Royal Heir

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Dec 2014 20:47:00 +0000

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Sin's Seriousness

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 10:00:00 +0000

By Richard Sandlin
at TODAY'S JOURNAL

See above link for outstanding gift books by Richard and Salle Sandlin...affordable and full of substance. CMR

“There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” I've heard preacher’s say we do not know what this sin is. If that be the case, then we cannot know how to keep ourselves from it. Nor can we know who and who not to pray for. Because of the seriousness of the text, I refuse to believe that God would keep us in the dark concerning it.

I believe that John is not necessarily speaking of one specific sin, but rather a kind of sin. If we use the Old Testament as our commentary on this Scripture, we find the type of sin John is speaking of is a sin of presumption. Trace this word and its equivalent throughout the Old Canon and you’ll find, more often than not, death is associated with it. If I’m correct (and I believe I am), there was no Old Testament sacrifice for the sin of presumption. Is it any wonder then that David prayed, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins”?

The following is list of some who committed this sin: Achan, Saul, Ananias and Sapphira, Nadab and Abihu, and some of the Corinthian believers. And what does God say to such people? “Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God...” It should be noted in each of these cases this presumptuous sin was not committed out of weakness, but wickedness.

Let me say, there should be no guilt complex on the part of Godly believers when God removes the burden of prayer for relatives and friends. Samuel, Jeremiah, and Joshua were told by God to cease their praying. Even Moses, who committed the sin of presumption, when praying about it, was told by God, “[S]peak no more unto me of this matter.” And Jeremiah was commanded of the Lord, “Pray not for this people for their good.”

God still considers sin serious...even if this generation of Christians does not.

The Harlot Church Will Soon Be in the Great Tribulation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 09:30:00 +0000

A NEW POST BY PAW CREEK

The Whore Church Will Soon Be In The Great Tribulation'

The New World Religion Called in the Bible,“The Great Whore” is here.

To a Bible believing person it is an ugly sight. Rock & Roll, Hip-Hop, and Funky music of different fads, with lights flashing and aisles filled with zombies while the Holy Ghost gets blasphemed. The description of this false religion grows more graphic every day. The Bible called it’s leader or leaders beasts or false prophets in the Biblical scene or drama. John was given this picture in Revelation chapter seventeen. After these “Lying Prophets” receive power from the Antichrist and great acceptance and worship from the world population, this New World Religion becomes a mammoth force. It is then called the Great Whore and is seen on top riding a “scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy…” (Revelation 17:3)

Let’s look carefully at John’s description.

“Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Revelation 17:1b-6)

Please note her characteristics and vileness.

1. This religious whore is a great fornicator and is guilty of changing, twisting, and debauching the Word of God. God has pronounced judgment on anyone who adds to or subtracts from the Word of God. “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)

2. She is rich, but spends her riches on herself. She is proud and worldly and decks herself with costly jewels. She drank from a golden cup but its contents have become vileness and abomination.

3. She is a mother of harlots and all her offspring are as wicked as herself.

4. Her greatest hatred is for the true believers who hold to the Holy Bible and its infallible truths. She is drunk with the blood of the hated Bible clinging saints.

Nothing is as vile as religion that has lost its way and departed from purity and holiness. There have been dark moments in the past when this has happened. Jesus came at a time when the Jewish religion was a botched form of greed and selfishness. He walked into the temple with a whip and drove out the temple-evangelists. The Reformation came after a thousand years of Madonna-worship, indulgences (buying sin-rights from the priest in advance), and distorted communion called the mass. Again, the Holy Spirit drove out the priests and the popes and the Gospel was heard by millions. Very soon, religion will be more vicious and vile than ever before and multitudes will either worship a false god or will be tortured and slain. The Son of God will arrive on schedule to cleanse this earth of the last religious deception and He will be installed as King, Prophet, and Priest.

Never before have church leaders been so intent on unifying all varying expressions of religion. It’s like a mad dash into the very spirit of Babylonian confusion. The World Council of Churches met some years ago in Australia. A leader, Nicholas Lossky, was asked by a television journalist, “How close are we to church unity?” His answer was, “Only God can answer that, we must do whatever we can for unity: but only God can decide to produce the event.” The same article that recounted this exchange stated, “Church unity is listed first among the WCC’s functions and purposes in its constitution.” The same article then mentioned a session on unity which included Deegalle Mahinda, a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka. (Assembly Line, World Council of Churches, Seventh Assembly, Wednesday, February 13, 1991.)

“A New World Religion” fads are present in every religious idea! The Islamic Faith has their view. Every religious entity of significance seems to have some form of expectancy toward a New World Religious Order. The Islamic (Moslems or Muslims) faith is promoting a World Constitution that is rooted in the Quran theology. They are probably the fastest growing religion in the world and now claim over one billion adherents. The very spirit of Islam is especially similar to the stated actions and attitude of the Antichrist in Scripture.

Charismatics / Pentecostals! A large portion of the Charismatic / Pentecostal world is going crazy over Kingdom Dominion theology. This is best described as a revived form of post-millennium, although differing on many major theological points. The bottom line is that we are to become an army of saints (called Joel’s Army) to beat back all forces and to establish the Kingdom of Christ on earth. It will be, to those who buy this deception, a world ruled by the church and ready to bring Christ back to earth.

The Catholic Church! The Catholic Church authorities have worked toward and have expected a New World Religious System for many years. They expect to be at the helm to rule this new temporal religious kingdom. Note these two quotes of 70 and 134 years ago, respectively. “They (Protestants) conveniently forget that they separated from us, not us from them; and that it is for them to return to unity on Catholic terms, not for us to seek union with them, or to accept it, on their terms. Protestantism is rebellion against the authority of Christ vested in His Church. It neither possesses authority, or has any desire to submit to authority. …Protestantism has really proven to be the ally of paganism… All forms of Protestantism are unjustified. They should not exist.” (American (Catholic periodical), January 4, 1941.) “We believe in the triumph of the Catholic Church over infidelity, heresy, schism, revolution, and despotism; over Judaism, Mohammedanism, and heathenism. The restoration of the Pope’s temporal kingdom is necessary to this triumph, and therefore we believe it will be restored.” (The Catholic World, August 1877, Vol. XXV, page 620.)

New Agers! No religious entity is expecting or progressing toward a New World Religion more devotedly than the New Agers. While they represent many strains of thought, they are bound together as a network of loosely connected organizations. There are a few key spokespersons who certainly speak with some degree of unity. Benjamin Creme is one of those key voices. Note his creation of the Great Sign and the description of its meaning. He has continued to suggest since early in the 80’s that “Christ is Here” and ready to be revealed. His latest claims say that he has appeared on several occasions. His Christ is clearly a false prophet.

Bible Believers! True Believers who are willing to endure unto the end will be hated by this religious crowd. If Jesus does not return before this religious order is united, we will be in for dark days of persecution. Faith in the infallible Word of God and the saturation of its wonderful doctrines is imperative. We must know the truth to be free. Don’t fill your mind with any thoughts or ideas except the liberating truths of Scripture. They will prepare you for anything that Satan can cast in your direction. There will be a One World Religion. Maybe we should say, “There is a One World Religion.” Its ultimate position of power will not be fully realized until the Rapture of the Bride. It will ride as a “great whore” upon the back of a New World Order. “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” (Rev. 17:3)

While she will reach great heights of world glory and power with the false political systems of Antichrist, he has used her to gain the hearts of the world population, and he will then burn her with fire. John saw this New World Religion burn. “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” (Rev. 17:16)

Religion is never more than a tool to the great Political Empires. Religious leaders who allow themselves to be tools in building a New World Order are certainly foolish in discerning Biblical events. The most appropriate instruction for this hour is to “Look up, our redemption draweth nigh.” We are waiting in the foyer for the king. Don’t be lazy or slothful. It is an hour for Biblical diligence, fasting and intercession, soul winning and alms giving. It’s time to be holy. The King Is Coming!

You may view the latest post at

http://www.pawcreek.org/open-bible-dialog/the-whore-church-will-soon-be-in-the-great-tribulation

Best regards,
Joseph Chambers

Biblical Zionist Israel Will Be Removed For Antichrist Rule

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 03:38:00 +0000

Zionist Israel is falling apart

December 1, 2014 · by ivarfjeld · in 1. ·

The Biblical Zionist state has to be removed before the final antichrist can rule in Jerusalem. The Pope is hailed and he is ready.

The leaders in Israel will abandon Biblical Zionism, and put their trust in the Papacy.

The “Jewish state” bill should have been introduced and made Israeli law in 1967. That year, the city of Jerusalem was liberated from Israeli occupation, together with the Jewish districts of Judea and Samaria.
The delay in annexing former occupied Jewish land into proper Israel, and make the state of Israel a Jewish state, is no threatening the foundation of Biblical Zionism.
Lets see what the Bible explain to be just ahed of us:
2 Thessalonians 3:4
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
The Pope equalize him self with God, claiming to be “The Holy Father”. Jesus the Messiah said do not call any religious leader “father”, only God the almighty.

2 Thessalonians 2:7
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
First when Biblical Zionism is removed, the final man of lawlessness will have his way. To be blessed and hailed on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is his ultinate aim.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.
The religious sign and wonders movement will fall into the trap, not understanding that Satan has the power to perform what looks like true miracles. Any kind of erronious doctrine is acceptable to them, as long as the false teacher can perform a miracle.
2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The last and final antichrist must be revealed, and he must be permitted to rule. Than Lord Jesus will return, kill the man of sin and bring stern judgment on all his followers.
In 1993, the state of Israel was lured into a trap by the Kingdom of Norway. The Islamic terror organization al-Fatah (PLO) was gifted a base in Samaria. The Vatican backed terror-group was just what the papacy needed, in a bid to push Zionism out of East Jerusalem, and the Mountains of Zion. The process of changing the nature of the 1948 Zionist state could begin. Replaced by a universal statehood, who will be like all other nations.
The Pope has ruled in Jerusalem. The Roman Catholic Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted form 1099 A.D till 1291 A.D. Now the Holy See plan to return to Jerusalem, and this time hailed as a global “peace makers”. Every Zionist Jew who blocks this “peace plan” will be branded as a “terrorist” and an “enemy of peace”.

The Pope can hardly wait to be hailed as a global peace maker, elevated in the city of Jerusalem.

The Bible is crystal clear that there can be no true peace, before the return of the Messiah. Neither is the Pope, nor any of his followers are anything but antichrists. And the present Jesuit Pontiff the very best candidate to be presented at the podium, made ready for the last man of lawlessness. He will eventually enter Jeruslaem, and being hailed by the multitudes.
The “Jewish state bill” is now threatening to bring down a proper Zionist government in Jerusalem. To the gross happiness of both anti-Zionist Israelis and disconnected gentiles. We are quickly approching the end of the age. Very soon the Papists among us will have their way, and a brief rule of the wicked will start.
Behold: All who will become martyrs, refusing to bow before the last and final antichrist will be brought back to life when the Messiah return in all His glory. And all the God-mockers will face an iron rod and judgment. They were told the truth, but refused to repent. Their final destiny will be the eternal fire of Hell.
Repent, or perish.
Written by Ivar

Satan Wants Only One Thing From You: Your Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:13:00 +0000

A New Post from Dr. Chambers at Paw Creek:

At the very foundation of every scheme of Satan is the hidden effort to buy your soul.

The youth of our world are selling their souls to this dark deceiver for 10 cents a dozen. This present generation of women will sell out to him just for the titillation of looking sexy. Our men today are so unmanly that their price is another toy to entertain them.

