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Hello, everyone!

I’d like to start off by thanking everyone for following my blogs. Your interest in my blog-site is much appreciated.

My name is Brian Feaster, and my purpose in starting my blog-site is to shed light on historical issues, current events, biblical truths, and to point people to the true Savior of mankind, who is Jesus Christ. What I believe about Christ, and his good news of salvation, can be read by clicking on the link entitled “Statement of Faith“.

I also want to let you know about “THE NEW REAL TALK RADIO SHOW” of which I will be co-hosting with my good

friend, Jim Green, of the “URBAN TRUTH NETWORK“. The purpose of the radio show is to help people to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.

WHAT DO WE STAND FOR?

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Test All Things Pt. 4 – Being “Missional”

incarnational

Is the Jesus of incarnational ministry the same as the Jesus that is presented in Scripture?

This question must be asked in light of the new movement in evangelicalism, known as being “missional” and “incarnational”. Many Reformed Theology adherents are following this movement with zeal, and are even learning about it in seminaries, such as Westminster Theological Seminary. Incarnational ministry is built upon the, Pelagian, “substitutionary theory” of Christ’s Atonement, which claims that Christ came into the world to give mankind a moral example of how to live. Although this is being taught in Reformed Seminaries, it is not being taught to the exclusion of the, Reformed, “vicarious substitutionary” view of the Atonement, which rightly claims that Christ came into the world to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind (Romans 3:21-26, Romans 5:18-19) . Therefore, two doctrines are being merged as one within the minds of many new Calvinists.

This merging of the two views of Christ’s Atonement is the basis for incarnational ministry, which is an attempt to follow Christ’s example of being a humanitarian, for the purpose of evangelism, and, for some, bringing about the kingdom of God on earth, as though the church age is the thousand year reign of Christ on earth. This movement holds a promise of a better world, which will be brought about through the good works of one’s own hands, for many who follow it. This better world is to be realized by taking on the social problems of the world as though the church has been empowered by Christ to put an end to the affects of sin, such as poverty, war, and tyranny (Revelation 6:1-6). This is why many new Calvinists claim to be on a mission of reclaiming the culture, and even creation itself. Many have even taken the focus off of evangelism, and have, instead, began teaching the Jesus came to reconcile all creation to himself, and therefore, he has reconciled his church to creation. They are also teaching that God made mankind to be creators, just as God is a creator. This belief that the church will bring about the redemption of all things is consistent with the 1679 “Prophecy of the Coming Kingdom by the Christian mystic, Jane Lead, minus the conversion of the world through signs, and wonders, but it is inconsistent with the teachings of Scripture.

In order to believe that the church is able to bring about a better world, certain Biblical truths must be ignored, misinterpreted, and even completely thrust aside.  One of those truths is Revelation 12, which teaches that Satan has been cast down to the earth, and is full of wrath, because he knows that he only has a short time to persecute Christians. Also, 2Corinthians 4:4 teaches that Satan is the ruler of this world. Daniel 12, Revelation 13, 19 and 20, shows that Christians will endure persecution, and murder, until Christ returns, and destroys this present world’s system, and sets up his own kingdom, which is the kingdom of Heaven come down to earth. These passages, and many others, prove that Christ did not send his church to reclaim, or to transformed, the culture, because it is Satan’s territory. Jesus’ return to earth,  and nothing else, will transform this world.

Christ’s incarnation was not centered on humanitarianism, but saving lost souls from eternal punishment, and reconciling them to God. Jesus clearly affirms this when he said “…the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”, and “…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (Luke 19:10, John 3:14-17). Also, Christ’s ministry of preaching the gospel for the saving of the lost was the same ministry that he gave to his Apostles. That is why Jesus said “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high”, “…and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Luke 24:46-49, Acts 1:8). That is why Paul said, “all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2Corinthians 5:18-21).

Therefore, the Jesus of incarnational ministry, who came into the world to empower his church to teach the world how incarnational ministryto be good people, is not the Jesus of the Bible. The real Jesus is the Savior of the world, and not a humanitarian. To merge two different teachings of who Jesus is, by teaching both the Pelagian and the vicarious substitutionary view of the Atonement, is to create a different god – a false God. According to the Apostle John, those who try to change the teachings of who Christ is, is an antichrist (1John 4:1-3).

