking to a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness, they seem so sincere in their beliefs! But think about it, so were the prophets of Baal whom God destroyed with fire!

I am not speaking of honest scriptural mistakes we all make, but of purposeful mishandling of the Bibles doctrines, thus the people UNDER the ones in charge will have a better chance of being saved if the Truth is shown to them!

It takes a lot more to please God than being sincere or good, you MUST be in complete Obedience to the "letter of his word" not using it as a personal opinion that your church teaches, that would be taking away or adding to scripture.

Remember God and his Word are ONE and the same, so if you follow God and are slack concerning his word, then its the same as NOT following GOD at all!

"It is most evident that every form of false belief TURNS the Cross on its head!

No Change is good when it comes to the TRUTH!"

True Christian Conversion...What Causes it?

by David A. DePra

What causes real Christian conversion?

Have you ever asked that question?

I am not talking here about what we need to do to be saved.

No.

I'm getting at something which occurs before any of that.

I'm asking what it is that causes a person who is dead in sin, and has no interest in God, to turn and reach out to Him?

Jesus said, "No man can come to Me except the Father who sent Me draw Him." (John 6:44)

Thus, we see that it is GOD who must initiate a process which results in a person embracing Christ as Saviour.

But how does God do this?

What does He use?

What pushes a person from being uninterested in Christ, to wanting Him?

What draws people to Christ for conversion?

Here's another way of approaching the same question:

"The Laws of God lead to TRUE Salvation!"

On Monday I am not a Christian. On Tuesday, I hear a message and embrace Christ as Saviour.

What made me able, or willing, to now

embrace a message which I'd probably heard hundreds of times before?

And how about my neighbor?

On Monday he was an unbeliever.

On Tuesday he was sitting right beside me and heard the same message I heard about Jesus Christ. Yet it did not move Him.

What happened in me that did not happen in him?

And WHY did it happen to me and not to him?

The answer here is, "God called me." But of course, God called me. That's clear.

But the question is, HOW?

What happened in me?

The question becomes more profound once we realize that God never overrides our free will. He doesn't FORCE Christ on anyone, BUT he does sometimes force circumstances around us SO WE WILLINGLY MAKE A CHOICE .

So however God calls a person has to be in line with thatfact. Yet God does call people to Christ, and they respond fully by their own free will.

No one is saying that it is possible for any of us to know all of the details of our calling.

Who can know the mind of the Lord?

Indeed, we don't even know ourselves. But we can know general principles.

And that is the discussion here .

What is the cause of true Christian conversion?

How does God accomplish it?

The Importance:

Why is this question important?

Why must we know how God calls and converts a person to Christ?

Well, first of all, we do NOT need to know it to be saved.

In fact, we don't even need to know it to walk with God.

There are many other facets of Truth which can carry us on with Christ. But Truth always sets us free.

Free from ERROR.

And if we can discover how God converts a person to Christ, we will also discover much other related Truth.

We may also find out that we have been under

"Not everyone who claims to be "Saved" really is saved, there are "Apostates" and deceived church goers who THINK they are but are simply religious people"

The problems in the world today are because deception is Rising?

As Christians, we are going to come into contact with many people who are not believers.

We are also going to come into contact with many people who profess Christ, but who perhaps are not truly converted. We need to understand what we are dealing with so that we can walk in love, in God's purpose, regarding them.

There is something else, too.

We need to examine ourselves.

Understanding this Truth about our own conversion can help us deepen our appreciation for Jesus Christ, and can help us shed some of the error which may have attached itself to us regarding unbelievers and believers alike.

It is not our responsibility to look at any person and decide whether they are saved. That's God's business.

But we can and should know HOW God saves people so that we can properly preach the Truth and guide those who are interested in the right path.

One can never go wrong knowing the Truth about God.

Doctrines and Christianity

Spiritual Refining: The Anatomy of True and False Conversion

Today, many of us are under the notion that in order to be saved,

all that we need to do is agree to a list of doctrines.

Of course, these "doctrines" are Christian doctrines.

They really are.

They include the essential doctrine of Christ --

His virgin birth, death, and resurrection -- and the doctrine of salvation through Him by faith alone.

These ARE doctrines which define Christianity.

If we have become converted to Christ, we will know and believe that these doctrines are true.

Read that again. Am I saying that you must believe in those doctrines to become a Christian?

NO.

That is not what I said. What I said was this:

If you have become a Christian -- if your conversion is real -- then you WILL believe those doctrines are the Truth.

(Because they will bear witness within your spirit when they agree with the Will of God, the Bible.)

Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, and the Puritan Analysis of True Piety, Spiritual Sensation and Heart Religion (Studies in American Religion)

Pocahontas : The True Story of an American Hero and Her Christian Faith

We must see the distinction.

True conversion: A dialogue between Hopeful and Christian, from Bunyan's Pilgrim's progress

Conversion is NOT the result of "God did not ask for "Agreement" he asked for Obedience!"

agreeing that a list of doctrines are true. No. But if I am converted
to Christ, I will agree to those true doctrines. I will know thay are the Truth because I know HIM.

I will know the doctrines are the Truth because I have experienced that Truth.

Jesus Christ is real. The new birth is real. And it is because these are real that they can be defined in doctrinal form.

Gospel Behind Bars: True Stories of Prison Revival

Twice-born men;: True conversion records of 100 well-known men in all ranks of life

But just as a written description of a person is not THE person, so doctrines about Christ -- as true as they are -- are nevertheless not the very PERSON. Our faith is to be in HIM -- in Christ -- not in the true doctrines and teachings about Him.

Of course it is never a matter of being saved before I learn any doctrines, or of learning all doctrine before I am saved. Usually there is a mix.

A link too many: A tract on true and false conversion and assurance

But the point is:

Knowing the doctrine of conversion

to Christ is NOT the same thing as BEING CONVERTED.

We must not mistake our knowledge of something as an experience of it.

Many Christians do make this mistake.

We think that because we know a Truth in doctrinal form that we know it the way Jesus meant when He said, "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free."

But this is not necessarily so. Jesus was talking about more than the accumulation of facts -- even if they are TRUE facts. He was talking about knowing Truth in a way that alters one's very being.

It is a subtle deception:

Our faith could be in our doctrines

ABOUT Christ, rather than in Christ Himself. It is therefore vital that

we see the difference and avoid the danger.

The apostle James knew of this danger. He said,

"Do you believe that there is one God?

You do well! The devils

also believe and tremble. But know this, O vain man, that faith

without works is dead."

(James 2:19-20)

The fact is, the Devil knows Jesus Christ is Lord. He knows that

Jesus is the Saviour of the world. Indeed, if he did NOT know this

he would not be fighting against it.

Yet what we find is that the Truth

of Jesus is the one thing the Devil seeks to corrupt most of all!

Hardly something possible if he didn't know it was the Truth to begin with!

It is vitally important that all Christians know what they believe, and why. This is most commonly expressed in essential Christian doctrine, backed up by scripture.

But never think that a mere knowledge of Biblical doctrine, or even full assent to it AS true, is the same thing as a living faith in a living Christ.

It is not.

The best example of this is faith. I can know what faith is, and that I must possess it. But that is a far cry from actually believing and trusting God.

My doctrine may be true. But the Truth of faith may not yet be something which I have yet to experience and live.

In effect, I must not merely possess the Truth.

The Truth must grow to possess ME.

Thus, we come back to the statement made earlier. Giving

agreement to essential Christian doctrine is not a "requirement"for conversion; for salvation.

But if I am converted; am embracing Christ as Lord and Saviour, the RESULT is going to be that I will embrace the doctrines which tell the Truth about Him.

Thank God things work that way!

For if they did not work that way, you are not saved until you can give a detail expository of the doctrines of salvation and justification.

Christianity would be no more than a religion, or a list of beliefs to subscribe to

Notice where all of this is leading:

It leads us to recognize that Christianity is not a mere religion with a list of beliefs which define it.

Rather, Christianity is a relationship with a Person. It is a real and life-changing experience with God through His Son.

Christianity is true conversion; a new birth.

And then because Christianity is all of that, we can explain it through doctrines. But our faith is in a Living Christ who is in us right now -- not in those doctrines.

Misconceptions

There are a number of common misconceptions with regard to true conversion. For instance, many people think that if they are "in a church," that they are automatically "in Christ."

In other words, really converted. But in reality, we are "in the church" only if we are FIRST in Christ and FIRST truly converted. Actually, if just this one Truth were realized, it would eliminate many of the reasons that cults are able to control people.

People would see that their relationship with God is not contingent upon a group or a leader. It is a one-on-one relationship solely because of Jesus Christ, and not in any way dependent upon others in the Body of Christ.

Thus, true conversion is not caused by, or maintained, by my church. Neither by any teacher or leader. I belong to God FIRST, and am converted by HIM.

The rest falls into place as a by-product and nothing more.

The Intellect

Another misconception is that we are somehow converted by study. The more I study, especially if I get a degree, the more spiritual I am. The more holy I am.

The more I know facts about the Bible, and about Jesus, the more I am qualified to lead others.

Going hand in hand with this nonsense is the notion that the way we are to convert others is by argumentation.

By logic.

If we win the argument, we think we have won the person.

But nothing could be further from the Truth.

Christian conversion is not the outcome of a logical argument.

It is not a matter of being painted into a verbal corner and not being able to escape. I do not become a Christian because I have intellectually or logically concluded that it MUST be the Truth.

Does that seem shocking?

It's true.

Think about it.

Any set of beliefs which are the outcome of logical deduction or debate simply exist within the bounds of those arguments.

All that it takes to overthrow those beliefs is a better argument. In those cases, a person's "faith" is only as strong as their argument.

In effect, my faith would be IN my argument. It would be IN my intellectual grasp of the Truth. But Christianity transcends all of that. At the basis of Christianity is not an argument. At the basis is a moral accountability before God, and the solution in Christ.

Thus, faith in Christianity is not in my argument or list of doctrines. It is in a Person, Jesus Christ. It is wonderful to be able to discuss and explain the Truth using logical and intellectual means.

But we don't GET the Truth that way. We don't become converted that way. Rather, we express the Truth that way, if this happens to be in keeping with our particular gifts and personality

The fact is, to try to base Christianity on logic or the intellect is nothing more than fighting on the terms of the enemy. There is nothing wrong or evil with the mind or the intellect. But is cannot breach the chasm between God and man and bring true conversion.

Another big mistake the modern church has made is to try to prove Christianity through historical proof. Yes, there is historical proof to point to.

This can serve a purpose by getting people who rely on that sort of thing to seek further for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But in the final analysis, I can convert no one by showing them historical proof.

Why?

Can't history convert people to Christ?

No.

It can only prove to them that He existed. It can even prove to them that He was raised from the dead. But even that -- yes, even that -- cannot convert anyone TO Christ.

Thus, true conversion is not the outcome of a history lesson, any more than it is the outcome of a debate in ethics and logic.

None of that stuff can result in a new birth. None of it can bringrepentance. None of it can bring the words "Jesus is Lord" to the lips of a person.

Thou Art the Christ

It is amazing how clearly the Bible answers all of our questions,
and even the objections of skeptics. All we have to do is look. The
issues are addressed in the Word of God.

Take conversion for example. The issue as to how God converts
is addressed again and again. One of the best examples is found in
Matthew 16. There Jesus asked a question which is THE question
all of us must ask. He asked, "Who do men say that I am?"

The disciples told Him who men were saying He was. John the
Baptist, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But then Jesus asked,
"Who do YOU say that I am?"

Peter was the one, as usual, who stepped forward. He said, "After
these many years of study, I have earned my doctorate from the
University of Jerusalem. And I have studied many other ancient
religions. I have learned HOW to read these ancient manuscripts.

And after all of that, I, Dr. Peter, have concluded that You are most likely the Christ, the Son of the living God. But we will keep the issue open in the event of new discoveries."

Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus (Studies in the Bible and Early Christianity)

Is that how the conversation went? Hardly. Peter simply confessed, "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." But what really speaks to the point is the response of Jesus. Did He tell Peter, "Books and study have revealed this to you!"

No. Did He say, "Wow, Peter, you are really smart.

You finally figured it out. You must have quite the logical mind."?

The Bible is true;: The lessons of the 1925-1934 excavations in Bible lands summarized and explained

No.

Did He say, "Great Peter. Perhaps now you ought to get a Master's degree so that you can have papers to verify that you really know this."?

No.

What Jesus said, IF WEWOULD SIMPLY READ IT, tells us that there is really only one way to true conversion: God has to reveal Christ to us. Period.Peter had walked and talked with Christ for 3 years. He knew him as a man.

Yet Jesus Christ said THAT was not what revealedto Peter that He was the Christ. NOTHING of the flesh and blood
realm did it. Only the Father in heaven.

Incidentally, this is precisely why Jesus did not walk around the
country side saying, "I am God, I am God...." It would have done
no good -- although there are over a half a dozen places where Jesus does say He is God.

Rather than take that approach, Jesus knewHe simply needed to preach the Truth and do good works. God did the revealing to those He was at that time calling.

What does all of this say to US? It tells us that there isn't any
possible way we are going to see who Jesus Christ is by mere study.

There isn't any way to see it only by reasoning and logic.And it tells us for sure that, when all is said and done, there is no
way to prove to someone else that Jesus Christ is God. We can
and should preach that He is God. But only as an expectation to the one only way in which a Person can come to see who Jesus is: By way of revelation from God Himself.

If Peter, who walked and talked with Christ, did not see who Jesus
was through the means of anything physical, or flesh and blood, then who are WE? God had to reveal Jesus to Peter. He must reveal it to us. And when He does, it will be real.

It will also be something we cannot reveal to others through flesh and blood means. We need to stop trying, and simply focus on doing what God said to do:

Preach the Truth. Let God use it to reveal Christ.

How Does God Convert?

Ok. Now we come to the answer. What is it that converts a

person to Christ? What is it that God does in a person that gets them to the point where they embrace Christ?

Well, God has a multitude of specific ways of bring a person to the point of surrender

to Christ. But regardless of the method, the issue of conversion hinges on one thing.

And it is the SAME for all. No one is excepted.

What is that one thing?

Just this:

God reveals to us Jesus Christ. And THAT results in two things: First, I see that I am a totally helpless sinner. And I see that He is the answer. Or to say it another way, conversion comes when I repent of my unbelief and finally embrace Jesus Christ for deliverance and salvation.

So that's the answer:

I must see I am a sinner. Then, because of that, I repent of unbelief and surrender to Christ. There is no other way to become a Christian.

The fact is, if I have not seen I am a sinner in need of the grace,and repent of my unbelief, and embrace Christ on that basis, I am NOT converted. I am not born again. I cannot be.

Why?

Because if you don't see you are a sinner, you will not see you need a Saviour. Oh, you might acknowledge there IS a Saviour. And you might agree to the doctrine which says you have a sin nature, and that says you need a Saviour. But unless you actually SEE and KNOW you are a sinner, and repent, your conversion is not real. It can't be.

We are saved by grace through faith. And try though I may, I cannot have faith if I have NOT seen my need. I cannot. There will be nothing to motivate me. I will have no frame of reference for the grace of God. It will remain mere doctrine to me.

A Moral Issue

What all this means is that conversion is NOT an intellectual issue. It is not an emotional issue. It is a MORAL issue. We are here talking about my personal accountability to God. It is there that God must begin with us. It is there that God must meet us: In our sin. And through the Christ who died for us.

Today there are many people -- including many church leaders -- who will tell you that what Jesus taught was wonderful. They will say we must follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. But lost in the shuffle is the very place Christ meets us: In our sin. In our need.

Many Christians do not want to be told they are sinners. To many, that is a negative message. It is depressing. Or it is just for the first five minutes of conversion.

But the fact is, if I embrace Christ, I am going to spend the rest of my life realizing how much I need Him.

And it won't be depressing. That's because my focus won't be on my sin and my need.

It will be on HIM. We ought to be thankful that conversion is a moral issue. If it were not, but instead were an intellectual issue, then the smarter we were, the more holy we'd be. It would mean that no longer does a little child enter the kingdom. Only the intellectual giants do.

Unfortunately, many churches believe this.

They don't come right out and say it, but they believe study and the intellect is what matters most.

And we have, as the body of Christ, paid the price for being so deceived.

The New Testament requirements for church leadership have been almost completely ignored today by most denominations.

Instead of actually reading what Paul said about this important

issue, we simply side-step this and rely on education.

So now we go to a seminary to acquire the spiritual gift of "pastor." And if you

have a doctorate, when then you REALLY have the gift. Such

thinking is foreign to the New Testament.

Education is not evil.

But we should keep it in it's place. It has

nothing to do with a MORAL relationship with God. All of the Bible education in the world cannot equal death and resurrection in Jesus

Christ. It cannot bring repentance and conversion.

Moral Surrender

Jesus never told us to check our brains at the door if we want to enter the kingdom of God. But the intellect cannot bridge the chasm from the flesh to the Spirit. It cannot penetrate through to the Truth.

Listen to the words of the apostle Paul on this matter:

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. (I Cor. 1:17-19)

What makes these words all the more significant is the fact that Paul himself was one of the most intelligent people God ever used.

Read the epistles. Do those letters sound like the writings of a person who never did any thinking?

Hardly. Yet Paul is able to say without apology that it is not his arguments or his wisdom with words which is the key. It is the Cross. It is Jesus Christ. It is the power of God.

Paul makes it clear what the balance is between using one's mind, and true Christian conversion. The intellect and the mind are not the tools which convert you. But they are the tools which, after you meet

Jesus Christ, can be used to understand and explain and proclaim that conversion. And the reason that our minds are able to eventually understand the things of God is only because they have been renewed by the Holy Spirit.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Rom. 12:1-2)

Note the progression: First, surrender. Unconditional and total.

Then, as the result of that surrender, a stand against becoming conformed to this world. And then, because I have surrendered, the Holy Spirit will renew my mind according to the mind of Christ.

The end result? I will prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

The vital thing to see is that surrender comes first. It is a MORAL surrender. A surrender to God through Jesus Christ as a sinner in need of the grace of God. Then, as we move forward in faith and obedience, comes the renewal of the mind. Only then comes the real understanding.

Often today, we get the cart before the horse. We think that if we intellectually understand, then we've got it. No.

We may have merely memorized Biblical doctrine, or the teachings of our favorite saint.

We may have nothing personal of Jesus Christ. Imagine yourself planning to take a trip into a far country. You have never been there before.

So you do much reading about it.

In fact, you do so much reading about it that you could probably convince someone you have lived there for many years. You have all the facts and the stats. You can even add detailed descriptions of this land which you have never seen.

Ask:

Is the ability to do all of that the same as having been in that land? Of course not. You have to actually go to the land before you can truly see. And then -- once you see -- then you can understand and explain through experience.

Agreeing that we must repent of sin isn't the same AS repenting of it. Agreeing that Jesus is Lord isn't the same AS surrendering to Him AS Lord. We must not only know how to explain conversion.

We must BE converted.

Paul summed it up best. He said:

"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth." (II Tim. 3:7)

Read that again. Notice what God is saying here. He is saying that it is entirely possible to be "ever learning" but NEVER come to know the Truth.

And He is not talking about an atheist. He is talking about those who are religious. For He says in the same passage, in reference to the same people:

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."

(II Tim. 3:5a)

The Early Church

About two thousand years ago, about 120 people gathered together in Jerusalem to wait. The atmosphere was somewhat tense. They were in danger. But they were also looking forward to what was going to happen.

What made the atmosphere even more tense was that they did not really know what was going to happen, but simply knew that SOMETHING was going to happen.

Jesus had told them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to "Wait for the promise of the Father."

He had told them, "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence."

He had also said, "You shall receive power once the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, in Judea, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." (see Acts 1:4-8)

The fact is, there was no way that any of these people could have possibly had the slightest notion of what any of that really meant. "Holy Spirit? What's that?," they probably questioned. "Become witnesses for Christ?," they may have muttered, "How do we do that?"

Their perplexity is seen in the very last question they had asked Jesus. Immediately before the ascension, they asked, "Will you, at this time, restore the kingdom to Israel?"

If there was one thing Jesus had tried to get across to them for the last three and one-half years, it was that the kingdom He continually spoke of was not a physical kingdom. Over and over He tried to show them this.

He had even said, "The kingdom of God does not come in a way that can be observed with the eyes.

Neither can anyone say, 'Here it is, or there it is!' For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)

Nothing could be plainer.

But these disciples had grown up ina society and culture which knew of only one kind of kingdom: A natural one. A physical one.

It was almost impossible to change their thinking. Even after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ they did not understand. Even with the resurrected Christ standing in front of them, they didn't get it.

It is therefore certain that when they returned to Jerusalem to wait, they still had not grasped the meaning. They were told to wait.

And they obeyed.

But they likely had no clue as to what they were waiting FOR.

The first disciples had a Jewish background. They had no patterns set for what a church was, or how it should function.

In the Days of Jesus: The Jewish Background and Unique Teaching of Jesus
The Jewish Background to the Lord's Prayer

They were a group of scared, inexperienced people, none of whom had ever been to a seminary or school. Yet it was these that God took and used.

They would turn the world upside down.

How did they do it?

And more importantly, why don't we have today what they had then?

Where has all the power gone?

Why aren't Christians today turning the world upside down?

The Early Conversions

In the first century, no one knew about Jesus Christ. Even word about Him had to be carried verbally, or at best, through an epistle.

When one of the apostles walked into a town, it was often a Gentile town. So not only were these people ignorant of Christ, but they had false gods instead.

Quite a few obstacles to overcome. Added to the problem was the fact that these early disciples had no New Testament from which to preach.

In fact, they really had no Old Testament which they could easily carry around. And really, what good would it have done to show the Bible to a Gentile of that time anyways?

We must get this setting. What possible reason, if you wanted to preach Christ to a pagan of that time, could you give him for believing Jesus was his Saviour?

What reason could you give him for believing the Old Testament prophecies?

Why should he believe them? How could you convince him? How would you preach to them?

No Bible. No church to invite them to. No written proof of what you taught.

What reasons could you possibly give them for believing?

Why should they believe you when you tell them Jesus rose from the dead?

Why should they care whether He lived, was crucified, rose, and ascended?

And how are you going to make them care?

Remember that in those days, in that area, there was a Greek domination of the culture. Greeks like to argue, and they like to reason. So we are not merely talking about ignorant heathen who would sit there and let you spoon feed them anything you like. No.

These were heathen people, but smart people. And they had never heard of Jesus Christ.

If you wanted to convert them to the truth, you had better be prepared to answer questions. Today skeptics demand proof, and claim that there is none for Christianity.

But back then, there was even less. There was no written record. But many people WERE converted? How did these early disciples turn the world upside down?

In Acts 8, Philip converted a eunuch.

He preached Jesus to him. At the conclusion, the eunuch confessed, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Acts 8:37) What convinced this man?

What made him believe the scripture was worth reading, and thatJesus as his Saviour?

A good argument?

No!

What convinced him was a revelation of God. A conviction of need. The work of the Holy Spirit. Lots of people read the Bible and never come to that. This fellow came to surrender to Christ, not because of a good argument, and not because of an intellectual understanding.

He surrendered because "faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God." (Rom. 10:17)

Note that faith is only possible IF you have heard, and that hearing is not possible unless it is created by the Word of God.

In effect, WE DON'T DO THIS.

God does. God reveals to a person, after much preparation, the Truth. The Truth about their sin and need for deliverance, and the Truth about Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

True Conversion

In today's environment of "political correctness," many places in the body of Christ have given into the world's mentality. People used to die for Christ. Today we apologize for Him, and adjust Him to suit the preferences of people.

Thus, we have a growing group of churches who no longer insist that Jesus is God, or that He is the only way to God. Instead, we want to be "inclusive."

We want to embrace all religions, all in the name of love and unity. People need to decide. They need to decide one way or another who Jesus Christ is.

"Who do men say that I am remains THE question."

Like it or not, we must answer. People can water down the Truth of Jesus Christ all they want, but in the end, there is only one way to become a Christian: I must see that Jesus Christ is God Incarnate -- the Saviour of the world.As the outcome of that revelation, I must then confess that I am a sinner.

I must repent of the sin of unbelief. I must surrender to Christ as Lord and Saviour of my life.

If I don't do this, I am NOT a Christian.

I am NOT "in Christ."

It does not matter how much I learn, or how many degrees I possess. It does not matter how much I go to church, or whether I am a leader, pastor, or layman.

I am a Christian only if I am born again in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The Four Spiritual Laws Vs. Paul's Gospel of Salvation

From Campus Crusade Examined in the Light of Scripture by Dr. Charles Woodbridge

[Dr. Woodbridge was supportive of Campus Crusade in its earliest days but had to withdraw his support and begin sounding a Scriptural warning because of the wrong path this organization has taken.]

Basing my judgment upon the plain teaching of the Bible, I regard these "Laws" as a totally inadequate, indeed an emasculated and misleading presentation of the blessed Gospel of the Son of God.

If they had been entitled "Four Pious Principles" instead of "The Four Spiritual Laws," perhaps I should have little to say by way of rebuttal.

But to begin with, the use of the definite article "The" is disturbing.

The implication is that the "Laws," as the Crusade presents them, are exclusive, definitive and thoroughly adequate. Having discovered and embraced them, a fortunate seeker is presumably bound for Heaven.

When one purports to reduce any subject to four central descriptive items, logic dictates that he must not eliminate from these items the essential ingredients of the matter under discussion.

When a physician is prescribing for his patient, he must not remove from his formula necessary but perhaps disagreeable or unpalatable drugs.

No faithful analyst, when seeking to abbreviate, must relegate to footnotes the crucial areas of the subject he is publicizing.

He must spell out in no uncertain terms -- whether his readers are impressed favorably or not -- the precise, basic, fundamental, and differentiating character of his proposition.

I believe that Campus Crusade has tragically failed to do this. As the result there is every probability that great numbers of earnest students, whose response to the "Laws" has seemed to be affirmative, have a false and unwarranted sense of spiritual security.

If my deduction is correct -- and the evidence would lead me to believe that it is -- this would be a tragedy of great proportions.

Years ago I wrote the Director of the Crusade with this in mind. I had the positive, constructive, but admittedly forlorn hope that I might be able to help him to extricate his movement from the doctrinal inadequacies in which "The Four Spiritual Laws" had enmeshed him.

I received no reply to my letter. Years have elapsed since them. I now feel that it is my solemn duty under God to speak out in defense of the old, well-tested, and thoroughly proved ways.

First, let us examine the "Laws" as a whole, always bearing in mind by way of contrast the glory and wonder of the Biblical Gospel of Grace.

In each of the four "Laws" mention is made of the Divine plan for a person's life. The story is as follows:

God has a wonderful plan for a man's life; because of man's adverse spiritual condition he cannot know that plan for his life; when the proper steps are taken he can know the plan for his life.

This is not the way in which the Gospel is proclaimed in the Bible. The Crusade's approach is anthropocentric ("man-centered"). It implies that the summum bonum, the pivotal issue, is that an individual may know God's wonderful plan for his life.

The Biblical approach is theocentric ("God-centered"). The writers first laid the background of the being and attributes of God, sublime in His sovereignty, ineffable in His majesty and holiness.

They quickly stressed the blazing fact that the righteousness of God has been outraged by human sin and that apart from Divine, unmerited grace, man's deadly guilt (Romans 3:19) will bring upon him the wrath of God (Romans 1:18), the deserved judgment of the Lord (Romans 2:2), and ensuing death (Romans 6:23).

The amazing be-all and end-all of the Gospel, according to the Bible, is not what man may or may not know about the Divine plan for his life; but it is the everlasting glory of the living God.

How different all this is from the "Four Spiritual Laws." The hell- deserving sinner has far more to reflect upon, prior to his salvation, than the optimistic confidence that somewhere in the dim blue "yonder" God has a satisfying plan for his life!

LAW NUMBER ONE

But now to "Law One" itself:

"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."

Then two footnotes:

John 3:16 and John 10:10.

(Is it not astounding that John 3:16 could possibly be in anybody's footnote!)

A few reflections concerning this first "Law."

First, the booklet announcing these "Laws" is used indiscriminately with believers and unbelievers.

May I ask a rather obvious question? Precisely what "wonderful plan" does God have for the unbelieving sinner who steadfastly and persistently rejects Christ Jesus as Saviour? Answer: the "lake that burneth with fire."

This is an awesome, rather than a "wonderful," prospect.

Second, is not the Crusade aware of the fact that even a pious Mohammedan might believe that the compassionate God might have a plan for his life?

This being true, the Crusade is left with only three distinctively Christian "Laws."

Third, who is the "God" to whom the Crusade refers in Law One? When the apostles wrote of Him, it was against a religious background of understanding -- their Hebrew readers knew Who God is.

But when Paul spoke to Gentiles on the Areopagus (Acts 17), he explained Who the Almighty is.

The Crusade must not take it for granted that this confused, untaught generation of college students knows Who the Lord God is.

At the very outset of the "Laws" it should be made clear Who the One is with Whom the students have to do. He is the Holy, Sovereign, Omnipotent Creator of the universe.

This observation on my part is not a vague fancy. I heard one of the Crusade's bright and shining lights, a university football star, give his public testimony.

He referred to the God of the ages as "the man upstairs." Some may regard this as justified puerility [immaturity].

I regard it as blasphemy. I happened to be the other speaker that evening. Before I addressed the crowd, I turned to the student and told him bluntly that before he witness to others he should be sure that he himself had been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God and that he really knew the living and true God.

I do not imply for a moment that the Crusade leaders should give all their hearers a course in systematic theology.

But I insist that when men and women handle the things of God they must make clear Who He is, the ineffable [too overpowering to be expressed in words!] Lord of Glory.

A defender of the Crusade might reply:

"'The Four Spiritual Laws' are just a summary of truth. The personal workers fill in the gaps." To this explanation my answer is twofold.

First, when one is reducing any subject to four basic points, it is the height of folly to omit crucial matters with the trivial explanation that assistants will subsequently explain them.

For example, if one is summarizing the theme "Aviation," he will not omit the fact that airplanes have wings and a motor, in the confident expectation that the learner will have these addenda elucidated by assistants after his effort to take off from the earth!

Second, if the Crusade assistants do in fact try to explain Who God is, they seem to fail dismally. Else why the shallowness and flippancy in the "testimonies" of so many of their "converts"?

THE SECOND LAW

And now the Crusade's second "Spiritual Law": "Man is sinful and separated from God."

So far so good. I commend the Crusade for putting the matter so plainly.

But Bible believers, taught in the Word of God, might well expect the "Law" to be expanded so as to include its inevitable corollaries.

What are these Biblical corollaries?

In a footnote Romans 3:23 and 6:23 are quoted. An explanatory note indicates that the sinner goes his own independent way and fellowship with God is broken; evidence of sin is an "attitude" of active rebellion or of passive indifference.

But no uninformed college student, meditating upon this second "Law," could possibly understand that sin is far more than an attitude of independence or rebellion. God has given to sinful man His Holy Law, which reflects His perfect nature and sovereign will.

Sin is an open, flagrant breach of that Law or a stubborn refusal to obey it. Apart from the Law of God sin cannot possibly be understood. It is far worse than an "attitude" or a going on one's own "independent way."

It is primarily a heart condition, but it is also an act wrought in defiance of the will of God.

What are the consequences of this heart condition and defiance?

The second "Law" states that the sinner is "separated" from God and is out of fellowship with Him.

The Bible is far more detailed and explicit. It tells the sinner in no uncertain terms precisely what the separation and loss of fellowship involve.

The consequences of willful disobedience are horrible indeed. The Bible speaks of "hell." It reminds us of the "lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15).

It suggests the endless, conscious torment of Christ- rejecting sinners. This is the dreadful doom of unbelievers. And it is from this that believers are saved by grace.

For all this the Crusade substitutes in its second "Law," apart from a modest footnote quoting Romans 6:23, the dismal consequence that as the result of the sinner's separation from God "he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life!"

The trouble with this statement is that it is not only weak and anti- climactic, but it is also falsely oriented and misleading. It breeds a naive and unwarranted optimism.

In the first place it is, as in the case of the first "Law," man-centered and thus out of line with the total revelation of God.

The paramount result of sin and separation appears to be the unfortunate inconvenience that the sinner has lost the sense of God's love and plan for his life!

Secondly, the "Law" omits what the Bible never omits -- the eternal, unmitigated, drastic consequences of sin and separation.

How can a person possibly know what it is to be saved unless he is made aware of that from which he is saved? Why not follow the Biblical pattern and tell the whole truth?

Once more the Crusade's rejoinder might be: "We are simply giving a readily understandable summary of truth.

We have not space within the confines of the second 'Law' to tell the whole truth." But frankly, can even a "summary" of the Gospel which is worthy to be used as a basis of witnessing to college students possibly eliminate a clear presentation of the actual consequences of sin?

Thirdly -- and this is simply an observation -- the separated sinner who persists in rejecting the proffered love of God will certainly know the Divine plan for his life! That plan is the "Judgment of the great white throne" and "the lake that burneth with fire"!

Am I unduly critical?

Is this merely a conflict between two relatively similar concepts?

Is the Crusade's view simply an exposition of the thoughts of a newer, perhaps more enlightened, generation?

Let me assure my readers that nothing could be farther from the truth.

One of the leading Crusade writers has let the cat out of the bag. The Crusade, to put it bluntly, does not like the idea of "hell," so far as their witness is concerned.

The writer in question has carefully explained that in testifying to college students. Crusaders "for 'hell' should substitute 'eternal separation from God.'"

Please do not think that I am quibbling about unimportant ideas. Have you recently studied Romans or Hebrews or Revelation?

May I mildly inquire by what authority the Crusade spokesman chooses what words of the Bible he desires to eliminate?

And lest any of my readers are still doubtful about the validity of my argument, may I remind them that the same writer has the audacity to declare -- and I cannot but wonder why a multitude of old-fashioned Bible believers do not arise in holy protest -- that for the word "saved" "we substitute ... (in the beginning at least) 'entering into a personal relationship with Christ.'"

Thus the terrors of Divine wrath are neatly minimized and, probably from the poor student who simply wants a plan for his life, eliminated!

The totality of truth is abbreviated, not actually because the "Laws" are a mere "summary," but because the Crusade has taken it upon itself to abbreviate it!

THE THIRD LAW

The Crusade's third "Law" really troubles me. It does indeed state that Christ is "God's only provision for sin." Splendid!

It quotes verses in footnotes (of all places) which indicate that Christ died in our place, that He is the only way to the Father, and that He bridged the chasm between the sinner and God.

But the difficulty is that the "Law" does not tell us Who Jesus Christ is.

College students on the whole have only a glimmering of truth in this area.

Coming, as most of them do, from modernist churches or godless cultures, they do not know that Jesus Christ is God, the everlasting Son of the Father, Who existed from eternity in the bosom of the Father, and Who for the sins of a rebellious race became incarnate and suffered, bled, and died for the remission of our sins.

Moreover, the third "Law" makes no mention of the incarnation, the vicarious blood atonement, the resurrection of the eternal Son "for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). Thus it does not really explain what it means by "God's only provision."

This is not the apostolic mode of presentation. "Without the shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22). "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

Such verses as these make the matter plain.

Any "Law" which may make passing, appeasing references to related verses but which fails to disclose the identity of our blessed Lord or to mention His out poured blood for sinners does not remotely resemble the Gospel preaching of the apostles.

Is Campus Crusade trying to avoid "the offense of the cross"?

It appears to be doing exactly that.

And, according to the third "Law," what is the net result of Christ's being "God's only provision for man's sin"?

Is it a paean of praise from worshiping hosts of angels around the throne?

Is it the eternal adoration of believers in glory because the God-man's work of redemption has been consummated on behalf of lost sinners?

Is it antiphonal echoes of wonder resounding through the corridors of Heaven?

The third "Law" gives the answer:

"Through Him you can know God's love and plan for your life"! Words fail me. How incomplete and man-centered can a movement be?

THE FOURTH LAW

And now the fourth "Law": "We must receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord by personal invitation; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives."

This "Law" might be regarded as helpful if "Law" Three had explained precisely Who Christ is, how He saved sinners, and what it means for one to call Him Saviour and risen Lord.

But the third "Law" has left a great vacuum. No wonder college Crusaders seem to be so uninformed. May I show what I mean?

In the Crusade's Collegiate Challenge (Vol. 6, No. 2) we read:

"Val talked with a girl who wasn't very interested, but as she listened to the Four Spiritual Laws, she decided to invite Christ into her life.

Then she told her girl friend who had also received Christ. 'Our week had been so dull, but what a change.' Her friend replied, 'Yeah, now we're in the in-group.'"

Some sentimental, uninstructed soul might breathe a sympathetic sigh and remark, "Isn't that sweet?"

But I should like to ask every truly informed reader a pointed question:

"Does this sound to you like genuine Biblical conversion on the basis of Christ's atoning work and through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of the living God?" Of course it does not. And why should it?

In a sheet prepared by Campus Crusade entitled "How to Prepare a Personal Testimony," their workers are told:

"Don't use ... words such as 'saved,' 'convicted,' 'converted,' 'born again,' and 'sin.'"

These words may be precious to the Crusaders, it is intimated, but "they do not communicate truth to the average non-Christian."

If this dogmatic thesis were true -- and praise the Lord it is not -- how in the world have faithful evangelists through the years, men of God who used these blessed words in the energy of the Holy Spirit, been so marvelously instrumental in bringing precious souls to Christ?

Further, is it not true that the Holy Spirit has blessed the use of these very words in the proclamation of the Gospel to sinners?

Was Nicodemus a believer when our Lord told him that he had to be "born again"?

Were the people surrounding Simon Peter believers when he warned them: "Repent ... and be converted" (Acts 3:19)?

How dare any movement that calls itself "Christian" toss aside lightly the Words of the Omniscient God?

Is it to cater to the intellectual or spiritual immaturity of college students? In my opinion this is what Campus Crusade is doing, apparently without fear of weighty contradiction.

May I be a bit more analytical?

Three verses of Scripture and words of explanation are given in the footnotes of the fourth "Law." The verses are:

John 1:12; Eph. 2:8,9; and Rev. 3:20.

Of course, we are always delighted to discover the Word of God, even if it is relegated to footnotes, in any set of guidelines which have to do with leading souls to the Saviour.

And the words of explanation, if they had a solid foundation, could conceivably be of genuine help.

They read:

"We must receive Christ; we receive Christ through faith; we receive Christ by personal invitation." It then adds:

"Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self, trusting Christ to come into our lives, to forgive our sins and to make us to be what He wants us to be."

All this suggests several questions of supreme importance.

First, not having been told in the first three "Laws" either Who Christ is or how He saved the lost sinner, how can a student really receive the Son of God intelligently as his Saviour?

Second, the word "Saviour" has been bandied about through the centuries.

It is widely misunderstood. It has been given various meanings, some totally false and others deceitfully close to Biblical truth. It is of great importance that true witnesses for Christ always make the title crystal clear.

The followers of Albrecht Ritschl, in referring to Christ, might use the word "Saviour." They would mean that Jesus saves us, by His moral influence upon our lives, from our base and unworthy motivations.

Mary Baker Eddy, mother of Christian Science, wrote (Science and Health, page 39): "Christ wrought a full salvation from sin, sickness and death."

Yet Christian Science is as far removed from orthodox Christianity as it can possibly be.

Behold what Mrs. Eddy actually means:

"His consummate example was for the salvation of us all" (page 51).

Is it not plain that, in opposition to this sort of false teaching, the true Crusader for Christ must explain that the Lord Jesus saved us from sin by His perfect sacrifice upon Golgatha?

Even Harry Emerson Fosdick, one of America's leading modernists, did not hesitate to write of Christ: "He died as he lived, a savior.

That his savior-hood is unique in its scope and impact is obvious, but the principle of it is not unique. We can all share it" (Dear Mr. Brown, page 134).

You see, Dr. Fosdick, one of the leading unbelievers of the twentieth century, called Jesus "Savior."

And, demonstrating his infidelity to the Word of God, in the same book (page 136) he speaks of the substitutionary atonement wrought by our Lord as a "pre-civilized barbarity."

Cannot the Crusade be brought to understand that the Savior-hood of the Son of God must be meticulously explained?

Else college students too may speak of Him as "Savior" while meaning something altogether different from the truth!

What a glorious opportunity is missed in the fourth "Law"!

When Christ as He is depicted in the Scriptures is truly received as Saviour, what vistas of rapture break upon the redeemed soul!

Now the sinner has been born again into the family of God. Now he has become a joint-heir with the Son of the Father!

Now Heaven, with all its infinity of blessing, has its gates flung open to welcome him!

How does the Crusade's fourth "Law" summarize all this wondrous treasure- store of delights? Read its words.

