Thursday, November 04, 2010

Corporate Repentance


Corporate Repentance
By the Elijah Messenger


New movement leaders such as Roy Adams and a host of other leaders and laymen teach that there is no such thing as "Corporate Repentance." As I have pointed out in the tract, "the Catholic Infiltration of Adventism" the Jesuits also deny this doctrine. Adventists too deny corporate repentance because by confessing this important truth they will have to confess their evil deeds which they have done in the past and also in the present. This is one of the testing messages for this time; the test begins with individuals and then if this proves successful it will work its way up to a corporate repentance.

Corporate Repentance Built In the Organizational Structure

Ellen White states that we are responsible for the leaders we choose. Allow me to quote Mrs. White addressing the church on this topic.

"Every member of the church has a voice in choosing officers of the church. The church chooses the officers of the state conferences. Delegates chosen by the state conferences choose the officers of the union conferences, and delegates chosen by the union conferences choose the officers of the General Conference. By this arrangement every conference, every institution, every church, and every individual, either directly or through representatives, has a voice in the election of the men who bear the chief responsibilities in the General Conference." Testimonies vol. 8, p. 236-237.

Some might say that it does not work this way today, well if it does not, you are in a new movement. And if it does then the church should be held corporately responsible for retaining such corrupt leaders. Again Mrs. White states,

"In our largest churches the greatest evils exist, because these have had the greatest light. They have not a true knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. The leaven of unbelief is working, and unless these evils which bring the displeasure of God are corrected in its members, the whole church stands accountable for them. The deep moving of the Spirit of God are not with them; the glorious presence of the King of saints, and his power to cleanse from all moral defilement, are not manifest among them." Review & Herald, vol. 2, Dec. 23rd, 1890

"The headquarters of our church, affect the whole body of believers. If the physical heart is healthy, the blood that is sent from it through the system is also healthy; but if this fountain is impure, the whole organism becomes diseased by the poison of the vital fluid. So it is with us. If the heart of the work becomes corrupt, the whole church, in its various branches and interests, scattered abroad over the face of the earth, suffers in consequence." Testimonies vol. 4, p. 210.

Corporate Repentance Denied by the Leaders

According to Roy Adams, associate editor of the Adventist Review, in his book, The Nature of Christ, (which the highest leaders in Seventh-day Adventism endorse) he blatantly ridicules and denies that the New Testament offers no support for the teaching of Corporate Repentance.

"Corporate repentance who demands it of us, I make bold to say it. Not the Lord! And is there any significance to the fact that the New Testament offers us not a single authentic example of general corporate confession?" Ibid. 112,104.

New Teachings For a New Movement

This teaching is recent in nature, it started with the downhill apostasy, which began in 1956-57 and has no support from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. The New Testament Act of the disciples in the upper room experience is a distinct example of general corporate repentance! The three angel's messages of Revelation chapter fourteen is a corporate and individual call to repentance. The first angel's message sounded in 1844 and the corporate church repented not. But God's people, as few as there were individually repented and left the churches. Ellen White said,

"when the churches spurned the counsel of God by rejecting the advent message, the Lord rejected them. The first angel was followed by a second, proclaiming, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."[1 REV. 14:8] This message was understood by Adventists to be an announcement of the moral fall of the churches in consequence of their rejection of the first message. The proclamation, "Babylon is fallen," was given in the summer of 1844, and as the result, about fifty thousand withdrew from these churches." Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, p.232.

In Matthew 23: 29-35, Christ denounced the scribes and the Pharisees on the behalf of their hypocrisy, rejection of the truth and seeking to kill him. By doing this they continued in the course of their four-fathers sins. They were corporately responsible which should have led them to corporately repent. Consider Exodus 20:5 and the following statement from Ellen White.

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."

"It is inevitable that children should suffer from the consequences of parental wrongdoing, but they are not punished for the parents' guilt, except as they participate in their sins." Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 306.

Today the SDA church has taken the relay stick, which is the false gospel of the Evangelical's, and the Catholic's and they have almost completed the race to Rome. For all those who boast about the growth of the church since Net 96', remember that the Pharisees were zealous proselytizers.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than." yourselves." Matthew 23:15.

The State of the Church

"From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." Isaiah 1:6.

"For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed." Isa. 9:6.

"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." I Th. 5:6.

"Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." Mark 13:36,37.

"Shake off your spiritual lethargy. Work with all your might to save your own souls and the souls of others. It is no time now to cry, "Peace and safety." It is not silver-tongued orators that are needed to give this message. The truth in all its pointed severity must be spoken." E.G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 187.

"Here we see that the church the Lord's sanctuary was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus "Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together." E.G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 211.


May God bless all that read this information with a sincere and devout heart!
The Elijah Messenger
siracus@idirect.com

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Mountain Media Ministries - Fall 2010 Seminar Trip



In our seminars, you will learn the basis for preparation and country living--from a spiritual perspective. And then with that foundation, we delve into valuable practical information on the "nuts and bolts" topics. What will you do when, for whatever reason, you do not have electricity? Will you be able to get water from your well? Will you be able to keep your home warm? Will you be able have food? These are the most basic physical necessities of life, and they are topics that are just as applicable to those currently living in the country as to city dwellers. Almost everyone has become completely dependent for even these most basic necessities, in this modern society of ours. In the Country Living Seminars, we will be exploring how you can become as independent as possible for these basic necessities. How you can not only survive, but also thrive! So that you can be a help and blessing to others in the days ahead. And so you can be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

Remaining Seminar Locations This Fall:



Nov.6 & 7 - Richmond, VA
Nov. 13 & 14 - Hyattsville, MD
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Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews


47Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.

48If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

49And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,

50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

51And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

52And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

53Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

54Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.

55And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.

56Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?

57Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.


John 11:47-56.


Note in v. 7: Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Did Harry Reid 'Steal' the Nevada Senate Election?


Updated: 5 hours 54 minutes ago

David Knowles
Writer
AOL News Surge Desk

(Nov. 3) -- Dirty tricks?

On Tuesday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was basking in the glow of his narrow victory over tea party upstart Sharron Angle. Throughout the course of the campaign, polls had shown the race to be an extremely tight contest, with the lead swinging back and forth between the two candidates all the way down to the wire.

But let's back up to the waning days of the battle, with the contest far from decided. That's when Cleta Mitchell, Angle's attorney, sent out a fundraising letter in which she proclaimed the following:

As Sharron Angle's campaign attorney, I am sorry to report that the Democrats and their cronies are up to their same old tricks of trying to manipulate the election in hopes of skewing the results in their favor.
Mitchell went on to say that allegations that Reid's supporters had offered free food and gift cards to residents in exchange for votes. While those allegations were investigated and discounted by the Nevada secretary of state, the notion that Reid's victory was the result of outright thievery was kept front and center today by none other than right-wing radio provocateur Alex Jones.

At Prison Planet, Jones' Google gaming website, Jones and editor Paul Joseph Watson hatched their latest conspiracy claim.

"A serious investigation into potential vote fraud needs to be launched immediately in Nevada," the authors wrote, "after incumbent Harry Reid beat Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle by a clear five points, despite pre-election polls showing Angle four points ahead, amidst suspicious evidence of vote flipping and other dirty tricks on behalf of the Reid campaign last week that were dubbed 'criminal' by Angle's campaign attorney."
Citing polling data and a report that electronic voting machines in one Nevada county had automatically preselected Reid's name during early voting, Prison Planet argued that the evidence of dirty tricks was all too plain.

On the other hand, the site used only polls that backed up its conclusion, and the very story that Prison Planet used to demonstrate the alleged voting machine tampering contained the following information that Jones and Watson fail to mention:

Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said those claims were "patently false" and said at no time did any of those voters report the incident to staff at their polling location.

"In fact, although over 160,000 people have voted early in Clark County, those allegations that have been made have gone directly to the media as opposed to the election board officers," he said.
Though her campaign first brought up the prospect of Reid attempting to steal the election, Angle herself made no mention of that notion in her concession speech.

