Tag Archives: #Apostasy

Fundamental flaw in Western society – re. Greece-Europe crisis, Humanism

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“What qualifies you to comment on such a technically complex politico-economic topic?” you may ask. You could well think a hunch or mere coincidences, as in the preamble, to be just mere conjecture or insubstantial supposition.

Question Answered by Prophetic Word

Detail from Eagle-eyed by John Mark Long: www.propheticartists.comMore than being an informed observer, I humbly submit a qualification additional to that of being a biblical student of history. Admittedly, it’s of an immaterial nature: a Holy Spirit gifting!  Six years ago Isabel Allum, the well-known teacher of prophecy, discerned it and thereby validated my decision 3 months earlier to write regularly because of an insight on the Bible (The ‘Endgame’ is now in play).

Forgive me for being so personal. It’s the first time of publicly sharing this, not to boast but to answer the above kind of question which readers’ may rightly entertain. In part, the prophetic insight Isabel brought us was as follows (with her emphases):

“…And I heard the Lord saying brother, you are a man of wisdom…He’s coming to release a new level of wisdom in you that far surpasses the wisdom of man and He’s going to make you a man of…

“And I heard the Lord say, an impartation like Daniel had is going to come into you and you will start understanding the ‘riddles’ of the Lord in a different way – the gift of interpretation itself as Daniel and Joseph had is going to come to you and God is going to open up your understanding to hear from heaven, not necessarily to understand the way men do but you will see; like Joseph said, interpreting dreams is God’s business not man’s business and dreams from the Lord cannot be interpreted through symbolism or analysis, only through revelation.

“And the Lord is going to give you the real thing and you will bring it and you will answer the questions of many. But I also heard the Lord saying He’s going to open up nations for you…”

Hence, my many references to sensing ‘God-incidents’ / ‘Invisible jigsaw’!

With that said, let’s turn our attention to the matter in hand:

A Niggling Notion

Kononia eNews_Breakup-of-EUAs stated in the preamble, this matter wouldn’t go away last week – it kept tapping within my spirit. Then along came inspiration in material hidden away ‘upstairs’. That post’s sandwich-style format applies here too: black text for first thoughts already drafted, as below; blue text relating to later ‘God-incidental’ finds; and black again for the conclusion, now expanded.

(Additionally, after writing both drafts yet another ‘confirmation’ came from the same source, but this time in a mailed letter!!)

Here are some brief thoughts on the financial collapse of Greece from a scriptural and spiritual perspective. In view of the direct historical relationship, this also applies to the pinnacle of Western civilisation in its supposedly advanced forms in Europe and North America.

The foundations of European and American civilisations are built upon ancient Greece, not on the later Roman Empire.  All our scholastic, intellectual, scientific, literary and political history and institutions are modeled upon those of the ancient Greeks’ patterns of thought. And most importantly, our free, democratic self-government is styled upon the example set by ancient Greece.

greek-democracy-symbol

Traditional and reformed churches so admired those ancient philosophers that theology got skewed away from the original, Hebraic foundations of our Christian faith.  Greek ideas of the human constitution as being composed only of body and soul omitted the third part which, according to a Hebraic understanding, is our personal human spirit.  We have a triune nature because we’re created in the Almighty’s image.

Hence, the importance of the discovery of notes from 2012 inserted into the preamble’s ‘taster’ on ‘Intellect or Revelation?’!!

The following quotations come from a paper I’d referred to during online discussion on Greek philosophy in December 2012 and ‘coincidentally’ found in our loft last week. It’s apposite to insert them in blue text (as explained above) into my remarks, between the drafted introduction and conclusion.

Humanism – Forerunner for Antichrist

As a consequence of the pre-reformation and reformed Church’s and the subsequent Enlightenment’s interest in ancient Greece, a subtle, misleading influence upon Western culture and religion developed through the introduction of humanism and its associated agnosticism and atheism.

Derek Prince was a fellow of King’s College Cambridge and a senior research student who specialised in the philosophy of Plato. Although highly qualified to comment upon the ancient Greeks and their subsequent influence, he had a life-changing encounter with the author of the Bible after being called up into military service in the Second World War. Derek was ‘born-again’ and became an very influential Christian teacher

Decades later, in 1993-4, he was given an insight into developments in USA and Israel and the conflict spanning both heaven and earth, as follows:

“The governments and the armies of this world, operating solely on the natural plane, have no understanding of the conflict and no power to deal with the satanic forces in the heavenlies. On the contrary, without realizing it, they themselves are manipulated and controlled by those forces. One essential requirement for victory is to identify the nature of the forces that are at work in any given situation.

“In recent months [in early 1990s] as I have been meditating on developments in the world—especially in the U.S.A. and Israel—and I believe that God has shown me the identity of the evil, deceptive power that Satan plans to use to consummate his purposes for the end of this age. It is HUMANISM.”

Derek had always thought humanism was “a comparatively harmless error” but upon consulting a dictionary he was taken aback by its definition, viz:

“…the denial of any power or moral value superior to that of humanity; the rejection of religion in favour of a belief in the advancement of humanity by its own efforts.

“I realized that humanism is not spiritually neutral. On the contrary, it is a deliberate denial and rejection of God’s power and authority. It is an anti-religious religion. For this reason, it can be—and often is—taught in educational systems, such as that of the USA, which prohibit the teaching of religion in its usual sense.” (Emphases added.)

In tracing this Greek concept back in time he noted its direct linkage in the dream image of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in chapter two of the Book of Daniel:

“I realised that it was Greece – more than any of the other empires – which, through its philosophy, reproduced itself in subsequent cultures“.

Beginning with their earliest philosopher they asserted that man is the highest authority in the universe and idolized the human mind, Derek writes,

“Aristotle’s concept of God was a perfect mind contemplating itself—because nothing less was worthy of its contemplation. Out of this the whole philosophy of rationalism has developed”.

With this idolatry came glorification of the male body and, “the Greeks also tended to downgrade the marriage relationship between a man and a woman, and to view a homosexual relationship between two men as being more “intellectually fulfilling”. 

Derek continues by pointing out that the “so-called ‘gods’ of Greece exhibited all the moral failings of humanity…a complete absence, in fact, of any binding moral code. This left man free to be his own god, and to establish his own moral code. After all, no people can be expected to live above the level of its own gods“.

Spirit of Humanism’s Offensive

“In 1992 the spirit of humanism launched a major new offensive against both the USA and Israel. Almost simultaneously, a cloud of dense spiritual darkness descended upon both nations.

“In their national elections that year the spiritual force that brought to power both the Clinton administration in the USA and the Labor Coalition in Israel was blatant, undiluted humanism. Both administrations represent an open and deliberate rejection of God’s righteous laws and of the covenants He made with man, first through Moses and then through Jesus Christ. They have demonstrated that, carried to its ultimate, humanism will believe anything  but the truth and will tolerate anything but righteousness.

“This exaltation of man is the force which will finally give rise to the Antichrist, whose name is the number of man (Rev. 13:18), the man of lawlessness, who opposes and exalts himself above everything that is called God or is worshiped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thess 2:3–4).