Ponder them carefully and, perhaps, a little wistfully. Compare them with the Bible.

Understand their man-centered nature. Now at long last, the "Law" reads: "We can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives." What an anti-climactic conclusion!

Why not spell out the truth of God on the basis of the everlasting Word of God?

Why not explain the "plan" which the converted sinner may know?

It far transcends a student's life choices! It reaches beyond the limits of his life pilgrimage. It leads to and enters the portals of everlasting glory!

Why not tell the student this in no uncertain terms?

And why not, in all fairness, warn him that rejection of the Son of God spells not a vague "separation" from God -- but the eternal miseries of the lake of fire?

Let the student have all the facts before he makes what the Crusade calls a "commitment."

(From Campus Crusade Examined in the Light of Scripture by Charles Woodbridge)

Witchcraft: What it IS, What it IS NOT!

2011-03-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

I am reprinting the Following Article about Witchcraft as it contains everything I as a former Witch (Warlock) am confident in its completeness and facts for those who don't know anything about the Occult or have miss conceptions about those who practice these things.

I have for many years DEFENDED those who practice the Occult, NOT their practices but their humanity, there are many practitioners with GOOD HEART'S who mean well toward their fellow men and women.

I remember well when I was first saved and wished to give my testimony at a church how they would squirm and get in fear and usually make dumb statements like:

"We don't want to make them mad and have them retaliate against our church, so please don't get controversial!"

I used to think "Wow, what faith in God you have!"

THEY ARE NO BETTER AND NO WORSE than you or I and at the same time there are those who take advantage just like the same kind of Hypocrites in Religions we all can name!

If Satan can't defeat the true church, how in the world can any occultist do it?

There is absolutely no excuse for Christians to treat them any different than any person who sins. I was there, YOU were there, so God's kind of Love doesn't differ between the types of wrongdoing, God Judges differently but he treats all men alike with his love....so should we!

Please read the following Article keeping in mind they are simply mere human beings who believe different that you do, they can't believe in Jesus if YOU act high and mighty ABOVE THEM. Remember YOU are not better than them, YOU ARE because of what Jesus has done simply BETTER OFF!

Witchcraft explained

Witchcraft is said to be the use of magic through gardless of sex.
Practices which are classed as witchcraft

Throughout time, any practice which is thought to harm others by intent is said to be a form of witchcraft, some of the more common types of witchcraft are

Wishing harm on another’s person or property

This is perhaps the most well known of all witchcraft and usually involves the use of a curse or hex performed with the sole purpose of bringing harm to the intended victim or that persons property. Spells can also be used to change a persons will and make them do something they otherwise wouldn’t, an example of this would be to make someone fall in love with you and this type of witchcraft is said to be white magic.

Spell casting

Perhaps one of the most well known aspects of witchcraft is the witches ability to cast spells, we all visualise the witch stirring the bubbling cauldron whispering an incantation over the spell. However concocting spells in cauldrons is not the only way witches cast spells, spells can be cast through a variety of means. Some of the more popular methods involve the use of candles burning, chanting and reciting incantations, physical rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies.

Awakening the dead

Awakening or conjuring the spirits of the dead is a practice of witchcraft known as necromancy, the “witch of endor” is said to have routinely practiced this form of witchcraft for divination and prophecy, and it is also a form that the witch doctors of Jamaica performed in their voodoo ceremonies.

Witchcraft in the past

The practice of witchcraft using the methods described above was widespread in the past and was foremost in ancient Egypt and Babylonia as documentation has shown. During the Vedic, age witches were then called yoginis and the form of witchcraft was abhichara, witchcraft in this era was mainly aimed at Aryan people and took on the form of magical incantations.

The Hebrew bible constantly makes reference to witchcraft and condemns the practices as does also the New Testament in the bible, other popular forms of witchcraft which have been documented is African witchcraft and neopagan witchcraft.

The African form of witchcraft we all know is the witch doctor, the witch doctor traditionally practiced medicine as ways of healing people and also putting a curse or hex on unfortunate victims.

During the 20th century a lot of interest was taken into neopagan witchcraft with the most famous documentation being that of Margaret Murray in 1921 when she documented the theory of a pan European witch cult. Magical terms & traditions

* Alchemy – alchemy combines elements of chemistry, physics, medicine and spiritualism and was practiced in ancient Egypt, China, Persia and India. Today alchemy is mainly of interest to historians of science and philosophy for its mystic and artistic aspects.* Astrology – there are many systems, traditions and beliefs that make up astrology and it is thought that knowledge of the positions of the stars can help us to get a better understanding and bring more knowledge of human affairs and events.

* Athame – the Athame is a ceremonial knife that witches use in ritual magic, the witch will take great care when purchasing or choosing the Athame and very often will use a family heirloom as their ceremonial knife.

* Banishing – this is the banishing of evil forces or spirits and is often performed before and after the main ritual.

* Black magic – this is a form of magic that is used to summon evil and direct evil which in turn brings bad luck and destruction to those on the receiving end.

* Ceremonial magic – this is a very elaborate and complex ritual and practitioners will use a variety of aids and accessories when performing the ceremonial ritual.

* Curse – a curse is the effect of a supernatural power aimed at someone to bring them bad luck and trouble, the gypsy curse was the more well known among curses.

* Demonology – demonology refers to a group of people that attempt to name demons and spirits which are said to be malevolent, it is the opposite of angelology which attempts to compile information from the angels for good intentions.

* Divination – this is an attempt to gain information by interpreting omens or a supernatural agency, it is a universal cultural belief which is seen in many cultures and religions up to the present day.

* Dowsing – dowsing has existed for thousands of years and has also been called water witching, those who practice it are said to be empowered with the ability to find water, precious metals, gemstones and hidden objects. Those practicing divination will use a rod, pendulum or y shaped twig over a piece of land or map.

* Geomancy – this is a form of divination which relies on interpreting markings on the ground, or how a handful of dirt will land when thrown back to the ground, it is a form of divination which was chiefly practiced in Africa.

* Hoodoo – hoodoo is an African traditional branch of folk magic which has been around for thousands of years, it is often used to describe a potion or spell and those who practice it are called hoodoo man. Some people also refer to this type of magic as hoodooism.

* Invocation – this is a spell or chant that is used to call upon the god or goddess for a favour or for protection.

* Magic circle – wicca and pagan traditions use what is known as circle casting, this is generally done with salt, crystals, candles or some other purifying substance, the circle is said to offer protection.

* Mojo – the mojo is a tiny bag which is normally worm under the clothes and holds a charm, it is used for protection and can also be used when practicing black magic with the intent to bring harm to others.

* Necromancy – this type of black magic involves conjuring the spirits of the dead in order to gain knowledge of future events.

* Obeah – those who practice magic in the west Indies call it obeah and it is similar to voodoo and hoodoo.

* Paganism – this refers to a broad range of spiritual and religious beliefs and is generally associated with someone who worships someone other than god.

* Shamanism – this is a type of magic which users are said to be able to cure suffering and illness, shamans are thought to have some control over many aspects such as the weather, interpretation of dreams and astral projection.

* Tarot – a deck of tarot cards consists of 78 cards which are used for divination, the tarot cards are thought to date back to 12th century Italy when they were used as a game.

* Voodoo – voodoo is a form of black magic that is practiced in west Africa, it is a system of religious worship and practices that is widespread in a multitude of African groups.

* Wicca – wicca is a form of neopagan religion which is found in many countries, the wiccan only practice magic for good and follow the rule of do no harm to others.

* Witchcraft – there are many forms of witchcraft and the term witchcraft is used when someone practices magic or sorcery of any kind both white and black magic. Types of witchcraft

There is a lot more to witchcraft and witches than the haggard, wart nosed old woman with the black cape, broomstick and black cat. Witchcraft comes in many shapes and forms and has been practised the world over in many different cultures.
The renaissance and gothic Satanism

During the renaissance in the middle ages, the Roman Catholic Church proclaimed that evil people, mostly women had sold their sole to the devil and worshipped him in exchange for certain supernatural powers the devil bestowed upon them.

They were said to be witches who worshiped Diana and other goddesses of this time, they were classed as pure evil and are said to have took part in the kidnapping of babies and killing and eating their victims.

They were said to posses the ability to fly through the air in the middle of the night and hold meetings where spell casting took place and evil wrong doings. These were all beliefs that the people during this period held and thousands of people were convicted of being a witch and worshiping the devil and were executed in what has come to be known as the “burning times”.

Wicca

Wicca is a more recent form of witchcraft and is a religion-based form of witchcraft; it is based on deities, seasonal times and symbols and is a form of celebration for the Celtic people. Some followers of Wicca call themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans and both men and women who follow this religion are called witches.

There are basically two laws that must be followed and these are the Wiccan rede and the three-fold law. The Wiccan rede says that those following the religion are free to do as they please as long as they harm no other; the three-fold law says that any evil that is done to others will return three times over.

These laws obviously encourage the Wiccan to do only good and any magic they practise is white magic and usually involves healing spells and incantations.

Religious Satanism

Modern day Satanists worship Satan and there are three main traditions to the followers of this religion, the church of Satan, the temple of set and church of satanic liberation. The church of Satan is thought to be the biggest of these and currently holds thousands of members in the United States.

Most Satanists believe that Satan is a force of nature not a particular deity and has nothing to do with the usual associations we think of when we think of Satan or the devil. Satanists as you would expect are the total opposite of Wiccan and delight in causing harm and destruction wherever possible and only practise black magic.Witchcraft & wicca FAQs

* Can I follow the path of Wicca and witchcraft and still be a Christian?

There are many common factors of Wicca and being a Christian so the two are not worlds apart, so some say that yes the two can go hand in hand while others (Myself included) claim that there are no connections at all to Wicca and Christianity.

The two seem to compliment each other and the most important issue is doing what GOD SAYS FOR YOU TO DO NOT WHAT "FEELS GOOD"

Because feelings can deceive the Heart. Having been a Wiccan I can attest to the fact that most Wiccans HAVE GOOD INTENTIONS TO HARM NO ONE ELSE, BUT ONLY TO LIVE AND ENJOY LIFE AS THEY SEE FIT.* Are witchcraft and Wicca the same thing?

People have different views regarding this; however, there are some main differences to the two which are worth noting, in general, Wicca’s are free to review different systems of belief and take what they want from the different beliefs and blend them together.

Pure witchcraft however relies on using magic and rituals to work with elemental and spiritual forces of nature. Some feel these differences are only slight and Wicca and witchcraft both have the same goals of working to achieve balance and harmony within nature.

* Whom does the witch worship?

Witches believe that there is a single force and this force is defined as “the one”, with the force being the universe. This divine energy is usually personified and witches will call it the goddess or god; however, this title is only put there to make it easier for the human mind to comprehend. When some witches invoke the god or goddess, they might give those names such as Odin, pan, Dianna or Astarte, but this is only a matter of personal preference.

* Are witches anti-Christian?

Witchcraft and followers of Wicca are very tolerant towards other religions and views, Wiccan's hold the law of “harm no other” and as such allow others to speak their beliefs freely. Wicca’s believe that there are many paths to the same destination and it doesn’t matter which one you choose to get there as long as no harm is done along the way.

* Wicca’s profess to follow the Wicca rede and this says, “harm no others and do as you will”, does this mean that the witch can do anything they want as long as they can justify it?

The whole philosophy behind Wicca is based on living in complete harmony with all other things; this includes every living thing in the world around them. Following this rule, the witch has to make sure that no harm comes to any living thing in the world so the answer would be no, they could not please themselves if they thought that harm was going to come from something no matter how much it could be justified. The tools of witchcraft

There are many sacred tools that witches have used for thousand of years and there are numerous systems and traditions that they use, with some witches choosing to work in very elaborate settings while others use only the bare essentials and prefer a more natural approach. Listed below are some of items and tools that witches commonly use and items which we associate with witches.Athame

The Athame is more commonly know as a knife and most witches will own several ritual knives, the Athame is a very personal and magical tool which the witch will take great care over when obtaining. The Athame should fit comfortably in the hand and feel right with many witches going to great lengths to make their own blades and hone them to perfection.

They also personalize them with great care with runes, carvings and other symbols with special meanings to them, with some witches preferring to use family heirlooms such as letter openers as their Athame.

The broom

Who doesn’t think of witches without thinking of the broom, this has been a symbol of the witch for thousands of years and indeed they do use it for the cleansing ritual. Many witches will also place a broom outside of their door with the brushy side up to ward off evil spirits and to stop unwanted outside energies from entering the home.

The bell

Perhaps not one of the most widely known tools of the witch, the bell is said to have magical properties and for centuries, it was thought to posses magical or spiritual powers. Bells are also associated with the divine and are commonly used in the opening and closing of ceremonies and the start and closing of spell casting.

The cauldron

The cauldron is another symbol that we all associate with the witch; the traditional cauldron has three legs and is thought to represent bounty and blessings. The cauldron has also come to be known as representing the reincarnation and the cycles of birth, death and rebirth. Witches will burn incense in them or create spells in them and the witch will have cauldrons in different sizes for the different tasks they want to perform.

The chalice

The chalice is a cup which is used on the altar and normally represents the female principle of water, chalices can be made of any material but most witches prefer silver or pewter. The chalice is used with the Athame in the enactment of the great rite, which is the union of male and female from which life springs forth. The chalice can also be used to form a bond and will be passed around from person to person so they can all drink from it.

The Paton or altar pentacle

The pentacle for the altar is usually a disk or plate which is inscribed with a five pointed star surrounded by a circle, this will be used to consecrate the various other tools used and is also used as a concentration point for other magical spells. The laws of witchcraft

Unlike most religions and beliefs witchcraft does not have a long list of rules which have to be adhered to, there are only two basic laws which must be followed and adhered to at all times. These two rules are known as the Wiccan rede and the three-fold law; these two principles hold what the witches define as ethic and moral behaviour within the practice of witchcraft.
The three-fold law

Many people will have heard the three-fold law put a different way, some people call it cause and effect, it literally means “what we reap, we will sow” and get back three times.

This is thought to be the reasons why many witches of today are loathe to practice black magic as this would turn around and come back at them three-fold. The witches of today primarily belong to a group or coven called the Wiccan and this law and the Wiccan rede are strictly followed.

The Wiccan rede

The law of the Wiccan rede states that witches are free to do whatever they wish as long as no harm befalls themselves and others. Harm is defined as physical, mental and physic damage to themselves and others around them. For the majority of today’s witches harming others is simply something that is unthinkable and as such only good or white magic spells are performed.

The universe plays a big part in modern witchcraft and all things are thought to be connected to all others. All spells which are cast by the witch of today are directed towards a specific task and are only cast after a great deal of thought has been given to them and the outcome.

One question that is often asked of the modern witch is while upholding this law are they then to take mistreatment from others without retaliating, the answer of course is no, witches will place a protection spell around themselves and their loved ones. The protection spell will then neutralize harmful energies back into the universe without doing harm, the witch then waits for justice to even out as what comes around goes around and therefore justice will take place.

Code of ethics for healers

Certain witches are pagan healers and as such, they are bound by a code of ethics which they must follow, the ethics are:

* The primary obligation of the healer is to those they are healing.

* Any knowledge gained during a consultation should be kept confidential.

* Always be self critical and acknowledge your limitations.

* Work in co-operation with other healers.

* Always take into account the customs, values and beliefs of your client.

* They must not act in any way that would bring the wicca community into disrepute.

* If you feel ethically or morally compromised you have the right to refuse treatment.

* The healer should seek help when treating with herbal treatments. © Copyright 2006 Occultresearch.org - occult, cults, witchcraft & black magic - All rights reserved

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Spiritual Warfare in a Believer's Life

Spiritual Warfare

A Woman's Guide to Spiritual Warfare: Protect Your Home, Family and Friends from Spiritual Darkness (Hearts at Home Books)

Protecting Your Home from Spiritual Darkness: 10 Steps to Help You Clean House, Place Jesus in Authority and Make Your Home a Safe Place

Spiritual Warfare for the Nintendo NES

Guide To Spiritual Warfare Guide To Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare: Lessons on Deliverance from Spiritual Bondage to Freedom in Christ

Spurgeon on Prayer & Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare: Integrity Music's Scripture Memory Songs

Spiritual Warfare: The Word-Filled Life of Victory

Prayers That Rout Demons

Divine Revelation Of Spiritual Warfare

Astrological Nonsense: And Other Superstitions of Merit

2010-12-31T19:27:00.001-07:00

I believe Blogging should be informative, then entertaining. To talk without real meaning does no one any good,"Give a man a fish and you fill his stomach for a day but teach a man to fish and HE can fill his stomach with food every day."

To learn more about the Biblical Answer to Astrology go here:

http://hopefromdispair.blogspot.com/p/gods-picture-gospel-in-heavens-anti.html

THE SEVEN GREAT PROBLEMS OF ASTROLOGY

The Astrology Bible: The Definitive Guide to the Zodiac (... Bible)

The Chinese Astrology Bible: The Definitive Guide to Using the Chinese Zodiac (... Bible)

The Gospel in the Stars; Or, Prímeval Astronomy

"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (Deut. 18:10-12).

An observer of times is a reference to Astrology.

It is an abomination, something worthy of God’s judgment.

Astrology has taken over the lower functions of peoples minds, yes I said taken over, WHY? Because it connects with a part of us that wants to believe in something bigger than we are without giving our lives completely to a God who requires moral following of his commands 24/7.

Its a FUN way to lead your life (Some say!) but what everyone misses is the elephant in the room with it, what is this elephant? Simple, THE FACTS behind it, its filled with multiple holes and UNSCIENTIFIC beliefs and the very same people who believe in science as god, read and believe in their Horror-Scope at the same time.

"And he (King Josiah) put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.....And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might..." (II King 23:5,25).

A part of Astrology in ancient times was the actual worship of the heavenly bodies; they go hand in hand.

What motivates this hypocritical behavior?

Superstitions like old wives tales, folklore, bizarre beliefs, taboos, omens, lucky & unlucky things have deceived man for Centuries and show no signs of stopping. Even when I was a black Witch I knew Astrology was a fabricated bunch of Non-sense but it was good for a Laugh or two in making people pliable to what I wanted them to do, this is how Satan manipulates mankind into doing his bidding.

What better way to get you to go this way or that way but to tell you every morning what YOUR SIGN is going to do? Its so simple really, you become addicted to letting a silly newspaper Horror Scope or a Calender of Chinese astrology manipulate your actions, not only is this stupid but its an insult to the God who created you!

Superstition is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, therefore why do otherwise smart people follow it daily or weekly? It defies all common sense to even look seriously at it for any reason.

Israel... "Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it."

The Gospel in the Stars: An Analysis of the Doctrine of Biblical Astrology

The Gospel in the Stars

The Bible and Astronomy: The Magi and the Star in the Gospel

The Gospel in the Stars: The Bible and the Zodiac

You cannot practice this heathen art and be a child of God at the same time, its like oil and water or fire and water they do not mix.

Astrology must be repented of and forsaken.

So what are the major problems with Astrology we need to pay attention too?

Astrology is an ancient practice that assumes that the position of the stars and planets has a direct influence upon people and events. Supposedly, one's life pattern can be charted by determining the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth. The chart that attempts to accomplish this is known as a "horoscope".

Rene Noorbergen explains how one's horoscope is charted:

For every personal horoscope, the moment of birth is the essential starting point. This, coupled with the latitude and longitude of the individual's birthplace, provides the initial package for the usual astrological chart. While this is elementary, it is not complete; a factor known as "true local time" must also be considered.

This "true" time is arrived at by adding or subtracting four minutes for each degree of longitude that your birthplace lies to the east or west of the center of your time zone of birth. Once this has been accomplished, the next step is to convert this "true" time into "sidereal" or star time.

This is done with the aid of an ephemeras, a reference book showing the positions of the planets in relationship to the earth. Checking this star time in an astrological table is the last formal move, for in doing so, the theme of the individual's "ascendant" -the astrological sign that is supposed to have been rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth -is revealed.

Once you have developed this data -these simple steps are no more difficult than solving a seventh-grade math problem -then you are ready to "chart" your horoscope. This means you align the "ascendant" with the nine-o'clock point on the inner circle of the horoscope, and from there you are prepared to "read" the various zodiacal "houses" that control your life and fortune

(Rene Noorbergen, The Soul Hustlers, Grand Rapids, MI Zondervan, 1976, pp. 176,177).

The claims that astrologists have made have drawn severe criticism from the scientific community.

In September, 1975, 186 prominent American scientists, along with 18 Nobel Prize winners, spoke out against "the pretentious claims of astrological charlatans," saying, among other things, that there is no scientific basis whatsoever for the assumption that the stars foretell events and influence lives.

Did you get that:

"No Scientific Basis Whatsoever"

The following are some of the reasons the practice of astrology must be rejected as both unscientific and unbiblical.

"Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them." (Jer. 10:1-2).

Statistics tell us that there are ten million devoted followers of Astrology in the United States, and there are another 40 million who dabble in it.

Two thirds of the English read the Astrology columns along with 53% of the French and 63% of the Germans.

Astrological columns can be found in more than 1,200 newspapers in North America as compared to Billy Graham’s column (Christianity’s largest) which can be found in only 200.

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets..."

Now I ask you :

How come different Astrologers recommend different things to the same people on the same day?

Virgos were told by Carrol Righter to stay home, while Snyder Omar told them to go out. Libras were told by Francis Drake to plan the day as they wished, but Jeane Dixon said that all personal plans would fail that day. Aquarians were told by Drake to follow carefully their plans for the day, while Omar said, "Lay low."

Who are we to believe? This is utter nonsense even if your crazy or just plain dumb, no one could possibly believe it! Its no different than believing that Congress wants to help us and all the while their taking away our rights, come on people grow a brain!

Or could they?

Why are newspaper horoscopes so vague?, its a guessing man's game with our emotions, suggesting things so we SELF FULFILL the rest, its a total scam from start to finish.

Some follow it as a NATIONAL part of Heritage like the Chinese, its part of their ingrained History as a people just like most Superstitions are but that is not an excuse God will except from his people, who should know better.

The "Farmer’s Almanac" is often far more specific and just as accurate, but it is not worshiped, we like to pick and choose our gods to worship. The Hypocrisy is overwhelming!

How come, if a person’s exact time and place of birth is important, newspapers can predict fortunes months ahead without knowledge of these facts? Its simple, they make LOTS of money from it and the facts be damned and AS LONG as the public isn't wise to the scam, all's well.

Why is it that only twelve constellations affect us, while billions of Constellations in the heaven's do not affect? Who made the few to rule while the rest don't have a say?

This fact alone makes every claim by these bone heads FUNNY at best!

How come the discovery of NEW planets hasn't moved the charts to change your future, if they were there before they knew it, then those planets were affecting our lives too? Yet no effort is ever made to include the new data or update the outdated results.

Why hasn’t Astrology accounted for the gradual shift in the lines of the poles, surely that has to affect their predictions greatly? Must be why my sign has ALWAYS BEEN OFF these past 51 years?

Astrologers tell us that people born in October are Libras, but scientists know that they are actually Virgos, a glaring mistake I'd say.Our calendars are nothing like the ones used by the ancients and there hasn't been an attempt to reconcile them ether.

Why don’t facts match predictions?

We are told that Libras are supposed to be the more artistic, yet the statistics don’t bear this out in any way. The same goes for every prediction out there, with closer looking one can ALWAYS see an error in prediction, its so childish really. Why can't thinking people use their heads for more than containers of "leftover thoughts"?

And what about people born close to the earth’s poles without planet or sign visible? Is their future blank or unpredictable, try to get an answer to that one!

Why do Astrologers in India and China use different signs than those in the West, if the signs are there to see wouldn't they look alike no matter where you were on the earth? This alone PROVES beyond a shadow of a doubt that its made up nonsense!

Each country around the world at some point in its history looked up and saw stars in the heavens and connected the dots to form animals and people holding objects that meant something different to each nation, they applied their meanings to their culture, other nations COPIED theirs and rewrote their meanings onto it and so on and so on.

BUT IF ASTROLOGY IS TRUE THEN THIS COULD NOT HAPPEN, IT WOULD BE TOTALLY CONSISTENT ACROSS THE BOARD, EVERY SIGN WOULD LOOK THE SAME AND EVERY MEANING WOULD BE THE SAME WITHOUT FAIL.

That I could trust in as reliable, knowing that every time I looked at my sign anywhere in any culture I could rely on the actions I took on the advice they gave me. This would be a solid rock of predictive power, BUT alias no such thing exists!

How do you know which influences are bad and which are good, whose the moral judge in this pagan religion that has influenced us? Why,when we can't believe in a God that gave his life for us and gave his direction for our lives, do we turn around and let the Comics guide our lives let's at least be consistent here!

Mars is supposed to be bad, but why is it bad, because its FACE isn't smiling, maybe its RED because its embarrassed or just MAD because you think its bad? If you can make up stuff so can't I!

Why is the hour of birth more important than the hour of conception when life actually begins, are the stars "Pro-Choice"? It's funny how every principle of God is wanting in this evil system isn't it?

Why is it that most true scientists repudiate Astrology?

For further reading go here:

The Problem of Astrology
by Robert Schmidt

The Witchcraft of Selfishness: Your worst Enemy!

2010-12-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Definition of SELFISH

: concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others

Selfish people think that the world revolves around their needs, their purposes, their abilities and when the facts don't follow the fantasy within it opens them up to all manner of reactions none of which is good. Look at Washington D.C. today to see where selfishness leads, the overindulgence's, the prideful behavior, the arrogance begin to manifest.

Certain people who believe in Evolution will say that selfishness is a BASE GENE that makes it possible for evolutions "Survival of the Fittest" to succeed, allowing those who are the best at survival to live and propagate the species on the earth. (See below)

The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author

The Politics of Selfishness: How John Locke's Legacy Is Paralyzing America

The Art of Selfishness: How To Deal With the Tyrants and the Tyrannies in Your Life

Selfishness disregards and retards YOUR innermost desire to help others unless it benefits you first and superimposes "a self preservation" that is unnatural and overdone.

When you display selfish behavior you are showing the pride of life in you. If you display selfish behavior with God or your neighbor, God will not put up with you for very long.

God will ultimately destroy people that continue to display selfish behavior.

1 John 2:16, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

Psalms 101:4, "A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person."

What About Me?: Stop Selfishness from Ruining Your Relationship

Sacred Selfishness: A Guide to Living a Life of Substance

King George and the Ducky: A Lesson about Selfishness [VHS]

Healthy Selfishness: Getting the Life You Deserve Without the Guilt

Selfishness: From Loving Yourself to Loving Your Neighbor

Selfishness: Source Of War & Violence

I Was Always On My Mind: The Power of Overcoming Selfishness

: arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others selfish act>

Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior

Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits

Self-Defeating Behaviors: Free Yourself from the Habits, Compulsions, Feelings, and Attitudes That Hold You Back

Get Off Your "But": How to End Self-Sabotage and Stand Up for Yourself

Get Out of Your Own Way at Work...And Help Others Do the Same: Conquer Self-Defeating Behavior on the Job

From Sabotage to Success: How to Overcome Self-Defeating Behavior and Reach Your True Potential

Life's Too Short!: Pull The Plug On Self-Defeating Behavior And Turn On The Power Of Self-Esteem

Get Off Your "But": How to End Self-Sabotage and Stand Up for Yourself

Too Nice for Your Own Good: How to Stop Making 9 Self-Sabotaging Mistakes

Eliminating Self- Defeating Behaviors in Children and the Child-at-heart

Definition of WITCHCRAFT

a : the use of sorcery or magic b : communication with the devil or with a familiar

: an irresistible influence or fascination

This is why I connect Witchcraft to Selfishness because they produce similar results despite great intentions! Church people are in great danger of this since we have in the past taught self defeating dogmas as a natural course of teaching, the Charismatic overindulgence's with "emotional worship" and strange outward reactions to the Spirit's presence has created a form of Witchcraft, a spell of emotional craft that if others don't see you doing the same "Your in Rebellion to God" when the true rebellion is being grown in them.

The one thing we seem to miss in Worship is BALANCE, God never OVER DOES IT he is perfectly balanced and has perfect instructions concerning Life and Worship. Be careful here though, being Charismatic is not cultism or even wrong, no more than being Baptist is, BOTH can fall into this sin of selfishness. OVER doing anything becomes a selfish thing in the end and leads to Witchcraft's from the minor to the Major .

How Witchcraft Spirits Attack

Overcoming Witchcraft (Combatting Spiritual Stronholds Series)

Destroying the Works of Witchcraft Through Fasting & Prayer

CHARISMATIC CONTROL, The Witchcraft of Domination & Control in charismatic & Neo-Pentecostal Churches

Becoming A Vessel Of Honor

Seductions Exposed-Upgraded

The "irresistible influence or fascination" that Witchcraft has is the exact same thing that selfishness produces, this influence is AGAINST human nature to be FREE from outside influences that want to control our lives. We self violate our own desires for freedom whenever we allow anything to control us including a selfish motive. Demons are behind this influence and they enjoy watching us do ourselves in with our own self preservation mechanism.

If we allow into our "Gates" the sight, hearing, smell and feeling centers of our mind which control our emotions, they will get overloaded with demonic influences, Satan is the Master manipulator and deceiver.

Our emotions are NOT saved when we are so they are susceptible to outside influence, we must separate ourselves from the Worldly influence NOT by cutting off but by training ourselves to respond differently based upon God's will NOT ours.

When Pigs Move In: How To Sweep Clean the Demonic Influences Impacting Your Life and the Lives of Others

Mysteries of Angels and Demons

Purging Your House, Pruning Your Family Tree: How to rid your home and family of demonic influence and generational depression

Free Indeed: How to Be Free from Demonic Influence and Addictive Behaviors

Deliverance From Demonic Influence Series

"The Christian's Journey and the Devil" (" The Treasury of Clyde Parker Jr. )

Deliverance From Demonic Influence by Kenneth E. Hagin

Counseling and the Demonic (Resources for Christian Counseling)

Protecting Your Home from Spiritual Darkness: 10 Steps to Help You Clean House, Place Jesus in Authority and Make Your Home a Safe Place

Deliverance from Evil Spirits: A Practical Manual

Praying God's Will For Your Life: A Prayerful Walk To Spiritual Well Being

Discovering God's Will for Your Life (Women of Faith Study Guide Series)

Hearing with the Heart: A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life

Here's an interesting article from here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1530715/Scientists-discover-brain-trigger-for-selfish-behaviour.html

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books)

Learning Resources Brain Anatomy Model

Brain: The Complete Mind

Learning Resources Cross Section Human Brain Model

The Brain: A Very Short Introduction

The Brain: Our Nervous System

Scientists discover brain trigger for selfish behavior.

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor 12:01AM BST 06 Oct 2006

Scientists have found that they can make people selfish and egotistical by turning off a brain region at the flick of a switch, providing new insight into social behaviour.

They set out to show that activation of the area of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) triggers self-control.

The scientists used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on subjects, in which a weak magnetic field was used to temporarily disable the DLPFC.

Then they took part in a bargaining game in which two individuals had to agree on the division of a given amount of money.

One person proposed an offer and the other could either accept or reject it — but rejection meant that neither got any money.

The researchers found that suppressing the right side of the DLPFC made the volunteers more likely to accept unfair offers instead of rejecting them in order to punish the "proposer" for not sharing more equally.

Subjects who had the right DLPFC turned off were far less able to keep their selfish impulses under control, though they still knew what was fair and what was not.

"Our study suggests that right, but not left, DLPFC is involved in overriding selfish impulses while it does not affect subjects' fairness judgements," said Prof Ernst Fehr, an economist.

The insight into the brain circuits that regulate selfish impulses is published today by Prof Fehr and the neuroscientist Prof Daria Knoch, of Zurich University, with Prof Alvaro Pascual-Leone, of Harvard.

Prof Knoch dismissed fears about the unethical use of the method, saying that the effect was of only short duration and required the permission of the person undergoing the stimulation.
Earlier studies using a brain scanner method had suggested that self-control depended on the DLPFC, which is among the last brain areas to mature.

The new research, published in the journal Science, points out that the same part of the brain is not fully developed in young people, which could account for their notoriously selfish behavior.

Human society depends on fairness, co-operation, politeness, punctuality, and honesty — and on punishing those who violate these norms.

The Dynamics of Sactification
*********************************************************************
In Conclusion:

This last statement is IMPOSSIBLE in the light of Human Nature as it is without God, to be able to manipulate the Brain proves nothing if it cannot be used to permanently change the Heart of Man where the manipulation starts in the first place. Whatever we do to make ourselves better apart from God is like trying to wash a blood soaked Rag, the stain remains.

Entire sanctificaion: The divine purification and perfection of man

Is Ghost Hunting a Dangerous Game or a Serious Ministry to be Done?

2010-12-20T20:37:00.003-07:00

What's funny in almost ALL evidence presented to prove the supernatural is the array of skeptics that line up to DISPROVE the proof just as they do to the bible.

But I must honestly say that every attempt I've seen on U-tube FALLS SHORT of proving anything solid, I know you can imitate what is seen by a fake copy but that proves nothing unless you can prove that THE PEOPLE involved are liars and deliberately faking the evidence.

That hasn't been done, so the evidence that has stood the test of scientific scrutiny on this film evidence is still real. Evidence and Proof it seems are fickle things, that is how its perceived is according to the beholders, This is why no one is able to be definitive because no matter who sees the same thing you saw they see it differently or make an excuse that make even less sense than the reality on film!

I thought I would write about this subject since it has always been of interest to me, Ghost Hunting at least the serious versions on T.V and the Movies SEEM fun and scary to the uninitiated and novices on the outside of the "Other Side" business!

I have been in many of the so-called Haunted Places around the U.S. and The World, and they indeed are possessed of spiritual substances of unknown origin, at least on the surface. The problem is for some reason, we need these Ghost stories to make the places we visit come to life in our hearts and minds, a kind of Romantic interlude from the past, a rush of fearful adrenalin, yes its very real to our fleshly experience but is it all it has pretended to be?

In some cases, we even convince ourselves of the reality of a Haunting because we what so badly to believe in an afterlife. But I would put forward that TRUTH trumps imagination any day of the week, haunted or not, ghost or no ghost what God says is of greater import than made up stories of men, even actual historical ones! Ghost Hunting: A Biblical Perspective The Ghost Hunter's Bible: The Definitive Edition Having been on that side of the Darkness for a large part of my adult life as a Black Witch, I know full well the "Dangerous side of the Other Side" and all these paranormal shows on television dealing with it are only fueling an interest in "Satan's deceptive project" called "Ghost Hunting". I'M NOT SAYING its fake or hogwash or even uninteresting to study as some do, what I am saying is that MOST of it is merely scratching the surface of a very dangerous world of Demonic Deception and brings us NO closer to the truth of what happens after death.

A deception so deep and so bold as to cover a realm that ONLY God himself has the right and the honor to rule, this realm of the dead is not only ruled over by God he actually is the only one who controls it completely, so it would be of the utmost importance for us to question him on the subject don't you think?

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe for the most part that anyone involved in "Ghost Hunting" is willingly deceiving people BUT I do know for a fact based on what I've witnessed in the Craft and deeper dark secrets of the Occult that no one seems to see the dangers as I do. Those of you who have left the Craft for the Hope and caring of Christ should see it too!

It is very important to reveal what life is like after death, BUT even more important that we have all the facts available to us, not assumptions, maybe's or even feel good ideas about death.

First lets define just what we are talking about:

Paranormal is a general term coined in 1915–1920 that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena that are understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure. Within this realm is Heaven and Hell so it does exist, the problem is not weather or not the Paranormal exists but if we have the PROPER INFORMATION available to explain it to us. Knowledge is power but limited knowledge is limited power, that is why we must strive for pure knowledge on any subject or we risk wasting our lives on a Lie!

Paranormal phenomena are distinct from certain hypothetical entities, such as dark matter and dark energy, insofar as paranormal phenomena are inconsistent with the world as already understood through empirical observation coupled with scientific methodology.

In other words the world around you has no bearing on the world of the dead and CANNOT be understood by it apart from God's clear explanation in Scripture revealed only to those who pass his test of Salvation all other attempts result in half truth and shadows of fact. The Paranormal is beyond mortal, flesh and blood understanding and explanation therefore to believe what our mortal logic says is FUNNY at best.

What we don't know is far more dangerous than what we think we know about it, so there is a great need to simply stop and search out the truth found ONLY in scripture about the TRUE nature of the Spirit world and those who inhabit it. What if ALL of what Ghost Hunters believe about what they are doing is only PARTLY right, what if all the talk about the dead revisiting the areas of their earthly living is NOT TRUE AT ALL!

I find the ignorance out there knowing both what I've experienced and what God's word has revealed plainly to me to be beyond the pail of stupidity, it is not worth the silly "shadow figures" and "apparitions" appearing on film to be SO WRONG and put you and your families lives in such danger. These beings appearing as human spirits are VERY dangerous, and VERY powerful once you expose them to your life. They WILL follow you, taunt you and your families forever UNLESS you realize who they really are and deal them the blow of death by "Spiritual Warfare"!

So what's haunting these areas or houses if the Ghosts of people are not really there?

The Bible NOWHERE teaches us that we stay or visit our old life as a spirit or Ghost (UNLESS God brings us back from a near death experience or as Christ we are raised from the dead, in those cases we came back to our Bodies not as haunting spirits.) these are the only exceptions to the rule of death, ONCE DEAD the body is useless having served its purpose and the Soul and Spirit move on to their eternal destiny.

Heb 9:27

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this {NOT Haunting a house but} the judgment:"

Gen 25:8

"He died in a good old age, an old man - So God had promised him. His death was his discharge from the burdens of his age {His Times}: it was also the crown of the glory of his old age. He was full of years - A good man, though he should not die old, dies full of days, satisfied with living here, and longing to live in a better place.

And was gathered to his people - His body was gathered to the congregation of the dead,{The Physical Grave} and his soul {Contained within his spirit} to the congregation of the blessed.{ Then it was "Abraham's Bosom" but after Jesus was raised from the dead it became Heaven or Hell that we were destined to be.}

Death gathers us to our people. Those that are our people while we live, whether the people of God, or the children of this world, to them death will gather us."

The question then is WHERE are our people in death?

Is There Death After Life?

Most of what people believe about Death has been filtered by the circumstances of our childhood, old wives tales, or just very bad doctrines taught by well meaning churches who THOUGHT that was what God said in the bible without proper "Dividing of the truth."

FaithFaith Lessons on the Death and Resurrection of the Messiah: The Bible's Timeless Call To Impact Culture (Leader's Guide)

What the Bible Reveals About Heaven

Death Passed Upon All Men

Passed from Death unto Life

Luk 20:35-36

"But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world {Where I'm From..Heaven.}, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels {NOT become angels but are equal before God.}; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection."

ONCE in heaven why in the world of stupidity would anyone what to come back and "Haunt" their old life on earth?

Joh 14:2

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. "

Much deception has resulted from mishandling this verse, What are these "Mansions" Christ speaks of here? Is Jesus really building a building for us to live in or is there something deeper to learned from here?

Heb 11:16

"But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city {The New Jerusalem}. "

So which is it, is God building a single Mansion for us all in heaven or is he building a City filled with Mansions?

Joh 2:19

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple {Of my Body}, and in three days I will raise it up."

1Co 3:16-17

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. "

So it would seem we have positive proof that our physical bodies are "Buildings" containing greater "Buildings" called "The Temple of God" which can be raised up when we die.

Which begs the greater question, if our Mansions are being built where is the process being done?

2Co 6:16-18

"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. "

The process in Christians is called sanctification or separation from the world, but in the case of the worldly person where's house being built? Well let's just say its of "Wood, Hay and stubble", things that will burn away leaving only our naked soul before God at the last judgment.

2Co 5:10

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. "

1Co 3:12-15

"Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

Notice that WE do the building with the materials God provides or those that Sinful living provides depending on our choices in life, our soul and spirit are the "Guts" of that "Mansion" to live in heaven or to live in Hell for eternity. We are responsible NOW in this life, for our outcome after death in the judgment, good or bad we are now building a mansion with the help of Jesus through the process of separation.

Does it make the least bit of common sense to you to waste an eternity of happiness and bliss in heaven hanging around this darkness spooking people and never really being able to communicate with those who you love without the help of electromagnetic tools?

After all who do we think we are?

The arrogance of man is simply appalling, do we actually believe that WE can control a realm ONLY God is in charge of?

The obvious answer is NO!!!

When I or you do die we will INSTANTLY walk or float from this existence into the next without delay, whether or not that's good for you is your choice NOW so don't wait to decide. You will not have time to be Haunting your former life, you will be instantly standing before your judgment for a life lived for or against The Lordship of Jesus in your life.

