January 2013 – slaveofjesuschristdotme

Test All Things Pt. 5 – Cult Leaders & their Followers

The minds of most people have not been trained to think critically about the groups that they follow, so that they are able to discern whether their group is grounded in truth, or is ruled over by error. Also most people will not think to examine the legitimacy of their group. Instead, people are prone to blindly following what seems right, and what appeals to their senses. However, mankind has been sinners since the fall of Adam, and therefore their senses are corrupt. That is why Scripture says that “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked”, and “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be”(Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 8:7). Therefore, what appeals to the senses of sinful man, and what seems right to them, cannot be trusted. Instead, whatever messenger, or message, that claims to be “the truth” must be tested by the word of God, so that people can know if what they are hearing, and learning, is true or error & deception.

Scripture is the only measuring rod for discerning truth from error. That is why Jesus, who is the Word of God, and “the Word made flesh”, said “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life”, and “I am the way, the truth, and the life”, and “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth”(John 8:12, John 14:6, John 17:17). The Apostle John also spoke of God, and the word, in this way: “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1John 1:5). The word of God also says “The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times”, and “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Psalm 12:6, Proverbs 30:5-6). Therefore, Scripture affirms itself as true, without errors, and it is not open to additions, but it exposes those who add to the word of God as liars.

2Timothy 3

13   But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14   But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15   and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16   All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17   that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

People who follow cults, and cult leaders, are not following the true God, but a counterfeit God. The cult leaders may claim to be Christians, and the cults may claim to be Christ’ church, but they deviate from the gospel of Jesus Christ, and require their followers to trust their interpretation of the gospel.

Some cults are more deceptive then others. Some are so extremely heretical that they are easy to fall away from. Nevertheless, people’s departure from particular cults is just the beginning of breaking away from error, because there are many cults that claim to be Christian churches. So people must be willing to examine the doctrine of every church that they attend. It is not sufficient to merely identify the heresies within other churches. Any hypocrite can do that (Matthew 7:3-5). Jesus revealed the importance of abstaining from error when he said “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Therefore, leaving a cult, and deciding to attend a church that seems better simply isn’t good enough. Those “who names the name of Christ must depart from iniquity”, because there are many false teachers, who are teaching people to follow heresies that contradicts the gospel, which is a work of the flesh, which will prevent many from inheriting the kingdom of God (2Timothy 2:19, Galatians 5:19-21). That is why Jesus said “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). In order to escape the trap of damnable heresies, believers must test their own church to make sure that it is a church that teaches, and obeys, the true gospel. There is no perfect church, but a true church teaches the true gospel, and obeys it (Matthew 5:13-16, John 8:12, Ephesians 4:1-16, Galatians 1:6-8, Galatians 5:4-9).

Whenever believers join churches that teaches the true gospel, and obeys it, the believes must also test themselves to make sure that they are following Christ, and not merely his people, nor pastors, nor their favorite teachers, because Jesus commanded every believer to follow him. He also gave this warning: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2). He also said “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5-6). This means that those who are claiming to be believers, yet are not following Christ’s teachings, will be taken out of the congregation of the righteous, and burned by the wrath of God (Psalm 1:-6, Psalm 119:1-11, Hebrews 6:1-8).

Hebrews 6

1   Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2   of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3   And this we will do if God permits.
4   For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5   and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6   if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
7   For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God;
8   but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

This is the reason why many Christians will not inherit the kingdom of God. They do not endure to the end. They may be in the congregation of the righteous, and mimic the behavior of believers, and even expose the heresies of false churches, yet they, themselves, are not following Christ. They are merely indoctrinated into church culture. Though it may be a true church, God’s word has not taken root in their own hearts. They are merely following their group, or their pastor, and when their group falls into damnable heresies, they might also follow without protest. These kind of people are members of true Christian churches, yet they follow their church just as any other cult member.

There are also many professing Christians who follow their favorite teachers, whether they be local pastors, or televangelists. These are personality cults. Many of these cults are international. The danger with these type of cults isn’t merely the doctrine. The doctrine could be true, yet the cult aspect will still lead many to Hell, because the people are not following Christ, but a mere human celebrity. This cult is extremely dangerous, because it seems safe to the human senses, but it is idolatry. Idolatry is a work of the flesh, and those who practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:20-21). The way to eternal life is narrow, and difficult. (Matthew 7:14). Therefore, every believer must test themselves to see if they are really in the faith, and not following, and worshiping, idols, because it does not matter if a preacher that they are idolizing is preaching the true gospel. If Christians are following an orthodox preacher, rather than Christ, then that believer will go to Hell for their idolatry.

Believers, therefore, do not need to be pointed to great preachers, but Christ, himself. He is the true God, and abiding in him will lead to eternal life. Preachers do not need to be exalted, but Jesus said “if I am lifted up from the earth, [I] will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).

1Corinthians 1

10   Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11   For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12   Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”
13   Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

1Corinthians 3

5   Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
6   I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
7   So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
8   Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9   For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

Matthew 23

8   But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9   Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10   And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11   But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Luke 14

26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

John 15

3   You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4   Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5   “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6   If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

1John 2

24   Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25   And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life.
26   These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.
27   But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
28   And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
29   If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

2 Timothy 2

19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

1John 5

18   We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
19   We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
20   And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
21   Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Authors of Confusion Pt. 25 – Oprah’s “Life Class”

Longtime talk show host, actress, and philanthropist, Oprah Winfrey, is partnering with some of the biggest names in Christian media for her “life class“, wherein she teaches people how to live their best lives. Although Oprah has already made it clear that she doesn’t believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, she is now presenting herself as a Christian, and is partnering with well known pastors, who were never known for preaching the true gospel of salvation, to help her audience believe that living the Christian life is “one and the same” with living one’s best life. This means that sin, God’s righteousness, his judgment on sinners, repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ, is not mentioned in the classes. This deception is perpetrated by using Scripture out of context to affirm their messages of self-affirmation, self-exaltation, and self-reliance. Some of Oprah’s “life class” partners are T. D. Jakes, Rick Warren, and Joel Osteen.

