The Sanhedrin and Bnei Noah global laws…

My last post brought to my attention once again about The Sanhedrin and The Bnei Noah. This rang alarm bells for me big time.

Why? Because I have already blogged about them a while back and what I found out is almost impossible to believe! The Noahide Laws of the Bnei Noah allows for BEHEADING those who do not follow their seven laws!!! Does this sound vaguely familiar to you???

• Noahide Laws could be Global laws for all citizens of the World!

…also documented the punishment for not following the Noahide Law, one of which is death by beheading.

This is from the official Bnei Noah Site.

I too, have wondered about these laws and have found it interesting that the Temple has to be rebuilt in order for these laws to come into effect. For this to happen there is the problem of the Dome of the Rock. But this is not so much of a problem when you consider that the Dome of the Rock can stay just where it is, and be classed as the court of Gentiles according to Prof. Joseph Patrich who got back to me with an email and said this… It is outside the temple court, but still within the screen barring gentile entrance.

Not only that but there seems to be something of a amalgamation of a Joint Halachic – Sharia court on the cards! If you really want to get your teeth stuck into some more stuff see:

• Jerusalem Court for Issues of Bnei Noah 

  This court has been set up to serve the needs of B’nei Noach worldwide. Judaism does not view itself as a universal religion, instead it sees itself as a national faith. This is understood within the context of the Jewish teaching that there are seventy nations or groups of people in the world. Each group of people must develop its own form of worship, unique to its own character. There is however a basic minimum common to all proper faiths, and this is the Noahide teachings. The Sanhedrin, through this court, is required to play a role in helping to clarify these most basic teachings, and each group of people in turn must set up its own religious court to expand, develop and adapt these laws to fit the needs of its community of believers.

A MUST read alert. Once again coming from Scott Brisk Moriel Ministries.

The following is found on the Sanhedrin’s site:

• Adnan Oktar’s Meeting With Sanhedrin Rabbis (Islamic website) pictures and video
• Adnan Oktar’s "Union of Faiths" (Islamic website)
• Adnan Oktar’s meeting with Jewish Rabbis – Harun Yahya’s statement to Jews (Silentside.net)
• Sanhedrin Meeting With Harun Yahya – Joel’s Trumpet (July 7, 2009)
• Israeli Rabbi (not Sanhedrin) Calls For Turkish Mediation For Middle East Peace – Joel’s Trumpet (July 6, 2009)
• Sanhedrin Makes Link with Turkish Author to Oppose “The Unbelievers” – Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion (critical)

Filed under: Globalism, Islam, Israel, Judaism, Middle East, Multiculturalism, New World Order, News, Philosophy & Religion, Political, Prophecy, Religion, The Sanhedrin, Theology, discernment

Another Islamic Zionist!

Image via Wikipedia

It was quite a while ago when I posted about a Muslim Zionist who speaks out against the current Islamic rhetoric about Israel not being recognised. Previously I said this:

It’s not every day that a Muslim intellectual puts his own head on the line to defend Israel’s right to exist. But that is exactly what Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born Italian writer and journalist, has been doing for years. He recently published a book whose name alone is enough to endanger his life: “Long Live Israel – From the Ideology of Death to the Civilization of Life: My Story.”Allam directly links the denial of Israel’s right to exist to the death cult being nurtured in fundamentalist Islamic circles, and refers to “the ethical erosion that has led to even the denial of the supreme value of the sanctity of life.” Allam sees Israel as “an ethical parameter that separates between lovers of civilization and those who preach the ideology of death.” The sanctity of life, he writes, “applies to everyone, or to no one.” Read More

Well, I found another outspoken Muslim who thinks the same. Sheikh Palazzi has some very important things to say about Israel and Jerusalem and the failure of the Palestinians not recognising Israel. He even says that Israel should continue to build in Judea and Samaria even though President Obama says THIS. Most interesting to note is that Professor Hillel Weiss from the Organization of the Nascent Sanhedrin speaks about the prophetic structure… or something along those lines. I don’t really get what he says, but I thought it was interesting because it seems to me that this newly established Sanhedrin is gaining a more political voice through mainstream media!

This is a must watch video…

Sheikh Palazzi believes that the authentic teachings of Muhammad as expressed in the Qur’an and the Hadith instruct Moslems to support the return of the Jewish nation to its historic homeland in Israel, and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

The Sheikh’s credentials are impeccable, having received his Islamic education from leading mainstream Saudi Arabian and Egyptian Sunni institutions. Highly controversal in today’s Islamic milieu, Sheikh Palazzi is nevertheless widely recognized as one of the leading Moslem experts today. A long time supporter of Israel, he is a self-described "Zionist Moslem."

And don’t forget about that there are many Arabs for Israel, here is a site worth checking out…

arabs for israel We are Arabs and Moslems who believe we can support Isreal and the Palestinian people

All this is good news but we must remember that Moslems also need the saving faith that can only be found in Christ Jesus; and for this we should pray. For more information on Moslems that have met the real Jesus of the bible please see Walid Shoebat from Hate to Love and Kamal Saleem from Koome Ministries. 