The Other Side of Death: What the Bible Teaches About Heaven and Hell

What the Bible Reveals About Heaven

Faith Lessons on the Death and Resurrection of the Messiah (Home DVD Vol. 4) Home Pack/Bible Study Guides: The Bible's Timeless Call to Impact Culture

Job 16:22

"Go - To the state and place of the dead, whence men cannot return to this life.

The meaning is, my death hastens, and therefore I earnestly desire that the cause depending, between me and my friends, may be determined, that if I be guilty of these things, I may bear the shame of it before all men, and if I be innocent, that I may see my own integrity, and the credit of religion, (which suffers upon this occasion) vindicated. How very certainly, and how very shortly are we likewise to go this journey."

1Co 2:11

"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?

even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. "

This realm is unknown to us for good reason, look how we've screwed up what little we do know about it? Sin has tainted our viewpoint of everything we once completely understood before the fall, death was a NEW thing to Adam and Eve, they didn't know what it was or even why it happened, so its not hard to understand why we have come to wrong conclusions concerning Death and Dieing!

1Co 15:54

"So when this corruptible {Physical Body} shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal {Body} shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

How do you know where you'll go when you die? If you don't even understand why your on earth in the first place, beyond the silly concepts of evolution and humanism.

Are we more than the sum of our parts as God says we are, or are we simply the by products of so much primordial soup in the beginning of time?

Eph 5:5

"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. "

Why is this true, why can't just anyone get into heaven? Well would you like to live forever next to a 'sex offender" or a "Murderer" in heaven as you may have had to do here on earth? God's standards are much higher than ours, thank God for small favors.

O.K. so just what are the real experiences that many of us, including me have had concerning Ghosts and shadows that we chase to find out the truth about the afterlife? Who are we dealing with in reality if they are not former people we knew or read about in the history books?

Are we being duped into a belief system about Ghosts and Spirit's based upon our emotional attachments to dead loved ones and old wives tales passed down religiously for decades. Why do we fall for these frauds so easily? Are we that gullible?

2Co 11:13-15

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

This proves that righteous things {Our saved loved ones, Those who have died for Christ in the past, Christian Doctrine, just about anything sacred} CAN BE IMITATED, they can be copied and presented as the true and real, they can deceive even those who believe in God. So we must ask the question here what about "Ghosts" and the Paranormal in General are we seeing people we knew, knowledge we get from God or are we witnessing what Paul is warning of?

We live in a time when holiday's we celebrate are more Sacrilegious than faithful, The Christmas Tree and it's entrapment's, Easter and the it's entrapment's are considered by the world as supporting a Christian religion, how stupid that is when NONE OF THAT STUFF has any resemblance to the true Christian Faith whatsoever, its based in TOTAL PAGANISM so how does it favor God at all, let alone pure Christian Faith?

The world loves to pervert our faith WITH OUR HELP and this is a great example of just that, this subject is God's subject not the world's but we allow them to define what happens at death, what's wrong with this picture?

This is happening right under the noses of real believers all the time as is the deceptions of Talking to the dead and seeking advice from dead saints. Both are FORBIDDEN by God which is ignored completely by the Churches supporting these "illegal prayers" that mock the reality of true prayer to God alone.

Instead in order to befriend the person involved we wrongly think we must absorb the false belief, this is what happened in the 4th century A.D. when Constantine accepted the Faith of Jesus and stopped Rome's persecution of Christians ALONG with bringing in all the PAGAN garbage into the state church, nice trade off huh?

Satan is the greatest of the great when it comes to "Hidden Agendas", slight of hand shadowplay were invented by him to hide behind, he uses a sacred cover to shield our investigation of the truth, because it make seeking answers look like Hating others.

Telling the Truth is not Hate Speech!

For more information on this read my pages:

The Powers behind the Darkness of this World and their Leader Exposed!

What about Ghosts?

From what I personally have seen and heard with my own life experience I would have to say the latter is true, because no matter how much we find out concerning the paranormal there's ALWAYS more in the shadows we can't know ACCORDING TO THEM!

2Co 11:3-4

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. "

Notice, that in Christ is SIMPLICITY but with Satan there is confusion, shadow and subtlety without end, nothing that Satan does or deceives us into is ever easy to understand or accomplish.

The Christian faith APART from the religious mess that man has corrupted it with is simple to understand, easy to accomplish and open to examination for all but the religion is shadowed with deep holes of misunderstanding.

The real purpose of writing this is to advance an idea, an idea of adding a biblical perspective to the "Hunt" taking it away from the shadows of uncertainty.

There is no reason to hunt what you don't understand if the scriptures reveal clearly what your dealing with and just HOW TO CAST IT OUT. That seems to be the big hold up in most paranormal shows, they just want to REVEAL WHAT'S THERE but their definitions are limited to the limited knowledge of the afterlife.

We have defined the afterlife by old wives tales, false stories, and incomplete experiences and have ended up with half the real story.

What are we dealing with?

DEMONS!, how do we deal with demons?

WE CAST THEM OUT we don't talk about their false characters, their impersonations of humans long dead, we don't allow them to play "poltergeist"{Angry Spirit} with the truth. Sometimes I watch these shows and ask myself what I would do in their place, well for one thing, in all that past life history which is great do they once study the true history book- the Bible, NEVER!

O.K. first let's do our homework on Ghost Hunting and its tools: we must understand what they use to understand the why's and how's of Ghost Hunting. If you as a believer are serious about this field of investigation then you need to know what God knows and what to use to do it safely.

A Short History of Ghost Hunting

Ghosts, haunting and tales of strange events go well back into ancient history.

More recently though there is a rich and documented history of ghost hunting occurring in New York around 1848 that started the spiritualist movement which continued into late 1930's.

You may recognize names such as Kate Fox, the Davenport Brothers, Daniel Douglas Home, Florence Cook, Margery Crandon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini.

These individuals along with many others played a large part in this movement albeit sometimes at opposite ends of the spectrum.

(Either in their empathy with lost souls or their skepticism in such matters).

More detailed information is available today on the internet or at your local library.

Those people listed above are in part the reason for the efforts of Harry Price and the start of documented ghost hunting.

HARRY PRICE (1881 -1948)

In his time, Harry Price was one of the most influential persons involved in ghost hunting.

Harry uncovered a number of fraudulent photographers that made their money by double exposing photographic plates and then claiming the images were the dead relatives of the people being photographed.

He proved to the general public how this trickery could be achieved in the studio.

Harry also went to numerous seances and tried to prove or disprove their validity scientifically with gauges and measures (some instruments were crafted specifically for this purpose) and kept accurate notes and diaries at all times.

Harry Price was most recognized for his work in the Borley Rectory with his ghostly photography and evaluations of this haunted site.

Harry's work is still controversial and questioned by some.

He was however the fore runner of ghost hunters and his work was the start to a more serious look into the proper use of equipment and evaluations to explain the paranormal.

A good source for more information on the spiritualist movement and the evolution of ghost hunting is a book by

Troy Taylor and the American Ghost Society's....

- The Ghost Hunter's Guidebook -
Ghost Hunter's Guidebook: The Essential Guide to Investigating Ghosts & Hauntings

Published by Whitechapel Productions Press.

Warning:

This book is NOT a Christian out-look on Ghost Hunting BUT it is a very good look at the present state of it, so read it with that in mind!

Now what about the tools of the trade?

Most of the equipment is harmless, but I seriously question the "Spirit Boxes" for allowing the dead to talk to you as this is expressly forbidden in the scriptures for good reason, if you allow a demon to speak you'll get ONE THING a lie and the longer they talk the bigger the lie gets so this box is a tool that will not help you but harm you.

Divining rods and spirit boards do far to much to give the advantage to the enemy your trying to CAST out, you are to speak in Authority against the manifestation, not allow it a doorway to make things worse and that's just what the Ouija does:

http://www.allabouttheoccult.org/ouija-board.htm

In Isaiah 8:19-20,

God says this:

"When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? …If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light…"

The E.V.P. ( Electronic Voice Phenomenon) should only be used with great caution never to have conversation with the dead and never to be believed at face value, never base an investigation on this tool it only proves something is there not that what it says is true, remember demons only speak one language- The Lie, so nothing they tell you except under the Authority and power of God is true so make sure you ask your questions in the form of a command to tell only the truth in the name of Jesus.

I believe that we should do FAR more than hunt for Ghosts, we should be helping in a more permanent lasting way, by casting out impersonating demons that falsely take our loved ones identities

Ghost Hunting Equipment Check List

http://www.ghost-hunting-equipment.com/

Digital video recorder: DVRs have gotten fabulous in the last few years and there are dozens out there to choose from. Buy quality, because your digital video recorder is one of your primary tools.
Be sure and get a DVR with excellent sound quality and buy a good static free external shotgun microphone to go along with the camera. This allows a good DVR to function as a digital audio recorder too.

This is a simple yet effective way to document what is happening at the sight of the alleged Haunting/Demon impersonation, try to allow the device to do its work but don't read into the results to much, watch for the obvious DUST PARTICLES and LIGHT PLAY know your light sources prior to investigating the areas of interest.
Digital Still Camera: It’s all about the Megapixles! – The higher the resolution the more you will be able to zoom in later on when you are analyzing your photos in Photoshop. How about a Stereo 3D Camera!
Digital Image Editing Program: Sometimes by adjusting contrast, shadows and highlights or colors, you can find things in a photo you didn’t know were there. Photoshop is my favorite. And remember you can give your video the same treatment with the color correction tools in a Video Editing Program like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere.
35mm FILM Camera: Yes, I’m talking actual film – there are tons of great digital still cameras and they are much easier to use, but, remember, a film camera processes the images through a chemical process, not through an electronic sensor array. Experienced ghost hunters will tell you that a traditional 35mm camera, especially with black and white film often catches images that do not show up on even the best digital cameras. So, make sure someone on your team is rolling old school.

Today Ebay is far and away the best place to buy 35 mm cameras. My all time favorite is the Nikon F3. It has simple, dependable controls and is built like a tank.
Misc. Camera Gear: You’re going to want a decent camera bag and tripod, extra film for the 35mm, plenty of memory cards for the still camera and extra tapes for the DVR.
Night Vision Equipment: Night vision scopes have gotten a lot cheaper in the last few years and there are adapters that you can use to attach them to video recorder and cameras so you can shoot in near total darkness.
This equipment is useful in the darkest of situations but remember Demons are not bound by light or dark in their manifestations, you can find a lot of truth in a total history of the property or people involved, that will tell you more than a "Ghost Hunt" would anyway, what we are trying to accomplish is the total eradication of the demons right to be there and thus the Demon leaves.
Analog Tape Recorder: Like the 35mm camera magnetic tape recorders are also quickly headed for obsolescence, but they also record sound differently than modern digital audio recorders. Also, you should be getting digital audio through your DVR, so this gives you a valuable double check for any anomalies you encounter.
Remember to rewind the tape and listen to it at the end of the expedition even if you didn’t hear anything unusual while you were there. Spirit voices sometimes are recorded on magnetic audio tapes even when humans hear no sounds.
This phenomena is known as EVP, Electronic Voice Phenomena.

Be sure and use new tapes, because the tiny scratches from rewinding and playing tapes make it much more difficult to pick out very faint noises. Like 35mm cameras, Ebay is also the best place to shop for Analog Tape Recorders.
Flash Lights: Obviously, this is a no brainer. If you haven’t already moved up to a modern LED flashlight now is a good time. Battery life is much longer, the LED bulbs are almost unbreakable, and they often allow for different colors of light and intensity. However, no matter how good your primary flashlight is every other team member should carry a back up light.
EMF Detector: EMF Detectors pick up electronic fields at a variety of frequencies. Usually, where there are ghosts there are disruptions in the electronic magnetic field. This is one piece of equipment that every ghost hunting expedition should have and they are fairly cheap.
Compass: Obviously, you can use them for navigation, but on a ghost hunting expedition the primary role is as the low tech back up for your EMF gear. A compass reacts to changes in the Earth’s magnetic field and since it is your backup do not buy an electronic compass. A glow in the dark needle is nice.
GPS: You can use GPS to record the exact time and location of each paranormal incident as a way point, also some outdoor GPS’s are loaded with extra features like altimeters and thermometers.
Thermometers: Obviously, a good thermometer can detect changes in the air temperature, but your ghost hunting team should carry both a traditional mercury thermometer and a digital thermometer to ensure good backup. Also, today both types are very cheap.
Barometers: Follow the same logic as with thermometers and have both a traditional and electronic.
Wind chimes: Buy the lightest wind chimes you can, preferably ones that are easy to move, and as you move from room to room you reposition the chimes.
Windchimes are cheap, but sometimes they are the first piece of equipment to record an unusual phenomena. The team should have several windchimes on the expedition. Many people like to paint them with glow in the dark paint.
Infrared Thermal Scanner: These are a great pieces of gear, because they essentially allow you to see changes in temperature across a room or field. When you see the anomaly move towards your team and trigger the wind chimes and the thermometers it is an incredible moment.
Air Ion Counter: These are expensive, but useful. They measure positive and negative ions in the air and often provide additional evidence to support thermometers, barometers, and wind chimes.
Walkie-Talkie: Always useful, but try to get one that is hands free, preferably with headsets. Today, you can actually link a team together through conference call on cell phone if everyone has the minutes.
Spot Light: You can get a 200,000 candle power light for about $30.00, but they do tend to eat batteries.
Motion Detectors: These can really give you a heads up and they are not expensive.
Extra Batteries: Try to have extra batteries for everything.
Matches and Candle: Just for back up.
Watches: Each team member should have a watch and they should all be synchronized with the other members watches and time codes on the camera equipment. Sometimes this is the most challenging part of a hunt.
Pen and Paper: They don’t run out of batteries and they are cheap, and you can record a written log. It’s a good idea to have a secretary recording the time and description of events as you go, because this represents the closest you can get to human memories, without the filter of technology.
First Aid Kit: Ya never know!

The Key is a vast knowledge of Demons and every creature invented in Satan's evil mind so that you are never caught off guard in any situation in your personal life or your "Hunters" life.

Knowing how to use "Spiritual Warfare" against the devils is paramount to real success, without a clean personal life free of worldly weights and a renewed mind filled with knowledge of your enemy and a healthy fear of your failure. Remember I said "HEALTHY FEAR" not FEAR for the sake of Fear, they will and should fear the prepared hunter who knows who they are dealing with and uses the authority of God as a sword. The devil's ALL fear Jesus and if we walk and talk just like"him" they can't tell the difference, when we command in his authority, Demons in whatever form they take will flee.

Since Ghosts are in reality Demons that are impersonating those who have died, adults and children with whom they have had intimate physiological and or soulful connections, knowing the history of the person they are pretending to be is helpful only in a surface way.

What is really important is to know why they were involved with those people, get your eyes off
the imitation before you and on what caused the devils to be attached with them?

How did they get there in the first place, why this house?

Is it a family-line demon, attached to a particular family sin?

Is it a demon connected to the persons property or household possessions from another family line curse?

What curse brought the devil there and can it be broken once and for all, research every entrance that could hold the key to casting it out?

Your real bread and butter so to speak is in your research team looking for the facts behind the haunting, the hunting is the fun part but its not the most important part, that comes when you can claim the person or the property FREE in Christ's name!

For Casting Out Devils: Preachers, Teachers, Seekers

Healing the sick and casting out devils: Sermons and faith adventures of

Healing the sick and casting out devils: The message and ministry of a Bible disciple now living ; Christ's power of attorney exercised today

Healing the Sick and Casting Out Devils [T.L. Osborn's Greatest Sermons and Faith Adventures]. 6th Edition

Casting Out the Devils

HEALING THE SICK AND CASTING OUT DEVILS The Message and Ministry of a Bible Disciple Now Living ; Christ's Power of Attorney Exercised Today

How to Cast Out Demons

The prince of this world: A treatise on the casting out of Satan, with a new rendering of his sin and fall, founded on the words of Jesus (Pamphlets)

Debating False Religion:The Historical precedent to fight exists!

2010-12-15T18:40:00.002-07:00

Have you ever been told "Don't rock the boat", "Let sleeping dogs lay" or "It is what it is, so let it be!"

Well so have I; the only problem is I didn't listen then and since it's an eternal issue concerning millions of souls going to Hell, I won't listen now either!

Signs and wonders refer to the miracles produced by the Holy Spirit, such as through the Apostles, especially Paul, as a testimony to God's power and glory.

We can see them portrayed in many places in Scripture..BUT....

have you also noticed lately that the same group of "Naysayers" about the cults have begun to attack and EAT their own in the "Body of Christ" and give all that "FALSE religion" right in front of them a BIG FAT PASS?

Kingdom of the Cults, The

Cults: Dangerous Devotion

Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults

Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies: The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more (Vintage)

Kingdom of the Cults-Introduction to the Cults

Killer Cults: Shocking True Stories of the Most Dangerous Cults In History

Jonestown - The Life & Death of Peoples Temple

Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace

"That just because we agree on some things, that we should look the other way concerning the truth that God says plainly!"

It has become an epidemic in the Church to cannibalize the truth we know, acting as wolves instead of sheep!

Sheep in Wolves' Clothing: How Unseen Need Destroys Friendship and Community and What to Do about It

Wolves in the Church

Wolves Within the Fold: Religious Leadership and Abuses of Power

In the Shadow of "Savage Wolves": Anabaptist Munster and the German Reformation During the 1530's (Studies in Central European Histories)

Beware of Wolves: The Rise of Psycho-Spiritual Terrorism in the Church (Volume 2)

Kingdom Zoology: Dealing with the Wolves, Serpents and Swine in Your Life (Arabic Language Edition)

Matthew 7:15 (Amplified)

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves."

Matthew 7:14-16 (in Context) Matthew 7 (Whole Chapter)

Hand in Hand with wolves in the past? No different today!

So do not be led astray by false ideas, trends, or other things just because they are new OR FOR THAT MATTER OLD, remember just as much crap is preached, that is traditional as that which we deem new doctrine.

Galatians 4:17

"Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them."

The Corinthian church for example was chastised for tolerating "other gospels"--gospel accounts and religious claims that don't come from God or his apostles.

There is only one Gospel not many versions of it and one way to God not many roads leading to the same place; there are no substitutes for Jesus or additional accounts of what he meant by what he said.

Christians must always be on guard against false teachers within the church.

2 Peter 2:3

"In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.

Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping."

The early church had to watch carefully for signs of false doctrine, and we must continue to do this today.

"Garbage in a silver garbage-can is still trash!"

False Teachers Will be Judged and Destroyed!

Take heed, God will destroy those who are wicked; but take comfort, for He also will rescue those who are in Him.

No one is immune from the judgment of God,NO ONE.

No one will escape God’s wrath!

Satan is the arch-counterfeiter, the second best scientist and he can make from our creative abilities anything that's possible to us as humans.

Why then do we FALL hook, line and sinker for what we could have done ourselves, Satan just uses US to do his "miracle-working" and we look in amazement as if he did something wonderful!

The Devil is now busy at work in the same field in which the Lord sowed the good seed. What do you think he's doing?

He's planting a seed that resembles what you planted in Jesus name.

When you reap from that wrong seed that produces crap; what do YOU do?

You simply fall in devotion to YOUR way of believing, basing a new "tradition" on that "false growth" from "bad soil" and call it a blessing "From God".

"Doctrines of Demons are the false seed planted in good soil turning it bad!"

Satan is seeking to prevent the growth of the wheat, not the planting but the growth by planting another plant, the tares, which closely resemble the wheat in appearance...but choke out it's life-giving force.

Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Demons: Last-Day Supernatural Confrontation

Doctrines of demons: A Christian response to the occult

Doctrines of Demons...Exposed: And Countered by the Word of God

The Sins of America: Part 2: Foundation of the Nation, Agendas and Doctrines of Demons

Dancing Alone: The Quest for Orthodox Faith in the Age of False Religion

Fast Facts® on False Teachings

The final flock: The final gathering of Satans false religions

Please understand that this problem is deep enough to cover the whole of religion not only the Protestant and Catholic Churches, we don't disagree on EVERYTHING just the most Important issues of Salvation and Lifestyle!

The Church has fallen prey to an insidious evil called "False Devotion", we become devoted to our Denominations, our pastors, our teachers, our VERSION of the Truth.

Fellowship: With God & His People: The Way of Christ Without Denominationalism

Denominationalism vs. Christian union

That They May Be One: The Unity of the Body of Christ

The Jesus Proposal: A Theological Framework for Maintaining the Unity of the Body of Christ

Love Covers: a Biblical Design for Unity in the Body of Christ

Unity in the Body of Christ

Father Make Them One: A Prayer of Jesus

ONE: Racial Unity in the Body of Christ

You Are a Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience

Our Oneness in Christ

This a very unhealthy practice IF we do not keep our flesh in check, flesh devotes itself to that which loves it, preserves it and otherwise supports it!

I think God is fed up with the hypocrisy of defending the indefensible doctrines in the name of "Getting Along with others"!

Trust me, getting along with Satan is not what God said to do, we are to CAST HIM OUT....not kiss his @##!

"Good Works cannot save the soul or the human heart any more than the symbol of salvation, 'water baptism" can make you born again! "

THE GREAT WITTENBERG DEBATE: LUTHER Vs. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!

The First Commandment. FROM MARTIN LUTHER'S CATECHISM:

The First Commandment.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

That is:

"Thou shalt have [and worship] Me alone as thy God."

What is the force of this, and how is it to be understood?

What does it mean to have a god?

or, what is God?

Answer:

A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the [whole] heart; as I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol.

If your faith and trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong together faith and God.

That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god.

Therefore it is the intent of this commandment to require true faith and trust of the heart which settles upon the only true God and clings to Him alone.

That is as much as to say:

"See to it that you let Me alone be your God, and never seek another," i.e.: Whatever you lack of good things, expect it of Me, and look to Me for it, and whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, creep and cling to Me.

I, yes, I, will give you enough and help you out of every need; only let not your heart cleave to or rest in any other.

This I must unfold somewhat more plainly, that it may be understood and perceived by ordinary examples of the contrary.

Many a one thinks that he has God and everything in abundance when he has money and possessions; he trusts in them and boasts of them with such firmness and assurance as to care for no one.

Lo, such a man also has a god, Mammon by name, i.e., money and possessions, on which he sets all his heart, and which is also the most common idol on earth.

He who has money and possessions feels secure, and is joyful and undismayed as though he were sitting in the midst of Paradise.

On the other hand, he who has none doubts and is despondent, as though he knew of no God. For very few are to be found who are of good cheer, and who neither mourn nor complain if they have not Mammon.

This [care and desire for money] sticks and clings to our nature, even to the grave.

So, too, whoever trusts and boasts that he possesses great skill, prudence, power, favor friendship, and honor has also a god, but not this true and only God.

This appears again when you notice how presumptuous, secure, and proud people are because of such possessions, and how despondent when they no longer exist or are withdrawn.

Therefore I repeat that the chief explanation of this point is that to have a god is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.

Besides, consider what in our blindness, we have hitherto been practising and doing under the Papacy.

If any one had toothache, he fasted and honored St. Apollonia [acerated his flesh by voluntary fasting to the honor of St.

Apollonia]; if he was afraid of fire, he chose St. Lawrence as his helper in need; if he dreaded pestilence, he made a vow to St. Sebastian or Rochio, and a countless number of such abominations, where every one selected his own saint, worshiped him, and called for help to him in distress.

Here belong those also, as, e.g., sorcerers and magicians, whose idolatry is most gross, and who make a covenant with the devil, in order that he may give them plenty of money or help them in love-affairs, preserve their cattle, restore to them lost possessions, etc.

For all these place their heart and trust elsewhere than in the true God, look for nothing good to Him nor seek it from Him.

Thus you can easily understand what and how much this commandment requires, namely, that man's entire heart and all his confidence be placed in God alone, and in no one else.

For to have God, you can easily perceive, is not to lay hold of Him with our hands or to put Him in a bag [as money], or to lock Him in a chest [as silver vessels].

But to apprehend Him means when the heart lays hold of Him and clings to Him. But to cling to Him with the heart is nothing else than to trust in Him entirely.

For this reason He wishes to turn us away from everything else that exists outside of Him, and to draw us to Himself, namely, because He is the only eternal good.

As though He would say:

Whatever you have heretofore sought of the saints, or for whatever [things] you have trusted in Mammon or anything else, expect it all of Me, and regard Me as the one who will help you and pour out upon you richly all good things.

Lo, here you have the meaning of the true honor and worship of God, which pleases God, and which He commands under penalty of eternal wrath, namely, that the heart know no other comfort or confidence than in Him, and do not suffer itself to be torn from Him, but, for Him, risk and disregard everything upon earth.

On the other hand, you can easily see and judge how the world practises only false worship and idolatry.

For no people has ever been so reprobate as not to institute and observe some divine worship; every one has set up as his special god whatever he looked to for blessings, help, and comfort.

Thus, for example, the heathen who put their trust in power and dominion elevated Jupiter as the supreme god; the others, who were bent upon riches, happiness, or pleasure, and a life of ease, Hercules, Mercury, Venus or others; women with child, Diana or Lucina, and so on; thus every one made that his god to which his heart was inclined, so that even in the mind of the heathen to have a god means to trust and believe.

But their error is this that their trust is false and wrong for it is not placed in the only God, besides whom there is truly no God in heaven or upon earth.

Therefore the heathen really make their self-invented notions and dreams of God an idol, and put their trust in that which is altogether nothing.

Thus it is with all idolatry; for it consists not merely in erecting an image and worshiping it, but rather in the heart, which stands gaping at something else, and seeks help and consolation from creatures saints, or devils, and neither cares for God, nor looks to Him for so much good as to believe that He is willing to help, neither believes that whatever good it experiences comes from God.

Besides, there is also a false worship and extreme idolatry, which we have hitherto practised, and is still prevalent in the world, upon which also all ecclesiastical orders are founded, and which concerns the conscience alone that seeks in its own works help, consolation, and salvation, presumes to wrest heaven from God, and reckons how many bequests it has made, how often it has fasted, celebrated Mass, etc.

Upon such things it depends, and of them boasts, as though unwilling to receive anything from God as a gift, but desires itself to earn or merit it superabundantly, just as though He must serve us and were our debtor, and we His liege lords.

"The Word is God and God is his Word, therefore do not tamper with its purity!"

What is this but reducing God to an idol, yea, [a fig image or] an apple-god, and elevating and regarding ourselves as God ?

But this is slightly too subtile, and is not for young pupils.

But let this be said to the simple, that they may well note and remember the meaning of this commandment, namely, that we are to trust in God alone, and look to Him and expect from Him naught but good, as from one who gives us body, life, food, drink, nourishment, health, protection, peace, and all necessaries of both temporal and eternal things.

He also preserves us from misfortune, and if any evil befall us, delivers and rescues us, so that it is God alone (as has been sufficiently said) from whom we receive all good, and by whom we are delivered from all evil.

Hence also, I think, we Germans from ancient times call God (more elegantly and appropriately than any other language) by that name from the word good as being an eternal fountain which gushes forth abundantly nothing but what is good, and from which flows forth all that is and is called good.

For even though otherwise we experience much good from men, still whatever we receive by His command or arrangement is all received from God.

For our parents, and all rulers, and every one besides with respect to his neighbor, have received from God the command that they should do us all manner of good, so that we receive these blessings not from them, but, through them, from God.

Not by Bread Alone: An Outlined Guide to Bible Doctrine

The letter to Titus: Sound doctrine and good works, a self-study course

Things Which Become Sound Doctrine: Doctrinal Studies of Fourteen Crucial Words of Faith

Sound Doctrine: The Foundation of the Faith

THE TRACT PRIMER: First Lessons in Sound Doctrine for Young Children

The Seven Judgments of the Bible

Sound Doctrine For Today's Christians; What the bible says

For creatures are only the hands, channels, and means whereby God gives all things, as He gives to the mother breasts and milk to offer to her child, and corn and all manner of produce from the earth for nourishment, none of which blessings could be produced by any creature of itself.

Therefore no man should presume to take or give anything except as God has commanded, in order that it may be acknowledged as God's gift, and thanks may be rendered Him for it, as this commandment requires.

On this account also these means of receiving good gifts through creatures are not to be rejected, neither should we in presumption seek other ways and means than God has commanded. For that would not be receiving from God, hut seeking of ourselves.

Let every one, then, see to it that he esteem this commandment great and high above all things, and do not regard it as a joke.

Ask and examine your heart diligently, and you will find whether it cleaves to God alone or not.

If you have a heart that can expect of Him nothing but what is good, especially in want and distress, and that, moreover renounces and forsakes everything that is not God, then you have the only true God.

If on the contrary, it cleaves to anything else, of which it expects more good and help than of God, and does not take refuge in Him, but in adversity flees from Him, then you have an idol, another god.

In order that it may be seen that God will not have this commandment thrown to the winds, but will most strictly enforce it, He has attached to it first a terrible threat, and then a beautiful, comforting promise which is also to be urged and impressed upon young people, that they may take it to heart and retain it:

[Exposition of the Appendix to the First Commandment.]

The ten commandments for children (Full-Vision books)

"For I am the Lord, thy God, strong and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments."

Although these words relate to all the commandments (as we shall hereafter learn), yet they are joined to this chief commandment because it is of first importance that men have a right head; for where the head is right, the whole life must be right, and vice versa.

Learn, therefore, from these words how angry God is with those who trust in anything but Him, and again, how good and gracious He is to those who trust and believe in Him alone with the whole heart; so that His anger does not cease until the fourth generation, while, on the other hand, His blessing and goodness extend to many thousands lest you live in such security and commit yourself to chance, as men of brutal heart, who think that it makes no great difference [how they live].

He is a God who will not leave it unavenged if men turn from Him, and will not cease to be angry until the fourth generation, even until they are utterly exterminated. Therefore He is to be feared, and not to be desisted.

He has also demonstrated this in all history, as the Scriptures abundantly show and daily experience still teaches.

For from the beginning He has utterly extirpated all idolatry, and, on account of it, both heathen and Jews; even as at the present day He overthrows all false worship, so that all who remain therein must finally perish. Therefore, although proud, powerful, and rich worldlings [Sardanapaluses and Phalarides, who surpass even the Persians in wealth] are now to be found, who boast defiantly of their Mammon, with utter disregard whether God is angry at or smiles on them, and dare to withstand His wrath, yet they shall not succeed, but before they are aware,they shall be wrecked, with all in which they trusted; as all others have perished who have thought themselves more secure or powerful.

And just because of such hardened heads who imagine because God connives and allows them to rest in security, that He either is entirely ignorant or cares nothing about such matters, He must deal a smashing blow and punish them,,so that He cannot forget it unto children's children; so that every one may take note and see that this is no joke to Him. For they are those whom He means when He says: Who hate Me, i.e., those who persist in their defiance and pride; whatever is preached or said to them, they will not listen; when they are reproved, in order that they may learn to know themselves and amend before the punishment begins, they become mad and foolish so as to fairly merit wrath, as now we see daily in bishops and princes.

The perversion of submision [sic]: Idols in the Christian church

Images or Idols?: The Place of Sacred Art in Churches Today

The Molten Calf : Idol Gods in the Church

Victorian Reformation: The Fight Over Idolatry in the Church of England, 1840-1860 (Religion, Culture,and History Series)

Popular Piety And Art In The Late Middle Ages: Image Worship and Idolatry in England 1350-1500

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

Popery on the Continent in the nineteenth century: A warning to the Protestants of England : being a lecture delivered before the Islington Protestant Institute, on Monday, April 26, 1847

The true and false in Christian work and worship (The evangel booklets)

But terrible as are these threatenings, so much the more powerful is the consolation in the promise, that those who cling to God alone should be sure that He will show them mercy that is, show them pure goodness and blessing not only for themselves, but also to their children and children's children, even to the thousandth generation and beyond that.

This ought certainly to move and impel us to risk our hearts in all confidence with God, if we wish all temporal and eternal good, since the Supreme Majesty makes such sublime offers and presents such cordial inducements and such rich promises.

How to Recognize False Prophets and Prophecies in the Church

Idolatry: False Worship in the Bible, Early Judaism, And Christianity

Therefore let everyone seriously take this to heart, lest it be regarded as though a man had spoken it. For to you it is a question either of eternal blessing, happiness, and salvation, or of eternal wrath, misery, and woe.

What more would you have or desire than that He so kindly promises to be yours with every blessing, and to protect and help you in all need?

But, alas! here is the failure, that the world believes nothing of this, nor regards it as God's Word, because it sees that those who trust in God and not in Mammon suffer care and want, and the devil opposes and resists them, that they have neither money, favor, nor honor, and, besides, can scarcely support life; while, on the other hand, those who serve Mammon have power, favor, honor, possessions, and every comfort in the eyes of the world.

For this reason, these words must be grasped as being directed against such appearances; and we must consider that they do not lie or deceive, but must come true.

Reflect for yourself or make inquiry and tell me:

Those who have employed all their care and diligence to accumulate great possessions and wealth, what have they finally attained?

You will find that they have wasted their toil and labor, or even though they have amassed great treasures, they have been dispersed and scattered, so that the themselves have never found happiness in their wealth, and afterwards never reached the third generation.

Instances of this you will find a plenty in all histories, also in the memory of aged and experienced people. Only observe and ponder them.

Saul was a great king, chosen of God and a godly man; but when he was established on his throne, and let his heart decline from God, and put his trust in his crown and power, he had to perish with all that he had, so that none even of his children remained.

David, on the other hand, was a poor, despised man, hunted down and chased, so that he nowhere felt secure of his life; yet he had to remain in spite of Saul, and become king. For these words had to abide and come true, since God cannot lie or deceive.

Only let not the devil and the world deceive you with their show, which indeed remains for a time, but finally is nothing.

Let us, then, learn well the First Commandment, that we may see how God will tolerate no presumption nor any trust in any other object, and how He requires nothing higher of us than confidence from the heart for everything good, so that we may proceed right and straightforward and use all the blessings which God gives no farther than as a shoemaker uses his needle, awl, and thread for work, and then lays them aside, or as a traveler uses an inn, and food, and his bed only for temporal necessity, each one in his station, according to God's order, and without allowing any of these things to be our food or idol.

Let this suffice with respect to the First Commandment, which we have had to explain at length, since it is of chief importance, because, as before said, where the heart is rightly disposed toward God and this commandment is observed, all the others follow.

Honor God's Name: The Second Commandment

The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life

The Ten Offenses

THE ONLY PROBLEM HERE IS THAT LUTHER NEVER MENTIONS THE TRUE SECOND COMMANDMENT....WHY?

HAVING BEEN RAISED IN CATHOLISISM HE DID NOT BELIEVE ALL OF GOD'S COMMANDMENTS , THE DECEPTION OF THE CHURCH IN REGARDS TO THE SECOND COMMANDMENT WAS SAFE FOR A TIME.

4."Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

Both Exodus and Deuteronomy list the Ten in the same order.

Luther did not believe the Second Commandment, so he omitted it in his Large and Small Catechism, this is deception at it's greatest.

Therefore, to show ten commandments in his catechisms after eliminating the Second, he than takes the Tenth Commandment and divides it in two, showing it as number Nine and number Ten.

Wherever the Ten Commandments are on public display in our country, they are always in the same order as given in the Word of God.

The Ten Commandments: How Our Most Ancient Moral Text Can Renew Modern Life

Kids' Ten Commandments: The Complete Collection

In order to prepare you for this deceit, he states on Page 44 of The Small Catechism the following:

NOTE: The policy of false reasoning he uses.....

“The Lord gave the Ten commandments, but he did not say which is the First, the Second, the Third, etc. Not all churches use the same order in numbering the Commandments.”

BUT THE BIBLE DOES GET IT RIGHT SO.......

What's the difference if ANY church of men gets it right or wrong?

The ONLY arbiter of Truth is the Word of God not ANY denomination....period!

This statement is simply to cover Luther’s real deceit, should you notice in his catechism that the Second Commandment of the Bible is omitted by Luther.

He then takes the Third Commandment and lists it as the Second Commandment. Very sneaky by a man who claimed to believe God.

Now, let’s go to Exodus 20:1-3 and notice in Verse 3 which commandment God gives first.

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

(Vs. 1,2). In Verse 3, he gives the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

In refutation of Luther’s statement on Page 44 (Small Catechism), Why would God have to say this is the First Commandment when it is the First Commandment God gave, its simple Logic that it is.

In order to hide from you the fact he did not believe the Second Commandment, Luther further states that, “not all churches use the same order in numbering the commandments.”

Luther fails to name any specific church or churches that change the order of the Ten Commandments. You are just supposed to believe Luther because Luther said it, with no documentation.

Why would any Bible-believing church change the order of the commandments, from the order in which God gave them?

Maybe God should have consulted with Luther to see if He was doing it right. All of this is Luther’s smoke-screen to cover up your perception of his unbelief in God’s Second Commandment, which he omitted in his catechisms.

Let’s look again at Luther’s statement on Page 44 (Small Catechism) where he states that “God did not say which is the First, the Second, the Third Commandment and etc.”

Yet, Luther on Page 5 (Small Catechism) lists the First Commandment as the First Commandment that God gave. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3).

Knowing this, the next commandment in Verses 4-6 would be the Second Commandment. Then follows the Third Commandment in Verse 7 which states: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.”

But, notice when you go to Page 5 (Small Catechism), Luther takes the Third Commandment and tells you it is the Second Commandment.

This is Luther’s first lie in the deception of getting you to believe him instead of believing God’s Word concerning the Ten Commandments.

SORRY, BUT LUTHER WAS STILL PROTECTING THE CATHOLIC LIE AGAINST GOD'S WORD!

The Babylonian Captivity of the Mainline Church

In the Path of the Moon: Babylonian Celestial Divination and Its Legacy (Studies in Ancient Magic and Divination)

A. The Second Lie. In Exodus 20:5, God said the Fourth Commandment is, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Luther says this is the Third Commandment. (Small Catechism, Page 5).

B. The Third Lie. In Exodus 20:12, God said the Fifth Commandment is “honour thy father and thy mother.” Luther says this is the Fourth Commandment. (Small Catechism, Page 6).

C. The Fourth Lie. In Exodus 20:13, God said the Sixth Commandment is, “Thou shalt not kill.” Luther says this is the Fifth Commandment. (Small Catechism, Page 6).

D. The Fifth Lie. In Exodus 20:14, God said the Seventh Commandment is, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Luther said this is the Sixth Commandment. (Small Catechism, Page 6).

E. The Sixth Lie. In Exodus 20:15, God said the Eighth Commandment is, “Thou shalt not steal.” Luther said, “This is the Seventh Commandment.” (Small Catechism, Page 6).

F. The Seventh Lie. In Exodus 20:16, God said the Ninth Commandment is “Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.” Luther said, this is the Eighth Commandment (Small Catechism, Page 7).

G. The Eighth Lie. In Exodus 20:17, God said the Tenth Commandment is, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” Luther divides this verse and says this is Commandments Nine and Ten. (Small Catechism, page 7).

Luther believed and followed the Roman Catholic organization in bowing to images made of Mary and various other “saints.” This is why Luther did not believe the Second Commandment and excluded it from his Catechism.

You talk about hypocrites and deceitful men concerning the Bible, Martin Luther is the Master of Deceit, and he BEGAN the Protestant faith we see today!

The Protestants have a LIE to start with, no wonder other lies crept in over the years. You cannot HUG the devil and Kiss God on the cheek and not be deceived!

Now let us examine what Luther says on Page 8 of his Small Catechism.

“What does God say of all these commandments?

By making the statement “all these commandments,” you are being led to believe that the Ten Commandments in Luther’s Catechism, pp. 5-7, are the same as given by God in Exodus 20.

If Luther had been an honest man, he would have come straightforward in his Catechism and told his followers, I do not believe in God’s Second Commandment; therefore, I have excluded it from my Ten Commandments. At least we could respect him for being honest with himself and his followers.

Luther continues on Page 8, Paragraph 2, of the Small Catechism, to warn his followers that, “God threatens to punish all that transgress these commandments.” This statement by Luther condemns himself, as he is the one who disbelieves the Second Commandment and excludes it from his Catechism.

This man has little value for the intelligence of his followers as will be seen by his next step of deception.

If you have a small catechism, I hope you will turn to Page 8, Paragraph 1, and notice what Luther quotes from the Bible, which is the Second Commandment found in Exodus 20:4-6.

Remember, this is the Commandment he excluded and didn’t believe. The following is the Second Commandment in its entirety from the Bible. What is underlined is only what Luther quoted in his Catechism. What is not underlined is what he did not believe.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (V. 4).

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (V.5). And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (V.6).