With this he heads into a magnificent conclusion: 

“Before this final period of tribulation, however, God still has tremendous purposes to work out for both Israel and the Church. A harvest of mercy will precede the harvest of judgment. God’s preparation for this is revealed in Zechariah 9:13: “I will raise up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece…”  The “sons of Greece” are those who embrace the deception of humanism. The “sons of Zion” are those who take their stand upon the infallible Word of God, embracing both its promises and its covenants.”

It’s fascinating to dig this paper out of old folders for insertion herein only to find Derek’s conclusion is the same as that which was already in my mind!  But a republished letter on its way to me from his ministry has him adding an incisive scripture. More soon…

[Quotations from Humanism: Forerunner for Antichrist pdf, by courtesy of Derek Prince Ministries. Also read brief biography, About Derek Prince.] 

The Current Crisis

Several times the elected leaders of Greece have rejected legitimate demands for debt repayment by the nation’s European and IMF creditors. There’s been a massive run on the banks and the nation is completely bankrupt.

Telegraph Business front page today refers to a leaked IMF report saying “Greece will need drastic debt forgiveness” and warns that “Europe’s leaders must contemplate breaking EU treaty law to provide “Deep up-front haircuts” on Greece’s debt mountain”.

In IMF stuns Europe with call for massive debt relief, the leading financial journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes about the revolutionary nature of this report,

‘The International Monetary Fund has set off a political earthquake in Europe, warning that Greece may need a full moratorium on debt payments for 30 years and perhaps even long-term subsidies to claw its way out of depression.

“The dramatic deterioration in debt sustainability points to the need for debt relief on a scale that would need to go well beyond what has been under consideration to date,” said the IMF in a confidential report…

‘The findings are explosive. The document amounts to a warning that the IMF will not take part in any EMU-led rescue package for Greece unless Germany and the EMU creditor powers finally agree to sweeping debt relief…’

All this is especially interesting with 2014-2016 being Shemitah and Jubilee years, when ancient Israel cancelled all debts (see Wikipedia).

In tandem with financial turmoil, we’re also witnessing widespread rebellion in Europe and America against the moral and spiritual standards ordained by the Almighty. Those who once set the motto ‘In God We Trust’ (which is treated like a mascot!) have leaders who allow His commands to be treated with greatest contempt!  That nation born out of Europe proudly claimed ‘exceptionalism’, when in fact it’s no longer exceptional but apostate!

And the state named after its warrior leader and first president, George Washington, has been experiencing unusual temperatures consistently over 100 degrees Fahrenheit!

To my mind, these combined events speak strongly about the state of our ‘evolved’ Western society and civilisation – its beginning and its end.

Hopefully, it’s a warning that both ends of Euro-American civilisation are bankrupt – one the ancient historic root, the other its modern descendants –  one financially, the other morally and spiritually, with all the attendant consequences!!

Now it just so happens a couple of letters to one of the first churches planted in Europe are very instructive on this matter:

Apostasy and Deception

The Book of Acts records that, whilst on a mission in Asia Minor, the apostle Paul was supernaturally called to visit Macedonia over in mainland Europe (Acts 16). In about 49 AD he arrived in the port of Philippi in northern Greece and planted a house church led by a business woman known as Lydia. From there he and his companion Silas went south to Salonika (Thessalonica), found the Jewish synagogue and preached there. A thriving church of devout Greeks and some Jews was established, but they helped Paul to escape from his violent opponents. Within a couple of years he wrote from Corinth two concise letters to those new believers to clarify points arising from his teaching.

One of those themes was upon the expected return of the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul’s second letter clarified the brief reference made in the first, as follows.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [2 Thessalonians 2 NKJV per BibleGateway.com – Emphasis RB]

He proceeds at length to explain that the ‘mystery of lawlessness’ is already at work, but that someone who will be the very personification of evil will be revealed and come onto the world stage. Then the Lord will come from heaven and destroy him by the glory of His physical return to earth (2Thess 2:8)

Today – now – we’re well into that first stage, the ‘falling away’ from true faith in Jesus Christ, and which is also known as the ‘Great Apostasy’, as is so abundantly evident across the once-Christian Western world. (Eg. recent video clip on John Kilpatrick vision: ‘The United Apostates of America’.)  Paul proceeds,

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

This means that those who fall away from the fullness of faith as originally taught by the Apostles will become so unrighteous in God’s sight that they will be wide open to being deceived by Satan and his agents. They bring a distortion and twisting of the Gospel to accommodate people’s preferences and desires instead of obeying God’s commands.

It is clear this deception is the consequential result of not loving the truth, who is the very Word of God in the person of Jesus Christ, and thus not desiring Him and the salvation He bought them by dying in their stead on the cross.

The next verse is extremely ominous. Paul explains that, because their attitude remains deliberately ungodly, the Almighty is not only allowing them to be strongly deceived but is sending an irresistible delusion, the consequences of which will condemn them:

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

By way of a careful caveat we need to note that a number of believers too readily quote verse 9 about some people through whom miracles, signs and wonders are displayed. As in my recent post on the accuser of the brethren attacking prophecies such self-appointed inquisitors claim all such demonstrations are deception. But upon reading and understanding the chapter in its entirety (as here) we find their claims to be rather judgemental.

Verse 12 gives the game away! Only those who despise the truth of the Gospel will be misled and suffer the consequences. Only a few years later Paul gave a full exposition on God’s wrath on unrighteousness in the early verses of his letter to the church in Rome – see Romans 1:18-32. (This too was written in Corinth, Greece.)

Conclusion

In my humble opinion this momentous economic crisis in the nation and continent which are the very roots of western civilisation is highly significant. It is not only a warning of economic but also of spiritual shaking.

Our leaders and fellow citizens who have chosen to rebel against the Holy One of Israel and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, are now being warned of the consequences.

Soon there will no longer be any grace covering and blessing for reprobate, unrepentant hearts. Once they’re following the deceiver in his various guises, the Holy One Himself will let them stay deluded by their own lies and salvation will no longer be available!  A truly terrible personal place!

In all these musings it is significant, therefore, to re-discover the above quoted paper by Derek Prince. Equally amazing is the fact that as I was drafting both posts last week, a copy of his teaching letter Taking God Seriously was on its way in the post from his ministry!

This letter opens,

…If a person speaks to us, but we ignore — or even reject — much of what he says to us, we certainly are not taking him seriously. In fact, we are guilty of disrespect.

The same applies to God. If we ignore or reject much of what He says to us through the scriptures, we are not taking Him seriously. We are, in fact, treating Him with disrespect.

Yet this is how many Christians are relating to God. They treat His Word like a smorgasbord, picking out those portions that appeal to their taste and passing the others by.

Also, it concludes in the same vein as my preceding thesis by focussing upon the above verses 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10.

If we consider chapter two of the second letter to ‘Salonika’ in a reverse sequence, like reading an email thread, it helps me to gain a clear understanding of what the Lord is allowing and why – and then what will happen. I submit to you, this may bring a different focus from a usual reading and helps us to see things from the Lord’s perspective.

Undoubtedly, we’re now in ‘The Great Apostasy’ and Paul’s letter to the early church in Greece tells us what’s happening, what’s coming and why – and what the end will be!

May the Lord bless you and keep you…

NB: see Addendum of prophetic words brought in April 2010 relating to this subject.