Reid eventually won by just over 40,000 votes.
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Source
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Related:

Stealing the Election
by Pamela Geller

Fifteen Missouri counties have more people registered to vote than they have people who are aged eighteen or older. This is egregious, illegal and contemptuous of the rule of law. And it is just the tip of the iceberg.
...
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God Has a Church



God Has a Church

It is not the great cathedral,

Neither is it the national establishment

Neither is it the various denominations.

It is the people who love God and keep his commandments.

“Where two or three are gathered in my name, There I am in the midst of them.”
Matthew 18: 20



Where Christ is among the humble few,


This is Christ’s church,


for the presence of the high and Holy One


Who inhabiteth eternity


Can constitute a Church
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The Upward Look, E. G. W., p. 315.
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Hispanic Ecumenism

Kenneth G. Davis APRIL 19, 2004

W ith the steady growth of the Hispanic population in the United States, Christian denominations have been competing as never before for the allegiance of Latinos. Now many Hispanic religious leaders have begun to ask an intriguing question: couldn’t we accomplish more for our people by collaborating instead of competing in matters of ministry and social policy?

That question was answered with a resounding “sí” at a fall meeting of Hispanic religious leaders at Duke Divinity School. There, an unlikely mix of Pentecostals, Adventists, Catholics, Baptists and others agreed to adopt—without ignoring obvious differences—a shared strategy and a common agenda in pursuit of their mutual aims.

“This group came together and successfully outlined a set of broad goals that will help mark a new path for Latino Christian communities in this country,” said Edwin Hernández, the summit’s chief organizer and the director of the Center for the Study of Latino Religion at the University of Notre Dame.

In agreeing to concentrate on what can unite them, the often competing churches hope to strengthen the distinct ministry of each. Such critical collaboration is possible because the churches have both a shared context and common challenges.

The context they all share is their adjectival identity—that is, the name of their denomination is modified by the adjective “Hispanic” or “Latino.” Non-Hispanic whites never have to qualify their identity as Methodists or Presbyterians in a similar way, because their culture is the norm for their denomination. But whether they are Lutherans or Evangelicals, Hispanic Christians must all live with this “adjectival” existence, and must constantly explain and sometimes defend their distinctiveness within any given denomination. Participants who came down from that summit agreed that their shared Hispanidad was as an important a part of their self-identity as their distinct denominational loyalties.


Today in both the marketplace and the polling place, this Hispanidad is not only recognized, but also celebrated. No marketers or campaign managers would ever discourage Hispanics from trying a product or trusting a candidate by disparaging either Spanish or the cultures that come from Spanish-speaking countries. Rather they spend millions annually to attract and retain Hispanic consumers and voters.

Although some Hispanics receive support from their denominations, many churches still act as if one has to be an English-speaker of pure European descent in order to be truly welcomed by their churches. While Catholics may not be as overtly segregationist as some others, too often the Spanish-language Mass is still celebrated in the basement or at an unreasonable hour. This is just one reason why Hispanic parishioners who occupy the same space (though seldom at the same time) as non-Hispanic Catholics often feel not welcomed but only tolerated, and then only as long as they do not inconvenience the “real” owners of the church.

Protestant Hispanics, while enjoying much more autonomy within their separate congregations, find it difficult to afford attendance at accredited seminaries or to move into positions of regional or national influence. Both Catholics and Protestants publish glossy documents about their commitment to Hispanic ministry, which no doubt is sincere. But their behavior too often shows an ignorance that leaves Hispanic members feeling unimportant.

Try the following experiment. Ask any Hispanic congregant when the United States obtained its independence. Most will be able to give the date and the month, if not the year. But ask a non-Hispanic congregant when the United States invaded Mexico or Puerto Rico, and most cannot guess even within a decade. Although both are questions about U.S. history, one is an event regularly glorified, while the other is typically forgotten.

The experience of Hispanic co-congregants is too often deemed unimportant and therefore ignored. And that shared experience of the virtual invisibility of U.S. Hispanic Christians is a principal reason for their newfound ability to cooperate in a common cause. The summit’s keynote speaker, the Rev. Justo González, said the meeting had accomplished much by helping people of widely different perspectives find common ground. “Horizons have been shattered. Whatever their denomination, people discovered at this meeting that the commonality of issues they face is greater than they had thought. People realized that Hispanics in other denominations face many of the same problems.”

Common Challenges
Research preparatory to the summit indicated that both Hispanic religious leaders and their congregants also face similar challenges across denominations. Thus, although theologically quite far apart, Hispanic Pentecostals and Catholics share a very similar political, educational and socioeconomic profile. One of the co-conveners, Milagros Peña, reports that in 2002, 34 percent of Hispanics were under 18 years of age. This is significantly higher than the percentage for non-Hispanic whites. And 43 percent of adult Hispanics have less than a high school diploma, compared with 11 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Among full-time workers in 2002, only 26 percent of Hispanics (compared with 54 percent of non-Hispanic whites) earned $35,000 or more annually.

Members of the same Hispanic family, or congregation, may be at quite different levels of acculturation to U.S. society. For example, English as well as Spanish is usually spoken, but in varying degrees by different congregants. Latino and Latina congregants may also have many different countries of origin and belong to different races or more than one race. Some may have legal documents while others do not. Despite this enormous diversity, it often happens that all Hispanics are consolidated under a universal but equivocal label, even when this creates a Tower of Babel.

Denominations respond in similar ways to the situations reflected in these statistics. Working papers for the summit indicate that “congregations that are heavily Latino/a are more likely than others to offer educational services that are not religious (e.g., classes in English as a second language and immigration services).” González argued persuasively that Latino churches are usually the only stable institutions of the barrio that are owned and operated by the Hispanic people themselves. They are often the only safe port in stormy and unsafe neighborhoods.

Another common challenge is effective religious leadership, which is the key to an effective church. According to Hernández and other summit participants, formal theological education and training is one of the most pressing needs in Hispanic ministry. Because of limited income, however, few would-be Latino/a pastors and lay leaders are able to pursue degrees that qualify them for positions of leadership. As a result, Latino/a pastors are typically unable to serve full time and rarely reach the highest ranks within their congregations and denominations. Although Latinos now account for about 13 percent of the U.S. population, only 2.5 percent of divinity students nationwide are Hispanic/Latino.

Most Latino and Latina pastors of all denominations feel ill-prepared by their seminary training for the realities of their mostly urban ministry. Not only did the seminary often ignore their culture and dismiss their language; it also did not educate them in any practical way to lead Hispanic churches.

Finally, virtually all the Hispanic pastors surveyed indicate that their denominations were not investing resources into the Hispanic community commensurate with their numbers, despite the fact that research also indicates that Hispanics of every denomination are very likely to give of themselves and their money to churches where they have ownership and appear in leadership roles.

This shared context and these common challenges make networking among Latinos and Latinas essential. Even before the summit convened, research across denominations noted how Hispanic pastors craved and created networks, as well as how Hispanic churches forged links among themselves and between their churches and other nonprofit agencies. Years of common struggle and similar experiences that were simply not sufficiently shared or coordinated had already built up the mountain where the summit met. The strategic plan that came down from that summit is the collective wisdom and coordinated effort needed to fill in the valleys of ignorance, lay low the barriers of prejudice and straighten the way toward truth. No wonder Jackson W. Carroll, director of the sponsoring organization Pulpit and Pew, said as the delegates left for home that the summit had exceeded even his greatest expectations—a single step that begins a great journey.


Kenneth G. Davis, O.F.M.Conv., is an associate professor of pastoral studies at St. Meinrad Seminary, St. Meinrad, Ind.

Source
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Where did the money come from?


During this hypocritical mock election season we heard many people asking: Where did the money come from? Still, the morning after the Midterm Election the questions continue to linger. The political experts and the special interest lobbyists frequently questioned their supposed opponents on the source of their donations. On another note, California Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman spent a whopping $142 Million of her personal fortune to secure the office. Yet, the questions about the source of money for running a political campaign remain. Let's turn the clock back 2 years and examine the humongous amount of money raised for the 2008 presidential campaign by President Obama. Where did that money come from?


