Cardboard Testimony « SamE’s Bible Thoughts
You simply MUST go over to SameE’s blog and watch the eight minute youtube called ‘Cardboard Testimony’… it is one of the most praise worthy youtubes that I have seen in a long time…
Thanks SameE for finding this 
To watch the video go to… Cardboard Testimony « SamE’s Bible Thoughts
The New Mystics lead to Rome
I read this the other day… and I really wanted to share this with you.
John [Oi-Oi-Oi Toking the Ghost] Crowder… you know him, I have spoken about him before in a number of posts; he’s one of the New Mystics who smokes baby Jesus and is affiliated with Todd Bentley! Well, his site called ‘Sons of Thunder’ promotes this woman called Lucy Rael who presents the sign of the Stigmata.
Stigmata Appears at Manifestations of Glory Event
Although we have been quite slow in posting an email bulletin, we would like to share with you some powerful happenings which occurred at our Manifestations of Glory event in the Atlanta area, earlier this spring. There was such a weighty Glory and an open Heaven for the release of mystical signs and wonders. It would be difficult to compare this with any other conference we have hosted to date.
We invited guest speaker Lucy Rael, a woman of utmost integrity who has for decades manifested the “blood sign,” or stigmata, on her physical body. Lucy has long worked under the helm of the renowned healing revivalist T.L. Osborne. Not only did the blood sign appear before the gathered crowd in south Atlanta.
Also, there were dramatic manifestations of thick, supernatural gold flakes and copious amounts of supernatural oil that flowed from Lucy’s hands as she ministered.( here )
- Read more at - The ‘New Breed’ and “Stigmata” « Sola Dei Gloria a very interesting and eye opening post!
Sola Dei Gloria’s post also points to a link that says Lucy Rael has been caught faking the appearance of angel feathers and words of knowledge.
The decline of the dollar - The EU and Arab League - And Canadians watching British-Arabia!
Just three things of interest, very important things…
In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain’t what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise.
“We had decided that money is money and we’ll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank,” Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.
The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.
The EU High Representative for the Common Foreign And Security Policy, Javier Solana yesterday expressed his conviction that the Maltese initiative to hold the first ever European Union-Arab League conference will be kept up.
Speaking to The Times on his arrival at the conference venue at the Westin Dragonara in St Julians, Mr Solana said he was pleased to be here for this important meeting.
“After having met with the Arab League on many occasions in different formats, now is the first time we meet at a specific meeting between the Arab League and the 27 EU member states.
“We like the idea very much and now we have to see how we can cooperate in this format.”
Asked what he expected to come out of the meeting, Mr Solana said there were no specific issues that had to be dealt with. What was more important was to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the Arab League.
The United Kingdom, from common language and shared heritage, offers us our best window into what is happening in Europe. This is especially so when we try to come to grips — if we have the courage to do so — with the historically sudden irruption, and rapid spread, of Islam across Europe.
There are parallel developments in all the nations on the Continent: high immigration rates from Islamic countries, comparatively high birth rates among that immigrant population, and the radicalization of their young in Wahabi mosques financed by the oil wealth of Arabia. But for many English-speaking Canadians, it is the British experience that brings the phenomenon home.
The demographic issue is at the centre of much controversy. There can be little dispute over the statistical facts, which are quite dramatic, and as exhilarating from an Islamist point of view, as they are ominous for those who fear the loss of everything associated with western civilization. For, owing to the prior triumph of the leftist “multicultural” ideology, which holds that one “culture” is as good as another, and therefore it is wrong to preserve our own way of life, there is considerable opposition to discussing these facts.
We have seen this in Canada, where journalists Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant have been hauled before “human rights tribunals” — kangaroo courts in which defendants are stripped of all the traditional protections of court law, and where judgments may be passed against them by people with no legal qualifications on the basis of whim and hearsay.
Mr. Steyn, in particular, stands accused of having openly discussed demographic questions. Mr. Levant stands accused of having published materials the mainstream media had been cowed into suppressing by the fear of Islamist violence.
In both cases, the journalists are being prosecuted by Muslims who advocate the imposition of Shariah law, but are using an apparatus that was designed by the Left for the persecution of those expressing right-wing views.
The British system works differently, and the media in Britain remain more robust than the media in Canada, and willing to report things that would be studiously ignored in a Canadian newsroom. On the other hand, by sheer force of numbers, and the intimidation value of several Islamist atrocities on London’s streets, the “fear factor” in Britain is much higher, and the Labour government has proved much more responsive to Islamist demands.
The chief, and most consistent Islamist demand, is for the imposition of Shariah law, at least for Muslims, but ideally by the whole state. In fact, many Shariah courts are already operating informally in Britain, dealing mostly with routine civil questions of marriage, divorce, inheritance, and financial disputes, but sometimes with crime. For instance, a Shariah court in the London district of Woolwich was allowed recently — apparently with the co-operation of police — to pass judgment on unnamed Somali youths in a knifing incident. (The assailants were released in return for an apology to their victim.)
In various other ways, Shariah is being recognized, semi-formally. For instance, although bigamy remains nominally a crime in Britain, the Labour government has approved new social provisions by which extra welfare payments, council housing privileges, and tax benefits may be claimed by polygamous households, and the cash benefits to which the extra wives are now entitled may be paid directly into the account of their husband.
Related:
- SAUDI PUBLICATIONS ON HATE IDEOLOGY INVADE AMERICAN MOSQUES by Freedom House the Center for Religious Freedom (Pdf file)
I have a link that is a critique of Wahhabism from an Islamic point of view. Interesting to note is that during Ottoman Rule the British backed Wahhabism according to the article provided…
[...]their false love of religion traces back to a dajjal who went by the name of Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab, who was a man sponsered, educated, paid, and helped by the British to eradicate the Uthmani (a.k.a. Ottoman) empire, as well as the rest of the Muslim ‘Ummah from within.
I may add more links, but this will do for now!
The New Apostolic Reformation and its ties with Rome and the Mystics!
This is a Red Flag Post!
