When Knowledge IS UnProfitable

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A REMARKABLE COME BACK"

With strength and power the Religious Reformation swept across Europe. Dynamic men, fearlessly opposed the strong grip of Roman Catholic Power upon the lives and conscience of the people.

To the casual observer in the mid 1500's, it must have seemed as though Roman Catholicism would succumb to Protestantism. However that did not happen. The Roman Catholic Church staged a remarkable come back called the Counter-Reformation, by which they not only regained much that had been lost, and greatly suppressed the reformation, but also laid the foundation for the conquest of the world which we now see in action. A conquest described by Catholic Writer and eminent theologian, Malachi Martin in "Keys to this Blood" where he "reveals Pope John Paul's own blueprint for a genuinely geopolitical structure: a one-world government that is both viable and humanly acceptable." (Flyleaf, then going on to page 480)

"From the beginning of his pontification, John Paul has been talking incessantly about the convergence of the nations. He had the end game in view some ten years before other men faced into it;. . .He would endow his papacy with an international profile and, as Pope, move around among world leaders and nations, vindicating a position for himself as a special leader among leaders, because in that competition he plans to emerge as the victor."

The Pope is acknowledged, in Mikhail Gorbachev's words, "as the most eminent moral authority in our world today."

What happened to the Reformation, where men like Luther, Calvin, Knox and all the other Protestant Reformers unanimously declared that the papacy was the prophecied antiChrist?

Luther wrote: "Here in Daniel 11:36, the pope is clearly pictured, who in all his decrees shouts impudently that all the churches and thrones will be judged by him, but he cannot be judged by anyone... Here, in Daniel 11:37, we have a description of the Antichrist. . . the Antichrist, that is the pope, will not have God nor a legitimate wife and that means that the Antichrist will despise laws and regulations,. . . in heaven and on earth and accept only his own law. . . .believe me, the pope is the antichrist."

Tomas Cranmer (who, combining the prophecies of Dan. 7 and 2 Thess.2, wrote) :
"After all these sprung up the pope, that triple-crowned monster, and great antichrist, which took upon him authority, not only over the clergy, but also climbed above kings and emperors, deposing them at his pleasure, and settled himself in the temple of god, that is, in the consciences of men, extolling himself above God, dispensing with good laws, and giving men leave to break them and to regard more his decrees than the everlasting commandments of God."

Cranmer was burned at the stake for his testimony against the prophesied papal Antichrist, just as were Hooper, Ridley, Latimer, Bradford and many others.

What happened to these deep convictions that caused men to risk their very lives to offer the world truth?

1. The Bible, and the Bible only they cried.
2. The Papacy is the Anti-Christ revealed in Prophecy.
3. Righteousness comes by Faith in Christ.
These were the main issues that fueled the reformation. The Bible was given back into the hands of the people! They were taught that it was at once their duty and their right to examine it, to judge for themselves as to what it contained, and to act upon their convictions on what God required. The conscience was set free from the tyranny of Rome to follow the Word of God.

We already touched on how the Papacy can claim the victory of tradition over the Bible in "Reformation Part One". In this article we will deal mainly with the Reformers recognition of the Papacy as the Anti-Christ and the counter interpretations of the counter Reformation .

The Reformers were by no means united on all points of doctrine, but one thing they were unanimous on, and that was applying most of the prophecies of Anti-christ to the Papacy. It was this clear understanding of the prophetic symbols that gave them such extraordinary courage and effectiveness to protest against Rome and to resist her tyranny, even if it meant death to themselves. The prophecies of Daniel, John and Paul were applied to the Papacy with tremendous effect.

In order to off set this incriminating scriptural evidence, Rome realized something, besides killing the messengers, must be done if she was to regain her power. The Bible had, dispite her efforts, gone out to the people so now she must come up with a plausible sounding counter interpretation to get the focus of the prophecies away from her, for as long as she was recognized as the anti- christ power of the last days people would resist her with their very lives. Prophecy must be reinterpreted!

THE JESUIT'S COUNTER INTERPRETATIONS

"The Society of Jesus was established by the papacy in 1540 as a very special ‘fighting unit' at the total and exclusive disposal of the Roman Pope. From their beginnings, the Jesuits were conceived in a military mode. Soldiers of Christ, they were given only two purposes: to propagate the religious doctrine and the moral law of the Roman Catholic Church as proposed and taught by the Roman Pope." (The Jesuits, page 41, Malachi Martin)

Their first job was to counter the Reformation. They must, by plausible exposition of Scripture break the unbroken harmony of the reformers positions.