John Kilpatrick vision: ‘The United Apostates of America’ (+ updates)

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We listened intently when pastor Kilpatrick interrupted taking up the offering on Sunday to announce the Lord had given him a vision that morning.

He saidJohnK 214_logo, “I’m not given to having visions for the Lord usually speaks to me, but the Lord gave me a vision this morning and I’m going to share that in just a few minutes.
“This shook me up when the Lord showed it me. I didn’t see any pictures – it was just words that I saw.”

After welcoming Holy Spirit, he mentioned that He’d broken out on Friday at Perry Stone’s conference. There the Holy Spirit baptised a United Methodist pastor after John taught on the Leviathan spirit and how its scales are so tight it prevents pastors from allowing Holy Spirit to move.

As soon as John received his invitation to preach on 26th June he asked the Lord what He wanted him to bring. But the Lord’s response caused a sharp intake of breath,

“Oh Lord please not that one. Not that one – please! So I cringed and so I thought between now and then I’d talk the Lord out of it!”

He much preferred to bring a refreshing message but it was to be something difficult. The Lord was steadfast over this and remained so, even when John checked at 4 am on the day. He was to use a message he’d delivered to Church of his Presence over 2012-2013 entitled, Leviathan, the King who Rules over the Children of Pride!

In this John quoted Ezekiel 16:49-50 in the Bible, as shown on the gathering’s overhead screen:

“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread and idleness was in her and her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before me: therefore, I took them away as I saw good.” (KJV)

That was the scripture he was reading about the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, when Perry interrupted saying he’d heard, “The Supreme Court’s just passed the equality of marriage law”!

Disquieted he continued preaching, but afterwards John asked the Lord to be shown how He views this grave matter. John received nothing until about to brush his teeth on Sunday morning when these words appeared by a vision in his spirit:

THE UNITED APOSTATES OF AMERICA

Hear what happened next as John listened to the Lord about this startling new name:

After John spoke upon this, the congregation interceded for the nation and for revival.  Watch in full from the 46 minute-mark in this Church of His Presence video to hear his thoughts on the vision’s relevance to, and consequences of the SCOTUS’ decision for, this highly significant year.

UPDATE 1: Could This Be A September To Remember?

In a specially convened meeting on 28th August, John asked and attempted to answer the above question in depth. (Click Update header for the service; his message starts at 1:27:45.)  John offers no specific, revelatory insights in this in-depth teaching other than his observations upon the signs of the times, a summary of which appears in this video:

UPDATE 2:  Is America in Bible Prophecy?

On 13th September, John stressed his deeply patriotic nature in carefully considering a number of scriptures describing the location and nature of the modern equivalent of the ancient Babylonian empire as foreseen by OT prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Their term for this futuristic, end-times version of the nation with which they were well acquainted is, ‘mystery Babylon’. John asks and makes well-informed observations that suggest it is one and the same as present-day USA. (Click following image or Update header for the service; John’s message starts at 1:02:00.)

AmericanBabylon

NB: Pastor Kilpatrick has been blessed with hosting two revivals; the repentance revival at Brownsville/Pensecola in 1995 and a healing one in Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival in 2010. (See this blog’s 2-part Prophecies fulfilled 3 and The Bay tag.)

2 visions: the Cross and America’s foundation

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Clearly a warning Tony, but there are prophetic promises of renewal yet to be fulfilled in line with Isaiah 60’s immense encouragement despite deep darkness covering the earth and enmeshing the masses.

Tony's avatarMy Dreams and Visions

I have seen 2 visions So I  am putting both here.

In the first one, I saw the cross of Jesus. I saw a group of people and starting from the west coast of the United states they were pushing it out, state by state, across America. As the cross was pushed out of a state I saw the state go dark.  This continued until the cross had been pushed across the entire United states .  The days are definitely getting darker so we need to be vigilant to make sure our lamps are burning brightly so that we do not stumble in the darkness. Remember the parable of the 10 virgins.

The second vision was of a foundation stone. In this vision I again saw a group of people with sledge hammers and they were trying to destroy  the foundation stone. America was founded on Judeo- Christian  beliefs that…

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Catholic and Orthodox churches choose fealty to 7th Century Muslim edict

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Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man returns will He find faith on the earth?”  Today’s answer could well be, ‘Not where You’d expect to find it – in parts of Your Church!”

templemountmain

The Temple Mount with al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem reported last week that some Christians in Jerusalem pledged solidarity with Muslim authorities of the Temple Mount – and this in accordance with a 1,400 years-old decree of subjugation!  The ICEJ report opens as follows (inserted numbers refer to my comments),

 “Leaders of Jerusalem’s Catholic and Orthodox churches met with Moslem officials this week, declaring their solidarity against what they described as Israeli “oppression” and “violations” of the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem’s Old City [1]. Examples they cited of such “violations” included rumors about plans to change the status quo on the Temple Mount which have been dismissed as “fabrications” by Israeli officials but which have persisted nonetheless [2].

“The statement also reaffirmed the leaders’ commitment to the so-called “Pact of Omar” which was established following the Moslem conquest of Jerusalem in 637 AD which codified understanding that Moslems have a superior legal, political and social status to all others in the Levant, while also protecting the rights of non-Moslems to practice their religion [3, 4].” (Read full report here.)

In response I submit the basic facts, along with a few thoughts:

1.  A timeline of recent related events is given in Joel Rosenberg’s blog and indicates the violence was instigated by Muslim extremists and deliberate incitement from the Palestinian leader to start a third intifada. But Joel doesn’t go back far enough!

Six months ago, after disturbances in April, an imam from al-Aqsa mosque called for the destruction of Israel and urged Middle Eastern countries that signed peace agreements with Israel (Egypt and Jordan) to take up arms against it. [Israel Today citing al-Jezeera as herein.]

The latest outbreak was started not by Jews, but by Moslems throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police at the entrance to the Temple Mount – NOT because Jews tried getting onto it or into the mosque, BUT BEFORE the Israeli police tried stopping this disturbance.

See Honest Reporting’s detailed analysis of Wall Street Journal and New York Times’ reports, the details of which give a better account than Daily Telegraph’s incomplete video which, in the fuller context, actually gives credence to the Israeli version of events.

BBC Watch also provides a proper picture by correcting badly biased broadcasters, as well as exposing the quisling BBC’s platform to Palestinian Authority’s falsehoods and incitement of violence on Judaism’s holiest site. [Today: Anachronism and inaccuracy in BBC News Jerusalem reporting.]

The massive rock platform which the first and second Jewish temples were built upon is supposedly sacred to Moslems too, but their fanatics don’t treat it with reverence or with respect. And it’s no wonder because the city of Jerusalem and its sacred centre do not feature in their holy book. There are no historical references in it, only an inference that Jerusalem was the destination of their founder’s ‘night journey’ on an imaginary horse!

2. PM Netanyahu Israeli addressed the recent wave of violence in Israel last Tuesday by telling journalists that PA’s Abbas is “fanning the flames” of incitement by lying about Israel’s non-existent plans to change the status quo on the Temple Mount.