 

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• The Third Temple – Temple Talk… (livingjourney.wordpress.com)
• A Muslim wants to rebuild the 3rd Temple – Huh?

Filed under: Christianity, History, Islam, Israel, Judaism, Middle East, News, Philosophy & Religion, Political, Religion

Cremation or Burial?

I just went over to Lorrie’s blog and she has a post asking the question about cremation vs burial.  I have to say that this question has been somewhat of a stumbling block for me over the years. In fact, I have wondered why cremation has become so popular in the West at all? Is it a space issue, is is the fear of being buried alive? I don’t know to be honest with you.

Anyway, Lorrie posts something that she discovered about how God deals with the dead…

I know that the Master of the universe is able to gather and restore every particle of one’s physical body no matter it’s final demise. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord! I was not concerned.

Then one morning as I was reading my bible I came across the passage where God has Moses up on a mountain telling him he’s going to die. I’ve read it numerous times but when I came to the following verses I saw what I had never seen before…

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. Deut. 34:5-6

Did you catch it? God B U R I E D Moses. Grow Up Deep: Would God Bury You?

Also, it seems that being buried in the earth may symbolise Christ being buried in the earth and waiting His resurrection just as we await ours…

Cremation destroys the truth and beauty of the thought of the close connection between the resurrection of Christ and that of the believer. Cremation puts Scripture sadly out of joint. Think of the time-honoured Scripture that has been read over the graves of hundreds of thousands of God’s saints. Please note particularly the “IT” repeated eight times in this precious Scripture, connecting the body sown with the body raised. There can be no resurrection unless what is committed to the Lord in death is raised literally. This is beyond human understanding, yet the believer relies on “the power of God,” and the plain teaching of Scripture.

“IT is sown in corruption; IT is raised in incorruption; IT is sown in dishonour; IT is raised in glory; IT is sown in weakness; IT is raised in power; IT is sown a natural body; IT is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:42-44)

How these verses are robbed of their beautiful meaning, if read over a coffin, about to be propelled by invisible machinery into a blazing furnace, and reduced to ashes in a couple of hours or less. Surely we do well to avoid a practice that weakens the meaning and comfort of Scripture at a time when hearts are torn with grief, and need all the comfort they can get in their hour of need. [source]

The above article makes a lot of sense to me. It’s not about whether or not you think that God can gather your ashes that have blown away in the wind, it’s more about the symbolic meaning of burial.

On a completely random side note…

An Australian scientist called Wednesday for an end to the age-old tradition of cremation, saying the practice contributed to global warming.

Professor Roger Short said people could instead choose to help the environment after death by being buried in a cardboard box under a tree. [source]

What I would like to do is put up a poll on the Cremation vs Burial question. If you would like to comment on this issue or raise some important points please do in the comment section of this blog.

[Please only answer if you are a Christian]

Filed under: Christianity, Personal, Philosophy & Religion, Religion

More Books and Things…: We blog these things for the few

I have to yell a hearty AMEN to Carla’s post here…

So why would any person in their right mind spend three hours of their much needed beauty sleep posting a well researched article with a dozen live links, all previously searched out during long hours of burning the midnight oil, to warn Christians about false teaching when maybe 30 of them will skim through it and nod their heads in agreement, 30 might quickly browse the headline and decide it’s not bad enough news to bother reading, another 30 will politely disagree, yawn and move on to a more interesting website, and 9 more may read it, shake their head in disgust, and leave a very nasty comment? Here is why – we who blog these things blog for the few; the remnant,

More Books and Things…: We blog these things for the few

And on a personal note, I have learnt a WHOLE lot from Carla’s blog. This is probably one of the most poignant pieces that Carla has written and it pretty much sums up why I blog too. I love you Carla, a friend that I can’t wait to meet someday. If not in this lifetime, I know it will be in the next when we can sit at God’s feet! May God bless you Carla, God has certainly blessed me with you

Filed under: Apostasy, Christian Pragmatism, Christianity, Ecumenicalism, Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Gnosticism, Personal, Philosophy & Religion, Political, Political/Christian, Post-modernism, Religion, Replacement Theology, Social Gospel, discernment

The Third Temple – Temple Talk…

This week has been rather strange with “Temple Talk”. This is how it unfolded for me.

I first came across this…

Will Rockefeller build 3rd Temple?
Internet abuzz with report of biblical proportions …

JERUSALEM – A Rockefeller is raising capital to rebuild the Jewish Temple, said the news release published on CNN Money’s Internet site and other news sources.

The plan would include a united Jewish and Palestinian Arab state. A Jewish group promoting the rebuilding of the Temple was reported to be cooperating.

The story spread virally through the evangelical Christian blogosphere.

But it was all part of an elaborate hoax.