Interestingly enough, they came up with two alternatives that were actually conflicting and contradicting each other, yet the Catholic Church sanctioned both! So much for truth! What they did achieve was to push the prophecies away from the papacy.

Through the Jesuits Ribera, of Spain and Bellarmine, of Rome came the Futurist interpretation. This interpretation leaps over the immense era of papal dominance, and crowds the antichrist prophecies into the far distant future.

THE JESUIT RIBERA'S FUTURIST COUNTER INTERPRETATIONS

Jesuit Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) " assigned the first few chapters of the Apocalypse to ancient Rome, in John's own time; the rest he restricted to a literal three and a half years' reign of an infidel Antichrist, who would bitterly oppose and blaspheme the saints just before the second advent. He taught that Antichrist would be a single individual, who would rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, abolish the Christian religion, deny Christ, be received by the Jews, pretend to be God, and conquer the world--all in this brief space of three and one-half literal years!" (Prophetic Faith Vol.2 p. 490)

Here we see that Ribera "laid the foundation for the great structure of Futurism...and then, wonder of wonders, in the nineteenth century this Jesuit scheme of interpretation came to be adopted by a growing number of Protestants, until today Futurism, amplified and adorned with the rapture theory, has become the generally accepted belief of the Fundamentalist wing of popular Protestantism!" (Prophetic Faith Vol. 2 p. 493) How could Protestantism forsake it's main foundation of prophetic interpretation and adopt a Jesuit counterfeit? How did this happen?

THE JESUIT BELLARMINE'S COUNTER INTERPRETATIONS

There was also (Saint) Robert Bellarmine, Jesuit, cardinal and theologian who, as an outstanding controversialist opposing the Protestant doctrines of the Reformation, was regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as one of its most powerful defenders. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1560....He was a lecturer at the new Jesuit College in Rome.

Between 1576 and 1589, in addition to his teaching Bellarmine lectured to large audiences. He insisted that the prophecies concerning Antichrist in Daniel, Paul and John, had no application to the papal power. This formed the third part of his "Disputations de Controversiis Christianae Fidei Adversus Huius Temporis Haereticos" published between 1581-1593.

Bellarmine's assault on the Protestant interpretations of prophecy was centered upon the year-day principle which stood at the base of the historic interpretation of prophecy and had risen to general notice and wide acceptance among both Catholics and Protestants. He went out of his way to do this.

Determined to nullify the day = year prophetic principle, used by Protestants as the basis of the 1260 year period of Antichrist's tyranny, he sought to deprive this symbol of its Scriptural support. He came up with the argument that Ezekiel 4 was in reverse, that is saying a year = a day, when in actuality Ezekiel's acted out prophecy was in days and symbolized years.

Ballarmine was very methodical as he dissected the Protestant position, his works fill nine ponderous folio tomes, attacking the standard prophecies pertaining to Antichrist.

Ballarmine capitalized on Luther's weakness. Luther had declared the Bible as the source for truth, yet Luther was selective in what he considered inspired in the Bible. Luther rejected the book of Revelation. "There is too much lacking in this book to call it apostolic or prophetic," he had written in the preference to his first edition of the new Testament. Zwingli made the same mistake in interpreting prophecy. He too refused to recognize the Revelation as apostolic. Now the Jesuit Ballarmine posed himself as the defender of the Bible against the Reformers who, he declared had rejected it. He then shaped the Revelation to fit the futurist view, thereby by- passing the whole Christian era and the real antichrist.

Actually Ballarmine assigned the apocalyptic symbols to the distant past and the distant future. Antichrist, according to him, had not yet come, for he would abolish the daily sacrifice— or the Eucharist (daily mass) and would reign for three and a half literal years.

Bellarmine maintained that the little horn of Daniel 7 as well as the end power in Daniel 11 was a single king--who like Antiochus— would take away three kings and subdue seven other to himself, who, he contends, would therefore be one man only, and not a kingdom. Antiochus was a figure or symbol of the Antichrist of the last days.

THE JESUIT ALCASAR'S PRETERIST COUNTER INTERPRETATIONS

On the flip side of the Counter Reformation was another Jesuit. Jesuit Luis De Alcazar, or Alcasar (1554-1613) of Seville Spain.