Luther does not believe all of Verse 4 and only less than half of Verse 5. In other words, Luther says he believes God’s judgment will be upon those who do not believe in the Second Commandment, which includes himself.

Notice Verse 5, how that Luther does not believe the first half of the verse; but, says he believes the last half, which he quotes on Page 8. (Small Catechism).

James 1:8 describes Luther precisely,

“A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

The Word of God in Proverbs 30:5 tells us that,

“Every word of god is pure...”

Luther, by excluding the Second Commandment, does not believe these words. Luther only picks and chooses which parts of the Bible he wants to believe, KIND OF LIKE HIS MOTHER CHURCH?

I have talked to many, many Lutherans and I have yet to find one who is aware of Luther’s disbelief and exclusion of the Second Commandment from his Catechism. Sad to say, they don’t even care.

Luther has been dead for about 460 years, and his false teachings are as much alive today as they were when he was living. This is only one of the many false teachings and deceptions of Luther.

One must remember that in 1508 Luther was appointed to a university in Wittenberg, Germany, as a public teacher of Philosophy. Notice Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

Yes, Luther is unquestionably “the Master of Deceit.” Notice on Page 41, Paragraph 11 (Small Catechism) Luther’s words. “Every word of the Bible is God’s word, and therefore the Bible is without error.”

Luther lied in this statement in deleting the Second Commandment from his catechism which contains 91 words. Judge for yourself. Does Luther love God and believe that every word of the Bible is God’s Word, or is he a liar and a false teacher?

THIS SHOWS THE SWAY THAT THE GREAT WHORE OF REVELATION HAD OVER IT'S PEOPLE AND STILL DOES TODAY...BEWARE,FOR SHE HAS LEFT HER SEED EVEN IN THE REFORMATION!

Luthor's 95 Thesies...What started it all?

THIS IS WHAT STARTED IT ALL WHEN MARTIN LUTHER NAILED THESE 95 THESES ON THE DOOR OF THE CHURCH HE CAME OUT OF: Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther
on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
by Dr. Martin Luther (1517)

Published in:

Works of Martin Luther:
Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et Al., Trans. & Eds.
(Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), Vol.1, pp. 29-38

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.
In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.
11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.
12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.
17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.
18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.
20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.
21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;
22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.
23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.
24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty.
25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.
30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.
31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.
32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.
33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;
34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.
36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.
39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.
40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].
41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;
44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.
46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.
47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.
48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.
49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.
52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.
53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.
55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.
57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.
59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;
61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.
62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.
66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.
67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.
68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.
70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.
71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!
72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!
73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.
74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.
75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.
76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.
77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.
78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.
79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.
81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.
82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"
85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"
86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"
87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"
89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"
90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.
92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.

This text was converted to ASCII text for Project Wittenberg by Allen Mulvey, and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to:

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Walther Library

Concordia Theological Seminary.

E-mail:

smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu

Surface Mail:

6600 N. Clinton St.,

Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA

Phone:

(260) 452-3149

Fax:

(260) 452-2126

According to the Church of Rome, all Protestants are heretics and anathema.

Rome claims it alone is the true church and that there is no salvation outside it.

This is sometimes denied by Roman Catholics, but is abundantly documented by the statements and decrees of Popes and Church Councils.

Romanism is not seen in its true light in the United Kingdom or in the United States. As long as the majority in a country does not consist of Roman Catholics, the Church can carefully disguise its true aims and beliefs.

If you want to see Rome as it really is, just live in the Irish Republic, go to Spain or Italy, or step across the border into Mexico. Ask the missionaries of the Gospel who have laboured and suffered in these countries.

Non-Roman-Catholics are accursed by the Church of Rome. She does not recognise a marriage outside the Roman Church as legitimate, thereby making all married Protestants adulterers and their children bastards.

No marriage outside the Roman Church is recognised as valid. If any readers should be inclined to doubt this, we submit herewith the contract which every non-Roman-Catholic who wishes to marry a Roman Catholic is required to sign.

The Roman Church will marry a non-Roman-Catholic to a Roman Catholic (by a priest), but only upon the condition that the following contract be signed by the non-Roman-Catholic.

The contract will speak for itself:

"I [the non-Roman-Catholic party] therefore agree:

That I will not interfere in the least with the free exercise of the Catholic party's religion;
That I will adhere to the sacred doctrine of the indissolubility of the marriage bond, so that I cannot contract a second marriage while my consort is still alive, even though a civil divorce has been obtained;
That all the children, both boys and girls, that may be born of this union shall be baptized and educated solely in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, even in the event of the death of my Catholic consort.
In case of dispute I further hereby agree fully that the custody of all children shall be given to such guardians as assure this faithful execution of this covenant and promise, in the event that I cannot fulfil it myself;
That I will lead a married life in conformity with the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding birth control, realizing fully the attitude of the Catholic Church in this regard;
That no other marriage ceremony shall take place before or after this ceremony by the Catholic priest."

There you have it!

How any professing Protestant can subscribe to such an agreement only indicates that the profession is utterly false.

If a non-Roman-Catholic man marries a Roman Catholic woman, he surrenders his place as the head of the woman and the home.

He willingly commits his children to a system of Satanic deception.

Plan for the Study of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Controversy. Illustrated by a Partial Treatment of the Dogma of Peter's Supremacy ... (at head of title: Published under the auspices of John Hope, Esq.)

We believe the above contract speaks for itself as to the true nature of Romanism.

We want, however, to make ourselves clear that our quarrel is not with individual members of the Roman Church, but with the false, political, religious, ecclesiastical system.

We love every Roman Catholic and would win every one to Christ.

This series on the falsehoods of Rome is written not only to inform non-Roman-Catholics about the deceptions of that Church (the harlot of Revelation 17) but also to seek to show Roman Catholics what their Church really believes.

Many Roman Catholics themselves do not know what their Church symbolizes. Its aim is to keep its members in ignorance of what the Word of God really teaches.

What Rome teaches;: A comparison of some of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church with Holy Scripture

Watch your teaching!: A comparative study of Roman Catholic and Protestant teaching since Vatican Council II, (Christian heritage series)

The Roman Catholic College of Maynooth; Its Immoral Teaching Exposed, in the Speeches of R. Spooner

The growth of Luther's teaching of justification: A re-examination of the development of Luther's teaching of justification from a Roman Catholic to an Evangelical understanding

Roman Catholic or Protestant: Which follows the teachings of Jesus Christ

A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching (Concise Guide Series)

Catholic Social Teachiing in Global Perspective: Gregorian University Studies in Catholic Social Teaching (Gregorial University Studies) (Gregorial University Studies in Catholic Social Teaching)

Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret

Heart of Catholic Social Teaching, The: Its Origin and Contemporary Significance

The Pope is the Antichrist: A Demonstration from Scripture, History, and His Own Lips

Rome is Babylon, and the Pope antichrist

Christ died for Roman Catholics and Protestants alike, and I would point them to the Saviour of all mankind.

Wow, if you could read that and still defend it, you're a worse person than I. That is PLAINLY wrong from start to finish, NO religion has the right to be that insane when it comes to Children or the rights of a married couple

UNDERSTANDING THE JESUIT ORDER!

WHY THEY DO WHAT THEY DO!

I thought that it would be good to reveal some info about the Jesuit order of the Catholic church ,since they are the PROBLEM that has caused so much suffering and DEATH to both the Jews and the TRUE church of Jesus (Yeshua) in the world BOTH past & PRESENT! Extreme Oath of the Jesuits

"When a Jesuit of the minor rank is to be elevated to command, he is conducted into the Chapel of the Convent of the Order, where there are only three others present, the principal or Superior standing in front of the altar. On either side stands a monk, one of whom holds a banner of yellow and white, which are the Papal colors, and the other a black banner with a dagger and red cross above a skull and crossbones, with the word INRI, and below them the words IUSTUM, NECAR, REGES, IMPIOUS. The meaning of which is: It is just to exterminate or annihilate impious or heretical Kings, Governments, or Rulers. Upon the floor is a red cross at which the postulant or candidate kneels. The Superior hands him a small black crucifix, which he takes in his left hand and presses to his heart, and the Superior at the same time presents to him a dagger, which he grasps by the blade and holds the point against his heart, the Superior still holding it by the hilt, and thus addresses the postulant:"

Superior:

My son, heretofore you have been taught to act the dissembler: among Roman Catholics to be a Roman Catholic, and to be a spy even among your own brethren; to believe no man, to trust no man. Among the Reformers, to be a reformer; among the Huguenots, to be a Huguenot; among the Calvinists, to be a Calvinist; among other Protestants, generally to be a Protestant, and obtaining their confidence, to seek even to preach from their pulpits, and to denounce with all the vehemence in your nature our Holy Religion and the Pope; and even to descend so low as to become a Jew among Jews, that you might be enabled to gather together all information for the benefit of your Order as a faithful soldier of the Pope.

You have been taught to insidiously plant the seeds of jealousy and hatred between communities, provinces, states that were at peace, and incite them to deeds of blood, involving them in war with each other, and to create revolutions and civil wars in countries that were independent and prosperous, cultivating the arts and the sciences and enjoying the blessings of peace. To take sides with the combatants and to act secretly with your brother Jesuit, who might be engaged on the other side, but openly opposed to that with which you might be connected, only that the Church might be the gainer in the end, in the conditions fixed in the treaties for peace and that the end justifies the means.(WOW! A real CHRISTIAN organization that follows the LOVE of Christ...or Not!)

You have been taught your duty as a spy, to gather all statistics, facts and information in your power from every source; to ingratiate yourself into the confidence of the family circle of Protestants and heretics of every class and character, as well as that of the merchant, the banker, the lawyer, among the schools and universities, in parliaments and legislatures, and the judiciaries and councils of state, and to be all things to all men, for the Pope's sake, whose servants we are unto death.

You have received all your instructions heretofore as a novice, a neophyte, and have served as co-adjurer, confessor and priest, but you have not yet been invested with all that is necessary to command in the Army of Loyola in the service of the Pope. You must serve the proper time as the instrument and executioner as directed by your superiors; for none can command here who has not consecrated his labors with the blood of the heretic; for "without the shedding of blood no man can be saved." Therefore, to fit yourself for your work and make your own salvation sure, you will, in addition to your former oath of obedience to your order and allegiance to the Pope, repeat after me---

The Extreme Oath of the Jesuits:

"1, _ now, in the presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and all the saints and sacred hosts of heaven, and to you, my ghostly father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in the Pontificate of Paul the Third, and continued to the present, do by the womb of the virgin, the matrix of God, and the rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear, that his holiness the Pope is Christ's Vice-regent and is the true and only head of the Catholic or Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation and that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power I shall and will defend this doctrine of his Holiness' right and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, especially the Lutheran of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the now pretended authority and churches of England and Scotland, and branches of the same now established in Ireland and on the Continent of America and elsewhere; and all adherents in regard that they be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome. I do now renounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince or state named Protestants or Liberals, or obedience to any of the laws, magistrates or officers.

I do further declare that the doctrine of the churches of England and Scotland, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and others of the name Protestants or Liberals to be damnable and they themselves damned who will not forsake the same.

I do further declare, that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his Holiness' agents in any place wherever I shall be, in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland or America, or in any other Kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my uttermost to extirpate the heretical Protestants or Liberals' doctrines and to destroy all their pretended powers, regal or otherwise.

I do further promise and declare, that notwithstanding I am dispensed with, to assume my religion heretical, for the propaganda of the Mother Church's interest, to keep secret and private all her agents' counsels from time to time, as they may entrust me and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing or circumstance whatever; but to execute all that shall be proposed, given in charge or discovered unto me, by you, my ghostly father, or any of this sacred covenant.

I do further promise and declare, that I will have no opinion or will of my own, or any mental reservation whatever, even as a corpse or cadaver (perinde ac cadaver), but will unhesitatingly obey each and every command that I may receive from my superiors in the Militia of the Pope and of Jesus Christ.

That I may go to any part of the world withersoever I may be sent, to the frozen regions of the North, the burning sands of the desert of Africa, or the jungles of India, to the centers of civilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of the barbarous savages of America, without murmuring or repining, and will be submissive in all things whatsoever communicated to me.

I furthermore promise and declare that I will, when opportunity present, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition; and that I will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants' heads against the walls, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poniard or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith, of the Society of Jesus.

In confirmation of which, I hereby dedicate my life, my soul and all my corporal powers, and with this dagger which I now receive, I will subscribe my name written in my own blood, in testimony thereof; and should I prove false or weaken in my determination, may my brethren and fellow soldiers of the Militia of the Pope cut off my hands and my feet, and my throat from ear to ear, my belly opened and sulphur burned therein, with all the punishment that can be inflicted upon me on earth and my soul be tortured by demons in an eternal hell forever!

All of which, I, _, do swear by the Blessed Trinity and blessed Sacraments, which I am now to receive, to perform and on my part to keep inviolable; and do call all the heavenly and glorious host of heaven to witness the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same further with my name written and with the point of this dagger dipped in my own blood and sealed in the face of this holy covenant."

(He receives the wafer from the Superior and writes his name with the point of his dagger dipped in his own blood taken from over his heart.)

Superior:

"You will now rise to your feet and I will instruct you in the Catechism necessary to make yourself known to any member of the Society of Jesus belonging to this rank.

In the first place, you, as a Brother Jesuit, will with another mutually make the ordinary sign of the cross as any ordinary Roman Catholic would; then one cross his wrists, the palms of his hands open, and the other in answer crosses his feet, one above the other; the first points with forefinger of the right hand to the center of the palm of the left, the other with the forefinger of the left hand points to the center of the palm of the right; the first then with his right hand makes a circle around his head, touching it; the other then with the forefinger of his left hand touches the left side of his body just below his heart; the first then with his right hand draws it across the throat of the other, and the latter then with a dagger down the stomach and abdomen of the first. The first then says Iustum; and the other answers Necar; the first Reges. The other answers Impious." (The meaning of which has already been explained.) "The first will then present a small piece of paper folded in a peculiar manner, four times, which the other will cut longitudinally and on opening the name Jesu will be found written upon the head and arms of a cross three times. You will then give and receive with him the following questions and answers:

Question —From whither do you come? Answer — The Holy faith.

Q. —Whom do you serve?

A. —The Holy Father at Rome, the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church Universal throughout the world.

Q. —Who commands you?

A. —The Successor of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus or the Soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Q. —Who received you? A. —A venerable man in white hair.

Q. —How?

A. —With a naked dagger, I kneeling upon the cross beneath the banners of the Pope and of our sacred order.

Q. —Did you take an oath?

A. —I did, to destroy heretics and their governments and rulers, and to spare neither age, sex nor condition. To be as a corpse without any opinion or will of my own, but to implicitly obey my Superiors in all things without hesitation of murmuring.

Q. —Will you do that? A. —I will.

Q. —How do you travel? A. —In the bark of Peter the fisherman.

Q. —Whither do you travel? A. —To the four quarters of the globe.

Q. —For what purpose?

A. —To obey the orders of my general and Superiors and execute the will of the Pope and faithfully fulfill the conditions of my oaths.

Q. —Go ye, then, into all the world and take possession of all lands in the name of the Pope. He who will not accept him as the Vicar of Jesus and his Vice-regent on earth, let him be accursed and exterminated." Secret Instructions of the Jesuits - Revealed at Last!!

The Secret Instructions were first discovered during the 30 Years' War when the Duke of Brunswick plundered the Jesuit's college at Paderborn in Westphalia and made a present of their library to the Capuchins of the same town. Soon after reprints and translations appeared all over Europe.

The text of the Secret Instructions of the Society of Jesus reproduced here was found beneath the pallet on an adobe bed in a cottage in the Andes Mountains of Peru about a century ago. Students of the Incas recall that prior to the expedition of the National Geographic Magazine under Hiram Gingham, in 1911, archaeologists from European countries probed the ruins of this people, one of the greatest civilizations in history.

In 1870 a French archaeologist slipped unobtrusively into the office of the Secretary of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in San Francisco, California. He had been sent into the remote recesses of the Andes, where Pizarro and his army had conquered the Incas more than three centuries before. He had rented a room in a tiny village. This he used as a base of his operations. To this spot he returned periodically to rest from the dangerously high altitudes and to write his reports for shipment back to France. While he was away, the family frequently rented the same room to overnight guests. One of these happened to be a Jesuit official. On his departure he forgot a little book which he had hidden under the mattress. The French archaeologist accidentally found it. It was the Secret Instructions of the Society of Jesus—the top classified manual of procedure for the trusted leaders of the Jesuit Order. It was in Latin and bore the seal, signature and attestation of the General and Secretary of the Order in Rome.

For the next few days the Frenchman labored furiously translating the work in stenographic notes into French. He then replaced the book and left. The Jesuit returned in a few days inquiring nervously about his little black packet. He also wanted to know if anyone had occupied the room since his departure. On learning of the archaeologist he began a search so relentless that the Frenchman had to leave Peru. He finally reached San Francisco and entrusted his precious but dangerous burden to Edwin A. Sherman, the Secretary of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in California. Mr. Sherman included the Secret Instructions in his book The Engineer Corps of Hell published in 1882. For several years Edwin Sherman was the Masonic Historian of California. He was highly esteemed for his great accuracy and dependability.

Chapter 1

THE MANNER OF PROCEDURE WITH WHICH THE SOCIETY MUST BE CONDUCTED WHEN CONSIDERING THE COMMENCING OF SOME FOUNDATION.

Chapter 2

THE MANNER WITH WHICH THE FATHERS OF THE ORDER MUST CONDUCT THEMSELVES TO ACQUIRE AND PRESERVE THE FAMILIARITY OF PRINCES, MAGNATES AND POWERFUL AND RICH PERSONS.

Chapter 3

HOW THE SOCIETY MUST BE CONDUCTED WITH THE GREAT AUTHORITIES IN THE STATE, AND IN CASE THEY ARE NOT RICH WE MUST LEND OURSELVES TO OTHERS.

Chapter 4

OF THAT WHICH WE MUST CHARGE THE PREACHERS AND CONFESSORS OF THE GREAT OF THE EARTH.

Chapter 5

OF THE MODE OF CONDUCTING THE SOCIETY WITH RESPECT TO OTHER ECCLESIASTICS WHO HAVE THE SAME DUTIES AS OURSELVES IN THE CHURCH.

Chapter 6

OF THE MODE OF ATTRACTING RICH WIDOWS.

Chapter 7

SYSTEM WHICH MUST BE EMPLOYED WITH WIDOWS AND METHODS OF DISPOSING OF THEIR PROPERTY.

Chapter 8

METHODS BY WHICH THE CHILDREN OF RICH WIDOWS MAY BE CAUSED TO EMBRACE THE RELIGIOUS STATE, OR OF DEVOTION.

Chapter 9

UPON THE AUGMENTING OF REVENUE IN THE COLLEGES.

Chapter 10

OF THE PARTICULAR RIGOR OF DISCIPLINE IN THE SOCIETY.

Chapter 11

HOW WE MUST CONDUCT OURSELVES UNITEDLY AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN EXPELLED FROM THE SOCIETY.

Chapter 12

WHO MAY COME THAT THEY MAY BE SUSTAINED AND PRESERVED IN THE SOCIETY.

Chapter 13

OF THE YOUTH WHO MAY BE ELECTED TO BE ADMITTED INTO THE SOCIETY, AND OF THE MODE OF RETAINING THEM.

Chapter 14

UPON RESERVED CASES AND MOTIVES THAT NECESSITATE EXPULSION FROM SOCIETY.

Chapter15

HOW THE SOCIETY MUST BE CONDUCTED WITH THE MONKS AND NUNS.

Chapter 16

HOW WE MUST MAKE PROFESSION OF DESPISING RICHES.

Chapter 17

METHODS TO EXALT THE COMPANY.

Preface

from Campion-Knights Website

THE PLAN of the proposed rule follows and is this:

In our society, which we wish to be called by the name Jesus, let whoever desires to fight under the sacred banner of the Cross, and to serve only God and the Roman pontiff, His vicar on earth, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity,-let him keep in mind that he is part of a society, instituted for the purpose of perfecting souls in life and in Christian doctrine, for the propagation of the faith through public preaching, ministering the word of God, spiritual macerations, works of charity, and especially through the teaching of the young and uninstructed in the Christian precepts; and lastly for giving consolation to believers in hearing their confessions. Let him think first of God, then of the rule of this order, which is the way to Him; and let him follow after the end proposed by God with all his strength. Let each one, nevertheless, rest in the grace given him by the Holy Spirit, and in the proper grade of his calling, and lest anyone use zeal but not discretion, let the deciding of the grade of each, of the offices, and whole arrangement be in the hands of the general or prelate selected through us, in order that the harmony so necessary in all well-governed institutions may be preserved.

Let this general, with the council of his associates, have the power in council to draw up rules suitable for the end proposed, the majority of all voters of the society always having the right of deciding. Let it be understood that there be consultation in regard to the more important or permanent questions, the majority of the whole society, that can conveniently be convoked; in the case of less important or transient matters, all those that are present where the general lives. The right of carrying out laws, however, belongs only to the general.

Let all members know, and let it be not only at the beginning of their profession, but let them think over it daily as long as they live, that the society as a whole, and each of them, owes obedience to our most holy lord, the pope, and the other Roman pontiffs, his successors, and to fight with faithful obedience for God. And however much he may be learned in the Gospel, and however we may be taught in the orthodox faith, let all Christians profess themselves under the Roman pontiff as leader, and vicar of Jesus Christ. For the greater humility of our society, and toward the complete self-mortification of each one, and in order to aid the abnegation of our own wills to the greatest extent, let each one, besides that common obligation, be devoted to this by special vow. So that whatever the present or other Roman pontiffs order that concerns the saving of souls and the spread of the faith, and to whatever provinces he shall wish to send us, this let us strive to accomplish as far as in us lies, without any turning back or excuse; whether he shall send us to the Turks, or to any other infidels, even those living in the lands that are called the Indies; or to any heretics or schismatics, or believers, whatever. Wherefore let those that are about to join us consider long and well, before they put their shoulders to this task, whether they have enough grace for good deeds to mount this citadel at the command of their superiors; that is, whether the Holy Spirit that urges them promises to them enough grace to enable them with God’s help to bear the weight of this calling. And after they have given their name, at the inspiration of the Lord, to the service of Jesus Christ, having thus girded up their loins, they will be prompt to fulfill this grand vow.

Lest in some way there arise ambition or jealousy in regard to such missions or provinces, let all agree never either directly or indirectly to interfere with the Roman pontiff in this regard, but let them leave all such concern to God, and to the pontiff himself, His vicar, and to the general of the society. And let the general himself promise the same as the others, not to take upon himself a mission in any direction unless by the council of the society, with the agreement of the pontiff.

Let each vow to be obedient to the general of the society in all things that concern the fulfillment of these our regulations.

Let him command what he knows to be opportune for the advancement of the ends proposed by God and the society. In issuing these commands, he shall always keep the memory of the kindness, gentleness, and love of Christ, Peter, and Paul, before him, whose example in this rule let the council carefully follow.

Let them have charge especially over the education of children and of the heathen in the Christian doctrine of the ten commandments, and like rudiments, whatever seems suitable to the circumstances of the individuals, and of time and place. It is in fact very necessary in providing this, that the general and council look to it sharply, since it is not possible in the first place to rear an edifice without a foundation of faith, and there may be the danger that as one may be more learned than another, such a one may perchance abandon some province that seems at first sight not promising enough for him, when really no district would be more fruitful, either for instruction, or for training in charity and humility at the same time as our duties. Briefly, then, for the sake of the never enough praised exercise of humility, let them always be held to the obedience of the rule in all things concerning the institution of the society, and let them see Christ in the general as if present, and let them venerate him as is proper.

Since we know by experience that no life is happier, purer, or more apt to aid its fellow than the one most removed from all contagion of avarice, and close to holy poverty, and since we know that our Lord Jesus Christ provides necessary food and clothing for his servants seeking the kingdom of God, let each and all vow eternal poverty, and not to acquire any civil right, either personally, or for the maintenance or use of the society to any property, wherever situated, or to its income, but to be content with the use only of what is given them for meeting their own necessities.

Let them have the power, however, to have a college or colleges at the Universities, having census returns, revenues, or possessions, to be applied to the use and necessities of the students; the thing held to be under control of the general, and the society in accordance with the common government, including the superintendence of these colleges, and students, the method of the choice of governor, or governors, or students, or their admission, dismissal, recall, or expulsion; the introduction of rules for the instruction of the students, or their correction, or punishment, their clothing, and all other government, regulation and management. Nor can the students misuse the estates, nor the society turn them to its own use, but they must be used for the necessary expenses of the students. The students may, however, be admitted to the society after enough training in spirit and in letters, and a sufficient probation.

12. All members whatsoever in holy orders, even if they do not possess church benefices or the revenues of such, are to be bound each of them privately and individually, that is, not in common with others, to repeat the services according to the rites of the church.

13. These are the rules which we have drawn up concerning our profession as a model for the approval of our aforesaid master Paul, and the Apostolic See; this we have done that by this writing we might briefly inform on the one hand those who ask concerning the nature of the life we have instituted, and on the other the future imitators of our example, if by the will of God, there should be any so disposed, how we have intended this life to be lived, since we have learned by experience how many and how great difficulties are attached thereto. No one should be admitted to this society until he has been tried and proved for a long time and very carefully. Then only may he be admitted to the service of Christ, when he has shown himself wise in the wisdom of Christ and his doctrine, and pure in Christian life; and may Christ deign to favor our weak beginnings to the glory of God the father, to whom alone be glory and honor forever in all ages. Amen.

(Papal Confirmation.)

14. But since there is nothing in the above that is not pious and holy, and since those members who have humbly petitioned us in this matter will be more zealous for a holy life if they know that they are held in the special grace of the Apostolic See, and if they see that the above rules are approved by us, we therefore from our certain knowledge approve, confirm and bless by our apostolic rules, all and singly, as being apt for the spiritual progress both of the said members and of the whole Christian flock, and we receive the same members into our special protection and that of the Holy Apostolic See, granting to them the right to establish freely and with full warrant such particular institutions among themselves as they may judge to be suited to the ends of the society, to the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord, and to the advantage of all.

15. The constitutions of the general council, and of our predecessor Pope Gregory X, of blessed memory, and all other apostolic constitutions, and ordinations to the contrary notwithstanding.

16. We will, however, that in each society of this kind persons desirous of living by this rule of life to the number of sixty, and not more, may be admitted and added to the said society.

(Warning) Let no one, etc. And if anyone, etc.

Given at Rome at St. Mark’s, in the year of Incarnation of our Lord 1540, the fifth before the Kalends of October, in the sixth year of our pontificate.

BULL OF OCT. 18, 1549.
Paul, bishop, servant of the servants of God.

Although we are ever attentive and well-inclined toward our duty as shepherd to all who follow the regular life, that they may be continued and encouraged in their discipline and praiseworthy life, yet, like a loving father, directing our eyes especially toward the Society of Jesus, instituted and approved by us, which by word and deed among the Christian people has brought and brings now daily, like a fertile field, so many and so rich fruits to the Lord for the glory of the Most High King and for the increase of the faith, we have thought it proper to show especial favor to this society and to its members, who serve the Most High in the odor of sweetness, and therefore to grant them special privileges by which the society may be ruled usefully and guided profitably, and may progress in the Lord for the preservation of souls.

1. Hence it is that we have yielded to the supplications of our beloved sons the recently chosen general prepositus, and the other members of that order, and have granted to the said general prepositus who holds the position at this time, since he has been elected according to the constitutions of that society, that he is to be and is to be considered the true general prepositus of that religion, with full, general, and complete care and administration of all and every thing looking and pertaining to the happy rule and prosperous direction of said society, and that he is to begin to exercise his office in all things and to have full jurisdiction over all the members of this society and over all persons living in its obedience, wherever they may dwell, whatever exemptions they may claim, whatever property they may have.

2. The said prepositus may be and ought to be removed in certain cases in accordance with the rules of the society, by persons receiving the authority for this from the society and appointed for this, and another may and ought to be substituted in his place by the same or other persons as may seem most advantageous in the Lord to the aforesaid persons.

3. And the said prepositus has full power and warrant to go himself or to send his followers to any place whatsoever, even among the heathen, and to recall them, whenever he shall judge it expedient in the Lord, and to transfer them without fixed limit of time to other places when this shall seem to be expedient for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

4. And we determine, decree, and ordain that neither the prepositus without the consent and permission of the society, nor any of the members without the consent and permission of the prepositus may be capable of consenting to or accepting any election or provision from anyone in the dignity of bishop or archbishop or in any dignity whatsoever, through the authority of any prince or of any decree or of any persons having authority to confer such; or to receive an advancement or office in the society itself, if he is seen to be actuated by open or secret ambition for himself.

5. No appeal may be taken from the correction made by a rule which has been instituted according to the constitutions of the society (in order that the vigor of discipline may be maintained), nor can any appeal be taken to any judge, or any absolution from the duties of the society be obtained in this way.

6. The general prepositus and the inferior prepositi of this society are not bound to delegate the members or brothers of the said society to perform any service for patriarchs, archbishops, bishops or other ecclesiastical dignitaries, except by the authority of apostolic letters making specific mention of that society and of the service in question, and if any such members be delegated they are to remain under the discipline of the order and to be recalled when it may seem expedient to the society to do so.

7. Ignatius and his successors as general prepositi of the said society holding the office at the time are to have full and free power to remove or recall those among the brothers who have been delegated to the preaching of the cross or to the inquisition into private heresy, or similar offices, and to make null what these have done in excess of their authority, and to substitute others in the place of them whenever it shall seem expedient.

8. And we grant to the said Ignatius and the general propositi in office at the time the right to absolve by their own authority or by that of those to whom they may delegate such authority, all and each of the members of the said society and all persons living in obedience to it, from all and each of their sins, committed either before or after their entrance into the society, and from all sentences of excommunication, suspension or interdict, and from all other ecclesiastical or secular sentences, censures, and penalties, imposed or promulgated by law or by men in any way whatsoever.

10. Also it is decreed that every member of the society ought to confess his sins to his own prepositus or to one or more delegated for that by his prepositus and designated by the rules of the aid society, unless he has been given the right of his prepositus to choose his own confessor.

12. The general prepositus and the inferior prepositi have full and free power to excommunicate, seize and imprison, or otherwise subject to their discipline by themselves or through others those who have left the society or have become apostates or have even been insolent in any way, or who seem in general to have merited such punishment, in whatever situation they may be found, and the right also to call upon the aid of the secular arms, when it may be necessary.

13. We exempt and absolve this society and all its members and persons and all their possessions, from any superiority, jurisdiction, or correction of any order whatsoever, and we take them under the protection of the Apostolic See.

14. It is also permitted to the general prepositus and by his authority to all the members or brothers of the society of the rank of presbyters, in the places where they live or where they chance to be stopping, to have oratories and to celebrate in them or in any honorable and fitting place, masses and other divine offices even in times of interdict imposed by apostolic authority, with closed doors, in subdued voices, all excommunicated and interdicted being excluded; and to receive ecclesiastical sacraments and to administer them to others.

18. And also any Christians of whatever condition who are present in the meetings of the word of God or at the preaching of the brothers and members of this society, or in churches where they are meeting, may on those days hear masses and other divine services and receive the ecclesiastical sacraments; nor are they bound to attend their own parish churches at these times.

20. And since these members are suffering great poverty in the name of Christ and by their pious zeal of exhortation are directing good men to better things and striving to recall the erring to the way of rectitude, we grant to them the right to dwell freely in the lands of excommunicated, heretics, schismatics, and heathen, and to converse with them (with the permission of the prepositus), and to ask and receive from such persons the necessaries of life whenever they find it expedient to pass through their lands.

21. And of our especial grace we grant by our said authority and of these presents that they are not to be bound to receive correction, visitation, or inquisition in respect to their monasteries or churches or persons, or to admit the cognition of cases or the citations of parties, or pronunciation of sentences of interdict or excommunication or to be under the supervision provided for monks and other religious persons by general apostolic letters or to be provided in the future, unless such letters make specific mention of the case and of this society.

28. Moreover, since we have learned that the people of cities, lands and districts among whom the members have had their dwelling or where they are sojourning, flock to them gladly to be confessed and to receive the holy communion from their hands, in order that they may be able to satisfy those who thus crowd to hear them, we grant to all faithful Christians the right to confess to any member of this society, without first obtaining the permission of their regular rector, and they are not to be bound to confess again those sins which they have confessed and for which they have received absolution from a member of this society.

32. And it is granted to the general prepositus of the society that he may appoint anyone of his members whom he regards as suited to the office the power to teach theology and other branches of learning, no further authorization being required.

38. And considering how great advantage the professors of this society have brought and are bringing to the exaltation of the Christian faith and of the true gospel, we approve, grant and confirm all and every one of the favors, concessions, privileges and graces which have been conceded by us in any way to the aforesaid society, its members and person.

41. And whatever favors, concessions and graces have been conceded by us to the general prepositi of the society at the time in office may be freely and with full warrant exercised by their vicars or other persons considered by the prepositi to be suitable and delegated for the time, especially in the remote parts of India and other such regions.

45. And we command the said society and each of its members in the Lord to our beloved sons in Christ, the illustrious and noble princes and temporal lords, and to our venerable brothers, the ecclesiastical prelates of whatever rank; and we exhort and command them in the Lord not only to see to it that these members are not disturbed or their privileges violated, but also to receive them in kindness and love as is fitting.

46. And we command by this apostolic writing to all and each of our venerable brothers, archbishops, bishops, and to our beloved sons, the abbots, and priors, and to other persons placed in ecclesiastical dignity, and also to all the canons of metropolitan or other cathedral churches, and to the vicars-general and other officials of these archbishops and bishops, wherever constituted, that they themselves or through their delegates solemnly publish these letters and their contents whenever necessary and as often as they are to do so by the said members or any one of them, and that they aid the aforesaid members in the matter of these privileges herein mentioned with efficacious assistance and defense, and they cause these members to enjoy peacefully the privileges granted in these letters by our authority, not permitting them or any one of them to be molested unduly, in respect to the aforesaid privileges or for any other cause by the local authorities or by any persons whatsoever, but giving them complete justice in all cases as against any persons of any condition or rank, of any dignity or authority, patriarchal, archiepiscopal, episcopal, or mundane. Let all these authorities cause to be earned out whatever is ordered by this society and let them declare and cause to be excommunicated and interdicted those who have incurred the censures and penalties of the society.

47. The constitutions and ordinances, etc. . . . notwithstanding. Given at Rome at St. Mark’s in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord 1549, fifteenth of the Kalends of November, in the fifteenth year of our pontificate.

Excerpt from The Library of Original Sources 1907. THE ANTICHRIST AND ITS FALSE PROPHET IS ALIVE AND EVIL AND HAS BEEN FOR CENTUREIES...DON'T BE FOOLED!

You have been prophetically deluded.....and The Jesuits are to BLAME!