The proof that the missional movement is not from Christ can also be found in the actions of the movement. For example: the movement is not centered on evangelism, and discipleship, but embracing the non-believing communities of the world as though it were the church; thus blurring the lines between those who are the family of God, and those who are not. This is also reinforced by applying certain passages of Scripture that only apply to the church to everyone in the community in which a local church is planted in, such as the following passage:

Matthew 25

31    When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32    And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33    And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34    Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35    For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36    Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37    Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38    When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39    Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40    And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41    Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42    For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43    I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44    Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45    Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46    And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

This passage is used to support the social efforts of the missional movement, when it is really addressing Christ command to his church to love one another, by saying “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”, and “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (Matthew 25:40 & 45). The world is not Christ’s brethren, but the church is. Incarnational ministry ignores that important detail.

Some have also used the Apostles’ charge to Paul to remember the poor, which Paul was also eager to do (Galatians 2:10). But Paul’s ministry to the poor did not reflect the missional movement, because the book of Acts, as well as, Paul’s epistles, did not mention Paul caring for the poor people of the unbelieving world. Instead, what is mentioned in 2Corinthians 8 is Paul’s collection of the gifts of the Gentile churches for the relief of the poor believers in Jerusalem, which began in Acts 11:19-20, because of a great famine that impoverished Judea. No where in Scripture has Paul reflected the work of the missional movement.

Is it wrong to meet the needs of the poor?

It is wrong to call humanitarian work “the work of God”, because believing in Jesus is the work of God in the world (John 6:26-29). To call something else that Scripture does not acknowledge as “the work of God” for the church, is to take the Lord’s name in vain, and God will not hold such a person, or movement, guiltless who does this, because it is contrary to the will of Christ (Exodus 20:7, Luke 12:47-48).

Nevertheless, it is not wrong to meet the needs of the poor “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). Therefore, it is not wrong to meet the needs of poor unbelievers, but it is wrong to call this act the work of Christ’s church, or incarnational minsitry, or being missional.

It is by the church’s love for one another that the world will know that they belong to God, because they love one another just as Christ loved them (John 13:34-35). This is one of the ways that the church allows their light to shine, so that men will see their good deeds, and glorify their Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). This love for other believers is the light of the church that has been recorded in Scripture in passages such as Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37, and Acts 6:1-6). Furthermore, this kind of love was also taught by the Apostles in passages such as Romans 12:4-16, Romans 15:1-7, 1Corinthians 13, Philippians 2:1-8, James 2:14-16, 1John 3:16-19.

Therefore, the missional movement would do well to redirect its focus from the world, and onto loving the church just as Christ loved his church. A movement such as that could indeed be supported by Scripture, but the social efforts of incarnational ministry, which is nothing more than the social gospel, is the work of a different religion. This work will only serve to cause people to hope in an earth-based/works-based salvation. Such a movement is not the work of God, but it is more consistent with the ministry of white-wash, which the false prophets of Israel were well adapt in (Ezekiel 13:4-14).

In conclusion, incarnational ministry is not the work of the gospel, but it is the work of the social gospel that is deceiving Christians into putting their efforts towards helping the world to work for, and hope in, an earth-based/works-based salvation. It is causing people to be under the same condemnation that the rich man of Luke 12:16-21, who was not condemned for being greedy, but for not preparing for the more weightier matter of being justified before God. The missional movement does this by taking the focus off of evangelism, and instead, putting the focus on earthly cares, and heart-felt needs, as though that is what matters to God the most. But Scripture makes it clear, that believers must love their neighbor as themselves, and they must love the church, just as Christ loved the church, by giving his life for them. Therefore, loving the church is the orthodox focus for Christ’s church, and not incarnational ministry. The missional movement is more consistent with Rick Warren’s world wide “Purpose Driven Emerging Church movement” than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 13

3    Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!
4    O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.
5    You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD.
6    They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed.
7    Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The LORD says,’ but I have not spoken.”
8    Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord GOD.
9    “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
10    “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace — and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar —
11    say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down.
12    Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’ ”
13    Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it.
14    So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Luke 12

16    And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17    And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18    And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19    And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20    But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21    So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Matthew 7

21    Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22    Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23    And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24    Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25    And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26    And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27    And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Luke 12

42    And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
43    Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
44    Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
45    But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
46    The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47    And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48    But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

1Corinthians 3

9    For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
10    According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
11    For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12    Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13    Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14    If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15    If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
16    Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17    If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
18    Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19    For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20    And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Child Sacrifice – Uganda

child sacrifice

JourneyManPictures

Uganda is a developing country with a growing economy. Yet it struggles against a widespread belief in spirits and superstition – as demonstrated by the alarming rise in incidents of child sacrifice.