Alcasar advanced the Preterist interpretation. He made all prophecy stop short of the papal domination. He maintained that the apocalypse describes the war of the church in the early centuries. Partly between the Jews and their adversaries and then the Church and paganism. Revelation 1-11 he applied to the rejection of the Jews and the desolation of Jerusalem by the Romans. Revelation 12-19 Alcazar allotted to the overthrow of Roman paganism and the conversion of the empire to the church, the judgment of the great Harlot being effected by the downfall of pagan idolatry. Revelation 20 he applied to the final persecution by Antichrist and chapters 21 referring to the New Jerusalem he made descriptive of the glorious and endless triumphant state of the Roman church. ( See Prophetic Faith vol 2 p. 507)

The three Jesuits who worked most effectively to overthrow the Protestant understanding of prophecy, and whose theories are now (in modified forms) almost universally accepted are:

Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) From Italy.
Jesuit Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) of Salamanca Spain
Jesuit Luis De Alcazar, or Alcasar (1554-1613) of Seville Spain.

THE PROTESTANT INTERPRETATION REVISITED

Let's look again at the Protestant interpretation which was based on the historic method.

The Protestant John Knox in Scotland: (1505-1572) believed:

1. That "the papal religion is but an abomination before God" and to "flee out of Babylon, that you perish not with her." (Friedrich Brandes, John Knox, der Reformator Schottlands p. 191)

2. "Knox took the text written in Daniel, the seventh chapter, beginning thus: And another King shall rise unlike unto the first. . . ".
He identified the creatures as Babylonian, Persia, Greeks, and the fourth of the Romans; which he affirmed to be the Roman Church; for to none other power that ever hath yet been, do all the notes that God hath showed to the Prophet appertain, except to it alone;

3. Knox next showed that Daniel's "little horn" was identical with Paul's "man of sin" and John's "Whore of Babylon" as one single Antichrist

4. Every prophetic day is a year— every common prophetical day is taken for a year. A prophetic week is a "week of years," and a Jewish or Greek common year is a year of "360" days". He quotes Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:5,6 and cites the seventy weeks as evidence of fulfillment, "In the seventy weeks of Daniel, a day to be taken for a year, extending in the whole to 490 years; otherwise, that prophecy of the Messiah's coming, would not fall upon the just time of Christ's coming, as necessarily it ought to doe.. . . .

The point is clear, these concepts did not originate with ADVENTISM. Adventism is sticking to Protestantism while the rest of Christendom is following Jesuit interpretations. We also see the sure result of this shift in Prophetic understanding of the apocalypse. Protestants are playing into the hands of Rome, by helping to screen the Papacy from detection as the Antichrist. The ecumenical movement which is at work to unite all Christendom under the "shepherding" influence of Rome is sweeping the world. The Pope's dream and plan "of his own universal Roman Church— a winner-take all race against time to establish, maintain, and control the first one-world government that has ever existed on the face of the earth" (Keys of Blood, flyleaf) is in the process of being set up. For Revelation tells us that "all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, all except those whose names are written in the book life", will worship the beast that was wounded to death (officially by Napoleon's stripping the Vatican of political power in 1798) but it's deadly wound was healed and all the world wonders after him. (Rev. 13:3,8)

WHY WERE THE JESUIT'S SO SUCCESSFUL?

Yet how did this complete reversal of prophetic interpretation permeate the Protestant world?

It did not happen overnight! Nor did it happen during the lifetimes of the Jesuits who first promoted the new interpretations. It happened by promoting diversity of opinions and then moving in to divide and conquer! Had the Protestants remained firm and united on their historic interpretative stand, the counter reformation could never have succeeded in implanting these new interpretations into all of Christendom. Many reformers rose and refuted the futurist and preterist positions, but others bought into them.

Here is one example. Protestant statesman and theologian, Hugo Grotius, had a Jesuit friend, named Petavius. Grotius said he wanted peace between Catholics and Protestants and he used his diplomacy to achieve this end. To do this he studied Jesuit Alcazar's Preterist interpretation, and wrote his own anti-Protestant commentary on the Antichrist (1620) He bought into the Jesuit counter interpretation so strongly that he believed the pope was not mentioned in any of the prophecies.

Other Protestants were shocked at his writings and wrote to refute him, yet his works marked the beginning of others following his lead.

Thus the work of infiltrating and planting the counter interpretive ideas and then watching the Protestants themselves undoing the Reformation slowly gained control.