Oprah’s “life class” reduces Christian living down to being positive for the sake of being happy, and successful in life.

Nevertheless, Jesus did not come into the world to give people the joys of this world, but to take the penalty of the sins of mankind on himself, which is death, and to rise from the dead, so that everyone who believes in him would be freed from the bondage to sin, from God’s judgment on sinners, to reconcile them to himself, and to give them eternal life. This is the gospel, and Christian living is not attainable to those who do not believe this. Also, salvation will not be found by those who, knowingly, hold back the truth of the gospel for the sake of being popular, and loved by the world (1John 2:15-17, Galatians 1:7-10). Therefore, Oprah, and her partners, are deceiving millions with their man-made, and man-centered, philosophies, and they, themselves, are under God’s eternal punishment.

1John 2

15   Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16   For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.
17   And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
18   Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the 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.

1John 4

3 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.

Colossians 2

4   Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.
5   For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
6   As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7   rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8   Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
9   For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10   and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

2Corinthians 10

3   For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4   For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5   casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

John 5

3   For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
4   For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.
5   Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6   This is He who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7   For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
8   And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
9   If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.
10   He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
11   And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12   He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13   These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

2Corinthians 5

14   For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
15   and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
16   Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
17   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18   Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19   that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20   Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
21   For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Radical Takeover Pt. 4 – Rome’s Crusade of Genocide in Rwanda

Below is a documentary entitled “In the Name of God”. The film is about Rome’s crusade in Rwanda, which started with Rome’s priests teaching Catholicism to the Tutsis, who were the elite tribe in Rwanda. Rome then made the Tutsis the ruling class of the country. The Tutsis ruled according to the authority, and dictates of Rome’s priests, and bishops. In this way, Catholicism ruled over the country, until the Tutsis tribe liberated themselves from the rule of the Catholic Religion so that they could govern themselves. Rome’s retaliation toward the Tutsis’ rebellion was to convert the Hutus, which were oppressed by the Tutsis, and taught them to commit holy war against the Tutsis by killing everyone in the tribe; men women, and children, and to reestablish Roman Catholic rule over Rwanda; thus making the Hutus the ruling class. This crusade was led by Rome’s bishops, priests, and nuns, and killed more than 800,000 Tutsis over a 3 month period, in which the U.S, and the U.N., did nothing to stop it.

To learn more about this well documented case of genocide by the hands of Rome, click on the links entitled “Innocent Blood“, and “Genocide of the Tutsis – the Role of the Roman Catholic Church“.

The Guardian –

Martin Kimani is deputy director of the Ansari Africa centre at the Atlantic council in Washington DC and associate fellow at the conflict, security and development group at King’s College London. He is presently working on a book on religious belief and genocide in Rwanda

The Guardian –

For Rwandans, the pope’s apology must be unbearable

If you are an Irish Catholic, and have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a priest, you were recently read a letter from Pope Benedict that tells you: “You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated.”

For any practising Catholic in Rwanda, this letter must be unbearable. For it tells you how little you mean to the Vatican. Fifteen years ago, tens of thousands of Catholics were hacked to death inside churches. Sometimes priests and nuns led the slaughter. Sometimes they did nothing while it progressed. The incidents were not isolated. Nyamata, Ntarama, Nyarubuye, Cyahinda, Nyange, and Saint Famille were just a few of the churches that were sites of massacres.

To you, Catholic survivor of genocide in Rwanda, the Vatican says that those priests, those bishops, those nuns, those archbishops who planned and killed were not acting under the instruction of the church. But moral responsibility changes dramatically if you are a European or US Catholic. To the priests of the Irish church who abused children, the pope has this to say: “You must answer for it before almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals. You have forfeited the esteem of the people of Ireland and brought shame and dishonour upon your confreres.”

The losses of Rwanda had received no such consideration. Some of the nuns and priests who have been convicted by Belgian courts and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, respectively, enjoyed refuge in Catholic churches in Europe while on the run from prosecutors. One such is Father Athanase Seromba, who led the Nyange parish massacre and was sentenced to 15 years in jail by the tribunal. In April 1994, Seromba helped lure over 2,000 desperate men, women and children to his church, where they expected safety. But their shepherd turned out to be their hunter.

One evening Seromba entered the church and carried away the chalices of communion and other clerical vestments. When a refugee begged that they be left the Eucharist to enable them to at least hold a (final) mass, the priest refused and told them that the building was no longer a church. A witness at the ICTR trial remembered an exchange in which the priest’s mindset was revealed.

One of the refugees asked: “Father, can’t you pray for us?” Seromba replied: “Is the God of the Tutsis still alive?” Later, he would order a bulldozer to push down the church walls on those inside and then urge militias to invade the building and finish off the survivors.

At his trial, Seromba said: “A priest I am and a priest I will remain.” This, apparently, is the truth, since the Vatican has never taken back its statements defending him before his conviction.