Then I checked my facebook and found that “The Temple Institute “had put up a youtube on the topic of the “Third Temple and President Obama”…

And then I found this…

Regarding the Rumor about the Building of the Holy Temple on March 16th, 2010, and the Story that Lies Behind It

A STORY HAS BEEN CIRCULATING RECENTLY concerning the prophesied commencement of construction on the Holy Temple on March 16th, 2010. It would appear that the current interest began when a certain Israeli daily newspaper published a story claiming that the celebrated Rabbi of Vilna, Eliyahu ben Shlomo, known to this day as the Vilna Gaon, (The genius of Vilna), or by his acronym, the Gra, who lived over 200 years ago, (1720-1797), purportedly declared that the beginning of the redemptive process would commence upon the completion of the rebuilding of the Churva synagogue in Israel. The current excitement has to do with the fact that the Churva synagogue is being rebuilt at this moment and March 15th is scheduled to be the day of its rededication. The essence of this story is very beautiful, and most beautiful is the tremendous anticipation it has been generating.

So, what are we as Christians to make of all this? Well, here is a brilliant piece about the significance that the Temple has for us – this side of the cross – and the role it plays…

One of the central, recurring sources of discussion by Jew and Christian alike is the Temple in Jerusalem. There is a lot of Scripture devoted to the Laws and operation of the Temple and the priests and Levites supporting it, but from a purely historical perspective the two temples, along with their precursor the Tabernacle, only stood for a brief fraction of time in terms of the whole of mankind’s history. And yet mainstream Judaism and Christianity alike believe a third Temple is not only inevitable but imminent. I personally find it fascinating that the majority of Jews and Christians alike seem to miss the greater purpose of the Temple, often focusing on all the things humans are supposed to do in the course of operating the Temple. But Solomon’s dedication of the original Temple reveals that what is most important is not what MAN does with it, but God. And this is no small lesson to be lost on Christians who are repeatedly taught in the New Testament that THEY are now the Temple. The original, intended role of the physical Temple probably has quite a bit to teach New Testament believers about their greater role and purpose as His spiritual Temple. [Read more - The True Role of the Temple]

Filed under: Apostasy, Christian Pragmatism, Christianity, Church History, Ecumenicalism, Globalism, Hebrew, Israel, Judaism, Middle East, Midrash, Philosophy & Religion, Political, Political/Christian, Prophecy, Religion, The Sanhedrin, Theology, discernment

Postmodernism – The Church has lost its salt…

I have just finished reading this excellent article written by Gary Gilley. It’s called “A Renewed Confidence in the Word of God”. As I read it I was automatically taken back to some of the things that Brian McLaren had said about the emerging Church. He had said that he was not interested in changing the minds of those older fundamentalist who hold onto theological dogma and doctrine, but rather he is interested in those younger who embrace a more progressive and ever changing view of God’s story.

This article made it very clear about how the younger postmodern Christian has not had exegetical biblical instruction, but rather they have been told that it is about subjective feelings about the text. Private interpretation of scripture has been given the thumbs up!

Gilley writes that this ‘uncertainty’ has gained a momentum inside the Church and this will lead to a knowledge found within oneself (Gnosticism). Therefore there is a mystical understanding of God and His Word.

Emergent spokesman Brian McLaren calls for the evangelical community to get over its love affair with certainty.  He writes, “Drop any affair you may have with certainty, proof, argument – and replace it with dialogue, conversation, intrigue, and search.” Are we to take McLaren seriously?  If so, then the best way to get over our love affair with certainty, according to McLaren, would be to replace it with uncertainty, or more commonly, mystery.  It is definitely in vogue at this point in church history to make the rather “certain” claim that we cannot be certain about anything.  Of course, the irony of such certainty about uncertainty is obvious.  But much like impossible political promises, when statements are left unanalyzed and unchallenged they tend to be uncritically absorbed by the minds of some people, often resulting in great harm.

It is important then that we give careful thought to the recent love affair with uncertainty. What are its origins?  Is it really something new? Does it line up with the claims of Scripture?  How should the people of God respond?

[…]Commenting on such beliefs Professor Gary Burge of Wheaton College believes such theological and biblical illiteracy is the result of:

• The failure of the church to transmit what it believes to the next generation.  One of the reasons for this is an overemphasis on personal experience to the exclusion of serious Christian education.
• Many churches have abandoned serious Bible exposition and theological teaching.  Exegesis is becoming a “lost art” in the pulpit.
• Today there is a tremendous influence of nonbiblical philosophies and worldviews on churchgoers.
• Christians have accepted and combined so many ideas from other worldviews and religions that they have created their own faith system.  The average born-again, baptized, churchgoing person has embraced elements of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, Scientology, Unitarianism and Christian Science – without any idea he has just created his own faith.

The article isn’t very long and I highly recommend it – A Renewed Confidence in the Word of God

Mat 5:13  "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Filed under: Apostasy, Catholicism, Christian Pragmatism, Christianity, Church History, Dominionism, Ecumenicalism, Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Gnosticism, Philosophy & Religion, Post-modernism, Religion, Social Gospel, Theology, discernment, mysticism

The Mystery revealed…

And after watching some emergents talking about the mystery of God …we believe that God is reality, a presence, the unnameable, who dwells in mystery beyond us.