"The Jesuits carried the battle right into the territories of their papal enemies. They waged public controversies with kings, they debated in Protestant universities, they preached at crossroads and in marketplaces. They addressed municipal councils, they instructed Church Councils. They INFILTRATED hostile territories in disguise, and moved around underground. They were everywhere, showering their contemporaries with brilliance, with wit, with acerbity, with learning, with piety. Their constant theme: The Bishop of Rome is successor to Peter the Apostle. . .any other church institution is rank heresy. . .they had a monopoly in the education of Europe for over two hundred years, and numbered the famous and infamous. . .they were giants with but one purpose: the defense and propagation of papal authority and papal teaching." (The Jesuits, p.28- 29)

IMPLICATIONS WHICH RESULT FROM THEIR SUCCESS

They were so successful in deleting the evidence that the Papacy is antichrist that now we see the Lutherans and Catholics embracing one another as fellow Christians, articulating a "common understanding of justification" agreeing that their Joint Declaration "encompasses a consensus in the basic truths, claiming that the "differing explications" are compatible with the joint Declaration and thus no longer the occasion for doctrinal condemnations, and to look past historic differences in the name of Christian unity. (Christianity Today, Jan. 10,2000 pp.63-65)

Protestants are willing to clasp the hands of Catholism even though THEY KNOW they have great differences in doctrines (purgatory, penance, purgatory, images, Mary,) THEY KNOW that "Roman Catholics have not now adopted the Lutheran Position" THEY KNOW that the pope will never give up his stand on papal supremacy.

(Time, Dec.16,1991 p.53 the Holy See officially declares it's position, insisting that a reunited church must be built upon a papacy that is a God-given, "permanent" institution with "universal" jurisdiction, "directly founded" by Jesus Christ And the Pope has personal power to teach infallibly on faith and morals.)

They know all this, yet they sign joint declarations? How can this be?

The success of the counter Reformation has infiltrated all of Christendom. The idea that the Papacy is antichrist will soon have the same penalties as it did in the 16th century when people stood against the demands of the Papacy at the peril of their own lives.

Protestants are joining with and patronizing the papacy. They have made compromises and concessions.

They bow to the accusation that:
"It is all too easy for Protesants, who have shattered the church into thousands of pieces, to speak blithely of spiritual unity and continue along a schismatic way. (Christianity Today)
They never realize that from the beginning the Jesuits tactics were to divide them and then move in to conquer them for the Catholic Church.
People are closing their eyes to the real character of Romanism and the dangers realized when she gains again her supremacy. The people need to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty.

"The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged." (GC) This is not to say that many sincere Catholics do not truly love the Lord. No, this is not about individuals, this is about a system. The system will restore and supercede all her cruelties to enforce her dogmas.

Why are there dungeons and torture chambers in the basements of her churches. Why has the office of the inquisition been reactivated?

"Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High. The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4. ( GC)



References:
Froom, LeRoy The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers Vol. 2
Martin, Malachi, Keys of This Blood also The Jesuits
Grimm, Harold The Reformation Era
Emmerson, W.L. The Reformation and the Advent Movement
Encyclopedia Britannica
Time Magazine, Dec. 16, 1991
Christianity Today, January 10, 2000


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Happy Sabbath

THE TIME FOR THE LOUD CRY - Pr. Marlowe Parks

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The Present Crisis

The Review and Herald

January 1, 1889

The Present Crisis

By Mrs. E. G. White 

RH January 1, 1889

We feel deeply over the present state of the church whose members have long possessed a knowledge of those events which are to transpire near the close of time in fulfillment of prophetic history. Christ is coming in power and great glory, and the dead are to be “judged out of those things which are written in the books, according to their works.” The One who has stood as our intercessor; who hears all penitential prayers and confessions; who is represented with a rainbow, the symbol of grace and love, encircling his head, is soon to cease his work in the heavenly sanctuary. Grace and mercy will then descend from the throne, and justice will take their place. He for whom his people have looked will assume his right,—the office of Supreme Judge. “The Father ... hath committed all judgment unto the Son.... And he hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.” It was he, says Peter, who was ordained to “judge the quick [the living] and the dead.” “He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.” 

The faith and patience of those who have waited long, have been sorely tried. “Hope deferred has made the heart sick;” and the cry has come up before God, “Lord, how long?” But now the signs are fulfilling,—nation rising against nation, startling calamities by land and by sea, famine, pestilence, fearful storms, sweeping floods, and great conflagrations. All these testify that we are approaching the grand consummation. The cry going up to God from the waiting ones, will not be in vain. The response will come, “It is done.” “He which is filthy, let him be filthy still; ... he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Can the church contemplate this hour with calm indifference? 

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Global Church Too Self-Centered, Needs to Reach Out to Persecuted Brothers and Sisters, Says Open Doors Pres.

By STOYAN ZAIMOV

Nov 1, 2016




Persecution watchdog group Open Doors is preparing for International Day of Prayer on Sunday, examining the struggles of Christians in the world's most dangerous areas, and has warned that the global Church is still too self-centered and needs to reach out to help its brothers and sisters.

Open Doors President David Curry told The Christian Post in a phone interview that while statistics for the number of Christians killed around the world specifically for their faith in 2016 are not yet available, the factors that made 2015 the deadliest in history with over 7,000 Christian deaths have not been eradicated.