The New World Order under the “Mystery of Iniquity” is actually using Biblical language. The ancient city of Babylon will be the antiChrist’s capitol. When God judges this world order, one of their condemnations is the trafficking of souls. The world system is already talking that kind of language. A new movie called “Babylon 5” has a secondary title, “Rivers of Souls.” The idea of this movie is called “The Babylon Project.”

Never has the price of souls been so cheap to the world families. I can remember as a boy 60-70 years ago hearing a song on the “Grand Ole Opera” about this subject. One title I recall was, “Where the Soul Never Dies.” It seems to my memory that the value of a soul was considered priceless in that day. We did not cremate the dead because everything of life was much too respected. The Bible is very plain: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8: 36-37)

The temptation of Jesus Christ reveals to us the extent of Satan’s control of this world. He is truly “the god of this world.” (II Corinthians 4:4) He is also the “prince of the air.” (Ephesians 2:2) Let’s look at the full text of Satan’s claim to Jesus Christ. It had to be true or Christ’s temptation would be false. If Jesus Christ was truly tempted the claims of the devil had to be believed by the Son of God. “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4: 5-8) This is a clear picture of this world’s control by the devil. Not only is the power at his command but the glory is his to give.

Let’s list an array of world powers that Satan rules over. Most communities, cities, or nations have no idea of the behind-the-scenes movements. The Bible makes it plain that nothing happening in our world is an accident. We are commanded to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways so He can direct our path. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:6) No Christian should make one simple decision without seeking His will. The small things we take for granted may well lead to big things swiftly.

1. Satan uses wealth to ensnare multitudes. Nothing in the devil’s arsenal is more powerful than money. The Christian world claims their citizenship is in heaven but at the same time their treasures are in the world in banks, stocks and bonds, and stored in many worldly places. The devil must laugh at such carelessness. The biggest deception in the church is the “name it, claim it” crowd of wealth seekers. The preachers in this deception are facing incredible judgment for being used by the devil. Money can be stewardship or it can be poison for the soul.

2. Worldly pleasures are powerful snares to capture people. The Bible speaks powerfully of the danger in empty pleasures. Remember the warnings “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” (II Timothy 3:4) Look at the ball stadium full of souls on the sacred day called “The Lord’s Day.” Again, Born Again Christians should never be in such a place on the Lord’s Day. Our pleasures must be sanctified and pure and limited to family times and pure experiences.

3. Nothing has captured the world as has sexy and skimpy dress. No one would be honest not to admit that the modern dress has created a lustfulness everywhere we look. Sex has taken almost complete control of the youth of this generation. The statistics of sexual activity among teenagers is staggering. Good common sense must admit the connection. Adult men and women dress like they have lost all control and decency. Satan holds this carrot right out in front of our modern world and he is buying these souls at a dirt cheap price.

4. Satan was the inventor of music and he uses it to the fullest. Elvis Pressley learned to sing in an Assembly of God Pentecostal church. He could have blessed the world with gospel music. Instead he made “Rock and Roll” the god of millions. When Satan was finished he sent him ahead of himself to await his arrival. I have watched precious families who had sweetheart children that became beautiful singers that were quickly bought by the “Mystery of Iniquity” and left the fundamental faith and sold out to the world. The only word for Satan’s fantasy with music and how he has purchased almost the entire church world with this lure is “heart breaking.”

5. Satan will promise to make you famous. Then he will give you exceptional talents to make people grovel at your feet, plus great treasures of the world but he must have your soul in exchange. He even lies about your final destination but the picture is too plain. His prize is always and in every instance your soul.

6. We live in an hour when the souls of men are actually on the slave market. The price has become dirt cheap and most of the world loves their slavery. Sin seems so much fun and the sexual pleasures are at the top of the list. Family values and Biblical morals have been trashed until they seem old-fashioned and repulsive. The worst of sins are now the greatest of excitement. To a saint of God truly “Born Again” it is sickening and heart breaking.

7. Satan wants you to spend eternity with him. Look throughout your Bible at the great men that sold their birthright. Esau and Judas are two that both sought repentance and could not find it. Many as the prodigal son repented and came back to the hope and promises of the Lord. Everything in your life, your decisions and all your plans, must be weighted by the perfect truths of the Holy Scripture. The wiles and tricks of Satan are hidden in almost every aspect of our lives.

Churches are full of schemes, plans, and theologies that have been devised by Satan and his antiChrist. No wonder the Lord warned us over and over to be overcomers. The Lord was quoted in Luke saying,“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21: 34-36)

You are in Satan’s cross hairs so watch and pray. He will offer you many things but every offer is full of lies, hidden lies to deceive.

You may view the latest post at

http://www.pawcreek.org/sanctuary-sermons/satans-design-is-to-buy-your-soul
Best regards,
Joseph Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org

Jewish/Arab Christians Join to Proclaim Messiah's Return

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 09:30:00 +0000

Wednesday, November 26, 2014 | David Lazarus

Messianic Jews

A new generation of Arab and Jewish followers of Jesus met together last week to strategize on how to “turn Israel upside down.”

Two hundred and sixty Messianic Jewish and Arab pastors, youth leaders, evangelists, Bible-school teachers and ministry leaders gathered for a three-day council to discuss, study, pray and work together to effectively bring the word of God in power to Arabs and Jews throughout the whole Land of Israel.
These seasoned men and women of faith embody decades of labor proclaiming the Gospel to local Arabs and Jews. Most have given up everything to preach Messiah to their unbelieving Muslim and Jewish families and friends. Despised because of their faith, they have lost jobs, suffered rejection and endured multiple other hardships, yet their passion to bring the Good News to their people remains unquenched.
“We will keep preaching and teaching the Word of God until it changes the people of Israel,” declared one leading pastor. “We must be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel and keep going no matter what happens. God will accomplish His will through the power of His word.”

With tensions now raging in Jerusalem and across Israel, it was astonishing to witness firsthand the deep friendships between these Arabs and Jews. Even the cold-blooded murders in a Jerusalem synagogue that took place on the final day of the gathering could not separate these godly men and women from their warm fellowship in Messiah.

In fact, the cowardly acts of terror and violence still raging in Jerusalem only served to move them to stand even stronger together and compelled them to more boldly declare the life-giving Word of God to both Muslim and Jew.

A regular theme throughout the gathering was the need to understand God’s prophetic word concerning the Last Days.

Scriptures related to the Second Coming of Messiah were studied. There are many signs that we are living in the latter days, particularly the return of the Jewish people to their biblical land, and the leadership of the local congregations in Israel discussed the need to prepare God’s people for the Messiah’s soon return.

All agreed that time is short, and the peoples of this land, both Arab and Jew, must hear the Word of God now.

It was mentioned that some local leaders are not teaching or preaching about the Second Coming. They do not want to stir up controversy or division over what can be a difficult subject.

While there remains much debate in Christianity and among Messianic Jews as to what exactly will happen around the Second Coming of the Lord, all were in agreement that He is coming, and that the Gospel much be preached in boldness, especially in Israel, before it is too late, for He comes this time in glory and in judgment.

According to many New Testament scriptures, the return of Messiah should unify believers, inspiring them to ready themselves in purity and holiness. It is seen as a cunning ploy of the enemy to cause so much confusion and division concerning the Last Days and Messiah’s return.

The leadership of the local Arab and Jewish congregations in Israel prayed for unity of faith in the Messiah’s return and boldness to tell others of His coming Messianic kingdom, the only real solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and the peace of Jerusalem.

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Thanksgiving, by Arno Froese - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 10:30:00 +0000

Thanksgiving - Part II

Written by Arno Froese

Thanksgiving of the Future. Acknowledging that God is the Creator and Sustainer of life is a fundamental principle.

“And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field” (Exodus 23:16).

Three times we read in 1 Samuel 17 why David fought and won against Goliath. “…Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” “Seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God….” And directly addressed to Goliath, “I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied” (verses 26, 36, 45).

Goliath Defied God
Another great example of faith is revealed when David challenged Goliath the Philistine: “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied” (1 Samuel 17:45). The issue was not the nation of Israel and their potential defeat. Goliath defied the God of Israel. That was the reason for his defeat. Three times we read in that chapter why David fought and won against Goliath. “…Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” “Seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God….” And directly addressed to Goliath, “I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied” (verses 26, 36, 45).

There are many other examples in Scripture, clearly documenting that the people in ancient times totally, absolutely, and unconditionally believed in the divine, albeit idols. These few examples should suffice to show that faith in the supernatural was as common as drinking water and eating bread.

In biblical times, the result of faith was often visibly demonstrated, particularly for the people of Israel. Think of the ten plagues in Egypt; the parting of the waters to escape from Pharaoh’s army; seeing water come out of the rock in the desert; manna from heaven; and many other important events throughout Israel’s history. They believed God, but they never broke through to a living faith. They saw the work of God but did not recognize His plan. Psalm 103:7 reveals the difference between Moses and Israel: “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.”

Decrease of Faith
What about today? Faith in God is definitely decreasing, and faith in man’s ability to solve all his problems is increasing. This is not surprising for Bible believers, for Jesus Himself stated, “…when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 reads, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” That is one important reason why faith is decreasing—because our faith is “the evidence of things not seen.” Modern science, however, exhibits its products and inventions to the entire world. Seeing is believing, they proudly exclaim.

Biblical Thanksgiving
Contrary to the Christian world, where one or two days are set aside to give thanks for a bountiful harvest, the original Thanksgiving was quite different.

The word Thanksgiving appears 20 times in the Old Testament and 8 times in the New Testament. Of particular interest is the fact that a ministry was created within the Temple service for the very purpose of Thanksgiving. Thus, we read in Nehemiah 12:8, “Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren.” Based on our understanding, these Levites’ task was to speak and sing thanksgiving songs in honor to God for His everlasting and eternal grace to His people Israel.

Giving thanks in all circumstances is a clear mark of the born-again person. Colossians 2:7 reads, “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Thanksgiving is realizing one’s dependence on the God of Heaven, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. In doing so, our reliance on Him grows day-by-day, of whom we read in Revelation 7:12, “Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.” In the midst of this seven-fold glorification of God, we find the word thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving, therefore, is not a day set apart, but Thanksgiving means being thankful 365 days a year. That is what real Thanksgiving is all about.

The Three Feasts
We already read at the beginning of this article the original instruction in the book of Exodus. We note in chapter 23:17, “Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.” It speaks of three special feasts. The first is the Feast of Passover, the second the Feast of Pentecost, and the third, the Feast of Tabernacles. These three important feasts are aimed at the God of Israel. He is the reason for Thanksgiving.

1. Feast of Passover
We should all be familiar with the Feast of Passover, giving thanks to God for the redemption of Israel from the slavery of Egypt.

To get a better picture of Thanksgiving, let us read the instruction God gave to the people of Israel after they came out of Egypt, “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein” (Leviticus 23:5-8).

We immediately recognize the stark difference between our Thanksgiving and the Passover Thanksgiving. No work was to be done. In modern language, all shopping centers would be closed. Objectively speaking, this was not good for the economy. But here we are dealing with God’s instruction. It shows with clarity that the center of all celebrations, of all holidays should be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Israel was ordered to totally concentrate on God, the Redeemer who brought them out of slavery in Egypt.

The Passover was not without blood. That was the very substance by which Israel was saved from the angel of judgment, which destroyed all firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt; the only exception were those who had the blood of the Lamb applied on the doorpost and lintels.