Considering the violence experienced by 10 year old Alan Ssemwanga, his survival is “miraculous”. Whilst searching for fruit in the forest, he was attacked by two men – beaten, castrated and left to die. Yet many Ugandans support these attacks, believing that child sacrifice, “leads to happiness and wealth”. Missing evidence, bribery, false statements and local police allowing suspects to skip bail all exacerbates the problem. “The law is weak”, one mother despairs.

To learn more, click on the link entitled “Child Sacrifice – Uganda“.

Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

Overdose The Next Financial Crisis

JourneyManPictures 

With the US raising their debt ceiling, are we in a global bail-out bubble that will eventually burst? This doc offers a fresh insight into the greatest economic crisis of our age: the one still awaiting us.

The financial storm that has rocked the world began brewing in the US when congress pushed the idea of home ownership for all, propping up those who couldn’t make the down payments. When it all went wrong the government promised the biggest financial stimulus packages in history and gargantuan bailouts. But what crazed logic is that: propping up debt with more debt? “They’re giving alcohol to a drunk: it just sets him up for a bigger hangover.”

War on Consciousness Pt. 28 – Undermining Parental Rights

condom-dispenser

ABCNews.Com

Philadelphia is installing condom dispensers in 22 city high schools where students as young as 14 will be able to receive condoms for free in an effort to combat an “epidemic” of sexually transmitted disease among the city’s teenagers.

Students returning to school from Christmas break will find clear plastic dispensers filled with condoms in the offices of nurses whose schools have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

“We believe distributing condoms is part of our obligation to keep students healthy and to remain healthy,” said school district spokesman Fernando Gallard. “The health department has described this as a continued epidemic of STDs among teenagers in Philadelphia.”

Condoms have in the past been provided to students in Philadelphia as part of wider program in which the teenagers are provided “free, voluntary and confidential” testing for sexual diseases in their schools, Gallard said.

Of the 130,000 student who have received testing in the last five years, some 6,500 or 5 percent of them have tested positive for diseases including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Continue Reading…

It is not for the school system to determine how one’s child should be cared for in regards to health care, or sex education. STD testing, and condom distribution, is not the responsibility of the school system, but the parents, alone. This supposed act of benevolence is a violation of parental authority, and the result is the corruption of minors.

Furthermore, HIV has not been proven, scientifically, to be the virus that causes AIDS. Instead, the claim was made popular by the American government, and the media, without first being verified by scientists.  Also, one of the popular treatments for HIV is a drug that causes AIDS symptoms, and death. For for information on this matter, click on the link entitled “HIV=AIDS – Fact or fraud“.

Western society has not been an ally to parents, but a usurper, and a source of corruption. This can be seen in Planned Parenthood, The American government, the United Nations, and UNESCO.

Seeing the following examples of Planned Parenthood:

Dr. Lena Levine in 1953, concerning Planned Parenthood’s purpose and planned course of action: “… to be ready as educators and parents to help young people obtain sex satisfaction before marriage. By sanctioning sex before marriage we will prevent fear and guilt. We must also relieve those who have these … feelings, and we must be ready to provide young boys and girls with the best contraceptive measures available so they will have the necessary means to achieve sexual satisfaction without having to risk possible pregnancy.”
(Planned Parenthood News, Summer 1953)  .” (“Psycho-Sexual Development,” quoted in Planned Parenthood News, Summer 1953, pg. 10)

“At Planned Parenthood you can also get birth control without the consent or knowledge of your parents. So, if you are 14, 15 or 16 and you come to Planned Parenthood, we won’t tell your parents you’ve been there. We swear we won’t tell your parents.”
Planned Parenthood employee lecturing students of Ramona High School, Riverside, Calif., April 21-22, 1986

“If your parents are stupid enough to deny you access to birth control, and you are under 18, you can get it on your own. Call Planned Parenthood.”