Deception and dissimulation are sanctioned in the Qur’an and known as the doctrine of taqiyya. According to a former Islamic studies professor at the American University of Beirut, Sami Mukaram, “Taqiyya is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era”. (Raymond Ibrahim’s eye-opening analysis, How Taqiyya Alters Islams’ Rules of War)

I’d add, ‘and throughout Western media too’!  The global scale of misinformation and lies makes Herr Goebel’s Nazi propaganda machine look archaic by comparison. No wonder the need for the highly commendable services of various media watchers, for as Raymond explains in summing up the implications of taqiyya:

…zealous belief in Islam’s tenets, which legitimize deception in order to make God’s word supreme, will certainly go a long way in creating “incredible self-confidence” when lying.

Yet most Westerners continue to think that Muslim mores, laws, and ethical constraints are near identical to those of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Naively or arrogantly, today’s multiculturalist leaders project their own worldview onto Islamists, thinking a handshake and smiles across a cup of coffee, as well as numerous concessions, are enough to dismantle the power of God’s word and centuries of unchanging tradition. The fact remains: Right and wrong in Islam have little to do with universal standards but only with what Islam itself teaches—much of which is antithetical to Western norms.

[Churchill was well aware of the dangers, as quoted in my blog All Hail the Lamb!. AND whilst writing, an excellent example of media proclivity to blame Israel arrived from CNN of today’s outrage on a synagogue as ‘Deadly attack on Jerusalem mosque’!! So much auto-brainwashing its overwhelmed what few ‘grey cells’ they possess…]

Had it not been for that faith’s founder using dishonesty to defeat his first opponents in reneging upon the treaty of Hudaybiya (628AD) – thereby showing the perpetual nature of jihad – his totalitarian religion would not have swept by the sword across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Compare this with the Ten Commandments the Almighty gave Moses for how Israelites are to live; eg., to be truthful and trustworthy, as required by not bearing false witness against one’s neighbour! (Exod 20:16)

Compare also with Jesus’ description of the devil as “a murderer from the beginning” and “a liar and the father of lies”! (John 8:44)  Noteworthy for this discussion is the fact Jesus was chastising the Pharisees and scribes, which can be applied to mullahs and imams too because His rebuke concerned their non-acceptance of His identity and His relationship to God. (Read about it in this link to BibleGateway.)

But the Qur’an describes Allah as the best makar, ie the best deceiver or schemer!!(Suras 3:54, 8:30,10:21 per Ibrahim; also see in-depth discussion in Answering Islam)

Thus, anyone claiming the Holy God of the Jews and Christians is one and the same as Islam’s Meccan moon-god has been deceived and is utterly deluded!

3. As liberals whine about Israel ‘occupying’ Palestinian territory and the PA still does not recognise the right of Israel to exist but is to be removed, then the same ‘logic’ must be applied to Muslim claims. Second caliph Umar, companion to their founder, and his army invaded and occupied Jerusalem in 637AD. Therefore, Muslims don’t have any  legitimate right to be there or to have built mosques on the platform. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!

Dr Mike Evans writes only last week, “Palestinian leaders have issued a new demand to their allies in the liberal media—stop calling the Temple Mount the Temple Mount. The Palestinians are annoyed because of the unmistakable link to Israel’s heritage in the Holy City that remains in the name of the places…so they want to wish it away.”

This capacity for lying to themselves has also produced the stupid claims that Jesus was a Palestinian and thus not a Jew!  Anyone with any intellect knows Palestine didn’t exist until the Romans trashed Jerusalem and dispersed nearly the entire population of Judea. The region was then named ‘Philistia’ after Israel’s old enemy, the Philistines.

Update (22/11) Read Ruthie Blum on ‘Temple Denial’, a term coined in 2007 by Dore Gold author of The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, the Future of the Holy City.

4. In the non-sectarian book that opened biblical prophecy to me in the mid-1980s,The Invisible Hand (see blog’s Welcome), Victor Dunstan makes the following remark:

“It is interesting to note that when Caliph Omar entered the city, Gibbon in his ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’  records:

“After signing the capitulation, he entered the city without fear or precaution; and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its religious antiquities. Sophronius bowed before his new master and secretly muttered, in the words of Daniel, “The abomination of desolation is in the holy place”.

Recall Jesus’ warning about this,

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…” (Matthew 24:15 NKJV)

Read for yourself the requirements of this Dark Ages despotic document in Analysis of the Pact of Umah, courtesy of Wiki-Islam.

Conclusion

In preferring to kowtow to Muslim demands instead of those of their Lord and Saviour, and opportunities afforded by the liberation of Jerusalem, those church leaders have given affront to the men, women and babes martyred by maniacs in recent months.

Sowing and reaping comes to mind. The traditional super-cessionist stance of the Church replacing Israel in God’s favour together with centuries of anti-Semitism has brought about these leaders’ own subservience and spiritual captivity to a falsehood that claims superiority. How abject!

We also have to ask, where’s these Catholic/Orthodox leaders’ real faith?  Apostle Paul’s prime point about Jesus Christ’s identity, the clear denial of which by these clerics in bowing the knee to 1,400 years of antichrist rule, implies they may have little faith,

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV)

An unclear theology and lack of understanding the Word of God has probably led them to their unsound slavery. But in my humble opinion they’re in danger of committing, if not having committed, apostasy because what they speak from their authority could hinder others’ growth into fullness of faith. As the Lord warns disciples (Luke 17:1),

“It is impossible that no stumbling blocks should come, but woe to him through whom they come!”

Enough said?

Further Reading:

Links for readers wanting specific information on Islam:

  1. Australian Anglican pastor Mark Durie blogs on issues related to Islam here – also see his post Three Choices and the Bitter Harvest of Denial: How dissimulation is fueling genocide in the Middle-East.
  2. Gates of Vienna: Taqiyya and Kitman in Washington DC translation of Fridays’ Muslim prayer service in the USA’s National Cathedral, and about its significance.
  3. Bill Warner’s Political Islam; see 14th Nov (HA!) on Sacred Deception – Taqiyya
  4. Comprehensive coverage/translation by the Middle-East Media Research Institute
  5. A solid source/repository of well-informed authors at The Middle-East Forum.

Aled Jones’ live TV comment raises concern over injustice

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Detail from Eagle-eyed by John Mark Long: www.propheticartists.comA British breakfast TV interview circulating ‘over the pond’ among American Christians brings attention to injustices suffered by a couple of hoteliers at the hands of our courts.

I was intrigued to find two translations of the Bible directly relevant to both sides of the interview’s controversial point!

First of all, thanks are due to John McTernan for linking to a transcript in Monday’s blog Real Christianity on display, and to Tony Puccio for informing me of its email circulation in Arizona.

NB: this post’s stats occasionally show ‘peak viewing’ when it gets circulated. So I’d ask that it be read in the spirit it is written.

Let’s look at the issue together as I ‘flesh it out’.:

ITV, Britain’s first commercial station, broadcasts Daybreak as a morning magazine. Its presenters Aled Jones and Lorraine Kelly interviewed Peter and Hazelmary Bull the day before they appealed to the UK Supreme Court over a £3,600 fine for refusing to rent one of their hotel’s double-bedded rooms to a homosexual couple.  As clearly stated on their website, rooms were available for married men and women only. (The Bulls are supported by The Christian Institute and further details, including on-going reports may be found under Bulls’ B&B Trial.)