What a tremendous prophetic picture of our Lord. It is the blood of the Lamb of God who finalized this prophetic event, as we can read in Revelation 5:9, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

2. Feast of Pentecost
The Feast of Pentecost is an agricultural feast, known in Hebrew as Shavu’ot or the Festival of Weeks. Let us read from Leviticus 23:10, 15, and 17, “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest…And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete…Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.”

This order was given before Israel entered the Promised Land.

Such feasts or celebrations would again be out of the question in our modern age; it would be called economically unfeasible. This seems like a contradiction, because today we have our modern machinery and time-saving devices. We should have plenty of time to dedicate ourselves to the things of God, but in actual fact, we don’t. That again shows our own technology is creating a manmade god. Ultimately, all mankind will worship it, according to Revelation 17:13.

Furthermore, Pentecost is actually the Church’s birthday. We read of it in Acts 2:1-4, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

This sign of the “cloven tongues like as of fire” is a one-time event, not to be repeated; it’s part of the foundation of the Church. Pentecost illustrates the new birth, the change from the old to the new, from dying of self to the rebirth.

Here we must mention that the rebirth does not include our flesh and blood birth; it’s the spirit that is new. The flesh and blood remains sinful and is condemned to die. However, this flesh and blood serves as the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be sanctified by the believer.

3. Feast of Tabernacles
Let us read about this festival from Jewish perspectives:

“Sukkot (Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles) is a biblical Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei (varies from late September to late October). It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals (shalosh regalim) on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.

“The holiday lasts seven days (eight in the diaspora). The first day (and second in the diaspora) is a sabbath-like yom tov (holiday) when work is forbidden, followed by the intermediate Chol Hamoed and Shemini Atzeret. The Hebrew word sukkot is the plural of sukkah, ‘booth or tabernacle,’ which is a walled structure covered with s’chach (plant material such as leafy tree overgrowth or palm leaves).”
-Wikipedia

It is a feast of joy and gladness to God for causing the Israelites to harvest bountifully, so their food supply would be assured, as well as that of their livestock.

When we read the Scripture, we immediately notice that Thanksgiving is to be throughout the year. It’s not a one-day event. Thanksgiving, as already mentioned, is part of being a Christian. Literally, we are eternally thankful.

The Law of the Feast of Tabernacles
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein” (Leviticus 23:33-36).

When reading these instructions given by God, one notices that work is not to be our most important occupation, as it is in our days. Taking time to recognize the Life-giver was a priority for the people of Israel.

Remaining Thankful
When we analyze this both objectively and subjectively, we immediately realize that the worship of God, concentrating on Him and His blessings, should be priority number one. Everything else is secondary.

Here we are reminded of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 6:33, “…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” That is what Thanksgiving is all about.

The children of Israel were commanded to observe these feast days to celebrate and always remember that liberty comes from God. That is Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, most of the world’s “Thanksgiving” has little to no relationship to Biblical truth. Often, it is just gimmick or tradition, powered by commercialism. Some of this applies to America’s Pilgrim Thanksgiving, which has been ordered as a national holiday. But in reality, it has no relationship to biblically-based Thanksgiving.

Our modern Thanksgiving, no matter where it is celebrated and in what country, is centered on self—on our amazing technology that is able to supply food in abundance to the majority of the 7 billion people on planet Earth.

Thanksgiving of the Future
Acknowledging that God is the Creator and Sustainer of life is a fundamental principle. For that reason, we read in Zechariah 14:16-17 that the nations will be required to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.”

This almost sounds too simple, too primitive. Yet with all the technology and our proud slogan, “The sky is the limit,” the real limit is “shall be no rain.”

During the last few decades, much is being spoken about the environment, global warming, depletion of fresh water and endangered species, but in reality, all depends on whether the Creator gives rain.

Also, there is political, economic, and financial turmoil, plus various local wars, trouble, confusion, and danger the world over. Yet all that is secondary. When rain fails, life fails; the end has come. The Creator has the last word. It will not be global warming or anything else but “upon them shall be no rain.” Such a simple statement would cause shortage of food, hunger, starvation, the end of life.

For the world, there is no hope outside the God of Creation. In light of that fact, politically active Christians should realize that all of their work is in vain. The world in which we live will not be saved, nor will America return to God, as some urge us to fight for. The world, all of it, is destined for destruction, for judgment, because sin requires judgment. Again, Scripture says, “He that sins is of the devil”; and since all have sinned, there is no hope.

Yet—and this is extremely important— there is one escape and that is the sin-bearer, the sin-forgiver, the Lamb of God who poured out His life in His blood on Calvary’s Cross. Faith in the eternally accomplished work of redemption by Jesus Christ our Lord guarantees eternal blessings, even spiritual blessings here and now on earth. Let us follow the instruction given in Holy Scripture, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:24-26).
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Thanksgiving by Arno Froese - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 02:58:00 +0000

Thanksgiving - Part I

Written by Arno Froese

From Dependence on God to Dependence on Man. Thanksgiving for the people of Israel involved much more than a one-day celebration.

“And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field” (Exodus 23:16).

Thanksgiving for the people of Israel involved much more than a one-day celebration. Thanksgiving, in plain words, means acknowledging God for granting crops to grow and harvest.

Ancient Thanksgiving
It is not our intention to research ancient festivals related to giving thanks to a deity for a bountiful harvest. However, we will point to a few to show that it is quite normal for man to thank God for food.

An amazing volume of information is available on the internet relating to ancient Thanksgiving feasts:

First Thanksgiving in Ancient Greece
The Greeks held this festival over three days in the month of Pyanopsion, or October. Many of the rituals of this festival were kept secret, but scholars know some of the customs. A good part of the Thesmophoria was conducted in torchlight…While the Greeks gave thanks that Demeter gave a good harvest so they would not starve in the winter during this time, it is in large part a fertility festival carried out by free, married women to ensure the fertility of the earth as well as of humans and animals. However, it seems that during the Thesmophoria the people also gave their wishes that Demeter would bring a good harvest again.

The Roman Thanksgiving Celebration
The Romans held a similar festival to the Greeks. In Rome, the goddess of grain was named Ceres and her festival was called Cerelia. This holiday was also held in early October, possible a bit earlier than the Greek Thesmophoria. The first fruits of the harvest were offered to Ceres in honor and thanks. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans included music, parades, games, and a big feast in their celebration.

God Gives Food
All celebrations relating to Thanksgiving for food originate with the realization that God gives food. That is why believers, even today, give thanks to God before they eat their meal.

At the very beginning, God provided food for man, “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat” (Genesis 1:29). Needless to say, man before he fell into sin was designed by God to be a vegetarian. However, thereafter God said, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Genesis 9:3).

It is God who gives life and it is God who sustains life. That fact today is virtually ignored in the scientific world. Man has achieved so many marvelous things and produces so much food that there is an overabundance available in most countries of the world. Nevertheless, that does not change the fact that man totally depends on God’s grace to send rain so vegetation can grow to feed man and animals. But in general, man does not acknowledge that simple fact.

It matters not what part of the world, or what type of religious belief; most publicly and openly confess that life depends on a good harvest and that God (or in most cases, idols) is responsible for granting us sustenance for life.

God or Science?
Belief in the supernatural, belief in the divine—regardless of whether pagan or believing in the living God who created heaven and earth—this inherent belief was fundamental but is now being replaced by so-called scientific facts and technology.

Take, for example, the English naturalist Charles Robert Darwin, born 12 February 1809, died 19 April 1882, educated at Christ College, Cambridge (1828-1831). He is credited to be one of the most famous originators of a theory called evolution. No scientist since that time has presented a foolproof scientific case proving that evolution is a science. Yet, without exception, the whole academic world teaches evolution as a scientific fact, while in reality it is based primarily on faith.

We acknowledge the many achievements of science, its understanding of the intricate functions of life in plants, animals, and man. But the more man learns how God created things, the more he becomes independent from God. That is today’s natural process; away from God, closer to self. The better we can explain our world geologically and topographically, and understand the multi-functioning and interconnected operations of planet Earth, the less we need the Bible and the Author of Holy Scripture, the Creator of all things. That is the sad fact.

Nebuchadnezzar Example
Let us now take a closer look at FAITH in the Bible.

In Daniel chapter 2, we find world history recorded in 49 verses. The king had a dream. No one could interpret that dream because the king had forgotten what he dreamed. Then came Daniel on the scene; he prayed to God and verse 19 says, “Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” This rather peculiar dream consisted of an image made out of gold, silver, brass, and iron.

King Nebuchadnezzar is special. He is the gold medalist of Gentile rulership; thus, we read, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” (verse 37).

This statement is strange because in our time we look down on the primitive nations which were ruled by rude dictators. True from human perspectives, but not from heavenly because Nebuchadnezzar is the superior leader of the Gentile world, “Thou art this head of gold.” We must keep that in mind even when analyzing our world today.

Nebuchadnezzar Believed
Daniel’s interpretation, which he had received from God and passed on to the king, must have touched the soul of Nebuchadnezzar, “The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret” (Daniel 2:47). What a tremendous statement by the first Gentile world leader, “your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings.” Nebuchadnezzar converted, but not to a living faith.

The next chapter begins with Nebuchadnezzar building an image, not according to the dream, but according to his own imagination, “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon” (Daniel 3:1). Nebuchadnezzar is the recipient of the blessing of God: he is the “head of gold.” He even recognized the God of heaven, yet that was apparently not enough; he needed more, so he created his own image of gold. The purpose—all had to worship the image.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown in the fiery furnace but came out untouched. Again, the king recognizes God, “Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God” (Daniel 3:28). For the second time, Nebuchadnezzar recognized God—but did not KNOW Him.

God Must Know Me
It is not sufficient to know God, but God must know you. This fact is particularly fitting for our days, when multiple millions follow the Christian religion, praise Jesus, do great works, even miracles. But that is not sufficient. We find the record in Matthew 7, where believers in the Lord Jesus do many wonderful works, cast out devils, prophesy in the name of Jesus, yet they have never attempted to really know this Jesus. Subsequently, Jesus did not know them. We read this shocking verse, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23). The words, “I never knew you” clearly show that Jesus must know me personally after I have known Him.
In Nebuchadnezzar’s case, it was obvious that he only recognized God based on his experience, but went no further.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Conversion
His downfall began when he gave credit to himself instead of to the God of heaven; thus, we read, “The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).

That is precisely what is happening today in our modern world. It’s “I,” “me,” “my.” In other words, we have achieved great things; we have become independent from God.

Nebuchadnezzar had to be debased to the level of an animal. Finally, his testimony concluded, “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase” (Daniel 4:37). That is the reason Nebuchadnezzar is the greatest Gentile leader—the head of gold.

Sailors Believed
From the Book of Jonah, we learn of the faith of the pagan sailors. When Jonah went aboard the ship on his way to Tarshish, instead of Nineveh, God sent a great storm. We read, “Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not” (Jonah 1:5-6). The shipmaster surely believed that this storm was subject to a higher power; thus, he challenged Jonah, “What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God.”

Many tens of thousands of ships sail the oceans every day; all rely upon the technology created by man. When there is a storm, they are relatively sure in which area and, in most cases, they will avoid it. But no captain would tell the passengers to call upon God. When the ship is in trouble, the “shipmaster” calls the Coast Guard.

Also, it is interesting that Jonah “was fast asleep.” In the midst of this mighty storm, Jonah is resting, sleeping. We realize Jonah’s absolute faith in the Living God. He certainly knew God personally.