2 Peter 1:20-21 (KJV) ^{20" Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (The JESUITS nor ANYONE else have the right to REINTERPRET Scripture) 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:}

^{but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.}

^{Before we get to The Revelation of Jesus Christ I must DISPEL a major MYTH about Daniel chapter 9, one that has FOOLED A MULTITUDE OF THE CHURCH and propagated a great lie for Centuries now.}

Dan 9:23

^{At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.}

^{24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.}

^{25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.}

^{26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.}

^{27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.}

^{The Time Period Spanned By The Seventy Weeks}

^{In considering the time period spanned by the prophecy, it is necessary to settle three things: first, the starting point; second, the actual measurement of time cryptically revealed as "seventy weeks"; third, the ending point. Any two of these times are sufficient to establish the third.}

^{The information concerning the starting point is disclosed by the prophet: From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.}

^{At the time the prophecy was revealed to Daniel, he and his people were captives in Babylon, and the land of his nativity was occupied by foreigners.}

^{The temple and Jerusalem itself had been laid in ruins.}

^{The period of time prophetically indicated as "seventy weeks" was to begin when a commandment was given permitting the captive Jews to return to Jerusalem and undertake its restoration. If we can determine which commandment this was, and the year in which it was given, we shall have learned when the time period began.}

^{The problem is that the Bible records four different decrees, all of which bear examination, and are set out in the diagram below.}

^{The Four Decrees of the Persian Kings}

^{There is no obvious reason for choosing one of these decrees over the others.}

^{But one is constrained by the requirements of the case.}

^{Seventy weeks were to elapse from the giving of the decree until Messiah the Prince's work was complete.}

^{On this basis, as shall be shown, it is the third decree that appears to be the starting point for the prophecy.}

^{The Bible's record of this decree is set out in Ezra 7:11-13.}

^{Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.}

^{Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the Cod of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.}

^{Some thirteen years later, the same Persian monarch issued a second decree, in the form of a letter given to Nehemiah. (This decree is the fourth decree on the diagram.)}

^{It would appear that Nehemiah's work towards the restoration of Jerusalem was only a continuation of the work originally begun by Ezra, for it is evident that they laboured together for a time (See Nehemiah 8:9).}

^{This is one reason for concluding that the initial decree of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. is the one intended by the prophecy, although admittedly a case can be made for his decree of 444 B.C.}

^{In this respect, it is interesting to note that calculations using both decrees expire at approximately the same time, if different measures of years are used. In the East where Daniel was living it was more common to measure years by the number of revolutions of the moon, twelve complete cycles of the moon being taken as one year.}

^{These years are termed "lunar years" in contrast to our more familiar "solar year" which is one complete revolution of the earth about the sun. The lunar year is about eleven days shorter than the solar year. Measuring "seventy weeks" from 457 B.C. in solar years or from 444 B.C. in lunar years results in approximately the same terminus.}

^{This point is mentioned to draw the reader's attention to the fact that this exposition is not seriously affected by the choice of starting point, as both the third decree, measuring "seventy weeks" in solar years, and the fourth decree, measuring the time span in lunar years, yield approximately the same ending point. Although it is not possible to decisively choose one decree above another as the starting point, the strongest case, in the writers' view, can be made for the third decree of 457 B.C.}

^{It is now time to settle the second detail. What period of time is actually indicated by the prophetic measure of "seventy weeks"? There is universal agreement that seventy literal weeks are not intended, for this would be a period of time little more than one year.}

^{This leads us to a consideration of an essential principle of prophetic interpretation and a striking characteristic of prophetic revelation. In prophecy, a day is used to represent a time interval whose actual fulfilment will be one year (See Numbers 14:34, Ezekiel 4:6)}

^{Why should this be?}

^{The answer is that God has chosen symbols that represent in miniature things that are to happen on the earth. For example, two wild animals fighting represent the overthrow of one kingdom by another. Likewise, there has been a corresponding need to miniaturize the time associated with the event, so that it is in keeping with the character of the symbol employed. Beasts might fight for days but not for years-so that when, in prophecy, beasts symbolically enact the roles that kings and nations will later fulfil, the time associated with their activity must be expressed on a reduced scale in order to maintain the internal consistency of the revelation.}

^{Where measurements of time are involved, the key is that each day on the miniature prophetic scale represents one year of actual time when the prophecy is worked out in history. On this well established basis, the "seventy weeks" time span, comprising four hundred ninety days, corresponds to four hundred ninety years of actual time.} ^{We are now in a position to settle the third detail concerning the time span of the prophecy-its expiry date. From Daniel 9:25 it is clear that sixty nine weeks were to elapse from the going forth of the commandment until Messiah the Prince. But what is intended by this phrase "Messiah the Prince"?}

^{Does it refer to the time of his birth or some other time?}

^{The answer to this question lies in the meaning of the term "Messiah".}

^{It simply means anointed. Jesus therefore did not become the Messiah until the time of his anointing, and this certainly did not occur at his birth.}

^{The record of his anointing is contained in Matthew 3:16-17:}

^{"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."}

^{This was the incident in the life of Jesus by which he was manifested to Israel. And I (John the Baptist) knew him (Jesus) not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water (John 1:31)} ^{And, it is shown in Acts 10:38, that it was at his baptism, when he received the Holy Spirit without measure, that he became the Anointed of God. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power:}

^{"who went about doing good, and healing all that were possessed with the devil; for God was with him."}

^{By the phrase, "unto Messiah the Prince" is intended, therefore, the time to the baptism of Jesus, for it was not until this time that he was anointed by God, and thereafter assumed the title of Messiah.} ^{Sixty nine weeks represent four hundred eighty-three days, which, as we have shown earlier in this exposition, represent four hundred eighty three years of actual time.}

^{Adding this time to 457 B.C., when the commandment to restore Jerusalem was given, brings us to the year A.D. 27. Was this the year in which Jesus was baptized by John?}

^{It is recorded by Luke that at the time of his baptism, Jesus was about thirty years of age (Luke 3:23) However, it is generally recognized that Jesus was born in approximately 4 B.C., in which case he would be exactly thirty years of age in A.D. 27. (When the B.C.--A.D. calendar was formulated, the birth of Christ was misplaced by about four years.}

^{This explains why Jesus was not thirty years old in A.D. 30.) Thus it was about A.D. 27 when Jesus was baptized, that year being exactly sixty nine weeks or four hundred eighty three years from the first decree of Artaxerxes.} ^{The three details concerning the first sixty nine weeks of the prophecy have now been settled--the starting date was the decree of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C.; the time span was four hundred eighty three years; and the ending point was the baptism and anointing of Jesus in A.D. 27.}

^{It was noted at the outset that any two of these three details would be sufficient to establish the third. Notwithstanding the fact that an effort has been made to verify all three, it must be admitted that the main reason for choosing the third decree as the starting point--and it is the starting point that is the most difficult to fix--is that it fits in with the other two remarkably well.}

^{The following diagram, which summarizes the prophecy, adds the seventieth and final week to the sixty nine, for it is the events of this week that shall largely concern us for the balance of this exposition.}

^{The Time Span of the Seventy Weeks}^{Before leaving the subject of the time spanned by the prophecy, it is worth our time to consider whether or not the prophecy had any effect on the people in the time of Christ. Four different sources indicate that the world at large was expecting Messiah to appear at that time.} ^{The first source is the Bible itself.}^{And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ (the Messiah) or not (Luke 3: 15).}^{The Jewish historian Josephus is the second source. Writing of this general time, within forty years of the death of Christ at the time of the Jewish wars, he notes:}

^{"That which did especially inspire them (the Jews) to undertake this war was an ambiguous oracle likewise found in their sacred writings, how that some one of their own country, pertaining to that time, should attain the empire of the habitable earth.}

⁽¹⁾ ^{The Jews took their Scriptures with them as they spread throughout the Mediterranean world and two Romans, one an historian and the other a biographer, record an opinion similar to that of Josephus.}

^{It is probable they developed this expectation as a result of their contact with Jews. Referring to the time of the Jewish war, in A.D. 66 to 70, they wrote:}

^{"A few turned these events into a cause for alarm; the greater number were possessed with a belief that it was written in the ancient writings of the priests that it would come to pass at that very time, that the East would grow mighty, and that men proceeding from Judea would gain the empire of the world."}

⁽²⁾^{"A firm persuasion had long prevailed through all the East, that it was fated (i.e. contained in the Book of Fates or prophecies) at that time for the Empire of the World to devolve upon some one who should come forth from Judea."}

⁽³⁾ ^{These four sources show that there was an expectation of a Jewish Deliverer either coincident with or shortly after the appearance of Christ, and while none of them expressly trace this idea to the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, it is apparently the source from which it was derived. One is led to conclude that the prophecy did have a noticeable effect on the world at that time.}

^{"Why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Christ...He that sitteth in theheavens shall laugh... Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill Zion." (Psalm 2:1, 2, 4,6)}^{A most interesting aspect of this prophetic Psalm is that the opening inquiry of the writer is left unanswered.}

^{His searching question concerns the reason why the peoples of the earth are hostile to Christ when he returns to subject the earth to his benevolent rule. The word used in the query, "vain," means "having no real substance." The distinct implication of the question is that the world has imagined something that is not true, that its leaders are deceived in some way.}

^{In this work a possible reason for the opposition to Christ, which it is believed is related to the "vain" idea those opposing him will hold, is advanced. It is the sincere desire on the part of those producing this pamphlet [Antipas in the producing of this website], to inform the public as to the nature of the expectations of many modern Bible students, and the possible consequences that these views may ultimately have when Jesus returns to this earth.}

^{By becoming acquainted with the evidence, the reader will hopefully then be in a better position to form his own opinion on the validity or invalidity of the ideas being put forth respecting future events.}^{In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in interest within christian circles as to what the Bible reveals about the course history will follow. One of the most prominent beliefs to emerge is the conviction that a single man will arise, the Antichrist, who will personally fulfil many prophecies in the Bible.}

^{With many this idea has become a basic tenet of their faith.}

^{An almost feverish anticipation has developed, fueled by a continuing stream of books and films, that this individual will soon appear in Jerusalem, demand to be worshipped and revered as a god, and quickly ascend to the position of supreme world dictator. There is almost complete agreement that these events are nearly upon us.}

^{This presents a very sobering and arresting challenge to the reader. Where will he give his loyalty when this personage manifests himself?}

^{Could it be, is there even a remote possibility, that Christ himself could be mistakenly identified as the Antichrist? Could the most serious blunder of history be the opposing of the real Christ as the fabricated Antichrist? Lest the reader dismiss the suggestion out of hand, we beg him/her to compare what the Scriptures reveal concerning Christ at His second coming on the one hand, with what many christian expositors believe this evil despot, Antichrist, will do, on the other.}

^{1. Antichrist will appear suddenly.}^{"The way in which this dictator is going to step onto the stage of history will be dramatic. Overnight he will become the byword of the world. He is going to be distinguished as supernatural..." --}^{Lindsey, Hal, "The Late Great Planet Earth," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1970, page 108.} ^{1. Christ will appear suddenly.}^{"For as a snare shall it (his coming) come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." (Luke 21:35)}

^{2. Antichrist himself, or his chief cohort, the False Prophet, will be a Jew.}^{"This person (The False Prophet), who is called the second beast, is going to be a Jew. Many believe he will be from the tribe of Dan, which is one of the tribes of the original progenitors of the nation of Israel." --}^{Lindsey, Hal, "The Late Great Planet Earth," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1970, page 112.} ^{"Several other items lead Bible students to conclude that antichrist will be a Jew. It is hard to believe that Israel would receive a Gentile Messiah. No Gentile could pose as Christ with any success."}^{-- John L. Benson, "Will the Real Antichrist Please Stand Up?" BP Publications, Denver, 1974, page 37.} ^{2. Jesus is a Jew.}^{"Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" (Matt. 2:2)} ^{Among Christ's immediate co-rulers will be Jews -- the twelve apostles. "Ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. 19:28)} ^{3. Antichrist will claim that he is the Messiah of Israel.}^{"The antichrist will actually pose as the Messiah, he will claim Messianic titles and privileges... The antichrist is a person who will attempt to convince Israel that he is their long-anticipated Messiah." --}^{Lindsey, Hal, "The Late Great Planet Earth," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1970, page 10.} ^{3. Jesus will exercise his appointed office of Messiah.}^{"I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." (Ezek. 21:27)} ^{"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:33)} ^{"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zech. 12:10)} ^{4. Antichrist will perform miracles.}^{"With (sic) the counterfeit christ arrives, he will perform miracles in order to convince Israel that he is the prophet like Moses. The man of sin sits as a priest in the temple and engages in a prophetic ministry." --}^{Lindsey, Hal, "The Late Great Planet Earth," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1970, page 22.} ^{"In other words, Satan himself is going to give him fantastic power. He is going to be able to work all kinds of miracles. This is one reason that Christians should not get too excited when they see a miracle. It may not be a miracle from God. Satan is a miracle worker..."}^{-- Lindsey, op. cit., page 106.}^{4. Christ will perform miracles.}^{"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert." (Isaiah 35:5,6)} ^{5. Antichrist will reside in Jerusalem.}^{"Jerusalem ... the capital and centre of the world dictator's (i.e. Antichrist's rule..."}^{-- John F. Walvoord, "Armageddon," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1974, page 170.}^{5. Jesus will rule from Jerusalem}^.^{"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets... Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." (Luke 13:34, 35)}^{"Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." (Psalm 2:6)} ^{"For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3)}^{6. Antichrist will rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem and be involved with the service therein.}^{"The Antichrist will deify himself -- just like the Caesars did. He will proclaim himself to be God. He will demand that he be worshipped and will establish himself in the temple of God. (2 Thess. 2:4) There is only one place where this temple of God can be and that is on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, on the site where the Dome of the Rock and other Moslem shrines now stand. There are many places in the Bible that pinpoint this location as the one where the Jews will rebuild their Temple."}^{-- Lindsey, op. cit., pages 109-110.} ^{"The Israelis will then be permitted to reinstitute the sacrifice and offering aspect of the law of Moses. This demands that the Temple be rebuilt, because according to the law of Moses, sacrifices can only be offered in the Temple at Jerusalem. Apparently all this will be done under the protection of the Antichrist of Rome. (P.S. The Arabs are not going to like this idea of rebuilding the Temple one bit.)"}^{-- Lindsey, op. cit., page 152.}^{6. Jesus will rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem and be involved with the services therein.}^{"After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord..." (Acts 15:16,17)} ^{"Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." (Zech. 6:12, 13)} ^{7. Antichrist will form a covenant with the Jews.}^{"The Romans under Titus did the destroying, so the coming prince would have to be someone out of the Roman culture... (Others say that Antichrist must be a Jew, rather than someone of the Roman culture -- see point 2 above.}

^{This shows the immense amount of unsubstantiated speculation that has been done.) This Roman prince will come to power just before the return of Christ. He will make 'a strong covenant' with the Israelis, guaranteeing their safety and protection. The word translated 'strong covenant' has the idea of a treaty or mutual protection pact."}^{-- Lindsey, op. cit., pages 151-152.} ^7.

^{Jesus will be a great leader and will re-introduce the Jews into God's true everlasting covenant.}^{"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."}

^{(Romans 11:26, 27)}

^{"Incline your ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people."}

^{(Isaiah 55:3,4)}

^{"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah."}

^{(Jeremiah 31:31)}

^{"For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king ...}

^{" (Hosea 3:4,5)}

^{8. Antichrist will somehow defeat Russia when it attacks Israel.}^{"With the world balance of power dramatically in his favour and the world dazzled by Russia's defeat (in its attempt to invade Israel) the Antichrist will show his true colours. He will declare himself world dictator and move to crush all opposition."}^{-- Walvoord, op. cit., page 141.}^8.

^{Russia will be defeated by the power of Almighty God at a time very close to, if not coincident with, Christ's return to commence his rule on earth.}^{"Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD."}

^{(Ezek. 38.23)}

^{The Bible clearly teaches that God, and not a human agency will destroy Russia when it moves south; the idea that some individual will do this is totally foreign to scripture.}

^{9. Antichrist's rule will commence with a proclamation and those who refuse to submit to it will be crushed.}^{"Ironically, the Mediterranean leader will begin his world government by proclamation. Using his consolidated position of power in the Middle East, he will promise a new day of peace and prosperity for all who recognize his leadership...}

^{This man's absolute control politically, economically, and religiously will give him power such as no man has ever had in human history.}

^{His brilliance as a leader will be superhuman for he will be dominated and directed by Satan himself. But during his 3-1/2 year rule, he will ruthlessly crush all opposition."}^{-- Walvoord, op. cit., page 161.}^{[Emphasis added]} ^{9. Christ's rule will commence with a proclamation and those who refuse to submit to it will be crushed.}

^{"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea, and the fountains of waters."}

^{(Rev. 14:6, 7)}

^{"And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off..."}

^{(Micah 4:3)}

^{"To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints."}

^{(Psalm 149:7-9)} ^{See also Daniel 2:44; 7:14; Psalm 72:7, 11.}

^{The reader may well reflect at this juncture, "I see clearly the possibility that due to the remarkable similarity between what Jesus will do at his Second Coming and what this supposed Antichrist, according to many writers, would do, that a case of mistaken identity could certainly result:}

^{Jesus could very definitely be opposed for the reason that many think him to be this very Antichrist that they had been told about. Two questions do arise, however:}

^{(1) By what authority is it stated that these expositions of a Coming Antichrist are not sound?}

^{(2) Surely it is not being implied that good christian people, many of them currently holding this Antichrist view, will be among those deceived, if the above hypothesis is, in fact, true?}

^{Is the writer unaware that the Rapture will occur just prior to the manifestation of this Antichrist (according to present day expositions) and that they will be in heaven with Jesus during the reign of the Antichrist, and therefore could not possibly be deceived?"}

^{Protestant expositors immediately reacted to these ideas:}

^{"But mine anger and indignation burst out against the Jesuits.}

^{For when I had by chance light upon Ribera, who made a commentary on this same holy Revelation, Is it even so?}

^{said I Do the Papists take heart again; so as that book, which of a long time before they would scarce suffer any man to touch, they dare now take in hand, to intreat fully upon?}

^What!

^{was it but a vain image or bug, at the sight whereof they were wont to tremble a few years since, even in the dim light, that now they dare be bold to look wishly upon this glasse in the clear sunshine; and dare to proclaime to the world that any other thing rather is poynted at in it than their Pope of Rome?"'}

^{(Thomas Brightman, circa 1600)} ^{Other writers, such as Nicolas Vignier the Younger, rose up to answer the expositions put forth by the Roman writers; for example, he wrote a book entitled (loose translation from the French)}

^{"The Theater of Antichrist:}

^{Which is a response to Cardinal Bellarmine, Sieur de Remond, Ribera, Viegas, Sanderus and others which by their writings condemn the doctrine of the English Reformers on this Subject" (Rochelle, 1614).}

And so the controversy continued:

the Protestants maintained that the book of Revelation was currently being fulfilled and the Romanists maintained that it was either in the future or the past. This ENTIRE edifice of Prophesy is built upon the SAND of man-made foolishness. There is NO proof it's the real intent of scripture, in fact it fails the test of scripture at many turns...BUT who's really looking anyway?

COME OUT FROM FALSE WORSHIP MY PEOPLE and touch not the unclean thing! "TALKING TO THE DEAD" A religious practice of dead religion FORBIDDEN BY God!

2010-12-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

The Two Babylons

Come out of her, my people.

Babylon Mystery Religion, Ancient and Modern

"After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!'" (Revelation 18:1,2).

"And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities'" (Revelation 18:4,5).

Babylon (or Babel) was the capital of an ancient empire. The name means "confusion" and originates from the confusion of languages which halted the building of the tower of Babel.

Symbolically, Babylon represents the confusion of idolatry and false religion. "And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen! And he answered and said, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground'" (Isaiah 21:9).

"Declare among the nations, Proclaim, and set up a standard; Proclaim, and do not conceal it -- Say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; Her idols are humiliated, Her images are broken in pieces'" (Jeremiah 50:2).

"And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5). Harlotry represents unfaithfulness to the true God through the worship of idols (Exodus 34:15,16; Leviticus 20:5; Deuteronomy 31:16; Psalm 73:27; Judges 2:17; 8:33; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:1; Ezekiel 16:15-17). In all ages, Satan -- that old serpent, the enemy of God and man -- has supplied the world with a confusion of false religions,BUT no Religion so GREAT AND CONFUSING AS CATHOLICISM WHICH FULFILLS THIS PROPHESY PERFECTLY!

Israel was carried away into Babylonian captivity as punishment for its apostasy and idolatry and even today is "Politically" Deceived by the Harlots lies as is the WHOLE WORLD!

Flee from Babylon! THIS IS GOD'S CRY TOWARD HIS OWN PEOPLE IN ALL THE WORLD WHO ARE DECEIVED BY THE FALSE RELIGION THAT PROMISES PEACE AND SAFETY IN IT'S ARMS,WHILE FORCING US TO DRINK FROM IT'S "CUP OF INIQUITY" the Church today has made an alliance with the "MURDERER OF THE SAINTS OF THE PAST" A CONCORDAT OF DEATH with the Master of death.

THE PITCHER PLANT IN NATURE IS THE PERFECT REPRESENTATION OF THE VATICAN'S TRUE INTENTIONS REGARDING THE SAINTS OF GOD WITHIN IT'S GRASP TODAY,DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY IT'S BEAUTY.

The Pitcher-plant is a carnivorous plant, a meat eater. Carnivorous plants usually live in nitrogen poor soils. They have 'learned' to augment the inadequate nitrogen available in the soil by capturing and consuming insects!

The inside of the tubular shaped leaf is lined with downward pointing hairs. These hairs block an insect from climbing up the tube and escaping. The fluid in the bottom of the tube contains digestive juices that will consume the insect prey. The Antichrist Church has ONLY one REASON FOR DECEIVING THE SAINTS AND THAT IS TO CONSUME THEIR LIFE FROM THE EARTH,SO DO NOT LET THE "HAIRS" of UNITY BLOCK YOU FROM ESCAPE,FOR THE "FLUID" of DESTRUCTION AWAITS THE SAINTS WHO GO TO FAR INTO IT'S DOCTRINAL ABYSS!

"Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldees! With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim 'The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!'" (Isaiah 48:20). See verses 12-22.

"Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD" (Isaiah 52:11). See verses 7-12.

"'In those days and in that time,' says the Lord, 'The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, With their faces toward it, saying, "Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord In a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten"'" (Jeremiah 50:4,5).

"Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before the flocks" (Jeremiah 50:8). "Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; He shall recompense her" (Jeremiah 51:6).

"We would have Healed Babylon (The common EXCUSE FROM CATHOLICS WHO ARE "Born Again is that they are working from within to bring change), But she is not healed (Some have come out and that's good BUT GOD SAYS COME OUT OR SHARE IN HER DESTRUCTION). Forsake her, and (HER DOCTRINES OF DEVILS) let us go everyone to his own country; For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. The Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God"

(Jeremiah 51:9,10). "My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the Lord" (Jeremiah 51:45). See chapters 50 and 51.

"Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon" (Zechariah 2:7).

In addition to Babylon, we also find Sodom, Jerusalem and Rome used as symbols of apostasy, corruption and idolatry (Revelation 11:8; 17:18). The expression "great city" is used in Scripture to designate idolatrous and evil cities: Nineveh (Genesis 10:11; Jonah 1:2; 3:2,3; 4:11); Gibeon (Joshua 10:1); Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:8; Revelation 11:8); Sodom (Revelation 11:8); Babylon (Revelation 16:19; 18:10); Rome (Revelation 17:18). If you compare the passages in Revelation, you will discover that Jerusalem, Sodom, Babylon and Rome are all referring to the same city! This is the city of the false prophet, the city of the Antichrist, the city which represents all rebellion to God.

We too must flee

In our time as well, God's people are commanded to depart from Babylon. We ARE COMMANDED BY GOD not to participate in the false religion that surrounds us. God calls us out of Babylon and tells us to return to Zion:GOD'S KINGDOM "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities'" (Revelation 18:4,5).

How can God's people be in Babylon? Referring to certain people who had not yet heard the Gospel, Jesus said: "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city" (Acts 18:9,10). These were people who were searching for God and whose attitude was such that they would accept the Gospel. Through the preaching of Paul they were given an opportunity to repent and be saved, to escape from Babylon.

In His prayer to the Father, Jesus said: "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word" (John 17:6).

Cornelius is also a good example. He prayed regularly to God and did good deeds (Acts 10:4,31).

Fleeing the Whore of Babylon

Because God appreciated this, He provided Cornelius with an opportunity to hear the Gospel. Just through his prayer and good works, however, Cornelius was not yet saved! He was commanded: "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved" (Acts 11:13,14).

Why must we depart from Babylon? "Lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4).

What does it mean to depart from Babylon? "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). "Belial" means "the worthless one" or "the lawless one".

"Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17). "Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1). Read 2 Corinthians 6:14 through 7:1.

Some people think they can compromise with a false religion. They try to serve Christ in the camp of the Antichrist! They think they can serve God inwardly although they remain in a denomination that deviates from the doctrine of Christ.

They are mistaken. If they remain in Babylon, they will perish with Babylon. "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds" (2 John 9-11). "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:13,14).

God warns us

"Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldees!" (Isaiah 48:20).

"Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD" (Isaiah 52:11).

"Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the land of the Chaldeans" (Jeremiah 50:8).

"Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; He shall recompense her" (Jeremiah 51:6).

"We would have healed Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country" (Jeremiah 51:9).

"My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the Lord" (Jeremiah 51:45).

"Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon" (Zechariah 2:7).

HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO ANOTHER SITE WHERE EX-CATHOLICS CONSIDER DOCTRINAL ISSUES WHICH AFFECT YOU AS A CATHOLIC!

I am a Catholic, why should I consider becoming a true Christian?

Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?

What is sola scriptura?

Is Catholicism a false religion? Are Catholics saved?

Are Catholic beliefs and practices Biblical?

What is the origin of the Catholic Church?

What does the Bible say about the virgin Mary?

What is the Catholic sacrament of Holy Eucharist? What is the Catholic definition of celebrating Holy Eucharist?

What is the immaculate conception?

Is prayer to saints or Mary Biblical?

Is worship of saints / Mary Biblical?

What are the Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical books? Do the Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical books belong in the Bible?

What is transubstantiation?

Is apostolic succession Biblical?

Is praying the rosary Scriptural?

Are the seven Catholic sacraments Biblical?

Should Catholic tradition have equal or greater authority than the Bible?

What does the Bible say about the pope / papacy?

What does the Bible say about confession of sin to a priest?

What does the Bible say about infant baptism?

What was the first / original church? Is the original / first church the true church?

What was the Protestant Reformation?

Is the pope, or the next pope, the antichrist?

What is the whore of Babylon / mystery Babylon?

What are Christian saints according to the Bible?

What is the Apostles' Creed?

What does the Bible say about purgatory?

What is moral theology?

What is the rock in Matthew 16:18?

Is the priesthood of all believers Biblical?

What is extreme unction?

Was Saint Peter the first Pope?

Is the perpetual virginity of Mary Biblical?

What is the Eastern Orthodox Church and what are the beliefs of Orthodox Christians?

What was the Great Schism?

What are indulgences and plenary indulgences and is the concept Biblical?

Is papal infallibility Biblical?

Catholic vs. Protestant - why is there so much animosity?

What is the difference between Catholics and Protestants?

What does the Bible say about liturgy? Should a Christian participate in liturgical worship?

Does the Bible teach mortal and venial sin?

Are apparitions of Mary, such as Lady Fatima, true messages from God?

Does the Bible support the Catholic practice of a marriage annulment?

Is the Catholic concept of a nun Biblical?

What were the Inquisitions?

The Trial Of The Pope: The Antichrist Or Man Of Sin, For High Treason Against The Son Of God (1856)

The antichrist: Is the Pope antichrist?

What does the Bible say about holy water?

What is the Assumption of Mary?

Sign of the cross - what is the meaning? Should Christians perform the sign of the cross?

Is the Pope the Vicar of Christ?

What does the Bible say about Limbo?

Babylon 666: Political and ecclesiastical showing characteristics of anti-christ and false prophet, considering Mussolini and the pope with their respective "VV IL DVCE" and "VICARIVS FILII DEI"

"TALKING TO THE DEAD" A religious practice of dead religion FORBIDDEN BY God!

I am coming at this problem from an angle that I personally am familiar with as a former black witch in the Occult for 8 years. You may be asking..."Is there such as thing as a sixth sense?

Is it possible to communicate with the spirit world?"

Popular television shows like Ghost Whisperer, Medium and John Edward Cross Country all seem to suggest that talking to the dead and communicating with spirits is quite possible and even normal, most of the time these shows are well made and entertaining.

I personally like to watch these shows for the pure entertainment value ALONE with the exception of John Edwards whom I believe is a fake Medium at best AND A REALLY GOOD GUESSER But what does the Bible say about talking to the dead?

The Old Testament warns against consulting (And this means in ANY FORM DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY ) with mediums and psychics in several instances. These practices are considered detestable to the Lord.WHY?

Because God knows that in doing this we are really "Communicating with Demons" NOT WITH THE PEOPLE WE HAVE LOST!

You may be thinking...What does this have to do with the Church..both Catholic & Protestant? According to a recent study by the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, 20 percent of Americans believe that the living can communicate with the dead. In an on line survey of 10,000 Beliefnet members, 77 percent said they'd felt the presence of a spirit, angel or dead soul.

Both the survey results and the TV statistics indicate that women are more likely to believe it's possible to interact with the spirit world. Forty-six percent of women surveyed believed that "the souls of the dead protect the living as spirit guides," compared with 27 percent of men. Women were also more likely than men to believe that "the dead can hear our prayers or intercede with God on our behalf."

Most interesting, people tend to view these spirits as protectors who may intervene to help in their daily lives. Forty-two percent in the Beliefnet survey said the souls protect the living by acting as guardian angels or spirit guides. Can you communicate with the dead only if you're a psychic—or a TV star? Thirty-six percent of Beliefnet poll respondents believed that talking to the dead is "something that everyone has potential for."

All this interest in communicating with the dead comes despite the fact that Jews and Christians have prohibitions against it. The Bible says, "There shall not be found among you any one that consults a ghost or familiar spirit, or a necromancer" (Deut. 18:10). One respondent captured a common Christian view when he said the appearance of a loved one is "the Devil in disguise." These spirits are "simply a way to try to move us away from our close relationship with God."

The Old Testament term for communicating with the dead is "necromancy." (Deuteronomy 18:11, also read verse 10) It is forbidden by God: "There shall not be found among you... For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord" (an "abomination," KJV).

Also see: 1 Samuel 28:3-20; 2 Chronicles 10:13, 14; Isaiah 8:19-22.

The punishment for contacting the dead is very severe, if not repented of.

This must also include what Roman Catholicism claims is praying to the "saints" -- the deceased who have been beatified, canonized, or placed in a position of spiritual superiority by the hierarchy. (Scripture refers to all believers as "saints.")

The real force at work in such "apparitions" (appearances of the deceased) is deception: demonic activity, evil spirits. I am a personal witness to these deceptive beings "Pretending " to be humans who once lived on earth,it does happen for Satan disguises himself as "an angel of light," it says in 2 Corinthians 11:14. (He doesn't approach us saying, "Boo!" or we'd run & hide.)

When prophecies or visions fail to come to pass, we know they're not of God (Deuteronomy 18:21-22). But even if a vision or prophecy DOES COME TO PASS (and Satan can & does have the power to make THINGS COME TO PASS AS HE SAID THEY WOULD,AS LONG AS THAT THING IS WITHIN THE PLAN OF GOD;SO DON'T BE FOOLED, scripture says, we are still instructed to discern the source: if it doesn't glorify Jesus -- if it glorifies any other person, living or dead -- it's not of God.

When someone claims to have received a "vision" of the dead, it's really a deception of the enemy -- demon forces at work. Luke chapter 16 contains excellent instruction on the state of the dead, referring to an impassable separation between the after-life and this world. Those in the next world, saved or otherwise, simply do not return to deliver messages to the living:

"[Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom," and the rich man died and suffered torment in Hades. A "great gulf" separated the two and was "fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." (Luke 16:19-31)

Another example is the instance in which, at the death of his son, David testified: "I shall go to him, but he shall not return unto me." (2 Samuel 12:15-23)

Not all miracles are of God. Satan performs lying signs and wonders (Exodus 7:9-12; 8:7, 17-19; Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 13:13-14, 16:14; 19:20) The magicians in the times of Moses and Daniel could perform some magic (Exodus 7:9-12; 8:7; Daniel 1:20) ... but their power is limited (Exodus 8:17-19; Daniel 2:2, 10, 27; 4:7; 5:7-8, 15).

Many Roman Catholics and others, lacking discernment* and knowledge of the Scriptures ("My people perish for lack of knowledge") -- and trusting the hierarchy of man -- fail to "test the spirits and see whether they be of God" (1 John 4:1). They assume the priests do that for them! Some of the primary points relative to this issue include:

If a sign or wonder predicted comes to pass, but the person is enticed to follow after another god, we are to reject it. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5) Also, if the message delivered is contrary to Scripture, it's not from God (Isaiah 8:20; 2 Timothy 3:16). Some religious messages don't glorify Jesus at all; rather, the "vision" is glorified and, repeated again and again, perpetuated by tradition.

The Roman Catholic practice of praying to and for the dead can be traced in part to the Old Testament apocryphal books (2 Maccabees 12:46 "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead.") These books, rejected from the canon ("rule," or "standard") of Scripture, contain historical and geographical errors, and many teachings inconsistent with the rest of scripture: salvation by almsgiving; suicide; magic; angelic intercession; etc. Definitely nothing sturdy upon which to base one's eternal destiny.

Matthew 24:23-27 (KJV)"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

Colossians 2:18 (KJV)" Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"

1 Peter 5:8 (KJV)" Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: "

Isaiah 8:19-20 (KJV)"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. "

Now here is a direct reference to a Lying spirit telling us he goes into men to Lie and mislead,but in this case God is using this Demon to his advantage to bring his plan into being for Israel.

1 Kings 22:21-23 (KJV)"And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee. "

The Catholic Teaching of Praying to Saints and the virgin Mary HAVE WITCHCRAFT WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!

If you are a Roman Catholic, it would be very wise to be concerned as to why the Catholic Church teaches some things that are totally contrary to God’s word?

One of these things the Bible clearly teaches us is that we are not to have or pray to graven images (statues).

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God”, Exodus 20:4-5a THIS GOES FOR ALL CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE PICTURES OF JESUS OR CROSSES AROUND THEIR NECKS AS WELL!

Go to this link to learn about Charms "LUCK:

The Truth". Worship is a tricky thing and can be done sometimes without knowing it with Charms that we think ARE HARMLESS!

We all need to study God’s word daily so we can understand His truth. Another big difference and concern is, why do Catholics pray to saints when the Bible teaches very clearly to only pray to God?

If you are praying to Mary or a saint; you are also practicing necromancy. Necromancy is communicating with those who are dead. It is a hideous sin that is an abomination to a holy God.Deut. 8:10-12 "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. "

Abomination is one of the strongest words used by God for something He utterly detests. ARE THE SAINTS DEAD? HAS MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS DIED? THE ANSWER IS ...YES! THEY ARE ALL DEAD,THEREFORE WE ARE FORBIDDEN TO TALK TO THEM OR ASK FOR ADVICE FROM THEM! The usual argument that this a spiritual exercise to bring us closer to God does NOT WORK BECAUSE OF THIS SPECIFIC WARNING!

In fact, you will be totally shocked and appalled to know that there is only one place recorded in the Bible where a person prayed to a saint. It was from the fiery depths of hell! Spoken from the very mouth of Jesus Himself of how a wicked man prayed in hell to a saint. Let us read the whole parable that Jesus spoke, so you cannot miss it:

“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:19-31).

This man prayed to and called Abraham his father, and this was very wrong. We all know that Abraham was a righteous man in scripture. He was a great man of faith. If he wasn’t to be prayed to, then no other saints are to be prayed to either. If you are praying to Mary or any other saint you will also be where this rich man was one day. Jesus tells us to call no man Father except God in heaven. Why are priests called Father?

“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven” Matthew 23:9.

As he prayed to Abraham he knew where he had gone wrong. He had not repented while he had been alive. Now it was to late! But he still had mercy on his brothers, but unfortunately he was indoctrinated into believing that Abraham could help them.

The rich man in hell was telling a saint what would happen if those who rose from the dead would go to his brothers. Just like in his former life, the rich man obviously thought he knew what was best, but where did it get him? A place called hell! We need to trust in God’s word’s, not any priest’s, not our own heart; nothing… but the word of God!

Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His atoning blood so we could be forgiven of our sins. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;” Hebrews 9:28. There is absolutely no other sacrifice needed! Jesus paid our debt of sin in full!.

Jesus said: “repent ye, and believe the gospel” Mark 1:15. All He wants us to do is repent and believe His Gospel. Now that we know what repent means, what does it mean to believe the Gospel? This does not just mean to believe in God and believe what he did. Most people already believe in God or a higher power that they call god. Believing the Gospel is much more than this. It is to believe that much in the Lord Jesus Christ that it causes a change of heart. You become born again and set aside for God’s purposes. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”: John 1:12.

Dear Catholic friend, ask yourself the most important question; do you trust in God’s word or in man’s? As you have seen, the Bible and Catholic teachings appear to be completely different on what really matters most. Which way will you turn? Will you trust in the living and the risen savior? The One who rose from the dead so you can live again?

Or will you continue to trust in man’s word which will not be able to do anything for you when you stand at the judgment seat of Christ. Are you still determined to pray to any dead saint or idol? What can they possibly do for you once you are in hell? Why not put your trust in Jesus Christ, the living Lord and Savior the only one who can save you from death and hell. “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” Revelation 1:18.

PRAY TO GOD ALONE

Now is the time to repent and pray to God the Father in heaven who is the only one that can save you from hell by His Son Jesus Christ. “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” Matthew 10:28

THESE LIFE CHANGING ON-LINE BOOKS!

The Divine Inspiration of the Bible - A.W.Pink

The Secret of Obedience - by Andrew Murray

Absolute Surrender - by Andrew Murray

The True Vine - by Andrew Murray

The Deeper Christian Life - by Andrew Murray

The Blood of Jesus - by Rev. William Reid

HERE ARE OTHER LINKS TO MP3 DOWNLOADS ON BIBLE PROHESY :

Conference on Christianity and Roman Catholicism (9 lectures) THESE ARE FREE DOWNLOADS!

You can now listen to Trinity Foundation lectures on your computer using an MP3 Player such as Windows Media Player, Quicktime or Winamp. Just RIGHT CLICK over the desired file and choose SAVE TARGET AS from the drop down menu.

1. Bleating Wolves: Evangelicals & Catholics Together, John Robbins

2. The Structure of the Roman Church-State, Richard Bennett

3. A Brief History of Roman Persecution, Richard Bennett

4. The Roman Church-State Doctrine of Authority, Robert Zins

5. Justification and the Roman Catholic Doctrine of Salvation, Richard Bennett

6. The Occult and Roman Superstitions, Timothy Kauffman

7. The Political Thought of the Roman Church-State, John Robbins

8. The Economic Thought of the Roman Church-State, John Robbins

9. Romanism and the Westminster Confession, James Bordwine

Do you worship the god of "luck" in place of the God of creation?

2010-11-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

JUST WHAT IS THE FORCE WE TERM LUCK?

Does it come from God or from a more sinister root of Babalonian origin?

We who SAY we represent the Lord Jesus MUST be very careful in just HOW we represent him before the world..Why? because the world cares how its done more than the church seems too care these days. We can't allow our witness to become tainted by worldly influences no matter how innocent that stain may seem, for first impressions are those that LAST THE LONGEST because we all tend towards the lowest denominator when we view others. The world wallows in negative ideas, opinions, and viewpoints so they will see us this way WITHOUT our help so its time for the TRUE church to wake up to that fact!

Pronunciation: (luk),
—n.
1. the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
2. good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance: He had no luck finding work.
3. a combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person: She's had nothing but bad luck all year.
4. some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend: This rabbit's foot is my luck.
5. down on one's luck, in unfortunate circumstances; unlucky: She hated to see her old friend so down on her luck.
6. in luck, lucky; fortunate: We were in luck, for the bakery was still open.
7. luck of the draw, the luck one has in or as if in drawing cards.
8. out of luck, unlucky; unfortunate: When it comes to getting World Series tickets, we're usually out of luck.
9. push one's luck, Informal.to try to make too much of an opportunity; go too far. Also,crowd one's luck.

—v. Informal.
1. luck into or onto, to meet, acquire, become, etc., by good luck: She lucked into a great job.
2. luck out,to have an instance or run of exceptionally good luck: He lucked out when he made a hole in one during the tournament.
3. luck upon, to come across by chance: to luck upon a profitable investment.

Synonyms for luck

Noun

1. fortune, destiny, fate, luck, lot, circumstances, portion, condition

usage: your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you); "whatever my fortune may be"; "deserved a better fate"; "has a happy lot"; "the luck of the Irish"; "a victim of circumstances"; "success that was her portion"

2. luck, fortune, chance, hazard, phenomenon

usage: an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another; "bad luck caused his downfall"; "we ran into each other by pure chance"

3. luck, fortune, phenomenon

usage: an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favorable outcome; "it was my good luck to be there"; "they say luck is a lady"; "it was as if fortune guided his hand"

Have you ever been lectured by another Christian after you wished someone "good luck". How do you feel about using the greeting? Isn’t it just a common expression, an affirmation, like saying "best wishes"? Or is it really saying "good Lucifer"?

I have heard Christians say things like, "I don’t believe in luck" or "For Christians there is no such thing as luck", as though it is a biblical doctrine, but is that really true. Is there such a thing as "luck", happenstance, good fortune, flukes, breaks, etc. for Christians or does the Lord order everything? Does ‘life’ just happen to us or is everything in God’s plan. Do things sometimes "just happen" to us or is everything predetermined? Is there such a thing for Christians as accidents, good or bad? Is winning (or losing) the lottery and act of God or is it just luck?

God created the laws that He spoke into existence to keep the UNIVERSE spinning to a cause-and-effect. We have LIMITED control over our actions, but NO CONTROL WHATSOEVER over the actions of others, nature, whatever other forces are out there affecting the situation,EXCEPT when we are under God's control in spiritual warfare prayer..THEN AND ONLY THEN ARE CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGED TO OUR BENEFIT!

So to us, IN A LIMITED PERSPECTIVE OF FLESH AND BLOOD there is an element of 'randomness', or" luck" to it BUT this is ONLY due to our "FINITE" sight,our vision is so small compared to our "INFINITE GOD" that what we can see is INCOMPLETE so it is in man's makeup IF he or she has NO MORAL makeup to REPLACE THEIR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING of a situation with a "HIGHER FORCE" that controls their destiny! God says He has plans for us. If we are in communion with Him, pleasing to Him, He does control our destiny. What about an auto accident that takes the life of a child, puts you in the hospital and runs up a hospital bill that ruins your credit and good name and exhausts your resources

was it just a terrible, unfortunate happening (bad luck),or just being BEATEN AT THE GAME OF LIFE BY SATAN'S DECEPTIVE HAND? Life happens in this world,BUT if we will "SUBMIT TO GOD'S WILL AND (This is the key to life in Him) OBEY THAT WILL IN ALL DETAILS NO MATTER HOW "SILLY OR RIDICULOUS IT SEEMS, God will see us through any circumstance. God will not deliver us from "life" but will see us through it. You see SUFFERING makes us into better people,not only in experience but also in faith,TRIALS TEST OUR FAITH AND BURN AWAY FALSE MOTIVES...I'M NOT REFERRING TO THINGS THAT ARE "SIN RELATED" SUCH AS SICKNESSES & DISEASES which Jesus paid a HIGH price to take from us at the cross. These things a Christian has no right to lay hold of as their own,they are to be DELIVERED FROM THEM,BUT even while we are waiting for our faith to grow up into our healing process,we can overcome.

The very IDEA of LUCK having ANY SWAY over God's creation is MANIFESTLY OPPOSITE of God's LAWS OF CREATION,EVERYTHING GOD MADE FUNCTIONS BY A SET OF UNCHANGING RULES CALLED SCIENCE,and even when WE THINK that things are OUT OF WHACK,THEY ARE STILL FUNCTIONING WITHIN THE SCIENTIFIC LAWS THAT GOD PLACED IN CREATION. What we term "LUCK:GOOD OR BAD" is "THE PRINCIPLE OF SIN NATURE" both in man and affecting nature that SEEMS to "TILT" our perceptions to believe in ANOTHER FORCE OUTSIDE OF GOD THAT CONTROLS OUR FATE AS IF GOD IS INSUFFICIENT TO HANDLE OUR LIFE!

2Co 4:4 "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

2Co 4:17 " For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

2Co 5:17 " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

2Co 5:18 " And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. "

LUCK HAS NO BEARING ON THE CHRISTIANS LIFE WHATSOEVER AND FOR US TO WASTE OUR TIME & GOD'S PRECIOUS TIME WITH EVEN THE SLIGHTEST THOUGHT OF AN OUTSIDE NON-EXISTENT FORCE SUCH AS LUCK,WHICH WAS "INVENTED" BY MEN CENTURY'S AGO TO COMPENSATE FOR AN IGNORANCE OF GOD'S CREATION IS AT THE LEAST APPALLING! We as TRUE BELIEVER'S IN HIM SHOULD NEVER ALLOW OURSELVES TO EVEN THINK IN TERMS OF "LUCK the god of the Faithless"

Assyro-Babylonian magic is closely tied to religion. Forces of nature, occurances, sickness, health, luck, were all tied into religious mythology. Earth and heaven, the realm of the gods, are closely intertwined. What happens in one has direct affect on the other. This parallels the "As above, so below" paradigm in western magic. Gods controlled the forces of nature, they communicated with humans in forms of sins, demons caused sickness, luck was explained by divine presence and it's absence meant that one was abandoned by divine forces due to his/her sins.