In the last century, Catholic bishops have been deeply mired in Rwandan politics with the full knowledge of the Vatican. Take Archbishop Vincent Nsengiyumva. Until 1990, he had served as the chairman of the ruling party’s central committee for almost 15 years, championing the authoritarian government of Juvenal Habyarimana, which orchestrated the murder of almost a million people. Or Archbishop André Perraudin, the most senior representative of Rome in 1950s Rwanda. It was with his collusion and mentorship that the hateful, racist ideology known as Hutu Power was launched – often by priests and seminarians in good standing with the church. One such was Rwanda’s first president, Grégoire Kayibanda, a private secretary and protege of Perraudin, whose political power was unrivalled.

The support for Hutu Power was therefore not unknowing or naive. It was a strategy to maintain the church’s powerful political position in a decolonising Rwanda. The violence of the 1960s led inexorably to the 1994 attempt to exterminate Tutsis. These were violent expressions of a political sphere dominated by contentions that Hutu and Tutsi were separate and opposed racial categories. This, too, is one of the legacies of the Catholic missionary, whose schools and pulpits for decades kept up a drumbeat of false race theories.

This turning away from the Rwandan victims of genocide comes at a time when the Catholic church is increasingly peopled by black and brown believers. It is difficult not to conclude the church’s upper reaches are desperately holding on to a fast-vanishing racial patrimony.

Perhaps it is time Catholics forced the leaders of their church to deal with a history of institutional racism that endures, if the church is truly to live up to its fine words. Apologies are not sufficient, no matter how abject. What is demanded is an acknowledgment of the church’s political power and moral culpability, with all the material and legal implications that come with it.

The silence of the Vatican is contempt. Its failure to fully examine its central place in Rwandan genocide can only mean that it is fully aware that it will not be threatened if it buries its head in the sand. While it knows if it ignores the sexual abuse of European parishioners it will not survive the next few years, it can let those African bodies remain buried, dehumanised and unexamined.

This is a good political strategy. And a moral position whose duplicity and evil has been witnessed and documented. For, it turns out, many people, scholars, governments and institutions inside and outside Rwanda are excavating their own roles in the genocide. The Vatican stands as an exception, its moral place now even lower than that of the government of France for its enduring friendship with genocidaires.

Zechariah 11

15   And the LORD said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd.
16   For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.
17   ” Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

Related articles are listed below:

“Radical Takerover Pt. 3 – Rome’s Extreme Liberal Stance on Gun Control“
“Little Horn Pt. 1“
“Little Horn Pt. 2“

Radical Takeover Pt. 3 – Rome’s Extreme Liberal Stance on Gun Control

Rome presents itself to the world as representing the views of conservatives, yet there is an extreme liberal side to Rome that should be noted. One extreme liberal view of Rome is its stance on gun control, as stated below.

TheBlaze.Com –

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican praised President Barack Obama’s proposals for curbing gun violence, saying they are a “step in the right direction.”

The Vatican’s chief spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Saturday that 47 religious leaders have appealed to members of the U.S. Congress “to limit firearms that are making society pay an unacceptable price in terms of massacres and senseless deaths.”

“I am with them,” Lombardi said, in an editorial carried on Vatican Radio, lining up the Vatican’s moral support in favor of firearm limits.

`’The initiatives announced by the American administration for limiting and controlling the spread and use of weapons are certainly a step in the right direction,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi renewed Vatican appeals for disarmament and encouragement for measures to fight “the production, commerce and contraband of all types of arms,” an industry fueled by `’enormous economic and power interests.”

Continue Reading…

USCatholic.Org –

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Catholic Church’s position on gun control is not easy to find; there are dozens of speeches and talks and a few documents that call for much tighter regulation of the global arms trade, but what about private gun ownership?

The answer is resoundingly clear: Firearms in the hands of civilians should be strictly limited and eventually completely eliminated.

But you won’t find that statement in a headline or a document subheading. It’s almost hidden in a footnote in a document on crime by the U.S. bishops’ conference and it’s mentioned in passing in dozens of official Vatican texts on the global arms trade.

The most direct statement comes in the bishops’ “Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice” from November 2000.

“As bishops, we support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer — especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner — and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns.”

That’s followed by a footnote that states: “However, we believe that in the long run and with few exceptions — i.e. police officers, military use — handguns should be eliminated from our society.”

That in turn reiterates a line in the bishops’ 1990 pastoral statement on substance abuse, which called “for effective and courageous action to control handguns, leading to their eventual elimination from our society.”

On the world stage, the Vatican has been pushing for decades for limitations not just on conventional weapons of warfare, such as tanks and missiles, but also for stricter limitations on the illegal and legal sale, trade and use of small firearms and weapons, said Tommaso Di Ruzza, the expert on disarmament and arms control at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Di Ruzza told Catholic News Service that the Vatican is one of just a handful of states that would like to see small arms and weapons included in the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, which would better regulate the flow of conventional arms.

He said while many countries are open to limits on larger weapons systems, most nations aren’t interested in regulating small arms even though they “cause more deaths than all other arms (conventional and non-conventional) together.”

The Vatican’s justice and peace council is working to update its 1994 document, “The International Arms Trade,” to further emphasize the importance of enacting concrete controls on handguns and light weapons, he said.

The current document calls on every nation and state “to impose a strict control on the sale of handguns and small arms. Limiting the purchase of such arms would certainly not infringe on the rights of anyone.”

The more weapons there are in circulation, the more likely terrorists and criminals will get their hands on them, the document said.

The Catholic Church recognizes that “states will need to be armed for reason of legitimate defense,” as Pope Benedict XVI said in a message to a Vatican-sponsored disarmament conference in April 2008.

