What began as a means of helping those disfigured by war, fire, or accident, has now broadened to the removal or correction of something that these people feel hinders their overall appearance or well being.

Listed under the heading of cosmetic surgery you will find the following: liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, face lift, tummy tuck, forehead lift, collagen injections etc. The list is almost endless. Ask anyone who has had this type of surgery and they will tell you how much better they feel about themselves. Surgery had removed for them their ‘problem’ and given them the appearance and acceptance they always wanted.

While I don’t begrudge these people this luxury, I’m more concerned with the spiritual counterpart that I see happening in the Body of Christ. I’m referring to what I call ‘cosmetic theology’.

There is a new generation of believers who seem to think that God is too old and decrepit, and therefore greatly in need of a ‘facelift’ to enhance His image. They reason that in order to ‘sell’ God to the masses He needs to shed a few pounds, remove a few wrinkles, and adopt a more positive image.

One of the blemishes that these ‘plastic theologians’ have tried to remove is the occasional scowl they see on God’s face. Nobody likes to be around someone who gets angry, jealous, or revengeful. After all, everybody knows that a smile will win you , but a frown will put people off. A ‘god’ that would send someone to hell is just not marketable. Neither is a ‘god’ of absolutes. Who wants a ‘god’ that doesn’t compromise or bend a little? If we can do away with the moral Law, and substitute it with ‘grace’ instead, perhaps then ‘god’ will be a little more appealing. Have you noticed the recent ‘Botox’ injection? God is increasingly being referred to these days as ‘Papa’. Now I don’t have a problem with God as our Father, but He is also the Judge of all the earth, as well as the King of Kings. Papas are loving, playful, and fun to hang around. Kings and Judges on the other hand are not so endearing. You get my point.

This type of cosmetic theology has been taking place for some time now without us even being aware of what has been happening. We tend to focus on all the so called positive attributes of God, and avoid anything that we deem negative. I remember as a child people having promise boxes, from which they would draw a promise from the Scriptures. Like fortune cookies, they always had something good to say to the reader. This is like Moses reading only the blessings of God to His people, but never the curses that resulted from their disobedience.

Yes, I too love verses like Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and hope’ But God also warns His people what will happen to them if they disobey Him – ‘For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “As my anger and my wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror…” Jeremiah 42:18.

The leader of the nation’s largest ‘church’ openly admits he is not called to preach against sin but rather to encourage people. We all love ice cream, but a good preacher, like a good parent, will make us eat our spinach too.

Well, you get my point. God isn’t in need of our help. He’s not looking for a new PR firm to help Him bolster His image. He is perfect in all His ways, and therefore, has no need for plastic surgery!

David Ravenhill is a guest writer for VOR and has served the Body of Christ as a Pastor and Teacher for more than four decades. Find out more about him here:  http://www.davidravenhill.com/

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

Recently Jews and Christians met at the historic villa to commemorate the actions of the victors of WWI in establishing a permanent homeland for world Jewry.  By the time of its signing in July 1922, by the League of Nations the original mandate territory was already reduced by 75%  and the Jews accepted the remaining 25% as their homeland.  Thus the Jewish people had rights to all the land west of the Jordan River and were prohibited from settling in what became modern Jordan.  The land in question was not the ARAB’S to loose but had been under the Ottoman Empire.  It was controlled by the Turks who were allied with Germany in the war (see map). Another important note made in the CBN segment was that in the transition from the League of Nations to the UN, all prior agreements with regard to the mandates must be upheld.

One interesting note is that in the current situation some of the original European countries who signed onto the San Remo agreement are poised to break that commitment by siding with the PA’s bid for statehood.

For a more detailed look at this conference the European Coalition for Israel has a 15 minute video demonstrating the legal claims.

One key comment in this video is the “reconstituting of a national home” for the Jewish people.  This recognizes the HISTORICAL RIGHTS of the Jews to the land.  One could also replace that word with “BIBLICAL”  rights.  Quoting from the Executive Summary at EC4I:

Thus, in a word, the primary foundations in international law for the claim based on “historic rights” or “historic title” of the Jewish people in respect of Palestine are the San Remo decisions of April 1920, the Mandate for Palestine of July 1922, approved by the Council of the League of Nations and bearing the signatures of that international treaty by the Principal Allied Powers in July 1922, and the Covenant of the League of Nations itself (Art. 22). The rights thereby granted to the Jewish people (with the exception of the provisions of Article 25 of the Mandate, relating to Trans-Jordan) were aimed at the establishment of a Jewish national home throughout Palestine. These rights have never been rescinded.

The world is a different place than 90 years ago.  If the same events were to have taken place today, the Jews would be still be wondering among the nations.  The sentiment of nations is to lie in in the falsehoods of the nations that cannot tolerate to have a Jewish state in their neighborhood.  As we embrace the reality of the Lord’s hand in dealing with the seed of Jacob, we can appreciate his sense of timing.  This week the world will have a referendum to side with Israel’s enemies or with Israel.  Choose wisely.

John Paul is is an Associate Editor for Voice of Revolution, overseeing Jewish Issues.