Religious practices of ancient Mesopotamian religions could be divided into three sections: those of royalty, those of the priests, and those of the common people. Prayers, fasts, mortifications, and taboos were mostly restricted to royal religious practice. The king could also receive divine messages. Priest's religious practice involved the care for the temple and divine images, reciting hymns, and carrying out sacrifices. (Oppenheim, p 181-182) A lot of times priests also performed exorcisms. Little is known about the religious life of a private individual. It was considered that the average citizen did not have the same religious right, so to speak, as royalty or priests to communicate with the gods directly:

It was not considered appropriate for a private person to approach the diety through dreams and visions. ( Oppenheim, p 182)

FATE AND DESTINY

In ancient Assyrian and Babylonian culture great emphasis was placed upon fate. People strived to know it and, to some extent, control it. The world for fate was simtu, which also meant destiny. But this word implied more than that. It also meant something like "purpose". Gods gave everything a simtu, from individual humans to animals, plants, and even inanimate things such as rocks. (Oppenheim p 204)

Individual's luck was also explained using religious context. It was determined by spiritual beings preasent at the person's side: ilu (god), istaru (goddess), lamassu (equivalent of angel. feminine), sedu (angel, masculine). (Oppenheim, p 199) Also, by two demons that follow each person: mukil res daniqti or rabis damiqti ("he who offers good things") and mukil res lamutti or rabis lemutti ("he who offers misfortume"). (Oppenheim, p 204)

Divination Divination was extremely important in the Mesopotamian society. Shamash and Adad were considered the gods of divination. (Contenau, p 281) Methods of divination varied from interpreting the placement of internal organs of a sacrificial animal, to astrology. A. Oppenheim divides Assyro-Babylonian divination into two categories:

Two-way communication [with the deity] requires a special technique; in fact, two techniques are kown in Mesopotamia: operational and magical. In both instances the answer comes forth in two possible manners: one is binary, that is, a yes-or-no answer; the other is based on a code accepted by both the deity and the diviner. (Opperhein, p 207-208)
In operational divination, "the diviner offers the deity the opportunity to directly affecting an object activated by diviner." Some examples of that include: casting lots, pouring oil into water, producing smoke from a censer. In magical divination, deity produces changes in natural phenomena such as behavior of birds and animals, their internal organs, changes in positions of celestial bodies, etc. (Opperhein, p 208-209)

In operational divination, "the diviner offers the deity the opportunity to directly affecting an object activated by diviner." Some examples of that include: casting lots, pouring oil into water, producing smoke from a censer. In magical divination, deity produces changes in natural phenomena such as behavior of birds and animals, their internal organs, changes in positions of celestial bodies, etc. (Opperhein, p 208-209)

Extispicy, that is interpreting abnormalities in location and looks of animal's internal organs was a very popular method of divination. The organ of special importance was the liver, which was considered the seat of the soul of the animal ( Wikipedia). There have been found clay replicas of various level of detail of animal livers that were evidently used as examples in the training of baru (diviner) initiates. Divination using the liver even has its own name: hepatoscopy.

Behavior of live animals, birds in particular, was observed for divination as well. Archaeologists have discovered a collection of tablets, Summa alu that are a collection of omens derived from animal behavior. (Opperhein, p 213)

Another popular form of divination was using malformed infants born to either humans or animals. Summa izbu are a collection of omens pertaining to human and animal birth abnormalities. (Opperhein, p 218)

It seems that in Mesopotamian society, almost everything could be considered an omen. What we would call a random occurance in our society, a person of the Mesopotamian world view may consider an omen from the gods. Dreams were important divination tools as well.

Modern astrology had its beginnings in ancient Babylonia.(Wikipedia, "History of Astrology"). Not only were celestial events considered to be omens from the gods, some gods themselves were identified with celestial bodies. Marduk was identified with Jupiter, Ishtar with Venus, Shamash wit the sun, Sin with the moon, etc. (Wikipedia, "History of Astrology") However, the old Babylonian astrology was rather different from astrology we know today. Georges Contenau writes:

Babylonian astrology was fundamentally based on meteorology, being founded upon observations of the winds, the color of the stars, the occultation of the planets and eclipses… (Contenau, p 289)

So phenomena such as clouds, halo around the moon, storms, eclipses were considered parts of the science of astrology. ( Astrology Omens)

The moon was of the foremost importance in Babylonian astrology. It’s phases and the time of its appearance in the sky was the subject of much attention. (Astrology Omens) Appearance of the moon earlier then was expected, for example, was considered a bad omen. (Wikipedia, History of Astrology) Astrological predictions were short term and were not taken as predictions of what is destined to happen, but signes and warnings/omens from the gods as to what could result if things went on as usual (in case of bad omens, if the king did not take special action to correct the situation). (Astrology Omens)

MAGIC

Assyrian and Babylonian magic, not only had its roots in religion, but was a major part of religion itself. Magic was concerned with aversion of bad things predicted from omens and exorcism of demons (the term for exorcist was âshipu). The primary gods of magic were Marduk and Ea. (Contenau, p 291) The magic that âshipu priests practiced was what is commonly known today as "white" magic. People who practiced evil magic were called sorcerers. Besides exorcising demons, another of âshipu’s duties included removal of curses placed on the victim by sorcerers.

The most prominent element in Assyro-Babylonian magic is the true name of a person or demon being exorcised. In fact, name was almost equivalent with the object/individual itself. If something was not named, it did not exist. Names were thought to posses great power and for shiptu (incantation) (Wikipedia, Assyro-Babylonian religion") to be effective, it had to contain the true name of its subject. Voice can harvest the power and knowledge contained within a name. Writing the name down "projects it indefinitely" (Contenau, p 161)

The shiptu and names contained in them had to be pronounced in a special tone of voice. The word used to describe one speaking in this manner, luhhushu is even different from the regular verb "say", and had a meaning similar to "utter", "murmur", or "chant". (Contenau, p 162-163)

In the name of the gods of heaven and earth the priest called on his adversary by name (this very exposure robbed him [the adversary] of his power). (Contenau, p 291)

This concept of the name being tightly related to the object to which it belongs also has its origins in religion. Before the creation of the world there was primeval chaos, which is attributed to the fact that nothing had a name. The gods were said to undergo the following process when creating a being or thing:

The creating god mentally defines the nature-to-be of his creation: when it has taken final shape in his imagination and he has given it a name, he draws its shape, whereby it acquires almost complete life. (Contenau, p 197)

It is in Mesopotamia that the practice known as isopsephia, otherwise known as gematria, was first used:

The Mesopotamians next conceived the idea of ascribing a numerical value to each sign in their syllabary so that every name was capable of numerical expression… (Contenau, p 166)

There are even records of people signing the name in form of numbers, not letters. (Contenau, p 166) Gods were considered to be in a numerical hierarchy of sorts as well. Anu’s number was 60, which was considered the perfect number. Sin’s (the moon god) number was 30 (number of days in a lunar month), Ishtar’s was 15. (Contenau, p 258)

The mathematical system was based on "sexagesimal" principle. Whence now we use decimal system: multiples of 10, in sexagesimal system is in alternating multiples of 6 and 10.

Perhaps the most important result was that the Babylonian ‘sexagesimal’ system became widespread, and as applied to the recording of time, this gave birth to the twelve-hour day. Although this was later replaced by the Egyptian twenty- four hour day, 20th century time is still based on the division of the hour into 60 minutes and the minute into 60 senconds. (Astrology at RIN.ru)

Other then the invocation of the gods and the use of correct names to harvest the power of and control the entities involved in the magic ritual, a lot of Mesopotamian magic was sympathetic. Sometimes the image of a demon thought to be possessing the sick person was burned or tortured, other examples include watering plants to induce rain, etc. So you see that "Luck" is tied DIRECTLY to Babylonian Mystery Religions and Witchcraft that GOD HATES!

Babylonian civilisation lasted from 1800 till 600 BC. It was an urban society with twelve or so cities in the nation, resting upon the agricultural land surrounding the cities. The social structure was headed by the king as absolute monarch. Under him were a group of appointed governors and administrators. Beneath this were freemen and then slaves. The culture lasted for about 1200 years.

The world ancient people’s lived in was one filled with spirits and demons, gods and goddesses, good and evil forces. This is understandable when we realise our forebears had no clear conception of how natural forces, illness, the mind, worked. The many intangibles they were surrounded by, the immense uncertainties they faced, were quite usefully called spirits - invisible/mysterious yet potent powers that could act upon one for good or ill. Their beliefs and observations regarding dreams were therefore deeply coloured by their world view. Death was a certainty, illness, physical or mental was a possibility, love and reproduction were drives to be satisfied, and so many dreams or myths centred on the way they met these. It must also be remembered that such cultures had, according to recent theories, only recently developed personal self-awreness; only just lost direct perception of subjective gods.

In the Babylonian culture the attempt to find certainty amid uncertainty, to control or direct the threatening forces of nature, to find ones way through the events of life, led to a wide array of techniques concerned with prophecy, magical control or propitiation, and trying to know the will of the gods. The kings hoped that a god would be on their side in battle, or would give them confidence by telling them in a dream that they would overcome their enemies. In fact the influence of these early Babylonian beliefs is still present in modern religion where each side of an opposing army, even with belief in the same God, prays for support and victory.

The Babylonians believed that an event in one part of the world or cosmos, would cause an occurrence in another part. A comet appearing in the sky for instance, would be seen as presaging great social or personal changes. This link between the cosmos and the individual also suggested to the Babylonians that the cosmos could be influenced by human action - thus the rituals of appeasement or magic.

These beliefs led to an examination of any mysterious event in an attempt to understand its personal or wider significance. Dreams were one of the possible sources of such prophecy or enlightening information. Over a long period of time strange events such as the birth of a two headed calf, or a strange dream, were noted and following events watched. If a barren woman had a child after such an event, then it was thought that the next time the event occurred, a barren woman would again be made fertile. Of course this led to deliberate attempts to obtain or perform the first, to bring about the latter - thus magic. There were in fact magic rituals to prevent bad or evil dreams.

Dreams were classified into several types. Those of rulers and leaders such as priests were seen as one type, and those of common people of another. There was also a division between good dreams and bad dreams. If one goes into any large book-store and looks at dream dictionaries written before the advent of modern psychotherapy, it can easily be seen that most definitions are still written in the same style - that the dream will bring good or bad luck regarding money, romance or health. In fact they are derivations of the ancient Babylonian dream books.

These speculations, observations and collection of folk beliefs were put into book form by the Babylonians, and are thought to have contained texts on dreams dating back to 5000 BC. These ancient Babylonian dream dictionaries were copied and taken to the library at Nineveh by king Assurbanipal. The great dream encyclopaedist Artemidorus later drew on these records for his own learning. The part of the Jewish Talmud which was written during the Babylonian captivity is also full of dream interpretations and ways of dealing with dreams, and undoubtedly drew on the Babylonian library.

These dream dictionaries contained beliefs and observations took note of any belief however bizarre. As an example of some of the ideas presented in this collection of works, we can read - ‘If a date appears on a man’s head, it means woe. If a fish appears on his head, that man will be strong. If a mountain appears on his head, it means that he will have no rival. If salt appears on his head, it means that he will apply himself to bald his house….If a man dreams that he goes to a pleasure garden, it means that he will gain his freedom. If a goes to a market garden, his dwelling will be uncomfortable. If he goes to kindle a firebrand he will see woe during his days. If he goes to sow a field, he will escape from a ruined place. If he goes to hunt in the country, he will be eminent. If he goes to an oxstall, (he will have) safety. If he goes to the sheepfold, he will rise to the first rank.’

Babylonian culture also produced one of the great, and certainly the oldest literary work which included a series of dreams. This is the Epic Of Gilgamesh which dates from about 2000 BC, and is the oldest hero account. It is the story of how the king, Gilgamesh, searches for immortality having lost his friend Enkidu. Is this enough information to let you know as a believer that God hates any connection to "Luck"? Luck stems from PURE MYTH not facts of life so why base your life on it?

The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism

Religion: A terrible Reflection of True Christian Faith!

2010-11-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

"Religion like Atheism has turned its back on the Truth in exchange for dogmatic lies!"

John 3:3

"Jesus replied to Nicodemus, "I can guarantee this truth: No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."

I don't know what it is about simple truth that sparks in man his brain-dead ideas of dead religion.

It's almost like we think God was feeble minded and didn't know just how to communicate about faith in himself so we thought we'd help by filtering out what WE think works and what doesn't.......sound "Bone Headed?"

Did you get that?

There is NO WAY to please God outside exactly what Jesus said here:

"...being born from heaven."

That's right, being BORN AGAIN is the ONLY way to ever get to heaven when you die...period, NO good works, NO baptism, NO religious practices of ANY KIND can save you from yourself.

Are you REALLY saved?

Why WASTE your life just being a Copy of a Copy of what God wants?

There is a problem in the “church” of today!
1.) The divorce rate is higher in the “church” than it is in the world.

2.) Adultery abounds in the church.

3.) Pre-marital sex is the norm.

4.) Pregnant teens and unwed mothers flourish in the “church.”

There is a reason for this problem:
The gospel that the modern ”church” teaches is not the one that our Messiah taught.

Our current theology has strayed far from that of the believers of the first century.

In order to understand where our doctrines are wrong, we must examine what our Messiah originally taught and see if the apostles’ doctrine lined up with this.

If the Messiah and the apostles agree, it should be obvious that it is the modern “church” and it’s theology that is in error.

The first doctrine that Jesus taught was repentance.
Mark 1:14-15
"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

Matthew 4:17
"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

This was the message that John the Baptist had taught.
Matthew 3:1-2

"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

This is also the same message that Peter preached when Pentecost had fully come.
Acts 2:38

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Peter did not lead them in a sinners’ prayer, funny how there's NOT ONE sinners prayer in the bible....WHY?

Well for one thing, God saves many different people in a multitude of different ways in scripture and not once does he require a certain prayer to come in.

God ONLY requires FAITH from the heart which connects to heaven FASTER THAN WE CAN EVER PRAY WORDS!

The prayer is NOT wrong it's simply not required to be saved....just faith in God!

Just saying “I’m sorry” was not the gospel.
Repentance was still the first step in the gospel of the New Covenant, and to repent meant to completely TURN AROUND from your previous life and go to God in HIS direction.
The only difference in the New Testament was that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been added which began in John 20.

In studying the balance of scripture, we can see that Peter was not teaching water baptism for the remission of sins but repentance for the remission of sins.

This is the first step in the salvation process.

In order to understand this doctrine of repentance, we must first understand how the bible defines ”sin.”
We will first look at Paul’s insights.

Romans 3:20

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

Romans 7:7

"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law:"

Paul tells us that it is God’s law that is our gauge to reveal sin. John affirms this understanding.
1 John 3:4

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

In other words, Peter was telling the people to STOP VIOLATING GOD’S LAW AND TURN COMPLETELY TO GOD THROUGH HIS MESSIAH.

The physical picture of this spiritual decision was water baptism.

The modern “church” has taught that God’s law was a curse and that it has been done away with, nailed to the cross. As a result, gross sin is now more rampant in the “church” than it is in the world.

Is this the gospel that Jesus and the apostles taught?
We will examine this in more depth later in this article.

Next, let’s look at Jesus’ doctrine of being “born again.”
John 3:1-5

"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

To be "Born Again" has NOTHING to do with a Church dogma, this is the ticket to Heaven we are referring too not some churches membership.

This is not a man-made doctrine or simple knowledge of doctrine, it is God's way to the Next life and must not be DIMINISHED by religion the way it has been!

Was Jesus making up a new doctrine or was He referring to the original bible

(what we have erroneously called the “old testament” as if it didn't belong to the New Testament somehow)?
He was of course referring to the bible.

As we will see, the water represents the physical repentance and obedience. Being born of the Spirit is God putting His Spirit within us. Pay very close attention as to the reason that God gives for putting His Spirit within us.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. "

This first verse that speaks of the cleansing water refers back to God’s law in Numbers 19:1-13
which describes God’s commandments concerning the Red Heifer and the cleansing water that is made with its’ ashes. There is no apparent logical reason for this.

This represents obedience by faith.
The reason God gives for putting His Spirit in us was to transform our stony hearts into flesh, to change our spiritual nature into one of wanting to do God’s will.

This is what Paul is referring to in Philippians 2:12-13.
"Now God is helping us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling by giving us the desire and the ability to do His good pleasure."

What is His good pleasure?
This last verse in Ezekiel tells us. God has empowered us to walk in His statutes, and to keep His judgments, TO DO THEM.

What are these statutes and judgments?
Jeremiah gives us the answer.
Jeremiah 31:31-33

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that 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 that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. "

God’s law is what He said He would write on our hearts. God’s law is the statutes and judgments we are empowered to now keep. We have been told that nobody can keep God’s law.

This is not what the bible teaches. Jesus’ teaching of the “born again” experience was already outlined in the prophets.
What about the gospel of salvation that Paul taught?

Was it a new doctrine or was it from the original bible?

Of course it was from the bible.

Let’s look at what Paul taught.

The old English of the King James Version of the bible makes it hard to clearly see what Paul is saying so I am using the New Jerusalem Translation here.

Romans 10:4-10

"But the Law has found its fulfilment in Christ so that all who have faith will be justified. Moses writes of the saving justice that comes by the Law and says that whoever complies with it will find life in it. But the saving justice of faith says this: Do not think in your heart, 'Who will go up to heaven?' --
that is to bring Christ down; or 'Who will go down to the depths?' -- that is to bring Christ back from the dead. What does it say, then? The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, the faith which we preach, that if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. It is by believing with the heart that you are justified, and by making the declaration with your lips that you are saved. "

It almost looks like Paul is teaching a new way of salvation here until we look at where Paul is getting his teaching from; back to the King James.

We will compare one or two verses at a time.

To really understand what Paul is teaching, all of Romans should be read in context.

We do not have the space to deal with this here but let’s look at one previous verse.

Romans 6:15-16

"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

Here Paul informs us that, even though we are not under the law, violating the law still leads to death and obedience to God’s law still plays a major role in our righteousness.

This understanding will help us understand what he is trying to teach us in chapter ten.
Romans 10:6

"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?
(that is, to bring Christ down from above:)"

Deuteronomy 30:9-12

"And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?"

Moses is clearly teaching obedience to God’s law here.
Paul is showing us what obedience to God‘s law points to.
According to John 1:1, Jesus is God’s word made flesh.
God’s law was made flesh to show us clearly the example of how God wants us to live.

Romans 10:7-8

"Or, Who shall descend into the deep?
(that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:that is, the word of faith, which we preach;"

Deuteronomy 30:13-14

"Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."

Moses spoke of doing God’s law. Paul is not teaching something different. Paul is revealing what God’s law is pointing us to.

Romans 10:9-10

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Deuteronomy 30:15-16, 19-20

"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days:"

Paul is explaining how we “choose life.”
He is affirming to us that obedience to God’s law is a crucial part of “choosing life.”

He is also letting us know that the next step in “choosing life” is embracing God’s Law made Flesh, His Messiah.

He is explaining to us how we are to be “born again” as Jesus taught us.
By the text Paul is referring to, he again is teaching us that obedience to God’s law is not an optional part of this choice for life. This will be even clearer when we look at what Jesus taught us next.

Matthew 19:16-17

"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. "

This account is related in Mark 10:17-18 and Luke 18:18-20 as well.

This is not the answer that we would receive from any modern pastor or theologian. Could it be that they teach another gospel that is different from the one that Jesus and the apostles taught?
Which commandments was Jesus teaching us to keep? He gives us the answer in Matthew chapter five.

Matthew 5:17 -19

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

All of God’s law is what we are expected to keep, down to the least jot and tittle. We do this by God’s Spirit within us.

Most ministers, if they even make it, will be called “least in the kingdom of heaven.”
You have a choice to make. You could be called “great in the kingdom.” Choose to teach what Jesus taught.

We see here that breaking even the least commandment in God’s law and teaching that this is acceptable will get you demoted to “least in the kingdom.” It will not matter how many great works you have done for God. Teaching that God’s law has been abolished will get you cast out into outer darkness.

NKJ Matthew 7:21 -23

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!

Jesus tells us that He will reject these believers who are performing miracles in His name and by His Spirit because they “practice lawlessness.”

A very unique Greek word is used for lawlessness here. It is the Greek word “anomia.” Nomos is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew word Torah which is translated law in English.

Anomos means without law.
Anomia means to violate or abolish the law, lawlessness, or contempt of law.
Though these many believers were prophesying, casting out devils, and doing many wonderful works in Jesus' name

(we know that this was done by the Spirit of God because in Matt 12:26 Jesus says that Satan will not cast out Satan)
, they had thrown out His Law, they had rejected His words. Without the instructions of God that He spoke at Mt. Sinai, we cannot do the will of our Father in heaven.
Refusing to obey God’s written instructions contained in His Law could cost you your eternity.

There are two main reasons why this is true.
First, if we abolish God’s law, we abolish God’s definition of “love.” Since the modern “church” has done this, it has had to make up its own definition of “love” based on 1 Corinthians chapter 13 only.
This new definition of “love” is that we accept everyone who claims to be a believer, no matter what kind of sin they might be in.
We overlook it and “love” them anyway.
There are now homosexuals in leadership positions in some denominations.
Is this what Paul taught?
Eight chapters earlier we see Paul turning a brother over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit might be saved in the day of Christ.
He commands the believers to not even eat with the man until he repents.
This is an aspect of love based on God’s law that the modern “church” has ignored for the most part.

Jesus taught us in

Matthew 22:36-40

that all of God’s law hangs on the two greatest commandments:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The rest of God’s law is the details of God’s complete definition for “love.”

John brings this fact out in his epistle. Let’s remember God’s definition for sin through John.

1 John 3:4

"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. "

1 John 2:1-6

"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked."

First, understanding God’s definition for sin, John tells us that he is writing us these things so we will not violate God’s law. He goes on to tell us that the person who claims to know Him but isn’t keeping His commandments is a liar.

Liars have their place in the lake of fire.
Next he tells us that if we keep God’s word (in context, God’s law), God’s love will be perfected in us. This is how He tells us we can know that we are “in Him.” Verse six tells us that we should follow Jesus’ example. In context, this is His example of walking in obedience to all of God’s law by God’s Spirit.

1 Corinthians 13 does indeed hold a key in understanding our passage in Matthew
Let’s look at the parallels.

1 Corinthians 13:2

"And though I have the gift of prophecy
(Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?)
, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains
(have we not cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name?)
, but have not love, I am nothing"
(I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness).

If we abolish God’s law, we are nothing.
We cannot love God or one another by His definition of love.
Making up our own will never work.
The second major reason that we must keep God’s law if we want eternal life is that obedience is required to perfect our faith.

We can see that Paul actually taught this if we know what to look for. The first verse we have already looked at.

Romans 6:15

"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

Let’s look at some others.

Romans 2:13

"For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. "

We know from some of Paul’s other writings that we cannot be justified by the works of the law. Obviously doing the law is different from trying to be justified by works of the law.
As we study, we will see that it has to do with the order and motives of our obedience; it has to do with whether we are in the Spirit or in the flesh. Let’s look at some of Paul’s other writings.

Romans 7:10-12

"And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. "

Here again we see that the commandments contained in God’s law were actually ordained to life. The sin that they pointed out is what brought death. Paul tells us that God’s law is holy, the individual commandments are holy, just, and good.

Romans 7:14

"For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. "

This is the key to understanding God’s law.

The law is spiritual; a carnal man could never keep it.
We must have God’s Spirit within us; God’s law must be written on our hearts to be able to truly keep it.
This is the main purpose of the Holy Spirit as God told us through Ezekiel.

Let’s look at the famous verses about salvation by grace and see what Paul really taught.

Ephesians 2:8-10

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. "

I have never heard this last verse taught in the context of salvation by grace.

Every minister I have ever heard has stopped with verse nine. Paul went on in verse ten to explain that the works that could never get us “born again” are the same works that we are expected to walk in once we are “created in Christ Jesus.”

If we study Paul’s other writings we will find that the majority of the time he is referring to the “works of the law.”
Keeping God’s law is impossible in the flesh and could never get us “born again” even if we could keep it flawlessly.
It was never designed for this. It was given to a people already walking in covenant with God. It is only for God’s covenant people.

In Roman’s chapter four Paul tells us that Abraham was saved “by faith” and not “by works.”

This is obviously a true statement.

What Paul does not tell us there but alludes to in Ephesians chapter two is what James teaches us in the second chapter of his epistle.

James 2:14

"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

According to Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith.
Does this mean that we have no part to play in this?
The answer lies in who Jesus gives this faith to.

Romans 12:3

"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

Paul tells us that God has given every man the measure of faith. No man will be able to stand before God claiming that he never had a chance.

John 1:9

"tells us that Jesus has given light to every man that comes into this world. He also tells us that the way that leads to salvation is straight and narrow and there will few that will find it. "

All have this chance
Few will choose to pursue it.
Every man must choose to act on the faith that God gives initially.
Every man must also choose to walk in obedience to God’s law so that his faith will be perfected.
If he chooses not to, according to
James,
his faith will die.
“Faith without works is dead.”

He did not say that it was never really faith.
James plainly explains that faith must be perfected by good works of obedience or it will die.
Paul gives us a stern warning about those who refuse to love God’s law. To understand it we must first understand God’s simple biblical definition for “truth.”

Psalm 119:89

"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. "

Psalm 119:142
"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. "
Psalm 119:151
"Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth. "
God did not tell us through David that His law was “a truth.” He did not tell us that His law was part of His “truth.”
He tells us through David that His law is “the truth.” “Truth” does not change.
It is absolute. God makes it clear here that His law, sometimes called “the law of Moses,” is His definition of “truth.”
With this understanding, let’s look at Paul’s warning.

2 Thessalonians 2:8

"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Anything other than God’s truth is unrighteousness. Doctrines of demons abound in the “church” today. Only those who are diligently seeking will actually find the straight and narrow path.

The rest will be lost.
We must receive the love of the truth.
We must reject the lie of the enemy before it is too late.
We must love God’s law.
This was the testimony of the early believers.
This should be our testimony too.

Acts 21:20

"And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:"
Let’s look at one other scripture in Revelation chapter 22.

Revelation 22:14

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

Do not be one of these who loves the lie that Satan has spread throughout almost the whole church.
Instead be a lover of God’s law.
The truths that we have studied are not being taught in the modern “church.”

This is why sin abounds.
This is why few will find that “straight and narrow path.”
God will hold the ministers to a much higher standard.
Please prayerfully study out these truths for yourselves.
Show yourselves approved unto God.
Rightly divide the word of truth

Think your a Christian? Then pass the Bible test if you dare!

SKEPTICS HAVE FOREVER USED THE FACT THAT "SO-CALLED BELIEVERS" HAVE NOT LIVED UP TO THEIR IDEAL OF WHAT THEY TEACH AND SAY!
This IS a great argument BUT the reality of what skeptics are using against us is something else.
THE TRUTH ABOUT "REAL CHRISTIANITY AND FALSE CHRISTIANITY IS VERY IMPORTANT AND TOTALLY NEGLECTED TEACHING IN THE CHURCH! Knowing this will eliminate 90% of the skeptics arguments!
JUDE 1:3
"Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. [But] I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to and exhort [you] to contend for the faith which was once for all [a]handed down to the saints [the faith which is that sum of Christian belief which was delivered [b]verbally to the holy people of God].
4 For certain men have crept in stealthily [[c]gaining entrance secretly by a side door]. Their doom was predicted long ago, ungodly (impious, profane) persons who pervert the grace (the spiritual blessing and favor) of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality, and disown and deny our sole Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
5 Now I want to remind you, though you were fully informed once for all, that though the Lord [at one time] delivered a people out of the land of Egypt, He subsequently destroyed those [of them] who did not believe [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him].
THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL A COMBINATION OF BOTH IDEAS,THESE THINGS HAVE BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME BUT ARE GROWING WORSE AS TIME GOES ON!THESE IMMORAL IMPOSTER'S PRETEND TO BE CHRISTIANS WHO THINK,ACT AND WALK AND TALK LIKE US BUT WHO ARE EVIL AT THE CORE (CREPT IN UNAWARES)
Hebrews 6:1
"Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity.
Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God,
2. With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment.
[These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware long, long ago.]"
NOTICE THAT THESE TEACHINGS ARE ALL WE HEAR ABOUT IN THE CHURCH TODAY!
THERE IS NOTHING UNORTHODOX IN THESE BELIEFS...BUT WE ARE NOT MEANT TO "WALLOW" IN THEM FOREVER NEVER LEARNING DEEPER TRUTHS BUT WHAT ARE THE DEEPER TRUTHS?
IT IS OF THE UTMOST CONCERN THAT ALL OF US INVESTIGATE OUR SALVATION EXPERIENCE TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE WE ARE TRULY SAVED,AND NOT JUST RELIGIOUSLY INDOCTRINATED TO THINK SO....OUR RELIGION IS NOT OUR FAITH AND TO JUST TRUST IN MAN'S CREATION IS IDOLATRY IN THE HIGHEST FORM!!!!
HEBREWS 6:3
"If indeed God permits, we will [now] proceed [to advanced teaching].

Heb 6:1 -

Wherefore (dio). Because of the argument already made about the difficulty of the subject and the DULLNESS of the readers.

Let us cease to speak (aphentes ton logon). Second aorist active participle of aphiēmi, to leave off or behind.

Of the first principles of Christ (tēs archēs tou Christou). Objective genitive Christou (about Christ).
"Leaving behind the discussion of the beginning about Christ," another way of saying again 'ta stoicheia tēs archēs tōn logiōn tou theou' of Heb_5:12.
And press on (kai pherōmetha).
Volitive present subjunctive passive, "Let us be borne on" (both the writer and the readers).
The Pythagorean Schools use pherōmetha in precisely this sense of being borne on to a higher stage of instruction.
Bleek quotes several instances of Greek writers using together as here of aphentes pherōmetha (Eurip., Androm. 393, for instance).

Unto perfection (epi tēn teleiotēta).
Old word from teleios mature, adults as in Heb_5:14. Only twice in N.T. (here and Col_3:14).
Let us go on to the stage of adults, not babes, able to masticate solid spiritual food. The writer will assume that the readers are adults in his discussion of the topic.

Not laying again the foundation (mē palin themelion kataballomenoi). The regular idiom for laying down the foundation of a building (themelion, Luk_6:48.).
The metaphor is common (1Co_3:11) and the foundation is important, but one cannot be laying the foundation always if he is to build the house.
There are six items mentioned here as part of the "foundation," though the accusative didachēn in apposition with themelion may mean that there are only four included in the themelion.
Two are qualitative genitives after themelion (metanoias and pisteōs). What is meant by "dead works" (apo nekrōn ergōn) is not clear (Heb_9:14), though the reference may be to touching a corpse (Num_19:1.; Num_31:19).
There are frequent allusions to the deadening power of sin
(Jam_2:17, Jam_2:26; Joh_7:25; Rom_6:1, Rom_6:11; Rom_7:8; Col_2:13; Eph_2:1, Eph_2:5).
The use of repentance and faith together occurs also elsewhere (Mar_1:15; Act_20:21; 1Th_1:9).
4 "For it is impossible [to restore and bring again to repentance] those who have been once for all enlightened,

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
I BELIEVE THEM TO BE FALSE CONVERTS ; CONVERTED TO A CHURCH MEMBERSHIP OR A GREAT IDEA ABOUT CHRIST GIVING THEM JOY,PEACE AND FIXING THEIR PROBLEMS ,WHO COME ONLY SO FAR IN AND CAN GO NO FARTHER BECAUSE OF SHALLOW COMMITMENT AND FALSE REPENTANCE ,..THAT IS REPENTANCE NOT BASED IN TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF PERSONAL SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES!
IF SOMEONE BREAKS GOD'S LAW AND HAS NO REAL KNOWLEDGE OF WHY IT'S WRONG,OR WHAT IT MEANS TO GOD OR THEIR SOUL THEN IT IS FALSE REPENTANCE,BASED ONLY ON GETTING CAUGHT IN THE ACT OR SIMPLY PRAYING A PRAYER WITHOUT MEANING,THESE PEOPLE ARE SHALLOW HEARERS AND EXIST FOR A TIME AND SOON FALL AWAY THINKING THEY ARE STILL SAVED!)
who have consciously
(WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING)
tasted
(TASTING AND EATING OF ARE TWO DIFFERENT IDEAS IN SCRIPTURE AND SHOULD NEVER BE MIXED,TASTING IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS OF EATING OF DOCTRINE)
(MAKING A DECISION BY PRAYING A SINNERS PRAYER TO BE SAVED BY)
the heavenly gift
(OF SALVATION CAN BACKFIRE IF THERE IS NO REAL FOLLOWUP TO THE INDIVIDUALS LIFE,THUS THE EXPERIENCE IS NOT ROOTED IN THEM AND PROVED TO THEIR MIND TO BE REAL,THIS CAN RESULT IN A "FALSE CONVERSION " THAT LOOKS AND SOUNDS REAL BUT HAS NO DEPTH OF REALITY IN CHRIST..THIS JUST WHAT RELIGION OFFERS:
A COUNTERFEIT FAITH,AND IF THEY BELIEVE THEY ARE SAVED BECAUSE OF A SHALLOW PRAYER AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIFE THEN THE DECEPTION IS COMPLETE!!)
and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit,
(MANY TIMES A PERSON CAN BE SHARING THE HOLY SPIRIT BY HANGING AROUND REAL BELIEVERS WHO ARE REALLY SAVED, DEVELOPING A COPIED LIFESTYLE..
THEY DON'T REALIZE THEY ARE "CLONED CHRISTIANS" THEN AGAIN THERE ARE THOSE IN THE BODY WHO KNOW FULL WELL THEY ARE NOT SAVED AND INTEND HARM TO CHRIST'S CHURCH,THEY ARE IMPLANTS, SPIES,FROM SATAN WHO DESTROY WHATEVER THEIR HANDS AND MOUTH'S TOUCH!!)
5 And have felt
(ANYONE WHO GOES TO CHURCH CAN FEEL HOW GOOD THE WORD OF GOD IS BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE BORN AGAIN!)
how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come,
(THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT GOD,THE CHURCH,AND PROPHECY)
6. IF

(THIS IS THE KEY WORD HERE)
they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance--[it is impossible] to bring them back to repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh [as far as they are concerned] and are holding [Him] up to contempt and shame and public disgrace."
(ONCE THEY CAN REALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND REPENT AND TRULY GET SAVED THEY CAN COME INTO THE BODY,BUT THOSE WHO NEVER REPENT ARE DOOMED TO ETERNAL HELL BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN DECISION TO GO THERE!!)

Heb 6:6 -

It is impossible to renew them again (adunaton palin anakainizein). The adunaton (impossible) comes first in Heb_6:4 without estin (is) and there is no "them" in the Greek.
There are three other instances of adunaton in Hebrews (Heb_6:18; Heb_10:4; Heb_11:6).
The present active infinitive of anakainizō (late verb, ana, kainos, here only in the N.T., but anakainoō, 2Co_4:16; Col_3:10) with adunaton bluntly denies the possibility of renewal for apostates from Christ (cf. 3:12-4:2).
It is a terrible picture and cannot be toned down. The one ray of light comes in Heb_6:8-12, not here.

Seeing they crucify to themselves afresh (anastraurountas heautois).
Present active participle (accusative plural agreeing with tous ... parapesontas) of anastauroō, the usual verb for crucify in the old Greek so that ana- here does not mean "again" or "afresh," but "up," sursum, not rursum (Vulgate).
This is the reason why renewal for such apostates is impossible. They crucify Christ.
And put him to an open shame (kai paradeigmatizontas). Present active participle of paradeigmatizō, late verb from paradeigma (example), to make an example of, and in bad sense to expose to disgrace.
Simplex verb deigmatisai in this sense in Mat_1:19.
NOTICE THAT THEY CANNOT EVER COME BACK ONCE THEY GO BACK..WHY ?
BECAUSE SALVATION HERE IS NOT COMPLETE,THE PROCESS OF SALVATION HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED AT THE ROOTS, HAVING PLANTED THEMSELVES IN SHALLOW DOCTRINAL ISSUES RATHER THAN GOING ON INTO THE DEEPER MEAT AND RICH EARTH TO FOLLOW THIS BEGINNING!
SOME WHO ARE IN THIS STATE CAN BE SAVED FROM IT WITH THE HELP OF PATIENT BELIEVERS:
JUDE1:20
"But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [[d]make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit;
21Guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)--[which will bring you] unto life eternal.
22And refute [so as to] convict some who dispute with you, and on some have mercy who waver and doubt.
23[Strive to] save others, snatching [them] out of [the] fire; on others take pity [but] with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality."
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT WE SEE TWO KINDS OF SOIL MENTIONED AND THUS TWO KINDS OF RESULTS FROM THE SAME GARDEN:
HEBREWS 6: 7
"For the soil which has drunk the rain that repeatedly falls upon it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated partakes of a blessing from God
8 But if [that same soil] persistently bears thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned."
THE SAME SOIL OF THE HEART CAN PRODUCE A DIFFERENT RESULT,THE SAME SALVATION EXPERIENCE CAN RESULT IN TWO DIFFERENT ENDS,THE KEY TO UNDERSTAND THIS IS FOUND IN :
MARK 4: 13
"And He said to them, Do you not discern and understand this parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the parables?
14The sower sows the Word.
15The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them.
16And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy;
17And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.
18And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word;
19Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.
20And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit--some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.
21And He said to them, Is the lamp brought in to be put under a [f]peck measure or under a bed, and not [to be put] on the lampstand?
22[[g]Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.] For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret except in order that it may be made known.
23If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. 24And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [h][of thought and study] you give [to [i]the truth you hear] will be the measure [j][of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear."
YOU CAN HEAR, AND HEAR AND HEAR THE WORD OF GOD ABOUT THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER BUT IF YOU DO NOT ACT ON IT TO MAKE THE WORD ONE WITH YOUR LIFE YOUR WASTING YOUR TIME!
ONLY ACTION PRODUCES FRUIT...INACTION ONLY STINKS UP THE POND AND MAKES IT FIT ONLY FOR DEVILS TO DWELL IN, IF THOSE WHO KNOW THE MEAT DO NOT REACH OUT TO THEM THEY WILL DIE IN BASIC DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH AND NEVER MOVE ON...THESE ARE THOSE IN DANGER OF FALLING AWAY IN HEBREWS 6!
MARK 4:30
"And He said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all seeds upon the earth;
32 Yet after it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all garden herbs and puts out large branches, so that the birds.....
(THESE ARE THE FALSE CHRISTIAN SECTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS MIXED IN UNDER THE BIG UMBRELLA OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD)
of the air.....
(THE DEVILS OF FALSE REPENTANCE AND DOCTRINE,WHICH)
are able to make nests
(LOOK ORTHODOX)
and dwell.....
(LIVE WITHOUT NOTICE)
in its shade.
(THE COMFORT OF DARKNESS FROM THE SON OF GOD'S STARE....AT LEAST THEY THINK SO ANYWAY!)

Mat 6:21
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound,.....
(Thayer Definition:
1) simple, single
2) whole
3) good fulfilling its office, sound
3a) of the eye your entire body will be full of light.)
DON'T BE CONCERNED WITH SOMETHING BEYOND YOUR GRASP,GROW WHERE YOU ARE, LEARN ALL YOU CAN RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED..ONLY GOD CAN MOVE YOU WHEN HE DESIRES IT!
23 But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your [r]conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
{IF WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS LIGHT FROM GOD AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE DARKNESS BECAUSE OF SELF DECEPTION,HOW GREAT WILL THAT KIND OF DARKNESS BE!]
24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be [s]against the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon ([t]deceitful riches, money, possessions, or [u]whatever is trusted in)."
TRUSTING IN RELIGION IS DANGEROUS,BECAUSE WE CANNOT BE SURE OF OUR POSITION THERE..IT'S BASED ON PERSONAL WORKS THAT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH TO PLEASE GOD!
TRUE SALVATION IS ALWAYS BASED ON HIS WORK FOR US..WHICH IS GRACE!

2Ti 2:4
"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."

No soldier on service (oudeis strateuomenos). "No one serving as a soldier." See note on 1Co_9:7 for this old verb and 2Co_10:3; 1Ti_1:18 for the metaphorical use.

Entangleth himself (empleketai). Old compound, to inweave (see Mat_27:29 for plekō), in N.T. only here and 2Pe_2:20. Present middle (direct) indicative.

In the affairs (tais pragmateiais). Old word (from pragmateuomai, Luk_19:13), business, occupation, only here in N.T.

Of this life (tou biou). No "this" in the Greek, "of life" (course of life as in 1Ti_2:2, not existence zōē).

Him who enrolled him as a soldier (tōi stratologēsanti).
Dative case after aresēi (first aorist active subjunctive of areskō, to please, 1Th_2:4, purpose clause with hina) of the articular first aorist active participle of stratologeō, literary Koiné[28928]š word (stratologos, from stratos and legō), only here in N.T.

