Thursday, December 06, 2007

REJOICING AT THE WCC


Rejoicing at the WCC
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is overjoyed. It has managed to get more denominations, including even Rome, under one roof, at its Global Christian Forum than ever it could under the auspices of the WCC.

And almost as big a catch as Rome are the Pentecostals. Their leader has even proclaimed the forum to be a “new Pentecost”. The Pentecostals are mushrooming while the WCC’s members, though they boast that they are the mainline churches, are actually shrinking. The WCC sees the future as charismatic. Rome for her part comforts herself that she is absorbing the charismatic movement as she has absorbed so many movements in the past.

The secret of this forum’s success is that the churches could meet there without belonging to anything. In particular, although it was held under the auspices of the WCC, they did not have to join the WCC which has got bogged down in internal politics, left wing hang ups and American money (because the others won’t pay their dues), and is struggling to survive as a major ecumenical player.

Yet the WCC admits that about the only tangible achievement of the conference was its final communiqué which says nothing in particular.

As with most conferences, it is not what is said in the official sessions that counts but what is said in private conversations and gatherings behind closed doors. The problem facing the top brass of the ecumenical churches is not how to agree with one another but how to get the rank and file of the churches to follow them. That will have been the real topic of the conference.

The end result will be fragmentation of the churches with noisy ecumenical elements coming together and small faithful remnants breaking off on their own. The ecumenists think in terms of numbers: little so-called ‘schismatic’ groups do not much worry them, as yet. We remember asking a leading ecumenist about a little Scriptural denomination in their country. Oh, he sneered, “It is so small” and he could see no point in discussing it further.

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.” II Timothy 2:19.



Source: http://www.ianpaisley.org/new_details.asp?ID=503

British Church Newspaper

23 November 2007

ARE THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CHRISTIAN?

ARE THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CHRISTIAN?

By Ed Decker @ SaintsAlive.com

In the world of ministry to the cults, some things become abstract definitions of things rather than understandings of people. I have to admit my relationship with the Jehovah's Witnesses had long slipped into that category until one night when my oldest son, Josh, slipped into my study with a worried look.

"Dad," he quietly began, "I have a real problem at school and I need your help." I smiled, wrongly thinking we were going to deal with some errant test score. "I've become good friends with a classmate who is a Jehovah's Witness," he continued. "He has tried to witness to me and I let him know that I'm a committed Christian, but I don't know how to share my own faith with him so that he would see the difference."

I felt like a Bus Driver whose children needed a ride and couldn't get one. I dusted off several of the books on the Witnesses that were there on the library shelf but soon realized that I needed to get down to basics with my son in a format that he could both understand and implement in his own way. I want to share a little of that with you.

It's a rare door that hasn't felt the knock of the Jehovah's Witnesses more than once and it's an even rarer Jehovah's Witness who has heard the gospel message at one of those doors from the resident Christian. The reason is simply that it is a far from simple task to witness to a Witness. It's easier to just close the door and avoid the difficult task of sorting through a maze of confusing doctrines. Let's try to make it a bit simpler.

There are five important facts to remember about the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Organization.

1. They have accepted the Organization as the Prophet of God.

2. They have accepted the Organization as God's sole channel for His truth.

3. They believe that to reject the Organization is to reject God.

4. They believe that only the Organization can interpret the Bible; as individuals they are unable to do so.

5. They believe the Watchtower Magazine contains God's truth, directed by Him, through the Organization.

What does the Organization and Watchtower Magazine teach that is in conflict with Orthodox Christianity?

1. That Jesus is a created being/a creature.

2. That Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel

3. That Jesus was not resurrected bodily, but as a spirit being.

4. That Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 (secretly to the Organization)

5. That Jesus was only a man when on earth, not the Word Become flesh.

6. That the Holy Spirit is only an active force, not the person of God.

7. That Hell is simply the grave.

7. That Heaven's doors is open to only 144,000.

8. That the majority of Witnesses must remain on earth.

9. That salvation is found only through the Organization.

10. That it must be maintained by energetic works for the Organization until the end when one may merit eternal life on a paradise earth.

11. That Satan is the author of the doctrine of the Trinity.

12. That Jesus cannot be given worship, but only honor as Jehovah's first creation.

The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe or teach some of the very basic tenets of Christian doctrine. They deny:

1. The Trinity.

2. The Omnipresence of God.

3. The Deity of Christ.

4. The dual nature of Christ.

5. The bodily resurrection of Christ.

6. The visible return of Christ.

7. The person of God the Holy Spirit.

8. The Promise of Heaven to all believers.

9. The necessity of the New Birth for all believers.

10. The Lord's Supper for all believers. (only for the 144,000).

11. The Eternal Security of the believer.

12. The conscious Eternal Punishment of the lost.

The Bible Teaches the Truth...

1. That God exists in a Trinity of three eternal and co-equal persons: Father (Romans 1:7), Son (John 20:28) and Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3,4 and I John 5:7).

2. Jesus is no less than God in human flesh (Colossians 2:9).

3. God, the Holy Spirit, is the third member of the Holy Trinity (Matt. 28:19; Acts 13:2).

4. Jesus Christ rose bodily from the grave (John 2:20,21; Luke 24:39).

5. Jesus is visibly coming again to set up His Kingdom on earth (Matt. 24:30; Acts 1:8; Rev. 1:7).

6. Salvation is in the person of Jesus Christ and comes through faith in Him. (Acts 16:31). It's the work of God for man, not a work of man for God (Titus 3:4-6).

7. Jesus was and should be worshipped (John 20:26-28; Matt. 2:10-12, 14:33)

Witnessing to a Witness.

We need to remember that anyone who denies the divinity of Jesus Christ and carries the heavy burden of a false, religious spirit is going to be going through a lot of highs and lows. True believers, empowered by the companionship of God, the Holy Spirit have a constant presence of the Lord about them that seems to act like a magnet at times. I told my son to just be himself with this friend and to keep him in daily prayer. God would draw his friend to a place where he could be reached and given a loving and gentle witness. It has already brought a profound and positive change to their relationship and we pray daily, as a family for this young man and his family.

If you want more detailed information, I recommend that you write to a former Witness and dear friend of mine, Lorri MacGregor at MacGregor Ministries, Box 591, Point Roberts, WA 98281 and ask for a Free information package. You may also contact me at Saints Alive, P.O. Box 1076, Issaquah, WA 98027, for any of the assorted material, videos, books we keep on the subject.