However, armed defense is something appropriate for nations, not for all individual citizens in a state where rule of law is effective, said Di Ruzza.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, individuals have a right and a duty to protect their own lives when in danger, and someone who “defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow.”

How that “lethal blow” could be licitly wielded is unclear, but the catechism clarifies that repelling the aggressor must be done “with moderation” in order to be “lawful” in the eyes of the church; using “more than necessary violence” would be unlawful, it says.

According to the catechism, the right to use firearms to “repel aggressors” or render them harmless is specifically sanctioned for “those who legitimately hold authority” and have been given the duty of protecting the community.

Di Ruzza said that in “a democracy, where there is respect for institutions (of law), the citizen relinquishes his right to revenge onto the state,” which, through its law enforcement and courts system, aims to mete out a fair and just punishment.

“There is a sort of natural right to defend the common interest and the common good, and in 1791 (when the United States passed the Second Amendment), my right to have a weapon served the common good because there wasn’t an army; the democratic institutions were young and a little fragile, and I could have been useful in a time of war as a soldier,” said Di Ruzza.

But once a nation has a functioning army, police force and court system, “do I still serve the common good with my gun or do I put it at even greater danger?” and promote a lawless kind of “street justice where if you steal my car, I shoot you,” he asked.

The Vatican’s justice and peace council’s 1994 document said, “In a world marked by evil and sin, the right of legitimate defense by armed means exists,” but, Di Ruzza said, it wasn’t lauding the potential of weaponry as much as it was lamenting the existence of arms in an imperfect world.

Nations have a duty, the document said, to reduce if not eliminate the causes of violence.

And as Pope Benedict wrote in his message to the disarmament conference, no reduction or elimination of arms can happen without eliminating violence at its root.

Every person “is called to disarm his own heart and be a peacemaker everywhere,” the pope said.

AmericaMagazine.Org –

Why Gun Control is a Religious Issue by James Martin, SJ

These shootings would not have happened if the shooter did not have such easy access to firearms and ammunition. So religious people need to be invited to meditate on the connection between the more traditional “life issues” and the overdue need for stricter gun control. The oft-cited argument, “Guns don’t kill people, people do,” seems unconvincing. Of course people kill people; as people also procure abortions, decide on euthanasia and administer the death penalty. Human beings are agents in all these matters. The question is not so much how lives are ended, but how to make it more difficult to end lives.

Pro-life religious people need to consider how it might be made more difficult for people to procure weapons that are not designed for sport or hunting or self-defense. Why would anyone be opposed to firmer gun control, or, to put it more plainly, laws that would make it more difficult for mass murders to occur? If one protests against abortions clinics because they facilitate the taking of human life, why not protest against largely unregulated suppliers of firearms because they facilitate the taking of human life as well?

This stance will most likely be unpopular politically. Some on the political right will object my stance on firmer gun control. Some of the political left will object to my stance on abortion. But that doesn’t bother me, because I am not political. I am religious. And so I am for the sanctity of life. Therefore, I am for stricter gun-control laws that will protect lives, not end them.

Continue Reading…

Radical Takeover Pt. 3 – The Money Changers

David-Rockefeller-1024x768 — Memoirs (2003) Ch. 27 : Proud Internationalist, p. 406

The following link entitled “The Money Masters” is a documentary on the history of money, and how corrupt money changers, have played a major role in bringing about a new world order by using their influence over America’s currency to manipulate the country for the purpose of controlling it, and the world, at large.

Assasination Attempt on Bulgarian Politician Ahmed Dogan

SophiaGlobe.Com –

Ahmed Dogan, leader of Bulgaria’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, was assaulted on January 19 as he was delivering a speech to delegates at a party conference at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia. The assailant held a gun to Dogan’s head but the gun appeared to be stuck and was unable to take a shot.

Dogan appeared to knock his assailant’s hand away before the two men fell to the ground. The assailant was subdued by security personnel and party delegates – footage by Bulgarian TV station showed that the man was attacked repeatedly by delegates and he appeared bloody when taken outside NDK to a nearby police station.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the 25-year-old assailant was from Bourgas, with two prior convictions for causing bodily harm in 2006 and drug possession in 2010. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, speaking to reporters outside NDK, later identified him as Oktai Enimehmedov, a Bulgarian national and ethnic Turk.

An investigation was underway, Tsvetanov said, with Sofia city prosecutor Nikolai Kokinov on site. Security also found a knife on the assailant.

Reports said that unlike previous occasions, there were no metal detectors in place outside the hall where the party congress was held – detectors were only put in place after the attack, but the party conference is yet to resume.

The Interior Ministry said that police officers provided security outside the building, but security in the hall itself and immediately outside was taken over by the National Protection Service (the government agency that provides security for all high-ranking officials in Bulgaria).

The assailant appeared to have an accreditation badge for the event and managed to go up the podium without being stopped. Tsvetanov said that the badge was from a previous MRF event and police was attempting to ascertain whether he was, possibly, a party member.

Dogan, who was jailed during the communist era for his resistance to the “revival process” (when the regime forcefully changed the names of ethnic Turks to sound more Bulgarian, deporting hundreds of thousands of people to Turkey), was one of the founders of MRF and has been its leader since 1989. He was later revealed to have been a collaborator of communist-era State Security).

He has often played the part of a kingmaker in Bulgarian politics, especially in the past decade, his party’s support instrumental to keep in power the cabinets of prime ministers Simeon Saxe-Coburg (2001/05) and Sergei Stanishev (2005/09).