Planned Parenthood advertisement, Dallas Observer, Jan. 30, 1986

“Sex is too important to glop up with sentiment. If you feel sexy, for heaven’s sake admit it to yourself. If the feeling and the tension bother you, you can masturbate. Masturbation cannot hurt you and it will make you feel more relaxed.”
The Perils of Puberty, Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood, Denver, Colo.

The American government has helped to bring about the crises of sexual perversion, and child molestation, with the help of Alfred Kinsey’s fraudulent sex experiments, and his insisting on the idea that criminals should serve less time for sexually abusing minors. For more information on this matter, click on the link entitled “The Kinsey Syndrome“.

The United Nations has shown its defiance of parental authority by its efforts to take away parents rights in matters of education, religion and medical care. For more information on this matter, click on the link entitled “Overruled“.

UNESCO has also revealed its desire to molest the world’s children, and pervert their minds, by way of its sex education program, that is designed to begin teaching masturbation to prekindergartens. For more information on this topic, click on the link entitled “War on Consciousness Pt. 20 – The U.N.’s Sexual Perversion of Children through World Sex Education Curriculum“.

The world cannot be saved from this perversion, because it is part of God’s curse on mankind for rejecting God, and his Son, Jesus Christ. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:18-29). “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 28-32).

Therefore, this world’s system cannot be purged from its corruption. Instead, God “commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). Christ came into the world so that people will be saved from this evil world, and so that they could be reconciled to God, whom they are separated from because of their sins. “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2Corinthians 6:2). Christ, who came to seek, and to save, that which is lost, desires everyone to believe that he is the source of mercy for sins, and the only way to be reconciled to God. That is why he said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life” (John 6:47-48). “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:31-36).

Social reform will not stop the moral decay, because man’s heart is the source of the problem. Instead, God is offering hope to everyone who believes in Christ, so that they will be reconciled to him, and escape his coming wrath on this sinful world. Their is nothing that humanity can do to change the path of destruction that they are on. Salvation belongs to God alone, and can only be realized on his terms, which is through the turning away from a life sin, and faith in the good news of salvation of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Mark 1

15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel”.

Romans 10

8 “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9    that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10    For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11    For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
12    For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
13    For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

John 3

16    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17    For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18    “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19    And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20    For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21    But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

War on Consciousness Pt. 27 – Hubris

pope_in_cope_2

2Timothy 3 (Apostle Paul approx. 66 – 67 AD)

1    But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2    For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3    unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4    traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5    having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
6    For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7    always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8    Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
9    but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Why did the Son of God become flesh? (St. Thomas Aquinas 13th century)

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

The Popes claiming to be God.

Christian Mystic, Jane Lead’s, 1679 prophecy of an elite church that will become immortal, convert the whole world through signs and wonders, take over the world before Christ return, and bear the mark of their god.

Mormons claiming that God was a man, who lived a perfect life, and became a god, and that people who follow Mormon doctrine, perfectly, can become gods as well. (Mid 1800’s)

The “New Age” religion’s claim that people are gods. 1970’s

The Christian cult leaders, who claim to be gods1960’s to the present. Beyonce_iamtour

Glenn Beck teaching his followers to take the name “I Am”.

The result of this longstanding hubris will be the following:

2Thessalonians 2

1    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.
5    Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6    And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7    For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
8    And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9    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.
11    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.

Acts 17

30    Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
31    because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

Test All Things Pt. 3 – Wimpy Christians & The Culture War

robert_jeffress_a

OneNewsNow.Com

A respected Southern Baptist pastor and author says “wimpy” pastors and laypersons are the reason Christians are losing the culture war.

Why are many Christian leaders silent when religious freedom comes under attack? That question was raised Tuesday evening by Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly and posed to Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas and author of How Can I Know: Answers to Life’s 7 Most Important Questions.

Jeffress, Rev. Robert (FBC Dallas)“I think one reason is a lot of Christian leaders have the wrong idea about Jesus,” Jeffress replied when asked the question. “They see Jesus as this little, wimpy guy who walked around plucking daisies and eating birdseed and saying nice things, but never doing anything controversial. The fact is, Jesus did confront his culture with truth — and he ended up being crucified because of it.”

The Dallas pastor chastised pastors who shy away from controversy.

“Wimpy pastors produce wimpy Christians — and that is why we are losing this culture war,” he emphasized.

These are indeed some bold, and hard hitting, comments. But are they true? Are Christians wimps for not participating in the culture war? Has Christ called his church to go to war with the culture? Did Jesus go to war with the culture?