4l3

October 19, 2008, 7:03 am

Obama Raised Record $150 Million in September

By KATE PHILLIPS

The Obama campaign announced this morning that it had raised a record $150 million last month, and had added 632,000 new donors to its total.

The amount shattered the campaign’s previous record from August. The McCain campaign also had a record-breaking month in August, but is now operating with the $84 million provided by public financing for the general cycle and assistance from the Republican National Committee under certain limits.

In announcing the Obama figure, David Plouffe, the campaign manager, said the average donation for September was less than $100. Mr. Obama, however, did hold several mega fund-raisers in September that pumped millions of dollars each into his coffers, including a Barbra Streisand-Hollywood event that alone collected a reported $11 million.

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Boehner and Brown: Birds of a Feather - The Flock's Together





John Andrew Boehner (pronounced /ˈbeɪnər/ BAY-nər; born November 17, 1949) is the U.S. Representative from Ohio's 8th congressional district, serving since 1991, and the Republican House Minority Leader since 2007. The district includes several rural and suburban areas near Cincinnati and Dayton and a small portion of Dayton itself.






Born November 17, 1949 (1949-11-17) (age 60)
Reading, Ohio
Political party RepublicanSpouse(s) Deborah L. Gunlack (from 1973)
Children
Lindsay Boehner
Tricia Boehner
Residence West Chester, Ohio
Alma mater Xavier UniversityProfession Business Consultant
Religion Roman Catholic

Following the 2010 midterm elections, with the Republicans becoming the majority party in the House of Representatives, it is widely presumed that Boehner will become Speaker of the House once the 112th Congress takes office on January 3, 2011.[1]

Early life, education and careerBoehner was born in Reading, Ohio, the son of Mary Anne (née Hall) and Earl Henry Boehner, the second of twelve children.[2] He has lived in Southwest Ohio his entire life. He graduated from Cincinnati's Moeller High School in 1968, when U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was at its peak. Boehner enlisted in the United States Navy but was honorably discharged after eight weeks for medical reasons.[3] He earned his bachelor's degree in business from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1977. He subsequently accepted a position with Nucite Sales, a small sales business in the packaging and plastics industry, where he eventually became president of the firm.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boehner



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Edmud Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr.


(born April 7, 1938) is an American politician. Brown is currently serving as the 31st Attorney General of the state of California. He was elected to a third, non-consecutive, term as Governor on November 2, 2010. Governor-elect Brown is scheduled to take office in January of 2011, 28 years after his last term ended.

Born April 7, 1938 (1938-04-07) (age 72)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Political party DemocraticSpouse(s) Anne Gust
Residence Oakland, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley
Yale Law School
Religion Roman Catholicism[1]
Early life and educationBrown was born in San Francisco, California, the only son of four siblings born to Bernice Layne Brown and former San Francisco lawyer, district attorney and later California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr.[4] He graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 1955 and studied at Santa Clara University. In 1956, he entered Sacred Heart Novitiate, a Jesuit seminary, intending to become a Catholic priest. However, Brown left the seminary and entered University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics in 1961. Brown went on to Yale Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1964.[4]

After law school, Brown worked as a law clerk for Supreme Court of California Justice Mathew Tobriner and studied in Mexico and Latin America.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Brown


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Brown and Boehner are Birds of a Feather, and from all indications when all the smoke and commotions settle we see that the Catholic-Jesuit Agenda is in place; It's full speed ahead!

Arsenio.
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Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Jesus was HIV-positive?


BBC World Service - Home
Nov 2, 2010
... BBC memories A radio. What is your most memorable BBC encounter? ... Today I will start with a three-part sermon on: Jesus was HIV-positive. The best gift we can give to people who are HIV-positive is to help ...
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/

BBC News - 'Jesus had HIV' sermon sparks South African fury
A South African preacher causes controversy in his fight against Aids by ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11575773 -

BBC - World Service - World Have Your Say
"Today I will start with a three-part sermon on: Jesus was HIV-positive." ...
www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/


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No wonder the Pilgrims left England?


I'd like to thank the gents and lassies at BBC, or UK Propaganda Radio - The Royal disinformation matrix for their latest assault on Jesus Christ and His followers. While the whole world panders to the religion of peace, BBC continues the savage attacks upon the son of God.

Thanks again for demonstrating your apparent bias; for showing your proclivity to demean the Savior's integrity and blaspheme His name. Yet, Mohammad is off-limits to criticism, and Allah the moon god is above reproach.

What irony? What an underhanded manner to manifest contempt for Jesus Christ?

While BBC may claim that they are only reporting the S. African pastor's words; They readily do (are enablers) so to foment discord and insult the personhood of the Lord.

It isn't hard to tell who you work for!
Thanks for the upper class rationale. What would the world do without BBC News?

Arsenio
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Violence Against Latin American Adventists


Not many people in States even hear about it

By Greg Szymanski, JD
Aug. 24, 2010

GRANADA, NICARAGUA — In neighboring Guatemala, a rash of violence against 7th Day Adventists pastors and church members has virtually gone unreported in the States.

According to onlookers of the worldwide religious scene, Adventists are “the last of the Christians” to make a pure stand against Rome, “the Beast in Revelations”, bent on creating a one world religion based on anti-biblical principles.

The Vatican itself has admitted in many of their formal writings the battle lines of Christianity will come down to the Sabbath, saying either you follow 7th Day Adventists and worship on Saturday, the seventh day, or follow Roman Catholic tradition and worship on Sunday, the first day of the week.

Although the day of the Sabbath seems meaningless to many modern day “Christians”, the issue according to uncompromising Bible scholars is paramount, pitting God’s Commandment and law set forth in both the Old and New Testament against man’s authority touted through Roman Catholic dogma and tradition.

This will be the final clash, says internationally known 7th Day “Adventist speaker, Professor Walter Veith adding, Rome will demand its authority through a Sunday law be recognized. Those who refuse, Veith continues, will be classified as heretics and will face the long standing Roman Catholic punishment of death.

Whether the string of violence against Adventists in Guatemala is related to the above struggle is unknown, but it should be considered, according to numerous true Bible believing onlookers, especially when looking at how Rome has dealt with true Bible believers in the past.

Here is a story that appeared in 2009 after an Adventist pastor was gunned down in Guatemala: .
Read more
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Monday, November 01, 2010

Death toll rises to 58 in Iraqi church rescue

Pictures (Courtesy) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325481/52-killed-Baghdad-bloodbath-Iraqi-security-forces-botch-attempt-free-hostages-held-Catholic-Church.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

By JANE ARRAF AND SAHAR ISSA



The Christian Science Monitor/McClatchy Newspapers


Iraq's Christian community was in shock Monday after Islamist militants in suicide vests besieged a church during Sunday Mass and then fought Iraqi commandos in a melee that left at least 58 people dead.

Officials said that in addition to the priests, worshipers and security forces killed, 75 more people were injured after Iraqi special forces stormed Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Church where gunmen were holding the congregation.

Church leaders blamed inadequate security by the Iraqi government for the deadliest attack in Baghdad since before March elections.

"If the sons of this country cannot live in peace then the situation is clearly unacceptable. Had we been provided with adequate security, this would not have happened," Syriac church official Monsignor Pius Kasha told McClatchy Newspapers.

As an elite commando unit under control of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office stormed the church after a four-hour standoff, gunfire and explosions rocked central Baghdad on Sunday night. Witnesses and survivors say the attack started with a team of insurgents dressed in military uniforms killing guards at the nearby Baghdad stock exchange before they scaled the walls and started shooting inside the church.

The dead included two young Iraqi priests and a church deacon, as well as families attending Sunday Mass at the church in the central Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad, church officials said.

The Iraqi federal police and army have been deployed outside churches during Sunday Mass since a series of coordinated attacks on churches more than two years ago. On Sunday though, witnesses said there were no military or police vehicles deployed outside the church during the service.