2Ti 3:1
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."

2Ti 3:2
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,.."

2Ti 3:3
"Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,..."

2Ti 3:4
"Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;...."

2Ti 3:5
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

2Ti 3:6
"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,..."

2Ti 3:7
"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

2Ti 3:5 -

A form of godliness (morphōsin eusebeias).

Having denied (ērnēmenoi).
Perfect middle participle of arneomai

Power (dunamin).
See 1Co_4:20. See Rom_1:29-31 for similar description.
Turn away (apotrepou). Present middle (direct) imperative of apotrepō, "turn thyself away from." Old verb, only here in N.T.

2Ti 3:7 -

Never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (mēdepote eis epignōsin alētheias elthein dunamena).
Pathetic picture of these hypnotized women without intellectual power to cut through the fog of words and, though always learning scraps of things, they never come into the full knowledge (epignōsin) of the truth in Christ. And yet they even pride themselves on belonging to the intelligentsia!

2Ti 4:1
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;.."

2Ti 4:2
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

2Ti 4:3
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;..."

2Ti 4:4
"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

2Ti 4:3 -

A time when (kairos hote). One of the akairōs (out of season) times.
Will not endure (ouk anexontai). Future middle (direct) of anechō.
"Will not hold themselves back from" (Col_3:13).
Having itching ears (knēthomenoi tēn akoēn). Present middle (causative) participle of knēthō, late and rare form of the Attic knaō, to scratch, to tickle, here only in N.T. "Getting the ears (the hearing, tēn akoēn) tickled." The Vulgate has prurientes. Cf. the Athenians (Act_17:21). Clement of Alexandria tells of speakers tickling (knēthontes) the ears of those who want to be tickled.
This is the temptation of the merely "popular" preacher, to furnish the latest tickle.

2Ti 4:4 -

Will turn away their ears (tēn akoēn apostrepsousin). Future active of old verb apostrephō. See 1Co_12:17 for this use of akoē. The people stopped their ears and rushed at Stephen in Act_7:57.

Will turn aside (ektrapēsontai). Second future passive of ektrepō.
They prefer "myths" to "the truth" as some today turn away to "humanism," "bolshevism," "new thought" or any other fad that will give a new momentary thrill to their itching ears and morbid minds.

1Pe 2:1
"Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,..."

1Pe 2:2
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:.."

1Pe 2:3
"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

1Pe 2:1 -

Putting away therefore (apothemenoi oun). Second aorist middle participle of apotithēmi, old and common verb, in metaphorical sense either to cleanse defilements (1Pe_3:21; Jam_1:21) or to put off clothing (Rom_13:12; Col_3:5.; Eph_4:22). Either sense suits here.
Therefore (oun) because of the new birth (1Pe_1:23) and the new life demanded.
Wickedness (kakian). This old word, from kakos (evil), in the ancients meant vice of any kind and note pāsan (all) here.

Guile (dolon). Old word (from delō, to catch with bait), deceit.

Hypocrisies (hupokriseis). Singular (hupokrisin) in the best MSS. See 1Pe_1:22 (anupokriton) and Mar_7:6. for Christ’s denunciation of hypocrites which the disciples did not understand, including Peter (Mat_15:16.).
Envies (phthonous). Genuine here, not phonous (murders), as B has it. For the word see Mat_27:18.

Evil speakings (katalalias). Late word (from katalalos, defamer, Rom_1:30), in N.T. only here and 2Co_12:20. "Backbitings." For verb see note on 1Pe_2:12.

1Pe 2:2 -

As newborn babes (hōs artigennēta brephē). Brephos, old word, originally unborn child (Luk_1:41-44), then infant (Luk_2:12), here figuratively, like nēpioi.
Artigennēta is a late and rare compound (Lucian, imperial inscription) from arti and gennaō, with evident allusion to anagegennēmenoi in 1Pe_1:23, probably meaning that they were recent converts, possibly slight proof that the Epistle written before Romans by Paul (Kuhl).

Long for (epipothēsate). First aorist (constative) active imperative of epipotheō, old verb for intense yearning (Phi_2:26).

The spiritual milk which is without guile (to logikon adolon gala). Gala is old word for milk as in 1Co_9:7 and as metaphor in 1Co_3:2.
Adolos is an old compound (here alone in N.T.) adjective (alpha privative and dolos deceit), unadulterated milk which, alas, is so hard to get.
Logikon is an old adjective in ̇ikos, from logos (reason, speech), in N.T. only here and Rom_12:1, used here with allusion to logou (1Pe_1:23) and rēma (1Pe_1:25), "the sincere milk of the word" ("the milk belonging to the word," either the milk which is the word or the milk contained in the word, that is Christ).
So Bigg holds.
But in Rom_12:1 Paul uses logikon in the sense of "rational" or "spiritual," and that idea is possible here as Hort holds. In the Pelagia legend (Usener) we have the phrase tōn logikōn probatōn tou Christou (the spiritual or rational sheep of Christ).

That ye may grow thereby (hina en autōi auxēthēte). Purpose clause with hina and the first aorist passive subjunctive of auxanō, old and common verb to grow. See this same metaphor in Col_2:19; Eph_4:15.
Peter uses the word of God as the food for growth, especially for babes in Christ, not emphasizing the distinction from solid food (brōma) made in 1Co_3:2; Heb_5:13.
"Salvation (sōtērian) here is final salvation."

1Pe 2:7
"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,..."

1Pe 2:8
"And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed."

1Pe 2:7 -

The preciousness (hē timē). Or "the honour." Explanation of entimon and ou mē kataischunthēi and only true "for you which believe" (tois pisteuousin ethical dative of articular present active participle of pisteuō to believe).

But for such as disbelieve (apistousin de). Dative present active participle again of apisteō, opposite of pisteuō (Luk_24:11).

Was made the head of the corner (egenēthē eis kephalēn gōnias).
This verse is from Psa_118:22 with evident allusion to Isa_28:16 (kephalēn gōnias = akrogōniaion).
See Mat_21:42; Mar_12:10; Luk_20:17, where Jesus himself quotes Psa_118:22 and applies the rejection of the stone by the builders (hoi oikodomountes, the experts) to the Sanhedrin’s conduct toward him.
Peter quoted it also (and applied it as Jesus had done) in his speech at the Beautiful Gate (Act_4:11). Here he quotes it again to the same purpose.

1Pe 2:8 -

And (kai). Peter now quotes Isa_8:14 and gives a new turn to the previous quotation.
To the disbelieving, Christ was indeed "a stone of stumbling (lithos proskommatos) and rock of offence (petra skandalou)," quoted also by Paul in Rom_9:32. See note on Rom_9:32 for discussion.
Proskomma (from proskoptō, to cut against) is an obstacle against which one strikes by accident, while skandalon is a trap set to trip one, but both make one fall.
Too much distinction need not be made between lithos (a loose stone in the path) and petra (a ledge rising out of the ground).

For they (hoi). Causal use of the relative pronoun.

Stumble at the word, being disobedient (proskoptousin tōi logōi apeithountes). Present active indicative of proskoptō with dative case, logōi, and present active participle of apeitheō (cf. apistousin in 1Pe_2:7) as in Rom_3:1. Tōi logōi can be construed with apeithountes (stumble, being disobedient to the word).

Whereunto also they were appointed (eis ho kai etethēsan). First aorist passive indicative of tithēmi. See this idiom in 1Ti_2:7.
"Their disobedience is not ordained, the penalty of their disobedience is" (Bigg). They rebelled against God and paid the penalty.

1Pe 2:9
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"

1Pe 2:10
"Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."

1Pe 2:11
"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;..."

1Pe 2:12
"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."
IF WE WOULD ONLY LIVE AND MOVE AND WALK IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO EVEN WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT US...LIVE AS HE LIVED BEFORE GOD!
So what is salvation and what is it's true nature?

SALVATION:
From the Hebrew
ישׁע help, deliverance, salvation
ישׁע salvation

שׁלם intact state;
unconcern,
ease;
prosperity;
welfare,
condition;
peace;
friendship;
peace,
salvation .
Notice the meanings here, God is clear about "Salvation's Nature"
here:
It is an INTACT STATE of Deliverance in which exists NO concern for retrobution, an EASE in the soul, Prosperity and welfare.
It is a CONDITION of your ENTIRE LIFE NOT A "STRAY THOUGHT" or "MENTAL ASSENT" It is a peaceful,friendship a RELATIONSHIP BONDED AT THE CORE of our person,seated deep inside our soul!
This is the GREEK WORD FOR SALVATION and it's meaning :
παράκλησις, εως f
encouragement,
help;
comfort;
appeal,
request;
salvation,
setting free
(LUK.2:25) σῴζω save (of Christian salvation);
save,
rescue,
deliver;
keep safe,
preserve;
cure,
make well.
σωτηρία, ας f salvation (in the Christian sense);
deliverance,
preservation,
release.

SALVATION IS A RELEASE FROM SIN,IT IS WHEN GOD LITERALLY PULLS US OUT OF ONE LIFESTYLE AND PUTS US INTO HIS LIFESTYLE FOREVER!
We are Kept safe, preserved,made well and CURED FROM ALL THINGS DARK! In order for salvation to do this for us,salvation MUST then be linked directly to God's NATURE..IT IS AND MUST BE ETERNAL,TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE IS TO diminish God himself.

Briefly, the Gospel--the good news--is that each person, through Jesus Christ, can be forgiven of sin, brought back into fellowship with God, and filled with God’s Spirit for newness of life.
Salvation is the bundle of benefits received by the person who believes the Gospel and entrusts his or her life to Christ.
The "benefits" include forgiveness of sin, a totally right standing with God, heaven instead of hell upon physical death, new life (the Spirit of the life of Christ Jesus), awesome joy and contentment, and power to change bad habits
.
A Christian is a person who has decided to trust in Jesus Christ for a right standing before God, and to turn the reins of his or her life over to Christ .
After expressing this decision in prayer, the Christian receives salvation.
The word salvation indicates that the Christian is saved from something. Saved from what?
In short, we are saved from death—spiritual death. More specifically, we are saved from the following:

1. Hell

Hell exists.
Jesus spoke about it:
BUT NOTE THAT HELL IS NOT A TORTURE CHAMBER WHERE GOD MEED'S OUT HIS PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST YOU FOR YOUR REBELLION-
RATHER...HELL IS A PLACE OF "YOUR PERSONAL CREATION" WHERE YOU TORMENT YOURSELF IN AN ENDLESS MENTAL REGRET OF UNREPEATABLE MEMORIES CAUSING GREAT PHYSICAL PAIN FOREVER!
JUST AS TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE "BUILDING THEIR MANSIONS IN HEAVEN" WITH THEIR LIVES LIVED FOR CHRIST SO UNBELIEVERS "BUILD UP RETRIBUTION AGAINST THEMSELVES AS THEY CONTINUE TO REBEL AGAINST WHAT GOD SAYS!

Mat 5:22
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

Mat 10:28
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Mat 23:33
"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?"

Mark 9:43
"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,"

Mark 9:45
"If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,"

Mark 9:47
"If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,"

Those who place their trust in Christ receive mercy. Picture a court of law:
Each of us is charged with sin.
Each of us is guilty.
We can plead either innocent or guilty. In pleading innocent, we are claiming to be righteous enough to be accepted by God on our own merits.
But if we plead guilty and ask for mercy, the penalty is paid by Christ, we are declared righteous by God, and we are not judged with respect to heaven or hell:

John 5:22,23
"For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."

John 3:16-18
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

John 5:24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."

1 Pet 3:18
"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God"

1 John 4:10
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

John 14:6
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."

Rom 3:23,24
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;"

Rom 5:8
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Rom 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

2 Cor 5:21
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Col 2:13,14
"When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

1 Tim 2:5
"For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"

2. Ourselves

a. Christ saves us from bad habits, destructive lifestyles, sinful tendencies, and poor character qualities

When we give ourselves to Christ, we exchange our unrighteousness for His righteousness. Our old self is crucified with Christ--buried.
We get a new life--Christ's life--by way of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we are no longer slaves to sinful and destructive behavior
( gossip,
anger,
lying,
short temper,
bitterness,
immorality,
impurity,
greed,
pride,
boastfulness,
foul language,
homosexuality,
adultery,
fornication,
child molestation,
incest,
irritability,
quarrelsomeness).

We will still experience temptation because we still have bodies with "fleshly" cravings, but we are able to live victoriously over sinful ways by trusting Christ to live through us:

Rom 6:1-14
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
2 May it never be!
How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."

2 Cor 5:17
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Gal 5:24
"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

1 Cor 10:13
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

Eph 4:24
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Col 3:5
"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."

Bear in mind that we are saved from "ourselves" not by trying to change, but by trading ourselves for Christ. Christ gives us new life--His life.

He completely transforms us.
As we submit our will to His control, Christ manifests Himself through us--His thoughts, words, and actions become our thoughts, words, and actions.
God is pleased and glorified to see His Son manifested through Christians.

b. Christ saves us from
self-centeredness and discontentment!
Self centeredness, self indulgence, and discontentment stem from an effort to get "life"
(value, identity, love, security, fulfillment, joy, contentment, inner peace)
from anything tied to ourselves and how we compare with others
(skills, intelligence, possessions, physical appearance, spouse, kids, friends, success)
instead of from Christ.
If we do not seek life from Christ, we will naturally, perhaps unconsciously, compare ourselves with others, searching for contentment through recognition, pleasure, power, or control--but without satisfaction.

It is impossible to be "selfless" without being filled and controlled by the Spirit of Christ.
Self-centeredness cannot be overcome by the most diligent effort to be selfless.
Self cannot simply be removed--it has to be replaced--and only Christ can replace it.
Christ frees us from the slavery of comparison with others! He fills the emptiness of our heart with Himself.
And He escorts us to the Father so that we can have joy in continual fellowship with Him.

c. Christ saves us from performance-based acceptance

True Christianity is not a religion.
Religions generally require that one live according to a set of standards. If one's performance is good enough, one will go to heaven or another desirable place after the earthly life, and will have a good life on earth.
If performance is substandard, the person will be rejected by the higher being and go to hell or some other unpleasant place. Christianity, by contrast, is based on the work and life of Christ imparted to us, not on our performance.
Christianity teaches that no person is good enough to be accepted into God’s kingdom and, therefore, we can be accepted by God only by God’s grace and mercy, which are possible through Jesus Christ:

Eph 2:8,9
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Titus 3:5
"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy"

Put differently, our favor and acceptance before God is based on Christ, not us. We do not have to earn favor with God; indeed we can't. Christ saves from self effort by paying the penalty for our sin.
We merely receive forgiveness of sin as a gift:

Rom 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Col 2:13,14
"When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

What's more, just as we cannot earn our way to heaven by doing good deeds, we are not burdened to earn favor with God by doing good deeds after we receive Christ. In fact, we can't.
The Christian life was not intended to be a struggle to please God and pay Him back for forgiving us.

God is pleased with faith, and only with faith.
We cannot earn favor with God by trying in our own strength to be "good Christians." Just as we received Christ by faith for forgiveness of sin, we are to live by faith in Christ. We are to trust Christ to live an upright and holy life through us:

Col 2:6
"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him"

John 15:5
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Heb 11:6
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him"

God is pleased, not by our effort, but by our willingness to let Christ do His works through us.
We can do nothing for God, except perhaps to say "Yes" to Him, submitting to Him and letting Him have His way with us, and then giving thanks for what He's done.

Rom 14:23
"…and whatever is not from faith is sin."

1 Pet 4:11
"Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

In sum, there is nothing performance-based in Christianity. God has done it all through Christ.
We can do no more than receive and thank. Only Jesus can make a person a Christian--neither works nor ceremonies can do it. And only one person can live the Christian life:

Jesus Christ.
We need only to let Him live His life through us. Thus Christ saves the Christian from the burden of self effort and performance-based acceptance.

3. Slavery to circumstances

The Bible says that those who are in Christ overcome the world. Taken in context with all of scripture, this does not mean that Christians are given authority to rule over others. Nor does it promise Christians a life absent of struggles and disappointments.

Quite the contrary,
Jesus said those who follow Him would be persecuted and have tribulation. But the Christian overcomes the world by having, through Christ, perfect peace, joy, contentment, and inner rest in the midst of any and all circumstances:

2 Tim 3:12
"Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Phil 1:29
"For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,"

John 16:33
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."

1 John 4:4
"You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."

1 John 5:4,5
"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.
5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Christians have struggles just as everyone else, but can have perfect joy, inner peace, and restfulness in the midst of them.
Bear in mind that there are two ways to satisfy a want--whether the want is to have something or to be relieved of difficulty. One way is to get what we want. The other way is to not want it anymore.
This is what Jesus offers--not to get everything we want, but to be content in all circumstances through our relationship with Him.
Jesus does not remove all our struggles, but fills us with His perfect peace and joy in the midst of them.

This is no small victory! It is true freedom. It is salvation.

4. Satan and his evil helpers

Satan is all about death;
God is all about life.
Satan is full of hate;
God is love.
Satan is all lies;
God is all truth.

God is more powerful than Satan.
But Satan has power-- through sin, death, and hell--over an individual who has not entrusted his or her life to Christ.
God, through Christ, offers salvation from sin, death, and hell.
Those who trust Christ are saved from the power Satan because Christ has defeated Satan and removed his power.

Jesus Christ has crushed Satan's head.
Jesus has won victory over sin, death, hell, and fear.
Below are verses about Christ's victory over Satan.

Stand firm on these verses.
Choose to believe what the verses say.
Say the verses out loud, declaring that you believe what is written. Don't boast about your victory over Satan; just give praise and thanks to God for Christ.

Col 2:15
"When He [God the Father] had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him [Christ]. "

1 John 3:8
"The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."

Rom 6:9
"knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him."

Col 1:13
"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son"

Heb 2:14,15
"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

As Christians, we reap the benefits of Christ's victory over Satan.
We are victorious with Christ, because we are now in the family of God, on the winning team, covered by Christ Himself. Christ, whose Spirit lives in us, is greater than Satan:

1 John 4:4
"You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He [Christ] who is in you than he who is in the world [Satan]."

Mat 16:18,19
"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

Luke 10:19,20
"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.
20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."

Satan hates Christians.
He is jealous of us because we possess the Spirit of God.
He wants desperately to keep Christians from realizing the power that we have through Christ.
Satan wants to blind Christians from knowing the authority that we have in Christ, and the power of Christ in us, because when we abide in Christ, we experience great joy, we love others with the supernatural love of Christ, and, as a result, those around us will come to know Christ.
Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus, that their eyes would be opened to see this power:

Eph 1:18,19
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe."

Eph 3:14-21
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Satan also delights to see Christians engage in sinful behavior, because he knows that doing so hinders the power of Christ from working through us.
Although Satan cannot make a Christian sin, he attempts to lead us into temptation and deceive us into thinking that we do not have the power to resist it. But if we abide in Christ, we will not be deceived.
When we do face temptation, the power of Christ in us is able to resist it

1 Cor 10:13
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

Heb 2:18
"For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."

2 Pet 2:9
".....the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation"

2 Th 3:3
"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."

1 John 5:18
"We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."

Gal 5:24
"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

We need only to be alert, submit to God, trust in the power of the name of Jesus Christ, and resist the devil. Satan will flee from us:

James 4:7
"Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

1 Pet 5:8,9
"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."

2 Cor 10:3-5
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

Eph 6:10-13
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

The word glory in the following verses indicates who God is--the sum of His awesome attributes:

Ex 33:18,21,22
"Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"
21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by."

Jn 1:14
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

1 Kings 8:10,11
"It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD."

The verses below indicate that God wants us to have His glory:

Col 1:25-27
"Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

2 Cor 4:4
"...in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

Rom 9:23,24
"And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles."

2 Thess 2:14
"It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God wants us to be filled with His glory, but this does not mean that man is God. Only God is God."
And God does not share praise with humans:

Isa42:8
"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images."

Isa 45:5,6
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other"

Isa46:5,9
"To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we would be alike? …
9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me"

Isa 2:22
"Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?"

The above verses confirm that man is not to be praised, so having God's glory does not mean that God intends for us to be glorified or praised by other people.

Just the opposite is true.
True humility results from realizing our utter dependence on God; we see that only He is worthy of praise. When we transfer our trust from ourselves to Christ, we exchange all we are for all Christ is.
As a result, we are filled--glorified--with the Spirit of Christ, God's glory. Our spiritual death is replaced by the Life of Christ.

Think of God's glory as electricity.
We will become electrified--filled with electricity--if we put our finger into a high voltage electrical outlet. We did not generate the electricity.
We did not earn it through hard work. And we did not get it by being smart or talented.
We simply received it and became electrified by it.
We deserve no praise for it.

We need to be filled--"glorified"--with God's glory in order to be complete, whole, and full.

As mentioned above, Paul's prayer for the Christians in Ephesus was that they would understand and experience the power of the glory of Christ in them:

Eph 1:18,19
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might"

Eph 3:13-19
"Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God."

The following verses, written for Christians, tell of salvation to be received--apparently after conversion. Thus the verses indicate that salvation is not only the forgiveness of sin received by the new believer upon conversion, but the life of Christ that saves the Christian from "self" after conversion.
It is salvation indeed to have our "self" flushed out by the Life (glory) of Christ:

Rom 5:9,10.
"Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

1Tim 4:16
"Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."

1 Pet 1: 6-9
"In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

2 Thess 2:13,14
"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Salvation, then, entails not only forgiveness of sin that gives us a ticket to heaven instead of hell, but power--the Spirit of the life of Christ Jesus in us--to be whole in every way.
The freedom referred to in the following verses applies not only to life after earth, but to life on earth through the power of Christ:

Rom 8:1,2
"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."

John 8:34-36
"Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.
36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

Humans were designed to function with God’s Spirit in them. Without Christ, man is dysfunctional within himself and in relationships, like a car without an engine, or a table with only two legs.
No wonder it’s called salvation--Jesus Christ not only saves us from hell, but is the cure, the only cure, to all dysfunction experienced by the human race.

Contentment, joy, inner peace, the manifestation of the supernatural love of Christ, and other aspects of wholeness through Christ, will be experienced only as the believer is abiding in Christ.
Although Christians have been given the Spirit of Christ to meet all our real needs, we still tend to seek life apart from Him. Like Adam and Eve, we pick from the tree of "independence and self sufficiency."
This is what the nation of Israel did in the Old Testament era; God had chosen them and filled them with His glory, but they wanted to be in control of their own lives instead of letting God take care of them. They exchanged the glory of God for "self":

Rom 1: 21-25
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever."

Ps 106:20
"Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass."

Jer 2:11,13
"Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods?
But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit.
13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Just as God wanted to fill the nation of Israel with His glory, and for them to enjoy Him, He wants to fill Christians with His glory--the Spirit of Christ. And He wants us to enjoy His presence.
But we Christians are often deceived into loving the glitter of the world instead of the glory of God, and to seeking control over our circumstances instead of living by faith in Christ.

Thus the awesome paradox given in John 12:24,25:
If we don't let go of our life in this world, and allow Christ to become our identity, security, joy, and contentment, we will never bear fruit because Christ will be hindered from pouring His Life in and through us.

Jn 12:24,25
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal."

Trials and suffering, therefore, can indeed bring great blessings for the Christian. In love God may deny us the security, comfort, control, pleasure, power, and riches that we seek in this world, at least for a time, to turn our eyes from our circumstances to Christ, the real Bread of Life, who wants to fill us with His joy and love, and bless others through us:

John 15:5
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

"If you can't DO what you SAY, don't SAY what you'll DO!"

It's not that good things haven't happened because of common man-made religion but let's get real here; a lot more of the really bad things have happened simply because we must find a better way to do what God told us!

Sure, building a better mouse trap might catch more mice but if it really is a good trap it's just that, A TRAP WITHOUT AN EXIT!

The real issue about Man-made Religion is not that it seeks to serve God but that it fails in the attempt.

In fact Religion is the single most given reason WHY people hate God and the Bible.

This not an excuse to use at Judgment BUT it is a valid reason why most people are TURNED OFF of God and into Atheist's or Agnostic's.

This is why Jesus HATED RELIGION, not the people deceived but the dogmas and teachings that misrepresented his father to the world!

Salvation IS NOT A TRAP it really is as simple as it says it is, ....who would have thought? God really did mean what he said when he first said it...WOW!

So why is it that we must AT THE RISK OF LOSING OF OUR SOULS, add too it OUR STUPID IDEAS and take away from it GOD'S ORIGINAL INTENTS all at our whim as if it were a recipe we have the right to improvise with!

And we seem to do it without the slightest fear of future judgment?

That's the biggest mistake we make because "Judgment BEGINS with the house of God."

And remember there is a COMPREHENSIVE judgment to come for ALL TEACHERS OF GOD'S TRUTH WHO STRAY FROM THE PURPOSE OF GOD!

"There is ONLY one truth and the word of God is it!"

John 3:18

"Those who believe in him won't be condemned. But those who don't believe are already condemned because they don't believe in God's only Son."

This is one of the simplest verses in scripture and one of the most commonly perverted verses by dead religion.
How you might ask?

Religion cannot stand to let its people have personal freedom, meaning:
A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. Freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious.
because along with personal freedom comes the freedom to think for one's self, and where would religion be if no one followed the priesthood in charge?

Would it really be too much to ask for the ones we trust with our salvation to be honest with scripture for once?

Why is that we cannot just read the bible for our selves WITHOUT the interference of religion and it's leaders?

"In the end this is what God wants to know, NOT what your Organization believes!"

Jer 10:3

"The religion of the people is worthless. Woodcutters cut down trees
(To fashion gods) from the forest ( The true God's creation). The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes."

This whole chapter makes it clear that vein religion must sustain itself by building it own "gods" using the true God's creation to justify it.

WHY?
Because false religion has NO CREATIVE ABILITY of its own since it is DEAD, it must barrow material from true faith (Life) to be in the least bit believable.
How else could religion deceive so many unless it looked like, smelled like, and walked like real religion that God approves of!
It is man's inability to dig into facts to find real truth that Satan counts on to bolster his deceptions.

Jas 1:26
"If a person thinks that he is religious but can't control his tongue, he is fooling himself. That person's religion is worthless."
Why is the "tongue" such an important object to have control of in the spiritual life?
"God will not Balance your doctrine for you that's your Job, it's the INTENT of heart he'll reveal in the end!"

This is the key to understanding the false from the true.
False prophets are judged by their words coming to pass 100% of the time or else they are not of God.
Like a broken clock that's right twice a day a false prophet can be right just by guessing right some of the time.
Satanic entities know a lot but do not know what an all-seeing God knows!
Christianity must be judged by its WORDS coming to pass, not just speaking of salvation with empty words on paper but producing changed lives that are reproducing themselves with every step forward.
The Kingdom of God is alive with life-giving power not a pool of stagnant water.

Jas 1:27
"Pure, unstained religion, according to God our Father, is to take care of orphans and widows when they suffer and to remain uncorrupted by this world."

Here, James states that for anyone to claim they are "Religious" and that means there IS NO WAY AROUND this, it's a Law of God.
A true Christian is DOING WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS TO DO and they must remain UNCORRUPTED BY ANYTHING WORLDLY...PERIOD!

"Religion without God is totally worthless in God's sight. The Bible is the ONLY rule to follow, and anything less or more is false!"

No one can get away with being HALF in and half out of the Kingdom,and still call themselves His child.
There are no spiritual accessories for the true believer only living and walking in the essence of Jesus on earth.
No matter how many "Crosses", and "Bumper Sticker" theologies' we espouse it is useless unless it comes from a heart that has been "Recreated in His image".
Atheists love to parade around with so-called EX-believers in tow saying if there's a God why this or why that.
I would ask IF THERE'S NO GOD HOW CAN THERE BE AN EX-CHRISTIAN as a true Christian cannot exist by definition if there is no God?
There are FALSE BELIEVERS IN ALL FAITHS INCLUDING ATHEISM so you cannot use them as evidence of NO GOD!

John 3:19-21

" And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the Light, for their works were evil.
For everyone practicing wickedness hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, that his works may not be exposed.
But the one doing the truth comes to the Light, that his works may be revealed, that they exist, having been worked in God."

Is this scripture not clear enough to us to understand why God cannot accept just any "Work" of man as good enough?
It is not the work itself that God sees, it is rather the inward intent of the work from your heart.
God judges our works in the most fair and just way possible, not as we do by "fleshly sight" alone. It would be completely unfair of God to judge anyone by their own works to get salvation as man is incapable of ANY work worthy of heaven's attention.
"Religion is no more valid than Atheism if God is not obeyed 100% and his word followed AS WRITTEN!"

1 John 1:5
says plainly

"And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."

And in
2 Corinthians 6:14
".... for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? "
The answer is NONE....all works are to be filtered through God's PERFECTION and that being the case NO work not done through the Spirit's leading will meet his perfection!

Job 9:20

**"If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse."

2 Chronicles 6:36**
"If they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinned not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;...."
Those who claim to be Christian CANNOT ever do one thing against the word of God in the eyes of the world or the world will reject the Gospel outright but the world has no such belief attached to its many hypocritical lives.....why is that?
Because we are held to the standard God has placed in his word, even the ungodly know it in their hearts.
Don't be deceived Christian, your life will be combed over with GREAT detail, you may have forgotten but God knows full well!
God is RECORDING every word and action in your life as he is with the sinner, but your standards are to higher for you are Children of the most high God!

Spiritual Warfare book 1: Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do’s and Don’ts of Warfare Part 6

2010-10-29T16:19:00.000-06:00

Chapter 5.

Demonic possession: The Exception for Direct Confrontation

CHAPTER 5 SUB-TOPICS:

-The One Exception

-Authority for Dealing with Demonic Possession

-Demonic Possession Vs Demonic Influence

-Nature of Demonic Influence and Possession

-Deliverance from Demonic Influence

-False Doctrine and Demonic Influence

-Deliverance from Demonic Possession

-Some level of Discernment

-Destiny of Evil Spirits

-Deliverance Methods in the New Testament

-Jesus our Example

-Scope of Deliverance from Demonic Possession

The One Exception for Direct Confrontation: Demonic Possession

The only exception where we have been given the authority to directly confront evil spirits is when they are to be cast out of people.

This is part of true deliverance ministry that is biblical. It is however, only one of other areas of deliverance ministry. It’s also a deliverance ministry area that evangelicals differ on its present day relevance.

Casting out demons out of people is part of what Jesus did in his earthly ministry. Outside the realm of people possessed by demons Jesus had no business confronting demons in thin air, in territories, nor in the spirit world.

Neither did the apostles.

That did not imply there were no territorial spirits and principalities in their time. It only meant directly confronting the demons in their various ranks was not Jesus’ assignment while in his earthly physical body.

Christ in his spiritual form, after ascending to heaven, is now able to directly confront them.

He does it on our behalf as we fulfill our indirect roles over the conflicts raging in the heavenly (spiritual) realm. Christ being a Spirit, is able to engage the enemy spirits.

He has hosts of angels under him that battle the evil spirits. The direct confrontation is therefore between spirits. It is a spirit to spirit confrontation.

“Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will,” Psalms 103:21.

Angels do not just sing songs. They are God’s mighty army or hosts against Satan’s kingdom. In the book of Revelations they’re fierce spiritual warriors in almost the entire book.

Our only role, as important as it may be, is indirect in nature (prayer to God (i.e. seeking for his intervention), submission to God, walking in love, forgiveness, charity, etc). It’s challenging enough in fulfilling our clearly spelled out indirect roles, what more having to go after vague and unseen spirits!

This is Christ’s business, the Lord of hosts, who clearly sees and has power over them. Making it our assignment of directly confronting demons in the unseen spiritual realm is only fooling ourselves that principalities living outside people will bow to our demands.

It is also disobedience to God’s spiritual laws by taking on responsibilities that God’s spiritual army is assigned for. Many are unknowingly walking in disobedience to God’s spiritual laws and calling it deliverance and spiritual warfare.

The consequences on their lives are not pleasant as they enter spiritual realms that are forbidden territory.

The exception comes only when evil spirits occupy or possess human beings.

When they enter a person(s) they leave their assigned spirit realm and enter a realm that Jesus died for - human beings. This is also a realm that God’s angels do not have access to. In very rear cases, as we see in scripture, God allows angelic beings to come on earth in physical bodies.

Angels do not have physical bodies like us to physically operate on earth. Their jurisdiction is in the unseen spiritual realm where in normal circumstances we cannot hear, see, nor touch them.

Demons that posses people are occupying bodies that are in the physical realm. In such territory Jesus said we, not the angels, are to confront them.

We’re authorized to liberate or deliver fellow human beings from being owned or possessed by demons. Just like Christ did while on earth we have his authority to directly confront demons that take up residence in people.

In such situations Jesus gave us the authority to cast them out or evict them from human bodies. We command the spirit(s), in the name of Jesus, to come out of an individual.

This is very different from making proclamations and commands in thin air, all in the name of exercising authority over spiritual beings. Like prayer, such acts take us into spiritual realms, though in this case, the forbidden areas.

Needless to say that deliverance ministry of casting out demons dwelling in people is an area of controversy in the body of Christ. Some believe its scriptural relevance no longer applies to our time. Others believe such forms of deliverance ministry still apply today until Jesus returns.

My assertion is that there is no harm as long as it’s done the way scripture prescribes.

Praise the Lord if through such deliverance ministry people are truly delivered from demonic attacks that cause them unnecessary heartache mentally, emotionally, physically and so on.

Praise the Lord too if people are truly delivered from demonic attacks through modern medicine, alternative medicine, psychology, psychotherapy, etc.

Authority for Dealing with Demonic Possession

Regarding deliverance ministry in dealing with demonic possession major passages that show where our authority over evil spirits lies are in Matthew and Luke.

“He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness,” Matthew 10:1.

It says in Luke, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick,” Luke 9:1-2.

In both references the term “drive out” is used. Other bible versions may have “cast out.”

This is self explanatory. Driving out refers to moving something from one place to another. The same with “cast out,” which implies expelling or evicting something.

Examples in scripture show us how and where the driving out or casting out of demons is to be exercised. “How” is through the name of Jesus. “Where” is casting them out of people. Confronting the evil spirits anywhere outside people is an act that is not in line with scripture.

It comes with its negative consequences since we confront evil spirits in territorial spheres that we are powerless. We were never empowered to deal directly with them outside their presence in people.

The authority of directly confronting evil spirits was therefore in the area of demonic possession.

On the passage in Luke The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says, “In Lk 9:1 the terms ‘authority’ and ‘power’ are used in such a way as to show the belief of the evangelists that to cure demon-possession an actual power from God, together with the right to use it, was necessary. This group of passages gives the New Testament philosophy of this dread mystery and its cure.

“The demons are personal evil powers afflicting human life in their opposition to God.

It is beyond man unaided to obtain deliverance from them. It is the function of Christ as the redeemer of mankind to deliver men from this as well as other ills due to sin. Miraculous cures of the same kind as those performed by Christ Himself were accomplished by His disciples in His name (Mk 16:17).

The power attributed to “His name” supplies us with the opportunity for a most enlightening comparison and contrast.”

As covered in the chapter on “Our Territory and Nature of Our Christian Authority,” Jesus returned to us the authority we previously lost on the earthly realm.

In addition to this he gave us authority over evil spirits living in people, not in geographical areas nor in the heavens were they are positioned in ranks. We ought to be aware of its nature and limits.

Outside the limits is illegal territory that we are not authorized to trespass. Satan knows that and that could be why he has enticed us into confronting him in territory where he legally has power over us.

Demonic Possession Vs Demonic Influence

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Nature of Demonic Influence and Possession

Demonic influence in people may be among areas such as physical health (some illnesses), social behavior (some behavioral problems like stealing, drugs and alcohol, violence, promiscuity and other sexual sins), emotional behavior (like recurring depression, suicidal tendencies, uncontrollable anger), mental behavior (like insanity), material matters (compulsive gambling, greed, extreme materialism, poverty (though poverty also comes through greed and exploitation)), spiritual behavior (like unbelief, atheism, witchcraft, the occult, hallucinations), and so on.

All these are signs of demonic influence. Some can easily be confused with demonic possession, which is a higher form of demonic activity.

Signs of demonic possession, a higher form of demonic activity in which demons occupy or possess an individual, can be seen through extremes of involuntary behavior that can be medically categorized as insanity.

Scripture also shows some illnesses are a result of demonic possession. For instance the woman who Jesus healed of an illness was said to be “bound for eighteen long years” by Satan (Luke 13:15). She was bound from within, that is, possessed.

However, cases of demonic possession are very rare. This includes most illnesses.

Some may be a result of demonic influence but certainly not due to demonic possession. Demons can influence diseases in people from an external point without entering them. For example Job was smitten with painful sores from head to toe by Satan (Job 2:7).

But it did not happen by Satan or Satan’s fellow demons entering him. It was external, an aspect of demonic influence.

Most of what some fellow evangelicals rush to categorize as demonic possession is merely demonic influence. For example some have said an alcoholic or drug addict is possessed by a demon of alcohol or drug addiction.

They operate deliverance ministries that do more harm than good in the so called possessed people.

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Deliverance from Demonic Influence

Both demonic influence and demonic possession require God’s deliverance because we deal with evil spirits that are more powerful and wiser than us. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” Matthew 6:12-13 (NIV, ASV, NKJV, BBE).

We’re commissioned to pray for ourselves, fellow believers and unbelievers to be delivered from the evil one on a regular basis. Deliverance from demonic influence is a lifetime activity that God carries out in our lives.

For as long as we’re in this life the enemy will continue seeking to influence our lives spiritually, socially, materially, physically and so on.

Deliverance from demonic influence does not require casting out demons. The demons are already operating from an external point. Unfortunately some believers among fellow evangelicals rush to cast out demons from people that do not have a demonic possession problem.

They operate deliverance ministries that do more harm than good in the so called possessed people.

The people end up having perpetual problems that need deliverance.

They live to be unfruitful Christians because of being deceived that they have a demonic possession problem. Much to the devil’s advantage because they are of no threat to his evil kingdom.

If they knew they had a demonic influence problem they would know how to effectively deal with matters that come through demonic influence.

They would overcome such problems without hands being laid on them, being anointed with oil, demons being cast out, making deliverance prayers, spiritual warfare prayers and so on, all to no effect.

They would move on from attending perpetual deliverance seminars to helping others in being delivered. No super spiritual event would be required for their deliverance.

Deliverance from demonic influence comes through fighting the true spiritual warfare.

It comes through putting on the full armor of God. The armor of God protects us and equips us in rescuing others from demonic influence. As we do our indirect part over the battle that rages in the spirit realm God directly overcomes our spiritual adversaries.

He sends his angels to our defense since he is too big to be having fights with Satan, a spirit being he created himself. Examples abound in the bible.

We therefore do not overcome demonic influence by being preoccupied with demons and evil spirits, familiar spirits, generational spirits, territorial spirits, spirits of this and that… We overcome demonic influence by being preoccupied with God and his Spirit, the Spirit of love, power, and a sound mind.

Fulfilling our indirect part makes us more than conquerors against demonic influence over our lives and the lives of others. For an in-depth study on our indirect role please see the chapter on True Biblical Spiritual Warfare = Indirect Confrontation.

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False Doctrine and Demonic Influence

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Deliverance from Demonic Possession

Evil spirits could not live in people before Adam and Eve fell. When Satan rebelled against God he also came to tempt and deceive mankind into rebellion.

When he succeeded he got the right (legality) to rule over mankind even to the point of possessing him with his fallen evil spirits.

Fortunately the work of Christ on the cross liberated us from Satan’s ownership and control.

Anyone who accepts Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior is free from legal demonic possession. Satan has no claim to possess anyone that accepts Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior.

By casting the evil spirits out of a person we are simply announcing the illegal hold of the evil spirit(s) and proclaiming the liberty of the person. In and through the name of Jesus their authority over the person is removed. Christ is now the legal owner of the individual.

The delivered individual still has to do his part in walking out of sin in order to ensure the absence of Satan’s legal grounds. Sin may open legal doors for the evil spirit(s) to return.

Jesus said, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it returns it finds the house unoccupied (i.e. empty, without the Holy Spirit in it), swept clean and put in order.

Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked (sinful) generation,” Matthew 12: 43-45.

The above scripture applies to those who once delivered continue in their wickedness.

Some level of Discernment

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Destiny of Evil Spirits

Once the spirit(s) leave the person we have no other business to deal with them. We do not have scriptural authority over them once they are outside the person.

They are free to roam around the earth trying to influence people while God’s angels fight them wherever they have no legal access. They are free to even attempt to influence believers into sin and deception but they cannot live inside us.

Our defense against their evil whispers and enticing offers to sin is putting on the full armor of God. This battle goes on in the mind not in the physical with verbal confrontations.