Nineveh Believed God
Jonah got a second chance; thus we read in Jonah 3:1, “And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time….”

What happens next is absolutely amazing. Jonah comes to Nineveh and begins to proclaim a simple message, “yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Surely no one in their right mind would take seriously a person proclaiming imminent destruction. But the people of Nineveh did.

How did the people know that Jonah was sent by God? They were idol worshiping pagans. We do not know how he looked after having spent three days and three nights in a fish, which spit him out on the land. He certainly must have appeared strange to the people of Nineveh. There is no record as to how long he traveled. We do know that he arrived in Nineveh and preached.

What was their reaction?

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5). There is no second guessing here; the people believed God. They believed the prophet who spoke in the name of God. They did not consult any of their idols, prognosticators, or soothsayers, but they simply “believed God,” the Bible says.

Man Depends on Technology
That would be out of the question today. Most religions are segregated, and one would definitely not listen to the others. Besides, today we have sophisticated systems, being able to communicate instantaneously around planet Earth at any time. Religion, faith in the Living God, or even faith in idols, is no longer decisive because we have technology to inform us about anything happening the world over. At this point in time, there are thousands of scientists working on ways to forecast earthquakes. Man in his quest for more knowledge will continue to eagerly investigate details about God’s creation, but without acknowledging Him.

Politicians Believe
Here in Nineveh, it’s not only the people but also the political authorities as well. Jonah did not need to go to the palace asking for permission to speak, or request an audience with the king. The people of Nineveh told the king the things Jonah proclaimed: “For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes” (Jonah 3:6).

Believing in a higher power was as natural as eating bread and drinking water. Atheists apparently had not come on the scene yet.

Philistines Believed
Another example in the Bible showing faith in the divine is recorded in Judges 16. It was during the time Samson judged Israel. A man with supernatural strength, but in the end, he was deceived by a woman and captured by his enemies the Philistines. Here is what we read in verses 23-24, “Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.” The Philistines gave credit to “Dagon their god” for capturing Samson the Israelite.

The Philistines believed in a higher power.

Syrians Believed
Another event that needs to be mentioned relates to the king of Syria, the enemy of Israel. Benhadad had gathered a mighty army with 32 kings allied to him. The destruction of Samaria was all but assured.

Then comes the prophet and makes this announcement to King Ahab, “Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD” (1 Kings 20:13). King Ahab was rightfully frightened and discouraged, therefore he astonishingly asked, “By whom?” The prophet answered, “Thus saith the Lord, even by the young men of the princes of the provinces.” How many were there? “Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand” (1 Kings 20:15). A great multitude against a handful of only 7,232 men. There was no hope for Israel to win against the Syrians’ superiority. But verses 20-21 record a different story: “And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.”

After Syria was defeated, we read the following: “And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they” (verse 23).

The Syrians most certainly believed in a higher power and the power of their gods.

There is no doubt whatsoever the servants, advisers, princes, counselors, priests and kings, all believed that Israel’s “gods are gods of the hills.” They were fully convinced that the ultimate authority was to be found in the invisible world. In this case, they gave the “gods of the hills” the credit.

One year later, Benhadad was ready to fight Israel again. The unequal challenge is documented in verse 27, “And the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.” And the outcome? “And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day” (verse 29).

We must take note of the reason for the defeat of the Syrians, “…Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys” (verse 28).

While King Ahab and Israel deserved just punishment, victory is recorded nevertheless. The reason? The Syrians insulted the God of Israel.

Collective Judgment
This should be a lesson to each of us, regardless of what your fellow man does or does not do, particularly your fellow Christians. Be very cautious when using judgment against anyone in the family of God you dislike—you are touching God. He has saved that person, cleansed him with the blood of His Son, and called him His own. Whenever we blanketly judge a group of people, we are also judging His children, who are among the ones we may call our enemies.

It has become popular lately to blanketly condemn all Arab and Islamic people, but by doing so, we are condemning His children as well. We must not forget there are many Christians in the Muslim world. Here the words apply, “For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye” (Zechariah 2:8). The honor of God is at stake. When we blanketly denounce a group of people, we touch the apple of His eye.
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The Case Against Combining Law and Grace - Galatians

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 09:00:00 +0000

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Galatians Study

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Paul’s Letter To The Galatians

Saturday, November 15th, 2014

Today we begin a study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians which I’ve subtitled “The Case Against Combining Law And Grace.” Scholars are divided as to the date of this letter. Some place it in the late 40’s and others in the early 50’s. Either way it one of Paul’s earliest letters, perhaps even his first, and predated the Council of Jerusalem where the issue of Gentile converts to Christianity was the main agenda item (Acts 15).

The primary purpose of this letter was to contend against a group called the Judaizers, early Jewish Christians who taught that Gentile converts to Christianity also had to observe certain Old Testament rites, specifically circumcision. Some even argued that the only way for a Gentile to become a Christian was to first convert to Judaism, be circumcized, and go under the Law.

The Judaizers said Paul was not an authentic apostle but a false teacher who, in order to make the gospel more acceptable to Gentiles, had ignored the legal requirements of Judaism in his presentations. They felt it was their responsibility to follow Paul around and explain the “real gospel” to the Gentile churches he had planted.

One of the things that prompted me to undertake this study now is the growing number of comments I’ve received from certain elements in Christianity voicing those same opinions today, and for the same reason. Some Christians are once again claiming that we are obligated to observe Old Testament rites and regulations, and that Paul was not an authentic apostle.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul presented a powerful defense of the essential New Testament truth that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone. We do not sanctify ourselves by religious works or Jewish legalism, but are sanctified by faith in the grace and power of God, made manifest in the work of Jesus Christ, and energized in our life by the Holy Spirit.

This will be an in depth study of the Letter to the Galatians and we’ll need several installments to get through it, so let’s get started.

Galatians 1

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers and sisters with me,
To the churches in Galatia:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen (Galatians 1:1-5).

Acts 13-14 records the churches of Galatia as Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They were all geographically located in the south central part of what was then the Roman province of Galatia, known today as Turkey.

The Greek word translated “apostle” means “a delegate or messenger, one sent forth with orders.” Paul always took pains to say he was not appointed an apostle by men but by the Lord Himself.

According to Acts 13:2 the Holy Spirit commissioned Paul and Barnabas to begin their first missionary journey and led them to Cyprus and then into the cities of Galatia where they formed the churches mentioned above.

Paul’s letter was his response to the Galatian churches concerning the Judaizers who visited these churches after he left.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! (Galatians 1:6-9)

Pay attention to what Paul said here. He pronounced a curse on anyone who tries to promote a gospel other than the one he has presented. Some translations render this as Paul saying, “Let him be eternally condemned.” The Greek word is “anathema” and means “cursed, doomed to destruction.”

We would expect him to come out strongly against the pagan religions that were prevalent at the time, but that’s not what we’re dealing with here. Paul said any so called gospel message that contradicts the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone as presented in his letters is by definition a different gospel and puts those who teach it under a curse that dooms them to destruction. That means they aren’t saved, nor can they be. Where did he get the authority to say something like that?

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:10-12).

Paul said what has become known as the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith came straight to him from the Lord Himself. That’s where he got His authority.

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers (Galatians 1:13-14).

Paul was a Pharisee, taught by Gamaliel who was one of the most highly regarded teachers of the time. Paul was a rising star in Judaism who was gaining a reputation as a relentless pursuer of the followers of Jesus, showing no mercy to those he apprehended.

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus (Galatians 1:15-17).

One of the great fears of the day in Jerusalem was that belief in Jesus would spread to Damascus, a major commercial hub in the region. It was feared that if this new faith took root there it would quickly spread in all directions and there would be no stopping it. Paul agreed to go to Damascus to make sure that didn’t happen. He was on the way when He had a personal encounter with the risen Lord that changed everything. Instead of rounding up the believers in Damascus when he got there, he began teaching that Jesus is the Son of God, which so angered the Jews that they conspired to kill him.
With the help of friends, Paul escaped from Damascus and traveled into Arabia. Some say he went to Mt. Sinai and stayed in the same cave Elijah had used during his time on the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8-9). If so, the place where Moses received the Law would have been the same place where Paul received his revelation from the Lord concerning the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. After that Paul returned to Damascus where he continued teaching.

Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie (Galatians 1:18-20).

Paul is going to great lengths here to differentiate himself from the Judaizers. They were simply repeating the traditions they had been taught by men. But Paul was sent by God with a gospel he received directly from the Lord Jesus.

Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me (Galatians 1:21-24).

Paul visited Syrian Antioch and Tarsus in Cilicia, the city of his birth. While he was in Tarsus, Barnabas came to visit him from Antioch and took him back there. Together they spent a year teaching and ministering to the believers in Antioch. It was there that believers were first called Christians. And it was from there that Paul and Barnabas would later begin their missionary journey into Galatia under the call of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2).

Galatians 2

Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you (Galatians 2:1-5).

Apparently, the Lord told Paul to meet with the Church leaders in Jerusalem to confirm that the Judaizers were not speaking on behalf of the Church in Jerusalem. This is an interesting point. Paul was given a direct revelation from the Lord about the gospel he was to preach (Galatians 1:12). Even so, he was sent to the Church leadership for confirmation. Remember that the next time someone tells you he or she has a word from the Lord for you. Always seek confirmation. Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15, 2 Cor. 13:1).

As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Peter and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along (Galatians 2:6-11).

Paul’s revelation having been confirmed, he returned to Antioch and continued his work there.
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray (Galatians 2:11-13).

There were 6 cities named Antioch in Biblical times. Of those, two are named in the Bible, Pisidian Antioch, location of one of the churches in Galatia, and this one, sometimes called Syrian Antioch. It was the third most prominent city in the Roman Empire, behind Rome and Alexandria.

By the phrase “certain men from James” Paul meant Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. Some commentators identify these men as Judaizers but I don’t think so because Paul said they came from James. As we saw above, James and the other leaders had already confirmed Paul’s teaching. More likely they were Jewish Christians who were there on an official visit from Jerusalem. But either way, their presence caused Peter, Barnabas, and other Jewish believers, who had been fraternizing with the Gentile believers, to withdraw from them and resume their tradition of separation. Paul saw this as hypocrisy and called them on it.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified”

(Galatians 2:14-16).
Three times in two verses Paul stated in no uncertain terms that whether Jew or Gentile, we are not justified (rendered righteous) by the works of the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ. We know that Paul was not trying to marginalize the Law because in places like Romans 7:12 he said the Law is holy, righteous and good. But he was arguing against the improper use of the Law as the basis by which we are made acceptable to God. We are not justified by observing the Law but by faith in the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-24).

“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:17-21).

I’m convinced that learning how the Levitical Feasts were observed in Biblical times, and how Jewish wedding customs provide insight into the relationship between the Lord and His Church, can be very helpful to our spiritual growth. I myself have benefited greatly from doing so. But for anyone who believes that keeping the Law is a necessary component of their salvation, I pray this study will convince them otherwise. Because if righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing.

So far Paul has made some pretty strong statements against combining Law and Grace, but as we’ll see next time, he’s just getting started. See you then. 11-15-14

To read the rest of this series go HERE

A True Christian Is UNEQUALLY YOKED If He Is In Today's US Military

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 08:30:00 +0000

U.S. Military Disallows "Jesus" & "God" - Christians Should Not 'Join-Up', Should QUIT, Have no business in satanic organizations

U.S. Military Disallows "Jesus" & "God" as Sensitivities - Christians Should Not 'Join-Up', Should QUIT

It seems that with the admittance of Satanic influence into the U.S. Army via Col. Aquino's Psychological Warfare Units there is now a sort of spreading of that influence into other branches of military. Col. Florencio Marquinez wrote a column in an Air National Guard newsletter which mentioned God and Jesus Christ and it was removed due to sensitivities issues.