© John Paul for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

Rabbi #1. Over the last decade, I have developed a close friendship with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the man hailed by Newsweek as “America’s most famous rabbi.” What makes the friendship unique is that the friendship has been developed in the midst of more than twenty intense debates we have had on whether Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, from the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan to a famous lecture hall in Oxford, England.

Obviously, I have taken the “yes” position and Rabbi Shmuley the “no” position, and, in keeping with our differing viewpoints, Shmuley insists on referring to me as a “Jew who converted to Christianity,” a description that I reject to the core of my Jewish soul. (Simply stated, if Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, believing in him does not constitute converting to a different religion.)

Here is where the plot thickens. Partly inspired by our debates, Shmuley wrote a book entitled Kosher Jesus, and it has caused a firestorm of controversy in the traditional Jewish community, as a number of prominent rabbis have expressed their concern that it will encourage Jews to read the New Testament and find out more about Jesus. For traditional Jews, that is not a happy proposition, especially given the 1,500 year history of the sometimes bloody, “Christian” persecution of Jews.

As expected, I am frequently targeted by Shmuley in his book, albeit in a friendly and respectful manner. At his request, I wrote an endorsement for Kosher Jesus while at the same time expressing my profound disagreements with it, finding the book far more offensive for traditional Christians than for traditional Jews. Interestingly, I have already read posts by other rabbis saying that if I’m endorsing the book, it must not be good for Jews!

Rabbi #2. Rabbi Dr. J. Immanuel Schochet is a world class scholar of Jewish mysticism and philosophy, a famed opponent of Jewish believers in Jesus, and a member of the Lubavitch Hasidic Jewish community, one with which Shmuley has close ties.

In response to a flood of inquiries he received about Kosher Jesus, he made an official legal pronouncement (called a halakhic decision in Jewish law), banning the reading of the book and calling on Shmuley to recognize “the error of his ways and . . . make amends by retracting the book.”

I also have a connection with Immanuel Schochet, having debated him before an audience of almost 600 at Arizona State University in Tempe Arizona on March 30, 1995. (More on that shortly.)

Rabbi #3. Rabbi Yitzchok Schochet is a prominent Orthodox rabbi in England whose name has been floated as a serious candidate for Chief Rabbi of the UK. He is also the son of the aforementioned Immanuel Schochet.

In Shmuley’s regular column in the Huffington Post, he lambasted Dr. Schochet’s book-banning pronouncement, stating that it was totally out of character for the learned rabbi. Shmuley also made reference to previous dealings he had with Rabbi Yitzchok Schochet, prompting Yitzchok to request a guest column in the Post in order to reply to charges Shmuley brought against him.

The Post complied, and in Rabbi Yitzchok’s column, he defended his father and explained that his father would not engage in debates with “missionaries,” with the exception of one time: “There was one debate my father did have when asked to challenge Michael Brown, the tragic Jews for J proponent. This was in the presence of a panel of judges who would determine the winner of the debate. Notwithstanding my father’s victory and inasmuch as he felt that one time necessary, he still regretted it thereafter.”

Putting aside the silly comment about me being “the tragic Jews for J[esus] proponent” (I would wish such a “tragic” life on everyone I know), Rabbi Yitzchok’s description of the event was completely erroneous.

This was confirmed in detail by the moderator of the debate, Dr. James White, who wrote to me (at the request of Rabbi Shmuley): “This is simply false. I was the only moderator of the debate. There were no judges, there was no panel. There was no proclamation of a victor: that was left to the listeners to decide, as in the vast majority of such debates.”

Dr. White, however, offered his own assessment of the debate: “The audience was primarily Christian, and I would imagine the vast preponderance of the audience, myself included, considered the debate rather one-sided in Dr. Brown’s favor.”

In the coming days, it will be interesting to see what happens with the controversy surrounding Kosher Jesus. For my part, I’m writing my own major response, which should stir the waters even more. And so the debate continues!

Dr. Michael Brown is the author of A Queer Thing Happened to America and the host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh…When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb. Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat. Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.  She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. She made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” (1 Samuel 1.1-11)

In this day and culture, the woman found her identity and dignity in the bearing of Children. A main part of her role was to give children to her husband, the greatest of which was a son. The fruitfulness of a woman’s womb was the culture’s language of success. The pattern of thinking of this culture and time required the women to produce for the man- especially, a son.

Elkanah’s wife Peninnah had a fruitful womb. She was “productive” in the relationship. Her life testified to the world that she was a successful wife. Her dignity and identity were awarded the relief and praise of having borne children. The pressure of the system of thinking in this culture was off her shoulders. Her identity was established because she had productivity. Her fruitfulness spoke for her and stood at her side as a prideful witness that she had proven herself in the language of culture and time.

Hannah, on the other hand, had the pressure of the culture and time endlessly pressing on her shoulders. Her identity and dignity were in question in the eyes of her peers. She was barren. She had no fruit. She had nothing to show for herself and the provocative testimony of Peninnah was an internally vexing, degrading and humiliating thing fueled by the weighty cultural demand upon the her shoulders. This was such an emotional pressure and humiliation to her that she was sick to her stomach and could not eat. She would cry deeply and sorrow would pour out of her face. She was distraught and oppressed by Peninnah, who was very fruitful. But Peninnah’s power over her was not Peninnah herself, but rather the power was the pattern of thinking in the culture of man. It was the world’s view of what success looked like. So ultimately, Hannah is oppressed by a voice that is behind Peninnah’s provoking words. It is the voice of human demand of the culture of man and the system of the world. It is the voice of a success that is based on what was is perceived to be fruitful, successful and productive. Are you depressed and frustrated in your ministry because you are judging your ministry’s success by numbers of salvations, healings or any other perceivable quantity or lack thereof?