Do you really know what makes an apostle? Do you really know what the bible says about God’s criteria concerning apostles? I found this article today about the “New Apostolic Reformation” and surprisingly — or not, it’s something that the Church has had to deal with for quite some time now. The article uses biblical standards, but also early Church writings to explain what biblical Apostleship really is. Obviously the Roman Catholic Church have carried Apostolic succession so far culminating into Papal authority. But the Roman Catholic Church is not the only one guilty of this.
Peter Wagner says…
[I]n certain segments of the Church the office of apostle has, indeed, been recognized throughout the past two millennia. The Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican or Episcopal Church and many denominations that have actually incorporated “apostolic” into their name would come to mind as examples. However, just as was true of prophetic movements, the emphases of these apostolic movements had not penetrated the mainstream of what I am calling life-giving evangelical churches that are now the cutting edge of the spread of Christianity. This only began to happen in the 1990’s. (read more here)
What are the “New Apostolic Reformers” actually teaching concerning the last days, and where do they get their inspiration? To find out a little more about this we may need to go back to Christian Mystics, one in particular.
Interestingly, there was a woman called Jane Leade, a 17th century Christian mystic. She taught that the seven churches found in Revelation directly related to seven periods of time of Church rule. She was mostly interested in the Church of Philadelphia because Christ found no fault in that particular Church according to the book of Revelation. In fact, her so called prophetic writings predicted that certain sealed prophecies would only be revealed by those who are worthy and who have entered into the Philidelphian Church age…
She was involved in a movement called “The Philadelphian Society,” named after that church. In 1679, the Philadelphian Society and the Theosophists published a document containing a 60-point prophecy by Jane Leade (the document has her name as Lead). The document proposes ideas that resurfaced in 1948 in the Latter Rain movement, and, as we shall see, are still being promoted by a key Apostle-prophet of the New Apostolic Reformation. (read more here)
She spoke a great deal of an elite Church age that would receive the Ark of the Testimony (Point 
which was in heaven containing new revelations to be opened during a unique Church age, the age of Philadelphia. This unique perfected, virginal Church would give birth to a son (Points 14-24), the son mentioned in Revelation 12:5!
Is this starting to sound a little familiar to you? The Manifest Son’s and Later Rain still use the terminology assigned to this son, that being the many-membered man-child. Is this coincidence or not, one cannot be sure. But there is one thing we can be sure of…there is nothing new under the sun.
The article points out the agenda behind such thinking…
This prophecy of a perfected church (later called the “many-membered man-child”) that will be the incarnation of Christ on the earth while Christ remains in heaven sets the stage for the Latter Rain movement in the 20th Century that would make the same claims. Whether that movement got its ideas from Leade or came up with the same heresy independently I cannot say at this time. But the ideas are identical. The church must be perfected on earth before Christ can return, and this shall be accompanied with miracles and power greater that at any time in church history—including Pentecost.
Key words I have now been made aware of. Words like “The Ark of Testimony” the “many-membered man-child”the “man-child”and”The Ascension gifts”….”The “Ascension gifts” is a reference to the so-called “five fold ministry” of Ephesians 4:11. The idea is that the church will be perfected by the renewal of the ministries of apostles and prophets before Christ returns.”
One adherent to the perfected Church says this… O the immensity of these words! And what is more, Christ is going to remain right where He is at God’s right hand until there shall arise a group of overcomers who shall conquer over all God’s enemies[...]
There is much more written in this article and it is truly mind blowing and scary stuff which explains the dangers of Hyper-Dispensationalism, Restorationists and Kingdom Now teaching.
British Law + Sharia Law, never the twain shall meet. Or can it?
Just quickly, this….
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, who said that it “seems inevitable” that elements of Sharia Muslim law would be incorporated into British legislation.
Almost instantly the comments have been greeted with shock and condemnation from nearly every corner of British society. Christian groups, secular groups, the head of the equality watchdog, several high-profile Muslims and MPs from all parties have all strongly condemned the statement. A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this morning, “sharia law cannot be used as a justification for committing breaches of English law, nor should the principles of sharia law be included in a civil court for resolving contractual disputes.”
The essential question is whether Muslims living in Britain should have a different set of laws that apply to them that are in accordance with Sharia law. The issue is especially pertinent in divorce proceedings, which under Sharia law are extremely strict and not very favorable to women. (Read more here)
Related:
A Response to an Open Letter…
Awhile a go, I wrote something about an open letter…
When reading an open letter(pdf file) from the Muslim religious leaders in Britain that was written to the Pope and the leaders of other Christian churches, there seems to be a common truth - at first glance anyway.
Here is a biblical response to that letter that I wanted to share with you…
Response To Open Letter and Call From Muslim Religious Leaders To Christian Leaders, 13 October 2007
Barnabus Fund
November 2007
Introduction
To mark the end of Ramadan this year “An Open Letter and Call from Muslim Religious Leaders” was published, dated 13th October 2007. The letter was addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and 26 other named heads of Christian denominations as well as to “Leaders of Christian Churches, everywhere….” It is ostensibly a presentation of Islamic teaching on love for God and love for one`s neighbour. (The text of the open letter is available at [link])
The letter was organised by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, a non-governmental organisation based in Amman, Jordan, supported by the Jordanian Royal House. It has been trying to forge a united scholarly Muslim leadership that could speak for the whole global Muslim community and become the international voice of mainstream Islam.
Following a year after a letter to the Pope signed by 38 Muslim signatories (October 2006), the “Open Letter and Call” seems to signal some urgency. Does it indicate a fear that the West is finally awakening to the reality of Islamic intentions and therefore needs to be lulled, even anesthetised, to the prospects of deliberate Islamic expansion into the West? Or does it indicate a growing Muslim confidence and self-awareness of Islamic power, the letter itself being part of a strategy of Islamisation of the “Christian” world? Furthermore, did the lack of response by Pope Benedict to the letter from 38 Muslims prompt the new letter with 100 more names at the end?
The signatories
A wide spread of Muslim leadership is represented amongst the 138 signatories, drawn from 43 nations and representing various Sunni, Twelver Shi`a, Zaydi, Ibadi and Sufi constituencies. There are traditionalists, Islamists and several liberal Muslims. Some of the signatories are Muslim leaders well known for their moderation and peaceful intentions. Among them are Professor Akbar Ahmed, Dr Alan Godlas, Hamza Yusuf Hanson and Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
However, the list also includes some figures known for their Islamist extremist inclinations who are Wahhabists, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, or Deobandis. There are, for example, the various Saudi Wahhabi dignitaries: Mohammed Salim Al-`Awa (Muslim Brotherhood Egypt); Salim Falahat the Director General of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan; Ikrima Said Sabri Imam of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem; and Muhammad Taqi Usmani (Deoband). Some of these are on record as making radical and aggressive statements against Christians and Jews and in favour of global jihad.
Intended audience
While addressed to a specific group of Christian leaders, the fact that it is an open letter widely disseminated by the world media means that world public opinion is another intended audience. Furthermore, certain terminology in the letter, as well as the choice of Qur`anic quotations cited, suggest that the letter is also intended for the global Muslim audience. It is not unusual in Islamic discourse for different messages to be delivered to the different audiences. This is permitted by the Islamic doctrine of taqiyya (dissimulation) which allows Muslims to practise deception in certain circumstances. It appears that the Christian vocabulary of the letter is intended to guide Christian readers to the erroneous conclusion that Islam and Christianity are basically identical religions, focusing on love to God and to the neighbour. The hidden messages for Muslims are contained in the many polemical quotations from the Qur`an.
Another example of the apparent use of taqiyya is the fact that some of the words in the Arabic version of the letter differ in meaning from those in the English version. For example, the word used for “neighbour” in the Arabic version of the letter is jar, a term which carries only a geographical meaning. It is not equivalent to the Biblical Hebrew word for neighbour, which is re`a (denoting kinship, even as close as a brother or sister). Yet there is another word for “neighbour” in Arabic which is closer to the meaning of the Hebrew re`a and which could have been used. This is the word qarib, which is used in Arabic Bibles and which more closely translates the Biblical original. It is also worth noting that Jesus Christ is not given the name used by Arabic Christians (Yasu` al-Masih), but the Islamic version (`Isa al-Masih).
The letter looks at the world as if comprised only of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. There is no mention of other world religions like Hinduism, Buddhism etc., or indeed of secular and agnostic or atheist people in the world. This may reflect the traditional Islamic classification of non-Muslims into Jews and Christians on the one hand, and “infidels” or “pagans” on the other hand. While Jews and Christians are seen in Islam as worthy of a place in an Islamic society, albeit with a second-class status, infidels are not considered to have any place at all (indeed, according to classical Islam, they should be killed if they will not convert to Islam). This is perhaps why “infidels” have been marginalised in this letter.
Of course a basic fallacy of this letter is the view that Western states are basically Christian and that, when pursuing their national interests, religious Christian motivations are foremost in their minds. This is a very common Muslim misconception, and is an indication of how much more important their faith is to an “average” Muslim than to an average Westerner.
Reading between the lines
On the surface the letter looks like a well intentioned and urgent plea for a better understanding between Muslims and Christians, so as to avert an apocalyptic war between the two largest religious blocs in the world.
If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace . . . the very survival of the world itself is at stake . . . So let our differences not cause hatred and strife between us.
However, the letter goes on to lay the blame for all wars in which Muslims and Christians are involved on the actions of Christians.
As Muslims, we say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them - so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes. [emphasis added]
This implies that the war against Islamist terrorism is a global war of Christianity against Islam, and that Christianity is the aggressor against Islam (which is the radical Islamist view). There is no sense of sorrow or remorse for the wrongs inflicted by Muslims on Christians historically, or indeed currently in many Muslim lands. There is no recognition that in many places things may be the opposite, with Muslims oppressing Christians and driving them from their homes (e.g. in Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Indonesia and Pakistan). There is no mention of the Christian communities in Muslim lands suffering other kinds of persecution and discrimination. There is no admission that Muslim actions could have played any part in the alienation between Muslims and Christians.
The liberal Muslim leaders who signed the letter seem to have agreed with the Islamist argument which accuses all Christians of a tendency to animosity, hatred and aggressiveness towards Muslims. So an apparently moderate appeal for reconciliation actually contains a subtext of warning and threat: “Do as we say, and you can have peace on our terms.” This in fact is the normal meaning of peace in Islam - peace for those who submit to Islamic rule (and war for those who do not).
Classical Islam teaches that the world is divided into two parts: Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam) where political power is in the hands of Muslims, and Dar al-Harb (the House of War) which is the rest of the world. With this in mind, the “Open Letter and Call” is seen to be reminiscent of the traditional Islamic approach to non-Muslims outside the House of Islam. This approach consisted of a “call to Islam” (i.e. a call to convert to Islam) including the threat that if the non-Muslims do not convert they will be subject to a destructive military attack (jihad) aimed at subjugating Jews and Christians, and annihilating other non-Muslims. Hence the name “House of War” for non-Islamic territory. Only if the non-Muslims embrace Islam or submit to Islamic political power can they avert the attack. In the light of this tradition, the 2007 Muslim warning to non-Muslims about how to avoid war can be read in a very different way. Do some of the Muslim signatories see it as the traditional call and warning before an imminent attack on non-Muslims, an attack intended to win Islamic supremacy? The very word “call” in the title of the document drops a large hint in this direction, at least to Muslim readers.
Expression of Islamic mission (da`wa)
Although presented as interfaith dialogue, the letter can equally be viewed as a classical example of Islamic da`wa (mission). It is a call to accept the Muslim concept of the unity of God (tawhid) and therefore to reject the incompatible Christian views of the Trinity and the deity of Christ.
In their stress on monotheism and the unity of God, the Muslim leaders quote a number of verses from the Qur`an which express the Muslim concept of a God with no associates and no partners - verses which have always traditionally been interpreted as a direct attack on the basic Christian doctrines of the Trinity and of Christ`s deity. For instance, Q3:64, quoted numerous times in the letter, calls the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) to agree not to ascribe partners to God and not to take other lords beside him.
Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to a common word between us and you: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him). (Aal `Imran 3:64)
This Qur`anic verse has always been understood as a call to deny the Trinity and the deity of Christ. In the Saudi-sponsored English Qur`an of Hilali and Khan (Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur`an in the English Language, published in Riyadh by Darussalam) this verse has a footnote which quotes the letter Muhammad sent to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, calling upon him and his people to embrace Islam and including the threat that the rejection of this call would lead to severe consequences. It may be that a similar frame of mind lies behind the letter in which this verse is so often quoted.
Other Qur`anic quotations in the letter have a similar message about the unity of God: [emphasis added]
Yet there are men who take rivals unto God: they love them as they should love God. (Q 2:165).
Say: Lo! my worship and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are for God, Lord of the Worlds. / He hath no partner . . . (Q 6:162-164)
Hadith traditions are quoted to support the same theme:
The best that I have said-myself, and the prophets that came before me-is: `there is no god but God, He Alone, He hath no associate . . . (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Da`awat, Bab al-Du`a fi Yawm `Arafah, Hadith no. 3934).
He who says: `There is no god but God, He Alone, He hath no associate, His is the sovereignty and His is the praise and He hath power over all things` one hundred times in a day, it is for them equal to setting ten slaves free, and one hundred good deeds are written for them and one hundred bad deeds are effaced, and it is for them a protection from the devil for that day until the evening. And none offers anything better than that, save one who does more than that. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitab Bad` al-Khalq, Bab Sifat Iblis wa Junudihi; Hadith no. 3329.)
Say (O Muslims): We believe in God and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered. / And if they believe in the like of that which ye believe, then are they rightly guided. But if they turn away, then are they in schism, and God will suffice thee against them. He is the Hearer, the Knower. (Al-Baqarah, 2:136-137)
According to one of the oldest and most authoritative commentaries (tafsir) on the Holy Qur`an-the Jami` Al-Bayan fi Ta`wil Al-Qur`an of Abu Ja`far Muhammad bin Jarir Al-Tabari (d. 310 A.H. / 923 C.E.)-that none of us shall take others for lords beside God, means `that none of us should obey in disobedience to what God has commanded, nor glorify them by prostrating to them in the same way as they prostrate to God`.
A hidden message for Muslims?
It is unusual to see Islamic scholars basing their presentation of Islamic doctrines only on the Qur`an. Usually the scholars seek to understand the Qur`an by reference to the hadith (traditions recording the sunna, that is the words and deeds of Muhammad and his Companions) and through tafsir (the Islamic science of interpreting the Qur`an) and other Islamic academic disciplines. There are few quotations from the hadith in the main body of the letter (though there are several more in the footnotes). However, all the Qur`anic verses quoted have interpretations in hadith and tafsir, interpretations which are well known to Muslims and which are usually much more aggressive towards Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims than represented by this letter. Therefore many Muslim readers would detect in the very act of selectively quoting from the Qur`an a hidden message that this is not a letter of appeasement, but a call to Is lam in the tradition of Muhammad and his Companions and of the early Caliphs. There the call is always to submit to Islam and to accept Islamic dominance.
For instance, the fatiha (sura 1 of the Qur`an) is quoted and presented as the greatest chapter in the Qur`an, reminding humans of their duty of praise and gratitude to God for his mercy and goodness. Included are verses 6 and 7:
Guide us upon the straight path. The path of those on whom is Thy Grace, not those who deserve anger nor those who are astray. [emphasis added]
In Muslim interpretations and commentaries on these verses, it is explained that those who deserve God`s anger are the Jews, while those who are astray are the Christians. Indeed, the Saudi-sponsored English translation of the Qur`an by Hilali and Khan explicitly incorporates this interpretation in the very text of the Qur`an:
Guide us to the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the Way) of those who earned your anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).
Most Westerners, reading the verse as quoted in the letter, simply do not realise what it means. But for Muslims reading the letter, the meaning is clear: a call to Christians and Jews to avoid God`s anger and judgement by accepting Islam.
Loving God
The letter suggests that Islam has much to say about loving God. For example, it quotes a hadith of Muhammad describing God with a string of Qur`anic phrases: “He Alone, He hath no associate, His is the sovereignty and His is the praise”. The letter asserts that each phrase describes “a mode of love of God, and devotion to Him”.
A similar assertion occurs at the end of the section about loving God, in a passage in which the phrase He hath no associate is repeated twice:
In the light of what we have seen to be necessarily implied and evoked by the Prophet Muhammad`s PBUH blessed saying: `The best that I have said-myself, and the prophets that came before me-is: `There is no god but God, He Alone, He hath no associate, His is the sovereignty and His is the praise and He hath power over all things` [Al-Tirmithi, Kitab Al-Da`wat, Bab al-Du`a fi Yawm `Arafah, Hadith no. 3934], we can now perhaps understand the words `The best that I have said-myself, and the prophets that came before me` as equating the blessed formula `there is no god but God, He Alone, He hath no associate, His is the sovereignty and His is the praise and He hath power over all things` precisely with the `First and Greatest Commandment` to love God, with all one`s heart and soul, as found in various places in the Bible. That is to say, in other words, that the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was perhaps, throu gh inspiration, restating and alluding to the Bible`s First Commandment. God knows best, but certainly we have seen their effective similarity in meaning. Moreover, we also do know (as can be seen in the endnotes), that both formulas have another remarkable parallel: the way they arise in a number of slightly differing versions and forms in different contexts, all of which, nevertheless, emphasize the primacy of total love and devotion to God.
In this part of the letter it is argued that Muhammad`s emphasis on the unity of God who has “no associate” is a re-statement of the Bible`s command about loving God with all your heart, soul and mind. The letter states that these two concepts are similar in meaning, although this is hard to derive from a straightforward reading of the two texts.
Perhaps the authors of the letter hoped that, by simply telling Christians that two different statements were really the same, they would be believed. Alternatively they could have had in mind the Muslim belief that Christian and Jewish Scriptures have been distorted, and that Muhammad`s statement is correcting the falsified Biblical teaching to what it was originally meant to have been.
Presenting the theme of love of God and of neighbour as central to Islam is again a misrepresentation of the truth. As stated in the Appendix, love in Islam is but one theme among many, and is not among the central themes of Islam. This is not to say that the Qur`an fails to mention God`s love at all (for it does), but that the weighting is very different from that in the Christian Bible where love is indeed the central theme.
Love your neighbour
The letter suggests that loving your neighbour is a concept common to both Islam and Christianity. But it ignores the fact that the Muslim concept of love for your neighbour can only operate within the limited scope of shari`a. Therefore in Islam there can be no absolute love for all humans, as in Christianity. Islam treats specific groups of people in specific ways: Christians and Jews are to be humiliated and brought under Islamic dominion as second rate subjects; infidels must accept Islam or be killed; apostates are to be killed if they do not return to Islam; Islamic sects considered heretical are to be fought and annihilated. Thus “neighbour” is a very limited concept in Islam, i.e. limited to fellow Muslims of the same tradition.
As we have already seen, the Arabic word chosen for “neighbour” in the letter is not one which carries the nuance of kinship as in the Bible, but another which has only a geographical meaning.
Jews are ignored
Except for the fact that the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) is mentioned as a centrepiece of the Old Testament and of Jewish liturgy, the Jews are ignored. This fits with other Muslim endeavours to shift Christianity away from its Jewish roots. It also displays the traditional use of “divide and conquer” tactics - as the Jews are nowadays portrayed across the Muslim world as the worst enemies of Islam, this would signal an attempt to create an alliance with Christianity against Judaism.
Search for common ground or attempt to islamise Christianity
This letter appears to be part of an ongoing wider effort to islamise Christianity. This project presents the Qur`anic Jesus as the real historical Jesus. It presents Muhammad as similar to Jesus in character (peace and love), and it denigrates the Jewish and Old Testament roots of Christianity (Marcionism).
Thus we see that, in seeking common ground, the “Open Letter and Call” suggests that the central Muslim concept of unitarian monotheism and the central Christian concepts of love to God and love to neighbour are beliefs held by both religions. It stresses that the two commandments to love are the basis of what is common to both religions. But presenting love for God and neighbour as central to Islam is a misrepresentation of the truth.
The message is that if Christians will accept Islam`s concept of the unity of God (thus denying the basic doctrines of the Trinity and deity of Christ), Muslims will accept the Christian values of love for God and neighbour as central to Islam. Thus a radical revolutionary change in Christianity is demanded in exchange for a superficial change of emphasis in Islamic perceptions.
APPENDIX: THE CONCEPT OF LOVE IN ISLAM
Introduction: the contrast with Christianity
God`s love is the central theme of the New Testament and therefore of the Christian faith. Love is God`s main attribute and very essence. The main message of the New Testament is that God is love in His very being, and that this love was revealed in Jesus Christ and His supreme act of love, His self-giving in his sacrificial death on the cross (John 3:16; 1 John 4:7-12).
In Islam, however, the focus is on submission, so love is never more than one of many minor themes. Modern Muslim apologists in the West sometimes assert that God is a God of love. This is not a concept which traditional orthodox Islam would accept, but appears to be a modern stance of adaptation to the environment they find themselves in.
Love in Qur`an and hadith
Love is mentioned in the Qur`an over 50 times, mainly in the sense of love between persons and love of material things.
There are several verses that speak of humans` love towards God, for example:
Yet there are men who take (for worship) others besides Allah as equal (with Allah); they love them as they should love Allah. But those of faith are overflowing in their love for Allah. If only the unrighteous could see behold they would see the penalty that to Allah belongs all power and Allah will strongly enforce the penalty. (Q 2:165) [i]
A few verses speak of God`s love towards specific categories of humans (good Muslims). One of these is Q 85:14 “And He is the Oft-Forgiving, full of loving-kindness [al-wadud]“. From this verse is derived one of the 99 Beautiful Names of God, Al-Wadud (The One who Loves, The Most Loving, The Most Affectionate, The Beloved). Wadud, from the root wdd, is somewhat akin to the Old Testament Hebrew word dod or dodim (plural) used extensively in the Song of Songs for the pure love between man and woman. From it we get the name David (the beloved).
However, the word most often used in the Qur`an for love is hubb and its derivatives (mahabba, yuhibbu, etc.). This is linked to the Hebrew Old Testament word ahabah (root ahb) which is the one mostly used to denote love, both God`s love to man and man`s love to God. For example:
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. (Malachi 1:2)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Mahabba, the most common Islamic Arabic term for love, denotes an affection inspired in humans by gratitude for God`s blessings. On God`s side mahabba is usually bestowed as a reward for a good believer who follows Muhammad and submits to God.
Say: If ye do love God, follow me: God will love you and forgive you your sins: For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Q 3:31)
Love in the Qur`an mainly means “liking” or “preference”. It derives from God`s will, rather than from His very nature. God loves the righteous.
… verily Allah loves those who act aright. (Q 3:76)
For Allah loves those who do good; (Q 3:134)
And Allah loves those who are firm and steadfast. (Q 3:146)
For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean. (Q 2:222)
For Allah loves those who are fair (and just). (Q 49:9)
Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array as if they were a solid cemented structure. (Q 61:4)
However, God does not love sinful people and he rejects his enemies.
… He loves not those who reject Faith (Q 30:45)
Verily He loveth not the arrogant. (Q 16:23)
Love appears also in the other main Islamic source, the hadith collections. In the hadith, there are references to love for things, love for martyrdom, love for God, and God`s love for Muhammad and for deserving Muslims.
Love in Islamic theology
According to Islamic teaching, God`s essence and nature cannot be known. Therefore a statement like “God is love” (which appears in the Bible, 1 John 4:8,16) would be theologically wrong in classical Islam.
Islam does teach that God`s attributes can be known, and these are described in the form of the “99 Beautiful Names”. Love is one of these 99, as we have seen above, but only one. The names emphasise much more God`s omnipotence and omniscience, his mercy and compassion, his sovereignty and inscrutable will.
In Islam God reveals himself mainly through his law (shari`a) which calls for submission and obedience. While in Christianity God is personal and establishes personal relationships of love with humans, in classical Islam God is seen as totally self-contained and beyond personal relationships. In Islam, although God loves certain Muslim people of whom he approves, he is not bound to love them even if they deserve his love. Ultimately God is not obliged to do anything, but acts as he wills, sometimes in an entirely capricious manner.
Orthodox classical Islam is more concerned with God`s greatness and transcendence, with shari`a law and its applications, than with God`s love. God is absolutely other, unknowable, far beyond what can be known or imagined (wara`l wara i.e. beyond the beyond). The role of humans is to submit, fear and obey God and his law. For example, following the call in March 2005 by a well-known Islamist scholar, Tariq Ramadan, for a moratorium on the brutal hudud punishments still implemented in some Muslim states (amputation, stoning, flogging etc.), several Islamic scholars opposed the suggestion. Sheikh Muhammad al-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains in Lubbock, Texas, claimed that harshness was part of shari`a and any attempt at softening it was giving in to Western Christian concepts which were incompatible with Islam. Shinqiti s tated that a personalised faith, like that of Christians, leads to corruption and immorality. He preferred the detachment and severity of Islam, citing the Qur`anic verse
And let not pity for the twain withhold you from obedience to Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of believers witness their punishment. (Q 24:2, translation not specified)
In this view, harshness rather than love and mercy are at the heart of Islam. The inference is that Christianity is weak and contemptible because it has love and mercy at its very core.
Love in Sufism
It was left for Islamic mysticism (Sufism) to try to redress the balance and introduce the theme of love into Islam. Sufism offered an escape from the dry and intellectual legalism of the orthodox Islamic teachers and scholars. It focused instead on the human yearning for an authentic personal experience of God. Sufism taught that this experience could be had by a spiritual interpretation of the Qur`an aimed at finding its secret meaning, and by the disciplines of asceticism, repetition of God`s names, breath control, meditation and trance.
Rabi`a al-Adawiyya (died 801) introduced the theme of Divine Love into Sufism. She longed to love God only for himself, not for hope of any reward in paradise nor out of fear of judgement and hell. After her death the love theme became a dominant feature of Sufism, expressing the Sufi`s endless search for unity with the divine Beloved. The yearning for a love relationship with God was expressed by Sufis in the language of human love, similar to the Bible`s Song of Songs and some psalms. Sufi poetry described symbolically the relationship between God the Divine Lover and the human person searching for his love. In addition to the Qur`anic terms mahabba and wudud, Sufis coined the term `ishq for love. `Ishq denotes an unquenchable and irresistible desire for union with the Beloved (God).
While Sufism used to be found in every branch of traditional Islam, the strict Islamist reform movements which have developed in recent times have rejected much of Sufism as pagan additions and innovations which should be purged from Islam. The concept of love is downplayed by such movements and condemned as a pagan, Christian or Western notion incompatible with true Islam.
Note: Most Qur`anic quotations in this Response are taken from The Holy Qur`an: Text, Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1975 and many other editions) unless otherwise stated. Please note that different translations of the Qur`an have slightly different verse numbers. So in another translation it may be necessary to look at the verses just before or just after the text references given here in order to find the same text. However, where Qur`an verses quoted in the “Open Letter and Call” are re-quoted here, the translation is not known as it was no specified in the “Open Letter and Call”.
Dominionism - The seven mountains!
[Massive hat-tip to... Sola Dei Gloria]
I was perusing my fave’s and came across ‘Sola Dei Gloria’s post’ - see above link - and I really wanted to share it with you.
Have you heard of the 7 mountains? This is Dominionism at its absolute best. ‘Neo-Calvinism’ and ‘Sphere Sovereignty’ has entered the evangelical world and the re-think conference has a massive agenda to reclaim the 7 mountains to overtake the world and have complete dominion over it. Make no mistakes about it, it is a man made orchestrated plan, here is part of a letter written by Peter Wagner sent to Global Harvest [emphasis mine]…
I have been sharing the development of our obedience to this word with you since April.Craig Davis was the one who pointed the way toward reorganizing under “Global Apostolic Network” ( GAN ), thereby bringing together the bits and pieces we had been serving up to now. I first sent you a chart with 7 components of GAN and later another chart with 9.Then Lance Wallnau came on the scene and brought an integrating template for GAN which we call the 7-M Mandate, based on Lance’s 7 mountains which are the seven molders of culture (religion, family, education, media, arts & entertainment, government, and business).
One thing that this means is depicted in another chart, which I am sending you. You will see a large mountain representing the Kingdom of God with the 7 mountains at the bottom feeding into it. The 9 components of Global Apostolic Network are grouped under four headings: Government, Wealth, Warfare, and Teaching. The “7-M Coalition” is a new organization being birthed to implement the 7-M Mandate in a practical and effective way for transforming our society.
Isn’t this exciting? We have reorganized in obedience to the word that the Lord gave us through Chuck last December. Now please pray with us as we seek His guidance in putting the nuts and bolts together for seeing practical results along the road toward taking dominion of God’s creation. In fact Chuck Pierce has also told us that the new Jewish year of 5768 which begins in September, the year of Samekh Chet, means, among other things taking dominion. He says, “Dominion will be the key word for this year!
This was a challenging word for me because my new book coming out in January has as its title, Dominion! I’m excited about the way that this book will help change paradigms so that God’s people will be able fully to participate in the new streams that the Lord is initiating in the earth realm. Another thing that excites me is that other respected colleagues are also hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches about social transformation. We are poised to see no fewer than seven new books on the subject of taking dominion in the next 18 months.
All nine of the components of GAN are on my heart, but especially those related to wealth and wealth transfer. I am in touch with 17 potential wealth transfer brokers, some of them expecting release momentarily. It is hard to comprehend, but some of them go to multiple millions, billions, and more. My task is to prepare a high integrity infrastructure for distributing these funds when they begin to flow. Zion Apostolic Network and The Hamilton Group are in place as agencies to carry this out. Our motto is “Sophisticated Philanthropy for Apostolic Distribution.”
One matter for your prayers is that Rod Neal of the Zion Project will be engaged during the last three weeks of August in high-level scientific experiments with the very innovative technology that he is developing for the kingdom.
What exactly is this high-level scientific experiment? It has something to do with wealth transfer, that much I know…
In a document called ‘C’ Peter Wagner writes…
Zion Apostolic Council. This is a wealth distribution infrastructure similar to The Hamilton Group. However, it is set up to handle the wealth generated by only one enterprise, namely the Zion Project founded by Rod Neal of Cincinnati, Ohio. Rod is very close to releasing some very innovative and disruptive technology which has the potential of making permanent changes in the lifestyle of the human race. He has asked me to form an apostolic council of 48 apostles who will be responsible for distributing the forthcoming wealth and also to serve them as Presiding Apostle.
Right now my head is spinning!!! Firstly what kind of technology can we look forward too that will make a permanent change in the lifestyle of the human race?
But before you watch the following youtube, I will offer you a little bit more information on how the dominionist kingdom will be built…
Our theological bedrock is what has been known as Dominion Theology. This means that our divine mandate is to do whatever is necessary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to retake the dominion of God’s creation which Adam forfeited to Satan in the Garden of Eden.
This includes the need to govern apolitically, as well as to embrace spiritual warfare techniquesthat neutralize the control of our adversary within the functional and territorial spheres of authority to which we have been assigned. To do this, we know that we must be in communion, we must receive revelation, and we must apostolically and prophetically proclaim that revelation.
Here in America, we have done fairly well in leading the religion mountain, but not the other six. Our mistaken tendency has been to try to pull leaders from the other six mountains over into our religion mountain instead of encouraging them to use their gifts and their energy and their knowledge in the mountain to which God has assigned them. We want all of God’s people actively to do their part to fulfill the “7-M Mandate.”
Note: DayStar International Fellowship have some mp3’s available of one of the adherents of this Dominionist move, called ‘Johnny Enlow’ who is the senior pastor of Daystar International Christian Fellowship in Atlanta, Georgia Johnny has written a book on the 7 mountains that will be published in 2008. I haven’t listened to all of them as yet, but you may find them interesting. Considering his relationship to GAN I think that they would be insightful to say the least. A few of the mp3’s are called…
- The Seven Thrones of Your Soul Part 1 and 2: [1. Career 2. Bank account 3. Mind 4. Relationship 5. Worship 6. Entertainment 7. Tongue. Each throne relates to the 7 mountains so that the Church can take control over the world and become the great mountain, I am guessing they will claim that this mountain is the one spoken of in Daniel. Yet Daniel is clear that the mountain is made out of no hands and without human agency.]
- Headhunting on the 7 Mountains Part 1 and 2
- Hermon–The Angel of Unity [Living Journey notes that Hermon is an orb that appears in photo's. I speak about the orbs Here and Here as well as the heretic William Branham. The following is my email to the Baptist Union in regards to William Branham.]
- 7 Steps into the Heart of God
This is a lot to take in isn’t it! It is blatant dominionism at it’s best. Neo-Calvinism.
I will leave it there for the time being, but if anyone else has any more information to add to this, no matter how obscure, please comment!!! Or if you want to remain anonymous, go to my ‘About L~J‘ page and you can email me there with any information that is relative to this topic. I will respect your privacy if that is what you want. What I would like to do is to use the information that you have forwarded to me without your ID being disclosed in anyway!
Now watch and listen carefully to the way in which the Dominion Kingdom is advancing!
Rev 17:9 Here is the mind having wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman sits on them.
Related Article:
The Political Christian - Thumbs up for the donkey!
This is a red flag post…
Recently we have just had our federal election here in Australia. The country is now governed by a Labour Government, the leader being Kevin Rudd.
I have just come across something that may interest some of you who are curious about Christianity and Politics. Is it a dangerous mix and one that should be avoided because of compromise? I have blogged about this before both Here and Here.
I will quote again… just for those who are not aware of the official AoG position regarding Christianity and Politics. Just to note, I agree totally with this position…
Historically, when the church has become involved in partisan politics, the outcome has been disastrous for both the kingdom of God and the system of government it promoted or attacked. The essence of the church is not earthly and temporal, but spiritual and eternal (John 18:36). The priority of the church is to preach Christ exclusively (1 Corinthians 2:2). The mission of the church is to proclaim the gospel (Matthew 28:19). [p]olitical affiliation, by its very nature, divides people into competing groups. There is no room for such division in the church. Therefore the church must never promote any party or system that would be divisive to the body of Christ, but rather contend for the faith that unites every tribe and tongue and people and nation into one glorious Church.
Why then does the AoG do the exact opposite and as well as their pastors?
What do you think of false prophesies that have been uttered by certain Christian leaders to certain Political leaders? Personally, I think that they come from the imaginations of man! Perhaps they are wishful thinking? Or perhaps there is something more than meets the eye? Kingdom building, Dominionism and the social agenda!
THE leader of a Christian group that advocates the destruction of mosques, casinos and bottle shops has met Peter Costello to “prophetically prepare” the Treasurer for the prime ministership.
Mr Costello and John Howard held private meetings with Catch the Fire leader Danny Nalliah in August, the same month the Prime Minister met with the leaders of the Exclusive Brethren, which prohibits voting and modern technology.
Mr Nalliah said in a letter to Christians that the Lord had told him to spend “personal time” with Mr Howard and to prepare Mr Costello as the “future prime minister”.
His prophecy…
The Lord told me to spend some personal time with Prime Minister John Howard and to prophetically prepare Federal Treasurer Peter Costello as the future prime minister of Australia. … I will boldly declare that Prime Minister John Howard will be re-elected in the November election (if the Body of Christ unites in prayer and action) and pass the leadership onto Peter Costello sometime after.
Uh oh…the prophecy was wrong!
Mr Nalliah from the AoG ‘Catch the Fire‘ ministry uttered this prophecy and he got it very, very wrong, hmmmm.
It saddens me to think that as a Christian conservative and also centrist, (I am one argument away from being an extemist!) I am finding it increasingly hard to vote for anyone these days. As my hubby said on voting day, he is rather shocked that the donkey has not been elected yet! I prefer to vote on what I consider to be a moral vote and try and find the party that best supports the ideal family unit and who believes that all life including unborn babies is sacred. The family unit in God’s economy constitutes the Father, Mother and child. My reasons for this are not personal at all, but only biblical. You can find the triune image of God in the traditional family unit, but that is another post all together.
But as we are entering into a new social agenda that the evangelical church has taken up — some calling it the ‘The New Reformation‘ — that agenda has more to do with politics than spreading the truth of the gospel. Please, please read ‘Jesus wasn’t a Social Worker‘ by Chris Elrod. Chris tells us who the real Jesus was, and what it was He stood for, it was not the social gospel at all.
Here’s the thing. If you mix Christianity and Politics you will lose the salvific gospel — the real atoning redemptive gospel that saves the soul — this gospel is the one thing that the Church was commanded to deliver to the four corners of the earth. Instead you have a watered down political/social agenda to build the kingdom up here on earth that eventually does a disservice to the salvific work of the cross. Where do you place your treasures, here or in heaven. Is Jesus’ kingdom of this world or not?
Getting back to Danny Nalliah from Catch the Fire ministries. He was prophesied over by none other than Frank Houston, father of Brian Houston from Hillsong. What people may not know is that Frank Houston was a sex offender of the worst kind.
Oh, what a to do with a moral vote??? Really there is much more I could say on the matter.
And just when you think that you have heard it all..
PRIME Minister John Howard has condemned the League of Rights as “a bit anti-Semitic”, but refused to cut ties with an evangelical pastor who has accepted a platform from the far right-wing group.
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd also sidestepped the issue of government access for the pastor, warning only that people should be “very, very wary” of dealings with the “grossly anti-Semitic organisation”.
Danny Nalliah, head of Melbourne-based Catch the Fire Ministries, last night reaffirmed he would address the league again, despite criticism from Jewish leaders that his actions had conferred legitimacy on the group.
…The Australian League of Rights, founded by Eric Butler in 1960, insists the Holocaust — in which millions of Jewish people were murdered by the Nazi regime — did not happen.
In light of Pastor Nalliah’s reaffirmation last night, at least one Jewish leader urged political leaders to distance themselves from him.
The evangelical church leader has been granted high-level access to government. He told followers he had held one-on-one meetings with Treasurer Peter Costello on August 9 and Prime Minister Mr Howard the next day, after God told him to “prophetically prepare” Mr Costello as the future prime minister.
Last night, Catch the Fire issued a statement saying it would “not knowingly support or endorse any organisation which promotes such hatred (of others for their religious beliefs)”.@The AGE
Politics is a dirty game!
Oh, and just to mention one more thing. ‘Catch the Fire’ ministries also mentions on their blog that…
‘Kenneth Copeland prophesied that Howard would be re-elected‘
FALSE PROPHET!!!
And in the very next breath they say … We Congratulate Kevin Rudd & the Labor Government on Winning the Election.
Are you kidding me… how about repent for your false prophecies concerning this election before you quote from the bible which says…
1Ti 2:1-2 First of all then, I exhort that petitions, prayers, supplications, and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all the ones being in high position, that we may lead a tranquil and quiet existence in all godliness and dignity.
Seriously I cannot even begin to voice my dismay at all of these false prophesies coming from Catch the Fire Ministries … how about this post called ‘Another Prophetic Word Regarding the Federal Election’.
What happened, did God change His mind?
I rather think that the website Christian Witness Ministries (Philip Powell) has hit the nail on the head when he said…
We suggest that a man who honours a homosexual paedophile won’t hear anything from God. False prophets usually cover their tracks. There is the fall back explanation if the above does not come to pass—Christians did not pray or they did not pray hard enough.
…Whatever happens in the election we suggest that Christians be careful how close they get to Catch the Fire and Danny Nalliah, who has most recently big named himself claiming all sorts of miracles and that he even raised a man from the dead—hmm! @CWM blog
The CWM Blog has a lot of documented stuff on the AoG, Danny Nalliah and the Houston’s, I reckon this is worth blogrolling!
Related Posts:
- “God’s Millionaires” Pentecostal churches are not waiting to inherit the earth. They are taking it now, tax-free.
- PENTECOSTAL DISGRACE - Catch the Fire Honouring the Late Frank Houston
Ps: I like what Jacob Prasch says about leaders, you may not like any of them, but you are to pray for all of them!
The Todd Friel and Doug Pagitt transcript
You may remember last month the conservative blogging world were all up in arms about the interview between Todd Friel and Doug Pagitt. Carla from ‘More books and things‘ sent me the mp3 of the interview, and I remember listening to it in my lounge room with absolute frustration and sadness at this type of heresy that is now coming from the ‘Emer‘ crowd and its leaders.
Sadly, I am not surprised by this, and those who persevere in the Truth of His Word are not surprised by it either. They too, have realised that today we are in the last days before our ‘Blessed Hope’ and His glorious appearing.
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ
I have just found the transcript to the whole interview for those who do not have a fast connection - you can read the interview on-line here.
Todd: Yea, do you think, do you think there’s an eternal damnation for people who are not Christians?
Doug: Yeah, well, I think that there’s.. I think there’s all kinds of … I mean that, that, damnation would sort of be that.. that there’s parts of the uh, life in Creation that seem to be counter to what God is doing and those are the things that are eliminated and removed and done away with. And so I think that’s what damnation is, and so there’s people who want to live out that kind of uhm, wanna have that good judgment – the judgment of God in their life. I mean you know Judge… Judgment in a biblical fashion meaning that God remakes… that God remakes the world.
Todd: OK, Doug, hold on Doug… Doug hold on a second. I have no idea what you just said. Here’s what I think Hell is: eternal damnation, God sends lawbreakers to a place where there’s weeping, there’s gnashing of teeth, a lake of sulpher, the worm never dies, eternal conscious torment. Agree or disagree?
Doug: Disagree.
Top Verses!
I have found something interesting for those of you who wonder about the top most referenced bible verses on websites across the Internet. There is a site called ‘Top Verses – The bible Sorted‘ and what they have done is this…
[…]analysed thousands of pages of teaching material to determine the most frequently referenced Bible verses. This information is entered into our search engine enabling it to return the most familiar verses first.
When you go to the home page it shows any of the top 1 of 1000 verses referenced on the internet, for example I went there and the current verse was…
“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Exodus 20:4
Then a few minutes later it was…
“You shall not steal. Exodus 20:15
You could pretty much use this as your verse of the day to pray about and reflect on if you wanted to.
You can also go to the ‘Word Search Feature’ and find out what verses are mostly referred too for any particular word that happens to take your fancy. For example I typed in ‘Truth‘ and came across many of the verses I use in my blog when writing about absolutes, postmodernism and the emerging Church etc.
You can also find the top overall verses, top books, top chapters and top verses in books.
I was please to find that the top verses of all time were…
Rank: 1
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
Rank: 2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Rank: 3
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. John 14:6
Rank: 4
Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19
Rank: 5
for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23
Pretty much the whole gospel summed up in the first top five verses.