Yes, I would say the military has a problem with Jesus, allright, and - Christians should not join such a filthy, anti-Christ organization as the U.S. military. In fact, those who consider themselves Christians should recognize this discrimination which has been published before and begin to ease themselves out of their enlistments and QUIT! (.. From RMN forum)

READ THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE

Does the military have a problem with Jesus?

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/10/31/does-military-have-problem-with-jesus/

"Security" for a "Born Again" Believer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 01:07:00 +0000

Paw Creek Ministries has posted a new item, 'Security for a "Born Again" Believer'

Transformed “Born Again” believers do not need a crutch to prop them up. A doctrine that excuses and eliminates sin is unnecessary, confusing, and damaging. Let me share this written message with you and then, please listen to the sermon attached. You are very special to this Gospel preacher and I want to encourage you.

I’m sick of religion that claims the privileges of God, but refuses the responsibilities of God. I find it even more sickening when these claims are made on God’s marvelous grace as though grace can be reduced to something cheap and tolerating of willful and known sin. Paul addressed this subject when he said, “What shall we say then, shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God Forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2)

“Biblical Eternal Security” is one of the Holy Book’s most precious commodities. To suggest that we must make our entrance into our Heavenly reward by great fear and intimidation is unsound. To ever conclude that God will cast us off because of some human error or weakness does not fit His great love and forgiveness. We are clearly written on His hear. His patience is higher than all human understanding. Yet to use such love as an open door to sin and wickedness; to suggest that this love will tolerate human carelessness and unbridled rebellion is a travesty of Calvary.

Scriptural eternal security certainly has a counterpart, as all Biblical truths do. Satan is the master counterfeiter. For every Biblical doctrine our archenemy has produced a counterfeit. The Trinity of God beautifully expressed in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is deceptively reproduced by Satan in a Jesus-only concept that does great injustice to the scripture.

The Holy Ghost baptism and its initial evidence, speaking in other languages, has a counterfeit expression that reduces this spiritual mastery of the believer to fleshly manipulation and even satanic babbling. We must not allow any holy truth to be less than intended because someone has a substitute.

Accountability

Before we document the breathtaking realities of our security in Christ, let’s note His demands for accountability. If the sinner is accountable to repent, confess his sins, and trust Christ before he can be saved, it is inconceivable that the new man in Christ is less responsible. The Holy Scripture is filled with warnings. The Kingdom of Heaven is under violent assault. Paul warned, “Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall.” (I Corinthians 10:12) Jesus said, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 10:22) Luke recorded Christ’s words as following:> “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

The Apostle Paul constantly warned believers in his epistles of the dangers of backsliding. He said to the Galatians:

“Ye did run well, who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (Galatians 5:7) To Timothy he said, “Some are already turned aside after Satan.”(I Timothy 1:19) In his second letter to Timothy he warned, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” (II Timothy 2:12) His words to the Hebrews were even stronger, “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” (Hebrews 3:14) The Apostle Paul was not ignorant of Satan’s devices.

Sin Will Separate

Biblical Security does not treat human sins lightly. The prophet Habakkuk declared,“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity.” (Habakkuk 1:13) God spared not Satan nor the angels when the sinned, but cast them out of heaven. (II Peter 2:4) Adam and Eve suffered grave consequences for their sins, although they had been created perfectly and covered with God’s ethereal glory. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

The nation of Israel was cut off from the natural root of her heritage, and the gentile world was grafted in her place because of the sin of unbelief. (She will be regrafted back into her natural tree in the near future.) “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off.” (Romans 11:21-22)

Any doctrine that forgets personal responsibility becomes a doctrine of convenience. The prophet Ezekiel put such thought to rest in His warning to the wicked: “But when the righteous turneth away from His righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned; in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” (Ezekiel 18:24)

The wages of sin is death, whether it be found in the man who has known God, or in the man who has never believed and trusted Him. We are responsible creatures. God’s revelation has documented that throughout the scripture.

Calvary Is Our Security

When we understand the beauty and power of the Calvary event, there is no need for false security. Everything necessary to get the believer to their eternal reward is amply provided. There is no power or tribulation sufficient to destroy or render our triumph invalid. “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) We don’t need to be ushered into Heaven in spite of a victorious life when we have all that in necessary to be an overcomer. What is the purpose of any doctrine that makes idle Christians out of believers who have such hope and promises?

Isaiah gave us the most descriptive picture of the cross that is the First Testament.

“Can a women forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:15-16a) The amplified Bible records verse 16 like this: “Behold I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed) a picture of you on the palm of each of my hands, O Zion (church)…” The word “graven” is not used as this rendering anywhere else in the Bible. It means to cut, to engrave, to trace, to tattoo, or to hack. Our God actually said, I have hacked you in my hands, or even better, I have painted a picture of you in each of my palms.

This great statement actually takes us back into the eternal past where God the Father predestined Christ, His only Son, to the cross, while at the same time, He predestined you and me to His loving fellowship. He said, while speaking to this prophet who lived hundreds of years before Jesus, “I have graven (past tense) you.” Such truth leaves you and me with simple task of trusting and obeying. All provision for our trusting and obeying is already provided. To engrave suggests the creating of a thing of beauty. He has engraved you into His palms in such a manner as to create in the provision something beautiful of your life. It is not just positional beauty, but experienced beauty. You can be recreated in His image.

The Apostle Paul takes us the next step. We experience this beauty by looking away from the self life unto Jesus, the Author of our new life. He said, “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) When we learn to live by the Book of Faith, by constantly beholding Him as the Author and Finisher (note Finisher) of our faith walk, we move from glory to glory. He has already finished our redemption, so our duty is to receive by abiding in Him. All He has in redemptive grace is ours if we simply draw from the well.

On the basis of the above promise, this apostle says, “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for you feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:12-13) It’s faith in Him that we must express by refusing to be downcast or dismayed. We are to choose moral and spiritual paths (straight) for our feet so that those in the way may be healed instead of wrongly influenced. We represent His redemptive power both in our lifestyle and our witness to others.

Calvary Makes Us Overcomers

Drifting into heaven is neither desirable nor possible. It is not downstream, but uphill all the way. One of Christ’s most powerful statements was recorded in St. Matthew: “Until the present, the Kingdom of Heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force (as a precious prize), a share in this Heavenly Kingdom is sought for with most ardent zeal and intense exertion.” (Amp. Bible Matthew 11:12) It is clear that Jesus understood the struggle of kingdom experiences. The victory is already won, but the overcomer must be willing to engage the enemy and press toward the mark. There is no armor for the back. If we turn to run, we are a sitting duck for our enemy. He will always attack when you look back.

Eight times John the Revelator promised that the overcomers would inherit the favors of heaven. He said,

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” (Revelation 21:7) What is there to fear? Nothing but fear itself. It is impossible for a believer to fail in this walk unless they turn from the provisions provided. Stan cannot pluck you out of the Father’s hands. Remember, you are graven (tattooed, hacked) in His palms. The Father and the Son are One though two distinct Person of the Godhead.

Biblical Eternal Security is nothing less than God’s absolute promise of faithfulness and sufficiency. “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) The Lord Jesus has received all power in Heaven and in earth. Satan is nothing but hot air (don’t underestimate him, but don’t overestimate him, either). His whole strategy is intimidation. He has already lost. After you know you have been born again, saved, or washed in His blood, however you choose to describe it, get in the Word regularly, pray every day until you know He has heard, be in His house worshipping every worship opportunity, and you will not fall away. It’s impossible under the provisions I have described in this article.

You may view the latest post at

http://www.pawcreek.org/sanctuary-sermons/security-for-a-born-again-believer

Best regards,
Joseph Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org

Swedish Woman Receives Implantable RFID Microchip In Back Of Right Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 20:26:00 +0000

by NTEB News Desk

Emilott Lantz, 25, from Umeå in northern Sweden got a microchip inserted into her hand last week

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Revelation 13:16,17

She became a guinea pig during Sime 2014 in Stockholm – a conference about digitalism, the internet, and the future. In line with the goals of the event, participants were offered to get a microchip fitted for free – an opportunity Lantz jumped at.

“I don’t feel as though this is the future – this is the present. To me, it’s weird that we haven’t seen this sooner,” she tells The Local. There is evidence that the number of chip-wearers in Sweden is growing rapidly.

"This has very much been an underground phenomenon up until now, but there are perhaps a 100 people with the chip in Sweden," says Hannes Sjöblad from the Swedish biohackers group BioNyfiken.

In the last month alone 50 people from the group underwent the procedure.

The technology has previously been used for key tags or chips in our pets’ necks to let them through cat flaps. What is relatively new is inserting the chip in human hands.

The idea is that instead of carrying keys or remembering pins or passwords for our phones or doors, people fitted with microchips can use them to unlock rooms or lockers, by placing their hand against a machine that reads the information stored in the chip.

It was the appeal of minimizing the number of keys she needed to carry around that was the deciding factor for Lantz.

But her decision to go through with the procedure has brought mixed reactions from her friends and family, some saying she’s been foolish while others argue it’s a cool idea. “The technology isn’t new but the subject becomes sensitive just because it’s in the human body,” she says.

Read the rest of the story on Swedish News In English...

NTEB News Desk | November 19, 2014 at 12:29 pm | Tags: Emilott Lantz, Implantable RFID Microchip | Categories: End Times, Headline News, Mark of the Beast, Prophecy, RFID, The 666 Surveillance System | URL: http://wp.me/p1kFP6-7mZ

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Baby Born Healthy After UK Couple Refuses Doctor’s Advice To Have Abortion

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 04:26:00 +0000

Baby Born Healthy After UK Couple Refuses Doctor’s Advice To Have Abortion

Posted: 20 Nov 2014 08:44 AM PST

Melanie Sheenan chose not to kill her son Joshua in the womb.

A couple from Ireland have given birth to a healthy baby boy after being repeatedly pressured by doctors and hospital staff to abort their child who was incorrectly diagnosed in the womb with severe and fatal fetal disabilities. The parents’ persistence in the face of such trial shows the power of faith in God in a society that is seeking to devalue life in the womb and encourage the killing of the unborn.

According to reports:

Melanie and Damien Sheenan talk about the immense pressure they were put under to have an abortion in this week’s ‘Choose Life’ story.
The couple from Northern Ireland chose to keep baby Joshua – now nearly a year old and doing well – after doctors made what was eventually shown to be an incorrect diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality.
Devastated by the prognosis, they were then made to feel they were doing something “terribly wrong” by choosing life for their son. (source).

20 weeks into her pregnancy, Melanie Sheenan was told that her baby’s spine and brain had not developed. From that point, the doctors and medical staff tending to the pregnant mother that her baby would not survive the pregnancy and that even if he would have no “quality of life”. She was then repeatedly pressured to allow the medical staff to kill her child via abortion.

“I had phone calls to my mobile and my house phone to tell me how many days, weeks that I had left till my 24-week cut-off [to have an abortion],” Melanie Sheenan said. “Whenever we went to appointments, the nurse in charge of the consultant would introduce us as ‘the couple who was continuing with the pregnancy against medical advice.’ We were made to feel that we were doing something terribly wrong by wanting to keep our baby.”