Source: http://www.exposingsatanism.org/jehovah_witness.htm

FOUR TELEVANGELISTS SUBMIT FINACIAL DATA


Four Televangelists Submit
Financial Data to Senate

By SUZANNE SATALINE
December 6, 2007 8:22 p.m.

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Four televangelists, under investigation for the way they raise and spend money, did not turn over financial information by Thursday, the deadline set by the Senate Finance Committee, including one preacher who challenged the committee to subpoena him.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), who is leading the investigation, said in a statement that he would wait for the ministers to send the information voluntarily. But the refusal and slow responses may force the senator into an uncomfortable choice: should legislators force religious entities to divulge financial details they are not required by law to share, risking the anger of religious voters who are being heavily courted in the walkup to the presidential election?

One minister may force the committee to make that choice: a tax attorney for Creflo Dollar, pastor of World Changers Church Intl. of College Park, Ga., told the Senate Finance Committee leadership that they would have to issue a subpoena to force him to turn over information. In the letter, the attorney, Marcus Owens, of Washington, D.C., said the minister was compelled to share those details only with the Internal Revenue Service, and asked the committee to refer any tax concerns to that agency.

Turning over information through a subpoena would keep the church's information from being released to the public, Mr. Owens said in an interview. "It guarantees you privacy," Mr. Owens said. "Subpoenaed documents cannot be placed on a Web site."

Sen. Grassley said, in a statement, "I'm willing to give ministries more time if that's needed, as long as they're cooperating and in contact with my office," he said. A member of the senator's staff said a subpoena "is an option, but he'd rather not go to that step."

Senate finance committee subpoenas are issued in one of two ways: either jointly by the Democratic and Republican leaders, or by the leader and a majority of committee members. An aide to Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.), the committee chairman, said the office had not received any subpoena request from Mr. Grassley. The two leaders last issued a subpoena for lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Mr. Grassley's staff said Thursday evening that they had received packets of information from Kenneth Copeland, of Newark, Texas, and Joyce Meyer, of St. Louis. Spokeswomen for the two ministries confirmed that.

Attorneys for Benny Hinn of Grapevine, Texas, are scheduled to meet with Mr. Grassley's staff Friday, they said. In a statement, a spokesman said Mr. Hinn would be responding to the Senate's request by Jan. 30.
Paula and Randy White, pastors of Without Walls International Church in Tampa, Fla. asked for an extension, the senator's staff said. They did not hear from one pastor, Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Livonia, Ga.

A spokeswoman for the Whites said she had no information. A spokesman for Mr. Long could not be reached for comment.


Write to Suzanne Sataline at suzanne.sataline@wsj.com

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'RED WEDNESDAY'


Omaha Mall Shooting

Tragedy strikes again in a public place as a teenage shooter strides into an Omaha, Nebraska, shopping mall, opens fire, kills at least 8 people, and then kills himself before authorities can apprehend him.

Please note that this shooter is likely mind controlled and not a terrorist. Several weeks ago, the FBI warned that terrorists might open fire during the Christmas season in a shopping mall. This shooter shows no signs of being a terrorist.


NEWS BRIEF: "Mall Shooter A Dropout With Criminal Past", CBS News, December 6, 2007


"A high school dropout with a criminal past, Robert A. Hawkins had struggled to overcome depression ... two weeks ago, he lost his girlfriend. A week later, it was his job. His friends worried he would regress ... police said it was Hawkins who went into an Omaha shopping mall on Wednesday and began a shooting rampage that killed eight people. It ended when he turned his high-powered rifle on himself."


We have stated on many occasions when a shooting like this occurs that when the shooter kills himself before authorities can apprehend him, that is usually a Mind Control "signature", alerting us to the fact that this gunman was specifically programmed to carry out this murderous rampage. Listen to New Age author, Bill Cooper, as we quote him in his book, above, "Behold A Pale Horse", published in 1991.


"In every instance that I have investigated -- the incident at the women's school in Canada, the shopping in Canada, the Stockton, California, massacre, and the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane -- the shooters were all ex-mental patients or were current mental patients who were all on the drug Prozac. This drug, taken in certain doses, increases the serotonin level in the patient, causing extreme violence. Couple that with a posthypnotic suggestion or control ... and you get mass murder." [Page 225]


Then, Cooper noted that, always, the shooter is programmed to kill himself before being captured by authorities.



Quoting from an archived article, we read: "In an article entitled, 'Prozac Implicated In Oregon Shooting', written by Maureen Sileaf, of the Vigo Examiner, the she makes this startling statement: "This particular drug has factored in almost all wild shooting sprees which have taken place in the last ten years." [Maureen@Vigo-Examiner.com; NEWS1278)


This quote should make us sit up and take notice, for the Illuminati Card Game has the card "Mass Murder" card, as we have depicted it, above. The Illuminati has decided that one of the actions they can take to overthrow the existing order (Old World Order) so it can be replaced by the New World Order is mass public murder. And, why not? People will begin to tire of this current order, without really knowing why, and will be much more amenable to a plan advocated by the Masonic Christ to abolish this old order so it can be replaced with the new. To enhance this fatigue with the old order, Mass Media News is specifically designed to discourage you! Once I heard a doctor say this on TV about 25 years ago, I took his advice not to listen to the evening news, just before I retired to bed; I felt much better and slept much more soundly!


As we return to Robert Hawkins, is there any information which would lead us to believe that, just perhaps, he was either under psychiatric care by some government agency and/or that he was taking mind-altering drugs?


"Hawkins, 19, had been in trouble before. There was a felony drug conviction in March 2005 and the disorderly conduct charge seven months later. He was due in court later this month on charges he contributed to the delinquency of a minor ... Court records show that at least once he was termed a ward of the state, which legally removed him from his parents' custody ... Hawkins was not on any medication for mental illness, but he had been treated in the past for depression and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Maruca-Kovac said."


If Hawkins was sent to a psychiatric facility during the time he was a "ward of the state", he easily could have been started on a mind-altering drug like Prozac or Ritalin. Such government mental health facilities could also have started young Hawkins down the road to Mind Control.


This next article reveals that Hawkins was, indeed, being treated for depression.


NEWS BRIEF: "Omaha Shooter Robert Hawkins Had Been 'Treated' For ADHD, Depression", by Mike Adams, News Target.com, December 6, 2007


"America seems shocked that, yet again, a young male would pick up an assault rifle and murder his fellow citizens, then take his own life. This is what happened last night in Omaha, Nebraska, where the 19-year-old Hawkins killed himself and eight other people with an assault rifle ... others who are familiar with the history of such violent acts by young males instantly recognize a more sinister connection: A history of treatment with psychiatric drugs for depression and ADHD."