"The factors that led to the dramatic rise of Christians being attacked and martyred and harassed, all those factors are still in place. You still have rouge nations like Eritrea, North Korea, Sudan and others, who are not concerned about international justice laws, and are persecuting Christians within their government," Curry said.

He told CP that radical caliphates looking to spread their territory, such as the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria or Boko Haram in Africa, are still active and one of the main drivers of persecution.

While North Korea remains the most dangerous country for Christians, according to the Open Doors World Watch List, Curry noted that the northern parts of Nigeria, a country where Christians have faced attacks both from Boko Haram and radical Fulani herdsmen, is the area that his organization is most concerned about.

"They (Christians) have been caught in a crossfire — more Christians were killed last year in Nigeria than anywhere else for their faith, short of North Korea," he said.

A different form of potential Christian persecution is also rising in Russia, a country that wasn't listed among the world's biggest persecutors of Christians in 2015, but has since enacted controversial new laws which seek to ban any kind of religious evangelization outside of churches.

Observers, such as Hannu Haukka, president of Great Commission Media Ministries, have called the supposedly anti-terrorist laws some of the most "restrictive laws in post-Soviet history."

Curry said that Open Doors might have a report on Russia later this year, and said that it is "a place we are studying."

"I think things to be concerned about is whether or not Russia is going to try to nationalize the Church by using laws, such as making it that only the Orthodox Church can practice faith openly and freely," he suggested.

"We've seen these kind of things become a problem for small evangelical churches before. It's still too early to say, but I think people are right to be concerned."

As for the response of the global Church toward the different forms of persecution, Curry said: "At the risk of sounding critical, I think the global Church is still more concerned about its own problems, and is not concerning itself with persecuted Christians yet. I think you are beginning to see more discussion of it, but I think people, when they think it doesn't affect them, are very slow to respond to these kind of events."

He continued, "I'm not encouraged yet by the response of the global Church, but I am hopeful that they are going to wake up and see what is happening."

The Day of Prayer website offers downloadable resources and a resource kit, including a church service guide, sermon outline, videofiles, social media tools, and prayer partner templates.

Curry said that he wants people to "pray for a country that is on the list that is close to their heart, or somebody or a situation that they are aware of. So make it personal. If you've been to a country, or you know someone who is from Iran, or Iraq, or Syria, or North Korea — let's pray for these situations. Because if it's just a name on a list, it won't be as meaningful."

He encouraged people to watch the videos and read the stories on the Open Doors website, so they can see what the life and struggles of other Christians is like.

"Now is the time to get together as Christians and begin to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted through prayer, daily prayer," Curry added.

"This is a time for us to come together as one, and lift them up, and pray for them, and begin to realize the prayer of Jesus that His people will be one, and that we will be unified."

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Adventist leaders mark Religious Freedom Day

The church’s Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director calls for church members to reject complacency in the face of growing global challenges to religious freedom.

Nov 01, 2016 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Bettina Krause, communication director, International Religious Liberty Association

Islamic cleric Seyyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi addresses the church-sponsored IRLA World Congress for Religious Freedom in South Africa in 2007. These events are held every five years and the next IRLA Congress will be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in August 2017. [Photo Credit: IRLA]



Seventh-day Adventist religious liberty leaders marked International Religious Freedom Day October 27 by asking church members around the world to remember those who suffer discrimination or persecution for their faith.

According to recent statistics from the Pew Research Institute, some two-thirds of the world’s population lives in countries where religious freedom is compromised either by laws or by social attitudes. Dr. Ganoune Diop, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Adventist world church, says these religious freedom challenges can take many different forms.

“For some church members, Sabbath-keeping in the workplace or at school is a continuing challenge that makes it difficult to find a job or advance professionally,” he said, citing recent cases reported from South Korea, India, and some African nations. “In other countries, there may be discrimination within the legal system, making religious minorities vulnerable to false accusations or injustice.”

Diop points to the case of Sajjad Masih Gill, an Adventist Church member currently serving a life sentence under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. He was convicted in 2013 in a trial marked by irregularities and tainted evidence.

In the West African country of Togo, Adventist Church member Bruno Amah has been in prison since 2012 and is serving a life sentence for a murder conviction that has generated international concern and sparked worldwide prayer vigils and letter-writing campaigns. (Link to earlier coverage.) Adventist pastor Antonio Monteiro was arrested along with Amah, but was acquitted in 2014.