I would like to say that the Mystery of God HAS been revealed:

Rom 16:25 Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal,
Rom 16:26 but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith
Eph 3:3 how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words,
Eph 3:4 whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ;
Eph 3:5 which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit

And after hearing the emergents talk about Kingdom building in a way that sounds very much like an ‘all inclusive’ ‘everyone is saved’ because we all hold hands and chant ‘Kumbaya my Lord’ in our ‘utopian village’. I would like to point out that:

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God:

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The Kingdom of God is not of this world:

Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

Perhaps they believe in the planet Pandora as well!

Filed under: Apostasy, Catholicism, Christian Pragmatism, Church History, Dominionism, Ecumenicalism, Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Gnosticism, Hyper-preterism, Multiculturalism, New-Age, Philosophy & Religion, Post-modernism, Religion, Replacement Theology, Supercessionism, Theology, discernment, environmentalism, mysticism

Emmmm, What’s the point exactly?

more about “Tim King – Conversion or Contribution…“, posted with vodpod

What jumped out at me was the statement (note: it wasn’t a question. See my last post about McLaren saying that Statements brings about States but Questions brings about quest, it’s about the journey not the destination.) that the bible shouldn’t be taken as a literal map or photograph but it should be a map which is a pointer just as Jesus was not so much the point but the pointer to God who is the point. Hmmmm. What does Jesus say about who the Word of God points to?

Joh 5:39 You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about me.

Joh 5:40 But you are not willing to come to me to have life.

Joh 5:41 “I do not accept human praise.

Joh 5:42 I know that you do not have the love of God in you.

Joh 5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. Yet if another man comes in his own name, you will accept him.

Joh 5:44 How can you believe when you accept each other’s praise and do not look for the praise that comes from the only God?

Joh 5:45 Do not suppose that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

Joh 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for it was about me that he wrote.

Joh 5:47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?”

Indeed, Jesus Christ is the point of the Bible. It is all about him. If you wanted to sum up the Bible in one word, you could do so by pointing to Christ. The Old Testament makes promises about Christ, and the New Testament keeps promises in Christ. [The Message of the Old Testament - Promises Made:  Mark Dever]

Also what is said is that we shouldn’t be worried about the here after – the future – but rather the kingdom today! This is NOT what the bible says:

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21  for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

So according to scripture if you have your heart set on the treasures of this world you are kind of worldly by God’s account. Is it any wonder that the commercialised Church has fallen for the health and wealth gospel and the social gospel.

It’s kinda ironic to me that they call this series  “Thinkfwd” but say it’s not about the future as much as it’s about the moment! Oxymoron much?  McLaren and the other “Think Fwd’s” constantly say … it’s about the journey not the destination, yet contradict themselves when they say it is about the “Now” and it’s about “Today” yet they are on a journey to where exactly???

Oi… they talk in circles

Filed under: Apostasy, Christian Pragmatism, Christianity, Church History, Dominionism, Ecumenicalism, Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Gnosticism, New-Age, Philosophy & Religion, Political/Christian, Post-modernism, Religion, Theology, discernment, environmentalism, mysticism

Questions – it’s all about the questions. But is there an answer?

2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts;

Integralism may well be the word and praxis that is soon to follow post-modernism. Post-modernism has done its job in de-constructing. But how to re-construct is another matter! Ingetralism may hold the answer for this seemingly fragmented and pulled apart world.

Brian Mclaren is a supporter of this idea! He supports and recommends a book by Ken Wilber called “A Theory of Everything”…

Emerging postmodernism agrees that modern reductionistic rationalism needed to be stopped or “deconstructed,” and it sees that relativist pluralism “worked” as a chemotherapeutic agent, but it doesn’t mistake this dangerous short-term medical necessity as a long-term regimen for health. It seeks to move beyond relativistic pluralism, and sees “emergent thinking” and “integralism” as better alternatives to both modern reductionistic rationalism and relativist pluralism. (For more on emergent thinking and integralism, see my book “A Generous Orthodoxy,” or Ken Wilber’s “A Theory of Everything.”) [Brian McLaren: The Three Postmodernisms]

Those of you new this blog may not have heard about Ken Wilber,  here’s what he’s all about:

“The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, or not a Christian at all.” -Karl Rahner

Father Thomas Keating and Ken Wilber reveal:
The Future of Christianity

Do you want to bring your Christian faith into alignment with the modern world? You are among friends. We also left the traditional church and looked for a different kind of relationship with God in many places, before we re-discovered this new vision of Christianity taught by Father Thomas Keating and Ken Wilber. We are so excited by what they shared with us that we created The Future of Christianity DVD set to introduce these inspiring concepts to individuals like you who are seeking a new kind of modern relationship with Jesus Christ. [source]

Ken Wilber believes that the truth can be found not in a truth but in seeking the truth. He calls it “Integral Methodological Pluralism” which, simply put means — everybody is right! They are right because in their quest for the good the true and beautiful no human mind is capable of producing 100% error. So, the quest itself is not to find who is right or wrong, but rather to find a way that all various truths can fit together. Each personal way for the truth seeker therefore becomes an important piece to fit into the puzzle. This is all found in one of his books called “The sociable God” this book emphasizes an holistic approach in becoming a whole. Holism means that: the Whole is better than the sum of its parts. If you apply this to the quest or the journey of the truth seeker, then you can see that the journey actually becomes the destination of truth. Little wonder then that the labyrinths lead to nowhere, it is the journey, not the destination that is the all important goal. This is pretty much what Brian Mclaren was saying when he spoke about “Statements bring about States” but “Questions bring about Quests”. It’s not the destination that is important but rather the journey.[check out this]

Paul says something different though:

1Co 9:24  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

1Co 9:25  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

1Co 9:26  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

And there are rules to this race if you want to win:

2Ti 2:5  An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

The rules mean we must hold faithful to the Word of God and keep to sound doctrine:

Tit 1:9  holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers.