"The very next day, we published a report about the anti-depressant drug Paxil doubling the risk of violent behavior. (See http://www.newstarget.com/020406.html) In that article, I stated, "This finding helps explain why school shootings are almost always conducted by children who are taking antidepressants. We also know that SSRIs cause children to disconnect from reality. When you combine that with a propensity for violence, you create a dangerous recipe for school shootings and other adolescent violence."


"In April of this year, I also reported on the link between antidepressant drugs and the Virginia Tech shooting. See http://www.newstarget.com/021798.html .... The people of Omaha may be surprised at what happened there yesterday, but I'm not. Why? Because the shooter, Robert Hawkins, had a history of being "treated" for both depression and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). (Source: Associated Press) And what is the standard American psychiatric 'treatment' for these conditions? Mind-altering drugs, of course."


The rest of this article simply confirms Bill Cooper's findings published in 1991. It is easy to forget that public mass shootings have been a common occurrence for the past 20 some years. Mind Control is most easy at the hands of a skilled psychiatrist once a person has been given mind-altering drugs.


Remember, the key final event which signifies that a public shooter is under Mind Control is that he takes his own life rather than being captured.


Source: http://cuttingedge.org/newsletters/

MORMON BELIEFS ON LUCIFER AND JESUS


DO MORMONS CONSIDER LUCIFER
TO BE THE BROTHER OF JESUS?



The Mormon teaching that Jesus and Satan are brothers is based on their concept of God being the Father of all pre-existent spirits. Since Jesus is the son of the Father and all other spirits, including Satan, are sons and daughters of the Father then all are brothers and sisters! This idea has been part of Mormon teaching from the time of Joseph Smith and continues today. Few LDS authorities have been bold enough to plainly state this.

      Please note what Mormon prophets and church officials have had to say about the matter. From their writings it is clear that they believed and taught that Jesus and Lucifer were brothers.

      Bruce R. McConkie, in his work The Mortal Messiah, Vol.1, Pg.407-408 under the heading " Lucifer and the Law of Temptation" has the following to say;

        "Hence, there is -- and must be -- a devil, and he is the father of lies and of wickedness. He and the fallen angels who followed him are spirit children of the Father. As Christ is the Firstborn of the Father in the spirit, so Lucifer is a son of the morning, one of those born in the morning of preexistence. He is a spirit man, a personage, an entity, comparable in form and appearance to any of the spirit children of the Eternal Father. He was the source of opposition among the spirit hosts before the world was made; he rebelled in preexistence against the Father and the Son, and he sought even then to destroy the agency of man. He and his followers were cast down to earth, and they are forever denied mortal bodies. And he, here on earth, along with all who follow him -- both his spirit followers and the mortals who hearken to his enticements -- is continuing the war that commenced in heaven."

      Joseph Fielding Smith Jr.,the LDS prophet, wrote in his work, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.2, Pg.218 -Pg.219

        "We learn from the scriptures that Lucifer -- once a son of the morning, who exercised authority in the presence of God before the foundations of this earth were laid -- rebelled against the plan of salvation and against Jesus Christ who was chosen to be the Savior of the world and who is spoken of as the 'Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.'"

      In the Discourses of Brigham Young, on Pg.53-54 he lets it be known that Lucifer is the second son, the one known as "Son of the Morning."

        "Who will redeem the earth, who will go forth and make the sacrifice for the earth and all things it contains?" The Eldest Son said: "Here am I"; and then he added, "Send me." But the second one, which was "Lucifer, Son of the Morning," said, "Lord, here am I, send me, I will redeem every son and daughter of Adam and Eve that lives on the earth, or that ever goes on the earth."

      In the work of Otten & Caldwell, Sacred Truths of the Doctrine & Covenants, Vol.2, Pg.28 it is found that Lucifer rebelled against his "Heavenly Father."

        "We also learn that Lucifer ... was in authority..." in the premortal life. (See D&C 76:25) Authority in the presence of God is known to us as priesthood. In other words, Lucifer held the priesthood. We know that Lucifer rebelled against his Heavenly Father. One of the great insights given in this vision was the way this rebellion was manifested."

      Through reading John A. Widtsoe's work Evidences and Reconciliations, Pg.209, it is learned that Lucifer strove to gain the birthright of his Elder Brother, Jesus the Christ and became Satan, the enemy of God.

        "The story of Lucifer is the most terrible example of such apostasy. Lucifer, son of the morning, through diligent search for truth and the use of it, had become one of the foremost in the assembly of those invited to undertake the experiences of earth. But, in that Great Council, his personal ambition and love of power overcame him. He pitted his own plan and will against the purposes of God. He strove to gain the birthright of his Elder Brother, Jesus the Christ. When his proposition was rejected, he forsook all that he had gained, would not repent of his sin, defied truth, and of necessity lost his place among the followers of God. He was no longer Lucifer, bearer of truth, who walked in light, but Satan, teacher of untruth, who slunk in darkness. He became the enemy of God and of all who try to walk according to the Lord's commandments. One-third of the spirits present in that vast assembly supported Satan and became enemies of the truth that they had formerly cherished. With him these rebellious spirits lost their fellowship with the valiant sons of God. What is more, they lost the privilege of obtaining bodies of flesh and blood, without which they cannot gain full power over the forces of the universe. In the face of that defeat, and that curse, they have sought from Adam to the present time to corrupt mankind and defeat the Lord's purposes."

      James E. Talmage in his book, "Jesus the Christ," on Pages 132 & 133, discusses the council that is supposed to have taken place concerning "Free Agency" and the attack on it by Lucifer. He states that Christ may not have remembered the part He had taken in the great council of the "Gods" where the Firstborn Son's plan was chosen and Lucifer, the rebellious and rejected son's plan was refused.

        "The effrontery of his offer was of itself diabolical. Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth, tabernacled as He then was in mortal flesh, may not have remembered His preexistent state, nor the part He had taken in the great council of the Gods; while Satan, an unembodied spirit -- he the disinherited, the rebellious and rejected son -- seeking to tempt the Being through whom the world was created by promising Him part of what was wholly His, still may have had, as indeed he may yet have, a remembrance of those primeval scenes. In that distant past, antedating the creation of the earth, Satan, then Lucifer, a son of the morning, had been rejected; and the Firstborn Son had been chosen. Now that the Chosen One was subject to the trials incident to mortality, Satan thought to thwart the divine purpose by making the Son of God subject to himself. He who had been vanquished by Michael and his hosts and cast down as a defeated rebel, asked the embodied Jehovah to worship him. "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him."