When Hannah comes to her husband, he says the greatest portrayal of the heart and person of Jesus Christ that there could ever be, “Am I not more to you than 10 sons?” Ten is a great number because it represents completion. And as earlier stated, sons are the greatest fruit a woman can have. Elkanah says to his oppressed wife, Jesus says to you, “Am I not more to you than all the fruit in the world?” Are you not fulfilled in me? Am I not enough? Am I not all sufficient? Am I not I AM? Do you need something more than me to be happy, satisfied or delighted?

Hannah approached by such a shocking love from her husband; a love that is outside of the system of thinking of man; a love that finds value in her without a demand for fruitfulness as the culture may see it; a love that wants her to be only satisfied with him. He is after a love that needs nothing more than each other.

She found her appetite again and she communes with her husband at the table. And though she returns to tears again for fruitfulness in the next verse, her cry is different this time. It is for a son, the best fruit, now for a totally different reason. Her first cry was from the painful weight of the system of man that wrapped her identity and dignity up in her productivity and her fruitfulness, while her second was to have fruit to be able to give to God. She wanted good fruit to be able to offer at the feet of God Himself. No longer bound by the thinking of her own face and the testimony of her life being in accordance with the system of the culture and time, speaking man’s language of success, she is free to find all her joy in her husband. No longer worried that he will leave her because she is unable to produce, she now cries to God for the right reason. She now lifts up her tears in purity. She now weeps bitterly out of selflessness. She wants fruit to give to God.

But one may say, “the scripture earlier stated that ‘God had closed her womb. So her fruitlessness was because of God.’ And to this I say, “Exactly. Sometimes God prevents us from seeing the fruit that we want to see so that he can look dead into our eyes and say, ‘Am I not more to you than ten sons?’”

Preacher who is looking for more signs and wonders; Pastor who wants a building; Evangelist who desires to see more numbers; Teacher who wants more committed students: In your frustration, listen to the heart of your Bridegroom, “Am I not enough for you? Am I not more to you than a building. Am I not more to you than miracles? Am I not more to you than souls being saved? Am I not more to you than fruit?”

This issue must be settled first if we are to ever cry out with a pure cry. If we are ever to find purity enough to simply desire to lay fruit at His feet. This issue of being satisfied with God alone will open up the heart to a real burden that is focused upon offering to Jesus a wonderful gift. Hannah says, “I will give him to you all the days of his life.” This fruit is not for my name, no one will even see me with him. This fruit is not to remove my disgrace and shame or for me to find dignity or identity…it is all for you and only you. We will be forever set free from the oppressive production demand when we settle in our hearts that Jesus alone in my life and daily experience is enough to satisfy everything that I could ever desire. He is enough!

Brothers and sisters, we have got to return to first love. Love that is solely set upon Him alone and satisfied with Him alone, so that fruit can be exactly what it is supposed to be, an offering to God for Him to keep. May we never fall into the trap of finding our identity and dignity in how much we have done and can do for the Lord, or how much God has used us. Because the real issue is this: If He Himself is not enough, not only will your fruit be tainted because it was not brought out of the purity of satisfaction with God alone – He Himself being your identity- but you will never birth a Samuel into the world. Penninah’s kids were just regular kids that you never hear any thing about. But Samuel was a loyal prophet and burning priest with God unlike any other. There is no other prophet/priest like Samuel, but Jesus Himself. And in Hebrews the writer says, “…Samuel and the prophets…”, indicating Samuel stood out in all the records of time.

Such fruit is born only after the question is settled and we can say with all our hearts, “You yourself are more to me than all the fruit and success in the world. If I have everything and I don’t have you, I have nothing. But If I have You and nothing else in the world, I have everything.” Say this with me, “JESUS, YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR ME, AND MY DESIRE FOR FRUIT IS ONLY TO HAVE AN OFFERING TO LAY AT YOUR FEET.”

Eric Gilmour is an Associate Editor for Voice of Revolution, overseeing Revival & Evangelism. Visit his website at agonypress.podbean.com

© Eric Gilmour for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

“…. go into your inner room, close your door and pray….” -Matt. 6.6a

The glory and importance of meeting with God in the secret place has been radically undermined in our day. The powers of darkness know where to concentrate their oppositional forces, and perhaps no area has been more targeted than the area of devotional experience in the lives of the saints. By and large, they have struck their target dead on, for in most places we are not producing men and women of prayer.

Scarcely do we hear the exhortation to the secret place, for scarcely is it found as a necessity for those leading the Church. We cannot teach men to come into that which we have not lived ourselves, and so the litany of ideas emerge which keep us from the kind of life in prayer that Jesus was hoping to encourage.