Her husband, Damien concurred that the pressure was intense to abort their baby. “They thought that it probably wouldn’t be right to bring him into the world,” he said, “so that’s when they suggested the abortion to us.”

The pressure and outright shaming of a couple who only wanted their baby to live is becoming more commonplace in Ireland as the Northern Irish government seeks to make abortions legal where the child suffers from diagnosed “fetal abnormalities.” At present an abortion is legal in Ireland only if the mother’s life is in jeopardy or she is at risk of severe physical or mental health injury. The Irish government is also considering expanding abortion for cases of sexual assault or incest.

“The Doctor’s Diagnosis Was Completely Inaccurate”

After months of ignoring the doctor’s pressure and refusing to have an abortion, the Sheenans gave birth to Joshua, a healthy baby boy. It turned out that the doctor’s diagnosis of fetal abnormalities was incorrect. The couple, expecting a disabled child, were even more overjoyed to see that the child proved to be heatlhy.

By A Pastor, About Pastors

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 04:14:00 +0000

The Pastor You Have

by randywhite on November 18, 2014 in Articles, Current Events

Dr. Randy White
This month I begin my 22^nd year as what is often called the Senior Pastor (a title I do not like, my preference is simply Pastor). In these 22 years, along with another five years in associate positions in the local church, I’ve learned a few things about the role. I’m no expert at every aspect of pastoral ministry, but I am somewhat an expert on the pressures and temptations for the man in the Pastor’s shoes.
One thing I know is that, human nature being what it is, the people in the pew are no different from the pastor in that we are both quick to lose interest. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard a Pastor tell me, “It’s time for me to move on.” Just as many times I’ve heard a church member of some other congregation confide in me, saying, “I think our Pastor needs to move on.” Sometimes “move on” is the right thing for the pastor to do. More often, however, what is needed is a growth of either congregational maturity, pastoral maturity, or both.
I hope your pastor is a mighty man of God. I pray that he studies the Word, wants to preach it in truth, is a man of private prayer, has a heart to protect his flock, and honestly longs to give a good report before God. I’m sure, however, that while your Pastor isn’t good at everything in ministry, he’s better at some things than others.
When a church has had a pastor strong in leadership, they want a pastor strong in pastoral care. When they have a pastor strong in pastoral care, they long for improved leadership. If he is strong in the pulpit, they want him to be a joy in fellowship. When he’s the best man in town to have at the fellowship, they wish he was stronger in the pulpit. In the end, no man can meet all these expectations.
My talent is teaching. I love to study, and I love to communicate what I’ve studied. I yawn at leadership conferences. I get drained in fellowship settings. I always bite off more than I can chew, and I chew for a long time before I swallow. For some, I’m the church’s worst nightmare. For others, I’m her modern-day knight. I’m most appealing to those who like expository teaching. That crowd is somewhat of a small niche of society, and thus I’m not likely to get the fastest growing church award anytime soon. Over the years I’ve become comfortable with who I am, what I can do, and even with the fact that I won’t appeal to everybody.
But I have also learned about a great danger. I know what people like and I can deliver if I want to. People who appreciate my teachings enjoy a barn-burner of a sermon that spits and sweats, calls out the sinner (especially if it’s the sinner somewhere else), and shouts fire and brimstone. In my circles, if I preach an anti-government sermon (as I did recently), I’ll get the applause of man (literally). This is dangerous because I could easily become an anti-government preacher. If I did, I would get applause every week, my church would grow, and my speaking invitations would multiply.
But I cannot be an anti-government preacher and be an expository preacher. I can’t preach a soul-winning evangelistic sermon and an expository sermon every Sunday. I can’t make every single Scripture so riveting that the audience arises in spine-tingling acclamation at the sermon’s conclusion. To do so would mean I would have to subvert the underlying text and cater to my listeners rather than accurately preach the Book.
Many preachers have learned the tickle point. They know what the people like to hear. Maybe it is application, maybe it is humor; maybe it is hell-fire. Preachers can deliver, and when they deliver, the crowd will grow (and so will the offerings). I recently attended a Baptist convention meeting and saw this time-and-again: the speakers speak to their audience. They know what the audience wants to hear, and they deliver. When they do, the audience applauds loudly, and the preachers in the audience learn by example: give the people what they want and you will garner approval and secure invitations to speaking engagements.
My audience for this article is the man and woman in the pew. You can help your church grow in the Word and in spiritual maturity when you applaud the preaching of the Word. Encourage your Pastor in his studies. When he preaches a long (and possibly dull) sermon that explains a text that isn’t front-and-center in the needs of the congregation nor filled with practical application, would you thank your Pastor for being faithful to preach the word” and “be instant in season and out of season?” You need to do this, because when your Pastor preaches the barn-burner topical sermon, he will hear so many people say, “This is the kind of preaching I like to hear!” Others will tell him, “I wish you preached like this every Sunday!” Some will make it more spiritual, saying, “The Spirit was really moving this morning.”
Your Pastor can preach an exciting topic and a barn-burner this Sunday and every Sunday. In the end, he’s got a choice: preach God’s Word, or preach an exciting topic.
As for me, I’ll be preaching the Word this Sunday.

- See more at: http://www.randywhiteministries.org/2014/11/18/pastor/#sthash.vQ0gLaD6.dpuf

National Cathedral Becomes Part of Islam ... FOREVER

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 22:50:00 +0000

Sunday, November 16, 2014

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OVERRUNS NATIONAL CATHEDRAL IN DC

From Watcher's Lamp

100 years ago today, the last Caliph, or emperor of Islam, declared the last Jihad against the infidel-- and today is the first time ever that the National Cathedral in the nation's capital will host Muslim prayers.

Most American's will have no idea that, as part of World War I, the then-Caliph of the Ottoman empire declared a Holy War against infidels, as was his right within sharia law and Islamic theology. You can read the full fatwa here (ignore the date of 1915 which is an original typo).

That statement by the last sitting head of what was the theocratic empire of Islam was the catalyst which led to religiously-fueled genocide against Christian Armenians and Assyrians.

The Episcopal church leaders who agreed to the host Muslim prayers inside the Washington cathedral probably have no idea what happened a century ago in Asia Minor, or that there even was a Caliph in office at the beginning of the 20th century.

However, we can rest assured that the co-organizers do, for they include the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR), The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the All-Dulles Area Muslims Society (ADAMS) Center.

Both CAIR and ISNA will be fully aware of the significance of November 14th, seeing as both organizations were declared by a federal court to be unindicted co-conspirators of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood terror group, in the largest terrorist financing trial in US history.

Those muslims who have a supremacist understanding of their religion, such as members of Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood - which was recently declared an illegal terrorist

organization in the country of its founding, Egypt - have a special regard for historic dates and anniversaries.

It is, of course, no accident that the 9/11 attacks, the worst terror attacks in world history, occurred exactly to the day in 1683 when the Islamic Ottoman forces were defeated outside the city walls of Vienna, the deepest the Islamic Caliphate's forces made it into the heart of the Christian West.

There is nothing inherently wrong about interfaith initiatives as long as they start from the same place: a mutual respect for the belief system of the other, and their inherent dignity as humans created by God. When one party acts in bad faith based upon its ideological commitment to see other faiths destroyed or subjected, then the event runs the risk of becoming a propaganda coup for the extremists and their followers.

The fact that this event is occurring just as ancient Christian communities are being destroyed in the Middle East and "non-believers" are being actually crucified by ISIS jihadists makes it all the more egregious.

We know that the Episcopal church is in trouble with more conservative believers leaving in great numbers and the remaining adherents not exactly outdoing their Catholic cousins in terms of reproducing the next generation of believers. But I doubt they also understand the finer points of jihadist doctrine, one of which is that if a place of worship is used by Muslims for their prayers, that territory subsequently becomes part of Dar al Islam, sacred muslim land. Forever.

Sebastian Gorka PhD is the Major General Matthew C. Horner Distinguished Chair of

Military Theory at the Marine Corps University, and national security and foreign affairs editor at Breitbart.com. You can follow him on Twitter at: @SebGorka

The Seat of the Immoral World Government: Washington DC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 19:27:00 +0000

Washington, D.C.: The Seat of the Immoral World Government

By Julio Severo

While I am writing about the U.S. government as the seat of the immoral world government, the U.S. Department of State and USAID are hosting the third Conference to Advance the Human Rights of and Promote Inclusive Development for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Persons on November 12-14, in Washington, D.C.

Leading U.S. government officials are speaking at the event.

The conference is bringing together government officials, private funders, business leaders, scholars and homosexual activists from more than 30 countries to increase coordination, cooperation and resources dedicated to promoting the homosexual agenda around the world, and to ensure full inclusion of homosexual activists in political power structures.

The conference is focusing on diplomatic and foreign assistance strategies to address homosexual issues around the world. It is also discussing the best ways to engage faith communities to support the homosexual agenda and to integrate it into development programs.

If Sodom gave the world an untrained and unsophisticated homosexual militancy, America can be proud that she has surpassed Sodom, by giving the world an aggressive, trained and sophisticated homosexual militancy.

Will the U.S. government efforts to integrate the gay agenda into development programs and political power structures succeed? I fear so. Forty years ago, NSSM 200, a highly classified U.S. government document, made it clear that the U.N., the World Bank and many other major international organizations should be used to integrate population control into development and health care programs. Population control was presented as "family planning," but its objective was never family well-being. It was population reduction to meet the U.S. ambitions to seize or save natural resources from other nations for current and future American use. Because of the U.S. efforts forty years, today "family planning" is as natural as marriage itself. Evidently, now the strategy is to make the gay agenda and its fake marriage as natural as "family planning."

God turned Sodom into ashes. America is distinguishing herself by making Sodom global and refined. She is spreading the Sodom ashes around the world to sow a new, bigger and global Sodom.
To advance the gay agenda, America wants to make the world as wicked as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

Brazilian conservatives often talk of a moral decadence of the United States as a direct consequence of the influence and actions of the Soviet Union, which was born in 1917. They treat the U.S. as if it were, before the Soviet Union, a pure damsel.

I had also thought so, especially as an evangelical being influenced by American missionaries. The fact is, we thought the U.S., especially in the early 20th century, was extremely Protestant. In the 1890s? Even more Protestant, even more moral, even more pure.

We have the historical record to support it. Upon signing the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams stated: "This day, I trust, the reign of political Protestantism will commence." The 56 signers were mostly Protestant.

According to New York University Professor Emeritus Patricia Bonomi: "The colonists were about 98 percent Protestant."

In less than one century, the reign of political Protestantism in Washington, D.C. was quite the contrary of what was preached by Protestant churches and ministers.

According to a DailyMail report, Washington D.C. in 1890s had a reign of prostitution. This was the capital of the most Protestant nation in the world, when Protestantism was much higher than today in the American nation. And remember: there was no Soviet Union.

The DailyMail report said, "The White House's neighbors in 1890s included 108 brothels and 50 saloons." Prostitution was rampant around the White House more than one century ago.

An author of that time, mentioned by DailyMail, made a map with an explanation of how 108 houses of prostitution were allowed to thrive so near the White House.

He said about Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), who was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States (1885-89, 1893-1897): "Grover Cleveland can sit in his bedroom window at the White House and survey the entire territory. He is within sight and gunshot of each of these 108 dens which defy the law which he is supposed to execute through his commissioners."

If the White House were surrounded by 108 prostitutes, it would be awful enough. But 108 brothels? This is a lot of prostitution. Did not Washington, D.C. have any other more important activity to get involved in?