      Neal A. Maxwell, in his book Deposition of a Disciple, on Pages 11 & 12 informs those interested that;

        "Lucifer knew about this plan, and his very pleading was real rebellion. The scriptures tell us plainly that he sought a throne above the stars and God. (2 Nephi 24:13.) Therefore, he was from the beginning a serious rebel. President George Q. Cannon said, "He was our brother, sitting side by side with our Redeemer, having equal opportunities with him. But he rebelled. He turned against the Father because he could not have his own way." This council was no abstract exercise. It reflected a deep, deep difference. Lucifer, by what he did, told us much more about himself than about his so-called offer. Clearly, he was already becoming an outsider, using (and trying to profit from) an insider's information."

      Sterling W. Sill, writing for the Improvement Era, December 1970, Pg.79 states that the Son of God is Jehovah the warrior

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        "We have national holidays to commemorate the birthdays of George Washington, the father of his country, and Abraham Lincoln, who saved it from dissolution. Both were our commanders-in-chief during important wars. Some of our more recent war heroes were John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and our present great commander-in-chief, Richard M. Nixon. We should also keep in mind that the greatest of all military men was the Son of God himself. In the war in heaven, he led the forces of righteousness against the rebellion of Lucifer. We can also draw great significance from the fact that before the Savior of the world was the Prince of Peace, he was Jehovah the warrior."

      Joseph Fielding Smith's Gospel Doctrine, on Page 371 states that;

      "The devil knows the Father much better than we. Lucifer, the son of the morning, knows Jesus Christ, the Son of God, much better than we; but in him it is not and will not redound to eternal life; for knowing, he yet rebels; knowing, he is yet disobedient; he will not receive the truth; he will not abide in the truth; hence he is perdition, and there is no salvation for him."

      Bruce R. McConkie, in his definitive work, Mormon Doctrine, on page 744, says;

        "This name-title of Satan (Son of the Morning), indicates he was one of the early born spirit children of the Father. Always used in association with the name Lucifer, son of the morning also apparently signifies son of light or son of prominence, meaning that Satan held a position of power and authority in pre-existence. (D. & C. 76:25-27; Isa. 14:12-20.)"

      To plainly state that Jesus (Jehovah) and Lucifer (Satan) are brothers the writings of Spencer W. Kimball, the LDS prophet, must be considered;

      Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Report, April 1964, Pg.95

        "There is another power in this world forceful and vicious. In the wilderness of Judaea, on the temple's pinnacles and on the high mountain, a momentous contest took place between two brothers, Jehovah and Lucifer, sons of Elohim."

      Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, Pg.87

        "There is another power in this world, forceful and vicious. In the wilderness of Judea, on the temple's pinnacle and on the high mountain, a momentous contest took place between two brothers, Jehovah and Lucifer, sons of Elohim. When physically weak from fasting, Christ was tempted by Lucifer: "If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread." (Luke 4:3.) "Similarly Satan had contended for the subservience of Moses. Satan, also a son of God, had rebelled and had been cast out of heaven and not permitted an earthly body as had his brother Jehovah. Much depended upon the outcome of this spectacular duel. Could Lucifer control and dominate this prophet Moses, who had learned so much directly from his Lord?"

      Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, Pg.216, The Savior's Example

        "The importance of not accommodating temptation in the least degree is underlined by the Savior's example. Did not he recognize the danger when he was on the mountain with his fallen brother, Lucifer, being sorely tempted by that master tempter? He could have opened the door and flirted with danger by Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, Pg.67, AUTHOR OF SALVATION

      "Thus when the Father presented his own plan in the pre-existent council, he asked for volunteers from whom he could choose a Redeemer to be born into mortality as the Son of God. Lucifer offered to become the Son of God on condition that the terms of the Father's plan were modified to deny men their agency and to heap inordinate reward upon the one working out the redemption. Christ, on the other hand, accepted the Father's plan in full, saying, "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever." Our Lord was then foreordained to a mission which in due course he fulfilled, which mission enabled him to make salvation available to all men. (Moses 4:1-4; Abra. 3:22-28.)"

    The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, Pg.33

      "But thank God that there were enough sane and sagacious souls on the side of truth and wisdom and the rebellious souls were vanquished as to the eternal and ultimate program. The principal personalities in this great drama were a Father Elohim, perfect in wisdom, judgment, and person, and two sons, Lucifer and Jehovah. (12/19/59)"

      "Satan tempted both Christ and Moses. There is another power in this world forceful and vicious. In the wilderness of Judaea, on the temple's pinnacles and on the high mountain, a momentous contest took place between two brothers, Jehovah and Lucifer, sons of Elohim. When physically weak from fasting, Christ was tempted by Lucifer: "If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread." (Luke 4:3.)"

    The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, Pg.163

      "The importance of not accommodating temptation in the least degree is underlined by the Savior's example. Did not he recognize the danger when he was on the mountain with his fallen brother, Lucifer, being sorely tempted by that master tempter? He could have opened the door and flirted with danger by saying, "All right, Satan, I'll listen to your proposition. I need not succumb, I need not yield, I need not accept -- but I'll listen."

    Now let us look at what the Bible, God's Word has to say on the matter:

    John 1:14, " And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

    John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."

    John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

    John 3:18, " He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

    Hebrews 11:17, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,"

    1John 4:9, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."

    ¶ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)

    "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:31)

This material was prepared by:
Harley Johnson,
7161 S. 2180 W.,
West Jordan, Utah 84084
(801) 561-4908
Aug 18, 1994
(Minor editing by Cooper Abrams)
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LOOKING FOR BREAD IN A HEALTH FOOD STORE