For other church members, says Diop, religiously motivated violence poses real dangers to individuals and their families. He points to recent news reports, such as one from Nigeria, which documents the flight of Christians, including Adventists, from ongoing religious conflict. According to one account, up to 40 Christians were killed and eight wounded when Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked the town of Godogodo late afternoon on October 15 with guns and machetes. This is the second time in as many months that the town has been targeted; a similar attack in September had already caused many Christians to leave. Samuel Musa, a 60-year-old Adventist elder, spoke to a reporter before the second attack, saying that he was one of only four remaining church members out of a former congregation of 50.

Also this week, a news report from Pakistan describes the violent eviction of an Adventist pastor and his family from their home as part of a property dispute fueled by religious tensions. Christian Today reports that Pastor Michael Robert of the Adventist Church in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura District, sustained serious injuries along with his wife and members of his family when an armed mob entered his house.

“The plight of these church members is known,” says Diop. “Yet there are countless other men, women and children of many different faiths who suffer the consequences of religious intolerance.”

Other recent international religious freedom concerns include a Russian law enacted in July this year regulating missionary activity, as well as the continuing plight of members of Christian minorities in the Middle East, many of whom have fled discrimination and violence.

It is this complex global reality that will be the focus of scholars, experts and religious liberty advocates from around the world who will gather in August 2017 near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, for the 8th World Congress for Religious Freedom. This event, organized by the church-supported International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), will bring together some of the world’s foremost thinkers in the field of religious freedom.

According to Diop, who also serves as IRLA’s Secretary General, the focus of the Congress—Religious Freedom and the Hope for Peaceful Co-existence—is especially relevant. “Learning to share the public space with those with whom we disagree; learning to overcome humanity’s abysmal record of religious wars, religious ethnic cleansing, and genocide fuelled religious bigotry—these have become some of the most urgent challenges of our time.”

The IRLA’s 8th World Congress for Religious Freedom will be held August 22-24, 2017 at the beach-side Diplomat Resort and Spa by Hilton, in Hollywood, Florida. For more information visit www.irla.org.


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What is a Protestant?

WORLD

AFP | Saturday, Oct 29, 2016




Photo: Pixabay



Protestants form a branch of the Christian faith that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation 500 years ago.

Pope Francis has nonetheless strengthened ties with several Protestant denominations, and his trip to Sweden to take part in events marking the anniversary of the Reformation could mark a new high in relations.

Here are some key points about Protestantism:


This is the date that marks the beginning of the Reformation, when German theologian Martin Luther published his "95 Theses".

These notably criticised how the Catholic concept of "indulgences" - whereby a repentant sinner could reduce the punishment for his sins in purgatory in return for a monetary contribution - had been corrupted into a lucrative cash-for-salvation scheme.

Luther was excommunicated - expelled from the Roman Catholic Church - on January 3, 1521. But his message spread quickly across Europe, disseminated by the printing press.

There are several theological differences between Protestants and Roman Catholics, including the following: - Protestants believe the Bible alone is the highest authority in matters of faith. Catholics acknowledge the combined authority of the Bible along with the traditions of the Church.

- For Protestants, salvation is through faith alone, while Catholic doctrine says "good works" can influence one's standing with God.

- There are also doctrinal differences over the bread and wine used in the eucharist or holy communion. For the Catholic Church, the bread and wine mystically transform into the actual body and blood of Jesus, while for Protestants, they remain a symbol of his sacrificial death on the cross.

The Protestant movement diversified into three main branches: Lutheranism, Calvinism - which includes the Reformed Church and Presbyterianism - and Anglicanism.

The Church of Sweden, which will host the pope, is Lutheran and adheres closely to principles established by Luther.

Other sizeable Lutheran congregations are located in neighbouring Scandinavian countries, as well as in Germany, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Tanzania and the United States.

Calvinists are inspired by French theologian John Calvin, who in 1536 founded the Reformed Church in Geneva. This is present primarily in Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia.

The Anglican Communion can be found on almost all continents, and adherents observe rites common to both the Catholic and Reformed denominations.

The Catholic Church reserves the priesthood for men, who must remain celibate; within Protestantism, clerics can marry and have children, and in many churches, women have been admitted to the priesthood and hierarchy.

In addition to its major branches, the Protestant church comprises many denominations that number tens of millions of members. They include Baptists, Evangelicals, Methodists and a group of more than a half-dozen churches based in Africa.

Other common denominations include Congregationalists, Seventh Day Adventists, Quakers, Unitarians and Mennonites such as the US-based Amish people that renounce modern technology.

Non-denominational, evangelical and charismatic or pentecostal churches are currently among those growing the fastest.

The precise number of Protestants is difficult to establish given the number of churches and offshoots.