I have met several times with ministers who have lowered the bar in this area, and for seemingly valid reasons. They say they have learned to pray on the run, or that they’ve developed a more “spontaneous” prayer life. They say that in the thick of true ministry, there is not time for long hours in secret prayer and Scriptural study and meditation.

I always leave their presence with a feeling of grief; not so much a critical attitude toward them, but a sense that our preaching and laboring and serving has become clinical and cold, humanly driven and half-baked, for we are not giving ourselves to the Lord in the place where He has most desired to meet us- the “inner room” of fellowship with Him.

Jesus gives three simple calls to His disciples in the above verse.

1. Go Into Your Inner-Room

While we have the liberty for it, He tells us to take advantage of a place in our homes or in some location where we can present our souls before Him. Have you made a place for this great purpose? We set up rooms for all kinds of specific purposes in our homes. Have we found a place to meet with God?

2. Close Your Door

One of the reasons the people of God rarely make it into the life of prayer is that they seek to establish devotional lives in a religious manner, without real desire or holy intention, and they only find the strength for little spurts of reading and prayer. They lack the faith and hunger for God sufficient enough to inspire them to close the door on life, on people, on food, on errands, on entertainment, and even on ministry to others. But Jesus said we’ve got to “close the door” if ever we wish to enter into the heights of God-filled devotion. Are you closing the door on the world everyday, enough to engage the living God in secret? The powers of darkness will use any means to distract us from this place, and if we haven’t sufficiently “closed the door” they will have their way with us.

3. Pray!

Once we have gone into the inner-room, and closed the door, we must have the boldness to enter into prayer without hesitation. We cannot dwell too long on our failures and accomplishments, or get distracted by intellectual studies. The first half of “the Lord’s prayer” is all God-ward, and our needs are touched in the second half, once we have beheld the Lord of glory. We must enter His courts with thanksgiving and worship, conjoining our adoration of Him with the cry for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done. Whether we feel inspired or not, we need to have the faith to open our souls and open our mouths in prayer. As Edward Payson used to say, “pray until you pray.”

We cannot really enter into the depths of prayer until we have prayed. We cannot pray until we have closed the door on the world. We cannot close the door if we haven’t gone into our inner room. It’s the secret life of prayer that lays the foundation for an abiding life in all settings, and this is why Jesus both lived this way, and taught His disciples to do the same.

Oh, friend, He will meet you there. He will open up the Scriptures to you. He will shower you with the waters of holy love, purify your soul with fire from above, still your heart and teach you His glorious ways. Once you have broken through the morass and clutter of life, the secret place will become your favored place, and you will wonder why you had neglected it for lesser company or lesser things. He will reward you with all the glorious fruits of communion with Himself, and your joy will be made full.

Bryan Purtle is the founder of the Antioch Prayer Society in Kansas City, MO.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” -Ps. 34.19

It is a “gospel” of naivete which claims that once a man comes to faith in Christ he will never know affliction. To state the Biblical view clearly, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14.22) According to Luke, this was a word of encouragement to the saints.

This Pauline perspective was expressed thusly:

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” -1 Cor. 12.10

And:

“…as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance in afflictions, hardships, calamities…” -2 Cor. 6.4

For Paul, remarkable sufferings did not disqualify him from the blessing of God, but were the commendation of his ministry, that “in every way by great endurance” he was “content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities.”

On every front the Biblical writers recognized that suffering was integral to the life of faith. It is on the ground of affliction that our faith is tempered, reinforced, and proven. The modern paradigm has digressed into a tooth-and-nail scrap for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and seldom do the saints operate on the basis of apostolic wisdom, which leads us to becoming “broken bread and poured out wine” for the sake of Christ.

We need to rightly interpret our present affliction and God-orchestrated tensions, for so long as we have as our ambition the circumvention of all hardship, we impede the formation of Christ in our own life and character. To circumvent the cross is to obstruct the flow of resurrection life.

Whenever a thing becomes difficult in personal experience, we are in danger of blaming God, but it is we who are in the wrong, not God; there is some perversity somewhere that we will not let go. Immediately we do, everything becomes as clear as daylight.
….The attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. When once we get there, there is nothing easier than living the saintly life; difficulty comes in when we want to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own ends.

-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, Dec. 14th selection

We need to recognize that in large part, difficulties are permitted to come upon us “when we want to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own ends.” Paul himself, in all of his apostolic character and stature, was brought to the view that his “thorn in the flesh” was meant to keep his own soul in check before the Lord, lest he “exalt” himself. Whatever that “thorn” was, he had prayed for a release from it, and finally concluded at the encouragement of the Lord that it was to remain as a life-giving affliction.

We see here the two-fold view of Paul, for he had seen mighty deliverances, and for this reason he pleaded with the Lord for a release. But when the Lord gave word that His grace was “sufficient” to carry Paul through, immediately he interpreted the affliction as a safeguard for his soul. He saw that his own propensity for self-exaltation, which was yet alive in his recesses after years of apostolic labor, needed the release of grace that could only be attained through suffering.

It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces. -Ps. 119.71-72

The “law” or wisdom of His “mouth” must become “better” to us “than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” For Paul, the wisdom of God prevailed over his own, and so he recognized the goodness of God, even in the land of affliction. Indeed, he was able to discern the kindness of God, not only in the midst of affliction, but through the affliction itself.