Yesterday, I visited a Health Food Store. I had previously shopped at this store, so I thought I knew where everything was. As I entered the store, I headed towards the rear of the establishment, when suddenly as I scanned the shelves; I heard a loud femminine voice say: "Is there anything I can help you find", shouted from the check-out area, about 100 feet away. I responded: "I just got here, I'll let you know if I need anything". I continued to browse, and picked-up an 100 pill bottle of a dietary supplement. As I continued to scan the shelves, I looked for things to prepare a quick lunch, since it was lunch time. I picked-up some Sliced Soy-American Cheese, then I saw a small Macarroon cookie, great. I read its label, and it listed as an ingredient egg-whites. Well, strike one! Then, I said to myself, let me get some bread, and I'll make a sandwich with the cheese. While I was walking throught the aisle I overheard the previously mentioned attendant speaking to a tore patron; "Well, what you need is caffeine in your diet". The patron answered: "Why, if I don't like caffeine?" "Then, take these instead", the attendant responded. So, I continued down the aisle looking for bread. I walked down 3 long aisles, to no avail, no bread anywhere. So, I proceeded to the check-out area, there was a patron being helped, and I asked another attendant: "Where's the bread?" The first attendant blurted out: "There's bread all around the store, what bread are you looking for? I said, "Bread!" The belligerent spiked, short haired manly-female attendant was rude. She said it was in the frezer. And added something about, not having this or that additive. I said all the preocupation with glutte, and if it has this additive or that one, is unimportant; Why not just be a vegetarian? As if eating a pig that's raised in a wall to wall carpeted apartment makes any difference? It's still a pig, and it's still a carcass. Back to bread: Frozen bread, the staff of life? At a health food store, frozen? So I said that, that was a strange way to inform someone about where and what healthy bread is, and I walked toward the refrigerated section. There I saw meat products, eggs, all these products were labeled free roaming, no antibiotics, no growth hormones. Yet, they are still animal products, not vegetables or fruits. So, I grabbed instead a small bag of yellow corn chips for $2, and headed for the check-out. I went to the other side of the counter for another attendant to ring me up, then I noticed I wanted something to drink. There was a "cooler" nearby, and I looked at the selection, I hurriedly picked out something to drink. After I had left the store, and I sat down to eat I realized what I had picked up was a "frutopia" type Red tea (caffeine) drink.

Well, what I conclude from my visit to this health food store is that: "This is a Health Food Tennis Racket, withouth the Tennis". What do you mean frozen bread?
No fresh bread? Not at the Health Food Store?

IS MORMONISM CHRISTIAN?

Is Mormonism Christian?
A Comparison of Mormonism and Historic Christianity
Copyright © 1999 Institute for Religious Research. All rights reserved.


Salt Lake Temple, SLC, UtahIs Mormonism Christian? This may seem like a puzzling question to many Mormons as well as to some Christians. Mormons will note that they include the Bible among the four books which they recognize as Scripture, and that belief in Jesus Christ is central to their faith, as evidenced by their official name, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Furthermore, many Christians have heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing Christian hymns and are favorably impressed with the Mormon commitment to high moral standards and strong families. Doesn’t it follow that Mormonism is Christian?


To fairly and accurately resolve this question we need to carefully compare the basic doctrines of the Mormon religion with the basic doctrines of historic, biblical Christianity. To represent the Mormon position we have relied on the following well-known Mormon doctrinal books, the first three of which are published by the Mormon Church: Gospel Principles (1997), Achieving a Celestial Marriage (1976), and A Study of the Articles of Faith (1979) by Mormon Apostle James E. Talmage, as well as Doctrines of Salvation (3 vols.) by the tenth Mormon President and prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Mormon Doctrine (2nd ed., 1979) by Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.


1. IS THERE MORE THAN ONE TRUE GOD?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that there is only one True and Living God and apart from Him there are no other Gods (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10,11; 44:6,8; 45:21,22; 46:9; Mark 12:29-34).


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that there are many Gods (Book of Abraham 4:3ff), and that we can become gods and goddesses in the celestial kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20; Gospel Principles, p. 245; Achieving a Celestial Marriage, p. 130). It also teaches that those who achieve godhood will have spirit children who will worship and pray to them, just as we worship and pray to God the Father (Gospel Principles, p. 302).


2. WAS GOD ONCE A MAN LIKE US?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that God is Spirit (John 4:24; 1 Timothy 6:15,16), He is not a man (Numbers 23:19; Hosea 11:9; Romans 1:22, 23), and has always (eternally) existed as God — all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present (Psalm 90:2; 139:7-10; Isaiah 40:28; Luke 1:37).


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that God the Father was once a man like us who progressed to become a God and has a body of flesh and bone (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22; "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!" from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-347; Gospel Principles, p. 9; Articles of Faith, p. 430; Mormon Doctrine, p. 321). Indeed, the Mormon Church teaches that God himself has a father, and a grandfather, ad infinitum (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 373; Mormon Doctrine, p. 577).


3. ARE JESUS AND SATAN SPIRIT BROTHERS?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that Jesus is the unique Son of God; he has always existed as God, and is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father (John 1:1, 14; 10:30; 14:9; Colossians 2:9). While never less than God, at the appointed time He laid aside the glory He shared with the Father (John 17:4, 5; Philippians 2:6-11) and was made flesh for our salvation; His incarnation was accomplished through being conceived supernaturally by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:34-35).


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that Jesus Christ is our elder brother who progressed to godhood, having first been procreated as a spirit child by Heavenly Father and a heavenly mother; He was later conceived physically through intercourse between Heavenly Father and the virgin Mary (Achieving a Celestial Marriage, p. 129; Mormon Doctrine, pp. 546-547; 742). Mormon doctrine affirms that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers (Gospel Principles, pp. 17-18; Mormon Doctrine, p. 192).


4. IS GOD A TRINITY?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost are not separate Gods or separate beings, but are distinct Persons within the one Triune Godhead. Throughout the New Testament the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as the Father are separately identified as and act as God (Son: Mark 2:5-12; John 20:28; Philippians 2:10,11; Holy Spirit: Acts 5:3,4; 2 Corinthians 3:17,18; 13:14); yet at the same time the Bible teaches that these three are only one God (see point 1).


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate Gods (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 370; Mormon Doctrine, pp. 576-577), and that the Son and Holy Ghost are the literal offspring of Heavenly Father and a celestial wife (Joseph Fielding McConkie, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 2, p. 649).


5. WAS THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE A GREAT EVIL OR A GREAT BLESSING?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the disobedience of our first parents Adam and Eve was a great evil. Through their fall sin entered the world, bringing all human beings under condemnation and death. Thus we are born with a sinful nature, and will be judged for the sins we commit as individuals. (Ezekiel 18:1-20; Romans 5:12-21).


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that Adam’s sin was "a necessary step in the plan of life and a great blessing to all of us" (Gospel Principles, p. 33; Book of Mormon — 2 Nephi 2:25; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 114-115).


6. CAN WE MAKE OURSELVES WORTHY BEFORE GOD?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross we are spiritually "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1,5) and are powerless to save ourselves. By grace alone, apart from self-righteous works, God forgives our sins and makes us worthy to live in His presence (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6). Our part is only to cling to Christ in heartfelt faith. (However, it is certainly true that without the evidence of changed conduct, a person’s testimony of faith in Christ must be questioned; salvation by grace alone through faith, does not mean we can live as we please — Romans 6:1-4).