Nearby residents described terrifying scenes unfolding into the night. Rajaa, a school teacher who did not want her last name used, said from the first floor window she could see four men in military uniforms get out of a black SUV and shoot at the stock exchange guards before jumping the wall into the church.

Three other gunmen in an ordinary car pulled up, she said.

"As soon as they jumped over the wall they detonated their car. Then all we could hear were shots and screams from inside the church," she said. Authorities said two stock exchange guards and four passers-by were killed in the initial attack.

The gunmen were thought to have almost immediately shot one of the priests celebrating Mass as well as several of the parishioners. An Iraqi television station said it had received a call from the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida-affiliated group, claiming responsibility for the attack and saying they were demanding the release of prisoners in Iraq and Egypt.

Most of the casualties though were thought to have resulted after the gunmen detonated two suicide vests after Iraqi commandos blew off the doors and stormed the building.

"The men who carried out the attack were very organized - the way they entered - how well prepared and armed with machine guns, explosive belts and everything they could need. ... How they quickly closed the doors and shut in the faithful. Then the security forces came and ... it was a real tragedy; so many lives lost," Kasha said.

The attack, in the midst of a political deadlock that has left Iraq with no new government, could fuel the departure of more Christians from Iraq. More than half of the 800,000 Christian citizens here before the war are thought to have left the country.

"This is tragic for Christians and for all of Iraq," said Chaldean Bishop Shlimon Warduni. "If we had a government and laws and people all over the world to help us it would be much better."

Iraqi authorities as well as the U.S. military publicly praised the rescue attempt, despite the fact that more than half of the parishioners were killed or seriously wounded. Defense Minister Abdulqadir al-Ubaidi said the insurgents included foreign fighters who intended to kill as many people as possible.

"The operation was a success and many were rescued and we have one suspect in custody," he told the Furat television channel.

"Last night's operation by the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) is proof of their tactical competency to provide professional security to the citizens of Iraq," read a statement from the U.S. military, which emphasized that Iraqis were now in charge. "Since June of 2009 the ISF have been responsible for the security within the cities and Operation New Dawn has allowed U.S. forces to focus on advising and training the ISF to continue honing their techniques to execute missions that protect Iraqi citizens."

A U.S. military spokesman said the U.S. role was limited only to providing an aerial surveillance feed for the operation, but witnesses said a small group of U.S. soldiers were on the ground.

Privately, one Iraqi security official suggested the Iraqi rapid reaction unit known as "the Golden" force had gone overboard when they received intelligence that the insurgents were linked to al-Qaida.

"When this information reached them, the forces quickly surrounded the church and entered with force disregarding consequences to all who were inside the church. Their objective was to wipe out the armed group," said the Interior Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "I don't know what the armed group would have done to the civilians but it can't be much worse than what that security force did."

Residents questioned the lax security in a neighborhood with multiple police checkpoints meant to detect explosives.

"The shooting and the screaming is still in my ears," Rajaa said. "How can such a car loaded with explosives and weapons, how can the people driving it fully armed pass the checkpoints?" Rajaa said. "This is not a question, this is an accusation."

The Rev. Douglas Yousef al-Bazy, who worked with the slain priests, says he was stopped at a roadblock as he desperately tried to drive to the besieged church when he heard the explosions.

"It's really terrible," he said. "The people who did this want to kill the church - the priests who served them and the people and even the building. We lost our best friends there. When someone dies we say there is a reason, but actually when they are killed - when they kill young people, young priests they are trying to kill our future."

"Those who say we are safe, that we can live peacefully in Iraq, they are liars," said al-Bazy, who was kidnapped in 2006. "But we will stay in this country because still there are Christian people here and we still have a mission here."

Posted on Mon, Nov. 01, 2010 02:44 PM

Source

Note: Bolds and Highlights added.

Priest accused of molesting boys 30 years ago beaten by accuser

Photo (Coutesy) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39917556/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/


By Journal Staff and Wire Report Winston-Salem Journal
Published: October 30, 2010


SAN JOSE, Calif. — A man who says he was molested more than 30 years ago by a priest was arrested yesterday on charges that he lured the clergyman to the lobby of a Jesuit retirement home and beat him in front of shocked witnesses, authorities said.

William Lynch, 43, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for the May 10 attack that sent the Rev. Jerold Lindner to the hospital with cuts and bruises, said Sgt. Rick Sung, Santa Clara County sheriff’s spokesman.

Lynch and his younger brother settled with the Jesuits of the California Province, a Roman Catholic religious order, for $625,000 in 1998 after alleging that Lindner abused them in 1975 during weekend camping trips in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Lindner has been accused of abuse by nearly 12 people, including his own sister and nieces and nephews. Lindner, now 65, has denied abusing the Lynch boys and has not been criminally charged. The case falls outside the statute of limitations.
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Source
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P.S. Bolds and Highlights added.
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Our Only Hope!


Volume XXIX Issue XI November 2010
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Fax: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/



Our Only Hope!

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

Isaiah 41:10

"Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him."

I Thessalonians 5:5-10

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

Titus 2:11-14

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

Revelation 22:17

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will once again examine the condition of this present world that we live in during these last days before our Lord's second coming. As I prayed and researched the source material for this newsletter, I came across many news stories which left people with ample reasons to feel hopeless. Sin abounds all the time, bad things are happening every day, and if you're really watching the news, the world just seems to become harsher, darker, and bleaker. What is this world coming to? Is there any hope left?

When I think back to the days before Obama's presidency, I remember his campaign in which he touted himself as the great hope of the United States. He spoke at rallies before thousands, and his supporters cheered him on as they waved posters of Obama's likeness, plastered with the word "HOPE." Barack Obama fully embraced and relished his newfound messianic persona while he gave speeches with bold promises to "heal" and "change" America. It was a great and grievous sin before the Lord to see the people en masse put their hope and trust in a man instead of Almighty God. Well folks, we can see now how well that worked out for the United States and her citizens.

Many Americans are now greatly disappointed with their president. We've seen large rallies by groups such as the Tea Party protesting his policies. And while politically moderate and independent voters aren't staging rallies for the most part, many feel let down and betrayed by Barack Obama. The disappointment extends even to people you wouldn't expect to be discouraged, such as the staunchest of liberals who are expressing displeasure in his performance over the last two years. Here let it be noted that even Shepard Fairey, the artist who designed the iconic "HOPE" poster, has expressed frustration with the president. In an interview with the National Journal he stated, "Looking at Obama's standpoint on various policies, it was like, 'Why throw all these particular projectiles over the wall... when I could put all those things in one projectile that I could hurl over the wall?' Obama was the delivery device in theory. Now, I realize that he maybe is not the correct delivery device, and I'll just deal with those issues separately." (1)

It is complete folly to put your hope and trust in a man. It is especially unwise to put your hope in a politician when so many of them have proven themselves to be deceitful liars. Sure, there are some honest politicians out there really trying to do something good. However, they are few and far between, and they usually don't have enough influence to accomplish a whole lot in the big scheme of things. For the most part the political arena is driven by a lust for power and greed.

If you really want to experience a "change you can believe in," reach out to God, draw nigh to Him, and He will draw nigh unto you. Ask the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart, repent of your sins, and live your life based on sound and moral principles as laid out in the Holy Bible. God is our only hope!

A Depressing Economy!