O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
O fear the Lord, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want. (Ps. 34.8-9)

The goodness and fear of the Lord, when rightly apprehended, will shepherd us well in the barren grasslands of trial, and lead us to the waters that “make glad the city of God.”

‘Fear of the Lord’ in Psm. 34 means to recognize YHWH in His actuality, particularly in His reality for salvation, and to behave accordingly.
….He who fears YHWH recognizes and acknowledges His reality.
….The righteous experience the reality and the saving activity of YHWH, especially in times of distress.

(Hans Joachim Kraus, PSALMS: A Continental Commentary, Fortress Press)

The “saving activity of YHWH, especially in times of distress,” is the great work of ringing out our propensity for self-exaltation, so that through and through we might be infused with the light of His glorious character and wisdom.

Whether suffering persecution for righteousness’ sake, friction in relationships, or experiencing some other form of affliction, we can be sure that the Lord means to effect His “saving activity” by the very means of that hardship. “Death works in us, so life” does as well, in our own hearts and unto those souls whom the Lord has put us in touch with. This is an apostolic view too infrequently celebrated by the Church, but when we are apprehended by it, we take on a whole new panoramic outlook, and Jesus Christ has the preeminence in our lives.

This is to be supremely desired.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2011. | Permalink

“We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” -1 Jn. 4.6

“….even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” -Gal. 1.8-9

There is a thread of the knowledge of God which runs through the Scriptures, and which we need desperately to cling to in these last days. It is the accumulated revelation of God, beginning in Genesis, running right through the Patriarchs, Judges, and Prophets of the Hebrew Bible.

It continues on in the New Testament record, finding it’s revelatory climax in Jesus Himself.

The foundational apostles, having a firm grasp on that thread, found themselves in a continuum with the knowledge of God set forth by their progenitors. What the prophet of old saw in part, the apostle viewed in fuller measure, but that fuller measure never ground against the revelation of God given before. Isaiah and Ezekiel’s visions were not trumped by Paul’s, but rather summed up in Christ. “I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.” The apostle’s teaching did not replace the revelation of God given in the Hebrew Bible (after all, Paul charged the Gentiles to read the prophets!), it brought type and shadow to manifested definition through the Gospel of Jesus.

In obedience to the Gospel call, the apostles poured out their lives to convey and deliver that precious knowledge of Christ to the Gentiles. On the shoulders of that great Hebraic history and sacrifice, the Church finds its foundation, and out of the sap which comes from Israel’s tree, we “live, move, and have our being.”

When the Gnostic heresy was affecting the community to which John wrote, he was gripped with concern and addressed the Church along these lines:

These men do not have a hold on the holy thread which has been given through Christ; namely, the intimate knowledge of the God of Israel, which was delivered to us by the full-orbed demonstration of His wisdom on the Cross. They deny His flesh-and-blood witness, and thereby prove that they are false. They didn’t come from the apostolic fellowship, they have a hold on some faulty version of faith, and are operating in a spirit of error.

When the Judaizers were infiltrating the congregations in Galatia, Paul was equally concerned, though the impostors were of a different order than the Gnostics. In essence, he charged the Church thusly:

The Gospel that we delivered to you was not the concoction of men. It was given to me by way of holy revelation, through a vital encounter with the God of Israel. Before my confrontation with the Messiah on the road to Damascus, I thought I had a hold on the thread of the Lord’s doctrine, but I was on a windy path of religiosity that had impressive forms, but no viable union with Him in truth. The Messiah Jesus appeared to me, transformed my heart and view, and introduced me to the true thread of the knowledge of my father Abraham’s God. Now, why would you make room in your hearts for those who would proclaim a so-called Gospel that is totally out of touch with the foundational word that you received from me? It may have manners of formality and superstructures that seem spiritual, but its foundations are faulty. They have not been laid by foundational servants who are in that holy continuum, but by men with agendas. Flee from these “different gospels”!

We look upon the congregations in Galatia and wonder how they fell prey to the Judaizers. We look upon the ones to whom John wrote, baffled that any of them would even consider the strange ideas and ruminations of Gnosticism. But it behooves us in these days, with a shortage of foundational servants in the Church, to raise very serious and applicable questions.

Do we have a firm grasp on the “thread” of the knowledge of God, as He has set Himself forth in the Scriptures?

Are “different Gospels”, that the apostles of old would hardly recognize, taking center stage in our congregations?

Do we find ourselves in a continuum with the prophets and apostles of the Scriptures, or is our “revelation” of Jesus and the Gospel a caricature of the true and foundational revelation once and for all given?

Certainly, we all “see in part” and “prophesy in part”, but my own heart is alarmed these days, as I’m hearing “different gospels” promulgated, even in evangelical and charismatic congregations. “Gospels” that seem to have a hold on some other thread of knowledge- one that grinds against the revelation of God given through the Scriptures.

I’m hearing statements like this:

“There’s no need to preach repentance in the church. I refuse to preach repentance to people who are already repenting.”

“God is not the author of any suffering or any natural disasters. In fact, because all of His judgment was fulfilled at the cross, He does not act in that way any more. That was Old Testament.”

“The Gospels were actually written to support Paul’s epistles.”