Aled Jones’ faith

Aled Jones is well known as a former treble chorister and singer with many albums to his credit, as well as presenter of BBC’s Songs Of Praise (see MirrorTV brief ‘bio’). It’s a typical anodyne BBC programme, however when speaking to journalist Catherine Francis for Inspire magazine, he said the programme attracts millions of viewers from around the world and,

“Songs Of Praise aims to uplift and spiritually enhance its viewers, whether or not they’re Christian, and they need to feel comfortable watching it. It’s a genuine honour to be associated with it…”

She continues, ‘And Aled’s passion is clear to see about the Christian faith,

“Christianity is real, it’s now, it’s happening and it’s exciting – it’s not sedate or simply part of history. Jesus toppled over the market stalls in the Temple – this is a person with passion, a person with love, with blood running through his veins. That’s what it’s all about for me.”

Well said sir, and I think it’s important to keep that in mind when considering today’s matter. Has he changed his views?

The Daybreak interview

The interview has been transcribed fairly accurately by Dr Michael Brown, a scholar, speaker and author of 22 books, including The Real Kosher Jesus. He blogged it a week ago today as An older woman puts today’s compromised preachers to shame. Therein he sets the scene.:

At a time when so many of our Christian leaders are guilty of compromising the gospel before the media, dishonouring the Lord as they try to make God’s Word palatable to the world, it was an older British woman…who displayed a backbone of steel, a deep and consistent faith, and a theological clarity while being grilled on national TV. Cheers for Hazelmary Bull!

And make no mistake about it. This is not some slick, camera-friendly couple, versed in the latest clichés and fitted with the coolest wardrobe. This is a couple grounded in the Word and committed to Jesus. Today’s Christian leaders could learn well from their example.

Jones took the lead and started with a neutral ‘voice-over’ video outlining the case. The presenters were not unpleasant but wanted to know why the Bulls were contesting the loss of their Appeal in 2012. It may have got intense because of their seeming inability  to grasp the Bull’s Biblical position. Or were they just acting professionally on behalf of a religiously illiterate British audience and consequently asking questions from a simplistic viewpoint?

Whatever their approach, it helped the Bull’s present their case clearly and admirably. Take a look at the video clip:

Here’s the transcript section of Dr Brown’s short article; his comments in italics.:

When asked why they were going ahead with the appeal after all they had been through, Hazelmary replied,

“The reason we have continued with this is because we feel there are arguments still to be made, because we are hoping that some way or another, a pathway will be found through this so that two different lifestyles—which at the moment have had a head-on collision—two different lifestyles could live together in our society.”

Her purpose, then, is marked by conviction and conciliation: How can we live together in the same society when we have such different convictions?

Lorraine Kelly: “May I suggest that maybe you are in the wrong business? Because when you think about it, only 47 percent of couples now are actually married, so when you do that, you forget all the arguments and all the rest, but actually from a business sense, sure, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Hazelmary Bull: “No, on the face of it, it looks like that because we have always refused a double-bedded accommodation to unmarried heterosexual couples.”

When challenged by Kelley, Hazelmary explained, “It’s Bible-based; it’s entirely Bible-based.”

(Pastors, take note of her words. This is how we should operate our local assemblies as well, based on the Word, not on marketing principles.)

Aled Jones: “As a Christian, the God you worship is a loving God, is a tolerant God. And if people are in a civil partnership, they are obviously in love, so what is wrong with them sharing a bed?”

(Note that Jones came to national fame as a hymn-singing child, and in 2004 he was voted Religious Broadcaster of the Year by the Churches Media Council for his work with Songs of Praise. He still hosts BBC’s Songs of Praise show, and within the last four years he has released albums featuring hymns and Christmas songs. What in the world happened to Aled Jones?)

How does Hazelmary reply to his challenge? You’ve got to love this!

HB: “I think it’s a myth to believe that entirely. He is a loving God, that’s true. He’s a forgiving God, but there is—

AJ: “And a tolerant one?”

HB: “He is a longsuffering God; He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when He does finally bring judgment about. We felt that we wanted to, as far as possible, live according to His instructions, and the Bible is very clear about marriage.

Boy, did she nail it! There is a difference between God being longsuffering and God being tolerant, and yes, “He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when he does finally bring judgment about.”

Do you think we’ll be hearing a lot of lines like that from some of the pastors featured on The Preachers of L.A.?

LK: “It’s 2013…2013!”

MB: “God hasn’t changed; Jesus says He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. He hasn’t changed, the Bible hasn’t changed, and we are wrong—we are living in a dream—if we think that He has changed His laws to suit us, because that’s not the case at all.”

Exactly! Most of the world is living in a dream. In fact, much of the church is living in a dream too, having been put to sleep by smooth-tongued preachers who have watered down the Word in a futile attempt to make it “contemporary.”  

LK: “So you don’t accept that you have done anything wrong at all? You don’t accept that, that was offensive?”

MB: “We find this thoroughly regretful, because we clearly state that we prefer to let double-bedded accommodations to married couples.”

(She then explains, in answer to Kelly’s question, that this is clearly stated on the website.)

LK: “When two people come check in, how do you know that they are married or not?”

HB: “That’s a fair question. We have a script, and we try very hard not to offend. Remember, we have been there for 28 years, and this is the first time we have had any problems. We have a script whereby where we say very gently and politely, if one person shows up at the door—say it’s a male—we say, “Is this for you and your wife?” And oddly enough, they will say, “No, well, not actually my wife. We’re partners, or it’s my girlfriend or whatever”.”

How telling! They never had a problem when refusing an unmarried heterosexual couple over the course of 28 years, but when it comes to two gay men, the Bulls are brought to court.(RB emphasis)

Kelly then pointed to the low percentage of couples in the U.K. who are marrying, to which Hazelmary responded, “Well, I don’t know the numbers, and I’m not entirely interested in the numbers because of course we’re running this—”

LK:  “Well, you should, as a businessperson…“

HB: “Well, we’re running this under our own roof, and God demands that our faith doesn’t end—”

LK:  [interrupting with some hostility] “Your God demands. Your God.”

HB: [without batting an eyelash] “God demands that our faith doesn’t end at the kitchen door. He means for your faith to run in every corner of your life. You can’t just section Him off like that. So one would think that dealing with Christians, we would be fair and honest and upright and honourable and live according to the Bible, because the Bible is the Christian’s textbook.”

Bravo, Hazelmary Bull!

Now go watch the video, give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends. It’s a testimony like this that should go viral, rather than the words of some preacher who is waffling, unclear and not wanting to sound closed-minded or offensive.

Let’s speak the truth in love without making excuses, just as our courageous sister did. God Himself will back us, and the haters and mockers will not be able to shout us down.

Jones’ controversial question

As ‘good cop, bad cop’, Kelly and Jones played atheist Scot and anodyne believer who bowls a doctrinal googly,

“As a Christian, the God you worship is a loving God, is a tolerant God. And if people are in a civil partnership, they are obviously in love, so what is wrong with them sharing a bed?”

Bull: “I think it’s a myth to believe that entirely. He is a loving God, that’s true. He’s a forgiving God, but there is…”

Jones: “And a tolerant one?”

Bull: “He is a longsuffering God; He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when He does finally bring judgment about. We felt that we wanted to, as far as possible, live according to His instructions, and the Bible is very clear about marriage.”