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that eternal life in the presence of God (which it terms "exaltation in the celestial kingdom") must be earned through obedience to all the commands of the Mormon Church, including exclusive Mormon temple rituals. Works are a requirement for salvation (entrance into the "celestial kingdom") — Gospel Principles, p. 303-304; Pearl of Great Price — Third Article of Faith; Mormon Doctrine, pp. 339, 671; Book of Mormon — 2 Nephi 25:23).


7. DOES CHRIST'S ATONING DEATH BENEFIT THOSE WHO REJECT HIM?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the purpose of the atoning work of Christ on the cross was to provide the complete solution for humankind’s sin problem. However, those who reject God’s grace in this life will have no part in this salvation but are under the judgment of God for eternity (John 3:36; Hebrews 9:27; 1 John 5:11-12).


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that the purpose of the atonement was to bring resurrection and immortality to all people, regardless of whether they receive Christ by faith. Christ’s atonement is only a partial basis for worthiness and eternal life, which also requires obedience to all the commands of the Mormon church, including exclusive Mormon temple rituals (Gospel Principles, pp. 74-75; Mormon Doctrine, p. 669).


8. IS THE BIBLE THE UNIQUE AND FINAL WORD OF GOD?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the Bible is the unique, final and infallible Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:1,2; 2 Peter 1:21) and that it will stand forever (1 Peter 1:23-25). God’s providential preservation of the text of the Bible was marvelously illustrated in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that the Bible has been corrupted, is missing many "plain and precious parts" and does not contain the fullness of the Gospel (Book of Mormon — 1 Nephi 13:26-29; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 190-191).


9. DID THE EARLY CHURCH FALL INTO TOTAL APOSTASY?


The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the true Church was divinely established by Jesus and could never and will never disappear from the earth (Matthew 16:18; John 15:16; 17:11). Christians acknowledge that there have been times of corruption and apostasy within the Church, but believe there has always been a remnant that held fast to the biblical essentials.


By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that there was a great and total apostasy of the Church as established by Jesus Christ; this state of apostasy "still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" of the Mormon Church (Gospel Principles, pp. 105-106; Mormon Doctrine, p. 44).





Conclusion:

The above points in italics constitute the common gospel believed by all orthodox Christians through the ages regardless of denominational labels. On the other hand, some new religions such as Mormonism claim to be Christian, but accept as Scripture writings outside of the Bible, teach doctrines that contradict the Bible, and hold to beliefs completely foreign to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles.

Mormons share with orthodox Christians some important moral precepts from the Bible. However, the above points are examples of the many fundamental and irreconcilable differences between historic, biblical Christianity and Mormonism. While these differences do not keep us from being friendly with Mormons, we cannot consider them brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible specifically warns of false prophets who will teach "another gospel" centered around "another Jesus," and witnessed to by "another spirit" (2 Corinthians 11:4,13-15; Galatians 1:6-9). Based on the evidence presented above, we believe Mormonism represents just such a counterfeit gospel.


It has been pointed out that if one claimed to be a Mormon but denied all the basic tenets of Mormonism — that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon is true and divinely inspired, that god was once a man who progressed to godhood through keeping the laws and ordinances of the Mormon Church, and that the Mormon Church was divinely established — the Mormon Church would reject such a person’s claim to being a Latter-day Saint. One cannot fairly call oneself a Mormon if one does not believe the fundamental doctrines taught by the Mormon Church. By the same token, if the Mormon Church does not hold to even the basic biblical truths believed by the greater Christian community down through the ages, how can Christians reasonably be expected to accept Mormonism as authentic Christianity?


If the Mormon Church believes it is the only true Christian Church, it should not attempt to publicly present itself as a part of a broader Christian community. Instead it should tell the world openly that those who claim to be orthodox Christians are not really Christians at all, and that the Mormon Church is the only true Christian Church. This in fact is what it teaches privately, but not publicly.




Statements of 5 Christian Denominations on Mormonism

Christian churches teach belief in God as an eternal, self-existent, immortal being, unfettered by corporeal limitations and unchanging in both character and nature. In recent years, several Christian denominations have made studies of Mormon teaching and come to the conclusion that there are irreconcilable differences between LDS doctrine and Christian beliefs based on the Bible.


Source: http://www.irr.org/mit/Is-Mormonism-Christian.html

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

SLAVERY (SINS OF BABYLON)

All heaven beholds with indignation human beings, the workmanship of God, reduced by their fellow men to the lowest depths of degradation and placed on a level with the brute creation. Professed followers of that dear Saviour whose compassion was ever moved at the sight of human woe, heartily engage in this enormous and grievous sin, and deal in slaves and souls of men. Human agony is carried from place to place and bought and sold. Angels have recorded it all; it is written in the book. The tears of the pious bondmen and bondwomen, of fathers, mothers, and children, brothers and sisters, are all bottled up in heaven. God will restrain His anger but little longer. His wrath burns against this nation and especially against the religious bodies that have sanctioned this terrible traffic and have themselves engaged in it. Such injustice, such oppression, such sufferings, are looked upon with heartless indifference by many professed followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. And many of them can themselves inflict, with hateful satisfaction, all this indescribable agony; and yet they dare to worship God. It is solemn mockery; Satan exults over it and reproaches Jesus and His angels with such inconsistency, saying, with hellish triumph, "Such are Christ's followers!" {EW 275.1}

These professed Christians read of the sufferings of the martyrs, and tears course down their cheeks. They wonder that men could ever become so hardened as to practice such cruelty toward their fellow men. Yet those who think and speak thus are at the same time holding human beings in slavery. And this is not all; they sever the ties of nature and cruelly oppress their fellow men. They can inflict most inhuman torture with the same relentless cruelty manifested by
276
papists and heathen toward Christ's followers. Said the angel, "It will be more tolerable for the heathen and for papists in the day of the execution of God's judgment than for such men." The cries of the oppressed have reached unto heaven, and angels stand amazed at the untold, agonizing sufferings which man, formed in the image of his Maker, causes his fellow man. Said the angel, "The names of the oppressors are written in blood, crossed with stripes, and flooded with agonizing, burning tears of suffering. God's anger will not cease until He has caused this land of light to drink the dregs of the cup of His fury, until He has rewarded unto Babylon double. Reward her even as she rewarded you, double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double."
{EW 275.2}

I saw that the slave master [SEE APPENDIX.] will have to answer for the soul of his slave whom he has kept in ignorance; and the sins of the slave will be visited upon the master. God cannot take to heaven the slave who has been kept in ignorance and degradation, knowing nothing of God or the Bible, fearing nothing but his master's lash, and holding a lower position than the brutes. But He does the best thing for him that a compassionate God can do. He permits him to be as if he had not been, while the master must endure the seven last plagues and then come up in the second resurrection and suffer the second, most awful death. Then the justice of God will be satisfied.