On the eve of the party conference, reports in Bulgarian media said that Dogan planned to step down in favour of long-standing deputy Lyutfi Mestan. The Sofia Globe has established that the prepared text of Dogan’s speech included – towards the end – the announcement that he intended not to continue as leader of the party.

Radical Takeover Pt. 2 – Pedophiles in High Places & Their Influence

Western society has been turned upside down by radical liberal philosophies, such as Social Marxism, and its efforts to create a completely secular society, in which traditional morality, and its family values, are seen as restrictive, and even evil. This moral decline can be seen in the arts & entertainment industry, strange sex cults among celebrities, and the sex education curriculum of UNESCO. This change in morality also includes the lowering of the age of consent for minors, and well as the sexualization of children. The British economist, John Maynard Keynes, was both a Fabian Socialist and a pedophile. He was also an advocate for the present moral decline of western society.

Below is an excerpt from “KEYNES AT HARVARD“, which reveals the corrupt mind, and actions of Keynes.

In 1967 the world was startled by the publication of the letters between Lytton Strachey and Maynard Keynes. Undisputed evidence in their private correspondence shows that Keynes was a life-long sexual deviate.(12) What was more shocking was that these practices extended to a large group. Homosexuality, sado-masochism, lesbianism, and the deliberate policy of corrupting the young was the established practice of this large and influential group which eventually set the political and cultural tone for the British Empire.

Keynes’ sexual partner, Lytton Strachey, indicated that their sexual attitudes could be infiltrated, “subtly, through literature, into the bloodstream of the people, and in such a way that they accepted it all quite naturally, if need be, without at first realizing what it was to which theywere agreeing.” He further explained, privately, that, “he sought to write in a way that would contribute to an eventual change in our ethical and sexual mores—a change that couldn’t ‘be done in a minute,’ but would unobtrusively permeate the more flexible minds of young people.”(13) This is a classic expression of the Fabian socialist method of seducing the mind. This was written in 1929 when it was already in practice for over forty years. It is no wonder we are reaping the whirlwind of student disorders where drug addiction and homosexuality rule the day.Keynes and his fellow voluptuaries made numerous excursions to the resorts ringing the Mediterranean, where little boys were sold by their parents to bordellos catering to homosexual appetites.(14)The practice of crudely castrating small boys (where most died from infection or shock) to provide effeminized children for the edification of depraved visitors is a well-authenticated historical fact.(15) Boys from the ages of seven up to twelve were subjected to sadistic carnal abuse. Since in almost every instance these children were sold into sexual slavery by desperately poor parents who were steeped in ignorance and superstition, it sheds an insight into the hypocrisy of Fabians like Keynes, who aimed propaganda shafts at private enterprise in England and America because it did not guarantee full employment. He and his fellow leftist reformers however, had no compunction in exploiting human degradation and misery in Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Constantinople (Istanbul). These served as convenient spawning grounds for the establishment of enclosed brothels filled with children, who were compelled to satisfy the unnatural lusts of high-born English socialists.(16)Keynes always ready to guide others freely advised his fellow debauchees to go to Tunis, “where ‘bed and boy’ were also not expensive.”(17)This circle of sexual deviates consisted of a considerable number of participants. They were augmented by a larger group of prurient Bohemians who secured vicarious pleasures either as bisexuals or as voyeurs. Most lived off inherited incomes or family patronage. Attachment to Fabian socialism was endemic to this group. They came under the general appellation of “the Bloomsbury Group.” This orgiastic vortex had as its axis, Gordon Square in London. Keynes owned No. 46 and the Stracheys possessed No. 41. As one wit sarcastically put it, “all couples were triangles who lived in squares.”(18) Critics assigned to the ‘Bloomsberries,’ “Strange rites, sinister rituals and unmentionable initiation ceremonies. . . .”(19)In academic deviate circles, Keynes acquired underground fame as a skilled connoisseur who was able to spot potential material for future debauchment among the male children at Eton (eight to sixteen years of age), as well as the youth of Cambridge. The Keynes-Strachey correspondence is replete with reports of such expeditions to both Eton and Cambridge University. Lytton Strachey wrote a poetic amoretto about his bed partner, Keynes, in which he classed him, “A liberal and a sodomite, An atheist and a statistician.”(20) In a fit of pique he once exclaimed, “Keynes sits like a decayed and amorous spider in King’s . . .” (Cambridge University).(21) Strachey’s chief biographer observed that the letters passing between his subject and Keynes, “would have provoked curiousity in Gomorrah and caused the inhabitants of Sodom to sit up and take note.”(22) It is noted that, “For several years Lytton’s intimate personal life was bound up with that of Keynes. . . .”(23) On one of their trips to the Mediterranean theatre of sexual aberrations, Strachey wrote of lounging around, “discussing ethics and sodomy with Keynes.”(24) Asking Lytton Strachey to spend time with him, Keynes once wrote, “my bed is depressingly disengaged all this month”(25)

Jimmy Savile has also been exposed as a predator of children, who was never accused of any crime during his life time. To learn more on this matter, click on the link entitled “JIMMY SAVILE WAS PART OF SATANIC RING“.

Former child actor, Corey Feldman, has reported pedophilia to be the biggest secret in Hollywood. To see his interview, click on the link entitled “Corey Feldman: Pedophilia Is Hollywood’s Biggest Problem“.

To learn about how this radical takeover of pedophilia has infiltrated the highest offices in society, click on the link entitled “The-Kinsey-Syndrome“. The Kinsey Syndrome is a documentary on the life’s work of Alfred Kinsey, which describes how his criminal actions were used to changed America’s judgments on child sex offenders, and the present day affects, of his work, on society.