First, to set the record straight, there are many pastors going to war with the culture, and are even willing to be led in the culture war by false teachers, such as, the historical revisionist, David Barton, Glenn Beck, the Mormon, Roman Catholics, and even “Word of Faith” & New Apostolic Reformation” heretics. So it wouldn’t be accurate to claim that pastors are not engaged in the culture war. Mr. Jeffress might not like the amount of people involved, but he should be realistic in his observation, because the majority of Western society holds to a secular world-view; thus out numbering those who still hold to traditional Christian morality.

Nevertheless, Mr. Jeffress’ statements should be challenged.

Did Jesus, in fact, go to war with his culture, by trying to compel the Jews to keep the Old Covenant law? It is true that he rightly accused the Jews, and even the leaders, by telling them that none of them keeps the law, and that they even nullify the law by replacing it with their own traditions (John 7-19, Matthew 15:3-9). But was it the law that Jesus was telling the people to obey? Jesus did not command the Jews to do a better job at keeping the law. Instead, he told them to do “the work of God”, which is to “believe in Him whom He [God] sent… Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life” (John 6:29-48). That was Jesus’ messages, and that is what he confronted his culture with, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Nowhere can it be found in the gospel, or even the epistles, where Jesus is commanding the people to do better at keeping the law. Instead, he shows the people their lost and sinful state, by showing them how they have always broken the law, and cannot keep the law, because of their sinful heart. This was made evident when he said “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:18-30). Sinful man, even orthodox Jews, cannot live up to this standard “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8). That is why Jesus said “You must be born again”, because “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (John 3:7, 2Corinthians 5:17).

Did Jesus tell his Apostles to fight a culture war, when he commissioned them after his resurrection? No, instead, he told them to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 19:20). None of Jesus’ commands to his disciples had to do with fighting for control of the world’s culture. Instead, his commands were centered on salvation from sin, and from a world that is mark for destruction, and that is what the Apostles preached, saying “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead”, and “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 30:31, Acts 16:31).

Is Christ’s church engaged in war of any kind? Yes, the church is, in fact, engaged in, and called to a war. But it is not a war against the culture, because “though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh”, and the war for the culture is a war against people, for control of a nation, which is not what Christ commanded the church to do (2Corinthians 10:3). Yet, “from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). Christ church, therefore, is engaged in a spiritual war “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10). These opposing forces wage war on the truth, which the church is called to contend earnestly for, by refuting the heresies of false teachers. This war is fought by abiding in the truth, and by “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” (2Corinthians 10:5, Ephesians 6:14-18, Jude 1:3-4).

Many false teachers fight against the truth, by teaching the church, and the world, to do things in Christ’s name that Jesus never commanded, and the church must expose their lies, and “mark those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which they’ve learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18). “These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage”, but Christ church must “remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit (Jude 1:16-19). Jesus also gave this warning when he told his disciples to “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. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:13-20).

Therefore, Christ has called his church to engaged in a war, but it is not a war for the culture, which is doomed, according to Scripture (Acts 17:30-30, 1John 2:15-17). Instead, the church is engaged in a war for the truth of who the true God is, and for the truth of the true gospel of salvation, because many false prophets are in the world, and they are leading the world to obey false gods, false Christs, and false gospel (1John 4:1-6, 1John 5:19-21). Some are even telling the church that Jesus wants them to take charge of the culture through civil law, or through bringing about world peace in his name, even though Christ has already said “do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.'” (Matthew 10:34-36). The hatred, and lack of peace, is directly linked with the world’s hatred of Christ, “because he testified of it that its works are evil”, and the church must do the same, through the power of the Holy Spirit (John 7:7, John 16:8).