The independent Pew Research Center has estimated that in 2011, Protestants numbered more than 800 million, "broadly defined to include Anglicans as well as members of independent and non-denominational churches."

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Update: CNN Announces Donna Brazile’s Resignation in Light of New WikiLeaks Revelations @alternet

Update: CNN Announces Donna Brazile’s Resignation in Light of New WikiLeaks Revelations @alternet: They continue to employ Corey Lewandowski.

News Briefs from America Magazine (Jesuit Publication)

THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REVIEW


News Briefs


SIGNS OF THE TIMES
November 7, 2016 Issue
From CNS, Staff and other sources

The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Oct. 14 that the death penalty cannot be imposedunless the jury is unanimous in the decision, aligning Florida with sentencing standards in most other states. 

• As Catholics and Lutherans mark the 500th anniversaryof the start of the Protestant Reformation on Oct. 31, Pope Francis said they should feel “pain for the division that still exists among us but also joy for the brotherhood we have already rediscovered.” 

• Vatican officials announced on Oct. 20 that Pope Francis, who spends his summers in Rome, is throwing open the doors to the summer papal aprtment in the apostolic palace at Castel Gandolfoto visitors. 

• Representatives from the Holy See’soffice of interreligious affairs traveled to Cairo, Egypt, on Oct. 21 to lay the groundwork for the official restart of talks between the Holy See and the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning, Al-Azhar, after a five-year lull. 

• After chaos broke out at Holy Trinity Church in Johannesburg, South Africa, while it hosted a meeting to resolve the nation’s university tuition-hike crisis, South Africa’s Jesuits said on Oct. 20 that the church could no longer be used for such dialogue.

Source

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Foreword to "Jesuit Social Justice versus Le Droit Des Gens..."

Jesuit Social Justice versus Le Droit Des Gens: The Global Estate versus Nation States

Foreword

Will 8 November 2016 be our BREXIT? At this late hour during the 2016 POTUS Election cycle, with the Methodist Eastern Star Hillary Rodham Clinton JD and Jesuit Timothy Richard Kaine JD versus Jesuit trained Presbyterian 32nd degree Freemason Donald John Trump and Evangelical Protestant Michael Richard Pence JD, no one else has expressed alarm this year as to Jesuit control over Romanism and Freemasonry — Identical Babylonian Systems; and as such, Undersigned humbly provides an overview and brief explanation for further reading with reasons to support Donald J. Trump, a genuine nationalist as intended under the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 versus the Global Estate. 

This election cycle matter is properly characterized as the last election in the demise of this Constitutional Representative Republic nation state. However, the demise of our nation state started on July 4, 1776 when the Founders made the ill conceived compromise with the wealthy slave trading Maryland Carroll Family threats that redactions to the Declaration of Independence be done or else they would not help to finance the American Revolution against the Parliament, and were the founders to insist on eliminating both the adherence to the King (Parliament) as well as slavery. The banned outlaw instigator Fr. John Carroll S.J., the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the Colonies, through his agents warned "it would be one or the other but not both". As such, given the ever current machinations of Jesuit Social Justice, which is neither, the compromise mechanism acting against the Law of Nations remains timely and central for us to launch a defense against our Nation's enemies. We need to ban the Society of Jesus (a.k.a "the Company", "Jesuits") as done in 1773, when the Jesuits were suppressed by Pope Clement XIV, through the Papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor on July 21, 1773, executed August 16. 

That further reading will sustain that the Undersigned is not as critical of the present form of Romanism and Freemasonry as its members themselves are, and as such is central to our survival in a free nation state with a government of by and for the free People, who alone separate from the government per se, are under God who has given each human his or her rights.

Respectfully yours,

Christopher Earl Strunk in esse Sui juris Executor and beneficiary agent of the Estate of the Posterity of the United States of America

Source

Will Russia Start World War III? Syria Conflict Could Start Global Warfare,

Nearly Half Of Russians Worry, Poll Finds

BY SUMAN VARANDANI @SUMAN09 ON11/01/16 AT 1:50 AM



Putin Says US 'Hysteria' Over Russia Is An Election Ploy



Nearly half of Russians who took part in a recent opinion poll fear that escalating tensions between Russia and the West over the ongoing crisis in Syria could become a global military conflict. Moscow's intervention in the Syrian conflict has been criticized by the West, which believes Russian strikes are aimed at supporting its ally President Bashar Assad rather than targeting terrorist groups in the region.

According to the poll, conducted by independent Russian pollster Levada Center, 48 percent of Russians said they were concerned "heightened tensions in relations between Russia and the West could grow into World War III," while 42 percent said they were not concerned about the prospect. The remaining 10 percent declined to answer the question. A total of 1,600 people from across Russia were interviewed for the poll last week.