By now most of us have heard the claims from President Obama and the Federal Reserve that the recession is over, and we are now in a period of recovery. Yet, a "recovery" is of little help if Americans still can't find work. In September there was a net loss of 95,000 jobs in the United States, and the official unemployment rate is 9.6%. (2) However, the official unemployment rate does not account for people who had been looking for a job but gave up their searches because they couldn't find one. When we consider that group, the unemployment percentage is much higher. Furthermore, many people who do have jobs were forced into low-paying, part-time work and are therefore underemployed. A Gallup Poll from October 7, 2010, indicates that the underemployed rate was 18.8% in September. (3) A panel of forty-six economists surveyed by the National Association of Business Economics expect only a miniscule improvement throughout 2011 with an estimated rate of growth at 2.6% and an unemployment rate that won't fall below 9.2%. (4)

Barack Obama is now proposing we spend $50 billion to improve our transportation infrastructure. In an article from the Associated Press, he's quoted as saying, "There's no reason why we can't do this. There's no reason why the world's best infrastructure should lie beyond our borders. This is America. We've always had the best infrastructure ... all we need is the political will." (5) As a person who has taken long road trips throughout the United States, I can attest that improvement to our transportation infrastructure is indeed a worthy cause. However, I seem to recall that a portion of Obama's earlier mammoth stimulus package was earmarked to do the same thing. Politicians certainly like to toss around billions of dollars. They'll spend a few billion here or there while acting like the money comes from their own personal treasure chest. Yet all of those billions are either extracted from the taxpayers or borrowed from other countries.

While China's manufacturing sector continues to boom and the trade deficit with them increases exponentially every month, the United States continues to shed factory jobs. Since 2001 America has lost 42,400 factories. (6) In 2009 the number of people working in the manufacturing sector dropped below twelve million for the first time since 1941. (7) With the massive loss of factory jobs to China and the massive loss of technology jobs to India, it's no surprise that unemployment is so high in the United States. Unfortunately, these are jobs that will likely never be regained since global corporations would rather pay much lower wages in other countries. Yet, it's very difficult for a country to be prosperous without maintaining a strong manufacturing base. Without factory jobs, it confines more of the workforce to the service and retail sectors, which are generally lower paying than a good manufacturing position.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a speech on October 4, 2010, and warned that the United States' economy is facing some very real and serious threats. Bernanke stated, "The threat to our economy is real and growing. The sooner a plan is established, the longer affected individuals will have to prepare for the necessary changes." (8) Of course, the "necessary changes" Bernanke is alluding to in the speech are cuts in Social Security benefits and Medicare, as well as an increase in taxes. In fact, the government has already announced that there won't be any cost of living adjustments in Social Security benefits in 2011 for the second year in a row. (9)

These days, Americans are being more cautious and saving more money than they had in recent years. Traditionally, saving money is viewed as a positive thing, right? Well, the Federal Reserve doesn't seem to think so and they want to put a stop to it! Yes, Fed officials are dismayed that Americans are choosing to save money or pay down debt. Federal Reserve officials William Dudley of New York and Charles Evans of Chicago, both suggested that intentionally raising the rate of inflation could be an option. (10) Their logic is that if they raise the rate of inflation, it will wipe out any value Americans get from saving their money, and they'll go spend it and thus stimulate the economy.

As I consider these trying times, I can't help but think of the stories my father used to tell me about how my grandfather endured the Great Depression. I recall stories of long work days for very little pay, soup kitchens, and breadlines as people endured the most difficult economic climate in America's short history. Now, the news media calls our recent struggles the Great Recession. Even though they claim the recession is over, Americans continue to struggle for survival. A June 2010 study by Pew Research Center indicates that 55% of Americans have experienced some sort of work-related hardship, such as unemployment, a cut in pay, a reduction in hours, or an involuntary move to part time work. (11) The Associated Press reported in September that one out of every seven Americans now lives in poverty. This amounts to 14.3 of the U.S. population, or 43.6 million people. (12)

Clearly, many of us have struggled financially. But whatever your problems may be, whatever you and your family may lack, God can provide for all your needs. I encourage everyone to cry out to God. He hears every prayer, and He has promised us that we will never be forsaken. He is a miracle worker. He can turn a little into plenty and provide resources where you'd least expect them.

The Increase Of Knowledge In The Last Days!

As Satan continues to inspire men to bring about a global one world government, we are seeing a continual increase in technology and knowledge from some of the biggest companies in the world. Two companies that have especially stood out in recent years are Google and Apple. Apple is on a roll; every product they release seems to sell well, and they have survived incidents that should have been public relations disasters. Apple almost seems unstoppable.

If you look at the Apple logo, which is an apple with a bite mark, it seems to be referencing from the book of Genesis, indicating Eve taking a bite from the forbidden fruit. It's also interesting to note that when Apple began selling its "Apple 1" computer in 1976, the retail price was $666.66. (13) Of course, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak claims that he was not aware of the significance of the number but instead claimed that he just happens to like triple digits. Even if Wozniak is telling the truth, that doesn't mean that he and Steve Jobs weren't directly inspired by Satan without realizing it.

Today Apple has a following which behave in an almost cult-like religious manner. There are people who will zealously defend their Apple products regardless of any flaws they may have. They diligently go out and try to proselytize to others and attempt to get them to join the Apple fold. They'll even stand in line for hours or even days as the release date of a new Apple product approaches. There's nothing wrong with using Apple products. As far as a company goes, they are probably no better or worse than the others. Yet, the way some people go gaga over Apple's technology almost seems spirit-driven.

When we closely examine Apple's behavior, it seems likely that they are attempting to set themselves up as one of the main technology providers for the forthcoming one-world beast government system. We need to remember that such a system would require the masses to be tracked and controlled with technology, thus making it imperative for everyone to be online all the time no matter where they go. Through the use of the iPod Touch, iPhone, and the iPad, Apple is helping to further this important goal.

Here let it be noted that Visa has recently rolled out a new pilot program which allows passengers to pay for their mass-transit fares with their iPhones, in New York and New Jersey. (14) In addition to that, Apple has filed a patent for a radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponder, which can be used as both an RFID tag and a reader within their iPhones. (And presumably their other portable electronics.) (15) Most experts familiar with the information believe that Apple will use this RFID technology to allow users to perform cashless transactions to pay for goods and services.

As for Google, they've grown from a small search company in the late 1990's into a behemoth global corporation dabbling in all sorts of things. They are, of course, known as a search engine company. However, lately they've also taken an interest in odd things, such as cars that drive themselves. Yes, that is correct. Google has been testing automobiles that steer, stop, and start without a human driver. The cars have traveled 140,000 miles on California roads, reportedly without much human interaction. (16) On the surface it may seem like a neat idea, but if your car is being controlled by a computer and that computer is being controlled by Google, then your transportation is, in effect, being controlled by Google. Theoretically, they would be able to track you wherever you go or even intervene to make you stop or travel to a location you hadn't intended.

Google has a history of drawing the ire of privacy advocates. In December of 2009, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told CNBC, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." He further went on to say, "If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines - including Google - do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities." (17) Schmidt also stated in a much more recent interview, "With your permission you give us more information about you, about your friends, and we can improve the quality of our searches. We don't need you to type at all. We know where you are. We know where you've been. We can more or less know what you're thinking about." (18)

Radio Frequency Identification technology is nothing new and is already being used for several different purposes. The technology seems to be growing more common every month. RFID Journal reported on October 6, 2010, that all new national German ID cards will feature a RFID chip. (19) They claim one of the major reasons for doing so is to make online transactions easier and safer. Two school districts in Texas have added RFID chips to their student IDs to enable them to track their students wherever they go within school grounds. According to eleven year-old student, Jacorey Jackson, "It feels like someone is watching you at all times." (20) The chips are also available as implants about the size of a grain of rice. In fact, a man named Amal Graafstra intentionally had each of his hands implanted with a RFID chip so that he can open doors without keys or start his car with the wave of a hand. (21)

I strongly suspect that much of what we are seeing in the realm of technology is a precursor to the rise of a one-world antichrist government, which will demand that we all receive a chip in our right hand or forehead if we want to buy or sell. The technology to make it all happen already exists.

The Proliferation Of "That Which Is Unseemly!"

It is not popular to teach the entire Bible message these days. In fact, if you do so, you will likely be labeled a bigot or a homophobe even by some who claim to be Christians. However, as true Christians, we're obligated to take on the whole counsel of God regardless of whom it offends.

The Bible plainly states that homosexuality is wrong. Yet many people have tried to explain away the Scriptures, claiming that the intent was misunderstood or that the verses in the Bible were mistranslated. But as Christians we don't get to just pick and choose which portions of the Bible we want to believe. It's all or nothing.