Why was prostitution, considered the oldest profession in the world, so rampant and close to the White House? Perhaps the answer is in what Ronald Reagan said, "It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a very striking resemblance to the first."

DailyMail said that decades later this same area around the White House kept its notoriety for prostitution.

I do not minimize the Soviet influence decades after the 1890s. But there was a grave moral decadence around the White House before any Soviet influence. There was the influence of sin.

So the pervasive moral perversion in the current U.S. society, especially politics, cannot be attributed exclusively to the Soviet Union.

The Bible says, "Never dishonor your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country will turn to prostitution and be filled with people who are perverted." (Leviticus 19:29 GWV)

In the 1890s the U.S. capital turned to prostitution and, consequently, became "filled with people who were perverted."

By the way, it keeps the old profile of place filled of perverted individuals. A WND report said that despite his sexual affairs in the White House, Bill Clinton has been ranked the most admirable U.S. president of the past quarter century.

In the subject of sexual affairs in the White House, John Kennedy apparently topped all the other adulterous U.S. presidents. Was his depravity in the White House a product of the Soviet Union, or of the same influence of sin in the White House neighborhood in the 1890s? I believe that latter would be the correct Christian understanding.

I hope that my article may help conservative Christians in Brazil and the U.S. to see that if they want to influence positively the global power that Washington D.C. has on the whole world, they should firstly understand that the moral problems in the U.S. government began long before the Soviet Union. Without such understanding, they will not succeed in praying and hindering a U.S. government that has made sexual perversion (sodomy) a top priority of its foreign policy.

The U.S. is homosexualizing the world by funding and training the international homosexual militancy.

America caused her daughters to be prostitutes many decades ago, her land fell into prostitution and now her land has become full of wickedness. Her government became full of wickedness, including sodomy.

The conference being held right now in Washington, D.C. by the U.S. State Department and USAID wants engage faith communities to support the homosexual agenda.

Perhaps the Washington National Cathedral is the best example of these ambitions. The 106-year-old cathedral has served as the spiritual center for the U.S. presidents, hosting funerals for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.

In 2013, Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral, said that Christians should embrace religious marriage equality.

According to Scott Lively, the Jewish tradition says that gay "marriage" was the last sin before the Great Flood.

After its support for homosexual "marriages," the National Cathedral in Washington will be hosting a Muslim prayer service for the first time on November 14.

Washington, D.C. and its State Department, USAID and its best Protestant cathedral are filled of wickedness and sodomy.

Original Article

iDAHO ORDINANCE REQUIRES CHRISTIAN MINISTORS MARRY HOMOSEXUALS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 09:30:00 +0000

fROM WWW.MIDNIGHTCALL.COM, (ARNO FRIESE E-NEWSLETTER)
	Marry Gay Couples or Go to Jail Idaho city officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines. A federal judge recently ruled that the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, while the city of Coeur d’ Alene has an ordinance that prevents discrimination based on sexual preference. The Supreme Court’s recent refusal to take on gay rights’ appeals from five states has opened the doors for same-sex marriages to go forth. Donald and Evelyn Knapp were just asked by a gay couple to perform their wedding ceremony, The Daily Caller reported. The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a suit in federal court to stop the city from enforcing the fine and jail sentence, saying in a statement from senior legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco that the government has overstepped its bounds, The Daily Caller reported. “Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here—and it’s happened this quickly,” Mr. Tedesco said, The Daily Caller reported. But the city sees it differently. As far back as May, city officials were insisting that their ordinance is indeed in line with law. -www.washingtontimes.com, 20 October 2014 With breathtaking speed, the new laws governing Sodomite marriages are sweeping the world. What was unthinkable just one decade ago has become reality today. We are reminded of the words Jesus spoke about the end days, “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:28-29). While opponents of same-sex marriage laws may be successful in protecting pastors from being fined or jailed, in the long run, churches and ministries, by whatever name, are subsidized by the government and will have to comply. Public funds and public laws are aimed to overrule the clear teaching of Holy Scripture. Therefore, the words we quoted from Luke 17:28-29 are more applicable than ever. (For more on our times, read As It Was in the Days of Noah, Item 2286.) 4998

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noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 02:01:00 +0000

I did not print the name of this mother; however if you know anything about this girl email me at creyner@yahoo.com and I will forward the information to the mother. CMR

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

From: (withheld)
Date:Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 6:32 PM
Subject:My missing daughter

My daughter is beautiful, compassionate and fun. Unfortunately she is also mentally ill and intellectually disabled.

Galya has an impulse control disorder that may have come from her early childhood in an Eastern European orphanage. Sometimes this causes her to act out. She often feels deep remorse after these incidents and sometimes wonders if our lives would be easier without her. This may be part of the reason she ran from the waiting room of a psychiatric hospital in DeSoto Texas at 8 pm on Friday November 7. I am far more interested in her safety than I am in an easy life.

She can be resourceful and friendly, but she also becomes intimidated when surrounded. She has not had her medications in some time and may be anxious.

She may have been seen within two miles of the hospital this afternoon. I hope this means she made it through last night but it is getting dark and it's cold.

I know God has a plan for my child, but this is hard. Please share this with as many people as you can.

Beth Ellen McKinney

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

Southern Baptists Start LGBT Same-Sex Marriage Dialogue

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 23:59:00 +0000

Southern Baptists Begin Same-Sex Marriage Dialogue With LGBT Community

by NTEB News Desk

Except those days be shortened should no flesh be saved

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Southern Baptists took their first steps towards their eventual acceptance of same-sex marriage by meeting with members of the LGBT community at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission 2014 Conference in Nashville. While neither side relinquished their position, most in attendance agreed that a shift had indeed taken place.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A gathering of Southern Baptists here opened this week with Albert Mohler, stalwart head of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, apologizing for “denying the reality of sexual orientation,” but saying orientation “can change.”

Amanda Jackson and Becca Harris sing before the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission 2014 Conference morning session in Nashville, Tenn. About 1400 people attended the conference. JOE BUGLEWICZ

It closed with a pastor saying “no one goes to hell for being homosexual,” but he added Christians must remind gay friends and family members that “the day of judgment is coming.”

The statements from the largest and one of the most conservative Protestant denominations made waves in the religious and gay communities. Some praised the Southern Baptist Convention for softening its tone and message when discussing homosexuals. Critics complained that nothing really had changed.

But others who attended said a shift was taking place. In private meetings and one-on-one encounters during the week, Southern Baptists and gay-rights advocates said they established relationships they hope will carry both sides through a time of deep cultural change, particularly as the church navigates issues such as the increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage.

Mr. Mohler this week met with Matthew Vines, an openly gay Christian author who argues the Bible doesn’t prohibit lifelong same-sex marriage. Mr. Mohler wrote a response to Mr. Vines’ book, “God and the Gay Christian.”

“It was a gracious, honest conversation. I think all evangelical Christians are having to learn anew how to discuss these issues,” Mr. Mohler said.

The pair agreed to keep in touch over email, and alert each other if one ever felt wrongly portrayed by the other.

“This was an amazing event,” said Mr. Vines. “Not for the public sessions but for the private meetings. It’s not like anyone is suddenly pro-gay,” said Mr. Vines. But, he added, “it feels like a new era.”

NTEB News Desk | October 31, 2014 at 5:42 pm | Tags: God and the Gay Christian, LGBTQ, same-sex marriage, Southern Baptists | Categories: End Times, Headline News, LGBT, Religion | URL: http://wp.me/p1kFP6-7fw

The Unrivaled Power of Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 05:34:00 +0000

by Oswald Chambers

November 8, 2014

We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. —Romans 8:26

We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer; and we know what it is to pray in accordance with the Spirit; but we don’t often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays prayers in us which we cannot utter ourselves. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.

“He,” the Holy Spirit in you, “makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27). And God searches your heart, not to know what your conscious prayers are, but to find out what the prayer of the Holy Spirit is.

The Spirit of God uses the nature of the believer as a temple in which to offer His prayers of intercession. “…your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 6:19). When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, “…He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple” (Mark 11:16). The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bought and sold in the temple, and said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer…. But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’ ” (Mark 11:17).

Have we come to realize that our “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit”?

If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by us as a “temple of the Holy Spirit.” He will be responsible for the unconscious part which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attention to and guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.

Cardinal: Catholic Church like "a ship without a rudder."

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:37:00 +0000

Cardinal rebuke the Pope

November 4, 2014 · by ivarfjeld · in 1. ·

The Roman Catholic Church is like “a ship without a rudder”.

· For the claimed to be conservatives around Burke, Benedrict was a good Pope. Francis is a hopeless Jesuit liberal.

These are the words of American Cardinal Raymond Burke. He is the former archbishop of St. Louis, and has emerged as the face of the opposition to Pope Francis’ reformist agenda.

Cardinal Burke likened the Roman Catholic Church to “a ship without a rudder” in a fresh attack on the pope’s leadership.

In an interview with the Spanish Catholic weekly Vida Nueva, published Thursday (Oct. 30), Burke insisted he was not speaking out against the pope personally but raising concern about his leadership.

“Many have expressed their concerns to me. At this very critical moment, there is a strong sense that the church is like a ship without a rudder,” Burke said.

“Now, it is more important than ever to examine our faith, have a healthy spiritual leader and give powerful witness to the faith.”

Burke is the current head of the Vatican’s highest court known as the Apostolic Signatura, but he said recently he is about to be demoted. There is speculation he will be made patron of the Order of Malta, a largely ceremonial post.

· Cardinal Burke worshiping the pagan sun “god” in the name of Christ.

“I have all the respect for the Petrine ministry and I do not want to seem like I am speaking out against the pope,” he said in the interview. “I would like to be a master of the faith, with all my weaknesses, telling a truth that many currently perceive.”

“They are feeling a bit seasick because they feel the church’s ship has lost its way,” he added.

Burke has expressed an uncompromising stance on keeping the ban on Communion for Catholics who divorce and remarry without an annulment, and is one of five conservative cardinals who aired their views in a new book, “Remaining in the Truth of Christ,” released on the eve of the bishops’ blockbuster synod in early October.

When the synod signaled a more welcoming tone to gay and lesbian Catholics, Burke publicly accused the global gathering of bias and was among those who pushed for a less conciliatory approach in the final report. Burke had previously said that Catholic families should not expose children to the “evil” of homosexuality by inviting a gay son home for Christmas with his partner.

My comment (Ivar):

Hey, this is not a grandmother.

It is Cardinal Raymond Burke. Believe it or not.·

This is not only tasteless, and put of fashion. Dear Cardinal Burke. Not even the Queen of England would dress up like this.

He might be right in his criticism of Pope Francis. But when he dress up in female cloths, and look like he is a member of a back street gay club, his words against homosexuality makes him a hypocrite. Men should talk like a man. dress up like a man and be a man.

1 Timothy 3:2

“A bishop should be “the husband of one wife” and “one who ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection”.

Rome erroneously bans their priests from marrying. When you move in direct confrontation with the Scriptures, you will obviously become an attractive religious institution for gays, pedophiles and perverts.