Related articles are listed below:

The Catholic Calvinists Pt. 1 – RC Sproul

The minds of modern day Protestants are far removed from the concept, and history, of Protestantism, and, therefore, have a poor understanding of the Protestant Reformation. For this reason, many who call themselves Reformed, or Calvinists, are not able to recognized when major offenses against the faith are being made. For example: many are not aware that the Protestant Reformation was rooted in a breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church by many of its clergy, who realized that their religion was not the gospel of Jesus Christ, and could not lead anyone to salvation. These Roman Catholic clergymen’s eyes were also opened to the fact that Rome, and it’s religious system, which, by that time, was drunk with the blood of the saints, by labeling them as heretics for not submitting to the false doctrines of the Catholic Church, and by torturing and killing many hundreds of thousands of Christians, was Mystery Babylon the Great, which was foretold in Revelation 17:1-1-6, and that it’s king (the popes) is the scarlet beast, which she rides.

This lack of knowledge allows many Calvinists teachers, with Roman Catholic leanings, to commit major errors concerning Christian doctrine. One of which is Dr. RC Sproul, because of his high regard for, and public praise of, Thomas Aquinas. Dr. Sproul’s ministry has described Tomas Aquinas in this way:

Ligonier.Org –

The noted theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) is our fourth example of faith from church history.

One of the most important contributions that Aquinas made to the church was his teaching on God’s revelation.

We have Aquinas to thank for reminding us that all truth is God’s truth and is therefore both universal and permanent.

These statements by Ligonier Ministries acknowledges Thomas Aquinas as an “example of faith” to Christ’s followers, and a major contributor of church doctrine, whom the church should be thankful for; thus acknowledging him as a fellow brother in Christ.

But, are these statements true?

Is Thomas Aquinas an example of faith to Christ’s followers?

Is he a fellow believer, whom the church should be thankful for?

This is who Thomas Aquinas is:

Wikipedia.Org –

Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the “Dumb Ox”, “Angelic Doctor”, “Doctor Communis“, and “Doctor Universalis“.

Thomas is held in the Roman Catholic Church to be the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology. The study of his works, according to papal and magisterial documents, is a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (Catholic philosophy, theology, history, liturgy, and canon law).

Pope Benedict XV declared: “This (Dominican) Order … acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools.”

Thomas Aquinas was not a follower of Christ. Instead, he was a Roman Catholic, who served as a Dominican priest during the Great Inquisition, which was lead by the Dominican Order during the 13th century in which Aquinas lived.

Wickipedia.Org –

In the 13th century, Pope Gregory IX (reigned 1227–1241) assigned the duty of carrying out inquisitions to the Dominican Order. They used inquisitorial procedures, a legal practice common at that time. They judged heresy alone, using the local authorities to establish a tribunal and to prosecute heretics. After 1200, a Grand Inquisitor headed each Inquisition. Grand Inquisitions persisted until the mid 19th century.

Therefore, Tomas Aquinas was not an example of godliness, nor was he a man of faith. Instead, he was a champion of a false religion that was, during his lifetime, persecuting masses of Christians.

To understand the major heretical views of Tomas Aquinas, one only has to read his contribution to the Roman Catholic Catechism.

Vatican.Va –

460 The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature“:⁷⁸ “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.”⁷⁹ “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”⁸⁰ “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.”⁸¹

Nevertheless, Dr. Sproul has been able to teach on the life, and teachings of, Thomas Aquinas without being rebuked for doing so. Furthermore, he does not hide the fact that Aquinas is a Dominican, when he includes Aquinas in his list of great theologians of the Christian faith. On the contrary, Sproul’s audience knows Aquinas’ membership in the order, because he taught it to them. Dr. Sproul simply doesn’t mention that Aquinas is a heretic, because he taught a different gospel, and served in the very religion that Martin Luther, whom Sproul also knowledges as a great theologian, proclaimed to be Mystery Babylon the Great. Sproul does not mention the fact that Aquinas worked, throughout his life, for the antichrist, who was murdering Christians by the masses.

The following link is a lecture by Dr. Sproul, entitled “Lecture 3, Thomas Aquinas (Part 1):” that further reveals his love for Aquinas, the heretic.

Dr. Sproul’s zealous support of Thomas Aquinas has subtly taught Christians to think highly of, and praise, heretics. It has also helped to further weaken all that was gained by the Protestant Reformation, because the acknowledgment of Roman Catholic theologians breaks down the wall of separation between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, which was built up by the Protestant Reformers.

Another offense of Sproul is his endorsement of a Bible translation (ESV; The Reformation Study Bible), which is based on a corrupt text that has various passages of Scripture missing (Codex Sinaiticus), and it is a rejection of the received text (Textus Receptus), which the Protestant Reformers used for the Protestant Reformation. Accepting this corrupt text, which was also endorsed by Rome, and encouraging others to do the same, is a direct attack on the innerancy of Scripture, and including the ESV translation in the “Reformation Study Bible” is a sad insult to the Reformers, the church, and Christ himself, who is the word of God (John 1:1). Hopefully, this last offense of Dr. Sproul was committed in ignorance. For more information on this textual controversy, click on the link entitled “War on Consciousness Pt. 25 – The True Bible – Textus Receptus vs Codex Sinaiticus“.