Perhaps it might be beneficial if we stop and take a moment to consider why God does not approve of homosexuality. The Bible refers to it as "unnatural" and "unseemly" because it circumvents God's perfect plan and system for mankind. Imagine you're an electrician who is contracted to install the electrical system in a brand new house that is being constructed. You do a beautiful and flawless job, everything works perfectly, and you even feel a little proud of your work. Then the owners move into their new home, and much to your dismay, instead of using the electrical outlets you provided, they smash a hole in the wall and try to splice in their electronics wherever they can make them fit. Would you not feel a little offended?

Those who tell homosexuals that what they're doing is okay are actually doing a great disservice to them. They may think they're being nice and supportive, but in reality they're enabling behavior that will put people in hell. The most loving and kind thing you can do is to tell them they need to repent.

You have probably heard many homosexuals make the claim that they're not hurting anyone. Well, as it turns out, many of them are hurting themselves and others often without even knowing it. The Associated Press reported in September 2010 that one in five sexually active gay and bisexual men have the AIDS virus. Additionally, researchers tested and interviewed 8,000 homosexual men and discovered that 44% of those who had the virus weren't aware that they had it. (22) Sin is deadly.

Mainstream Witchcraft!

October is always an especially busy month for witches. It is, after all, the month of one of their favorite sabats known as Samhain, or Halloween to the common people. Therefore it's not at all surprising that Britain has announced that druidry is now an officially recognized religion. Druidry is a Celtic pagan form of witchcraft, dating back thousands of years. Now, as an official religion in Britain, the druids will now be granted the same tax breaks and other benefits that other mainstream religions enjoy. (23)

Halloween is no joke and Christians should not participate in it in any way, shape, or form. Sadly, many organizations and religious leaders seek ways to tone it down and compromise, yet still participating in the witches' sabat. This includes Catholic bishops in England who are recommending that instead of abstaining from Halloween, children should dress up as saints and carve happy faces in pumpkins rather than scary or menacing faces. (24) Halloween is a pagan celebration. You cannot Christianize it.

Another interesting development in the realm of witchcraft is the possibility that JK Rowling may write more Harry Potter books. Rowling appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show on October 1, 2010, and stated, "I could definitely write an eighth, ninth, tenth. I'm not going to say I won't. I don't think I will... I feel I am done, but you never know." (25) Let's hope and pray she doesn't write more books. This world definitely doesn't need more Harry Potter. Incidentally, JK Rowling was recently named the most influential woman in the United Kingdom. (26)

A Shrinking Food And Water Supply!

It has not been a good year for the food supply in the United States. We have had extensive, far-reaching recalls as numerous people fell ill from consuming contaminated food. Since that time, CNBC has reported a sharp rise in the cost of grains and corn due to what they called a "bleak harvest." (27) The price of corn has increased a whopping 20% this year according to a CBS Money Watch report. (28) The report also reveals that the problems extend even beyond the United States, and it claims "Weather conditions have been all wrong for this year's harvest." There were droughts in Brazil and Russia while Canada and Europe had heavy rains. (29) These shortages will not only affect products that use corn and other grains that are in short supply, but it will also affect the supply of meat as well. Bloomberg News reported on October 11, 2010, that the U.S. cattle herd is the smallest that is has been since 1973. The report also claims that the number of breeding hogs was near its lowest ever in September 2010. (30)

On October 8, 2010, Newsweek published an insightful article on the state of the world's water supply. Apparently, there are vast regions in the world which do not have adequate access to fresh drinking water. Now private companies are moving to exploit the largest water supplies in the world and have it transferred to needier regions, using the same tankers normally reserved for oil. In fact, Blue Lake in Sitka, Alaska, reportedly holds trillions of gallons of water so pure it doesn't even need to be treated. A company called True Alaska Bottling has partnered with a company called S2C Global, which is building a water-processing facility in India. True Alaska plans to transfer three billion gallons of water from Sitka, Alaska, to India where it would be further distributed. (31)

According to Goldman Sachs estimates, they predict global water consumption will double every twenty years. The United Nations claims that demand for water will exceed available supply by the year 2040. (32) Water is the most precious substance on earth. Indeed, it does not matter how much gold, silver, money, or wealth you have if you do not have any water. However, as the experts and analysts panic over a shrinking world water supply, we can take comfort in the fact that we serve a mighty God. It is no hard thing for Him to send rain and provide life-sustaining water to His people.

The Continued Threat Of Terror!

These days, the populations of the western world are so sensitive to terrorism that simply making a threat is enough to cause widespread panic. Last month a bomb threat at the Eiffel Tower was called in to French authorities, which resulted in the evacuation of the famous landmark. (33) This threat came around the same time that much of Europe was warned of possible terror attacks. In the end, no attacks occurred, but the United States had issued travel warnings to U.S. citizens just to be on the safe side. On October 9, 2010, AFP reported that Al-Qaeda views the panic caused by the threats as a victory. Alain Chouet, former head of security information at the French General Directorate for External Security, stated, "Al-Qaeda does not even have to do anything, all it needs is a prisoner somewhere to stir things up." (34)

Meanwhile, In Seattle, Washington, the FBI has urged a cartoonist, formerly known as Molly Norris, to go into hiding after she published an illustration entitled "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day." Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim cleric with ties to Al-Qaeda, listed Norris as a "prime target" on a website over the summer. (35) We hear stories such as this one with an ever-growing frequency, and yet people still want to claim that Islam is a "religion of peace."

A Planet Pummeled By Disasters!

The world has suffered a devastating loss of life from natural disasters this year. There were massive deadly earthquakes and more reports of flooding than I could count. According to the United Nations, there were 235 natural disasters from January through September 2010. These disasters claimed the lives of more than 236,000 people and affected 256 million more. (36) The earth continues to shake and quake every day and sometimes in places you wouldn't expect the shaking. For example, there has been an unusual increase in the amount of earthquakes in Oklahoma, and on October 14, 2010, a quake measuring between 4.3 and 5.1 in magnitude struck near the city of Norman. (37) The earthquake was also felt in parts of Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas. (38) We need to remember that the Bible tells us in Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8, and Luke 21:11 that there will be earthquakes in divers places in the last days. Those Scriptures never rang more true, and we will likely see more and more quakes right up until the time of our Lord's return.

In closing, I want to encourage all of you to seek the Lord as we endure the challenges of our world today. Many people are pessimistic and unhappy, and when we look at the events happening around us, it's easy to understand why. In fact, a Bloomberg National Poll, conducted from October 7-10, 2010, found 50% of the respondents were pessimistic. One respondent said, "I see some hope, but not a lot. There are some avenues to improve yourself but we need more." (39) Folks, the best things you can do to improve yourselves are to pray, study your Bible, and expand your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Don't let this world bring you down, but rather let the Lord raise you up. God truly is our only hope.