Many viewers, and readers, could take Jones’ point as reflecting his own conviction. However, is it not just as possible for him to have played ‘devil’s advocate’ in asking from a political stance, thereby to elicit and show the Bull’s strength of conviction?

Also, he may have had in mind a verse form Apostle Paul’s grand theological letter to believers in Rome, wherein he chides them over judging one another:

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance? (Romans 2:4)

That’s from my New International Version Insight Bible, but Mrs Bull adroitly responds from the very same verse as given in my New King James study Bible:

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Fascinating. The ‘protagonists’ use the same concept from slightly different translations. The original Greek is ‘anoches’, which means ‘tolerance’ but is rendered ‘forebearance’ in the Interlinear Greek Bible. Mrs Bull correctly clarifies it as being a conditional term, not a never-ending presumption upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Hence, the vital importance of their being in right standing with God’s decrees as revealed in His Word.

But not so for Aled Jones. Out of the confession from his own mouth, he has declared ‘As a Christian’ that there’s nothing wrong in homosexuality. Even if any of the reasons we considered above are relevant, nevertheless the declaration from his heart is what counts in heaven. It’s a far from sensible stance!  It’s apostasy – the falling away from the tenets of Christian faith.

As Dr Brown queries, what has happened to Aled Jones?

Dubious doctrine

The controversial point of Jones’ question, of course, is not only his presuming God will turn a blind eye to sin (of any sort!) – but also the inference that gay relationships are approved by God. So, anyone unfamiliar with the issues could infer from his claim of being a Christian that such practice is sanctioned by believers, if not by the wider church.

Nothing could be more mistaken.  Aled Jones is unwise to entertain dubious doctrine.

The correct Christian position on this subject was defined in the first formal gathering of strategic church leaders within twenty years of Jesus’ ascension. This apostolic event is known as the Jerusalem Council. We can be sure, therefore, of their thorough familiarity with Jesus’ teachings and instructions and, assisted by The Holy Spirit, would therefore make the correct decisions on any doctrinal issues.

The Council was called to discuss the admission of non-Jewish believers as followers of ‘The Way ‘ of Yeshua Ha Meshiach, Jesus Christ.  According to the account in The Acts of The Apostles, the Jerusalem Decree sent to those Gentiles of Antioch, Syria, closed with the following basic stipulations upon admission to fellowship in Jesus.:

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:  that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.  (Acts 15:28-9 NKJV per BibleGateway.com; emphasis added)

That requirement to abstain from improper, non-marital relationships has never been rescinded. Only folly pretends redefining ‘marriage’ will alter the divine intention behind that declaration against immorality and fornication (porneias; Greek ‘of prostitution’).

It is logical, therefore, to state any consideration or claim to there being nothing wrong with allowing ‘porneia’ within the precincts of a Christian house is utterly absurd.

On the same day John McTernan blogged about this interview the news broke of Aled Jones and Lorraine Kelly being axed as presenters on Daybreak. Also, comments made online around that time haven’t been complimentary about them. Even back in August  his position was in question.

It’s intriguing that a definite decision came fast on the heels of Aled’s declaration! Is it part of the promised ‘shaking’? I wonder…

How say you?

Christianity’s new season: blog’s new page and today’s headlines

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Courtesy Watcharakun at Freedigitalphotos.comAfter updating this blog’s Prophecies & Visions hub with a page summarising recent words about A New Era in the Church, I dipped into a paper I’d bought earlier for Nina to enjoy the crossword.  Lo and behold, buried inside I find  apposite headlines covering comments made by:

Pope Emeritus Benedict: “I quit as Pope because God told me to”.

Archbishop Welby: Church ‘on edge of precipice‘.

The first reports Benedict’s interesting “direct rapport with the Lord”, of which the online version is more informative than the broadsheet. Fascinating how this claim accords with prophecies for a ‘new season’. The second is yet another indicator of the distinct trend that validates a prophetic word reported 20 years ago by Colin Winfield, The Separation of the Harlot and the Bride.

That word is remarkable in accurately foretelling today’s mix of apostasy and true faith, the insidious introduction of worldly norms against the worship and teaching of a holy God. Since finding that prophecy last year, I noted its ‘rationale’ supports the notion of traditional churches falling away and how new churches of those on fire for God and  maturing into anointed Children of God, are coming to the fore.

On the last point, I will somehow try to convey a sense of what we learned from Ian Clayton when he visited Guildford area this week, as at close of this post.

Something good in UK’s ‘marriage’ Act for Christians?

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Nero_1The coffee-time conversation with Steve continues. Nina and Simone catch up with us on our way to the cafe’s bar for fresh, full mugs and hear Steve exclaim,

“What! What on earth’s good for believers about the ssm Bill?”  The startled looks our wives dart at each other convey;  “What on earth have our men been talking about?”

Back in our secluded corner, Steve summarises our conversation and he’s ‘champing at the bit’ to take charge. I want to steer it another way but Simone beats us to ‘the off’.  As a solicitor she brings a fresh view.:

Legal eagles’ views

“How the Bill was rushed through and given royal assent clearly smacks of censorship in a totalitarian state. A barrister and senior lecturer at the University of London wrote a splendid professional paper quite relevant to this issue. David McIlroy explains why a democracy’s legal system can’t have a morally neutral playing field. I noted his opinion that,

A public square from which religious influences are excluded is not a neutral public square. It is a public square in which all influences bar the secularist ones have been censored.  That is not a public square in which everyone’s voice is heard and everyone’s views are respected, it is a public square in which religious voices are silenced and anti-religious views are imposed.  This is not a tolerant society, it is a tyrannous society.

“What he also says about the double-importance in a Christian society of how the Last Judgement affects the law is especially interesting…I recall bits like:

…It means today’s rulers are understood, and (should) understand themselves, to be answerable  to a higher authority in their actions. They know they will be judged for how they exercised their power and this accountability is the foundation of accountability to the people.

…citizens know the ultimate judge isn’t the government but almighty God, and this contributes hugely to human freedom.

“It’s an exciting summary of how Christianity has provided a sound basis for secular law..”

“I know, Simone, I’ve got a copy thanks to a fellow blogger – an excellent document! And I wrote about examples of creeping tyranny back in 2009!”  [See 1 & 14 below]

“Also Richard, contrary to what you said about Archbishop Welby and bishops being overwhelmed in the House of Lords, the barrister who founded Christian Legal Centre issued them a written challenge over his version of events and concluded:

I am surprised that the Church of England appears to be vacating the public square when it comes to the issue of marriage. Given the rich teaching of Scripture and strong tradition of marriage, this is something that the CofE should be able to comment on clearly, intelligently and winsomely. Marriage is something to be celebrated, promoted and, at this time, preserved. At a time when the nation needs to hear a prophetic voice on marriage, the CofE’s message is sadly mixed and, as a result, unclear.

“The account of her corresponding with him and CoE’s response laments their inability to copy the politicians’ action in ensuring full attendance for voting.” [2]

Raising my finger, “I like her bit on ‘prophetic voice’ as I was struck by the sharp contrast between the Telegraph’s report on Welby’s ‘cop-out’ and what Sharon Stone taught and did [3] – the first started my morning and the second closed it in a much Godlier way!