Those who are not willing to follow Christ’s commands to engage in this spiritual warfare are fearful. This is because they fear sinful man more than God, who is able to kill, and send those who disobeyed him to Hell, and the “Lake of Fire” (Matthew 10:29, Revelation 21:7-8). Those are the true wimpy Christians, who will not inherit the kingdom of Heaven, just as those who have told lies in Christ name (Revelation 21:7-8). That is why the Scriptures says “…all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone…” (Revelation 21:8). “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 1:12-13). To take the Lord’s name in vain, by telling people that God wants them to do certain things that he never told them, is not a small matter, “for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

Christians who fight in a war, who have not been commanded by God to do so, are fooled into waring against the very people that Christ has commanded them to preach the gospel to, so that they will repent, believe the gospel, and be saved, from their sins, and from this evil world. Believers are called to “set their minds on things above, not on things on the earth”, because “no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (Colossians 3:2, 2Timothy 2:4). The church’s war is centered upon salvation, and upon making disciples. Christ does not burden his people with the hopeless cares of this world, that is ruled over by Satan, who is “the god of this world” (2Crointhians 4:4, John 16:11, Revelation 12:12). Instead, he says “I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. ‘ He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’, as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:24-29).

Revelation 22

12    And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13    I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14    Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15    For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16    I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
17    And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
18    For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19    And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20    He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21    The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Slavery: A Global Investigation

slavery

The following link entitled “Slavery: A Global Investigation” is a documentary about an investigation of modern-day slavery throughout the world, including the United States. The film includes first-hand accounts of men, women, and children, who have been kidnapped, and forced to work as slaves.

Crackdown on Liberty Pt. 12 – Gun Control

Guncontrol

USAToday.Com

The author of a report on Australia’s sweeping gun reform program that was instituted after a mass killing in 1996 says the United States would have many fewer deaths by dramatically decreasing the number of households with guns, the Sydney Morning-Herald reported.

The National Firearms Agreement — reached among the political parties less than two weeks after a gunman killed 35 people and injured 23 at a Tasmanian seaside resort — cut firearm homicide by 59% over the next two decades and firearms suicide by 74%, the report showed.

The law banned semiautomatic and automatic rifles and shotguns and put in place a mandatory buy-back program for newly banned weapons.

The buyback led to the destruction of 650,000 guns, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported.

In August, following the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colo., former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who instituted the NFA, wrote in the Melbourne daily The Age that the United States should follow in Australia’s footsteps.

“Australia is a safer country as a result of what was done in 1996,” he wrote. “It will be the continuing responsibility of current and future federal and state governments to ensure the effectiveness of those anti-gun laws is never weakened. The U.S. is a country for which I have much affection. There are many American traits which we Australians could well emulate to our great benefit. But when it comes to guns we have been right to take a radically different path.”

Andrew Leigh, as an academic at the Australian National University, published research in 2010 on the NFA and found that the gun buyback program lowered the proportion of Australian homes with guns from 15% to 8%.

”Our gun buyback took about a fifth of our guns out of circulation but it approximately halved the number of gun-owning households,” Leigh, who is also a Labor party MP, said, the Morning-Herald reported. ‘If the U.S. could dramatically decrease the number of households with guns, it would have many fewer deaths.”

Would the unarmed citizens of Australia agree with this assessment? To hear their opinions on this matter, click on the link entitled “Australia Protests Gun Ban Wake Up American Your Next“.

A 2011 study by the Harvard Injury Control Research Center of the Australian program noted that while 13 gun massacres (involving the death of 4 or more people at one time) occurred in Australia in the 18 years before the NFA, resulting in more than one hundred deaths, there had been no massacres since.

READ: The full report on the Australia gun buyback program

Leigh said that he does not foresee any retreat from the policy by major parties, although the Australian Party has vowed to fight for shooter’s rights if it gains seats in the Senate next year.

Australian native Rupert Murdoch, who is now a U.S. citizen, has strongly echoed the calls for new Murdoch_Foxrestrictions on automatic weapons, citing the Australian example.

After the Sandy Hook massacre on Friday, Murdoch wrote on Twitter: ”Terrible news today. When will politicians find courage to ban automatic weapons? As in Oz after similar tragedy.”

That, says the Morning Herald, prompted a none-too-subtle comment from Australian Liberal Malcolm Turnbull about Murdoch’s U.S. cable network. “I suspect they will find the courage when Fox News enthusiastically campaigns for it.”

In his 2010 report, Leigh wrote that there were several important factors in assessing the extent to which the result of the Australian gun buyback program could be extrapolated to other countries.

Among them:

  • Australian borders are more easily controlled than in countries that have land borders;
  • Australia’s government in general and its policing and customs services in particular are highly organized and effective;
  • The NFA had an extremely high degree of political support and was quite competently executed;
  • The buyback was accompanied by a uniform national system for licensing and registration of firearms.