Thank you to all who support this ministry. If you have any prayer requests, you are welcomed and encouraged to send them to us. Each request will be given individual attention by our teams of intercessors. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Samuel David Meyer

Acknowledgements
01. National Journal, September 24, 2010, by Aamer Madhani.
02. Associated Press, October 8, 2010, by Jeanine Aversa and Christopher S. Rugaber, Washington, D.C.
03. Gallup, October 7, 2010, by Dennis Jacobe, Princeton, NJ.
04. Associated Press, October 11, 2010, by Daniel Wagner, Washington, D.C.
05. Associated Press, October 11, 2010, by Associated Press, Washington, D.C.
06. The American Prospect, December 21, 2009, by Richard McCormack. http://prospect.org.
07. Ibid.
08. Associated Press, October 4, 2010, by Jeanine Aversa, Providence, RI.
09. Associated Press, October 10, 2010, by Stephen Ohlemacher, Washington D.C.
10. The Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2010, by Sudeep Reddy, New York, NY.
11. Pew Research Center, June 30, 2010, by Pew Research Center, http://pewsocialtrends.org.
12. Associated Press, September 16, 2010, by Hope Yen, Washington, D.C.
13. Myoldmac.net, http://myoldmac.net/FAQ/Apple1-priced$666.66-Why-Woz-Answers.htm.
14. Mashable, September 22, 2010, by Christina Warren, http://mashable.com.
15. Ubergizmo, October 5, 2010, http://ubergizmo.com.
16. Associated Press, October 10, 2010, by Daniel Wagner, Washington, D.C.
17. The Register, December 7, 2009, by Cade Metz, San Francisco, CA.
18. The Atlantic, October 1, 2010, by Derek Thompson, http://theatlantic.com.
19. RFID Journal, October 6, 2010, by Rhea Wessel, http://rfijournal.com.
20. Houston Chronicle, October 11, 2010, by Jennifer Radcliffe, Houston, TX.
21. Fox News, May 14, 2010, by Gene J. Koprowski, http://foxnews.com.
22. Associated Press, September 23, 2010, by Mike Stobbe, Atlanta, GA.
23. AFP, October 2, 2010, by AFP, London, UK.
24. Catholic Herald, October 13, 2010, by Simon Caldwell, http://catholicherald.co.uk.
25. Contra Costa Times, October 1, 2010, by Randy McMullen, http://mercurynews.com.
26. The Mirror, October 11, 2010, by The Mirror, http://mirror.co.uk.
27. CNBC, October 8, 2010, by Reuters News Service, http://cnbc.com/id/39576384.
28. CBS Money Watch, October 11, 2010, by John Keefe, http://moneywatch.bnet.com.
29. Ibid.
30. Bloomberg News, October 11, 2010, by Whitney McFerron and Elizabeth Campbell, http://bloomberg.com.
31. Newsweek, October 8, 2010, by Jeneen Interlandi, http://newsweek.com.
32. Ibid.
33. Associated Press, September 28, 2010, by Paisley Dodds, London, UK.
34. AFP, October 9, 2010, by Michael Moutot, Paris, France.
35. Reuters News Service, September 16, 2010, by Bill Rigby, Seattle, WA.
36. Reuters News Service, October 13, 2010, by Jonathan Lynn, Geneva, Switzerland.
37. Ada Evening News, October 14, 2010, by Randy Mitchell, Norman, OK.
38. Seer Press, October 14, 2010, by David John Walker, http://seerpress.com.
39. Bloomberg News, October 13, 2010, by Rich Miller, Washington, D.C.

Special Note: A new tribute website for Pastor David J. Meyer can now be accessed at http://pastormeyer.org.

If you have a comment on this newsletter or would like to suggest future topics, you may send email to editor@lasttrumpetnewsletter.org.

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity



If any man have an ear, let him hear.

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.


Revelation 13:9,10.
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Sunday, October 31, 2010

An Invitation to the Occult? Halloween



An Invitation to the Occult? Halloween

Chuck Missler October 31 2006

This is always a difficult time for Christians, especially those with children. It has been suggested that for a Christian to be asked to celebrate Halloween is like asking a Holocaust survivor to celebrate Hitler's birthday!

It is also a dangerous time for some, since many of the seemingly "harmless" involvements associated with Halloween can also be "entries" for the occult, and can prove very tragic for the unwary.


Pagan Background

In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain was observed on October 31, the end of summer. November 1 was the new year for both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon calendars and was one of the most important and yet sinister calendar festivals of the Celtic Year.

Settling in northern France and the British Isles, the Celtic people engaged in occultic arts and worshiped nature, giving it supernatural, animistic qualities. (Much like our Federal government is attempting to enforce today.)

The ancient Druids were the learned priestly class of the Celtic religion. Many of their beliefs and practices were similar to those of Hinduism, such as reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul, which teaches that people may be reborn as animals. The Druids believed that on October 31, the night before their New Year and the last day of the old year, Samhain, the Lord of Death, gathered the souls of the evil dead who had been condemned to enter the bodies of animals.

The Druids also believed that the punishment of the evil dead would be lightened by sacrifices, prayers and gifts to the Lord of Death. (This begins to reveal the strange link between this holiday and the non-Biblical concept of purgatory.)

The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired a sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature.

And, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther drove a stake into the heart of many of the prevailing non-Biblical concepts by nailing his famous 95 theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, which started the movement known today as the Reformation-the single most important event in modern history.1 Appropriately, he did this on Halloween.


Modern Halloween Traditions

In early American history, Halloween was not widely practiced until the 20th century, when it was introduced by the Irish Catholic settlements. Gradually, Halloween became a secular observance, and many customs and practices developed. The carved pumpkin may have originated with the witches' use of a skull with a candle inside to light the way to coven meetings.

Since 1965 UNICEF, an agency of the United Nations, has attempted to incorporate into the Halloween observance the collection of money for the United Nations Children's Fund. This exploitation by the ungodly United Nations of this pagan holiday seems strangely appropriate.


The Occult is Increasingly Popular

Halloween is, for many, a "crossover" involvement in which innocent games can lead to serious entanglement with real witches, neo-pagans, New Agers, and other occultists.2 A common pastime is the use of a Ouija board to attempt to contact ghosts or spirits that are believed to be roaming about. This can lead to serious consequences including demon possession.3 Demons have a vested interest in Halloween because it supports the occult, and it also offers novel and unexpected opportunities to control and influence people.

Forms of the occult can include mediums, channelers, clairvoyants, psychics, spiritists, diviners, mystics, gurus, shamans, psychical researchers, Yogis, psychic and holistic healers, astral travel, astrology, mysticism, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, contact with the dead, UFOs, and thousands of other practices which almost defy cataloging.

Occultism includes Satanism, astrology, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, theosophy, witchcraft and many forms of serious magic. It includes activities seeking the acquisition of "hidden" things-which are expressly forbidden by God in the Bible.


The Biblical View

Halloween practices can open the door to the occult and can introduce forces into people's lives that they are not equipped to combat.4 There is genuine power in the occult, but it is demonic power.5

Any serious study of Biblical demonology will reveal Satan as the power behind false religion, witchcraft, idolatry and the occult.6 The Word of God makes it clear that these are all to be shunned as dangerous. There were many superstitions and false concepts in ancient Israel about which the Bible is silent. However, occultism, in any form, was punishable by death! Why?

The spiritual power and reality behind idols involves demons.7 The Bible commands us to shun occult practices. Mediums and spiritists are expressly prohibited.8 Nowhere are such practices acceptable.


A Halloween Project?

Every year, many people are perplexed as to how to deal with the children's celebrations surrounding Halloween. On the one hand, participating in the perpetuation of the usual pagan (and occultic) rituals are hardly the enterprise of a Biblical Christian. On the other hand, creating constructive alternatives can be challenging.

Many churches and families organize a "Harvest" festival with games, prizes, etc., as an alternative party opportunity. These are gaining widespread interest and are to be encouraged.

Organizing a drama event to involve the older children is an alternative candidate; such an effort could include Saul and the Witch of Endor, from 1 Samuel 28, as a play.

[The winning scripts resulting from a play-writing contest held a few years ago are available through K-House.]


Your Protection

Intellect alone is insufficient. "If it were possible, it would deceive the very elect." This is another example of the necessity to truly understand the Armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6. This brief review was excerpted from our featured briefing package, Halloween: Invitation to the Occult?

* * *
Sources:

Missler, Chuck, Signs in the Heavens, The Mysteries of the Planet Mars Halloween: Invitation to the Occult? (briefing packages), Koinonia House, 1991-6.

Ankerberg, John, and Weldon, John, The Facts on Halloween, Harvest House, Eugene OR, 1996. A key reference for this article.

Sykes, Egerton, Who's Who in Non-Classical Mythology, J.M. Dent, London, 1993.

Patten, Donald Wesley, Catastrophism and the Old Testament, Pacific Meridian Publishing Co., Seattle WA, 1995.

Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, Harvest House, Eugene OR, 1996.