“Maybe you’ve been spending too much time in Jeremiah. Maybe you’ve even spent too much time in the Gospels. Jesus was not a grace preacher. He was a preacher of the Law. You need to get out of the red letters for a while and get into Paul.”

The man who made the latter statement declared, “I may be a little too Pauline for you all…”, to which I responded, “Actually, he is not being Pauline at all!”

Dear saints, I am not into “watchdog ministry” or looking under every rock and behind every bush for the slightest spasm of doctrinal error. I am not one to find pleasure in naming names or exposing faults in others to my own elevation. But my heart is breaking over the kinds of things I’m hearing these days, and I’m told by itinerant preacher friends that they are running into this all over the nation.

….there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master [and His Lordship] who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. -2 Pet. 2.1

This applied to Peter’s day, and it will apply in an increasing measure in the days leading up to the Lord’s return. The Lord has never been fond of mixtures, and we are seeing a staggering kind of mixture in our day. It is likely an old mixture, but it is being repackaged and is spreading in an unprecedented manner. It’s a profession of Jesus as Savior, but a denial of Jesus as Lord. A profession of Jesus as “good”, but a denial of Jesus as “the Judge of all the earth.” A profession of Jesus as compassionate, but a denial of Jesus as the One who calls “all men to repent.”

Dear saints, it is not either/or. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” “Behold then the kindness and severity of God…” If we are unwilling to grow in the knowledge of God as He has set Himself forth in the Scriptures, we can be sure that we do not have a hold on the right “thread”.

More than ever, we have come to a time when an “utterness” toward the Lord is the matter of life and death for the Church and for Israel. We’ve got to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints,” lest we find ourselves swimming in the polluted waters of “different gospels,” which will have great appeal to men, while leading them away from the reality of of Christ, though their movements will likely bear the name “Jesus.”

The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The oracles they gave you were false and misleading. -Lam. 2.14

We need to be cognizant of the fact that as the final pages of history are turned, there will be demonstrations of power that are from the Lord, and demonstrations of power that are from below. The safeguard against falling prey to “different gospels” is to be found in the secret place with the Lord, to immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, and to walk in humility one with another in a continued pursuit of the true knowledge of God.

The world is evil, the times are waxing late, and the glory of God has departed from the church as the fiery cloud once lifted from the door of the Temple in the sight of Ezekiel the prophet.

The God of Abraham has withdrawn His conscious Presence from us, and another God whom our fathers knew not is making himself at home among us. This God we have made and because we have made him we can understand him; because we have created him he can never surprise us, never overwhelm us, nor astonish us, nor transcend us.

….The God of our fathers wills to be the God of their succeeding race. We have only to prepare Him a habitation in love and faith and humility.

-A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, Ch. 8, God’s Infinitude

I do not want to leave you with a note of hopelessness, for He has made Himself overwhelmingly available to us. No person has more copiously poured our their affection or condescended so far to reach you. If we seek Him with all our heart, we “shall find Him,” and when we get a hold of the “thread” there is no greater place of holy delight, “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” All the more grievously does it strike me, that many would wallow in habitual sin and a “different gospel”, when the glories of the Man Christ Jesus have been made available to all who would come.

We must dig deeply into the Scriptures. We must be found in the place of prayer. We have a privileged calling to make a demonstration of His wisdom to the “principalities and powers of the air,” to “move Israel to jealousy,” to take the Gospel of glory to the “uttermost parts of the earth,” and ultimately, to “hasten” the day of our glorious Lord’s return.

Dear saints, I say again, there is nothing more crucial than coming into a knowledge of God as He is, and not as we ourselves have conceived Him to be.

Little children, guard yourselves from idols. -1 Jn. 5.21

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2011. | Permalink

“Every morning I will silence all the wicked of the land, so as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.” -Ps. 101.8

There is a remarkable call within this word from King David. He is singing from the authority of a Kingly Throne in Jerusalem, and His governmental position has little to do with our everyday experience, but there is a heavenly value system being propounded here, and it has everything to do with our calling as the people of God.

I find it awesome that David’s governmental thoughts are intertwined with the value system of the Heavenly Kingdom. David is wanting to silence or destroy “all the wicked of the land,” which he defines earlier as those who set “worthless things” before their eyes, “those who fall away,” those with “perverse hearts,” those who “slander their neighbors,” those with “haughty looks” and “arrogant hearts,” and those who “practice deceit” and “speak falsehood.”

David had responsibility over the land of Judah, and he did not want to see any form of wickedness taking root among his people. He did not wink at immorality or tolerate the haughty and lying tenor of his generation.

We have responsibility over the land of our own hearts, yet how often are believers removed from this kind of vigilant jealousy for the reality of God’s government? How often are we entertained by those with haughty looks and arrogant hearts? How often do we admire and esteem actors or sports figures or co-workers who practice deceit and speak falsehood? Are we envious of what they possess? Are we coveting popularity or riches or some other quality that the old King of Israel would’ve called a “worthless thing?”

We need daily to have our mentality and paradigm altered in the place of prayer, wherein we encounter the One who makes all things new. “Every morning” we need to prostrate our souls before the King of the New Jerusalem, to disown our petty jealousies, lusts, and self-centric fantasies. We need to be converted and brought onto His holy ground, to destroy all wicked attributes from the land of our hearts.

This thread of Davidic thought weaved its way through the New Testament as well, when Jesus called us to “take up the cross daily,” and the seasoned apostle set the example by declaring, “I die daily.” We are keen on big religious events, but the foundational men of the Scriptures had a consciousness of the “dailiness” of true obedience, in great publicity or total obscurity.

We are called and privileged to walk with God, not merely to have a blowout spiritual event every once and a while. Jesus took up the cross daily. Paul died daily. David sought to eradicate the wicked of the land daily. So also are we called, and when we respond so utterly, that is when our Christianity transitions from being the religion of our choice, to the true power of God Himself, and the ultimate reality of authentic faith.

David’s motive was not for religious accolades, nor was it a self-righteous expression of his personal piety. His passion for the destruction of wickedness was the result of his yearning after the living God, and this he sets forth in the second verse:

“I will give heed to the blameless way.
When will You come to me?”

Do not embark on your days without first dying to the spirit of this age, dear saint. Find a quiet place to sing praises to the Lamb, to enter into the work of intercession, to wait before Him in holy adoration, and to delve deeply into the Scriptures. Take up David’s burden and heart, that “every morning” would be for the silencing of wickedness, and the ardent pursuit of the only One who is worth the full investment of our souls.

He will make all things new, transmit His own life, love, and holiness to your person, and you will emerge from the dust of the secret prayer closet with the light of heaven upon your soul. “Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit….”

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2011. | Permalink

To be clear, I personally believe that the great majority of homosexual men also deplore Sandusky’s alleged acts. At the same time, there is a very large pedophile elephant that is hiding in the gay activist closet. Dare we expose it?

Let’s start with our children’s schools, where GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight, Education Network, has long advocated for the celebration of homosexual history, using tools like “North American History Game Cards,” where elementary school children learn that famous Americans like Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman were gay.

What the children don’t learn is that if Whitman was a homosexual, he was also a pederast, that Ginsberg was a defender of NAMBLA, the notorious North American Man Boy Love Association, and that he (in)famously said, “Attacks on NAMBLA stink of politics, witchhunting for profit, humorlessness, vanity, anger and ignorance. . . . I’m a member of NAMBLA because I love boys too — everybody does, who has a little humanity.”

During a radio interview earlier this year on the Rick Amato show, Jimmy LaSalvia of GOProud stated, “I happen to think that a good school teacher, when they’re teaching literature, would mention that Oscar Wilde, when they’re teaching his work, would mention that Oscar Wilde was locked in an asylum because he was gay.”

Would they also mention that he was a boy lover and that he wrote about his passionate sexual encounters with young teens no older than some of the boys allegedly molested by Sandusky?

As noted by Jim Kepner, formerly curator of the International Gay and Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles, “If we reject the boylovers in our midst today we’d better stop waving the banner of the Ancient Greeks, of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, [and others]. We’d better stop claiming them as part of our heritage unless we are broadening our concept of what it means to be gay today.” (There is, of course, dispute about the sexuality of some of these men on the list, but if, in fact, they were homosexual, they were also pederasts.)

And remember that SB 48, mandating the celebration of LGBT history in all California schools for all children in all grades, is now law.

The outrage over the alleged pedophile acts of Sandusky is only matched by the gay silence over the alleged pedophile (or pederast) acts of Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, and others.

There is already a Harvey Milk Day in California, commemorating the life and death of this gay pioneer politician who has also been celebrated in an Academy Award winning film, but there’s more to the Harvey Milk story.

According to the acclaimed gay journalist Randy Shilts, at age eleven, Milk began attending performances of the New York Metropolitan Opera where he met with “wandering hands,” and soon was engaged in “brief trysts [with grown men] after the performances.” While still in junior high, he “dove headfirst into the newly discovered subculture,” and by the age of fourteen, Milk was “leading an active homosexual life.” As he grew older, the pattern reversed itself to the point that, at age thirty-three, Milk hooked up with a sixteen-year-old named Jack McKinley, one of a number of younger men with whom he was intimate.

And our kids celebrate Harvey Milk Day in their schools? Will they also celebrate the memory of Harry Hay, widely considered to be the founder of America’s gay liberation movement and another well-known friend of NAMBLA? When a gay pride parade in Los Angeles banned NAMBLA from participating, Hay decided to march in the parade carrying a sign that said, “NAMBLA walks with me.”

From 2001-2006, Yale University’s LGBT program was greatly helped by the Larry Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies, named after the famous gay activist and author. Kramer too was a NAMBLA supporter, and in a 2004 speech in New York City, he spoke of a “sweet young boy who didn’t know anything and was in awe of me. I was the first man who [had sex with] him. I think I murdered him” (meaning, by infecting him with AIDS). Where is the gay outcry over this?

And what are we to make of these statements by Kramer, proudly quoted by NAMBLA? “In those cases where children do have sex with their homosexual elders . . . I submit that often, very often, the child desires the activity, and perhaps even solicits it, either because of a natural curiosity . . . or because he or she is homosexual and innately knows it.” He even claimed that, “And unlike girls or women forced into rape or traumatized, most gay men have warm memories of their earliest and early sexual encounters; when we share these stories with each other, they are invariably positive ones.”

This is despicable, deplorable, and disgusting, yet Kramer remains a revered figure in gay activist circles.

And I haven’t said a word about gay activist attempts to reduce (or repeal!) the age of consent in different countries, including America (see, for example, the 1972 Gay Rights Platform), but the inescapable truth is clear: The gay activist closet has been opened, and the pedophile elephant is there.

Let gay activists demonstrate their categorical rejection of all forms of pedophilia and pederasty by denouncing its very obvious presence in gay history (from the ancient Greeks to Harvey Milk), by renouncing all gay attempts to lower (or eliminate) the age of consent, and by agreeing not to sexualize our children’s education.

Will they do that, or will they attack the messenger? We shall see.

(Everything cited in this article is carefully and painfully documented in A Queer Thing Happened to America.)

Dr. Michael Brown is the author of A Queer Thing Happened to America and the host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network.

© Michael L. Brown for Voice of Revolution, 2011. | Permalink

“O Yahweh, all your creatures shall praise you,
and your godly people shall pay homage to you!
About the glory of your kingdom they shall speak
and talk about your heroic strength!
So that your strength may become known to the children of men,
the glorious splendor of your kingdom!” -Ps. 145.10-12 (Kraus’ tr.)

The psalmist sees creation from a majestic vantage point. From his view, all the splendor of creation points Godward, and he is eager for all Israel, indeed all mankind, to enter into the high praises of the Lord.

“…. the invitation to praise Yahweh in vv. 10-12 now turns to “all his creatures,” so that the power and salvation of Yahweh may become known to “all the children of men.” “King Yahweh” (v. 1) rules a universal “kingdom,” which endures through all generations and radiates benevolent effects to all the world.

…. It is the wish of the singer that in the universal kingship of Yahweh “all flesh” would join in the praise.

…. In statements of praise the singer pays tribute to the great deeds of “King Yahweh.” He renders homage to the majesty of the powerful and merciful God. In the invitations and challenges that pulse through the hymn and determine its content all creatures- without regard for time and space- are drawn into the praise of God. To them the ideal government of the kingdom of Yahweh is impressively described and witnessed. Yahweh’s rule is characterized by salvific faithfulness and goodness that is bent down to those who pray and are afflicted.

(PSALMS: A Continental Commentary Vol. 2, Hans Joachim-Kraus; Fortress Press, pp. 548-549)

It is not the religious specialist who beholds the “salvific faithfulness and goodness” of God, but rather the one who accepts the invitation to “praise Yahweh,” and to pray even though he is experiencing very present affliction. The psalmists are preeminently God-centered men, and they are ever and always calling us out of self-absorption, and into the high praises of the One who is ruling and reigning from the heavenly throne.

To pray in the midst of affliction is to acknowledge our weakness and frailty, but in that acknowledgement we are surrounded by the protective power of the immeasurable strength of God Himself. From the place of praise we realize that His kingdom “radiates benevolent effects to all the world,” including the pieces of dust that we are. His wisdom transcends our own and yet He warmly responds to the one who honors Him in the valley, and for that very reason it is the highest human privilege to enter into prayer and praise from the context of affliction.

We should not think of affliction as sickness or physical pain only, for the most frequent afflictions are inward. The pains of disillusionment, confusion, shaken paradigms, self-conscious idiosyncrasies. Entering into prayer and praise from the place of inward affliction is the great privilege of the saint.

David even has the audacity, powered by his intimate knowledge of the Lord, to pray for a theophany, an appearance of God Himself, during a season of remarkable pressure and trial (Ps. 144.5ff.). While the unbeliever has no place to turn in such times, the child of God has a faithful Father and King whose ear is bent in his favor.

Paul and Silas sung high praises from the ground of affliction, and the cosmos could not contain the contradictory dynamic of weak souls seeing beyond their present trial and into the heavens, “where Christ is.” The earth, and the powers which influenced it, were not accustomed to suffering men radiating the “benevolent effects” of God’s kingdom. An earthquake ensued and bonds were broken. “….the kingdom of God has come upon you….”

To behold the works of God and the character of God rightly, our self-inflicted “inward afflictions” have got to be jostled, and it is the act of praise itself that breaks the lies and shatters the presumptions that have so often caused them.

The works of God which man explores speak a language which provokes him to a hymn of praise. And in praise fragmentary perceptions turn into a unity and a whole, together with the still unexplored secrets which continue to threaten even the most thoroughly established knowledge.

(H.W. Wolff, ibid. p. 549)

Our “thoroughly established knowledge” is frequently the culprit and cause of our inward afflictions. We need repeatedly to be jolted into reality through the singular revelation of God on the throne, ruling in beauty and holiness and wisdom. When at once we see Him exalted on high, our suspicions, presumptions, bitternesses, and distorted perceptions are dashed to the dust, and we enter into the extraordinary liberty of praise. This is not to say that we are not called to wrestle through the seasons of breaking and trial, but to say that a wrestling on any lesser ground than the ground of prayer and praise will only keep us fixed in cycles of self-centered thought. We need daily and increasingly to be struck by the vision of God, as He actually is, and to praise Him in that glorious light.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2011. | Permalink