The public praise of Aquinas by Dr. Sproul, which he has done for years, reveals the ignorance of many of his followers, and the lack of concern for the purity of the gospel on the part of those who are aware of Sproul’s offense, yet still insist on promoting Dr. Sproul’s ministry, and on calling themselves Reformed. This ignorance, and apathy reveals the deadness of the Reformation, and its replacement, which is a counterfeit that is more consistent with Rome’s Counter Reformation.

Related articles are listed below:

Radical Takeover Pt. 1 – CULTURAL MARXISM: The Corruption of America

OriginalIntentDoc –

A James Jaeger Film featuring RON PAUL, Congressman/Presidential Candidate; PAT BUCHANAN, Author/Political Analyst; G. EDWARD GRIFFIN, Author/Producer; EDWIN VIEIRA, Author/Constitutional Attorney and TED BAEHR, Founder of MovieGuide and Christian Film & TV Commission — CULTURAL MARXISM explores the love affair with collectivist ideologies that has lead to ever bigger government and the welfare-warfare state. Find out how the Frankfurt School, a Marxist splinter group, established itself at Columbia University and began “the long march through the institutions.” The idea was, and still is, to infiltrate every corner of Western culture and pervert traditional Christian values with “political correctness” and Marxist ideologies. The ultimate goal is to destroy American free-enterprise capitalism by undermining its economic engine, the Middle Class, and the basic building block of society: the Family Unit.

To watch the film, click on the link entitled “CULTURAL MARXISM: The Corruption of America“.

Worldview Weekend’s Commentary on “Passion 2013”

Worldview Weekend.Com –

Jesus Culture and Judah Smith to Join Piper, Moore, Chan and Others at Giglio’s Passion 2013

A new year means a fresh batch of conferences. And a fresh batch of conferences means a whole new crop of questionable decisions being made by the leaders and organizers of those gatherings.

To start off the 2013 conference season is Louie Giglio’s Passion 2013. Held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, it will run from 1–4 January. Giglio aims this gathering specifically at young people, and according to the event’s website, last year saw “more than 40,000 students and leaders from around the world” at the US event. Today The Christian Postreports that 60,000 students are scheduled to attend this week’s event.

Source

Passion targets the younger generation with such high-profile names as Beth Moore, John Piper, Francis Chan, rapper Lecrae and this year, pastor Judah Smith of The City Church in Seattle and popular Christian band, Jesus Culture.

Who Is Judah Smith?

Judah Smith has been profiled briefly here before when, in May of this year, Smith invited Word Faith teacher Brian Houston of Hillsong Church (who, incidentally, just preached weekend services at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church) to preach at The City Church. Oddly enough, New Calvinist pastor Mark Driscoll was excited about the invitation, even encouraging his Twitter followers to attend.

Judah Smith co-pastors his church with his wife, Chelsea, making the Reformed Driscoll’s endorsement even more perplexing. The presence of a pastrix at The City Church ought not surprise, though, when it is considered that this church was founded by Judah’s parents, pastor Wendell and pastrix Gini Smith:

Source

The reader will note that, in the screenshot above, it states that Wendell and Gini Smith originally served under Dick Iverson at Bible Temple in Portland. According to C. Peter Wagner’s book Apostles Today: Biblical Government for Biblical Power, Iverson was the “founder of one of America’s foremost apostolic networks, Ministers Fellowship International, out of Portland, Oregon.” So it sounds as though The City Church has some rather colorful roots.

Who Is Jesus Culture?

Speaking of colorful, this leads to the concerning inclusion by Louie Giglio of the “Christian” music group, Jesus Culture. The group’s website tells us that it was spawned out of the youth group at Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding, California. For those who are unfamiliar with Johnson and Bethel, the following video shares some of the “signs and wonders” shenanigans that take place there, and also demonstrates some classic Bill Johnson Scripture-twisting:

Now, one could camp for quite awhile on some of the statements made by Johnson in that video, but since Johnson is not under discussion here, we’ll move on. The point is, of course, that this is the church that birthed the Jesus Culture phenomenon.

The entirety of Jesus Culture’s “About Us” page warrants a close examination, and will aid in understanding why Christians should be concerned that this band is being mainstreamed by men like Louie Giglio:

Source

The choice of words in the paragraphs above is curiously alarming. The language surrounding a “new breed of revivalists” emerging is of particular interest, as such vocabulary is prominent within the New Apostolic Reformation movement.

Note also that the group claims direct revelation and instruction from the Lord Himself.

The members of Jesus Culture claim that the Lord spoke to them, revealing the characteristics of their movement (which noticeably does not include repentance or sanctification, only love and supernatural experience), commissioning them to “mobilize this new breed,” and in so doing issued a mandate to Jesus Culture that cannot be ignored. Taking this to its logical conclusion, then, to question the actions or words of Jesus Culture and its members is to question God Himself.

Examination of this website further reveals that the goal of this group is to lead people into an experience or an “encounter” with God. It seems that truth may be cast aside in favor of temporary and potentially deceiving experiences.

The Music of Jesus Culture

It behooves us, then, to see just how it is that the music of Jesus Culture may lull the professing Christian teenager into a so-called “encounter” with God. Below you will witness the group leading the crowd in a repetitive mantra, followed by some singing and what appears to be tongues-speaking. The clip will close with band member Kim Walker-Smith breaking into spontaneous prayer and declaration.

The repetition of the mantra “Jesus” at the beginning of the clip, while appearing to be spiritual, actually potentially could lead a person into an altered state of consciousness. Contemplative prayer, which is little more than a “Christianized” version of Eastern meditation, often encourages such a practice, as one seeks to journey inward to discover the “divine spark” within oneself. Yet, Scripture nowhere teaches this type of praise or prayer, but rather condemns the practices of pagan religions.