Also the video, Halloween: Trick or Treat, Jeremiah Films, Hemet CA

END
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The Dark Side of Halloween: The Lure of the Occult



The Dark Side of Halloween:
The Lure of the Occult
by Chuck Missler

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Later this month, hordes of costumed children will be hitting the streets in search of candy and other treats. Yet, Halloween is not just “trick or treat” and “fun and games.” Halloween practices can open the door to the occult and can introduce forces into people’s lives that they are not equipped to combat.

The lure of the occult has affected mankind throughout the ages. According to the Greek legend, Pandora, despite warnings by Zeus not to, yielded to her curiosity and opened the forbidden box and thus inadvertently released all manner of evils which flew out to cover the Earth.

The occult takes many forms; oftentimes it is very desirable. In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses had himself lashed to the mast to preclude his succumbing to the alluring call of the Sirens. It’s crucial to lash ourselves to the mast of known truth and prepare to pass through turbulent waters that have “bested the best” of the mariners of the past.

Mysticism

The boundaries are not clearly defined which separate mysticism from metaphysics (basic nature or structure of being), cosmology (study of the origin of the universe), theosophies (systems of conjectures into the divine nature), and occultism (the study and control of supernatural powers), theurgy (the art of compelling or persuading supernatural powers) and magic (often of the lowest kind).

Each of these, unless securely lashed to the tether of the revealed Word of God, ultimately ends up in direct conflict with the Biblical record. Non-Biblical mysticism is always essentially incompatible with the teachings of Judaism and Christianity, which promote a faith in a sole God who created the universe and who chose to reveal Himself and communicate the rules of life through an exclusive relationship with Him.

Clearly, John and Paul were mys­tics in the sense that our union with Christ was their highest desire; but their aspirations and pursuits were always within the safeguards of Scripture.

Extra-Biblical speculations on the origin and order of the uni­verse, influenced by correspondences in ancient and medieval science, led to mysticism in various forms, including the Kabbalah of Judaism and the Gnostic heresies of Christianity, each increasingly divergent from its foundational source. Mysticism invariably ends up contra­dicting or contravening the Biblical record.

The Rise of Jewish Mysticism

Judaism, while traditionally having relied on the substi­tutionary sacrifices of the Torah, but then stripped of both a Messiah and the Temple, gradually evolved to become a program of ethical and moral efforts of the Jews to acquit themselves before God. Constant ideological readjustment involved the infiltration of concepts from external sources, including Babylonian and Greek mysticism, and the reactions against them.

The Talmud and the Midrash (rabbinical legal and interpretative literature) tended to obliterate the earlier traditions as the veneration of various sages and commentators tended to eclipse the primary texts of the Tanakh (the Old Testament) itself. Interpretive exegesis and the veneration of contemporary sages opened up increasing opportunities for matters of inner experience and personal speculations.

The Kabbalah

The Kabbalah (hlbq, from lbq,, “to receive;” literally, “the received lore,” or “tradition”) is a term used several ways. Originally it com­prised the entire traditional lore, in contradistinction to the written law (the Torah), and therefore included the prophetic and hagio­graphic books of the Bible, as “received” by the power of the Holy Spirit. From the 13th century onward, the Kabbalah branched out to include extensive esoteric Jewish specula­tions alongside of, and ultimately in opposition to, the Talmud. It grew to include esoteric or mystic doctrine, asserting to have come down as a revelation to elect saints, preserved for a privileged few.

An eclectic amalgam of pantheism and other Eastern pagan con­cepts, the Kabbalah endorses a non-Biblical view of God. The God of the Old Testament is inferior to the supreme unknowable Ein Hof, the ultimate focus of Kabbalahism. With practices parallel with Indian (Tantric kundalini) yoga and Muslim sufism, one of the goals is the manipulation of the divine nature.

With the rise of interest in the occult today, the resurgence of interest in the Kabbalah is no exception.1 (For further study, see our briefing package, Kabbalah, .)

Christian Mysticism

The role played by the Kabbalah was not limited to the Jewish community. The Kabbalah transcended the frontiers of Judaism and influenced Christian mysticism from the Renaissance to the present. Under the influence of Jewish converts from Spain and Italy, Kabbalistic documents, touched up as necessary (or even forged), provided arguments supporting Christian doctrinal issues or devia­tions. The occult philosophy of the 16th century, the “natural philos­ophy” of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the occult and theosophic theories today-including the practices of Freemasonry-borrow from the amalgam of the Kabbalah.

Biblical Warnings against the Occult

The occult is on the rise in all segments of our society. There is great power in the occult.2 However, the Bible warns against it.3

There were many superstitions and false concepts in ancient Israel about which the Bible is silent. However, occultism, in any form, was punishable by death! Why? Occult practice constitutes trafficking with demons, from which flow other concerns: idolatry, spiritual deception, the likelihood of posses­sion, psychological, spiritual and physical harm, immoral teachings and consequences.

The Bible commands us to shun occult practices. Mediums and spiritists are expressly prohibited.4 Nowhere are such practices acceptable.

Spiritual warfare is a reality.5 We have serious enemies that are extremely resourceful and malevolent. The Bible warns of a personal devil and myriads of demons who should be regarded as cunning enemies.6 Satan and his hordes are active in the affairs of the Planet Earth.7 In fact, the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One,8 and his forces are behind all occult involvement, idolatry, and false religion.9

All supernatural manifestations are to be tested by the Word of God.10 The devil’s tactics include masquerading as an “angel of light” and a servant of righteousness.11 False teachers and false prophets are linked to evil spirits, and there are “doctrines of demons.”12 Demons work through people by giving them psychic abilities.13

The Dark Side of Halloween

Halloween is, for many, a “crossover” involvement in which innocent games can lead to serious entanglement with real witches, neo-pagans, New Agers, and other occultists.14 A common pastime is the use of a Ouija board to attempt to contact ghosts or spirits that are believed to be roaming about. This can lead to serious consequences, including demon possession.15 Demons have a vested interest in Halloween because it supports the occult, and it also offers novel and unexpected opportunities to control and influence people.

Forms of the occult can include mediums, channelers, clairvoyants, psychics, spiritists, diviners, mystics, gurus, shamans, psychical researchers, Yogis, psychic and holistic healers, astral travel, astrology, mysticism, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, contact with the dead, UFOs, and thousands of other practices which almost defy cataloging-even Harry Potter books and movies can lead innocent children into the occult.

Occultism also includes Satanism, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, theosophy, witchcraft and many forms of serious magic. It includes activities seeking the acquisition of “hidden” things-which are expressly forbidden by God in the Bible.

Your Protection

Intellect alone is insufficient. “If it were possible, it would deceive the very elect.” This is another example of the necessity to truly understand the Armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6.

To learn more about the dark side of Halloween, see our classic briefing package, Halloween: Invitation to the Occult? Now also available on audio CD/MP3.

This article was originally published in the
October 2007 Personal Update NewsJournal.
For a FREE 1-Year Subscription, click here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1.“What Profits the Kabbalah,” Time, November 24, 1997
2.Isaiah 47:9.
3.Deuteronomy 18:9-14.
4.Leviticus 19:31; 2 Chronicles 33:6.
5.Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Peter 5:8.
6.John 8:44; 13:27; Matthew 6:13; 9:34; 12:24; Luke 8:12; 13:16; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Acts 16:16-18; 2 Corinthians 2:11: 11:3; 2 Timothy 2:26.
7.Ephesians 2:2; Daniel 10:12,13, 20.
8.2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 5:19.
9.Deuteronomy 32:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 10:19-21; Psalm 106:35-40; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10; Acts 16:16-19, et al.
10.1 John 4:1; Revelation 2:2; Acts 17:10-12; Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Matthew 24:24, etc.
11.2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
12.1 Timothy 4:1; 1 John 4:1.
13.Acts 16:16-19; Exodus 7:11, 22; 8:7.
14.See Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, Harvest House, Eugene OR, 1996.
15.The case studies underlying William Blatty’s The Exorcist indicate that the trouble all began with a child playing with a Ouija board.

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