Early Writings, 1882, Ellen G. White, pp. 275-276.

Source: http://egwwritings.whiteestate.org/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates$fn=default.htm$vid=default

SEVEN DAYS IN DECEMBER


Seven Days in December?



Published: December 5, 2007


WASHINGTON


Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Maureen Dowd


At the White House news conference yesterday, The Chicago Tribune’s Mark Silva gingerly snuck up on a state-of-mind question.


“I can’t help but read your body language this morning, Mr. President,” he said. “You seem somehow dispirited, somewhat dispirited.”


W. did look like a kid who’d just had his toys taken away. But he acted humorously exasperated, as he always does when the talk turns introspective.


“This is like, all of a sudden, it’s like Psychology 101, you know?” he said, as reporters laughed.


The reporters pressed on about whether the president was troubled about a possible “credibility gap” with the American people, given that the facts had failed him on Iraq and Iran and that Harry Reid had charged that “the president is not leveling with the American people” on war spending.


Even though Norman Podhoretz is conjuring up a “Seven Days in December” spy thriller scenario in which the intelligence agencies colluded to sabotage the president and prevent him from the noble mission of air strikes on Iran, W. insisted he felt “pretty good about life.”


He said that the breathtaking and embarrassing reversal in the National Intelligence Estimate about Iran’s nuclear capability — from “high confidence” in 2005 that the mullahs were developing a nuke to “high confidence” that they stopped the program in 2003 — somehow made it clear that he was right.


If W. can shape the intelligence to match his faith-based beliefs, as with Iraq, then he will believe the intelligence — no matter how incredible it is.


If he can’t shape it to match his beliefs, as with Iran, then he will disregard the intelligence — no matter how credible it is.


Even though Sy Hersh claims that the top echelon of the White House has long known of the conclusion that Iran had stopped its nuke program, and that Dick Cheney “has kept his foot on the neck of that report,” the president says he was briefed on it only last week. Others conspiratorially speculate that the president had to have green-lighted the report to take the air out of the hawks’ Iran push.


Just because the facts on which he based his white-hot rhetoric about Iran possibly sparking World War III have been debunked, W. said with his usual twisted logic, why should his policy change?


Indeed, John Bolton, who must have been paying attention in his Psych 101 class, argued to Wolf Blitzer that the intelligence analysts “got Iraq wrong and they’re overcompensating by understating the potential threat from Iran.”


George Tenet helped hawks like Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bolton overstate the case on Iraq W.M.D. Then, when things went wrong, W., Cheney and Condi made Mr. Tenet the fall guy.


After getting Iraq wrong and Iran wrong in 2005 and almost every other big thing wrong since the nation began spending billions every year on intelligence, the burned spooks may not have wanted to play the patsy again while W., Cheney and the neocons beat the drums for an Iran invasion.


Now the apple-polishing George Tenet is gone. The man who oversaw the new estimate is Tom Fingar, a former State Department intelligence officer who was smart and brave enough to object to the cooked-up intelligence on Iraqi W.M.D.


“The way they used to do business was to write estimates in a way that couched things so they said, ‘We may not always be right, but we’re never wrong,’ ” said Tim Weiner, the reporter for The Times who wrote the award-winning history of the C.I.A., “Legacy of Ashes.” “This is a slam-dunk reversal, admitting error. Now, when they play poker, they show their hands to each other, so they don’t get another Curveball.”


The president, who has shut out reality for seven years, justified continuing in his world of ideological illusion by saying that he would not be “blinded” to the realities of the world. You can’t get more Orwellian than that.


“And so,” W. concluded triumphantly, and nonsensically, “kind of Psychology 101 ain’t working.”


W. loves to act as though psychology is voodoo even though his whole misbegotten foreign policy has been conducted from his gut, by checking the body language of his inner circle and looking into the hearts and souls of dictatorial leaders.


If I were looking at the latest fiasco from a Psych 101 point of view, I’d say it was another daddy issue for W.


Poppy Bush, who was once C.I.A. director, loved the agency and liked to sign notes: “Head Spook.” The C.I.A. headquarters bear his name.


W., by contrast, has voiced contempt for the intelligence community. In 2004, he dismissed a pessimistic National Intelligence Estimate that didn’t match his sunny vision of the Iraq occupation, saying that the analysts were “just guessing as to what the conditions might be like.”


When W.’s history is written, he will be seen as the rebellious teenager crashing the family station wagon into his father’s three most cherished spots — diplomacy, intelligence and the Gulf.



A CHURCH IS DIVIDED, AND HEADED FOR COURT

A Church Is Divided, and Headed for Court

Jessica McGowan for The New York Times

Members of Christ Church in Savannah, Ga., after 87 percent of the congregation voted to split from the Episcopal Church.

BRENDA GOODMAN

Published: December 5, 2007

SAVANNAH, Ga. — For 274 years, there has been one Christ Church here, and it is a congregation with a proud history.

Started with a land grant from King George of England and led by famous names like John Wesley and George Whitfield, Christ Church has been the spiritual home of some of this city’s most notable residents, including Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.

So it was unsettling, to say the least, for some longtime members when Christ Church, which is believed to be the first church established in Georgia, voted recently to part ways with the Episcopal diocese it had been a part of for more than 200 years to join an Anglican diocese in Uganda.

“I just feel a tremendous loyalty to this church, and I am confused about this situation,” said Frances R. Maclean, 85, a member of Christ Church for 55 years who saw her children baptized and then married in its century-old chapel. “What is this business about Uganda?”

Since 2003, when the Episcopal Church affirmed its first openly gay bishop, roughly 55 parishes nationwide have split with the denomination to affiliate with more conservative Anglican dioceses in Africa, according to records kept by the national church.

At issue for these breakaway parishes is whether churches that condone same-sex relationships are still following the Bible, and the Episcopal denomination is not the only one affected by the debate.

The mainline Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has also seen a number of its congregations vote to leave in recent years to join the more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The religious rifts, including the one here, have flooded courts nationwide with civil lawsuits over church property, an area of jurisprudence where courts, as they try to navigate First Amendment separations of church and state, are notoriously uncomfortable.