Also of note in the clip above is the apparent spontaneous breakout into tongues at approximately 2:30, following the singing of the line, “Heaven beckons to me.” The fact that these were nothing more than gibberish and were not a known language, as per the biblical definition of ‘tongues,’ ought to cause concern as well.

In watching and listening to Jesus Culture, it does not take long to realize that the focus of their music and teaching is all about an experience of “God’s love.” Yet, without acknowledging the righteous wrath of God, His love can never fully be understood or appreciated. Unfortunately, a warm-fuzzy feeling up and down one’s spine does not a true Christian make.

The “Teaching” of Jesus Culture

Jesus Culture does more than simply play music, however. It seems that, at times, various members of the group also may preach or teach. Below is Jesus Culture member Kim Walker-Smith preaching to a large crowd at the Awakening 2011 event, and offering a rather detailed account of her own personal encounter with “Jesus.” This video is a bit lengthy, but the reader is urged to watch it in its entirety.

Kim Walker-Smith claims that she spoke with Jesus, that He cuddled her, and that she saw God the Father. And while she acknowledges that such visions are not regular occurrences, she nevertheless indicates that she’s had multiple encounters with Him. One wonders how many people sitting amongst that large crowd left disappointed that night that they had not “encountered” Jesus as Kim Walker-Smith claimed that she had. Walker-Smith’s recollection of the vision is natural, and seems to presume that everyone should experience such a thing. Yet, when face to face with God Almighty, how did Isaiah react?

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:1–5)

And Ezekiel?

And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face…(Ezekiel 1:26–28)Moses, who we are told spoke to the Lord as a man speaks to a friend (Exodus 33:11), was not even allowed to see Him in all of His glory!

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18–23)Not one of these men, after a brief moment of awestruck fear, “fell into Jesus’ arms” as Walker-Smith claims that she did. Not one describes God the Father running around deliriously and laughing while Isaiah or Ezekiel danced around in a music box. So to Kim Walker-Smith’s claims above that she has spoken personally with Jesus Christ and God the Father, I would like to offer this challenge: Prove it. And while you’re at it, disprove this: God just spoke to me and told me that you are lying, Kim Walker-Smith. Don’t believe me? Well, who is to say that your experience was real and mine was not?

Christian, herein lies the grave danger of such claims of personal revelation and visitations from God. They cannot be proven and they are not Scriptural. If they are to be found in Scripture, they appear to be more indicative of the deceptive angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14–15) than anything else.

Parents, if your teenager is attending Passion 2013 this week, this is the type of so-called Christian leaders to whom they are being exposed. This is the type of music that will bombard their eardrums during these four days. If your impressionable teen is wandering in the crowd of Passion 2013, it is my prayer that you will pray mightily for his or her protection.

What Happened at Passion 2012?

As a reminder, last year’s Passion Conference saw the featured speakers lead the humongous crowd in a troubling display of “Lectio Divina-lite.” In the post, “Biblical Silence vs. Mystical Silence and What Really Went On at Passion 2012?” the topics of contemplative prayer and lectio divina were discussed more thoroughly. The following videos of Session 5 of the Passion 2012 conference also were shared in that article.

Here is popular New Calvinist preacher John Piper:

Here we see the SBC’s favorite female Bible teacher, Beth Moore:

And here is Passion founder Louie Giglio closing this session:

Of special note are the words spoken by Giglio at the close of this exercise:

How many of you heard the voice of God speak specifically, clearly, directly, and personally, to you? Can you just put a hand up? I’d like you to share it. Can you put a hand up for a minute?

Just want you to look around; that’s people saying, “God Almighty (pause) the Maker of heaven (pause) the one Who’s sitting on the only throne (pause) that’s not under threat (long pause, audience cheers)—He spoke to me. He spoke to me.”

“God spoke to me.” (long pause) Don’t let the voice of the darkness, tell you that you are not (pause) worth (pause) that God would not speak to you. (pause) Don’t let him tell you, you don’t matter. (pause) God spoke to you.

As was asked in last year’s reporting of this event: When did Protestant leaders begin to teach that we need the Bible “plus” anything? God has spoken. He has graciously, clearly, and perfectly spoken in His Word. We have no need to be still and wait for His audible voice outside of Scripture. He has not stuttered. He has not stammered. He has not whispered. If you want to hear from God Almighty, open your Bible and read.

Until Passion 2013 commences, there is no way to know if a similar exercise will be practiced again. A live stream of the event will be provided, and those who are concerned may want to take the time to watch some of the sessions.

Conclusion

It is important to note that this article is not attempting to throw anyone under the guilt-by-association bus. No one is saying that, because one of these individuals will be sharing the stage with another that they necessarily endorse that other person’s ministry. Of course, that does not speak to the wisdom of certain speakers choosing to participate in this event. What must be acknowledged, however, is that simply by extending an invitation to these individuals, Passion founder Louie Giglio is issuing an apparent endorsement of each one’s ministry. For those who maintain that Giglio is a conservative and trusted teacher, this poses a rather complicated problem.

Evangelicalism appears to be taking broader strides toward the wide road of destruction. Compromise is rampant as numbers take priority over fidelity to Scripture. These are not small issues, dear Christian. What we are witnessing is the mainstreaming of movements that once existed only on the fringe of the “Christian” community, such as Word Faith and dangerous, deceptive “charismatic chaos.” In the face of the visible church’s compromise, the true Christian must stand on God’s Word alone. To ground oneself upon anything else is to guarantee a certain, perhaps eternal, collapse.