So, what does this New Kind of Christianity mean?

Well take a look at this article:

“The modern world lies under a pervasive sense of anguish, of being abandoned, or at least experiencing God as absent. Yet events that seem to turn our lives upside down and inside out are part of God’s redemptive plan, not only for us, but for the world in which we live. God may be preparing a great awakening for the world, if God can find enough people to cooperate in this mysterious plan.”

Father Thomas Keating is a writer, teacher and founding member of the Spirituality branch of Integral Institute. At the age of eighty-one, he continues to be a prominent voice in the Christian Centering Prayer movement through the organization he founded, Contemplative Outreach, an international network committed to renewing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in daily life.

It helps that Fr. Thomas also has an unusually open-minded attitude towards the meditative practices of other traditions and has studied with spiritual teachers from a variety of Hindu and Buddhist lineages…[source] (Please be sure to check out the ‘contributions’ listed below this article, from the titles you will understand that this “New Kind of Christianity” is esoteric and is aligning itself with mystical eastern practices.)

Make no mistake about it Brian Mclaren holds to a universalistic theology. He says so in his new book where you can download a chapter pre-released called “Making Eschatology Personal“!

God’s integrated judgment, then, could never be merely retributive – seeking to punish wrongdoers for their wrongs and in this way balance some sort of karmic cosmic equation. No, God’s judgment would have to be far higher and better than that: it would have to be restorative. It would aim far higher than merely convicting people of wrong (which is easy); its goal would be universal repentance, universal restoration, universal reconciliation, universal purification, universal “putting wrong things right,”

So, in thinking more about this, I guess we have to figure out what “Sound Doctrine ” is and isn’t.  Doctrine, no matter where it comes from must be tested:

1Ti 6:3  If any man teacheth a different doctrine, and consenteth not to sound words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

We must test everything and be critical of it (see my last post on this HERE):

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

How do we test the spirits and the false prophets words?

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Scripture, that is how!!! Regardless of how we feel about it, scripture stands outside of us and is not subjective but is absolute because it comes from an Absolute God. There is a Spirit of Truth and a Spirit of lies, how can we tell the difference?

The bible is our measuring tool and it has the answers!

Filed under: Apostasy, Catholicism, Christian Pragmatism, Christianity, Cults, Dominionism, Ecumenicalism, Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Gnosticism, Islam, Multiculturalism, New-Age, Occult, Philosophy & Religion, Political, Political/Christian, Post-modernism, Religion, Replacement Theology, Social Gospel, Spiritual Formation, Theology, discernment, environmentalism, mysticism

Moriel – Listen to Last Week’s 2010 Prophecy Conference…

I have just listened to two of sermons from the “2010 Prophecy conference”, and I have blogged about those two that I have listened to HERE and HERE. Those posts are not exhaustive of what is taught, but just a few little things that spoke out to me.

Anyway, if you are interested in getting into the meat of scripture then I recommend going to the following links.

Listen to Last Week’s Conference

Each of the sermons from last week’s “2010 Prophecy Conference” in El Centro, CA is now available online here. The speakers and their sessions were as follows:

1. Session #1 – Why Bible Prophecy? – Dr. Tim LaHaye Friday, 15 January 2010
2. Session #2 – Let No Man Deceive You – Dr. David Hocking Friday, 15 January 2010
3. Session #3 – Why the World Hates the Jews – Olivier Melnick Saturday, 16 January 2010
4. Session #4 – What’s Wrong with the Church? – Jacob Prasch Saturday, 16 January 2010
5. Session #5 – The Second Coming – Dr. Tim LaHaye Saturday, 16 January 2010
6. Session #6 – Can Israel Survive? – Dr. David Hocking Saturday, 16 January 2010
7. Session #7 – Are Believers being Deceived? – Jacob Prasch Saturday, 16 January 2010
8. Session #8 – Are You Ready for the Coming of the Lord? – Jacob Prasch Saturday, 16 January 2010
9. Session #9 – Is There Any Hope for America? – Dr. David Hocking Sunday, 17 January 2010

Moriel Archive » Blog Archive » Listen to Last Week’s Conference

To be honest with you, when I first went to see Jacob Prasch here in Australia, I felt like I had finally graduated out of Sunday School! I came away knowing that I had been fed well! Lot’s of stuff to chew on.