“Also, in one of many debates on that other blog I pointed out that wise leaders would wait and watch what happens to other countries before foisting it on the British public. It’s opening Pandora’s Box – next will come legal recognition of bigamy, bestiality and paedophilia, as in the customs that defiled ancient Canaan which God spoke against when Hebrews took it over as the land ‘vomited out its inhabitants’.”

“I’ve read John McTernan’s excellent teaching on those socially sanctioned practices,” . adds Simone. “I said to Stan to read too” nodding at her husband. [4]

Nina expresses her deep concern over Her Majesty giving assent to the Bill in view of her Coronation oath “to maintain the laws of God and profession of the Gospel”.

My long spoon lances a hole in the cappuccino’s thick froth as I respond, “Being a constitutional monarch, there was absolutely nothing she could have done about its passing into Law as the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act.

“But from my perspective as lookout on the walls – as it were – our national leader became much more motivated to introduce the Act – come hell or high water – by President Obama during his state visit. So it’s possibly a result of that influence…”

“I’ve read,” reports Simone, “Obama is a long-standing ‘gay pride evangelist’, as can be seen in his recent call to African nations to be ‘converted’. Their righteous leaders have repudiated his overtures…on fact they’re sparked a real backlash!” [5]

“That’s so,” I add. “I’ve followed it all closely through Bill Koenig, a Christian White House journalist.  Cameron’s now copying Obama as an ‘evangelist’, which His Grace Cranmer scathingly lampoons [6]. He notes Cameron’s clearly stated intention [7]:

Only other thing I wanted to say is that I know that the job isn’t yet fully done. It is something to celebrate that Britain is now – and it’s official – the best place to be gay, lesbian or transgender anywhere in Europe. That is a great achievement. That’s not my measure; that is an inter-nationally recognised measure. But there’s still a lot more work to be done.

“God is not and will not be mocked and these national leaders are treating Him with the utmost of contempt. Unless they humble themselves, repent deeply and renounce their ways there is very little hope for their future – but God may have mercy.”

“But at least they’ve not committed the unpardonable sin,” interjects Nina, to which Steve asks, “What’s that?”

She replies, “That’s saying a work of the Holy Spirit is of Satan. In my opinion, many believers have unwittingly done that when attributing God’s presence and His work to the demonic! Some think so about a Canadian whom we know. Whilst at a church in Bath, he sensed God wanted to heal and that evening I was able to walk and dance again – I went from permanent disability to normal ability in an instant! As we all love Jesus, then that could not have been of the devil.” [8]

“Now,” I ask, “Do you want the good or the not-so-good news first? Let’s keep the best for last – after some opinions encountered in fellow believers.”

Not-so-good points

“I’ll try to be brief on what’s very unsettling to my spirit. As I don’t want to have a closed mind on this issue I’d monitored Gillan Scott’s several well-balanced posts on the topic, to which some readers gave a window upon the state of their souls.

“Whatever gay folk say and do they’re no different to any believer for we’ve fallen short of the glory of God and are deeply loved by Him, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have died for them too. So we love them too as individuals  but, as with all sin, we don’t like their sin but hate it for what it is and does in preventing their accessing the fullness of life in Christ.

“Some who claimed to be Christians, however, were not only very supportive of this anti-Biblical Bill but also muddled and confused about what scripture says – even twisting its meaning – as well as being ignorant of sin!  One pastor to the gay community even tried to explain why I’m mistaken!

“One regular pundit couldn’t understand what’s wrong with redefining marriage! We got the measure of one another when I commented: if that were correct there was no need for me to have repented of having been in the occult.”

“Just an aside and reminder,” whispered Simone, “I’d like to check the dangers of yoga as its spirit may be messing around with me.”

I continued, “My remark met a haughty, incredulous retort, ‘Upon what basis do you equate same-sex relationships with occultism, Richard? Your logic is seriously skewed, to put it mildly…!’  It was both sad and amusing because the answer was simple…so very simple.

“I parried it by alluding to the oft-quoted legal totem of ‘equality’, as well as its proper  mathematical meaning, and took precise aim: ‘Your own logic has missed the point, to put it bluntly…The basis of my equation is straightforward, namely ‘equality of sin’ (ie. ‘missing the mark’).’ We ended up agreeing to disagree.

“But there were lamentable tales of some dear folk engaged in unions they think the Lord has ok’d and then wonder why things went wrong. For example, the miscarriage of a child being carried by one of a female partnership – a terribly sad state brought about by sin to their detriment. It reminded me of sin crouching ‘by the door’ to take Cain and make him murder his brother Abel. (Genesis 4:6-7)

“The accounts and opinions come with a sense of despoiling. I recalled Nathan Morris’ strong preaching on Jesus’ admonition to the early churches infected by sexual sin of their needing to be cleansed from wearing defiled robes. No wonder many wise and anointed preachers sound the alarm bells.” [9] & [10]

THE GOOD POINTS

“From a Christian standpoint, the good things of this Act are not so much the adverse  ones but more the scriptural ones. We can, for instance, be most positive about these facts.:

  1. This Bill and Act were never in the Conservative Party’s election manifesto. Thus, in my opinion, the electorate as a whole can’t be held responsible for the revolt against God and traditional values and the consequences.
  2. In requiring and enforcing the Queen’s compromising of her Coronation oath her Prime Minister actually took upon himself the full personal responsibility before God for having broken and contravened it – I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes for deliberately being ignorant in such a gravely foolish action.
  3. David Cameron and everyone voting for the Bill is personal accountability to their Maker for going against His revealed and express will for all mankind – no matter whether they believe in God or not. I pray they’ll have personal revelation on this and take the opportunity to repent before they take up their post-mortem existence – as happened to me when I stood on the trapdoor down to hell [11  In Your wrath remember mercy, Lord.
  4. The sweeping international attempts to redefine the meaning of marriage are so intensely orchestrated that even conspiracy theorists would be left dumbfounded. Therefore, it is and can only be a dark spiritual phenomenon – not one of God but from the one who’s always wanted to usurp His place. But its time on earth is now very short so it wants to take as many humans it can and prevent their salvation.
  5. This so-called cultural change was announced well in advance, in fact 2,000 years ago by no less a person than Jesus Christ himself!”

“How do you make that out?” thrusts Steve with one of his bespectacled glares that reminds me of a hen pecking seed. I hear ‘tap-tap-tap’ and turn to see a solitary man at the next table tapping on his tablet. His face and sound mirrors my friend’s and I gently smile. But then I grin in self-deprecation over my natural tonsure as I reply:

“Off the top of my head…a couple of Jesus’ sayings spring to mind.:

“First of all, His teaching about persistent prayer (Luke 18:8) refers to a time like today; one lacking in not only personal but also corporate faith – as widely shown in ditching Christian values for purely hedonistic aims. This is what Jesus foresaw:

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

“Secondly, He instructed His disciples about the coming of the Kingdom of God and to expect exceptional consequences for socially sanctioned wickedness (Matt 24):

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 

“Dr Luke’s carefully collected account of Jesus’ life from witnesses adds (Luke 17):

Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

“Also, His apostle Paul confirmed that Jesus told him the same about a future ‘Last Days’ great apostasy or falling away from faith in God. One of his letters to the early Greek church in Salonika (2 Thessalonians 2) refers to it this way:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [Emphasis RB]

“Paul carries on with extra details to the gospels, which you can check yourself.