“As a state body we have to abstain from any involvement in religious disputes,” said John Witte Jr., director of the study of law and religion at Emory University in Atlanta, and “every property dispute has a doctrinal dimension that a court can’t touch.”

Judges must decide if individual parishes own the buildings where the members worship, or if those parishes are holding their property in trust for the larger church hierarchy, an arrangement many denominations have codified in their canons.

At Christ Church, the split has created two congregations, both of which are claiming the name and assets of the parish.

The newly Anglican congregation, with about 300 regular members, continues to meet in the stately chapel with its tall, white-columned facade, which is parked on the edge of Johnson Square like the grille of a giant Rolls-Royce.

The 75 or so members of Christ Church who continue to be affiliated with the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia are meeting, for the time being, at the more modest St. Michael and All Angels Church on Washington Street.

Both are using pictures of the historic church building on their Web sites.

“There are some members of Christ Church who are going to services at both places,” said Mark C. McDonald, executive director of the Historic Savannah Foundation, the institution that has worked with the Women of Christ Church to put on a tour of historic homes for the past 72 years. “That’s how they perceive themselves. Not as Anglicans or Episcopalians, just as members of Christ Church.”

The split at the church, which has divided families and friends, has reached a level of rancor rarely seen in this city, where disputes are often mollified, or at least forgotten, with the help of a well-attended cocktail party and where some tour guides still refer to the Civil War as “that late unpleasantness.”

Speaking to her congregation on Oct. 14, just before congregants voted on the decision to disaffiliate with the Episcopal Church, Janet Stone, 63, a member of Christ Church since 1975, pleaded for unity.

“I beg you to stop this fight and seek reconciliation,” Ms. Stone said. “It would be a powerful witness.”

Moments later, 87 percent of the congregation voted to support the split.

In November, the Diocese of Georgia filed a lawsuit to keep control of Christ Church’s assets, which include a $3 million historic building and an endowment estimated at $2 million to $3 million.

Its claim is based on a church law, adopted in the 1970s, called the Dennis Canon, which says that all parishes hold their property in trust for the diocese. But Christ Church, which was established in 1733, asserts that it has firm legal footing to keep control of its building and property because it existed before the Episcopal denomination, which was established in the United States in 1789.

“That would make the case a pure property case rather than a religious liberty case,” Mr. Witte said. “They will have to argue that their church is closer to the values of the late 18th century” than the Episcopal Church is today.

And that, he added, is “an argument that hasn’t been tested in federal courts.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/us/05church.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

WAR WERE YOU LAST SUMMER?


One of the faceless few that must fight this "War on Terror".

CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD, IRAN!

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

SHOPPING TRADITION DRIVES U.S. ECONOMY

A19opline24

Shopping tradition drives U.S. economy

Dale McFeatters, Scripps Howard News Service, in an editorial: "After Thanksgiving comes Black Friday, so described not out of some sense of gloom or despondency but because that's when the ink on retailers' ledgers goes from red to black as shoppers hit the stores prepared to spend an estimated $457 billion between Thanksgiving and New Year's. And this year the retailers are gracing us with Cyber Monday, the ceremonial start to the online shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation. ... Online holiday season sales were more than $27 billion last year, not a market the retailers are going to ignore. ... Holiday shopping accounts for almost 20% of annual sales. ... Those big numbers are why the holiday season is of such interest to economic analysts. ... Some of the more fastidious might be discomfited by this annual exercise in consumption and materialism, but consumer spending is the engine that drives the American economy from which so many benefits flow."

(Thanksgiving’s barely over but ... Macy’s Christmas window displays are decked in Manhattan. / By Mark Lennihan, AP)

Joseph Busler, columnist, in the Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, N.J.: "Black Friday used to mean the busiest shopping day of the year. It was. But no more. ... While Black Friday usually ranks in the top five, for years the busiest shopping days have been the Saturday before Christmas, the Saturday before that, and so on. ... Online sales are eating up market share, and the online world isn't big on one-day sales. Also, savvy consumers have learned that the best discounts are closer to the end of the season than the beginning. Those factors — combined with the fact that hassled, time-crunched, two-income families are more likely to procrastinate and to shop on weekends — are why Black Friday is more a shade of gray these days."

Cathy Sorbo, columnist and comedian, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "It's a widely known fact that retailers wheel out their holiday 'cheer' earlier and earlier each year, but when I saw Christmas stuff in stores before Halloween, I knew I was going to have to buckle up for a long and painful pre-holiday extravaganza. Nothing makes me crankier than an army of retailers cramming Christmas down my throat well before Thanksgiving. ... There is a name for this phenomenon, and its name is Holiday Creep. ... The last thing I want to do on the day after Thanksgiving (or ever) is wait in line at way-too-early o'clock to enter a Target store. I like Target, and I love to shop, but not enough to set my alarm for it. ... Happy shopping, gang. I'll be sleeping."

Lisa Monti, business editor, in a column in The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.: "Friday may look like the biggest shopping day of the year, but it probably won't be at the cash register. ... The day after Thanksgiving, better known as Black Friday, is impossibly crowded to be sure, but for about the last 10 years the busiest shopping day in terms of sales has been the last Saturday before Christmas. Can you say procrastinate? ... A more modern phenomenon is Cyber Monday ... when computerized shopping kicks into warp speed. The National Retail Federation crunched the numbers and found that last year, the average shopper spent $421.30 on gifts for family members, $78.99 on gifts for friends, $21.05 on co-workers' gifts, and $44.16 on other gifts."

The Evening Sun, Hanover, Pa., in an editorial: "Call us traditionalists, but it seems to us that our society has forgotten how to celebrate the holidays. Instead, we have let the need (or is it greed?) to simply get to the holiday take us over. ... Even the names we give days during the holiday taint them. Black Friday. Sounds like we should all be in mourning. ... Even the NFL has sold out. ... Three games on Thanksgiving — bite your tongue. ... Why not take some time this year to do it differently? Give each of these two special holidays their due. Take time to be thankful for everything that we have before running out to buy more. Remember, many of our sons and daughters and friends are still on foreign soil this Christmas. ... No matter how and where you choose to celebrate this holiday season, turn those calendar pages one at a time and enjoy."

CHRISTMAS' PAGAN ORIGINS

Christmas' pagan origins

Few people realize that the origins of a form of Christmas was pagan & celebrated in Europe long before anyone there had heard of Jesus Christ

No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?

The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.


In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.

In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.

Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.”

The controversy continues even today in some fundamentalist sects.

Source: http://de.essortment.com/christmaspagan_rece.htm