When asked if citizens believed Russia and the West would eventually find a common ground to the crisis, 35 percent said that this scenario was likely, while 39 percent said that the probability of such an outcome was low. About 26 percent couldn’t answer the question.


However, 52 percent of Russians said they backed Moscow's airstrikes in the region, while 26 percent were opposed to the military action.

Russia first started operations in Syria after receiving a request for military help from the Syrian government, which is currently battling the Islamic State group (also called ISIS), other terrorist groups and anti-government rebel groups in the country. Russian war planes began launching airstrikes on terrorist strongholds in Syria on Sept. 30, 2015.

Western governments and human rights groups have accused Russian forces of carrying out attacks that have resulted in the deaths of several civilians.

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Intelligence Director 'Wouldn’t Put It Past' Russia To Shoot US Planes


Last month, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that a no-fly zone in Syria, a proposal supported by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, could lead Russia to shoot down U.S. planes.

"I wouldn’t put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft if they felt that was threatening to their forces on the ground," Clapper said at the Council of Foreign Relations. "The system they have there is very advanced, very capable, and I don’t think they’d do it — deploy it — if they didn’t have some intention to use it."

U.S. officials believe that a no-fly zone would put the U.S. directly in conflict with Russia. GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has also agreed that the move could trigger a world war.


"What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria. You’re going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton," Trump told Reuters last Tuesday. "You’re not fighting Syria anymore, you’re fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, all right? Russia is a nuclear country, but a country where the nukes work as opposed to other countries that talk."

Source

Isaiah 53

Overt Corruption In A Wicked World!

Volume XXXV Issue XI November 2016

Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916

Phone: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

Ephesians 5:11-16

"Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."

Titus 1:15-16

"I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."
I Timothy 6:13-16

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will examine a world that at this time is overrun with sin, deception, and corruption. By the time this newsletter is printed, the presidential election of 2016 will be just a few short days away. As we have watched the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump unfold, many Americans have become disillusioned and overwhelmed by a sense that there is something very wrong in this country, and that there is something very wrong with the method by which our leaders are selected. We all know that politicians are dishonest and corrupt, yet this election year of 2016 has forced us to face this uncomfortable reality head-on. The corruption is so overt that any intellectually honest person must see it, and those who fail to do so are being willfully ignorant.

On November 8, 2016, it is a very real possibility that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be selected as the next president of the United States. This seems like the most likely outcome, especially since the mainstream media is already proclaiming that Clinton will be the next President of the United States despite the fact that no election has yet been held this year. For example, an article published by the Wall Street Journal on October 18, 2016, speaks of a loss by Republican candidate Donald Trump as a forgone conclusion. "It is not too early to wonder what the Republican Party will do in the wake of his defeat, its third consecutive quadrennial loss," the article states. (1) In another article published by ABC News, it is declared that"Donald Trump's path to the White House is fading fast." (2) Such news stories are not surprising when we consider the fact that the mainstream media clearly favors Clinton and has colluded with her many times in the past. In some cases, news stories are even planted with the media by individuals in Clinton's camp. This fact came to light in a recently leaked strategy document from Clinton's campaign which declares, "We have had a very good relationship with Maggie Haberman of Politico over the last year. We have had her tee up stories for us before and have never been disappointed. While we should have a larger conversation in the near future about a broader strategy for reengaging the beat press that covers HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton), for this we think we can achieve our objective with and do the most shaping by going to Maggie." (3)

Rosicrusians - Facts and History..

October 20, 2016

from MessageToEagle Website





Who were the Rosicrucians?

Why did this society conceal its identity under various names?

Who was the mysterious author of the Order's manifestos?

Who was Christian Rosenkreutz?
Why were so many people alarmed

when they learned about the Order's existence?

Rosicrucians possess secret ancient knowledge, passed down though the ages. Join us a long journey and explore the esoteric secrets of this ancient Order and its enigmatic history.

The ancient history of the Rosicrucians can be traced back to the mystery schools of ancient Egypt.

In this article we examine facts and history of the Rosicrucians - one of the world's most mysterious secret societies.

The Emergence of The Rosicrucian Order in Europe

In the middle of the 15th century a mystic sect known as the Order of the Rose Cross could be encountered in some European countries. The sect's existence was made public in the 18thcentury, but its history is much older.

On March 3, 1623 the inhabitants of Paris, France discovered several mysterious posters hanging on the streets' buildings. This was the announcement to the world, declaring the existence of a previously unknown esoteric order called the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross.