Friday, April 17, 2009

The days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren


27And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.

28But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

29For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

30Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

31For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?



Luke 23:27-31
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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch


Acts 8


1And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

4Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

5Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

6And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

8And there was great joy in that city.

9But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

10To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

11And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

12But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

14Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

15Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

16(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

18And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

19Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

20But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

21Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

22Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

23For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

24Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

25And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

26And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

27And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

28Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

31And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

32The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

33In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

34And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

35Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

36And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

39And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

40But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

ECUMENISM: Syncretism and Indifferentism Repackaged


At the heart of the Novus Ordo Church there is Ecumenism, a set of heretical and impious practices and beliefs that--officially--aims to bring about "unity" among all those who claim the name of "Christian." While this sounds like a noble and pious goal, the Catholic Church has always taught that the only way to bring about true religious unity is by non-Catholics converting to Catholicism, for only the Catholic Church is the true and only Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ, and only the Catholic Church is the Ark of Salvation, outside of which no one can be saved. The Catholic Church has always issued strong rebukes against ecumenical ventures (Popes Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius XII come to mind in particular), warning the faithful that such things lead to the ruin of souls. Now that the Novus Ordo Church has eclipsed the Catholic Church since 1958, and by looking at what has taken place since then, we can see in practice just how bad ecumenism is, what fruits it has wrought, and why the Catholic Church is so adamantly opposed to it.


"Such attempts can nowise be approved by Catholics, founded as they are on that false opinion which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy, since they all in different ways manifest and signify that sense which is inborn in us all, and by which we are led to God and to the obedient acknowledgment of His rule. Not only are those who hold this opinion in error and deceived, but also in distorting the idea of true religion they reject it, and little by little, turn aside to naturalism and atheism, as it is called; from which it clearly follows that one who supports those who hold these theories and attempt to realize them, is altogether abandoning the divinely revealed religion."

--Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Mortalium Animos, par. 2, January 6, 1928

To see how Ecumenism is all about accepting other religions and not about converting them to Catholicism, see these examples:
1st German "Ecumenical Church Day"
"Between War and Peace" Ecumenical Abomination in Aachen
"Ecumenical Commission" in the Diocese of Brooklyn
Official Document: The impious "Directory on Ecumenism" of the New Church (John Paul II, 1993)

"I saw many pastors cherishing dangerous ideas against the Church. . . . They built a large, singular, extravagant church which was to embrace all creeds with equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, and all denominations, a true communion of the unholy with one shepherd and one flock. There was to be a Pope, a salaried Pope, without possessions. All was made ready, many things finished; but, in place of an altar, were only abomination and desolation. Such was the new church to be, and it was for it that he had set fire to the old one; but God designed otherwise."
--from Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Vol. 2, pp. 352-353

The True Catholic Attitude of "Reaching Out" to Non-Catholics is this:"But God forbid that the sons of the Catholic Church ever in any way be hostile to those who are not joined with us in the same bonds of faith and love; but rather they should always be zealous to seek them out and aid them, whether poor, or sick, or afflicted with any other burdens, with all the offices of Christian charity; and they should especially endeavor to snatch them from the darkness of error in which they unhappily lie, and lead them back to Catholic truth and to the most loving Mother the Church, who never ceases to stretch out her maternal hands lovingly to them, and to call them back to her bosom so that, established and firm in faith, hope, and charity, and 'being fruitful in every good work' [Colossians 1:10], they may attain eternal salvation."
--Pope Pius IX, Encyclical Quanto Conficiamur Moerore, par. 9, August 10, 1863 (Denzinger 1678)

More truly Catholic Resources combating Ecumenism:
Pope Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Iam Vos Omnes
Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Satis Cognitum
Pope St. Pius X, Letter Our Apostolic Mandate on Society and Interreligious Cooperation (1910)
Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Mortalium Animos
Pope Pius XII, Instruction on the Ecumenical Movement (1949)


This page will be updated with more information as time permits. Please consider donating to this important cause if it is within your means. All for the Greater Glory of God and the salvation of souls!

What is Ecumenism?

Critical to our understanding of what the New World Order really is, is our understanding of what Ecumenism really is. Read these two articles and you will be well on your way to understanding what the Ecumenical Movement is and how it relates directly to the New World Order.

http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=euro1

http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=euro2

Tom Friess
Inquisition Update






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Paterson Will Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Bill



April 14, 2009, 8:52 am


By Jeremy W. Peters

Gov. David A. Paterson on Thursday will announce plans to introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, according to people with knowledge of the governor’s plans.

Mr. Paterson’s move, which he first signaled last week after Vermont became the fourth state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, reflects the governor’s desire to press the issue with lawmakers in Albany as other states move ahead with efforts to grant more civil rights to homosexuals.

The action in Vermont, where state legislators overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, came less than a week after the Iowa Supreme Court granted same-sex couples the right to marry.

Mr. Paterson has said in recent days that the State Legislature should move ahead now with the legislation regardless of whether it can muster enough votes. His reasoning, which some gay rights advocates have challenged, is that New York should make a statement that it is committed to treating same-sex couples the same way it treats opposite-sex couples.

The announcement will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday at Mr. Paterson’s office in Midtown Manhattan, said people who were briefed on the governor’s plans but who asked not to be identified because they did not want to upstage the governor.

The fact that Mr. Paterson is introducing a bill does not, however, mean that action in the Legislature is imminent. It could take months — even longer — before the bill makes its way through the appropriate committees and onto the floor of the Senate and the Assembly.

“This is not a guarantee of anything,” said Assemblyman Micah Z. Kellner, a Democrat from the Upper East Side who noted that it took two months for legislation legalizing same-sex marriage to get through the Assembly in 2007 before it ultimately stalled. The Senate never acted on the bill.

The legislation is likely to have an especially bumpy ride in the Senate, where more lawmakers oppose same-sex marriage than support it. Gay rights advocates are now actively seeking more senators, both Democrats and Republicans, to vote for the bill.

While Mr. Paterson has said he would like to see lawmakers “fight it out” and debate the bill on the floor of both houses even if it fails, Albany tradition dictates that the bill is likely to come to a vote only when it has enough support to pass. Senator Thomas K. Duane, a Democrat and the bill’s chief supporter in the Senate, has said he opposes the governor’s notion of fast-tracking it. And the Senate majority leader, Malcolm A. Smith, has said he would bring the bill to the floor when it has enough support.

The same-sex bill Mr. Paterson plans to introduce is the same piece of legislation that former Gov. Eliot Spitzer introduced in 2007, said Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell. The Assembly passed it by 24 votes, 85 to 61, a wider margin than expected.

Mr. O’Donnell said there was some discussion among lawmakers, gay rights lobbyists and the governor’s office about whether the legislation should include any new language that would, for example, allow city clerks to refuse to marry same-sex couples. But Mr. O’Donnell said that the decision was made to leave the bill as is.

“Whether or not the bill should be amended is a political question,” he said, “but it is a political question that would take more time than it’s worth to resolve. So we decided to leave it.”

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Jesuit manifesto for Indian elections


Published : April 13 2009



"To reaffirm economic, social and cultural rights of the citizens along with civil rights"; this is the scope of the "manifesto" published by the Indian Jesuits on the occasion of the general elections for the federal parliament that will be held in the various Indian states between 16 April and 13 May.

It is the occasion, the manifesto says, to fight pessimism, especially among the poorest groups of the society. The manifesto is addressed to future leaders, who are invited to make a strong commitment to the rights of the weakest, the marginalized and discriminated, and to protect and preserve life and to promote peace and harmony while defending human rights.

The lengthy and detailed document was presented in New Delhi during a workshop that involved those from many parts of Indian civil society.

Among the priorities pointed out by the Jesuits there is also the need to defend and help the "caste-less" and the indigenous population, to assure peaceful coexistence, religious freedom and to guarantee the basic necessities, such as food, housing, education and health, to everyone, especially those in rural areas. The document calls for an improvement of the justice system and protection of religious freedom.

"Any attempt to inflame religious animosity and disrespect others or which alters the thinking of young people about Indian history and cultural differences has to be stopped", the document said.





In Georgetown Speech, Obama Offers Cautious Optimism


By Michael D. Shear and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 14, 2009; 12:36 PM

President Obama today laid out a vision for a new era of U.S. economic prosperity and called on the nation to "get serious" about reforming entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- reform that he said starts with overhauling the American health care system.


This Story
In Georgetown Speech, Obama Offers Cautious Optimism

getDiscussionKicker(1239721200000);
Q&A, Transcript: Post Politics: Obama Economic Address, Cuba Policy, More

The Fix: An Economic (Re)Focus?

"Make no mistake: health care reform is entitlement reform," Obama said in a speech at Georgetown University in Washington. "That's one of the reasons why I firmly believe we need to get health care reform done this year." This will bring down costs "across the system, including in Medicare and Medicaid," he said.

Linking health care to broader economic problems, Obama said, "The key to dealing with our deficit and debt is to get a handle on out-of-control health care costs -- not to stand idly by as the economy goes into free fall."

But efforts to tackle this thorny problem and address other basic weaknesses in the U.S. economy are hampered by "a fundamental weakness in our political system," Obama said. He pointed to what he said was a proclivity in Washington to postpone hard decisions.

"There's been a tendency to score political points instead of rolling up sleeves to solve real problems," Obama said. "There is also an impatience that characterizes this town -- an attention span that has only grown shorter with the 24-hour news cycle and insists on instant gratification in the form of immediate results or higher poll numbers. When a crisis hits, there's all too often a lurch from shock to trance, with everyone responding to the tempest of the moment . . . instead of confronting the major challenges that will shape our future in a sustained and focused way."

Obama warned, "This can't be one of those times. The challenges are too great. The stakes are too high. I know how difficult it is for members of Congress in both parties to grapple with some of the big decisions we face right now. . . . But we have been called to govern in extraordinary times, and that requires an extraordinary sense of responsibility."

In his speech, Obama generally offered an optimistic assessment of efforts to revive the economy but warned that tough times are still ahead as the nation rebuilds its financial system.

Aides to the president billed the speech as a major effort to speak broadly about the state of the recovery, but it offered no new policies.

Speaking at the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university, Obama referred repeatedly to a parable from the Sermon on the Mount to describe the challenge that confronts Americans as they recover from the recession. He compared the recovery to the story of two men, one of whom builds his house on sand, the other on rock.

"We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand," Obama said. "We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity -- a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest, where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad."

In the speech, Obama continued what has become a series of moderately hopeful comments about the success of a variety of recovery efforts, saying, "Taken together, these actions are starting to generate signs of economic progress."

But he also sounded more than a note of caution.

"It does not mean that hard times are over," he said. This year "will continue to be a difficult year for America's economy. The severity of this recession will cause more job loss, more foreclosures and more pain before it ends. The market will continue to rise and fall. Credit is still not flowing nearly as easily as it should."

With "much more work to be done," the president pledged "an unrelenting, unyielding, day-by-day effort from this administration to fight for economic recovery on all fronts."

Obama's appearance at Georgetown came as new indicators paint a mixed picture of the nation's economy. Retail sales fell by 1.1 percent in March, an unexpectedly sharp decline that was the steepest in three months and worse than analysts had predicted. But at the same time, the economy received new evidence that it has little to fear from inflation, as wholesale prices fell sharply last month.

In a separate speech being delivered this afternoon at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben. S. Bernanke reports "tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing," according to the text of his remarks.

Bernanke adds: "A leveling out of economic activity is the first step toward recovery. To be sure, we will not have a sustainable recovery without a stabilization of our financial system and credit markets."

Obama emphasized "the progress we've made" in righting the economy after nearly three months in office but also cautioned Americans "about the pitfalls that may lie ahead."

He presented a vision of "a future where prosperity is fueled not by excessive debt, reckless speculation and fleeting profit, but is instead built by skilled, productive workers -- by sound investments that will spread opportunity at home and allow this nation to lead the world in the technologies, innovations and discoveries that will shape the 21st century."


Obama said a solid foundation for the U.S. economy must be built on five pillars: new rules for Wall Street, new investments in education, renewable energy and health care and new federal budget savings to reduce debt.

Reiterating the optimism he has expressed in recent days, Obama said: "There is no doubt that times are still tough. By no means are we out of the woods just yet. But from where we stand, for the very first time, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope."

He envisioned "way off in the distance" a transformed nation, one "teeming with new industry and commerce, humming with new energy and discoveries . . . a place where anyone from anywhere with a good idea or the will to work" can live the American dream.


Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/14/AR2009041401183_2.html?sid=ST2009041401324

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Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,..


14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.



2 Corinthians 6:14-18; (2 Cor.) 7:1.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tehrik-i-Taliban: A Specious Claim and Brash Threats


Tehrik-i-Taliban: A Specious Claim and Brash Threats
April 8, 2009 | 1822 GMT


Global Security and Intelligence Report

By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart

When we wrote our Global Security and Intelligence Report last week on Baitullah Mehsud and the Manawan attack, we had no intention that the piece would be part of a series, but several developments over the past week have compelled us to once again write about Pakistan — and Mehsud and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in particular.

First, on April 4, eight paramilitary police were killed in a suicide bombing against their camp in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. This attack was the second suicide bombing in Islamabad in less than two weeks, and followed closely on the heels of the March 23 attack on the headquarters of the Police Special Branch in Islamabad. After the April 4 attack, one of Baitullah Mehsud’s deputies, Hakimullah Mehsud (who, like Baitullah, is a member of the large Mehsud clan) contacted the press to claim credit for the attack and threatened that the group would carry out two suicide attacks per week in Pakistan. According to press reports, Hakimullah Mehsud said: “We have shown enough restraint, previously, we were striking once in three months, but from now onward we will go for at least two suicide attacks a week.”

On April 5, a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque in Chakwal, a Punjab city located approximately 50 miles southeast of Islamabad. The attack killed at least 22 people and injured another 35. About 2,000 people had gathered at the mosque for Majlis Aza, an annual Shiite celebration. The bomber reportedly detonated himself when guards stopped him in the crowd at the mosque’s front gate.

Umar Farooq, the spokesman of the shadowy militant organization Fedayeen al-Islam (FI), called The Associated Press the same day to claim credit for the Chakwal attack. Farooq said his group staged the attack on the mosque as part of a “campaign against infidels.”

Oddly, on April 4, Baitullah Mehsud (or someone claiming to be him) called Reuters to claim responsibility for the April 3 shooting at a U.S. immigration center in Binghamton, New York. “They were my men,” the caller told the AP. “I gave them orders in reaction to U.S. drone attacks.” This claim was quickly discounted by eyewitness accounts of the shooting. According to surviving victims and other witnesses, the Binghamton shooting was carried out by a lone gunman, Jiverly Voong, who was a Vietnamese immigrant with no apparent links to Islam or the Taliban.
Background on Mehsud

Before plunging into the Binghamton claims and threats to attack the continental United States, let’s take a quick look at the man behind them, Baitullah Mehsud. As STRATFOR has previously discussed, Mehsud, who is only in his mid-30s, is a member of a new generation of militant leaders in Pakistan’s tribal badlands. As part of this new generation, Mehsud has endeavored to systematically remove or undermine the established tribal leaders in South Waziristan, usurping power and thus severing many of the tools of influence the Pakistani government held in the region. This process of killing off the old tribal leadership has been a significant contributing factor to what we have previously referred to as the “Talibanization” of Pakistan. In some ways, Mehsud personifies the struggle between al Qaeda and Pakistani intelligence organizations for influence and control of Afghan and Pakistani jihadists.

Since Mehsud operates largely outside of its control, the government of Pakistan has come to view Mehsud (and others like him) as a larger threat to Pakistan than the Afghan Taliban or the foreign jihadists — like al Qaeda — that Mehsud considers allies. Indeed, Pakistan has long tried to play up the importance of Mehsud to the United States and has been quite agitated that, until relatively recently, the United States was not targeting Mehsud’s TTP organization. When the United States finally did turn its sights on Meshud and his network, the TTP responded by launching attacks against the Pakistani authorities. Indeed, Hakimullah Mehsud said the group was stepping up the tempo of their attacks precisely because of the U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks directed against the TTP.

As we noted last week, although Baitullah Mehsud tells journalists that he is ready to be martyred, the UAV attacks against the TTP do pose a very real threat to him, and to the viability of his organization. The scope of this threat is made evident by their response to the attacks.

However, there is also another dynamic that threatens the TTP, and that is the efforts of the Pakistanis and the Americans to try to split the nationalist militants from those who are more internationally focused. That is, split those groups who want to carry out jihad to create a transnational caliphate (like al Qaeda) from those groups whose primary interest is establishing more localized control — like the Taliban in Afghanistan prior to the U.S. invasion. This approach is very similar to the approach coalition forces took in Iraq to separate al Qaeda in Iraq from the more nationalistic Sunni tribal militants in places like Anbar province.

While the United States is attempting to divide the jihadists on the Afghan side of the border, the Pakistanis are attempting to do the same among those in Pakistan. If the Pakistanis and Americans are able to split the more nationalist jihadists (like the Haqqani network) away from the more internationalist jihadists (like al Qaeda and the TTP) this could leave al Qaeda and the TTP isolated and far more vulnerable — which is why this process is seen as a threat by Mehsud and company. Indeed, divisions already exist with groups like the Haqqani network, which opposes attacks inside Pakistan.
Claims and Threats

Into this mix, Mehsud has injected threats to hit the United States and has made the strange claim of credit for the Binghamton shooting. Let’s examine the Binghamton claim first. We were quite surprised — and a bit embarrassed — to see this claim come out only a couple of days after we wrote in our security weekly that a prominent militant leader like Mehsud did not have to take credit for other people’s attacks, and that lying about such things would hurt his already well-established reputation.

Initially, we thought that perhaps the claim was some sort of psychological operation by the Pakistanis or Americans designed to make Mehsud look like a fool or a nut. However, when days passed and the TTP issued no retraction, it became apparent that Mehsud had actually made the claim for some reason. Also, despite his carefully crafted public image of never displaying his face, Mehsud is a media animal, who, as his frequent calls to Reuters, The Associated Press and Pakistani journalists testify, loves to see his name in print. With all the coverage surrounding the Binghamton claim, he undoubtedly was aware of the event. Had the claim been orchestrated by an intelligence agency seeking to discredit him, he would have quickly denied it — just as he quickly denied the claims that he was behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

As to the threat to attack the United States, one must use a two-step test: 1) Does the actor behind the threat possess the capability to carry out the threatened action? and 2) Does the actor possess the intent to do so? When we look at the capabilities of the TTP, the group has not demonstrated the ability to operate as a transnational organization. We have seen instances of grassroots-type jihadists elsewhere who were allegedly trained at TTP camps, but providing paramilitary training to grassroots jihadists is different from actually training and dispatching operatives to conduct attacks on your behalf.

The technical skills and tradecraft required to conduct an act of terrorism are very different from those needed to be an insurgent, and are very different from the subjects taught in basic military — or paramilitary — training. Even if the grassroots operatives are trained in some of the more technical skills of terrorism such as bomb-making, there are still important tradecraft skills that must be acquired and honed before a person can become a successful transnational militant capable of conducting acts of terrorism in a hostile environment. We define terrorist tradecraft as the set of subtle skills needed to maintain secrecy and operate within a hostile environment. These skills are foundational to the success of both the individual jihadist and his network anywhere, but they are acutely critical while conducting transnational operations.

Merely being able to travel internationally with ease is something many guerrilla fighters cannot do. More refined tasks, such as conducting preoperational surveillance in a major metropolitan area, maintaining secure communications, establishing cover for status and cover for action while undertaking operational activity, or acquiring weapons without arousing unwanted attention, are simply things not taught to most guerrilla fighters, and they are skills that require a great deal of practical training in order to master.

So far, the TTP has shown an ability to successfully operate inside Pakistan and Afghanistan, but its operations to date have been somewhat rudimentary (like the Marawan attack) and have not shown an advanced degree of nuance or sophistication. Likewise, the group has not demonstrated the ability to train and dispatch operatives to a major western city like New York or London in order to conduct an attack. (Al Qaeda has demonstrated this ability but the TTP has not.) When all is said and done, employing an improvised explosive device manufactured at a camp in Pakistan against a target in Pakistan is a far cry from employing it against a target in London.

Now, with regard to the second step of the test — intent. Is the TTP really planning to strike Washington, D.C., New York and London? This is a question that almost every major intelligence and law enforcement agency in the West began to focus on following Mehsud’s public statements in a January 2008 interview with Al Jazeera that he wanted to attack the United States and the United Kingdom. “We pray to God to give us the ability to destroy the White House, New York and London,” Mehsud said during the interview. “And we have trust in God. Very soon, we will be witnessing jihad’s miracles.”

But does such a public statement — or even his March 31 statement in which he threatened strikes against Washington, D.C. in response to U.S. UAV attacks — really translate into intent? This is where the intent side of the equation gets very fuzzy. Merely stating that one is going to do something is not necessarily a clear indication that there is real intent to do so.

Indeed, there is a good argument to be made that if Mehsud truly intended to strike the United States or United Kingdom he would remain silent about his aspirations in order to help ensure the operational security of any operatives he has dispatched abroad to conduct such strikes. Certainly, Osama bin Laden did openly declare war against the United States in August 1996 and again in February 1998, but he never mentioned specific targets in those declarations and was certainly far more circumspect with his statements as his operatives got closer to actually executing attacks. In fact, bin Laden even went so far as to deny responsibility for many of the early al Qaeda attacks and initially denied responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.
Calculations

Mehsud is neither stupid nor crazy. Such people do not become major militant leaders at age 35 in the violent world of Pakistan’s tribal areas. He is clearly rational and quite Machiavellian. What he is doing, therefore, likely has some rational explanation beyond the fact that he likes to hear his name mentioned by the media. While the threats against the United States and United Kingdom may be explained away under the “media debutante” rationale, unless Mehsud made a terrible miscalculation in taking credit for the Binghamton shooting, there must be some other overriding reason to risk damaging his reputation as a militant leader with a specious claim.

As seen by the U.S. reaction to the 9/11 attacks, any successful large-scale attack on American soil could have dire consequences for Mehsud. Such a strike could, at the very least, serve to steel U.S. resolve to stay in Afghanistan, or it could motivate the United States to dramatically increase its focus on totally destroying the TTP. Additionally, if Mehsud is truly intent on hitting the United States or United Kingdom, we should see him begin to hit American and British targets within his current operational sphere, i.e., within Pakistan, before graduating to American and British targets overseas.

There is another possibility. Perhaps Mehsud does not possess the intent to attack Washington, New York or London. Maybe his threats — along with the Binghamton claim — are intended to scuttle the emerging U.S. strategy of dealing with factions of the Taliban in an effort to divide them and isolate the more radical elements.

If Mehsud does fear such a strategy — and he has reason to, following its successes in Iraq — it is possible that his recent antics are an effort to influence public perception inside the United States regarding the Taliban. As the United States reaches out to factions of the Afghan Taliban in an attempt to split them from al Qaeda, et al., Mehsud threatens the United States and attempts to link the Pakistani Taliban to a shooting in Binghamton, New York. Even though the link to the shooting was quickly and officially discounted, it is a safe bet that it will live on for a long time as an urban legend or rumor, especially among the more conspiracy-minded. Such perceptions are going to make the strategy of negotiating with any Taliban (Afghan or Pakistani) appear to be less tenable for many Americans.

At the same time, Mehsud could be using his rhetoric in an attempt to steer the more nationalist jihadists in Pakistan and Afghanistan toward his more transnational agenda. In any case, Mehsud’s efforts to shape opinion at home or abroad could explain his recent posturing, however bogus or brash it might be.

Source:http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090408_tehrik_i_taliban_specious_claim_and_brash_threats

National Tea Party Day (April 15, 2009)


National Tea Party Day

April 15, 2009


See the national map @

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Midwest auto industry: Tough times ahead for towns across region


Automakers restructuring and business contracting

By Tim Jones Tribune correspondent
April 12, 2009


In tattered and gray industrial towns across the Midwest, no one knows exactly where the ax will swing next. But there is no doubt the forced downsizing of General Motors and Chrysler, which will begin to take shape in the coming weeks, will fundamentally change the quality of life in communities and the region for years to come.

Even if both automakers survive, economists say, they will be smaller and will pay lower wages and benefits. More communities will lose production and parts plants, and the states that have relied heavily on those manufacturing jobs—especially Michigan, Indiana and Ohio — will take a big hit that, economists warn, will take years and perhaps decades to overcome.

"If you go back to 1980 to 1982, with the upheavals in the steel, rubber, glass and auto industries, that really was the end of an economic era that started in the 1890s," said Ned Hill, an economist at Cleveland State University. "This is the last movement in the symphony."

While the American auto industry played a large role in creating the modern Midwest a century ago, its unraveling has exposed the region's economic over-reliance on vehicle manufacturing. In recent decades, the demise of specialized manufacturing—shoes in Missouri, TV picture tubes in Indiana and Ohio, glass in Toledo and rubber in Akron—sent many towns and cities reeling from the loss of jobs. On a larger scale, Chicago, northwest Indiana and northeast Ohio suffered from Big Steel's slide more than 25 years ago.


But the auto industry has a much broader footprint in the region, with about two dozen assembly plants of General Motors, Chrysler and Ford in the Midwest and many hundreds of parts suppliers peppered about, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

"Every job in the auto industry usually can be responsible for five to six jobs in general throughout the entire economy," said Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University. "The direct and indirect effect of all of this means a lot less money circulating through the cash registers in these states."

The details of the downsizing are being discussed as GM faces a deadline at the end of May to satisfy the government's requirements for federal assistance. Chrysler has until the end of April to work out a merger deal with Italian carmaker Fiat. Those private discussions have fed rumors of plant closings around the Midwest and across the nation. Bankruptcy is an option for both automakers.

How bad would it be if one or more of the Detroit automakers failed? In perhaps the most dire forecast, the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the 2009 job loss would be nearly 2.5 million if there were a 50 percent cut in operations at the Big Three. Personal income would drop by $276 billion, the report forecast.

That, Hill noted, assumes the lost auto production would not be picked up by other automakers, including Honda and Toyota, which have production facilities in the Midwest. Still, even under less pessimistic projections, pain will be spread around the region as jobs are slashed and pay, health-care and retirement benefits are scaled back, Hill predicted.

"The unfortunate thing is you've got a large number of small- to mid-size communities dependent on this income," Hill said. "What's happening now will put the industrial Midwest at a bigger disadvantage."

The domestic auto industry has been shrinking since the 1980s, and some of the cities affected by that decline provide a bleak view of what may be in store for others as the industry continues to contract. For generations, Anderson, Ind., was a major parts supplier for GM, but most of those operations have been gradually shut down over the past 25 years. Anderson, which has struggled to regain its economic footing, is defined by a disproportionate number of senior residents, steady job losses and wages at less than 75 percent of the U.S. average, according to a report from STATS Indiana.

In nearby Muncie, Ind., another city that supplied GM, the last of the major suppliers is scheduled to complete its shutdown later this year. The average wage has dropped in Muncie, which is making a painful transition from a well-paying manufacturing economy to one dominated by health care and Ball State University.

"It takes decades to make the adjustment," said Roy Budd, executive director of Energize-East Central Indiana, a non-profit economic development group. "I think we've trough-ed out and are on the upswing. But it takes a lot of time. We didn't get into it overnight and won't get out of it overnight."

The economic crisis has made Michigan, once one of the more prosperous states, a net population loser, with 109,000 more people moving out last year than moved in, according to census data. Among the obstacles for the region to recover, Conover said, is the relatively low percentage of college graduates in these states. The national average of people with a bachelor's degree or more is 27.5 percent, according to the Census Bureau. The percentages in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana are 24.7, 24.1 and 22.1, respectively.

The questions of how, and indeed whether, GM and Chrysler survive will begin to be answered in a few weeks, and then any affected communities will begin the adjustment to life without their biggest breadwinner.

"This is pretty devastating stuff," Hill said. "It takes almost 20 years to rebuild your economy, and usually you waste five to six years because of denial."

tmjones@tribune.com




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Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?


23And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

24And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

25And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!



Matthew 8:23-27.

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Sunday, April 12, 2009

As the storm approaches...


As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.
The Great Controversy, Page 608, [Revised edition first published, 1911.]
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How Should Seventh-day Adventists Be Known?


How Should Seventh-day Adventists Be Known?

By Kevin Straub

July 23, 2007

I have noticed in these times that there seems to be an increasing burden upon Adventist leadership to make ourselves “known.” This is troubling to me on several levels. I will talk about three that come immediately to mind, but wish to focus mainly in one area, which I will deal with thirdly, below. I hear the theme oft repeated that “nobody knows who we are,” in answer to objections about our ecumenical tendencies, trends, and outright official involvements. Is this how we should seek to be known?

I. We are mostly Christians only in name

Could it be that we just simply aren’t living our faith in our neighborhoods, at work, and wherever else we rub shoulders with the world? Perhaps we actually haven’t the faith to live. I.e., we aren’t alive in Christ. If you doubt this, go to Revelation 3:14-22 and read it straight from the testimony of Jesus. We have little joy in our Christianity because it really isn’t who we are, inside. Truth be told, most of those “in the church” aren’t converted.

Jesus said it:

“Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not done many wonders in your name?’ but I will say to them, ‘I never knew you.’” Luke 6:22, 23.

The Messenger to the Church said it:

“It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner. They are professedly serving God, but they are more earnestly serving mammon. This half-and-half work is a constant denying of Christ, rather than a confessing of Christ. So many have brought into the church their own unsubdued spirit, unrefined; their spiritual taste is perverted by their own immoral, debasing corruptions, symbolizing the world in spirit, in heart, in purpose, confirming themselves in lustful practices, and are full of deception through and through in their professed Christian life. Living as sinners, claiming to be Christians! Those who claim to be Christians and will confess Christ should come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing, and be separate. . . . {ChS 41.1}

If there were a truly converted majority, the world would know who we are and we wouldn’t be concerned about this question. Furthermore, we would not be very comfortable “being known” if we had the Spirit of God, for we would be suffering rejection and persecution on all sides.

II. Pride


Why is it so important that the world “knows who WE are?” This question always strikes me as hearkening back to Babel, where those rebels congregated who sought to build a great city with a tower to “make a name” for themselves. Gen. 11:4. We say that our concern is outreach, but the fact is that we have shied away from giving the straight messages of angels one, two, and three because they make us stand out as peculiar in doctrine and in today’s anti-hate speech environment and legislative movements, they are outright politically incorrect.

Go to the learned rabbis in the religion departments of our institutions of higher learning and ask them to teach you the meaning of 1844 and Christ in the Most Holy Place and see if it lines up with our early Divinely-illuminated understanding of the Scriptures and as given in the Spirit of Prophecy. (You will be in for a shock, if you have learned, believed and come into the faith of historic Adventism. Many will not understand what I am talking about as they have been brought in and/or up on the Evangelical line of theology.)

Or ask former General Conference president Neal C. Wilson, who testified many years ago, in a US Court of law, as the President and First Pastor of the SdA church, that our unfavorable attitude toward the papacy has been committed to the “historical trash heap.” (Reply Brief for Defendants, p. 4, Civil Case #74-2025 CBR, U.S. District Court, San Francisco, California, 1974-1975.)

I bring these items forward not to gratuitously bash the church, but to point out that only by moving more in line with the mainstream can we be accepted by the mainstream.

I have seen that our methods of “getting known” are not in harmony with inspired counsels and directives. (See recent document “Ecumenism and the Elijah Message” by this author.) We are constantly admonished to tread ever so carefully when talking about “other” churches (as if there were more than one) and to always say only praises or, at worst, remain neutral in our mentions. These counsels are nothing but a conditioning of our minds so that we will allow ourselves to be infiltrated by the spirit of antichrist. These sayings are misguided and are a “cloak of false charity” (see quote PK 675.1, below). We need to be unashamed in our preaching about what is the true church, all the while prefacing our statements with the truth that God’s people are yet to be found within all communions that call themselves Christian and yes, even those that are non-Christian. After we have worked with them, however, they must not be allowed to go away feeling comfortable in remaining in these bodies. That is why Adventism was raised up: to CALL THEM OUT!

I ever maintain: If we were to loudly preach our troubling distinctives, decrying/exposing the sins and errors of Babylon, as depicted by the Revelation 18 Angel, we would not be able to continue in the alliances that we have formed with the world and with false Christianity, at all levels of our church organization.

"The world is against us, the popular churches are against us, [this can only be said True Adventism, not Nominal Adventism] the laws of the land will soon be against us. . . . God has committed to us the special truths for this time to make known to the world. The last message of mercy is now going forth. We are dealing with men and women who are judgment bound." 5T 236

“Now and ever we are to stand as a distinct and peculiar people, free from all worldly policy, unembarrassed by confederating with those who have not wisdom to discern the claims of God, so plainly set forth in His law.” Battle Creek Letters, page 52.

Rather than Adventists getting known by the world, isn’t it more important that the world knows who GOD is? The preaching of the message of God’s Character and the living of it in righteousness, under the New Covenant promise, will light the whole earth with His glory, as per the fourth angel. This will be done under the outpouring of the latter rain Holy Spirit, which is the power source that drives the final call of the three angels and gets “the work” done.

Both, the indwelling of the Living Christ in His people AND the incontrovertible truths which they preach will arouse the unholy wrath of both worldlings and false Christianity. There will be no “conversations” or “dialogue” or “presenting a united witness to the world of the Saviour’s love.” These kinds of words and phrases are a smokescreen to cover the truth of what is really happening. This leads to my main concern.

III. Ecumenism under the guise of “being known”

Our General Conference president, Jan Paulsen, wrote an article in the June 2007 issue of Adventist World, entitled Telling the World Who We Are. In this article there are the same old arguments presented to assuage the members’ concerns about our ecumenism, stating that we can enter into “dialogues,” “conversations,” and “cooperative relationships” to “remove misunderstandings and accompanying prejudices.”

Secondly, it is asserted that there is always much we can learn from these “thoughtful conversations” with others. I never could understand that one. True Adventism has a complete gospel as no other. All we learn from the others is how to water down the gospel until we are preaching an incomplete gospel or “another gospel.” But, I shall not go there now, as that is another topic.

Dr. Paulsen, in his short article of ten paragraphs, uses the word “conversations,” or a form of it, no less than fifteen times. He is trying very hard to downplay our ecumenism and really coming up short, in my view.

I am getting a typical image here, of a concerned father admonishing his daughter about spending far too much time on the phone with the bad boy across town and hearing her retort that they are “just having conversation.”

The Ecumenists understand that “dialogue” is intended to create “meeting,” “mutual understanding, respect and trust," and that it is “a medium of authentic witness.” (The Coming United Religions, p. 57.)

“Meeting” means “uniting.” Don’t be fooled by any of this language. Trust? Upon what Biblical or prophetic basis are we to “trust” Babylon? My understanding is that the Great Harlot Woman will ride the Beast. I respect God and His word of Truth, while having no respect for error and lies. How is dialogue a “medium of authentic witness?” Is this talking about presenting a unified front to the world, when it is at last shown that as “God” brings us together, we at last have the True Witness? Upon whose platform do we unite? Can we “unite” upon only those points wherein we agree? This is nonsense, for it would not truly be unity, would it? These baffling words are typical of ecumenispeak, if I may coin the term, made to sound lofty and important to the common person while bypassing the important questions that a critically thinking person might have.

Ecumenispeak promotes the understanding that there is

“no peace among the nations without peace among the religions; no peace among the religions without dialogue between the religions. . .” Dr. Hans Kung, Roman Catholic Theologian of Germany, ibid., p. 16.

All this “dialogue” -- what a chatty bunch we are! We talk all this peace and service to humanity and making a better world through our united presentation of Christian witness. Again, whose platform do we stand on? Hint: Who lays claim to spiritual “primacy” in the world? Make no mistake: There will be no peace but that imposed by the presently coalescing and imminent consolidation of the iron-fisted power of the papacy, in a neo Pax Romana.

Let’s hone in a little further. Pr. Paulsen reassures the church:

“We do not seek union of any sort – we have not joined the ecumenical movement and will not. Our mission is one that cannot be diluted or restricted by ecumenical alliances.”

Immediately he goes on to say, however:

“During the course of a conversation we may explore areas of possible joint endeavor. . . .”

George Orwell says that holding conflicting views in one’s mind and believing both is called doublethink. There is a lot of this going on in this era of Hegelianism, or bringing conflicting sides into proximity, shaking them up together and out of the ensuing reactions forming a synthetic view that serves the controlling purposes of the powerful (puppets of the Archrebel, fallen Lucifer).

It is simply not true to say that we are not united nor uniting with the world. I would not make such a serious allegation if I had not the evidence. I will later introduce just a few examples out of hundreds that could be given to prove this point and show how the Luciferian agenda, in its particular manifestation of the ecumenical movements of recent decades, has indeed entered Adventism.

Please understand that I am a member of this church. I have loved this church as the vessel that received the commission to present the last call to the world; I will continue to love the truths she was given. It was my cradle and True Adventism will be my grave, should I sleep and so long as I remain faithful to Jesus in the apostolic doctrine and the spirit of the reformers. I speak these straight and unpopular words that many who do not understand will be aroused to the times and pray for oil in their lamps, that together we will all be prepared to meet the coming crisis. It is my prayer also that I will not fail to reveal the true Character of God in Jesus, as I go about this work.

“In the work of reform to be carried forward today, there is need of men who, like Ezra and Nehemiah, will not palliate or excuse sin, nor shrink from vindicating the honor of God. Those upon whom rests the burden of this work will not hold their peace when wrong is done, neither will they cover evil with a cloak of false charity. They will remember that God is no respecter of persons, and that severity to a few may prove mercy to many. They will remember also that in the one who rebukes evil the spirit of Christ should ever be revealed.” {PK 675.1}

Our prophet told us that our greatest danger would be from inside the church:

“We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world. . . . how often have the professed advocates of the truth proved the greatest obstacle to its advancement! The unbelief indulged, the doubts expressed, the darkness cherished, encourage the presence of evil angels, and open the way for the accomplishment of Satan's devices.--1SM 122 (1887).

“The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances. The warnings that worldly conformity has silenced or withheld must be given under the fiercest opposition from enemies of the faith. And at that time the superficial, conservative class, whose influence has steadily retarded the progress of the work, will renounce the faith and take their stand with its avowed enemies, toward whom their sympathies have long been tending. These apostates will then manifest the most bitter enmity, doing all in their power to oppress and malign their former brethren and to excite indignation against them. This day is just before us. The members of the church will individually be tested and proved. They will be placed in circumstances where they will be forced to bear witness for the truth. Many will be called to speak before councils and in courts of justice, perhaps separately and alone. The experience which would have helped them in this emergency they have neglected to obtain, and their souls are burdened with remorse for wasted opportunities and neglected privileges. {5T 463.2}

"I saw the nominal church and nominal Adventists, like Judas, would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come against the truth. The saints then will be an obscure people, little known to the Catholics; but the churches and nominal Adventists who know of our faith and customs (for they hated us on account of the Sabbath, for they could not refute it) will betray the saints and report them to the Catholics as those who disregard the institutions of the people; that is, that they keep the Sabbath and disregard Sunday." E.G. White, Spalding--Magan Unpublished Testimonies, p. 1.

We are here talking about the Omega of Apostasy, which has been well underway for decades. Most of us have been sleeping through it. I include myself in this; only in recent years have I been truly realizing how very serious and deeply entrenched is this problem in the organization of structural Seventh-day Adventism. We must be aware of this and we must be studying with regard to our special truths and understand how the modern alliances that are being formed are against our future freedom of conscience and liberties of speech, free association and worship. Our worst enemies are now amongst us, speaking smooth things and unless we are taking up the opportunities and privileges we now have to become educated and grounded in the spirit of truth and development of character, we shall not stand in the days ahead.

Okay, it is time to examine some of the evidences: Are we really “not seeking union of any sort” – have we really “not joined the ecumenical movement”, as Paulsen claims?

A. Canadian Foodgrains Bank as ecumenical organization

Let me start with a little local report by ADRA, as given on Page 8 of our July 2007 issue of Red Deer Church News:

“Established in 1983, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a Canadian based Christian organization that helps provide food and development assistance to people. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is owned by 13 Canadian Church Agencies, including ADRA Canada.”

Being very pleased to announce that the number is now 15, as the Catholics and Anglicans have just joined, the report goes on to say:

“Member agencies represent evangelical churches, mainline protestant churches, as well as catholic churches, with over 17,000 congregations and parishes connected to this ecumenical effort to end hunger in developing countries.

“ ‘We’re very excited about this,’ says Rick Fee, Chair of the Board of Directors of Canadian Foodgrains Bank. ‘The Foodgrains Bank is truly a unique ecumenical Christian organization. As Canadians we should be very proud of this joint Christian witness in the world. We should never underestimate or down-play the vital role that the Foodgrains Bank is being called to fulfill in today’s hungry world. We celebrate the inclusion of the Anglicans and Catholics as members of this amazing Christian response to ending hunger.’ ”

Some would not define banding together in humanitarian efforts as “ecumenism.” ADRA seems to differ with this sentiment. Furthermore, they define their work as a united “Christian witness in the world.” If this isn’t an ecumenical sort of idea, then what is it? To think that we can join these bodies for the good they do and somehow be separate from the ongoing ecumenical agenda which is seeking to enlist the powers of civil government to eliminate all dissent is nothing short of delusional.

“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1 Cor. 15:33

Christian witness? Whose “Christian” witness? These fallen churches aren’t Christian. They are corrupted with pagan thought and practice. The catch-all case-in-point is the avowed “Christian Sabbath,” the venerable Day of the Sun. Is this not antichrist? Please understand that we aren’t speaking of individuals in these organizations who don’t understand what they are into, any more than low level Secret Society members, such as the Freemasons, understand what they are into. They also (who are of American Masonry), believe that they are a “Christian” organization, when in reality they are Luciferian. It’s all part of the endtime conglomerate that will seek to stamp out the faithful.

We are not allowed to give our distinctive witness to the world when we are in these alliances. You may not actively seek to bring people into the third angel’s message when working in these groups. Try being a True Adventist witness within these ecumenical bodies and teaching things like:

the judgment hour message pertaining to Christ’s movement into the Most Holy Place as of 1844 and how that His atoning for sin there is about more than mere forgiveness, but an actual cleansing of it from our present lives, molding our characters like unto His own, in preparation for the last great work of the the Loud Cry of 4th angel to be given by the final generation, the 144,000;
the ensuing close of probation when there will be no more atonement for the sin and characters are sealed for God or marked for destruction;
the Sabbath truth;
the non-immortality of the soul;
the coming persecution under Sunday laws which we have correctly taught as the implementation of the Mark of the Beast;
the expositions of the man of sin and that apostate’s corruptions of the truths of and usurpation of the prerogatives of God
the Spirit of Prophecy as manifest in the ministry and writings of EGW

B. ADRA President full participant in ecumenical worship service

Again, as involving ADRA, we find the president, Charles Sandefur participating officially on behalf of the SDA church in an interfaith prayer and worship service at the Washington National Cathedral on March 16, 2007, as reported by Pastor Ron Spear in The Eternal Gospel Herald, Vol 4. No. 10, pp. 6-8. This was “an ecumenical coalition of churches organized” in an event to promote “Christian Peace Witness for Iraq.” They were praying, singing, and meditating to beseech God to bring in “lasting peace and unity to this nation and to the rest of the world.”

I am wondering if we forgot all about prophecy? We carry on as if it were never written and somehow we are going to do something else and bring about another outcome by spurning the heaven-sent counsel. Instead of preaching the message to come out of Babylon, we are chumming up with the apostates giving the leading prayers in their services, marching in their candlelit processions, applauding their speeches. God help us!

C. Centura Health Corporation a Joint Venture between Adventists and
Catholics

What about our union with the Catholics in Colorado, in our health care systems? Centura Health Corporation is jointly owned and operated by Catholic Health Initiatives and Adventist Health Systems. Was it the purpose of God that the "right arm of the message" be grafted to a Roman Catholic body? If "it is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy" (ST, Feb. 19, 1894), then it is a backslidden Church which grafts its "right arm" to a Roman Catholic body!

D. The work of Bert B. Beach

I would be remiss if I did not talk about the career of Bert B. Beach, SdA contact man with the WCC and the Vatican for decades.

He is the one who, in 1973, co-authored a book along with the WCC entitled: So Much In Common. On the back cover it clearly states that this book was written by the "World Council of Churches and Seventh-day Adventist Church."

What about the gold medallion that Beach presented to the pope? In connection with a consultative meeting of secretaries of World Confessional Families held in Rome, B. B. Beach, secretary of the Northern Europe-West Africa Division, one of the 15 partic­ipants and the only Adventist in the group, knelt down and presented a medallion to Pope Paul VI on May 18, 1977.

He was in Rome that day as leader of the World Confessional Families (now called Christian World Communions), an interfaith organization of several Protestant denominations, a subsidiary of the WCC, organized by the WCC in 1968.

Ignore this talk that our church does not have a representative at the World Council of Churches! We have had one there for 35 years! Is he voting member? He most assuredly is. He is a voting member of the most important ecumenical and interfaith doctrinal committee of the WCC, representing a broad range of Protestant denominations (The Faith and Order Commission). On that committee has sat a Vatican representative since 1967, the same year that Beach came on board. In fact, Beach has been the chairman of that WCC ecumenical committee for at least two decades!

E. More random evidences and samplings of our ecumenism

We had Vatican representation at the General Conference Session; the two priests manning a Vatican booth at our recent session in St. Louis.

"The Seventh-day Adventist Church does hold voting membership in several of our [National Council of Churches] program units and in addition has non-voting or associate membership in other units." Letter from the National Council of Churches of Christ, January 29, 1960, from Donald F. Landwer, Assistant General Secretary for Finance.

"The National Council of Churches presents a production of the Seventh-day Adventist Church." Adventist Review, December 15, 1994, p 7 (See also TV Guide, December 24-30, 1994, p 55, vol 42, #52, Issue #2178).

The SDA church is also a member of the NCC by way of the local SdA churches belonging to the Ministerial Associations in their communities.

The SDA church signed an agreement with the Catholics, in Poland, after 15 years of dialogue, stating that Adventism is not a “new religious movement” nor a “sect.” The document aims for “better understanding of the teachings and practice of the Catholic and the Adventist Churches, as well as improving relations without compromising each other's identity.”

"The time was when Protestants [Adventists] placed a high value upon the liberty of conscience which had been so dearly purchased," says EGW. "They taught their children to abhor popery and held that to seek harmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely different are the sentiments now expressed!"

"The defenders of the papacy declare that the church has been maligned, and the Protestant [Adventist] world are inclined to accept the statement," Ellen White stated. "Many urge that it is unjust to judge the church of today by the abominations and absurdities that marked her reign during the centuries of ignorance and darkness. They excuse her horrible cruelty as the result of the barbarism of the times and plead that the influence of modern civilization has changed her sentiments." GC 563.

(Those who would like to receive information on this document, documentation regarding our involvement with the WCC, or other research resources on Adventist ecumenism can contact me at straub@direct.ca).


I could go on for dozens of pages with the evidence, but I have given enough for now.

“When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” {5T 451.1}

Are Seventh-day Adventists reaching across the gulf and clasping hands with the papacy and the Evangelicals? Let the reader decide.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them. {Mar 196.1}

This work that is being done in exposition of the apostasy in which we are steeped is that of the watchmen on the walls of Zion. Ministers and leaders who will not bear it are given the severest of counsels:

“Unsanctified ministers are arraying themselves against God. They are praising Christ and the god of this world in the same breath. While professedly they receive Christ, they embrace Barabbas. . . .

“Let the son of deceit and false witness be entertained by a church that has had great light, great evidence, and that church will discard the message the Lord has sent, and receive the most unreasonable assertions and false suppositions and false theories. Satan laughs at their folly, for he knows what truth is. {TM 409.2}

“Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they [the ministers] know so much.” {TM 409.3}

Awful is the outcome of the rebellion of the apostate leaders, who have preached smooth things and taken their followers down into union with the endtime persecutor:

“The people turned upon their ministers with bitter hate and reproached them, saying, ‘You have not warned us. You told us that all the world was to be converted, [by presenting a ‘united Christian witness?] and cried, Peace, peace, to quiet every fear that was aroused [we are praying for unity and peace, we are joining with them in healing the sick, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless. . .]. You have not told us of this hour; and those who warned us of it you declared to be fanatics and evil men, who would ruin us.’ But I saw that the ministers did not escape the wrath of God. Their suffering was tenfold greater than that of their people.” {SR 405.1}

I am aware that some will apply the labels of “fanatic” and “evil man” to me for bringing these things forward. Being a messenger is going to have its consequences. Bearing present truth has never been a smooth path. May God sustain me and make me worthy to bear the sufferings that will surely come for this ministry.

Yes, we really did once believe that there was a great danger coming from the ecumenical movement. We still say that, more or less, but we go right on ahead and fornicate with apostate Christendom, precluding our ability to fulfill our mandate and give the call:

"On the basis of Bible prophecy and the writings of Ellen G. White, SDA's anticipate the eventual success of the ecumenical movement both in eliminating the divisions of Protestantism and in reuniting Christendom by bridging the gulf that separates non-Catholic communions from Rome. The ecumenical movement will then become a concerted effort to unite the world and to secure universal peace and security by enlisting the power of the civil government in a universal religio-political crusade to eliminate all dissent. SDA's envision this crusade as the great apostasy to which John the revelator refers as 'Babylon the great.' They understand, also, that God's last message of mercy to the world prior to the return of Christ in power and glory will consist of a warning against this great apostate movement, and a call to all who choose to remain loyal to Him to leave the churches connected with it." SDA Encyclopedia, vol 10 of the Bible Commentary Reference Series, p 410-411.

"It is impossible for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and still remain pure. 'What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?' God and Christ and the heavenly host would have man know that if he unites with the corrupt, he will become corrupt." SDA Bible Commentary, vol 6, p 1102.

Let Ezra speak:

"Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; then they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, LET US BUILD WITH YOU: FOR WE SEEK YOUR GOD,AS YE DO; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, YE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH US TO BUILD AN HOUSE UNTO OUR GOD; BUT WE OURSELVES TOGETHER WILL BUILD UNTO THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL, as king of Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us" Ezra 4:1-3.



*Highlights added.

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Great is Thy faithfulness


Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain


Words: Thom­as O. Chis­holm, 1923.

Music: Faith­ful­ness (Run­yan), William M. Run­yan, 1923 (MI­DI, score).

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What would Jesus say about this?

The words to this hymn are un­der co­py­right.
If you wish to print, co­py, cut/paste or du­pli­cate them, you must
ob­tain per­miss­ion from Hope Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny (800-323-1049).

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Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Final Warning


Chapter 38

The Final Warning



"I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:1, 2, 4.

This scripture points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel of Revelation 14 (verse 8), is to be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first given, in the summer of 1844. A terrible condition of the religious world is here described. With every rejection of truth the minds of the people will become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings which God has given, they will continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the Decalogue, until they are led to persecute those who hold it sacred. Christ is set at nought in the contempt placed upon His word and His people. As the teachings of spiritualism are accepted by the churches, the restraint imposed upon the carnal heart is removed, and the profession of religion will become a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and thus the influence of evil angels will be felt in the churches.

Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared: "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Revelation 18:5. She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments these faithful ones must be called out, that they partake not of her sins and "receive not of her plagues." Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard: "Come out of her, My people." These announcements, uniting with the third angel's message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.

Fearful is the issue to which the world is to be brought. The powers of earth, uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that "all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond" (Revelation 13:16), shall conform to the customs of the church by the observance of the false sabbath. All who refuse compliance will be visited with civil penalties, and it will finally be declared that they are deserving of death. On the other hand, the law of God enjoining the Creator's rest day demands obedience and threatens wrath against all who transgress its precepts.

With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon God's law to obey a human enactment receives the mark of the beast; he accepts the sign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey instead of God. The warning from heaven is: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation." Revelation 14:9, 10.

But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been brought home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected. There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its true light. He who reads every heart and tries every motive will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the controversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the people blindly. Everyone is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently.

The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God.

Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel's message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been--the defender of religious freedom. But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before.

In every generation God has sent His servants to rebuke sin, both in the world and in the church. But the people desire smooth things spoken to them, and the pure, unvarnished truth is not acceptable. Many reformers, in entering upon their work, determined to exercise great prudence in attacking the sins of the church and the nation. They hoped, by the example of a pure Christian life, to lead the people back to the doctrines of the Bible. But the Spirit of God came upon them as it came upon Elijah, moving him to rebuke the sins of a wicked king and an apostate people; they could not refrain from preaching the plain utterances of the Bible-- doctrines which they had been reluctant to present. They were impelled to zealously declare the truth and the danger which threatened souls. The words which the Lord gave them they uttered, fearless of consequences, and the people were compelled to hear the warning.

Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power--all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these. In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from heaven. As the people go to their former teachers with the eager inquiry, Are these things so? the ministers present fables, prophesy smooth things, to soothe their fears and quiet the awakened conscience. But since many refuse to be satisfied with the mere authority of men and demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord," the popular ministry, like the Pharisees of old, filled with anger as their authority is questioned, will denounce the message as of Satan and stir up the sin-loving multitudes to revile and persecute those who proclaim it.

As the controversy extends into new fields and the minds of the people are called to God's downtrodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message will only madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they will endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and, in this work, papists and Protestants unite. As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment keepers. They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some will be offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is: "Show us from the word of God our error"--the same plea that was made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light will be brought before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths.

Conscientious obedience to the word of God will be treated as rebellion. Blinded by Satan, the parent will exercise harshness and severity toward the believing child; the master or mistress will oppress the commandment-keeping servant. Affection will be alienated; children will be disinherited and driven from home. The words of Paul will be literally fulfilled: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12. As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the Sunday-sabbath, some of them will be thrust into prison, some will be exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom all this now seems impossible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn from men, and they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The heart can be very cruel when God's fear and love are removed.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.

In this time of persecution the faith of the Lord's servants will be tried. They have faithfully given the warning, looking to God and to His word alone. God's Spirit, moving upon their hearts, has constrained them to speak. Stimulated with holy zeal, and with the divine impulse strong upon them, they entered upon the performance of their duties without coldly calculating the consequences of speaking to the people the word which the Lord had given them. They have not consulted their temporal interests, nor sought to preserve their reputation or their lives. Yet when the storm of opposition and reproach bursts upon them, some, overwhelmed with consternation, will be ready to exclaim: "Had we foreseen the consequences of our words, we would have held our peace." They are hedged in with difficulties. Satan assails them with fierce temptations. The work which they have undertaken seems far beyond their ability to accomplish. They are threatened with destruction. The enthusiasm which animated them is gone; yet they cannot turn back. Then, feeling their utter helplessness, they flee to the Mighty One for strength. They remember that the words which they have spoken were not theirs, but His who bade them give the warning. God put the truth into their hearts, and they could not forbear to proclaim it.

The same trials have been experienced by men of God in ages past. Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Baxter, Wesley, urged that all doctrines be brought to the test of the Bible and declared that they would renounce everything which it condemned. Against these men persecution raged with relentless fury; yet they ceased not to declare the truth. Different periods in the history of the church have each been marked by the development of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of God's people at that time. Every new truth has made its way against hatred and opposition; those who were blessed with its light were tempted and tried. The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? He commands His servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the world. They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls. Christ's ambassadors have nothing to do with consequences. They must perform their duty and leave results with God.

As the opposition rises to a fiercer height, the servants of God are again perplexed; for it seems to them that they have brought the crisis. But conscience and the word of God assure them that their course is right; and although the trials continue, they are strengthened to bear them. The contest grows closer and sharper, but their faith and courage rise with the emergency. Their testimony is: "We dare not tamper with God's word, dividing His holy law; calling one portion essential and another nonessential, to gain the favor of the world. The Lord whom we serve is able to deliver us. Christ has conquered the powers of earth; and shall we be afraid of a world already conquered?"

Persecution in its varied forms is the development of a principle which will exist as long as Satan exists and Christianity has vital power. No man can serve God without enlisting against himself the opposition of the hosts of darkness. Evil angels will assail him, alarmed that his influence is taking the prey from their hands. Evil men, rebuked by his example, will unite with them in seeking to separate him from God by alluring temptations. When these do not succeed, then a compelling power is employed to force the conscience.

But so long as Jesus remains man's intercessor in the sanctuary above, the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is felt by rulers and people. It still controls to some extent the laws of the land. Were it not for these laws, the condition of the world would be much worse than it now is. While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, God also has His agents among the leading men of the nation. The enemy moves upon his servants to propose measures that would greatly impede the work of God; but statesmen who fear the Lord are influenced by holy angels to oppose such propositions with unanswerable arguments. Thus a few men will hold in check a powerful current of evil. The opposition of the enemies of truth will be restrained that the third angel's message may do its work. When the final warning shall be given, it will arrest the attention of these leading men through whom the Lord is now working, and some of them will accept it, and will stand with the people of God through the time of trouble.

The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel's message is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. The advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel's message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel.

The work will be similar to that of the Day of Pentecost. As the "former rain" was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to cause the upspringing of the precious seed, so the "latter rain" will be given at its close for the ripening of the harvest. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3. "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain." Joel 2:23. "In the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:17, 21.

The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are "the times of refreshing" to which the apostle Peter looked forward when he said: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus." Acts 3:19, 20.

Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works, with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.

The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side.
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