Filed under: Apostasy, Audio & Video, Catholicism, Christianity, Church History, Cults, Dominionism, Ecumenicalism, Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Gnosticism, Hebrew, Islam, Israel, Judaism, Midrash, New-Age, Philosophy & Religion, Political/Christian, Post-modernism, Prophecy, Religion, Replacement Theology, Social Gospel, Spiritual Renovation, Supercessionism, Theology, discernment, mysticism

Critical Spirit – do you have one?

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Discern/Discerning:

κριτικός
kritikos
krit-ee-kos’
From G2923; decisive (“critical”), that is, discriminative: – discerner.

Interesting thing I have just learnt. Did you know that the word ‘discern’ means to be critical? We get our word ‘critical’ from the Greek word ‘kritikos’.

A discerner (κριτικὸς)
N.T.o. olxx. The word carries on the thought of dividing. From κρίνειν to divide or separate, which runs into the sense of judge, the usual meaning in N.T., judgment involving the sifting out and analysis of evidence. In κριτικὸς the ideas of discrimination and judgment are blended. Vulg. discretor.

So… if you are standing against teaching which falls short and fails to measure up with the Word of God and someone says to you… “you have a critical Spirit”, then you should say, “I certainly hope so!”

Learn more about this in a sermon by Jacob Prasch called “Are believers being deceived”.

Filed under: Apostasy, Christianity, Theology, discernment

Holocaust: Some deny, some say more…

Jan. 14 – Catholic priest says newly-revealed mass graves indicate there may be as many as 1.5 million additional Holocaust victims.

Father Patrick Desbois told a meeting of Jewish organisations in New York that he’s discovered 700 extermination sites in the Ukraine where at least one and a half million Jews were murdered.Jim Drury, Reuters

While other priests say…

Forget Bishop Richard Williamson. Now Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church have Bishop Dadeus Grings to worry about. On Friday, Grings, the archbishop of Porto Alegre, said “more Catholics than Jews have died in the Holocaust, but this is not usually told because Jews own the world’s propaganda.”[source]

 

A priest in an ultraconservative society recently rehabilitated by Pope Benedict XVI has defended a bishop in his group and joined him in expressing doubts about the Holocaust.
While making more cautious remarks than Bishop Richard Williamson, the Rev. Floriano Abrahamowicz echoed, in an interview published Thursday by an Italian daily, the prelate’s doubts that Jews were gassed during World War II. [source]

Filed under: History, Israel, News, Political

IPCC’s warning about ice disappearing from mountain tops based on student dissertation

This doesn’t surprise me…

Jan. 31 (ANI): In what may cause fresh embarrassment to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it has emerged that its warning about ice disappearing from the world’s mountain tops was based on a student’s thesis and an article published in a mountaineering magazine.

Earlier, the IPCC had to issue a humiliating apology over its inaccurate claim that global warming will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 was based on a "speculative" article published in New Scientist.

IPCC’s warning about ice disappearing from mountain tops based on student dissertation – Oneindia News

Filed under: climate change, environmentalism

What’s wrong with the Church today?

Jacob Prasch examines this question by going to 1st Cor 10 which says:

1Co 10:1  For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2  and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3  and did all eat the same spiritual food;
1Co 10:4  and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.
1Co 10:5  Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1Co 10:6  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
1Co 10:7  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
1Co 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
1Co 10:9  Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents.
1Co 10:10  Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer.
1Co 10:11  Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.

This passage directs us to look back at Israel and what actually happened to them after they crossed the Red Sea. Basically, Israel is an example of what will happen to the Church before Christ come again.

He outlines the current lust that is found within the Church and he illustrates scripturally the connection between idolatry and adultery.

One thing that is pivotal is that the Apostate Church persecutes those who stand up on the Truth of God’s word. Truth must be shared without waver as this demonstrates true biblical love. Biblical love is very different from secular PC love which doesn’t offend.

A bible verse that shows true agape love is found in Php 1:9…

Php 1:9  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,

Jacob notes that in the last days as apostasy grows there will be those who twist scripture and in doing so, they will call upon themselves their own destruction:

2Pe 3:16  as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
2Pe 3:17  You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

This is where the Apostate Church is heading; its destruction is inevitable!

He cover topics such as paedophilia in the Church, bowing down to iconic symbols, 5th century monastic worship, the dark ages, labyrinths, idolatry, the Church becoming a postmodern institution, Evangelical and Catholics together and the post modern emergent church.

One thing that he speaks about which is interesting is Baal worship and what does that mean exactly and how does it apply the the Apostate Church today?

Much, much more is spoken about in this sermon that you can listen to. You may want to check it out – Session #4 – What’s Wrong with the Church? – Jacob Prasch

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Apostasy, Catholicism, Christian Pragmatism, Christianity, Dominionism, Ecumenicalism, Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Gnosticism, Islam, Israel, Midrash, Multiculturalism, Philosophy & Religion, Political, Political/Christian, Post-modernism, Prophecy, Religion, Replacement Theology, Social Gospel, Supercessionism, Theology, discernment, mysticism

Darwinian Roots of Nazi Legal System

Interesting…

The Nazis developed a ‘progressive’ theory of law in which ‘law’ was interpreted as a result of force and social struggle. According to the Nazi legal theory, the legal system should not contain fixed rules of law but evolve in continuous flow as a ‘living law’. Because the Nazis were Darwinists who believed that human beings were descended from the animal kingdom, they did not accept the idea of God-ordained human rights, but rather that the ‘stronger’ would have the ‘right’ to dispossess and destroy the ‘weaker’. During that time, most German judges and lawyers were legal positivists who rejected the concept of God-given rights as defined by the Holy Scriptures and classical natural-law theory. As a result, a ‘master morality’ was developed, and it became meaningless to appeal to any higher law above the oppressive commands of the Nazi State. Darwinian Roots of Nazi Legal System

Filed under: Bioethics, Christianity, Creation & Evolution, Creation/Evolution, Philosophy & Religion, Political, Religion

Calvin L. Smith: "We are all Seismic now"

I was waiting for Calvin Smith from King’s Evangelical Divinity School (KEDS) to post something on what is now being called the ‘Sizergate’ issue! You can view Seismic Shocks original post called “Anglican Vicar Uses Police To Intimidate Blogger”. Oh, and here the growing list of just how many blogs have covered this [just scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will be able to see the Streisand Effect in all its glory].

Anyway, once you have perused over this unfolding story you may not see the forest for the trees. I mean, people have gone off on a tangent about Seismic being Jew or not Jew because he is a Messianic Jew [some people see this as an oxymoron] and it’s all very fascinating stuff because it’s a fascinating topic. But it’s not the topic at hand is it?

So, with Calvin’s eloquence and his uncanny knack of getting right to the crux of the matter without the hyperbole that so often accompanies such matters … here is one balanced piece regarding this unfolding situation…

It was always inevitable, then, that the blog Seismic Shock, set up with the express purpose of highlighting and identifying anti-Zionism, anti-Israelism, even anti-Semitism within the Church, should focus on Sizer’s theology and activities, including appearing on Iranian television to discuss Christian Zionism, speak at Muslim centres and Palestinian solidarity events, and rather unwisely share platforms with people who, for example, condone suicide bombings.
“So what?” I hear some people say. “He can do what he likes, can’t he? This is, after all, a free country, and however unreasonable someone’s views are, or ill-advised they may be in how they choose to promote them, what’s to stop him?” Actually, I wholeheartedly agree, couldn’t agree more in fact. Not that I agree with Sizer’s views, by a long shot. Having reviewed his first book for a scholarly journal (and currently reviewing his sequel), I find Sizer’s theology unpersuasive, overtly polemical and unnecessarily pejorative (and thus not particularly constructive or helpful).

A must read: Calvin L. Smith: "We are all Seismic now"

Filed under: Christianity, Freedom of Speech, News, Personal, Philosophy & Religion, Political/Christian, Religion, Replacement Theology, Supercessionism, Theology

Moriel — The Last Days: Not a Test of Knowledge But Faith

Just finished reading the following inspiring article. It pretty much examines the book of James 5:1-6, NASB and how it applies to the last days Church…

There are four basic, sinful behaviors which James tells us will be present in the days leading up to Christ’s return. In verses 1-3 we are presented with spiritual blindness to the signs of the times such that many will hoard for themselves all the earthly resources possible. Their sole concern is for personal comfort and pleasure.

In verse 4 this personal greed spins further out of control so that it results in stealing wages, a way of showing the utter disregard people will have for the commandment of the New Covenant to “love one another, even as I have loved you”. (Jn. 13:34) Mistreatment of others will be rooted in the pursuit of personal gain.

In verse 5 they are characterized as not being content with having their basic needs met but pursuing extravagant living. Using their hoarded resources and those garnered from fraud and theft, they become self-absorbed to the exclusion of everyone and everything else.

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17, NASB)

And all of this culminates in the final sinful behavior in verse 6 which can be labeled “injustice”. And not just injustice to people in general, but in particular for those still adhering to God’s Word and ways.

In other words, the Last Days are characterized by people focused on material things, a consumer-driven group giving no real thought to how their behavior in this life shapes the outcome of the next. Moriel Archive » Blog Archive » The Last Days: Not a Test of Knowledge But Faith

I thought it was a good read… anyways, you may want to check it out and see if the Word of God spoke to you about these days in which we live.

Filed under: Apostasy, Christianity, Dominionism, Prophecy, Religion, discernment

The Triune God…

I just wanted to compile some of my earlier posts about the Triune nature of God and put up a category for easier navigation…

1Ti 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

If God became flesh, incarnation, that implies that we have more than one person involved in the Godhead. God was received up into glory. That’s Jesus!

Who purchased the Church through His own blood?

Act 20:28  Then take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit placed you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God which He purchased through His own blood.

Who should we bow down to?

Isa 45:22  Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
Isa 45:23  I have sworn by Myself, the Word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

Php 2:9  Because of this also God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name,
Php 2:10  that at the name of Jesus "every knee should bow," of heavenly ones, and earthly ones, and ones under the earth,
Php 2:11  and "every tongue should confess" that Jesus Christ is "Lord," to the glory of God the Father. Isa. 45:23

This is good. It is a study about The Deity of Christ by David Hocking. I found it at Blue Letter Bible Institute Library, which has very good teachings on a number of biblical themes.