“Moreover, rabbinical teaching is said to confirm the connection between Noah’s time and today’s. Five years ago two separate people on a radio show spoke about the ancient Babylonian Talmud’s interpretation of Genesis and the cause of the Flood. ‘America’s Rabbi’, Aryeh Spero, said the Talmud’s writings show, “before the Flood people started to write marriage contracts between men…which is more than homo-sexual activity…in other words, giving an official state stamp of approval, a sanctifica-tion of homosexual partnership.”

“Rabbi Spero went on to say, “Even in ancient Greece they did not write  marriage contracts between men.  There was homosexuality, and it was wrong, but  there was not an official ‘blessed’ policy. … Marriage is ‘sanctification’ (not  simply a partnership).”  He said to confer the title of sanctification and holiness upon this behaviour is “probably one of the greatest sins of all that  one does against God’s plan for this world.”

“Another source quotes from the Midrash Rabbah Genesis, a specific commentary upon the Torah, and from the Second Book of Enoch, both of which support the claim about the real events of the ‘days of Noah’, from which we may infer they’re the festivities of which Jesus knew and was referring to. I’ve not yet completely cross-checked those sources, but I can let you have them for checking. [12&13]

“Also the widespread persecution of Christians in Africa and Middle East connects into the Daniel 7 end-times prophecy!” [14]  On top of that, the status of Jerusalem is being discussed in Washington. With three major aspects of prophecy now at the fore we’re definitely entering the End-Times, as stated at the outset of my writing four years ago – The End-Time Is Now In Play – maybe you’d like to check it out?” [15]

Nina adds, “What’s going on proves the Bible is absolutely true and correct!”

“We’re definitely entering into times foreseen by the Lord Jesus and His first apostles as well as Old Testament prophets. What’s happening across the world has been written about and we know the outcome – the return of King Jesus for His Bride.  It can’t be much longer now…As Jesus said when teaching about signs of the end of the Age.:”

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28)

Sources:
  1. Theos website article, Is Secular Law Possible?
  2. Challenge issued to Archbishop of Canterbury.
  3. Revd Dr Sharon Stone: Britain is at a crossroads.
  4. Homosexuality vs Holiness – Ordinances of the Amorites.
  5. US and British promotion of LGBT rights sparks backlash
  6. Exporting gay marriage – the ‘gospel’ of St Dave.
  7. Prime Minister thanks campaigners and workers.
  8. From Disabled to Enabled – how Jesus healed Nina’ spine.
  9. Are ‘Christians’ leading homosexuals to hell?
  10. Steve Hill: Warning for this hour – stop spiritual avalanche.
  11. Part 2 of From Death to Life.
  12. WND Janet Porter: How SSM Points to the End of the World.
  13. End-Times Prophecy Watch: Days of Noah:
  14. Muslim Persecution of Christians.
  15. The End Time is Now In Play.

Thrown out of heaven, he knows his time is now short…

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17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. [12th chapter of the Apocalypse, or Revelation, given to Jesus Christ by God to show his servants the future, as observed and transcribed by John the Evangelist.]

An email received yesterday brought an item for Investigative Project on Terrorism by Raymond Ibrahim entitled, Islam’s Collective Punishment Against Christians. He opens this disturbing piece,

As many of Israel’s critics portray it as collectively  punishing the Palestinians, overlooked and unsaid is the greater frequency with which Muslims collectively punish the religious minorities living under their authority, often in atrocious ways.

Consider Egypt alone. The most recent attacks on Egypt’s Copts, culminating in  the unprecedented besiegement of the St. Mark Cathedral, the holiest site of Coptic Orthodoxy, is the latest large-scale collective punishment of the nation’s indigenous Christian minority. Indeed, almost all of the major attacks on Copts are carried out in the context of “collective punishment”, based on the idea that, if just one Christian upsets  Muslims, all Christians—and their churches and their women and heir children—become fair game.

Ray-ibrahimRaymond proceeds to itemise this month’s latest attack upon a family in a long line of grossly intolerant, religious punishments in that ancient but spiritually and financially bankrupt nation. He had recently written  that’s tantamount to an Islamic Declaration of War on Christianity! In this latest alert to Western civilisation, he concludes (emphasis mine),

…while other societies…may collectively punish their enemies, Islam is the only ‘religion’ that actually mandates it — that unjustly punishes large numbers of innocent people for the purported crimes of the individual, as the aforementioned clerics from one end of the Arab world to the other maintain. This alone should raise questions about the very nature of Islam.

And this is all without any reference to last week’s terrorist attacks in Massachusetts and thwarted plot to derail a train in Toronto area, as reported yesterday. Renowned Robert Spencer notes, these ‘would-be mass murderers are “religious men”!’  (See    Jihad Watch for his well-informed examination of the issues; as well as my previous.)

The ordinary, rational person has only to compare the character, lives and full teachings of the founders of Christianity and Islam, as well as of their disciples in the subsequent period to their religion’s birth, to realise the opposing nature of both faiths.

How to Test These Faiths

In my humble opinion, keys may be found in disciple John’s first letter to believers. This opens with John’s description of how he knows the truth about his teacher and saviour of his people, Jesus Christ, and of his awesome, divine origin from before the creation of the world (my emphases).:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—  2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

John goes on to tell about how to discern who are living truthfully in obedience to God or are liars – even imputing God to be a liar! John also warns about antichrist spirits, or ‘instead-anointed’, that introduce opposing beliefs with the aim of deceiving believers:

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the[c] Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.[d] 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.  [1 John 2 NKJV]

John’s fourth chapter opens with practical instruction on discerning and testing for such spirits, and is still valid today, and practised in deliverance ministry:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that[a] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.  [1 John 4 NKJV]

I could cover a great deal more concerning spirits that masquerade as angels as light, even those named ‘Jesus’.  However, the foregoing living words in-breathed from God’s Holy Spirit in John’s letters, Gospel and Revelatory accounts will suffice for our careful, meditative reading as well as help us love and minister to our Muslim brethren in their current recognition of Jesus as a prophet of God.

UK Government’s Position

A recent post on God and Politics in the UK covers a Parliamentary discussion on the increased persecution of Christians around the world. This succinct posting reports:

Importantly, the (Foreign Office) Minister emphasised that “The Government’s position is to condemn laws against so-called apostasy and any government policies anywhere in the world that punish people for changing their religion or belief voluntarily and freely.”

My thanks go to Gillan Scott and his source at Open Doors for this timely, informative article with links to full transcript and video of the debate.

Related Articles:

False theology and false history

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A brief note further to my email on the debate on Replacement Theology.  There is news from two separate sources that the Lord may be drawing this issue to the fore.

The first is found via a comment to the debate. In recent years liberal seminaries have strongly encouraged a new, non-Biblical, Palestinian form of theology through the works of Lutheran pastor Mitri Raheb and Anglican Naim Ateek.

Now, however, Raheb has denounced that error of interpretation (to be polite), as reported in Palestinian Theologian Trashes Palestinian Theology.

Also, the same morning I read Christian Leaders Against Heresy, which is a clarion call against this error because of claims that Jesus was a Palestinian have appeared in The Jerusalem Post. Its author draw attentions to the fact some well-respected and highly influential leaders within the Church are leading many astray.

May the Lord continually garrison our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.