The best thing about Burke’s criticism of the Pope, is that there seem to be fire inside this ship of fools. The Vatican armada may be large. But the sailors have shipwrecked their faith, and made a mockery out of true Christianity. Both by their twisting of the Word of God, and certainly by this kind of silly dress code.

http://ivarfjeld.com/2014/11/04/cardinal-rebuke-the-pope/ritten by Ivar

The Satanic Portal of The Ouija Board

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 11:00:00 +0000

A Halloween Post Mortem

Beware The Demon Gateway Of The Ouija Board

by NTEB News Desk

The battle that takes place in the spirit world is all too real

"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 13:1-3

This Halloween, a terrifying new movie based on an old board game called Ouija is being released. Most everyone reading this article knows what a Ouija board is, and many of you have real, scary stories about the times you played it at some point in your life. Please take this friendly word of warning, avoid seeing this movie at all costs. The things portrayed in the film are real things, the bible has a lot to say about devils and demons.

King Saul and the Witch of Endor

"And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor." 1 Samuel 28:6,7

King Saul needed answers about an upcoming battle he was about to have with the Philistines. When he prayed to God, God was silent. Instead of patiently waiting for Him to answer, Saul did what he was commanded not to do. He consulted a witch and asked her to bring up the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel. Up comes Samuel and delivers the news to Saul, his kingdom was to be taken from him and that he and his sons would die on the field of battle. Both those things happened within the next three days. His trip to the psychic cost him his life.

The Demon Possessed Man Of Gadarene

"And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him." Luke 8:27,28,30

Jesus went and visited a man that was possessed with a legion of devils. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that a legion can have up to 6,000 soldiers in its ranks. The devils that lived in this man beat him, cut him and cast him into the fire. After Jesus cast them out, the bible says that then the man was found "clothed and in his right mind."

As you can see, the bible talks quite openly about witches, spirits, demons, devils, and all the other things attached to darkness. The bible says that these things are real, and warns the reader in no uncertain terms to stay far away from them. God is trying to protect you if you will heed His warning. Halloween is a night where darkness and demons are given the spotlight, and the spirit that is associated with that night is satanic. Just Google "ouija board horror stories" and read some of the unbelievable experiences people have had while using a Ouija board.

In 2014, America is playing a dangerous game with it's current flirtation with things associated with the Devil. Black Masses,the All-Seeing Eye of Horus and demonic movies are everywhere, and the tide of darkness continues to rise.

"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: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:19,20

NTEB News Desk | October 27, 2014 at 11:33 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p1kFP6-7e3

Roman Church Seeking Church Split?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:52:00 +0000

Is Pope Francis Intentionally Working To CreateRo A Church Split?

by NTEB News Desk

Are A'Changing

"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." Revelation 17:3-5

It has only been a little more than a year and a half since Pope Francis assumed the the papal throne in Rome, but what an incredible time of change and upheaval it has brought to the Catholic faith. More than any other pope in recent memory, Francis seems to be a man on a mission. And that mission, for better or for worse, is changing the Catholic church and faith in myriad ways.

The most startling of these changes occurred last month at the Synod where Pope Francis floated the trial balloon of welcoming openly-homosexual LGBT members into the church, resulting in a news media firestorm will forced the Vatican to issue a series of hastily-written denials.

The bible clearly says that the One World Church, as mentioned in Revelation 17 & 18, will be the Roman Catholic system which is described there in stunningly-accurate prophetical detail. But in order for the Vatican to fulfill their role, momentous change needs to take place. Under the leadership of Pope Francis, things are indeed changing rapidly.

A senior American cardinal in the Vatican says that under this pope, the Roman Catholic Church is "a ship without a rudder'' and the faithful "are feeling a bit seasick.'' Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput complains that a recent Vatican conference called by Pope Francis produced "confusion,'' adding, "Confusion is of the devil.''

A group of conservative lay Catholics say they felt "betrayed" by a preliminary report from the conference that proposed a more welcoming attitude toward gay men and lesbians.

Turnabout is supposed to be fair play, but for these and other U.S. Catholic conservatives and traditionalists, the papacy of Francis also seems to be infuriating, worrying or just plain puzzling.

Many conservatives struggle to get a handle on Pope Francis, who since taking office last year warned against an "obsessive" concern with culture war issues, such as abortion and gay marriage; encouraged discussion of church teaching on things like contraception and divorce; and asked, regarding gay men and lesbians who profess religious faith, "Who am I to judge?''

America's 78 million baptized Catholics form the nation's largest religious denomination. Some yearn for a simpler time — like 2012. "When the pope says, 'Don't judge,' I don't agree with that,'' says Mick O'Connell, a 68-year-old Catholic from Philadelphia standing outside St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. "It's his job to judge right from wrong.''

Any doubt that times are changing ended with last month's Vatican synod, or church council, which brought hundreds of bishops and other Catholics to Rome for two weeks to discuss the application of church teaching on marriage and family life.

After the pope announced plans for the conference last year, the Vatican took the unprecedented step of sending questionnaires to local dioceses seeking grass-roots opinion on matters such as same-sex marriage, contraception, cohabitation and divorce.

Liberals cheered a preliminary report on the proceedings that, consonant with Francis' inclinations, expressed welcome to gay men and lesbians of faith and hope for gentler treatment of Catholics who live together outside of marriage or have divorced and remarried outside the church (and thus cannot receive Communion).

Conservatives then rallied and struck much of what they found offensive in the first report from the synod's final one — a move widely reported as a rebuff of Francis. But the damage was done.

NTEB News Desk | November 3, 2014 at 11:34 am | Tags: Pope Francis, vatican | Categories: Bible Topics, Catholic Church, End Times, Headline News, Prophecy, Vatican | URL: http://wp.me/p1kFP6-7gb

Giants Like This One Are Returning (See Statue)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 00:19:00 +0000

World’s Oldest Statue Is Of A Giant 17.4 Foot Nephilim From Genesis

by NTEB News Desk

The giants of Genesis are planning on making a return in the days after the Rapture

"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." Genesis 6:4

For those of us who are able to open the pages of the Holy Bible and believe what we read in the context that we read it in, it is a strange and marvelous book filled with the answers to mankind's oldest questions. The bible tells us how we got here, who we truly are, and gives us the choice of where we wish to spend all eternity. And it talks about giants. Really, really big giants.

Secret encrypted codes on Shigir Idol written around 9,500 years ago

The earth, from it's earliest days, was inhabited by the sons of God and they roamed freely about the earth even after God created man in Genesis chapter 1. We know this to be true because in Genesis chapter 3 where Satan is tempting Eve, he says this strange thing to her:

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5

Eve at no point asks Satan who these other "gods" are, for she and Adam are in the Garden with them. These are the same sons of God from Job chapter 1, and from the book of Jude. Some of these sons of God fell, and they had physical relations with earthly women in Genesis chapter 6 (see verse at top of article.) The end result being that all through the book of Genesis and for hundreds of years, man and these giant creatures lived together. Take a look at a random sampling of verses talking about giants and man together:

· "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Numbers 13:33

· "For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man." Deuteronomy 3:11 (here is a man so large his bed is 13.5 feet long!)

· "And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span." 1 Samuel 17:4

Yes, giants are all through the Old Testament as simply a recorded fact in the human timeline. The flood of Noah was sent by God because these half-human, half-angel giants, or Nephilim in Hebrew, were living so wickedly that God wiped out everyone on the planet except for Noah and his family. But a race of giants existed after the flood, they came back. In the New Testament, Jesus says that the days immediately preceding the time of Jacob's Trouble, what we call the Great Tribulation, will be just like it was back in Noah's day. That means giants will once again roam the earth in the sight of man.

"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:37

Now, I said all that to say this: the world's oldest statue has made a startling reappearance on the scene in these last days, and now that you know all about giants in the bible, you tell me whoever made this statue had in mind when they were carving it:

Here are some key facts of the Shigir Idol:

The Shigir Idol is thought to be the most ancient wooden sculpture in the world.

The haunting idol is twice as old as the Egypian pyramids and was preserved 'as if in a time capsule' in a peat bog

It was made during the Mesolithic period, around 7,500 BCE but was only discovered in 1890 in Kirovgrad, Sverdlovsk region, in the Ural Mountains.

It stands 9.2ft (2.8 metres) in height but originally was 17.4ft (5.3 metres) tall, as high as a two story house.

Almost 6.5ft (2 metres) of the artefact went missing during Russian's 20th century political turmoil, though Siberian archaeologist Vladimir Tolmachev drew images of all the pieces.

The messages carved into the ornament 'remain 'an utter mystery to modern man', according to experts.

Some say the straight lines could denote land, or horizon - the boundary between earth and sky, water and sky, or the borderline between the worlds.

A wavy line or zigzag symbolised the watery element, snake, lizard, or determined a certain border.

But the marks could have multiple meanings for the ancient statue-makers who gave the idol seven faces, only one of which is three-dimensional.

The faces may be images of spirits that inhabited the human world in ancient times.

NTEB News Desk | October 23, 2014 at 3:14 pm | http://wp.me/p1kFP6-7d5

Houston Mayor Demands All Pastors Submit Sermons To Office

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 21:36:00 +0000

. The Mayor of Houston, Texas, is demanding that all pastors submit their sermons to her office to see if they reflect the proper official position on gay / lesbian issues!

Has official persecution / censorship of Christian Churches ready to begin?

NEWS BRIEF: "Houston You Have a Problem, a Big Problem!", by Don Boys, October 15, 2014

"The mayor of Houston is a lesbian married (in California) to another female so that is a big problem; however, now her honor wants local pastors to submit their sermons to the city to ascertain whether or not they took a position on the city ordinance permitting transgenders to use any restroom of their choice!"

Adolf Hitler used this tactic to force German churches to submit their will to his. Hitler also sent SS officers to sit in a front pew to hear the pastor preach. If they did not like his sermon, he could quickly find himself in prison. This tactic was very intimidating and very effective....(scroll down to "Hot News" at link and Read the full article online)

Royal Heir

Sin's Seriousness

The Harlot Church Will Soon Be in the Great Tribulation

The New World Religion Called in the Bible,“The Great Whore” is here.

Biblical Zionist Israel Will Be Removed For Antichrist Rule

Satan Wants Only One Thing From You: Your Soul

Jewish/Arab Christians Join to Proclaim Messiah's Return

Thanksgiving, by Arno Froese - Part 2

Thanksgiving - Part II

Thanksgiving by Arno Froese - Part 1

Thanksgiving - Part I

The Case Against Combining Law and Grace - Galatians

Galatians 1

Galatians 2

A True Christian Is UNEQUALLY YOKED If He Is In Today's US Military

"Security" for a "Born Again" Believer

Swedish Woman Receives Implantable RFID Microchip In Back Of Right Hand

Emilott Lantz, 25, from Umeå in northern Sweden got a microchip inserted into her hand last week

Baby Born Healthy After UK Couple Refuses Doctor’s Advice To Have Abortion

By A Pastor, About Pastors

The Pastor You Have

National Cathedral Becomes Part of Islam ... FOREVER

Sunday, November 16, 2014

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OVERRUNS NATIONAL CATHEDRAL IN DC

From Watcher's Lamp

The Seat of the Immoral World Government: Washington DC

iDAHO ORDINANCE REQUIRES CHRISTIAN MINISTORS MARRY HOMOSEXUALS

Marry Gay Couples or Go to Jail

Southern Baptists Start LGBT Same-Sex Marriage Dialogue

Southern Baptists Begin Same-Sex Marriage Dialogue With LGBT Community

Except those days be shortened should no flesh be saved

The Unrivaled Power of Prayer

Cardinal: Catholic Church like "a ship without a rudder."

The Satanic Portal of The Ouija Board

Roman Church Seeking Church Split?

Giants Like This One Are Returning (See Statue)

Houston Mayor Demands All Pastors Submit Sermons To Office