With the armor the bible says we are able to demolish their “arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:4.

An area of misunderstanding involves the rebuking, binding, and “destruction” of the spirits. This is God’s agenda not ours. Only God can bind these beings in their ranks and works. We can only ask him to do so rather than we.

Our realm of authority of direct confrontation only involves casting them out of people. Number 4 in the chapter titled “Misinterpreted Scripture:

The Source of False Teachings” elaborates on this.

Deliverance Methods in the New Testament

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Jesus our Example

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Scope of Deliverance from Demonic Possession

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Two Equal and Opposite Errors About Two very Unequal Characters!

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"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race (Human Beings) can fall about the devils. One is to DISBELIEVE in their existence.

The other is to BELIEVE, and to FEEL AN UNHEALTHY INTEREST in them."

C.S. Lewis

What is the Occult?

The word itself comes from the Latin word "Occultus" meaning "Things Hidden" which involves a pursuit of the secret and mysterious.

Webster's Dictionary defines "Occult" as BOTH a verb and a noun at the same time, As a Noun it means something not revealed: it is secret and is not able to be seen or detected, not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone.

It is also a Verb meaning to Conceal or to deceive, to hide from sight.

I believe that 8 out of ten times the Occultist is reading the person not the Taro cards or tea leaves, they have become masters of body Language and facial expressions.

They also for the most part can do their homework concerning YOU before or even while your being detracted by the show so not every Medium or Witch is a true believer in the Darkness or the so-called Light they say tells them information.

They might just be good at using technology, Like hidden microphones with someone in another room with "Google search" looking up your very revealed past on a computer and telling them as they push for info.

Some go through your trash or e-mails to learn emotional info about you.

Some people are easily led, while others are more not so easily deceived but the real deal is RARE at best, though it can exist!

There are real Witches, Wizards and Mediums, those who are nothing like the Hollywood type cast or the bogyman we made them out to be, Witch Hunting never ends well and never finds the one it appears to be hunting!

I Peter 5:8

Plainly tells us "Be self controlled and ALERT. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"

Why a Lion and not a Lioness?

Because the forces of Darkness CANNOT know what your thinking or what you intend to do so LIKE the Lion who doesn't hunt for himself but relies on the female to find food for him, Satan can only make noises (Circumstances) to scare you into the fear he needs as his food (Building Materials) to propagate the darkness of binding your life.

Fear is Satan's home turf, without that fear there can be no deception, it cannot hold you back, down or unclear in life if you DO NOT FEAR it, so it is your fear of the unknown that deceives your reason concerning the Occult.

The Opposite of Fear is true Knowledge of the Occult NOT THE FALSE information they give you to bend your reason to their will, the Bible shines a true light on the practices of the Occult, once you know the truth the lie looses its roots in you and fear cannot reproduce and compound itself!

John 10:10

reveals the whole purpose of Satan in the lives of Men and Women on earth, his THREE STEP PLAN.

"The THIEF comes ONLY to steal and Kill and Destroy; I (Jesus) have come that YOU may have LIFE and to HAVE IT TO THE FULL."

As can be seen there is a distinct difference between the Jesus of Scripture and the Satan personality of Scripture, There is NO such thing as an EQUAL power struggle between Good and Evil. God has COMPLETE CONTROL over every aspect of Creation, he and only he can control the IMBALANCE caused by Sin in the Universe, an imbalance HE DID NOT CREATE!

There are many people who do not believe ANYTHING that is considered Occultism is real and while there are clearly the FAKE among them as there are among the Church at large NOT everything is fake just because some of it is and if we deem things that way it makes the real issues more hidden and we find ourselves being accomplices to Satan's cover-ups!

The Nine Satanic Statements reveal the true nature of Satan to the world once you look under the hood and proves that Satan is NOTHING like the God of the Bible!

by Anton Szandor LaVey with my

Comments in Red.

1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!

(There is NO wisdom in full out indulgence while abstinence leaves you room to really think about what you are going to do!)

2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams!

(Here Satan is said to be attached to the Flesh not the Spirit, but I would caution that Satan is a fallen ANGEL not a human being of flesh so he has deceived us into a confusion concerning the true nature of the spirit realm which was CREATED FIRST. All things truly Spiritual are much more real than mere flesh and blood but Satan accepts Man as an animal instead of who he really is.)

3. Satan represents undefiled

(A very hypocritical view since Satan is a deceived being!)

wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit!

( You can say that Satan represents something but the fruits of his presence represent the truth, he is anything but undefiled his nature is defiled in its very make-up. There is nothing in the actions of satanic knowledge that would warrant this statement, in fact every action of Satan in the Earth PROVES that he is just the opposite of this, he is the definition of Self-Deceit! )

(Self-deceit was the reason Satan fell in the first place!)

4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!

(In other words you like those who like you and to hell with the world! Satan's nature is a selfish one, using those who serve him to get back at God for HIS OWN CHOICES, but do not be deceived Satan hates man because we are God's image, the reflection of just what Satan lost!)

5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!

Vengeance?

Against who?

Satan did it all to himself, he has NO ONE to blame but himself, he was ALONE with his own thoughts when he became jealous of his creators power and his right to make man in his own image.

Satan is the most pitiful of creatures, the most childish and immature of every creature God made, selfish to the point of absurdity, so VENGEANCE which ONLY belongs to those who have a righteous cause is not his but God's ALONE!

6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires!

Psychic vampires are those who hold the spiritual view point of Man in the image of God. One who uses subtle persuasion techniques and passive aggressive behavior to manipulate other while taking the high road to self-righteous indignation.

While this is true of religious hypocrites and their judgment of anyone's sins, it does not apply to those who hold the truth of God up as a light toward sin to expose it!

It is interesting that Satan would talk of being responsible when he of all creation was found irresponsible in the highest degree.

7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!

This statement seems to have an element of truth to it if you don't dig to deep, but this is an evolutionary statement not a well thought out one, by simply respecting man as another animal you then place all man's actions in the realm of flesh as O.K because his ends reflect survival of the fittest not morality.

Satan will not deal with man's true nature because that is the side of man he is most Jealous of and why he deceives man in the first place, to remove man's knowledge of his past history before the fall!

8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!

What he fails to mention is the penalty of sin which is spiritual death, as every physical sin has a spiritual counterpart we are held too, every action of the flesh has an equal and opposite reaction in the spiritual realm which we will one day pay the price in spades!

9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!

"Friend or Foe?"

The real problem with this statement is that Satan is no ones friend and wouldn't know how to be one if he tried, every statement so FAR PROVES that to be true of him, he is a deceiver, a liar, a destroyer, a murderer and thief but not a friend, he even HATES THOSE WHO SAY THEY LOVE HIM.

Satan is incapable of any form of love, even human love is too much like God to be used by him so he must pervert and twist even that to lust to be comfortable in its presence!

Since the Churches business is God's business Satan can play no part in that business and thus can be considered no friend of the Church, whose business by the way, is in casting out Satan from God's business as God cast him out of paradise, to separate not conjoin, too bring his works down not to build them up!

Our business and busy-ness depends on God NOT Satan's presence, there are plenty of things to do without the presence of Satan being a factor so he overrates his importance, when Satan is finally bound the Church will do the Fathers business in creation without any evil so this statement is absurd at best!

“(Satan) was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

(John 8:44)

There are a number of alternatives he throws at man that have been prevalent since Satan first started temping humankind.

1) One alternative is relativism, a philosophy that claims truth is always changing. Morality is by majority; if everyone says pornographic movies are good, then they simply become good.

Everyone can't be right?

Someone is lying!"

2) Another alternative to Scripture is subjectivism, which suggests that something may be true for you but not for me.

3) Another is empiricism, which requires us to measure or test everything for it to be true – if you cannot see God, He must not exist.

4) Satan also pushes existentialism, which argues that the only truth is that which you can experience. The Bible can only become the Word of God if you get an experience from it.

5) Another alternative to the Bible is the philosophy of rationalism, which makes a god of logic. This allows a man to decide what he will deem true or untrue; substituting "Thus saith the man" for "Thus saith the Lord."

6) Perhaps the most dangerous alternative to Scripture is pragmatism, where we forget all about truth and simply search for what works.

If the Bible doesn't seem to work, we junk it for something else that does.

The Occult just as this propaganda only serves to twist the facts and reality to allow deception a foundation for growth!

I came out of this mess so I know it to be true, that while I believe there are REAL people with hearts, with dreams and very sincerely looking for the truth BUT what kind of truth, a truth based in FACTS or a vague, misty version of the truth twisted around a mystery?

The real test that proves Christianity is superior to the Occult in every way are in the realm of testimony, no Occultist has ever had their life changed to better humanity in any way because the Occult is a selfish endeavor dedicated to animal lust and not the betterment of mankind.

Spiritual Warfare book 1: Major Spiritual Warfare Principles: Biblical Do’s and Don’ts of Warfare Part 5

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Chapter 4.

True biblical Spiritual Warfare = Indirect Confrontation

CHAPTER 4 SUB-TOPICS:

- Comparing old and new teachings on spiritual warfare

- God's role = direct confrontation, verses our role = indirect confrontation

- Examples of Indirect Confrontation in the Bible

- More Scriptural Objection for Direct Confrontation

- Weapons of Spiritual Warfare –Part 1

1) The belt of truth

2) The breastplate of righteousness

3) The shoes of the gospel of peace

4) The shield of faith

5) The helmet of salvation

6) The sword of the Spirit

7) All kinds of prayers

- Weapons of Spiritual Warfare –Part 2

- Spiritual warfare Vs spiritual slander; Deliverance ministry Vs demonic ministry

Comparing old and new teachings on spiritual warfare

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but ...against the spiritual forces of evil... Therefore put on the full armor of God,” Ephesians 6:12-13.

By this time, based on the previous chapters, you likely have a solid foundation on understanding the biblical nature of spiritual warfare.

With the foundation now in place you’ll be able to build a sound biblical interpretation of spiritual warfare principles that are not diluted with erroneous and harmful teachings.

As said earlier, the biblical interpretation of spiritual warfare principles endorsed by this book are supported by the entire 2000 year church history -from Christ’s time up to now. They constitute the old teachings on spiritual warfare and have stood the test of time on doctrinal scrutiny.

Nearly all our various evangelical branches (denominations) in the body of Christ endorse the old teachings on spiritual warfare. Read on to find out. So much is at stake.

On the other hand, the spiritual warfare teachings that advocate for direct confrontation with Satan have been around only since the 1980s. They constitute the new teachings on spiritual warfare.

The doctrinal foundation they’re based on has had controversies ever since the teachings started.

This ought to ring a doctrinal analysis bell to any Christian serious enough to walk in truth and in spirit. Many scriptures have literally been taken out of context to establish the new teachings.

The new teachings are only endorsed by two or three groups (denominations) among our various evangelical branches. Needless to say that the groups that endorse the teachings have dissimilar versions of direct confrontation with Satan and his fellow demons.

Due to their false empowerment these teachings advocating for direct confrontation with Satan have spread with a lot of excitement.

Believers learn that scripture admonishes us to directly confront Satan and his fellow fallen angels.

It feels great since instead of praying to God we can do it ourselves. We have the divine authority over Satan and demons, so it’s assumed.

The false empowerment makes us in charge over evil spirits to the extent that we directly control them ourselves. We all want to have more direct control over our lives. Anything that gives us direct control over our lives empowers us.

So now the new spiritual warfare teachings claim we have direct control over evil spirits. We by-pass God and we rule over them ourselves. The only time God comes in is as we use the name of Jesus to bombard the demons.

Every matter in life that seems like a spiritual attack is an assumed call for us to directly confront the evil spirits. Instead of praying to God we go after the evil spirits and directly confront them.

We confront them over material and financial maters. We confront them over physical health matters. We confront them over relationship matters. We even confront them in geographic territories by waging territorial warfare.

The list is endless of how we engage evil spirits directly. Some churches following this belief even encourage preemptive warfare. This is were Christians are to directly attack evil spirits before the spirits strike.

Notice that this belief system preoccupies us with evil spirits. Instead of being preoccupied with God we’re constantly looking at what evil spirits are up to. And whatever evil spirits are up to is not God’s responsibility to deal with them but ours, so it’s assumed.

It even makes it hard to think of what God is up to in spite of the evil spirits. Thus much time that could have been given to prayer (being preoccupied with God) is given to “discerning” and directly attacking evil spirits (being preoccupied with evil spirits).

If you’re like some of us who’ve read the bible from cover to cover you’ll notice that this God we serve prefers us to be preoccupied with him more than anything else.

An even worse scenario for this God we serve is where we’re being preoccupied with evil spirits. Such preoccupation is not Christianity but another religion that gives us a focus on and false empowerment over evil spirits.

You’re probably familiar with what I’m saying.

Some may be saying wait a minute, what about this or that scripture? Please read on, preferably the whole book, if you have many questions and doubts. This book wasn’t written by an armchair umpire comparing two distinct doctrines.

I was for years caught up in the false teachings on spiritual warfare. Being a person who goes to extremes on any matter that’s important I aggressively applied the false spiritual warfare teachings.

I was one of the most radical followers of the false teachings on spiritual warfare. Being led by the spiritually blind on what true biblical spiritual warfare really is I also ended up being spiritually blind.

All the scriptures you may raise I therefore know them. The book is thus coming from an insider who’s intimately familiar with the false teachings on spiritual warfare.

God graciously got me out of it and he’s doing the same for you through this book –or through any other way –hopefully not through a severe wake-up call.

The false teachings on spiritual warfare sound so empowering. Are they biblical?

You’ll see in this chapter that any biblical basis they use is merely misinterpretation of scripture. The bible can be used to back up nearly anything. All that’s needed is taking some scriptures out of context and one has a new teaching or doctrine.

Fellow Christians be on alert. Fellow ministers guard your calling in ensuring you’re not blind on an important matter that could make you mislead many.

Some new teachings using scriptures out of context can have disturbing consequences on your life and others – spiritually, socially, materially, or physically.

Needless to say that there’s always plenty of hope for anyone who may have been harmed by any kind of false teaching.

New Age self-empowerment teachings are all around us. Let’s not entertain them when they try to infiltrate Christianity.

In fact all occult teachings in both white witchcraft and black witchcraft are centered around self-empowerment. They promise people power over “the” spirits, both good and bad spirits.

Through learning some occult teachings they promise self-empowerment that enables a person to use “the” spirits in his/her personal advancement in career, marriage, material gain, and so on.

The spirits are claimed to become submissive to one’s requests as a person gains and applies knowledge of certain occult rituals.

For example, just look at the degrees or hierarchical levels of Freemasonry and you will see how the occult is centered on self-empowerment.

Here are a few and you’ll notice how self-empowering the titles are:

Master Mason, Excellent Master, Secret Master, Perfect Master, Master Elect of Nine (ninth degree), Grand Master Architect, Prince of Jerusalem. These are just some of the first 16 Masonic degrees (out of 33).

Can you see how they entitle a person to be a master or lord over his/her own life as he/she graduates in the Freemasonry occult disciplines?

If this sounds so unfamiliar to you please read my other book, Breaking Occult Spells: Protection from Witchcraft and Occult Influences.

It has more detailed info on this topic.

The new teachings on spiritual warfare borders on making evil spirits to become submissive to one’s requests.

Can you see how this brings a false sense of self-empowerment – like the occult world promises?

Direct confrontation on spiritual warfare is being used as a means for having power over evil spirits. It may sound innocent for any unsuspecting Christian but if you connect the dots you’ll see that it has occult relations.

This is not to say fellow Christians caught up in the new teachings on spiritual warfare are in the occult. It’s just to say that the new teachings have occult relations on self-empowerment, giving a person power over the spirits.

In Christendom select scriptures get taken out of context and the self-empowerment doctrine gets a Christian face. Direct confrontation against Satan and his fellow demons is claimed to empower us to counter their schemes.

The main biblical basis being used for direct confrontation on spiritual warfare is that Christ gave us authority over unclean spirits (i.e. evil spirits, demons or fallen angels).

This is very true. Yet it’s only true to the extent that our given authority is exercised within its contextual limits that it was granted.

All given authority, whether earthly or spiritual, is limited. The only being with unlimited authority is God. His kind of authority is called power because it’s not granted and cannot be sanctioned by anyone. He’s sovereign.

God’s angels have limited authority, demons (fallen angels), including Satan, have limited authority. Who are we to think our given spiritual authority is unlimited?

Exercising our given spiritual authority beyond its given limits is mere presumption and venturing into unauthorized territory. Once you enter into an unauthorized territory you’re at the mercy of its residents.

Satan and his fellow demons have no mercy over believers entering unauthorized spiritual zones. It’ll be free lunch for them –unless God in his sovereignty stops them.

Thus our given authority over evil spirits did not mean it was a blank check to go after evil spirits wherever we wish to confront them –in people, in thin air, in geographical territories, in water, in the spirit world, or wherever. This makes understanding the boundaries of our given authority a very important matter.

This is particularly important on matters that deal with the spirit world. Otherwise we may risk going outside our boundaries and face regretful counterattacks that could have been avoided.

The previous chapters (chapters 2 and 3) cover in depth on our given authority and on its limited boundaries.

Please read them in case you came straight to this chapter. You’ll see from God’s word how he has created a God-centered approach to dealing with evil spirits.

The rest of this chapter expands on this God-centered approach by elaborating on our role as indirect warriors in God’s army.

In other ways, we do not fight evil spirits directly but fight them indirectly by focusing on God who has the power to directly confront them.

God, through his angels has the power to directly confront evil spirits in all their set-up places: occult world, spirit world, and territories.

Thus victory comes by fulfilling our expected indirect responsibilities, and not by our direct confrontation with evil spirits. Indirect confrontation is our responsibility. Direct confrontation is God’s, except where demons are to be cast out of people.

God's role = direct confrontation, verses our role = indirect confrontation

This chapter is an answer to:

what is spiritual warfare according to the bible?

Or what is Christian spiritual warfare?

True biblical spiritual warfare is simply indirect confrontation with Satan our principle enemy.

Indirect confrontation implies that we do not fight with Satan and his evil forces by approaching them directly. We confront them by applying indirect means and ways that God has established for us. These will be covered shortly.

Applying and fulfilling our required indirect roles secures our standing before God and allows him to directly act on our behalf. Attacks from Satan against us become God's battles as we obey and fulfill the roles required of us.

In this spiritual battle God’s role is direct in nature as he is able to directly confront the spiritual forces unseen to our human eyes.

God himself does not necessarily fight Satan.

He is too big to go out and fight a creature he himself created and allowed to exist after his rebellion. The Lord uses his angels, Satan's equals since Satan is also an angel, only a fallen one.

God through his heavenly government of angels has the power, authority and direct access to the kingdom of Satan and his fallen angels.

We do not and we only deceive ourselves to assume we do. However, we have a very special role to play in setting the stage for God to send out his angels to minister (carry out) his will.

This special role comprises of fulfilling our expected part in our walk with God.

The combination of our walk with God and committing life's battles into his hands constitutes our indirect role. God becomes our defender and acts on our behalf in dealing with matters confronting us and the people we commit to him.

True Christian spiritual warfare is living a life of consecration, obedience and fellowship with God in such a way that we enable God to effectively deal with the evil working against us and against other people.

It is a form of abiding in Christ that overcomes Satan’s legal and illegal grounds against us and others. This is seen in the outline of our spiritual armor given in Ephesians 6:11-18 (outlined below).

Biblical spiritual warfare is therefore indirect confrontation against Satan. We approach God to intervene for us against Satan on matters in our lives and the lives of others.

It’s true that Satan and his demonic spirits (fallen angels) are our primary enemies we wrestle against.

It’s also true that God has given us certain ways in the Bible of confronting these evil beings whose full time ministry is scheming to ruin our lives.

Working outside these biblical ways only increases their effect in our lives. One of these non-biblical ways is the assumption that direct confrontation against Satan is our role.

Examples of Indirect Confrontation in the Bible

a) Examples of indirect Confrontation During Jesus' Time on Earth

Nowhere in the scripture do we see Jesus or the apostles bombarding demons in thin air and calling it spiritual warfare prayers or deliverance prayers.

When Satan sought to sift Peter and finish him off Jesus prayed to God. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail and when he’d turned back from the attack he’d strengthen his fellow disciples.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers,” Luke 22:31-32.

Jesus Christ, God made flesh, prayed to God, the Father, for Peter’s deliverance. His spiritual warfare prayer or deliverance prayer was addressed to God not to Satan. How much more should we follow his example of indirect confrontation.

The events that followed showed the results of Jesus’ prayers of deliverance addressed to God, not Satan. Peter rose to be the foundation of the early church.

His faith in his teacher and master, Jesus Christ, was preserved. God did his spiritual warfare part in fulfilling Jesus’ deliverance prayer by directly confronting Satan in the spirit realm.

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b) Examples of Indirect Confrontation after Jesus’ Ascension and During the Early Church

Some may say direct confrontation with demonic spirits, binding and loosing them became necessary after Jesus ascended to heaven. How come the apostles did not practice it?

When confronted with threats that could have closed the emerging church they turned to God.

At one point they prayed so much that, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken,” Acts 4:31.

In our time fellow believers assume earth shaking breakthroughs will come after binding and loosing demonic spirits, familiar spirits, generational spirits, Jezebel spirits, territorial spirits, spirits of division, spirits of unforgiveness, and so on. This only ends up taking us outside our biblical limits.

It also ends up summoning demons to interfere with our lives because we confront them in their spiritual territory where only God and his hosts have access to. We have direct access to God when confronted with evil.

However we do not have direct access to the spirits of darkness. The previous chapter covers this in depth from God's word.

Paul, the apostle whose inspired words on spiritual warfare have confused some, never directly confronted demonic powers. He received a thorn in the flesh from Satan that brought much pain and discomfort in his life.

“There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me,” 2 Corinthians 12:7.

None of us would like to have a demonic attack that is illegally operating against us.

More so for a person of his spiritual stature with one of the greatest anointing on him. He is probably the greatest spiritual warfare prayer warrior in Christian history. His spiritual warfare prayers where addressed to God. He indirectly confronted the enemy.

In dealing with the demonic thorn in the flesh Paul turned to God instead of confronting Satan and the ranks of principalities he identifies in Ephesians.

He turned to God, not once but, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me,” Corinthians 12:8.

If direct confrontation was scriptural we would have seen at least one direct encounter between Paul and demonic spirits. But he kept turning to God, his only source of salvation, who had the authority to directly confront these evil beings in the spirit realm.

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More Scriptural Objection for Direct Confrontation

After covering on all these major biblical cases of indirect confrontation as our avenue of spiritual warfare and deliverance some may still argue about our authority to bind and loose demonic powers.

Please read Chapter 2: Our Territory and Nature of Our Spiritual Authority. It explains what binding and loosing is according to the bible.

Others may say, we have the authority to directly confront evil spirits by casting them out of people. True and this is one exceptional area that scripture allows us to directly confront evil spirits.

Chapter 5: Exception for Direct Confrontation covers on this topic. A single exception on direct confrontation does not justify other practices as means of directly confronting evil spirits.

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Weapons of Spiritual Warfare –Part 1

The spiritual amour in the Ephesians passage is composed of Truth, Righteousness, Gospel of Peace, Faith, Salvation, and the Word of God. All these are aspects of consecration, obedience to and fellowship with God.

The Lord uses our consecration and obedience to overturn Satan’s legal hold over matters in our lives and the lives of those we’ve been assigned to minister to –spiritually, socially, materially and physically.

“We will be ready to punish every act of disobedience once (when) your obedience is complete,” 2 Corinthians 10:6 (emphasis added).

God stands as the highest Judge who takes up our cases as we submit them to him to bring justice. Our cases are already in our favor because we use the work of Christ and his blood atonement (sacrifice) for all humanity and matters in life to justify our cases.

Our consecration and obedience to God enables the Holy Spirit to effectively work through us in punishing all the disobedience the enemy brings or attempts to, in our lives and the lives we’re commissioned to serve.

The term spiritual warfare itself is not in the Bible. It is still relevant since it distinguishes between spiritual and physical warfare. Its closest association is the passage in Ephesians 6:11-18.

Unfortunately the enemy has used it to deceive us that we have the right to directly fight his set-up in the heavenly realms. The lie is not new since Satan has throughout history used scripture to justify ungodly acts such as gender abuses, slavery, colonialism, persecution of non-Christians and so on.

The passage in Ephesians says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the spiritual or heavenly realms.

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints,” Ephesians 6:11-18.

You’ll notice that the entire armor of God is a call to a life of consecration, obedience and fellowship with God -

truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation, word of God, prayers.

It is not meant for us to go out and start bombarding the spiritual forces of evil in the spiritual or heavenly realms. Paul used the metaphor of an armed Roman soldier, in showing how we can be prepared for spiritual warfare.

In his time, a well-armed soldier wore a belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet and carried a sword.

What a difference with our time when a few individuals can destroy the world many times over just by pressing buttons for nuclear and biochemical weapons. God forbid, though the battle of Armageddon is more than likely to feature this. If God placed no limits on Satan we’d all be cooked up by now.

Satan would have quickly worked on his schemes to destroy God’s creation. Our God still reigns and has his final say over matters on earth. Wheew!

The same mighty God has placed spiritual weapons in our spiritual hands that he says are mightier than human weapons. We have access to spiritual buttons that can devastate the devil’s work against humanity.

Their indirect nature may look so simple but as we apply them they set the stage for our mighty God to directly overcome the devil’s work against us and against all humanity.

The following outlines our primary spiritual armor that has so much power in the realm of the spirit. Appendix 1: Weapons of Spiritual Warfare lists more of our spiritual weapons.

1) The belt of truth

We are to walk in truth in our motives, desires and conduct. Truth has scripture as its foundation. The scripture enables us not to live in error, deception, and sin if we apply it in our lives.

Truth is not relative or circumstantial but unchanging.

It is based on the unbreakable scripture. It cannot be used for selfish motives such as to gain material wealth, influence and so on. There is also no room for “white lies,” deception or exaggerations.

Walking in truth works as a weapon against Satan’s deceptions, appeal to selfish desires and the flesh. It enables us to walk according to the will of God.

No direct confrontation against Satan required yet his legal entry attempts are overcome as we walk in truth. The belt of truth is among our major indirect weapons of spiritual warfare and deliverance ministry.

2) The breastplate of righteousness

Righteousness is a state of living that enables us to be approved before God. He is holy and desires holiness as his standard of approval. Any lukewarmness is unacceptable, like the church in Laodicea. “Because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold -I am about to spit you out of my mouth,” Revelation 3:16.

Although it is the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) that makes us acceptable to God scripture is clear that we are expected to walk in holiness. It is a way of fulfilling our part in the call to righteousness.

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit,” Galatians 5: 22-25.

The sinful nature crucified in our lives is what enables the righteousness of Christ to compensate for all the areas we may unwillfully fall short.

Without doing our part the righteousness of Christ is in vain. It is degrading the grace of God as a license to sin.

On the other hand, when the sinful nature is crucified in our lives it enables the righteousness of Christ to overcome the legal grounds of Satan against us.

God becomes our defender in Satan’s accusations against us. He finds us blameless for Satan to have any claim to attack us.

No direct confrontation against Satan required yet his legal entry attempts are overcome as we live righteousness lives. The breastplate of righteousness is among our major indirect weapons of spiritual warfare and deliverance ministry.

3) The shoes of the gospel of peace

Inner peace is not found among those living outside the will of God. They are very poor in this area regardless of whatever some may have achieved. “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’” Isaiah 57:20-21.

Because their eyes are still blind they look in all the wrong areas trying to find it –worldly pleasures, entertainment, alcohol, pursuit of riches, fame, power and influence. Many of us were once there, constantly running from something or towards something all in pursuit of peace.

Now we have the Prince of Peace living in us without resorting to alcohol, worldly pleasures and so on, to look for peace.

God has now given us the shoes of the gospel of peace to “walk” to people without peace. We reveal to them the gospel of peace that brings true peace in their lives.

The shoes of the gospel of peace also protect us from the rough ground that we walk on.

The ground we walk on is the earth with all its problems that resulted from sin since Adam and Eve fell. There is much poverty, disease, greed, crime, immorality, wars, conflicts and so on. Without wearing our shoes we will have no peace walking in such territory. We will have no peace with ourselves, with God and with others.

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4) The shield of faith

Faith is critical in five major situations in life:

a) When we desire or seek something we are unable to have through our own strength and wisdom,

b) When storms and trials in life strike us,

c) When obeying God’s word is being challenged by certain respected secular beliefs – e.g. where it’s popularly said that saving money instead of giving is more important in increasing financial security. Though necessary it’s not more important than giving,

d) When the temptation is strongest to have certain desires through biblically forbidden ways – e.g. the temptation of marrying a respectable non-believer, or seeking financial matters through non-biblical ways,

e) When believing in matters one may find difficult to understand or difficult to draw much sense out of them – e.g. the God of love in a troubled world, bad things happening to God’s people, the trinity, etc.

Faith is probably the most important area that Satan targets most among believers. He knows that once we stop trusting God in a particular area he can easily offer us his deceptive solutions. He did that to Adam and Eve.

The whole creation is still paying the price. The whole earth is still groaning from what it is being subjected to after Adam and Eve surrendered their inheritance to Satan.

In our own lives most of us succumbed to Satan’s lies at one point or another. We knew what God’s word says. However we still believed the lies were more worthwhile to follow.

Satan may not have come in a serpent form yet he still came into our thoughts directly or through the media, through a person or through circumstances.

The moment we stopped trusting scripture our faith in God’s word in the area of concern ended. The consequences are always the same – negative.

Walking by sight or according to the flesh is costly in the long run.

On the other hand walking by faith enables us to receive rewarding results in the long run. In the short-run it may seem costly, slow and unconventional. However the rewards are worth the wait if we are willing to trust God for as long as it takes.

Walking by faith extinguishes “all the flaming arrows of the evil one,” (verse 16).

The flaming arrows include Satan’s temptations, doubt, fear, despair and confusion. He will try to bring them through all sorts of ways – directly into our thoughts or through the media, through a person or through circumstances. We refuse to compromise for anything that is contrary to God’s word.

We trust his word even when the shortcut appears rewarding or when we cannot see how it will work out. In this way we are lifting up the shield of faith against Satan’s attacks. There is no direct confrontation yet Satan is overcome as we fulfill our indirect role God has assigned us.

5) The helmet of salvation

Our salvation through Christ is the only treasure we will take with us after we die.

Without it we would be heading for hell. It is the only treasure that the devil cannot take away from us. Like with Job, the Lord may allow him to take everything from us. Yet for as long as we remain trusting and having faith in God our salvation remains intact. Even if all fails we know the place God has prepared for us is better than the brief experiences on earth.

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6) The sword of the Spirit

When Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil,” (Matthew 4:1) he used scripture to overcome Satan’s temptations. Scripture is our best offensive weapon against the devil, over our lives and the lives of others. Notice in the temptation passage (Matthew 4:1-11) that Satan also used scripture in trying to deceive Jesus.

The passage where Jesus quoted scripture to overcome Satan’s temptations has sometimes been used to justify verbal confrontation.

It is often used as an example of verbal confrontation where Jesus exercised the word, the Sword of the spirit realm, against Satan.

A closer look shows that scripture does not support this. Satan appeared physically to Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). It is fitting that he would talk to a being that appeared physically. The devil even took Jesus on a “tour,” first to the temple, then to a high mountain.

After this experience there is no other account of Jesus quoting scripture to Satan as a way of fighting him. Yet throughout his ministry he was busy confronting and overcoming the enemy in the lives of people. Thus unless the enemy appears to any one of us physically (God forbid) we have no business talking to him verbally.

Even if he were to physically appear to any one of us God may require us to do something else –like just saying, “Away from me, Satan,” (Matthew 4:10).

No long verbal confrontations. Quoting any scripture may not be necessary. Our Lord was not setting a formula of using scripture in having conversations with the enemy. What we learn from his experience is that the enemy can use scripture that God gave us to live by. It’s only that he twists it in order to deceive us.

The way this deception works is by him planting thoughts in our minds rather than appearing physically. The battle is either lost or won from within as we counteract the temptation and deception with the right scripture -the sword of the spirit realm. Since Satan can also use scripture it becomes a bigger battle when comparing what’s true and what’s twisted out of context.

We have more than enough experiences throughout history where God’s people have fallen to lies through misinterpreted scripture. Satan used scripture to justify ungodly acts such as gender abuses, slavery, colonialism, persecution of non-Christians and so on.

Our recent accounts include the erroneous spiritual warfare and deliverance teachings. None of the people that fell to the lies throughout history had any outward conversation or physical encounter with Satan quoting scripture.

Scripture does not direct us to be quoting scripture against Satan in verbal confrontations and assuming that we’re wielding the sword of the spirit.

The battle is within not outside. God’s word hidden in our hearts and minds surfaces whenever we’re confronted with opposing beliefs and matters. God’s word in our hearts and minds is among our major indirect weapons of spiritual warfare and deliverance ministry.

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7) All kinds of prayers

After he described the various elements of the spiritual armor, Paul said that we are to be in constant prayer. Prayer is part of our spiritual warfare. “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Praying implies talking to God, not to Satan.

All kinds of prayers and requests include:

1) Prayers of deliverance and protection (spiritually, socially, physically or materially),

2) Prayers of agreement,

3) Prayers of intercession,

4) Prayers of inquiry,

5) Prayers of importunity, supplication, appeal or petition,

6) Prayers of consecration/dedication/commitment,

7) Prayers of repentance,

8) Prayers in the word (praying with the scriptures),

9) Prayers of worship/adoration and thanksgiving,

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Weapons of Spiritual Warfare –Part 2

Other passages that cover on the armor for spiritual battle include 1 Thessalonians 5:8 and Isaiah 59:17. In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 faith and love comprise the breastplate. Associating the weapons of spiritual warfare to specific areas of the Roman armor is therefore less important than knowing the weapons and using them.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 shows that love is among the major weapons of spiritual warfare.

Like the rest, it is an indirect weapon. The article on the “weapons of spiritual warfare” given in Appendix 1 also shows how the matters we exercise in our fellowship with God act as indirect weapons against Satan.

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Spiritual warfare Vs spiritual slander

Deliverance ministry Vs demonic ministry

Direct confrontation with Satan takes us into forbidden territory in the realm of the spirit. It is not spiritual warfare. It is what scripture calls spiritual slander of “celestial (heavenly) beings,” and which it says brings trouble on the slanderers (Jude 1:8-10, 2 Peter 2:10-12).

Neither is direct confrontation a form of deliverance ministry.

It is demonic ministry.

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Light from the Darkness: Hope from despair!

Biblically WHO are God's chosen people and HOW does God choose his people?

"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

adjective

Is HUNTING GHOSTS equal to SPEAKING TO THE DEAD?

Dangers of the Occult By Richard F. Ames

A great Testimony of Deliverance Parts 1-2

BLACK MAGIC EXPLANED!

The Darkness : Fear is not an Option!

The Lie of the Lure: How the Darkness does it!

The Realities and Lies of Darkness Revealed!

PART 2 of FEAR : The Food of those who would be gods, The BAIN of those who would serve God!

PART 1 - FEAR : The Food of those who would be gods, The BAIN of those who would serve God!

Part 3- Freedom FROM Sin and INTO New Life!

Part 2- Knowing what freedom is and how to receive it!

James 1:22-24

Remember that your past life gains strength from your dwelling mind, your thoughts can empower your past or your future your choice!

Hell's Best Kept Secret / True & False Conversion (Premiere Series, Living Waters Publications) (2-VHS in case)

Spiritual Refining: The Anatomy of True and False Conversion

Knowing the Heart: Jonathan Edwards on True and False Conversion

Hell's Best Kept Secret and True & False Conversion

The Way of the Master: True & False Conversion and Soundly Saved (How to share your faith simply, effectively, biblically...the way Jesus did, 2 Audio Message Set)

A link too many: A tract on true and false conversion and assurance

FREEDOM : Part 1 - What is true Freedom? When do I know I have it?

John 8:32

James 1:13-17

Cultic Dogmas or Good Doctrine: Can your perception of Doctrine influence your Eternal Destiny?

Many today are confused and dismayed with the huge amount of Dogmas in many forms making the salvation of God muddled with man-made ideas and rituals that God never intended.

The point is, we could believe ALL the right Doctrines about God and still NOT be saved!

Is it even possible to know the difference between them anymore?

Can I be saved while I'm surrounded by false doctrines and concepts from the mind of the demonic realm?

Am I a Christian if I simply believe every good doctrine about God?

Spiritual Refining: The Anatomy of True and False Conversion

True biblical Salvation has NEVER CHANGED from day one, just as God is the SAME yesterday, today and forever ....the only thing that has changed and is changing is OUR view of its simple straight forward transparency.

James 1:17 (Amplified Bible)

17 "Every good gift and every perfect ([a]free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]."

Salvation was not meant to be complicated or confusing but receivable at the lowest level of life to the highest level of human existence.

The problem is not the Doctrines themselves, though they are deadly it is, in the end how we perceive them internally,that really brings us into bondage!

How doctrine is delivered to us determines everything, if doctrine is force feed it simply produces false obedience and death!

BUT if that same doctrine is accepted through reasoning of the mind and spiritual joyfulness it produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives!

God made salvation so simple that we actually need HELP to mess it up, a help Satan is more than willing to give!

The question is: "Do your dogmas control every fiber of your existence from your mental to your physical reactions?"

If dogmas invented by men and NOT GOD control you then you are NOT thinking for yourself, you are NOT free, you are being Brainwashed!

If on the other hand if the Doctrine in scripture flows from the Spirit of God there is NO brainwashing BUT rather "Mind Renewing" a restructuring of the process of thought so that our reasoning is in line with God's thoughts!

Definition of

brainwashing':

Translation of a Chinese term indicating

"a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas."

Source: Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

A remarkable thing about cult mind control is that it's so ordinary in the tactics and strategies of social influence employed.

They are variants of well-known social psychological principles of compliance, conformity, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, framing, emotional manipulation,

and others that are used on all of us daily to entice us to buy, to try, to donate, to vote, to join, to change, to believe, to love, to hate the enemy.

Cult mind control is not different in kind from these everyday varieties, but in its greater intensity, persistence, duration, and scope.

One difference is in its greater efforts to: block quitting the group, by imposing high exit costs, replete with induced phobias of harm, failure, and personal isolation.

Source: Phillip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., What Is The Message Behind Today's Cults?

"True Doctrine comes from ABOVE to us, false doctrine comes from our perceptions of what we think God meant to say."

False or true, doctrine works the same. Perception of the false can be so close to the truth, but missing it just by that little fact, the fact our perceptions cannot witness because we have predetermined our out comes using a false positive.

We think we know all about it, but we only see what our flesh is comfortable living with. That's the real point here, the real TRUTH is so far beyond our comfortable zones, beyond our small thoughts, and beyond our incomplete understanding of God!

Doctrine must be understood from God's point of view downward not from our point of view upward, we have gotten religion completely backwards and Satan prospers because of it.

100% of false doctrine happens as a result of misunderstanding the original intent of the writers of scripture!

Can a person living in deception from a scriptural sense be saved and go to heaven?

How often have I asked God that after speaking to a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness, they seem so sincere in their beliefs! But think about it, so were the prophets of Baal whom God destroyed with fire!

I am not speaking of honest scriptural mistakes we all make, but of purposeful mishandling of the Bibles doctrines, thus the people UNDER the ones in charge will have a better chance of being saved if the Truth is shown to them!

It takes a lot more to please God than being sincere or good, you MUST be in complete Obedience to the "letter of his word" not using it as a personal opinion that your church teaches, that would be taking away or adding to scripture.

Remember God and his Word are ONE and the same, so if you follow God and are slack concerning his word, then its the same as NOT following GOD at all!

"It is most evident that every form of false belief TURNS the Cross on its head!

No Change is good when it comes to the TRUTH!"

True Christian Conversion...What Causes it?

by David A. DePra

What causes real Christian conversion?

No.

I'm getting at something which occurs before any of that.

I'm asking what it is that causes a person who is dead in sin, and has no interest in God, to turn and reach out to Him?

Jesus said, "No man can come to Me except the Father who sent Me draw Him." (John 6:44)

Thus, we see that it is GOD who must initiate a process which results in a person embracing Christ as Saviour.

But how does God do this?

What does He use?

What pushes a person from being uninterested in Christ, to wanting Him?

What draws people to Christ for conversion?

Here's another way of approaching the same question: "The Laws of God lead to TRUE Salvation!"

¹⁷ "Every good gift and every perfect (^[a]free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]."

Here's another way of approaching the same question:

"The Laws of God lead to TRUE Salvation!"