I am currently studying the Word and who that Word actually is. During my research I have found this pdf file to be most useful and clearly biblical. You may want to check it out too…

The Deity of Christ – Session 5 Christology – David Hocking 12

First of all, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word.” Now the word for “word” is logos in Greek. Now logos is a common English word referring to the study of something. Archaeology has logos in the end. Christology, has logos in the end—the study of Christ. So that little logos or “-ology” on the end of English words, is referring to the study of something. In ancient times the logos was a revelation. That is, a display, a putting on display, expressing it so that we can see it. That is very interesting because when John wrote, he certainly wrote with the cultural background of those words that he used.

When he said, “In the beginning was the logos.” They would not immediately think of Jesus because they would be thinking of God. “In the beginning was when God started revealing.” That is the way Barashesh, or Genesis, begins. “In the beginning God created.” And that was a revelation of the glory of God.

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare or reveal the glory of God.”

So when you read in the beginning was the Word, was the revelation, everyone would go, “Oh yes, yes. You mean the creation. That revealed the nature and power of God.” But now here is what else it says: “And the logos was with God.” Now at that point, you would have to stop and think about what was just said. Actually it is the word pros in Greek—the word meaning “toward.” It can tend to mean “face to face.” What we have here is a statement of equality. Now the person hearing this would have heard, “In the beginning was the revelation of God.” Then they would have heard the next statement, “And this revelation was facing God.” It was in equality with God. Now, that would be impossible for the Jewish mind to apprehend and comprehend, because the created is never to be identified with the Creator. If the first phrase refers to the revelation of the universe, which reveals who God is (which it certainly could), then the second statement therefore, could not make any sense because you cannot have the revelation of that universe on an equal basis with the one who created it. In fact, that is the root of all idolatry. In Romans 1 it says that man worships the creature rather than the Creator. Let me put it another way. God is never to be identified with that which He created.

‘echâd

A numeral from H258; properly united, that is, one; or (as an ordinal) first: – a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any (-thing), apiece, a certain [dai-] ly, each (one), + eleven, every, few, first, + highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together.

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [echad]!

Does this say there is more than one God? No, He is “oneness” but the word is “echad”, it’s a plural oneness. It is the same oneness when Adam and Eve become one flesh. (Gen. 2:24), you shall become “echad”; the two become one. And a third person is procreated, there is one in three, there is three in one. We are made in His image and likeness. Yes, there is one God but there is more than one person. [source]

Since God is referred to as "echad" in the same way as man and woman are referred to as "echad" this heavily implies that the oneness of marriage reflects the oneness of God. [source]

Genesis 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one [echad] flesh.

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 44:6

"This is what the LORD says — Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
Apart from me there is no God."

Please cross reference this with Jesus’ words to John in Revelation 1:17-18

"Do not be afraid.
I am the First and the Last.
I am the Living One.
I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever."

Here’s a good question…

In the book of Isaiah Jehovah says, “I am God and there is no God other than Me”. (Is. 45:5) If there’s no God other than Jehovah, and there is no indefinite article – “a god” – in the Greek language (and in that text it’s not there), how can Jesus only be “a god” if there’s only one God? That is the question. I’ve never been able to find somebody who could answer.

And thinking about that verse found in John which says:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Jehovah Witnesses say it should be translated…

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a God.

Let’s replace the word ‘Word’ with Jesus, then don’t the JW’s actually believe that Jesus was another god??? That does sound polytheistic to me!

Filed under: Trinity

The Streisand effect…

With all the hoo ha going on at the moment, I have been coming across the term “The Streisand Effect”. Having no idea how this related to the Leeds Student and Sizer I wanted to know what this was about. So… here tis:

The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to censor or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of causing the information to be publicized widely and to a greater extent than would have occurred if no censorship had been attempted. As early as 1993, John Gilmore observed that "the Net treats censorship as damage and routes around it." Examples of such attempts include censoring a photograph, a number, a file, or a website (for example via a cease-and-desist letter). Instead of being suppressed, the information receives extensive publicity, often being widely mirrored across the Internet or distributed on file-sharing networks. [source]

Now I get it

Filed under: Freedom of Speech, Personal

Thumbs down for Sizer…

I logged on today, and to my surprise my stats on a certain post were WAY, WAY up! And all because of THIS comment. Oooo look 18 thumbs down for Sizer’s comment to me! DOH!

Now if you have no idea what on earth is going on and would like to find out all about this Leeds student that Stephen Sizer alludes too see HERE. And  a whole heap of comments HERE from others who have picked up on this story. Others are posting about this HERE.

I would just like to sincerely thank the Leeds student for bringing this bullying to peoples attention and I would personally like to thank all of those who have meandered over to my small blog to give their support!

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Christianity, Freedom of Speech, Middle East, News, Personal, Philosophy & Religion, Political/Christian, Replacement Theology, Supercessionism