FoxNews.Com

President Obama on Wednesday tapped Vice President Biden to lead an administration-wide effort looking at gun control and other measures in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting last week.

“The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing,” Obama said.

The move marks the first concrete step by the White House toward crafting new firearms restrictions. The president did not announce any major policy decisions on Wednesday, but said the task force of Cabinet UN General Assembly Convenes In New Yorkofficials and outside organizations led by Biden would submit legislative proposals to him no later than January.

Some lawmakers, in the wake of the tragedy, have called for a broad-based response, looking at everything from mental health to school security to American culture. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in a call soon joined by others, proposed a national commission examining the entertainment industry and particularly video games.

Obama and top administration officials suggest the response to the Newtown, Conn., mass murder could include a range of recommendations. But the focus, given the debate that has accelerated on Capitol Hill in recent days, is likely to be gun control.

The president said Wednesday that he chose Biden to lead the task force in part because of his role in crafting the 1994 assault-weapons ban. Obama spoke favorably of the ban, as well as proposals to strengthen background checks and ban high-capacity magazines. The president tried to walk a line between assuring Americans that gun rights would largely be protected, while making the case for some new restrictions.

“The fact is the vast majority of gun owners in America are responsible,” he said. “But you know what — I am also betting that the majority, the vast majority of responsible law-abiding gun owners would be some of the first to say that we should be able to keep an irresponsible law-breaking few from buying a weapon of war.”

Obama said he would use “all the powers” of his office to prevent more tragedies. “We won’t prevent them all, but that can’t be an excuse not to try,” he said.

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the administration will craft proposals for Congress to consider over the next few weeks. He said a “strong” Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also important.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday that Obama is “actively supportive” of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s, D-Calif., push to bring back the assault-weapons ban. He also said the president supports closing the so-called gun show loophole.

Gun-rights advocates have started to push back on the swift call for more firearms regulation. The National Rifle Association, after remaining silent in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, released its first — albeit brief — statement on Tuesday, and announced it would be holding a major press conference on Friday.

The White House sees some urgency in formulating a policy response to the shooting, even as Obama and his top aides are consumed with averting the looming fiscal crisis before tax hikes and spending cuts take effect in January.

As many pro-gun lawmakers have called for a greater focus on mental health issues and the impact of violent entertainment, aides say Obama also prefers a holistic approach.

“It’s a complex problem that requires more than one solution,” Carney said Tuesday. “It calls for not only re-examining our gun laws and how well we enforce them, but also for engaging mental health professionals, law-enforcement officials, educators, parents and communities to find those solutions.”

Still, much of the immediate focus after the shooting is on gun control, an issue that has been dormant in Washington for years. Obama expended little political capital on gun issues during his first term, despite several mass shootings, including a movie theater attack in Aurora, Colorado, in the midst of this year’s presidential campaign.

The White House has begun to signal that Obama may be more proactive on gun issues following the murders of the elementary school youngsters, ages 6 and 7.

The policy process Obama announced Wednesday was expected to include input from the departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services. The heads of those agencies met with Obama at the White House on Monday.

To learn about the affect of stricter gun control laws in Washington D.C., click on the link entitled “Gun Control Made For Higher Crime Rates“.
To learn about the affect that banned firearms is having in South Africa, click on the link entitled “South Africa Gun Control And Crime Rates“.

Glenn Beck Defends Gay Marriage

Glenn-beck

HuffingtonPost.Com

Glenn Beck has reiterated his surprisingly lenient stance on same-sex marriage in a new interview.

In a conversation with Penn Jillette, Beck stopped short of endorsing marriage equality, but nonetheless argued against government involvement in personal affairs.

“Let me take the pro-gay marriage people and the religious people,” he said. “I believe that there is a connecting dot there that nobody is looking at, and that’s the Constitution.”

He then noted: “The question is not whether gay people should be married or not, the question is why is the government involved in our marriage?”

It’s not the first time the author and former Fox News host has expressed a less-than-rigid view of same-sex marriage. In 2010, Beck told Bill O’Reilly that he didn’t believe allowing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples to tie the knot posed much of a threat to the country.

Beck even quoted Thomas Jefferson in his argument: “If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what difference is it to me?”

2Timothy 3

1    This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2    For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3    Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4    Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5    Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Psalm 1

1    Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2    But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3    And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4    The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5    Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6    For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.